Wolves of a Pair Prowl Together

Qiu Yi got off work later than usual today and took a shower in the staff dormitory as he thought it would be inconvenient to go home. As soon as he got out, he ran into Xiao Man, who stopped the truck directly in front of him, “Get in, I’ll give you a lift.”

“No need, it’s not cold today.” Qiu Yi sat on his bike with his legs on the ground and didn’t move. This boss was really struggling to keep up with her staff every day.

“Stop talking nonsense and get in,” Xiao Man frowned.

Qiu Yi refused to budge for two minutes, but Xiao Man didn’t intend on leaving, so he had to throw his bike into the back of the truck again and sit in the passenger seat.

“It’s not like you’re a little girl to be so uncomfortable,” Xiao Man gave him a look, “How are you going to ride with a box that big.”

Qiu Yi smiled wordlessly. The box he put in the back was a small remote control sports car for Qiu Yan. Qiu Yan had wanted this car for almost a year.

“Is it a gift?” Xiao Man asked again, “A present for your girlfriend?”

“My little brother’s birthday gift.” Qiu Yi replied.

“Little brother’s birthday,” Xiao Man smiled, “I thought it was bought for a girlfriend.”

“Mn.” Qiu Yi responded. Xiao Man probably wanted to ask if he had a girlfriend, but he didn’t bother explaining anymore.

When they passed a 24 hour supermarket, Xiao Man suddenly stopped her car and threw out a “wait for me for a few minutes” before heading into the supermarket. 

Qiu Yi frowned and looked at the time. He was going home later than usual today, and he didn’t know if his dad had gone to bed yet. Although he was capable of going to the toilet and then to bed himself, Qiu Yi still used to go back and help him.

After some time, Xiao Man came out of the supermarket with a bag and handed it to Qiu Yi after getting into the car, “It’s for your brother. There’s nothing good to buy at the moment, kids should love chocolate.”

Qiu Yi was stunned. He hesitated for a moment but then took the bag, “Thank you, Man jie.”

“No need to thank me. It’s normal to give a small gift to an employee’s relative on their birthday,” Xiao Man said with a smile.

When Qiu Yi got home, the lights in his dad’s room had already been turned off. Qiu Yi gently pushed open the door and saw him lying on the bed already, “I’m going to bed, you should also hurry up and sleep.”

“Mm,” Qiu Yi went in and tidied up his dad’s blanket before taking the remote control car and going back to his room.

Qiu Yan slept honestly today, but he still woke up when Qiu Yi was getting his clothes in the dark, “Gege.”

“Go back to sleep.” Qiu Yi took off his shirt and changed into a t-shirt.

“Is it my present?” Qiu Yan rubbed his eyes, sat up and turned on the small table lamp at the foot of the bed.

“No gift for not sleeping honestly,” Qiu Yi took off his pants and unboxed the gift. He took out the sports car and put it on Qiu Yan, “Just look first, you can play with it tomorrow.”

“Car!” Qiu Yan shouted as he lifted the covers.

“Sleeping or not?” Qiu Yi hit him on his bare leg.

“Sleeping,” Qiu Yan immediately shrank back under the covers and reached out his hand to touch the car back and forth, “Will you accompany me to play tomorrow?”

“Sleep well and I’ll play with you.” Qiu Yi pulled a random book from the bookcase and sat down next to the table. As soon as he opened the book, he saw the pen on the table, “Where did this come from?”

“Birthday present from my friend.” Qiu Yan said somewhat smugly, emphasizing the word ‘friend’.

“Yo,” Qiu Yi glanced at him and said, “you have friends, huh? I thought you only had classmates and neighbours… This isn’t cheap, does your friend’s family know that he’s buying you a gift?”

“My friend is not a child,” Qiu Yan put the car next to the pillow and touched it with one hand, “He’s about your age.”

“About my age?” Qiu Yi gave him a look, “Where did you meet him?”

“On the street,” Qiu Yan said, “He’s quite nice. He has a competition in a few days and even asked you to take me to see it.”

“Competition? What competition?” Qiu Yi sat down on the edge of the bed.

