Chapter 11: Nine Years Old – Sing When You Want

Because of this little incident, the two boys didn’t get to play with the new computer in the end.

The innocent Meng Yuning, because of sharing the same gender as Zhong Zihan, was also kicked out from He Zhengyue’s house.

“Forget it, I have a computer at home anyway,” Zhong Zihan said in frustration, “I’ll go home and play with mine.”

He then put his arm around Meng Yuning’s shoulder and said, “Let’s go to my house to play.”

The two boys went upstairs, one in front and the other behind. Zhong Zihan clearly hadn’t recovered from the earlier scene and was still mumbling about it as they climbed the stairs.

“I really didn’t do it on purpose,” Zhong Zihan muttered vaguely, “And I didn’t see anything.”

Meng Yuning pressed his lips together. “Stop talking.”

“Really,” Zhong Zihan thought he didn’t believe him and said seriously, “When I went in, she was wearing a bra, I only saw her waist.”

Meng Yuning didn’t want to hear it and just said, “If anyone hears you, you’re done for.”

“…She’s not here,” Zhong Zihan pouted and dismissed it, full of youthful arrogance, “I’m not interested in her figure, okay?”

Meng Yuning calmly said, “Then just stop, don’t say any more.”

“Why don’t you want me to say it?” Zhong Zihan thought Meng Yuning’s resistance to the topic was a bit strange. “Are you embarrassed?”

Meng Yuning frowned.

“Could it be? You got the highest biology score in the grade when you took the exam, didn’t you? Don’t you know about secondary sexual characteristics?” Zhong Zihan hurriedly leaned closer to him, his tone inquisitive. “There are quite a few girls in your class who’ve developed well, some are already quite big in the second year of junior high.”

“…” Meng Yuning asked him in an incredulous tone, “How do you know so much about the girls in our class?”

Zhong Zihan replied, “I heard the boys in your class talking about it.”

Meng Yuning knew that the boys often discussed the girls in class, but he didn’t expect the topic to be this.

“I didn’t pay attention.”

Meng Yuning’s tone was indifferent.

“You’re so boring,” Zhong Zihan shook his head. “Do you know that a girl in your class has a crush on you?”

Meng Yuning didn’t deny it this time.

Zhong Zihan’s eyes widened: “Oh my god, you know?”

“Yes,” Meng Yuning said, “She told me at the graduation party.”

“She confessed?”

“Pretty much.”

“Did you agree?”

“No.”

“Why didn’t you agree? Even if you had a crush, it wouldn’t affect your studies, just try it,” Zhong Zihan urged.

Meng Yuning was speechless. “What’s the point of agreeing if I don’t like her?”

“Then who do you like?”

“Nobody,” Meng Yuning replied.

“Not even one? Aren’t there a few good-looking girls in your class?”

“So what?” Meng Yuning began to show some impatience and retorted, “Do you like anyone?”

“No, but there are girls who like me,” Zhong Zihan shrugged indifferently, “But I didn’t agree to anything with her.”

Meng Yuning silently curled his lips and raised an eyebrow. “But you wanted to date early, right?”

“I did, but if my parents found out I was dating…” Zhong Zihan shook his head in fear, “I’d definitely be beaten to death, so forget it. Besides, I don’t even like that girl.”

The two of them chatted casually as they walked.

When they got to the house, Zhong Zihan led Meng Yuning to the study, closed the door, opened the computer, and mysteriously pulled out a folder from the F drive that was hidden under several layers.

“Do you want to see it?” Zhong Zihan asked.

“What?”

“The movie,” Zhong Zihan awkwardly scratched his face. “That kind of movie.”

Meng Yuning furrowed his brows and thought for a few seconds.

When he realized what Zhong Zihan was talking about, a look of incredulity flashed across his eyes. “You saved it on your family’s computer?”

Zhong Zihan, both shy and proud, said, “I set up several layers of hidden folders. My mom only uses Kingsoft WPS for typing, and my dad just browses news and stocks. They don’t even know how to open the hard drive.”

The teenage boys were somewhat clueless about such matters. They couldn’t say they didn’t understand, but they didn’t fully get it either.

Their initial knowledge came from their biology textbook, and after a few lessons, they were gradually intrigued by the brief physiological descriptions in the book.

The biology book didn’t explain much, and the teacher didn’t talk about it either.

But these difficult-to-discuss matters had an inherent attraction for kids during their growing years. At this age, they learn fast, and without adult guidance, they would try to explore on their own.

In the three years of middle school, the differences between boys and girls became more noticeable, and they began to have different thoughts about the opposite sex.

Sometimes, classmates would secretly look at pocket-sized books under their desks. Meng Yuning would occasionally have friends slip him a few. The covers of the books showed women dressed provocatively, their expressions seductive. The tiny print inside told stories about divorced female bosses seducing their young male subordinates, or about the male protagonist secretly having an affair with a young maid in the household while the wife wasn’t looking.

