TC Extra 4

Near the end of the school year in the second grade, just before summer vacation, Qi Xing’s school organized a charity visit to the city’s Children’s Welfare Institute.

Most of his classmates donated books, clothes, or toys. After giving it a great deal of thought, little Qi Xing spent his own saved pocket money on a huge bag of snacks to bring with him.

“Why can’t the children at the welfare home like snacks?” he asked innocently, blinking his big eyes when his teacher questioned him.

His teacher smiled: “Then you can hand the snacks out to them yourself.”

The Children’s Welfare Institute was, in fact, an orphanage. Most of the children there were sick or disabled. There were healthy children too, but they generally had entered when they were already older and had chosen to stay rather than be adopted.

Qi Xing went from child to child handing out snacks. By the time he had finished, there was only one lollipop left in his hand. As he turned around, he noticed someone walking out of the director’s office.

A tall teenage boy.

His expression was icy, yet his face was more beautiful than anyone Qi Xing had ever seen.

The little boy stared at him without blinking as he turned and walked away in another direction. Behind him, he overheard several caretakers whispering among themselves.

“It’s probably pointless for the director to call him in for questioning. Even if Ye Xingzhou did it on purpose, he would never admit it.”

“If it wasn’t on purpose, then why did he break the handrail? The cat he used to play with all the time was thrown to its death by that boy Chen Qian. Now Chen Qian’s broken his leg. It’s hard to believe Ye Xingzhou wasn’t deliberately retaliating. These children… every single one of them is such a handful.”

“Ye Xingzhou grew up far too quickly. Sometimes, when I see the look in his eyes, it’s honestly frightening.”

Qi Xing followed after him and found the beautiful big brother sitting beneath a tree in the courtyard, quietly reading a book.

Tilting his head, he studied him for a while before walking over: “Big brother, this lollipop is for you.”

Ye Xingzhou looked up and saw a beautiful child with a bright smile in front of him, holding up a lollipop as if to give it to him. His expression remained indifferent, and after a single glance, he withdrew his gaze without acknowledging him and lowered his head to continue reading.

The child should have been angry at being rejected so bluntly, and the other person didn’t even say a word to him. But when he thought about what the aunties had said about the older boy’s cat being killed by someone, he felt sorry for the older boy and decided to be generous and not hold it against him.

Qi Xing peeled the wrapper off the lollipop and held it out again: “Big brother, eat it. If you don’t, I’ll tell everyone that you deliberately broke the railing and made someone break their leg, hehe.”

Ye Xingzhou looked up again, his eyes cold, but Qi Xing wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest: “If you eat it, I won’t tell anyone.”

“What do you want?” Ye Xingzhou finally spoke.

Qi Xing’s heart blossomed with joy. Even Big Brother’s voice sounded nicer than everyone else’s. It wasn’t like those other boys with their cracking, duck-like voices. He liked it very much.

“I want to be friends with you!”

In the end, the lollipop was accepted, although Ye Xingzhou merely held it in his hand without eating it.

Before leaving, Qi Xing said, “Don’t worry, Big Brother. I won’t tell anyone about what happened. My name is Qi Xing. I’ll come back and play with you next time. Bye-bye.”

After returning home, Qi Xing immediately told his parents all about the big brother he had met, throwing a tantrum, insisting that they adopt Ye Xingzhou.

He had already heard from his teacher that children at the welfare home could be adopted. He was only a little kid, so he couldn’t adopt big brother himself, but his parents could!

“Either you give me an older brother that’s just as good-looking as big brother, or you can just let big brother be my older brother!”

Qi Ronghua & Wang Cuilan: “…”

No, they really can’t make another.

Qi Ronghua and his wife did not take it seriously. Adopting a child wasn’t like buying a toy. How could they simply satisfy whatever Qi Xing wanted? Besides, their careers were just starting out, and they were so busy every day that they barely had time for Qi Xing himself. Where would they find the energy to raise another child?

Forget it. At most, the little rascal would obsess over it for three days before forgetting all about it.

Instead, Qi Xing became unusually persistent. Not only did he refuse to forget, but every weekend he clung to his parents, insisting that they take him to the welfare home to see big brother.

In the end, Qi Ronghua reluctantly gave in and took him there, finally meeting the “beautiful big brother” Qi Xing had been talking about.

Qi Ronghua’s first reaction was to refuse. The fifteen-year-old boy was already a head taller than he was. He carried an aloof air that practically warned strangers to stay away, and teenagers in the middle of their rebellious years were the hardest to handle. Why would he bring home such a huge headache for himself?

Qi Xing, however, behaved as though bringing Ye Xingzhou home was already a settled matter, happily running over to tell him.

Ye Xingzhou frowned deeply. Faced with the child’s bright, sparkling eyes, he suddenly thought of his cat, and the words “I’m not going” got stuck in his throat. After a moment of silence, he simply said, “Your dad won’t want to adopt me, so give up.”

Qi Xing patted his chest confidently: “I’ll think of a way.”

Ye Xingzhou had an indescribable feeling. For no reason at all, he had been latched onto by a self-righteous little brat. He should have found it annoying, yet whenever he looked into Qi Xing’s eyes and listened to his illogical yet confident words, he found himself amused, a rare occurrence for him.

“Let’s talk about it after you’ve come up with a solution.”

Since his big brother had said so, then he absolutely had to come up with one. His father wouldn’t budge, so the little boy quickly came up with another idea. He went to his godfather, Old Master Chen, to discuss the matter and asked him to adopt Ye Xingzhou.

