A Round Trip to Love 1: LONG WAY HOME

Chapter Thirty Eight

" Did you seriously fall asleep again ?" Like a thunderous bellow, Yi Chen's ferocious voice roused me from my slumber on the floorboard, "From the looks of it, you were even dreaming ! Is the song I wrote so boring ? ! Look at you lazybones ! ! ! You are drooling !"

I forced my eyes open, accomplishing it half-way.

He got even more irked, slapping me viciously once on each side of my butt cheeks: " Which big brother behaves like you !"

" Aw.. ..." I regained some alertness. Lately, Yi Chen had a burst of inspiration for song writing, and has been pestering me to listen to his playing. Who knew that as I lounge around next to him, I would fall soundly asleep barely a few measures into the music.

" It, it sounds very good."

" Would you have dozed off if it's good ? It's not a freaking lullaby !"

".............." I scratched my head, feeling remorseful, " I am tired.........."

Yi Chen laid down his guitar in a languid manner to stroke my face: "Tired again ? Brother you look really pale and unwell........ since the day you came you have been so listless. Hey, I bought so much good stuff for you to eat, when can you recover some vitality ?"

" Seriously though, you really scared me that day, did you get mugged? Your clothes were torn, there were scary red streaks across your face............" As he was once again reminded of the episode, his eyebrows raised in fury, " Where were your brains? ! You did not have a dime on you and didn't think of giving me a call, I would have transferred some to you right away? ! So many hours of train journey and you could not even get yourself a drop of water to drink, what would I do if you died on the train? You left to Shanghai without a word, and did not give me any advance notice that you are returning, only giving me a call when you have arrived at the train station. Your call frightened me so much that I had to crawl out through the back door in the middle of class... ... when I saw you I thought I saw a ghost... .... What exactly were you up to in Shanghai? To land yourself in such a destitute state ?"

I used up every dollar left in my wallet to purchase a one-way ticket to Xiamen. Besides relying on Yi Chen, I could not think of a second person.

In this whole wide world, he is the only one who never stopped loving me.

Thankfully, Qin Lang is not around and Yi Chen does not bring him up, almost as if this man never existed in my lives, so I could continue to deceive myself and settle there peacefully.

I share a bed with Yi Chen, we eat out of the same pot, read the same book spread out on the floor, just like how we spent our childhood.

Yi Chen's body is very warm, he remembers that his brother has a chronic intolerance to the winter cold. He would tuck my feet that were numbed from the cold into the folds of his legs to defrost them, hugging me so tightly there are no gaps between us, and allow me to dig my hands under his arms for more warmth. We were so close it is as if we were not grown ups now, and those distressing incidents and disagreements in the past decade or so never happened.

" Brother, could it be you owe money to loansharks, and only just managed to escape back here with your life ?"

Yi Chen is excellent in every way, only at times living in his cloud-cuckoo land.

I yawned, ignoring him.

" If you are really in debt, I will give you the money, I have a part-time job, and saved up quite a bit."

He said "give", and not "lend". Yi Chen is such a naive individual, unfailingly blunt and cordial towards both people and handling affairs. It is precisely this, that makes him so much more adorable, and blessed than me.

" If the amount is not enough, I can take on another job helping a friend at a retail shop... ..."

I pinched his nose affectionately: " I love you, Yi Chen."

That idiot froze for a moment, his face actually turned bright red: " Bro, Brother, we cannot engage in incest, Mom and Dad will go crazy... ..."

What, what the fuck, trust me to be in a sentimental mood and he had to ruin it. I kicked his butt: " Get lost, you wish! !"

" Bro, I'm hungry."

" You can't be serious, you just had dinner two hours ago !" Good thing I did not dispose the leftover rice, " I'll make you some egg fried rice, you can wash up the dishes later."

Yi Chen let out a cheer, hop into the kitchen, took a bowl and a pair of chopsticks, displayed it neatly on the dining table and sat down waiting for his fried rice.

The set of hand-me-down kitchen utensils has finally seen the light of day since the day I arrived. A cold bento meal eaten during winter always sits uncomfortably in the pit of the stomach like a block of ice. I would much rather take the effort to make freshly cooked food, even if it is burnt, you still get a hot meal.

I discovered that I am exceptionally sensitive to the cold.

Just when I turned off the gas on the stove, followed by the kitchen lights, and got ready to serve the rice, I heard knocking on the door. Yi Chen dragged his feet reluctantly to the door: " Who's here in this cold weather... ..."

" You... ..." Yi Chen jolted in grave shock while the uninvited guest had already pushed his way into the living room. He hurriedly regained some composure, "Why are you here ? ! ! What are you here for ?"

" Did your brother come by ?"

Lu Feng !