Chapter 33
"My good son." Luo Qiuli bent down and hugged him, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
There was the sound of a truck horn outside the villa. The groceries that Shen Li's parents had ordered before going to work this morning had arrived and Luo Qiuli needed to check them. She patted Luo Mingxiu on the back and said, "Go to the sofa and watch TV with your sister. Go back to your room to read later. Mom has to go do some chores."
"Mm." Luo Mingxiu nodded, looking obedient.
It's winter break now, and Shen Li is often at home. Her mother specifically reminded her that when she's at school, she eats in the school cafeteria, which has a limited variety of dishes, so she should eat more during the holidays.
The TV was showing "Dream of the Red Chamber," and Shen Li was watching it very attentively. As soon as Lin Daiyu finished speaking her line, she could immediately respond with the next line, accompanied by gestures and expressions.
Luo Mingxiu didn't understand. He looked at her and then at the people on TV, and belatedly realized that she was imitating him.
Feeling the gaze beside her, Shen Li stopped and said, "You don't understand this, do you? Let's change to another one. What cartoon do you like? I'll play it for you."
Luo Mingxiu had never seen any cartoons. The TV in his hometown was old and didn't even have a children's channel.
He would watch whatever was on TV, like the CCTV series Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber, which were repeatedly broadcast. Occasionally, he would hear classmates discussing things like armor or wolves, but he could never piece together a complete name for them.
"I've read Dream of the Red Chamber," Luo Mingxiu said, pursing his lips. He didn't want to reveal that he didn't even know what popular animations were.
"You've seen it?" A hint of surprise flashed in Shen Li's eyes as she asked him, "Which character do you like?"
"Lin Daiyu".
"Everyone knows that, but that doesn't prove you've seen it, except for Lin Daiyu?"
“Hmm…” Luo Mingxiu hesitated for a long time before finally saying “Grandma Liu”.
Shen Li casually pointed to someone: "Do you know her?"
Luo Mingxiu: "This is Sister Feng."
Shen Li pointed to her husband: "And this one?"
"I don't know it," Luo Mingxiu answered honestly. He had only happened to see it on TV while it was playing, and only some clips, not the whole thing.
“That’s already pretty impressive,” Shen Li believed he had seen it, but still picked up the remote and changed to another animation. “But you’re not ready to watch Dream of the Red Chamber yet. It’ll be better when you’re older.”
"Why?" Luo Mingxiu asked, his bangs covering his eyebrows, and he blinked frequently, clearly uncomfortable.
Chen Li rested her chin on her hand and asked, "Your bangs are so long, they're affecting your eyesight. How about we go to the hair salon to get them trimmed?"
Luo Mingxiu pressed his bangs down and remained silent.
"Don't want to? Did this ugly fringe save your life?" Shen Li scoffed, looking at the snacks on the table, picked up a bag and asked him, "Want some?"
Luo Mingxiu shook his head.
It's really difficult. Chen Li tore open the packaging and ate it herself, chewing it crunchily and making it look very delicious.
Then he slowly turned his head, his gaze fixed on the biscuit in her hand, and he swallowed hard.
Shen Li smiled and opened the bag: "Here, have a taste."
Luo Mingxiu reached inside and took out a bear-shaped biscuit, put it in his mouth, and the rich milky aroma filled his mouth. A light shone in the boy's dark eyes.
"Is it good?"
"It's delicious." Luo Mingxiu smiled.
Shen Li stared at him. She found this child really interesting. Since he came to her house yesterday, she had finally seen him smile. He was clearly young, but he always had a very profound look on his face.
She tossed him a bag of cookies: "That's more like it. You're so young. You should be happy at your age."
The TV was showing Ultraman in the middle of a fierce battle, but it didn't attract Luo Mingxiu at all. Instead, it attracted Shen Li, who was watching the TV intently, while the boy was watching her intently.
Before coming with his mother, he anticipated that the Shen family would not accept it and would fire his mother, leaving them to wander outside; because they were living under someone else's roof, they were afraid that the daughter who had taken away her parents' love would reject outsiders.
