The Delinquent Wants to Be His Rival School Grass's Guardian - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Taking You for a Checkup — “The boy who had the checkup…”

At 11:30 AM, Yan Jun woke up slowly with a yawn after a satisfying nap.

For some reason, it was very lively downstairs. Amidst the noise, a high-pitched voice was laughing with an excitement that made it sound as if they had spotted discounted fresh beef at the wet market.

“Oh my, you’re so tall! You’re actually Xiao Jun’s younger brother? Look at you smiling—you’re much more cheerful than Xiao Jun~ This face, these eyes, they’re truly beautiful. You’re handsome enough to hit me right in the heart!”

Hearing his own name, Yan Jun’s eyes snapped open, and he was suddenly wide awake. He flipped over and leaned against the windowsill, seeing a crowd gathered in front of his shop, chirping away; the doorstep was as busy as a marketplace.

…Holy crap!

Sprinting downstairs, he turned the corner and saw Qin Yize sitting side-by-side with Grandma behind the counter, facing a group of immensely interested neighbors. The “fake kid” wasn’t shy at all; instead, he squinted with a smile, accepting their scrutiny with complete poise.

Xiao Hui’s grandmother saw him and immediately greeted him with a smile: “Oh, Xiao Jun is up! Come here, come here, introduce this handsome cousin to us. Your grandma can’t explain anything clearly!”

Walking over with nerves so high he almost moved his same-side arm and leg together, Yan Jun stood behind Qin Yize and grabbed his shoulder, forcing himself to stay calm: “Is that so? What did Grandma tell you all?”

Yan Jun looked down at him, his “kind” gaze flickering with the “teeth-gritting” intent of settling scores later: “When did you run down here?”

Qin Yize smiled fearlessly, baring eight teeth: “Grandma said there were no mosquito coils and told me to buy some, so I came down.”

…This cunning, crafty brat!

Taking a deep breath for two seconds, Yan Jun gnashed his teeth and looked at the neighbors at the door, forcing a smile: “This is my Auntie Huimin’s son. He’s here for summer vacation. His name is Yan Su.”

“Really?” Those people looked back and forth between the “two brothers” with great interest, attempting to find a resemblance. “Hey, you two don’t look alike at all!”

“I take after my mom, but he doesn’t look like my aunt.”

“Oh~ It seems your uncle is very handsome!”

“Haha,” Yan Jun let out a dry laugh, “He is quite handsome.”

Uncle Wu from next door was standing nearby joining the fun while holding a bowl of noodles. Suddenly, he sensed something wasn’t right; slurping his noodles, he asked: “You changed your surname to Yan to match your mother three years ago, so this cousin… why is his surname also Yan?”

“Huh?” Everyone’s mouths dropped open in surprise. They stole secretive glances at Qin Yize and asked in a low voice: “Your aunt also divorced her husband?”

Yan Jun paused subtly. Standing behind Qin Yize, he quietly pointed to his own head toward the onlookers and accompanied the gesture with a regretful expression: “Here… it’s not quite right. So they had another small one. It didn’t matter who the oldest took their surname from anymore.”

“Oh!” Everyone suddenly realized, their faces filled with regret. “I was wondering! When I was talking to him just now, I felt something was off… so that’s how it is!”

Qin Yize didn’t see Yan Jun’s small gesture; he only noticed that the looks the uncles and aunties were giving him were suddenly filled with regret and sympathy. He turned to Yan Jun in a daze: “Brother, what’s wrong?”

Yan Jun and the crowd said in unison: “Nothing, nothing’s wrong!”

The neighbors’ expressions became incredibly loving, each looking at him as if looking at a lost child: “Xiao Shu, you just have a good time here on Jinghe Road this summer, okay? There are several other kids on this street; we’ll have them take you out to play later, okay?”

Qin Yize blinked in confusion: “…Oh, okay.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Jun impatiently grabbed his back collar and lifted him up: “Uncles, Aunties, I’m going to cook. Everyone should head back for lunch too! Xiao Su, you come here and help me wash vegetables!”

His face was very close, close enough to see every long eyelash on those phoenix eyes. Qin Yize watched his brother’s fierce yet cool face without blinking, then suddenly “hee-hee” laughed and pressed his forehead against Yan Jun’s: “Grandma did call for you, but you were sleeping, so I had to come downstairs.”

Quickly taking a step back, Yan Jun turned his face away uncomfortably, his momentum instantly diminishing: “…Then couldn’t you have called me to wake up?!”

