Junior Brother Has No Idea - Chapter 6

“Xie Jiusi.”

The light sphere clutched a writing brush, struggling to scrawl out three characters. Xie Jiusi’s name appeared on the paper, crooked and wobbly. After finishing, it ran to the inkstone to dip for more. Since its feet were now covered in ink, it left a trail of black dots across the rice paper.

“…”

Xie Yong intended to take the brush away, but the sphere held on tight, refusing to budge. He had no choice but to pick up another brush from the rack.

“What are you trying to write?” Xie Yong lightly gathered his sleeves and stood by the table. After moistening the bristles and dabbing away excess water, he dipped the tip into the ink. With his wrist suspended mid-air, he looked at the sphere. “You speak; I’ll write.”

“Hubby, I want to summarize Xie Jiusi’s character traits,” the sphere explained. “We need to tailor our approach to the symptoms, finish grinding his favorability, and clear this newbie task.”

Most of the Task Book was still locked; the sphere suspected the content would only open after the initial mission was completed. It was eager to see what lay beyond. It held its brush high, waiting for Xie Yong to begin.

“Xie Jiusi’s character traits?” Xie Yong thought seriously for a moment before setting pen to paper:

Unreasonable. Self-righteous. Unrefined. Duplicitous. Shameless. Foul-mouthed. Malicious. Atrocious. Heartless. Pretentious. Insane. Short-sighted. Hypocritical. Moronic. Stubborn.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Xie Yong’s calligraphy was beautiful, but he was writing faster and faster. The sphere was forced to retreat across the paper to avoid being covered in ink. Seeing that the page was almost full, it hurriedly intervened. “Hubby… are you perhaps letting personal bias slip in? We’re discussing business. Let’s put aside personal grudges for a moment, okay?”

Xie Yong let out a cold snort. “This has nothing to do with personal grudges. He is exactly that kind of person. I am merely stating the facts.” He laid down the brush and glanced at the sphere. “You don’t believe me?”

“I believe you! I believe you!” The Hubby’s enemy is my enemy. The sphere took a firm stand. “Hubby, Xie Jiusi is an unreasonable, self-righteous, unrefined, duplicitous, shameless, foul-mouthed, malicious, atrocious, heartless, pretentious, insane, short-sighted, hypocritical, moronic, stubborn, despicable, and vulgar little man!”

The sphere finished the rant in one breath. It reached up to wipe its face, realized its “body” didn’t sweat, and leaned against the brush handle, panting heavily. Halfway through, it realized it didn’t actually need to breathe either. It felt invincible!

Xie Yong was quite pleased with this attitude. He picked up the sphere by its (currently clean) head, swished it in some water to rinse it, and patted it dry with a handkerchief.

“Glub glub glub. Hubby, you’re such a clean boy. But let’s finish the business first.”

Xie Yong placed the sphere back on the table. It walked to the inkstone, picked up its brush, and circled the words “Unreasonable” and “Duplicitous.” Based on the last two days, it felt these were the most accurate.

“Hubby, I think we can start with these two points. First, Xie Jiusi is definitely ‘duplicitous.’ In my world, I played all kinds of dating sims, and I’ve never seen a character gain 50 points from being slapped. His feelings for you must be complicated. You’re blood brothers, after all…”

The sphere pointed toward the door. “I thought about it last night. The newbie task is actually simple. Xie Jiusi seems difficult, but actually—”

“Actually, he’s extremely difficult,” Xie Yong finished. “The history between me and Xie Jiusi cannot be explained in a few words.”

“Then use a few more words?”

Xie Yong: “…”

“Hah!” The mere mention of it made him angry. “Xie Jiusi knows perfectly well I have no talent for cultivation, yet he insists on dragging me to the training grounds. Does he want everyone to laugh at me? That’s fine; I’m not one to hold a grudge. But when I was seven, he caught a green pit viper and put it in my room. He said the snake was pretty and reminded him of me, was he implying I’m as poisonous as a serpent? When I was nine, he learned to fly on a sword. He thought he was a master, and even though I told him I was terrified, he forced me to fly with him. He messed up his technique and I fell from mid-air…”

The sphere’s heart tightened. “Were you hurt?”

Xie Yong’s face went through various shades of pale and red. After a long pause, he muttered, “Hurt? No, Father caught me. But I was so scared I, I wet my pants. On Father. I will never forgive Xie Jiusi for that.”

The sphere spoke with difficulty: “Well, that… that is indeed hard to forgive.”

Xie Yong sneered. “You think that’s it? Not even close. After that, I told him to stay away and even moved to this courtyard to avoid him. But he never let me go.”

No matter how Xie Yong hid, Jiusi would pop up from every corner to mock him.

“So, here’s the question,” the sphere asked. “Why does he keep coming back to mock you?”

Xie Yong went silent.

“Hubby, talk to me.”

Xie Yong cleared his throat. “Anyway, that’s not important. Let’s talk business. What is his favorability now?”

“Hubby, you look really guilty right now.”

Xie Yong pressed a hand to his forehead, attempting to change the subject. “I feel dizzy. I think I got too agitated. I need to lie down.” He turned and left in a flurry of fragrance.

Standing on the ink-stained paper, the sphere watched his back, seeing through everything. “Hubby, just tell the truth. You’ve bullied him quite a bit too, haven’t you?”

The sphere hadn’t known him long, but it could tell: Xie Yong was not the type to suffer in silence.

Xie Yong was already on the daybed, hand on his forehead, looking pitiable. “I didn’t bully him. I was merely acting in self-preservation.”

“Self-preservation?”

Xie Jiusi suddenly kicked the door open. He scanned the room, looking for whoever Xie Yong had been talking to. The moment the door opened, the sphere flopped onto the table to play dead, looking like nothing more than a weirdly shaped lump of ginger. Jiusi’s sharp gaze swept over it and ignored it.

