Chapter 11
Upstairs, Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu were still diligently working on their task when Meng Yuxiu heard something darting across the beam and looked up.
"Stop looking, it's a mouse."
Upon hearing this, Meng Yuxiu immediately frowned.
Seeing his reaction, Han Shuo snorted twice, "You little princess? Look how pretentious you are. Let me tell you, this is nothing. In the summer months of July and August, a snake can even fall down from the crack in the roof tiles."
The image suddenly flashed into Meng Yuxiu's mind: Han Shuo and his brother were taking Han Ting upstairs when a snake suddenly slid down, and the whole family was jumping for joy...
Speaking of rats, Han Shuo recalled something and said to Meng Yuxiu with a sigh, "When I first arrived here, there was a novel, but I hadn't even read two pages before the rats ruined it. I only found out about the mission later when I found a few scraps of paper in the rat hole."
He asked Meng Yuxiu, "You should have a copy too, right?"
Meng Yuxiu nodded and said, "Yes, but my parents disappeared after they tidied up my room. I guess they were worried that reading novels would affect my studies, so I only read the first page."
Han Shuo pounded his leg and cursed under his breath, "Damn it! What a coincidence! Hey, do you think there's some other fancy mission going on? What if we kiss and can't go back to where we were?"
After hearing Han Shuo's words, Meng Yuxiu's heart sank. It was really hard to say; the novel at the time seemed to have more than one page.
As he was deep in thought, he suddenly saw a dark back of a head appear at the top of the stairs. He immediately realized that it was Han Ting coming up the stairs.
For a moment, Meng Yuxiu felt a surge of relief, thankful that the person was going up the stairs to the toes, not to the heels. Otherwise, he wouldn't have seen the back of Han Ting's head.
"Ugh..." Han Shuo was caught off guard by the push. He glared at the crowd and exclaimed, "What are you doing?!"
Meng Yuxiu gestured with his eyes and quickly whispered, "Your nephew has gone upstairs."
Han Shuo hurriedly looked over, but Han Ting had already gone upstairs and was walking over.
"What are you doing up here, little thing?" Han Shuo asked.
Han Ting was still a little shy. He licked his lips, stared at Meng Yuxiu, and then slowly moved his small body to the bedside.
"Watching my uncle do his homework."
"Watching me do my homework?" Han Shuo ruffled his hair and chuckled, "You want to be a teacher? Watching me do my homework?"
Han Ting chuckled, her eyes crinkling.
Han Shuo nudged him, "Can you even understand it? Go downstairs and play. Your uncle will come find you after he finishes his homework."
Han Ting twisted his shoulders and grunted in refusal.
There was an extra child on the second floor. Meng Yuxiu asked Han Shuo, "What do we do now?"
Han Shuo said nonchalantly, "It's okay, it's fine as long as they're here, let's continue."
Meng Yuxiu was taken aback by his words. His eyes widened. "Are you kidding me?!"
"I'm not kidding... Alright, alright, look how nervous you are. What if he refuses to come downstairs?" Han Shuo thought for a moment and came up with an idea.
He felt around in Han Ting's pocket, took out two candies, unwrapped them, put one in Han Ting's mouth and the other in his own, and then took one of the candy wrappers and pressed it on the desk to start folding it.
"Wow!" Han Ting's attention was drawn, and she soon saw that Han Shuo had folded out a butterfly.
Han Shuo placed another candy wrapper on the bed and then lifted Han Ting onto the bed as well. "See what your uncle folded? Here, fold one for yourself."
Sure enough, such a young child was easily attracted and immediately looked down to play with the candy wrapper.
Han Shuo winked smugly at Meng Yuxiu, then leaned closer and whispered, "Don't worry, my nephew can play with this little gadget for at least half an hour without even looking up."
Looking at the child intently folding candy wrappers, Meng Yuxiu hesitated and asked, "Is it okay?"
Han Shuo said nonchalantly, "It's okay if he sees it. Kids these days aren't as precocious as we were. What does he know? Even if he sees a chicken dropping on the road, he'll pick it up and see what it is."
"..."
Han Shuo told Meng Yuxiu to sit closer. Meng Yuxiu hesitated, but still moved his chair closer despite feeling it was absurd.
However, just as Han Shuo was about to press his lips to Meng Yuxiu's, a large hand slapped his mouth. He immediately glared angrily at Meng Yuxiu, "What are you doing?"
Meng Yuxiu raised his chin at Han Shuo with an indescribable expression, and Han Shuo turned his head away.
Damn! When did this little brat raise his head? At this moment, his two dark eyes are staring at them without blinking.
Han Shuo sensed something was wrong, so he asked Han Ting, "Tingting, why did you stop playing?"
Han Ting: "I need to keep an eye on you all."
"?" Han Shuo asked, "What are you looking at us for?"
Han Ting suddenly stretched out his little hand, put his five little fingers together in front of Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu, and then stood on tiptoe to peck at Han Shuo's mouth one peck at a time.
Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu were completely baffled.
"...Tingting, what are you doing?" Han Shuo grabbed his little hand.
Han Ting said in her childish voice, "I want to see if my brother's mouth turns into a rooster's beak and pecks my uncle's mouth."
"..."
"..."
