Chapter 9

Han Hong scrutinized Meng Yuxiu from head to toe over and over again. Meng Yuxiu stiffened under his gaze. If he were stared at like that by other classmates at school, he would definitely give them a cold look and then ask, "What are you looking at?"

But in front of Han Hong, who acted like an elder, and on someone else's turf, Meng Yuxiu could only awkwardly grip the wooden handle of his sickle with his fingers.

Han Shuo was completely oblivious, still standing there with his hands on his hips, grinning from ear to ear. Meng Yuxiu truly wished he had a special ability to convey meaning to Han Shuo's eardrums without making a sound.

Then he must have used invisible sound waves to deafen Han Shuo's ears.

What are you still standing there for?! You idiot!

But he didn't have that ability, so he could only awkwardly purse his lips. Just as he was worrying about how to ease the embarrassment, he suddenly remembered something, quickly took out a handful of candy from his pocket, and then bent down to give it to Han Ting, who was sitting on the edge of the field.

Luckily, he was quick-witted. Before leaving home, he thought it would be embarrassing to go to someone's house empty-handed, so he brought the wedding candy he had brought from the wedding banquet last time. Sure enough, after a handful of candy, Han Ting helped distract him.

"Wow, Meng Yuxiu, you even brought snacks!" Han Shuo exclaimed happily. "That's great! Why are you being so polite!"

Han Hong then told his son to quickly thank his brother.

"Thank you, brother." Han Ting held a handful of colorful candies in both hands, his little face beaming with joy. He tugged at Han Shuo's trouser leg, "Uncle, peel the candy."

"You little glutton." Han Shuo squatted down to peel a candy for him. "Eat one first, and save the rest for when we get home, okay?"

Okay~

Han Hong was very polite to his son, who had eaten someone else's candy. He said to Han Shuo, "Shuo, since your classmate is here to tutor you, you shouldn't stay in the fields. Go home."

Han Shuo: "It's nothing, Meng Yuxiu said he would help us harvest the rice."

"I can't possibly ask your classmate to do the work," Han Hong said with a smile, looking over again. "Xiao Meng's clothes will all get dirty."

Meng Yuxiu forced a smile and said awkwardly, "It's alright, brother... we can work faster together."

Han Shuo fed his nephew a piece of candy and said to his older brother, "It's okay! Just wash the clothes if they get dirty, right, Meng Yuxiu?"

Meng Yuxiu nodded.

"Let's go, let's harvest the rice!" Han Shuo had already pulled Meng Yuxiu down to the field.

Seeing this, Han Hong didn't say anything. The couple next door, who were taking a break, teased him, "Han Hong, you have an extra helper at home today?"

“He’s my son Xiaoshuo’s classmate. He’s here to tutor him.”

The woman from the neighboring field clenched her hands and laughed: "Where is this child from? He's really good-looking, tall, with a pretty face, and very refined."

Han Hong understood what she meant, and he smiled and said, "You've gone off on a tangent, sister. My son, Xiao Shuo, is still young and needs to study hard."

"What do you mean 'young'? When I was your Han Shuo's age, my Dingding had already given birth." The man from the next field patted Han Hong on the shoulder. "I think this boy is quite nice. He even rode his bicycle here. Your Han Shuo has good taste. Besides, let him study. It's not like he has any connections. He can get married after graduation. If he finds someone himself, it will save you, as his older brother, from worrying about him."

Han Hong secretly thought to himself, "You two are so easy to talk about, as if you're not the ones who suffer the consequences."

He looked at the two boys whispering to each other in the field and couldn't help but feel worried.

"Do you know how to harvest rice?" Han Shuo couldn't help but tease Meng Yuxiu after he went into the field and rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt neatly. "Wow, you're so particular about harvesting rice, like you're doing homework."

After the joke, Meng Yuxiu was seen holding a sickle in his left hand.

Han Shuo exclaimed in surprise, "Damn, Meng Yuxiu, are you left-handed?"

"Um."

"Hey, is your left hand any nimble? Be careful not to cut yourself. Let me tell you, this sickle is really sharp. My brother spent almost half an hour sharpening it on a whetstone last night."

Meng Yuxiu found Han Shuo to be a pretty good person, aside from the terrible impression he had during their first fight. After getting to know him better, he was honestly quite nice. Hearing Han Shuo's concerned words, Meng Yuxiu smiled and said, "It's alright, I'll be careful."

"Okay, I'm just worried you might accidentally cut your hand. What if you cut off a finger from your right hand? How will you do your homework then?"

After hearing what Han Shuo said through the crow's mouth, Meng Yuxiu took two deep breaths and then gritted his teeth and said, "I said I'm left-handed. Even if all the fingers on a left-handed person's right hand are cut off, they can still do their homework with their left hand."

Han Shuo was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant and burst into laughter, squatting down next to the rice stalks and laughing loudly: "Damn, I really admire myself. You know what? I just subconsciously thought that everyone writes with their right hand. It's hilarious. Just a second ago I was asking you if you were left-handed, hahaha."

Meng Yuxiu rolled his eyes speechlessly, ignored Han Shuo, and began to bury himself in harvesting rice.

With Meng Yuxiu joining them, the three young and strong men worked even faster. By six o'clock in the evening, not only had all the remaining rice been harvested, but Han Hong had also threshed two baskets of rice in the rice mortar. Seeing the red sunset on the horizon, he tidied up, picked up his load, and called Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu home.

"Alright!" Han Shuo picked up Han Ting in his arms, while Meng Yuxiu went to push the bicycle.

A pair of old-fashioned bicycles caught Han Ting's eye, making his dark eyes gleam with longing. Seeing this, Meng Yuxiu asked him, "Would you like to ride in one?"

