Chapter 4

This includes, but is not limited to, deliberately carrying a book past his classroom while taking out the trash, memorizing key points with a flashlight after the dormitory lights are turned off, and memorizing vocabulary while queuing in the cafeteria.

I stood out so much that even my teacher came to me and praised me for my recent enthusiasm for studying, saying I looked like a high school student.

My brother came to see me. He stood in front of me with his arms crossed, looking me up and down like a big, clumsy guy, and asked if I didn't want my eyes anymore. He said he'd take me to get my vision checked in a few days, and if it got worse, I'd be dead.

...

Yay! My brother talked to me!

Since Su Yu is willing to break the ice, I'm not such a cold person either.

"Is Su Yu here? I need to talk to him about something..."

"Please help me find Su Yu, thank you..."

"Su Yu, come quickly, come quickly, come quickly..."

"Excuse me, could you please call Su Yu..."

I successfully became familiar with their class, and Su Yu would wait for me at the door after each get out of class. I felt very good about myself.

"Brother, let me tell you about our class teacher..."

"Bro, oh my god, my damn classmate..."

"Hey bro, you guys passed this test, right? Let me take a look..."

"Brother, where's your exam room? We should be together..."

If an animal makes a clucking sound, then I must have been in my past life.

It seems my brother has forgotten about my smoking. A prime minister's belly can hold a boat, and Su Yu's belly can hold me.

School wasn't too bad with Su Yu around; he was like my spiritual sustenance. But seeing my dad arrive in his car on Fridays still made me nervous, afraid that my brother would betray me.

My brother put on his headphones and listened to music quietly. I pretended to be nonchalant and looked out the window at the scenery, but my heart was pounding.

When we got home, Mom told us to take our clothes out and put them in the washing machine.

"You can use some refreshing laundry detergent; Yu Yu's clothes always have a strange smell."

I froze, staring at my brother with a blank expression.

He continued picking up clothes with a leisurely air.

This innocent little white lotus!

"Yu Yu exercises a lot every day, so it's normal for her to have a sweaty smell."

"Tsk, do you mean those two steps to your classroom after each get out of class?"

You stinky old man.

...

Brother Xiang.

After my brother finished washing up, he went to his room and lay down. My parents said that since boys are older, they should sleep together, so they made two small rooms for my brother and me. His room is closer to the bathroom, and mine is next to his.

It was almost my brother's bedtime, so I took a shower for less than five minutes and then went outside. Sure enough, I got a slap from my mom.

"You can come out after you've washed yourself clean? Your brother said you smell like sweat. Go back inside and wash again."

I squeezed out a huge dollop of shower gel; it's sure to make my brother smell amazing.

Clutching the pillow, I crept into my brother's room, peeked through the crack in the door and saw the light was on. I tiptoed in and put the pillow away. Then, I quietly picked up a corner of the blanket and snuggled up to my brother.

"Su Yu!!!"

The Queen Mother of the West is calling me.

Some people might ask, "My brother and I have the same name. If we don't use nicknames, how can we tell us apart?"

It's simple: whatever my mom can yell at the top of her lungs, and whatever my dad can shout in a calm voice.

just me.

hey-hey.

"You used so much shower gel and didn't rinse it off! With your dad's build, if he slips like that, the three of us can't even lift him up! You better rinse it off right now!"

I heard my brother chuckle softly. The snow-white blanket covered most of his body, leaving only half of his head exposed, and the strands of hair on top of his head trembled slightly with his body.

My mom was supervising the work, and once she saw that I had cleaned it thoroughly, she told me to go home.

I crawled back inside. The air conditioning was cold, but my brother's bed was warm.

I woke up in the middle of the night because of the heat, but I was too sleepy to keep my eyes open, so I closed them and pondered, trying to calm myself down.

Something gently lifted my hand; the delicate touch ruled out my father, and the light pressure ruled out my mother.

Oh, it's my brother. It's nothing.

Su Yu pretended to be asleep, while Su Yu held my palms in both hands, examining them over and over. She then separated my fingers one by one, rubbing the joints and pinching the fingertips.

Then I felt a warm breath flowing into my fingers; before that, the air between my fingers had been sucked away by something.

Su Yu put my hand under his nose and smelled it, then put my hand together and kissed my palm.

My heart is pounding.

"Grow up quickly, you naughty child."

Su Yu put my hand under the blanket and fell silent.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no! Coming to my senses, I opened my eyes wide in the darkness.

What is this feeling? It's so strange. A flood of complex emotions rushed into my mind, and the image of Su Yu from when she was little kept popping up. She kept calling out "Yu Yu" and "little brother."

I moved closer to my brother and tugged at his clothes to sleep.

"Brother, younger brother, I am the older brother."

I can almost picture a tiny, sleepy-eyed baby, Su Yu, holding Su Yu's tiny, nose-sized fingers. Su Yu will definitely look at me intently as I introduce myself as his older brother.

When it was broad daylight, I opened my eyes but didn't see my brother's profile; instead, I saw under the bed. I don't know if I rolled off or if my brother kicked me. I hope it's the latter.

"Is your bed warm, bro? Why are you sleeping on the floor?"

It looks like my brother kicked it.

"You're in high school and you still wet your pants, aren't you ashamed, Su Yu?"

