BTMDY Chapter 127

“‘Shrinking a sentence’ means cutting out all the extra adjectives in a sentence, leaving only the main part without changing the original meaning. For example, ‘The ancient Venice slowly fell asleep.’ Shrunk, it becomes ‘Venice fell asleep.’”

 

“Oh, that’s how it works…”

 

After understanding it, Xu Suihe lowered her head and went back to seriously working on her language workbook.

 

Xu Suihe was ten this year. Normally, she would be in fourth grade.

 

But she wasn’t going to school like other kids. Instead, she had been learning bit by bit over the years through her brother’s teaching. Shi Yuan also had his own studies, so he couldn’t cover the entire school curriculum in detail.

 

Because of this, Xu Suihe’s knowledge was in a very awkward stage.

 

Before her health improved, she hadn’t been to school a single day. That didn’t mean she didn’t know anything—actually, she knew more than kids her age in many areas. It was just that Shi Yuan’s time and energy were limited, so he couldn’t go through every page of the textbook thoroughly.

 

After the school evaluated her, Xu Suihe started at third grade.

 

Since a lot of the classroom material had already been taught by her brother, after finishing her homework she would preview higher-grade content in advance. That way, she could keep up more easily.

 

Tutoring a child required patience, and Lin Shen clearly didn’t have any.

 

He sat cross-legged on the sofa, calling it ‘supervising’ Lu Chengxuan as he helped Xu Suihe with homework—but before long, he was curled up with his phone, scrolling away.

 

At home, the floor heating kept things warm. Xu Suihe sat on a floor mat, leaning over the coffee table to do her work. The height was just right and she didn’t feel cold.

 

Lu Chengxuan sat behind her on the sofa, watching her write under the sentence-shrinking exercise: ‘Colorful wildflowers bloomed on the lush green meadow.’ She wrote down ‘Wildflowers bloomed on the meadow.’ Satisfied, Lu Chengxuan pulled back his gaze and returned to the thick copy of ‘The Three-Body Problem’ in his hands.

 

To avoid disturbing her, Lin Shen couldn’t play games on his phone. He scrolled through social media for a bit, got bored, and looked around aimlessly. His eyes finally landed on the dense text of the book Lu Chengxuan was reading.

 

It wasn’t that Lin Shen disliked reading—otherwise, he wouldn’t have spent so much time sneaking into bookstores back in middle school.

 

But for him, reading was just a way to kill time.

 

School and work were already annoying enough. He preferred novels that didn’t require much thinking. Anything that demanded effort just wasn’t his thing.

 

Seeing Lu Chengxuan so absorbed in the book after all these years made Lin Shen curious. He put down his phone and looked over.

 

“What’s this book even about?”

 

“You can’t sum it up in a few words,” Lu Chengxuan said, knowing he couldn’t explain the story well in a way that sounded exciting. He closed the book and handed it to Lin Shen. “Why don’t you just read it yourself?”

 

Lin Shen waved him off, arms crossed.

 

“No, I’ll just fall asleep if I read. You tell me.”

 

Lu Chengxuan put the book down and thought for a moment. Then he started telling the story in a way Lin Shen could easily understand and would find interesting.

 

“Hmm… this novel is sci-fi. It’s mainly about a human who accidentally receives a signal from aliens. She’s so disappointed in Earth’s civilization and human nature that she thinks humans can’t fix things on their own. So, she pins her hopes on an alien civilization, tries to make contact with the Trisolarans, and hopes they can change everything.”

 

“Oh, that sounds interesting.”

 

Lin Shen leaned back, stuffing a cushion behind him to get more comfortable, clearly intrigued.

 

“Xiao Lin’s incident made me realize how dark human nature can be. Totally hopeless. So what happens next? Do the aliens come and make everyone on Earth all good and friendly?”

 

“Not exactly.”

 

Lu Chengxuan shook his head. “The Trisolarans live in a harsh environment. After their civilization was destroyed many times, they decided to abandon their home. They’re not trying to improve Earth’s civilization—they want to invade it. The reason that person could contact them is because the Trisolarans had built a lot of space stations to monitor signals. Wherever they got a response, that’s where they would attack.”

