Saturday morning, August 9th.
Song Yunshen had a dream in which he was pinned down by a cat as big as a human. The cat stuck out its tongue and licked his face, making him feel itchy and a little scratchy.
When Song Yunshen couldn't stand being licked anymore, he suddenly opened his eyes and found Xia Kening lying on top of him, holding a black pen that she didn't know where it came from, secretly drawing on his face.
Upon seeing Song Yunshen wake up, Xia Kening immediately put away her black pen, put her hands behind her back, looked up at the sky, whistled, and looked around guiltily.
Song Yunshen was speechless. He raised his hand and wiped his face, getting his hand covered in black ink.
" Xia Kening, you're getting more and more arrogant, aren't you?" Song Yunshen chuckled coldly, reaching out to pinch her cheek. "I told you to come to my house on the weekend morning, not so you could mess with me."
Xia Kening blinked innocently, her cheeks pinched as she was forced to lean down. She muttered softly, "You're sleeping so soundly, I can sit on you and you won't even wake up. Wouldn't it be a waste of your excellent sleep quality if I didn't do something?"
"You still think you're right?"
Song Yunshen reached behind Xia Kening with his other hand, grabbed her wrist, and snatched the black pen from her hand.
The next second, Song Yunshen's abdominal muscles suddenly tensed up, and he sat up directly on the bed, pressing Xia Kening down onto the bed.
Holding a black pen, Song Yunshen gestured twice in front of her face, a smile playing on his lips.
"Such a delicate little face, what do you think I should draw on it?" Xia Kening was startled by his sudden action and cried out. After regaining her senses, she looked at the black pen in front of her and immediately begged for mercy, "Brother, I was wrong~ Please forgive me?"
"Dream on." Song Yunshen scoffed, picked up his phone from the bedside table, turned on the camera's selfie function, looked at his face, and discovered that Xia Kening had drawn a turtle and a pig on each side of his face.
So he didn't stand on ceremony with Xia Kening. He grabbed Xia Kening wildly flailing arms with one hand and used the other to draw on her face with a black pen, returning the turtle and the stupid pig to her.
"Don't want!"
"Stop!"
"Help! I'm being assaulted! Help!"
A few minutes later.
The two of them squeezed together in front of the bathroom sink, applying face wash together.
Xia Kening whimpered and wiggled her bottom, bumping into Song Yunshen's thigh.
"You rascal, you're always bullying me! What if you smudge my pretty face with your makeup?"
"How dare you say that?" Song Yunshen was bumped into by her but didn't budge. Then, he twisted his hips and lightly bumped into Xia Kening's waist. "You should find out who started it first. If you ruin my handsome face, I couldn't afford to pay for it even if I sold you."
Xia Kening stumbled backward from his bump, her small frame unable to withstand Song Yunshen's careless antics. She pouted angrily, and while Song Yunshen bent over to wash his face, she nudged his ribs with her head.
But for Song Yunshen, apart from being a little itchy, it didn't have any other effects.
After washing his face and drying his hands, Song Yunshen slapped Xia Kening on the head. "Stop fooling around, hurry up and wash your face, go downstairs for breakfast, you don't want to waste your game time, do you?"
"Isn't that all your fault? You insisted on pinning me down on the bed and bullying me." Xia Kening angrily buried her head in her wash face, not forgetting to condemn her.
"Don't say things that are easy to misunderstand. Was I bullying you? At most, it was a righteous retaliation, a reciprocal response, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." Song Yunshen crossed his arms and leaned against the bathroom door. "If I didn't teach you a lesson, you'd think I'm easy to bully."
Xia Kening had already washed her face and, without any hesitation, took Song Yunshen's towel and dried her face. Hearing Song Yunshen's words, she stomped her foot indignantly. "I was just trying to be kind and wake you up. Is there anyone else in this world willing to get up before 6 a. m. and run to your house to wake you up? You don't appreciate me at all."
"Heh. With a face like mine, there would be a line of people willing to do this all the way from my house to Paris, okay?" Song Yunshen scoffed, turned around, and walked out of the bathroom. "Let's go eat."
"You're even queuing up all the way to Paris? How can you even say that?" Xia Kening muttered under her breath, following behind him.
Hearing what she said, Song Yunshen didn't say anything more. He just seriously considered it in his mind. If he really had to count, Xia Yunuo would definitely be one of the people who would be willing to wake him up early in the morning. Song Yunshen didn't even need to ask; he knew she would definitely agree.
As for Xia Jinshu, Song Yunshen wasn't really sure; he wasn't sure if Mama Xia would agree.
However, there was no need to dwell on this matter. Song Yunshen simply went through the thought in his mind before he arrived at the door.
