It's Hard Being the Bad Guy

Chapter 38

After reaching the third grade, Wen Ai and Yue Xiao began taking the bus home by themselves, no longer relying on Wen Ai's father for transportation.

One day, behind the bus station, a new barbecue stall had been set up, with light gray smoke wafting everywhere. The people waiting for the bus caught a whiff of the stall owner's delicious barbecue scent.

Wen Ai's keen nose twitched a few times, and his stomach immediately began rumbling with hunger. He reached out his hand in front of Yue Xiao and said, "Give me two cents."

Yue Xiao glanced at the barbecue stall behind them and shook his head. "Don't eat now. We'll have dinner when we get home."

"I don't care!" Wen Ai patted his own stomach. "I'm hungry now, and dinner won't be delayed!"

"That's not acceptable either," Yue Xiao shook his head. "The outside food isn't clean, and there's a lot of dust by the roadside. Eating it can easily cause stomach issues."

A primary school student licking a barbecue skewer walked up next to Wen Ai while waiting for the bus. The savory aroma of the meat made Wen Ai drool with hunger. Yue Xiao was still lecturing and unwilling to spend money. Wen Ai became impatient and said, "Why do you have to lecture me? Dad just gave you pocket money to manage, and there's also my share in it. Why won't you give it to me?"

Yue Xiao, who was usually easygoing, was now extremely stubborn, keeping his pockets tightly closed. "You can't eat."

"You..." Wen Ai couldn't argue with him, softening his tone in compromise. "Then can you give me five cents? I'll just have a skewer of tofu."

Yue Xiao almost loosened his grip on his pocket under Wen Ai's pleading gaze, but at the last moment, he held his ground firmly. "No."

Wen Ai couldn't eat the barbecue and had a cold expression all the way home. When he got back, he hid in his room and refused to eat, even locking the door. Father An knocked for a while from outside. Seeing no response from inside, he had to fetch the key and unlock the door.

"Little brother, it's time for dinner," Father An sat on the edge of the bed, patting the lump under the blanket. "I brought back roast duck from the restaurant, freshly roasted in the afternoon. It's similar to barbecue, isn't it?"

There was no response from Wen Ai.

"It's right for your brother not to let you eat. If I were him, I would do the same," Father An said. "Last time, you bought snacks from the roadside and ended up with a stomach ache all night. Didn't it hurt you in the end?"

Wen Ai squirmed but still remained silent.

Father An's persuasion efforts were in vain. The stubborn lump under the soft cotton quilt refused to budge. Father An, at his wit's end, stood up and slapped the lump under the quilt: "If you're willing to starve, then starve. I'm going to have dinner."

Yue Xiao had been waiting outside the door the whole time. Seeing Father An come out alone, his mood sank.

Thinking of his brother's desperate desire to eat at the station, Yue Xiao frowned and pondered for a moment. He went to the kitchen, fried a piece of dried tofu in a frying pan, seasoned it, wrapped it in chopped green onions and pickled vegetables, then asked Mother An for two bamboo skewers used for knitting. After washing them, he skewered the tofu neatly, making it look like the grilled tofu sold outside and smelling especially fragrant.

Surprisingly, Wen Ai was indeed tempted by Yue Xiao's tofu. After sulking for a while, he sat up, lifted the quilt, and took the tofu, eating it with oil dripping from his mouth.

Yue Xiao found an old piece of clothing to drape over his brother's legs, catching the chopped green onions and pickled vegetables that kept falling off. He stood by and watched him eat.