Chapter 11.2: Is this a doghouse?

Title: Baby’s Breath

Translator: System Yaoi

Note: Kindly read this novel at https://secondlifetranslations.com/novel/babys-breath/

————————————————

Chapter 11.2 Is this a doghouse?

He had never done anything like this in his life, and he complained, feeling like he was being driven by an inexplicable force. The treehouse was too narrow. Cheng Yu frowned, turned over, and knocked his shoulder against the congested area.

He lay down, with his legs still outside.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

“Mbld obyv?” Ubldt Zw ypjle.

“Zsw vau vs pll kq vblal’p y qzypbzktbv.”

Ubldt Zw zlydle ytykdpv vbl rkzzso yde qlzv y pxyzz qzypbzktbv.

“Lso vwad sd vbl qzypbzktbv yde zssj yv vbl vsr.”

Ubldt Zw pokvnble sd vbl qzypbzktbv yde ekalnvle bkp tygl vsoyae vbl assq sq vbl vallbswpl.

Mblal oyp y rknvwal sq y pvyaau pju nwv swv qasx y cssj.

Ubldt Zw: “…”

“Pke usw pll kv?” Dwl Zswjy’p hsknl nyxl vbaswtb vbl vallp. “Mbyv’p vbl Fnsarkwp Llcwzy. Rpd’v kv clywvkqwz?”

Cheng Yu stared fixedly at the crumpled picture taped to the top with transparent tape.

He didn’t say anything, but he felt a strange sensation deep in his heart.

There was an astronomical telescope at home, and Cheng Yu had seen the real night sky. Due to the life-threatening heart disease he had suffered at birth, he rarely went anywhere other than Macau. His parents didn’t allow him to take risks by boarding a plane.

Apart from reading boring books in the library at home, Cheng Yu couldn’t do anything else.

But at this moment, he suddenly felt inexplicably moved by this torn photograph.

Just as he was thinking this, his leg outside the curtain suddenly felt a chill. He kicked his leg abruptly, sat up instantly, and hit his forehead directly on the top of the treehouse.

Cheng Yu gritted his teeth but didn’t cry out.

With a gloomy expression, he pushed aside the curtain and looked down, only to see Xue Youka hanging on the ladder.

“I saw mosquitoes on your leg, so I sprayed some mosquito repellent for you…”

Sure enough, there was a strong scent of mosquito repellent in the air, making it suffocatingly fragrant.

Cheng Yu’s forehead throbbed with pain from the impact he had just endured.

Xue Youka heard the sound just now and knew that Cheng Yu must have hit his forehead. He felt somewhat guilty at the moment. “I’m sorry, brother. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Do you like the thing inside?”

Cheng Yu had a wooden expression. “Is this how you entertain me?”

Seeing that he indeed didn’t like it, Xue Youka lowered his head in frustration, remained silent for a few seconds, and weakly offered an explanation, “But there are really no fireflies on the mountain… I went up the mountain specifically to catch them for you.”

“Didn’t you say there are fireflies on Zhongshan?” Cheng Yu descended from the swaying ladder, touched his forehead, as if there was a swelling bump.

“It’s too far! It takes half an hour by car to get there. It would take me two hours on a bicycle.” Not to mention that he couldn’t ride a bicycle now, it had only been a month since the surgery.

Xue Youka felt a little aggrieved and angry. He sat on the seesaw, rolled up his loose pants, revealing the bruises and bloodstains on his legs. “I went to look for fireflies for you and ended up falling. Look at this!”

Cheng Yu was momentarily stunned, and his expression changed slightly as he squatted down to take a look.

The legs were very beautiful, not too thin, but slender and well-proportioned. However, there were bruises on the knees and scabs from scraped skin on the sides of the legs. The scab on the ankle looked a little darker, indicating a more serious injury.

“See, it’s all because you told me to catch fireflies. Can’t I just pay you back the money? I don’t want to play with you anymore.”

Cheng Yu’s expression became even more unpleasant. “Then who will you play with?”

“I have my buddies!”

“Childish.”

“I’ll save enough money to pay you back in a few days. I won’t catch fireflies for you anymore. If you like them, go catch them yourself!” Xue Youka’s voice grew louder as he spoke, and he became more confident, leaving Cheng Yu speechless.

Forget it, why bother arguing with a little girl.

“Mimi.”

“Yeah,” he instinctively replied.

