Chapter 90

Chapter 90

After Luo Ye went upstairs, the boy beside him spoke up, "Cut the kid some slack."

Another also chimed in, "You were pretty chill with Xiang Chen, weren’t you?"

Ji Mian glanced around with the corner of his eye, confirming that Luo Ye had already left, then boldly retorted, "Xiang Chen is my own brother. He’s nothing like that wild kid."

Wang Yang showed an expression of seeing through everything: "You wouldn’t say that to his face, would you? Looks like you’ve got a soft spot for that wild kid."

"Okay, okay, just change the channel back already."

Only then did Ji Mian press the remote.

Switching back to the previous movie, the male and female leads were already smiling at each other under the sunset, riding off into the sunset.

Xiang Yanming and Luo Zhishu didn’t come home that night.

*

Around eight o’clock, Ji Mian received a call from Xiang Yanming in his bedroom.

After being here for four or five years, Ji Mian was well aware of the nature of the original owner’s father. He knew Xiang Yanming was checking in when he saw the caller ID.

Answering the call, Xiang Yanming’s first sentence was as expected, "Where’d you take Xiao Ye today?"

Ji Mian lied, "The amusement park."

"What did you guys do?"

"Just the usual stuff," Ji Mian said without missing a beat.

"Put Xiao Ye on the phone."

"He’s in his room, probably asleep."

"It’s only 8:30, he’s not asleep yet. Go get him."

Ji Mian had no choice but to knock on the door of the adjacent bedroom.

"Luo Ye, open up."

After a while, the door opened from inside, Luo Ye in his pajamas holding onto the side of the door, lifting his head to look at him, only opening the door a crack.

He was pretty cautious.

But Ji Mian still squeezed through.

Luo Ye, "..."

"He’s here," Ji Mian told the caller.

He didn’t hand the phone to Luo Ye, instead, he put it on speaker between them to listen in.

Xiang Yanming’s voice echoed in the bedroom, suddenly turning soft, "Your brother said you guys went to the amusement park today?"

Luo Ye glanced at Ji Mian, and after Ji Mian shot him a warning look, he slowly said, "Yep."

"What did you guys do?"

"We went on..." Luo Ye looked at Ji Mian.

Ji Mian silently mouthed the words to him.

"The carousel, and then..." Luo Ye watched Ji Mian's mouth, tilting his head slightly, "the motorcycle."

"..."

Ji Mian drew in a deep breath.

After a moment of silence.

Xiang Yanming's gentle voice came through the phone, "Hand the phone to your brother."

Ji Mian turned off the speakerphone, numbly put the phone to his ear, and lowered the volume to shield Luo Ye from any foul language.

True to form, Xiang Yanming launched into a tirade.

After the scolding, Xiang Yanming's voice, gritted with anger, came through the receiver, "Just wait till I get back to deal with you."

Ji Mian hung up, his gaze sharp as an arrow, and shot at Luo Ye, "It's the Ferris wheel, you idiot!"

"Have you never even been to an amusement park?"

Luo Ye shook his head, his face blank.

Ji Mian's heart ached suddenly, his cold demeanor nearly breaking.

This kid's never been to an amusement park...

The system: "..."

Luo Ye's long lashes slowly fluttered down.

He'd been to an amusement park once, but it didn't interest him, so he never went back with his mother.

Sure, he knew about the Ferris wheel.

But he didn't want to play along with this guy. Once you start, they'll keep bugging you.

*

A few days later, school started for both Ji Mian and Luo Ye.

Ji Mian attended a university-affiliated middle school that housed both high school and middle school sections, while Luo Ye was in the affiliated elementary school.

Their schools were just a stone's throw apart.

Ji Mian usually walked to school, a trip that took just over ten minutes.

Luo Ye's elementary school was close to home too, but even though he was in fifth grade, his recent transfer to the area made it a bit worrisome for him to go to and from school alone.

Auntie Lin picked him up after school, but Ji Mian was tasked with accompanying Luo Ye in the mornings.

On the first day, Ji Mian, sporting red hair, dropped Luo Ye off at school, his dark and fierce expression catching the eyes of many parents and kids, who gazed at him with a mix of awe and fear.

—This dude's so cool!

Luo Ye walked through the school gate under the crowd's mixed gazes.

Entering his class, the students were chatting lively. In the affiliated elementary school, the students were mostly the same group moving up each year, with very few new students joining the class each year. The teacher seated Luo Ye beside a gentle, pretty girl, the kind that was every boy's favorite in school.

Luo Ye sat next to her, which annoyed a chubby boy sitting in front. He kept turning around to look.

Many classmates secretly checked out the new kid.

Kids don’t have a strong sense of style, but they could still tell that the new boy was quite good-looking. As soon as the break began, a few outgoing kids came over to chat with Luo Ye.

Luo Ye’s replies were pretty cold, almost too brief, speaking even less than he did at home.

