Chapter 63, Part 62
Sixty-three:
Ye Qingxi: !!
Upon hearing this, Mu Shaoyan finally realized, "Oh, this is my exam paper. Why did my little nephew suddenly ask a question?"
Can he understand?
That's impossible!
This is a senior high school exam paper, and Ye Qingxi isn't even a third-year student!
Ye Qingxi: ...
Ye Qingxi began to act without any trace of acting.
He shook his head. "I don't understand."
"But brother's voice is so nice, I want to hear it more," Ye Qingxi said sweetly. "Brother, did my uncle choose the right answer for this question?"
Duan Yi: He said so, so that's what it is.
Rather than believing that a five-year-old could understand high school math, Duan Yi was more inclined to believe that the child simply thought his voice was pleasant and wanted to hear more, so he randomly pointed to a problem.
—Although Duan Yi herself doesn't think her voice is anything special.
Mu Shaoyan: ...Is it appropriate for you to say another man's voice is nice in front of your uncle?!
Previously, Ye Qingxi gave Duan Yi desserts, saying she picked them out especially for him, which already displeased Mu Shaoyan. Now that she's saying Duan Yi has a nice voice, Mu Shaoyan is even more annoyed!
"Is my voice not nice?" he asked Ye Qingxi. "Why don't you praise my voice?"
Ye Qingxi: ? ? ?
This needs to be a competition?
You really are Mu Shaowu's younger brother!
Duan Yi: ...
Duan Yi felt once again that something was off about the uncle-nephew relationship.
No matter how you look at it, Mu Shaoyan seems more like that immature and naive nephew.
"Uncle, your voice is so nice too," Ye Qingxi coaxed gently. "Uncle, your handwriting is beautiful too. This 'B' is so cute."
Duan Yi: ...
Duan Yi glanced at Mu Shaoyan's flamboyant genitals and almost burst out laughing.
Mu Shaoyan was satisfied. He pinched Ye Qingxi's little face and whispered in his ear, "You are my nephew, not his nephew. Stop praising him."
Duan Yi: ...Thanks for the invitation, I heard almost everything.
Duan Yi could hardly believe that the school bully, who was famous throughout the school, was so childish.
Who exactly said he was a gangster in private, smoking, drinking, and getting tattoos?
At this point, Duan Yi glanced at Mu Shaoyan's arm.
He was wearing a black hoodie today, probably because he felt a bit hot after coming inside, so he rolled up the sleeves, revealing his fair and clean forearms.
Duan Yi, "Where's your tattoo?"
Didn't they say it should be tattooed on the inside of the forearm?
“I haven’t posted any recently,” Mu Shaoyan said.
Duan Yi: ? ? ?
"stick?"
"Temperature stickers?" Mu Shaoyan looked at him. "You didn't know that?"
Duan Yi: ...Are you still the school bully or not?!
Tattoos are all stickers!
Isn't this something only children would do?!
"What, you want to see it?" Mu Shaoyan said good-naturedly. "Then I'll put it up tomorrow."
Duan Yi: ...
"No need," Duan Yi refused.
He doesn't want to watch anything!
He didn't even say he wanted to see it!
Duan Yi lowered his eyes and continued explaining the problem.
“Choose D,” he said.
Mu Shaoyan: ? ? ? ! ! !
"I made the wrong choice!" Mu Shaoyan exclaimed incredulously.
Ye Qingxi was also a little confused; he thought the answer was A.
Well, now both uncle and nephew made the wrong choice.
They have a family of three, father and sons, all of whom became Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations). But these two are different; they have a family of two uncles and nephews, both of whom are academic failures.
Ye Qingxi almost burst out laughing.
"Why did you choose D?" Mu Shaoyan asked, puzzled.
Ye Qingxi silently echoed in her heart: Yes, why?
Duan Yi pointed to the test paper and analyzed and explained it to him. After a while, Ye Qingxi realized that he had missed a condition.
Mu Shaoyan had only learned the knowledge of the first year of high school, so his foundation was weaker than Ye Qingxi's. It wasn't until the very end that he finally understood.
"I see." Mu Shaoyan nodded, silently noting down the parts he had misunderstood.
"Is there anything else?" Duan Yi asked.
Mu Shaoyan shook his head.
Ye Qingxi also shook his head; he didn't see any other questions he often got wrong.
Duan Yi watched Ye Qingxi shake his head and thought he was quite supportive and cute.
He's really, really well-behaved!
Mu Shaoyan hadn't lied to him after all.
"What about the other subjects?" Duan Yi asked.
Mu Shaoyan immediately took out his physics and chemistry exam papers.
