Chapter 372 - 367: Yun Xiaojiu: My Good Brother Su Huan (Part 2)

Once they were full, it was time to go out and play.

Yun Xiaowu and the others suggested playing basketball.

After all, boys that age are crazy about ball games.

But Yun Jiao didn’t want to go.

If she was going to play basketball, she’d just play with the killer whales.

Yun Xiaojiu pulled her aside. "You guys go on without us. Jiaojiao and I are going to do something else."

"Jiaojiao, there’s a lake behind our school. Let’s go catch crayfish."

Yun Jiao asked, "Can we take them home to eat?"

It seemed to be the perfect season for plump crayfish.

"We can."

Yun Jiao said, "Let’s go, then."

They grabbed a piece of string and caught a few fat earthworms.

The brother and sister then walked hand in hand toward the lake behind the school.

Getting there required cutting around the school restrooms. Just as they slipped behind the building, they heard the sounds of a fight and a volley of curses.

"Su Huan, are you psycho? We were talking about Yun Chen’an, not you! Why the hell are you hitting us!"

Yun Jiao and Yun Xiaojiu both froze when they heard this.

Yun Jiao tugged on Brother Nine’s hand and whispered, "Let’s go take a look."

Yun Xiaojiu nodded.

And so, the two of them crept closer.

Su Huan said, "Don’t talk about him."

He wiped a scrape on his face, glaring at the three boys he’d knocked to the ground with the ferocity of a wolf cub.

The three boys looked at him fearfully.

But one of them, the stubborn one, was clearly not convinced. "Are we wrong? He’s a total sissy. What kind of guy is like that? He carries a mirror and a handkerchief, he’s afraid of getting dirty, and he’s always hanging around with girls."

Yun Jiao was furious. She wanted to rush out and fight the boy herself.

But Yun Xiaojiu held her back.

Yun Xiaojiu’s heart ached to hear it, but he had always sensed that those classmates didn’t like him.

Since they rarely interacted, he’d never paid it any mind.

Su Huan punched the boy a few more times. "I warned you."

"We only promised not to put dead rats and cockroaches in his desk! What’s wrong with saying a few things behind his back? He can’t even hear us!"

Yun Xiaojiu was stunned.

From their conversation, he realized this wasn’t the first time Su Huan had fought those classmates for his sake.

But Su Huan had never said a word about it to him!

Yun Jiao was also surprised. She lowered her voice and whispered to Yun Xiaojiu.

"Brother, he’s helped you more than just once."

’Yun Jiao felt quite satisfied. It seemed Brother Nine’s help hadn’t been wasted on him after all.’

’This guy was secretly protecting her Brother Nine. Mmm, the things they gave him were worth it.’

Yun Xiaojiu was so moved his eyes reddened. "I had no idea."

’Right then and there, he decided Su Huan was his best friend!’

After warning the bullies and chasing them off, Su Huan was about to leave when Yun Xiaojiu called out to him.

"Su Huan!"

Su Huan’s body stiffened slightly.

But Yun Xiaojiu had already rushed in front of him. "Thank you."

"And why didn’t you tell me?"

"You’re hurt."

Su Huan waited for him to finish, then said somewhat stiffly, "I’m fine."

He said, "You give me food. I protect you. It’s an exchange."

"But you never said anything! You’re getting the raw end of the deal. If you do something good, you have to let people know! Otherwise, it’s like you did it for nothing. You’ve got a mouth, so why don’t you use it?"

Su Huan lowered his head. "There’s nothing to say."

Yun Jiao called out, "Brother Nine, are we still going to catch crayfish?"

"Of course!"

Yun Xiaojiu pulled Su Huan by the hand. "Come on, let’s go catch crayfish together. We’ll take them home, make something delicious, and bring some back for you."

"I don’t—"

"Oh, don’t be shy."

Su Huan: ...

Yun Xiaojiu was like an enthusiastic puppy, dragging Su Huan along to catch crayfish and shoving a string baited with an earthworm into his hands.