“A tennis competition,” Qiu Yan stretched his arms out from the covers and waved them, “Ge, you’ll take me, right?”

“I can take you on the weekend,” Qiu Yi frowned when he heard about the tennis match, “What’s your friend’s name?”

“Big tiger,” Qiu Yan said thoughtfully and seemed to have felt Qiu Yi’s displeasure. He whispered as if wanting to please, “He said mum is very beautiful…”

Qiu Yi stood up sharply, “You brought this man home?”

Qiu Yan shivered and quickly pulled the covers over to bury his head, “Gege I was wrong, but I didn’t tell him my name…”

Qiu Yi ripped the covers off, “You even let people know where your home is, do they still need to know your name?”

“I was wrong,” with a nasal tone, Qiu Yan said, “gege I was wrong, I was wrong, I won’t dare again…”

Qiu Yi didn’t say anything, turned and walked out quickly, pushing open the door to his dad’s room.

“Qiu Yan brought someone back today?” Qiu Yi stood at the head of the bed and bent down to look at his dad’s face.

“Mn, he brought a friend,” his dad opened his eyes, “Did you scold him?”

“Not yet, I’ll deal with him later,” Qiu Yi frowned, “What’s that guy’s name? What does he do? Have you found out everything?”

“I don’t know what he does, he looked like a student. He was wearing a tracksuit, and he left after a short time at home,” his dad sighed, “Your brother was so happy, I didn’t ask too many questions… “

“What’s the name?” Qiu Yi asked.

“Big… big tiger,” Dad replied with a clear lack of confidence.

Qiu Yi gave him a thumbs up, “You really are Qiu Yan’s father.”

“Don’t be so strict with Qiu Yan all the time. He’s only eight years old, a child…”

“Dad,” Qiu Yi squatted down on the edge of the bed, “I’m not being strict. I’m not at home much, you and Qiu Yan are the only ones at home; you’re really old, sick and handicapped. Both of your fighting abilities multiplied by ten is just enough to match my fingers. Bringing home someone from the street without even knowing their name, do you think I won’t be worried? You two together and multiplied by ten are only enough for my fingertips. I don’t even know the name of the person I met on the street, do you think I can rest assured?”

His dad sighed heavily after a moment of silence and closed his eyes, “Dad is sorry for you.”

“Do you have the strength to talk about this or not,” Qiu Yi pulled the blanket for his dad, “Alright, go to sleep.”

When he returned to his room, Qiu Yi saw that Qiu Yan was no longer in bed. He stood against the wall in a vest undershirt, his head bowed; when he heard him enter, he turned his head and looked at him silently.

“How do you and big tiger know each other?” Qiu Yi took a small jacket and draped it over Qiu Yan. He sat down on the chair next to him and looked at the time on his phone.

“We met talking on the street.” Qiu Yan whispered.

Qiu Yi frowned, “And then you led him here?”

“No,” Qiu Yan wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, “I called him for a chat. He heard about my birthday and came over ……”

“Call?” Qiu Yi stood up, “From Dad’s phone?”

“Mn,” Qiu Yan nodded.

Qiu Yi went into the living room and brought in his dad’s phone. He had dialled only one number today, an unsaved phone number. He saved the number on his mobile phone.

“Er bao tongxue1,” Qiu Yi squatted down next to Qiu Yan and put his arm around him, “I told you not to bring anyone home with you and not to talk to people you don’t know on the street, right?”

“I was wrong.” Tears slid down Qiu Yan’s face one after the other, hanging on his chin.

“Here’s the deal,” Qiu Yi hooked a finger through the teardrop on his chin, “Next time you still want to bring this big… big… tiger back, how about the weekend when I’m home? I’ll also meet your friend.”

“Mn,” Qiu Yan nodded vigorously and turned his head to look at him again, “Take me to see his competition and you’ll get to meet him.”

“It’ll have to be the weekend when I’m free,” Qiu Yi patted his butt, “Go wash your face and go to bed.”

There were two more days until the competition, but this one was in the city itself, so there was no need to travel.

