Chapter 4: I looked at him with my eyes downcast when we were reunited

He Yu and Xie Xue sit at the small, greasy table in the tiny kitchen, where the sound of frying comes from.

Xie Xue swept away the gloom and smiled easily as she waited for her big brother to finish the meal.

He Yu also smiled perfunctorily, but in his heart he rolled his eyes.

The sliding door of the kitchen with the stickers on it was opened, and the first thing that came out was a familiar pungent smell of rice, and then Xie Qingcheng came out, taking off his apron, still with a tucked-in shirt and straight suit pants. Although he was cold in nature, he was a good big brother, because his parents died early, he was the head of the family, and grew up taking care of the younger generation, so his cooking skills were very good.

Xie Xue saw her brother roll up his half sleeves and carry a tray, setting it on the humble little table, and with a wow, she jumped up cheerfully and helped her brother set up the tray and take the cutlery.

"It smells so good. Brother, you're so handsome you're so handsome! I love you so much I love you so much, come on! I'm starving!"

Xie Qingcheng sullenly said, ''Girls don't hang on to such words. It's not like words. Go, wash your hands first."

And to He Yu: "You too."

He Yu hasn't had fried rice like this in a long time.

Xie Qingcheng's stir-fried rice is fluffy and golden, with each piece of rice well-defined - He Yu used to watch Xie Qingcheng stir-fry his sister's favorite staple at the stovetop when he was a kid, and knew that good stir-fry rice needed to be made with overnight rice that was not too wet or too dry. Before the rice goes into the wok, it is stirred in a large bowl of beaten egg so that each piece of rice is evenly coated with a golden brown color.

When the hot oil is boiling, two fresh eggs are quickly dropped into the pan, cracked and stirred, and quickly lifted up. Add more lard and pour the egg-coated rice into the pan and stir-fry over high heat.

But it's not really authentic Yangzhou fried rice - Xie Qingcheng adapted it to Xie Xue's tastes and never put green beans in it - but that doesn't stop it from being delicious, with three steaming plates of fried rice, all golden brown and oily, glowing under the lamp, with small pieces of ham and tender shrimp, and green green onions sprinkled over the top, for a tantalizing mix of colors and flavors.

He Yu eats his meal, but inwardly he plays a game.

He was really a bit tasteless, Xie Xue had been talking and laughing at the dinner table, but because Xie Qingcheng had come, most of her laughter was directed at her brother, and the two of them were chatting at ease together, but he was unable to interject because he hadn't been with them for too long, and had become a non-existent background plate for their conversation.

Backdrop is upset, he has to think of a way to detach Xie Qingcheng.

"More?"

When he was lost in thought, the fragrant fried rice had already been eaten to the bottom in silence, and He Yu came back to his senses and said politely to Xie Qingcheng, who was looking at him, "No, it's not necessary."

"Brother, I want more, you add more!"

Xie Qingcheng took Xie Xue's plate, and Xie Xue said to He Yu with chopsticks in her mouth, "My brother's cooking is much better than yours, it's especially delicious, don't you want another bowl?"

He Yu smiled peevishly, "You're the only one who can crush a weighing scale, so I won't add to the confusion."

"Hey! Where are you like that! You hate me!"

"You're the one who first thought I didn't cook as well as him-"

As the two were fooling around, Xie Qingcheng's voice came from the kitchen, "Xie Xue, what are you doing putting buckets of water in here?"

"Oh." Xie Xue immediately stopped playing around with He Yu, as if the person she was laughing and joking with just now wasn't her, and sat down with a straight face and said, "The school said that the dormitory will have to stop the water supply tomorrow, so I have a bucket of water in reserve, but the kitchen is too small, and putting it in other places will get in the way, so I can only put it on the chest of drawers first."

"If you put it this high, what if you push the door and don't pay attention and it falls?"

The dumbass said, "Gee, brother, you don't have to worry about it, it's fine."

The speaker has no intention, the listener has a heart, keen on pulling the braids of favorite girls He Yu listened to the two of them, the pair of beautiful innocent almond eyes swept toward the kitchen, suddenly gave birth to a very bad damage trick in his heart ......

When the three of them have dinner, Xie Qingcheng doesn't like to clean up, so He Yu, as a superficially gentle, reliable and excellent boy, naturally takes the initiative to wash the dishes and brush the pots and pans.

"Want some help?" Xie Xue asked.

"I'll call you later if I need you." He Yu smirked, turned to the kitchen, and closed the door behind him.

His smile disappeared as soon as the door closed.

He Yu began to scrutinize the angles, and he started by moving the bucket of water resting on the five-drawer cupboard outward a bit, to a position where the door would open just enough to knock it over.

