Chapter 10
Just as Meng Yuxiu was fidgeting and frequently glancing towards the door to see if Han Shuo had returned, Han Hong suddenly spoke.
"Xiao Meng." Han Hong picked up two firewood stalks and stuffed them into the stove, then left them to their own devices for the time being.
Meng Yuxiu quickly looked away and nodded slightly, "Hey brother..."
Next, he felt like he was being called on by the teacher to answer a question in class, as Han Hong kept asking him one question after another.
"Xiao Meng, where are you from?"
"Baishan Town".
"That's quite far from here, more than ten kilometers away." Han Hong then asked, "Xiao Meng, you and our Xiao Shuo should be about the same age, right?"
Meng Yuxiu nodded. "I'm seventeen this year."
"Which month?"
"December."
"Then you're a month younger than my Xiao Shuo," Han Hong said with a smile.
Meng Yuxiu also slightly tugged at the corner of his mouth.
The questioning seemed to have come to a temporary end, and only the crackling of firewood remained in the room.
Han Ting was still staring at him, so Meng Yuxiu lowered his head and chuckled. Unexpectedly, the little guy also chuckled and even moved his little stool forward a bit.
Just when Meng Yuxiu thought he could rest easy and wait for Han Shuo to return, Han Hong suddenly asked again, "Little Meng, what do your parents do?"
"They are all teachers, at the primary school in Baishan Town."
Han Hong: "Oh my, so you come from a scholarly family."
Meng Yuxiu suddenly didn't know how to respond, and could only awkwardly twitch the corners of his mouth again.
"Are you in the same class as Xiao Shuo?" Han Hong asked. "I've never heard Xiao Shuo mention it before."
Meng Yuxiu replied, "He's in Class 7, and I'm in Class 1."
"Oh..." Han Hong lowered his eyes, as if thinking for a moment, and then stammered, "You two are from Class 1... how did you two meet? Why is someone from Class 1 tutoring someone from Class 7?"
"..." Top students think a lot. Meng Yuxiu was wondering if Han Shuo and his brother had made up how they met.
If he hasn't made one up before, he can make one up on the spot—playing basketball, playing ping-pong, or anything else.
But if it was fabricated, then Han Shuo hadn't yet given her any hints.
Meng Yuxiu wasn't sure, and suddenly felt a little guilty. After all, he and Han Shuo had met and become familiar with each other through improper means.
For a moment, he couldn't open his mouth. He could only pretend not to hear Han Hong's words and then awkwardly pinch Han Ting's cheek, hoping to divert her attention.
As expected, Han Ting lived up to expectations. When his older brother, who was giving him candy, pinched his cheek, he immediately got up from the stool and put both hands on Meng Yuxiu's legs.
Seeing this, Han Hong called out to him, "Hey, you little rascal, why did you suddenly pounce on your brother while you were sitting down?"
Meng Yuxiu quickly replied, "It's alright."
Just then, Han Shuo returned from outside, whistling and carrying a small piece of pork. Instantly, Meng Yuxiu felt a great sense of relief.
"What are you talking about?" Han Shuo asked as he walked into the room.
Han Hong laughed and said, "We didn't talk about much, just chatted casually with Xiao Meng."
Han Shuo handed the change from buying the meat to Han Hong and then placed the meat on the cutting board.
Han Hong stopped worrying about the kitchen and took a basin to wash vegetables in the well next to the house. Before leaving, he asked Han Shuo to get some chestnuts.
The chestnuts were picked from the tree a few days ago and piled up in the corner of the porch by the door. Han Shuo took the fire tongs and went out, picked up one, then stepped on the chestnut covered with hard thorns with his shoe. The mouth of the fire tongs gripped the cracked chestnut shell, and with a forceful pull to the side, the plump chestnut fell out.
"Hey, Meng Yuxiu," Han Shuo said to Meng Yuxiu, who was standing beside him, while picking chestnuts with his chopsticks. "We can do some more tasks before dinner."
Meng Yuxiu looked up at Han Hong washing vegetables by the well and asked Han Shuo in a low voice, "Don't you need to cook?"
"No need, my brother will take care of it at home." Han Shuo winked at him and grinned mischievously. "I'll tell him later that you want to tutor me, and I'll take you upstairs."
Meng Yuxiu hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
Han Shuo used a kitchen knife to split open the chestnuts he had picked up, peeled them, scraped off the inner skin, and put them in a small bowl. Then Han Hong returned after washing the vegetables.
He said to Han Hong, "Brother, I'm taking Meng Yuxiu to do his homework."
When Han Hong heard that his younger brother was going to do his homework on his own initiative for the first time ever, he was very happy and said repeatedly, "Okay, okay, doing homework is the most important thing."