Bian Nan was disappointed, but Wan Fei was inexplicably excited. During the field-adapting training, Wan Fei was like fighting chicken blood2 and kept tossing backhand serves towards Bian Nan.

“Backhand!” Wan Fei roared as he served a shot, followed by a roar on the next shot, “Cool!”

Bian Nan took advantage of the fact that Wan Fei had finished serving the ball to the net to return a high backhand lob-serve, which Wan Fei missed and yelled again, “Beautiful!”

“Nutcase.” Bian Nan cursed in a low voice. There were many staff members in the stands and also girls. It was common for them to be surrounded by girls during matches and training, but this reaction from Wan Fei was a bit too much for him.

When they finished training and changed clothes, Bian Nan couldn’t help but say, “Did you eat shit today? You’re so excited.”

“Yeah! I ate it!” Wan Fei nodded happily, “I’ll give you some next time.”

Bian Nan stared at him somewhat helplessly for a moment, “Xu Rui wouldn’t stand the sight of you like this even if she’s blind…”

“Hey! Don’t talk too much!” Wan Fei was not angry, and happily patted him on the shoulder, “Do you know why my mood is so good that it’s like I ate shit?

“I can see that,” looking at his reaction, Bian Nan could already guess. He tutted, “She promised to come and watch you play?”

“Yes!” Wan Fei slapped his hand, picked up his ball bag and swung it over his back before happily going out of the lounge.

Wan Fei had a real crush on Xu Rui, especially persistent, and it would be a full year this summer. Unlike Bian Nan, whose crush on Zhang Xiaorong was unprecedented. However, since he left her in the pedestrian street that day, Bian Nan never answered any of the messages sent by Zhang Xiaorong.

Not interested anymore. That was the reason he found for himself after analysis.

So when Wan Fei tapped him on the shoulder on the day of the match and said, “You don’t understand this feeling of anticipation,” Bian Nan nodded sincerely, “Yes.”

But anticipation is anticipation. When Wan Fei was about to take the field, he turned around and looked into the stands, but he didn’t see Xu Rui’s silhouette.

“Are you sure she promised?” Bian Nan followed suit.

“I’m certain,” Wan Fei flipped through the text messages and showed them to him, “Fuck, she couldn’t be worse than a kid right

Bian Nan didn’t speak. Er Bao had arrived and sat in the first row of the stands, waving at him energetically.

Er Bao had called him earlier to tell him that his brother had brought him to the stadium, but at the moment he didn’t have the time to look closely to see which one beside Er Bao was ‘Da Bao3’.

Wan Fei was clearly in a gloomy mood, a far cry from the shit-eating state he had been during the field-adapting training earlier.

“I guess she’s late. Girls are like that, she’s obviously not a girl if she isn’t half an hour late,” Bian Nan patted him on the shoulder, “She’ll be here in a minute.”

“Mn,” Wan Fei muffled his voice.

Bian Nan’s and Wan Fei’s match was happening on two courts at the same time, this time with fewer points and no overpowering players.

Bian Nan had no worries about his own game. After the opening, he found his opponent weak and played quite easily.

It was Wan Fei’s mood that was unsettling. He took a look at Wan Fei’s side of the match during the interval; his opponent wasn’t too strong, and the scoreline was a bit ugly given Wan Fei’s level.

“Idiot.” Bian Nan wiped his sweat and whispered a curse.

He indeed couldn’t quite understand what it was like for Wan Fei to have his performance directly affected because of Xu Rui.

You like me, you don’t like me, I like you, I don’t like you… he felt that these things made it difficult to let go of. Replacing it with the word “love” is more unreliable to teach people the meaning of ’til death do us part.

His dad was very kind and affectionate towards Aunt Lin. But with a turn of his head, he could also get together with his mom, claiming it to be true love, almost getting divorced. In the end, true love was still only that much; he had turned again and was overflowing with joy with Aunt Lin. 

As for his mom… There’s nothing else to say, his mom also stressed that it was true love and even attempted suicide for his dad.

True love is really worthless. Those who hovered between life and death for love could still unexpectedly love flexibly. Bian Nan drank some water and shoved his thoughts away. 

