Chapter 12
Yu Le seriously pondered and found it quite odd that he was still able to maintain a normal and positive mindset despite everything.
First, the person he had a crush on got engaged, then his design drafts were rejected, and on top of that, his journey from Wucheng to Daiwa Town had been rough.
The weather had been raining heavily for days, and on top of that, he had a fever and allergies, not to mention the constant reminders of his crush.
Despite this string of setbacks, he surprisingly hadn’t fallen into depression and even made friends with a child much younger than him.
Life can be really strange sometimes, and it’s hard to believe without experiencing it yourself.
The only downside was that this friend of his could sometimes be overly noisy.
Early in the morning, while Yu Le was still having breakfast, Zhao Xiaosong burst in with several large sketch papers and a few pencils.
“Come on, Brother Lele!”
He spread out the sketch papers on the table, hands on his hips in a grandiose manner. “Today, let Zhao the Great share his amazing summer vacation plan with you!”
Yu Le was busy slurping noodles and didn’t respond immediately. He simply gave a casual “OK” gesture with his left hand, signaling Zhao Xiaosong to start.
Zhao Xiaosong began drawing boldly on the paper.
“First, a table. A big one. My mom won’t give me one, so I plan to borrow one from the boss!”
“Then a tablecloth. Girls like pretty ones, preferably pink with lace trim. I checked at the supermarket and didn’t find any, so I plan to ask the boss to help me find one!”
“Ice and powder are easy. The boss’s fridge has plenty of ice, and I already have the powder at home, so no trouble for the boss there!”
“Finally, the ingredients. Watermelon is a must, and also brown sugar, sour plum soup, and sweet fermented rice soup…”
Yu Le raised his hand. “Can I interrupt for a moment, Mr. Zhao? May I ask a question?”
Zhao Xiaosong, who was in high spirits, smiled broadly. “Go ahead!”
Yu Le asked, “Why do you call Lu Yao ‘boss’?”
Zhao Xiaosong answered, “Because I admire him so much! And it’s the rule in the martial arts world. Since he took me as his little brother, of course, I have to call him ‘boss’!”
Yu Le was even more curious. “Why did he take you as his little brother?”
Zhao Xiaosong said, “I bragged outside, and he heard it but didn’t deny it, so that means he accepted me!”
Yu Le: “…”
Wow.
Zhao Xiaosong leaned in mysteriously. “Let me tell you, Boss Lu is amazing. Last summer, there was a commotion with some tourists in the mountains. Before the police arrived, Boss Lu single-handedly dealt with three people, throwing a big guy with a huge belly with just one hand. He scared them so much they wet their pants. Incredible!”
“Wow!” Yu Le clapped in agreement, “Incredible! So why does your summer vacation start so early?”
Zhao Xiaosong explained, “I’m just an elementary school student, and our school is known for starting vacations early. Otherwise, my mom wouldn’t have sent me there.”
Yu Le understood and asked, “Are you really planning to run an ice powder stand by yourself? Is that feasible?”
Zhao Xiaosong confidently said, “Of course, it’s very simple to sell ice powder. It’s very popular. People who come to the mountains will definitely buy it. A bowl costs about two yuan to make, and I’ll sell it for five yuan. They’ll even praise me for selling it cheap. Hehe.”
Yu Le was impressed. It’s remarkable that a little kid has such business acumen. He’ll definitely be a commercial genius in the future.
“What do you plan to do with the money you make?” he asked. “Buy a phone or a game console?”
“No, no, neither,” Zhao Xiaosong shook his head. “I’m not a three-year-old; I’m not that superficial. I’m saving up for a dowry.”
Yu Le was shocked. “A dowry? How old are you?”
Zhao Xiaosong said, “About that age. My mom says times have changed from when she was young. Girls are precious now, and boys need to be good to them and also have money and looks to marry them.”
He touched his own face with a confident look, “I’m not sure if I’ll look good when I grow up, so I need to save up early. Miao Miao likes Barbie dolls and floral dresses. I want to buy them for her as a birthday gift!”
“!”
Yu Le was repeatedly stunned, “Wow, you’ve already chosen your future wife?”
“Ah,” Zhao Xiaosong said, “My mom also said that life needs to have something to look forward to. It’s what motivates you to live. My motivation is Miao Miao; otherwise, I wouldn’t even want to do my homework.”
His life plan was clearer than his palm lines, and Yu Le was truly speechless.
