Bro | Chapter 12

Song Xiaobao spoke in fits and starts, stumbling over her words and barely managing, with great difficulty, to explain what had happened.

Ever since Wei Qian stopped picking the two of them up from school, the daily benefit of one “Double Stick” every evening had disappeared. Xiao Bao was very unhappy about that, but she did not dare open her mouth and ask Wei Qian for money. Wei Zhiyuan definitely would not ask, either. And expecting their big brother to remember such a trivial little nothing of a matter on his own was even more of an impossible fantasy.

So the two of them discussed it and agreed to take the small path every day and pick up aluminum cans along the way. After bringing them back, they would secretly hide them under Xiao Bao’s bed and wait until they had enough to sell for money.

For some reason, on this particular day, Xiao Yuan, as usual, had gone halfway before suddenly refusing to let her take the small path anymore. The two of them circled back to the main road. Song Xiaobao did not understand what was going on and, as usual, quarreled with him about it. But this time, Wei Zhiyuan did not even take the bait. Without another word, he dragged her along by force the whole way.

At the time, Wei Zhiyuan’s expression looked so frightening that in the end Song Xiaobao obediently submitted, though it meant nothing.

As a classmate of life, Song Xiaobao was a very typical cowardly child. Usually, give her an inch and she would take a mile, but the moment someone’s tone or expression turned harsh, she could turn into a little quail in one second.

Luckily she was a girl. Otherwise, when she grew up, she might have made fine material for becoming a eunuch.

Wei Zhiyuan led her wandering aimlessly around the main road. First they went into the department store at the crossroads and took a crooked, winding lap around it. After coming out, he looked around the area with extreme vigilance, then led her through several little shops, going in through the front door and out through the back. They loitered outside for a full half hour or more.

Only after that did Wei Zhiyuan start taking Xiao Bao in the direction of home, and by then the sky was already getting a little dark.

To get home, they had to pass through a stretch of narrow alleyways. It was the only way through, there was no way to go around it.

Song Xiaobao saw that at the time, Xiao Yuan was not wearing his schoolbag properly on his back. Instead, he was carrying it in his hand, with the zipper pulled open. One hand was shoved inside the bag, and she had no idea what he was feeling around for, but he searched the entire way without ever taking his hand out.

Then she heard footsteps, and all at once Wei Zhiyuan’s nerves seemed to pull taut. Song Xiaobao saw a man walking toward them.

As for how old he was exactly or what he looked like, she could not explain through her crying. All she could say was that he was an adult, a stranger about as old as San Pang’s father.

Wei Zhiyuan suddenly gave her a hard shove and told her to run.

Even by that point, Song Xiaobao still could not understand what was happening. But Xiao Yuan’s attitude filled her with overwhelming fear. Even though Xiao Bao did not know what she herself was afraid of, at the time she was so frightened that all the hairs on her body stood on end.

Instinctively, she obeyed him and ran to the end of the alley. The farther she ran, the more frightened she became, and she could not help turning her head for one glance. She discovered that Xiao Yuan had pulled his hand out of the schoolbag. It turned out he had hidden a steel pipe inside it. The boy gripped it with both hands, turned sideways and pressed himself against the wall, watching that stranger warily.

Catching sight of her looking back, Wei Zhiyuan shouted at her angrily, “Run! Go call da-ge!”

Song Xiaobao did not dare stop any longer and ran all the way home in one breath. But when she reached the front door, she discovered that she did not have a key at all. Their family had three sets of keys in total. Wei Qian had one set, one set was kept as a spare, and the remaining set had once been with San Pang’s mother, but had now been given to Wei Zhiyuan.

Wei Qian’s original intention had been that since the two children were always going in and out together anyway, one set of keys was enough. Xiao Bao was clumsy and careless, and even if he gave her one, he was afraid she would lose it. But at the critical moment, the two children had completely forgotten about that.

If she had not happened to run into Lei Zi, who had hurried over after getting a call from San Pang, the little girl would still have been standing at the door crying with no idea what to do.

Since Wei Zhiyuan had once wandered outside on his own, he was much more sensitive than Xiao Bao to all kinds of malicious people. He had probably realized halfway that someone was following him, which was why he kept leading Xiao Bao around in circles. Actually, the way he handled it was quite correct, but children were children after all. In the end, he still failed to shake the other party off and was blocked in.

At that moment, San Pang arrived too. He was truly worried. Right after making the phone call, he had immediately hailed a taxi back.

The moment he got out, he said to Wei Qian between gasps, “It’s okay, Qian’er, don’t worry. Le-ge heard about it too. As soon as he found out it was your family’s business, he immediately sent people to help you look, you…”

His voice was suddenly cut off, because Wei Qian, expressionless, lifted his hand and slapped Xiao Bao across the face, knocking her head to one side.

