Translator: Noodletown Translated Editor: Noodletown Translated
The two remained silent.
For Hao Ren, he was apologetic for making Xie Yujia wait so long; also, he felt like he was not worthy of her wait. Therefore, he did not know how to respond to her.
On the other hand, Xie Yujia was asking herself, “What am I doing?”
After putting away the bowls and chopsticks in the cupboard, they came out of the kitchen.
Lying on her side on the sofa, Grandma was dozing off with the remote control in her hand. She was about to fall asleep.
Being considerate as she was, Xie Yujia walked over, picked up the jacket on the side, and laid it gently on Grandma. Xie Yujia had worried about Grandma getting too lonely being on her own as Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang were so occupied with their careers. That was why she made time to visit her today.
Seeing that Grandma was dozing off while watching TV, she could imagine how Grandma usually spent her daily life alone at home. She felt a little heartbroken just thinking about that.
“Ah, did you finish doing the dishes?” Rubbing her eyes, Grandma asked as she let out a prolonged yawn, “Why don’t you guys go and rest early night?”
Somehow, Grandma’s remark seemed a little ambiguous and dubious to Hao Ren.
Sharing Hao Ren’s view, Xie Yujia also blushed at Grandma’s words.
Yet, Grandma had not realized the awkward feelings her previous remark had induced in them. Instead, she further added, “I had a dream just now. In my dream, Ren had a lot of children, and they were all calling me great-grandma!”
“Grandma, I am a male, how could I give birth?” Helping his grandma up from the sofa, Hao Ren found her dream both funny and weird.
“Haha…” Grandma did not explain herself any further. She turned to Xie Yujia who was still blushing and suggested, “Grandma is getting sleepy, so I am going to bed now. Since it is still early, why don’t you two go for a walk along the beach?”
“Eh.” Xie Yujia nodded habitually at Grandma’s suggestion.
“You, you should talk with Little Carrot more. Now that you two have reunited, how come you seem more distant?” Grandma turned to Hao Ren and asked.
“I will. Grandma, you go and get some rest.” Supporting Grandma by the arm, Hao Ren helped her into her bedroom on the first floor.
Watching Hao Ren, Xie Yujia found another virtue that Hao Ren possessed – filial piety.
Xie Yujia realized that ever since the first year of university, it had always been his gentle and straightforward nature that attracted her. It never had anything to do with whether he was good-looking or not.
“Let’s go take a stroll around the beach.” Hao Ren said as he came out of his grandma’s room.
“Sure.” Xie Yujia nodded lightly.
The beach was only a few dozen meters away from the house. The sand was very soft, and it was comfortable to walk on it barefooted. Xie Yujia took off her shoes altogether and began to walk.
The sound of the waves was also very gentle. Moreover, the sea glistened in the moonlight. As they were in a suburb area of East Ocean City, the air was fresh, and the stars were brilliant.
After walking along the beach for a few minutes, neither of them had spoken.
“How did you do on your exams today?” Hao Ren asked. Since he was a man, he should be the one to break the silence.
“Oh, today’s exams were not really difficult. I think it shouldn’t be a problem to get at least a 90 on each of them,” Xie Yujia replied.
Hao Ren smiled helplessly; he would be immensely thankful if he could achieve a 70 on each of the subjects.
When they were children, they used to went for walks along the beach, just like now. Yet, though it seemed only a moment ago, they were now already in their early 20s.
“Ouch!” Xie Yujia suddenly bent down.
“What’s wrong?” Hao Ren moved closer.
In the moonlight, Xie Yujia could be seen furrowing her brows. “I might have stepped on a piece of glass or something.”
Hao Ren quickly helped her to sit down and lowered his head to inspect her right foot. The bottom of her foot was bleeding a little as she stepped on a shattered shell.
“Xie Yujia’s skin must be very soft to get cut by a shell…”
In a moment of rashness, Hao Ren scooped up some sea water with his hands to help her rinse the wound. After that, to prevent Xie Yujia from getting hurt again, he ran to get her shoes and helped her to put them on.
