The Delinquent Wants to Be His Rival School Grass's Guardian - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Great Raid — Sweeping all the steaks and lamb chops from the fridge back home…

Qin Yize, however, had no reaction at all. The fake kid was as calm as could be, standing blankly in front of the sofa, head tilted as he stared at an old yellow smiley-face pillow.

Yan Jun was breaking into a cold sweat. His hands were clenched into fists behind his back, his face tense as he looked from her to Qin Yize. The fake kid still looked like none of this concerned him, looking up at Yan Jun blankly with an expression that seemed to say, “Brother, why are you ignoring me?”

In that instant, possessed by some inexplicable impulse, Yan Jun let out an “Mm.” He turned to face the cleaning lady, his expression still stiff: “He’s… just over to play for a bit.”

The cleaning lady nodded with a smile, carrying her bucket toward the bathroom and bothering them no further. Yan Jun finally let out a long sigh of relief, reaching out to steady himself against the sofa, nearly collapsing onto it.

Qin Yize was now hugging the pillow in his arms, kneading it as he wandered around: “Brother, is this my house?”

Terrified that the cleaner would hear him, Yan Jun pushed Qin Yize into a random room and closed the door, making up a perfunctory excuse: “Uh… yes. Your parents bought it before, but their business failed recently, so this house was mortgaged. However, a lot of your things are still here. I brought you back today just to get some clothes.”

“Oh.” Qin Yize believed him without a doubt, wandering aimlessly around the study-like room: “So many books on the shelves, are they all mine?”

Yan Jun didn’t answer. He walked to the desk and opened a random folder. Inside was a set of math competition papers with dense, complex formulas that made his head spin. He wondered if, with his current IQ, Qin Yize would still know how to do them… Yan Jun stared hesitantly for a moment before finally closing the folder and putting it back.

After finishing with the study, Yan Jun sneakily opened the door and saw the cleaning lady focused on wiping the furniture in the living room. He grabbed Qin Yize and quietly slipped into another room.

Inside were all sorts of fitness equipment.

Looking at the dumbbells, the power rack, and the treadmill, Yan Jun couldn’t help but glare fiercely at the oblivious Qin Yize: Are you crazy? Starting bodybuilding in high school, don’t you want to grow taller anymore?!

The fake kid giggled from the pinch, raising his hands to block: “Brother, what are you doing? It tickles!”

With a fierce expression, Yan Jun wanted to check the chest area too. Unexpectedly, Qin Yize suddenly reached out with both hands and gave Yan Jun’s chest a firm rub on both sides: “You scratch me, I scratch you back!”

…Holy crap!

The fake kid let out a “howl” of pain.

After searching four rooms in a row and flipping through everything except the master bedroom, he still hadn’t found Qin Yize’s bedroom. Yan Jun was forced to turn his gaze toward the door at the end of the hallway: Could it be… he really sleeps in the master bedroom?

…His parents actually let him live here alone.

Many guesses surfaced in his mind. Yan Jun couldn’t help but look back at Qin Yize, hesitant to speak.

The fake kid was unhurriedly rummaging through the wardrobe, looking quite relaxed. Before long, he pulled out a white basketball uniform and shouted excitedly: “Brother, this outfit looks a lot like yours!”

“Take whatever clothes you like, so you’ll stop complaining that mine are too tight.” Thinking that he still hadn’t found the fake kid’s ID card, Yan Jun walked to the bedside with his hands behind his back and searched the nightstand carefully. After a while, he actually found it inside a thick card holder.

Bank cards, campus card, ID card all neatly arranged in order. Yan Jun pulled out the ID and looked at the smiling handsome face on it: the hairstyle was nearly the same as now, the face barely different. It looked like it had been issued recently.

He looked at the birth date: December 29th. He really was more than a month younger than himself! Hah, you calling me “Brother” isn’t me taking advantage of you after all.

Just as he was about to put the card holder down after securing the ID, Yan Jun noticed a brochure at the bottom of the drawer. The title was in English, and the cover featured a beautiful, ancient-looking school with red brick buildings covered in green ivy, looking like some prestigious prep school abroad.

…Could this be the high school he was supposed to attend after going overseas?

Opening the pages, it was indeed a school brochure, but since it was all in English, Yan Jun couldn’t understand much of it. In the drawer, there was also Qin Yize’s enrollment certificate and transcripts, bilingual in Chinese and English, stamped by Fuxing No. 2 High School.

Flipping further down, there was an application form entirely in English. Everything was filled out and printed, except… Qin Yize hadn’t signed it.

When the time comes and they see their son has reverted to this childlike state and forgotten them… a look of despair crossed Yan Jun’s face: Qin Yize, when on earth are you going to recover?!

He muddledly put the documents back into the drawer and sat on the edge of the bed, his mind a mess. At that moment, Qin Yize walked over holding something and held it out to him: “Brother, these are my mom and dad, right?”

A rectangular photo frame came into view, containing a family portrait. Qin Yize looked to be about six or seven years old, wearing a small pointed hat, his little face beaming with joy. A two-tier birthday cake sat before him, with colored candles scattered to the side, already half-burnt.

A man and a woman in casual home clothes sat on either side of him, their poses intimate and their smiles warm; they were surely his parents. The background didn’t look like this apartment; it was a bit more cramped, yet quite luxurious. In the bottom right corner of the photo was a line of text: “In memory of Xiao Ze’s 7th birthday.”