"Come on, let’s catch a lot! My mom’s crayfish are super delicious. Do you like them with garlic or spicy?"

Su Huan said, "I don’t eat them."

"Okay, we’ll just see what kind my mom makes, then."

"Su Huan, are you free? You should come to my house after school! I’ll take you beachcombing with us. We can even sell whatever good stuff we find. My brothers and I get to keep the money we make from it now, though it’s not a lot."

Su Huan was about to refuse, but he swallowed the words when he heard what Yun Xiaojiu said.

He really needed the money.

Yun Jiao said, "Brother Nine, you’re so noisy."

Yun Xiaojiu said, aggrieved, "Jiaojiao, you don’t love me anymore! How could you say I’m noisy?"

Yun Jiao thought, ’La la la, I can’t hear you.’

But when her Brother Nine got excited, he really could talk your ear off.

Soon, Su Huan was feeling overwhelmed and completely dead inside.

Even though they were deskmates, the two had barely spoken before.

Their relationship had suddenly progressed by leaps and bounds, and Su Huan was genuinely struggling to adapt.

Surprisingly, the three of them had great luck. The crayfish weren’t scared away, even with Yun Xiaojiu chattering nonstop.

The three of them spent the whole lunch break squatting there and catching crayfish. Eventually, Yun Jiao even ran out of the school to buy a plastic bucket for their catch.

The three of them caught more than half a bucket of crayfish!

They didn’t leave until Yun Xiaowu and the others came to tell them it was time for class. Only then did they head back, crayfish in tow.

Yun Xiaojiu enthusiastically introduced Su Huan to his brothers.

He also told them what Su Huan had done for him.

Yun Xiaowu patted Su Huan’s shoulder in a chummy way. "My man! I’m happy to call you a brother!"

The quiet Su Huan just grunted in response.

The bucket of crayfish was placed in the dean of discipline’s office.

The Dean of Discipline: ...

"What do you think this place is!"

Yun Xiao Hou grinned cheekily. "Sir, can we just leave it here for a bit? We’ll grab it after school’s out."

The others all nodded in agreement.

This was why the dean of discipline felt so helpless when it came to Yun Xiaowu. The kid’s grades were terrible, but he was incredibly popular.

He could even joke around with the teachers, sometimes treating them more like old friends than authority figures.

"Alright, just looking at you is annoying. Now scram."

Yun Xiaowu gave an exaggerated, comical bow.

"Thanks, Old Yu."

The dean of discipline feigned a swing at him, and Yun Xiaowu scurried away, laughing.

When she learned that Brother Nine’s first class in the afternoon was P.E., she decisively ditched Fifth Brother, Brother Qi, and Brother Ba.

Earning her three deeply reproachful looks.

Yun Jiao pretended not to notice.

’Who would want to sit in a classroom when you could be playing outside?’

In P.E. class, the teacher led everyone through some calisthenics.

Yun Jiao stood beside Brother Nine, following along. For someone who was learning to dance, the moves were incredibly simple.

She performed them with energy and grace.

After the calisthenics, they ran three laps around the track, and then the P.E. teacher let them have free time.

"Yun Jiao, do you want to play jump rope with us?"

A few girls came up and asked her.

Yun Jiao glanced over. "Sure!"

She used to play this with her friends back in the village.

She just didn’t have much time to play back then.

"Yun Jiao, how is your English so good?"

Yun Jiao said, "I learned from three foreigners."

"Wow, you’ve met foreigners! What do they look like?"

"Their hair and eye colors are a bit different. Everything else is the same."

They all have two eyes, one nose, and one mouth.

They look like people.

But her description didn’t really help the other girls picture it at all.

Yun Jiao was a great jumper now. Her body felt light, and she could easily clear the rope even when it was raised high.

Her performance won a round of applause.

’I’m just that amazing of a kid!’ she thought proudly.

Meanwhile, Yun Xiaojiu had pulled the unsociable Su Huan aside to play a game of Gomoku.