Intently watching Hao Ren’s every move, Xie Yujia was touched. When they were kids, Hao Ren always liked to pretend to be a big man and ignored all her cries. Only when things got out of hand would he come over reluctantly and try to calm her down. Now that he had gotten older, he had somehow become very gentle and meticulous.
“It should be alright. Let’s go.” Hao Ren grabbed Xie Yujia’s arm and helped her to get up from the ground, “The sand gets very cold at night, so you might get a stomach-ache if you sit on it for too long.”
“Yeah.” Xie Yujia felt a bit of pain from the bottom of her foot. Yet, she endured it as she did not want to appear weak.
“I remember when we were little, I jumped down from that gigantic rock a few times. I always thought that since it was all sand underneath, it wouldn’t hurt even if I fell. Come to think of it now, I don’t understand how I was so daring as a kid.” Hao Ren said as he pointed at a huge piece of black rock not too far away.
“I know, right? I even followed you and jumped off it myself. However, I ended up twisting my ankle and spent two full days bawling at home,” Xie Yujia complained.
“Haha. When you were little, you never liked to admit defeat and rarely gave in.” Hao Ren remembered.
Xie Yujia did not respond. She believed that he was probably correct. Wherever Little Older Brother went, she followed. Whatever Little Older Brother did, she would try to copy as well.
They no longer talked about what happened at school. Instead, they began reminiscing the memories they shared as kids. As they pieced together their memories piece by piece, they were able to recall the events that took place one by one vaguely. All the little stories they couldn’t remember were found in each other’s recollections. Piece by piece, their shared experiences became dimensional and vivid.
A light breeze caressed Xie Yujia’s face and blew up strands of her hair. Bathing in the moonlight, Xie Yujia’s beautiful figure seemed especially gentle and serene. It was hard for Hao Ren to imagine that she used to be Little Carrot who refused to accept any defeat and was always sprinting around like a tomboy.
Since Xie Yujia’s foot was no longer hurting, they had walked very far away. Now, they were slowly strolling back to the house along the beach.
When they got home, Grandma who was on the first floor was already fully asleep. Hao Ren and Xie Yujia tiptoed their way onto the second floor, they each went back to rest in their own rooms.
Xie Yujia had not told any of her friends about the fact that Hao Ren was her Little Older Brother. Likewise, Hao Ren also did not mention anything to his buddies. By leaving it a secret, they grew to understand each other more even though they had to act more cautiously around each other.
Hao Ren knew that there were a lot of male students going after Xie Yujia at school. After all, Xie Yujia was pretty and kind. Just how many guys have pictured their dream girl to be like her?
Nonetheless, Xie Yujia had always maintained a low profile and never tried to make her popularity into an asset of hers, unlike Lin Li, who liked to show off her popularity by making the number of her admirers known to the whole school. Furthermore, most of Xie Yujia’s outfits were simple and unflashy, whereas Lin Li’s choices of outfits were usually conspicuous and ostentatious.
If they were to compare the two, most guys at school would agree that Xie Yujia was more beautiful and graceful than Lin Li. Also,
Hao Ren was aware that many senior students on the Student Council tried to find ways to approach Xie Yujia, but most of these guys feared Xie Wanjun and had never openly expressed their admiration for her.
However, it was well-known among the senior students that after this year’s National College Basketball League, Xie Wanjun would be attending school in the United States…
Gradually, the entire house went back to its original peacefulness and serenity.
As the tides turned, Hao Ren woke up from a pleasant dream and realized it was already ten o’clock in the morning.
He crawled out of bed quickly and went over to check on the room next door. He found that the door was open, and Xie Yujia was nowhere to be seen
“She wouldn’t have left already, would she?” Hao Ren got a little anxious suddenly. Still in his pajamas, he immediately went downstairs.
Downstairs, he found Xie Yujia in a clean outfit, the one she had left here from last time. Also, she was wearing two rubber gloves.
At this time, she was tipping her toes on a stool out on the balcony, trying to hang a quilt onto a bamboo stick.
Grandma was seated inside and was enjoying the bread that Xie Yujia had baked with a heartfelt smile on her face.
“Grandma, what is she doing?” Hao Ren asked Grandma as he pointed towards the balcony.
