Chapter 21: The Lost Swim Trunks
No one was allowed to question his relationship with Gu Qinian!
No one!!!
Gu Tang straightened his little waist, lifted his chin, and declared with perfect confidence, “I am his brother.”
If some other cannon-fodder villain had taken over this job, young master Gu might well have become poor little pitiful Gu.
Strictly speaking, little Gu Qinian had practically been raised in the palm of his hand!
Duan Zhengyu still did not believe it. “You two aren’t twins, and you’re even in the same grade. How could you possibly be real brothers?”
Gu Tang kept his neck stiff and argued stubbornly, “Even if we’re not biological brothers, can’t I still be his brother?”
Duan Zhengyu pushed up his little glasses. “Then have him call you big brother.”
“I…”
Gu Tang’s neck instantly lost all its firmness. He turned and glanced at Gu Qinian.
Their eyes met. There was no hope there.
Young master Gu had never once called him big brother.
Still, Gu Tang had one last move—
He raised his wrist high in the air, then grabbed Gu Qinian’s arm and lifted it too. “Look! The little gourds we’re wearing are also a pair. Grandma gave them to us—they’re family heirlooms, and Niannian and I each have one!”
Brotherly affection for all eternity!
Looking at Gu Tang trying so hard to prove that they were brothers, Gu Qinian felt a faint trace of heartache and gave a quiet “Mm.”
The little milk dumpling might have grown up in his home, but he still did not know who his biological parents were. Maybe he still lacked a sense of security…
As a result, the moment he responded, Gu Tang immediately pushed his luck and said, “Then call me big brother.”
Sorry, but that was one kind of security he could not provide.
Gu Qinian pressed his lips together.
Gu Tang pouted so hard his mouth could have held an oil bottle and let out a huff. “Anyway, the two of us are family.”
That part was true.
Young master Gu nodded with reserved dignity. “We are family indeed.”
“Really…”
Little Glasses looked half-convinced.
But even someone as cold as Gu Qinian had admitted it, so it was probably true.
He had not actually wanted to question Gu Tang and Gu Qinian’s relationship. He was just a little jealous and envious. Duan Zhengyu could not understand why Gu Tang was so close to Gu Qinian. Why was he not that close with him?
But if they were family, then it made sense.
Duan Zhengyu felt a little better.
Aside from family, Gu Tang was closest to him!
Before he could even be happy for a full minute, a little girl covered in chicken drumstick energy came over and took Gu Tang’s hand.
Duan Zhengyu: “!!!”
He had never even held his deskmate’s hand before…
No, wait, why did his little deskmate have other people too?!
Back in kindergarten, Gu Tang had always kept his little gourd hidden under his sleeve, so this was the first time Jiang Yiyi had seen it. She held Gu Tang’s hand and looked left and right curiously, then suddenly remembered the TV drama she had watched with her mother the night before.
In that drama, the male lead’s grandmother had also given a pair of jade pendants to her grandson and granddaughter-in-law, calling them family heirlooms too.
Jiang Yiyi said with complete seriousness, “My mom said paired family heirlooms are passed to the wife, not the husband. They’re given to the male lead’s wife!”
Gu Tang: “?”
Gu Qinian: “??”
Duan Zhengyu suddenly understood and cried out in grief, “I knew your relationship wasn’t ordinary!”
Jiang Yiyi’s gaze moved between Gu Tang and Gu Qinian’s faces. “Which one of you is the wife?”
Duan Zhengyu steadied his glasses, and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes. “I think it’s Gu Qinian!”
The next second, young master Gu’s cold gaze swept over him, and poor Little Glasses shivered three times from the chill.
Gu Tang did not agree either. “That’s not right. You can’t just say Niannian is the wife because he’s pretty…”
Duan Zhengyu bravely explained, “No, being the wife is the one who suffers more. Let him be the one at a disadvantage—Tang Tang must not be!”
