Chapter 48 (1/2)

The courtyard they came to play in was similar to He Nuo’s single-storey house. It’s just that the student’s family who owns this place had already moved to another building, so this house was currently vacant. Thus, its window’s gaps weren’t sealed during winter1. There were only the two of them in this room, so it wasn’t as warm as in the main room where there were a lot of people. He Nuo immediately felt the gust of cold air that poured in through the window gaps and couldn’t help but shrink his neck back. Shi Yan saw this, so he pulled his overcoat up and wrapped it around He Nuo even more tightly, “Cold?”

“It’s still okay, I think wind is leaking in through the windows.”

“Sit over here.” Shi Yan exchanged positions with him so that he was the one who sat nearer to the windows, “If it’s cold why did you go out just now?” Shi Yan saw him hold the mutton skewers, so he knew that He Nuo had went to the courtyard.

“I wanted to see how they barbeque things. They kept stealing bites here and there, w.a.n.g Feng and the rest didn’t get any when they rushed out and now they don’t even bother trying to fight for it anymore.” He Nuo smiled as he told Shi Yan, “If you go now, you’ll be able to eat some.”

“I’m not eating that, how nice can their barbequed meat be?” Shi Yan said with disdain, but since He Nuo mentioned it, he actually felt hungry now, “Are you hungry too? I even asked you to eat more during dinner but you didn’t, and now you’re actually eating their food.”

“I ate so much, how could I be hungry now? Are you hungry? I’ll get an apple for you.” When He Nuo heard Shi Yan ask ‘are you hungry too’ he guessed that Shi Yan was the one who was hungry.

“Sit down, who asked you to move? I’ll go get it myself.” Shi Yan walked to the door, but returned to the bed again and threw a mask at He Nuo, “Wear it. Take it off when I come back in, or else our grand master will get sick again with the opening and closing of doors.”

Shi Yan came back with two other girls. The three of them all sat on the bed, so it suddenly seemed a bit cramped. He Nuo felt especially uneasy. Actually, Shi Yan had been even closer to him before this; like when they sat together on his bed during the summer holidays, or during the one and only time they played together in the snow — he had all kinds of physical contact with Shi Yan before but none of those times felt as awkward as it did now.

The three of them had brought a few apples along with them. Canned fruits and other popular food items had long since entered the stomach of the others, but luckily Shi Yan showed up so there were some people who contributed the apples they had. Shi Yan picked up some apples to select which one to eat, “Which one do you like to eat? Red delicious apples or golden delicious apples?”

“Any. I’m not hungry, let them eat it.” He Nuo couldn’t tell which one was nice, the concept was alien to him.

Shi Yan took one red and one golden apple, then pushed the rest towards the girls. He used his handkerchief to wipe the red delicious apple before he pa.s.sed it to He Nuo, yet he only used his hands to clean his own golden delicious apple before he took a huge bite. He Nuo saw how he ate the apple and realised that he’d finish his apple in just a few bites, so he pa.s.sed his own to Shi Yan, “I’ll give this to you too.”

“I asked you to eat it so just eat it, you think I like eating this? If I wasn’t hungry, I wouldn’t even have touched it. At most I’ll eat a few apples per year, so one is enough for me.”