“What is she doing?” Grandma rolled her eyes at Hao Ren. “Yujia got up early in the morning and went for a walk with me along the beach. She then made breakfast for me and even helped me wash my bed sheet and cover. Now, she is trying to hang them up to dry. I was going to wake you up, but she said that I should let you sleep more since you’ve been studying very hard for your exams lately!”
“Oh…” Hao Ren answered dully. Once again, his gaze moved towards Xie Yujia who was busying herself on the balcony. This time, he felt guilty and ashamed.
He had never done any of these things for his grandma.
“Ay, Yujia is such a good girl. Whoever gets to marry her in the future will be blessed!” Watching Xie Yujia sprinkling waterdrops in the sunlight, Grandma praised with an emotional sigh.
Hao Ren nodded, agreeing with Grandma’s statement. Xie Yujia was smart, capable, virtuous, and a talented cook. Indeed, it was almost like she was a younger version of Zhao Hongyu.
“Ay, how wonderful would it be if Yujia is my granddaughter-in-law…” Grandma kept on expressing herself.
Grandma’s remark made Hao Ren feel uneasy. He hurriedly picked up another piece of bread and put it in Grandma’s hand. “Grandma, you keep eating. I’ll go check on her out there,” Hao Ren said.
He then ran over to the balcony, pulled open the door, and walked out.
Xie Yujia was still standing on the stool and was trying to stabilize the bed sheet with laundry clips. Seeing that Hao Ren had come out, she smiled at him.
“You’re up!”
Scratching his head, Hao Ren felt a little embarrassed. “Yeah. It was already very nice of you to visit Grandma. You don’t have to help with the chores.”
“It is no inconvenience. After all, since your parents are not home, no one is here to take care of Grandma.” Jumping off from the stool, Xie Yujia patted down the bed sheet that was still dripping a little before putting the stool back into a corner of the balcony.
She took off the rubber gloves and revealed her fingers. Drops of water were seen lingering on her fingertips, making her fingers look like slender white jade.
“From now on, you don’t need to do these chores. I will take care of them,” Hao Ren said again.
Xie Yujia smiled and glanced at Hao Ren as she said, “You? I highly doubt that you’d ever think of helping out with things like these!”
Hao Ren laughed awkwardly. Indeed, when he came home to see Grandma every weekend, he had never thought of helping her wash her bed sheet or bed cover. It was true that only girls could be so thoughtful.
“I left you some breakfast too. You should go eat it now. I still have some of Grandma’s shirts and pants here that need to be hung up,” Xie Yujia added.
“Okay.” Hao Ren turned around and went in.
A very neatly placed breakfast was on the dining table. It consisted of milk, a hamburger, and hard-boiled eggs; simple and healthy.
“Grandma, I’m going to head back now,” after she finished hanging up all the laundry, Xie Yujia walked in to inform Grandma.
“So soon?” Grandma didn’t want to part with her.
“Yes, it’s almost noon. We have more exams coming up next week, so I have to go back and study,” Xie Yujia explained.
“Aren’t you in the same class as Ren? Why don’t you stay here and study together with Ren?” Grandma thought of a good excuse.
“It’s okay. Hao Ren might get distracted if I stay here.” Xie Yujia smiled. “Grandma, you take good care of yourself. I will definitely come to see you when I have time.”
“Ay… Alright then.” Knowing that she could not convince Xie Yujia to stay, Grandma got up and walked her to the door.
“I’ll give you a ride!” Hao Ren quickly got up while trying to swallow a mouthful of milk.
“That’s okay. You should focus on studying. It doesn’t take long for me to walk to the bus stop anyway. It’ll be a good exercise.” Looking at Hao Ren with her glistening eyes, Xie Yujia smiled, turned around, and walked out of the door.
Grandma stood by the door and watched Xie Yujia gradually walk out of her sight. Suddenly, she turned to Hao Ren, who was still holding the hamburger in his hand, and said, “Ren, regardless of what you think, Grandma has to make something clear! If you don’t treat Little Carrot the way she deserves, Grandma won’t forgive you!”
