Chapter 5
The next morning, Li Ruiyuan was awakened by noises in the kitchen. He slipped out of the bedroom and saw Wu Ye frantically cleaning up the spilled cereal.
"What the hell?" Li Ruiyuan asked, rubbing his eyes. (What the hell?)
Wu Ye's face was pale, and sweat was beading on his forehead. "Brother Yuan... I think I have a fever." Li Ruiyuan raised an eyebrow and reached out to touch his forehead. As soon as his hand touched his skin, he felt the boy's whole body stiffen.
"Burn your ass." Li Ruiyuan retracted his hand, "It's colder than my hand." Wu Ye's eyes flickered, and his voice became smaller and smaller: "I really feel uncomfortable... I may not be able to go to school..."
Li Ruiyuan stared at him for a few seconds and suddenly laughed: "Pretending to be sick?" Wu Ye's ears turned red instantly, and his fingers unconsciously tugged at the corner of his clothes.
"Are you sick?" Li Ruiyuan asked in Mandarin, his tone a little amused. Wu Ye looked up suddenly, as if hurt by the words: "I just want to... accompany you for a day."
The living room suddenly fell silent. The old air conditioner hummed and the morning rush hour horns blared outside the window.
Li Ruiyuan scratched his hair, took out a box of milk from the refrigerator and threw it to him: "Can staying with me be considered a meal?" "I can help you with work..." Wu Ye caught the milk, his voice getting lower and lower, "The store... or somewhere else..."
Li Ruiyuan didn't respond, but just opened his phone and looked at the date: "Today is Friday, right?" Wu Ye nodded.
Finally, Li Ruiyuan called the school and asked for leave for Wu Ye. When he hung up, he saw the boy's eyes light up surprisingly.
"Satisfied?" Li Ruiyuan kicked him. "Go change your clothes. I'll take you somewhere."
They took a long bus ride all the way to the wholesale market in the suburbs. It was Wu Ye's first time in such a place, and he was overwhelmed by the crowded crowds and noisy bargaining.
Li Ruiyuan, however, was at his best, bantering with the vendors in Cantonese and Teochew. He bought a case of drinks, picked up some daily necessities, and finally stopped in front of a stationery stall.
"Do you want one?" He pointed at the pile of notebooks. Wu Ye shook his head: "The school gave it to me..."
Li Ruiyuan ignored him and directly asked for the two thickest notebooks: "For taking notes." When paying, Wu Ye saw that there were only a few coins left in his wallet.
On the bus back home, Wu Ye sat by the window, holding the box of drinks. The sunlight streamed in, making his newly bought notebook shine.
"Brother Yuan." He suddenly spoke. "Hmm?"
"Why...won't you let me stay with you?"
Li Ruiyuan looked at the street scenes passing by outside the window for a long time before saying, "I've been in this business for so many years, and there are two things I hate most." "One is drug abuse." "The other is people who delay students' studies."
Wu Ye hugged the box tightly in his arms, digging his nails into the gaps in the cardboard.
When getting off the car, Li Ruiyuan picked up the box of drinks and suddenly said, "You want to accompany me, right?" Wu Ye nodded quickly.
"Then get into Tsinghua University for me." Li Ruiyuan stuffed the box into his arms, "Then I'll make you accompany me enough."
The sun was so strong that it was hard to open one's eyes. Wu Ye stood at the dusty bus stop, looking at Li Ruiyuan's lazy back, and suddenly felt his throat tighten.
"Brother Yuan!" Li Ruiyuan, who had already taken a few steps, turned back, his eyebrows raised high: "What are you doing again?"
Wu Ye took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs: "I will definitely pass the exam!"
Passersby looked over. Li Ruiyuan was stunned for a few seconds, then walked over and cursed, hugging him around the neck: "You idiot, shouting so loudly..."
