Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 12
The camphor trees on the roadside are lush and green, filtering the sunlight into a delicate and gentle form.
Song Yang turned around, his eyes widened in disbelief, and the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously: “Master, why are you here?”
Li Xun raised his chin towards the carriage and said, “You can’t see this?”
Song Yang saw the workers carrying a latex mattress and some household appliances.
Of course he could see it, but he just couldn’t believe it. His little heart was beating wildly and he was extremely excited.
“Have you bought a house here?”
Li Xun took the box of things handed over by the worker and said frankly: “I rented it. I can’t afford to buy a house in this area.”
“Where is it? Where is it? Can I come over for a visit? I can help you move your things!” Song Yang couldn’t hide his joy at all. The corners of his eyes curved and two small dimples appeared when he smiled. Even his pupils were bright, like glass beads shining under the lights.
Li Xun was infected by his smile, and his mood suddenly became better. The things in his hands didn’t seem as heavy as before.
“Building 12, right in front.”
Song Yang had no idea about the floor numbers in the community. He followed Li Xun carrying his things. The more he walked, the more he felt something was wrong. How could it be that –
The one who was playing with the child in the yard heard the footsteps and looked out the door. The scene froze for a moment. Teacher Sun asked in surprise, “Why are you here, Xiao Yang? Have you had lunch?”
“Not yet. My mom asked me to bring something over.” Song Yang handed over a bag of hot pastries and smiled politely like a good student. “Happy Double Ninth Festival.”
Li Xun showed a puzzled expression. Song Yang introduced in a low voice: “This is our class teacher.”
“Do you know each other?” asked Teacher Sun.
“Well, we are–” Li Xun half opened his mouth, and before the word “arrow” could come out of his throat, someone stepped hard on him.
“We met while reading together in the library.” Song Yang quickly added the second half and tugged at Li Xun’s clothes from behind, hinting him not to expose the truth.
“That’s such a coincidence.” Teacher Sun clapped his hands and greeted enthusiastically, “Xiao Xun and his family just moved in today. Let’s have a meal together. I steamed a pot of hairy crabs, but I don’t think we can finish them. You can bring some back for your parents to try.”
If it were any other time, Song Yang would definitely decline the offer with the excuse that his family was waiting for him to eat, and would quickly run back, but today was different.
He showed a dilemma at the right moment: “I don’t think my mother would agree…”
“Tsk, what’s wrong with you coming to my place for dinner?” Teacher Sun took out his cell phone as he expected, “I’ll call her.”
Song Yang had been arranged by his mother to go to Teacher Sun’s home for tutoring since he was in middle school. He knew the layout of the home like the back of his hand. There was a kitchen, a living room and two bedrooms on the first floor, and Teacher Sun lived downstairs. There were also two bedrooms and a study on the second floor.
Song Yang walked into the room and saw a middle-aged man sitting in a wheelchair. He could tell at a glance that it was Li Xun’s father.
The father and son have very similar facial shapes and eyebrows. Li Xun is better than his father, with a more handsome nose and slender and strong limbs. He can even see what Li Xun will look like in twenty years in the man’s face. He is more elegant than most middle-aged men, and at least he is not bald.
“Hello, uncle.” Song Yang had nothing to prepare, so he gave all the Chongyang cakes his father had asked him to buy to him, and introduced himself, “I’m a friend of your son, and I’m here to have a meal.”
Li Guotao took the gift in surprise. After a brief reaction, he smiled and held Song Yang’s hands with both hands. “Thank you. This is the first time I see him bring friends back.”
Song Yang could feel his hands shaking, not sure if it was because of excitement or for some other reason.
Li Xun heard it and added indifferently: “He is shameless and insisted on following me.”
Song Yang took these words literally, and he thought Li Xun was finding him annoying.
For Li Guotao, it has a different meaning – his son has a rather cold personality and never makes inappropriate jokes. He will only do so when their relationship reaches a certain level.
During the conversation, Song Yang learned that Li Guotao used to be a soldier. After retiring, he started a small business. Later, he suffered a stroke which led to hemiplegia. But he is much better now. The doctor said that as long as he persists in rehabilitation treatment, he still has a chance to stand up again.
