No One Else Will Do But You - Chapter 5

Previous Chapter: Chapter 4: My Neighbor Is So Detestable Next Chapter: Chapter 6: My Neighbor Is a Little Sad

Jiang Mu’s brow never unfurled as he listened to the story.

“Luo Luo went on his bike.”

Jiang Mu suddenly remembered the bicycle he saw on his way out. He immediately turned around and ran out the door.

He felt terrible thinking that Shu Luo had gotten hurt while delivering something for him. He felt even worse thinking about how he hadn’t even been nice to him.

He rushed downstairs and saw that person walking with a limp.

“Luo Luo…” Jiang Mu called out, his voice trembling slightly with an apology.

Shu Luo pouted. “What? Don’t you dislike me? What do you want?”

Jiang Mu walked toward him, his height advantage making Shu Luo feel threatened.

“Wh-What do you want?” Shu Luo took a step back, and his knee suddenly ached. “Ouch…”

Jiang Mu went up to him, lifted him onto his shoulder, and casually tossed the bike into the bushes.

“Hey! That’s my bike!”

“That’s not important. Why didn’t you tell me you got hit by a car?”

“I…” Shu Luo couldn’t find the right words. “I was afraid it would affect your game.”

“You already affected it.”

Shu Luo bit his shoulder. “You should have told me earlier! You gave me a dirty look; I’m going to bite you to death!”

Jiang Mu endured it. After all, it was nothing compared to Shu Luo getting hit by a car.

Afterward, the driver insisted on taking him to the hospital to be safe.

“It’s nothing serious, just some external injuries. The soft tissue in his left knee is injured and needs to be kept dry for a week. His right elbow was probably scraped by metal, so he needs a tetanus shot. The rest are minor cuts.”

Shu’s mom breathed a sigh of relief, then began her loving scolding. “What were you thinking, not looking where you were going? You went to deliver a uniform and ended up in the hospital. Are you looking for trouble!”

“Mom, I was on an important mission! I was in a hurry.”

“In a hurry? Don’t you think I’m worried now that you’re like this?”

Jiang’s mom also looked regretfully at Shu Luo, ruffling his hair. “Luo Luo, I shouldn’t have asked you to go. You wouldn’t have had this accident.”

“Oh, Auntie, it’s not your fault. I was just bored anyway. And these are just minor injuries…”

Seeing Shu Luo act so nonchalant, Jiang Mu felt an indescribable feeling.

“It’s not going to be easy for you to take a bath like this,” Shu’s mom suddenly remembered.

“I’ll help him wash.”

Shu Luo looked at him, startled. “Wh-What?!”

“And for school, I’ll carry you,” Jiang Mu said, looking at him.

Shu Luo swallowed. “Actually, I can walk.”

“It’s best for the child not to move his knee too much. The injuries are more serious because he forced himself to walk on it today; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so bad,” the doctor said, reminding him.

And so, the next few days were spent in a very strange way.

Especially at bath time, hehe.

“Oh, oh, I’m ticklish… hahaha…”

Jiang Mu calmly washed his feet. Since he couldn’t get his injuries wet, only the uninjured parts were washed separately.

He put Shu Luo on the toilet seat, knelt in front of him, and carefully washed his legs.

Shu Luo hadn’t grown much yet; he was only about five feet tall, thin, and pale, still looking like a little boy. Standing next to Jiang Mu, who was already 5’7″, he really looked like a child.

Shu Luo watched Jiang Mu wipe his feet and happily patted his head. “A Mu, you’re just like my dad.”

“…” How did I become his dad? But he was still curious and asked, “Why?”

“Because my dad wouldn’t do this, so you’re like a dad to me.”

Well, now he had a “son.”

Holding a pair of feet that were much smaller than his own and meeting those smiling eyes, he felt a special warmth inside, a feeling of wanting things to stay this way forever.

Watching Jiang Mu’s actions, Shu Luo sincerely felt, “Ah, this is what a brother is! A good brother even helps me wash my feet and doesn’t complain about the smell.” After drying his feet with a towel, Jiang Mu helped him up from the toilet seat, but Shu Luo stumbled and his head hit Jiang Mu’s chin directly.

“Ouch, my head…”

Shu Luo held his head in pain and looked up at Jiang Mu. “Bro, your strength is too much. Your little brother is weak, so be gentle, okay?”

Jiang Mu helplessly reached out to rub his forehead, and accidentally saw the still-healing bruise. He gently touched it. “Does it still hurt?”

“Huh? It doesn’t hurt anymore, just a little sore.”

