The summer was as sultry as a box full of secrets. Only when the wind blew the shorts under the eaves did Lu Yang react.
He was usually so talkative that Xin Hexue had to manually seal his mouth, but now that his chatterbox was closed, it seemed quite abnormal.
Moreover, he actually retreated as if encountering a ferocious beast or flood the moment Xin Hexue got close.
It was so abnormal it was hard not to notice.
When Xin Hexue found Lu Yang by the pond in the morning, Lu Yang brushed it off with a laugh. But thinking about it now carefully, Lu Yang was indeed suspicious.
‘Control himself… good brother…beast…’
Xin Hexue carefully recalled the keywords he heard.
He pushed up the glasses on his nose bridge with his index finger; the lenses reflecting a sharp light.
Did Lu Yang steal his portion of the sponge cake?
There was no need to be so scared, it’s just a small cake.
Zhuang Tongguang pushed the door open and entered the room, only to see his younger brother wearing his glasses and pretending to be serious.
“Big Brother, I can’t see with your glasses on,” Xin Hexue said, looking up. “And my head feels a bit dizzy.”
The black, square-framed glasses made the lines of his face appear even softer, diluting the visual impact of his originally overly stunning features.
“You’re not nearsighted, of course you’ll feel dizzy wearing glasses,” he explained.
Zhuang Tongguang stepped forward. Xin Hexue took off the glasses, and when his brother lowered his head, he placed the glasses onto Zhuang Tongguang’s face.
The plastic arms settled over his ears, still retaining some warmth.
Xin Hexue’s eyes curved. “Here, back to you. They suit you better.”
“What were you doing in the room?” Zhuang Tongguang glanced around. “Grandpa bought a watermelon at noon.”
It was time to cut the watermelon, and he had come to call him to the living room to eat.
Xin Hexue made space. On the table was a thick telephone directory. He explained, “I was just calling the town post office to ask if your admission notice has arrived.”
This year’s college entrance exam results were announced the day after they returned to their hometown. Zhuang Tongguang was husking corn at the time and was urged home to make a call. He dialed the information hotline to check his scores.
He had performed steadily in the exam, and the result was as he expected; his first choice was definitely secure.
All that was left was to patiently wait for the admission notice to arrive.
Zhuang Tongguang said, “Mail delivery in the countryside is three to five days slower than in the city. It won’t be that fast.”
Compared to others, the examinee himself was the least anxious. Zhuang Tongguang habitually reached out to ruffle his younger brother’s hair, but the hand he extended was blocked halfway. Xin Hexue said unhappily, “You’ll mess up my hair.”
Zhuang Tongguang had no choice but to withdraw his hand. “The admission notice requires the examinee’s signature for receipt. The township post office knows our phone number and address. They’ll call us when the notice arrives. For now, why don’t we first go eat watermelon?”
“Okay.”
Although mail delivery in the countryside was slower, they received a call from the township post office the very next morning. This diverted Xin Hexue’s attention, so he didn’t continue to focus on Lu Yang’s previous abnormal behavior.
Grandma went to kill a chicken and a goose in preparation for celebration, while Grandpa harvested rice with Lu Yang and Lin Oufei.
There was only one bicycle at home. He sat on the back seat, accompanying Zhuang Tongguang to the town post office to pick up the notice.
There was an uphill section on the road to town. Xin Hexue tugged on Zhuang Tongguang’s shirt and asked if he needed to get off and walk for this part, to make going uphill easier.
Zhuang Tongguang chuckled and retorted, “Then you’re underestimating your brother too much. I was able to ride with you when I was younger, how could I lose the strength now that I’m grown up?”
When he laughed, he looked very different from his usual steady and gentle self, possessing a kind of unrestrainedness unique to youth.
It was only at times like this that one realized he was only two years older than his younger brother.
Xin Hexue rested his forehead against Zhuang Tongguang’s back, feeling the hot back warmed by the summer sun.
His fingers unconsciously twisted the hem of his big brother’s shirt, like playing with a ball of yarn.
Xin Hexue thought for a moment and asked aloud, “Big Brother, do you ever get annoyed that you have a younger brother?”
He certainly wouldn’t ask Zhuang Tongguang if he had ever disliked him, he knew how likable he was even as a child.
Xin Hexue wanted to know more whether Zhuang Tongguang had ever found it bothersome when he moved from Licheng to Lingzhou at five, and suddenly had to take on the responsibility of an older brother.
“Although having a younger brother like me is the best thing ever,” Xin Hexue said, his eyes curving, half-serious, half-joking, “do you ever feel a lot of pressure?”
After all, he was smart and good-looking; ordinary people should feel pressured.
It couldn’t be said that Xin Hexue hadn’t grown up. He had always been aware of his own beauty, but he didn’t show his proud, narcissistic side.