“Xiao Xun! Come here and help me check if this ketchup is expired. I left my glasses upstairs.” Teacher Sun shouted from the kitchen.
“He went out to move things. Let me take a look.” Li Guotao pushed the wheelchair slowly.
His movements were not very agile, and he had to avoid some cardboard boxes piled in the living room. It looked quite strenuous. Song Yang was about to go over to help when Li Chuzhi ran in.
She raised the strawberry hairband in her hand as naturally as a chick flying to its mother hen, and said to Song Yang, “Brother, my hair is loose, and I don’t know how to tie it.”
“Uh…” Song Yang had no idea how to do this, but he couldn’t refuse the kid’s kindness, so he took the cute little headband and started to study it.
Li Chuzhi’s hair was not very long, and when it fell down it just reached the shoulder blades. But because it had been braided and then tied up, its entire head looked like it had exploded, frizzy and full of static electricity, making it difficult for Song Yang to know where to start.
He asked Li Chuzhi to sit on the sofa, and he stood behind the sofa, using his fingers as a comb to smooth out the hair bit by bit. Li Chuzhi’s head was small, half hanging down, and looked as fragile as a work of art. Song Yang’s actions were so gentle that they couldn’t be any gentler.
After finally sorting it out, he didn’t dare to hold it too hard. The next second, Li Chuzhi did something that shocked him.
“Brother,” she suddenly turned her head and showed another hairband on her wrist, “this one needs to be tied on first before you can tie the little strawberry.”
“…” Song Yang’s hollow fist was still suspended in the air, and all the hair had slipped away without a single strand left. He gritted his teeth and pressed down on the little head, his movements very much like dunking a basketball, “Don’t move!”
Li Xun, who had been watching from the sidelines for a while, couldn’t help laughing. He walked over and whispered four words behind Song Yang’s ear: “Clumsy.”
His voice was low and husky, full of infinite doting. Song Yang felt a small electric current running up and down his meridians. He made room for Li Xun and said, “You can do it if you can.”
Li Xun raised the end of his eyebrows, and skillfully clamped the small strawberry on his wrist. He held his hair with one hand and casually pulled it a few times with his right hand. Li Chuzhi’s hair became tangled, and with his not-so-gentle movements, his little head shook back and forth, but he never cried out in pain.
Song Yang said distressedly: “Please be gentler.”
Li Xun laughed and said, “Please extend your hand.”
“ah?”
Li Xun pointed to the place where he was holding and repeated it again. Song Yang hesitated for a moment, but still reached out, bent his thumb and index finger into a circle, and held the pile of hair that Li Xun had taken care of.
After Li Xun let go, he handed the hairband back to him: “Just wrap it around twice.”
Song Yang made two awkward gestures, but something seemed wrong: “How do I get around it?”
Li Xun reached out and wrapped the hair from the other side. Song Yang was afraid that the hair would come loose so he didn’t dare to let go. Li Xun held Song Yang’s joints in his hand.
His palm was very hot, and the temperature was transmitted through his skin. Song Yang stood there as if struck by lightning, his fingertips trembling: “Can I, can I loosen my grip?”
He didn’t know why he stuttered.
Li Xun smiled and said, “I can’t tie you up if you don’t let go.”
“Oh.” Song Yang pulled his arm away.
After a dizzy spell, he heard Li Xun ask, “It’s that simple, have you learned it?”
Learn nothing.
His mind was burning like a heater and he didn’t concentrate at all.
But he still nodded dully: “I learned it…”
Next, Song Yang watched Li Xun braiding Li Chuzhi’s hair. His slender fingers were circling back and forth in the hair. Song Yang could see his blue veins, protruding joints, and neat nails.
These hands are used to push the bow and shoot arrows. They have tight muscles, and every burst can ignite the whole audience. But when doing such a small thing, it is a completely different feeling.
Like the breeze blowing through the branches, like the waves touching the shells.