“Boss Lu has put in a lot of effort for my dowry plan,” Zhao Xiaosong continued, counting on his plan diagram.
“I decided to share a portion of the ice powder stand’s earnings with him. Brother Lele, how much do you think is appropriate?”
“Six percent,” Yu Le casually suggested. “It’s for good luck, six six, smooth and successful.”
“That makes sense!” Zhao Xiaosong nodded and wrote it down on the paper. “But I’m not good at math. Brother Lele, if you’re still here after summer vacation, can you help me calculate?”
Yu Le agreed. “Sure, remember to keep track of your earnings when the ice powder stand opens.”
“Of course!”
Zhao Xiaosong busily worked for a while, then suddenly remembered something. He looked up at Yu Le with a sly expression.
Yu Le leaned back a bit. “What’s up?”
Zhao Xiaosong asked, “Now that we’ve had a heart-to-heart about life, are we good buddies now?”
Yu Le casually replied, “Sure.”
Zhao Xiaosong said, “I’ve realized that good buddies don’t keep secrets from each other, so I’m going to tell you a secret!”
Yu Le thought he was about to reveal how much he had praised the dowry plan. “What’s the secret?”
Zhao Xiaosong covered his mouth with his hand, speaking quietly with a smirk. “Actually, I’m hired by Boss Lu to keep you company and cheer you up!”
“Hmm… what?”
Yu Le’s mind took a moment to process but didn’t quite catch up. “Huh?”
Zhao Xiaosong said, “My mom won’t let me set up a stand in front of our house, so Boss Lu said I could use the vacant space in front of the inn. The condition is that I have to come and keep you company to entertain you.”
Yu Le was stunned. “Why?”
“Boss Lu is worried you’ll be bored.”
Zhao Xiaosong leaned in with a mischievous grin. “But don’t tell Boss Lu that I’ve revealed this, or I’ll be a traitor!”
Yan Jia: [I don’t care about traitors or not, I just have one question. Why is Boss Lu being so nice to you?]
Yu Le: [He’s a good person.]
Yan Jia: [That’s your impression of him, but is there more?]
Yu Le: [Also, I’ve slept with him before?]
Yan Jia: [This reason is still…]
Yan Jia: [???????]
Yan Jia: [What the hell?!! You’ve slept with him?!! Damn kid, say it again if you’re brave enough?!!]
Yu Le: [Just scroll up the chat history if you don’t believe it _(:з」∠)_]
Yan Jia: [Stop talking back!]
Yu Le, momentarily caught off guard, typed faster than he could think and had no choice but to explain the misunderstanding about that night at the hotel.
Yan Jia: [Are you kidding me? You’re not a virgin anymore, and you’re only telling that to me now?]
Yan Jia: [Damn, I should’ve sent you upstairs!]
Yan Jia: [Confused idiot!]
Yan Jia: [Is your way of avoiding people just to crash headfirst into their guns?]
Yan Jia: [What’s with your favorable impression of your one-night stand???]
Yan Jia: [Le, are you being tricked by some scheming wild man?]
Scheming wild man?
Yu Le briefly associated this description with Lu Yao in his mind, then quickly dismissed it.
It felt too out of place and had no common ground.
Yu Le: [Alright, I’m not that naive, I can tell the difference.]
Yu Le: [He previously insisted I was at a disadvantage and said he would make it up to me. I didn’t accept it.]
The sudden realization made Yu Le pause his typing.
Yu Le: [Oh, so his “compensation” was referring to all of this? I was planning to refuse whatever he gave me, but I didn’t realize that I’ve already received so much?]
Yan Jia: [Isn’t that how it should be?]
Yan Jia: [Didn’t you also leave a watch for him? That’s fair enough.]
Right, there was also that watch.
Yu Le slapped his forehead, realizing he had forgotten about it.
Forgetting about continuing the conversation with Yan Jia, Yu Le rummaged through his room and found a golden thimble among a pile of small items he had cleared out while changing clothes.
Well, I’ll have to make do with it.
He grabbed the thimble and ran downstairs, finding Lu Yao at the wooden table behind the screen in the hall, using an abacus.
“Don’t you have a computer?”
Yu Le slowed his pace, sat down next to Lu Yao, and asked, “Why do you still use an abacus?”
“I’m used to it in the shop.” Lu Yao looked up at him. “Did you need something?”
The topic was sensitive, and Yu Le had considered many indirect ways to bring it up, but unfortunately, he failed to phrase it delicately and had to ask directly: “About that watch… is it with you?”
