TLC: Rin
A few minutes later, the barber efficiently cut a crew cut to Cao Feng. Duan Yuche was still playing with his phone. Hearing “it’s done”, he looked up and saw his new look at glance and he didn’t react for a while.
It was as if he was a different person.
Cao Feng used to be naturally curled. Such a hairstyle oiled quickly and was visibly dirty. If he didn’t comb it for a while, it would be messy. However, after he shaved him flat, Cao Feng’s natural sharp countenance was completely revealed. If he didn’t smile, he looked a little fierce in appearance, looking like a person not to be messed around.
Facing Cao Feng’s gaze as if waiting for him to say something, Duan Yuche commented after a while, “Nice cut.”
Cao Feng showed his smiling eyes.
The barber blew off the cut pieces of hair and uncovered the cloth wrapping him. Cao Feng stood up, looked at himself in the mirror, touched his short hair, and pricked it in his hand.
It was still very early when the two of them went home. When he took off his shoes, Duan Yuche saw him wearing a pair of black socks with several holes in them. He didn’t hold back and said that there were new socks at home, he then brought him a few pairs of socks that Duan Shumin hadn’t worn, so that he could throw away the tattered ones.
“Okay…” Cao Feng was a little embarrassed, and his toes that were exposed through his socks when he stepped on the sandals turned red.
Duan Yuche didn’t have any topics in common with him, but he treated him somewhat politely. He turned on the TV in the living room, told him how to use the remote control, adjusted a few channels, and went back to his room to take a bath.
Cao Feng hadn’t watched many TV programs. The optical fiber signal connected to the village was very poor, and many Hmong people couldn’t speak Mandarin. Even if the government gave a TV set, the elderly wouldn’t know how to use it.
He was very interested in the Duan family’s huge LCD TV. After watching Duan Yuche leave, he went over and touched the TV screen.
Cao Feng liked to study these things, but now wasn’t the time to study. He turned off the TV and went back to his room to get something.
When alone, Duan Yuche liked to listen to classical music and sit on the ground solving puzzles, with a box of chocolates or a bag of langweixian beside him. If he successfully found a piece of the puzzle, he would reward himself with a bite of snacks. There was a knock on the door from outside, the sound was very small, and it took several knocks before he heard it.
Duan Yuche felt that it shouldn’t be Duan Shumin who came back. He took off his headphones and said, “Come in.”
Cao Feng opened the door and stood outside the entrance with his hands behind his back, observing Duan Yuche’s room.
Duan Yuche’s room had a similar layout to his one, but it was larger, with lake-blue walls, white furniture, and a large bookshelf full of books. There were also some car models, airplane models… There was a refrigerator next to the desk, and a white grand piano. There was a large, unfinished puzzle scattered on the carpet, and there were several assembled puzzles hanging on the wall.
He sat on the ground, put down the puzzle pieces and looked up at Cao Feng: “Is there anything wrong?”
Cao Feng nodded. His hand behind him was sweating nervously: “Xiao Che, can I come in?”
“Mn, what is it?”
“Just… this…” Cao Feng walked in slowly, took out the box from behind shyly, and handed it to him.
“For me?” Duan Yuche was stunned for a while, then stretched out his hand to take it.
“Mn.” Cao Feng lowered his head, his eyes always looking at him.
“Ah, thank you.”
He even bought the one with a box set, he had indeed put his heart into this. Duan Yuche raised his head and met his eyes, it was black and pure.
Cao Feng turned red, joy floated in his eyes, and said you’re welcome.
Duan Yuche weighed the box in his hand, it was a little heavy. He didn’t know what it was, beef jerky?
“I’ll open it ah?”
Cao Feng nodded.
Duan Yuche opened the box. It was something new and odd. He didn’t know what it was: “Building blocks?”
“It’s Luban lock.”
“Luban lock?”
“Mn.”
How could Duan Yuche know what Luban lock was? He didn’t even know who Lu Ban was. Cao Feng stretched out his hand to him. Duan Yuche gave him the object. He demonstrated it to Duan Yuche and explained what the Luban lock was.
Seeing that he split the building blocks into exquisite small parts, Duan Yuche was somewhat novel: “Did you make it?”
Cao Feng mned again. Duan Yuche glanced at his hand. The palm of his hand was very large, and it looked like a hand that often worked. He said sincerely: “It’s quite impressive.”
Duan Yuche’s mother was an installation artist. This was a new type of art. She did various large scale installation art exhibitions all over the world. Usually an exhibition lasted for several months and she wasn’t at home all year round. Whenever she went out, she would make a small toy for Duan Yuche. Sometimes it’s a small robot, sometimes it’s a puzzle game. His mother asked him, “Tommy, can you solve this before Mom comes home?”
