Chapter 33: The Lovely and Honest Eldest Brother

  It's the weekend again, with soft sunlight at noon, perfect for sitting in a small rocking chair on the balcony to bask in the sun. Even better with a pot of light orange tea, slightly sour but with a hint of sweetness. I like its pale orange color in the cup, the warmth it brings to my hands, and the mist rising gently in the sunlight. Serene and leisurely, just right for this warm autumn afternoon.

  It's so easy to be lazy on an afternoon like this, it's so easy to fall asleep. My grandma used to say that as you get older, you need to take a nap in the middle of the day, otherwise you won't be able to sleep at night. She was gently swaying back and forth in her rocking chair, seemingly drifting off to dreamland. I sat at my desk, head down, writing away, but the scene outside the window made me want to indulge in a leisurely afternoon too. On Friday evening and Saturday evening, I did homework; on Saturday morning, I went to Meng Nainai's place to practice piano and Latin dance, and even managed to snag a free lunch there. In the afternoon at 3 pm, I rushed off to Wu Yeye's place for an hour and a half of French practice before coming back home. This morning, I went for a run, and when I got back, I naturally had to rush to finish my writing. My mom once asked if I wasn't too tired, but I feel happy doing all this. After all, there's no computer or internet here, so my only form of entertainment is TV, but many TV shows can't satisfy me anymore. It's better to learn something while I'm still young.

  I put down the pen in my hand and slowly walked downstairs, took out a cup of citrus tea from under the coffee table and placed it in my white ceramic cup. I poured myself a hot cup of citrus tea, watching as the tea leaves floated up and down, smelling the faint aroma of the tea. I sat down in the small rocking chair on the balcony, which was actually one of my creations, but everyone seemed to like it. On the table in front of the rocking chair were newspapers: Mom's "Nirvana", Dad's "Today's Delicacies", and Grandma's "Bible". Hehe, this idea of mine really benefited the whole family! I leaned back in the rocking chair, basking in the sunlight, sipping my tea, and before I knew it, I had gone to play chess with Lord Zhou. Isn't that what Confucius said: "No nap at noon, collapse in the afternoon"?

  Maybe one day I'll have a dream, because recently Conan encountered a bottleneck, and the case plot arrangement didn't feel right. I actually dreamed of Conan solving the case, I don't know how long it took, but when I slowly woke up, I had an idea for the content too. It was refreshing, so I immediately decided to go back to my room and write this part of the case well, can't let inspiration disappear.

  Just as I was getting into the swing of writing, I didn't notice anyone behind me. Suddenly, my older cousin said: "Little cousin, what are you doing? You're not taking a nap, are you? We came back from our morning exercise and saw you hunched over your desk writing away. Haven't you finished your homework yet? Is there something you don't understand? Let me teach you."

  As soon as I heard that, I quickly put it away, while putting the manuscript in the drawer and saying: "No, my homework is done, I'm just writing a diary. There's nothing to see."

  "Eh, is my cousin writing some kind of private diary? Are you... are you secretly in love with someone in our class and too embarrassed to say it out loud, so you're writing it in your diary?" As he spoke, her brother walked straight over.

  "No way, no way, how could that be? If something like that happened, I definitely wouldn't write it in my diary. What if mom saw it?"

  "Your diary isn't locked with a small key? How could Auntie see it, you're so cunning, how could Auntie possibly find out, but fortunately not the best, just the other day our class teacher emphasized the issue of puppy love."

  "Really? When did this happen, how come I don't know?"

  "How would you know, as long as it's not important to you, you're deaf and blind to what's happening outside the window. Isn't it just Li Jing from Class 6 and Yuan Fan from Class 7 who are dating early and making a big fuss about it? The head teachers of both classes have even called in their parents, isn't that a wake-up call for our class head teacher?"

  Listening to my brother say this, I feel like there was such a thing in the past. At first, the two of them had a firm stance, Yuan Fan was very rebellious, and he guaranteed Li Jing's parents that he would treat Li Jing well, even kneeling down to Li Jing's parents. Yuan Fan's parents eventually gave up on interfering, while Li Jing's parents continued to obstruct their relationship. Later, they attended the same middle school, high school, and even college together. I remember during our senior year, when we had an elementary school reunion, our class was paired with another class, and the two of them were still together. They had already graduated and worked for a year, and it seemed like they were getting close to getting married. Many people envied them, including me, who hadn't even sent off my first love yet. I was just a lonely person back then. People say that class reunions break up couples, but they truly didn't have it easy.

  They say that puppy love is a flower that blooms in the wrong season, so it never comes to fruition. But actually, there are also many examples of successful ones. Who knows what the future holds? In fact, Yuan Fan and Li Jing aren't necessarily a bad match either.

