KMYB | Chapter 53

When evening came, Xi Shui’s fever had finally gone down completely. He leaned against the headboard and asked Zhou Zeqi to turn on the TV. Listening to the rain outside, he wasn’t really watching at all. He was just enjoying the quiet, cozy atmosphere of the moment.

After Li Wanzhi left, she kept sending him a lot of messages on WeChat, all about him and Zhou Zeqi. When she had been here earlier, there had been many things she couldn’t say, and she hadn’t had time to stay long.

She had only been there for a short while, but she could already tell that her son was the kind who expected food to be brought to him and everything handed to him on a silver platter, yet the two of them were both fully immersed in it, one willing to hit, the other willing to take it, so she couldn’t really say anything. Feelings were between the two of them, and even where parents were concerned, it had nothing to do with anyone else.

[Date properly, study properly. Don’t give blindly, and don’t only think about yourself. Got it?]

Xi Shui held his phone in both hands.

[I know. I really like him so much.]

[Say that to him, why are you telling Mom?]

[Ahh.]

[Do you still have any pocket money?]

[Nope~]

[I’ll transfer some to you later. Don’t be stingy when you’re together normally. When you go out to eat, take the initiative and pay. If he gives you a gift, you should give him one back. Do you know that?]

[Got it, got it.]

A while later, Xi Shui received a transfer of fifty thousand yuan. So much. His mom had never given him that much all at once before.

[Has the fever gone down?]

[It has.]

[What are you two doing now? Go to bed early.]

[I’m watching TV. Zhou Zeqi is reading in the living room.]

After exchanging goodnights with Li Wanzhi, Xi Shui’s biological clock quickly started making him sleepy. He curled up in the fluffy, thin blanket and slowly slid downward.

By the time Zhou Zeqi came in after finishing a set of practice problems, Xi Shui was already asleep.

He turned off the TV and almost all the lights, leaving only a dim bedside lamp on. Zhou Zeqi lay down quietly beside Xi Shui and pulled him into his arms, pressing a hand to his forehead. It wasn’t hot anymore.

When Xi Shui wasn’t dancing, his muscles were relaxed. His frame was slender, and every place Zhou Zeqi touched felt soft. Even his hair was warm. Zhou Zeqi kissed him from his forehead all the way down to his lips, then let the tip of his tongue probe inside.

Xi Shui finally woke from the disturbance.

In the light of the lamp, he saw Zhou Zeqi’s dark eyes. “I’m sleepy.” He said that, but still very willingly burrowed into Zhou Zeqi’s arms.

The next day.

It was still raining in the morning. Xi Shui had gone to bed early, so he woke early too. After finishing morning practice and working up a sweat, he took a shower, then climbed back into bed and curled into Zhou Zeqi’s arms, slipping his hand into Zhou Zeqi’s clothes to feel all that hard muscle.

He was too restless, and Zhou Zeqi opened his eyes. He rolled over and pinned Xi Shui beneath him. Looking down at Xi Shui, his gaze moved slowly. His throat bobbed. After a long while, he leaned down and gathered Xi Shui into his arms. “Baby, I’ve got bedhead rage. Stop messing around and let me sleep a little longer.”

Xi Shui had never seen Zhou Zeqi like this before. He was just like a big dog.

He secretly kissed Zhou Zeqi once.

Zhou Zeqi buried his head, bit Xi Shui’s earlobe, and rubbed it hard.

“Ow!”

By noon, Zhou Zeqi finally got up. The first thing he did after washing up was make breakfast.

He boiled congee and stir-fried two light dishes.

Someone pounded hard on the door outside. Zhou Zeqi clicked his tongue in annoyance and went to open it.

The moment he saw who it was, he shoved the person straight back out without thinking.

“Damn it, are you trying to get yourself killed!” the girl shouted back at the short-haired girl beside her. “Are you dead? Help me push!”

Zhou Zeqi was stuck in the doorway. “Why are you back?”

“You forgot? I’m on break. I was planning to play for a whole month before coming back, but then I saw you talking in the group about your boyfriend this and your boyfriend that, to the point that you even went and found my girlfriend, so I wanted to see what kind of person it was who’d bewitched you like this.” Zhou Zeqi had long hair that fell to her waist, dyed a pale blue-green all over. She looked somewhat like Zhou Zeqi, especially around the eyes and nose, just as sharp and deep, with an equally narrow, straight bridge of the nose. “Let your sister in, will you? I fucking spent all night on a plane!”

“Zhou Zeqi? What are you standing at the door for?” Xi Shui’s dazed voice came from behind Zhou Zeqi. Zhou Zeqi’s grip loosened, and Zhou Zezhi and her girlfriend Bai Ya rushed inside.