Old Master Chen’s own child had died young in an accident, and his wife had also passed away many years earlier. He had lived alone ever since. Having Qi Xing as his god-grandson had already been enough for him, and he had no other desires. But then, Qi Xing suddenly came up to him and said he wanted an older brother. At first, he thought it was a joke, but after hearing what Qi Xing said, he became intrigued.

“So someone threw his cat to its death, and he broke the railing to make that person fall? Aren’t you afraid of someone that ruthless?”

Although he had promised not to tell anyone, his god-grandfather wasn’t an outsider, so Qi Xing answered without the slightest hesitation: “I’m not afraid at all. If I were him, I would do it too. It’s just that the bad people were too bad. He was just avenging the little kitty.”

Old Chen smiled and nodded: “What you said is not wrong, this kid seems to be quite interesting.”

So Old Master Chen personally took Qi Xing to the welfare home and met Ye Xingzhou.

Qi Xing, who had been playing outside in the courtyard, had no idea what the two of them discussed. When his godfather came out and told him that the formalities were completed, he would take his big brother home. The little boy cheered excitedly and jumped up.

Smiling broadly, Old Master Chen thought to himself that this little rascal had truly found him a remarkable treasure. Ye Chonglin’s son? Interesting.

Ye Xingzhou’s background was not difficult to investigate. After all, the Ye family was an old-established family among Huai City’s upper-class circles. Back then, Ye Chonglin had eloped with another woman, only to abandon both her and their child before sneaking back to inherit the family business. Quite a few people still remembered the scandal.

Although Ye Chonglin had already left by the time Ye Xingzhou was born, and his name never appeared on the birth certificate, for reasons known only to herself, Ye Xingzhou’s mother had still given him the surname Ye and had told him the truth about his parentage. When asked about it earlier, the boy had admitted it himself.

There was a coldness and ruthlessness on the teenager’s face that did not belong to someone his age.

He had said that so long as someone could help him return to the Ye family and obtain what he wanted, he was willing to do anything.

Old Master Chen liked ambitious people who were ruthless enough to achieve their goals, and Ye Xingzhou possessed both qualities. Therefore, he was happy to grant his wish and was also able to please his beloved grandson.

Ye Xingzhou moved into Qingping Garden with Old Master Chen. Qi Xing would come here half the week anyway, and since it was summer vacation, he simply stayed here as well, pestering Ye Xingzhou every day to play with him, a child who was separated from him by at least two generations.

“Big Brother, do you watch cartoons? SpongeBob SquarePants is my favourite. What’s yours?”

“Big Brother, my neighbour’s older brother gave me these glass marbles. Do you want them? I’ll give them to you.”

“Big Brother, do you want a lollipop? What about ice cream? Or latiao and potato chips?”

“Big Brother—”

Ye Xingzhou had already grown accustomed to the little boy’s clinginess; he could calmly listen to him call him “Big Brother” over and over again without the slightest change in expression, and, strangely enough, never found it annoying.

Whenever he was reading, the little boy would sit beside him watching cartoons and eating snacks, muttering to himself from time to time or laughing so hard he nearly doubled over. Occasionally, Ye Xingzhou’s gaze would drift toward him and without realizing it, he found himself infected by the little boy’s emotions, as though the gloom that had accumulated in his heart for so many years was finally beginning to disperse.

“Xingxing.”

Hearing Ye Xingzhou suddenly call his name, Qi Xing blinked and immediately scooted over, sticking his head right in front of him. “Big Brother, were you calling me?”

Ye Xingzhou asked, “I’ve heard your family call you that. Can I call you that too?”

Qi Xing grinned and nodded enthusiastically. “Of course you can.”

Ye Xingzhou raised a hand and gently ruffled his hair: “Okay.”

Qi Xing shook his head before mumbling, “Actually… my mom still calls me ‘Baby.’”

A rare smile appeared in Ye Xingzhou’s eyes: “Baby?”

Qi Xing’s face suddenly flushed red: “What’s wrong with ‘Baby’?”

“Mn, you really are a baby.”

Embarrassed by his teasing laughter, Qi Xing hugged his SpongeBob pillow and shrank back into the sofa, grumbling to himself, thinking that he was already eight years old and probably couldn’t be called a baby anymore… even though he felt like he was a baby.

Watching his reaction, Ye Xingzhou seemed to have discovered the perfect way to deal with this little nuisance.

Although he’s a little clingy, he’s easily teased and would get shy and blush. If teased too much, he might even puff up like an angry kitten.

It seemed he had rediscovered the joy of having a cat, but this little boy was clearly far more interesting than that cat had ever been.

Halfway through his cartoon, Qi Xing tilted his head and fell asleep against the sofa.

Ye Xingzhou glanced over at him, got up to fetch a blanket, draped it over him, then sat back down beside him and continued reading.

Little by little, the child’s body slid lower until his fluffy head came to rest on Ye Xingzhou’s lap, mumbling something softly in his sleep before drifting into a deep slumber.

Ye Xingzhou lowered his head and watched him for a moment before letting his gaze return to the pages of his book, heart more peaceful than ever.

He didn’t need a friend as young as Qi Xing, but having Qi Xing by his side… felt rather nice.

For many years afterward, Ye Xingzhou never forgot this scene.

On an ordinary summer afternoon, they sat together in the brightest patch of sunlight, Qi Xing asleep with his head resting on Ye Xingzhou’s lap, while time drifted by unhurriedly. In that moment, it felt as though time itself could stretch on forever.

⋆⋆⋆⋆

♡♡♡ if you like my translations, please consider buying me a kofi~! ♡♡♡