Brother Ying Huai

The big bad guy ignored him, turned his head away, and then suddenly asked, "Did I spill my ink bottle into his cup?"
Xie Qi Zhi blinked, a flock of pigeons flew past the academic building, heading towards the horizon. He looked up and counted the pigeons, pretending he hadn't heard anything.
"Don't pretend to be deaf and mute," Ying Huai said.
Xie Qi Zhi refused to admit it, softly saying, "I'll get you another bottle."
"How will you pay for it?" Ying Huai glanced at the light yellow children's watch on his wrist, "Your allowance is limited by your elder brother, isn't it?"
Children are all embarrassed to be considered young, and Xie Qi Zhi was no exception. Especially in front of the tall, muscular, almost adult Ying Huai, being limited in daily spending by his brother became something that made him feel looked down upon.
"None of your business," Xie Qi Zhi said, "I'll pay you back tomorrow."
Ying Huai didn't ask how he planned to pay with a daily limit of one hundred yuan, mostly it would involve going to his brother. Xie Zhi Lan used his things as naturally as if taking them from his own pocket, never bothering with debts or repayments.
Ying Huai didn't care about this trivial matter, and asked again, "Why did you pour ink into his cup?"
Xie Qi Zhi said nothing.
"Because he badmouthed you behind your back, gave you nicknames, snatched your water bottle?"
Xie Qi Zhi "hmm"-ed, thinking that if Ying Huai still blamed him for causing trouble for his brother, he would...
Xie Qi Zhi hadn't yet figured out what he would do. He looked at Ying Huai's indifferent face, still couldn't help but defend himself: "I didn't start the trouble, he called me a monster, and said I had an infectious disease that would kill others, when I clearly don't."
Ying Huai asked, "What disease do you have?"
Xie Qi Zhi didn't expect him to suddenly bring this up. His gray-blue eyes blinked, he pretended to cough a few times and said, "A cold."
Ying Huai reminded him, "A cold is also contagious."
Xie Qi Zhi froze, and after reacting, he angrily hugged Ying Huai tightly, rubbing his forehead hard against Ying Huai's neck like a puppy: "To infect you too."
Ying Huai paused, then used his free hand to push away Xie Qi Zhi's fidgeting head, looked at him, and said, "Aren't you a bit too childish?"
If Xie Zhi Lan were here, he would definitely be surprised. Ying Huai, who was always indifferent to everyone, did everything on a whim, and was as lazy as a younger brother who needed care, actually had a moment when he called someone else childish.
He didn't ask any more questions, and Xie Qi Zhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
But not long after, Ying Huai suddenly said, "I'm sorry."
Xie Qi Zhi looked up, suspecting he had misheard.
"I didn't know, so I said harsh words."
Xie Qi Zhi frowned slightly, stared at his still sharp eyes for two seconds, then turned his head away, not replying.
At noon, the tree-lined path was filled with students in blue and white uniforms. Ying Huai walked against the flow of people, while Xie Qi Zhi hung on him like a koala, easily attracting curious glances.
Xie Qi Zhi felt a bit uncomfortable being stared at, he lowered his eyelids, buried his head in Ying Huai's shoulder, his soft white hair gently brushing against Ying Huai's neck.
Ying Huai seemed unaccustomed to physical contact with others, and slightly tilted his head to the side. Xie Qi Zhi suspected he was ticklish, deliberately poked his neck, but he didn't react.
He thought for a moment, his fingers not stopping, tracing along the slightly raised spine at the back of Ying Huai's neck, through the thin short-sleeved uniform shirt, pressing down vertebra by vertebra.
"Xie Qi Zhi," Ying Huai finally spoke, in a calm tone similar to when he apologized, "If you keep touching me, I'll throw you down."
Xie Qi Zhi retracted his hand, and sat still obediently.
The wind blew across his exposed knees, still tingling, but the infirmary was almost there, he could endure a little longer.
His attention returned to Ying Huai. Xie Qi Zhi smelled the familiar fabric softener scent again, a light, fresh fragrance, pleasant from being dried in the warm sun.