My mom came in to bring my brother some dry clothes and saw me lying on the floor.

Wet my pants? I haven't done that since I could write with a pen, okay? Then I looked down and saw that there really was a wet spot. My mom threw a piece of clothing at my face and told me to get out of there and go to the bathroom.

My brain was still fogged up from just waking up, and the steamy bathroom made me dizzy. I took a quick, perfunctory shower. I peeked through the crack to see where my mom was—good, she was out of sight. When I came out, I saw my brother washing up.

His loose pajamas draped over his thin shoulders, and his collarbones, like a seagull spreading its wings, were faintly visible as he brushed his teeth. He probably had just gotten up and hadn't even finished getting ready when his mom called him for breakfast; the back of his pajamas was still tucked into his blue cotton pajama shorts.

"Just a moment, I'll be done soon." Su Yu finished brushing her teeth and took a towel into the bathroom. There was still toothpaste foam on the corners of her mouth.

"You go wash up first, I'll go wash my face inside." The bathroom wasn't very spacious, so Su Yu squeezed in sideways and pushed me to the sink.

A splash of cold water on my face instantly woke me up. I'd already washed my handsome face thoroughly in the shower, so I leisurely brushed my teeth.

Su Yu and I use the same toothpaste... and the image of that bit of toothpaste on Su Yu's lips comes to mind again.

So this is what it tastes like.

My mom called us to have breakfast, so I pulled out two chairs to wait for my brother. He came out of the bathroom, his face still steaming.

"Hey, are you using the new shower gel Mom bought? The rose scent smells nice, but I don't think it suits you."

...

I was wondering why there was a fragrant smell that was giving me a headache, and I'm grateful for my brother's explanation.

Got it, I like a refreshing taste.

I lingered in my brother's room for a while longer, watching everyone chatting enthusiastically in the class group chat. I couldn't understand how strangers could become so familiar with each other so quickly.

"Brother, how are things going with your classmates?" My brother was packing our clothes for our return to school.

"That's fine. They say that good friendships formed in high school can last a lifetime, especially in high school. Let's take it slow."

Su Yu stood up and stretched, then asked me to massage his back.

Will my relationship with my brother grow even closer in high school? But we're already brothers, which is much more important than friendship.

"Ouch!" I accidentally pinched too hard when I was distracted. It left a red mark on the bottom of my neck.

I instantly knelt before my brother, begging for mercy. Su Yu gently patted my head, telling me to stop fooling around and get up.

After lunch, Dad took us to school. The smell of the dry school uniform filled me with dread about going to school and attending classes.

The familiar scene outside the window annoyed me; there were even dogs sunbathing by the roadside at traffic lights.

Why is there so much sun to beat on? It's so annoying. I turned my head back, and my brother was nodding off, looking like he was about to fall asleep.

I looked at him; the scent of laundry detergent on him was the same as mine.

How many days will this scent last? Why can't I get this pleasant smell out every time I rub it in?

I gave my schoolbag to Su Yu, and I was responsible for the larger pieces of luggage. My brother was in charge of my larger piece of luggage.

Su Yu tidied up my and his closets, then put my sheets on and plopped down on the bed.

I pulled out a box of snacks from under the bed. It was full of all sorts of snacks I had saved up. I thanked my brother for helping me tidy up the dorm and told him not to be shy and to take whatever he wanted.

My brother didn't hold back either, and rummaged around for two packs of instant noodles and a bag of chicken feet.

"What is this?"

My brother pulled one out from the very corner... one...

cigarette case.

It's over.

I slid down to my brother's knees again, clasped my hands together, and remained silent. I closed my eyes, awaiting my final judgment. My brother didn't take the cigarette away; he told me to put this thing under my pillow so he could check it anytime, and if it was gone, I was doomed.

Thank God, I obediently stuffed the stolen goods into the designated spot. But I just can't remember ever putting the cigarettes there. Oh well, my brother forgave me.

My brother glanced at his watch and, seeing it was almost time, dragged me back to the classroom to study. I secretly turned on the air conditioner; it was just the two of us, and it was quite cool. The air conditioning in his classroom wasn't very strong, so I let him enjoy himself for a while before going back.

Just then, my good deskmate Qiu Jiajia arrived, and my brother was sitting in my seat tidying up my desk drawer.

"Su Yu, hurry up and show me your math..." She hurriedly pulled out her schoolbag and looked up to meet my brother's gaze.

"Bro, my math homework is in the second folder in my bag. Could you get it for me?"

I'm sitting with my big face facing the air conditioner, feeling the chill of capitalism, and I'm quite happy.

Su Yu took out the test paper and handed it to Qiu Jiajia.

"Oh, thank you, brother!"

If I heard correctly, Qiu Jiajia even used a high-pitched voice...

Actually, I mostly learned how to do my homework by looking at my brother's work.

Su Yu tidied up a huge pile of "trash" from the table: various scraps of paper; exam papers more wrinkled than the kitchen rag; empty snack bags...

There's also a lighter.

Su Yu told me this later, because when he got it, he saw me staring wide-eyed at the air conditioner vent, and after weighing the options, he took it away.

Qiu Jiajia's desk was clean and tidy. My brother told me to learn from her, and Qiu Jiajia nodded repeatedly.

Later, Qiu Jiajia asked me if I was her biological brother, and I immediately said yes.