He always heard his mother say that marrying his father was like having eight lifetimes of bad luck.
Protective Little Glasses could not accept his adorable deskmate being taken advantage of.
Gu Tang had actually wanted to explain that he and Gu Qinian were both boys, and neither of them could be the other’s wife.
Unfortunately, before he could finish, Jiang Yiyi cut in.
Looking as if she had discovered some huge secret, Jiang Yiyi pointed at Gu Tang. “If it’s not him, then it must be you! So Tang Tang really is the heroine!”
Gu Tang: “…”
There was no way to explain things clearly to a bunch of little kids!
Thankfully, the teacher arrived just in time. After a loud whistle, the chattering little birds finally quieted down and lined up properly.
Standing beside Gu Qinian, Gu Tang kept thinking that the topic just now still felt a little off.
As someone who had eighteen years of life experience before transmigrating into a book, Gu Tang felt it was necessary to give little Gu Qinian some proper education, just in case young master Gu wandered down the wrong path in the future.
He lowered his voice and instructed quietly, “Niannian, remember this—boys can’t be other boys’ wives.”
Gu Qinian: “…”
He did not really understand why the little milk dumpling was telling him this, but that fluffy little head kept bobbing in front of him, and the sweet scent of milk drifted over from him…
Young master Gu pressed his lips together and resisted the urge to reach out and rub his head.
“That student over there, what are you whispering about?”
The PE teacher stood on a raised platform, so any movement in the line was obvious at a glance.
Gu Tang froze.
Oh no. The teacher caught him.
The PE teacher strolled over lazily and stopped beside Gu Tang, looking down at the child. “What interesting thing are you talking about? I could see the two of you leaning your heads together and whispering from far away. Come on, tell the teacher too.”
Gu Qinian frowned and was just about to explain for him when Gu Tang grabbed the hem of his shirt with both hands, wriggled shyly, and lied through wide innocent eyes. “Niannian wasn’t talking. I was… I said the teacher is really handsome, and you even have abs…”
The PE teacher coughed lightly, unable to hide the pleased smile curling at the corner of his mouth. “Well, you’re all still young. If you train hard with me, you’ll all have abs in the future.”
Gu Tang waved his little fist. “Train hard! Get abs!”
The other children immediately joined in excitedly. “Get abs!!!”
Gu Qinian: “…”
He suddenly felt a little out of place.
Young master Gu unconsciously sucked in his stomach, then relaxed again.
At the moment, he did not have abs either…
This extracurricular class focused on combining learning with fun. Their first swimming lesson was mainly about playing in the water so the children would develop interest first.
The water level in the swimming pool had been adjusted to a safe height. After explaining a few safety rules, the PE teacher let the children play on their own. For those unwilling to get into the water, he did not force them for now, planning instead to guide them slowly later.
Most of the time, children who did not want to get into the water at first would gradually try once they saw the others having fun.
But Gu Qinian was an exception.
He sat quietly at the edge of the pool, unwilling to let even the tips of his toes touch the water. The classmates playing and shouting in the distance seemed to have nothing to do with him.
Young master Gu only found it boring. With this amount of time, he might as well have gone to read a book.
Just then, a milky-white little hand stretched out of the water and grabbed his ankle.
Because the other person’s hand was wet, Gu Qinian frowned instinctively. Only after seeing clearly who it was did his expression soften slightly. “What?”
“Come down and play with us!”
Gu Tang’s hair was already soaked and plastered to his forehead. His amber eyes were wet too, and there were droplets hanging from his eyelashes. Probably because he had been having so much fun, his little face was flushed red, like a small apple covered in morning dew.
Gu Qinian had almost agreed. That little apple’s power to bewitch hearts was clearly very much online.
But he truly hated water.
Young master Gu hardened his heart and shook his head. “No.”
Gu Tang pouted and leaned half his body out of the water, lazily draping himself over the edge of the pool. “Niannian loves being clean and hates water. You’re just like a cat.”