Without even thinking, Han Shuo understood what was going on. He shrugged at Meng Yuxiu, "I'm speechless! My brother must be afraid I'll start dating, so he sent him to keep an eye on me. Should we go somewhere else?"
Meng Yuxiu left home after lunch today, rode more than ten kilometers on a dirt road until his legs were trembling before he arrived here. Then he worked all afternoon, which means he had wasted an entire afternoon.
He twitched his facial muscles in an annoyance. "Change to where? You already told your brother you were doing homework. Going to the mountains or fields? That would only make people more suspicious."
Han Shuo could hear the displeasure in Meng Yuxiu's tone, so he put his arm around his shoulder and said with a smile, "Then tonight, there's plenty of time tonight. Don't be angry, you know I'm definitely more anxious to complete the mission than you are, but the conditions don't allow it, okay, okay, I'll kiss you to my heart's content tonight."
Now that things have come to this, Meng Yuxiu has no choice but to trust Han Shuo one more time.
Han Hong was relieved after receiving a tip that Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu were indeed doing their homework.
To thank Meng Yuxiu for working and tutoring him today, he kept putting food on Meng Yuxiu's plate at the dinner table.
After dinner, another pot of water was boiled so that Meng Yuxiu could wash his face and feet.
However, after going upstairs, Han Hong took a thin blanket out of the closet and said to Meng Yuxiu with a smile, "Little Meng, you'll sleep with me tonight. Tingting, you go sleep with your uncle."
Meng Yuxiu was taken aback, almost doubting that he had misheard.
Han Shuo was equally stunned. He said anxiously, "No, brother, are you sure? How could he sleep with you? Meng Yuxiu is going to sleep with me tonight."
Han Hong glared at Han Shuo, "Tsk, how can you be so insensible? I told you two can't sleep together, listen to me!"
Han Shuo said speechlessly, "No... I know you're worried. You're afraid that something is going on between me and Meng Yuxiu, and that people will gossip. But it's just the few of us in the family. If you don't say anything and Tingting doesn't say anything, no one will know. So why can't he sleep with me?"
Han Hong was stunned by his younger brother's words. Seeing Han Shuo's anxious state, Han Hong became even more uneasy.
He dared not let his guard down; what if Han Shuo was taken advantage of in bed, or even gotten pregnant...?
And given the current situation, her younger brother is quite willing to pay her.
Even if he had to pay her, it wouldn't work! Just thinking about this made Han Hong so angry that his heart, liver, and lungs ached. Although getting pregnant was a big deal, Meng Yuxiu looked refined and proper, so he probably wouldn't dare to do it.
But no matter what, Han Hong simply couldn't accept two teenagers in puberty sharing a bed.
Over there, the two brothers, Han Hong and Han Shuo, were about to start arguing. Meng Yuxiu stood awkwardly to the side, feeling like he was invisible. He didn't want Han Shuo to continue, because the more he talked, the more obvious it would seem.
So he pulled Han Shuo aside and whispered, "Stop talking, or your brother will really start to suspect what we're up to tonight."
Han Shuo could tell that Han Hong would never agree, and arguing a thousand times wouldn't help. After thinking for a moment, Han Shuo quietly said to Meng Yuxiu, "Okay, then you can sleep with my brother for now. Here's what we'll do: wait until my brother starts snoring, then you can sneak into my bed."
Meng Yuxiu: "Is he really not going to wake up?"
"Don't worry, I've been living with him here for six months now, I can guarantee that!"
Meng Yuxiu nodded solemnly, "Okay."
Han Hong was finally relieved. He had been serious with Han Shuo, but turned around and smiled at Meng Yuxiu.
He carefully placed the newly taken-out thin blanket inside the bed and spread it out again. "Xiao Meng, you'll sleep inside tonight. My bed is hard, I don't know if you'll be used to it. If you need anything tonight, just call me. Don't be shy, make yourself at home."
"Thank you, brother." Meng Yuxiu took off his shoes hesitantly, while Han Shuo, sitting on the bed at the top of the stairs, winked at him.
Meng Yuxiu understood what he meant; he was simply telling him to rest assured that he would be able to complete the mission tonight.
He could only sigh in frustration and then go to bed.
As soon as the lights were turned off, the group chatted for a while. The extra person in the house made Han Ting so excited that he couldn't sleep. Even in the pitch black, he rolled around in bed until his father scolded him, and then Han Shuo pulled him into the blankets.
After a short while, the room gradually quieted down, with only the occasional movement of someone darting across the beam remaining.
Meng Yuxiu didn't sleep; he waited quietly with his eyes closed. Just as Han Shuo had said, Han Hong soon started snoring.
"Batch by batch!"
"Batch by batch!"
"Batch by batch!"
In the darkness, Han Shuo gave a signal. Meng Yuxiu opened his eyes and waited a few seconds before quietly lifting the blanket and getting up, preparing to stride over Han Hong, who was sleeping outside.
But just as his leg crossed over, before his foot even touched the ground, the deafening snoring abruptly stopped, and Meng Yuxiu's breath caught in his throat.
The lights suddenly turned on, making Meng Yuxiu's pupils shrink slightly. After the light diffused and gradually softened, he and Han Hong looked at each other.
"..."
"..."
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