The Obligations of the Elderly - Chapter 19

“Big Head, Big Head, no worries when it rains…” Squatting by the pond with an umbrella, Gong Si spoke to Big Head, who was gulping down fish in the water.

Ah Ji was placed between his legs, sitting in the baby carrier. It was Ah Ji’s first time seeing Big Head, and his eyes were wide open, occasionally letting out “oh” and “oh” sounds.

The stewed fish originally meant for Xi Liu had no one to eat it, so Gong Si gave it all to Big Head.

Big Head was a strange fish. Gong Si didn’t know if other big fish ate human food, but Big Head loved it.

After eating, Big Head rinsed his mouth in the water, then resurfaced, jumped out, and placed his fins on the edge of the pond. He also stared seriously at Ah Ji.

“Ah!” Seeing Big Head suddenly emerge from the water, Ah Ji was startled and leaned back as if facing a formidable enemy.

Of course, his feet were off the ground now, so he had nowhere to push off from. He just kicked his legs a bit, then burrowed his small body into Gong Si’s arms.

“This is Big Head, the fish I keep.” Gong Si introduced Big Head to his little brother in a very formal manner, not using any baby talk just because his brother was an infant. Then he said to Big Head, “This is my brother, my third little brother.”

Big Head tilted his head.

Perhaps Big Head looked too scary. Ah Ji managed to stare at him for a while, then suddenly turned his head away, burying it in his brother’s arms, clutching his brother’s collar tightly, refusing to come out.

Big Head raised his head in disappointment and silently opened his mouth at Gong Si.

“It’s fine, you two haven’t met much. You’ll get used to each other after a few more meetings.” Gong Si comforted him.

“Alright, it’s getting late. I’ll take him back to sleep.” Gong Si stood up as he spoke, waved to Big Head, “You should go to sleep early too.”

With that, he left.

Big Head remained at the edge of the pond, watching the two brothers’ departing backs for a long, long time…

Two days later, Gong Si finally received news about Xi Liu from his teacher.

“Student Xi Liu needs to rest for a while. His health suddenly took a turn for the worse and he needs to recuperate quietly. He probably won’t be able to attend classes for a while, but if he gets better, he’ll return to the group as soon as possible.” ← That’s what the teacher said.

Gong Si remembered that day-the girls in his class, and even the whole school, were especially sad. They kept confirming with the teacher for a long time, even telling him not to move Xi Liu’s seat. The teacher’s suggestion to elect a new class monitor was strongly opposed by the girls and was eventually dropped.

In the end, Gong Si had to “take charge”. Although he was only the vice class monitor, he was doing all the work of the class monitor.

Well, Xi Liu often dumped the class monitor’s duties on him anyway.

But people are forgetful. As time passed, Xi Liu’s name was mentioned less and less. Eventually, his seat was filled by a boy with poor eyesight, and the other girls returned to their original seats.

Gong Si also started being called “class monitor”-the “vice” part was dropped somewhere along the way.

He still thought of Xi Liu often, but it was just a passing thought.

Afterwards, he visited Xi Liu’s house a few more times, but the door was always tightly shut. Over time, moss grew on the iron gate.

Gradually, Gong Si rarely had time to visit Xi Liu’s house. His schoolwork became heavier, Ah Ji grew bigger, Qiu Xia… There was always so much to keep him busy.

When the first heavy snowflakes began to fall, winter finally arrived in Lengshui Town-

“The snow outside is really heavy!” Qiu Xia said as he walked in, carefully brushing the snow off Gong Si at the door.

The two of them came in together. Yesterday was Qiu Xia’s biweekly day to return home, and the first thing he did was accompany his Eldest Brother to shop.

Having grown up in Lengshui Town, he knew this snow would last a long time.

Lengshui Town’s winters were said to have only three snowfalls: the first lasted a month, the second a month and a half, and the third continued into early spring.

=-=

Basically, it snowed every day.

At this time, the most important thing for Lengshui Town residents was to go out and buy groceries.

Not by the bag, but by the truckload.

No truck? No problem. Every winter, the Threshing Ground supermarket offered a special service: all purchases were loaded onto a big truck, which drove around the main road of the town, stopping at each household so they could unload their goods.

But this service was only available once each winter. When the snow first started, the roads were still passable, but later, with daily snow, the roads became icy and blocked, making it hard for the truck to get through.

For the residents of the small town, winter shopping was truly the top priority of the season~
Gong Si and Gong Qiuxia, the two brothers, had just unloaded their family’s goods from the truck. They had only unloaded them, not yet moved them inside; they were about to open the door to prepare for the goods outside.