Ye Qingxi stopped listening as soon as he saw it was about physics and chemistry—he had absolutely no background in those subjects, so listening would be pointless.
Ye Qingxi even thought that in this life, he would probably still have to study literature.
But that's perfect, since Duan Yi is explaining physics and chemistry to Mu Shaoyan, he can go to the toilet now.
Ye Qingxi stood up. "Uncle, brother, I'm going to the restroom."
Upon hearing this, Duan Yi thought to himself: "Don't you have any interest in physics and chemistry?"
That's true, he probably hasn't studied physics or chemistry at his age.
"I'll take you there," he offered.
"No need," Ye Qingxi shook her head. "I'll ask Auntie when I go out."
Upon hearing this, Duan Yi did not insist any further.
Ye Qingxi went out, but to his surprise, Duan Yi's mother was not in the living room.
Ye Qingxi was puzzled, so she had to find the restroom herself.
Instead of finding the bathroom, they found the kitchen and Duan's mother making steamed buns there.
"Why are you out here?" When Duan's mother saw him, she immediately put down the dumpling wrapper she was holding, wiped her hands on her apron, and walked up to him. "Are you hungry? Or thirsty?"
"No, I came out to use the restroom."
"Oh." Duan's mother reached out and took his hand, leading him to the bathroom door. "Here."
"Thank you, Auntie," Ye Qingxi said politely.
Mother Duan smiled and said, "Don't be so polite, go ahead."
Ye Qingxi then went inside.
After using the restroom, Ye Qingxi passed by the kitchen again on her way back to her room.
Seeing his mother busy inside, he curiously went in and saw a large bowl of minced meat and many plump, white buns already wrapped on the kitchen counter.
This amount is clearly not for personal consumption.
"Auntie, why are you making steamed buns tonight?" Ye Qingxi asked deliberately. "Didn't you and Brother Duan Yi eat dinner?"
"I've eaten," Mrs. Duan said with a smile. "These are the steamed buns that Auntie is going to sell tomorrow morning. They're wrapped up now, so Auntie can just steam them and sell them when she gets up tomorrow morning."
Raising a child alone is always exhausting. Duan's mother's salary wasn't high, but it was stable and leisurely.
This spring, the boss adjusted the company's working hours, changing from 9 to 5 to 10 to 6, staggering work hours and reducing the number of people arriving late in the morning.
Duan's mother then thought she could use the time before 10 a.m. to sell some breakfast.
She gets up at five in the morning to steam buns, sets up her stall to sell them around six, and closes up around nine-thirty before heading to the company.
Fortunately, their home is relatively close to her company, which is convenient.
However, since she wasn't a professional in this field, Duan's mother basically only sold one or two types of buns with fixed fillings each day, making about a hundred buns in total, along with her homemade eight-treasure porridge and pumpkin porridge.
It would be best if she could sell them all, but if she couldn't, she would eat them herself and avoid wasting any.
"When you and your uncle leave later, Auntie will pack some for you too. You can steam it tomorrow morning and have it for breakfast."
Ye Qingxi initially wanted to refuse, but when he saw Duan's mother's somewhat rough hands, he hesitated for a moment and then agreed.
It's getting cold. As November approaches, the weather is no longer as warm as in summer, especially around five or six in the morning.
Ye Qingxi wasn't stupid. Since Duan's mother wanted to sell steamed buns, she couldn't possibly wait until nine or ten o'clock to start selling them. She would definitely set up her stall at five or six o'clock to secure a good spot and not miss the first batch of early risers.
It was very tough.
He works very hard.
Ye Qingxi always admired people who worked hard to live a good life.
In particular, Duan's mother had been very hospitable to him and Mu Shaoyan ever since they entered the house.
Ye Qingxi couldn't help but feel sorry for her and wanted to help her.
"Okay," Ye Qingxi replied. "Thank you, Auntie."
"You're welcome," said Mrs. Duan with a smile.
Seeing that she was busy with her work again while speaking, Ye Qingxi felt embarrassed to bother her any longer. "Then Auntie, I'll go back and do my homework."
"Okay." Mother Duan said gently, "Write well, and you can ask your brother Duan Yi if you don't understand something."
After she finished speaking, she realized that what she said was inappropriate. "Look at me, you have your uncle. Your uncle will definitely help you answer the question."
Ye Qingxi laughed, "It's okay, Auntie, I can do it."
Wow, that's amazing!
Ye Qingxi felt inexplicably embarrassed by the exaggerated praise, gave a shy smile, and turned to leave.
He returned to Duan Yi's bedroom.
Seeing that he had been gone for quite a while, Mu Shaoyan asked with concern, "What's wrong? Is your stomach upset?"