He would glance at it hurriedly, not wanting to look, but the impact of such books was too strong to ignore.

The whole class would pass by, and whether his eyes were open or closed, those few lines of seductive text would be in his mind.

For the well-behaved, top student, this was the first time being distracted during class, and it was because of these things.

This was a matter of shame that no one could mention, so Meng Yuning didn’t tell anyone about it and avoided discussing it with his peers when the topic came up.

During such moments, even his favorite anime no longer held any attraction. Zhong Zihan’s cherished comic books and beloved action figure models seemed less appealing compared to the allure of the real-life images on the screen in front of him.

Their senses were beginning to leap out of the innocent and carefree colors of childhood, officially entering the stage between being a child and an adult.

Time passed second by second.

After finishing, the two boys felt a bit awkward with each other. Zhong Zihan bit his lip and said, “Don’t tell anyone about this.”

“…Mm.”

Meng Yuning responded softly.

After sending Meng Yuning off, Zhong Zihan was left alone at home.

He sat in his room, staring blankly at the comic books on the table.

Suddenly, the disturbing images from today flashed into his mind. If he hadn’t caught a glimpse of his sister changing clothes, he wouldn’t have thought of watching such a movie. Thinking about it, Zhong Zihan instinctively shrank his shoulders in fear.

“My god,” he thought about when he used to play in the mud with He Zhengyue while wearing open-crotch pants when they were little. “That’s terrifying.”

Meanwhile, as Meng Yuning walked home, he couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling that had been building up inside him. He regretted not refusing Zhong Zihan’s invitation and inadvertently spending an hour watching that movie.

Finally reaching his front door, his actions of unlocking it seemed absent-minded, his thoughts elsewhere.

“Brother Ningning!”

Startled by the sweet voice, Meng Yuning turned around.

Xuezhu, in her soft, babyish tone, said, “The cartoon is already starting, come to my house.”

She came up to him and reached for his hand. But as she got closer, she suddenly exclaimed, “Brother, why are your pants all puffy?”

Meng Yuning quickly crouched down to cover himself. His awkward expression was impossible to hide, especially since the little girl in front of him was staring up at him with big, and innocent eyes. She had no idea what kind of dirty thoughts were in his mind.

He slowly lowered his head, from the white of his ears to his neck, a red blush spread across his skin. He bit his lower lip helplessly and sighed.

Xuezhu had never seen him like this before. She immediately crouched down beside him, her voice filled with concern. “What’s wrong? Do you have a fever?”

She copied her mother’s actions and reached her hand to his forehead to check his temperature.

“You really do have a fever! I’ll go tell Mom,” she said, turning to run to the adults.

“…Xiao Zhu.”

His voice was soft and weak, calling her by her nickname with a hint of embarrassment. Meng Yuning grabbed her and, without a word, covered her mouth, whispering to her, “I don’t have a fever. Don’t tell Auntie.”

His voice grew softer, his beautiful peach blossom eyes glistening with moisture, making his brown pupils look like translucent glass marbles, faintly shimmering.

In that moment, Xuezhu was entranced by his delicate, vulnerable appearance. She nodded obediently, “Alright, but if you feel unwell, you have to tell the adults.”

That night, both boys had dreams.

In the dream, everything was hazy, as if they were floating in the clouds. When they woke up, their minds were blank, their bodies burning with fever, and their limbs felt weak.

The boys didn’t dare tell their families. They secretly went to the bathroom, quietly washing the sheets clean.

But from then on, it seemed that their relationship was even better than before.

To the outside world, they were like-minded playmates of the same age, to each other, they were “bros who had watched action movies together.”

—

A few days after the college entrance exam, Xuezhu once again welcomed her summer vacation.

Every summer, her grandparents would call and ask when Xuezhu would come over to play.

“Dad, you have to remember to remind Xiao Zhu to do her summer homework,” Song Yanping said into the phone, “Every time, she slacks off and only starts rushing to finish it when school is about to start. How can that be?”

The elderly voice on the other end of the line sounded puzzled: “But every time I ask Xiao Zhu if she has done her homework, she says she has.”

“She’s lying to you,” Song Yanping said with certainty.

Xuezhu stood beside her mother, tiptoeing and trying to grab the receiver, afraid her mother would say more bad things about her to Grandpa. She quickly said, “I also want to talk to Grandpa.”

Song Yanping was helpless from the nagging: “Alright, alright, you talk then.”

Grabbing the receiver, Xuezhu quickly sweetly called, “Grandpa!”

On the other end of the line, the elderly voice instantly softened many times: “Eh, Xiao Zhu.”

