Chapter 9 The Lower Half Is Very Stingy

Chapter 9: The Lower Half Is Very Prudish

Shi Zai was truly exasperated. Every morning, the same routine. Did Shu Yangkuo think he was weightlifting? He wasn't heavy.

He flailed a couple of times, muffling his voice:

"I'm afraid you'll choke me!"

"......"

"Monk, why do you always mistake my good intentions for ill will!"

As he spoke, Shi Zai kicked his legs again, intending to continue scolding, but then he heard the man grunt, followed by a deep voice:

"Little ingrate."

"?? Who are you calling that!"

"My kindness isn't something you need to worry about."

"......???"

"Got it?"

"You think I'm this kind to everyone!!!"

As soon as the words were out, Shi Zai was lifted by Shu Yangkuo and set down on the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the pink dumpling stir, so he didn't bother lowering his voice anymore, shouting repeatedly, "Hurry up, get up!" and stormed off angrily to wash up and make breakfast.

Mortified and irritated, as if he had an endless supply of kindness to give!

The old fossil was so conservative it made him angry. Really, just moments ago it was a warm embrace, and in no time it turned into a fierce chicken. He himself didn’t have such changes; he was merely curious. Was curiosity a crime? Ah, no, it wasn’t curiosity—it was kindness, hmph!

From this, it’s clear that men should be viewed in two parts: the upper half is very good, warm, and well-behaved, while the lower half is very bad and fierce.

While busy in the kitchen, he turned around and saw the pink dumpling peeking in at the door:

"Little brother, good morning!"

"Silly Yun Bao, your clothes are on inside out. Come here, let me fix it for you."

After helping him with his clothes, Shi Zai noticed he was still hesitating and not leaving, so he asked if something was wrong. Yang Yun shook his head. Shi Zai smiled, pinched his cheek, and led him to the living room. He had taught them how to watch TV yesterday, so now he turned it on again and found a channel with cartoons for him to watch.

After all, he’s a sixteen-year-old kid, clingy in the morning.

If they had past lives, he wondered how the poor little bird managed every day facing the cold-faced old fossil, and how the two of them got through those years.

Just as he entered the kitchen, he caught sight of a tall figure slowly approaching out of the corner of his eye. Shi Zai gave him his back. What, does the little one need morning attention, and the big one too? No way, he wasn’t exactly keen on closeness earlier.

It wasn’t that he was really angry, just felt wronged.

Even if he wasn’t wronged, what’s the big deal? The little bird didn’t mind when he adjusted his underwear, but the man is just being delicate. Ultimately, Shi Zai still held affection for them as pottery figures, little birds. Over two months, he'd meticulously restored and handled them, studying every crack. Now that they’ve become human, his fondness and curiosity only grew. Always being refused contact like this is just too much.

But he couldn’t keep it up for two seconds before turning around, breaking into a smile:

"Monk, done washing up? Go watch TV too... Wait, why are your clothes inside out again?"

"......"

Before Shu Yangkuo could say anything, Shi Zai waved him over. The tall man was quick on the uptake; he bent down to let him straighten out the new t-shirt he was wearing. After fixing the clothes, he still didn’t leave, propped against the doorframe and watching him quietly.

Shi Zai found it amusing and turned back to chopping vegetables. Chop, chop, chop, he finished slicing the cucumber when suddenly he heard Shu Yangkuo stammer:

"Don’t, don’t be un-happy."

"......?"

It really is strange. Not only do you have to see the man in two parts, but also distinguish between in bed and out of bed. Off the bed, the old fossil is very well-behaved.

Is he here to coax me into not being angry about what happened earlier?

Shi Zai blinked and smiled:

"Monk, you want me to be happy?"

"En."

"Call me 'big brother,' and I’ll be happy. How about that?"

"......"

"Alright, alright, the monk is precious. I won’t aspire to be your equal."

After saying that, Shi Zai lowered his eyes and started tossing the cucumber salad, putting a lot of force into it—pretending it was the monk he was handling!

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man still hadn’t left, suddenly wearing a cautious look. Shi Zai felt he had been too harsh and was about to say something when he heard:

"That depends on how you behave today."

