TATSD Chapter 54

“……”

Ji Wei was completely stunned, unable to say a word.

Liu Yimian didn’t push him further, continuing to wipe the sweat off Ji Wei’s neck. Once he finished, he rinsed and wrung out the towel, then carried the basin out of the kitchen to dump the dirty water in front of the door.

When the sun dried the water, the front of the house would cool down a bit.

Liu Yimian stood at the doorway, taking several deep breaths.

His whole body was burning, even his neck was flushed red. Just saying that one sentence had left him sweating.

How would Ji-ge respond to the words that had taken all of his courage?

Liu Yimian felt a mix of anticipation and dread, his feet glued to the spot as he nervously ground the tip of his shoe into the ground, unable to bring himself to go back inside.

Once the heat in his cheeks subsided and his breathing steadied, he took a deep breath, gathered his nerves, and walked back into the house, trying to act as calm as possible.

“Ji-ge—”

He was about to ask Ji Wei how he felt about it, but before he could finish saying his name, Ji Wei interrupted him.

“Mianmian, come here.” Liu Yimian had given himself time, and in doing so, had also given Ji Wei time.

At least Ji Wei appeared calm. It was Liu Yimian who started to get nervous again, fidgeting with the hem of his clothes, and moving slowly like a turtle until he was finally standing two steps away from Ji Wei.

“Come closer. Are you afraid I’ll eat you? Weren’t you quite bold just a moment ago?” Ji Wei reached out, tugging with enough force to pull Liu Yimian right next to him.

Liu Yimian lost his balance, kicking Ji Wei’s stool as he stumbled forward. With a yelp, he fell forward, but Ji Wei caught him by the waist and pressed him down onto his lap.

“You alright?” Ji Wei’s concerned voice sounded from above him.

Liu Yimian wanted to stay buried in his arms forever, never lifting his head again.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

Ji Wei, waiting for an answer, freed one of his hands and gently cupped Liu Yimian’s chin, lifting his head a few inches from his shoulder so their eyes could meet.

“Looks like you’re fine,” Ji Wei said.

“Thank you, Ji-ge!” Liu Yimian quickly stood up and sat on another stool, placing his hands neatly on his knees, his eyes fixed on the old carvings on the wooden table as if there were flowers hidden in the marks.

“You were speaking so confidently earlier, I thought you’d suddenly grown up. Seems like I was wrong,” Ji Wei chuckled softly. His right-hand fingers tapped idly on the table as he glanced at Liu Yimian’s downcast face, unable to suppress a sigh.

“Mianmian, why did you suddenly ask me that?” Ji Wei’s voice softened, careful not to startle the timid young man in front of him.

After a long pause, Liu Yimian finally replied in a trembling voice, “Ji-ge bought me… was it just to let me study?”

Of course not.

At least that wasn’t the original plan.

But Ji Wei couldn’t say that.

“What are you trying to say?”

“Ji-ge, I’ve been with you for eight months now, but I still have no status. What do you think people say about me…” Liu Yimian’s voice grew smaller and smaller until the last part faded away on his lips.

“Why care what others think? As long as we live our lives well, that’s all that matters.”

“But—”

Liu Yimian bit his lower lip, his hands clenched into fists under the table. Then, with a burst of courage, he shouted, “But I like you, Ji-ge!”

As he said this, his eyes were tightly shut, his long lashes casting a shadow on his eyelids like black feathers. He looked as though he was holding his breath, waiting for Ji Wei’s response.

But no reply came.

Liu Yimian slowly opened his eyes to see Ji Wei frowning slightly. His heart tightened, and a wave of fear surged through him.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Ji-ge. Forget I said anything.” Liu Yimian tried to stand, using the table for support, but his arms trembled slightly. Stumbling, he attempted to leave.

He had only taken a few steps when Ji Wei called out to him.

Liu Yimian was terrified. He clamped his hands over his ears, too afraid to hear what Ji Wei had to say.

“Enough! Listen to me!” Ji Wei forcefully pulled Liu Yimian’s hands down, his sharp gaze softening quickly, returning to his usual gentleness. “Mianmian, you’re overthinking this.”

“Why would you apologize for liking someone? I like you too, Mianmian,” Ji Wei said, ruffling Liu Yimian’s soft hair with a sigh. “But you’re still young. How can I marry you?”

Afraid of hurting Liu Yimian’s feelings, Ji Wei carefully chose his words. But in his heart, his affection for Liu Yimian was more like that of an older brother for a younger sibling.

He even thought that Liu Yimian’s feelings for him were likely just a form of dependence, mistaken for romantic affection.

He’s still so young, Ji Wei thought.

“I’ll be sixteen soon!”

That “I like you too” instantly lifted Liu Yimian’s spirits. His eyes lit up as he stared at Ji Wei, smiling shyly like the warmth of spring melting the winter snow. Ji Wei found himself unable to look away for a moment.

“…Sixteen is still young,” Ji Wei said, coughing into his hand and shifting his gaze away.

“But Ah Qiu got married when he was fifteen!” Liu Yimian didn’t understand why Ji-ge kept insisting he was too young.

After all, fifteen was a common age for gers to get married.

“Even if you turn sixteen, you’re still just a high school student, maybe just moving up from junior high to the first year of senior high. To make a move on someone under eighteen… that would be truly inhuman!” Ji Wei silently thought to himself.

“Be good now, don’t compare yourself to others all the time.” Ji Wei patted Liu Yimian’s shoulder in a comforting manner. “Look, you’re both gers, but how much taller is Ah Qiu than you?”

