Call Me Brother
“Ouch!” Su Su covered her nose, tears almost spilling out. Was Lin Chuan’s chest made of stone? It was so hard.
Lin Chuan, only wearing a vest, had heard the girl bringing fabric coupons to his family. He had jumped out of bed to stop her, thinking it wasn’t right to accept things from a girl from another village. He hadn’t expected her to run into him like that.
The softness of the girl surprised him, leaving him stunned for a moment before he reached out to help her up. But she was like a rabbit, darting under his arm and saying, “I’m going to bed, it’s so cold.”
“You…”
“Girl, take your coupons…” Mother Lin started to say, but the door to the back room had already closed.
The three of them stood there in the moonlight, staring at the two coupons, unable to find words. Lin’s father finally said, “We’ll talk about it in the morning.”
Lin Chuan nodded and returned to his room.
Just as he lay down, Lin Hai, half-asleep, mumbled, “Big brother, what’s going on?”
“Go to sleep and stop prying.”
“Oh.” Lin Hai turned over. Sharing the same bed, he bumped into something unexpectedly and whispered, “Big brother, why are you standing up? I only manage that in the mornings. Will I be able to do that at night in a few years?”
Lin Chuan froze, then gave his clueless brother a light slap on the neck, “Go to sleep or I’ll throw you outside.”
Lin Hai had no choice but to sleep quietly, although he hoped that thing wouldn’t stand up on its own at night, which would be really awkward.
Lin Chuan was also shocked by his own reaction. It was the first time in so many years that he had felt such an impulse. It was too late to stop it. Maybe it was just because he was at the age to be thinking about a wife?
Yes, that must be it.
Thankfully, he would be getting married in a couple of days.
Having spent his formative years in the army, he didn’t really understand these feelings. He just hoped such awkwardness wouldn’t happen again.
After finally falling asleep, the next morning he saw the still-groggy Su Su standing at the door washing her face. The door was open to let out the smoke from the stove, and the sunlight bathed her pale face, giving it a golden glow.
She looked back and waved, “Good morning, Lin Chuan.”
His heart inexplicably skipped a few beats, and he turned his face away without a word. Little did he know, the girl’s heart was shouting: “Big wooden block, stupid stone, can’t you smile a bit?”
Mother Lin, putting the lid on the pot, said, “Why don’t you call him brother?”
“Oh, Brother Chuan.” So quickly, he’s become ‘Brother’?
“Yes.” This time Lin Chuan responded but he was busy moving tables around. There wasn’t much work in the brigade today, and his family was preparing for a wedding.
After finishing her meal, Mother Lin took out two fabric coupons and handed them back to Su Su, saying, “Dear, I know you mean well, but we can’t accept these tickets.”
“But they’re of no use to me, and you urgently need them. Just take them, and you can repay me later.” Su Su really didn’t mind; she had never seen these things before.
“But these two tickets are too large. We can’t use so much fabric.”
Mother Lin hadn’t expected the girl to have such high-value coupons. Not just for the wedding, but they could probably get enough fabric for the entire year.
When Su Su looked at the tickets, she saw they were for ten feet each, which wasn’t actually that much fabric.
“Then I’ll exchange them for smaller ones.” Thinking this, she took one of the ten-city-foot coupons back to her room, while everyone in the Lin family wondered how many tickets this girl actually had.
Lin Chuan quickly sensed his family’s suspicion and quietly explained for Su Su, “She has income certificates; she earned them by translating for others.” Nowadays, very few people knew foreign languages, so being a translator could accumulate quite a few valuable items.
“Oh, university students are impressive.” Mother Lin said, “When your wife gets into college, you have to support her well, and then our family will have a university student who can save money too.”
Lin Chuan frowned but didn’t reply. He thought his family was really overthinking it. That girl never liked rural life. If she got into college, she probably wouldn’t come back. Even if he applied to be stationed with the army, the base was far from the city, and she likely wouldn’t go there either.
Well, let’s talk about the future when it comes.
After a while, Su Su came back with a five-foot coupon and a meat coupon, saying, “This is because I craved some meat, so we can have a meat dish that day. Auntie, please don’t refuse.”
“Dear, how are we supposed to repay this?”
“Slowly repay it, I’ll be staying here for a long time anyway. I don’t usually cook much, so I’ll be relying on you and uncle a lot.”
Su Su didn’t actually support the male lead marrying the female lead, but she needed to be a good person first. Once her position was stable, she could talk about other things.
“Alright, from now on, you’re my own daughter.” Mother Lin said, holding Su Su’s hand and patting it.
“Hmm.” Well, now she’s practically their daughter.
As the family was talking, they heard someone outside. The usually stoic Lin Chuan suddenly grabbed the coupons and stuffed them into his pocket, then quietly said to everyone, “Don’t flaunt your wealth. Besides the family, no one else should know.”
“Oh, oh.” They had thought the male supporting character was really simple and dull, but his swift action and sharp look just now were nothing like his previously foolish demeanour.
Men are multifaceted. For some reason, Su Su found his recent move quite impressive.
At this moment, the male lead, Lin Dong He, walked in with a smile and said, “Everyone’s here. Comrade Su Su, the brigade is planning a small welcome party for you. Could you come over?”
“No, that’s not necessary.” Why would they hold a welcome party just for her?
“Is there another reason?” Lin Chuan asked.
“Nothing much, just that everyone wants to meet a university student. We haven’t had one in our village before,” Lin Dong He said with a smile.
Su Su didn’t find it funny, but she still gave a sweet smile and said, “Alright, I’ll go put on my coat.” She went back inside to get her down jacket.
Besides this coat, everything else she had was a bit too flashy. Although it was a bit dirty, it wasn’t noticeable unless you looked closely.
But just as she walked out, she noticed that the male supporting character was following her. She glanced back at him with a puzzled expression.
Lin Chuan turned his head to the side without explaining, just silently following her.
Su Su got used to it. Along the way, she chatted and laughed with Lin Dong He. Despite growing up in the countryside, he had an exceptional way of dealing with people. He could respond to anything, making conversations with him enjoyable.
However, his probing was too intense.
In just a short while, he had asked Su Su about her age and if she had a boyfriend.
Lin Chuan, walking behind, frowned, worried that this young girl might be too honest and say things she shouldn’t. Fortunately, the distance was short, and soon they arrived at the village brigade.
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