While the two were in the hospital, they received a call from Duan Shumin, asking why they had not returned home.
“Something happened, we’re in the hospital now.” Duan Yuche couldn’t think of any good excuses, so he had to follow Cao Feng’s lie and said, “It’s just…he saw some injustices, a hooligan on the street, and got in a fight, so he’s a bit injured.”
“Is the injury serious?” Duan Shumin really was very worried. “I’ll come to the hospital to pick you up right away.”
“No need.” Duan Yuche said. “We’re about to take a taxi back.”
Save for the glass wound on his neck and the injuries on his face, the other parts of his body were fine. Cao Feng didn’t seem to feel much. It was just that the wind outside was very strong, and when it blew on Cao Feng’s face it felt like being cut with a knife.
Late at night, the streets were desolate. There were some pedestrians using their umbrellas to block the wind, and the umbrellas were slashed and rattling.
Duan Yuche could also feel the strong wind. Seeing the school uniform that Cao Feng was wearing ballon up in the wind, he couldn’t believe that it would be so cold at the end of October.
“Stay behind me and avoid the wind.” After Cao Feng finished speaking, he stood at the side of the road to wave down a taxi.
His back was broad and wide, as reliable as a wall. Duan Yuche looked up, and saw the gauze on the back of his neck, where he had nearly twenty stitches. There was still dark brown blood at the back of his head.
After getting in the car, they stopped feeling like they would be blown away by the wind, and Cao Feng told the driver their address. The car radio was currently reporting the latest news on the typhoon Lekima, saying that areas such as the coast of Linzhou might be affected.
“Typhoon?” Cao Feng used to live in the mountains, and he had never encountered such a thing. He only saw the word typhoon in geography books.
“There was a typhoon last year too.” Although the car was warm, there was an unpleasant smell. Duan Yuche couldn’t help but open a window, and in between breaths, said: “We had a few days off at that time.”
“We get days off because of typhoons? It’s that serious?”
“There may be heavy rain, causing a tsunami. People walking on the street may be blown away by the wind.” Those were all things Duan Yuche had seen on the news. When typhoons were severe, it would cause heavy casualties. But Linzhou was never that seriously affected, and only experienced the ripple effects of the disaster.
When they got home, Duan Shumin was waiting for them in the living room. He looked at Duan Yuche first, and was relieved to find that he was in good shape. Then he looked at Cao Feng, and saw that he was seriously injured. Duan Shumin was furious: “What happened? Who hit him?”
Cao Feng shook his head: “It was too late, I didn’t see clearly.”
“What street was it on? I’ll call the police station right away and get them to check the surveillance cameras! It’s unbelievable!” Duan Shumin’s identity made things very convenient, especially in this city.
“It was an alley, there was no surveillance there. It’s okay, Uncle Duan, I went to the hospital to deal with it, and there wasn’t any problem.”
Duan Shumin’s face was tense: “How are you going to go to school like this? Should I get you a day off?”
Cao Feng said there was no need: “My hands and feet are fine, I can run and jump, and I still have medicine to reduce swelling and blood stasis, so I don’t need to ask for leave.”
Duan Shumin couldn’t help it, and sighed quietly. Xiao Feng was so good in every sense, except for his stubbornness. Skipping one day of school was nothing. What student hadn’t gotten sick even once?
But when Duan Shumin thought about it, he had been the same when he was studying, too. Even when he was sick, he still wanted to go to school. He was the youngest son in the family, and it wasn’t easy for his parents to raise him. The entire family contributed for him to study, so he worked harder than anyone else.
But after he unexpectedly failed the college entrance examinations, he went to a teacher’s school, and thus began his dream of raising a child who could get admitted to a prestigious university.
He was just about to send the two kids to go rest, when Duan Shumin suddenly remembered something. He said, “I saw the cake on the table, Xiao Feng, did you make it yourself?”
Cao Feng nodded in embarrassment: “I made it for didi.”
“Then that’s just nice, we’ll share the cake and go to bed. The rest will be tomorrow’s breakfast.” Duan Shumin said this, and Duan Yuche had no objection. It was Cao Feng’s handmade well-wishes, so he would eat a bite.