"......?????"

Shi Zai ushered him to sit on the sofa.

Absolutely ridiculous—needing to earn the right to be called 'ge'. Ridiculous.

Beneath the anxious gazes of the big and little ones, Shi Zai couldn’t stand to see them uncomfortable. He hugged each of them, pecked them on the forehead, and finally, as the man looked on horrified with reddened ears, laughed and went back into the kitchen.

In the living room, Yang Yun glanced at Shu Yangkuo’s expression:

"Little brother might actually want to be emperor."

"......"

"Uncle, you can still be the crown prince. Be on your best behavior..."

Before he could finish, Yang Yun covered his head and flopped down onto the sofa, quickly begging for mercy: "I'll stop talking nonsense."

The phone on the sofa rang. Shu Yangkuo picked it up—it was "Jiang Ziqing"... He glanced toward the kitchen; Shi Zai was cooking and probably didn’t hear it, so he answered the way Shi Zai had shown him. The caller said they were almost there, and Shu Yangkuo responded with an "Okay."

After hanging up, after a moment, Shu Yangkuo got up and went to tell Shi Zai about it.

Shi Zai immediately laughed:

"Monk, you’re so amazing! You even know how to answer the phone now!"

"...En."

"Hehe, I'm growing fonder of you by the day. Go sit at the table; food's almost ready."

After saying that, Shi Zai quickly stir-fried the last dish, prepared an extra serving for Jiang Ziqing. After eating, they could be on their way, since Jiang Ziqing would be their driver for the day. Hmph, some celebrity he is.

The stove had barely been turned off when there was a knock at the door. Shi Zai hurried to answer it, with a big smile. He had just said, "Ziqing, you're here!" when Jiang Ziqing wrapped him in a hug. Jiang Ziqing was a year younger than him—shorter at first, but now almost six feet tall, growing like a weed. His style had grown more fashionable, and he wore sunglasses, looking very cool, though not much different from two years ago. Still such a child at heart.

After hugging each other, Shi Zai was about to introduce the people in the living room when Jiang Ziqing took off his sunglasses and said, "Brother Zai, this must be your brother, right? So tall!"

"Hahaha, yes! How'd you guess? Not by blood... Well, kinda like how you came to be my brother. The one next to him is his younger brother. The older one is Shu Yangkuo, and the younger is Yang Yun. Have a seat—we can talk while we eat."

"Brother Zai, you’re amazing—so many brothers around you! I’m your brother too!"

"Hahaha!"

But Shi Zai was pleased because Jiang Ziqing’s opening line, "This must be your brother, right?" was really smooth.

Glancing at Shu Yangkuo, he really wanted to just call him "brother" outright—different from the way he’d call Tan Xun.

Shu Yangkuo kept his head down, focused on eating, but surprisingly, he slid a piece of cucumber into Shi Zai’s bowl. Shi Zai’s heart did a little happy dance. It was always him looking after the two of them, so this was... Seeing Jiang Ziqing chatting easily with Yang Yun about period dramas, Shi Zai leaned close to Shu Yangkuo, smiled, and whispered, "Thanks, ge." He expected to be ignored, but the man picked up another piece of eggplant for him!

Over the moon!!!

Shi Zai was on cloud nine!!! It seemed he was doing well! Hahaha!

Though he didn’t quite understand why, he decided to keep doing whatever made that happen!

The four of them quickly finished breakfast. Shi Zai left the dishes to soak first—it was already dawn, and they needed to hurry.

It was the first time taking his brother and little brother out! Shi Zai was even more nervous than they were, holding both their hands, carefully guiding them down the stairs step by step, afraid they might stumble. When they reached the car, fortunately, it was spacious. Shi Zai first helped Yang Yun to the innermost seat in the back, then helped Shu Yangkuo in, and finally climbed across Shu Yangkuo’s lap to sit in the middle so he could watch over both of them.

Jiang Ziqing, sitting in the front, got a kick out of it: "Brother Zai, you’re always like a mother hen protecting her chicks. I remember you used to do the same for me."

"Hehe, you’ve grown into an eagle now."

"Kinda jealous."

"Huh?"

"Seems like you're nicer to them than you were to me back then."

