Not as Good-Looking as Our Jiang Yue

When they got home, San Gou was still blissfully munching on chips and watching TV. The variety show had changed, bringing a new batch of young women and a new batch of pale, shapely legs.

"San Gou, potato chips are Big Sister's lifeblood. You've eaten at least half of hers this afternoon. I'd say your hopes of staying in the city are pretty slim!"

"Huh?" San Gou was dumbstruck.

"Come on, I'll take you to buy a pair of pants. We'll drop these old ones off with someone who needs them while we're at it."

"Second Brother, who'd want these lousy pants? Just throw them away."

Jiang Yue didn't explain. He carefully put them in a plastic bag, took some money, and headed out.

San Gou was naturally happy to go out.

He'd been longing to experience the city's dazzling world for a long time.

On the way back, Jiang Yue had already told Officer Han about the pants. Whether the police acted on it or not was out of his hands.

He had provided the evidence and all the information he could. He'd done his duty.

"Officer Han, one more thing. When you investigate the missing Ke Yunshan, make sure you take precautions. Most importantly, don't get too close."

Jiang Yue didn't want to tell the police how to do their job. But if he kept quiet, his conscience would bother him.

From what they knew so far, the danger should be much lower if they didn't get too close.

As for how to keep Ke Yunshan under control from a distance, that was the police's concern. They had plenty of ways to do it.

Of course, all of this depended on Ke Yunshan being someone they could control.

If he really had become an evil entity, Jiang Yue couldn't begin to imagine what might happen. There was no precedent to go by, either.

"Second Brother, it's just a pair of lousy pants. You really think it's worth getting the police involved?"

"San Gou, let me ask you this. If you suddenly grew to thirty or forty next second, would you want that?"

"Who'd want that?"

"Don't you always say you want to grow up fast?"

"I want to grow up one year at a time. Eighteen this year, nineteen next year, and then eighteen again the year after. What's the point of being a useless old man in your thirties or forties?"

"Who told you people in their thirties and forties were old? Who said they were useless?"

"Come on, I can just look at Dad. Mom's been yelling at him from his twenties to his forties. If that's not useless, what is?"

"Besides, I want to go to high school." San Gou, who'd always hated studying, was actually declaring that he wanted to go to high school?

"You? You want to go to high school?" Jiang Yue scoffed, not believing a word.

"I didn't before. But there are hot older girls like Han Jingjing in high school. I'd feel like I was missing out if I didn't go."

Jiang Yue hadn't expected San Gou to still be hung up on Han Jingjing.

"You haven't even grown all your hair yet, and you're already thinking about older girls? By the time you get to high school, Han Jingjing will have graduated from college. Stop dreaming."

"If one Han Jingjing graduates, there'll be countless more Han Jingjings in high school! Second Brother, you're the type who's been practicing abstinence, so quit pretending to be some seasoned player."

"At least I'm not driving without a license like you."

"Heh, but I'm younger than you. When you're thirty, I'll still be in my twenties. When you're forty, I'll be in my thirties. By the time Han Jingjing falls for someone else, don't blame me, Second Brother."

"San Gou, you should pick the right time to dream. It's broad daylight."

"Just you wait. I heard someone say..."

"Men are turbocharged in their twenties, Hitachi in their thirties, Microsoft in their forties, Panasonic in their fifties, and Lenovo in their sixties... By the time I'm revving my engine, Second Brother, you might be an old man!"

Jiang Yue was speechless for a moment. The schools back in town really were driving schools. San Gou's speed was so fast he was practically airborne, and Jiang Yue was struggling to keep up.

They bought San Gou a whole spring outfit at a nearby clothing store. Since it was getting late, they decided to pick up some groceries at the market and get home in time to cook dinner.

The market was always full of life. The crowds bustled, and a lively atmosphere washed over them.

At the entrance, a group of old men played chess while trading insults about each other's ancestors. Nearby, a game of Dou Dizhu had drawn two rings of spectators. Jiang Yue felt as if he'd finally returned to the normal world.

The strange things that had happened over the past few days felt like an entirely different, bizarre world had appeared alongside the one he knew.

There was the normal world, and then there was the abnormal world.

The two worlds had always coexisted peacefully, but over the past few days, the abnormal world seemed to have suddenly slipped out of control, barging into the normal world and crashing around.

Most people in the normal world were just ordinary folks, completely unaware of what was going on.

They had no time to sense the abnormal world drawing closer.

They carried on living on their own little patches of land—diligently, doggedly, frantically, lazily, recklessly, or aimlessly—playing out all kinds of lives, with their joys and sorrows, their partings and reunions.

They bought several big bags of groceries, enough to last a whole week without needing to shop again.

