Another New Older Brother? - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Coaxing Brother

By two in the afternoon, once Youyou’s fever had broken and he had returned to his lively, energetic self, Bai Wenjin had already gone back to work.

With Big Brother gone, Youyou’s interest waned. After finishing lunch and putting the items from his pockets back into his small backpack, he found himself with nothing to do.

Usually at home, Mama would accompany him to play with blocks, recognize words, draw, or read picture books. But at his uncle’s house, everyone was busy, leaving him to wander around bored and alone. There were no picture books or toys here, making the place feel exceptionally lonely.

Auntie Li saw him sitting alone on the carpet, dejectedly fiddling with two small blocks he’d pulled from his bag. She asked, “Little Master, would you like to watch some cartoons?”

“I can only watch Baby Baby in the evening,” Youyou said, shaking his head.

Auntie Li was racking her brain for ways to help him pass the time when Youyou suddenly let out an “Ah!”

He remembered he still had an important task to do—Big Brother said he had to apologize to the brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunties who looked for him!

Youyou decided to draw a beautiful picture for every person who had searched for him to ask for their forgiveness. However, he didn’t really want Auntie Li to know about it yet, because he wanted to draw the most beautiful picture for her. Auntie Li had looked for him until her clothes were all wet; she was so pitiful.

A brilliant idea struck him. He said loudly, “Auntie, I want to go on an adventure!”

Alarm bells immediately went off in Auntie Li’s head. He’d said he wanted to go out to play this morning and turned it into a runaway attempt—and now an adventure? Who would dare let him “explore”?

“Little Master, shall I go on the adventure with you?” Auntie Li looked at him suspiciously.

“No, no, I go on the ad-venture by my-self,” Youyou said. “I play inside the house, not go out.”

Only then did Auntie Li feel at ease, thinking he really just wanted to explore this time.

Jiang Youyou emerged from the first-floor laundry room, smelling faintly of laundry detergent, but he hadn’t found a single pen or piece of paper. After finishing his tour of the first floor and seeing Auntie Li busy with housework, he tiptoed on his short legs and huffed and puffed his way up to the second floor.

On the left side of the second floor were four rooms: the bedrooms of Wenjue and Bai Wenli, plus Bai Wenjin’s bedroom and study. On the right side were three rooms: Bai Lihui’s study and bedroom, the room where Bai Xi used to live, and Jiang Youyou’s room.

Youyou first went to the first room on the left. The doorknob was a bit high; he stood on his tiptoes and flailed his small hands in the air a few times before finally reaching it.

He pushed the door open, and his eyes were met by a giant portrait on the wall. Seeing the cool, white-haired, incredibly handsome guy in the photo, Youyou pouted his lips, huffed, and shut the door with a loud “Bang!”

Smelly Little Brother’s room—he definitely wouldn’t go in there!

Next, he arrived at the second door. He pretentiously used his chubby hand to pat the door and shouted loudly toward the inside: “Second Brother, are you in there? Baby is coming in!”

Seeing no response, he walked in happily. However, a few minutes later, he swung his arms and walked back out. Second Brother’s room only had a bed and a desk; it looked as if no one lived there at all.

Youyou grew a bit worried, feeling like his drawing plan might go up in smoke.

He dejectedly walked to the door of Bai Wenjin’s room. Just as his small hand rested on the handle, the door opened with a “Click.”

“Eh? Big Brother, are you home?”

Jiang Youyou heard no response. Confused, he walked in calling “Big Brother” the whole way. He didn’t see the Big Brother he was longing for, but he did see a desk.

Youyou’s eyes lit up, and he trotted deng-deng-deng toward Bai Wenjin’s desk. He pulled out the swivel office chair, stood on it to open a drawer, and as he’d hoped, found a kraft paper notebook and a sign pen.

Half an hour later, Auntie Li finished her housework and suddenly realized she hadn’t heard Youyou’s voice for a long time.

When a child is quiet, they must be up to mischief.

Auntie Li’s heart skipped a beat, and she called out Youyou’s name loudly. A distant response came from upstairs. Following the sound, Auntie Li rushed into Bai Wenjin’s room.

The floor was covered in scattered papers, each one featuring a blob or many blobs of doodles with indiscernible meanings. The originally tidy desk had become a mess; books were leaning haphazardly. The child, stepping on the chair, was sprawled over the table, clutching a red water-based pen and doodling wildly with an extremely heroic posture.

“Auntie, look! Baby drew many pic-tures!” Youyou held up the notebook excitedly.

Looking at that smiling face, Auntie Li’s vision went dark, and she nearly fainted. She lifted Jiang Youyou down from that custom ergonomic chair worth over a hundred thousand yuan with tears in her eyes. “Little Master…”

The Eldest Young Master has obsessive-compulsive disorder; if someone messes up his things, people are going to die!!

That afternoon, Auntie Li didn’t dare let Youyou stay alone for a single second, following him step-by-step as they drew and watched cartoons together.

When it was time for dinner, Youyou waited for a long time but didn’t see anyone else besides Auntie Li.

“Is Big Brother not coming back for dinner?” he asked with a hint of loss.

Auntie Li put his small bib on him. “The Eldest Young Master has a social engagement; he won’t be back for dinner.”

“Where is Brother’s food?”

“Little Master, the Eldest Young Master is eating out.”

“But… but…” Youyou stammered for a long time, not knowing what he wanted to say.

