In late autumn 1994, Yang Lie carried fifteen kilos of cornmeal as he and his mother made the trip from Yangdu Village into the city, taking a three-wheeled taxi once and the bus twice.
In the city, his mother had found him a new dad through her second marriage, a small bedroom covered in yellowing newspapers and posters, and a new older brother he'd never met.
Yang Lie had imagined countless times what his new brother might look like, until one snowy day a bear appeared in the living room.
The "bear" paid no attention to his wariness or provocation. He leisurely took off his military coat and removed his train-engineer hat, revealing a human being underneath.
The man had a handsome, fierce face. When he smiled, he looked like a bandit.
The bandit could pin him down with one hand. "Showing your teeth at me, little mutt?"
*
Yang Xiaodong only came home once every ten days or half a month. He and his biological father were little more than nodding acquaintances, and he hadn't even attended his father's second wedding.
At last, he came home just before the New Year, only to find a bruised and battered kid staring at him.
Even covered in dust, the kid had a face that showed how good-looking he was.
But Yang Xiaodong knew at a glance that his new little brother was born to be a troublemaker.
Fortunately, Yang Xiaodong was an even bigger troublemaker, with a bigger head and sharper edges than this little mutt.
Fists for fists, troublemakers for troublemakers.
The little brat shouted at him every time, "Yang Xiaodong, I'm not done with you!"
Yang Xiaodong couldn't be bothered to answer. "Then don't be done with me."
*
Later, those words took on a different meaning.
"I'm not done with you for the rest of my life."
"Then don't be done with me."
-
A difficult older brother (Yang Xiaodong) and a stubborn little brother (Yang Lie)
[Reading Guide / Content Warnings]
1. They take turns being on top! They take turns being on top! They take turns being on top!
2. It's probably an everyday-life story, and neither protagonist is perfect. They are five years apart.
3. My abilities as an author are limited, so apart from promising to finish the story, I can't guarantee things like mutual pampering, equal treatment, or both being strong. Readers with strong preferences of any kind should proceed with caution. I'm sounding the alarm!!
4. If you don't like it, please don't flame me, or I'll have to hide under the covers and cry.
5. The author's writing is bad.
6. That's all for now. I'll add more later if needed. Before I start writing, anything except the fact that they take turns being on top may change!
Theme: The important things in life are food and drink, that's all.
