Chapter 9: Come Home with Me

Chapter 9: Come Home with Me

He walked into the room and saw Lu Yu crouched on the ground, a small figure blowing hard into the stove opening, a faint flame slowly flickering to life.

Cradling the flame in his small hands, Lu Yu finally felt a bit of warmth. He breathed a sigh of relief—it was lit. The firewood was a little damp, so while there was a flame, it wouldn't be enough to get the water hot enough to steam the buns. He pressed the rock-hard bun and decided to just soak it in water to soften it up.

Turning to grab some water, he noticed Cheng Miao suddenly appearing in the room and was a bit surprised. "Why are you back?"

Cheng Miao grabbed his hand, all excited, and said, "Come home with me. You don't have to stay here anymore."

Lu Yu was taken aback. "I'm fine here. You don't need to worry about me."

Cheng Miao shot back, "You don't know a single person here. If I don't look out for you, who will?"

Lu Yu squeezed the bun in his hand and said softly, "This isn't your problem. I'll figure out a way back."

Cheng Miao looked at his calm, unruffled expression and suddenly couldn't stand that cold, distant demeanor that pushed everyone away. They had known each other for a year now—they were at least a little closer than strangers. And now, coming here together, they were basically in the same boat.

But this guy seemed to have wrapped himself in a thick shell, making it impossible for anyone to get close.

In the past, Cheng Miao could understand that—not everyone is cheerful and outgoing, and not everyone has to be your friend. But now, he really wished Lu Yu would let his guard down around him.

Cheng Miao was an optimistic person. He could go about his days here with a smile on his face, but ever since arriving in this world, he'd been carrying around a deep unease inside. He didn't know if he could ever go back, and what would happen to the him back in that other world?

Were they reliving their childhoods? Or was this some parallel universe? None of it made any sense—it defied logic and couldn't be explained by science.

He could only push down his anxiety and go about his daily routine. At least he was still in familiar surroundings, with his parents around.

But what about Lu Yu? For him, this was a total disaster that came out of nowhere—suddenly thrown into a completely unfamiliar world, with parents who didn't care about him, and no food or clothes to speak of. At this rate, he'd end up like the Little Match Girl.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Cheng Miao wished he could peel away Lu Yu's shell layer by layer, crack that always-blank face, and grind it into dust.

He said, fuming, "Lu Yu, can you cut it out? You're an ordinary person, and hell, you're still just a kid. Do you know how cold the winter is up north? Twenty below zero. No food, no water—you'll die, you get that?"

Cheng Miao could feel himself getting worked up, but he just couldn't hold it back.

His voice was shaking. "What if we can never go back? Are you just gonna live like this for the rest of your life? Why should you have to suffer this pain for no reason?"

Cheng Miao felt tears running down his face. He sniffled. Damn it, he still couldn't hold it back.

He steeled himself, stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around Lu Yu, rubbing his tears off on Lu Yu's shoulder. "Lu Yu, come to my place. In this world, you only have me. If you don't come with me, I'll stay here with you, and we'll freeze to death together."

Cheng Miao leaned his head against Lu Yu's shoulder, thinking this should do the trick—the perfect mix of tough love and sweetness—the Cheng family special move. Nobody could resist it. He'd never failed with this move—though he'd only used it once, and it had instantly won over a furious Mother Cheng.

Lu Yu was flustered. He didn't know where to put his hands. The person in his arms had him completely flustered, so he could only gently pat Cheng Miao's back and say, "Let go of me first. Do you know what the situation is like here?"

"Are you coming or not? If not, I'm not saying anything, and I'm not letting go." With that, Cheng Miao hugged him even tighter.

Lu Yu stayed silent. After a moment, Cheng Miao realized that just standing there hugging was getting pretty awkward.

This wasn't going according to plan. Normally, Lu Yu should be hugging him back tight and saying softly, "Okay, okay, I'll agree to anything. Don't cry, sweetheart!"

Sure enough, this guy was cold as ice. Cheng Miao slowly released his grip and started sharing what he'd found out instead.

Lu Yu listened, his brow gradually furrowing.

"Lu Yu, when I heard all this, I felt sympathy for this person's misfortune—but it was just sympathy. But if in the days ahead, you were the one living that kind of life, I couldn't accept it."

"I can't let my friend suffer for no reason, especially when I can help him." Cheng Miao looked at Lu Yu firmly and spoke softly.

Cheng Miao figured if crying and throwing a fit didn't work, he'd try appealing to logic and emotion.

Lu Yu's heart trembled slightly at Cheng Miao's words. No one had ever said anything like that to him. He took a step back and asked, "Do your parents agree?"

Cheng Miao heard the hint of a yes and quickly said, "Yes, they agree! So, does that mean you're in?"

Lu Yu looked at Cheng Miao, whose eyes were full of expectation, and finally nodded.

Cheng Miao breathed a sigh of relief: That was tough. He couldn't give Lu Yu a chance to back out, so he grabbed his arm and ran out the door. "Come on, come on, I'm starving!"

As soon as they stepped outside, they ran into Father Cheng. He scooped Cheng Miao up in one motion. "Took you long enough to pick someone up. Your mom sent me out to find you."

Father Cheng hoisted Cheng Miao up with his left arm and grabbed Lu Yu with his right, pulling both boys into his embrace. He bounced them up and down a bit. "Xiao Yu's too skinny—much lighter than Cheng Miao. You'll need to eat more later."

He smiled warmly at Lu Yu, who nodded shyly. Father Cheng looked very kind. Cheng Miao had his father's eyes—round and big, always crinkled in a smile.

"Once you're a bit plumper, how about you become my little girl's live-in son-in-law?"

This time, Lu Yu didn't dare nod. He whispered to Cheng Miao, "Do you have a sister?"

Cheng Miao turned away awkwardly, ignoring him.

Father Cheng carried both boys into the house, set them on the heated bed, and took off their shoes, telling them to crawl up and get ready to eat.

As soon as his shoes came off, Lu Yu's socks with toes poking through were exposed. He tried to curl his toes back, hoping to hide the protruding big toe.

Mother Cheng saw this and smiled. "Take off your socks too. Put them by the fire to dry—they'll be warm when you put them back on."