Song Yu took the apron from the wall and wrapped it around himself. "Is it strange?" he asked. "What's wrong with that?"
Le Zhishi shook his head and sat next to Nakajima. The little Pomeranian climbed up and snuggled into his arms.
"I haven't eaten your cooking for a long time."
In the past, Song Jin's business was busier than it was now. At that time, Lin Rong also had to help manage the company and was often not at home. At that time, they were both very young and had hired a nanny. However, the nanny didn't pay attention when cooking, and Le Zhishi was hospitalized due to allergies. Since then, the family didn't dare to hire a nanny again. When Lin Rong couldn't take care of it, Song Yu would do it. Under the influence of what he saw and heard, he was also good at it.
Two children, a small dining table, and a few home-cooked dishes. These were memories that Le Zhishi could see when he closed his eyes.
"I want to eat some vegetables." The little Pomeranian's head was lying on Nakajima. Le Zhishi touched his furry head. "And cake."
Song Yu opened the refrigerator door and turned around. He raised his eyebrows and pointed to the corner of his mouth.
Le Zhishi just remembered and touched the corner of his mouth. It did hurt a little. "But I want to eat."
Song Yu didn't say anything, but he had already started to take the ingredients. Le Zhishi didn't want him to work alone, so he went over to help. He didn't know how to cook, so he could only wash the vegetables. The scratch on his fist hurt a little when it touched the water. Le Zhishi didn't make a sound, but he paused for a moment. The water from the faucet suddenly stopped.
"You can't wash it clean." Song Yu pulled a kitchen towel and handed it to him.
Le Zhishi wiped the water on his hands. "Then …"
"Stand here." He lowered his head and focused on cutting the vegetables. "Just watch."
The little Pomeranian ran over and scratched Song Yu's leg again. Le Zhishi bent down and picked him up, holding his little paws. "Don't get in your brother's way."
Song Yu cut a piece of butter that Lin Rong had fried and frozen before. Once it was put into the pot, the whole kitchen seemed to come alive. With a sizzling sound, ginger and garlic were added into the melted red oil, and the aroma filled the air. While it was still hot, he poured boiling water into it, and the red soup was boiling in the pot.
After adding some seasoning, Song Yu tasted the saltiness of the seasoning before adding in the various ingredients that had been cut.
While the vegetables were cooking, Song Yu separated two egg yolks and mixed them with the gluten-free flour. Then, he handed the egg whites and the whisk to Le Zhishi and gave him a meaningful look.
Whipping egg whites was Le Zhishi's favorite activity. It made him feel better quickly. It was a wonderful experience to watch the egg white gradually turn from liquid to fluffy, and finally become like a cloud.
"It's done." Le Zhishi picked up the whisk and pulled out a small sharp hook from the whipped "cloud." This was a sign of success. He was quite satisfied. "Perfect."
After taking out the maocai, Song Yu began to make the muffins. "There's not enough time for cake. Hurry up with this."
"Pancake is also cake." Le Zhishi nodded to himself.
After working for a long time, two bowls of rice, a small pot of hot maocai, and a blueberry muffin were placed on the island in the kitchen. It was a combination of Chinese and Western food. The beef slices were cooked until they were ready to be unfolded. The thin slices were wrapped in shiny red oil, and their appetites were aroused even before they entered the mouth. Song Yu took out a small glass jar, poured golden osmanthus syrup on the muffin, and pushed it in front of Le Zhishi.
Le Zhishi picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and carefully put it into his mouth. He was also very careful when he chewed, and it looked a little funny.
The maocai was very tasty. It was numb and spicy. A thin layer of sweat covered his back as he ate. Taking advantage of the stimulation in his mouth, he stuffed another muffin wrapped in syrup into his mouth. It was fluffy and soft, like a cake that had been squeezed into thick slices. It tasted delicious.
The uncomfortable mood that had been there since early morning was also released in the red oil and honey.
There was nothing that a good meal couldn't solve.
Song Yu ate in silence. Halfway through, he suddenly left the table. When he came back, he was holding a gauze bag filled with ice. "Take this and apply it to your eyes."
As expected, he still mentioned it. Le Zhishi took the ice bag and thanked him in a muffled voice. He used the ice bag to apply to his eyes with his elbows on the table. After a while, he couldn't help but look up. "Is it ugly?"
Song Yu ate seriously. "You know it too."
In front of others, he didn't care about his disfigurement at all, but Le Zhishi was very afraid that Song Yu would see his swollen eyes. He didn't even know why he would despise him on behalf of Song Yu. Sighing, Le Zhishi was very regretful. "I should have dodged that punch."
Song Yu put down his bowl. "Le Zhishi, shouldn't you regret getting into a fight with someone today?"