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.
It’s just that when he repeatedly disassembled the toys and assembled them again, she still didn’t come home.
Gejc Temtf abbx atf Oeyjc ibmx jcv atbeuta bo tlr wbatfg ktb kbeiv wjxf absr obg tlw, jcv ofia j ilaaif wbgf ojnbgjyif lwqgfrrlbc jybea tlw: “Ktjcx sbe, P ilxf la nfgs wemt. Lbk vlv sbe wjxf la?”
Jjb Mfcu kjr fnfc tjqqlfg ktfc tf rjk atja tf ilxfv la, ktlmt qgbnfv atja tlr lclalji kbgglfr kfgf mbwqifafis eccfmfrrjgs: “Pa’r wjvf bo kbbv.”
“I know it’s wood, I mean… how did you come up with it?”
“The people in our village can do any craft handed down by our ancestors.” Since a thousand years ago, their Hmong Village had been self-sufficient. Even if they didn’t have contact with the outside world, they could self-circulate. Cao Feng gave him the parts, “Didi, try it.”
After taking the parts from his hand, Duan Yuche habitually said thank you in German.
Cao Feng didn’t understand, and asked, “What?”
“Oh. Danke means thank you, it’s German.”
Cao Feng heard Duan Shumin say that his younger brother could speak several languages, which was enough to surprise him: “German? Xiao Che can speak German?”
“Of course,” Duan Yuche played with the new toy with a nonchalant expression. “When I was a child, my neighbors were all Germans, and most of my classmates were French. I can speak dozens of foreign languages…”
“Dozens of languages?” Cao Feng couldn’t close his mouth, he was very amazed.
Duan Yuche glanced up at him, and then smiled, with undisguised pride in his eyes: “It’s all simple curses… Um, there are only a few languages at communication level,” He said, counting with his fingers, “German, French, English and Chinese. Of course, I don’t speak Chinese very well…”
In fact, he thought that his Chinese proficiency was very good, and he could speak so many foreign languages. He’s simply a genius, alright?
But there’s no need to show off in front of Cao Feng. Cao Feng didn’t even speak Mandarin as well as his half-baked Chinese.
Duan Yuche asked casually while putting together the Luban lock, “By the way, which ethnic group are you from?”
Cao Feng said he was of Hmong ethnic group.
“Oh.” Duan Yuche held his chin and asked curiously, “Then why the surname Cao?”
He stared at Cao Feng’s dark but heroic face. His facial appearance was somewhat sharply shaped, with deep black thick dashing eyebrows, but his eyes were very clear. Under these eyes was a tall and straight nose, and even the shape of his lips was beautiful.
His facial features were very handsome, but his taste was something people wouldn’t dare to flatter.
Cao Feng explained in poor Mandarin that he had a Hmong name, and then explained his name in a bird language that Duan Yuche didn’t know at all.
“…what?” Duan Yuche didn’t understand it at all. Hmong sounded more complicated and obscure than many foreign languages.
Cao Feng repeated it again, but Duan Yuche still didn’t remember it. He only heard something big root, which was four words.
Cao Feng said, “When I was in school, the Han teacher gave me the name Cao Feng, and I’ve been using it since then.”
“Oh, so that’s it,” Duan Yuche chatted with him patiently, “Then how do you curse in Hmong language? Can you teach me?”
Cao Feng said “ah”, a little dazed, not knowing how he could make such a request.
“Just swear words ah.” Duan Yuche had a serious face, “I can speak swear words in dozens of languages. If you teach me how to curse in Hmong, I will also teach you… teach you French, okay?”
Cao Feng’s face turned a little red in an instant. He was used to being insolent when he was a child. Of course, he said a lot of swearing. Moreover, he was young at that time and didn’t know what he was talking about. Only when he grew up did he understand how vulgar it was. But saying something like that in front of Duan Yuche, he couldn’t muster the courage at all. After hesitating for a long time, he taught him a word: “It means idiot.”
… How could this be called swearing?
Duan Yuche didn’t know what to say, so he changed the topic again: “So you guys go to school and learn Chinese?”
“Chinese must be learned.” Cao Feng replied, “The teachers are all Han nationality. The state has a 15-year compulsory education policy, and many support teachers came.”
Duan Yuche knew this kind of poverty alleviation policy, and Duan Shumin had been doing this for a period of time: “Do you study English?”
Cao Feng said they did study.
Duan Yuche heard that his Mandarin was so bad, so he knew that he definitely couldn’t speak English well. He didn’t continue this topic, and asked him how old he was.