And cats made people think of fish.
From Gu Qinian’s angle, he could only see the upper half of Gu Tang’s body above the water.
His lower half was submerged, with only vague pale shapes of his legs visible beneath the surface. At first glance, he looked very much like a baby little mermaid—innocent and adorable, the kind that would cry tiny pearls if bullied.
The little mermaid only stayed by his side for a short while before his playful nature took over and he swam off again.
Children learned to swim much faster than adults.
In no time at all, Gu Tang could already hug a little float board, kick his legs, and move around the pool freely.
Gu Qinian watched that milky-white little back for a while. Only after seeing that Gu Tang was swimming around like a fish in water did he finally relax and lie back.
Outside the air vent in the roof of the swimming hall, a black cat was crouching there.
The cat had a little fish in its mouth from who knew where. After meeting his gaze, it puffed up its tail fur, clamped the fish harder in its mouth, and darted away in a flash.
Hah. So protective of its food…
Gu Qinian muttered to himself and closed his eyes.
In the hazy state between sleeping and waking, he seemed to see Gu Tang grow a pearly fish tail, white and soft, while several cats circled around the poolside, wanting to eat Gu Tang.
He walked over and shielded the little milk dumpling beneath himself. He stomped his paws, and all the cats scattered in fright.
In the dream, young master Gu had turned into a cat too.
He lowered his head and licked the little mermaid’s soft hair and eyelashes again and again…
In the swimming hall, the sounds of splashing water and children playing never stopped.
As Gu Tang played, he tossed aside the bothersome float board and kicked freely in the water.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, his body stiffened, and his two agile little legs treading water also froze.
Oh no…
“This is bad! Gu Tang can’t come up—!”
Gu Qinian was jolted awake by the shout and sprang upright.
Everywhere he looked, there was no sign of Gu Tang.
Only Duan Zhengyu was thrashing wildly in the water, shouting as he flailed, “Teacher, help! Gu Tang sank under the water—!”
But Duan Zhengyu was not wearing his little glasses in the pool, and the direction he was flailing in was completely wrong. He was getting farther and farther away from the teacher, while the noise of the children playing in the pool drowned out his cries for help.
The teacher did not hear him at all.
Not far from Duan Zhengyu, Gu Qinian saw a small shadow lying motionless underwater.
“!!!”
Young master Gu did not even have time to take off his T-shirt. Hugging a swim ring, he jumped straight into the water.
The warm pool water only came up to his waist, but if an accident happened, that depth was more than enough to drown a child.
Gu Qinian clutched the swim ring tightly, his eyes fixed only on that motionless little shadow. He did not know how to swim, so he just relied on instinct and fought his way toward Gu Tang with all his strength.
The teacher had noticed something was wrong too and immediately jumped in to save him.
But Gu Qinian reacted the fastest, and he was also the closest to the drowning child. He reached Gu Tang first.
At last, his fingers touched him.
Gu Qinian stretched out his arm, wanting to pull him into an embrace. At that moment, the little head that had been submerged the whole time suddenly lifted out of the water.
And splashed a whole faceful of water onto young master Gu.
Gu Qinian: “?”
Gu Tang wiped his face. “Nobody come over!”
Gu Qinian asked tensely, “What’s wrong?”
Gu Tang’s face turned bright red, and he whimpered tearfully, “M-my swim trunks fell off…”
Just moments ago, he had been happily splashing around in the water and forgotten that his swim trunks were too loose. The knot young master Gu had tied for him must have come undone, and with all the kicking, his trunks had floated right away.
By the time his little bottom felt cold and he realized what had happened, it was already too late.
Gu Tang: “Wuuuuu—”
“…”
Gu Qinian turned his head.
Five meters away, floating gently on the surface of the water, was a pair of little bear underpants.
***
Author’s Note:
Little bear underpants: Farewell, brother—tonight I set sail for distant seas~~~