“The injuries on your feet are from the crash, but what about the one on your forehead?”

Shu Luo waved his hand. “A true hero doesn’t dwell on past glories; don’t mention it~”

“…”

It’s so lonely talking to myself.

Shu Luo awkwardly rubbed his face. “Um, my face landed on the ground…” Oh, how embarrassing.

For a moment, Jiang Mu didn’t know what to say to comfort him. He had felt bad that Shu Luo had been hurt because of him, but his flustered appearance was making him smile despite himself.

Seeing that Jiang Mu wasn’t saying anything, Shu Luo figured he should just drop it. There would be no sympathy here… I’m so unhappy!

And so, the topic ended, and they began their beautiful evening.

Shu’s mom started her endless nagging.

“Luo Luo, you rode a bike and fell on your face. How did your dad even teach you to ride?”

“Look at you! What if you fell on your face and hurt it? What girl would like you then?”

“I’ve raised you all this time, and I’ve worried about you constantly. Oh, this woman with a girlish heart of mine wishes you were still a doll that I could play with.”

Shu Luo lay on the sofa, a look of despair on his face. Is this really my biological mom who’s been nagging me? A non-biological mom wouldn’t say such things. Mom, your husband is suffering too! Now you’re trying to pass the blame again!

Far away in the United States, Shu’s dad was giving a perfect speech, but a sudden sneeze made it lose some of its quality.

“Excuse me!” Shu’s dad could only say.

Whenever Shu Luo had an accident, these words were unavoidable. He had gotten used to them, but they still made him feel completely defeated and hopeless.

I’m just a kid, can I get some love, please? Oh, my heart hurts.

Shu’s mom saw Shu Luo rolling around on the sofa, clutching his chest. She asked nervously, “What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”

Shu Luo looked at her with “tears in his eyes.” “You really are my mom. You’ve broken my heart. I’m so sad!”

Shu’s mom smacked his bottom dismissively. “This is what you get for being so careless. If you weren’t so careless, would I have to nag? I don’t want to nag. Can you not make me nag?”

“I…” Such a perfect person… Sigh, I’ve been talked down to so much.

“Alright, go back to your room and go to sleep. You have school tomorrow. Don’t make Xiao Mu wait for you again.”

Shu Luo nodded obediently. “Okay, I promise I won’t sleep in.”

The result?

“Ah~ Jiang Mu, please, just five more minutes…” Shu Luo hugged his blanket, begging for five more precious minutes.

Jiang Mu sighed as he pulled the blanket. “Can you not give me a hard time? I need to save my strength to carry you upstairs later.”

Shu Luo suddenly sat up and looked at the neatly dressed Jiang Mu standing beside his bed. He had a sudden moment of conscience. “Okay, fine, I’ll get up.”

Jiang Mu’s lips curved into a light smile, and he gently smoothed Shu Luo’s messy hair. “Go wash up. I’ll wait for you outside.”

Zhengcheng First Middle School, a provincial key middle school, holds monthly exams for both its middle and high school students. The purpose is to keep students in a constant state of preparedness for exams so they won’t be nervous during the real tests. The eighth-grade mock final exam was coming up soon.

Because it was exam week, morning and afternoon exercise sessions were canceled.

However, some were happy, and some were sad.

“Why are they depriving me of my chance to exercise? As a student, you can’t just sit all the time; you’ll get sick.”

Shu Luo was lying on his desk, grumbling unhappily.

“You have a lot of reasons. Just say you want to play.”

Jiang Mu, who was doing a math problem next to him, glanced at the idle Shu Luo and shook his head helplessly.

Shu Luo glared at him. “What do you know? All you do is solve problems. It’s so tiring. You should rest.”

Jiang Mu ignored him and quickly calculated the problems on the paper. He was focused, showing no other emotion.

The sunlight outside was perfect, shining into every corner of the classroom, falling on the faces of the students with different expressions, reflecting the business of this age.

The soft light outlined Jiang Mu’s handsome face, which still had a hint of immaturity but was about to undergo a transformation.

The boy next to him, who had promised to only rest for a moment, had fallen asleep. A faint smile was on his fair face. Ah, he must be having a good dream.

Youth begins, and youth is just right.

The turning point is coming soon.

December 30th, 2007 Mood: Okay

The mock exam is coming up soon. I’m not nervous. This is probably the best attitude to have. I’ll approach it with a relaxed mindset, just like my dad says: it’s about the participation, and the process is what matters most. Hmm… The real final exam is in a little over a month after the mock one. That one is important. I’ll just have the academic genius Jiang Mu tutor me then, haha!