"I don't regret it." Le Zhishi looked up. "I didn't do anything wrong."
Song Yu was a little lost in thought. It was as if he saw himself when he was young. He was also so stubborn, refusing to admit his mistakes even when his head was bleeding.
But Le Zhishi didn't want Song Yu to misunderstand. He changed his attitude in front of the class teacher and took the initiative to explain. "Brother, I didn't mean to fight and cause trouble. Actually, I didn't want to get into a fight in the beginning. This matter …"
Before he could finish, Song Yu interrupted him. "I know."
"The person you hit." He looked into Le Zhishi's eyes as if he already knew the answer. "What did he say?"
Le Zhishi suddenly froze. He tightened his grip on the ice bag and lowered his head. He looked like a wilted plant in the sun.
"He said … my mother is dead. That's why he asked me to come out and meddle in other people's business."
When Wang Qian asked him, he didn't want to say. When Jiang Yufan asked, he didn't want to say either. Even if he really called Lin Rong or Song Jin on the spot, Le Zhishi could still bite the bullet and not say a word. But for some reason, when Song Yu asked, he said it.
It seemed that he could only show weakness to Song Yu.
"I couldn't hold back at that time, so I hit him."
In fact, Song Yu had guessed it. The class representative came downstairs with homework and happened to see Le Zhishi being scolded in the office. The news spread in the class. At first, Song Yu didn't believe it. He knew better than anyone that Le Zhishi didn't like to be in the limelight. Even if he really helped a classmate, he wouldn't hit him.
But later, when he heard that the child who was bullied didn't have parents to care about him, Song Yu guessed the reason for the fight.
Even a puppy would bite if its tail was stepped on.
But he never wanted to be an elder brother who educated his younger brother. Adults had done too many high-sounding scoldings. Sometimes they couldn't even understand that children also had troubles, and they didn't think that children's troubles were important. That was why they only scolded them and made them promise unwillingly. However, they didn't care whether they were upset or how upset they were at that time.
Scolding and caring were not suitable for Song Yu.
Looking at Le Zhishi who lowered his head and ate silently, his eyes blinked quickly a few times as if he was enduring something, Song Yu couldn't tell what kind of feeling it was. He just realized that the Le Zhishi sitting in front of him didn't seem to be the child who would only hide behind him and cry when he was a child.
"So, did you win, or did he win?"
Le Zhishi didn't expect Song Yu to ask such a question.
He sniffed and looked up. The uninjured side of his mouth was stained with chili oil, but his expression was serious. "I won. I beat up four people by myself. I didn't manage to dodge the last punch because someone called for the teacher. I panicked a little. Otherwise, my eye wouldn't have been punched. "
It seemed that he was really persistent about punching his eye. Song Yu pulled out a piece of tissue and handed it to him, but Le Zhishi said, "I didn't cry. It was just spicy."
Song Yu could only reach out and wipe the oil off the corner of his mouth with a cold expression.
Perhaps it was because he had personally experienced the experience of being exposed, or perhaps it was because Song Yu had personally wiped the corner of his mouth, but Le Zhishi's ears were a little hot. He suddenly forked a piece of muffin and stuffed it into his mouth. He almost choked and coughed for a long time.
After eating, the two of them cleaned up together. There was still enough time for them to take an afternoon nap. After applying ice for a while, Le Zhishi felt that his eyes were much better. He returned to his room and looked at himself in the mirror for a long time. His eyes were bruised and still looked very ugly.
Song Yu drew the curtains and lay on the bed. His phone was full of messages from Qin Yan, but he only glanced at them. Just as he closed his eyes, he heard a knock on the door. Without opening his eyes, he asked, "What's wrong?"
"I want to sleep with you," Le Zhishi said directly, but he didn't step in.
In the past, Song Yu would have rejected him outright, but he didn't today. He lay on the side of the bed as if he was silently agreeing.
After getting permission, Le Zhishi immediately climbed up. Song Yu opened his eyes and wanted to give him a pillow, but he saw that he had taken out a one-sided eye mask from somewhere and was wearing it. He reached out and pulled the strap of the eye mask. "What's this for?"
Le Zhishi covered his eye mask. "I want to wear it."
Song Yu didn't stop him and carried him over. Le Zhishi also lay down obediently and quietly looked at Song Yu's back. He felt that he hadn't slept with Song Yu in a long time. When he was young, whenever it rained heavily, he would crawl onto Song Yu's bed with a pillow and stay close to him. That way, he wouldn't be so afraid. It was only at that time that he wouldn't be rejected.
However, Song Yu was afraid of heat and always complained that he was like a hot little meatball. He wouldn't let him hug him, so Le Zhishi only used his forehead to press against his back, very restrained to satisfy his need for a sense of security.
