Love in Cthulhu

Chapter 7 Follow me home
Over the course of a few minutes, the pain gradually subsided, and Zhou Nan's breathing slowly calmed down.

In a daze, he seemed to have become the owner of a steamed bun shop, picking up freshly steamed buns from the steaming water and handing them to customers, taking money and putting it into his apron pocket to make change.

Then, there was the old man sitting in the alley, smoking a pipe, squinting at the long street with his blind eye.

After a few puffs of his cigarette, he was once again like the little girl his mother was taking to dance class early in the morning, his long ponytail bouncing behind his neck...

Each shift in consciousness felt like being launched into the sky at an extremely high speed, only to fall back down at an equally rapid pace. Everything that was seen was blurred and receding at high speed. When the consciousness returned, the person was already inside someone else's body, experiencing the chill of a winter morning from that person's perspective.

He could no longer tell if this was a dream or a deeper space within a dream, and he was completely unaware of the passage of time, helplessly watching himself experience a hundred different lives.

He didn't know how long it was before he finally returned to normal. He fell into a deep sleep, exhausted. Before his last consciousness faded, he vaguely saw a quiet eye gazing at him from the ever-changing kaleidoscope.

"Pig, wake up! Look who's here!"

Jian Xi burst into the room with a loud shout, startling Zhou Nan so much that he jumped straight out of bed.

Her gaze swept over the room from top to bottom, finally stopping in the middle, where she gave a thumbs-up.

Zhou Nan glanced down at his boxer shorts, his face darkening.

"Zhou Lan! Come and see how alluring your brother is!" Jian Xi shouted as she turned around, a smug grin on her face. Zhou Nan quickly pulled the blanket over himself and pulled up his pants.

"What? You two are so in sync as soon as you wake up? When are you getting married? I'm eager to be your bridesmaid."

A small head squeezed in from next to Jian Xi. Her shoulder-length short hair was carefully trimmed like willow branches, and the cherry hair accessory swayed with its owner. Her smile seemed to radiate sunshine, making people feel good just by looking at her.

She is Zhou Nan's younger sister, Zhou Lan, who is two years younger than both of them and is in the second year of junior high school this year.

The story of Jian Xi and Zhou Nan would be complete if Zhou Lan were added to it. In a trio, two people of the same gender are often prone to jealousy and rivalry over the other, just like two little boys in kindergarten always questioning a little girl: who do you like?

However, Zhou Nan and Zhou Lan are siblings, so this experience turned into a united front against a common enemy.

It can be said that Zhou Nan's childhood memories were painful in a certain sense. The two little girls would definitely not like to play marbles, slapstick, or cockfighting when they got together. Instead, they would play jump rope, house, and checkerboard. They would also include him, the innocent unlucky guy, to dress him up, braid his hair, and make him play the role of the mother.

It's no wonder he didn't have many male friends in elementary school. It was a time when the lines between friends were starting to become clearer. In the eyes of his friends, Zhou Nan was as hateful as a traitor who defected to the Women's Army. They would even come with Jian Xi to beat them up. It was only natural that he was called "Little Pudding".

So, the two girls standing there were the culprits behind his tragic fate.

"Sigh... Sister." Taking advantage of her height, Jian Xi patted Zhou Lan's hair and said earnestly, "You can't assume we should be a couple just because we're close. There are lovers in this world, but there are also enemies. Do you understand?"

"Haven't you guys not fought for years?" Zhou Lan tilted her head. "I haven't seen you kill anyone."

"Wrong! That's called turning a physical fight into a mental one. Physical pain can only last for a while, but mental pain can last a lifetime. I must become an insurmountable mountain for your brother, so that his fear of me is deeply ingrained in his mind. From then on, if I say east, he won't dare to go west, and he'll follow my lead without question. This is one of my ultimate goals in life, the first step in conquering the world!"

"Isn't that just..." Zhou Lan thought seriously for a moment, then blinked, "...henpecked?"

"Holy crap, why does it feel like you two are teaming up to tie me up in a bridal sedan chair?"

Jian Xi was completely helpless. If it were her brother saying this, she could pinch the meat with her bare hands, but she could only hesitate to do so to her sister.

"No matter how close a sister is, she's still someone else's. Why didn't my mom try harder to give our family another member? Now I have to fight two against one... Forget it! Seeing you guys just annoys me!"

Jian Xi feels uncomfortable if she doesn't act out her role as a drama queen for even half a minute; she's the kind of person who can't keep her mouth shut, so it's nothing unusual.

After a quick wash, it's time for a relaxing and enjoyable breakfast: fried dumplings, fried dough sticks, and tofu pudding.

The owner of this house has never been an early bird. Jian Xi's holiday life is like that of a pig rolling around in the air, eating and sleeping all the time, and she mainly follows the natural course of things.

All the items on the dining table were bought by Zhou Lan. Having a virtuous sister at home is like living a retirement life ahead of time, with everything going smoothly. This made Jian Xi quite jealous, feeling that Zhou Nan was taking his good fortune for granted.