However, catching the upturn of his lips was still as easy as catching a nimble cat.
As he wagged his tail, Zhuang Tongguang could tell what he was thinking.
In a single-child family, suddenly having a younger brother two years younger than him, having to play the role of the good older brother, and having to shoulder the responsibilities belonging to an older brother…
Was there pressure?
“No.” Zhuang Tongguang gave a negative answer.
He pedaled the bicycle, carefully recalling things from his childhood.
Rather than pressure or burden…
Zhuang Tongguang said, “Even before I was seven, I had decided to protect you.”
“Huh?”
This was an answer outside his expectations, and Xin Hexue was puzzled.
“You probably don’t remember; you were very young then, not yet at the age of forming memories.”
Zhuang Tongguang watched the road ahead. The sunlight danced among the green poplar leaves, casting dazzling, fragmented light.
He was also very young back then. Because he could walk, run, and talk, Xin Zhiying finally felt reassured taking the children on the train, and she brought the whole family back to Licheng for New Year.
That was actually Zhuang Tongguang’s first time seeing Xin Hexue.
Such a small child, clean and fragile like a snowflake, couldn’t even walk yet.
Zhuang Tongguang heard the adults say this child could already talk, and logically speaking, should be able to walk, but after falling a few times while learning, he refused to walk again afterwards. The adults also indulged him, and carried him wherever they went.
Xin Zhiying and Zhuang Ping went to the market to buy New Year goods. Grandma and Grandpa were busy in the kitchen, leaving Zhuang Tongguang to look after Xin Hexue. But there were relatives visiting in the living room, both adults and children, so safety wasn’t a concern.
Zhuang Tongguang heard Xin Zhiying say that he was at an active age back then and probably wouldn’t be happy about being left to take care of his younger brother.
Fortunately there were other children in the living room.
Zhuang Tongguang didn’t remember how he got into an argument with another child, it might have been over snatching a small train model.
He was already prepared to give up his little train to the guest, but the small Xin Hexue crawled up, took a few small running steps, and went to hit that person.
How could there be such a brave child in the world?
Zhuang Tongguang lowered his gaze and said softly, “So I thought, I would protect you for the rest of my life.”
“You were never my burden, instead, you were the motivation that kept me moving forward.”
He responded to Xin Hexue, revealing a sincere and sincere heart.
………
Inside the thin package was the admission notice.
Zhuang Tongguang was successfully admitted to the Electronic Information Engineering major at his first-choice university. The university had a military industry background, and graduates from this major had an advantage in entering aerospace science and industry or electronics technology groups, with very stable employment prospects.
When filling out his preferences, some relatives and teachers advised him to choose finance or other “21st-century sunrise industries,” but Zhuang Tongguang considered his own interests and personality and still chose Telecommunications Engineering.
Perhaps influenced by his childhood environment…both parents were employees of state-owned factories…even after experiencing the wave of layoffs, the peaceful and happy life of his childhood was still what he yearned for.
After this summer ends, he will go to the university in the capital to study.
But an express train from the capital to Lingzhou City would take fourteen hours.
So the moment he held the admission notice in his hand, Zhuang Tongguang wasn’t as happy as he imagined.
He thought he would be happier.
But from now on, there would be train journeys, days and nights of travel, stretching between him and Xin Hexue.
For someone you can’t let go of, you’ll think of them even across mountains and rivers.
Zhuang Tongguang hadn’t even left yet, but he had already started missing him.
He pushed the bicycle, his voice somewhat lowered, admonishing Xin Hexue: “After I go away for university, don’t go to school on an empty stomach in the morning. You can’t eat ice cream on an empty stomach either, and definitely not alternate bites of hot and cold food. Keep the medicine in your backpack stocked. If you feel unwell during P.E. class, rest on the side and have a classmate accompany you to the infirmary. Don’t study too late every night, remember to drink milk, and you must be in bed by ten o’clock…”
Xin Hexue rubbed his ear. The sun had tanned his cheeks slightly red. “I know, Big Brother, you’re so nagging.”
Zhuang Tongguang’s lips parted, then pressed into a straight line. Finally, he said, “I heard university dormitories have IC card phones on every floor. When I call home, you have to answer.”
Xin Hexue, who was walking ahead, his hands clasped behind his back, turned his whole body in a circle to face Zhuang Tongguang, simultaneously walking backwards lazily.
“You’re strange today, always getting sentimental. Can’t you just accept your admission notice happily and go to university?”
Xin Hexue asked: “Big Brother, do you want me to shed pearls before you’re happy?”
The sun made the boy’s clear skin glow with a faint blush, and his eyes seemed to be looking at him with some unhappiness.