The recipe was one Cao Feng had found on the internet. He had carefully selected ingredients from the supermarket, and even though he was a frugal person, when he was buying ingredients for this cake he bought all the most expensive ones. The top layer was covered in a layer of big strawberries, and drizzled with a layer of dark chocolate. It was the absolute most simple cake ever.
The appearance wasn’t that good, but there was nothing lacking in terms of taste. Before Duan Yuche brought a small piece back to his room, he said to Cao Feng, “You have a good rest.”
“Didi, good night.”
Cao Feng returned to his room, took off his clothes and took a shower. It was only then that he found some bruises on his body from the beating.
Cao Feng reflected on his actions as he showered, but felt that he had done nothing wrong.
*
Duan Yuche sent a message asking how Grasshopper was doing, and apologised to him on behalf of Cao Feng, but Grasshopper didn’t reply. Duan Yuche sat on the bed and opened everyone’s presents. They were all small things – a night light, a leather belt, and so on. Only Cao Feng’s gift had the most care put into it.
Since his mother’s passing, no one had made a gift for him like this. Duan Yuche took out the small crystal ball, wound the spring, and listened to “Für Elise” in his quiet room.
Duan Yuche shook the crystal ball and put it on the bedside. He was about to go to bed when his phone vibrated suddenly. He turned it on, and found that it was a QQ message from Cao Feng.
“Xiao Che, I’m sorry about what happened today.”
“Happy birthday, didi. I hope you will always be this happy.”
The anger in Duan Yuche’s heart had already dissipated long ago, and he replied with an emoji, which meant good night.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ktf cfza wbgclcu, ktfc tf uba eq, tf rjk j yief kbbiifc rbmx tjculcu ys atf yfv ilxf j klcv mtlwf.
Gejc Temtf ibbxfv ja la obg j ktlif, atfc rja eq jcv gfjmtfv bea ab ajxf atf rbmx.
Qtfc tlr wbatfg rfca tlw yjmx ab Jtlcj, rtf tjv rqfmlolmjiis abiv Gejc Vtewlc rbwf bo tlr tbyylfr jcv tjylar: “Kbwws yfilfnfr lc atf rabgs bo Vjcaj Jijer, rb sbe tjnf ab qgfqjgf Jtglrawjr uloar obg tlw fnfgs sfjg, jcv qea j qjlg bo rbmxr klat uloar ja atf obba bo tlr yfv.”
She had also told Duan Shumin that he liked toys.
The model cars and airplanes in his room were all gifted by Duan Shumin, but Duan Yuche didn’t like these kinds of things.
Duan Shumin remembered to put presents in socks, and then secretly put them at the foot of Duan Yuche’s bed in the middle of the night. Later, he began to do the same on his birthday.
Duan Yuche took out a box from the sock. The box was very light. He shook it twice, and when he opened it, he found two lightweight concert tickets inside.
The seats were the best, but the timing was at the end of the year, and the concert wasn’t in Linzhou. It was a concert organised by the Shanghai stock market, and the performing group was the world-renowned London Symphony Orchestra.
But Duan Yuche was not very interested. He put the tickets back, and stuffed them in a drawer.
*
In the morning, Cao Feng made him a bowl of longevity noodles. The TV was on, and Duan Shumin, who was watching the morning news, turned to look at the gloomy sky outside. “This typhoon is the biggest one in recent years.”
“It’ll be fine as long as we don’t go out. Anyway, once the typhoon warning comes out, school will be cancelled too.” Duan Yuche disagreed. He twisted the long noodles with his chopsticks.
“That’s true.” But as soon as a typhoon came, it would inevitably cause some losses. Just like the butterfly effect, their financial sector would also be impacted. Duan Shumin looked over at his son, and suddenly asked: “Xiao Che, did you see the things in the sock?”
“I saw, thank you Dad, I really like it.”
Duan Shumin naturally knew that he was dissatisfied with this gift. Judging by Duan Yuche’s attitude of only touching the piano once every few months, this child just barely enjoyed music.
But this was not his main purpose of gifting those two tickets.