He came from a poor family, and during those days in his hometown, no relatives associated with him.
Later, her father followed the local thugs and spent his days drinking and gambling. Her mother couldn't stand it and went out to work, but she was suspected of having an affair with a rich man. They argued repeatedly and ended up in court, eventually getting a divorce.
The night his mother left home with their savings, he was relieved that she had escaped her misery. He clung tightly to his father, who was trying to intercept him, and refused to let go, which earned him his father's resentment.
Luo Mingxiu endured the beatings numbly until his father died. The most profound memory he had of his father was not the repeated beatings and scoldings.
Instead, it was because he was bullied by the children in town when he was young. He cried and went home to find his father, but in the end, his mother stood up for him. His father just coldly watched him fall and get bruised and swollen, and said, "Serves you right."
From that moment on, his father disappeared from his heart.
In the past, apart from his mother, no one was willing to approach him. He had never met a good person. So before coming to the Shen family, he had thought of all the worst scenarios, but he never thought that his mother would not lie to him. He had really met a good person.
"Why are you crying?" Shen Li sat closer to him, her concerned voice pulling him back to reality.
Luo Mingxiu didn't realize he was crying; he raised his hand to wipe away his tears.
"Thank you, sister." He put the cookies she gave him into his pocket, reluctant to eat them.
"Take whatever you want," Shen Li noticed his movements, picked out all the bear-shaped cookies from the plastic bag, and placed them in front of him one by one. "Look, there are still many."
The boy bit his lip, his eyes red as he looked at her, and suddenly burst into tears, unable to hold them back.
That year, Luo Mingxiu was nine years old, and Shen Li was seventeen.
For the first time, Luo Mingxiu was not at home, but he still had a lively and warm New Year. When the fireworks lit up the sky on New Year's Eve, the young man felt a sense of rebirth.
.
As the winter break drew to a close, Luo Mingxiu's hair had grown a bit longer. No matter how much Shen Li tried to persuade him, he refused to get a haircut. He preferred to cut his own bangs unevenly, just to keep the length he had when he first arrived, so that they would always cover part of his eyes.
Shen Li called him unconventional and sulked and ignored him for several days. Finally, Luo Qiuli pulled her son into the room for a lecture and told him seriously that the new school was strictly managed, unlike the school in her hometown, where having long hair was against the rules and could lead to expulsion.
After much persuasion, Luo Mingxiu finally agreed to get a haircut, and upon hearing the news, Shen Li immediately sought to reconcile with him.
So the day before school started, the family driver took the two of them to the barbershop.
The hair salon was the one Shen Li frequented because there was a skilled hairdresser there named Tony. Shen's mother had held her annual party at his salon, and Shen Li only needed to bring her card each time.
Upon arriving at the salon, a hairstylist named Tony greeted her with a broad smile: "Oh, Miss Shen, you just got your hair cut last week. Would you like a shampoo or a styling this time?"
Shen Li pulled out the person hiding behind her: "Give him the haircut. I specifically asked you, an expert, to cut it well. Don't mess it up."
"No way, I've cut your hair so many times already, Miss Shen, you're joking," Tony handed Luo Mingxiu a booklet. "These are all popular styles for students, little brother, see which one you like?"
Luo Mingxiu was dazzled by the booklet, and Chen Li said, "Just cut it short, it will look neater."
“No problem, I’ve got it covered.” After saying that, Tony led Luo Mingxiu to the shampoo room, while Shen Li was invited by the manager to wait in the rest area.
After a while, Luo Mingxiu came out after washing his hair. His hair was wrapped in a towel, and his forehead was fully exposed.
He looked at her; beneath her thick eyebrows were a pair of clear eyes, long eyelashes drooping with water droplets, and as she lowered her head, small shadows appeared under her eyes. Water droplets slid from her eyes down her straight nose to her lips.
He raised his hand to wipe it, habitually covering his forehead with his hand.
Having never seen her younger brother's hair after washing it before, Shen Li stared at him for a while. When she saw him covering his face again, she knew she was making him feel embarrassed by her staring. So she picked up a magazine from the shelf next to her and flipped through it to distract herself.