“Eldest Brother! Second Brother! Do you need my help?” Carrying Ah Ji on his back, Dong Chun ran out from the warm indoors, wearing a little cotton jacket.

As he spoke, a glob of snot hung beneath his nostrils.

“You’ve caught a cold recently, so don’t come outside. Just stay inside with Ah Ji and help us boil some hot water.” Seeing his younger brother’s dirty snot, Qiu Xia didn’t mind. He walked over, took a handkerchief from his pocket, and pressed it to his brother’s nose to help him blow it.

“Another new handkerchief! Second Brother, did a girl give you this one again?!” As he blew his nose hard, Dong Chun couldn’t help gossiping, staring so intently at the handkerchief in his brother’s hand that his eyes nearly crossed.

“You…” Qiu Xia smiled gently, then placed the used handkerchief in Dong Chun’s palm. “Take care of it yourself.”

Dong Chun blinked, looking his Second Brother up and down. “Second Brother, you don’t seem cold at all~ Eldest Brother’s nose is all red, but you look just the same as usual~”

“Maybe it’s because my ability is Ice Type?” Qiu Xia replied.

“Oh, oh~ Second Brother, I have a question. Are you cold every day? Last time you told me having an ability feels like there’s something extra outside your body. If your ability is ice, and there’s always a lump of ice next to you, are you cold all the time?”

“Hmm… Maybe a little, but I’m used to it now, so I don’t notice…”

Watching Qiu Xia take care of Dong Chun, Gong Si opened the cellar where they planned to store vegetables, and took a moment to glance at Ah Ji on Dong Chun’s back.

Just like Dong Chun, Ah Ji was watching Qiu Xia, looking as if he was seriously listening to the conversation between his two older brothers.

Even though he clearly didn’t understand a thing…

Gong Si found it a bit amusing.

Ever since Qiu Xia became a User and transferred to the Specialized School, the Gong Family often talked about Users and Vessels. Dong Chun was always curious, coming up with endless questions. Qiu Xia came home every two weeks, so Dong Chun would save up his questions and ask them all at once when Qiu Xia returned.

Most likely, not all the questions were his own-probably some were from his little friends too, Gong Si thought.

And Qiu Xia was always gentle and patient, carefully answering every question his younger brother asked.

It seemed nothing had changed.

But as someone who knew him well, Gong Si keenly sensed a change in his younger brother.

Gentle and refined as Qiu Xia was, there was now an unnoticeable air of authority about him.

About a month after Qiu Xia started at the Specialized School, people kept coming to their house, some even asking if they could become Qiu Xia’s Vessel. Gong Si had received at least five groups!

Fortunately, this only lasted a little over a month-less than two months-and then peace returned to their home.

No one knew what Qiu Xia had done, but in any case, no one came barging in anymore.

After that, Gong Si vaguely felt his brother had become more “dignified.”

“Alright, save the rest for later. Your Second Brother isn’t afraid of the cold, but your Eldest Brother is!” Lost in thought, Gong Si glanced at the sky and had to play the bad guy, interrupting his two brothers’ conversation.

“Let’s hurry and move everything inside, or it’ll freeze.” he said to Qiu Xia.

“Get inside quickly,” he waved to Dong Chun.

The two older brothers did the heavy lifting, while the two younger ones stayed inside boiling hot water for them, occasionally running out to hand them something to eat or drink. In the middle of winter, every one of the Gong Brothers ended up sweating!

After two hours of work, everything they bought was finally sorted-not just put away, but also prepped as needed.

By the time they finished, it was already dark. Too tired to cook, Gong Si simply used the newly bought ingredients to make a hot pot. With meat, shrimp, and vegetables, the brothers enjoyed a warm meal together, watched some TV, and when Dong Chun’s eyelids started drooping, Gong Si simply carried him off to bed.

Then the other two brothers went to bed as well.

In cold places, people tend to go to bed early.

Before sleeping, Gong Si glanced out the window: the first snow of the year was already so heavy. Tomorrow morning, he’d have to get up early to shovel snow.

Not only did he need to shovel their own, but also help out at Grandma Lin’s and a few other neighbors’ houses. Those households were all elderly couples or had children. They were not only neighbors but also old friends-previously helping Grandpa take care of him and Qiu Xia, then Dong Chun, and now even Ah Ji. Since he was thirteen, Gong Si had always taken Qiu Xia to help shovel snow for those families after finishing their own.

This year would be no exception.

After making his plans, Gong Si closed the curtains and went to sleep.