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Chapter 4 | He became my neighbour / Me and him are within a stone’s throw
[One]
Outside the house, the rain was pitter-pattering nonstop.
It was a Saturday. Only Qi Yu and his younger sister Qi Meng were at home.
Qi Yu was curled up on the sofa, legs slightly tucked, using a tablet. On the other hand, his younger sister, dressed in loose casual clothing, was leaning sideways beside him with an opened bag of chips next to her hand, and would occasionally burst out in laughter at the television.
Not only that, she would kick her legs whenever she was excited, kicking her brother, Qi Yu.
“Damn [1]. Is this person stupid [2], failing even at this kind, hahahaha.”
The soft voice had infinitely increased in roughness due to the teenage girl’s habitual way of using it.
Qi Yu lifted his gaze in silence to look at his younger sister who had “appallingly” [3] “snorted like a pig while laughing”.
Such a pity for the face; such a pity for the height, such a pity for the soft girly voice she was born with.
He wanted to change a younger sister. Anyone would do.
As long as they looked obedient; would pull at his sleeve to act cute; not say “Laozi” [4] all the time, and would softly call him Ge [5].
He could even lower the standard. No gender requirements.
As for this unkempt-haired person in front of him, perhaps he was a younger brother?
Maybe his d*** was too small, hence everyone all mistakenly thought he was a girl when he was born.
“Oh right, Bro [6], a boy came next door yesterday night. I think he goes to the same school as you. He is really handsome, more handsome than you.
The television programme went into a commercial break. Qi Meng, shaking her leg and crunching on potato chips, indicated to her older brother to help her take the coke on the coffee table.
Qi Yu passed the coke with loads of ice to her, “You could have chosen not to say that last sentence.”
Although he disdained his younger sister, hearing that he was less handsome than a boy she had just met for the first time made him very jealous.
“Seriously more handsome than you.” Qi Meng slapped her thigh and sat up, placing the coke back, “You are certainly handsome, but he looked cool, bossy and swag.”
“I like delinquents. I don’t like your kind of cold, hmmm, or say fake?” Qi Meng was caught in a big dilemma. After all, her brother was honestly unfathomable. “You are not quite easy to describe, anyway, he just is more handsome than you.”
She clenched one of her hands into a fist, hitting the palm of the other hand, and in a tone that could not be any more serious, said, “Furthermore, you like to play with the heart of pure innocent boys, in my mind, you are just a playboy!”
The younger sister obviously had no basic survival instincts.
A straight guy [7]. For sure.
Qi Yu expressionlessly snatched the pile of junk food on the coffee table.
“I bought these. Bad mood. Confiscated.”
Who didn’t have a little bit of temper?
[Two]
Qi Yu’s room was located on the third floor, facing the west.
Outside the room was a balcony with a large space, and a swimming pool. However, he had not learnt swimming before; the swimming pool was not that useful.
If one walked over to the railing, the opposite house could be seen. That house had a different layout from theirs. Looking down from the balcony, the balcony of the opposite house could be seen clearly.
The rain stopped.
Pushing the glass door open, Qi Yu walked to the balcony for some fresh air. The environment of the neighbourhood was very good; the view was wide, and one could see the garden and man-made lake.
The opposite house no longer had its thick and heavy curtains drawn shut; the French windows that provided access to the balcony were wide open. He could see the interior of the room — the coffee table on the carpet and several books on the table.
Based on the size of the books, he deduced that they were comic books.
When Qi Yu was about to switch his gaze somewhere else, a tall and lean figure appeared in his vision.
The teenager was wiping his dripping wet hair while drinking a packet of milk. Around his hips, wrapped loosely, was a grey coloured towel.
As the teenager made movements to walk forward, it was swaying dangerously, about to fall.
Qi Yu could not help but narrow his eyes; he did not even know that the corners of his pressed-together lips had widened to a slight arc.
Perhaps cold wind blew into the room, the teenager bent his waist and shuddered for a second, seeming to turn around to draw the curtains close.
The other swept a random glance; the two of them, with a perfect height difference, looked at each other from a distance. With milk packet in hand and biting on the straw, the teenager stared, his eyes increasingly widening.
“Bam!”
This was the sound of a door suddenly closed shut.
The normal glass door, without any technological enhancements, had zero privacy effect.
The teenager’s actions were obviously deceiving himself [8]. His mind was a mess, he temporarily did not have the intellect to realise this fact.
Qi Yu witnessed the other putting his head against the door and both his hands moving up to cover his face. The milk packet had already fallen to the ground.
Ten seconds later, the teenager who lifted his head made eye contact with him once again, through the glass door.
Qi Yu thought he ought to indicate friendliness out of respect, hence he smiled at him.
The teenager’s facial expression went from a daze — to breaking down — to wanting to die.
Swish —
The thick and heavy curtains were finally drawn close. Apart from the bare balcony, Qi Yu could not see anything else anymore.
The wind blew the thick and heavy clouds apart; rays of light poured down, building a dazzlingly colourful bridge.
The rainbow after the rain was very beautiful.
[Three]
Lub-dub. Lub-dub.