“For my final exams this semester, I scored over ninety in Chinese and Math! I also got the ‘Best Student’ award!”

“Mm-hmm, that’s wonderful.”

Song Yanping bent down and leaned close to the receiver, loudly adding, “But for English, she only scored over seventy, so she didn’t get the ‘Excellent Student’ award this semester.”

Xuezhu glared at her mother.

“Just started learning English, seventy is fine,” Grandpa said in a kindly tone.

Xuezhu immediately became proud again: “Grandpa, in a few days, Dad will take me to your house, wait for me at home with Grandma!”

Grandpa’s tone was warm: “No need to trouble your dad, I’ll come over tomorrow to handle some things and pick you up.”

“Really? Okay, okay!”

After hanging up the phone, Xuezhu excitedly waved her arms: “Grandpa’s coming to pick me up tomorrow, quick, help me fold my clothes!”

“You’re about to start fourth grade and still want me to help you fold? You can do it yourself.”

Song Yanping shrugged and refused to help.

Xuezhu complained in a tone of dissatisfaction: “What kind of mom are you?”

“What kind of daughter are you?” Song Yanping responded with slight irritation, “As soon as school’s out, you run to your grandparents’ house. Am I not feeding you or giving you clothes at home? Is that it, you just want to leave?”

“Whatever.”

Xuezhu thought to herself that the reason she didn’t want to stay at home was because her mom was always nagging about this and that.

If she had to fold her own clothes, so be it.

Song Yanping noticed that Xuezhu would rather fold her own clothes than stay at home, eager to go to her grandparents’ house. A sour feeling rose in her heart.

She slowly walked to the study to complain to her husband but found him staring at the computer, playing solitaire, not even noticing she had entered.

“One person is always on the computer, and the other just wants to run off as soon as there’s a break,” Song Yanping said with a hint of resentment, “Neither of them has any conscience.”

Pei Lianyi, sitting with his back to the study door, paused his mouse, clicked his tongue, and said softly, “You have a problem with me playing on the computer during my time off? If you have nothing to do, why don’t you go out shopping with your coworkers?”

Song Yanping huffed, “I’m not like your daughter. She gets a break and just wants to go out, but I have to clean and do laundry. When do I have time to run around?”

Pei Lianyi, not particularly concerned, responded, “Xiao Zhu’s still young. Do you, as her mom, need to compare yourself to her? Besides, it’s good for her to spend time with her grandparents. When she gets older, you won’t even be able to drag her there.”

“Can’t argue with you,” Song Yanping changed the subject, “After playing on the computer all afternoon, doesn’t your neck hurt?”

Pei Lianyi stretched his neck, stood up from the computer chair, and lazily stretched his body. He scratched his slowly growing belly over his shirt while letting out a big yawn.

Seeing her husband like this only made Song Yanping feel heavier in her heart.

“The belly of a government worker looks just like that of a CEO,” Song Yanping remarked, her eyes not even looking at him, “Please go downstairs and take a walk or something.”

“Oh.”

Pei Lianyi responded but only moved from the study to the living room, where he turned on the TV and collapsed on the sofa, watching TV instead.

The TV was airing Super Girl.

Hearing the sound from the room, Xuezhu immediately stopped folding clothes and rushed out, sitting down on the sofa to watch.

If it had been an animated show, Pei Lianyi would have definitely sent Xuezhu away to change the channel to something he liked.

But this show had a unique charm, it appealed to people of all ages, young and old.

A talent show, what a novel idea.

The celebrities on the TV were all shining brightly, as if they were born to be fashionable, looking so untouchable in the TV screen.

But this show was precisely about selecting the best singers from ordinary people, putting them in the spotlight, and turning them into big stars.

It turns out that ordinary people can become stars too.

So Pei Lianyi didn’t change the channel, he was interested too.

As they watched, Song Yanping came over to sit with them. She also peeled an apple, and father and daughter each had half.

The host on TV encouraged viewers to vote by text message.

“Text ‘1’ and the contestant number to 80882190 for mobile users, to 90002190 for Unicom users, or to 970002190 for PHS users. Hurry and vote for your favorite contestant!”

Pei Lianyi casually said, “This TV station must be making quite a bit from text message fees.”

“One yuan per message! Sending a multimedia message only costs 50 cents! With so many people voting across the country, how much do you think they can make?” Song Yanping said, “I heard from Old He that every month, he secretly uses their phones to send texts to the TV station, and they end up with their phones running out of balance.”

“Pfft,” Pei Lianyi shook his head repeatedly.

The family watched TV until it was time for dinner, and it wasn’t until Meng Yuning arrived that the couple realized they had forgotten to cook.

Pei Lianyi decided to go downstairs to a small restaurant and brought up some packed meals.