“You were so tired, of course you should rest more. Why wake up? I can handle small things like this!” Qin Yize was still smiling. With his eyes curved like crescents, he really did look a bit like he did before the amnesia.

Yan Jun took a look, felt something was wrong, and looked again. Qin Yize tilted his head, his peach-blossom eyes blinking and blinking, turning back into an innocent and harmless look.

“…You’re full of tricks. Come here, help me wash vegetables!” Releasing him in defeat, Yan Jun felt light-headed as he pulled out a handful of bok choy and threw it to him, then went to measure rice to cook.

…

That afternoon, Yan Jun couldn’t sleep.

Initially, he didn’t want Qin Yize to go downstairs because he was afraid his identity would be questioned. Plus, with this strange mental state, there was no guarantee the neighbors wouldn’t pry into it.

But after that muddled encounter just now, it seemed everyone… accepted this “cousin” whose brain wasn’t quite right? Everyone was only busy looking at his face and didn’t care at all if he was actually Auntie Huimin’s son.

Then again, Auntie Huimin married far away and was busy making a living; she hadn’t been back for many years. The last time she returned, he was only eleven, and his mom hadn’t even divorced that “gambling dog” yet.

Behind him, Qin Yize had already fallen asleep, his forehead resting quietly against Yan Jun’s shoulder. Yan Jun suddenly thought of a possibility: Since the fake identity of “cousin” had been cleared by the neighbors, could I ask Uncle Wu to pretend to be a guardian and take him to the hospital for a checkup?

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. So, after nine o’clock the next morning, Yan Jun uncharacteristically climbed out of his nap, took ten reserved beef pies, and went next door with an anxious heart.

The young girl Wu Sijia, who had just graduated from junior high this year, was still sitting behind the counter watching anime. Hearing him, she looked up and said happily: “Xiao Jun-ge!”

“Sijia, where is your dad?” Yan Jun asked, looking around.

“He’s upstairs helping someone fix something.” The girl leaned over the counter, her eyes lively: “Xiao Jun-ge, is your cousin… really having brain problems? He seemed fine when he came to buy mosquito coils yesterday.”

“You’ll know once you speak more than a few words to him.” Yan Jun laughed helplessly and pointed to the stairs: “I’m going upstairs to find your dad.”

“Okay~”

Climbing upstairs, he found Uncle Wu with hands full of engine oil, focusing intently on a motor. Yan Jun walked over and greeted him with “Uncle Wu,” then placed the beef pies on a nearby table before saying: “Uncle, are you busy this afternoon? There’s something… I’d like to trouble you to make a trip for.”

“Make a trip? What is it?”

“It’s…” Yan Jun moved a stool to sit in front of him, his cool face rarely showing awkwardness: “My cousin, his brain was damaged in a fall, he wasn’t born this way. Back then, my aunt and the others were working away from home and weren’t around, so treatment was delayed… Now that Xiao Su is here to play, and our medical conditions are better, my aunt asked me to take him for a CT scan.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is!” Uncle Wu took a wet towel to wipe his hands. “Do you want me to go with you?”

“…Yes!” Instantly relieved, Yan Jun gave a rare, stiff smile and said: “I went to the hospital yesterday to ask; they only allow the checkup if a guardian is present. So I thought of asking you, Uncle Wu, to pretend to be an uncle and go with us.”

“That’s no problem! When are we going?”

“Is 3:00 PM okay?”

“Sure! Just come over and get me; I’ll drive you there!”

Thinking of Uncle Wu’s tricycle, Yan Jun couldn’t smile; his heart was full of unspeakable feelings: “Okay, then I’ll thank you first, Uncle.”

…

At 3:00 PM, Yan Jun popped a baseball cap on Qin Yize, and the two of them took Uncle Wu’s tricycle to the Municipal People’s Hospital seven kilometers away.

Originally, he planned to go to the Municipal Maternal and Child Health Hospital, but Uncle Wu said it wasn’t as good as the People’s Hospital. Since they were checking their heads, they should naturally go to the best hospital: “That way it’s accurate, right?”

Yan Jun couldn’t argue: “…Then let’s go to the People’s Hospital.”

Qin Yize didn’t have an ID card, so Yan Jun tried to use his own ID to register, hoping to slip through.

Unexpectedly, the doctor noticed something was wrong at a glance: “Why doesn’t the photo match?”