This was the sound of his heartbeat. Beating too violently, it had a dangerous feeling of stopping suddenly in the next second because it was beating too much.
Luo Shu was going crazy!
His entire body was hot like lava that was about to erupt. Sitting on the carpet, he bent over the coffee table, trying to use the coolness on it to cool himself down quickly.
Ahhhhh, why was he here!!!
Had he been seen?
That goes without saying [9]! He must have been seen. His idiotic manners had all been seen.
Why was it him of all people who saw it!
It was a gone case; he had no more image. Was it still in time to rewind the clock?
No courage to see him in school on Monday.
At this moment, Luo Shu’s brain was all foggy [10], with a bunch of random thoughts.
The clock was ticking by. He slowly lifted his face, turning sideways to look in the direction of the closed curtains, then lowering his head to look at the area above the towel.
At least his body was a little worth looking at, it should at least help to save his extremely dumb image… right?
Slowly breathing in and out, Luo Shu, suppressing his embarrassment, stood up to walk towards the door and pulled the curtains open to leave a tiny gap.
He looked upwards through the glass door. The boy that made his heart beat wildly was not there.
Feeling a little relieved, yet a little disappointed.
Now thinking about it, it seemed he was very calm, he probably did not care at all that they suddenly became neighbours.
Luo Shu suddenly was full of dejection. Taking out the little hair clip that he had kept in a gift box on the table, he told himself a bunch of discouraging words.
“Are you done showering? It’s time to eat.”
There came a knock at the door.
“I will be ready right away. After I change my clothes.”
Luo Shu patted his face to calm himself down, lest the others could tell his abnormality later.
After he was readily dressed and went down the stairs, the Husky that his father cared for immediately rushed over to jump on him.
“Go wash your hands.”
Mr Luo unfastened his apron and used a towel to wipe his hands clean. Seated at the dining table was a beautifully dressed lady. She was Luo Shu’s aunt. Not a blood-related aunt. An aunt that married Luo Shu’s father.
Luo Shu’s father and mother had divorced when he was 7 years old. It was no big conflict. A peaceful divorce.
Only because they had no more feelings for each other and did not wish to live together every day anymore, they had divorced.
Being their son, Luo Shu only found out when he was in the second year of middle school. He always thought that his parents were busy with their own careers, hence they lived separately long term, never doubting that they already divorced early on.
This was the start of his terrible rebellious period.
But no matter how unhappy he was, he eventually accepted this fact.
Ever since his parents had come clean with him, he took turns staying in their houses for alternate semesters. For the summer and winter breaks, it was alright for him to not stay in either house.
This semester, he needed to stay with his father. Just yesterday night, he had packed his luggage and moved in; he never imagined next door to be Qi Yu’s house.
The last time he came here, the neighbouring house had been empty ever since the family that lived there emigrated.
Eating his meal, Luo Shu’s feelings were a lot calmer; his heart could not help but bubble with happiness.
At school, they were desk mates. Now their houses were also near each other. As the saying goes, the balcony near the water gets the moonlight first [11]. He could give it another try.
Luo Shu’s ability to withstand discouragement was quite strong. His confession being rejected was not a big deal, at most he could just try harder.
After all, as long as the other did not have a person that he liked, or was against him going near, he did not mind the number of times he needed to confess.
“Bu Bu, a penny for your thoughts? Something good?”
Cao Min saw the boy sitting opposite had the corners of his lips upturned high. She could not help but smile knowingly.
Luo Shu’s nickname was Luo Xiao Bu [12]. Because Mr Luo had called him that all the time, Cao Min also followed in calling him that.
Cao Min did not have a child and did not plan on having a child to give herself security. She had always been close to Luo Shu.
She did not think of replacing Luo Shu’s mother but wanted to build a good relationship with Luo Shu. So far, both of them were getting along rather well.
Luo Shu regained a calm facial expression, “Nothing.”
Mr Luo put down his bowl and chopsticks, smiling at him, “You were grinning from ear to ear, still you say nothing.”
Luo Shu’s heart clenched, and his brows furrowed, “There was nothing.”
He shoved the rice in the bowl down in a few mouthfuls, standing up, “Call me when it’s time to wash the dishes, I will go up first.”
“Hold on, help aunt out.” Cao Min stopped the teenager, “Help me return the book on the sofa to the boy next door. Speaking of him, he goes to the same school as you, Bu Bu. He is called Qi Yu. Do you know him?”
“I, I will go to the toilet before going.” Luo Shu avoided talking about it, rapidly running away to give himself some mental preparation.
Going to the house of the boy he liked, anticipating yet nervous.
A little boy that had just started to understand love can get nervous to the point of biting his fingers.
[Four]
“I—am—hungry—”
The teenage girl sprawled out on the bed like a salted fish [13], sending a strong request to the teenager opposite, who was reading a book. Her stomach also grumbled in cooperation.
Qi Yu flipped to the next page, “Mhm.” Without lifting his head throughout.
He did not know how to cook. He should not be counted on.
Qi Yu all along had no interest in cooking, hence he did not want to learn. He only eats; he does not cook.
Not to mention younger sister Qi Meng, as long as she did not destroy the kitchen, it was already something to thank the heavens for.
