Just in Time Chapter 28
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 28: Give Money
Half of Yun Fang’s face was buried in his thick scarf, his voice sounding a bit muffled, “Did I disturb your smoking?”
Yi Chenliang stepped on the cigarette on the ground with a slipper, trying to pretend nothing happened. He reached out to take the big bag of things from him, coughed hard, “Cough, it’s cold outside, come in.”
Yun Fang followed him into the house.
There was no heating or air conditioning in the house, not even a carbon stove for heating. The temperature was not much different from outside. After Yi Chenliang sold all the waste products, the whole living room was empty, looking particularly desolate.
In Yun Fang’s memory, he only lived in this rented small yard for a short summer and had not experienced winter. Although he usually cared about Yi Chenliang, he could not take care of everything and never thought about how to keep warm in winter.
And Yi Chenliang was still a child who hadn’t grown up. He lived alone when he ran out, and he couldn’t take care of many things. Even the pot and quilt were bought by Yun Fang.
It might also be that he was saving money for next semester’s tuition.
Yun Fang reached into his back pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Yi Chenliang was still bending over to put things down. He suddenly turned his head and almost sprained his waist.
Yun Fang threw the scarf on the bed, took out a cigarette to bite, and was about to light the cigarette with a click of the lighter. In the next second, Yi Chenliang snatched the lighter away fiercely.
“What are you doing!” Yi Chenliang glared at him.
Yun Fang stood in place with his hands in his coat pockets to warm them, biting the cigarette with his tiger teeth and smiling slowly, “What do you think?”
Yi Chenliang reached out and pulled the cigarette from his mouth, frowning, “Don’t learn bad habits.”
Yun Fang joked, “So you can smoke, but I can’t?”
“I am——” Yi Chenliang said two words, and when he met Yun Fang’s smiling expression, he instantly lost his voice, and after a long time, he said, “Smoking is harmful to health.”
Yun Fang: “Then why do you still smoke?”
Yun Fang knew that his addiction to cigarettes would only get worse. He had been smoking for over twenty years, and his lungs were not in good shape. He had even taken medicine for it. All in all, it was not a good habit.
Usually, Yi Chenliang would never smoke in front of him, almost making him forget about it.
“…” Yi Chenliang took the pack of cigarettes from Yun Fang’s pocket and threw it on the bedside table, saying firmly, “I won’t smoke, and you’re not allowed to either.”
“Oh.” Yun Fang looked at the pack of cigarettes with a regretful expression, “Alright then.”
Yi Chenliang wished he could throw that pack of cigarettes into the trash can.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Yi Chenliang, trying to divert Yun Fang’s attention from the cigarettes, asked.
Yun Fang pointed to the big bag on the bed, “I brought you some clothes.”
“So many?” Yi Chenliang looked at the bulging bag, his eyes full of shock, “Didn’t you say to let auntie bring back two pieces?”
“Maybe it’s cheaper to wholesale clothes.” Yun Fang hadn’t looked closely at what clothes were there when he came, “Open it and try them on to see if they fit.”
Yi Chenliang poured the clothes from the bag onto the bed.
A black down jacket, three sweaters in black, white, and gray, a set of thermal underwear, a pair of jeans with added velvet, a pair of casual pants, a woolen coat… and two sets of autumn clothes.
Yi Chenliang had never bought so many new clothes at once. He even saw two pairs of underwear and a stack of socks in a plastic bag.
“Yun Fang,” Yi Chenliang’s eyes were clearly shocked, “What did you tell your mom?”
Yun Fang obviously didn’t expect Tang Yi to buy so many clothes. Under Yi Chenliang’s questioning gaze, he recalled the scene at that time.
–“Mom, my classmate doesn’t have clothes to wear in winter, can you help bring back two pieces when you go to wholesale clothes this weekend?”
–“No clothes to wear?”
–“Yes.”
