Lovely Allergen - Chap 5
Puppy love?
A big pot fell from the sky, smashing Le Zhishi into a daze. “No …” He frowned, still holding the earpiece in his hand obediently. He muttered to himself, “I’m not in a puppy love relationship.”
Moreover, it was a righteous refusal.
He tilted his head and looked at Song Yu in front of him. He retorted loudly, “I’m not in puppy love!”
Song Yu remained silent. Le Zhishi could only think about it on his own. He remembered what happened in the corridor on the third floor of the medical center and understood. “You were standing downstairs the whole time, right? You misunderstood. I was returning the gift to her. ”
Le Zhishi omitted the confessor’s information and retold the story exactly as it happened. He was like a kindergarten kid who was obediently reporting what happened in school every day. He described it vividly, afraid to leave out any details.
One reported along the way while the other silently listened on the bike. They drove from the wide road into the winding alleys and approached their destination amidst the undulating sycamore leaves.
“I didn’t promise her anything. I bought her a drink because I was afraid that she would be upset if I rejected her, so I said I would treat her to a drink. And I bought her a coke. I also bought Jiang Yufan a coke, but I gave … ”
At this point, he suddenly stopped talking. For some reason, the more Le Zhishi spoke, the more aggrieved he felt. He thought about the confessions that the girls were discussing during the assembly in the morning.
“Didn’t someone confess to you too? Even if it was that Peiya who confessed, I would still complain. ” It was clearly a threat, but it didn’t have the slightest deterrence. He even subconsciously lowered his voice, which made him sound particularly weak. After a pause, Le Zhishi added, “The girls in our class were discussing it in full swing this morning. Maybe the whole school knows.”
The bike came to a sudden stop. Le Zhishi smacked his lips against Song Yu’s back. He was so close that he couldn’t finish his sentence.
“The whole school knows more than just the confession.”
Song Yu finally opened his mouth and ordered Le Zhishi to get out of the car.
Of course, Le Zhishi knew what he was talking about. “I didn’t do it on purpose. I wasn’t feeling well at that time, so I accidentally yelled …” He stuck behind him like a little shadow. “What should we do now? Everyone heard it. Everyone should know.”
Song Yu didn’t provide him with a solution. He locked the car and walked inside.
She felt that after explaining so much, her brother didn’t seem to be happy. It seemed that it wasn’t because of this.
The bicycle stopped in front of an old grey bungalow. A tall magnolia plant was planted in front of the courtyard, and inside was a small courtyard that had been meticulously maintained. The house was a European-style building from the Republic of China. After the renovation, the decoration was very simple. There was a huge stone that was about the height of a person standing in front of the door. There were four words engraved on it — Yang He Qi Zhe.
This was a private restaurant run by Song Yu’s mother, Lin Rong, out of interest.
Song Yu lifted the curtain and Le Zhishi followed him in. There was already a guest inside who had made a reservation. It was Grandpa Zhang, a regular since the opening of the restaurant. He was a retired university professor. When he saw them enter, he smiled and joked, “Xiao Rong, your big handsome brother and little handsome brother are back.”
Lin Rong heard them and came out of the kitchen with a small plate of honeyed spring snow peaches in her hands. She put it on the table and smiled as she glanced at Le Zhishi and Song Yu.
Le Zhishi was a likable person. Before Lin Rong could say anything, he obediently called him Grandpa Zhang. Song Yu nodded slightly as a greeting.
“Le has grown taller, but he’s still not as tall as my brother.”
Lin Rong took Le Zhishi’s school bag off his shoulder. “There’s still a three-year gap. Le is still young and weak, but he’s already growing very fast. ”
Le Zhishi emphasized a number that not many people cared about. “I’m 176.”
Song Yu, the tallest person in the restaurant, did not participate in their height discussion. He walked alone to the innermost private room. It was a lounge that Lin Rong had specially prepared for the two brothers.
Lin Rong took out a delicately packed meal and handed it to Professor Zhang with both hands. “Eat it while it’s hot.”
“Thank you.” Professor Zhang was very happy. “My wife likes this. I’m hungry. I’ll go back now.”
“Goodbye, Grandpa Zhang.” Le Zhishi took the initiative to walk him to the door.
When the restaurant was first opened, Le and Song Yu were still in primary school. Lin Rong only opened the restaurant on Mondays and Fridays out of interest. There was no menu and it was all arranged by her. Customers came one after another, and word of mouth spread. More and more people came. Many people made reservations a month in advance. Later, Lin Rong opened the restaurant to four days a week. It was also convenient for Le Zhishi, who was allergic, to have lunch.