However, as soon as he finished speaking, he saw Han Shuo leading Meng Yuxiu up the stairs, and he quickly called out, "Hey, hey, hey, why are you two going upstairs?"
Meng Yuxiu paused, looking at Han Shuo.
Han Shuo: "Go upstairs and do your homework."
Han Hong: "It can be done downstairs too, and the lighting upstairs isn't good either."
“It’s quieter upstairs,” Han Shuo said, pulling Meng Yuxiu’s arm. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”
Meng Yuxiu gave Han Hong a stiff smile.
"..." Han Hong couldn't say anything more. If he continued, it would be that he, as the elder brother, didn't trust his younger brother.
He watched Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu disappear at the top of the stairs, and then the wooden floor on the second floor creaked under their shoes, concluding that the two of them must have gone to his bedside, to the desk by the window.
Meng Yuxiu followed Han Shuo upstairs. As Han Hong had said, the second floor was indeed poorly lit. In the dimly lit space, there was a bed against the wall on the left side of the stairwell, barely big enough for two people to squeeze into. There was a narrow passageway, and further ahead, there was another bed against the window on the right side. In other words, the interior was completely visible from the top of the stairs.
Meng Yuxiu asked Han Shuo in surprise, "Why didn't you tell me you didn't have a room?"
Han Shuo was taken aback. "When did I tell you I had a room? Isn't that how every household in the countryside operates?"
"..." Meng Yuxiu frowned and said in a low voice, "Then how do we complete the mission?"
Han Shuo clicked his tongue and said, "You're just worrying for nothing. Since I invited you to my house, why are you worried about not being able to complete the mission?"
He pointed to the bed at the bottom of the stairs, "Look, that's my bed. When the lights are off, it'll be pitch black, so who will know we're kissing? As long as you don't make any drooling noises, no one will notice."
"...When did I ever make any drooling sounds?" Meng Yuxiu stared at the bed, his brow furrowed, still somewhat worried.
Han Shuo patted his chest with the back of his hand. "Don't worry, if you're really scared, just sleep inside. I'll block you, okay? Don't worry, it's not like I'm asking you to kiss me in front of my brother. Besides, my brother is a heavy sleeper, not even ten oxen could wake him up."
Meng Yuxiu believed him for the time being. Han Shuo gave him the only chair in front of his desk and sat down by Han Hong's bed.
Even though they were already on the second floor, Meng Yuxiu still had to put on an act. He had actually brought a schoolbag with him, which was full of books. After he took out his stationery, Han Shuo couldn't wait any longer.
"Alright, alright, that's enough with the pretense. Don't waste any more time. We'll call you for dinner soon." He grabbed Meng Yuxiu's chin and turned his face towards him. Because he was in a hurry, he didn't hold back when he bit him.
Meng Yuxiu felt as if Han Shuo's teeth had hit him through his lips, and he said with dissatisfaction, "Can you not be so rude?"
Han Shuo smiled, his lips still on his, and said, "Are you made of tofu?"
Meng Yuxiu silently rolled his eyes, then continued kissing while keeping a wary eye on the stairwell.
Han Hong downstairs had already cooked the rice; the only thing missing was the braised pork with chestnuts stewing in the pot. He gripped the spatula and looked up, listening intently for any movement upstairs, but there was no sound at all.
Shouldn't we be talking during tutoring? Can we really tutor without talking? Han Hong frowned deeper and deeper as he thought about it, but it wouldn't be right for him to go upstairs rashly.
Just as he was feeling worried, he saw his son playing with the dog at the door, so he waved him in.
"Tingting, stop playing." Han Hong pointed to the second floor and whispered to his son, "Go upstairs and see your uncle."
Han Ting tilted her head and said, "Uncle is doing his homework!"
“I know your uncle is doing his homework, so go and watch him do his homework.”
Han Ting was very obedient and nodded before heading to the stairs.
However, Han Hong pulled his son back, saying, "Tingting, listen to your father. Go upstairs and see what your uncle is doing."
Han Ting blankly repeated Han Hong's words: "Look what Uncle is doing."
Looking at his son's innocent face, Han Hong was quite conflicted about how to assign him a task. He frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "You can help Dad see if your uncle and that older brother are doing their homework. If your uncle asks you why you went upstairs, just say you went upstairs to play, understand? Don't tell me it was Dad who told you."
Seeing his father's nervous expression, Han Ting's face also tightened, and he nodded vigorously.
"If your uncle and that brother..." Han Hong found it difficult to talk to his son, and his son was too young to understand.
He thought for a moment, then extended his right hand, bringing his fingers together, and said to Han Ting, "Look, this hand belongs to that older brother. If you see that older brother..."
Han Hong poked his mouth with his fingers, which he had shaped like a bird's beak. "If you see that older brother and your uncle like that, you should come downstairs and tell Dad right away, okay?"
"Okay!"
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