At home, Luo Ye still pretended to be well-behaved. Luo Zhishu worried easily, and because of Luo Ye’s silent and cold personality, she took him to the doctor several times.

Though Luo Ye was cold, he wasn’t ungrateful.

After Luo Zhishu divorced and raised him alone, Luo Ye saw how tough life was.

Because of this, he rarely did things Luo Zhishu disliked, and he helped his mom with chores, trying to be the son his mom wanted.

This meant he couldn’t be as free as other kids.

After that, Luo Ye acted a bit at home.

His cold attitude quickly annoyed the chubby boy in front.

He turned around and pushed Luo Ye’s desk: "Hey, trade seats with me next class."

Next class wasn’t with the homeroom teacher, and since it was just the start of the school year, the sub wouldn’t know who sat where, so switching seats wouldn’t be noticed.

But Luo Ye brushed him off, focusing on the homework from the last class.

At this age, most kids play during breaks, and it’s indeed rare to see someone like Luo Ye doing homework during break time.

The girl next to Luo Ye frowned at this.

She didn’t want to sit next to Fang Zihao; he kept talking to her during class, and talking would get her in trouble with the teacher.

"Hey, I’m talking to you!" Fang Zihao frowned.

Luo Ye remained silent.

Fang Zihao got even more angry and stuck out his tongue to provoke him: "What, are you mute? La la la..."

Luo Ye didn’t look up: "I don’t talk to idiots."

Fang Zihao: ...

He blushed and said, "Who, who are you calling an idiot!!"

But Luo Ye paid no more attention to him.

He meant what he said; he wouldn’t talk to idiots.

"You!"

"Fang Zihao, are you arguing with classmates again?" The homeroom teacher, who had just stepped in through the back door, caught Fang Zihao causing trouble again.

Fang Zihao shrank his neck and glared fiercely at Luo Ye before turning back.

*

In the evening, when Ji Mian returned from school and was about to go to his bedroom to study, Xiang Yanming followed him in.

"Dad?" Ji Mian looked at him puzzled, "What are you doing?"

Xiang Yanming wore a fatherly smile, pulled up a chair, and sat down. "Working on your homework?"

Ji Mian cautiously leaned back, hesitating before replying, "...Yup."

Xiang Yanming clasped his hands together and suggested, "Why not study with Luo Ye?"

Ji Mian paused while picking up his books. "Why?"

"You used to study with Xiao Chen, didn’t you?" Xiang Yanming winked at him, trying to be ingratiating. "Dad knows you aced the high school entrance exam. As a top student, why not tutor your little brother?"

"..."

Ji Mian didn’t want to say yes, but he felt that if he dared to say "no," Xiang Yanming’s belt would come off in a flash.

A few minutes later, Luo Ye was pushed into Ji Mian’s room, and judging by his tightly pressed lips, he was clearly unwilling and had been forced in by Luo Zhishu.

The brothers exchanged a look and sat down at the desk in Ji Mian’s room, their elbows doing their best to stay apart.

Unfortunately, the desk was small, and no matter how much they leaned to the sides, there was still only a ten-centimeter gap between their elbows.

They had to grit their teeth and pull out their unrelated elementary and high school books under the bright desk lamps.

When studying, Ji Mian was always quiet, flipping through his high school physics review.

Middle school material was simple, and scoring high was easy, but keeping a good score in high school wasn’t as easy. Even after taking two college entrance exams, he still didn’t dare slack off when reviewing these topics.

Luo Ye was a bit restless at first, swinging his legs on the stool for a couple of minutes before glancing sideways.

Seeing his seemingly unreliable brother focused on studying, he reluctantly opened his book.

He’d already finished his school homework, so he worked on some Olympiad math problems he’d bought.

In two hours, Ji Mian had reviewed half his physics textbook, going over the basics of the first few chapters.

Checking the time, it was almost ten.

He suddenly remembered Luo Ye was still young, and ten o’clock was probably his bedtime. It was already a bit late today.

Ji Mian’s gaze swept over, his eyes moving from Luo Ye’s hair down to the exercise book in his hands.

Luo Ye had been stuck on a problem for almost half an hour, showing the determination not to go to bed until he solved it.

The problem was a bit tricky, indeed hard to figure out. But the question itself wasn’t difficult; the main challenge was finding the right approach.

Having a studious spirit was good, but spending too much time on a problem you couldn’t solve was just being stubborn.

Ji Mian read the problem and worked it out in his head.

"Can’t figure it out?" he asked with a slight tilt of his chin, his tone mocking.

"...I can do it."

"Then why have you been staring at the options for half an hour?"

Luo Ye: "..."

This guy was so annoying.

He lowered his head, hesitated between options B and C, and picked up his pen to fill in the answer.

Just as he was about to finish circling "B," he heard the boy beside him chuckle and casually throw out a sentence:

"Choose C, dummy."