OEBSAS |Chapter 32

The handsome boy slowly walked over. First, he greeted Shao Xian and the other two in a low voice, then looked at the melon in Zhao Siqin’s hands and praised it softly, “This melon is very good.”

Qian Wenjie finally dug Zhao Siqin out of his memory, and then he was no longer fixated on the cantaloupe either, politely saying, “Since you picked it, then it’s yours.”

“It’s fine, this melon is definitely sweet. We can eat it together later.” Zhao Siqin laughed heartily.

“By the way, where are you staying? I’ll come find you and Du Ze to hang out tonight.”

Qian Wenjie pointed to the houses not far away, “That one, the one outside with red ceramic tiles.”

“What a coincidence,” Zhao Siqin could not help raising his brows, “I live there too. That’s Du Ze’s home!”

As he spoke, his sturdy long arm hooked around Du Ze’s slender neck in one go, and amid Du Ze’s shy expression, he introduced him to Shao Xian and the other two: “This is my good brother, Du Ze, the top scorer at our school. He’s impressive.”

After he finished, he introduced Shao Xian and the other two to Du Ze.

Du Ze did not know at all what their family circumstances were, and only smiled sincerely, “My dad told me in the morning that there would be guests coming to the house, but I didn’t expect it to be you all. If there’s anything inconvenient, just tell me. I…”

“What inconvenience could there be?” Zhao Siqin cut him off. “Your home environment is already pretty good, and they’re not picky people either, right?”

Shao Xian thought the young Zhao Siqin was quite interesting, and nodded with a smile, “Indeed, Du Ze, your home environment is very nice. There’s nothing inconvenient about it.”

After receiving the guests’ approval, Du Ze was obviously very happy. Whether from heat or shyness, a faint blush appeared on his face. “That’s good.”

As he spoke, he gently broke free from Zhao Siqin’s restraint and said softly, “Let’s pick melons together.”

Over there, when Cai Yalan and Wang Shufen saw the children having fun, they did not go over to interrupt them, only watching from not too far away.

After playing and fooling around all afternoon, Shao Xian was filthy all over. There was some dirt on his shoes and pant legs, and his body was soaked with sweat.

The few of them returned together to Du Ze’s home. After washing up one after another, they were all wearing loose casual clothes and sat around in the wide courtyard.

Looking up, they could even see a patch of sky.

Du Ze came into the courtyard carrying a plate of cut melon. When Zhao Siqin saw him, he immediately got up to meet him and snatched it from his hands, lightly scolding, “Your hand got injured yesterday and you still don’t know to take care of it?”

Being scolded by him, Du Ze did not get angry either, and still had a slightly shy smile on his face.

To others, Zhao Siqin was being brotherly and loyal, but Shao Xian, who deeply understood the truth, felt that the air was filled with a sweet and sour feeling.

Although Zhao Siqin of this age had not yet realized anything, he was subconsciously feeling distressed for Du Ze. As a rich young master, being able to be this attentive and considerate showed how important Du Ze was in his eyes.

It was just that Young Master Zhao was still too young and could not tell the difference between friendship and love yet.

But this was fine too. At such a young age, one should study properly; falling in love was truly inappropriate.

Shao Xian did not reveal the slightest abnormality, after all, other people’s emotional experiences had nothing to do with him.

The melon plate was placed in the center of the table, and Qian Wenjie quickly reached out to take one, getting up and saying, “I’ll take it to my mom to eat.”

The children were playing together, and Cai Yalan and Wang Shufen did not join in the fun either, just staying inside the rooms.

“Wait,” Du Ze’s voice was clear and refreshing, like the evening breeze in summer, making people feel very comfortable, “I’ve sent some to every room already. Aunt Cai and Aunt Wang both have some.”

“Thanks.” Shao Xian smiled and took a bite of melon.

It was fragrant, crisp, and sweet, and the juice was full. After eating it, a fragrance remained on the mouth and cheeks.

Qian Wenjie also thanked him and started eating the melon with crunches. Juice flowed down from the corner of his mouth. He wanted to take some paper to wipe it, but his hand holding the melon slipped, and the melon he had barely eaten a few bites of fell to the ground.