This seemed to be the first time he slept with Song Yu on a sunny day, and he even got disfigured.
Le Zhishi pressed his forehead against his skin and bones. He could feel his brother's heartbeat through his skin and bones. It seemed that he could also smell the familiar scent of rain. It was soft and wet, full of hope.
This illusion was like a released hypnotic drug that could make him fall asleep quickly without any hindrance.
It only worked when he was lying next to Song Yu.
He couldn't help but fantasize that he didn't need anything and that he could live like this for the rest of his life.
But he knew that he couldn't. He was no longer the three-year-old child who would stop Song Yu from getting married by hook or by crook. He couldn't cry without restraint, and he couldn't speak without thinking for self-satisfaction.
As he thought about it, Le Zhishi fell asleep. Everything in the dream was blurry. Parents who died young, adults who cast sympathetic looks, and children who pushed him. But their voices were very clear.
[Children without parents are so pitiful.]
[So you're an orphan.]
All kinds of voices mixed together to form a black shadow that chased after him in the winding dream. He couldn't escape no matter how hard he tried. He wanted to call out Song Yu's name, only his name, but no sound came out of his mouth.
"Le Zhishi, Le Zhishi …"
He woke up from the dream with sweat all over his body. In his vision was the adult Song Yu. Frowning, Le Zhishi took a few deep breaths. "I had a nightmare." He didn't know why, but he thought of a phrase that Jiang Yufan said a few days ago. "It seemed like a ghost was pressing down on the bed."
After saying that, he turned around coolly. "I'm going back to sleep."
Song Yu lay down. His palms were still sweaty from Le Zhishi's forehead. He looked at the ceiling. In front of him was Le Zhishi's unconscious appearance.
"Le Zhishi."
Hearing Song Yu call his name, Le Zhishi hummed in acknowledgment. His voice was a little nasal, and it sounded like he was acting coquettishly. He cleared his throat to cover it up.
"You were really delicate when you were young. You especially cried. Every time you cried, I had a headache and wanted to send you away."
Song Yu complained, but his tone was very light. Le Zhishi pursed his lips unconsciously with his back to him. He wanted to refute, but he heard him speak again with a hint of calm doubt.
"Why don't you cry when you've grown up?"
Le Zhishi was stunned by the big pot that fell from the sky. "No …" He frowned. He was still holding the earpiece in his hand obediently. He muttered to himself, "I'm not in puppy love."
Moreover, it was a righteous refusal.
He tilted his head and looked at Song Yu in front of him. He retorted loudly, "I'm not in puppy love!"
Song Yu still didn't say anything. Le Zhishi could only think about it himself. When he thought about what happened in the corridor on the third floor of the medical hall, he finally understood. "You were standing down there the whole time, right? You misunderstood. I was returning the gift I received to her. "
Omitting the information of the person who confessed, Le Zhishi retold the story exactly as it happened. He was like a kindergarten child who was obediently reporting what happened in school every day. He described it vividly, afraid that he would miss out on any details.
One reported along the way, while the other silently rode his bike and listened. They drove from the wide road into the winding alleys, approaching their destination amidst the undulating sycamore leaves.
"I didn't promise her anything. I bought her a drink because I was afraid that she would be upset if I rejected her, so I said that I would treat her to a drink. And I bought her a coke. I also bought Jiang Yufan a coke, but I gave … "
At this point, he suddenly stopped talking. For some reason, the more he spoke, the more aggrieved Le Zhishi felt. He thought about the confessions that the girls had discussed during the assembly in the morning.
"Didn't someone confess to you too? Even if it was that Peiya who confessed, I would still complain. " It was clearly a threat, but it didn't have the slightest deterrence. He even subconsciously lowered his voice, which made him seem particularly weak. After a pause, Le Zhishi added fuel to the fire. "The girls in our class were discussing it in full swing this morning. Maybe the whole school knows about it."
The bike came to a sudden stop. Le Zhishi smacked his lips against Song Yu's back. He stuck so close that he couldn't finish his sentence.
"The whole school knows about more than just the confession."
Song Yu finally opened his mouth and ordered Le Zhishi to get off the bike.
Le Zhishi obviously knew what he was talking about. "I didn't do it on purpose. I wasn't feeling well at that time, so I accidentally shouted …" He stuck behind him like a little shadow. "Then what do we do now? Everyone heard it. There shouldn't be anyone who doesn't know."
Song Yu didn't provide him with a solution. He locked the bike and walked inside.
He felt that after explaining so much, his brother didn't seem happy. It didn't seem to be because of that.
