twenty four

An afternoon rain made the city air a bit fresher. I stood on the balcony gazing into the distance, my feet itching. I really wanted to go for a walk, but I couldn't; Pengpeng would definitely scold me if he found out. Ugh, I'm so bored.

Pengpeng, who had taken several days off to take care of me, finally went back to work the day before yesterday. Before leaving, he repeatedly told me to stay home and rest, and asked Hua Hong to keep an eye on me so I wouldn't go out and wander around. Ugh, I'm neither a seriously injured person nor an old man with almost no teeth left. Staying home all day like this is going to drive me crazy! I checked my watch; it's already 2:30. Why hasn't Hua Hong come yet? He usually brings me lunch right around noon. What's wrong with him today?

I closed the window, went back to the living room, and sat down. I turned on the TV, but it was still boring. I picked up the oversized cushion Hua Hong had given me and looked at it, and couldn't help but laugh. Does this guy have any taste? Giving me a Doraemon? Does he think I'm a kid? But it's actually quite nice to look at. Anyway, I'm not picky, hehe.

I lay down on the sofa for a while when the doorbell rang. Thinking it was Hua Hong bringing food, I happily hurried to open the door. Sure enough, it was him, but there was another person behind him—someone I'd never seen before. Who was it?

Hua Hong handed me the lunchbox and asked with a smile, "Are you hungry?"

I took the lunchbox, walked to the table, and sat down, saying, "If you don't come soon, I'm going to hang up. Come in, what are you standing at the door for?"

Hua Hong led the man into the house, poured me a glass of water, and said, "Xia Xiang, let me introduce you to someone. This is my brother, Hua Lin."

elder brother?

After shoveling a few mouthfuls of rice into my mouth, I quickly stood up and said, "Oh, so you're Hua Hong's brother! Come, please sit down, please sit down."

Why is it a parent? I thought it was Hua Hong's friend.

"Hehe, don't be shy, go ahead and eat, aren't you starving?"

I chuckled and poured Hua Lin a glass of water, saying, "I'm sorry, I don't have any drinks here."

"You're welcome. I'm here today to thank you for Xiao Hong's matter."

"Thank you?" I looked at Hua Hong, somewhat confused. What good deed did I do that required someone's brother to come and thank me personally?

Hua Lin sat down, looked at me with a smile, and said, "I know you're Xiao Hong's good friend. Xiao Hong told me a lot about you two. If it weren't for you, I don't think Xiao Hong would have gone home so soon."

I was still completely confused, and all I could do was nod in agreement; I didn't know what to say.

Hua Hong sat down next to his brother and just kept smiling at me.

I thought to myself, what's this silly boy laughing about? Did he take some kind of laughing pills?

“I know you and Xiao Hong are both comrades, and I also know about Xiao Hong and that Xiao Wen. Don't let Xiao Hong's cheerful appearance fool you; he's actually a real taciturn guy, keeping everything to himself. The only person in the family who truly understands him is me, his older brother. But I'm not a very good older brother; I'm rarely home, and Xiao Hong has to make overseas calls to me if he needs anything. Haha, I only found out about him moving out of the house from Dad; he was furious. I met up with Xiao Hong a few days ago, and he said he met someone named Xia Xiang, a really nice guy. That's when I wanted to meet you.”

I took a sip of water and smiled, "I'm just an ordinary person, aren't I? You're too kind."

“You’re different. I know exactly what kind of life Xiao Hong lived when he was with Xiao Wen. But Xiao Hong moved back home and said he wanted to go to England with me to study, all because of you.”

"Huh?" I was taken aback when I heard this, and quickly asked Hua Hong, "Are you going to study abroad?"

Hua Hong nodded and smiled, "Yeah, anyway, I don't have any particular job I want to do right now, so I might as well go out and read some books to enrich my mind."

"Why haven't I heard you mention this before?"

"It was decided this morning."

I was speechless for a moment, feeling a bit shocked; the news came too suddenly.

Later, Hua Lin said a lot more, mostly thanking me for taking good care of his younger brother. But in reality, I did nothing. Whatever decisions Hua Hong made or what he wanted to do were entirely his own choice. As an outsider, I could only offer some advice at most, and I truly felt unworthy of Hua Lin's repeated thanks.

When they left, my unfinished food had gone cold, and although my stomach was empty, I wasn't actually very hungry. I think it was because of my mood. Lying on the sofa, hugging the Doraemon that Hua Hong had given me, I really wanted to talk to Peng Peng.

Around 7 PM, Pengpeng came back carrying groceries and went straight to his room. A few seconds later, I heard him shout my name loudly, "Xiaxiang, where are you? Are you home?"

