Chapter 8 Misunderstanding: How could your brother bear to hit you?
Due to the nature of his work, Zhou Ke often had to work until two or three in the morning before he could finish, which led to his irregular sleep schedule.
But after Lin Yu returned, Zhou Ke got up very early every day to bring her breakfast from Uncle Lin, who lived just a street away from the neighborhood. This breakfast shop had been open for almost fifteen years. In an era where pre-made meals were commonplace, this breakfast shop still used the traditional techniques of hand-kneading dough and personally chopping fillings. The owners were a couple in their late fifties. Because of their limited energy, they didn't sell much each day and would close the shop as soon as they were sold out.
Lin Yu loves his family's tofu pudding; she's been eating it since she was a child. Zhou Ke has also gotten into the habit of buying a serving of tofu pudding every time he brings Lin Yu breakfast.
After buying breakfast, he also went to the market to buy fresh vegetables and fish.
When he arrived home, Lin Yu was still not in the living room, and the door on the other side was still tightly closed. Zhou Ke glanced at his watch; it was past nine o'clock, which was not early. Usually, Lin Yu would have already gotten up and washed by this time, but there was still no sign of her today.
At first, Zhou Ke didn't take it seriously, but as noon approached and Lin Yu still showed no signs of waking up, he stood outside the room and vaguely sensed that something was wrong.
...
Lin Yu couldn't sleep well last night. One moment she heard Zhou Ke talking about breaking her legs, and the next she heard about that ridiculous kiss from back then. She lay in bed, tossing and turning all night until the sky began to lighten before she finally woke up.
Hearing the knock, Lin Yu slowly got out of bed. She opened the door, still wearing a loose nightgown, her long hair disheveled and draped over her shoulders. She lifted her eyelids, stared at Zhou Ke with sleepy eyes, and mumbled, "Brother, is something wrong?"
Zhou Ke lowered his eyes and carefully scanned her face. After confirming that she was unharmed and simply hadn't woken up properly, a relaxed expression appeared on his face, and he said in a gentle voice, "I didn't see you wake up and was worried that you weren't feeling well, so I knocked on the door. Now it seems—I was overthinking it. Go back to sleep?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Yu raised her hand to rub her sleepy eyes and asked in a muffled voice, "What time is it?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke glanced at the wall clock: "10:58."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yu's drowsiness vanished instantly. From childhood to adulthood, her daily routine had always been very regular, but occasionally it would become chaotic like today. Of course, nine times out of ten, these disruptions were related to her brother, which was the only deviation in her otherwise well-behaved life.
Standing in front of the sink, Lin Yu scooped up a handful of cold water and splashed it on her face. The water droplets dripped into the white glazed sink. She looked up at herself in the mirror. Her fair eyelids were covered with a faint layer of dark circles, and there were a few obvious red blood vessels in her eyes. It was obvious that she hadn't slept well.
After washing up, Lin Yu noticed a bowl of tofu pudding on the table. She slowly walked over and sat down at the table.
Zhou Ke glanced at her and asked with concern as usual, "Didn't you sleep well last night?"
Lin Yu nodded, placed the tofu pudding in front of her, and made up a lie: "I had a nightmare."
Zhou Ke stared at her. "What did you dream about?"
Lin Yu picked up a spoon and scooped up a mouthful of the now-cold tofu pudding. She said in a very calm tone, "I dreamt that you hit me." After saying that, she looked up and stared straight into Zhou Ke's deep eyes, and continued to spout nonsense: "And you were mean to me. No matter how much I cried, you wouldn't stop."
"..." Zhou Ke choked for a moment, and even his usually composed expression cracked slightly.
The air seemed to freeze for a moment, and Lin Yu was surprised to find that even when the tofu pudding was cold, it didn't affect the taste; in fact, it was even more delicious.
After a moment of silence, Zhou Ke sighed inwardly and couldn't help but reply, "Dreams are all fake, how could your brother bear to hit you?"
some.
Lin Yu paused in her action of holding the spoon, raised her head and glanced at him.
Don't speak so soon. You were even spanking me in your dream before.
Of course, these older brothers were completely unaware of this.
After dinner, Zhou Ke rested at home, while Lin Yu went upstairs to find Aunt Zhong to discuss tutoring Lili.
I didn't get a good night's rest last night, so the make-up class that was originally scheduled for today has to be postponed for another day.
Lin Yu stayed upstairs with Lili, helping her with a few practice tests to assess her foundation and figure out how to tutor her properly before going downstairs to her own home.
The afternoon sun shone through the security windows of the balcony, casting dappled patterns on the amber-colored wooden floor.