 

Lin Shen’s eyes went wide. “Whoa!”

 

Xu Suihe, who had been bending over her homework, suddenly looked up with a ‘swoosh’, swung her braided pigtails, and turned to Lu Chengxuan, exclaiming, “There’s a traitor! Abort the deal!”

 

Lin Shen snickered, reached over, and lightly flicked her forehead. “What’s a kid supposed to understand? Just focus on your homework.”

 

“I want to hear the story.”

 

Pouting, Xu Suihe held the pencil between her upper lip and nose, staring at Lu Chengxuan. As she spoke, the pencil fell to the floor. “My brother used to tell me stories like this. He said the universe is huge, and there could be other aliens besides Earth. If we ever got a signal, we absolutely shouldn’t respond rashly, because we could be attacked by a civilization far more advanced than ours.”

 

Lin Shen looked even more shocked. “And you know all this?!”

 

“Of course!” Xu Suihe said proudly, squinting and smiling. “Big brother, I’m right, aren’t I?”

 

“Yes, that’s right,” Lu Chengxuan nodded, acknowledging her. He glanced at Lin Shen, who was still stuck on his ‘Whoa’ moment, speechless, and continued.

 

“Before the person I mentioned officially contacted the Trisolarans, a kind Trisolaran once told her, ‘Don’t respond,’ warning her to stop trying, so Earth’s location wouldn’t be revealed. But she still chose to contact them, which led Earth into a disaster. Higher-dimensional civilizations probably exist, and the most dangerous thing is the unknown. You should avoid touching it if you can, to prevent bringing trouble on yourself.”

 

After saying this, Xu Suihe nodded seriously, miming zipping her mouth shut, picked up her fallen pencil, and went back to her homework.

 

But Lin Shen, listening to this, sensed there was more meaning hidden in her words.

 

He gradually wiped the smile off his face. After staring at Lu Chengxuan for a long while, he got up from the sofa expressionless, slipped on his slippers, and turned to leave.

 

Lu Chengxuan, of course, noticed this obvious cold shoulder. He closed his book, set it on the coffee table, and quickly followed.

 

Lin Shen went straight to the study. The door wasn’t locked. He sat down in the office chair but didn’t turn on the computer. He propped his head up with his hands and stared at the door until Lu Chengxuan walked in.

 

“So you really know I’m still mad at you for going to the casino alone,” Lin Shen said bluntly.

 

Lu Chengxuan closed the door and looked at him.

 

“I already explained, but you refused to accept it.”

 

“Then you just had to poke me again in this… abstract way.”

 

Whenever Lin Shen got like this, his words came out like gunfire. He glared at Lu Chengxuan, deliberately lowering his voice so as not to disturb Xu Suihe doing homework outside.

 

“Do you think I don’t understand? The cops told me the room where Lin Wangye was locked was sealed, and the whole hallway was on fire. What if you two couldn’t get out? Did you even make a single call, send a single message? Did you think about how I felt, Lu Chengxuan?”

 

Recently, Lin Shen had argued with Lu Chengxuan more than once for the same reason.

 

This issue was like a bomb on a timer. No limit on time or frequency—touch it, and Lin Shen’s anger would explode instantly.

 

Lu Chengxuan’s original intention was simple: he didn’t want Lin Shen to take risks with him when he couldn’t control the situation, so he deliberately kept him in the dark.

 

But this was something Lin Shen could hardly accept.

 

He couldn’t stop imagining what might have gone wrong. He couldn’t help but picture the worst-case scenario.

 

Lu Chengxuan had spent so much time, putting himself on the line, meticulously planning this whole strategy, all for a chance at a future better than before.

 

If something had gone wrong, there would be no future at all.

 

Lu Chengxuan understood what Lin Shen was obsessing over, but he couldn’t solve this problem. Lin Shen was stubborn to the point of refusing to bend—his persistence in the face of difficulty was a strength of his character.

 

But this trait was a weakness in love.