“Dad has good news for you.”
“Huh?” Duan Yuche looked at him.
“Your aunt will be with that group at the end of the year…” He forgot what musical group it was. “Anyway, she and that group will come to Shanghai together, and you will go to the performance at the end of the year, to see your aunt.”
“Really?!” Duan Yuche stood up happily, and joy bloomed across his face. “That’s amazing! Thank you Dad, did you help me buy a plane ticket already? Are we going together?”
“Dad’s work is the busiest at the end of the year, you know it too. It’s hard to spare the time. If Dad can’t go with you at that time, let your Cao Feng gege go with you.”
Duan Yuche didn’t care about this. No matter whether Duan Shumin went or not, Duan Yuche definitely had to go.
–
Cao Feng went to school with the appearance of a “bad student”, which naturally attracted a lot of attention. As soon as he entered the school, people were looking at him. Cao Feng himself said: “I beat up a hooligan.”
Ma Xiaobo saw that he was seriously injured, and immediately called him into the office for questioning. He said: “If you encounter any kind of trouble or violent behaviour, Cao Feng, don’t hide anything, you must tell your teachers and parents as soon as you can.”
He didn’t want such a good seedling to be ruined by some messy things.
Cao Feng nodded to show that he understood, but he wasn’t afraid of anything. Even if someone came to trouble him, they might not be able to beat him.
He returned to his seat and touched the belt knife in his schoolbag.
This knife never left his side. It was his friend, and even when he slept at night he would keep it under his pillow. In the past, if he encountered danger when going down the mountain, he would take out the knife to protect himself, but here, he couldn’t do so.
After two days of school, the blue typhoon warning came. The school hadn’t given the students leave at this time, because the blue warning was nothing, until a day later, when it started to rain heavily. The dark sky thundered and lightning flashed, and raindrops as big as beans hit the windows, making a terrifying and violent sound. The curtains in the classroom ballooned up like clouds, and the students sitting by the windows were struggling to close them.
In the morning, the Meteorological Department issued a white warning, and at noon Ma Xiaobo was notified that all teachers and students were on leave because of the typhoon.
The students were happy again. Those who had to make a phone call made a phone call, those who had to pack up their schoolbags packed their schoolbags, and everyone, students and teachers alike, went home.
Cao Feng had already searched on the Internet. This typhoon was a “tropical storm” level, and the damage potential was huge. This typhoon leave would probably last several days.
Cao Feng wouldn’t be able to go to class for many days, and he was a little worried, so he put all the textbooks he might need into his schoolbag and took them home. There were so many books that his schoolbag couldn’t even hold them all, and he still had to carry his Oxford English-Chinese Dictionary in his arms.
Duan Yuche didn’t pack anything, but voluntarily offered to help carry a few textbooks for him, and started calling Xiao Zhang.
Xiao Zhang said: “Young master, the traffic jam is too severe. Just wait for a bit, I’ll come by a different route. I’ll call you when I’m almost there, and you can come out when I’m right outside. The flooding from the rain is up to our feet now.”
So Cao Feng and Duan Yuche had to sit in the classroom and wait. Cao Feng continued to do practice questions, but Duan Yuche’s PSP ran out of battery, and the classroom was in chaos, the entire teaching building filled with strange noises. A few boys lay at the windows, looking at the classmates who were struggling in the wind below, and laughed.
Somebody opened the window again, and the wind was making him a little cold. Duan Yuche zipped up his coat.
As soon as Cao Feng saw this, he immediately took off his own school uniform and gave it to him. “Here, you wear it.”
“No, you wear it, I’m not cold.” Duan Yuche saw that Cao Feng was only wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt underneath. How could Duan Yuche have the nerve to take his jacket?
“Gege is not cold either. Come feel, my temperature is really hot.” Cao Feng stretched out his hand, and Duan Yuche touched it. His body temperature really was high.
“Xiao Che, put it on, don’t catch a cold.”
Duan Yuche looked at him. Cao Feng’s expression was very sincere, and there was a clear stubbornness in his dark eyes. It seemed that if he didn’t put it on, Cao Feng wouldn’t, either.
