Berry Muffins

Chapter 3 Little Quail

03

Lu Yuqing gave him a strange look, but when he saw the pale lips of the young man, it was difficult to ask no matter how many questions he had.

The law and order in the old city is relatively poor, and the roadside surveillance is also up and down, and it is common for speeding gangsters to appear and disappear.

Tao Lan just walked for a short distance with his schoolbag in his arms, because he was a little absent-minded about his own affairs, so when the schoolbag was snatched from him, he subconsciously held on to it, but instead fell down and was dragged for a while. It hurts like hell.

Obviously there is nothing in the school bag except egg tarts, so the gain outweighs the loss.

Tao Lan didn't want to go to the hospital at first, as it would cost a lot of money to go, he thought it would be good to go home and apply some medicine, but Lu Yuqing's attitude was very tough.

It was obviously the first time they met, but this person had such a strong aura that it was impossible to refuse.

In the end, even the medical expenses were paid by Lu Yuqing for him.

Tao Lan sat on the chair somewhat disappointed, the wounds on his arms and legs were still aching.

Seeing his depressed appearance, Lu Yuqing joked with him: "It's a good thing there are only egg tarts in the schoolbag."

The boy's smiling eyes were bent, and his well-shaped eyes curved slightly: "When they find out, they will probably die of anger."

Tao Lan pursed her lips and smiled slightly, then nodded again, but after a while, she said lazily, "But I don't have a schoolbag anymore, what a pity."

Lu Yuqing insisted on sending Tao Lan home, but Tao Lan was embarrassed to refuse his kindness again and again.

The community where Aunt Tao Lan's house is located is all old buildings with the highest five floors, so there are no elevators.

Lu Yuqing originally wanted to take Tao Lan's leg injury into consideration and wanted to carry him on his back, but Tao Lan declined his offer, which made him even more convinced that Tao Lan seemed to dislike physical contact with people.

Tao Lan walked up slowly while holding on to the handrail, and Lu Yuqing accompanied him up the stairs, not bothering him at all.

The family living opposite Tao Lan's house has moved out long ago, because the news that this area will be demolished has already been finalized, and the residents have more or less moved out, leaving only a few who plan to stay until the end. ...

Everyone has arrived at the door of his house, but Tao Lan can't invite him in for a drink, after all, it's his aunt's house.

"Thank you Brother Lu, but I can't invite you into the house..."

"It's right not to let strangers into the house." Lu Yuqing looked at Tao Lan's light-colored hair and the curls on the top of his head, and always had the urge to rub it, but he still held back, "But it's not good for you to just bring a stranger to the door of your house casually. After all, we've only known each other for a long time, and our safety awareness needs to be improved."

He looked at Tao Lan tenderly, pursed his lips and smiled: "Boys should pay attention to safety now, especially you. I have a friend who looks like you and I have encountered many perverts."

Tao Lan was a little stunned, as if he seemed a little overwhelmed by Lu Yuqing's instructions, his round eyes were slightly lowered, concealing the panic in his eyes.He bit his lower lip tightly, as if recalling some annoying past events.

"That's not the case." Tao Lan hesitated for a while in frustration, and finally decided to tell the truth, "This is not my house. Because I live in my aunt's house, I can't invite you in. My uncle doesn't like me bringing friends over."

"And you're not a pervert." His voice was thin but nice, a very pure boyish voice, "You helped me, so you're a good person, so it doesn't matter."

Lu Yuqing turned her face to look at him, her not-so-standard peach blossom eyes were full of smiles.

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It was rare for Tao Lan to sleep lazily until noon the next day. He woke up slowly with his empty belly, and went to the bathroom to wash up sleepily.While brushing my teeth, I was thinking about what kind of books to bring to school for evening self-study.

The mobile phone that was put aside suddenly rang. Tao Lan had just finished washing his face, and picked it up in a daze: "Hello?"

Lu Yu's low voice sounded: "Tao Lan."

"Ah, Brother Lu." Tao Lan rubbed his face and continued, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just want to ask if you are free at noon, I want to give you something, and treat you to dinner by the way."

Tao Lan gave a soft ah, and subconsciously rejected Lu Yuqing's kindness: "No, how can I let you keep inviting me to dinner?"

Lu Yuqing laughed softly and said, "Didn't you just promise me not to refuse my invitation yesterday? You forgot it so soon."

Tao Lan is still wearing a childish light blue bear T-shirt, which is an old junior high school clothes, and it is still very loose for him to use as pajamas.

After changing into his T-shirt and shorts, he greeted his aunt and went out, ignoring his uncle's eyes and sarcastic remarks.

Unexpectedly, Lu Yuqing was already waiting downstairs in his house. Because of his appearance, all the residents coming and going looked at him curiously.

Tao Lan pursed his lips, and also felt that Lu Yuqing was a bit out of place here, so he quickly rushed to Lu Yuqing, raised his face and smiled hard at him.

Lu Yuqing smiled softly at him subconsciously, then handed the paper bag in front of Tao Lan, turned her face and said, "A gift."