Then, calmly, he found the hair dryer Xie Xue had put on the second shelf of the chest of drawers, and without blinking, he put it in the sink and turned on the faucet.

"Wow..."

The high-end hair dryer that Xie Xue had spent half a month's salary on was just washed down into a pile of useless junk by her unsuspecting Mr. He.

That's good.

He Yu calmly dried the hair dryer and stuffed it back into the cabinet.

End of prep work.

He glanced motionlessly through the doorway at the girl who was joking with Xie Qingcheng, turned back to pull up the sleeves of his white shirt, and quietly unscrewed the faucet and began pouring detergent to brush the dishes.

That's a good guy! A good young man!

However, presumably there is always retribution for doing too much evil.

Just when He Yu had finished planning and preparing for all these actions, and had just shaken off the water droplets on his hands and was ready to let the heroine in to accept this "coincidence" encounter he had planned, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from outside the kitchen. He Yu immediately turned around and saw a tall and upright man's figure reflected in the frosted glass.

He Yu opened his almond eyes wide, and before he could stop himself, he heard Xie Qingcheng say from outside, "He Yu, I'll come in and wash my hands."

"Wait--"

No sooner had the half-word been uttered than there was a startling noise, and the bucket which He Yu had purposely rested on the rim of the chest of drawers swayed round and round, and--

"Wow!"

The bucket full of water, the water that should have fallen on Xie Xue's head according to He Yu's plan, just like this straightly smashed down on Xie Qingcheng's handsome face!

Fuck!

Not a fucking drop was wasted!

He Yu: "......"

Xie Qingcheng : "......"

Splashing water, full of mess, the merit bucket bone rolling back and forth around Xie Qingcheng from head to wet shoes, and finally the boss walking like, slowly rolled to the outside of the living room, in front of Xie Xue's slippers, who rushed to the door at the sound of the horror, and contentedly stopped.

Xie Xue witnessed the whole thing outside and was shaking with fear.

It's over ......

It's fucking over, it's over, it's over!

Xie Xue watched as her big brother, drenched to the skin, slowly turned his head towards himself, his already fair face looking even more jade-white in complexion and dark in brow under the wash of a vat of heavenly rains, his damp, broken hair hanging down in front of his forehead, dripping water droplets downwards. The water droplets passed through his eyebrows and flowed into his eyes that widened in disbelief, and he subconsciously squinted for a moment before returning to his senses.

"Xie Xue!!!"

Xie Xue shivered and shrunk herself in fear.

Xie Qingcheng shook off her dripping frontal hair and fumed, "I told you not to put the bucket on the five-drawer cabinet!!!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Xie Xue shivering ran in, and took a mop and paper towels, while handing the paper towels to her brother, while going to the five-drawer cabinet to rummage for a hair dryer, "Brother, I didn't expect it to fall down ...... obviously just went in and out and it's fine ah ... ...You blow dry your hair first, don't catch a cold."

He Yu blinked his gentle almond eyes sheepishly from behind.

Xie Xue pulled Xie Qingcheng into the living room and unknowingly rummaged through the hair dryer that He Yu had drenched with water until it was scrapped, hooked it up to the electric panel, and flicked the switch.

No movement.

"Huh?"

Press again.

Still no movement.

"......"

Press repeatedly.

"...... Brother." Xie Xue looked at her brother's face that was so gloomy that she almost felt like she was about to die, and said in a trembling voice, "The blow, blow dryer seems to be broken ......"

Xie Qingcheng, looking through icy peach eyes, said, "Is this the hair dryer you told me you paid four grand for earlier?"

Xie Xue almost fell to her knees.

How could she be so unlucky!!!!

Originally Xie Qingcheng did not understand why she wanted to buy a hair dryer more expensive than an ordinary TV set, then she scolded a bloody head, thanks to her repeated explanation of how good this machine, how much can care for the hair, the key is the quality of excellent, with a twenty years will not be bad.

"I swear, I'll use this one hair dryer for twenty years! Otherwise you can just cut off my head for the IQ tax!"

At that time, the words were still in her ears, Xie Xue, under Xie Qingcheng's chilling gaze, only felt a chill on her neck, and couldn't help but take a step back, raising her hand to cover her pretty neck.

When Xie Xue was at a loss for what to do, she caught a glimpse of He Yu wiping his hands clean and coming out of the kitchen in human form. She was struck by an idea, and as if she had seen a god saving her life, she ran towards He Yu crying and shouting, "He Yu! My hair dryer is broken! Who knew it would be such bad luck! Do you have a change of clothes in your dormitory? Do you have a hair dryer? Can you bring my brother over to change? Thank you, teacher!"