Duan Yuche put on Cao Feng’s jacket and stared at the rainstorm for a while, spacing out. Xiao Zhang called and said that he would be there soon: “Your school is too jammed, I can’t find a place to park. Young master, why don’t you and Cao Feng come to the intersection in front of the bus station?”
When the two went downstairs, Cao Feng opened the umbrella in the direction of the torrential rain. The wind was very strong, and it took a lot of strength just to move forward.
Duan Yuche couldn’t open his eyes because of the wind, and the ground was covered in water. After taking a few steps, the water got into his shoes.
Cao Feng held the umbrella in one hand, and Duan Yuche in the other: “Didi, lean against me, let’s walk slowly!”
Duan Yuche nodded. He helped Cao Feng hold the dictionary, and tilted his head, curling into Cao Feng’s shoulders.
A normally ten minute journey took more than twenty minutes today. Halfway through, Duan Yuche accidentally dropped the Oxford dictionary on the group. Cao Feng bent down to pick it up, and, seeing the dictionary all wet, felt a little heartache. Duan Yuche said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.”
“It’s okay, I’ll dry it with a hair dryer later.”
Duan Yuche was covered in rainwater by the time he got into the car. His hands and feet were all wet, and his face was frozen.
Xiao Zhang apologised and said, “I couldn’t drive in, and there was no way to park outside the school.”
Duan Yuche said it was okay, and Xiao Zhang turned on the heater.
During a typhoon, the weather was much more difficult to bear than even the winters in Central Europe.
Duan Yuche’s shoes got water in them, and even his socks were completely soaked. He felt uncomfortable after wearing it for a while, and bent over to mess with his shoes several times. When Cao Feng saw it, he said, “Take off your shoes and socks if they’re uncomfortable to wear.”
Duan Yuche shook his head to show that there was no need. No matter how uncomfortable he was, he would never do this outside, even if it was in the family car.
Cao Feng also didn’t feel comfortable taking off his shoes. He saw a piece of clothing in the back, probably Duan Shumin’s sports jacket, so he took it off, handed it to his younger brother, and said, “You should take off the wet jacket and wear this.”
Duan Yuche nodded, and after putting it on, Cao Feng asked him again: “Are your hands cold?”
Duan Yuche shook his head.
Cao Feng stretched out a hand, beckoning him to give it to him. Duan Yuche hesitated for a moment, then gave him his hand.
Cao Feng’s hands were very hot.
Duan Yuche was very surprised: “Don’t you feel cold? Why is your body temperature so high?”
“I was born like this.”
Duan Yuche was about to speak, when all of a sudden, he smelled a faint scent of perfume from Duan Shumin’s clothes.
Frowning, he sniffed again.
It wouldn’t be a big deal for an old man to wear cologne. But the key point was that Duan Yuche didn’t think the perfume smelled like a man’s cologne.
It was a very sweet perfume for women.
His face changed, and he immediately took off the jacket.
Cao Feng asked him, “What’s wrong?”
Duan Yuche threw out one word, “Hot.”
Cao Feng couldn’t quite understand Duan Yuche’s thought process, and wasn’t sure what happened to him.
On the rest of the way home, Duan Yuche just leaned against the car door, watching the rain, and didn’t speak anymore.
Xiao Zhang dropped them off and drove away again, this time to pick up Duan Shumin.
Cao Feng and Duan Yuche each went back to their rooms to take a shower. Cao Feng blow-dried the dictionary and let it air-dry on the table. Then he made dinner. Duan Shumin came back, but he didn’t stay for long, suddenly receiving a phone call and standing up hastily.
“Where are you going?” Duan Yuche asked him.
“To run errands.” Duan Shumin put on his coat and glasses, looking a little anxious, “Dad has a friend who is still outside and can’t get a taxi. I’ll drive and pick her up.”
Duan Yuche was taken aback.
What kind of friend was worth him running out in person to pick them up in this weather?
Cao Feng seemed to have guessed it, so he didn’t say a word. Before going out, Duan Shumin said: “You two, be good and don’t go out. If I don’t come back tonight, I might be staying in a hotel outside.”
