Chapter 13
The second floor of the breakfast shop is a living room of about 80 square meters.
The furniture was old and had a vintage feel, but it was very clean, and all the glass items in sight were so bright they reflected light.
Sitting on the floor, Jiang Jiayi played a boring voice-changing game with the fan. After Mu Zhengxi had had enough of the breeze, he moved to the TV table. He sat on the floor at the perfect height to look at the several photos on it, with the dates of the photos written on them.
A family photo of Jiang Jiawei at one year old, Jiang Jiayi after graduating from kindergarten, □□ at twenty-three years old, and a family photo taken on the winter solstice of 2002. One-year-old Jiang Jiawei has a wide grin revealing two white front teeth; her face is chubby and rather cute.
"Jiang Jiayi, is [name omitted] your mother?"
"right."
It seems that Jiang Jiawei looks more like her mother now, especially when she smiles, while Jiang Jiayi is a combination of the best features of both parents.
"Hey."
When Jiang Jiawei returned from the balcony, she saw the person sitting on the floor holding a photo. She wanted to stop him, but then she thought it was too late.
Mu Zhengxi quickly said, "Your brother said it's okay to look." His face was full of honesty, as if he was absolutely not invading anyone's privacy.
A person practicing their voice in front of a fan.
"Ahhhhh..."
Jiang Jiawei pursed her lips, tilted her head, and said, almost to herself, "Okay, it's nothing really."
Mu Zhengxi noticed that she seemed embarrassed because her ears were red, and then he couldn't help but laugh.
"What are you laughing at?"
The person who had clenched their fist to cover their lips shook their head.
"What's so funny?"
"have no idea."
Mu Zhengxi really didn't know why, he just inexplicably wanted to laugh.
I picked aloe vera from the balcony, trimmed off the thorns with a knife, peeled off the outer skin to reveal the white aloe vera flesh, which was sticky and stringy.
"You can apply it yourself."
"You help me apply it."
Jiang Jiayi turned around and moved closer to Jiang Jiawei, tilting her head back and closing her eyes.
"Huh?" Mu Zhengxi said with disdain, "Jiang Jiayi, this looks like snot."
"Hey, don't say it."
Jiang Jiawei turned her head and gave him a light glare, but then she was clearly smiling herself.
After applying the snot to Jiang Jiayi, there was still more than half left. Jiang Jiawei cut it in half and pressed it to her cheek. "It doesn't feel like snot at all. It's cool and refreshing, and it feels so good~"
"Right, Jiang Jiayi?"
"yes."
Mu Zhengxi scoffed.
Dissatisfied.
"...Jiang Jiawei, how could you do this? You two applied it yourselves, but what about me? I got sunburned too."
Jiang Jia retorted, "Didn't you say it looked like snot? Do you want to wipe your nose too?"
Jiang Jiawei: "Hahahaha."
"Jiang Jiayi, you really are something." Mu Zhengxi reached out and grabbed his collar, pulling him close and pinning him to his chest, tickling him. "Did you do something wrong? Did you do something wrong?"
"Hehe, wrong, wrong, I, wrong, haha."
After sanctioning Jiang Jiayi, Mu Zhengxi clenched his fist and stretched out his arm towards Jiang Jiawei, saying, "Let me try applying this."
Jiang Jiawei handed him the last small piece.
"promise."
"Tsk, how am I supposed to apply it myself?"
Jiang Weichao, who came up from the first floor, interrupted their conversation.
"Jung-hee, call your grandma. Why don't you stay for lunch at our house?"
Jiang Jiayi turned to look at him, "We're having braised pig's trotters for lunch, my dad's braised pig's trotters are super delicious." Like a kindergarten child inviting a friend over, she kept throwing out tempting offers, full of anticipation.
Mu Zhengxi subconsciously looked at Jiang Jiawei.
Jiang Jiawei, immersed in aloe vera gel, kept her eyes closed and didn't see anything.
"Sister, isn't that right?"
Jiang Jiawei: "Hmm?"
Jiang Jiayi said, "Dad's braised pig's trotters are the best ever!"
Jiang Jiawei nodded, "Yes~"
Mu Zhengxi licked his lips and pretended to say something like a well-behaved child, "Then I have to call my grandma, oh no, my great-grandma."
Mu Zhengxi took out his phone and dialed the landline at his home in Hanyang.