Shao Xian handed him some paper. He hurriedly wiped himself, staring at the melon on the ground with a pained expression.

“Each person only gets two slices, there aren’t any extras.” Zhao Siqin leaned back in the chair and poured cold water on him casually.

Qian Wenjie’s brows knitted together, and he looked rather pitiful.

Du Ze could not bear it and said with a smile, “I can’t finish two slices anyway. You can have mine.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Siqin’s face turned ugly.

“If you can’t finish it then give it to me to eat. Why give it to him? You dropped your own melon, who can you blame?”

Du Ze looked at him. “But you only ate two bowls of rice at dinner tonight…”

“It’s fine, I can eat it.” Zhao Siqin said that and directly took two slices from the plate, placing them right in front of himself, as if an animal male were occupying territory.

Qian Wenjie: “…”

It’s just a slice of cantaloupe. Was it really necessary? Why did he actually smell a trace of sourness from the sweet melon scent?

“Mine is for you.” A clear, faint voice pulled his runaway thoughts back.

Qian Wenjie immediately broke into a smile, “Bai Zhou, you’re the best!”

Shao Xian said coolly, “Bai Zhou has a bad stomach. He ate already just now, so he can’t eat this much now.”

Qian Wenjie: “…”

So after being mocked, did he become the trash can again?

He really wanted to bash his head into the ground!

Maybe Du Ze thought he looked too pitiful, so he smiled at him and said, “There are still a lot in the field. If you want to eat more, pick a few tomorrow.”

“Why do you care so much about him!” Zhao Siqin ate melon while still not forgetting to dip some vinegar.

It’s just that he himself did not notice it.

And everyone present was just children, so they could not tell anything unusual at all.

Shao Xian only felt that everyone else was drunk while he alone was awake.

After finishing the melon, Du Ze, as half the host, took the initiative to suggest, “Do you want to go watch fireflies? They’re very beautiful. It’s just that there are a bit too many mosquitoes.”

He probably was not good at expressing his thoughts in public on ordinary days. His eyes looked very shy, and there was also a bit of redness on his pale face.

Zhao Siqin was the first to show support, “I’m going! If they’re afraid of mosquitoes, then it’ll just be the two of us.”

Because of the grudge from the earlier sarcastic remarks, Qian Wenjie planned to go head-to-head with Zhao Siqin.

“Of course we’re going too!” He turned to look at Shao Xian and Chen Baizhou. “Xianxian, Bai Zhou, let’s go.”

Du Ze pressed his lips into a smile, his eyes curving like the moon hanging in the night sky.

Zhao Siqin had an arm on his shoulder and tilted his head to look at him quietly.

“What is it?” Du Ze asked in confusion.

Zhao Siqin smiled, “Nothing.”

Just that you look good, that’s all.

Chen Baizhou lagged behind them. His gaze lingered between the two of them for several seconds, and his intuition told him that Zhao Siqin and Du Ze were a little strange.

Not their behavior, but the atmosphere.

But he could not say exactly what was wrong.

The five teenagers came to the side of a grass field. The grass here was very lush, and there was a small pond nearby, with bursts of frog croaks coming from not far away.

The night of the early summer farmstead seemed like a lively concerto, yet it also carried a kind of indescribable stillness.

The field was lively, but the heart was calm.

“Where are the fireflies?” Qian Wenjie asked.

Zhao Siqin went against him, “What’s the rush?”

Then he asked Du Ze in a much gentler tone, “Where are the fireflies?”

Qian Wenjie was speechless again. For some reason, looking at Zhao Siqin and Du Ze, he actually had the same feeling he usually got when looking at Xianxian and Bai Zhou.

He was always the one silently bearing it.

Thinking of this, he could not help puffing out his cheeks and asking Shao Xian, “Xianxian, do you want to see fireflies? Actually, I’ve seen them at my grandma’s house. Just wait and see.”

After Qian Wenjie finished speaking, he picked up a tree branch from the roadside and whacked at the grass patch with crack-crack sounds.

The next second, many fireflies flew out of the grass field, their faint green light flickering in the night.