“Just by joining a competition, you can become a star,” Pei Lianyi suddenly said, looking at the mother and daughter. “Why don’t you two participate together? You could form a mother-daughter duo. Other people have twin duos, and we’ll have a mother-daughter duo.”

Both Song Yanping and Xuezhu shot him a glare at the same time.

“You go if you want,” Song Yanping said coldly.

“Super Girl is for women. Can I join? If they start a Super Male competition, I might give it a try,” Pei Lianyi responded.

Song Yanping retorted, “Pfft, do you even look at your age?”

Xuezhu scratched her face with her finger. “Bragging with no shame.”

Pei Lianyi, unwilling to admit defeat, said, “Who says you can’t be a star when you’re older?”

Song Yanping waved her hand. “At your age, if you join a show, you’ll just be laughed at. Ningning’s age is more appropriate.”

When they mentioned Meng Yuning, Xuezhu suddenly looked at the quiet boy who had been watching TV and asked curiously, “Ningning, do you want to be a star?”

Meng Yuning had been quietly listening to the conversation, but when he was suddenly asked this question, he was momentarily stunned and didn’t respond for a couple of seconds.

“Ningning could do it,” Song Yanping smiled and said, “Ningning is good-looking, and if he becomes a star, he will definitely have many female fans.”

Xuezhu jumped up excitedly and started hopping around on the floor, raising her hand to volunteer, “Then I’ll be Ningning’s first fan!”

“Hurry up and get him to sign your name. When he becomes a star in the future, that signature will be worth a lot of money,” Pei Lianyi urged.

Xuezhu’s eyes sparkled. “Really? Can it really be sold for a lot of money?”

Song Yanping laughed, “Money-hungry.”

Meng Yuning was being teased by the family. The teenage boy leaned against the sofa, unable to eat his food. His ears were slightly red, his eyelids obediently lowered, and his long eyelashes formed a soft gray arc under his eyes. A sigh that seemed to belong to someone older than his years, tinged with a hint of world-weariness, escaped from his lips.

It was the evening of the summer holiday. The adults didn’t have a summer break, but they were still influenced by the children’s cheerful holiday mood. It seemed like July and August were meant to be everyone’s summer vacation. Although the heat was stifling, there was a sense of coolness and leisure that felt out of place.

The summer wind was gentle, the sky darkening late. The persistent sunset broke through the glass and slanted into the house, casting a bright orange-red light on the old brown leather sofa. The ceiling fan blew, lifting the light curtains. The excited little girl ran around the quiet boy, asking for his autograph, while the middle-aged couple laughed heartily beside them.

After dinner, Xuezhu went back to her room to tidy up.

Meng Yuning had a sense of what was coming.

“Aunt,” he asked while helping Song Yanping clear the dishes, “When is Xuezhu going to her grandfather’s house to play?”

“She’ll go tomorrow. Her grandfather is coming to pick her up,” Song Yanping replied.

Carrying the dishes to the kitchen, she said, “I’ll wash the dishes, Ningning. You can go watch TV.”

Pei Lianyi was lying on the sofa, rubbing his stomach to aid digestion while watching the local news. Meng Yuning passed through the living room and stood at the door of Xuezhu’s room.

“Brother,” Xuezhu waved at him, “Come help me fold clothes.”

Meng Yuning walked over. In fact, the clothes were already mostly folded, but they were all messy and unevenly folded. He sighed and began to unfold the pile of clothes she had folded and re-fold them neatly.

After folding a small dress, Meng Yuning casually picked up another item that was underneath the dress.

Unexpectedly small.

He looked at it, and saw a small border of pleats around the triangle and a little rabbit printed in the middle.

Meng Yuning froze.

“Ah,” Xuezhu quickly grabbed it, “I’ll fold my underwear myself.”

“…”

He didn’t say anything, but Xuezhu suddenly felt uneasy.

She hadn’t felt this way before. She just thought that things like underwear were close-fitting, so it would be better if she folded them herself.

The growing awareness of gender started to take root in her mind. Xuezhu realized that she wasn’t the same as the boys in her class, and she wasn’t the same as Meng Yuning either.

He was a boy, and she was a girl.

“Brother, what are your plans for the summer?” Xuezhu awkwardly changed the topic. “You don’t have any summer homework, so you can play until school starts. Are you going to visit your grandparents?”

Meng Yuning was caught off guard by the question.

Since his parents divorced, he had hardly kept in touch with his maternal relatives.

He softly said, “Probably not.”

Xuezhu suddenly fell silent.

Her brother’s grandparents had already passed away, and he didn’t visit his maternal grandparents either.

Xuezhu’s mind quickly turned, and an idea sprang up. She said cheerfully, “Then how about you come with me to my grandfather’s house? At night we can lay out mats on the roof and count the stars!”