"Wenqing, I won't be going home for lunch this afternoon."
"At a friend's house, not far away."
"OK."
Jiang Weichao: "Is that okay?"
Mu Zhengxi: "I mean, my grandma said it's too much trouble for you, Uncle."
Jiang Weichao smiled and said, "Oh, not at all. I'll cook later, you guys can play a little longer." He turned around and went downstairs again.
Jiang Jiayi moved closer to him, "Brother Xi, you have a cell phone too?"
Mu Zhengxi generously handed him his phone to play with, and on a whim, he asked, "Jiang Jiayi, what's your home phone number?"
"I'll save one for you."
"Save your dad's phone number too."
"Why do you want my dad's phone number?"
"What if we can't get through to your home phone?"
Jiang Jiayi read out the numbers while pressing the keys on her phone.
Mu Zhengxi didn't forget, "Apply it to me."
"Didn't I already give it to you?"
“…Hey Jiang Jiawei, you’re so stingy! How can you be so selfish, only caring about yourself, oh and your brother too.”
Mu Zhengxi's face fell, his expression full of resentment, much like the neglected eldest child in a two-child family.
Jiang Jiawei found it hilarious and then obediently said, "Okay, okay, where should I apply it?"
"here."
Mu Zhengxi pointed to his left forearm.
"alright."
"You're so casual."
"That's all." Jiang Jiawei stood up, picked up the aloe vera peel, and threw it into the trash can. "Let's play glass checkers."
“Okay!” Jiang Jia handed the phone back to Mu Zhengxi and responded very quickly, “I’ll go get it.”
What does the loser say?
"Wash the dishes at lunchtime!"
"Then you're definitely going to wash Jiang Jiayi."
"Pshaw, my sister always loses, she should be the one washing."
Mu Zhengxi looked at Jiang Jiawei with an indescribable expression, revealing disbelief at her level of inexperience.
"Jiang Jiawei, are you that stupid?"
Jiang Jiawei took a box of yogurt drink from the refrigerator, inserted a straw, and said with a calm smile, "Well, I have my winning moments too."
"That was only once or twice, I want to drink too."
Jiang Jiawei turned around and grabbed two more boxes. "I want the green jumping beads."
"What about you, Brother Xi?"
"blue."
Strawberry-flavored yogurt drink seems pretty good after being chilled.
"Then I'll choose this one."
The pressure cooker in the kitchen emits a fragrant aroma, green vegetables are added and sizzle in oil, and the rice cooker beeps.
"Time to eat."
Jiang Jiawei quickly got up and reacted.
"Here I am! I'm here!"
"It's not finished downloading yet!"
"I'm hungry, I need to eat first."
Jiang Jia snorted, not daring to say anything in front of Jiang Jiawei, and turned to Mu Zhengxi to complain in a low voice, "Look at my sister, she's always like this! She has no spirit of the game at all!"
It was rare to see him dissatisfied with Jiang Jiawei. Mu Zhengxi was amused and stood up as well, saying, "I also want to eat first."
"Hey! Brother Xi! How come you have no sense of humor at all?!"
The stewed soybeans and pig's trotters, cooked until tender, temporarily put the outcome of the checkers game on hold.
Jiang Jiayi, who had a playful spirit, was coaxed by a piece of lean meat that Jiang Jiawei put on his plate. He handed the bowl over, and Jiang Jiawei ladled a few spoonfuls of broth over the rice and stirred it well. Every grain of rice was coated with the savory sauce. They did this tacit action naturally without needing to say a word, as if they had done it hundreds of times before.
"Jung-hee, does this suit your taste?"
"ah?"
Jiang Weichao picked up the serving chopsticks and put a piece of pig's trotter on his plate. "Eat more, don't be shy in our house."
"Thank you, Uncle. It's delicious, I really like it."
"I hope you like it. Is it too salty?"
"No, no, it's just right!"
Jiang Weichao asked, "Zhengxi, how many brothers and sisters do you have?"
After finishing his meal, the person who had been burying his head in his rice replied, "I have... an older brother."
Jiang Jiayi: "You have an older brother?"
"Yeah."
How old is your brother?
"How old is he? He must be a few years older now," Mu Zhengxi said. "He's in college, in another city."
Which university?
