Hedgehog's Belly - Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Many years later, Luo Mu finally understood from literature that so-called faith, and the gods and Buddhas, never promise people glory or bliss, but they can ensure the hope necessary for a person to keep living.

Some people survive solely by clinging to that sliver of hope.

Luo Mu looked up, gazing into those eyes, and threw herself back into that embrace. Their pressed-together hearts beat in unison. In that moment, Luo Mu finally didn’t have to dodge or avoid; the shackles that had once pressed down on her until she couldn’t breathe vanished abruptly. Like a body that doesn’t scar, no trace of them could be found anymore.

Yan Qingzhu gently stroked her soft hair. It was like holding a hedgehog that had dropped all its defenses—obedient and soft, placing all its trust in her. She slowly rubbed her chin against Luo Mu’s face, while the girl merely let out a few soft murmurs.

Suddenly, the door latch opened. Yan Yu rushed through the entryway into the living room holding a bag, shouting anxiously: “Sister Muzi, I bought them!”

Her gaze instantly landed on the scene of the two embracing. The atmosphere was thick with a subtle tension. Her big sister was actually holding Sister Muzi, and Sister Muzi’s eyes were rimmed with red, looking as if she had just cried—pitiful and lovely, like someone who had been bullied.

At seventeen, Yan Yu could be considered to be in the first budding of love; she understood the situation instantly. She immediately turned around to head back out, her cheeks flushing crimson as she shouted: “I forgot to buy the salt!”

Just past the entryway, she heard Yan Qingzhu’s sharp voice: “Come back.”

Though the tone sounded calm, it made Yan Yu straighten up in awe, breaking into a cold sweat. By the time Yan Yu cautiously looked back, Luo Mu had already broken free from the embrace. She smoothed the stray hairs on her forehead and sat blankly, picking up her tea cup from the coffee table and taking a light sip.

“We have some at home; don’t make an extra trip,” Yan Qingzhu said calmly, which actually made Yan Yu more uncomfortable.

Wasn’t this clearly making her a third wheel?

Yan Yu blankly placed the bag containing the goji berries and red dates on the table near the kitchen. Luo Mu stood up, took the bag, and smiled gently at Yan Yu: “Thank you for the hard work.”

The way Luo Mu avoided her gaze allowed Yan Yu to see through things a bit, though she couldn’t quite put it into words. Yan Yu simply organized the computer and notebooks in the living room and took them back to her room.

She slowly exchanged a few looks with Yan Qingzhu, her gaze carrying a strange light. Yan Yu’s greatest hobby in life was gossiping about her sister; right now, it felt like she had discovered a new continent.

Yan Yu tested the waters cautiously: “Reconciled?”

“Don’t meddle in adult business,” Yan Qingzhu drank some tea, lowering her voice to a minimum: “Watch what you say in front of her.”

But as she grew older, Yan Yu didn’t always act entirely according to her sister’s words. Yan Yu tossed her high ponytail, clutching her biology competition notes as she prepared to return to the bedroom. The smile on her face was clearly the vibrance and beauty of a seventeen-year-old child as she gave a thoughtful, symbolic nod.

Seventeen and twenty have different definitions of love.

At the dining table, Yan Yu had set out the bowls and chopsticks in advance. Lunch consisted of dishes cooked by the two older girls; although she had been in the bedroom studying and didn’t know their situation, Yan Yu now sat obediently in her chair, propping up her chin with one hand, witnessing the crimson back of Yan Qingzhu’s ears.

“The stew pot is hot, let me do it.” Yan Qingzhu stepped in front of Luo Mu, using two towels to pad the handles of the pot and quickly placing it on the marble dining table. Coincidentally, her gaze met Yan Yu’s. Yan Qingzhu’s originally gentle expression instantly became guarded.

Yan Yu couldn’t help but shake her head, her lips twitching as she mockingly imitated a poet’s melancholy, her tone affected and dramatic:

“As soon as it leaves the brows, it settles in the heart.”

“Don’t make me rip that mouth of yours.”