Cao Feng said that he was seventeen years old and soon eighteen.
Duan Yuche had known that he wasn’t young, because he looked very mature. If he didn’t say it, he would have thought that Cao Feng would have been twenty years old, but if he said seventeen or eighteen… If you look at it seriously, it seemed that he looked like this age, but a little taller than others of the same age.
After chatting for a long time, he didn’t manage to piece together the Luban lock in his hand back to its original shape, but in Cao Feng’s hands, it was restored in a few seconds. Duan Yuche was amazed and asked him who Lu Ban was.
Quite unexpectedly, Cao Feng knew a lot, and told him about Lu Ban and what Luban lock was.
This was seemingly simple but condensed with extraordinary wisdom.
Not long after, Duan Shumin went home and was surprised to see that the two children were actually chatting.
He also thought that with Duan Yuche’s temperament, it was absolutely impossible for him to chat with Cao Feng. He also planned to have a proper chat with him tonight, tell him the real situation of Cao Feng, and let him restrain his temper. After all, not everyone grew up being soaked in a big honey jar.
Unexpectedly, when he went home after gym, they became friends?
Duan Shumin was particularly gratified. Sure enough, he was of the same age, and there must be a common topic to talk about.
Cao Feng left his room. Duan Shumin sat by the bed, and asked them what they were talking about a moment ago. Duan Yuche said it’s nothing: “Just Lu Ban, ancient history, Mid-Autumn Festival, Warring States Period and so on…”
“It’s the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period.” Duan Shumin corrected him.
“Oh, Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period.”
Duan Shumin smiled. This child recognized half of the words, and often confused some common sense. He touched his wallet and took out a pile of money: “Tomorrow is Saturday. Dad has to go out tomorrow. Take him out for a good meal, and then take him to buy some clothes and shoes. Dad took him to buy today but he refused. Don’t go to too expensive stores to spend, and buy two thicker clothes. The weather will be cooler in a few days.”
Duan Yuche mned twice and agreed.
“By the way, you two have to get the mumps vaccine, otherwise you’ll be in trouble if you get the infection.”
“Got it…”
Duan Yuche always liked to stay in bed in the morning, not to mention that it was Saturday. He wanted to sleep until he woke up naturally, but Duan Shumin, who was going out, made breakfast early in the morning and knocked on the door. He got into the quilt and refused to get up: “I don’t want to eat, don’t call me, it’s annoying ah…”
Duan Shumin went in and saw that he was wrapped like a silkworm pupa. He couldn’t find a place to start at all, so he grabbed his feet through the quilt: “I’ll give you ten seconds. Get up quickly and go to sleep again after eating breakfast. ”
Cao Feng stood at the door and didn’t dare to come in.
Duan Shumin couldn’t wake him up at all. With great difficulty, he finally got his head out of the quilt. Duan Yuche just closed his eyes and muttered coquettishly that he didn’t want to get up: “I had insomnia last night. I didn’t sleep at all. I’m so sleepy. I’m still trying to get some sleep.”
His son’s time in bed was getting longer and longer as days passed. Duan Shumin glanced at his watch, and he’s almost late. He didn’t have the time to continue to waste on Duan Yuche, and Duan Yuche obviously knew this. He opened his eyes a little and urged, “Go to work, don’t worry about me.”
Duan Shumin really had no choice: “Then you must get up, eat breakfast, and be obedient.”
Duan Yuche muttered that he knew, then buried his head in the quilt again, covering his whole body tightly. The air conditioner’s temperature in the room was turned low, and he was used to sleeping with a quilt.
Duan Shumin pushed aside the quilt corner: “Don’t sleep tightly covered.” Then he adjusted the temperature of the air conditioner to sleep mode, went to the door of the room, and said to Cao Feng, “Uncle is going to work first, Xiao Feng, wake up your younger brother later…”
After speaking, he realized that this task might be a bit difficult for Cao Feng, and it would make Duan Yuche unhappy, so he added: “If he doesn’t get up at noon, just tell him to get up and eat something. Heat it up in the microwave. He won’t want to sleep after eating.”
Duan Shumin took out a few renminbi from his pocket, and stuffed it to Cao Feng without counting it: “Go out for lunch with your younger brother later, and let him take you to buy a few new clothes. It’s also time to buy long underwear and long johns. And shoes, buy two more pairs, one pair is not enough.”
“No, Uncle Duan, I can’t take this money. You…”
“Okay, okay.” Duan Shumin shoved the money directly into his trouser pocket and said in a conciliatory manner, “I’m late for work, so I’ll leave first.”