 

He couldn’t let go, yet he couldn’t hold on.

 

To truly untangle this knot, it had to be Lin Shen himself—or this event would have had to never happen in the first place.

 

No one else could change it.

 

Facing Lin Shen’s barrage of questions, Lu Chengxuan remained silent at first. Then, in a low voice, he said, “I’m sorry.”

 

“And then?” Lin Shen pressed him aggressively. “Besides apologizing, what else can you do? Do you think just saying sorry is enough? You’re great—you can handle everything yourself. You don’t need help, so you hide everything from me. If I don’t ask, you never say a word. You think that’s fun?”

 

Lu Chengxuan stayed calm. “That wasn’t my intention. I just wanted to deal with what needed to be handled first.”

 

Lin Shen’s gaze burned into him, unblinking. “Am I not worthy of fighting by your side?”

 

Lu Chengxuan froze, unable to come up with a reply.

 

“Lu Chengxuan, I’m warning you.”

 

Leaning back in his chair, Lin Shen lifted his head and looked down at him with a commanding stare.

 

“From now on, I won’t stay out of anything. I’m not afraid of being dragged into trouble, and I’m not afraid of your dad targeting me. From now on, I need to know every decision you make, every action you take. I need to know what you’re doing every single day. Do you hear me?”

 

After he spoke, Lu Chengxuan lowered his eyes, silent, clearly hesitating.

 

Seeing this, Lin Shen’s anger shot up his spine and into his forehead. He slammed the table hard. “Answer me!”

 

In the end, Lu Chengxuan yielded and looked up at him.

 

“Understood.”

 

Hearing a clear answer, Lin Shen finally relaxed. He straightened in the chair and tapped the table with his fingertips. “Come here.”

 

Lu Chengxuan walked around the table. Lin Shen carefully rolled his sleeve up to his elbow and gently tore off the tape to check the burn.

 

Burns didn’t heal easily. Luckily, the weather wasn’t too hot, so the wound was less likely to get infected. With the floor heating on, the room was warm. Lin Shen studied the burn for a while, relieved there was no sign of infection, but seeing the charred skin up close was still shocking.

 

He sighed, frowning.

 

“It’s been so many days, and it’s still not healed. That’s a whole palm-sized patch—it’s going to scar.”

 

Lu Chengxuan shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

 

“You say that so lightly,” Lin Shen said, looking up at him. His tone had lost the fire from before and sounded more like a complaint. “And you talk about ‘playing with fire,’ trying to provoke me.”

 

Lu Chengxuan denied it. “No, it’s just a story.”

 

Lin Shen shot him an annoyed glance. The more he looked at the burn, the worse he felt. He carefully pressed the gauze back in place, then flipped Lu Chengxuan’s wrist, removed the bandage, and took out the first-aid kit to change it.

 

“When it heals, you should do what Xiao Lin did—cover it with a tattoo. Get a full sleeve,” Lin Shen said.

 

“Forget it.”

 

“Why forget it? It makes me feel bad just looking at it. Once it’s healed, you’re getting a big Qinglong tattoo.”

 

“A tattoo will mess with my exam for a government job.”

 

“…”

 

Lin Shen lifted his head and looked at him quietly, eyes dark. He wanted nothing more than to pour alcohol all over the burn and give him a little shock.

 

After finishing the dressing, Lin Shen wrapped Lu Chengxuan’s palm with fresh gauze, pushed aside the messy first-aid kit, and opened his computer.

 

Lu Chengxuan tidied the kit and put it back, saw that Lin Shen had started a game, and turned to say, “I’m going to check on Suihe doing her homework.”

 

Lin Shen didn’t even lift his head. “Bring me a piece of cake.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Throw that stupid book of yours away too. Every time I see it, I remember ‘playing with fire,’ and it just makes me mad.”

 

“Fine.”

 

Xu Suihe spent nearly an hour finishing her language worksheet, excluding the essay question. She carefully checked it, then handed it to Lu Chengxuan.

 

“All done! Big brother, take a look!”