Ye Qingxi shook her head, "Aunt Duan was making steamed buns. We talked for a while, and Aunt Duan said she would give me and Uncle a few steamed buns when she left."
Mu Shaoyan: ? ? ?
Looking at his adorable little face, Mu Shaoyan could only sigh: No wonder he's his little nephew, he's so lovable. He can even get free steamed buns just by talking to someone.
She really does make a living based on her looks!
Did you thank Auntie?
"Thank you," Ye Qingxi said.
After he finished speaking, he looked at Duan Yi and said, "Thank you too, brother."
Duan Yi smiled and said, "You're welcome."
Ye Qingxi then took out her notebook and prepared to do her homework.
Seeing this, Duan Yi, fearing it would disturb his homework, lowered his voice and spoke softly, which made Mu Shaoyan, who was listening to his explanation of the wrong questions, frown.
"What's wrong with you?" Mu Shaoyan asked, puzzled. "You were talking normally just now, why are you suddenly like this?"
"I feel uncomfortable when you whisper to me like this."
Duan Yi: ...
Duan Yi was speechless!
God is whispering, what does He want to whisper to Him!
“The child needs to do homework,” Duan Yi said. “Can you please be quiet? Don’t disturb the child while they are doing their homework.”
Mu Shaoyan then realized, "Oh, I see!"
He immediately lowered his voice, leaned closer to Duan Yi, and whispered, "You're right."
Ye Qingxi: ...There's no need for that.
He's already done his homework on set! Let alone here!
"I'm fine," Ye Qingxi said. "Brother, you don't need to worry about me. Uncle is more important."
Mu Shaoyan shook his head, "That won't do. You're more important. Let's both keep our voices down."
As he spoke, Mu Shaoyan moved his chair closer to Duan Yi.
Duan Yi: ?
If you're going to lower your voice, then lower your voice. Why are you moving the chair?
Mu Shaoyan moved closer to him. "Speak."
Duan Yi, who had never been so close to anyone before, said: ...
Duan Yi was about to pull out a chair when he looked up and saw Ye Qingxi looking at them.
The child's eyes were beautiful and clear, like translucent glass.
"Never mind," Duan Yi thought, "I'd better just let the kids do their homework."
So Duan Yi didn't move and continued speaking in a low voice.
Seeing the two of them like this, Ye Qingxi had no choice but to lower her head and continue doing her homework.
As he was writing, he suddenly heard Duan Yi say, "If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me."
After saying that, he added, "Baby."
Ye Qingxi then realized that he was talking to him.
Yes, he used "yes" to tell Mu Shaoyan that he didn't need to use that word.
Hearing him call Ye Qingxi "baby" all the time, as if she were his baby, Mu Shaoyan said again, annoyed, "Why do you keep calling him baby?"
It made it seem as if he and Ye Qingxi were very close.
Duan Yi: ...
"Of course it's because you didn't tell me his name, Young Master Mu."
Mu Shaoyan was surprised, "Didn't I say that?"
He didn't say anything?!
"Xiao Xi, whose full name is Ye Qingxi. Ye as in tree leaf, Qing as in clear, and Xi as in light."
Duan Yi: ?
They don't even share the same surname?
Isn't he his nephew?
Duan Yi didn't ask any more questions, he just nodded.
Mu Shaoyan warned, "Now you know, you can't call me 'baby' anymore."
Only he can call me baby!
Only their family members can call him baby!
Outsiders are not allowed!
Duan Yi: ...
Duan Yi has been diagnosed again: Mu Shaoyan is such a childish guy.
Ye Qingxi was somewhat surprised.
He was surprised not by anything else, but by himself.
He was quite surprised when he first heard Mu Shaowu call him "baby" because very few people had called him that since he was a very young child.
When filming on set, everyone calls each other by name to make things easier.
Because of this, his parents preferred to call him by his name.
Therefore, he hadn't been called "baby" much before, so when he heard Mu Shaowu call him that, he was surprised and embarrassed, feeling awkward.
But now, he can not only accept the Mu family calling him that, but also the stranger Duan Yi, whom he has just met, calling him that.
Ye Qingxi was surprised to find that he seemed to have really changed slowly without her even realizing it.
These changes are so subtle that sometimes he doesn't even notice them himself.
But these changes actually happened, things that would never have happened to him before.
Like a flower, it bloomed in my heart with a "pop".
Ye Qingxi smiled unconsciously. He vaguely felt that he seemed to be less resistant to and avoid other people's affection for him.
It seems that I am gradually becoming more willing to accept that I should be likable and well-liked by others.
Ye Qingxi smiled and began to write her homework, stroke by stroke.
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