Leading Xia Kening downstairs towards the breakfast shop, the young people walked quickly, and Xia Kening was in a hurry to play games, so they arrived at the breakfast shop in no time, catching up with Zhao Zeheng and Ruan Zheng, who had come downstairs earlier. Summer vacation had been over for more than a month, and Zhao Zeheng and Ruan Zheng were already used to the girls always appearing around Song Yunshen. Upon seeing the two, they simply waved, indicating that they should go in for breakfast together.
After sitting down with his aunt and uncle, Song Yunshen looked at Zhao Zeheng across from him and asked, "If you don't adjust your schedule today, will you be able to get up this afternoon? My uncle said he'd come pick me up at 1 p. m.
"Don't worry, how could I not get up on a day like this?" Zhao Zeheng rolled his eyes, burying his head in his breakfast as he said, "Just come and wake me up when it's time."
"Are you going to pay respects to your sister?" Ruan Zheng asked her husband. "Should we tell Xia Yunuo not to come to class at noon? I'll take Yingying with you."
"There's no need to make a fuss." Zhao Zeheng waved his hand. "Just Yunshen, his uncle, and I will go. It's not a death anniversary or Qingming Festival, it's just a birthday, it doesn't really count as a memorial service."
Xia Kening sat to the side, obediently eating her breakfast. After hearing their conversation, she remained even more quiet and didn't interrupt.
Having known Song Yunshen for quite some time, Xia Kening Song Yunshen some understanding of his family situation. Hearing that Song Yunshen was going to pay respects to his mother today, she was only slightly surprised.
Then she discovered that Song Yunshen's mother's birthday was the same day as her own mother's birthday, which was quite a coincidence.
Speaking of which, her sisters had made plans with her yesterday to take her out for a big meal this evening to celebrate her birthday, and to surprise her with the new clothes they had bought a couple of days ago.
Thinking about all this, after finishing breakfast and returning home with Song Yunshen, Xia Kening said to him, "I have things to do at home tonight, so I won't be coming over to play games. Don't miss me too much."
After saying that, she stuffed her toes into Song Yunshen's arms.
Song Yunshen took it without hesitation, kneading and playing with it while chuckling coldly, "Who wants whom is still uncertain. I'd rather you come less often, so you don't disturb me all the time." Xia Kening snorted and started bickering with him again.
The two played games and chatted idly, and before they knew it, it was 9:30 in the morning.
Xia Kening promptly gave up her seat, shut down her computer, and left, handing Song Yunshen to her second sister.
Song Yunshen escorted her downstairs, then rode his electric scooter to pick up Xia Yunuo, who was waiting there, at the entrance of the residential area, and drove her towards the vegetable market.
While buying groceries, Song Yunshen named three dishes, then thought for a moment and turned to Xia Yunuo beside him, "There's one more dish, I don't know if you know how to make it."
"What?" Xia Yunuo asked curiously, "I should know all of them, as long as they're not too obscure."
"Do you know how to make braised pork with bamboo shoots?" Song Yunshen asked.
"Yes, yes!" Xia Yunuo nodded vigorously. "My mom also really likes this dish. If you want some, you can replace one of the other three dishes, otherwise we won't be able to finish four."
"No, it's just four dishes," Song Yunshen said. "We'll eat the first three, but we won't eat the last one, the braised pork with bamboo shoots."
"Huh?" Xia Yunuo was taken aback. "If you're not going to eat it, why make it?"
"An elder in my family really enjoys this dish, and I'm going to visit her this afternoon, so I'm preparing some for her."
"Oh, I see." Xia Yunuo nodded, still feeling strange, but didn't ask any further questions.
However, she soon received an answer.
[I should have explained it to her, but I remember her mother's birthday is also today. If she knew I was going to pay respects to her mother today, I felt it would be a bit inappropriate.]
While Xia Yunuo was haggling with the stall owner, she suddenly heard Song Yunshen's thoughts in her mind, and her expression froze. For a moment, she forgot that she was bargaining.
"What do you say, young lady? My price is really not expensive. I'm not even making any money off you. If you try to bargain any further, I might as well give it to you for free." The stall owner was still arguing with her.
Xia Yunuo, however, lost interest in negotiating the price for the time being. She turned to look at Song Yunshen, who was idly looking down at the fish and shrimp, and pursed her lips tightly.
She suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the boy in front of her.
It always seemed like Song Yunshen was the one taking care of her and understanding her feelings. Even when it came to paying respects to his mother, he still had the energy to pay attention to other people's feelings.
This only made Xia Yunuo feel more and more upset.