Shi Zai rubbed his nose. For one, he was younger then and didn’t know how to care for others; and secondly:

"It's not the same with you."

"How are we different? Find them jobs in a while and send them off, right?"

"...Just focus on driving."

Noticing that his brother and little brother looked uncomfortable, unlike during the meal, Shi Zai quickly waved Jiang Ziqing off to focus on driving. He needed to chat with these two—after all, this was their first time living as humans and their first time going out. They were probably nervous.

He also didn’t want to continue the "sending them off" topic, afraid his brother and little brother would say they wanted to leave.

That would devastate Shi Zai.

He started talking to Yang Yun first. At just sixteen, the boy sat stiffly, staring out the window. Shi Zai tweaked his cheek:

"Pretty outside, huh?"

"Hehe, it’s really different. So many people, so many buildings, so much food, so much fun..."

Like a twelve- or thirteen-year-old, Shi Zai laughed at all his "so manys." He leaned close to Yang Yun’s ear and whispered, starting with the kid, hoping he could help persuade Shu Yangkuo not to think about becoming a monk in the future.

Sure enough, Yang Yun nodded repeatedly, his eyes lighting up, and whispered back:

"This is much better than being a crown prince. Second Uncle wanted to become a monk because he didn’t want to be the crown prince..."

"...Silly bird, don’t talk about 'crown prince' anymore. People will laugh if they hear."

"Hehe, okay. No crown prince, no Qingluan. From now on, it’s just Yang Yun and Shu Yangkuo!"

Just then, Jiang Ziqing, sitting in the front with ears like a hawk, heard "crown prince." Earlier, he hadn’t chatted enough with the kid—he’d played a crown prince in a TV drama and brought it up during the meal. He hadn’t expected the kid to know so much about crown princes:

"If Brother Zai won’t talk about crown princes with you, chat with me! Kid, you’re pretty good at history, huh?"

"Hehe, what do you want to know?"

The two started chatting from front and back. Shi Zai was speechless but didn’t stop them—the more they talked with others, the less lost they’d feel.

Turning around, he saw Shu Yangkuo quietly gazing out the window, lost in thought—probably curious too. Shi Zai leaned closer:

"Brother?"

"...Hmm."

Hearing that, Shi Zai’s eyes lit up instantly:

"So you’re really my brother now? You’ll let me call you brother from now on, right? I really like having you as a brother..."

Before he could finish, Shu Yangkuo replied, "Okay," turned his head, and met his gaze. Wrapped in that calm, gentle look, Shi Zai’s pounding heart slowly settled. He couldn’t help but lean closer against Shu Yangkuo’s arm, pressing tightly.

Somehow, he felt that rather than Shu Yangkuo and Yang Yun being nervous, it was him—he needed them more.

Shi Zai almost nuzzled into Shu Yangkuo’s chest, chattering nonstop, pointing out everything he saw:

"Brother, that’s a hotel—a place to stay for a night or two."

"Brother, these are bicycles, and those are motorcycles. We have a tricycle at home. I’ll take you riding in a few days."

"Brother, see in the distance? Those are train tracks, and what’s running on them is a train. If we get the chance, I’ll take you on a train ride."

"..."

He couldn’t stop saying "brother," as if making up for all the times he hadn’t called him that before. His big eyes sparkled, glancing out the window then back at Shu Yangkuo. Sometimes, when there was nothing left to point out, he’d just stare blankly at him.

Strangely, Shi Zai thought Shu Yangkuo looked even better outside. Perhaps it was the slanting sunlight streaming through the car window, illuminating the man’s brows, broad shoulders, and large hands, making the man he leaned against seem even more radiant and warm.

Shu Yangkuo was the first to look away, turning his face slightly, aware that his ears were gradually reddening. The intense gaze beside him hadn’t diminished one bit. He couldn’t hold back any longer and raised his hand, gently covering the eyes of the boy who was almost curled in his lap.

Sinful.

He dozed off without realizing it and woke up when they arrived. Just as Shu Yangkuo lifted him by the waist and set him down from the car, Jiang Ziqing pulled him aside:

"He’s not really a monk, is he?!"