To Treat Each Other Like Brothers - Chapter 24

A plume of white mist exhaled from Xie Shiyao’s mouth.

He froze at first, then raised his eyes to look at the rain of light falling after the explosion.

In the night sky, meteor-like points of light sparkled in Xie Shiyao’s eyes. He spoke faintly, “Do you know what I was thinking when I heard that my father was dead, that there was no one left at home, and that only you and I remained?”

Lin Zhuyi did not understand why Xie Shiyao did not follow his lead. “You tell me.”

Xie Shiyao said, “In the very beginning, what I thought was that bad individuals truly live forever. It is such a pity that you did not die along with them.”

“Later, I thought quite helplessly again.”

Xie Shiyao smiled calmly. “Our destiny has not ended yet. Even though this is a very pure, twisted fate.”

Although he was smiling, his face was filled with loneliness.

Xie Shiyao pulled Lin Zhuyi by the shoulder and patted it. “It is actually very good that you do not like me. Truly very good. I have also seriously reflected on why, this time, I keep yielding on my boundaries.”

“Perhaps I crave a home more than anyone else.”

Xie Shiyao turned his head and used his index finger to tap the forehead of the person in his arms. “If you are going to fake amnesia, then do not show any more flaws. Act it well, and do not make me break character again.”

“At least for now, I do not want to wake up.”

This was not the reaction Lin Zhuyi had anticipated.

He wanted to see Xie Shiyao fly into a rage out of humiliation, he wanted to see Xie Shiyao cross-examine him, and he wanted to see Xie Shiyao express care by tearing apart decency just like moments ago. Only that could allow him to enjoy the pleasure of control.

Yet now, Xie Shiyao was so calm. He was so calm that it made him feel suffocated.

Lin Zhuyi asked, “Truly very good? The fact that I have never liked you makes you feel it is very good?”

Xie Shiyao uttered an “Mm” in response. “Thank you for not liking me. I am much more sober now.”

“You want an older brother to play with you every day, and as for me, I want a home. Then let us keep acting together. We will play a game called being affectionate brothers.”

Lin Zhuyi’s heartbeat nearly ceased. This was what he wanted, yet it did not quite count as what he wanted either. He asked in a hurry to follow up, “What if we lose? How do we define who wins and who loses?”

Xie Shiyao said nothing more.

Fool.

The moment I allowed you into the old mansion and agreed to play this game with you, I had already gone all in long ago.

The fireworks in the distance never stopped, rising cluster by cluster, exploding, and fading away. The voices of people and cheers all became blurred background noise.

Xie Shiyao refused to speak further, merely saying that the wind was too strong and it was a bit cold, so he wanted to return to the car. The two self-deceiving liars crossed through the crowd in silence, getting into the car one after the other.

Rather than being sleepy, Xie Shiyao seemed more like he was drunk, closing his eyes the moment he entered the car.

Then he said, “Happy New Year, little brother.”

After saying this, Xie Shiyao crossed his arms, found a comfortable angle to lean against Lin Zhuyi, and fell fast asleep.

Carrying a sense of grievance in his heart, Lin Zhuyi looked at the sleeping Xie Shiyao. He was indeed asleep, sleeping quite deeply, not even leaving him an opportunity to say one more word.

He lowered his head and said to the air with reluctance, “But I have not said Happy New Year to you yet.”

Lin Zhuyi hoped that these words could be heard by Xie Shiyao. It would be best if he woke up quickly and spoke a few more words with him.

“Happy New Year.”

“Hey. I said Happy New Year.”

Yet Xie Shiyao paid him no heed.

Lin Zhuyi reached out his hand, placed it on Xie Shiyao’s solid leg, and squeezed it as if to vent.

Only after confirming there was no reaction did Lin Zhuyi let out a sigh.

“I can never best you.”

Whether it was due to the alcohol or not, Xie Shiyao did not wake up all the way home. Lin Zhuyi then carried Xie Shiyao on his back, carrying him all the way back to the room.

The overcoat, shirt, buttons, silk scarf on the neck, and the earring on the ear, he removed them for Xie Shiyao piece by piece, covered him well with the blanket, propped his hand to lie on his side beside him, and expressionlessly used his other hand to stroke the scar on Xie Shiyao’s neck.

“That day, you must have been in even more pain than I was.”

“Serves you right. You owe me. You just owe me.”

Lin Zhuyi removed the hearing aid, placed it together with that silk scarf, and crawled into the blanket.

He held Xie Shiyao, feeling that smooth skin and steady beating heart. Xie Shiyao carried a strange fragrance on his body, which was neither perfume nor the scent of tobacco. That aroma simply bored into his dreams, and Lin Zhuyi fell asleep within this fragrance and warmth.

However, Lin Zhuyi was completely unaware that the person he was holding whispered a sentence just as he drifted into dreams.

“Yes. It hurt terribly.”

The voice ground between his teeth as Xie Shiyao pressed close to Lin Zhuyi, burying his head in the blanket.

Outside the window was bustle. Inside the room was silence. On this Lunar New Year’s Eve, the two orphans who had no home seemed to hide within this single narrow blanket, relying on each other for life.

