Chapter 34 Adopted Brother [VIP]

Qingran lowered her eyes: "Why didn't you change into shorts and slippers before going out?"

Pei Xuhui looked down at his pants and shoes, which were so wet they could be wrung out, and guessed that his feet were already wrinkled from being soaked.

"I forgot," he said casually.

More than that, he wanted to say: "Although the water has receded, the room still smells muddy and damp. Don't sleep in the dormitory tonight; let it air out for a couple of days first."

Qingran: "Then where will I sleep?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm asking," Pei Xuhui looked down at him, "It's not like we haven't slept together in cramped conditions at home before. You came all this way just to say this?"

Then Qingran shook her head and said softly, "I'm hungry."

They look so cute and cuddly.

Pei Xuhui's heart softened: "Little ancestor, you really know how to manipulate me." He smiled and raised his hand, then, feeling that his hand was dirty, he leaned down and gently touched Pei Xuhui's forehead.

After finishing, she straightened up and said, "Wait a little longer, I'll go to the cafeteria to buy you food after I finish cleaning. Or would you like to eat something from outside the school?"

He frowned as he spoke.

With the floodwaters rising this high, I wonder if the shops outside the school are still open.

Qingran also sighed, realizing how weak and helpless he must have been in Pei Xuhui's heart.

Explanation: "What I mean is, I paid someone to bring us food from the cafeteria, it should be here soon. When will you be finished? I'm hungry."

"Not bad, you've learned to share the workload with your brother." Pei Xuhui said this after hearing it, looking very pleased.

After observing for a while, Qingran confirmed that Pei Xuhui was genuinely pleased and not deliberately trying to be sarcastic towards him.

"..."

Paying someone to buy him food counts as sharing the workload? I'm really curious what kind of image he has in Pei Xuhui's mind.

Looking back at the dormitory, Pei Xu replied, "It'll be quick, at most twenty minutes. If you're starving, go back upstairs to eat when you get your food. I'll be back when I'm done."

Qingran indicated that she understood.

He didn't offer to help; getting water is such a hassle these days, with long queues visible from the dormitory building, so he decided not to waste hot water.

However, he secretly used his spiritual power to help out a little when no one was looking.

A few minutes later, Qingran and his classmates finished cleaning their dormitory ahead of schedule.

The student who bought the food hadn't returned yet, so Pei Xuhui told Qingran to go back to the dormitory to take a shower first.

I came out just in time for dinner.

The other roommates had already eaten instant noodles and were now lying in bed in various positions, talking on the phone with their families or surfing the internet.

Upon seeing this, Pei Xuhui told Qingran, "I've already told them about you sleeping here tonight, and they have no objections."

Qingran nodded: "We haven't contacted our families yet."

The management at No. 1 High School is not particularly strict; boarding students are allowed to bring mobile phones, but only for use in the dormitory to contact their families.

To prevent students from playing games at night, the dormitory building not only implemented a power rationing policy, but the school also cleverly omitted electrical outlets when building the dormitory.

Pei Xu pushed the opened rice bowl in front of him: "You eat first, I'll get the rest."

After saying that, he went to his locker, unlocked it, and took out his phone.

Press and hold to power on. After the vibrating stops, several missed calls and unread messages will appear on your phone.

The boy glanced down and quickly scanned the area, and sure enough, he didn't see the names of his unscrupulous parents.

He walked to the table and sat down, not taking it seriously: "I've received calls and messages from my maternal grandparents and paternal grandmother."

Grandma is Pei Xuhui's grandma, and maternal grandparents are Qingran's maternal grandparents.

Because Qingran had been fostered by the Pei family for many years, Yu's maternal grandparents also had the contact information of other members of the Pei family.

Pei Xuhui, who often accompanied Qingran home and took meticulous care of him, was regarded by the two elders as another grandson.

Sometimes I even feel that he spoils Qingran too much and makes her misbehave.

As he moved, Pei Xu played Qingran's grandmother's number on speakerphone and placed it on the table.

The phone rang twice before I answered.

Grandma Yu's loving voice came through the receiver: "Xu Hui, I heard that Qing City is flooded. Are you and Ran Ran alright at school?"

Pei Xu replied while eating, "Grandma, Ranran and I are fine. The school is closed due to flooding, and we are resting in the dormitory."

Upon hearing the name "Ranran," Qingran silently looked up and glanced at him.