Zhou Nan slowly ate the steamed dumpling, his mind filled with Jian Xi's affairs. He had no interest in paying attention to his sister, and he could roughly guess why she had come. If she didn't bring it up, he certainly wouldn't either.

Jian Xi was munching on a fried dough stick, her eyes darting back and forth between the brother and sister. Given her mischievous nature, she was definitely not content with such quiet, but there was a reason for it. She just couldn't sit still and loved to cause trouble; she was by no means a clueless fool.

The straw was bitten flat and then chewed round again, but Zhou Lan still didn't speak. She really wanted to find a good excuse, but as soon as she thought of her older brother's stubborn temper, she swallowed the excuse she had just thought of.

It's driving me crazy! Zhou Lan feels like she's Jiang Gan. Zhou Yu and Cao Cao are fighting fiercely at Red Cliffs, but they've been tormenting her, their lackey. Although Zhou Yu didn't kill her when she was the envoy, and Cao Cao didn't kill her when she failed, doesn't Jiang Gan feel bitter? Not only was she deceived, but she was also laughed at for being stupid.

I shouldn't have been tempted by my mother's money and gotten involved in this mess... Neither of the two men in the family, one big and one small, is easy for her.

Zhou Lan picked up the remote and flipped through several channels in a row. Suddenly, her eyes lit up: "Wow! Today is the 21st of the twelfth lunar month, brother..."

“I’ll stay here for the New Year, I’m not going back,” Zhou Nan interrupted her, his words as swift as a bloodless knife.

"I haven't finished speaking yet..." Zhou Lan glanced at him timidly.

“You were taking extra classes this holiday, so you didn’t come here to hang out with us. The answer is simple: Mom sent you,” Zhou Nan said calmly. “Now, tell me how much you got paid.”

"Fifty yuan..."

"You're willing to sell me out for fifty bucks? You've really misjudged me."

“How is this betrayal?” Zhou Lan protested. “This is clearly acting as a persuader, isn’t it?”

"Then please leave. We won't see you out. Your sister Jianxi and I are doing quite well here. No one's bothering us. We're busy nurturing our relationship. Don't you always want us to be together?"

Zhou Nan had only intended to use this as an excuse and had no expectations, but Jian Xi actually cooperated with her, nodding like a chick pecking at rice. Her beautiful face, which shone brightly throughout the room, was enough to prove that what she said was true.

"No way!" Zhou Lan exclaimed anxiously, moving her chair closer to him. "I'm really not after money, it's just that I'm thinking about my family. You haven't been home for a whole semester, I miss you so much, and Mom misses you too. The New Year is almost here, are you really going to stay here? It's not like other families aren't coming home, how can you have the nerve to spend the New Year at someone else's house?"

“Oh, I think my parents definitely won’t mind. In fact, my mom will be very happy. She really likes Zhou Zai. Sometimes I even wonder if Zhou Zai is actually her illegitimate son. I feel like she treats him better than me,” Jian Xi interjected. Zhou Lan glared at Jian Xi fiercely, as if to say, “Sister, how dare you not speak up for me!”

Jian Xi stuck out her tongue. Of course, she had to stand on Zhou Nan's side in this matter. Once Zhou Nan left, there would be no one in the compound to play with her. Going to Zhou Nan's other home to find him would be a bit far.

"Look, they've already said that, how can I just leave like this?" Zhou Nan deliberately moved a little closer to Jian Xi. "Stop being a gofer, hurry up and go to your tutoring class. You're going into your final year of junior high soon, if you still can't keep up, you won't even get into our school."

“If I can pass the exam, you can go back and teach me, then I’ll pass! Look, with you living here, I can’t find anyone to tutor me at night, so I can only go to holiday tutoring classes.” Zhou Lan tugged at her brother’s hand, pouting and swaying it back and forth.

"Ask your dad to tutor you; he's a teacher." Zhou Nan still spoke in that indifferent tone.

"Oh dear, you know what kind of person he is. The temperature drops three degrees just by him standing next to his desk. What's the difference between him and a judge? Besides, he can't teach anyone. I'd be terrified to death if he taught me. I can't even hold a pen properly."

It might seem inappropriate for a daughter to complain about her father like that, but Zhou Nan knew that what her sister said was true.

In key junior high schools in small counties, male teachers are rarely young; they are either bald with bald patches on their foreheads or have bellies that can't be contained by their belts.

Zhou Peng, who was sandwiched between them, was also a middle-aged teacher, but he was the kind of handsome man who had to be displayed at the head of the showcase to make a good impression. All the girls in his class thought that their homeroom teacher was the most handsome.

But his temper wasn't exactly good. Every class has its troublemakers, but Zhou Peng's class was the only one without any.

There were two particularly rebellious students before, who were kicked away by Zhou Peng without saying a word. Since then, they have behaved themselves, at least in his classes.

