Happy Birthday, Yage

“Brother, tell me honestly, who was that person?”

“Yage, can you get off first? I can’t walk like this.”

“I’m not letting you go until you explain clearly.”

“She’s the class monitor of my class!”

“Class monitor? How do you have a relationship with the class monitor? Didn’t you say you were just a background character?” Qin Yage angrily tugged at Qin An’s face. She felt terribly deceived, and now she was furious—the consequences would be severe, and not even lollipops could make up for it.

“Don’t talk to your brother like that, it’s disrespectful. And I never said I was a background character.” Qin An patted her head, then peeled her legs off his body, switching to carrying her on his back.

“How dare you hit me…” The little girl cried out with a sob. “You’re not my brother anymore. You’ve been bewitched by that fox spirit. Give me back my brother!”

Qin Yage kept pounding on Qin An’s head and occasionally bit his shoulder.

In a strange voice, Qin An said, “Hand over a hundred lollipops, and I’ll give your brother back.”

“A hundred lollipops! Isn’t that too many? How about fifty?”

“No bargaining. Do you think your brother isn’t even worth a hundred lollipops?”

Qin Yage said decisively, “He’s not worth it.”

Originally, he was worth a hundred lollipops. But ever since he became unusually close with the vixen next door, Sister Wang, he was only worth eighty. Then, when he started walking home from school with that so-called deskmate—that fox spirit with the ever-sweet smile—he dropped to fifty. And now, he actually let another girl sit in her exclusive seat! That was unforgivable. Not even fifty lollipops—not even one! Hmph!

Qin An tempted her, “Maybe if you rescue your brother, he’ll be so grateful he’ll buy you lots and lots of lollipops.”

Qin Yage hesitated for a moment, but finally compromised for the sake of many, many lollipops. Qin An couldn’t help feeling what a failure of a brother he was, worth less than a few lollipops.

“Thank you, Yage, for rescuing me. But unfortunately, no reward.”

Qin Yage snorted, “Do you think I’m a three-year-old? Would I be fooled by this kind of make-believe? My brother actually dared to lay a hand on his little sister. Fine: a thousand lollipops.”

“A thousand! Isn’t that too many? How about I just buy the whole candy factory?”

Qin Yage waved her arms and cheered, “Great! Great!”

“Mm, when we get home, I’ll add a candy factory to our custom Monopoly game. Then you can buy as many as you want.”

“I’ll bite you to death for mocking me!” Qin Yage bared her little fangs and nibbled on Qin An’s shoulder, but then let out an “Ow!” as she clutched her cheek in pain, tears welling up.

“What are we here for?”

By now, Qin Yage had slid off Qin An’s back, since they were on the main street and she was too embarrassed to be carried like a lazybones.

“I can’t produce a thousand lollipops, but I can manage a meal of sweet and sour spare ribs. How about that? Happy?”

“Not happy at all. Your sweet and sour spare ribs are terrible—not sweet enough.”

But thinking of that melt-in-your-mouth sweetness, the corners of Qin Yage’s mouth lifted, revealing a row of pearly white teeth.

“Brother Qin, here to buy groceries again?”

“Mm.”

“Little sister Yage, we meet again. You’re getting cuter every day.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Qin Yage shamelessly accepted all praise, lacking the traditional Chinese virtue of modesty. But she had the looks to back it up.

Beside a grocery shelf, Qin Yage planted her hands on her hips and pointed at the girl in front of the cash register, demanding fiercely, “You big pervert, Qin An! What’s your relationship with Old Chen’s daughter? Why does she light up every time she sees you, and keep asking all sorts of questions?”

“How am I a big pervert? I haven’t flirted with any girl yet! And all I know is that Old Chen’s daughter is named Chen. I have absolutely nothing to do with her.”

Qin Yage sputtered. You call that not flirting? Who’d believe that! I’ve caught you red-handed every time. How many has that been now?

She glanced at the checkout counter and saw that the girl was staring fixedly at Qin An. The moment he turned, she blushed and looked away. When he went back to picking vegetables, she resumed gazing. Angry, Qin Yage pinched the soft flesh on Qin An’s waist and pressed, “Spill it now, or you’re not sleeping tonight.”

Adopting the principle of “leniency to those who confess,” Qin An said, “Fine, fine. I remember once when she was being chased by a dog, I saved her.”

“That’s it?”

Qin Yage saw how infatuated the girl was—there had to be more.

“Another time, when I came to buy groceries, there was a thief, and I caught him for her. Another time, there was a robbery, and I saved her by driving off the robber. And lastly, I remember when she had a high fever, Old Chen wasn’t strong enough and no one else was home, so I carried her to the clinic.”