"Why hasn't Ranran's phone been turned on?" Grandpa Yu asked with some concern as he moved closer to the phone.

Pei Xu replied, "Ranran is in my dorm right now. There's a bit of a smell downstairs after the flood, so I told him to sleep with me for the night."

"Grandpa, Grandma," Qingran spoke up at the right moment, "How are things on your end?"

The two elderly people were relieved and comforted each other, saying, "It's fine, it just rained heavily for a while, the water didn't rise."

"Don't worry about us. You and Xu Hui take good care of yourselves at school. Come to Weixian for a visit during the holidays. Grandma will cook you something delicious."

After chatting for a while, they ended the call, and Pei Xu then called his grandmother to let her know he was safe.

Grandma Pei is someone who knows how to enjoy life.

Pei's family has chain supermarkets all over the country, so they should have plenty of money by now. But she still insisted on finding something to do, calling it "pursuing value," and opened a small supermarket near her home.

As a result, the supermarket opened but didn't care much about business. Instead, he would meet up with his card-playing friends at the entrance every day, and he was happier even if he won a dollar or two than if he sold any goods.

The card players play cards whenever they have free time, and when they don't, they watch TV in the supermarket. In short, they are very good at managing their time.

Grandma Pei was relieved to learn that the two were alright.

Upon learning that Pei's parents had not contacted them, he immediately cursed them as unreliable, saying he would call them to demand an explanation, and then angrily hung up the phone.

After making two phone calls, we had almost finished our meal.

Pei Xu returned from taking out the trash and saw Qing Ran staring at him with interest: "What's wrong?"

Qingran said, "I remember when you made a child cry while playing cards, and all the parents in the neighborhood came to our door to complain."

He heard about this from Grandma Pei.

It is said that Pei Xuhui was only four or five years old at that time. Because he was taken care of by his grandmother for a long time, he learned excellent card skills.

When the adults weren't looking, he somehow won all the snacks, toys, and pocket money of all the children in the district, including elementary and middle school students.

"Why did you stop winning later?" Qingran asked curiously.

The original owner moved next door to the Pei family when she was five or six years old, and she never remembered seeing Pei Xuhui playing cards outside.

Pei Xu replied, "...Why think about dark history? As for playing cards, I won once and then it wasn't interesting."

Versailles!

He Anzhou pulled back the bed curtains and complained.

...

I slept soundly through the night, except for a little incident in the middle of the night.

Anyone who has lived in a dormitory knows how cramped a single bed is. If two tall, long-legged boys squeeze together, the space becomes even smaller.

Given these circumstances, Pei Xuhui had no choice but to hold Qingran as he fell asleep that night, embracing him like a large doll.

Qingran adjusted herself into a comfortable position in the boy's arms and fell asleep.

I was half-asleep when I was woken up by the scalding heat behind me late at night.

At first, he thought Pei Xuhui had gotten a fever from waking up in the water during the day, but then he noticed something unusual between his legs and thought for three seconds.

The timing was wrong, and the location was wrong.

Pei Xuhui would never touch him before he came of age.

So, regretfully and decisively, she turned around and woke the boy up.

The next day.

Pei Xu, who had been yawning since getting up, looked back at Qing Ran with a resentful gaze: "You heartless little thing, it's just a normal physiological reaction, why won't you let me sleep?"

He didn't know what was wrong with him last night; he couldn't get his responsiveness down. Every time he fell asleep, Qingran would wake him up.

“If you fall asleep, I won’t be able to sleep,” Qingran said matter-of-factly.

Its presence is so obvious, it's no different from hanging a delicious piece of meat in front of your nose and not letting you eat it.

Pei Xu raised an eyebrow: "So you'd rather you sleep than let me sleep?"

Qingran tilted her head: "Isn't that what you think, brother?"

Pei Xu replied, "...Yes."

Even though he knew the other party was spoiled and arrogant, he was still completely under her thumb.

Overnight, the floodwaters receded in the city, including No. 1 High School.

The school organized students to do a thorough cleaning, and after clearing away the mud and garbage brought by the stagnant water, they also arranged for people to spray disinfectant.

Because of the pungent smell of disinfectant, students at No. 1 High School were given a three-day holiday, including Friday and the weekend.

Upon hearing the news, Pei Xuhui secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't want to have trouble sleeping every night, nor did he want to make Qingran feel wronged by having to go back to the dormitory, since the dormitory building had also been sprayed with disinfectant.