But since Song Yunshen didn't say anything, Xia Yunuo didn't feel comfortable bringing it up herself, so she could only pretend she didn't know for the time being and continue buying groceries.
After returning home, Song Yunshen glanced at Xia Yunuo who was preparing food in the kitchen, but did not follow her in to help. Instead, he went back to his bedroom, took out his diary, which he had been writing in for more than half a year, put it in a bag, and then carried it back to the living room, placing it next to the sofa.
After finishing this task, Song Yunshen went into the kitchen to help Xia Yunuo, and casually said, "Can we skip the movie at noon today? Watching movies every weekend is getting a bit boring." "Okay," Xia Yunuo nodded, "Then I'll finish making lunch early, and after we eat, I'll play some games with you, okay?"
" Fireboy and Watergirl in the Forest Temple?" Song Yunshen asked.
[I'm not in the mood for that]
Hearing the thought, Xia Yunuo's expression hardened, and she immediately rejected the idea. "Don't Fireboy and Watergirl in the Forest Temple? How about we try something different this time?"
"So what do you want to play?" Song Yunshen asked again.
[I really want to shoot a gun, kill a few people and have some fun, at least I won't have to keep thinking about what happened this afternoon, but Nono doesn't know how to play, so I guess I'll pass.]
"How about shooting games?" Xia Yunuo asked tentatively. "I heard your cousin mention them before, and it seems you quite like that type of game. I'm a little curious too."
Song Yunshen blinked, then turned to look at Xia Yunuo with some surprise.
What's this?
Telepathy?
"Are you sure?" Song Yunshen asked doubtfully, "These kinds of games are slow to pick up, I'm afraid you won't have much of a gaming experience."
"It's okay, just take your time. I'll follow your instructions," Xia Yunuo said earnestly. "Alright," Song Yunshen smiled and agreed.
Seeing the smile on his face, Xia Yunuo also curled up the corners of her mouth slightly, and continued preparing the meal with satisfaction.
After lunch was prepared, Song Yunshen looked at the three dishes on the table and couldn't help but ask, "Where's the braised pork with bamboo shoots?"
Xia Yunuo didn't answer, but instead asked, "What time are you going to see that elder you mentioned this afternoon?"
"Leave at 1 o'clock," Song Yunshen said. "You'll have to accompany Yingying to class alone today."
"Classes aren't important," Xia Yunuo shook her head, then said, "Then I'll set a timer for 12 o'clock to make braised pork for you. It'll take about 40 to 50 minutes to cook. Put it in a thermal lunchbox while it's still hot; it'll taste even better that way."
Song Yunshen paused for a moment, thinking to himself, what does it matter if it's hot or not? It's not like I'm actually going to eat it anyway.
But then he thought about it again, fell silent, and nodded slightly. "Then I'll trouble you."
The two finished their meal a little past eleven.
Song Yunshen led her into the study, turned on both computers, logged into PUBG, and first taught Xia Yunuo how to operate it step by step. After she had learned the basics, he started a duo match.
Xia Yunuo was still a little embarrassed. When Song Yunshen was teaching her earlier, he had been leaning right next to her, his right arm around her shoulder, holding the back of her hand as he taught her how to use the mouse. But now that Song Yunshen had sat down at another computer, Xia Yunuo immediately perked up and started playing the game seriously, following Song Yunshen around like a puppy, doing whatever he told her to do.
Unfortunately, Xia Yunuo a liability throughout the entire process. She was instantly killed as soon as she showed her face, and she didn't even see where anyone was before she was killed.
Song Yunshen didn't mind at all. With his expression focused, he even performed exceptionally well, often managing to defeat two opponents at once and carrying Xia Yunuo into the final round.
Although he didn't get to win, Song Yunshen was still in a pretty good mood as long as he could kill people.
"I'm sorry," Xia Yunuo said awkwardly in a low voice, "I don't think I can help you at all."
"It's alright, just pick up some more first-aid kits and drinks, they can be my portable medical kit," Song Yunshen joked with a smile.
Seeing that he seemed to be in a good mood, Xia Yunuo breathed a slight sigh of relief, then continued to cheer up and earnestly assist Song Yunshen.
When it was midnight, Xia Yunuo's alarm went off. She immediately got up and went to the kitchen to make braised pork with bamboo shoots.
Watching her departing figure, Song Yunshen couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion, thinking to himself, "Isn't this how a normal girl behaves when she first starts playing a game?"
He had previously taught Xia Kening how to play games, and Xia Kening could always pick it up quickly. Even games like PUBG, which many boys find difficult to control, she could learn to play very quickly and had recently become quite skilled at it.