I sat up from the sofa and replied weakly, "I'm here."

Pengpeng glared at me, then went to the kitchen, put down the groceries, turned on the light, and said, "Why don't you turn on the lights at home? By the way, where's Hua Hong? I haven't seen him."

"He sat for a while after delivering my food and then went home."

"I see."

After a while, Pengpeng came over and sat down next to me, asking, "Big eater, why didn't you finish your meal today? That's rare."

Thinking of the half-eaten lunchbox on the table that hadn't been cleared away, I sighed, hugged Pengpeng's waist, and snuggled closer into his arms.

"What's wrong? Are you in a bad mood? Haha, don't tell me you had a fight with Hua Hong." Pengpeng said, patting my head.

No, not at all. Today... he came to our house with his brother.

"His brother? What's he doing here?"

“His brother came to thank me, saying he was very grateful that I had led Hua Hong onto the right path.”

Pengpeng helped me sit up, looked me over carefully, and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean by 'guide him onto the right path'? Isn't Hua Hong a good person? It sounds like he used to do all sorts of immoral things."

"Sigh... Anyway, that's pretty much what his brother meant, and it really bothers me. Also... Hua Hong said he plans to go to England to study with his older brother."

"study?"

"kindness."

After a moment of silence, Pengpeng asked me, "You...can't bear to part with him?"

"No, it's not like we're not coming back."

"Then why are you so upset?"

"I just find it so sudden. I never imagined he would go so far away. Pengpeng... do you think his sudden decision to go back to school might be because of me?"

Pengpeng thought for a moment, then pushed me and said, "Who do you think you are? Do you think other people would bother to travel that far for a nobody like Xia Xiang? You're way too confident."

"That would be best if it weren't like that. If it were... I would feel sorry for him." Lying to the side, I didn't want to sit up at all.

"I told you Xiaowen must have chopped your head off. When has someone as kind as you ever done anything to wrong anyone? You're just making things up."

After a while, Pengpeng asked again, "Did he say when he's leaving?"

"No, but his brother said he's going to get his visa soon. Tomorrow... he's also coming over to bring me food."

"We can still get along for a while."

"kindness."

"Hey, when you see him tomorrow, don't put on that deadpan face. Cheer up, okay? It's a good thing he's going to school; it's better than him just lazing around at home. Since you're his buddy, you should be happy for him and cheer him on."

I thought about Pengpeng's words several times and realized they made a lot of sense. Yes, it's always better to go out and learn something than to stay at home and drift along.

"Have you ever considered that when Hua Hong told you this, he was actually indicating to you that he intends to have a fresh start?"

My heart skipped a beat, and I sat bolt upright, asking, "I never imagined he meant that?"

"I think so. He's always liked you, hasn't he? But you already have me, and he knows it's impossible for you two to be together. So he chose to go away to study, to a place far away from you. Maybe after a while, he'll be able to treat you as a real friend. It's good for everyone that he's doing this, haha, maybe when he comes back he'll have a boyfriend by his side."

I laughed when I heard that; if that were really the case, it would be great.

"Are you happy? In a better mood?"

"Hehe, more or less."

"Hey kid, you've been lazy all day, you should get up and exercise. Get up and come help me wash the vegetables," Pengpeng said as she walked into the kitchen.

I caught up with him from behind and hugged him tightly. "Do you think he'd bring home a boyfriend who's as handsome as me?"

Pengpeng slapped my hand away from my embrace, glanced at me with disdain, and said, "Tch! You think you're so handsome? Don't be so arrogant." But in the blink of an eye, he quickly leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, chuckling, "But you know, in my eyes you're the most handsome. I don't even look at anyone else, so why would I care about who's handsome or not?"

I felt so happy when I heard that, it was absolutely wonderful.

That night, I had a wonderful dream. I dreamt that Hua Hong had returned from his studies, and he actually brought a boyfriend to my house. He was a tall, handsome blond guy whose comically broken Chinese made Pengpeng and me laugh. Hua Hong tugged at his sleeve, suggesting that he should speak English instead, since everyone could understand him. But the blond guy stubbornly insisted that he had to keep speaking Chinese, otherwise he would never learn. So in the dream, the handsome guy kept speaking off-key Chinese, and Pengpeng and I kept laughing and laughing.

When I woke up, it was still dark. I touched the corners of my mouth that were still smiling as I looked at the full moon in the sky outside, and thought to myself, Hua Hong will definitely find his happiness in the not-too-distant future. Pengpeng and I will sincerely wish him well.

End of article