Chapter 23
The music teacher was a recent college graduate, not much older than Jiang Huaiyu and the others. He was a very trendy young man who didn't act like a teacher at all. He asked Jiang Huaiyu a few questions, and the two chatted for a while. Jiang Huaiyu was still wearing her performance outfit. The emergency exit door was broken, and cold air kept blowing in. The young teacher, however, became more and more enthusiastic as he talked, completely unaware of Jiang Huaiyu's increasingly impatient expression.
Just as Jiang Huaiyu was about to interrupt the teacher's long-winded speech, the auditorium door was pushed open, and a boy wearing a black hoodie walked straight to Jiang Huaiyu's side and greeted the music teacher: "Teacher Gao."
"Ah, Lu Mingxiao..." Teacher Gao pushed up his glasses, "You sang really well just now..."
This student was half a head taller than him, and his eyes already showed some of the sharpness of an adult. For some reason, Teacher Gao always felt that Lu Mingxiao looked at him with great dissatisfaction.
"Thank you, teacher." Lu Mingxiao took off his school uniform jacket and draped it over Jiang Huaiyu's shoulders, seemingly casually complaining, "You ran out without a jacket, aren't you afraid of freezing?"
The cotton-padded coat still carried Lu Mingxiao's body heat, instantly blocking the cold wind the moment it was put on. With her snow-white fingertips gripping the edge of the coat, Jiang Huaiyu smiled and said, "Thanks."
Teacher Gao then noticed Jiang Huaiyu's lips, which had turned white from the cold wind, and immediately blushed: "Jiang Huaiyu, let's stop here. You should go back now; it's a bit cold..."
Lu Mingxiao didn't bother with formalities, nodded, and took Jiang Huaiyu's wrist as they returned to the auditorium.
“Jiang Xiaoyu, sometimes you don’t need to be so polite. If I don’t go, how long are you planning to keep talking to him? Are you going to freeze yourself into an icicle?”
“I was about to come in too.” Jiang Huaiyu clutched her cotton coat and followed him closely, a happy smile playing on her lips. “I haven’t had a chance to congratulate you yet, Brother Xiao. You sang very well, and the performance was a great success.”
"You sang very well?" Lu Mingxiao led the person backstage, found Jiang Huaiyu's sweater, and handed her the snow-white bundle: "Do you like it?"
Jiang Huaiyu took the sweater, and the moment his fingertips touched it, he smiled and said, "I like it, I really like it."
His Adam's apple bobbed, his heart pounded, and Lu Mingxiao released the sweater, reached around Jiang Huaiyu's neck, and gently pulled open the silk scarf. The moonlight-like silk fabric slipped down, revealing a bright red dot under her collarbone.
Lu Mingxiao was starting to like the clothes; it felt like he was unwrapping a gift.
Jiang Huaiyu was slightly taken aback, never expecting him to do that.
Lu Mingxiao also came to his senses, his ears instantly burning red. As if he were being scorched by fire, he quickly withdrew his hand and coughed to cover it up, saying, "Go change your clothes."
Jiang Huaiyu carried the sweater into the dressing room.
He felt that Lu Mingxiao was different in some way, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
...
After the school anniversary celebration, there were no more special events at the school. The campus, which had been bustling for a day, returned to its orderly state. As the semester drew to a close, teachers of all subjects were eager to complete a stack of test papers every day.
Lu Mingxiao's grades have improved a lot this semester, and his ranking has caught up from the bottom half to the middle. After the school anniversary celebration, his attitude towards learning became more serious, and he completed his homework very carefully. Even the strict old chemistry teacher couldn't help but praise him, saying that he had finally figured it out.
Only Lu Mingxiao himself knew that he had indeed finally figured it out.
The person he likes is so outstanding, he has to try his best to catch up so that he doesn't fall too far behind. Even if they can't get into the same university in the future, he should at least try to get into the same city.
By then, they will all be adults, and only he will be able to take responsibility for his own feelings, so that his promises will not be taken as mere jokes by his parents.
Lu Mingxiao is a very proactive person. This seemingly flamboyant young man actually has a maturity beyond his years. Once he sets a goal, he will single-mindedly work to achieve it.
Educational resources are limited in this small town. Even though Lu Mingxiao's school is a key high school in the city, there is still a big gap between its educational model and that of Shenhai International High School.
Jiang Huaiyu has been keeping up with the progress at Shenhai High School. He doesn't plan to go back to take the exam, but Song Jingliang has already communicated with the school and he still has to take the final exam, which will be completed online.
The two were truly immersed in the learning atmosphere. When Jiang Huaiyu explained the problem, Lu Mingxiao's eyes were filled with a thirst for knowledge, and his gaze was sincere and ardent.
Seeing Lu Mingxiao's transformation made Li Qing the happiest. On the days she didn't have any work, she cooked all sorts of delicious meals for the two children.
Looking at the meticulously arranged fruit platter, Lu Mingxiao suddenly realized a problem: the person he wanted to "turn gay" was his mother's own son. If his mother found out, given Li Qing's temper...
What happened?
Lu Mingxiao comforted himself, thinking that his mother probably wouldn't beat him to death... right?
It snowed again in the small town over the weekend.
Fearing that her two children were getting too bored with studying, Li Qing rarely persuaded them to go out and play for half a day, whether it was to go to an internet cafe or to go sledding on the river, just to get some fresh air.