It was as if stars had descended to the human world.

Shao Xian had only ever seen these on television before and had never personally experienced them. Now standing by this grass patch and seeing fireflies filling the sky, he only felt that it was so dreamlike it was unbelievable.

“So beautiful.” He murmured softly.

Even Qian Wenjie, the culprit himself, could not help but have his heart captured by this beautiful scene. He stood there dumbly with the tree branch in hand, letting the fireflies fly around helplessly.

Chen Baizhou stood beside Shao Xian, quietly watching his current joy and infatuation.

After being silent for a few minutes, Zhao Siqin suddenly said loudly, “Du Ze, I’ll come live here every summer from now on, okay?”

Du Ze smiled. “Of course you can.”

Chen Baizhou could not help having a thought. If only he also had a grass field full of fireflies.

Then Xianxian could see such a beautiful scene every year.

The five of them played for a while, then all returned to the Du house.

On the way back, Qian Wenjie asked Du Ze, “What else is there to do around here? What are we playing tomorrow?”

Du Ze introduced patiently, “You can pick vegetables yourself, have a picnic and barbecue, or dig earthworms and fish. If you like billiards, table tennis, archery, and so on, those can all be played too.”

“Anything else besides those?” Qian Wenjie continued asking.

Du Ze thought for a moment. “There are some other recreational things, but you probably won’t like them, like outdoor KTV, tandem bicycles, and so on.”

“Tandem bicycles?” Zhao Siqin suddenly became interested. “Is it fun?”

Du Ze smiled shyly. “Those are usually played by parents with their children. There are also couples who play it. We probably can’t.”

“Why not?” Zhao Siqin immediately objected. “There’s no rule saying good friends can’t play together, right?”

Du Ze said softly, “No.”

“Then it’s fine. Tomorrow the two of us will go ride bikes. I’ll take you, you direct the way.” When he spoke, his eyes were full of anticipation.

Shao Xian: “…” Too obvious.

Forget it, let Zhao Siqin enjoy the fun of a two-person world.

As a result, before he could even speak, Qian Wenjie said, “Xianxian, let’s go ride bikes too!”

He was clearly trying to go head-to-head with Zhao Siqin.

“You take Du Ze, I’ll take Xianxian, and let’s see who rides faster.”

Zhao Siqin glanced at Qian Wenjie, who was a head shorter than him, and sighed sympathetically, “Considering that you’re two years younger than me, tomorrow I’ll let you have five hundred meters.”

“No need!” After Qian Wenjie said that forcefully, he directly ran into the room, refusing to continue the conversation.

Shao Xian helplessly exchanged a glance with Chen Baizhou. He did not want to sit behind Qian Layon at all.

The next day after breakfast, Shao Xian and the others greeted Cai and Wang, then went out together to prepare for the bicycle race.

To satisfy his little buddy, Shao Xian had no choice but to sacrifice himself and sit behind Qian Wenjie.

Chen Baizhou silently rode his bicycle behind them.

Zhao Siqin and Qian Wenjie pedaled like crazy, and Du Ze and Shao Xian were no less so.

For a moment, neither side could tell who was winning.

But Zhao Siqin was after all two years older than Qian Wenjie and had much more stamina. As time went on, he left Qian Wenjie behind.

Even if Shao Xian stretched his legs hard to pedal, it was useless.

He did not have much competitive spirit. At first, he simply did not want to disappoint Qian Wenjie. But since the result was already decided, any more effort would be futile.

Seeing Zhao Siqin and Du Ze getting farther and farther away, Qian Wenjie panted heavily from exhaustion and moved forward slowly.

Shao Xian no longer tried hard and, distracted, turned back to look at Chen Baizhou.

The child was quietly following them. When he saw Shao Xian look over, he immediately showed a bit of a smile.

The smile was very good-looking, but it carried a bit of loneliness.

A trace of pity arose naturally in Shao Xian’s heart. Seeing that Qian Wenjie was unwilling to keep riding, he decisively pulled him down and asked Chen Baizhou, “Layon is tired. Can you two switch?”

Chen Baizhou’s eyes immediately lit up. “Okay.”