Embedded Files
Psst! We're moving!
“Jiang Beibei, come here!” Early in the morning, Chu Yao’s mother opened the door, and the aroma from the kitchen wafted out. She called out, “Freshly fried yellow croaker! First come, first served!”
Hearing the sound and smelling the scent, Jiang Beibei immediately perked up and shouted, “Me, me, me!”
Though slightly disabled, she was determined and enticed by the food. With one leg hopping to the neighboring house, she leaned on the wall and raised her hand, “Auntie, it’s me! I want some!”
Chu Yao’s mom withdrew her hand and lifted her chopsticks, “If you call me Auntie, I won’t give it to you.”
Jiang Beibei cheekily said, “Captain Yao!”
“Nope, nope!”
Jiang Beibei: “Oh... I feel shy calling you that, then... Brother Yao’s Mom.”
Chu Yao’s mom tapped her head with the chopsticks, “Trying to slip through is not allowed.”
“No, no, Auntie, it’s too early to change the way we address each other right now.” Jiang Beibei said, “I haven’t even processed it yet; I always feel like a little scammer who has swindled you and Uncle.”
Chu Yao’s mom replied, “What did I lose? Your son? Pfft, he’s the least valuable thing in our house. Nearly thirty years of freeloading off us, eating and drinking, and becoming less lovable every day. If he’s been scammed away, so be it. You can have him for free, just take him away quickly.”
Jiang Beibei couldn’t help but laugh, “Hahaha, I’ll tell Brother Yao how low his status is in the family!”
“He knows it himself. That kid only has one advantage, which is self-awareness.” Chu Yao’s mom fed her a piece of fish and turned to shout into the house, “Chu Wuchang, aren’t you going to work? Hurry up!”
The two families had sat together yesterday to decide on an engagement date. After consulting the almanac, the earliest possible date was next month. Jiang Beibei let out a big sigh of relief, her expression clearly showing ‘Thank God, dodged a bullet.’ Turning her head, she saw the astonished looks from the Chu family, including Chu Yao.
Before Jiang Beibei could explain anything, she heard Chu’s mom say, “I understand.”
Turning around, she grabbed Chu Yao and gave him a beating, “What did you do! Making Beibei so afraid!”
Chu Yao felt extremely wronged. After much thought, he still didn’t know why Beibei looked so relieved upon hearing the later date, making it seem like he was forcing marriage upon her.
Thus, beaten and utterly perplexed, Chu Yao returned home, lying awake until the early hours of the night. He spent half the evening in the corridor catching a cold breeze and finally fell asleep at dawn.
Chu Yao rose wearing a dressing gown with two very noticeable dark circles under his eyes. At that moment, Chu’s mom was feeding Jiang Beibei fish with chopsticks. Chu Yao came over, directly snatched the fish, chewed, swallowed it, ruffled Jiang Beibei’s hair, and went to wash up.
Had Chu’s mom not been holding a bowl, she would have surely delivered a black tiger paw strike to make her son spit out the fish. She sneered, “Are you a cat? Eating fish without brushing your teeth! Are your hands itchy? Do you want them anymore? Messing up a girl’s hair is a bad habit. If you mess up her hairstyle, I’ll break your hand! Lao Chu! Bring the knife!”
Lao Chu brought the knife.
Before putting toothpaste on his toothbrush and sticking it in his mouth, Chu Yao retorted, “Put the knife away, for goodness’ sake, leave me intact for Beibei.”
Jiang Beibei chuckled, “Brother Yao is right. Uncle, keep the knife for cutting fish.”
Because of her foot injury, Jiang Beibei couldn’t follow the team for outdoor shoots temporarily, so she took a vacation and stayed idle at Tang Xizhou’s house. Fortunately, Song Lang’s shooting had ended. Huang Yuanbao didn’t want to miss such a good opportunity and arranged a film crew to prioritize filming Jiang Beibei.