That would be perfect.

The two packed their things and took the subway home.

After the Pei family became wealthy, they bought a villa in Yongjing Villa, one of the most expensive areas in Qing City, with an elegant environment and a gathering place for the powerful and wealthy.

Grandma Pei, however, disliked the large but desolate place, finding it not lively enough, and continued to live in the old town.

Pei's parents offered to hire a nanny for her, but she was unwilling, saying that she would do it if she was interested, and if she wasn't, she would just go out and find a cheap restaurant to eat at. Wouldn't that be better than hiring a nanny to be just for decoration?

Pei's parents had no choice but to let her go.

There was probably no one at the villa except for the housekeeper who came regularly, so Qingran and Pei Xu went back to Grandma Pei's house first.

As you get closer, you'll see a mahjong table set up outside the supermarket with a red sign. Four stylishly dressed elderly women, around sixty years old, are playing mahjong and gossiping, creating a lively atmosphere.

"Grandma." The two approached and greeted her, then explained the reason for the holiday and went inside.

My fellow card player at the table said enviously, "Wow, your two grandsons are really handsome."

Grandma Pei was extremely proud when she heard this: "Of course, not only is he handsome, but his grades are also excellent. He has never given me any trouble."

The truth is that she doesn't care at all whether her grandchildren are doing well or not, but she is very happy to attend parent-teacher conferences.

In the supermarket.

Pei Xuhui skillfully took snacks from the shelf for Qingran: dried fruit, nuts, chicken feet, duck necks, spicy strips...

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone opening the freezer and casually reminded them, "If you want to eat ice cream, you can't eat spicy food."

Qingran stopped what she was doing and turned around nonchalantly, muttering to herself, "I'm all better now."

Pei Xuhui remained silent, making a gesture as if to put the chicken feet, duck neck, and spicy strips back.

"Pei Xuhui!" Qingran said, puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

Pei Xu replied, "Calling me brother won't help." His raised eyebrow and light smile exuded an indescribable air of carefree elegance.

There's a rest area upstairs in the supermarket, where you can pick out your snacks and head up.

Although Pei Xuhui did not allow Qingran to eat ice cream, he washed grapes and strawberries for him as a substitute.

He put down the fruit plate and sat down by the window: "Eat."

Take out your exercise book.

Qingran glanced at her and asked, "Do we still need to do practice problems at this stage?"

Pei Xu replied, "Before leaving school, my teachers gave us a few challenging problems to solve."

He is used to solving problems as soon as possible, and he always feels constrained and uncomfortable if he puts them down at the last minute.

Across from him, Qingran quietly watched him while eating strawberries.

The boy, relaxed and leaning back in his chair, wore a blue and white school uniform that signified his identity. After reading the question, he fell into deep thought, his eyes serious and focused, and he made a small gesture of twirling his pen while thinking.

It was a beautiful hand, with long, slender fingers and well-proportioned, not thick, knuckles, but prominent veins on the back of the hand, and subtle muscle lines in the forearm when moving.

"Pei Xuhui, will you go abroad after graduation?"

Why would I go abroad for no reason?

The boy who was asked the question asked a strange question in return, and finally guessed a certain possibility: "Or do you want to go abroad for a trip?"

Qingran shook her head: "Just asking."

He pulled the other person's hand, which was casually placed on the table, and laid it flat under his face.

"What's going on?" Pei Xuhui found it quite amusing; the action resembled a kitten nuzzling its head against his palm.

With a slight lift of a finger, the head, nestled obediently in the palm of the hand, moves up and down accordingly.

With her eyes closed and letting herself move freely, Qingran said, "I'm sleepy, I want a pretty pillow."

So he used his hand as a pillow?

A helpless yet tender feeling welled up in the boy's heart, like a cotton candy blender had been installed inside.

With just a little bit of ingredients, the sweet sugar threads will grow more and more as you stir them, until they fill the entire heart, overflowing from the chest and solidifying into the shape of another person.

Pei Xu thought to himself that whether he was studying abroad or traveling, he would definitely take Qingran with him when he went abroad.

Qingran's question is really unnecessary.

A note from the author:

Thanks for watering! *kissing*

Reader "Waaa Crying Ali" watered the plant with 10 nutrient solution.

Reader "Tree Without Thoughts" watered with nutrient solution +1