That wasn't the scent of the "hateful big bad guy" Ying Huai, but the scent of Brother Ying Huai who would carry him, knew how to admit mistakes, and was also a bit handsome.
Smelling this scent, Xie Qi Zhi leaned against his shoulder, softly saying, "I forgive you."
The nurse at the infirmary was different from the people Xie Qi Zhi had met at the hospital; there was no sense of dealing with a serious situation. After asking about his allergy history, she got hydrogen peroxide to clean and disinfect the wound.
"Bear with it," the nurse said, holding his finger, "It will hurt a little."
Xie Qi Zhi nodded, saying it was okay, he wasn't afraid.
Since the wound wasn't large, the nurse only treated it simply, prescribing a few bottles of disinfectant for him to take home instead of bandaging it: "The weather is nice these days, it's not easy to get infected, leaving it exposed will heal faster."
Xie Qi Zhi obediently said "yes." Ying Huai stood beside him, preparing to scan a QR code to pay, and suddenly asked, "Do you have any medicine for a cold, dizziness, or sore throat?"
Xie Qi Zhi, sitting on the chair, looked up in surprise.
Ying Huai glanced at him: "Not for you, it's for your brother."
The nurse said, "It could be the flu, but he's not here, and I haven't taken his temperature, so I can't prescribe medicine casually. You two can take these packets of Ban Lan Gen to brew and drink for now."
Ying Huai nodded: "That's fine."
Xie Qi Zhi was even more eager than him. He knew there was no hot water in the classroom, so he asked the nurse for a disposable paper cup, brewed it, and brought it back for his brother.
This time, Ying Huai didn't use the argument that Ban Lan Gen was at best a terrible drink with almost no medicinal effect to dampen Xie Qi Zhi's enthusiasm, but only reminded him: "The water is too full, if you burn your hand, don't cry."
After all, for a brother-obsessed person like Xie Zhi Lan, the psychological comfort from Xie Qi Zhi's concern would surely be greater than taking medicine.
However, Xie Qi Zhi hadn't even had lunch yet, and the carefully brought Ban Lan Gen packet was not drunk by Xie Zhi Lan.
His elder brother was not a pitiful, lonely person with no one to care for him besides Xie Qi Zhi. As soon as the news of his illness spread, many people lined up to offer him warmth.
For example, Qiao An An, as soon as school was over, ran to the teacher's office to get hot water for Xie Zhi Lan, then brushed his bangs aside, carefully checking his forehead temperature: "It seems to be getting hotter. Are you very dizzy? Try this medicine, if you still don't feel well, I'll ask for leave this afternoon to take you to the hospital."
Xie Zhi Lan took the medicine with water, looked up at her worried face, couldn't help but gently poke her, and said with a smile, "Skipping class is too much. You go to class properly, otherwise your teachers will make me talk to them again, saying I'm affecting your studies..."
Xie Qi Zhi stopped, standing on the tree-lined path just a main walkway away from Class 11 (11), not moving forward.
Ying Huai followed behind him, observing what he intended to do. Would he rush in to compete for his elder brother's attention, or turn around and leave, pouting and crying in self-pity.
Xie Qi Zhi held the Ban Lan Gen cup. He had walked very carefully the whole way, yet hadn't spilled a single drop. Ten minutes had passed, and the hot water had cooled to a suitable drinking temperature.
He didn't look for Xie Zhi Lan, nor did he turn around and leave. He just sadly stared at the slightly cloudy surface of the Ban Lan Gen in the cup, then turned to ask Ying Huai, "Brother Ying Huai, do you want some?"
Ying Huai looked down at Xie Qi Zhi, seeing him hold the paper cup tightly with both hands, raising it high in front of him. His slightly round gray-blue eyes sparkled with a mix of defiance and self-pity, making his youthful face look particularly lively.
Ying Huai didn't take it, and asked with a hint of amusement, "Now I'm 'Brother Ying Huai' again?"