The bike stopped in front of an old grey bungalow. A tall magnolia plant was planted in front of the courtyard. Inside was a small courtyard that had been meticulously maintained. The bungalow was a European-style building from the Republic of China. After the renovation, the decoration was very simple. There was a huge stone that was about the height of a person standing in front of the door. There were two words engraved on it: Yang He Qi Zhe.
This was a private restaurant that Song Yu's mother, Lin Rong, ran out of interest.
Song Yu opened the door curtain and Le Zhishi followed him in. Inside, there was already a guest who had made a reservation. It was Grandpa Zhang, a regular customer since the opening of the store. He was a retired university professor. When he saw the two of them come in, he smiled and joked, "Xiaorong, your family's handsome young man is back."
Lin Rong heard them and came out of the kitchen with a small plate of honeyed spring snow peaches in her hand. She put it on the table and smiled as she glanced at Le Zhishi and Song Yu.
Le Zhishi was a likable person. Before Lin Rong said anything, he obediently called him Grandpa Zhang. Song Yu nodded slightly as a greeting.
"Le has grown taller, but he's still not as tall as your brother."
Lin Rong took Le Zhishi's school bag off his shoulder. "There's still a difference of three years. Le is still young and his health isn't good, but he's already growing very fast. "
Le Zhishi emphasized a number that not many people cared about. "I'm 176."
Song Yu, the tallest person in the restaurant, didn't participate in their height discussion. He walked alone to the innermost private room. It was a lounge that Lin Rong had specially prepared for the two brothers.
Lin Rong took out a delicately packed meal and handed it to Professor Zhang with both hands. "Eat it while it's hot when you go back."
"Thank you for your hard work." Professor Zhang was very happy. "My wife likes this. I'll go back now."
"Goodbye, Grandpa Zhang." Le Zhishi took the initiative to walk him to the door.
When the restaurant was first opened, Le and Song Yu were still in primary school. Lin Rong only opened the restaurant on Mondays and Fridays out of interest. There was no menu and it was all up to her. Customers came one after another and word of mouth spread. More and more people came. Many people made reservations a month in advance. Later, Lin Rong opened the restaurant to four days a week. It was also convenient for Le Zhishi, who was allergic, to have lunch.
Lunch was still sumptuous. The white jade porcelain plate was filled with crispy golden lotus balls. As soon as it was served, Le Zhishi picked one up. With one bite, it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It was sweeter than meatballs. Compared with ordinary vegetable meatballs mixed with flour, the boiled lotus root juice had a texture that was very similar to meat. It was soft and delicious.
"Lotus root dumplings are the best meatballs in the world." Le Zhishi hadn't finished eating yet. He picked up a stewed chicken claw and stuffed it into his mouth. The chicken claw melted with the red sauce and thick oil.
More than one person had said that Le Zhishi looked delicious when he ate. Some people even suggested that he make a mukden so that they could eat while watching him eat.
Lin Rong came in with a bowl of sugar-coated lotus root starch. "Was the Start-of-Term Ceremony fun?" She put her hand on Song Yu's shoulder, but her eyes were looking at Le Zhishi. "How was Song Yu's speech today? You didn't forget your lines, right? "
Le Zhishi, who was eating like a little hamster, suddenly stopped. His cheeks were bulging.
"Oh, I really forgot my lines."
"No." Song Yu ignored Le Zhishi's wink and added another bowl of lotus root starch. "Something just happened."
The chicken claw in Le Zhishi's mouth suddenly didn't taste good.
It can't be. We agreed not to talk about it.
"What happened?" Lin Rong looked curious.
Song Yu glanced at Le Zhishi indifferently. "It's him."
"Le Zhishi? What happened to Le Zhishi? "
Le Zhishi panicked. His eyes darted between Song Yu and Lin Rong, and he shook his head in advance. "I didn't …"
"He didn't wear a nameplate and was criticized." Song Yu drank a mouthful of lotus root starch and looked up at the shocked Le Zhishi. "He was almost late."
It was different from what he had imagined.
"Nameplate?" Lin Rong exclaimed in a low voice. "Ah, it's me. I took them off when I was washing my clothes. I think I accidentally put both nameplates in my brother's room. It's my fault."
After saying that, she looked at Le Zhishi apologetically and glanced at the nameplate on his chest. "Hey, why are you wearing it?"
Le Zhishi explained guiltily. "My brother gave it to me."
A waiter called outside. Lin Rong hurried out. Le Zhishi breathed a sigh of relief and looked nervously at Song Yu, who was covering for him.
"It's all my fault for messing up your speech. I'm sorry. I won't eat the wrong thing next time."
The Lotus Root Starch was iced. After eating a small bowl, Song Yu felt much better and his anger subsided a little. However, when he heard the apology for not finding the main point, his expression turned cold again.
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