 

Full of confidence, she climbed from the floor mat onto the sofa and slipped off her shoes, which were a size too big.

 

Lu Chengxuan finished reading the sheet in less than a minute, and didn’t hide the admiration in his eyes. “Not bad. Aside from the fill-in-the-blank questions that only appear in fourth-grade texts, you got almost everything right. You’re very smart, Suihe.”

 

“Pretty smart, right? Can I move up a grade now?” she asked happily.

 

Lu Chengxuan asked her, “Why move up a grade? You started school late. Take it slow.”

 

Suihe hugged a cushion and rested her chin on it.

 

“I want to grow up faster.”

 

Lu Chengxuan folded the worksheet and put it on the table, following up on her words: “Why do you want to grow up faster?”

 

“Because it’s hard for my brother to take care of me and treat my illness.”

 

The little girl’s curled eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings as she blinked. She pouted and blew her bangs aside. “If I were grown up, I could go to work and earn money, so my brothers wouldn’t be so tired.”

 

“You’re still little. Don’t think about it so much,” Lu Chengxuan said gently. “Just grow up slowly. Even if you move up a grade, your age won’t change. Your brother has already saved enough money to treat your illness. You just need to stay healthy.”

 

Hearing this, Xu Suihe thought carefully. It made sense, so she nodded. Then, looking worried again, she asked, “So when will my illness be cured? The doctors and my brothers won’t tell me… sigh. My hair is falling out more and more. Soon I won’t be able to tie my little braids.”

 

Xu Suihe’s illness was now stable and under control. To recover quickly, she needed the right hematopoietic stem cells.

 

That kind of thing required luck. Even Lu Chengxuan could only do so much.

 

He couldn’t give a definite answer. After considering his words, he said, “Healing takes time. Look at my hand—I injured it before, and it took many days to get better. Don’t worry. It will heal.”

 

Suihe had already noticed the gauze on his hand. Her attention was easily diverted, and she picked up his hand to examine it carefully.

 

“Big brother, what happened to your hand?”

 

“I cut myself on some broken glass.”

 

“Broken glass is so dangerous! Big brother never lets me touch it. Did it bleed?”

 

“Mm, just a little.”

 

“Then I’ll blow on it. It won’t hurt for long.”

 

With that, Xu Suihe lowered her head and seriously blew on Lu Chengxuan’s palm. The child’s pure, heartfelt concern made him feel a little awkward, but somehow he was starting to get used to it.

 

He looked at her soft, sparse hair as she held out her tiny hands.

 

A moment later, the study door ‘bang’ swung open.

 

Lin Shen stormed out and plopped down on the sofa, fuming. “Who cares about this stupid game! Always stuck with teammates whose brains aren’t even fully developed!”

 

Xu Suihe, clearly used to this scene, raised her head and nodded vigorously. “So bad!”

 

Kids spoke without filters, and Lin Shen felt a little relieved.

 

He propped his legs on the sofa armrest, ready to launch into a long rant, but suddenly remembered no one there would understand. He swallowed his words in boredom.

 

Seeing Lin Shen calm down, Xu Suihe pulled her math worksheet out of her backpack and buried herself in it.

 

Lin Shen casually picked up the language test paper from the coffee table. As he flipped through it, he felt something brush his mouth.

 

Looking down, it was Lu Chengxuan’s hand.

 

The pad of his thumb had a bit of cream from the cake he had eaten, accidentally smudged near his mouth.

 

Lu Chengxuan reached for a tissue, but suddenly his scalp tingled. His fingertips were wrapped in a warm, wet sensation, and something soft and nimble circled around them.

 

He spun around and saw Lin Shen, at the same moment, straightening up and giving him a sly smile.

 

*

 

Author’s Note:

 

“Throw that stupid book of yours away.”

 

The ‘Three-Body Problem’ isn’t a stupid book—it’s a deep, thoughtful sci-fi novel, and the author himself loves it.

 

Character remarks are the characters’ own—they’re not insults toward the author. Just blame ‘Old Lin’ for the line, not the book.

 

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