Xi Shui was startled and took two steps back.

Zhou Zeqi ran a hand through his hair, shut the door, and walked over to Xi Shui. “This green-haired one is my sister, and the one next to her is her girlfriend, Bai Ya.”

Bai Ya was fairly normal, except for her expressionless face. She had short black hair, a little longer than the average guy’s, which made her seem more casual and unhurried.

Zhou Zezhi looked Xi Shui over from head to toe, then held out a hand. “Hello. I’m Zhou Zezhi. I specially rushed back to meet you. Bai Ya, give me the stuff.”

Xi Shui shook her hand. “Hello, Sister.”

Zhou Zezhi froze for a second. Since Zhou Zeqi had grown up, he hadn’t called her sis anymore. She wasn’t that much older than Zhou Zeqi either, and the other sisters in the family didn’t call each other sister or brother either. So… so Zhou Zeqi had really found himself a little sweet bean?

Bai Ya took a long velvet box out of her backpack. Zhou Zezhi took it and handed it to Xi Shui. “This is a bracelet I designed myself. The material is meteorite. It’s the only one like it in the whole world. It’s yours.”

Xi Shui looked at Zhou Zeqi. Zhou Zeqi took it for him, and Xi Shui hurriedly said thank you, Sister.

“Money is still more practical.” Zhou Zeqi lifted the lid and looked inside before offering his opinion.

Zhou Zezhi said, “Scram.”

Xi Shui noticed that Zhou Zeqi and his sister really did have somewhat similar personalities, only Zhou Zezhi was more outgoing, while Zhou Zeqi was a little more restrained.

Zhou Zezhi caught the smell of congee. “You’re making breakfast? Let Bai Ya and me have some. Seriously, I’m about to lose my mind. Bai Ya can’t cook either, and the two of us eat instant noodles every day. When we try to cook, the neighbors report us for doing chemistry experiments.”

Zhou Zeqi said, “I wasn’t making any for you two. I’ll go add two more dishes.”

Xi Shui looked at Zhou Zezhi. “I’m going to wash my face and brush my teeth.”

Only Zhou Zezhi and Bai Ya were left in the living room.

Zhou Zezhi tossed Bai Ya’s and her own backpacks onto the sofa, then went to pour water as if she knew the place by heart. She casually asked Bai Ya, “My brother’s boyfriend, he tricked him into it, right?”

Bai Ya didn’t talk much, and she didn’t know how to answer a topic like that.

“Drink water.” Zhou Zezhi shoved a cup into Bai Ya’s hand. “My mom said he dances ballet. I thought that was strange right away. How did someone who dances ballet end up with my brother, this brute? …But dancers really do have great presence. Just standing there, that vibe, tsk tsk.”

Bai Ya pressed her lips together. “Stop talking about people behind their backs all the time.”

“…I’m praising him. He called me Sister. No one has called me Sister in years. No, wait, there’s also you, because you call me Sister in bed.”

Bai Ya: “…”

Zhou Zezhi carried a cup of water into the kitchen. Leaning against the fridge, she glanced at Zhou Zeqi. “First relationship, huh? Want me to teach you some experience?”

Zhou Zeqi lowered his eyes, unhurried. “If you don’t want your girlfriend to know about your rich romantic history in high school and in university back home, shut up.”

“Damn, keep it down, keep it down. Other than holding a scalpel, Bai Ya is best at getting jealous and making people suffer.”

“I wasn’t rich. I was gullible and got taken in. Back then there wasn’t even a fraud-prevention app, and I kept getting tricked by women.”

“Hey, between you and Xi Shui, who confessed first?”

Without pausing, Zhou Zeqi said, “I did.”

“What are your plans for the future? You’re already a junior. Next semester you’ll be a senior, so you should be going for an internship, right?”

Zhou Zeqi gave a hum. “I’m interning at my dad’s company. He’s going abroad for an exchange program for a year.”

“Long-distance?” Zhou Zezhi was a little surprised. “You’re not going with him?”

Zhou Zeqi stayed silent.

Zhou Zezhi’s expression turned a little complicated. She knew her younger brother well. He might not look very reliable, but when it came to loyalty, there was nothing to say. He was also extremely clean in his private life. Back in high school, when everyone his age was itching to start young romances, he didn’t even glance at those people chasing after him.

“Things overseas are different from back home. Someone like Xi Shui, I don’t know how many people would like him. I bet there are already a lot of people who like him now. You’re really not worried?”

Zhou Zeqi said, “I trust him.”

Zhou Zezhi said, “You, this, isn’t this just being love-brained?”