"Just an ordinary university." After saying this, the person licked their lips. Mu Zhengxi looked up and met Jiang Jiawei's gaze. He suddenly felt a little guilty, but he didn't change his words.
"So you only see each other once in a long while?"
"yes."
Jiang Jiayi put herself in Jiang Jiawei's shoes after she went to university and said sadly, "Then you must miss him a lot. If my sister went to university, I would definitely miss her."
He would rather not see me than meet me.
Mu Zhengxi wore a sneer, "We're not that close. We can count the time we've spent together on one hand."
"Ah Chao, are you in the shop?"
"Hey, upstairs." Jiang Weichao stood up and walked to the stairwell when he heard the voice downstairs.
Are you eating?
"Yes, we just started eating. Auntie, have you eaten yet? Would you like to come up and have some with us?"
"No need, no need, I'll cook it myself. It's just that I was trying to stir-fry some vegetables when I realized that my gas stove wouldn't turn on for some reason."
"Okay, I'll go take a look for you."
"Then I'm sorry to have kept you from eating."
"It's nothing." Jiang Weichao turned around. "I'm going to Auntie's shop. Zhengxi, don't be shy, eat more."
"Okay, Uncle."
"Sis, I'll eat this." Jiang Jiayi licked her lips.
"This one?"
"Um."
Jiang Jiawei picked up the piece of pig's trotter that Jiang Jiayi had carefully selected, put it in her own bowl, cleaned off the fat, and gave him a chopstickful of bean sprouts as a bonus.
"Shall I pour some more juice on you?"
“Okay.” Jiang Jiayi turned to look at Mu Zhengxi. “How is it? My dad’s cooking is delicious, isn’t it?”
Mu Zhengxi nodded in agreement, then pushed his own bowl to Jiang Jiawei.
The person who looked up looked at him with a question mark in their eyes.
"Pour some sauce on me too."
"Okay."
"Here you go."
Why didn't you mix it for me??
Jiang Jiayi: "Are you a child?"
"Are you a child?!"
The two, who had just been getting along well for a few minutes, started arguing.
"Okay, it's mixed."
The person who had just received the bibimbap made a provocative face at him.
Jiang Jiayi suddenly realized something even more dangerous: Mu Zhengxi might not actually like his sister; he might be trying to steal his brother's place!
What time were you born?
Mu Zhengxi was taken aback by this sudden, seemingly unrelated question. "Ah, I don't know. Why are you asking?"
"I'm curious who's older, you or my sister."
Without hesitation, Mu Zhengxi replied with absolute certainty, "Of course I'm older than your sister. When was your sister born?"
"It was noon."
"Oh, then I'm in the morning."
"Didn't you just say you didn't remember?"
"You suddenly remembered it again."
Jiang Jiayi was very skeptical of the truthfulness of this statement, but since it was the answer he wanted, he gave up questioning it.
"Then you can't be the younger brother anymore, you can only be the older brother."
"What do you mean?" Jiang Jiawei was suddenly a little confused by her brother's statement.
Jiang Jiayi began to explain very seriously, “Zhengxi can’t be your younger brother anymore. Although you were born on the same day, he was born in the morning, and Mom said you were born at noon, so he is older than you, so he is the older brother.”
Jiang Jiawei found her brother's remark amusing. "What? Are we going to swear an oath of brotherhood in the Peach Garden?"
Mu Zhengxi, who had just stuffed a mouthful of rice into his mouth, immediately turned around and covered his mouth, coughing loudly.
Jiang Jiayi shook her head. "It's not impossible."
The person, blushing, quickly spoke up in a hoarse, choked voice, "No! I can't! Cough cough cough um."
Jiang Jiawei asked with concern, "Are you alright? Would you like me to make you some soup?"
Those who couldn't speak could only nod.
Jiang Jiayi: "I want one too!"
"Okay."
Mu Zhengxi: "Cough cough Jiang, Jia Yi, you, cough well, so childish!"
“You’re more childish! You’re even older than me, so don’t even think about being my sister’s brother!” Jiang Jiayi became more and more aggrieved as she spoke, and then muttered, “I already have so many brothers.”
"..."
Who wants to be the younger brother, kid? I'm going to be your brother-in-law, brother-in-law, understand?
Mu Zhengxi was inwardly cursing, completely unaware that he was now very naturally embracing this identity.
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