Tao Lan was taken aback when he heard the words, and looked at Lu Yuqing in confusion: "A gift?"

He lowered his head and opened the bag. Inside the bag was a brand new schoolbag. It was a well-known sports brand, and the price was not cheap.

"Why did you give me this?" Tao Lan squeezed the handle of the bag in a bit of embarrassment, as if he wanted to return it to Lu Yuqing, and his voice became softer, "As you said before, we just met."

"Because you are very kind, and you don't need a reward for saving my Douzi, so I have to treat you better in other places." Lu Yuqing answered as a matter of course, tilting his head slightly, and said with a half-smile, "Let's talk about your The schoolbag was snatched by the gangsters because of me, so it is reasonable for me to compensate you with a new one."

Tao Lan still bit his lower lip tightly with a troubled look on his face, as if he was not satisfied with his explanation.

Seeing his appearance, Lu Yuqing smiled frankly, and finally said truthfully: "I think you are quite like my brother, and I can't help but want to take care of you and treat you well."

Tao Lan parted his lips, and stopped talking for a long time, finally blinked his eyes and said silently: "Then you must be a good brother."

Unexpectedly, Lu Yuqing lowered her eyelashes, and the corners of her lips flattened slightly. She shook her head slowly, and then raised her chin at Tao Lan, signaling him to follow her.

Tao Lan followed him like a little quail and was led forward by him. Seeing from behind, the height difference between the two was even more exaggerated.

Lu Yuqing took Tao Lan to a newly opened chain fried chicken restaurant, which seemed to be a well-known brand. The delicious fried chicken was placed on the table for a while, and the smell of fried chicken wafted out.

Tao Lan's hungry flat stomach made a proper sound, he blushed for a while, and covered his stomach to hide it.

"This restaurant has good reviews. The fried chicken and egg tarts are both good. Anyway, I'll take you here to eat." Lu Yuqing smiled in the direction of Tao Lan, and continued, "Come and eat, fried chicken It’s better to eat it while it’s hot.”

One is sprinkled with cheese powder and the other is poured with honey mustard sauce, both of which take care of Tao Lan's sweet taste.

After all, they were two boys, and the speed of finishing the meal was also very fast. Tao Lan ate until his belly was full, and at the end the two of them even picked up Coke and clinked glasses with each other.

The bubbling carbonic acid bubbles were stirring in his throat, and Tao Lan narrowed his eyes comfortably.

Lu Yuqing glanced at his expression, and the smile on his lips deepened.

"Brother Lu!" Tao Lan read out such a formal and unfamiliar address again, "Thank you for treating me to fried chicken, and I will definitely treat you to dinner in the future."

Lu Yuqing propped up his chin with his hands, and frowned this time, saying: "Actually, you don't have to call me so formally."

Tao Lan's watery almond eyes just looked at the boy in front of him innocently, feeling a little bewildered.

"Just call me by my name, don't call me Big Brother, you're calling me old."

Tao Lan was amused by him, the dimples on his cheeks were faintly visible, and finally nodded obediently: "Then...Brother Lu?"

Lu Yuqing had no choice but to say, "Okay."

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After eating, Tao Lan went back to her aunt's house again, tidied herself up, and then went to study by herself in the evening with the new schoolbag sent by Lu Yuqing.

His elbows and knees were injured, so he changed into long school trousers.

The schoolbag that Lu Yuqing sent was pure black, but it could hold books well and was quite practical.

The school forces everyone to participate in self-study on Sunday evenings, but the school still does not care about meals on Sundays. Anyway, they can enter and leave the school at will, and most of the students choose to settle outside the school.

Tao Lan usually goes to a familiar noodle restaurant, and then orders a bowl of relatively cheap wonton noodles for dinner, before going back to school after eating.

After all, if he skipped a meal at his aunt's house, his uncle's attitude towards him would be slightly better.

After tidying up his textbooks, Tao Lan hung his schoolbag on the back of his chair. Although many things happened in the past two days, he still finished most of the homework assigned by the teacher.The rest can just be completed during the evening self-study time.

Tao Lan wrote the paper quietly for a long time. Some of the surrounding classmates were chatting, some were watching, and some were playing basketball outside.

As I said before, the learning atmosphere in Ninth Middle School is not good, and the undergraduate rate is not high.

There was a lot of noise in the class, but Tao Lan could still hear the bouncing sound of the basketball hitting the floor, his pen tip paused slightly, and a bit of ink smudged out on the paper with the tip of the fountain pen, which was quickly crossed off by him.

Zhou Linchuan came back from playing basketball, wearing dark blue short sleeves and matching sports shorts.

His school uniform jacket was draped loosely on the back of the chair, the desk was in a mess, and some papers were pressed in the black pencil case, which were all blank at a glance.

He is Tao Lan's deskmate.

Reasonably speaking, it is a bit unrealistic for him to be at the same table with Tao Lan who is about 1.8 meters tall and barely 175.