Jiang Beibei: “What are we shooting? A day in the life of a heroic mother?”
Huang Yuanbao asked, “What’s that?”
“Strange, you’ve never seen it at your age? The Grand Empress Dowager Hotel? Palace Jade Wine costing 180 yuan a glass, do you know about it? It’s a sketch from that era. Buying tofu required calling a car, Sima Gang smashing the vat… Have you never heard of these?”
“Oh, I remember now.” After marveling, Huang Yuanbao scolded, “Every time I talk to you, the conversation goes off track! Let’s get serious, no distractions or digressions allowed!”
“This is what I call ‘loose form but focused spirit.’ Talking to me is the art of prose; you mortals don’t understand my ethereal ways.”
“Hahahaha, stop farting nonsense, Big Cat Song!”
“Eh! Yuanbao! How did you learn this phrase too?” Jiang Beibei said, “Welcome to the mutual impact family of catchphrases. Let me tell you, my second brother used to have a catchphrase, ‘F*** Big Cat Song,’ and after three days, all of us learned it. Every time we opened our mouths, it was ‘F*** Big Cat Song.’ Big Cat Song trembled those few days, looking at us strangely...”
“Hahaha, you guys sure have heavy tastes...”
Three seconds later, Huang Yuanbao: “Jiang Beibei! Off topic again!! I’m sending the filming crew over this afternoon to shoot you resting at home. Hongyu will conduct a simple interview, asking some questions.”
“Let them come, it feels weird... Colleagues interviewing each other.” Jiang Beibei rolled over and said, “I’m on the first floor, at my second brother’s place.”
“Great, great, great! This way, your second brother can also get into the shot.”
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Beibei rolled over on the sofa and started calling Tang Xizhou, “Second Brother, Second Brother, I want ice cream!”
Tang Xizhou, biting an unlit cigarette, was slicing pineapple in the kitchen. He gritted his teeth and said, “What ice cream! Don’t say ‘ice’ alone, either say ice cream or popsicle. Don’t maliciously omit words. Do you know this is drug addicts’ slang?”
“Oh.”
With nothing else to do, Jiang Beibei picked up Tang Xizhou’s lanyard name tag and started playing cat’s cradle.
Tang Xizhou brought the pineapple over, and Jiang Beibei opened her mouth, letting out an “ah.”
“Still need feeding?” Tang Xizhou sat down in front of the coffee table, picked up a toothpick, wolfed down the food, and said, “If you want to eat, get up. If you’re slow, I’ll finish everything and leave nothing for you. Thinking of having food handed to you while lying down? Dream on, you won’t even dream of it!”
“You really got that wrong.” Jiang Beibei, who had studied ballet, elegantly and swiftly sat up on one leg and snatched the fruit, “I actually dreamed of lying on a chaise lounge, surrounded by several cute boys wearing only small towels around their waists, feeding me grapes and fruits, each one as fit as you, Second Brother.”
Tang Xizhou almost swallowed the toothpick, “You really don’t treat me as an outsider, daring to say such things.”
“That’s because I love my Second Brother the most.”
“Bullshit.” Tang Xizhou said, “Cuddling Yao’er in your arms and saying you love me, tsk tsk.”
“Hahaha... I’m sincere, isn’t this what you said? About sibling affection, you can differentiate.” After laughing, Jiang Beibei felt somewhat empty, “Second Brother, it’s so boring, so dull. Let’s play something.”
“What to play? Two-person poker? Or a game of grabbing fruits to eat?”
Jiang Beibei flopped back onto the sofa and said, “...I want to do something big!”
“Do you want to climb the roof and dismantle tiles, or achieve world peace?”
“I want to sleep with Brother Yao.”
Tang Xizhou fell silent for a few seconds, sighed deeply, and said, “So, are you coming to me for advice or giving me a heads-up?”