–“Oh my, why doesn’t he have clothes to wear? Where are his parents?”
–“He’s an orphan, no father, no mother, living alone.”
–“Oh, poor thing… What size does he wear?”
–“His size is similar to mine, no need to buy too good ones, he doesn’t have money.”
–“Sugar, is it Xiao Yi who came to the store last time?”
“…Ah.”
After recalling, Yun Fang was very sure that he said “two pieces” at that time, and specifically told Tang Yi not to buy expensive ones.
But now looking at the packaging of these clothes, they didn’t look like cheap wholesale goods–even if their tags were deliberately cut off and put into cheap plastic bags.
Yun Fang touched his nose guiltily and calmly said, “I just told her to bring back two pieces casually.”
Yi Chenliang sighed helplessly, but still smiled at Yun Fang, “But still, thank you.”
Yun Fang saw that he was barefoot and cold, “Hurry up and try them on to see if they fit.”
After Yi Chenliang changed into a sweater and pants, Yun Fang had to exclaim again, Tang Yi’s aesthetic was really on point, Yi Chenliang now looked much warmer.
Yi Chenliang sat on the bed after getting dressed, “How much are the clothes?”
“I don’t know, it should not exceed two hundred.” Yun Fang, tired from standing, also sat down on the bed full of clothes.
Yi Chenliang, didn’t know where he got a stack of money from, stuffed it into his hand, “Including the pots and pans you helped me buy last time, take it.”
Yun Fang unabashedly counted the money, “Eight hundred, so much?”
“These clothes are not cheap.” Yi Chenliang said.
“Then shall we return them?” Yun Fang said.
“How to return after the tags have been removed?” Yi Chenliang laughed, “Besides, I do need to buy winter clothes, go back and thank auntie for me.”
“Have you saved enough for next semester’s tuition?” Yun Fang looked up and asked him.
“Hm, almost.” Yi Chenliang said without changing his face.
The two sat on the bed, staring at each other. Yun Fang couldn’t help but reach out to straighten his slightly crooked collar, his voice flat as if discussing what to eat for dinner, “How much more do you need?”
“…Two thousand.” Yi Chenliang scratched his hair a bit dejectedly.
Yun Fang looked down at the money in his hand, “Then still——”
Yi Chenliang held his hand and pushed it back firmly, “One code for one code, even real brothers have to keep clear accounts.”
(T/N: One code for one code-It means that these are not one thing but two, and the two things should be looked at separately. They should not be confused and should not be considered together. They should be dealt with one by one.)
Thus Yun Fang unceremoniously stuffed the money into his own pocket, saying seriously, “How can I be so shameless.”
Yi Chenliang couldn’t keep a straight face and couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you like money that much?”
“Who doesn’t like money?” Yun Fang rarely saw him laugh so happily, reached out and ruffled his hair, “Give another two hundred, to make it a round number.”
Yi Chenliang didn’t hesitate at all, and gave him another two hundred.
Yun Fang waved the money in front of him and asked with a smile, “Really give it to me?”
“Really give it to you.” Yi Chenliang nodded with a smile.
“Okay, then I’ll take it.” Yun Fang stuffed the money into his pocket, “Don’t you want to ask why?”
Yi Chenliang shook his head, his eyes slightly bright, “I can earn more when I work during the winter vacation.”
Yun Fang reached out and messed up his messy hair, but was caught by Yi Chenliang.
“Hey, what are you doing? Once given, you can’t take it back.” Yun Fang covered his pocket with his other hand and leaned back.
Yi Chenliang held his hand and didn’t let go. Seeing him leaning back, he pulled him towards himself and tickled him, “Don’t touch my head again!”
Yun Fang laughed, “It’s okay, touching won’t stop you from growing taller, you can grow to 1.88 meters in the future.”
Yi Chenliang was stunned, “How do you know?”
“Nonsense, how tall am I——” Yun Fang was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly shut his mouth.