In stark contrast to Xia Yunuo's gaming skills, it must be said that Xia Kening really has some talent in this area.
... It was almost 1 p. m.
Xia Yunuo carefully scooped the braised bamboo shoots and pork from the pot into the insulated lunchbox, filling it to the brim. Then she closed the lid, took out another insulated lunchbox, filled it with rice, and said to Song Yunshen beside her, "It's not good to just eat vegetables. It should be fine to have some rice with it, right?"
"Hmm." Song Yunshen nodded, looking at the two lunchboxes in front of him, his mood gradually becoming heavy. He forced a smile, not wanting Xia Yunuo to notice anything amiss, and after putting the lunchboxes into the bag, he turned and walked out of the kitchen. "Thank you for today, I'll definitely take you out for some fun tomorrow."
"Don't say things like that." Xia Yunuo followed him out of the kitchen and saw him walk straight towards the front door. Looking at his back, she felt a pang of heartache for no reason. Suddenly, she felt an impulse and reached out to grab Song Yunshen's wrist.
"What's wrong?" Song Yunshen turned around and asked, puzzled.
Xia Yunuo pursed her lips but didn't say anything. She took two more steps forward, moved closer to Song Yunshen, silently stretched out her hands, rested her head on his chest, and hugged his waist.
Song Yunshen blinked, his body slightly stiffening, not expecting Xia Yunuo to react like this. Remembering their previous agreement, he couldn't help but ask softly, "Are you in a bad mood? Did you get frustrated playing games just now? I knew it shouldn't be like this..."
" Yunshen, stop talking," Xia Yunuo interrupted. "Can you hug me?"
She tilted her head back in Song Yunshen's arms, raised one hand, and gently touched Song Yunshen eyebrows and eyes. Then she whispered, "It's not that I'm in a bad mood, it's that you're in a bad mood. You promised me that when you're in a bad mood, you can lean on me like this."
As she spoke, she moved her hand to the back of Song Yunshen's head, gently pressed it, and then pressed his head against her shoulder, hugging him even tighter.
"We're good friends, you can tell me anything, don't hide anything from me, okay?"
He placed the bag he was carrying on the chair beside him, Song Yunshen gently embraced Xia Yunuo's petite body, inhaling the faint fragrance emanating from her. He gradually calmed down and felt at peace. "It was my fault, I apologize," Song Yunshen face in her shoulder, his voice muffled. "But was it that obvious?"
"No, not at all," Xia Yunuo said softly, "I'm just smart enough to have figured it out at a glance."
Upon hearing this, Song Yunshen chuckled softly, thinking to himself, "This way of speaking is somewhat similar to mine."
It's true what they say: you become like the company you keep.
Xia Yunuo has been corrupted by him.
Song Yunshen's mood improved considerably.
Of course, he wasn't actually in such a bad mood before; he was just a little heavy-hearted thinking about his mother. After all, the dead can't be brought back to life, and so much time has passed. He had already cried his heart out long ago.
I just didn't expect that Xia Yunuo would see through this. It's like she can read my mind.
Song Yunshen held Xia Yunuo in his arms, feeling the beauty that belongs to a girl. He told her about his mother's birthday and that he would be going to pay his respects to his mother later.
Xia Yunuo listened quietly, and after he finished speaking, she waited a while before whispering, "When you go there today, could you ask Auntie if my braised pork with bamboo shoots was good?"
Upon hearing this, Song Yunshen paused for a moment, then a smile slowly appeared on his face, and he nodded gently. "Yes, I'll ask for you later."
Just then, the doorbell rang. Song Yunshen reluctantly released Xia Yunuo from his arms.
At this moment, Xia Yunuo was also startled by the doorbell. She looked towards the door and pretended to hide.
"Where are you going?" Song Yunshen grabbed her wrist, laughing and crying at the same time. "My uncle should be here to pick me up. Why are you hiding?"
"I... I..." Xia Yunuo stammered, her face flushed with embarrassment as she hid behind Song Yunshen, muttering softly, "Maybe I should go back to the study first, and then go next door to find Yingying after you leave."
"You know my uncle, right?" Song Yunshen said with a smile.
"It's precisely because we know each other that it's awkward!" Xia Yunuo shouted in her heart.
But Song Yunshen had already opened the door and greeted Song Minggui outside.
"Your uncle said you..." Song Minggui saw the door open and his gaze first fell on Song Yunshen at the door before he began to speak.
He stopped mid-sentence, his gaze falling on Xia Yunuo behind Song Yunshen, his tone faltering as he momentarily lost his train of thought.
"Teacher Song, Teacher Song." Xia Yunuo greeted Song Minggui with a blush on her face, "Good afternoon..."