“Mmm... For advice.” Jiang Beibei swung her legs, eyeing the ceiling, and slowly said, “I still feel there’s a distance between Brother Yao and me. I asked Yuanbao, and she told me the same thing you did—just look at the eyes... Why can’t I grasp it?”
Tang Xizhou asked, “Tell me what happened last time?”
“Brother Yao forgot his house keys, so he slept on my bed.”
“And then you couldn’t resist at night and went to sleep next to him?”
Jiang Beibei gave him a strange look, “...Second Brother, if I tell you that Brother Yao and I just covered ourselves with a blanket and slept purely, would you believe me?”
“I believe it.” Tang Xizhou said, “Yao’er lives with a sense of ritual. He has his own rhythm, which is normal.”
Jiang Beibei fiddled with the knitted sofa cover, softly asking, “Second Brother, do you think I understand Brother Yao?”
“Stop kidding yourself. Is there anyone in this world who can truly understand another person? Many people don’t even understand themselves by the time they die, let alone others... Girl, you think too much nonsense, never thinking in the right direction. Don’t be a giant in thought but a dwarf in action. Thinking about it a billion times in your head, staying in the same place, is still empty.”
“Second Brother, how did you and Big Brother get together?”
“You can’t refer to us.” Tang Xizhou lit a cigarette, took a drag, and said, “Every relationship has its unique way of interaction. Besides, my situation with the boss is special. Not to mention gender issues, even putting us in the same circle, we are both special. Real life isn’t like those BL novels you read. Since I became a police officer, I’ve seen too much in reality. Even heterosexuals find it hard to maintain a lifelong partnership, let alone homosexuals. Fixed partners are rare, and those who can live together peacefully are even rarer.”
“I know a bit about this.” Jiang Beibei sat up, leaning against the soft sofa cushion, and sighed, “This world is so complicated, with so many unpleasant things...”
“So, pursuing beauty is precious.” Tang Xizhou glanced at her, raised his long eyebrows, and smiled, “Sister, Yao’er is a good person, very precious. Your taste is excellent. When you reach my age and meet more people, you’ll realize how good he really is. He enjoys being a true human every day, living earnestly with his beliefs without being stubborn. We are all fortunate. Thinking about the brothers around you, including myself, sometimes makes me happy. At least we are human.”
“I know.” Jiang Beibei’s voice choked up with genuine emotion, “I know, we are all so lucky, everyone is very kind... Second Brother is the best.”
“Tsk...” Tang Xizhou felt a bit embarrassed, lowered his head, and smiled, recounting the day he and Yan Qingming exchanged glances and fell in love, “It’s also a miracle when I talk about it with the boss... My first year as a SWAT, I went for a physical exam, and the boss checked my eyes. We sat very close, you’ve been to an ophthalmology checkup before, right? Those small square stools. I was the last one in our team, just sitting there. He held my head with his hand and made me look into his eyes. I joked deliberately, Boss, if you keep looking, will you fall in love with me?”
Jiang Beibei bit her finger and listened with a full smile.
“The boss just replied, if you stare at each other for eight seconds without moving your gaze, it’s love at first sight. We don’t need that; one glance at you is enough.”
“Wow! Big Brother can be romantic too!” Jiang Beibei couldn’t help but applaud.
“That day, I waited for him at the hospital entrance after he finished work. I asked him, one glance is enough, does this mean I can’t stand you, or does it mean love at first sight? The boss said, we don’t need love at first sight with you, but I’m serious. When I looked at his eyes at that moment...” Tang Xizhou reminisced, his eyes turning gentle, “Even now, I can still savor that feeling. Eyes with warmth, you know just by looking... There aren’t many moments like this anymore, after all, it’s almost seven years of itchiness, but thinking about that feeling makes me feel alive. Love, in the end, lives in beautiful memories, reliving this fluttering sensation day by day.”
Jiang Beibei rested her chin in her hands, listening attentively, full of envy.
Tang Xizhou said, “You and Yao’er, you two are different. It should be an age difference issue.”