Duan Shumin hurriedly went out and the car drove away. The huge villa was extremely quiet, and the six meter high dome looked very empty.
There were two sandwiches left for Duan Yuche on the plate on the dining table and a glass of pure milk.
Cao Feng got up early and helped Duan Shumin cook together. Watching him slice the bread, heat the sliced bread, take out slices of tomato and ham from the refrigerator, and heat the milk in the microwave, he basically knew some of the uses of this modern kitchen.
Seeing that it was still early, he quietly entered his younger brother’s room.
Duan Yuche’s sleeping posture wasn’t very disciplined. The bed was very large. He slept with his whole body askew, and he wasn’t also properly covered in the quilt. His pajamas were rolled up, revealing his belly. His long thick eyelashes were drooping, his face was pressed against the pillow, and his lips were slightly parted.
Cao Feng stared for a while, then stood up and went out.
–
Duan Yuche fell asleep and was awakened by the vibration of his phone. Unsurprisingly, it was Duan Shumin. He asked him if he was up.
“I got up a long time ago.” Duan Yuche yawned and went out of bed in a daze.
Duan Shumin explained to him a few things that he had to do today. He urged him to take Cao Feng to buy clothes, take him to school to get his school uniform, and get vaccinated.
“Okay, okay…” Duan Yuche responded perfunctorily. While walking towards the kitchen, he heard a “ding” sound.
It’s the sound of a microwave oven.
Their kitchen was semi-open and very huge, but it’s not used much. It was basically only used in the morning. Duan Shumin would prepare a sumptuous meal when he had time. If he didn’t have time, he would make oatmeal for him or buy on the way.
Duan Yuche headed inside, wanting to eat something. He suddenly caught a glimpse of Cao Feng kneeling on the floor tile. There was a scattered sandwich on the ground. Cao Feng’s butt was stuck out and he’s blowing on the sandwich.
“…what are you doing?” Duan Yuche was startled by him again.
Cao Feng hurriedly turned his head and said sorry embarrassedly, “The breakfast is cold. I want to heat it up for you, but it’s too hot.” He had an extraordinary interest in electronic products and appliances. In the morning, he saw Duan Shumin use it like this. He just tried it once. As a result, once he took it out, he was scalded.
Duan Yuche noticed the microwave oven’s door that was opened, as well as the sandwich on the plate. He understood it all at once, and somewhat didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Pick it up and throw it away, it’s all fallen on the ground, don’t eat it.”
Cao Feng nodded in embarrassment, picked up the sandwich on the floor, but didn’t throw it. He said, “There are still half of the cookies left. They are clean. They didn’t fall to the ground. They were made by your father this morning, and there is milk.”
Duan Yuche said he got it, took a glass of warm water, and when he looked back, he saw Cao Feng gobbling the sandwich that had just fallen to the ground into his mouth, and almost choked: “Didn’t you eat this morning?”
“I’ve eaten.” It’s just that he was hungry again. He thought Duan Yuche had enmity because he had eaten too much. He blushed in embarrassment and he wanted to explain but didn’t know how to explain.
Duan Yuche didn’t know what to say for a while. He grabbed the sandwich from the plate and took a bite of it, frowned, put it down, picked up the milk and took a sip: “I’ll go change clothes and take you out later.”
After ten minutes or so, Duan Yuche tidied up and asked Cao Feng to change his shoes.
Cao Feng put on his new shoes, but he was still wearing his own clothes. It was a black T-shirt that was shrunken from washing. It was tightly stretched on his upper body. It was a bit too short. If he raised his arms or squatted down, he would inadvertently reveal his waist, and his legs were wrapped in a pair of low-cost sweatpants. Although it was cheap, his legs were very long, and Duan Yuche even saw him put on a jacket.
“It’s thirty-eight degrees outside, why are you wearing a jacket?” Duan Yuche wanted to ask about it yesterday.
“The money is in the clothes.” His money was sewn under his armpit. This was the safest place, and ordinary thieves were unable to steal it.
“… Leave it at home, no one will steal your money.”
Cao Feng said that he wanted to buy something this afternoon. Duan Yuche said, “You don’t need to pay. My dad gave it to you. It’s so hot, you’ll get heatstroke wearing a jacket. Put it back.”
Cao Feng listened to him and put down his jacket. The two were about to go out, when Cao Feng suddenly remembered something and said, “Wait, Xiao Che, the milk hasn’t been drunk yet, and there are still cookies.”
Duan Yuche knew that he was referring to the sandwich. He waved his hand and said, “I won’t eat it anymore. It’s almost noon. We’ll go out for lunch.”