“You should look at yourself first when you say that about other people. When you came out in high school, you got beaten into the hospital in a family brawl and you were still howling.” Zhou Zeqi imitated Zhou Zezhi’s crazed tone from back then. “‘She loves me, I love her, I’m going to marry her in the future.’ In the end, you scared the hell out of her so badly she transferred schools.”

After Zhou Zeqi finished, he noticed that Zhou Zezhi had miraculously gone quiet. He set down the kitchen knife and looked over, only to see her shrinking her neck back and staring toward the kitchen doorway.

Bai Ya was standing there, probably having heard Zhou Zeqi’s bombshell.

Zhou Zeqi was delighted by the chaos. “I was talking about her old first love.”

Bai Ya let out an oh. “She had a lot of exes?”

Zhou Zezhi hurriedly shook her head. “Not many, not many.”

After Xi Shui finished washing up and came out, he saw Zhou Zezhi chasing Bai Ya around the living room in circles. He couldn’t make sense of it, so he went into the kitchen.

Zhou Zeqi stuffed a piece of beef into Xi Shui’s mouth and said gleefully, “Serves her right for being so nosy. Give her something to do.”

Xi Shui chewed the beef in his mouth and looked worriedly toward the living room. “They won’t fight, will they?”

“They won’t.” Zhou Zeqi plated the finished dishes. “Bai Ya knows all about it.”

“Knows?”

“Yeah. Their relationship is pretty complicated. They even fought before. My mom even went over specially to mediate.”

Xi Shui crouched by the doorway.

“What are you thinking about?” Zhou Zeqi glanced at Xi Shui, who had gone quiet.

“Your sister looks so much like you. She’s so pretty.” Xi Shui praised sincerely. The Zhou family genes were really good. Zhou Zezhi was probably about one seventy too, and Bai Ya was a little taller.

“She probably rushed back just to see you.” Zhou Zeqi bent down and took several bowls from the cupboard.

“To see me?”

“Yeah. Curious, maybe.”

Xi Shui rested his cheek in his hand and saw Zhou Zezhi kiss Bai Ya. The two of them made up again, and he immediately felt that it was amazing. “They made up!”

Zhou Zeqi wasn’t surprised at all.

Xi Shui lifted his head. “Will we fight like that in the future too?”

Before Zhou Zeqi could answer, Xi Shui asked again, “Then if I kiss you, will you still be angry?”

Zhou Zeqi ladled the congee into a bowl. “I won’t fight with you.” His tone was certain.

“Why?” Xi Shui thought that was too absolute. Even Li Wanzhi and Xi Buyao had fought before.

“I won’t fight with you, but you can fight with me.” Zhou Zeqi also crouched down and pinched Xi Shui’s face. “But I won’t go along with you making a scene. Fighting is bad for feelings.”

Xi Shui looked toward the living room. “But they seem really close.”

“They met because they fought in the first place. Zhou Zezhi’s girlfriend had a white moonlight, and that white moonlight was Bai Ya. Bai Ya’s temper wasn’t good either, so when the two of them ran into each other, they went straight to throwing hands.”

Xi Shui half-understood. Maybe that was just how two older sisters got along?

“Then will we fight?”

Zhou Zeqi shifted into a different crouch and laughed. “Their fighting strength is about the same. Do you think you and I are even remotely comparable?”

?

Xi Shui stared blankly for a moment. “You don’t have to be evenly matched to fight.”

“When there’s too big a gap, that’s not a fight. That’s just one person getting beaten up unilaterally.” Zhou Zeqi corrected him.

“You mean, you’d beat me up?” Xi Shui pulled out the real point from Zhou Zeqi’s words, even if it wasn’t the main point.

“I wouldn’t hit you.”

Xi Shui asked, “Because we’re not comparable, right?”

He looked at Zhou Zeqi seriously, but his eyes seemed a little hurt. “You think I’m very weak, right?”

Zhou Zeqi froze slightly, realizing Xi Shui was sparring with him now, and hurriedly coaxed him. “How could that be? Our baby is the strongest.”

“You just said we weren’t comparable.”

“…”

Xi Shui stood up. “I’m not eating anymore.”

Zhou Zeqi: “…”

Zhou Zezhi was still happily sweet with Bai Ya when she saw Xi Shui rush out of the kitchen like a little fighting rooster. Halfway there, he even stopped in front of them and said in a low voice, “Sister, I’m not eating anymore. You two eat more.”

After he said that, he went straight into the bedroom and gently closed the door.

Zhou Zeqi came out after him too. Zhou Zezhi looked at him. “What’s wrong with you two? Xi Shui’s eyes looked red.”

“I said the wrong thing.” Zhou Zeqi said helplessly.