  "No way, cousin, you can't be having a puppy love affair, that's not allowed."

  As we were talking, my brother suddenly buried his head on my desk and picked up a piece of paper from the table, carefully examining it. Oh no, I thought to myself, earlier because I was reminiscing about Yuan Fan and Li Jing's things, I had put away the book and forgotten that there was still something on the table. What my brother had in his hand wasn't what I thought was inappropriate, but rather the page torn from the book. Although it was a small piece, if my brother became suspicious, what would happen? Heaven forbid my brother from figuring it out! I quickly tried to snatch it back and said: "Brother, there's nothing good to look at, just some nonsense I wrote."

  When my brother saw me trying to snatch the paper from his hand, he dodged and said, "No way, cousin! I'm clearly writing a Conan story here. I know you're also a Conan fan, but why are you writing his case stories? Looks like you're so into it that you want to try your own hand at it."

  "Oh, come on, I was just casually writing for fun, don't tease me, I'll be embarrassed." As I said that, I lowered my head in sync.

  "Here, I'll return it to you. After my cousin finishes writing, she can let me take a look. If her writing isn't too embarrassing for her brother, I truly believe in my cousin's writing skills. After all, her compositions are used as model essays."

  I nodded repeatedly to get past it, "Brother, you go out, otherwise others will be embarrassed and hindered." I drove my brother out and closed the door, patted my heart and said to myself: "Fortunately, fortunately, my brother is a honest kid, I managed to deceive him. Recently, I've been having writer's block, it's been very frustrating. If my brother knew, the whole family would know, the pressure would be huge." I looked back and confirmed that the door was closed and there was no sound outside, then I took out my book and wrote again. Although I almost exposed myself, fortunately, nothing happened, and afterwards I wrote several pages smoothly, as if the ideas were flowing after a nap.

  One afternoon, my cousin stormed into my room with a letter in hand and said: "Cousin, you deceived me. You are actually Bath Fire Crystal, aren't you? You were writing the script last time, weren't you?"

  My first instinct was to pretend to be stupid, "Ah, no way, how is that possible?" I hadn't even finished speaking when my older cousin handed me the letter and said, "Don't try to fake it, I saw everything. Look at this, I just received it from the mailman uncle outside the door. At first, I thought it was a mistake, but after asking him multiple times to confirm, he said the address was correct and it was indeed for here."

  I took a look at the letter and it was from the publisher, ah. The envelope only needed to have my real name on it, why did they also add my pen name? I couldn't hide it anymore, so I smiled flatteringly and said: "Yes, I'm Bath Fire Crystal. I didn't tell you because I've been stuck on my writing lately, and I was afraid you'd rush me or urge me to update more chapters. And I was also afraid that you might accidentally mention it in front of our classmates. Moreover, previously you described your idealized image of Bath Fire Crystal as being so handsome and elegant, so charming and extraordinary, so wise and talented, and so meticulous in his thoughts. You even said he must be a man over thirty years old! I was afraid that if you knew it was me, you'd be disappointed..."

  "Stop, stop, stop! You have a whole bunch of excuses, you don't believe me." "No, absolutely not, I swear to heaven, I absolutely do not disbelieve my brother. Who does he believe in? Is it not him? Just forgive him this once, just forgive him this once." I shook my brother's hand, opening wide my big eyes, looking pitifully at my brother. "Alright, don't look so pitiful, this time I'll forgive you. If there's a next time, the family rules will be waiting for you. Hurry up and open it to see what it is."

  I opened the letter and found it was a return contract from the publisher, informing me that the first edition would be published soon and they would send me the first book. I told my cousin about what had happened, and he looked like he finally understood, saying: "No wonder you were acting strange last time, sneaking around to steal Aunt's ID card. It was all for this matter. You even lied to me before."

  "Heh heh, I didn't plan on saying it at the time, but since I was underage and didn't have an ID, and I didn't want my mom to know, of course I snuck in."

  "You're quite bold, aren't you afraid of being cheated? Fortunately, nothing happened."

  "Alright, can we discuss it with our brother next time? One person's plan is short-sighted, two people's plan is far-reaching."

  "That's pretty good, haha, my cousin is actually Bath Fire Crystal. From now on, I won't have to wait for updates. You write it and I can see the original material first-hand, and I can also show off that I can guess who the murderer is, it's great! Also, cousin, you've published it, I must collect a copy, you won't make me buy it in stores, right?"

  "Yes, yes, yes, and I'll even add my personal signature. You can take it to school and I'm sure many people will be envious. I'm still young now and don't plan on appearing in public, so there won't be any autograph sales. This is a one-of-a-kind copy! In the future when I grow up and have autograph sales, this copy of yours will be super rare, hehe."