Mother had always been responsible for the food and drinks at home because she was engrossed in looking into all sorts of recipes. Except for the aunt that came at a specific time to clean the house, their house did not have a helper.
“There are ingredients in the fridge, maybe you can look at the recipe and try it out?”
Qi Meng believed that her older brother still had some flair for cooking. Her older brother was an amazing person, for things that he was interested in, as long as he learnt them, he would definitely learn them well. In comparison, she, having come out from the same stomach, was very useless.
Simply focusing only on Qi Meng’s best skill, fighting, she was also unable to win her older brother.
But the house had never indoctrinated Qi Meng that she had to learn from her brother; that her older brother was better than her; that Father and Mother liked her older brother more. Hence, apart from sighing for a bit, Qi Meng had no other thoughts.
Her older brother was awesome, she also could benefit from being associated with him. Occasionally dealing blows to her enemies by boasting about him. How excellent!
“Don’t want to.”
Qi Yu’s attitude was firm.
“A person like you will not be able to find a wife in the future for sure.”
“Look at yourself before talking about me.”
Qi Meng got up from the bed, took his phone and looked for the food delivery app on it. “Hmph, I* am going to order food delivery, without your order.”
“You can try that. Also, you’re not allowed to call yourself Laozi.” Even though Qi Meng was a younger sister, Qi Yu was not going to go easy on her.
Furthermore, in his eyes, Qi Meng was basically a younger brother.
A younger brother that deserved some punches.
Hearing the doorbell ring, he chose to go down the stairs.
From the video on the wall at the entrance, he saw the familiar silver hair. His fingers hovered in the air for three seconds in front of the ‘open’ button, before deciding to press it.
From the gate outside to the door of the house, the distance was neither short nor long. Qi Yu stood outside the door waiting for the person to walk near.
[Five]
Luo Shu’s hand holding the book tightened, his vision landing on the boy not far away.
Was he looking at him? Would he recall his idiotic manner from an hour ago?
What to do? Was there still time to run away now?
With every step that Luo Shu took, the urge to run away became stronger. He secretly took deep breaths a few times, finally stopping in front of the boy.
Though telling himself that it was alright for his confession to be rejected, meeting him again in less than 24 hours, he more or less had a little bit of awkwardness.
“I came to return the book.”
Luo Shu dared not look him in the eye, quickly saying the reason he came.
When he came, he glanced at the book. It was all foreign language, he did not know which country’s language it was; anyway, in his eyes, it was all random scribbling.
Qi Yu took the book, and nodded, “You hold on for a while, there’s a sequel book.”
Because their taste was similar, he and neighbouring Auntie Cao would often recommend each other good books.
Luo Shu saw that he was still unfazed as usual as if yesterday’s confession did not happen at all.
He was a little depressed; as it turns out, it was only him that held it to mind.
It just so happened that Qi Meng was still upstairs, Qi Yu gave her a phone call, “Go to the study room and bring down the book with the black leather cover, the third book on the second row.”
Half a minute later, Qi Meng with her slippers going “pitter-patter” down the stairs could be heard.
“Qi Yu, is there something wrong with you? Calling on the phone at home, do you have to be this lazy?”
Qi Yu reminded, “We have a guest.”
“I have eyes.” Seeing that person outside the door, Qi Meng immediately tidied her messy hair, showing her rarely-seen sweet smile at the teenager, “Hi handsome, we met last night, do you still remember?”
Of course, Luo Shu remembered.
Remembered how under the roadside lamp, this delicate and weak little girl had grabbed a same-aged boy and fiercely threatened to hit him until he surrendered [15] if he did not let her copy the homework.
This degree of toughness. Luo Shu, a bully who was used to being aggressive, could not help but click his tongue, saying Sick [16] bro!
This was Qi Yu’s sister?
Appearance-wise, she basically fitted what he imagined, but personality-wise, the difference was too large.
He thought the younger sister would be attached and cute or something like that.
He did not expect her to be a female bully.
[Six]
At this moment, the three of them had different thoughts.
Qi Yu: Smiling so sweetly for no reason. Unhappy.
Luo Shu: Younger sister Qi is very strong, very awesome [17], as expected of the younger sister of the person I like.
Qi Meng: Handsome boy is more handsome the more I look. Need to find a way to make him stay and chat more.
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– Translator’s Corner –
Please let me know if there are any mistakes, but there shouldn’t be any major ones!
Do leave a comment if you’ve enjoyed the story, or give me any suggestions!
Thank you for your support >_<
– Notes –
Special note:
Throughout the novel, the concept of 乖 guāi and 怪 guài is mentioned. Luo Shu is 乖 guāi while Qi Yu is 怪 guài. 乖 guāi means obedient, good [boy], cute etc. 怪 guài means weird, peculiar, bizarre etc.
For simplicity, I will be using obedient and weird for my translation. [return]
Other notes:
Will be updated soon!
– End of Translator’s Corner –
caffeine translations 
Hi~ I am back! Am currently working on Chapter 5, which will hopefully be up next week! After that, I’ll work on adding notes for this chapter (Chapter 4)!
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