Cao Feng said wait and ran back to the kitchen under his gaze. A few seconds later, Duan Yuche was stunned to see him come out with a glass of milk and poured it down in one gulp, followed by two or three bites to settle the sandwich he had just left.
It was simply too late to stop him.
“Cao Feng… that’s my leftover.” He felt awkward-——Duan Shumin didn’t even eat his leftovers.
Cao Feng, however, didn’t care and said with a smile, “It’s not good to waste.”
Duan Yuche glanced at him: “Don’t do this next time.”
Taking Cao Feng to buy things was much more tiring than buying things by himself, and it’s very time consuming. He always bought what he fancied, but Cao Feng refused to buy it even if it was suitable and he liked it as it’s too expensive. Duan Yuche was patient, he picked out two suitable long underwear for himself, and went to the hypermarket to choose two sets of long underwear that were on sale for him.
For lunch, it was Japanese cuisine. Duan Yuche liked to eat this, but Duan Shumin disapproved, thinking that there were many parasites on it.
He was also only able to eat a meal once in a while.
He knew that Cao Feng would definitely embarrass himself, so he especially asked for a small private room, but when they entered the restaurant, he took off his shoes and revealed the pair of black socks with holes in them once again! Not only that, but he even bent over and took out a roll of cash from the soles of his shoes in full view of the crowd. The waiter saw it and didn’t react. He was stunned for a few seconds before holding back a smile, saying, “This way, please, both of you.”
Duan Yuche genuinely had never been so embarrassed, and he couldn’t wait to find a place to get in at that moment. He pretended not to see him, walked ahead of him quickly, and entered the room.
The private room was a Japanese-style and sunken style of seat. Duan Yuche sat down and put his feet in the hole under the table. Cao Feng also followed his example and sat down like him in a decent manner.
The waiter left the menu and closed the door.
Cao Feng learned to be smart this time, and waited for the waiter to leave before whispering, “It’s weird that you have to take off your shoes to enter this restaurant.”
“Authentic Japanese food is like this.” Duan Yuche flipped through the menu and watched as he stuffed the roll of money taken out of his shoes into his trouser pocket. He couldn’t bear to remove a pack of wet wipes and threw them to him. “Wipe your hands. What do you want to eat?”
There was also a menu in front of Cao Feng, but they were all fresh dishes that he had never seen before. Something like sashimi, beef sashimi… can they really be eaten?
He couldn’t help but smack his lips, and while dazzled, he saw the jaw-dropping high price.
“These, these are all raw! It’s not even cooked, why are they still selling it at such a high price! We…”
Perceiving what he was about to say, Duan Yuche quickly grabbed the menu in front of him and put it next to him: “Forget it, I’ll order for you. The eel rice here is especially delicious. How about ordering a set meal for you?”
“Xiao Che…”
“Mn?” Duan Yuche looked at him.
Cao Feng scratched his head and said that he wasn’t hungry yet: “I just ate a lot. It’s enough for me to buy two steamed buns with you later when going downstairs. You can order what you like.” When he entered the mall, he saw the breakfast shop outside with one minced steamed buns for five yuan.
Duan Yuche sighed inwardly, and didn’t say anything more. He rang the bell and called the waiter. He ordered two set meals, dessert and grilled sushi, and ordered a Sukiyaki.
Cao Feng didn’t make a sound either. He looked at Duan Yuche who seemed angry and was particularly at a loss. He was annoyed at himself because he always made him angry.
The waiter took away the menu and closed the sliding door again. Duan Yuche took out the wet wipes to wipe his hands and wipe the table. He couldn’t bear it and said, “I’ll take you to buy a few pairs of socks in the afternoon. Didn’t I ask you to throw away those worn out socks yesterday? Why did you wear them again today?”
“It’s already thrown away.” Cao Feng said embarrassedly, “This is another pair.”
Duan Yuche: “…”
Thank you for the chapter!
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
Hahahahahaha. It’s another pair! I should’ve known! 😂
Sorry I thought this was the comment section. Didn’t mean to reply.
Oh i also have quite a lot of socks with holes… I can’t bear to throw them away and I want to stich them back together but I always forget…
Yoooo I can imagine the stress DY is under lmao thanks for the chapter ☺️
Cao Feng is too cute!
thanks for the chapter <3
CF I feel you. It’s nerve-racking to go shopping with people who always had too much money on them. They’re wasting so much. I hope that not all of those people are like that :’D
Danke for the ch xDD
DYC abt to lose it 💀💀
Thanks for the chapter! <3
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
What are you doing with those poor socks??? Stabbing them ??
Thanks 😊