Though Jiang Yue was a bookish-looking man, he was strong and healthy. He was the kind of man who looked slim in clothes but muscular without them—the sort other men envied and women wanted to throw themselves at.

San Gou hadn't finished growing, but he was strong, too.

The brothers each carried two heavy bags without breaking a sweat. As they passed a grain and oil shop, Jiang Yue ordered a fifty-pound bag of rice and two thirty-pound bags of flour.

The shop delivered right to their door, which was quite considerate.

They had just reached the entrance to their residential compound when a bespectacled, well-mannered middle-aged couple approached them.

When the woman in gold-rimmed glasses saw Jiang Yue, she greeted him with exaggerated enthusiasm.

"Oh, isn't this Jiang Yue? Back from your hometown? Come here, let Auntie get a good look at you. You're always at school these days, and I hardly ever see you."

She took Jiang Yue's hand and looked him up and down, beaming as if he were her own son.

"Been to the market?"

"Yeah, I bought some groceries. I'm planning to make dinner," Jiang Yue replied politely.

"Why bother cooking? Come eat at Auntie's tonight. Your Little Yi Sister talks about you all the time, Brother Jiang Yue. Honestly, are you avoiding me on purpose?"

"Of course not! I'm always happy to see you, Aunt Zhang. Why would I avoid you?" Jiang Yue said, at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

The middle-aged man beside her smiled, too. "Little Jiang, why not skip cooking and come over to our place? Little Yi has a few questions about her studies and keeps saying she wants to ask you. You're the undisputed top student in our neighborhood."

Jiang Yue smiled. "Aunt Zhang, Uncle Ye, I really can't tonight. We have a guest at home."

Only then did the couple seem to notice San Gou.

"And who's this?"

"My younger brother, my third uncle's son."

"Oh!" Aunt Zhang looked him up and down and nodded. "What a strapping young lad. You could be an athlete when you grow up! Still, you're not as good-looking as our Jiang Yue."

What the heck, an athlete? You should be an athlete! Your whole family should be athletes!

San Gou hated hearing that sort of thing. What did she mean, he wasn't as good-looking as their Jiang Yue? What part of San Gou wasn't good-looking?

And what did she mean, "our family"? How had Second Brother become part of their family? Were they trying to steal him from the Old Jiang Family? Was this a declaration of war?

"Auntie, my name's San Gou. Want to know why? The day I was born, our old dog gave birth to three puppies. You know how mother dogs get after they've had puppies? They bark at everything, whether it's good or bad. They see someone and just start yapping. It's so annoying."

"Oh? Is that so? Hahaha..." Aunt Zhang was from the city and wore glasses; she was clearly well-educated. She didn't realize San Gou was insulting her in a roundabout way.

Jiang Yue shot San Gou a warning glance, grabbed him, and started toward the compound. "Uncle Ye, Aunt Zhang, why don't you get on with your errands? We can chat another time."

"Look at that child, so polite and well-mannered. So refined and handsome, too. How can anyone not love him?" Aunt Zhang watched Jiang Yue's retreating figure, liking the sight of him more and more. She almost wished she could take him home and keep him.

"Come on, you. You're getting on in years, but you're still so adorably clueless," Uncle Ye said with a rueful smile.

"What do you mean, clueless?" Aunt Zhang immediately protested.

"That kid was insulting you in a roundabout way. Didn't you catch it?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Why would he insult me out of the blue? He looked like such an honest boy, with those thick eyebrows and big eyes."

"Heh. Think about why he'd insult you some more," Uncle Ye said, shrugging before sauntering out of the compound.

On the path through the compound, Jiang Yue scolded him. "San Gou, if you keep running your mouth like that, don't complain when I stop letting you go out."

"How was I being rude? Everything I said was true! Mother dogs do that after they have pups. They just bark at everything."

"You think you're the only one who can be clever?"

"Heh, she started it. Second Brother, what's this Little Yi Sister business? Looks like she wants to marry you into her family! The way she looked at you, she seemed to love you more than her own son. I'm just offended. Am I really worse-looking than you?"

Jiang Yue couldn't help laughing. Sometimes San Gou seemed pretty generous. Other times, he could be unbelievably petty.

They kept running into people they knew along the way, and nearly everyone stopped to ask after him. Those with unmarried daughters were especially warm toward him.

At first, San Gou had still been annoyed. By the end, he could only stand off to the side, sulking like an invisible extra.

"Second Brother, I don't think you even need to go to school. Pick a well-off family in your neighborhood—preferably one with an only daughter—and you could save yourself at least twenty years of hard work."

"San Gou, are you jealous?"

"Hmph! If you weren't my second brother, I'd smash your windows tonight."

San Gou felt deeply wronged. All the blows he'd taken in his life didn't add up to what he'd suffered in a single day.