The fake kid leaned bonelessly against his brother’s shoulder and asked again: “These are my mom and dad, right?”

“…Yeah, they are,” Yan Jun humoured him. “Where did you find this?”

“In the nightstand over there.” Qin Yize pointed to the other side of the bed. “It was empty inside, except for this photo.”

“I see.” Yan Jun lowered his eyes, and in that moment, he seemed to understand something: His parents had most likely divorced. Otherwise, such a loving couple wouldn’t leave their child to live alone. Perhaps they had each formed new families and had new children, leading them to collectively neglect Qin Yize.

Unable to resist, Yan Jun ruffled the fake kid’s hair, handed the frame back, and asked softly: “Do you want to take it with you?”

“Yeah, let’s take it.” Qin Yize answered decisively. “Since this house isn’t mine anymore, it’ll definitely be thrown away if I leave it here.”

He carefully cradled the photo album in his arms along with the yellow smiley pillow, his face full of ease: “Brother, let’s go back! I’m hungry.”

“Yeah, okay.” Finding a duffel bag in the wardrobe, he packed it full of clothes, shoes, and socks. Yan Jun cautiously led Qin Yize out, just as they ran into the cleaning lady tidying the refrigerator.

Seeing them, she asked: “Young man, the broccoli and carrots in this fridge have wilted, and the asparagus smells a bit. Should I toss them out for you?”

Yan Jun nodded stiffly: “Yes, please.”

“And another thing, you should eat the steaks in the freezer soon. They won’t spoil, but the flavor will be lost. Those are all high-quality steaks; it’d be a shame to keep them frozen for too long…”

Hearing this, Yan Jun’s eyes sparked slightly. Suppressing a jump of joy, he nodded: “Okay, we’ll cook them for dinner tonight.”

…

That noon, the two of them hauled a pile of clothes and a pile of frozen goods back from Qin Yize’s house.

Steaks, bacon, lamb chops, large shrimp everything was seasoned and vacuum-sealed, ready to eat after a quick sear. After taking inventory, Yan Jun stuffed them one by one into the freezer, marvelling at the same time: These meats look so high-end, the marbling is excellent, the quality must be great… Is this what Qin Yize usually eats?

Poking his head out from the doorway, he glanced at the fake kid sitting by the counter happily munching on spicy strips. Yan Jun pouted with an unspeakable expression: He used to eat high-grade meat, but after coming here, he fell in love with spicy strips! This guy really is a “mountain pig who can’t eat fine husks” (doesn’t appreciate the finer things).

At lunch, Yan Jun seared a few pieces of filet mignon, cutting one portion into small bits for Grandma. The elderly lady, whose teeth weren’t great, tried the meat and kept nodding: “So fragrant! And soft! …It’s delicious.”

Qin Yize, however, showed little interest, pouting and being picky as he ate. Yan Jun asked him: “You don’t like it?”

The fake kid pushed the plate away and said with disdain: “It’s not good! Brother, I want to eat sautéed pork (xiao chao rou) , the kind that’s fragrant and a little spicy, that’s what’s delicious.”

Yan Jun: …Truly a mountain pig who can’t appreciate fine husks!

…

That night, Qin Yize finally put on clothes that fit him.

He lay comfortably on the bed, happily holding the game console and playing Tetris, his legs crossed high in the air: “Brother, it turns out I’m taller and sturdier than you! Your clothes aren’t this loose on me~”

Yan Jun had just finished prepping the fillings and returned, covered in sweat. While putting the clothes away, he glared at him irritably: “Yes, yes, you’re tall, you’re sturdy! How could you not be, eating so much beef and shrimp…”

He lowered his voice for the last part, speaking through gritted teeth with a hint of bitterness.

The family portrait the fake kid brought back was placed on the desk alongside Yan Jun’s bright and very eye-catching photo. Yan Jun remembered that when he woke up from his nap, Qin Yize had been leaning against the headboard, cradling the photo and staring at it for a long time, saying: “Brother, my old house was so big.”

Yan Jun turned to look at him: “Do you like big houses?”

“I don’t.” The fake kid just touched the photo. “It was too empty, quite scary.”

After a pause, he asked again: “Brother, when summer vacation is over, Mom and Dad will come to pick me up, right?”

Will they? Yan Jun wasn’t sure. But looking at the empty call logs on his phone and the few messages from classmates on WeChat, Yan Jun thought… even if his father wanted to get him into a school abroad, it likely wasn’t out of genuine care.

At that moment, Qin Yize finally reached 90,000 points and put down the game console with satisfaction. He rolled over, hugging the quilt and blinking rapidly at his brother: “Brother, I’m hungry.”

“Oh.” Yan Jun snapped back to reality, suddenly remembering he seemed to have forgotten to save a pie this morning. He let out a low “Fuck,” grabbed his clothes irritably, and went downstairs to shower.

An hour later, as Qin Yize was miserably drinking his Chinese medicine, Yan Jun walked up carrying a plate, his lean face set in a cool expression.

The fake kid craned his neck to see that there were actually four fried dough sticks on the plate! He immediately let out a cry of joy and surprise: “Brother, did you fry these for me?!”

“Mm.” Yan Jun sat on the edge of the bed expressionlessly, picking up a towel to dry his hair. Suddenly, two arms wrapped around his neck, and something soft and warm pressed against his face with a loud smack, followed by Qin Yize’s happy voice: “I love Brother the most!”

…Holy crap! Yan Jun frantically wiped his face, his cheeks turning as red as a tomato.