Lunch was still sumptuous. The white jade porcelain plate was filled with fried golden crispy lotus balls. As soon as it was served, Le Zhishi took one. With one bite, it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It was sweeter than meatballs. Compared with ordinary vegetable meatballs mixed with flour, the boiled lotus root juice had a texture that was very similar to meat. It was tender and fragrant.
“Lotus root dumplings are the best meatballs in the world.” Le Zhishi had not finished eating yet. He picked up a stewed chicken claw and stuffed it into his mouth. The chicken claw melted with the red sauce and thick oil.
More than one person had said that Le Zhishi looked delicious when he ate. Some people even suggested that he make a mukden. Watching him eat could make people eat.
Lin Rong came in with a bowl of sugar-coated lotus root starch. “Was the Start-of-Term Ceremony fun?” She put her hand on Song Yu’s shoulder, but her eyes were looking at Le Zhishi. “How was Song Yu’s speech today? You didn’t forget your lines, right? ”
Le Zhishi, who was eating like a little hamster, suddenly stopped. His cheeks were bulging.
“Oh, I really forgot my lines.”
“No.” Song Yu ignored Le Zhishi’s wink and added another bowl of lotus root starch. “Something just happened.”
The chicken claw in Le Zhishi’s mouth suddenly did not taste good.
It can’t be. We agreed not to talk about it.
“What happened?” Lin Rong was curious.
Song Yu glanced at Le Zhishi lightly. “It’s him.”
“Le Zhishi? What happened to Le Zhishi? ”
Le Zhishi panicked. His eyes darted between Song Yu and Lin Rong. He shook his head in advance to clarify. “I didn’t …”
“He didn’t wear a nameplate and was criticized.” Song Yu drank a mouthful of lotus root starch and looked up to see Le Zhishi in shock. “He was almost late.”
It was different from what he had imagined.
“Nameplate?” Lin Rong exclaimed in a low voice. “Ah, it’s me. I took them off when I was washing my clothes. I think I accidentally put both nameplates in my brother’s room. It’s my fault.”
After saying that, she looked at Le Zhishi apologetically. She glanced at the nameplate on his chest. “Hey, why are you wearing it?”
Le Zhishi explained guiltily. “My brother gave it to me.”
A waiter called outside. Lin Rong hurried out. Le Zhishi breathed a sigh of relief and looked nervously at Song Yu, who was covering for him.
“It’s all my fault for messing up your speech. I’m sorry. I won’t eat the wrong thing next time.”
The lotus root starch was iced. Song Yu ate a small bowl. He felt much better and his anger subsided. However, when he heard the apology, his expression turned cold again.
Was the problem about interrupting his speech?
However, Le Zhishi’s expression was pitiful. He suppressed his anger and asked, “Where’s your medicine?”
Faced with the sudden question, Le Zhishi was stunned. He explained in a low voice, “I used up the previous one. I brought a new bottle today. I didn’t have time to open it when I went to the gymnasium, so I left it in the classroom.” After saying that, he added, “I didn’t expect that I would have an attack …”
Song Yu asked directly, “Then have you ever thought about what would happen if I wasn’t here today?”
This sentence stunned Le Zhishi.
If Song Yu wasn’t here today, he would definitely be in danger. He had such a large dose of allergen.
He didn’t speak. Song Yu said coldly, “I can’t be by your side all the time.”
“Why?” Le Zhishi frowned and looked at him.
The dangerous consequences of allergies didn’t scare him as much as Song Yu’s words. He couldn’t imagine that one day, Song Yu wouldn’t be by his side.
“I’ll bring the medicine with me every day in the future. This won’t happen again.” Le Zhishi lowered his eyes. “I’ll remember.”
Song Yu didn’t want Le Zhishi to keep apologizing. When he thought about the situation today, he couldn’t control his emotions.
However, after a moment of silence, he didn’t continue. “Eat.” He filled another bowl with lotus root starch. He used a porcelain spoon to pick out the wolfberries from the lotus root starch one by one and put them in another bowl.
They grew up together and spent 11 years together. Le Zhishi could completely understand Song Yu’s tone. What he said meant that the matter was over. His heart relaxed. He happily agreed. He picked up his chopsticks and put a lot of hot and sour lotus root in Song Yu’s bowl. “Eat this.”
This was Song Yu’s favorite dish since he was a child. It didn’t need any complicated seasoning. The crisp and tender taste was better than any other vegetable. Lotus root was not yet swollen. It was as thick as a finger, white and slender. It was cut diagonally into sections and stir-fried with dried chili. Before it was taken out of the pot, it was boiled with aged vinegar. The pores were filled with soup. It was crispy and spicy. This kind of summer aquatic dish was no longer available after September. It was also delicate and difficult to keep fresh after long-distance transportation. It couldn’t be eaten in many cities.