At noon, Li Ruiyuan brought Wu Ye to a tea restaurant. It was bustling with people, and waiters were scurrying through the narrow aisles carrying trays of food. Li Ruiyuan pushed the menu in front of Wu Ye and said, "Order."
Wu Ye looked at the price list hesitantly: "I'll just have a bowl of noodles..." "Just order what you're told to." Li Ruiyuan held a toothpick in his mouth, "I'm getting paid today."
In the end, they ordered a full table: roast goose and barbecued pork, stir-fried beef noodles, shrimp dumplings, and a cup each of milk tea, jelly lemon tea. Wu Ye looked at the mountain of food and twisted his fingers together.
"See if it can fill you up?" Li Ruiyuan stuffed the chopsticks into his hand, "Eat."
Wu Ye ate very carefully, like a stray cat being fed for the first time. Li Ruiyuan was annoyed and picked up the whole roast goose leg and threw it into his bowl.
At the next table, a family of three was happily enjoying themselves, the child in a brand new school uniform. Wu Ye looked down at his collar, which had been washed white, and his chopsticks slowly stopped moving.
"Are you full?" Li Rui raised an eyebrow. Wu Ye shook his head and said in a low voice: "The clothes... are too old."
Li Ruiyuan stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly shouted, "Pay the bill!"
Leaving the tea restaurant, the sun was shining brightly. Li Ruiyuan and Wu Ye turned into the commercial street and stopped in front of a sports brand store.
"Brother Yuan..." Wu Ye pulled the corner of his clothes, "It's very expensive here..." "If you know it's expensive, don't waste time." Li Ruiyuan pulled him in.
The clerk looked at their clothes with a cold attitude. Li Ruiyuan didn't care and pointed at the sportswear on the model: "Try this one."
Wu Ye's fingers were shaking as he carried the clothes into the fitting room. Li Ruiyuan was leaning against the mirror, playing with his phone, when he heard rustling noises in the fitting room.
"Dead in there?" He knocked on the door. The door opened a crack, and Wu Ye showed half of his face: "It seems... too big..."
Li Ruiyuan pushed the door open and walked in. The fitting room was so small that two grown men could barely turn around when squeezed together. Wu Ye was wearing a new sweatshirt with sleeves that were so long that they covered his fingers.
"Like an opera singer," Li Ruiyuan scoffed, reaching out to help him roll up his sleeves. The boy's wrists were so thin that the blue veins were clearly visible.
I ended up buying two sets of tracksuits, three T-shirts, and a pair of basketball shoes. When I checked out, the clerk's smile became much more sincere: "A total of 1,200."
Wu Ye suddenly grabbed Li Ruiyuan's wrist: "It's too expensive..." "Let go." Li Ruiyuan shook him off and pulled out all the cash from his wallet. He counted it and found that he was still short of three hundred.
He snorted and opened his phone to transfer money. Wu Ye saw the balance notification and his eyes suddenly turned red.
On the bus back home, Wu Ye huddled in a corner, clutching his shopping bag. The label of his new shoes pricked his palm, causing it to ache.
"Brother Yuan." His voice was hoarse, "The money..." "Shut up." Li Ruiyuan looked out the window, "If you keep talking, I'll throw you out."
As the sun set, the train was packed with people leaving school and work. A little girl stared at the shopping bag in Wu Ye's hand, and her mother gently scolded her.
Wu Ye suddenly took out his new shoes, stuffed the label into his pocket, and then bent down to put them on. He carefully put the old shoes into the shoe box and held them in his arms.
Li Ruiyuan glanced at him sideways. "That's a problem." Wu Ye said nothing, just staring out the window. The glass reflected his new shoes and the lazy profile of the person next to him.
When they arrived at their stop, Li Ruiyuan was the first to get off. Wu Ye followed him and suddenly whispered, "When I make money... I'll pay you back."
Li Ruiyuan, who was walking ahead, paused for a moment, then waved without looking back: "We'll talk about it after you get admitted to Tsinghua University."
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