Lei Zi jumped in fright and hurriedly sprang up to block himself between Wei Qian and Xiao Bao. “Qian’er, hey, Qian’er! She’s still little. She’s just a little kid, what does she know? Why are you taking it out on her?”

San Pang was less polite. In three long strides he rushed over and roared into Wei Qian’s ear, “Fuck, are you a live donkey? Where are you hitting? You know you can’t hit a child in the face or not? Wei Qian, are you crazy? Your hand’s so damn heavy, what if you deafen her? Huh?”

This was the first time in Song Xiaobao’s life that she had ever been hit. She was simply stunned. At first she did not react. Only after quite a while did she feel the burning pain on her face. In disbelief, she raised a hand to cover her cheek. Her skin flushed bright red, and tears began pooling in her eyes.

Dragged aside by San Pang, Wei Qian looked at her coldly. “Just let me see you dare cry. You still have the face to cry?”

And Song Xiaobao truly did not dare cry. She held it in with all her strength. When she could not hold it anymore, she let out one hiccuping sob, like a cramp, and her whole face went from red to purple from the strain.

Wei Qian pulled his arm free and looked down at the pitiful little girl from above. “Where did you leave him by himself?”

Xiao Bao said between sobs the name of an alley. “I… I just, just told Lei Zi-ge…”

Lei Zi hurriedly said, “Right, right, I already passed it on just now. There are brothers heading over there now. Qian’er, don’t panic.”

Wei Qian bent down and looked straight into Song Xiaobao’s eyes. “Protecting yourself wisely, deserting on the eve of battle, Song Lili, is that how I ever taught you to behave?”

There were two words in that sentence Xiao Bao did not understand, but that did not stop her from grasping the overall meaning. It hurt even more than the slap from her big brother. Song Xiaobao’s tears finally fell in big drops.

San Pang could not stand it anymore and pulled Xiao Bao behind him. “How can you talk like that? This is you taking your anger out on her. You won’t be satisfied unless you drag your own little sister into it too, is that it? Are you sick or what?”

Wei Qian ignored him. He took the keys out of his pocket and handed them to Lei Zi, saying politely, “Thanks, Ge. Go inside and have a drink of water. I can’t play host today. I have to go take a look first.”

After saying that, he did not spare Song Xiaobao a single glance, and turned and left.

Song Xiaobao cried even harder. San Pang hurriedly bent down and picked her up, clumsily patting her back like a big bear while coaxing her, “Little sister, don’t cry, okay? Your brother didn’t get his rabies shot this year, his dog madness flared up. It’s okay. San-ge will find you a towel and put it on your face. It’ll stop hurting in a bit. Don’t be scared, don’t be scared. San-ge’s here. Your brother won’t dare hit you again.”

Xiao Bao lay on his shoulder and cried as if her heart would break.

In Song Xiaobao’s childhood, she only remembered one person’s embrace, that was Pang-ge’s.

Once summer came, Pang-ge always had a sweaty smell on him that no amount of washing could ever get rid of. No matter how clean he was, he still somehow smelled a little rank, not to mention that sometimes he also carried the smell of cooking smoke or food on him, strong enough to choke people… and yet, that was almost the only warm comfort she could get.

Her short-lived mother had died too early, and too miserably, to leave Song Xiaobao with any impression of that woman at all.

And as for her brother… ever since she had been old enough to form clear memories, big brother did not seem to have hugged her much. The most intimate thing he ever did was at most rub her head a few times.

Sometimes Xiao Bao would kick off the blanket in the middle of the night. After waking up from the cold, she still would not pull it back over herself, on purpose. She would pretend to be asleep and wait for her brother to come cover her. Her brother would pull the blanket up very gently and tuck in the corners. Sometimes he would even casually brush the hair on her face aside.

That was a rare tenderness that he did not show during the day.

Her brother loved her, Xiao Bao knew that. Whatever she wanted, big brother would give it to her, Xiao Bao knew that too. But she was still afraid of him. A lot of the time, even when she took the initiative to ask for something, she did so nervously, with her heart in her throat, never entirely confident, because big brother was always moving through the house with a cold face and a furrowed brow, hurrying back and forth, without even the patience to say a few extra words to her or sit with her for a while and watch TV.

Xiao Bao always felt that although big brother loved her, the amount of love he had was very limited. If she became too annoying, then maybe big brother would take back that little bit of love and stop giving it to her.

Song Xiaobao cried her eyes out, not because Wei Qian had hit her. Actually, she was even more afraid that big brother would not like her anymore.

Unfortunately, Pang-ge was a rough man. Whenever he tried to comfort someone, he could never quite hit the mark.