It's not ugly to show it off, so why cover it up? Shen Li held up the magazine and secretly peeked at Luo Mingxiu. Although Luo Mingxiu's appearance was still quite childish, his eyebrows and eyes already looked a lot like Aunt Luo's. In a few years, his looks would definitely be just as good.
Tony gave Luo Mingxiu a clean-cut American-style spiky haircut based on his face shape, exposing his neck, forehead, and ears. He looked neat and handsome, and Shen Li was very satisfied. She then led him out of the store.
But Luo Mingxiu was still like a vampire who couldn't stand the light, especially when he encountered strangers. He would hide behind her and always cover his face with his hands.
Shen Li pushed his hand away and pulled him to her side: "You're so good-looking, why are you hiding it? Show it off!"
Luo Mingxiu shook his head, still blocking himself.
Just then, a few tall boys passed by on the street and accidentally bumped into him, causing him to sway and almost lose his balance.
The boys turned and walked towards him, their expressions suggesting they wanted to apologize, but Luo Mingxiu suddenly squatted down, putting his hands in front of him to block his way.
Shen Li pulled him up and made him accept the apologies from several boys, as well as their strange looks.
Luo Mingxiu lowered his arm only after the boys had left.
Shen Li finally understood why he wanted to cover himself up. He had been bullied before and was used to protecting himself. But why was he covering his face? Had someone injured his face before?
“Mingxiu,” she asked, gathering her thoughts, “when you were in your hometown, was anyone bullying you?”
"Besides your father, has anyone else hit you, like your classmates at school?"
Shen Li knew he had a violent father, but his reaction to those tall boys just now was clearly abnormal.
"Hmm," Luo Mingxiu replied, "Some upperclassmen don't like me..."
Pedestrians hurried by on the street, and no one paid them any attention, but whenever someone passed by, Luo Mingxiu would still raise his hand to cover his face.
"Pah, what a load of rubbish, senior! He's a bad guy!" Confirmed, Shen Li suddenly flared up. "They slapped you in the face?"
"Um."
"So you didn't tell the teacher?"
“If we tell the teacher, they’ll go after other people. One female classmate only talked to me, and they started harassing her.”
So, he kept his hair in a messy style because he didn't want to implicate innocent people, making them think he was slovenly and thus automatically keeping their distance from him?
Thinking about the rude things she had said to him, Shen Li apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't expect that Liu Hai would actually save your life."
"However, they are just jealous of your good looks. You can't keep blaming yourself. You still need to tell the teacher and stand up for yourself to warn those who bully you, understand?"
Luo Mingxiu didn't answer, but instead took her hand and asked, "Sister, can we get in the car and talk about it?"
Shen Li felt that he had been bullied to the point of numbness. The poor little guy was beaten at school during the day and then beaten by his father when he got home. How could such a young mind withstand such torment?
Thinking about how to get him to listen to her, after a long period of thought, Shen Li grasped Luo Mingxiu's shoulders with both hands and made him turn around.
She asked, "Do you think my sister is pretty?"
Not understanding why she asked that, Luo Mingxiu blinked, looked into her beautiful eyes, and said, "Beautiful."
“Then I’ll get long bangs too, to cover my face.”
"Why?"
"Don't you think this will protect you? Because my sister is often envied and harassed by boys, so I'll just cover my face too." Shen Li said, turning around to go back into the hair salon.
Luo Mingxiu tugged at her sleeve: "I understand, I won't cover my face anymore."
“That’s right!” Shen Li smiled and pulled him into the car.
How could there be such a strange older sister? Luo Mingxiu thought to himself, but for some reason, he felt as happy as if he had eaten a bear-shaped cookie.
After getting in the car, he didn't let go of her hand; instead, he held it even tighter: "Sister, don't be harassed. I will protect you."
"You'll protect me?" Shen Li smiled, fastened his seatbelt, checked him over again, and said, "Eat more, and build up your little body before we talk about it."
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