Lin Yu was so sleepy that she sat on the sofa for a short while before going back to her room and falling asleep. She was not awakened until she was woken up by a series of messages.
Lily: [Sister, are you home?]
Can I come down to find you?
[Holding face in hands (Jap.)]
After reading the message, Lin Yu raised her arm and slowly covered her eyelids with the back of her hand. The curtains in the room were not drawn, and through the glass window, one could see the lush old locust tree outside. At this moment, the orange-red sunset was hidden among the branches, painting the distant sky a beautiful orange-pink.
Lin Yu rubbed her sleepy eyes, got out of bed, and replied to Lily's message.
A moment later, there was a knock on the door. Lin Yu slipped on her shoes and went to open the door for Lily.
Lin Yu pushed open the door and saw Lily standing there, holding a large watermelon in one hand and a square box in the other. She was wearing a bright yellow dress, the hem of which swayed gently with her movements. Her fluffy hair was tied into a loose bun, with a few strands falling beside her ears. The setting sun shone in through the window in the hallway, falling on Lily and casting a warm yellow halo behind her head.
Lin Yu pointed to the box in her hand and asked suspiciously, "What's this?"
“A projector,” Lily said cheerfully, glancing at the box in her arms. “I’ve come to watch a movie with you.”
After saying that, she peeked out and looked around: "Is Brother Zhou Ke not home?"
Lin Yu had just gotten up and, upon hearing Lily's question, looked around as well. Not seeing Zhou Ke at home, she guessed that at this time, Zhou Ke was most likely at a bar.
Lin Yu bent down and got Lily a clean pair of slippers to change into. The two families had lived in the same building for more than ten years, and they would visit each other like this every holiday. Lily was not reserved at all and sat down on the sofa with a familiar air. "I just bought a projector a few days ago. I just got it and came to see you."
Watching a movie alone is no fun, but if Lily were to watch it with her parents, she would find it even less fun. Therefore, the first person she thought of was Lin Yu.
Zhou Ke and Lin Yu were the quintessential "other people's children" since childhood. Zhong Ying had a very high opinion of the two siblings. During the summer vacation, she ordered Lili to stay home and study hard and not to go out and wander around. However, knowing that her daughter was coming down to see Lin Yu, she agreed without thinking and even asked Lili to bring down a watermelon.
After putting the projector down, Lily, holding a watermelon, asked, "Where's the fruit knife?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Yu reached out to her and said, "Give it to me, I'll go cut it."
Lily handed the watermelon to her, then picked up her phone from her pocket: "Let me order some more food. Sister, do you want barbecue or the crayfish at that place on Qinglan Road? Let me tell you, that crayfish is so delicious. Every time I go there, I pack some to take home and make it into noodles for a late-night snack. You haven't been back for so long, you probably haven't tried it yet. It just opened last year, do you want to give it a try?"
As she spoke, Lin Yu placed the watermelon on the cutting board. Her warm palms touched the cool rind, and the moisture clinging to it made her dry palms feel icy and damp. The next second, she found a fruit knife on the shelf. As the blade cut into the rind, a crisp 'snap' sound quickly filled the air, and then the bright red flesh came into view. Lin Yu put the knife away and replied, "You decide, grilled crayfish or anything else is fine."
Upon hearing this, Lily quickly decided, "Then let's have crayfish, and I'll also order a milk tea."
Feeling bad about letting Lily place all the orders, Lin Yu took out two spoons from the cupboard, then each of them carried half a watermelon out of the kitchen and said, "I'll order the milk tea, what would you like to drink?"
"Guava tea." Lily put down the watermelon, confirmed the order for crayfish, and started fiddling with the projector, muttering, "There haven't been any good movies lately, so I just randomly picked a highly-rated foreign campus movie online. I heard it's super good!"
As dusk fell, the sky turned a deep crimson blue, and a few stars appeared one after another. Rows of streetlights lit up, and the buildings in the old residential area were very close together. The sounds of pots and pans could be heard even if they were a little loud. At this moment, a strong voice suddenly came from the building across the street, calling for his child to come home for dinner.
Lin Yu drew the curtains, and the living room quickly fell into darkness, with only the dim light from the phone screen falling on Lily's chin.
Soon, the projector's light filled the entire living room, and on the screen, the female protagonist was walking down a bustling street wearing headphones, with light and melodious background music playing.
Lily was scooping out the sweetest part of the watermelon with a spoon, lounging lazily on the sofa.
The scene shifts, and the main characters walk into the school one after another with their backpacks on their backs. Perhaps to show the audience the complex relationships between the characters, the movie progresses very slowly in the early stages. Lin Yu holds a cushion in her arms and watches intently, propping herself up on her arm.
