Chapter 41 Foster Brother [VIP]
9:37 AM on July 2nd.
[Pei: Are you there? Let's talk.]
[He Anzhou: The person who borrowed money is not here.]
【Pei: [Red Envelope]】
[He Anzhou has received your red envelope]
[He Anzhou: My God, it's a huge sum of one dollar! Young Master, what are your orders?]
[Pei: I heard your hometown is in the countryside. We'll all be going our separate ways after graduation, won't you invite me over for a couple of days?]
[He Anzhou: What's fun about the countryside? There's just endless farm work. Are you planning to come and help?]
Pei: State your address.
...
The system relayed the conversation: [Host, this is their entire chat history for today.]
Judging from the time, the conversation took place while he was doing his homework.
Furthermore, it was Pei Xuhui who took the initiative to speak, rather than having made a prior agreement with He Anzhou as he claimed.
She wouldn't travel with him, nor would she allow herself to go to the countryside with him.
Is Pei Xuhui avoiding him?
As Qingran ate the watermelon, she slowly came to a conclusion, and then began to think about the reasons.
He didn't seem to do anything particularly outrageous today, did he? If anything, he just said he wanted to kiss him yesterday.
But it seems that Pei Xuhui didn't take it seriously at the time, and just thought he was being silly.
What happened afterward that he didn't know about?
When asked, the system told him that Pei Xu had been woken up by a fuss in the middle of the night and, after washing his clothes, had played games next to him for half the night.
That's normal. Teenage boys are easily provoked, and after experiencing more, he now understands things to some extent.
There seems to be no other reason that could cause Pei Xuhui to act abnormally.
He kept his head down and didn't speak, as if he had been wronged and was sulking. Pei Xu couldn't help but feel sorry for him when he saw this.
"Are you angry?" the boy asked gently.
Qingran raised her clear, sharp eyes, deliberately acting petulant: "Fine, I won't go then. Do you think I really want to work?"
Very good, quite energetic.
Pei Xu smiled and said, "It's best not to think about it. Working isn't a good thing anyway. Think about something else."
The matter was settled in just a few words.
After learning about the situation faced by the two elderly members of the Yu family, Pei's father said he would arrange for an assistant to come and handle it as soon as possible, and he was happy to be able to help.
Firstly, their family treated Qingran like their own child, and they got along harmoniously with the Yu family.
Secondly, when Yu's mother was handling her funeral arrangements, she invested part of the proceeds from the sale of the mine into the Pei family.
Although the investment has been diluted considerably over the years, the Pei family's chain supermarkets were expanding rapidly at the time, and this funding was a timely help.
Pei Xuhui told the three of them that they had booked a domestic tour group, which would depart in two days.
The day before they left, he packed Qingran's luggage in the room. It wasn't troublesome; he just picked out a few sets of clothes from the luggage they brought.
When Qingran came out after taking a shower, Pei Xuhui was folding clothes with his back to him by the bed.
Under the bright incandescent light, the boy was wearing a loose sleeveless t-shirt and knee-length shorts, white on top and black on the bottom.
He has broad shoulders, and because he exercises regularly, his body doesn't appear thin despite being in puberty. On the contrary, his muscles are well-proportioned, and you can vaguely see smooth, undulating lines when he moves.
Extending from the outstretched forearm to the bulging biceps, then to the straight shoulders and neck and the slightly concave spine, it finally converges into a supple and strong waist at the abdomen.
Normally, Qingran would have gone over and wrapped her arms around that waist from behind, or even reached under the hem of her clothes and groped her without any hesitation.
This time, however, he didn't choose any of them. Instead, he went to fold clothes and asked, "When are you leaving?"
Pei Xu replied, "The day after tomorrow, the day after you leave."
Qingran: "How long will it take?"
Pei Xu replied, "The tour group's itinerary is half a month, and I might stay for half a month before coming back, otherwise it's fine to come back."
Qingran nodded, said "oh," and then fell silent.
Working together, the two of them were faster, and the luggage was packed in just a few minutes, filling a mini suitcase.
Pei Xu turned his head to look at Qing Ran.
The boy's profile was beautiful and elegant, with long, slender limbs, so exquisite that there wasn't a single flaw, like a jade figure carved from white jade.
"Ao Ran."
"what?"
The boy turned to look at him. His eyebrows were delicate and his eyes were like autumn waves. He was as beautiful as a gentle breeze, which easily stirred up his heart.
It's nothing, I just wanted to call your name.
The boy looked away and lowered his eyelashes.
"I'll put your suitcase in the corner."
The next day, Pei Xuhui took the three of them to the airport to meet up with the tour group.
He booked a high-end tour group, which consisted of three families with no more than ten members.
Watching the plane carrying the tour group take off and disappear into the sky, the boy turned around, went home, quickly packed a few clothes, hailed a taxi, and headed straight to the countryside of another county in Qing City.
We arrived at our destination several hours later, at 2 p.m.
The sun was high in the sky, its dazzling light blinding people. In the distance, the mountains were verdant and the trees provided shade, while the sound of cicadas filled the air.
A typical self-built building stood by the roadside. Pei Xuhui, having paid his fare, walked towards the building while making a phone call.
"I've arrived, come out and meet me."
Soon the main door on the first floor of the building opened, and several familiar faces came out. Apart from He Anzhou, who else could they be but their roommates?
"You guys are here too?" Pei Xuhui put away his phone in surprise.
A few boys, who had traveled a long way by changing buses and were so shaken up by the country roads that they were about to throw up, listlessly raised their hands to greet him, like listless lucky cats.
"Yes, Lao He said it was a team building activity in the dormitory."