Lin Zhuyi slept very soundly that night.

But when Lin Zhuyi woke up the next day, the bed was empty.

Today was a holiday, so where else could Xie Shiyao go?

Lin Zhuyi hurriedly put on his hearing aid. He did not even put on a shirt, wearing only a pair of pants as he went downstairs to look for the person.

The financial news was playing on the television, and Xie Shiyao was currently wearing a bathrobe, sitting on the sofa, and lazily drinking coffee.

Seeing Lin Zhuyi arrive, Xie Shiyao smiled and waved his hand, picking up a box from beside him and throwing it straight into Lin Zhuyi’s hands.

Lin Zhuyi did not understand the meaning behind it, flipping the box open.

Inside the box was a voice recording pen.

Xie Shiyao said, “From now on at the company, you cannot call me Brother. You must call me Director Xie. Well, Boss is fine too. My little assistant, when you come to work with me in the future, this recording pen must be kept on at all times.”

Lin Zhuyi said in pleasant surprise, “You distrust me this much?”

“Of course.” Xie Shiyao supported the bottom of the cup, setting the coffee cup down on the coffee table. “Workplace regulations dictate that public and private matters must be clearly separated, and family members cannot be an exception either. Furthermore, my family member has quite a strong destructive power and is entirely filled with bad intentions inside.”

The word “family” sounded inexplicably piercing to Lin Zhuyi.

However, Lin Zhuyi was indeed very satisfied with this recording pen, as satisfied as if it were a token ring. “I am very happy.”

“Call me Director Xie first so I can hear it.”

Holding the recording pen, Lin Zhuyi sat right down beside Xie Shiyao, deliberately taking a sip of the coffee inside Xie Shiyao’s cup.

He rested one arm along the back edge of the sofa, appearing as though he were wrapping his arm around Xie Shiyao.

“Director Xie truly acts with lightning speed. You just gave me a job opportunity yesterday, and you already bought an employment gift early this morning. However, Director Xie, you were held by me for an entire night yesterday. Did you sleep well?”

Xie Shiyao raised an index finger, pressing it against Lin Zhuyi’s lips, and made a “shh” sound. “In the future, only when I allow it will you be worthy of sleeping in my bed. Without my consent, do not even think about touching me.”

A greedy light surfaced in Lin Zhuyi’s eyes.

He tilted his head, grasped Xie Shiyao’s finger, and took that fair finger, which looked as though it had been soaked in milk, into his mouth. His tongue swirled around it once. “Then does Director Xie allow it now?”

Xie Shiyao smiled, looking down between Lin Zhuyi’s legs.

“Little kid, next time you flirt with your brother, hide that thing well first. Hard like this, why do you not go upstairs first and solve it yourself?”

Without waiting for Lin Zhuyi to reply, Xie Shiyao took the coffee cup back and took a very refreshing sip.

Immediately after, as though his hand had slipped, he gave a feigned exclamation of surprise, “Ah,” tilting his wrist so that the cup fell onto Lin Zhuyi’s lap, spilling warm coffee all over his legs.

Xie Shiyao covered his mouth and laughed, “It seems you truly have to go upstairs to solve it.”

The coffee was not scalding hot, so Lin Zhuyi had no reaction, except that the light in his eyes grew more and more dangerous. “Xie Shiyao, you had better only be like this to me.”

Leaving these words behind, Lin Zhuyi went upstairs to take a shower.

Xie Shiyao recalled Lin Zhuyi’s flustered and wretched look from his humiliation, feeling pleased in his heart for a while. He then marveled at what Lin Zhuyi had eaten growing up to turn out quite substantial.

It was truly a waste. If there came a day when the fire could not be contained, Lin Zhuyi would not be able to use this thing either.

By the time Lin Zhuyi changed his clothes and came downstairs again, Xie Shiyao was still wearing that same bathrobe, completely at a loss before an unsightly dining table.

The dining table was covered with a layer of napkins, on top of which was spilled a generous amount of flour. Beside it sat a basin containing a bizarre, paste-like mixture.

“Brother, what are you doing?”

Xie Shiyao waved his hand at him. “We did not get to eat dumplings on Lunar New Year’s Eve, so we must eat dumplings now. It is perfect that you are here, come over and help me knead the dough.”

Lin Zhuyi’s face was complex. “You actually did not buy ready-made ones.”

“When I was a child during the New Year, my mother always wrapped the dumplings. Although after your mother came, it changed to the maid wrapping them.” Xie Shiyao paused. “Who told me to be a good person and give Uncle Li and all the maids a holiday? Do not just stand there, come over quickly and help me.”

Lin Zhuyi could not bear to watch Xie Shiyao battle with the flour any longer either.

He walked over, nudged the person to the side, opened his phone to search for how to knead dough, and followed the tutorial step by step.

Xie Shiyao sat to the side, watching a beautiful dough be born inside the basin. He continued to use his flour-covered finger to point toward the kitchen. “It is time to mix the filling. I want to eat the kind with shrimp inside, make it for me.”

