Chapter 10.1: “Remember this lesson.”

Title: Baby’s Breath

Translator: System Yaoi

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

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Chapter 10 (1) “Remember this lesson.”

Xue Youka glanced up and secretly noticed that his cousin had already left before daring to lift his head.

Cheng Yu’s voice wasn’t as cold as usual as he asked, “Do you still need hot water?”

He shook his head. Grandpa came back after registering, and the doctor examined him.

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Gqvla Dwl Zswjy qkdkpble vbl kdflnvksd, bl csaasole Bdnzl Elk’p rbsdl vs nyzz bsxl. Tl nswzed’v alynb Tl Dkysusw sd vbl zydezkdl, yde obld bl nyzzle bkp ywdv’p xsckzl rbsdl, pbl vbswtbv bl oyp pvkzz rzyukdt yv y qaklde’p bswpl yde pyke, “Ykxk, uswa xsvbla kp yv vbl bsprkvyz okvb wp dso. Zsw nyd ts bsxl qkapv sa ts vs Qaydexy’p.”

Brsd nyalqwz kdiwkau, kv vwadle swv vbyv Qys Qys’p ypvbxy bye qzyale wr.

“Elzz, R’zz ts vs Qaydexy’p, bso kp Qys Qys?”

“Xb, kv’p vbl pyxl yp clqsal. Tl dllep vs cl bsprkvyzkple. Psd’v osaau ycswv kv.”

Dwl Zswjy pyke, “Mbld R’zz nsxl vs vbl bsprkvyz vsxsaaso vs pll bkx.”

Gqvla bydtkdt wr vbl rbsdl, Ubldt Zw prsjl wr, “Rp vblal ds sdl yv uswa bsxl?”

“Zlyb, ds sdl kp bsxl.” Gqvla vbl kdflnvksd, bkp hkpksd clnyxl pzktbvzu nzlyala, cwv vbl lqqlnv oyp dsv kxxlekyvl. Dwl Zswjy vswnble bkp qynl yde vblal olal pvkzz xydu aypblp. “Pslp xu qynl pvkzz zssj hlau plakswp?”

Tl oyp yqayke sq pnyakdt bkp taydeqyvbla yde taydexsvbla obld bl oldv bsxl.

Cheng Yu observed for a moment and said, “It’s a bit better.”

Xue Youka was still worried.

“It’s not too ugly, don’t worry.”

Uncle Wei drove in the direction of his home. “Should I drop you off at home?” He was worried that the girl’s allergic symptoms hadn’t subsided. If they worsened at night, what should they do? After all, they were the ones who took her to eat seafood, and seafood allergies were not a trivial matter.

“Or should we go to Uncle’s house? That way, if something happens at night, it will be easier to drive you to the hospital.”

“It’s okay, Uncle. I’ll talk to Grandpa when I get home. Nothing will happen.”

Uncle Wei indeed felt it wasn’t quite appropriate for a girl to stay overnight. After repeated reminders, he drove him back first.

When they arrived at the roadside near Xue Youka’s grandmother’s house, the car stopped.

The car couldn’t go any further from here, and they still had to walk 200 metres. When Xue Youka got out of the car, he suddenly remembered, “Uncle Chu, how much did the injection cost? I have to pay you back.”

“It wasn’t much.” Chu Jin said to Cheng Yu, “Take your little sister home; her backpack is heavy.”

“No, I have money in my bag. I must repay you.”

“Go home and rest. I won’t accept it today. We’ll talk about it another day.” Chu Jin had seen it when they bought shoes today—hundreds of coins and a stack of neatly organised small denominations.

Xue Youka couldn’t argue, so he got out of the car. Cheng Yu put on his backpack, held the shoe bag, and accompanied Xue Youka to the front door of his house.

Outside the iron gate, separated by a surrounding wall, one could faintly see scattered lights inside the house and hear the sound of a television program.

“Then I’m going in.” Xue Youka stood at the doorway and reached out to ask Cheng Yu for his backpack.

Cheng Yu handed him the backpack and called out, “Xue Mimi.”

“Yes?” Xue Youka looked up, moonlight shining on his face, and the rashes had subsided quite a bit.

“If you need anything, call me.”

“Okay, got it.” Holding the shoebox, he prepared to go inside but was stopped by Cheng Yu. “What did you promise? Do you have my number?”

“…No,” Xue Youka said earnestly, “But I don’t have a phone.”

“Use the home phone to call,” Cheng Yu unzipped his backpack, “Take out the pencil case and grab a piece of paper.”