Jiang Beibei thought Tang Xizhou meant she was too young and immature, reluctantly saying, “The difference isn’t that big...”
“What I mean is, Beibei, you probably don’t know, transitioning from a sister to a woman is a very painful process. If someone harbors feelings for you, this transition becomes excruciating. Captain Yao threatened us a long time ago, perhaps when you were in sixth grade. It wasn’t really to remind us but to remind Yao’er and Sier more, since they were in puberty at the time. Captain Yao was afraid they would develop feelings for you and reminded them to maintain boundaries in daily life. He wouldn’t let any of us be alone with you...”
Jiang Beibei understood what Tang Xizhou meant and nodded, “Aunt Yao is really nice.”
“So this transition will be very painful. I think even now, you and Yao’er haven’t clarified the boundaries.” Tang Xizhou said, “My situation with the boss is different. We are of similar age and don’t have much moral burden. But Yao’er is different from you. When he became an adult, you were still a little girl. Someone as strict with himself as him wouldn’t harbor any thoughts about you. When you grew up, he wanted to change roles, and the boundary between being a brother and a boyfriend became blurred, definitely causing discomfort. Girl, let me ask you, when you say you feel distant from Yao’er, is that distance because he’s too polite?”
“A bit.” Jiang Beibei thought carefully and was slightly surprised, “I always feel that Yao’er is struggling.”
“You need to give him time to adapt, and so do you. Calling him Brother Yao all the time, plus Aunt Yao raising you like her own daughter, girl, it’s easy for him to feel like he’s playing German osteopathy!”
“Wow, Second Brother, impressive, you know about German osteopathy!”
“This is still something your big brother taught me.” Tang Xizhou digressed, “There was a colleague at your big brother’s workplace before, an orthopedic surgeon. That shameless guy had ulterior motives towards his younger sister. After being discovered by his father, his leg was broken and he was exiled from the country.”
“Hahaha, my goodness, really?” Jiang Beibei slapped the sofa and laughed loudly.
“So, change your way of addressing him.”
“Then I...” Jiang Beibei thought of Chu Yao’s sudden impulse that night, with a hint of excitement, whispered, “Just call him Chu Yao?”
“Try it.” Tang Xizhou said, “Names are key to role transitions. One name represents one role. For example, if you call me Second Brother, I enter Second Brother mode. If you suddenly call me Team Leader Tang one day, I’ll be on high alert, entering work mode. It’s different; the brain distinguishes these things. Sometimes small details also affect the progress of a relationship.”
“Thank you, Second Brother!” Jiang Beibei felt enlightened and confidently said, “I’ll try calling Brother Yao today and change how I address him.”
Tang Xizhou sighed when he heard her unintentionally still calling him Brother Yao, “Alas, the long march... it’s difficult.”
He took out the game console and threw her a controller, “Come on, the love workshop ends. Let’s play games. I never expected I could become a relationship expert...”
“Second Brother, start an emotional consultation on Weibo, you’ll definitely become a big V!”
“Come play co-op, don’t drag me down!”
“Second Brother, those with good skills never say that. They say, don’t worry, play however you want, I’ll carry you!”
“Get lost. If I weren’t injured, I’d be good at gaming!” Tang Xizhou had injured his arm, which hadn’t fully healed. His hand would shake when picking things up, and his reaction was slower than usual.
The two were in the heat of battle when the lock suddenly clicked, and the key turned a circle, opening the door.
Jiang Beibei and Tang Xizhou turned their heads and saw Tang Xizhou’s mom standing outside the door, her face filled with surprise.
“Mom?”
“...Beibei is here.” Tang Xizhou’s mom was momentarily stunned and asked, “Beibei, I heard you’re getting engaged?”
“Not yet.” Jiang Beibei smiled sweetly, “It’s too early, let’s talk about it later.”
“Oh...” Tang Xizhou’s mom pondered thoughtfully.
Google Sites
Report abuse