Yan Qingzhu hissed through gritted teeth, a flash of cold, predatory light in her eyes as if she were about to devour the person in front of her the next second. Yan Yu shuddered instantly and instinctively looked the other way.

Luo Mu, just coming out of the kitchen, wiped her hands with a tissue. She didn’t know what the two sisters were talking about; she just smiled faintly and arranged the dishes neatly.

“Alright, let’s eat,” Luo Mu said, glancing between the two and smiling.

Luo Mu placed a bowl of chicken soup in front of Yan Yu. Yan Yu stared at the bowl; the drumstick and wing were both served to her.

Then Yan Yu observed Luo Mu leaving the other drumstick and wing for her big sister, while Luo Mu’s own soup bowl only contained several types of mushrooms.

“Is Sister Muzi not eating any?” Yan Yu’s eyes were clear as she stared blankly at Luo Mu’s soup bowl.

Luo Mu just laughed softly: “In my house, these are saved for the little ones.”

“I’m also a little one?” Yan Qingzhu caught the meaning and exposed her with ill intent, speaking bluntly.

“By seniority, I’m older than you. In my eyes, aren’t you also a ‘little one’?” Luo Mu took a sip of soup, giving Yan Qingzhu no room to argue.

Yan Qingzhu was sensible enough to stop; her gaze was as gentle as the fine, misty rain of early spring—the hardest to predict and the most charming. She moved the chicken drumstick from her own bowl into Luo Mu’s, muttering:

“Only by one month.”

Yan Yu saw the corner of Luo Mu’s mouth curl into a beautiful arc as she gently shook her head, silently accepting Yan Qingzhu’s childish behavior.

Silence during meals was an unwritten rule of the Yan family.

But after a repeated internal struggle, Yan Yu’s dark pupils stole a glance at Luo Mu.

The shoulder-length hair made Luo Mu look gentle and elegant; her face was clear and beautiful, yet her brow never lost that resilience and courage to fight against all things to the end. The woody fragrance emanating from her, mixed with the innate scent of jasmine, made her seem like a deity from heaven who had been stained with the unique aura of the mundane world, looking upon the human realm with drunken eyes.

Yan Yu then shifted her gaze to Yan Qingzhu. The woman was staring at Luo Mu, but quickly averted her eyes the moment Luo Mu looked back.

Yan Yu smirked inwardly. Is she afraid Sister Muzi will run away or something?

“Sister Muzi, I heard that in university you can fall in love freely. Is that true?” Yan Yu’s sudden question caught Luo Mu off guard, and instantly Yan Yu felt a familiar murderous intent from another pair of eyes.

“It should… be that way.”

Luo Mu’s answer was stumbling. During university, she had been busy with studies and part-time jobs, and rarely understood the lifestyles of others. It was only in the early days before she moved out of the dorm that she would hear her roommates discussing boys from other departments or gossiping about so-and-so’s dating history.

“You’d better not fill your head with that mess,” Yan Qingzhu watched Yan Yu, her voice very low, like a beast ready to tear into prey at any moment, full of warning.

“I am not!” Yan Yu rolled her eyes and secretly pouted.

Then Yan Yu looked back at Luo Mu: “Sister Muzi, you’re so great, has anyone pursued you?”

Luo Mu frowned instantly; she hadn’t expected Yan Yu to ask such a question. But in a daze, Luo Mu realized that the seventeen-year-old child before her had clear, naive eyes. Naturally, she would feel longing and excitement about love, believing that as long as she grew up quickly, everything would be possible in the future.

Including life, and including love.

Luo Mu lowered her eyes and ruffled Yan Yu’s hair, her gaze as gentle as flickering green shadows.

Indeed, a child is a child after all; life is always much crueler than a fairy tale.

“No,” Luo Mu answered softly.

Yan Yu poured tomato sauce over her rice, teasing as if joking, while her eyes inadvertently flicked toward Yan Qingzhu.

“I always feel that someone must like you, it’s just that they’re probably a coward who doesn’t dare to say it.”

Yan Qingzhu, who had been chewing, stopped abruptly upon hearing this. Her gaze was chilling—the words were almost calling her out by name.