Indeed, Ah Qiu was a bit taller than Liu Yimian, though they were both gers.

Unlike Liu Yimian, who had delicate skin and a slim, fragile frame, he looked like the wind could blow him away. It wasn’t just that he was thin—he was frail.

Adding to that, he didn’t even seem to be 170 cm tall. Even if Ji Wei had romantic feelings for him, he couldn’t act on them.

“Then—” Liu Yimian bit back the words he almost blurted out, trying to appear more composed as he slowly asked, “Ji-ge, what counts as being ‘grown up’?”

“Well, you’d have to at least be this tall and this strong,” Ji Wei said, gesturing to his ears and arms.

“Ji-ge! I’m a ger!” Liu Yimian stomped his foot in frustration. Gers naturally couldn’t grow as tall as ordinary men, and Ji Wei was already taller than most men. If Liu Yimian had to grow to Ji Wei’s ear level, wouldn’t that mean he had to be as tall as an average man?

And on top of that, he was supposed to be as strong as Ji Wei?

“If that’s the case, I’ll never grow up!” Liu Yimian huffed angrily, glaring at Ji Wei in protest. “You’re just bullying me!”

“Alright, alright, I was wrong. I’m sorry.” Ji Wei extended his pinky toward Liu Yimian, raising an eyebrow and speaking gently. “Let’s make a pinky promise. I promise I won’t lie to you.”

Making a pinky promise was a well-known way of sealing promises, though mostly between children.

By the time people reached adulthood, they usually opted for more formal ways of making promises.

Liu Yimian felt a bit awkward but went along with Ji Wei. “What are we promising, then?”

“If you can grow this tall, I’ll marry you.” Ji Wei pointed to the height at his ear, estimating it to be a little over 170 cm.

For an ordinary man, that wouldn’t be much of a challenge.

But for a ger, it was almost impossible. After all, isn’t height something determined by nature?

Liu Yimian glared at Ji Wei, refusing to speak. He was certain Ji Wei was teasing him and turned away, not wanting to look at him.

“Silly Mianmian, don’t you know that height is something you can change if you try hard enough?” Ji Wei felt a bit guilty for tricking the young one.

While it was true that height could be influenced by lifestyle, the genetic makeup of gers was such that most of them were around 160 cm. No amount of effort would likely push Liu Yimian past 170 cm.

Especially since Liu Yimian, already fifteen and still not reaching 160 cm, had a slim chance of growing much taller.

“Really?”

“Why would I lie to you? If you skip rope more often, you can grow taller, and it’ll be good for your body too.”

“Skip rope? Like the kind girls play with?” Liu Yimian immediately thought of the floral ropes girls played with and shook his head furiously. He didn’t want to have anything to do with that.

“Not that kind. I’ll modify it for you.”

Ji Wei turned Liu Yimian around and looked into his eyes, coaxing him seriously. “If you drink more milk, eat more meat, and exercise, you’ll grow taller and stronger. Even if you don’t grow as tall as me, reaching my ear level should be no problem.”

“Can I?”

“Of course you can!”

To further convince Liu Yimian, Ji Wei immediately took some spare wooden planks from the house and carved them into two cylindrical handles. He wrapped them with cloth to prevent splinters, drilled holes in the middle, and threaded a rope through to make a simple skipping rope.

“What’s this?” Liu Yimian asked, waving the skipping rope around.

“It’s a skipping rope. I’ll show you how to use it, and you can follow along.” Ji Wei started demonstrating.

The rope was tailored to Liu Yimian’s height, so it was a bit short for Ji Wei. He struggled with it, tripping over his feet several times.

After a dozen jumps, he stopped and handed the rope to Liu Yimian to give it a try.

The size was perfect for Liu Yimian. He jumped effortlessly, managing to do twenty-six jumps on his first try, surpassing Ji Wei by quite a bit.

“Twenty-six. Very impressive!” Ji Wei gave him a thumbs-up.

“If I keep jumping for a month, will I grow that tall?”

Liu Yimian’s question caught Ji Wei off guard.

A month? That’s a bit too ambitious.

Ji Wei couldn’t help but laugh.

“In a month, you won’t grow two inches unless you jump from morning to night. But aren’t you going to school?” Ji Wei put on a serious face, staring at him.

Liu Yimian thought for a moment and compromised. “Then two months.”

“And how long should I jump for in those two months?”

“You’d probably need… two hours a day?” Ji Wei guessed, not entirely sure.

Liu Yimian lovingly patted the round handles of the skipping rope and blinked at Ji Wei, smiling happily. “I’ll work hard to grow taller!”

“……” You don’t need to work so hard to grow taller. Just take care of your health.

Liu Yimian eagerly made a pinky promise with Ji Wei, then skipped back to his bedroom.

Once Liu Yimian had left, Ji Wei kicked at the scattered wood chips on the ground in frustration, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

What’s gotten into Mianmian?

He had been fine in the morning, but after just a short time apart, the usually shy, timid, and passive boy had suddenly become so proactive that it made Ji Wei a little scared…

Did someone say something to him?

That couldn’t be right. Someone as introverted as Liu Yimian wouldn’t talk about these things with others.

Two months should be enough time to change the boy’s thinking, Ji Wei thought to himself.

But a small voice in his heart whispered, What if it’s not enough?

Yes, what if it’s not enough…

Through the open bedroom window, Ji Wei could see half of Liu Yimian’s delicate face.

Ji Wei stared at him for a while, suddenly feeling extremely agitated.