“Didn’t you come to watch the game?” Qiu Yi sat on the bench outside the gym and looked at Xu Rui who had been sitting next to him.

“Sort of, but I don’t think it’s his turn yet,” Xu Rui smiled, bending down to rub her ankle, “Ai, it hurts like hell.”

Qiu Yi didn’t say anything, but stood up and went to the supermarket nearby. He bought two popsicles and handed them to her, “Put some ice on it.”

Xu Rui was probably in a hurry because she was late, so her posture was too awkward when she jumped off the bus. Qiu Yi almost thought she had been pushed off the bus at first. Just as her foot hit the ground, she twisted and landed on her butt.

Qiu Yi didn’t want to bother, but when Xu Rui looked up and shouted his name, he had to go over and pull her up.

“Have you been in touch with Xiaorong in the past few days?” Xu Rui asked.

“No.” Qiu Yi wanted to walk away, but there were people sitting on the benches nearby, so he couldn’t just walk to another chair and sit there in front of them.

“Did you have a fight?” Xu Rui was probably a little embarrassed and paused for a moment before asking again.

“What do I have to argue with her about?” Qiu Yi said.

“That’s true,” Xu Rui smiled, “She’s usually so bad-tempered, but in front of you she hasn’t raised her voice…”

Qiu Yi stood up, went to the side of the dustbin next to him, lit a cigarette and smoked with his back to Xu Rui.

“Hey, Qiu Yi you…” Xu Rui opened up again from behind him but was interrupted by him before she could finish her sentence.

“The game’s about to finish,” Qiu Yi flicked his cigarette ash into the bin and turned his head, “You’re not watching the game, huh?”

“Hey,” Xu Rui frowned and rubbed her ankle, “I’m just chatting with you, why do you always fuck with others’ hearts? Xiaorong is in a bad mood because of you…”

“I just think that if you promise someone, don’t just stand them up,” Qiu Yi continued to turn his back on her, “Besides, Zhang Xiaorong is not in a bad mood because of me.”

Xu Rui was stuck on his words for a long time before she said with embarrassment, “Ai, I’ll go to watch the game then.”

“Mn,” Qiu Yi turned sideways and waved at her, “Bye.”

“Thanks for this,” Xu Rui squeezed the already melted popsicle, “Throw it away for me, I’m too lazy to hop over… I still have to hop to the tennis court… “

Qiu Yi walked up to her and took the popsicle bag, and was about to turn around to throw it when he saw a few people walking out of the gym doors.

Qiu Yi was very familiar with the Sports School’s sportswear, as if it was a prison labourer uniform with white words printed on the left chest.

After accompanying Qiu Yan inside and seeing that the big tiger who had made Qiu Yan want to watch the game so much was Bian Nan, he came out. Now that he saw Bian Nan’s face again, which always had an arrogant and impatient expression on it, Qiu Yi was suddenly filled with regrets.

“Guess there’s no need to hop there,” Qiu Yi grinned, “Looks like the game’s over.”

“Huh?” Xu Rui turned around in surprise.

“Mother! Fucker!” Wan Fei stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Qiu Yi and Xu Rui on the side of the road, his eyes flashing and thundering like Pikachu’s power.

Bian Nan was looking around to see where Er Bao was, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to find his Da Bao with too many people around. Only when Wan Fei yelled at him did he look over to the side of the road.

“The fuck?” He squinted his eyes for a moment to make sure he didn’t have presbyopia.

As Wan Fei was about to rush over, Bian Nan grabbed him by the arm, “What’s the matter with you!”

“What do you think!” Wan Fei glared at him.

“You’re gonna go too far for a fucking girl! Lao Jiang is right behind us, you don’t have to worry about this now even if you’re sick!” Bian Nan yelled with a deep voice, “I’ll accompany you later!”

Footnotes–

tongxue- student打鸡血: a burst of excitementda bao is like the elder version of er bao; ‘er’ means second and ‘da’ means first/bigger (bao is just a cute nickname for baobei) so basically, firstborn/ elder sibling