As Lin Zhuyi walked toward the kitchen, he asked, “Make it for whom? Is it made for Brother, or made for Director Xie?”

Xie Shiyao thought for a moment. “Better make it for Director Xie. If it is made for your brother, I am afraid you will poison it.”

The corner of Lin Zhuyi’s mouth twitched unpleasantly.

Supporting his face with his hand, Xie Shiyao watched with utter boredom as Lin Zhuyi retrieved shrimp, chives, and meat from the refrigerator, and then witnessed these ingredients turn into a fragrant filling.

“How come you did not search for a tutorial online this time?” Xie Shiyao asked.

Lin Zhuyi did not even raise his head, his hands busy without pause. “I saw the maid mix the filling once.”

“A photographic memory? Truly amazing.”

“Yes.” Lin Zhuyi paused. “I truly hate my photographic memory.”

The playful expression Xie Shiyao originally wore vanished instantly.

Lin Zhuyi observed the momentary change in the expression of the person before him, stating frankly, “It would have been better if I had never met you.”

Xie Shiyao lost his focus for a split second, but very quickly, he stood up.

He walked behind Lin Zhuyi, took the basin containing the dough, and poked the dough inside.

“Did you not say we should act well? Saying more will expose us. Now that the filling is ready, let us wrap dumplings together. Will you teach me?”

Lin Zhuyi’s jaw tightened, and he uttered not a word.

After extreme endurance, Lin Zhuyi suppressed all impulses to lay his cards on the table. He blinked, putting on an innocent smile, rolled out a dumpling wrapper, placed it in Xie Shiyao’s palm, scooped a bit of filling, and taught him how to wrap dumplings hand in hand.

Xie Shiyao’s hands were even more tender than that dumpling wrapper, clearly accustomed to being pampered ordinarily. He tried wrapping several in a row, all of which ended in disastrous results.

His expression was quite spectacular, appearing as though he could not believe that he had actually run into a wall with this kind of matter.

Xie Shiyao angrily threw the paste-like object in his hand onto Lin Zhuyi’s hand. “You do it, you do it.”

After saying this, he went to wash his hands. While washing, he thought to himself why wrapping dumplings was so difficult, that he could not even pinch together the shape of a home.

Truly annoying. It made him look so useless.

He wiped his hands dry, connected his phone to the speakers, sat back on the sofa, and played a song.

At this time, everyone also began waking up one after another. Xie Shiyao’s phone began to continuously pop up with messages from various people.

Gu Jinsheng sent a message saying, “Happy New Year, brother.”

A few seconds later, Gu Jinsheng sent another message.

“Did you not say you would never sleep with your brother in this lifetime? Do you not want the front anymore? Haha.”

Suppressing his irritation, Xie Shiyao replied, “I did not sleep with him.”

Bai Ye also sent a message after Gu Jinsheng. First, he sent a thumbs-up emoji, and then added a sentence behind it, “Brother Xie, rest assured, I did not see anything yesterday.”

Xie Shiyao swiped left and deleted the chat box.

He thought to himself that looking at it this way, should Xiao Guai not be sending him a message as well?

Xie Shiyao felt inexplicably guilty, casting a glance over toward Lin Zhuyi’s direction.

It was alright, Lin Zhuyi was quite well-behaved. By this time, he had already wrapped quite a few dumplings, and every single one looked quite decent; they should be very delicious.

Just as expected, Xiao Guai did indeed contact him.

Only he did not send a message, choosing to call directly instead.

Buzz, buzz.

Xie Shiyao’s phone vibrated incessantly. On the screen was a voice call notification from Xiao Guai.

He did not particularly want to answer. He always felt that once he answered, it would destroy this hard-won peaceful holiday.

Right at this moment, the light overhead suddenly dimmed.

The skin on the back of Xie Shiyao’s neck tingled slightly.

Someone was breathing right against his neck.

Where the breath met the skin, a silent wave of goosebumps erupted. Xie Shiyao was startled, turning his head back immediately.

Lin Zhuyi was standing there, bending over, his eyes locked precisely onto the name “Xiao Guai” on the screen without blinking.

Then Lin Zhuyi shifted his gaze from the phone screen horizontally onto Xie Shiyao’s face, his eyes incredibly dark.

“The phone call from your ex-lover is so important. How can you not answer it, Brother?”

Xie Shiyao’s heart pounded rapidly, purely startled by this person. He did not even make a sound when coming over.

However, if he did not answer, it would instead make it seem like he was afraid of Lin Zhuyi.

Xie Shiyao tapped to accept the call.

Xiao Guai’s raspy voice then echoed throughout the entire house through the speakers.

“Brother Xie, you will never see me again, right?”

Xie Shiyao raised his eyes, meeting Lin Zhuyi’s gaze.

As if terrified that Xiao Guai would not hear, Lin Zhuyi leaned his body forward a bit more.

Then Lin Zhuyi said toward the phone receiver word by word, “Of course he will not.”

“You saw it yesterday too, he has me now, he has me as his brother.”

Speaking up to this point, Lin Zhuyi paused for a moment and began to laugh. “We are the true family. Otherwise, why would he not even once, have kissed you?”