Chapter 41 (1/2)
He Papa was suddenly a bit embarra.s.sed, he actually felt a sense of oppression from the kid in front of him. But he still spoke kindly to Shi Yan, “Don’t give He Nuo anymore things in the future, and don’t even bother lending him anything.”
But towards He Nuo he was full of rebuke, “Didn’t I teach you ever since you were a kid to never take other people’s things no matter how nice it is?! You can never remember anything!”
He Nuo nodded his head, “I do remember.”
After his family left, He Nuo emptied his bag before stuffing it with the books, “I’m sorry for dragging you into this. Can I stuff them in here first? In the afternoon just give me your bag and I’ll bring it to school for you ba, then I’ll take it to your cla.s.s.” Because Shi Yan can’t spare a hand to carry extra books when he cycles.
“You’re still going to school in the afternoon?”
“Of course, we still have lessons in the afternoon.”
“Don’t go, your face is still swollen.”
He Nuo didn’t say anything in reply. Shi Yan walked over to take his bag, “I’ll deliver your bag to you after school, you’ll go to school tomorrow instead. I’ll go to your cla.s.s and help you apply for a leave of absence and get your homework for today.”
“Thank you.”
He Nuo sent Shi Yan out. When they pa.s.sed by his younger brothers’ room, Shi Yan stopped and knocked on their door, then the two of them looked over.
“Where’s the conch sh.e.l.l? Hand it over!” Shi Yan spoke in an authoritative manner.
So one of them had to hand the conch sh.e.l.l over, then say in embarra.s.sment, “Yan Ge, what’s this conch sh.e.l.l called?” Within Shi Yan’s gang of buddies, they called each other brothers and all of them called Shi Yan “Third Brother”, while outsiders call him “Yan Ge”. These twins evidently knew his alias, so they respectfully called him ‘Yan Ge’.
But Shi Yan didn’t care, and didn’t appreciate the respect either. He took the conch sh.e.l.l and placed it in He Nuo’s hand, “If someone dares to s.n.a.t.c.h something I gave you, I’ll cut his hands off.” Then he glared at the twins.
“You…hurry and go back to eat ba. It’s already so late.” When He Nuo saw him threatening his younger brothers like this, he quickly sent him out.
When He Nuo was reading books in his room at night, he heard someone knock on his window screen. He walked over to the window with a puzzled expression, “Who?”
“Of course it’s me! Open the window!” It was Shi Yan’s voice.
He Nuo was afraid that mosquitoes would come in, so he turned off the light before he opened up his window screen. Shi Yan propped himself up on the window frames, then leapt onto the windowsill. After he entered the room and the light was turned back on, He Nuo then asked, “Why did you knock on the window? I can hear you even if you had knocked on the yard’s door.”
“If you can hear it then won’t others be able to hear it too? I don’t want to see them. I saw that the lights in your younger brothers’ room are off, they’re not around?”
“They’re watching TV at my parents’ room. They usually watch TV as soon as they finish their homework.”
He Nuo had brought He Nuo’s bag over. He took out one of the books that was inside, then told He Nuo the homework for each of his subject one by one. He Nuo interrupted, “Why did you come over so early? Did you skip cla.s.s again?”
“Skipped what cla.s.s? It’s our night self-study session now, it’s not like we have cla.s.ses. Can’t I go home to revise by myself?” As he spoke, he pulled He Nuo over to sit on the bed and took a thermos bottle from his bag and opened it. A cool air wafted out of it.
“What is it?”
“Ice. If you don’t deswell your face, others can see how swollen it is at a glance.” He took out a handkerchief to wrap an ice cube before placing it on He Nuo’s face. Just as it made contact with He Nuo’s face, he dodged it because it was cold.
“Get back here!”
“It’s too cooling, cold.” He Nuo shrank his neck.