He was fierce enough and had excellent professional skills, so his students both respected and feared him, and even his children at home were afraid of him.

Although his father was a teacher, Zhou Nan never remembered his father tutoring her, nor did he help Zhou Lan with her studies. The only help his father gave her was getting them into the advanced classes at school.

It's easy to imagine that Zhou Lan was under a lot of pressure. Fortunately, her father didn't teach her class, which meant she was in a different grade level. Otherwise, her physics grades would probably have been among the worst.

"You know you're afraid of him? Then why don't you think about me?" Zhou Nan said with disdain. "It's so nice here, I don't have to run into him, I can finally have some peace and quiet."

"So you're going to stay here for the rest of your life? Never see him again? He's still your father, after all."

Zhou Lan was getting impatient, huffing and puffing, "What's wrong with you two? It's been more than half a year, even if there's some conflict, you should at least say it out loud! Why are all the men in our family like this! They're both so immature. The father acts like nothing's wrong when his son hasn't come home for half a year, but when the son comes home, it's like it's going to kill him!"

"It's none of your business. Go to your tutoring class."

"How can your family not be my business? I'm not going to class today, and I'll drag you back even if I have to!"

Zhou Lan rolled up her sleeves and came over to pull Zhou Nan away with all her might.

She wasn't very strong, but she managed to pull Zhou Nan off the chair a little by gritting her teeth. She tried to push and shove him several times, but he wouldn't budge. Zhou Nan gradually started to get angry.

"Aren't you annoying?!" Zhou Nan forcefully shoved his sister's arm away.

He desperately wanted to hit Zhou Lan, but he had no reason to be angry with her. She hadn't done anything wrong; the fault lay with him and his father.

But he really couldn't stand his sister dragging him back home like this. What was the point of going back? Was he supposed to watch the two of them glaring at each other at the dinner table during the New Year? If they couldn't stand each other, why bother living under the same roof and causing each other more trouble? Wouldn't it be better if they just lived their own lives? They hadn't seen each other for half a year, and things had already progressed to this point. This was the best solution.

On the eve of the high school entrance exam, his father told him that there was an opportunity to be temporarily transferred to a key high school in the neighboring city. That place was famous throughout the country and relied on its unique secret exam papers to succeed. The prerequisite was that he could get a high enough score.

Given his grades, this shouldn't have been difficult, but when the high school entrance exam came out, the result was that he was three points short of the required score.

He wasn't surprised by the result. That year, the political and historical exam was open-book. Before entering the exam room, he put his bag with reference books on the desk outside, went to the toilet, and came back to carry it directly into the exam room. When he reached inside, it was empty.

Fortunately, the school usually conducts closed-book tests for these two subjects, so he relied entirely on his memory to cope. Everyone else had open-book tests, but he was the only one with a closed-book test.

In the end, it was just a matter of course that we missed by three points, and we did quite well to get to this point.

But in his father's eyes, this was a case of him underperforming. He had been told before the exam that this opportunity was hard-won and that he should study hard, but he still ended up with this result.

So the father asked, "I can help you pay the 30,000 yuan school selection fee so you can go. Do you want to go?"
In that instant, his father's eyes were dimmer than Zhou Nan had ever seen before. He didn't say much, but instead gave him the right to choose.

But Zhou Nan felt as if a part of his heart had quietly shattered, and he shuddered with pain.

He never thought that studying was a difficult thing. In the best class in junior high school, he was not the top student, but with his usual strength, it should not have been difficult to meet the score requirements. Throughout the three years of junior high school, he enjoyed the treatment and praise of a good student. He could easily deal with the frequent monthly exams as if they were a game, leaving plenty of time to go crazy with Jian Xi during the holidays.

But this time he failed. People had told him before that he should be serious and not take his studies lightly, but he never took it to heart because he thought he was smart enough and that his grades would speak for themselves.

This was the first time in his life that he felt inferior to others, that he even had to spend money to smooth things over and beg for favors—it was so humiliating.

He bumped into his father, moved back to the old house alone, and changed his high school from the neighboring city to the city's top school.

There were no more connections to rely on at that school; if you wanted to get into the best class, you had no choice but to fight alongside the local top students.

Why are you so stubborn?

Zhou Lan was still trying her best to pull him back.

"So what if you didn't get into the best school? Why are you so dejected, like you've given up on your family? It's like the sky has fallen. Do you think you can't get into college if you stay here?"

"Shut up!" Zhou Nan growled.

"What?" Zhou Lan didn't hear clearly and was still rambling on, "Can't you just listen to me and go back this once?"

"Would it have been useful to listen to you? If I listened to you, would I have gotten into the best school? If I listened to you, would I have avoided being looked down upon? If I listened to you, I would have just slunk back like a dog, bowing my head and apologizing! In the same class, there were three children of teachers from the same school, and I was the only one who couldn't overcome that hurdle! He felt that I had completely disgraced him! I should have been able to do it!"

He tried his best to restrain himself, but still roared like an angry little lion.

(End of this chapter)