Han Ting was shy and clung to his uncle's neck, twisting and turning. Han Shuo laughed and said, "If you want to sit, just tell that older brother."

Han Ting made a soft "Mmm" sound, then buried her head in Han Shuo's shoulder and whispered sweetly, "Uncle..."

Han Shuo was both amused and exasperated. He placed him on the back of the bicycle and reminded him to hold onto the seat in front.

Upon hearing this, Han Ting immediately gripped the handle tightly with both of her small hands.

Han Hong carried the load on his shoulder, and the journey back to the village was quite a challenge for him. The village was small, and everyone could recognize someone at a glance, knowing whose child they were or whose brother they were. But Meng Yuxiu was a stranger, so the villagers who came out of the fields pulled Han Hong aside and started gossiping with smiles.

Han Hong looked at the two people in front of him, his expression truly indescribable. Some people in the village get married young, but they are also very traditional, and it's rare for the couple to have private contact before marriage, which inevitably leads to gossip.

Han Hong could only manage to get by the whole way, saying that Han Shuo's grades were bad and Meng Yuxiu was helping him with tutoring.

The Han family's house was located at the end of the village, a two-story wooden house with a narrow dirt road leading to the village entrance. After Meng Yuxiu arrived with the Han brothers, he parked his bicycle by the dirt road.

Han Hong first placed the two baskets of millet he had collected under the eaves, then invited Meng Yuxiu to come inside and sit down. "Little Meng, you must be exhausted today. Sit down, I'll make you a bowl of sweet tea."

Meng Yuxiu had just drunk water in the field when he saw Han Hong, who had just entered the house and was about to go back to work, so he stood up and declined, saying, "No need, brother, I'm not thirsty."

Han Shuo said from the side, "Brother, don't bother. He'll tell you if he's thirsty. Isn't that Meng Yuxiu?"

Meng Yuxiu nodded in agreement.

Since that's the case, Han Hong said, "Alright then, I'll cook dinner for you."

As he spoke, he went outside to the eaves. There were neatly stacked firewood branches in the corner of the wall. He pulled out a few branches and stood outside calling for Han Shuo to come out.

Han Shuo walked out of the house and asked his brother what was wrong.

Han Hong whispered, "Xiao Meng helped us all afternoon. Go to the butcher at the village entrance and buy some meat. We'll make braised pork with chestnuts for dinner."

"Did the butcher slaughter any pigs today?" Han Shuo asked.

"Yes," Han Hong told him. "These past few days, everyone's been having feasts after the rice harvest, and they slaughtered a pig this morning. You should go and buy some."

As Han Hong spoke, he took out a few banknotes from his pocket and handed them to Han Shuo, "I need to hurry up and cook, otherwise it will be difficult for Xiao Meng to ride her bike when it gets dark."

Han Shuo said casually, "It's okay, we can take it slow. He's not going back; he'll be staying at our house tonight."

"What?!?" Han Hong exclaimed in shock.

Han Shuo was startled by his reaction, "Holy crap, what are you doing, bro?"

Han Hong glanced quietly into the room, then lowered his voice and asked Han Shuo, "You just said... Xiao Meng wants to stay overnight at our house? That won't do."

"Why not?"

Han Hong put on a stern face and said seriously, "Won't the villagers gossip about that?"

Han Shuo really couldn't stand the ethical relationships in this world. Not only was male homosexuality prevalent, but it was also abnormal to bring a man home? Did men not have any pure friendship in this world? It was simply outrageous.

"What are you gossiping about..." Han Shuo said speechlessly, "I'm not dating Meng Yuxiu, so why can't he stay overnight? Besides, I already told him, and he helped out all afternoon. Am I supposed to let him go back? You said it yourself that it's hard to ride a bike in the dark. What if he falls into a ditch and gets crippled on his way back at night? Then he'll really be blaming me! Don't you think so?"

After Han Shuo finished speaking, Han Hong broke out in a cold sweat. He said worriedly, "Then, then you go buy the meat first."

Han Shuo entered the room and was about to call Meng Yuxiu to come with him when Han Hong quickly stopped him: "Hey, Shuo, Meng has been busy all afternoon, let him rest. You can go by yourself."

Han Shuo knew his brother was worried that he and Meng Yuxiu would wander around the village together and cause gossip. Not wanting to be nagged by his brother, he told Meng Yuxiu to stay at home.

But Meng Yuxiu had no idea that the two brothers had just whispered something. He was naturally shy, and his first instinct was to say, "I'd better go with you."

Unable to resist Han Hong's enthusiastic invitation, he had no choice but to sit back down on the stool.

Han Shuo went to buy meat while whistling, leaving only Meng Yuxiu, Han Hong, and Han Ting in the house.

Han Hong was busy at the stove, while Meng Yuxiu sat there awkwardly. He stood up and said, "...Brother, let me help you start the fire."

"No, no, no," Han Hong said with a smile. "How can we let the guests light the fire? Just sit down and relax."

Meng Yuxiu had no choice but to sit back down.

Han Hong deftly put the rice into the pot with cold water, steamed several dishes, covered the pot with the lid, and then sat down behind the stove to light the fire.

While tending the fire, he secretly glanced at Meng Yuxiu, who was sitting at the table.

Meng Yuxiu sat very upright, with his back straight, his long legs neatly together, and his hands on his knees.

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Han Hong was looking at him, but to avoid embarrassment, he pretended to be blind.

He really hoped that Han Shuo's nephew was a naughty child, so that the house wouldn't be so quiet except for the crackling of firewood in the stove.

Han Ting, however, was curious about the stranger. She moved a small stool and sat down in front of Meng Yuxiu's legs, tilting her head back with her big, dark eyes unblinking.

Several minutes passed, and no one spoke in the room. Meng Yuxiu's Adam's apple bobbed stiffly, and he swallowed hard.