“It would be great if we could eat lotus root every spring, summer, autumn, and winter.”
Hearing this, Song Yu pushed the bowl of lotus root starch in front of Le Zhishi. There wasn’t much emotion in his tone. “If you see it every day, you won’t think it’s delicious.”
Only a short period of appreciation would be precious.
If he saw it every day, there would be less novelty and anticipation.
“Of course not.”
He didn’t expect Le Zhishi to refute him directly. There was some surprise in his eyes.
Le Zhishi had the certainty of a child. His tone was firm. “I’m willing to eat the things I like every day. What’s the point of eating something I don’t like just for a change? It’s better to have it in front of me every day. ”
Song Yu’s chopsticks paused. “Aren’t you tired of it?”
Le Zhishi hesitated for a moment and didn’t answer directly. Song Yu didn’t continue to wait for an answer. He ate quietly.
“If it’s my favorite, I won’t be tired of it.” He emphasized the word “favorite,” as if this was an answer after careful consideration.
Song Yu was in a daze. Caught off guard, Le Zhishi stuffed a lotus root ball into his mouth. He frowned and looked puzzled.
“I’ll give you my favorite lotus root ball.” Le Zhishi looked up at him. It was exactly the same as when he first came to his house.
At that time, Le Zhishi stuck to Song Yu every day. He didn’t know anything and couldn’t speak Chinese well. However, he could express himself directly with his actions. Before Song Yu went to bed every night, he would find some strange little toys next to his pillow. Sometimes, he would hide them under his pillow. He wouldn’t know until he touched them.
Every time, Song Yu would take these little toys away. However, they would appear next to his pillow the next day.
One day, when Song Yu came out of the shower, he happened to catch the “culprit.” Le Zhishi stood on his tiptoes and stretched his meaty arms to reach the head of his bed. He put the little train and the astronaut next to his pillow.
Le Zhishi, who was caught, couldn’t explain clearly. He kept talking in English mixed with simple Chinese words. Song Yu took a long time to understand. It turned out that he wanted to give him his favorite toy to accompany him to sleep.
At that time, he refused. “I don’t want your toy. I’m not a child.”
Le Zhishi cried at that time. However, at night, he took the toy and said a lot of strange English to Song Yu. He told him, “This is really good. This is my favorite toy.”
In the end, Song Yu had no choice but to leave his little train and put the astronaut in his hands. “One is enough.”
That night, Song Yu lay in bed and fiddled with the little train with an expressionless face. He didn’t know what mechanism was triggered, but the train lit up and wouldn’t stop. He had a dream the whole night. In his dream, the baby was crying non-stop and hugging him. It was the worst nightmare.
After so many years, it hadn’t changed at all.
After dinner, the two cleared the table and took down the two tatami mattresses in the corner. They laid them down and took an afternoon nap.
“Is it hard in the third year of high school? I heard that you used up a pen refill in three days. “Le Zhishi laid down the pillows and looked at Song Yu.
Song Yu took a National Geographic magazine from the shelf and flipped through it. “I just started my third year in high school.”
That seemed to be the case. Plus, he was so smart. It shouldn’t be that hard. Le Zhishi looked at the ceiling. He didn’t want to go to high school. There were so many papers now that he couldn’t finish them. He might die if he went to high school.
Allergies and asthma didn’t kill him. It would be too embarrassing if he died from doing the papers.
Seeing that Le Zhishi was still blinking at the ceiling, Song Yu put down the magazine and ordered him. “Sleep.”
Le Zhishi nodded and closed his eyes.
Seeing that he finally stopped, Song Yu threw the summer quilt over and raised the temperature of the air conditioner by two degrees before lying down.
Le Zhishi looked very obedient with his eyes closed. Those big eyes seemed to be the only container for all his vitality. Once they were closed, he became much weaker and paler. Song Yu couldn’t help but think of his illness in the morning.
Emotions were saved and would be pulled back to a certain moment in an instant.
Many adults described their children as growing up in the wind. Especially when they hadn’t seen him for a long time, they would be surprised at how the child had suddenly grown up. But Le Zhishi had grown up with him, and they were together every day. Song Yu still felt that way.
Seeing Le Zhishi lying quietly like this, Song Yu couldn’t help but think of the first time he was hospitalized because of allergies. He was so quiet and small.
That was the first time the six-year-old Song Yu realized the meaning of danger.
“Brother Song Yu.” Le Zhishi suddenly opened his eyes and turned sideways. He was caught off guard and came face to face with Song Yu. They were very close to each other.
Just as he was about to scold him for not sleeping, he saw Le Zhishi innocently ask a question.
“What was my first allergy like? Do you remember?”