Auntie Li handed him the chopsticks. “Don’t worry about the Eldest Young Master. Let’s eat first, and after dinner, I’ll take you to the garden to play, okay?”

“Baby doesn’t like eating alone.” Youyou felt a bit sad in his heart. Before at home, Mama would eat with him, but at his uncle’s house, he ate alone every day.

A child’s emotions come and go quickly. Although he was a bit unhappy, seeing the delicious food made those little feelings disappear fast. Auntie Li had thought that because the child was young, he might need to be fed, but to her surprise, Jiang Youyou ate very well. He fed himself big mouthful after big mouthful, and soon finished all the food on his tray.

“Wow, the Little Master is so amazing! You eat so fast and so well without anyone needing to feed you!” Auntie Li praised him with a smile.

Jiang Youyou was a bit proud and raised his head. “Baby learned to eat by him-self a long time ago.”

“Yes, yes, our Little Master is truly wonderful,” Auntie Li continued to praise.

Why does Auntie Li keep praising him? Baby is going to be shy!

He covered his face, peeking his eyes through the gaps in his fingers, feeling delighted in his heart.

After dinner, Auntie Li saw his little belly was bulging and worried about indigestion. She asked, “Little Master, do you want to go for a walk?”

“Are we going to find Big Brother?”

“The Eldest Young Master is still working overtime at the company right now.”

“Where is the com-pany? Auntie, let’s go to the com-pany to pick up Big Brother.”

“The Eldest Young Master is busy; we can’t go disturb him,” Auntie Li explained patiently.

Youyou lowered his head dejectedly and grumbled, “Working is bad. Papa and Brother both have to work and don’t play with Baby. I hate working.”

After the walk, Youyou sat by the entryway door, refusing to move an inch, saying he would wait there for Big Brother to come back.

Auntie Li looked at him with a face full of worry. “Sitting here, the wind is blowing; you’ll get sick.”

Youyou patted his thickly padded clothes. “Baby is wearing many clothes. Not get sick.”

Bai Wenjin, who had managed to get off work early for once, hadn’t even entered the house when he saw a scene through the floor-to-ceiling glass: Auntie Li was standing while Jiang Youyou was sitting; Auntie Li was bent over, trying to persuade him with a troubled face, while Jiang Youyou shook his head like a rattle.

Youyou saw Big Brother’s silhouette through the glass, and his eyes instantly sparkled. He gave an excited shout and ran outside.

Bai Wenjin stood in place, waiting for the little dumpling to crash straight into his arms. Youyou hugged his leg, so happy he was about to jump. “Big Brother, Big Brother, you’re back!”

Auntie Li quickly followed them out and called, “Eldest Young Master.”

Bai Wenjin pulled the “pendant” off his leg and held him in his arms, asking Auntie Li, “Why is he sitting here?”

He glanced at Youyou, whose face was a bit red, disapproving of him coming out into the wind when his fever had just broken.

Auntie Li said helplessly, “The Little Master insisted on waiting for you to finish work. He said if he stayed here, you’d see him as soon as you came back.”

Youyou rested on Bai Wenjin’s shoulder, giggling. “Big Brother, Baby picked you up from work!”

Looking at his brilliant smile, a trace of warmth rose in Bai Wenjin’s heart. He silently suppressed the upward curve of his lips and instead asked Auntie Li, “What did he do today?”

The originally giggling Youyou suddenly went silent. He nervously gripped the collar of Bai Wenjin’s suit, his big dark eyes darting back and forth.

How could Bai Wenjin not understand? It turned out he’d caused trouble and was trying to suck up first. He set Youyou down and asked calmly, “Alright, tell me. What ‘good deed’ did you do?”

Jiang Youyou wriggled guiltily, fidgeting with his fingers, and murmured, “Only did two good deeds.”

“Tell me, I’m listening,” Bai Wenjin raised an eyebrow.

Youyou suddenly ran da-da-da back to his room and brought out that black notebook, presenting it like a treasure to Bai Wenjin. “Baby drew a very, very beautiful pic-ture. It’s Baby and Big Brother!”

“Big Brother, since you took Baby’s pic-ture, don’t be angry anymore.”

Bai Wenjin took the notebook and looked at the “masterpiece,” falling silent for a long time. He truly couldn’t find any silhouette of himself or Youyou among the messy doodles.

But looking at the child’s sparkling eyes, he couldn’t bear to let him down. He pointed at a doodle on the left—a circle with two sticks underneath, and asked, “Is this me?”

Youyou pouted his lips. “Big Brother is silly! That’s a house. The circle is the house’s hat, and the sticks are the house’s legs!”

Bai Wenjin glanced at the work in his hand and humbly asked for guidance: “Then where are you and I?”

Youyou thought in his heart that Big Brother was truly too silly, but what could be done? He was his Big Brother. He patiently acted as a little narrator. He placed the notebook on the ground, spread it out, and pointed at a string of things shaped like tanghulu: “This is Big Brother.”

Then he pointed at another smaller string of candied haws: “This is Baby.”

Bai Wenjin fell silent again.

He remembered that because Bai Xi had extremely high artistic talent, she was admitted to the Fine Arts Department of Z University at age 16. And Jiang Youyou’s father, Jiang Qingyuan, was also a genius child who entered the youth class of Q University at 15.

He touched Jiang Youyou’s head, his eyes carrying a trace of pity.

Well, it seems the ancestral graves of the Bai and Jiang families really can’t keep billowing green smoke forever.