Chapter 55: 45.2

Mu Mu’er goes to the kitchen to warm up the chocolate. The conversation topic shifts.

“He’s…”

Bai Yao stops Qi Ya after one syllable, “he’s intellectually disabled. I feel that his intelligence is around 10 years of age.”

Qi Ya was going to ask if he was actually his friend with benefit, and immediately retracts that.

“Congenital?”

Bai Yao shakes his head after thinking about it, “I don’t know. He didn’t tell me.”

He then recounts briefly everything that happened after he met Mu Mu’er, summarising a month in a few sentences.

Qi Ya doesn’t speak at all for a while. How did he come to adopt a special needs person all of a sudden after a few months? Then, he suddenly remembers what Bai Yao said during the phone call, and asks, “so, uh, who’s he to you?”

Bai Yao raises his brow.

Qi Ya knows it’s not exactly his place to ask, so he rephrases his question, “what do you think of him as?”

Bai Yao has also given it some thought before, but not much. He is certain he has no thoughts on Mu Mu’er beyond a friend. Mu Mu’er is happy to live with him, and he is happy to care for him. That’s all.

The future is in the future.

Bai Yao shrugs and looks back at the half-eaten bag of soft candy on the table Mu Mu’er left behind.

“I haven’t many thoughts,” he glances at the kitchen reflexively, but can’t see anyone from his angle, “he needs me, and he has nowhere to go. I can give him a home as long as he needs it.”

Qi Ya then asks, “but what about his family? His home? Have you thought that they might still be looking for him?”

Qi Ya still has more to ask, but stops, taking a deep breath.

Bai Yao, slightly annoyed, cuts him off too, “he doesn’t remember anything.”

“What do you mean he doesn’t remember anything? He’s got amnesia too?”

Bai Yao puts his arm on the chair Mu Mu’er was sitting in earlier, and explains, “he told me he has an older brother.”

Qi Ya’s eyes widen, but no more words come. He finds himself almost frustrated, “and?”

“I haven’t asked. That’s all.”

Mu Mu’er returns with his plate. There is a thick layer of chocolate on the crêpe, almost covering up the layers underneath.

He also has two additional warm cups of chocolate. He hands one to Bai Yao, and holds the other one hesitantly.

He observes Bai Yao a few times, like a doe trying to approach a human, and finally, he moves forward, and extends his arm, waiting for Qi Ya’s reaction at the cup of chocolate.

He’s quite nervous. It’s obvious if Qi Ya were to look the least bit unfriendly, he’d throw the warm chocolate on him then run away faster than a bunny.

Qi Ya, a little surprised, glances at Bai Yao before asking Mu Mu’er, “for me?”

Mu Mu’er nods, and extends his arm a bit more.

“Yo! Thanks!”

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Mu Mu’er gently smiles, “you’re welcome.”

That is the moment when Qi Ya thinks he can understand a little what Bai Yao was thinking when he allowed him to stay around without the least bit of questioning.

The boy looks like a puppy begging for food when looking up at you. You can choose to kick the puppy away, or to pet it. If you choose to pet, then it will smile with gratitude and give you shy licks from its tongue. From then on, you will be all that it can see in the world.

No one can say no to the appearance or the smile.

Qi Ya has been with many others, both men and women. Yet, he’s never seen someone as pure and simple as this boy. He feels like his mood will stay positive the whole day just being around him and chatting a little.

A soft cushion of a boy, like being surrounded by a pile of cotton.

Who wouldn’t want a piece of soft and sweet cotton candy with them at all times? No one, is Qi Ya’s answer.

Mu Mu’er doesn’t immediately start gorging on his crêpe, but looks at Bai Yao and Qi Ya, like he’s curious what they were talking about when he was gone.

Bai Yao pats him on the head, smiling, and tells him, “now eat.”

Mu Mu’er becomes enraptured by the crêpe soon enough.

“Mu’er?” A restless Qi Ya tries calling out, with the gentlest tone he’s ever produced – that almost makes him sound disingenuous.

Bai Yao’s brows furrow a little.

Mu Mu’er looks at Qi Ya, and blinks in confusion. He didn’t expect to be called that by anyone but Bai Yao.

Bai Yao is going to tell him to stop teasing, when Qi Ya asks, “Yao-ge said you have an older brother?”

Mu Mu’er nods after a short while, but does not answer further. He licks the chocolate on the fork, and continues his feast with the crêpe.

When he is eating, nothing unimportant can ever distract him. Mu Mu’er only has himself and his food in his little world, and everything else is filtered away.

Eating is the most important thing for him. Is there anything better than eating sweet crêpe in this world?

Bai Yao knows that Mu Mu’er wants to focus on eating now, but Qi Ya hasn’t been with him long enough to tell, and he continues asking, “so where is him?”

Mu Mu’er shakes his head. He does not answer in words.

This means he does not know.

“Is he looking for you?” Qi Ya is still pushing. He wants to know too badly. He leans forward to wait for the answer.

Mu Mu’er finally has a noticeable reaction. He looks at Bai Yao with sadness, like he’s unhappy the bird is distracting him from his meal, before he answers, “he was angry, and did not want Mu’er. He left Mu’er.”

“So why did your older brother become angry?”

Mu Mu’er has been fine up to this point, yet now, his expression turns sorrowful, his eyes dim, his hands stop fidgeting with the crêpe, and his head hangs low. He does not speak anymore.

Mu Mu’er’s mood makes Bai Yao send Qi Ya’s leg a powerful kick to stop him.

Qi Ya gasps, holding his leg in pain, but stops himself from screaming.

“… I just needed to ask.”

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