Duan Yuche let out an “oh” sound.
After dinner, Cao Feng washed the dishes, and Duan Yuche nestled on the sofa watching TV. It was an all-English program without Chinese subtitles, called “Doctor Who”. He was a die-hard fan of the show.
Cao Feng sat with his younger brother and watched for a while, but he didn’t understand much, so he baked a few egg tarts, and set a timer to remind didi to eat them. Then he went to the basement.
His latest invention was a small program related to controlling light switches.
He was only at the basic stages of development, and he was now working on installing it. He had bought a dozen or so light bulbs, and his table looked extremely messy.
Although Duan Yuche liked to watch “Doctor Who”, at the moment, he couldn’t focus on the plot. His mind was full of thoughts. Who was Duan Shumin going to pick up?
A woman. It had to be a woman.
Duan Yuche was very irritable. He thought back to how Duan Shumin often didn’t come home after dinner parties nowadays, and how it all made sense now. He knew that he had no right to interfere with Duan Shumin’s relationship matters, but he was still really scared when facing such a thing. He took Duan Shumin’s jacket again, and smelled it. The smell of perfume was much weaker, replaced by the wet smell of rain after he wore it.
At this time, the oven timer rang, and Duan Yuche came back to his senses. The sweet aroma of the freshly baked egg tarts was unusually reassuring in such gloomy weather. He held the baking tray with oven mitts on, and, after thinking about it, went down to the basement.
“Cao Feng?” Standing at the top of the stairs, he saw the lights flickering below, and wondered what Cao Feng was doing.
Cao Feng heard him and made a noise of acknowledgement. He stopped his work, and went to go see him.
“The egg tarts are done.” Duan Yuche went down the stairs. “You eat two.”
Cao Feng smiled and said yes: “I’ll eat it after I’m done.”
Duan Yuche curiously looked at what he was doing, and then sat down on the only massage chair next to him. Cao Feng was doing welding work. When he looked back, Duan Yuche had already closed his eyes and started getting a massage. He had even put on some music.
Cao Feng didn’t bother him. He finished part of his work after a while and was a little hungry. He looked at the egg tarts on the plate, and found that didi had left two for him and ate the rest. But that picky eater had only eaten the custard, and not the tart.
The egg tart was already cold, but Cao Feng didn’t mind it. He washed his hands and ate it straight away, even eating the leftover egg tart skin.
*
It was very late, and Duan Shumin hadn’t come home yet. Cao Feng sent him a message, and Duan Shumin replied saying that the car wouldn’t work and he was going to stay in a hotel for the night.
“Xiao Che.” Cao Feng called softly.
Duan Yuche didn’t respond. The massage chair had long since stopped, and Duan Yuche rested against the ergonomic massage chair and slept.
“Didi.” Cao Feng called him, “You can’t sleep in the basement, it’s uncomfortable.”
“Didi.”
“You have to go back to your room to sleep.”
“Xiao Che.”
“Tommy.” He knew that when Duan Yuche lazed in bed in the mornings, and Duan Shumin couldn’t wake him up, he would call Duan Yuche by his English nickname.
After shouting a few times, Duan Yuche finally reacted. His eyes were opened slightly, his long eyelashes were drooping, his small face was full of tiredness, and he stretched out his hand to Cao Feng without saying a word.
Cao Feng was stunned for a moment. He wondered, was Duan Yuche asking to be held?
Cao Feng didn’t want to disturb him, so he put his arm around his back and said softly, “Then gege will carry you to bed.”
Duan Yuche made a confused noise: “Hng.”
Cao Feng picked him up.
Didi wasn’t light, but he was easy to carry, because he didn’t resist at all. It was as if he mistook Cao Feng for someone else.
the promised second chapter to make up for missing a week !! i’m late but better late than never, right ~
the term “ripple effect” took me almost ten minutes to find, omg. diabolical
and now duan yuche knows about his dad’s girlfriend, oh no
Thanks for the chapter 🥰❤️
thank you for reading and commenting ~ 💜❤
Thank you for the chapter!❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️
thank you for reading ! <3