"......"

And acting so polite in front of her brother.

He Yu smiled and was very cooperative, "Mr. Xie, you're really too much of a stranger."

Eyes turn to Xie Qingcheng.

Xie Qingcheng leaned back on the sofa, his stern jaw line was still dripping water, his casual gray shirt was completely wet, the fabric was close to his skin, and you could see the outline of his chest, as well as his thin waist - at this moment he was staring at Xie Xue with a sideways head, slanting his eyes, and his thin lips pursed slightly, staring at him in a gloomy manner. He was staring at Xie Xue with a grim expression, as if he was ready to euthanize this loser sister in a righteous manner.

He Yu looked at him and felt a slight headache.

In his original plan, the person who ended up soaking wet and desperate to go back to the dormitory with him to blow-dry his hair should be Xie Xue.

How did Xie Qingcheng become Xie Qingcheng by mistake?

He was a straight man of steel and hated doctors, and did not welcome old man Xie Qingcheng to his dormitory at all.

But there is no way, wood has become a boat, Xie Qingcheng has been made into this mess by him, Xie Xue has already opened his mouth to ask for help, he can only sigh softly, walked to Xie Qingcheng face, to the doctor sitting on the sofa with a gloomy expression, said:

"You're soaked, so don't stare, Dr. Xie, come back with me to change a set of clothes? My dormitory is not far from here, just ten minutes away. Let's go."

.

Huzhou University College of Fine Arts boys dormitory is a four-person one, He Yu took Xie Qingcheng back to the time, it is the dinner time, roommates are out to forage for food to go, there is no one else in the house.

"Wear this." He Yu took a clean set of clothes and pants from the closet and handed them to Xie Qingcheng.

Xie Qingcheng looked disgusted, "Sports T-shirt?"

"What's wrong?"

What's wrong with that, these kind of clothes are only worn by boys during their study period, he wore these kind of styles more than ten years ago and twenty years ago, he can't even remember what he used to look like with these kind of clothes on, it doesn't suit him at all now.

"You gave me a shirt."

"Gee, I'm really sorry Dr. Xie, you don't get to pick." He Yu laughed a little, but at the moment Xie Xue wasn't there, so he stopped pretending.

His smile was suddenly as perfunctory and light as a piece of gauze, the bottom of his eyes were dark and heavy, there was no feeling of sincerity, and the way he spoke to Xie Qingcheng was no longer so courteous: "Here I am, there's really only this one that's the right size for you, and you're wearing a shirt that's too big for me."

Xie Qingcheng lifted his eyes, and his gaze traveled through the wet forehead hair that pricked in front of his eyes, and landed on He Yu's face.

After He Yu wiped off the pretense of politeness, the teasing at the corners of his lips became obvious, and when he met Xie Qingcheng's gaze, he raised his eyebrows slightly, "No? You'll have to go out naked if you don't."

"......"

Xie Qingcheng yanked the change of clothes from his hand hard and went to the bathroom with a stern face.

He Yu stood outside the bathroom waiting for him to change, and suddenly thought that this scene looked familiar ......

He struck up a conversation with the man inside through the hairy glass door, "By the way Dr. Shea, I suddenly remembered something from before."

"Do you remember the year I went to your college dorm-"

"Don't remember, fuck off."

He Yu laughed. Before he could finish his sentence, Xie Qingcheng denied it outright, so what was the difference between that and a categorical admission?

Xie Qingcheng clearly remembers the old grudge as well as he does.

Even a piece of clothing is his revenge on Xie Qingcheng after many years.

I'm actually kind of happy to think about it that way... that's probably what it feels like to roll over after years?

"Then hurry up." Without Xie Xue around, He Yu's tail almost couldn't hide in front of Xie Qingcheng, he smiled and leaned towards the bathroom door, his arms wrapped around his body, a hint of uncontrollable gangsterism almost exuding from his voice, he flexed his forefinger and tapped on the frosted glass, "After we change, we still have to go back to look for your sister."

A few minutes later, Xie Qingcheng aggressively pushed the door out, thumped into He Yu, and even nearly toppled the man to the ground.

He Yu, caught off guard, stifled a grunt and bowed over his nose.

Xie Qingcheng raised his eyes indifferently, "Why are you so close."

He Yu was in pain and completely did not want to pretend, "...... Xie Qingcheng, are you being reasonable? It was you who bumped into it."

When he's in the mood, he still calls Xie Qingcheng by his full name in private.

Xie Qingcheng paused, "Go get an ice pack."

"Where can I find ice?" He Yu took his hand away from the bridge of his bumped red nose and rubbed it, barely suppressing his anger, but he still couldn't help but contradict him, "You look pretty much like ice to me, so just take your hand and put it on me."