Lu Mingxiao thought for a moment, then leaned over and asked Jiang Huaiyu, "Are we still going to build a snowman?"
Jiang Huaiyu had just finished a set of questions, so she nodded and said, "Let's go."
They didn't go too far; they could build a snowman in the yard. Lu Mingxiao used a shovel to pile up snow, while Jiang Huaiyu rolled snowballs in the yard. Hu Zi was responsible for messing around with them. As soon as Jiang Huaiyu rolled out a small snowball, Hu Zi rushed over and bit it to pieces. Then it lowered its body, stuck out its butt, and wagged its tail, thinking that Jiang Huaiyu was playing with it.
"Tiger!" Lu Mingxiao brandished the shovel in his hand: "If you cause any more trouble, I'll bury you in the snow!"
Tiger wasn't buying it. It shook its head and charged at Lu Mingxiao, slamming him into a snowdrift. Its two little owners hadn't played with it in a long time, and it was so excited that it almost twisted itself into a pretzel.
"At this age, how can you be so immature..." Lu Mingxiao rubbed his dog's head, then felt a tightness in his chest as Tiger stepped on him: "Have mercy on Tiger, do you still think you're a little puppy! Boss Jiang! Help me!"
Jiang Huaiyu gave Hu Zi a new dried bone stick, and Hu Zi happily went to grind his teeth. He reached out to pull Lu Mingxiao: "Can't you even move Hu Zi anymore?"
Actually, it can promote...
But we're all brothers, so what's wrong with him wanting to act cute a little?
"Do you know how heavy it is now? Mr. Jiang, you shouldn't spoil it too much. Sometimes its snacks are more expensive than mine. Do you think that's reasonable?" He held Jiang Huaiyu's hand.
Both of them were wearing thick gloves, and Jiang Huaiyu could only feel that Lu Mingxiao was holding her tightly.
"It needs to adjust its trace elements to make its fur smooth and shiny. Do you need to as well, Brother Xiao?" Jiang Huaiyu looked down at him, her scarf revealing only a pair of clear, bright eyes with a smile as sparkling as snowflakes: "Are you dissatisfied with your hair quality?"
“Jiang Xiaobao, you’re quite the sharp-tongued one…” Lu Mingxiao raised an eyebrow and unexpectedly pulled down with his arm.
Jiang Huaiyu tried to maintain her balance but failed, staggering and kneeling directly on Lu Mingxiao's long legs.
"Lu Mingxiao!" Jiang Huaiyu's ears, which were slightly burning under her earmuffs, grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at Lu Mingxiao's hateful face: "What nonsense are you talking about? If I fell down, I could break your ribs!"
The soft, cool snow fell on his face and melted into water in an instant. Lu Mingxiao blinked, shook off the water droplets on his eyelashes, and pointed to the sky: "Jiang Xiaoyu, look at that cloud, it looks just like a whale."
"Don't change the subject."
"Really!" Lu Mingxiao tugged at him again: "Look! A big fish!"
Jiang Huaiyu climbed off his lap, sat beside him, and looked up at the sky.
The courtyard is on the edge of the city, with no tall buildings to block its view.
In the evening sky, there really was a "whale". The whale's back was covered with thick white clouds, and the clouds on its belly were swirled with fine lines by the wind. The afterglow of the setting sun painted this big fish in the sky with a brilliant rose color. The color gradually deepened from the belly upwards, with layers of light purple, light blue and dark blue spreading out, like a superb oil painting.
“So beautiful…” Lu Mingxiao took out his phone from his pocket, carefully adjusted the camera, and took a picture of Jiang Huaiyu’s profile with her head tilted back.
The two of them finally finished building the snowman before it got completely dark. The snowman was very well made, with a sturdy cone-shaped body topped with a round head, an old blue curtain as a scarf, an iron bucket on its head, buttons for eyes, and a carrot for nose.
Jiang Huaiyu inserted two branches into the snowman's body as its hands. After finishing, he suggested, "Let's take a picture together and send it to Mom."
So he and Lu Mingxiao squatted down on either side of the snowman, and Lu Mingxiao held up his phone and took a picture.
From the overhead view, the two boys' noses and cheeks were red from the cold. Lu Mingxiao was closer to the camera, smiling and showing his neat teeth, with a touch of innocent boyishness. Jiang Huaiyu made a "V" sign at the camera, his smile gentle and reserved.
Before going to bed, Jiang Huaiyu turned on her phone in the dark and looked at the photo again.
He didn't send the photo to Ms. Jiang Lan. Forgive his slight selfishness; he doesn't really want to hear the word "brother" from his mother right now.
Lu Mingxiao's lazy voice drifted through the hole in the wall: "Jiang Xiaobao, it's lights out time. Go to sleep and stop using your tablet to do practice problems."
With a slight smile, Jiang Huaiyu said, "I understand."
He plugged his phone in to charge and then turned off the screen, plunging his small space into darkness, but there was still light coming from the other side of the window.
"Lu Dabao." Jiang Huaiyu pulled the blanket tighter around herself, lying on her side and looking at the faint light filtering through the curtains. "You told me to sleep, but you were playing on your phone?"
In the other half of the small space, Lu Mingxiao was also looking at photos. He traced the boy's profile lightly with his fingertips, and after a moment he smiled: "Going to sleep now, goodnight, Jiang Xiaobao."
Goodnight, Lu Dabao.
It's perfectly normal for brothers to say goodnight to each other before going to sleep.
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