Seeing Zhuang Tongguang still looking like that, Xin Hexue paused his steps, ran forward a couple of steps, and used two fingers to lift the corners of the other party’s mouth. “It should be like this.”
He helped pull out a sunny-doll-style curved smile, but it really didn’t suit Zhuang Tongguang’s temperament and instead looked ridiculous, so it was Xin Hexue who laughed first.
Only then did Zhuang Tongguang laugh.
On the way back, there was a long downhill section. Xin Hexue said he wanted to feel the wind, snatched the bicycle, and told the unsmiling Zhuang Tongguang to walk home.
When going downhill on a bicycle, the wind pours into the sleeves from the front, puffing up the short-sleeved shirt. The only sounds in the ears are the whooshing of the wind and the clattering of the poplar leaves overhead.
Tree after tree sped past, and fragments of light illuminated the mottled and dazzling world in their shadows.
Zhuang Tongguang jogged a few steps after him, realized he couldn’t catch up to a bicycle going downhill, and had to walk back honestly.
He used to be a child who would get angry if he let go of the bicycle seat for even a moment. When had he stopped needing him to hold the back seat?
Zhuang Tongguang realized that he and Xin Hexue had truly grown up and could never return to how they were.
………
There were several bayberry trees on the mountain next to the village. At this time, the bayberries must have ripened to a deep red, almost purple color.
Xin Hexue took Lu Yang and Lin Oufei around to explore. Now that the corn was husked and the grain was drying under the clear sky, the busy farming season was coming to an end. They could finally run wild all over the mountains and fields without a specific purpose.
On the way to pick bayberries, they had to climb a small section of mountain path. It was called a mountain, but it was actually just a hill; most of the land had been cultivated into farmland, with sweet potato leaves, peanuts, and autumn eggplants planted everywhere.
They walked along the ridges between fields.
After crossing this earthen slope, the bayberry trees were on the other side, facing the water.
Xin Hexue rinsed his feet at the intersection of paths and streams. The bottom of the stream had oval pebbles, so stepping on them didn’t hurt. Unlike the scorching sun overhead, the flowing shallow stream was especially icy.
His toes were immersed in the cool stream water, the nail shape rounded, the instep so white it was dazzling, shimmering with light.
“Your feet are so delicate,” Lu Yang said while stepping into the water next to Xin Hexue, splashing water droplets onto Xin Hexue’s calves.
The size of their feet was proportional to their height. Xin Hexue’s feet were thinner and narrower, and because of his skin tone, the light blue veins were also more visible.
“Got it, Big Foot Yang.”
Xin Hexue elbowed Lu Yang.
Lin Oufei quickly rinsed his feet, then stood at the top of the slope and looked down curiously. “The bayberry trees are over there, and…a river?”
Several sturdy bayberry trees were growing beside a river. From a distance, they could already see the purplish-red berries nestled among the deep green leaves.
Small Yellow caught its young master’s scent, and chased after them.
“Why aren’t you at home playing with Big Yellow?”
Xin Hexue rubbed Small Yellow’s head. Small Yellow just panted with its tongue out to cool down, its tail wagging so hard it smashed all the dirt on the ground.
They reached the shade under the bayberry trees. But to pick the bayberries, someone still had to climb up high.
Lu Yang volunteered, and Xin Hexue and Lin Oufei each took a fruit basket, just right for holding the berries.
It was cool in the shade, and next to the water.
Lin Oufei glanced at Small Yellow, a quite young and agile dog. “How old is Big Yellow now?”
Xin Hexue pulled a foxtail grass to tease Small Yellow, saying, “Big Yellow is one month older than me.”
In that sense, Big Yellow was the true companion who grew up with him from childhood.
“He’s my lifesaver,” Xin Hexue said, turning his head to speak to Lin Oufei.
As people say, children roll over at three months, sit at six, and crawl at eight. When Xin Hexue was just a few months old, Grandma and Grandpa were busy with farming and hired an auntie to help look after him. Thinking the child was napping, the auntie went out to take out the trash. But when she returned, she found that the wind had blown the door shut. At that time, Xin Hexue could already crawl. Maybe he had just woken up and was eagerly looking for someone, he was slowly crawling out from the corner of the bed.
The auntie immediately ran to the fields to call people back. His grandparents reached into their pockets, only to realize that they had forgotten their keys.
At the critical moment, Big Yellow scrambled through the pet door opening with all fours, ran back into the bedroom barking, and the falling child just happened to land on the Big Yellow cushion.
Exhausted, Big Yellow lay on the ground panting, while the little Xin Hexue seemed to find it quite interesting, hugging the big dog’s neck and laughing.
He only learned how dangerous it was when he grew up and heard the adults talk about it.