“Is it still hurting?”

The sudden gentle tone left Xue Youka a bit confused as he stared blankly at Cheng Yu. “N-Not hurting anymore…”

“Wait a moment.” After saying that, Cheng Yu stood up and left his house before Xue Youka could react.

Xue Youka was even more perplexed…

Cheng Yu was the most unpredictable person he had ever met. One moment he would have a stern face and be fierce, the next moment he would ask gently if the wound was hurting, and then in the next moment, he would leave him behind and run off.

Cheng Yu had become familiar with the countryside in the past few days and knew that there was a small shop at the intersection.

There was only a girl of about ten years old guarding the shop. Her face turned red the moment she saw Cheng Yu approaching.

In this small county town, she had never seen such a boy before. He was dressed neatly and stylishly, with attractive features and a tall figure. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing well-defined elbows, thanks to his fencing and drumming practice. Judging from his arms alone, it was clear that this seemingly thin boy had a lot of strength.

“W-What do you, what do you want to buy?” The girl spoke in the local dialect, and Cheng Yu could vaguely understand. He glanced at the small shop, filled with junk food like spicy strips, all unfamiliar brands.

He guessed that Xue Mimi might like them, but he didn’t buy any.

“I want an ice cream.”

The freezer opened, and Cheng Yu reached in and picked out various unfamiliar brands. In the end, he chose a “Kawaii Duo” ice cream.

“I’ll take this one,” Cheng Yu handed over the money.

When he returned to Xue’s house, Xue Youka was no longer on the seesaw. Cheng Yu went straight upstairs and, as expected, found him lying in his room reading manga.

Cheng Yu knocked on the door twice, signalling his presence.

“I bought something for you,” he said, hiding the ice cream behind his back.

Xue Youka’s eyes lit up, his gaze sharp. “Ice cream!!!”

“Yeah,” Cheng Yu revealed it.

“You bought it for me?!”

Visibly, Cheng Yu noticed the transformation in Xue Youka’s behaviour. He went from being downcast to having sparkling eyes that radiated excitement.

It amused Cheng Yu, and he couldn’t help but smile. “I bought it for you.”

Xue Youka jumped off the bed, ready to take the Kawaii Duo from Cheng Yu’s hand. But Cheng Yu quickly moved his hand back, and Xue Youka lunged forward, only to find himself empty-handed, still staring at Cheng Yu.

Cheng Yu maintained a calm attitude. “Is your stomach still hurting?”

Xue Youka thought Cheng Yu was referring to the stomach ache he had from eating seafood that day, so he shook his head. “It’s been fine for a while.”

“Oh.” Cheng Yu then handed him the ice cream.

“Thank you, gege¹Gege in English means Older Brother!” Xue Youka exclaimed gratefully.

“How about your legs? Are they still okay?” Cheng Yu sat on a chair beside him.

“They’re not hurting anymore!”

Even his tone of speaking had changed.

“Just because you ate an ice cream, the pain is gone? Roll up your pants, let me take a look.”

Cheng Yu had glanced at them earlier, but now he examined them more carefully. He noticed that the scabs on these legs were truly unsightly, and he was a bit worried that they might leave scars.

Xue Youka reassured him, “When I was a kid, I played at a steel mill and fell on my butt. I got impaled by a steel bar and had to get twenty stitches. But it only left a shallow scar. This is nothing. Eating ice cream will make it all better.” As he spoke, he glanced at Cheng Yu’s reddened forehead.

The happiness of a single-celled organism could be so simple and pure.

Cheng Yu even thought, if just one ice cream could have this effect, then what about ten ice creams… 

Would it make her²the pronouns, she/her are used because from our little gong’s perspective, Mimi is a girl obedient and willing to do anything?

“Gege, you have a bump on your head.”

Cheng Yu’s expression froze, instantly ceasing all imagination. The veins on his forehead seemed ready to burst.

Xue Youka stood up, holding the melting ice cream cone in his hand. The aroma of ice cream filled the room. He sat on the edge of the bed and whispered, “Bend down a little, and I’ll blow on it for you.”

Author’s note: 

Cheng Yu’s heart rate monitoring wristband is about to sound an alarm.

System: If chu would like to support System, chu can consider leaving your System kofi at https://ko-fi.com/systemyaoi 

Please note: System kindly requests you to read all of her translations exclusively on Second Life Translations. Posting her works on any other website is not authorised by System.