Perhaps the plot was too slow, and Lin Yu couldn't muster much interest for the time being. She bent over, picked up a spoon, scooped out a piece of watermelon, and took a bite. The coldness made her teeth chatter. She suddenly looked up and her pupils contracted sharply when she saw the scene in the movie.
In less than a minute, the screen suddenly went dark, and the two protagonists kissed passionately in the storage room of the school gymnasium without any restraint.
Lin Yu blinked, suddenly wondering if this was really a campus movie.
She turned to look at Lily and saw that the other girl was staring at the screen without blushing or skipping a beat, her eyes unblinking.
Occasionally, a few suggestive words would escape the air, mixed with the thud of a basketball hitting the ground. The scene then shifted, and the two had taken off their school uniforms and were lying on the bed, shirtless.
Foreign films have always been more lenient in their control of content than domestic films, and they do not shy away from many explicit scenes.
Lin Yu stared at the screen, her thoughts wandering until she heard Lily's exclamation. Lily turned to look at Lin Yu, "I think I heard the sound of the door lock turning. Is Brother Zhou Ke back?"
Hearing this, Lin Yu suddenly came to his senses, glanced at the clock on the wall. It was only eight o'clock. Shouldn't he have just gone to the bar at this time? Why was he back?
But soon, the figure appearing in the entrance hall gave the two the answer. Zhou Ke was standing at the door, carrying two or three takeout bags with restaurant logos printed on them. He wasn't wearing his usual black T-shirt today, but a dark shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows, revealing his well-defined forearms.
Upon seeing Zhou Ke at home, the two were initially taken aback, then stood up simultaneously. A series of intimate sounds filled the air. If they could have remained nonchalant while watching from home earlier, they were now truly blushing. Lily hurriedly grabbed the remote and frantically pressed the pause button, abruptly stopping the suggestive sounds. Lily immediately took a deep breath.
Fortunately, the living room was dimly lit, so Zhou Ke couldn't see her reddened earlobes and embarrassed expression. Compared to Lily's panic, Lin Yu was much calmer. She stood there, her clear eyes scanning her brother up and down, and spoke first: "Brother, didn't you go to the bar?"
"I went there this afternoon," Zhou Ke said calmly.
Lily stood to the side, slowly raising her gaze, and was surprised to find that Zhou Ke was carrying the takeout they had just received. She opened her mouth, first politely calling him "brother," before asking, "How did this takeout end up in your hand?"
After saying that, Zhou Ke walked over to the two of them and explained, "The delivery guy injured his leg, and there's no elevator in the building. I just casually asked which floor the delivery was for, and I didn't expect it was you guys who ordered it."
"Oh, is that so? Thank you, brother." Seeing Zhou Ke place the takeout bag on the coffee table, the aroma of crayfish was so strong that even just seeing it in front of him, the fragrance of perilla and garlic filled his nostrils.
Lily glanced at Zhou Ke, then at Lin Yu, and finally forced a smile and invited, "I ordered two portions, would you like to have some with me, Brother Zhou Ke?"
"No, you guys eat."
After saying that, Zhou Ke turned around without hesitation, but unexpectedly, he was met with the erotic scene on the screen. He paused, and when the scene on the projector was reflected in his pupils without any medium, his eyes suddenly darkened.
At that moment, all three of them were stunned. Lily gasped, her eyes widening in shock. She instinctively hid behind Lin Yu, her gaze darting up and down.
If the sounds he heard when he entered the room were already shocking enough, then witnessing this scene in broad daylight was beyond just being surprised. Zhou Ke closed his eyes, not daring to turn around and look at the expressions on their faces.
The next second, he took a step and walked into his room without hesitation.
Lin Yu hadn't expected the scene to be so awkward. The living room was dimly lit, and the cool white light reflected off her profile, highlighting the helplessness and embarrassment in her eyes. Lily's eyes flickered, and she kept digging her nails into her index finger. At this moment, the screen was showing the male and female leads embracing on the bed. The female lead was lying on top of the male lead, her bare back covered by a light pink silk blanket draped loosely over her tailbone. A pair of strong arms tightly encircled her smooth back. The girl's eyes were slightly closed, and she tilted her head back while the boy licked her slender neck with his tongue.
The scene was frozen in that exact second, and Lily was filled with regret. She wished she hadn't paused it.
That's not right either. At least when you pause, the video is still playing, but if you don't pause, the audio appears along with it.
Who knew that Zhou Ke would return at this crucial moment?