Great—so he’d used her exclusive seat again, and with all those hero-rescuing-beauty scenarios, any girl would fall for him. If Qin Yage didn’t know her brother’s character so well, she would have thought he staged the whole thing.

“From now on, don’t save her anymore. I’ll reduce the eighteen hundred lollipops you owe me by eight hundred.” Qin Yage puffed out her cheeks, rivaling a frog in the field.

Qin An gently tugged her cheek and said helplessly, “Little imp, getting bolder by the day, ordering your brother around. Your lollipops sure are valuable—eight hundred can buy a life.”

Qin Yage shouted, “That’s how valuable they are!” She didn’t add that all his lollipops were that valuable, afraid he’d be so happy he couldn’t sleep tonight.

Looking at her stubborn face, Qin An felt a headache mixed with warmth—such a contradiction. With their parents away these days, his relationship with Qin Yage had grown by leaps and bounds. Not exactly harmonious, because whenever they disagreed, they’d argue back and forth to support their points, eventually having to compromise.

Qin An stroked her head and said earnestly, “We’re not saints who can save all beings or change the world. But if we meet someone in need and we can help, there’s no harm in lending a hand. At least we lose nothing, and a ‘thank you’ is nice.”

Qin An didn’t know where this thought came from—maybe because he’d killed too many people in his past life and wanted to accumulate some good karma in this one.

“I know,” Qin Yage replied weakly. Whenever her brother started lecturing, she couldn’t stand it, because she could never find the right arguments to refute him.

But was her brother really so kind and selfless to help others? It had to be just to help them, not because he was after their looks.

Qin An’s hand accidentally brushed against Chen’s hand when paying, causing her face to flush crimson. Qin Yage immediately glared and pinched his waist, twisting the soft flesh dozens of times until she grew tired. Even then, she still extorted another ten lollipops from him.

Back home, Qin An resumed his househusband role. He washed the vegetables, humming happily, and even juggled a fish while cutting it, catching it in a reverse grip. Turning around, he saw Qin Yage staring at him blankly.

In baggy shorts, a black t-shirt, a large apron, and flip-flops, juggling a cleaver—his look was indeed bizarre. At home, Qin An was always so uncouth.

Qin Yage jumped up to hug him; she was tall for her age. Qin An stood still, holding the cleaver and the fish far away, letting her hang onto him. She cooed, “Make the fish sweeter.”

“Miss Qin, we already have lots of sweets tonight, so…” Qin An’s gaze shifted to a green vegetable.

“Not bitter melon again! And bitter vegetables!” Miss Qin’s face went from red to white to a true bitter-melon color.

She huffed, “I’m not eating this dinner. I’m ordering takeout!”

Qin An teased, “But there’s also sweet and sour spare ribs and ridiculously sweet braised fish!”

Qin Yage’s eyes widened, and she swallowed repeatedly, gripping his shirt tighter.

Qin An continued, “And the cake I baked this morning is probably ready.”

Remembering the morning’s aroma—full of sweet fragrance—saliva uncontrollably formed a silver thread, dripping onto his clothes. No trace of her schoolgirl poise.

“And there’s a saying: sweetness comes after bitterness. So if you eat these bitter ones, those sweet ones all become yours.”

He pointed at the bitter melon and bitter vegetables, then at the sweet and sour spare ribs, stir-fried chestnuts, kung pao chicken, and the cake in the oven.

Qin Yage nodded like a chick pecking rice. She decided to skip lollipops for now to save room for the feast.

The table was laden with Qin Yage’s favorite dishes. As for the two plates of greens, she steeled herself with a “heroic to the end” mentality, grimacing, eyes closed, and under her brother’s feeding, she cleaned them up.

Qin Yage’s teeth never stopped moving. Watching her eat joyfully, occasionally bursting into laughter, Qin An’s eyebrows curved in a smile, his heart filled with sweetness. He felt that for this smile, no hardship was too great.

Finally, the highlight arrived. Qin Yage had been thinking about this all day, unable to focus in class. She’d asked her brother if she could eat it, but he kept dodging, making her think he was going to give it to some fox spirit.

Wasn’t there a saying: To capture a woman’s heart, first capture her stomach. And another: To keep a girl from straying, keep her mouth full of treats? She got this, not some other fox spirit—that proved she was the most important in her brother’s heart. Qin Yage lifted her chin proudly, like a victorious hen.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed, silence fell, and ten candles shone like stars, warm and bright, slowly approaching from afar.

“Yage, happy birthday.”