He Anzhou, standing in the middle with one arm around each shoulder, chuckled and said, "Even the squad leader has volunteered, so we should follow suit, right?"
As she spoke, she shook the shoulder she was holding.
"Stop shaking me, or I'll throw up," came a weak plea from the left.
He Anzhou stopped what he was doing with regret and said, "My grandparents heard that someone was coming to do hard labor, so they haven't even hired any workers yet. You'd better not let me down."
The other three looked distressed upon hearing this and glared at Pei Xu with reproachful eyes: "Why did you have to do farm work when you could have done something else?"
They really put us in a lot of trouble!
After a day of rest, the three, who had been listless the day before, were immediately rejuvenated after being fed a lot of delicious food by the hospitable old man.
Even when he later went to work in the fields, he was full of energy.
After all, He Anzhou wasn't really asking them to do hard labor; at most, he'd take them to the fields for half a day to experience it.
The rest of the time, the group spent their time playing around in the mountains and fields.
During this time, Pei Xuhui did not show any unusual behavior.
He was especially relieved to find that although he would think of Qingran, he didn't have the urge to fly to her side.
I thought to myself that he could still control himself.
That evening, He Anzhou knocked on the door and peeked in to ask him, "Have you been in a bad mood these past few days? Or are you just bored?"
At that time, Pei Xuhui was sitting on the edge of the bed looking through photos from Grandma Yu's WeChat Moments.
He stood with his legs naturally apart and his elbows resting on his knees. He looked up when he heard the question, and paused for a moment: "What?"
He Anzhou stood up straight with his arms crossed: "I said you're in a bad mood, emo."
"...How did you figure that out?"
"Isn't it obvious? He talks much less, gets distracted from time to time, checks his phone frequently, and isn't very interested in going out."
He Anzhou listed them one by one.
“You’ve always been the most fun-loving one among us, but this time you’re not offering any opinions and just following instructions. Isn’t that unusual? Not just me, the others have noticed it too.”
Are you quiet or easily distracted?
Pei Xuhui recalled.
I do look at my phone, but not that frequently, right?
He was just waiting for Qingran to send him travel photos.
As a result, Qingran didn't post anything, so he could only see where they went and what they did through his grandmother's WeChat Moments.
Only then can one take the opportunity to catch a glimpse of someone.
“No, you’re mistaken,” Pei Xu replied, denying it.
He Anzhou shrugged. Fine, if you won't admit it, then so be it. "We're going out to catch cicada nymphs tonight, are you coming?"
Pei Xuhui initially wanted to say he wouldn't go, but then remembered the question he had been asked earlier and, not wanting to spoil the fun for everyone, changed his mind.
"go."
He Anzhou: "Okay, I'll come and call you then."
It was eight o'clock in the evening, and the sky was completely dark.
Several boys went out with flashlights to catch cicada nymphs.
The so-called cicada nymphs are actually cicada larvae, which emerge from the soil at night and climb up trees. They can be caught, cleaned, and deep-fried; just a sprinkle of salt is enough to make them incredibly delicious.
Pei Xuhui wasn't very interested in this thing.
But he knew that Qingran was interested in all kinds of delicious food, especially things that could be eaten and played with at the same time.
Realizing he was thinking of Qingran again, the boy sighed as he gazed at the clear moonlight.
He seemed to have finally let himself go, no longer forcing himself not to contact them. He took out his phone, took a picture of his friends catching cicada nymphs, and sent it to Qingran.
Not long after, Qingran's reply appeared on the page that had been quiet for a long time.
[Baby: What are you doing? [Peeking out]]
The boy opened the voice message and laughed, "Catching cicada nymphs."
Qingran pretended not to know.
[My little one: What is a cicada nymph?]
Pei Xu made a voice call to him, and patiently explained after the other end answered, "This thing is a cicada larva..."
He appeared relaxed, with gentle eyes and a voice softer than the moonlight.
He Anzhou glanced back at him from the front and saw his appearance, then shook his head, thinking he was hopeless.
After that day, Pei Xuhui seemed to have regained his former self, spending his days playing in the mountains and rivers, having a wonderful time.
The only difference is that he is contacting Qingran more and more frequently and for longer periods of time.
Friends joked that Qingran was the fifth person to join their dorm team building activity, because Pei Xuhui and Qingran were on voice chat most of the time.
Pei Xuhui usually just laughed it off.
After returning to his room and ending his call with Qingran, the boy suppressed his smile and began contacting his parents, discussing something repeatedly.
Pei Xuhui understood very well that no one was indispensable to anyone else, and no one was indispensable to anyone else.
Of course he could leave Qingran, and of course he could live a good life.
He just has a hard time feeling happy.
After spending about ten days in the countryside, the friends felt they had had enough fun and suggested heading home, so Pei Xuhui also went home.
At this point, the tour group had not yet finished its two-week trip.
Therefore, Pei Xu, who thought Qing Ran wouldn't be home, went back to his room to put away his luggage and then called his mother with peace of mind.
The matter of studying abroad has been discussed and settled with my parents. They are now discussing which school and which country I should go to.
The boy opened the door and walked out: "...JQ? This school is not bad, but I still want to go there more—"
His calm words came to an abrupt halt.
"What's wrong? Where do you want to go more?" Pei's mother asked over the phone.
Pei Xu looked back at the figure at the end of the corridor, then came to his senses and said in a low voice, "Mom, something came up here. I'll call you when I'm done."
He hung up the call and slowly started walking.
"Why did you come back early?" the boy asked as he approached, his gentle tone as if he were afraid of disturbing a timid butterfly.
A note from the author:
Thanks for watering! *kissing*
Reader "Tree Without Thoughts" watered with nutrient solution +1
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