Chapter 18
Lasei nodded again. She also felt Jiang Mi-brother smelled nice and was very good-looking.
“So Jiang Mi-brother is the red-headed snake in disguise. You have to stay far away from him from now on, or he’ll eat you.” Liang Jinyi imitated it vividly, even opening his mouth wide to scare three-year-old Lasei. “Then after that, you’ll never see your mommy and daddy again.”
Lasei fearfully tightened her grip on the doll in her hands, but she still had one unresolved question. “Then how come he hasn’t eaten you? You’re also… a child.”
Liang Jinyi thought for one second and gave a very logical answer. “Because I’m five years older than you. I’m a big child. Big children’s meat is sour. It’s not as fragrant as yours.”
Lasei was convinced by Liang Jinyi. She was far too afraid that she would never see her daddy and mommy again, so she promised Liang Jinyi that she would never go near Jiang Mi-brother again.
Liang Jinyi also reminded her, “In the future, if Jiang Mi-brother wants… to play with you, come find me. I’ll protect you.”
Lasei was deeply moved. These past two days, she had even thought Jinyi-brother was so cold and didn’t like her. She quickly said she understood.
Liang Jinyi continued reminding her in his milky voice, “But this is… our secret. You can’t tell anyone else. Not even your daddy and mommy.”
“Why?” Lasei asked, not understanding.
“Isn’t the red-headed snake very powerful? No one can defeat him, right?”
Lasei hurriedly said yes. The red-headed snake was very powerful. Only at the very, very end did Bubble and the others lock him up.
“If other people know, maybe he’ll reveal his true identity, and then he’ll hurt a lot of people,” Liang Jinyi said.
Lasei admired him. “Jinyi-brother, you’re so smart.”
Liang Jinyi also felt that he was very smart. Without the slightest effort, he had dealt with yet another person who wanted to steal Brother from him.
**
The next tutoring time Jiang Mi had originally agreed on with Liang Jinyi was Saturday. On Friday, however, Jiang Mi’s teacher switched classes. There should have been two classes on Friday afternoon, but they were temporarily canceled, so Jiang Mi arrived at the Liang family villa at two in the afternoon.
Liang Jinyi had long been waiting for Jiang Mi in his room. The two of them studied math for an hour. Jiang Mi finished the water in his cup and needed to go downstairs to refill it.
Actually, he could have simply asked an auntie to help refill it. There was a bell in Liang Jinyi’s room, and with one press, the aunties downstairs would come up and provide service.
But Jiang Mi’s own home only had a part-time cleaner who came to clean. He wasn’t used to asking others to help with such small things.
Liang Jinyi had already studied for an hour, so Jiang Mi told him to look into the distance and let his eyes rest while he went downstairs to get water.
Liang Jinyi said, “I’m thirsty too. I also want to go downstairs and get water.”
Jiang Mi picked up his little dinosaur water bottle and weighed it. “There’s still half a bottle of water.”
Liang Jinyi sat in his wheelchair, lifted his head, and acted spoiled. “Then I’ll go with Brother.”
Jiang Mi reached out and patted his head. He said all right, then pushed Liang Jinyi’s wheelchair into the elevator and downstairs.
Jiang Mi had a cup specially for his use at the Liang house. Liang Jinyi had specifically bought it for him. It was a green cup with little dinosaur patterns.
On the days Jiang Mi wasn’t there, Liang Jinyi would place Jiang Mi’s cup next to his own little dinosaur water bottle on his desk.
Jiang Mi filled his cup with warm water in the tea room and quenched his thirst, then prepared to push Liang Jinyi upstairs.
To get from the tea room to the elevator, they had to pass through the living room. Just as they reached the living room, several cheerful voices came from the side door. Liang Rong and Lasei walked in.
There was a small pond in the Liang family’s backyard, and a few koi were kept inside.
Liang Rong had just been watching the koi by the pond with Lasei.
Lasei liked the koi very much. Even now that she had returned inside the villa, her eyes were still shining.
Liang Rong brought Lasei into the living room and saw Jiang Mi. She smiled and greeted him. After Lasei saw Jiang Mi, her body tensed slightly, and she suddenly hid behind Liang Rong.
Jiang Mi paused. He bent down and looked at Lasei, who only revealed the tip of her head. “Lasei, Brother didn’t bully you, did he?”