The softest part of his heart seemed to be poked by something. Song Yang secretly glanced at Li Xun’s eyes and felt a strange feeling spreading.
In order to make it easier for Li Xun’s father to move around, Teacher Sun gave up one of the guest rooms downstairs as Li Guotao’s bedroom, while Li Xun and Li Chuzhi lived on the second floor.
It would take a while before dinner was served, so Li Xun said, “Go upstairs and help me pack my things.”
“Okay!” Song Yang grinned and followed him happily, as if he was invited to go upstairs to pick up money.
Many large items were delivered last night. Li Chuzhi’s room has been cleaned up. There are pink and blue sheets and quilt covers, dolls and toys everywhere, and small glass wind chimes and star lights hanging on the windows. There is a warm feeling everywhere.
In comparison, Li Xun’s room is much more monotonous, with only a wooden bed and a wardrobe. There is a dressing mirror placed diagonally in the corner, which should have been left by Teacher Sun’s children. There are also celebrity stickers on it.
The bay window faces the sun and is made into a Japanese tatami, with a log-colored folding table in the middle.
Li Xun opened the gauze curtains, and the delicate sunlight poured in. Song Yang sat on the bay window and saw that the few strands of hair on his head were all wine red.
Li Xun pulled out four sets of clothes from the box and shook them: “Do you know how to put on the quilt cover?”
Song Yang caught it on the other side: “I’m not that stupid, am I?”
“Who can say for sure?” Li Xun smiled and swung the bedspread hard. The bedspread flew up and wrapped Song Yang completely.
Song Yang chuckled for a long time, took off the quilt cover and said, “It smells good.”
After putting on the quilt, Li Xun asked him to do some work within his ability, and he went downstairs to carry things up, and Song Yang helped him pack his clothes.
Li Xun’s clothes are almost all sportswear, even his down jacket is from a sports brand, his shoes are very large in size, and his underwear…
Song Yang didn’t feel comfortable taking a closer look and just put them in the drawer.
“Li Chuzhi! Have you been so timid since you last got a beating for three days?” Li Xun’s voice and Chuzhi’s childish laughter were heard from downstairs. Song Yang was about to go downstairs to see what was going on when hurried footsteps were heard outside the door, coming up the stairs from far away.
Song Yang turned around and saw Li Xun rushing in empty-handed and closing the door.
“What happened to Chuzhi?”
Li Xun lowered his head and shook his clothes, then pulled at his pants: “She splashed me with water from her aunt’s garden hose, and she wouldn’t listen to me.” After he said that, he raised his hand and took off his clothes.
This scene came unexpectedly. Song Yang didn’t have time to retract his gaze and it fell on his naked body, from his chest muscles to his abdominal muscles, everything was visible.
It has to be said that Li Xun’s body is still very attractive. Athletes in different events train different core parts, and Li Xun’s core is obviously in the waist, abdomen and arms. Years of bow pulling have made his arm muscle lines smooth and tight.
“Throw me some clothes.” Li Xun said as he unbuckled his belt.
Song Yang casually found a hoodie and threw it over: “Just wear this.”
Li Xun lifted one of his feet out of his trouser leg and cursed in a low voice: “Fuck, my underwear is wet, throw me another pair of pants.”
Song Yang guessed what would happen next, so he looked away consciously, took out a pair of underwear from the drawer, and threw it over.
“Thank you.” Li Xun was too lazy to turn his back, so he just faced Song Yang’s back, taking off his underwear and putting it on again, and even did it the wrong way once.
When he raised his eyes while pulling up his trousers, he unexpectedly met a pair of eyes in the mirror in the corner.
Like a frightened animal, Song Yang suddenly looked away and picked his fingernails in a very “natural” manner.
Normally, the one who should be embarrassed is the one being watched, but Li Xun is different. He calmly zips up his pants and gives a meaningful smile: “Sexy?”
“Ah?” Song Yang’s heart skipped a beat and he nodded in shame. He felt that this answer was not appropriate and added, “Actually, I didn’t see anything…”
Then, a blush climbed up to the earlobes, visible under the abundant sunlight.