Xie Qingcheng imagined that image and coldly gave a succinct comment, "Too gay. i'm homophobic."

He said as he pushed his chest away and walked around into the dormitory, looking around.

He Yu was rendered speechless by him as well, "What are you talking about, I didn't mean that, you're homophobic I'm more homophobic than you are ......"

"Where's the hair dryer?" Xie Qingcheng didn't have to grace the boys with an explanation. He didn't bother to listen either.

"...... on the bench."

Xie Qingcheng plugged in the terminal board to blow-dry his hair, He Yu stood on the balcony, still a little unhappy, he stared at Xie Qingcheng blow-drying his hair from afar, really do not know why such a person is Xie Xue's own brother.

Xie Xue looks up to her brother as if he were her savior and worships him to the core.

He didn't understand where Xie Qingcheng was worth worshipping.

Yokel is just an old man.

But as he watched, He Yu got a little distracted.

He remembered that Xie Qingcheng used to be sort of a childhood nightmare in his eyes. He was always afraid of him, but had to see him, had to be humiliated in front of him, and lost his dignity. Xie Qingcheng has seen him go crazy, and he has also been tied up with a harness and struggled wildly, like a crazy trapped beast roaring at him. Xie Qingcheng looked at him calmly at that time, the shadowless lamp approached him, he smelled the cold disinfectant, and then the needle pierced the skin ......

At that time he thought Xie Qingcheng was so tall.

It's cold again.

The force was strong, undeniable, and clouded over him, a nightmare he couldn't seem to shake off for the rest of his life.

But I didn't expect that, after a few years of not seeing each other, who looked up to whom, who looked down on whom, had all fallen down.

He Yu slightly lowered his eyes to look at him--

What's going on.

Looking at it again now, he doesn't seem as scary as he used to be.

Maybe it is because many people will leave a false impression of some things when they were children, those impressions are made by the brain after years of precipitation, in fact, not the original appearance. For example, when I was a child I saw a TV series, I always felt that it was very long, but when I look back, it was only twenty episodes, and then for example, when I was a child I was afraid of sheepdogs, I always felt that it was bigger than a tall horse, but when I look at the old photos, I realized that the animal was only up to the knees of an adult.

Maybe that's how he feels about Xie Qingcheng.

His gaze stopped for a long time, long enough for Xie Qingcheng to realize.

Xie Qingcheng turned back, cold eyes, "What are you looking at?"

He Yu was quiet for a moment, "See if my clothes fit you."

"......"

"It's really big." He Yu said, "Xie Qingcheng, I remember you used to be very tall."

Xie Qingcheng coldly said, "I don't think I need to flaunt my height and size."

He then turned around and continued to mind his own business blow drying his hair, only his face looked a little hard before he turned his head.

He Yu suddenly realized at this moment that his own childhood nightmare was just an ordinary man, even a little thin, his own white T was too big on him, pale skin could be seen in the hollow under the neckline, like a pool of water flowing down from a snowy mountain, filling in the shadow of the clothes.

Strange, how could one be so afraid of him then?

Unconsciously, Xie Qingcheng blow-dried his hair, straight men are not very good at primping themselves, he ruffled it casually in the mirror, then put down the hair dryer and turned back to He Yu, "I'm leaving first. Your clothes will be returned to you tomorrow."

"No need to return it. I'm not used to wearing clothes that someone else has worn. Throw them away when you're done wearing them, they're old too."

Having said that, Xie Qingcheng no longer insisted, ruffled the still somewhat wet ends of her hair again, and said, "Alright then, I'll leave first."

"You're not coming with me to Xie Xue again?"

"Not going." Xie Qingcheng said, "There are other things in the evening."

"Writing a paper?"

Xie Qingcheng wasn't in the social habit of hiding his personal affairs, or perhaps he didn't care, so he put on his watch, fastened the clasp, and glanced over at He Yu: "A blind date."

When He Yu, who was originally just chatting with him casually, heard this, he first did not react to it, and remained very distracted, and was even secretly happy that Xie Qingcheng finally had the sense to leave, but after a few seconds, these two words finally ran through the reflexive arc that could circle the globe from his ears, and arrived at the end of his brain.

Slightly surprised, He Yu abruptly turned back and widened his almond eyes.

Isn't Xie Qingcheng married?

What's with the blind date?

How come Xie Xue didn't mention it to him?

A myriad of thoughts came to him, and He Yu blinked, grasping a thread from the chaos.

He looked at half of his face sunk in the shadow of the light very indifferent Xie Qingcheng, hesitated for a moment, tentatively asked, "Are you ...... divorced?"