CH 5

This fall on the lawn caused Xie Wenkai to rest for half a month. During this half month, he was picked up by a private driver to and from school. During break, if nothing’s necessary, he would just sit on his seat and read a book quietly.

By the classroom window, there is a cool breeze and green shadows; sometimes a fluffy head would pop out, and then Xie Wenkai’s elbow would be bumped by his deskmate, who would ask him: “Is that your brother?”

All the classmates in the class know that Xie Wenkai has a younger brother in the first year of high school. The two brothers do not look alike, and their personalities are even different. If Xie Wenyu hadn’t appeared at the door of his brother’s classroom from time to time, saying “where’s my brother?”, others would never have thought that they were blood-related brothers.

Xie Wenkai raised his eyelids and glanced out. The second their eyes met, Xie Wenyu waved to him.

Xie Wenkai put down his book, got up and opened the window: “What’s wrong?”

Xie Wenyu: “Ge, do you want me to help you serve tea, pour water, or rub your shoulders and legs?”

Xie Wenkai: “…?”

Xie Wenyu: “It’s okay to run errands for you. Anyway, if you need anything, just tell me, and I will do it for you myself.”

As the saying goes, beating is a sign of affection and scolding is a sign of love¹, Xie Wenyu likes his brother and feels that he has a good relationship with him, so he always provokes him, but he didn’t expect that he would cause his brother to sprain his ankle this time.

Xie Wenyu has always felt sorry for this incident. He is naughty and childlike, but he will feel guilty and blame himself if he makes a mistake. No, thinking about his brother’s mobility difficulties, he will come running to the third year high school building to see if his brother needs help.

“No need.” Xie Wenkai closed the window and sat back in his original position.

“Hey, wait!” Xie Wenyu’s face was pressed against the window, his mouth pouting, “I saw that your water bottle is empty, I’ll help you get water!”

This kid’s voice is so loud that even a layer of glass windows can’t block it. Some students in the class followed the source of the voice. Xie Wenkai rubbed his temples. In order to avoid attracting more students’ attention, he got up again, opened the window, and threw the water bottle to Xie Wenyu.

In less than a minute, Xie Wenyu came back with a filled water bottle.

In fact, he is still selfish. His courteousness is nothing more than hoping to alleviate a little guilt, and hoping that his brother will not hate him.

Half a month later, Xie Wenkai’s foot injury healed, and he regained his mobility. The only regret was that his arm was left with a few centimeters scar.

This was when he fell into the lawn, a mark left behind by being scratched by the branches beside it.

Seeing the scar left on his brother’s arm, the guilt Xie Wenyu managed to alleviate a little bit surged up again. He took out his pocket money and asked his mother to help him buy scar cream. Imported ones cost two hundred yuan for a few grams. After buying and using it for half a year, the scar on Xie Wenkai’s arm still hasn’t disappeared.

It was like a birthmark, deeply embedded in Xie Wenkai’s skin. It could never be removed.

At the end of the year, the school held an annual basketball game.

Xie Wenyu is undoubtedly the boy who can play basketball best in his class. He and his teammates crossed five passes and slayed six generals², representing the class from the preliminaries to the finals. As long as they win the finals, Xie Wenyu’s class will be the champion for this year’s first year group.

On the day of the finals, Xie Wenyu asked his parents and elder brother to watch him compete. With his family members sitting in the auditorium, Xie Wenyu was encouraged and started running like the wind.

However, the opponent was very strong. Xie Wenyu was frustrated frequently; one moment he would pass the ball, then the next he would be intercepted, and one moment he would shoot, the very next he would be blocked. The competition has entered a fierce stage. The score gap between the two classes has never been widened, and their grip is extremely tight. No one dares to relax their vigilance until the last moment.

During the intermission, Xie Wenyu sat on the sidelines and wiped his sweat with a towel. Suddenly, a bottle of water was handed over. Xie Wenyu raised his head, it turned out to be Father and Mother Xie who came down from the auditorium.

Xie Wenyu took the water, said “thank you” to his parents, then looked around the auditorium. He asked, “Where’s Ge?”

Father Xie: “He left temporarily for something.”

Xie Wenyu was a little dissatisfied: “Is it very important?”

Father Xie smiled and said, “Your brother received offers from several universities today. The teacher asked him to go to the office to confirm. After your competition is over, Mom and Dad will also go to him and chat with the teacher for a while.”

Xie Wenyu: “Brother has letters to read?”

His parents nodded.

Xie Wenyu let out a “wow”, his eyes lit up.

At the beginning of the second half of the game, Xie Wenyu’s condition improved a lot. It’s unknown if it’s because he had enough rest or was inspired by his brother’s good news. His offensive became more and more fierce, and he scored several goals in a row. The students below all shouted Xie Wenyu’s name in unison.

In the last five minutes, the difference between Xie Wenyu’s class and the opponent was only two points. With such a small gap, Xie Wenyu tried his best, but unfortunately the effect was not good—he was surrounded by the opponents.

The opponents knew that Xie Wenyu was the biggest threat. Three or four people defended Xie Wenyu alone and did not give him a chance to get close to the basket.

In the last four minutes, Xie Wenyu was intercepted halfway.

In the last three minutes, Xie Wenyu failed to grab a rebound.

In the last two minutes, Xie Wenyu was blocked firmly.

At the last minute, Xie Wenyu passed the ball to his teammate, but the teammate had high hopes for him and passed the ball back.

Xie Wenyu was holding the ball, standing at the three-point line, and suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure stepping into the basketball court.

His brother is back.

In the hustle and bustle of the stadium, Xie Wenkai walked towards the auditorium without haste. During this time, he glanced at the stadium, and his eyes happened to fall on the place where Xie Wenyu was standing.

The two stared at each other in the air for a second, even shorter than a second. In the blink of an eye, Xie Wenyu made a decision. He gave up the offense and chose to shoot a three-pointer on the spot.

Make it or break it. Xie Wenyu stabilized his mind, controlled the direction and strength in the shortest time, and threw the basketball.

The sphere left the palm of his hand and drew a smooth parabola in the air. Everyone held their breaths and concentrated, there was a clear sound of scraping the net, and the basketball fell into the basket.

It didn’t touch the rim or hit the backboard. It was a beautiful clean shot that is worthy of praise.

“—beep!” The referee blew his whistle, and the game ended.

There was thunderous applause in the arena. Xie Wenyu stayed where he was, as if stunned by surprise.

He didn’t expect that he could really make a shot!

Not allowing him to think too much, his teammates quickly ran towards him, surrounded him, lifted him up, and threw him into the air.

Only then did Xie Wenyu laugh out loud, knowing that he had won the game.

After throwing him a few times, his teammates put him back on the ground. Xie Wenyu stood firm and looked at the classmates, teachers, and parents in the auditorium. Everyone had smiles on their faces. Xie Wenyu couldn’t help looking in his brother’s direction again—Xie Wenkai was standing in the first row of the auditorium. At this moment, he was leaning forward with his arms on the railing.

Under the bright light, amidst the deafening cheers, the corners of Xie Wenkai’s lips rose slightly. With an inconspicuous smile on his face, he fixedly stared at the center of the crowd.

That’s where Xie Wenyu is.

¹((打是親罵是愛) – Chinese Proverb

²((过五关斩六将) – Chinese Idiom – means surmounting all difficulties