Lasei clutched her mother’s pants, looked up at her mother, and said, “Mommy, I’m sleepy. I want to go back to my room and sleep.”
Mother Liang was also very surprised. “Lasei, the last time Jiang Mi-brother came, didn’t you still really want to play with him?”
Liang Rong wasn’t surprised that children would like Jiang Mi. Most children liked pretty toys, so naturally, they also liked good-looking people.
And Jiang Mi was one of the rare teenagers who was extremely patient with children.
“Mommy, I’m really sleepy. I want to sleep.” Lasei’s eyes were red. She didn’t want to be eaten by the red-headed snake.
“Auntie, take Lasei upstairs to sleep,” Jiang Mi said.
He didn’t understand why Lasei’s attitude toward him had changed so much, but the child did indeed seem to really want to sleep.
Liang Rong bent down and picked Lasei up. Apologetically, she said to Jiang Mi, “Then I’ll take Lasei upstairs to sleep.”
After Liang Rong carried Lasei upstairs, Jiang Mi also pushed Liang Jinyi upstairs. After letting Liang Jinyi rest for a while, the two of them studied Chinese.
An hour later, Jiang Mi paused the tutoring and told Liang Jinyi to look into the distance to prevent nearsightedness.
Jiang Mi heard some rustling at the door. He hadn’t closed Liang Jinyi’s door tightly; it was half-open. Jiang Mi turned his head and saw Lasei wearing a pale-blue gauze dress, her small body leaning against the door as she looked inside, observing something.
But once her gaze met Jiang Mi’s, Lasei’s little body tensed. Then she quickly turned around and ran away with pattering steps.
Jiang Mi frowned. “Did I do something to make Lasei unhappy?”
He carefully thought back to every bit of his interactions with Lasei last time. When he had left on Wednesday night, Lasei had even been reluctant and asked him to hold her.
“No. How could Brother possibly… do something that makes people unhappy?” Liang Jinyi said.
His nose wrinkled slightly. Staring at Jiang Mi, who was thinking, he asked with some displeasure, “Brother, do you really care… whether Lasei likes you?”
“A little.”
Jiang Mi had been outstanding since childhood. He was good-looking, smart, and thorough and attentive in his work. He was used to other people’s praise and also used to other people liking him.
Moreover, he was indeed very popular with children. Lasei was the first child among all the children he had come into contact with who had clearly shown that she didn’t like him.
Jiang Mi cared a tiny bit and didn’t understand a little, especially since she clearly hadn’t been like this the last time he came.
As Jiang Mi thought, he noticed that Liang Jinyi’s expression had become very ugly. Liang Jinyi crossed his arms and looked gloomily at the big tree outside the window.
Jiang Mi asked with amusement, “Little Liang Jinyi, what’s wrong with you now?”
Liang Jinyi gave a forceful hmph. “I’m unhappy.”
“Hm?”
Liang Jinyi turned his head. To make studying more convenient for him, his desk was twenty centimeters lower than an adult’s. Jiang Mi was sitting on a low stool and was slightly more than a head taller than him.
Liang Jinyi accused him indignantly, “Brother, you already have me liking you very, very much. Isn’t that enough? Why do you still have to care… whether other people like you?”
Liang Jinyi truly, truly hated this matter.
Jiang Mi stared at the angry expression on Liang Jinyi’s face, which carried the faintest trace of hurt, and pinched his cheek. Coaxing him, he said, “All right, all right. It’s enough for Brother to have Little Jinyi like me.”
Liang Jinyi’s cheek was slightly distorted by Jiang Mi’s pinch. After two seconds, he said unhappily, “You’re coaxing me.”
Jiang Mi said, “Brother isn’t coaxing you.”
“I don’t believe you,” Liang Jinyi said. “Unless…”
“Unless what?” Jiang Mi asked.
“Unless Brother stays tonight and sleeps with me.”
Jiang Mi pinched the space between his brows. “Jinyi, your leg is still in a cast.”
Liang Jinyi immediately changed his expression. He pressed close to him, his voice soft. “Brother’s sleeping posture is very good. You won’t touch my leg.”
Seeing that Jiang Mi still didn’t agree, Liang Jinyi dragged out his voice and acted spoiled. “Brother, just stay. Stay, okay? You haven’t slept with me in so long.”
Author’s Note
The cub period is really about to end. There are still around twenty thousand words left, and then it’ll be seventeen and twenty-seven.