Finding no one, Jiusi narrowed his eyes. “Who were you talking to?”

Xie Yong rose and tried to push him out. “Who gave you permission to enter? Get out.”

Naturally, he didn’t move the man an inch. Though younger, Jiusi was half a head taller, broad-shouldered and long-legged, standing as solid as a boulder. He grabbed Xie Yong’s hands and pushed him back toward the cot. Xie Yong was forced to sit down, his momentum instantly vanishing.

Jiusi loomed over him. “You didn’t bully me? In the dead of winter, you lied and said your favorite bracelet fell into the lake. You made me go in to get it  and I actually believed your lies! I soaked in that icy pond for nearly six hours!”

Back then, Jiusi had adored his brother. Even though he hadn’t mastered water-avoidance charms, he had dived in without hesitation. The worst part was that when he failed to find it, he saw the disappointment on Xie Yong’s face and went right back in. He could never have found it, Xie Yong hadn’t lost it at all!

Jiusi leaned down, pressing his hands on Xie Yong’s shoulders. “You didn’t bully me? You said you had heart palpitations at night and needed an amulet. I knelt across fifteen hundred stone steps to pray for that amulet for you! And the moment you got it; you told everyone I was an idiot!”

Hearing this, Xie Yong instinctively clutched the amulet hanging at his waist.

Jiusi noticed. “Don’t bother hiding it. I won’t take it back. Unlike you, I keep my word.”

The sphere, playing dead on the table, received a notification: Xie Jiusi favorability -20.

Great, the sphere thought. I don’t have to pretend anymore. I’m actually dead.

The room was filled with faint medicinal scent. Xie Yong sat on the cot, still clutching the amulet, his eyes filled with a certain melancholy. Jiusi watched him coldly, determined not to be fooled again.

Then Xie Yong spoke. “Whether you believe it or not, at the time, I really thought the bracelet was lost. It was a gift from Mother. If I hadn’t run into you, I would have jumped in myself.”

“As for the amulet…” He lowered his head, his dark hair shifting to reveal a sliver of his nape, looking fragile. “I did call you an idiot. I just felt… that I wasn’t worth such a sacrifice from you. Fifteen hundred stone steps…”

Xie Yong looked up, his gaze soft as water, his eyes shimmering. “Even Mother has never gone that far for me. If you aren’t an idiot, then what are you?”

“You…” Jiusi took a step back. “Do you really think that?”

“Of course.”

Xie Yong stood and walked toward the table, leaning his hand on it. “I know you think I’m a liar and won’t believe me, but my conscience is clear.” As he spoke, he surreptitiously scooped the “dead” sphere into his sleeve.

Jiusi didn’t notice the movement. He looked shaken, his face a mix of suspicion and budding emotion. Every time they met, they fought; he had never heard Xie Yong speak so gently. He lowered his eyes, unable to meet his brother’s gaze.

Xie Jiusi favorability +80. The sphere twitched in the sleeve. Xie Jiusi favorability +10. The sphere twitched again.

[Current Progress]

• Xie Wuyin: 99/50
• Xie Jiusi: 21/50

Yes! Yes! The sphere was so excited it wanted to burst out of the sleeve and report the news. Xie Yong, afraid Jiusi would notice the movement, gave the gingerbread man a firm pinch. The sphere went still.

Suddenly, Jiusi’s attention was drawn to the rice paper on the table. “Eh? What’s this?”

Xie Yong tried to cover it with his sleeve, but he was too late. Jiusi snatched the paper, seeing his name written in wobbly letters, followed by Xie Yong’s list of insults.

Everything clicked.

Jiusi’s face went black. A flame ignited in his palm, incinerating the paper instantly. “Xie Yong!” he roared. “I must have been possessed to believe your lies again!”

He stormed out just as he had arrived, slamming the door behind him.

“Hubby,” the sphere muttered from the sleeve. “He believed you! He believed your words and gave you 90 points!”

“Hmph.” Xie Yong sat on the cot and poured himself a tea, sipping slowly. “I told you, he’s a moron.”

The sphere crawled out. “So, was what you said just now true? I was so moved, boo hoo.”

Xie Yong put down the cup. “How could you think that? Of course it was all fake.”

He continued: “The bracelet wasn’t lost. Mother gave it to me, and he threw a tantrum, crying to Father that Mother was biased, which got her a lecture. He made Mother sad, so I told him it fell in the water to let him cool his head in the pond.”

“And the amulet was just him being sentimental. I told him I had palpitations so he’d stop bothering me. Who asked him to go pray for an amulet? He knows Father dislikes me. Father thought I had manipulated him; I was forced to copy the family rules and had my palms whipped. He was the one who went of his own accord, so why was I the one punished?”

The sphere quickly caught the core issue. “If children don’t get along, it’s usually the parents’ fault. Hubby, I think we have to blame your old man for being a deadbeat.”

Xie Yong said hatefully, “Father favors Jiusi, the elders favor Eldest Brother, only Mother is good to me. Yet they can’t stand even that and make things difficult for her constantly.”

As he spoke, his anger got the best of him, and he began to cough violently. The sphere pushed the teapot toward him. “Don’t get agitated, Hubby. Drink some tea.”

“I only regret that I lack the power to protect her,” Xie Yong whispered, pressing a hand to his chest once he recovered. “What you said before… the Task Book, the System Mall… if any of it is real, I will absolutely seize this opportunity.”

Marrow Cleansing Soup. Body Tempering Pills.

He wouldn’t find the tasks troublesome. His only fear was that it was all an illusion, a mirage that would leave him with nothing but empty expectations.