Cheng Yu left his graceful handwriting on the back of Xue Youka’s exercise book: “I’ve put the medicine in your backpack. Remember to take it, and also…” He made a hand gesture indicating making a phone call.

“I will remember,” Xue Youka waved his hand and said softly, “Goodbye, big brother.”

“Goodbye.”

Perhaps due to the darkness of the night, when Xue Youka entered the house, his grandmother surprisingly didn’t notice the rashes on his skin. “Oh my, Mimi, why did you come so late?”

“Gao Gao is hospitalised. I have to go to the hospital tomorrow to see him.”

Grandmother’s attention was immediately diverted, thinking that he had gone to the hospital in the afternoon to visit his cousin. As soon as she heard that her well-behaved grandson was sick, she quickly called her daughter.

Back in his room, Xue Youka looked at himself in the mirror. There were still some slight rashes on his face, and it was a bit itchy. He took his medication and heard the sound of the door opening downstairs. Xue Youka walked to the balcony and saw his grandfather starting the three-wheeled vehicle. The red taillights resembled giant insect eyes in the dark.

“Grandpa, are you going to the hospital? Then I’ll come too.”

“You stay home and look after the house. Your grandmother and I will be back soon! Behave!”

It wasn’t until late at night, when Xue Youka was almost falling asleep, that he heard their return. He put on his pyjamas and took a glance outside. The two elderly people got out of the car. Xue Youka spoke up, “Grandma, how is Gao Gao?”

“Eh? Mimi, what’s the matter with you? Why aren’t you sleeping yet?” Grandmother looked up at him. “Go to bed quickly! Your little brother is fine. You can visit him tomorrow.”

Early the next morning, Xue Youka woke up and followed the elderly people to the hospital.

He spent the entire day with the adults, going home with his aunt halfway to prepare porridge for Gao Gao, and then going back to the hospital. Gao Gao was lying in bed and even asked his sister, “Sister, why is your brother’s face swollen and ugly?”

Xue Youka couldn’t be bothered to argue with him.

In the evening, he went home with He Xiaoyou. After being busy for several days, He Xiaoyou finally had some free time and asked him about his homework.

“I’ve finished it. My backpack is at Grandma’s house… Really! I was in a hurry to see Gao Gao in the morning and forgot to bring it.”

He Xiaoyou scrutinised him for a few seconds and decided to believe him. She found other textbooks for her son and said, “Reviewing before bedtime is the most effective. Memorise this lesson and…”

She assigned him homework to do before going to sleep and brought him a cup of hot milk.

In the middle of the night, the entire county town was shrouded in silent darkness. A taxi stopped downstairs at the Xue family’s house. Xue Tianliang arrived home, dusty and worn out. He put down his bag and the first thing he did was push open Xue Youka’s door and take a look at his son.

Xue Youka sensed it in his drowsy state. He didn’t open his eyes but called out, “Dad.”

Xue Tianliang sat by his bedside for a while before leaving.

Xue Tianliang rarely came back, but this time he took Xue Youka out to have fun for two days. He even took him to the barber shop to get a haircut. It wasn’t until He Xiaoyou expressed dissatisfaction, saying, “That’s enough, you’re too playful. He still has his studies, how can he play like this? Mimi, let’s go to Grandma’s later and bring back your exercise book.”

Two or three days passed, and He Xiaoyou unexpectedly kept worrying about the backpack that her son said he left at Grandma’s house. She valued Xue Youka’s academic performance too much and was afraid that he would fall behind other students when school started because of his young age. She often attended lectures by experts and knew that once a student falls behind at the beginning, it becomes difficult to catch up later on.

When they arrived at Grandma’s house, it didn’t take long for He Xiaoyou to rush upstairs and ask Xue Youka to bring out his exercise book. “Let me see what you’ve written.”

Xue Youka had already completed the part she assigned him. He Xiaoyou looked at it and nodded with satisfaction. “You’ve done well with the assigned tasks.” She then proceeded to check and mark the answers, circling the incorrect ones, and said to him, “You need to redo these incorrect answers. And these,” she flipped through the pages, folding a corner into a triangle at the bottom right, “if you want to stay at Grandma’s house, you need to complete all of these this week. Next time I have a day off, I’ll come to check your schoolwork.”

“Mom… Isn’t this too much?”

“How is this too much? I didn’t enrol you in any remedial classes. Don’t you know how to work hard on your own? Do you have to end up like me and your dad, attending vocational schools in the future?”

Xue Youka could only stay silent.

He Xiaoyou focused on his Chinese, maths, and English. She left homework for all three subjects, making it even harder than going to school.

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