Wei Qian ran into Xiao Yuan halfway there. Xiao Yuan was following behind one of Le-ge’s junior brothers. That brother was called Xiao He. He was not especially close with Wei Qian, but they had occasional dealings.

Xiao He walked in front, turning back from time to time to see whether the child behind him was still following. Wei Zhiyuan had seen him once before and counted as knowing him, but he refused to let Xiao He pull him or carry him, and would only stubbornly carry his steel pipe in silence while walking behind him.

The little thing kept his head down when he walked, focusing intently on the ground beneath his feet. From Xiao He’s angle, all he could see was the small whirl at the crown of the child’s head.

When Xiao He found Wei Zhiyuan, he did not see the rumored pervert who specifically preyed on children. There was only an old aunt around sixty years old standing there with a long-handled broom in her hand, keeping watch over Xiao Yuan and asking him something from time to time.

The pervert had already run off. Two buttons had burst off Wei Zhiyuan’s jacket. Half his face was swollen, and there was a big gash on his head. It was obvious that someone had pinned the child’s head and smashed it into the wall. A little blood stained the sharp end at the bottom of the steel pipe. There were also marks on the wall and the ground where the sharp-edged steel pipe had scraped across them, showing that a fight had taken place.

This little warrior had not let go of his weapon from beginning to end, until he fortunately alarmed an old aunt who had just happened to pass by.

When Xiao He came over, Wei Zhiyuan was curled up in the corner resting. The moment he sensed someone approaching, his shoulders visibly tightened and hunched, and his whole body tensed up. Even though he did not move, Xiao He had the illusion that if he took one more step forward, that little brat would dare bring the steel pipe down on his head.

Xiao He stopped and cautiously called out, “Xiao Yuan.” Wei Zhiyuan struggled to open his swollen eyes, sized him up for a moment, and only after recognizing Xiao He did his body relax slightly.

The old aunt looked suspiciously at this young man who looked like some kind of hooligan, and asked uneasily, “Child, do you know him?”

Wei Zhiyuan nodded.

Only then did the old aunt finally feel relieved and leave with her long-handled broom. As she went, she sighed, “What kind of people are these? They ought to be shot. The world’s too chaotic these days.”

Xiao He checked him over and found that the child’s clothes were still completely intact. At least then he finally let out a breath.

Xiao He walked in front, and Wei Zhiyuan followed behind him at neither too close nor too far a distance. His steps were a little unsteady, but his attitude was extremely stubborn. He would not let anyone support him, nor would he raise his head to look anyone in the eye. Xiao He felt that at such a young age, this kid already had the air of a desperate outlaw about him, as if he knew neither pain nor fear, and would instinctively risk his life against others.

Xiao He did not try to talk to him anymore, because the little brat, covered in blood and injuries and still looking murderous, gave him the creeps.

That was until Wei Qian rushed over and scooped Wei Zhiyuan up in one motion.

The little boy seemed to freeze for a few seconds before realizing who it was that was holding him. Only then did he belatedly relax. The steel pipe in his hand hit the ground with a clang and bounced twice. Xiao He saw those pale little hands, covered in dust and blood, clutch tightly at Wei Qian’s clothes. Then Wei Zhiyuan’s whole body began to tremble, as though the child had simply been born half a beat slower than other people, and only at this moment finally understood what had happened, only at this moment finally knew to be afraid.

He let out a little cry, like a kitten, “Ge…”

Xiao He watched the child cautiously tuck his head into Wei Qian’s neck hollow like a little kitten, and thought he was going to cry. But Wei Zhiyuan still did not cry. He only trembled in big brother’s arms for a moment, then after a while, as though he needed to confirm something, called again, “Ge.”

Wei Qian asked, “Does it hurt?”

Wei Zhiyuan had never known that big brother could be this gentle too. He was almost flattered by the unexpected favor. First he nodded instinctively, then after realizing what he had done, he shook his head hard.

Unexpectedly, the moment he shook his head, two streams of nosebleed poured down. Wei Zhiyuan immediately raised his sleeve and wiped at it carelessly, then secretly hid the blood-stained hand behind his back, afraid big brother would dislike him.

But this time, his foul-tempered, sharp-tongued big brother did not dislike him, nor did he put him down. He even allowed Wei Zhiyuan to cling to him and wrap his arms around his neck, nuzzling against him and resting his head on his shoulder, while carrying him all the way home.

Wei Qian was still just a teenager. His height had more or less topped out already, but his shoulders had not fully broadened yet. His bones jutted a little, and his muscles had not had time to properly grow in, leaving him hard all over.

But the more those hard shoulders dug painfully into him, the safer Wei Zhiyuan felt.

Without even realizing it, the little boy ended up falling asleep in that hard embrace, one that carried a faint scent of medicine.