Lu Yao didn’t stop his actions. “Do you want to take it back?”
Yu Le initially nodded but quickly shook his head. “It’s not about taking it back. It’s just that it feels a bit awkward. I’d like to exchange it for something else.”
As soon as he said this, he realized he had dug himself a hole.
What if Lu Yao asked what the watch represented? How would he answer?
Fortunately, he was just worrying too much. Lu Yao listened and said nothing, standing up to pull open a cabinet behind the counter. When he returned, he had a silver watch in his hand.
He placed the watch in front of Yu Le and sat back down. “It’s been in the drawer the whole time, never worn or scratched.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
Yu Le wasn’t asking for the watch back because he was stingy; he put the watch away and then extended his hand with the golden thimble in front of Lu Yao.
“Here, let’s swap it with this.”
To someone without a professional background or sewing experience, this item might first appear to be a gold ring.
The shiny little ring even made Lu Yao pause for a moment.
Fortunately, he quickly realized it was a thimble and examined it, clearly recognizing it was a size that wouldn’t fit him.
He raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at Yu Le.
“A new bribe?”
Yu Le: “…”
It seems one shouldn’t get too excited too soon.
“Yes.”
Yu Le, refusing to admit defeat, snorted, “I had it custom-made by a designer in Paris. It even has my name engraved on it. It’s the only one in the world, unique.”
Lu Yao, with an ambiguous expression, asked, “Since it’s so precious, why are you giving it to me?”
“It’s actually not that valuable.”
Yu Le, unable to maintain his cool, admitted, “Well, the designer is an acquaintance, so I didn’t pay for the design. Also, my luggage isn’t with me; this is all I have.”
Lu Yao smiled. He understood what Yu Le meant and accepted the thimble without further hesitation.
Once the accounts were settled, Lu Yao tried to put the items back in the cabinet. However, just as he moved the abacus away from the table, it suddenly dropped back down.
Yu Le was startled and looked up. Lu Yao was frowning, shaking his right wrist vigorously.
Recalling the incident with the flowers last time, Yu Le immediately had a guess.
“Injured?”
He knew Yan Jia’s father had a similar problem. After an injury to his calf in his youth, it seemed to heal, but he still felt pain on rainy days, sometimes so severe he could barely stand.
Lu Yao nodded slightly, confirming the injury.
Yu Le glanced at the gloomy sky and the rain outside, then at the abacus, and suddenly asked, “Do you want me to give you a massage?”
Lu Yao looked at him. “Can you?”
“It doesn’t require any special skill.” Yu Le gestured for him to place his hand on the table. “Just having hands is enough.”
As the saying goes, even if you haven’t eaten pork, you’ve seen pigs run. Yu Le used his memory to recall how to massage and gently pressed and rubbed Lu Yao’s wrist.
Their hands rested together, their skin color contrasting sharply. Yu Le’s smaller frame and slender fingers made it obvious that if only the hands were seen, most would think the owner was a woman.
The needle-like pain was relieved, and a strange, indescribable sensation spread from where Yu Le touched. Lu Yao’s fingertips slightly curled, but he didn’t pull away.
“Is this how it’s done?” Lu Yao suddenly asked, with no other intention.
Yu Le, feeling his technique was being questioned, reflexively replied, “Wasn’t this how you did it for me last time?”
Yu Le: “…”
Life is always full of ups and downs.
He could clearly see Lu Yao’s gaze fixed on him, but he didn’t have the courage to meet his eyes.
The atmosphere fell into an awkward silence, and Yu Le felt that his sudden idea to help with the hand massage was a lapse in judgment.
He braced himself and focused on the task at hand.
Lu Yao’s hands had a lot of strength, and even the surface-level touch conveyed that clearly. His hands were large, with calluses covering his palms and fingertips—dry, rough, but somehow reassuring.
When Yu Le reached his palm, he paused and slowed down.
It felt like an alligator lazily floating in a swamp, and a daring bird pecking on its head. If the alligator opened its mouth—
“?”
Suddenly, his hand was gripped firmly and then released.
Lu Yao’s palm was large enough to cover Yu Le’s hand entirely. When he let go, the warmth that enveloped him vanished in an instant.
Yu Le’s hand was left empty as Lu Yao, now holding the abacus and account book, stood up to leave. The air was filled with the lingering words:
“Thank you for your effort.”
“You did well with the massage.”