Yan Jun’s heart leaped into his throat, and he couldn’t help but look at Uncle Wu. Uncle Wu gave an honest-looking smile: “We couldn’t find his ID when we left the house, and we were in a hurry for the checkup, so we used his older cousin’s ID.”

The doctor gave them a helpless look: “Don’t do this next time! …What’s the problem with the child?”

Yan Jun and Uncle Wu breathed a sigh of relief together: “Oh, doctor, he fell on his head before and became a bit muddled, so I brought him for a checkup.”

Qin Yize knit his brows upon hearing this, looking at him strangely: “I’m not muddled…”

“Didn’t you say your head hurts?” Yan Jun’s hand was pinching the back of his neck from behind, his expression “kind”: “Just take the checkup honestly, otherwise we won’t feel at ease.”

“Is it that serious?” The fake kid touched the scar on his forehead, not understanding. Yan Jun glared at him fiercely and insisted: “Doctor, please order a checkup.”

…So, fifteen minutes later, the three of them arrived at the door of the CT room.

Only then did Uncle Wu notice the faint scar under Qin Yize’s bangs: “When did he hit this?”

“A few days ago.” While waiting, Qin Yize leaned listlessly against his brother, making Yan Jun feel quite uncomfortable. “He… he ran around and fell down the stairs. When he woke up, he was like someone who blacked out from drinking; it scared me half to death.”

Qin Yize looked up in surprise: “So that’s how I fell?”

Yan Jun turned his face away guiltily: “Mm.”

“Blacked out from a fall!” Uncle Wu was also startled. “Then we definitely should have a good checkup.”

Half an hour later, the doctor came to the door with a slip: “Yan Jun!”

Qin Yize turned and said: “Brother, they’re calling you.”

“They’re calling the name on the ID card! You go in!” Yan Jun pushed him.

Qin Yize looked back every three steps: “Brother isn’t coming with me?”

Yan Jun had his hands in his pockets, looking very cool: “I’ll wait for you outside.”

The shielded door slowly closed. Looking at the “Caution: Ionizing Radiation” sign on the door, he couldn’t help but feel nervous: I hope there’s no major problem… If he can’t recover, my life is going to be over.

Seeing him pacing back and forth anxiously, Uncle Wu couldn’t help but laugh: “Xiao Jun, you and your cousin have a really good relationship!”

“Huh?” Yan Jun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “It’s… it’s alright.”

After another ten minutes, Qin Yize came out with a look of “having survived a calamity.” He immediately grabbed Yan Jun’s arm: “Brother, it was so scary in there! The machine was humming…”

“Okay, thank you, doctor.”

Back at the clinic, the doctor knit his brows while carefully examining the film, then suddenly asked: “Was there any vomiting after the injury? Has the headache felt like it’s getting worse these past few days?”

“He threw up once that night.” Yan Jun said, then turned to ask him: “Does your head still hurt?”

Qin Yize touched his head: “A little.”

“Is there any blurred vision?”

“Blurred?” Qin Yize blinked in a daze and turned to look at the slogan on the wall: “I can’t see those small words very clearly…”

Yan Jun took a deep breath: “That’s because you’re nearsighted!”

Qin Yize: “Oh.”

“Mm, then there’s nothing wrong.” The doctor looked up calmly, writing a prescription while saying: “It’s a slight concussion accompanied by mild edema, but it’s not serious. Go home and rest well, take some medicine, and come back for another checkup in a month.”

The prescription came out: Oxiracetam capsules, Citicoline, traditional Chinese medicine supplements… another few hundred yuan. While Yan Jun felt a sense of relief, he also couldn’t help but feel a twinge of “wallet pain”: “Understood, thank you, doctor.”

The three of them took the prescription and film and rose to leave. The doctor noticed the way Qin Yize was tightly clutching the hem of Yan Jun’s shirt and couldn’t help but smile strangely: “These two brothers have a really good relationship.”

At that moment, a capable-looking female doctor with curly hair walked in, turning her head to watch the direction Yan Jun had left: “Xiao Chen, what were those people here to check?”

“Concussion. Why, Director Wang?”

“Nothing, it’s just that one of them looked like my daughter’s deskmate.” Director Wang said, “What was the name of the boy who had the checkup?”

“Uh… his name is Yan Jun,” Doctor Chen stammered.

“Oh, then he probably just came with a friend.” Director Wang smiled and didn’t pry further.