Lily stared at the closed door and suddenly became worried. She leaned over and poked Lin Yu's arm, blinking her round eyes: "Brother Zhou Ke won't misunderstand that we're watching that kind of movie, will he?"
Lin Yu turned to look at her and blurted out, "Isn't this...?"
Upon hearing this, Lily felt as if she'd been struck by lightning. "Oh no, oh no, this really isn't it! It's a foreign film, so it's normal for it to be a bit explicit, but it's definitely not what you're thinking..." By the end, Lily was filled with doubt. She grabbed a nearby cushion, rested her head on the sofa back, covered her face with the cushion, and growled in a low voice, "Ugh! I should never have watched this! How am I going to explain this?!"
Lin Yu didn't know that this feeling was even more terrifying than being drunk and stealing her own brother. She rubbed her forehead and looked at the walnut-colored door in the distance.
Lily had a long face. Compared to her intimacy with Lin Yu, she was honestly a little intimidated by this older brother who was almost ten years older than her. It wasn't the kind of fear that was oppressive, but she just felt that Zhou Ke was usually too dignified. She didn't know if it was because he had taken care of his younger sister for too long or because of the age difference, but Lily really felt that Zhou Ke had an elder's aura.
This feeling is like being caught kissing your boyfriend by your parents – extremely embarrassing.
Lily recalled Zhou Ke's expression when he placed the takeout on the coffee table and felt even more like crying: "Now that's it, not only did we get misunderstood while watching the movie, but the takeout also ended up in Zhou Ke's hands."
Lin Yu observed her reaction and asked curiously, "You seem very afraid of him?"
Lily sat cross-legged on the sofa, leaning against it, facing Lin Yu. She shook her head upon hearing this. "It's not that I'm afraid, it's just..." Lily tilted her head, carefully considering her words, and said, "I don't know why, but seeing him feels like being caught passing notes in class by the teacher. I feel inexplicably guilty. My mom doesn't let me order takeout, always saying the ingredients outside aren't clean. So, when I saw the takeout box in his hand, it felt like I'd stepped on a sore spot. I thought, 'Oh no!' And..." Lily raised her chin, confidently stating, "When he put the takeout on the table, I saw him frown. It was obvious he disapproved of our ordering takeout."
Lin Yu didn't notice. "Really?"
“Yes.” Lily glanced at Lin Yu, still feeling a sense of awe for Zhou Ke, but the thought of the two of them living under the same roof for over twenty years suddenly brought a pang of pity to her: “You know, living with Brother Zhou Ke every day, don’t you feel a lot of pressure? Will he scold you when you do something wrong? Will you be like my mom, demanding that your blankets be folded into perfect squares, your room be spotless, your shoes be washed every week, and so on…”
The aroma of crayfish still lingered in their noses, but neither of them had the appetite to eat. The movie remained frozen in that moment, with Lin Yu staring at the screen. The dim light and shadow fell on her features, reflecting the girl's thoughtful expression.
Because of Lily's words, Lin Yu carefully recalled the eighteen years she had lived with Zhou Ke.
When she was little, her uncle treated her very well, but he was busy with work and couldn't focus his energy on her or learn how to raise a little girl properly. She was raised by her maternal grandmother until she was three years old. In her grandmother's words, a child only needed a bowl of rice cereal and a meal to be raised to adulthood.
Later, Zhou Ke came to the Lin family, and somehow half of the work of taking care of Lin Yu fell on him. He would comb Lin Yu's hair nicely and teach her to read and write. Uncle T's house only had three rooms. Before that, one was for himself, one was for his grandmother, and the other was for Lin Yu. After Zhou Ke came, the bed in the room became a bunk bed. She and Zhou Ke lived in a small room like this for three years.
When I was young, I couldn't fold a quilt properly at all. It was the same way when I got up, and it was still the same way twelve hours later.
Later, perhaps after Zhou Ke arrived, her quilt began to take on a perfectly square shape.
As for the room, Zhou Ke had always done the housework. Just as she had seen on the first day she returned, she guessed that even if she hadn't gone back to Tongcheng, Zhou Ke had been cleaning her room for her.
When she was ten years old, she went out to play with her friends and her blue dress got stained with a conspicuous oil stain. No matter how hard she scrubbed, she couldn't get it clean. Later, Zhou Ke helped her wash it clean.
Thinking about this, Lin Yu even began to reflect that Zhou Ke in other people's eyes and Zhou Ke in her eyes seemed to be two completely different people.
As my thoughts drifted, my phone, which was on the table, suddenly rang.
Lin Yu snapped out of her daze and turned on her phone.
She saw the message Zhou Ke sent her.
Eat less spicy food; it's bad for your stomach.
A note from the author:
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