“Eat. Your. Rice!”

Yan Qingzhu dropped each word with a heavy thud, swallowing her irritation back down. Fortunately, Luo Mu was there; Yan Yu felt that at any other time, Yan Qingzhu would have flipped the table and kicked her out of the house.

Finally, Yan Yu stopped challenging Yan Qingzhu’s bottom line and chose to eat quietly. But with the first bite of the rice with tomato sauce, Yan Yu was shocked.

Yan Yu said aggrievedly: “Why is this tomato sauce salty?!”

“I made it,” Yan Qingzhu said, not wanting to give her another look as she continued drinking her soup.

“Big Sister, didn’t you always make it sweet before?” Yan Yu had a breakdown, her tone laced with a slight tremor.

“Sister Muzi likes it salty.”

“Then… alright then.”

Yan Yu frowned, looking wronged, and obediently finished the rice in her bowl.

In a daze, Yan Qingzhu felt she had finally won a round. While she was secretly gloating, she met Luo Mu’s eyes. Luo Mu’s gaze was shallow, like a spectator watching a play. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she mockingly mouthed a word to Yan Qingzhu:

Lit-tle. One.

Yan Qingzhu instantly understood her meaning: someone who was already twenty years old was still getting worked up over a seventeen-year-old child—at the end of the day, she still had a childish heart.

Yan Qingzhu raised her left eyebrow at Luo Mu, flaunting her victory.

After lunch, a message popped up on Luo Mu’s phone screen, and her expression immediately turned grave. Yan Qingzhu, who was wiping the table, observed the change.

“What’s wrong?” Yan Qingzhu asked carefully, fearing she might annoy the other girl.

“An emergency notice for a presentation assignment. I might have to head back first.”

Luo Mu sighed and put her phone into her pocket, happening to meet Yan Yu’s eyes. The girl was frowning aggrievedly, clutching a bag of chips with crumbs still on the corner of her mouth.

“Is Sister Muzi going back right now?” Yan Yu said, her face full of reluctance.

Luo Mu smiled faintly, finally understanding why Yan Qingzhu always worried about this child. If a lifestyle-idiot like Yan Yu were left alone in Lingyang, how could anyone be at ease?

“Did you take your medicine?” Luo Mu snatched the bag of chips out of Yan Yu’s hand and turned to stuff it into Yan Qingzhu’s arms. Although her tone wasn’t as stern as Yan Qingzhu’s, she was also someone not to be trifled with.

“I did,” Yan Yu pouted, her voice tiny.

“I’ll take you back,” Yan Qingzhu said, smoothing her clothes and nudging Yan Yu aside, her tone clearly becoming softer.

“It’s fine, I know the way. You stay here, otherwise—” Luo Mu trailed off, and inadvertently, both of them looked at Yan Yu at the same time.

Yan Yu felt quite embarrassed, wearing a blank, confused expression before emphasizing: “I am seventeen!”

“You look seven.”

Yan Qingzhu followed Luo Mu’s lead, crossing her arms in front of her and speaking crossly. A mischievous smile appeared on Luo Mu’s originally calm face.

After Luo Mu left, Yan Qingzhu had intended to tidy the living room, but Yan Yu sat back on the sofa, legs crossed, with her biology competition materials scattered all over the floor.

“I always feel that Sister Muzi is very suitable to be an elder sister,” Yan Yu giggled. “She’s much gentler than you, Big Sister.”

Instead of looking at her with the eyes of a predator as usual, Yan Qingzhu’s brow relaxed and a faint smile rose on her lips.

“Upstairs in my room, open the last drawer of the wardrobe. The household registration booklet is there. If you want to be her sister, go and sign onto the same booklet with her.” Yan Qingzhu’s tone was lazy, but she still had a youthful competitive streak—the stubborn temper of refusing to lose, no matter who she was compared to.

But this time, Yan Yu answered very succinctly, muttering: “I don’t want to.”

Yan Qingzhu instinctively asked: “Why?”

Yan Yu pursed her lips, then answered seriously and solemnly: “The person who wants to be on the same household registration booklet as her most… isn’t it you?”