Xin Hexue thought, if he had fallen and hit his head from that height, he would have become a fool like Lu Yang.
“What are you two whispering about?” Lu Yang shouted loudly from the tree. “Catch, catch!”
Xin Hexue quickly held out the fruit basket, just catching several bayberries, releasing a refreshing fruity fragrance.
These bayberry trees were quite old. They were already large trees when Xin Hexue was little, their canopies and branches spread out in dense layers. Now, the bark was even darker and rougher. It was cracked with deep fissures, prickly to the touch, and there was hardened resin stuck to it. Rubbing against Lu Yang’s clothes, it left yellow stains in no time.
“I’ll have to take a shower first when we get back, before washing the bayberries.”
Lu Yang muttered to himself, while patting the debris and resin stuck to his clothes.
But for him, taking a quick rinse on a summer afternoon was easy, it was just a matter of pouring a bucket of well water over his head.
Lu Yang gripped the tree trunk with one hand and reached for a distant branch with the other, his body leaning precariously, as if about to fall.
Just then, Xin Hexue suddenly remembered something because of Lu Yang’s earlier sentence and asked: “Lu Yang, why have you been washing your pants twice recently? Is it very hot at night?”
Xin Hexue had seen two of Lu Yang’s underpants hanging on the clothesline in the yard on two consecutive mornings.
Logically speaking, the countryside, nestled by mountains and water, isn’t as hot in summer as the city. However, their bedroom didn’t have air conditioning, only a fan, which might indeed be insufficient for three people.
So Xin Hexue was thinking about whether to ask his parents to buy another fan from town, one that could oscillate.
As a result, as soon as he asked, Lu Yang’s voice became so nervous it cracked, “Wh-wh-what?”
Xin Hexue looked up: “I asked if it’s very hot at night…”
“Splash!”
Overdrawing Xin Hexue’s words were the high splashes of water, the exploding water surface, and the swaying treetop after suddenly losing weight.
“…”
People become very busy when embarrassed.
Lu Yang surfaced from the river, doing the breaststroke one moment, a dog paddle the next, then the butterfly stroke, eight hundred fake moves per minute.
“Haha, I just wanted to swim, I definitely didn’t slip from the tree…”
He pretended to be relaxed, swimming on his back with his hands behind his head.
Only then did he see Xin Hexue standing on the shore with a black face.
He had splashed water all over the person.
Lu Yang stood at attention in the water.
………
“Xin Hexue, I was wrong, I was wrong, I was really wrong.”
On the way back, Lu Yang chased after him apologizing, hovering around Xin Hexue left and right until he was almost a blur.
“I swear! I really slipped from the tree. I really didn’t jump into the water on purpose.”
Lin Oufei exposed his act, “Didn’t you just say you wanted to swim?”
Lu Yang retorted indignantly: “Don’t I need to save face?!”
He turned back and pleaded with Xin Hexue: “I was wrong.”
Xin Hexue narrowed his eyes slightly, his eyelashes casting a small patch of shadow under his eyes, his fair face lacking emotion.
By the time they walked back, the sun had already dried his wet polo shirt.
In the end, only half the fruit basket was filled with bayberries.
However, even if they don’t make bayberry jam, it was enough for everyone to have a taste.
Xin Hexue left Lu Yang to his own devices, letting him cool off on his own.
He picked up a ladle in the yard, filled it with water, took a bag of salt, and added several spoonfuls. The bayberries still had to be soaked in salt water to avoid finding a fruit fly larva in every bite.
He left the bayberries in the kitchen and prepared to go cool off in front of the fan.
Before leaving, he also flipped the sign hanging in the kitchen that said: “Lu Yang Keep Out”.
Zhuang Tongguang was turning over the drying grain and, seeing Xin Hexue, said to him: “Uncle sent over a box of passion fruit.”
Uncle’s family had contracted a small hillside as an orchard. Every summer, relatives always received fruit from them.
Xin Hexue called Lin Oufei, and they each opened a passion fruit. After one spoonful, they wrinkled their noses and closed their eyes from the sourness.
After a while, Lu Yang, who had finished his shower, came over, his hair wet and messy, looking pitifully at Xin Hexue and trying to make conversation: “Xin Hexue, is this good?”
Xin Hexue pursed his lips to savor the taste and said sincerely: “It’s very high in sugar.”
Lin Oufei nodded: “Mm, very sweet.”
“Do you want to try some?” Xin Hexue asked.
Seeing that Xin Hexue was finally willing to acknowledge him, Lu Yang hurriedly nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.
Xin Hexue scooped a full spoonful. “Ah.”
Lu Yang happily opened his mouth, “Ah…”
The next second, his face contorted so fiercely as if blown up by the passion fruit, his mouth clattering and performing a rapid clapper piece.
