CH 53.3

You’re Nicer to Me (3)

Qin Yuan stood at the elevator exit and opened the lock, looking at the slightly dazed Ruan Qingmu. “We’re here.”

Ruan Qignmu let out an “oh” and finally came back to reality.

The little mute stood behind him and shyly stopped at the entrance, not daring to enter.

He grew up in the village and had never seen this kind of wealth before. The smooth floor was shiny, the large sofa was soft and grand, and the dining room table was set with snow-white calla lilies. It was bigger than any dining table he had ever seen in his life.

Ruan Qingmu entered the room first, placing his bag, and the lunch box in a flurry of activity. “Oh right. Should I change his shoes?”

Qin Yuan looked at the little mute’s cowering look and extended his arm, hugging him inside the door. “No need. There are no slippers for children. Don’t make him feel uncomfortable.”

The little mute restlessly twisted in his embrace. Ruan Qingmu, who looked at him, felt distressed about Qin Yuan’s foot and hurried to make a stern face to scare him. “Don’t move!”

Qin Yuan put the little guy on the sofa and settled him down. “What is he called? He shouldn’t always be called the little mute.”

“His surname is Zhuang, and his name is Xiao-Zhuang*. His sister said the villagers would choose a humble name and hoped the child would become strong like a small tree stump.

*T/N: His surname is 庄, and his name 桩 (a different character) which takes on the meaning of a tree stump.

Qin Yuan picked up a bunch of sparkling glass crisp grapes from the coffee table and placed them in front of Xiao-Zhuang, gesturing for him to eat.

Xiao-Zhuang blankly stared at him but didn’t reach out for it.

Ruan Qingmu walked over and personally pulled off a few grapes and handed them to the little guy’s mouth.

This time, the little mute finally opened his mouth and took them. When they entered his mouth, his eyes shyly brightened up.

After all, it was an expensive type of grapes from Xinjiang’s Huoyan Mountain and was flown here to maintain its freshness. It had been taken out from the fridge for a while, slightly cooled but wouldn’t chill the mouth. Now was the best time for it to be eaten.

“He won’t eat the things others give him but not because of a good upbringing.” Ruan Qingmu faintly said, “If he dared to fight for food with his relative’s child, he would be hit. After being beaten too much and too fiercely, he naturally wouldn’t dare to take the initiative to fight for the food anymore.”

Qin Yuan silently looked at the little guy, crouched down, and lightly stroked his head. “It’ll be better in the future.”

Ruan Qingmu nodded. “Of course.”

If he was staying at his house with his sister, he wouldn’t be hit and wouldn’t lack clothes to wear. His mom would also help take care of him, no matter what.

Qin Yuan silently glanced at him.

Ruan Qingmu would usually appear lazy most of the time. Occasionally, he would become hostile and reckless.

Looking over at him like this, he could only see his nose was straight, his eyelashes were dense and long, and his eyes were calm as he looked at the little mute, with gentleness and sadness that was quite rare for him.

Qin Yuan couldn’t help but whisper, “You’re so good to him.”

Ruan Qingmu raised his head and squinted his peach blossom eyes, very slowly saying, “Am I not nice to Fang Li? What about Tang Tiantian and Niu Xiaoqing? Aren’t I nice to them too?”

Qin Yuan softly let out an “mm.” “You’re nice to everyone.”

On the side, the little mute held several grapes and one fell to the floor. Although he didn’t dare to take the initiative to get something to eat, he was more anxious than anyone else when he lost the one in his hand and he jumped off the sofa in a flash to get it.

He happened to step on Qin Yuan’s foot as he was getting up.

Ruan Qingmu became anxious upon seeing it and grabbed his collar, straightly lifting him. “Little devil, why did you step on people?!”

Qin Yuan didn’t move and stood still, silently looking at him.

Ruan Qingmu looked at him for a long time before finally reacting. “Fuck!”

So embarrassing. The foot he stepped on wasn’t even Qin Yuan’s sprained leg.

He hurried to put the little mute down on the sofa. “Continue to eat this! Continue to eat! Don’t stop!”

Qin Yuan suddenly opened his mouth at the side, his voice incredibly soft and gentle, “You’re nicer to me.”

Ruan Qingmu: “…”

His mind suddenly went blank for a while and only after a long time did he realize that Qin Yuan’s sentence was a follow-up to the previous sentence: “You’re nice to everyone.”

He raised his head and his gaze was a little frightening. His dark eyes seemed to have glittering starlight in them.

In the spacious and empty room, it was extremely quiet. The two people didn’t make eye contact as a weird atmosphere slowly filled the air.

Qin Yuan’s face moved slightly closer. It was as if he didn’t know what he wanted to do, or he just wanted to see the starlight in this person’s eyes a bit more clearly, or as if he wanted to lessen the distance with his lips.

Ruan Qingmu’s heart inexplicably jumped wildly and he couldn’t help but suddenly lean back.

The little mute had been looking at them warily from the side. When he saw Ruan Qingmu leaning back and then saw Qin Yuan seemed to be closing in a little more, he suddenly became anxious.

Stretching out his tiny hands, he suddenly pounced over and wrapped his arms around Qin Yuan’s, using all his strength to tug him backward.

Although this big brother was good-looking, he was bad from just a glance!

Qin Yuan was in a daze and was suddenly being tugged backward by him. When he looked back, he saw the little mute glaring at him with hostility in his eyes, looking both tense and wary.

Ruan Qingmu’s face turned red and he hurried to reach out to hug the little mute over, coughing. “The child thought you wanted… wanted to…”

He couldn’t continue anymore. How should he know what Qin Yuan wanted to do?!

Qin Yuan slowly moved away and sat upright in his seat. After a long time, he finally said faintly, “Mm. He thought I wanted to bully you.”

Ruan Qingmu was dumbfounded and suddenly became irritated. He reached out and put his elbow on Qin Yuan’s neck, pressing him fiercely against the sofa at the back. “Qin-shaoxia, with your limp and weak appearance, who would bully whom?!”

Qin Yuan motionlessly looked at him and allowed him to suppress himself like this, his white face slowly becoming red.

Ruan Qingmu looked at his face and hurried to move his arm away.

… Ahhh. This person was pretending again. He didn’t even use any strength. Why would he allow himself to be choked like that? So annoying!

The little mute looked at Ruan Qingmu’s inexplicably movement from the side, feeling confused in his heart. He looked down at a grape at his foot and hurried to pick it up.

He looked blankly at the two big brothers, scratched his head, grabbed the purple-red translucent grape, and eagerly passed it to Ruan Qingmu’s mouth. “Oh –”

Ruan Qingmu awkwardly jumped up as his lip touched the cold grape, his face also turning red instantly.

He held the little mute in his arms and fiercely rubbed his head, messily muttering, “Do you think I didn’t see it?! It was picked up from the ground and hasn’t been washed yet, but you’re stuffing it into my mouth. Little idiot, what will happen to you if I leave the house and go to the university in another city in the future?”