The next day was a cool, breezy... heavily overcast day.
Yu Shulin got up early, washed up, packed some of the test papers and exercise books he had been working on into his backpack, thought for a moment, and then put his bankbook in as well.
In the living room, Liang Zhou was already sitting and reading the newspaper. He glanced at Yu Shulin coming downstairs, frowned, stood up, and said, "The weather's changed; the temperature might drop. Go upstairs and change into a long-sleeved shirt."
Aunt Liu came out to call them for breakfast and, hearing this, smiled with gratification. "The young master has learned to care for others. That's wonderful."
Liang Zhou paused in his movement of standing up, silently retracted the hand he was about to reach out towards Yu Shulin's backpack, and walked towards the dining room. "Aunt Liu, please get an umbrella ready. We might need it later."
Aunt Liu went off with a beaming smile.
Yu Shulin placed his backpack on the sofa and followed Liang Zhou to the dining room, explaining, "The wardrobe only has short-sleeved shirts; I couldn't find any long-sleeved ones."
Liang Zhou's frown deepened, somewhat annoyed at his own carelessness. After sitting down at the dining table, he said, "Then we'll go buy some clothes first."
Yu Shulin nodded obediently.
After breakfast, Liang Zhou went back to his room for a while. When he came out again, his style had undergone a dramatic transformation.
Messily styled hair, a casual, lively T-shirt, camouflage-style cargo pants, brightly colored skate shoes... and a pair of exaggeratedly styled black-framed glasses in his hand.
...He looked a whole ten years younger.
"Brother?" Yu Shulin was stunned. They were just going out; what was all this for?
"A bit of disguise to avoid trouble," Liang Zhou said, adjusting the decorative skull necklace around his neck and putting on wristbands and a wide-strapped watch. Finally satisfied, he said, "Let's go."
Liang Zhou dressed like this was really... extremely eye-catching. Yu Shulin stared, mesmerized. His usually just-aloof expression, set off by that head of messy hair, inexplicably took on a somewhat arrogant flavor. With a slight frown, the overwhelming aura of "a domineering young master not to be trifled with" was impossible to conceal.
"What's wrong?" Liang Zhou tossed a piece of clothing he was holding into Yu Shulin's arms and flicked his forehead with a finger. "What are you spacing out for?"
The effect up close was even more stunning. Yu Shulin opened his mouth and blurted out, "Brother, you're so handsome..."
Liang Zhou's gaze drifted away oddly. He reached out to ruffle Yu Shulin's hair and walked out first. "Keep up."
"What about this clothes..."
"For you to wear."
"Oh."
"It's been so long since I've seen the young master dressed like this..." Aunt Liu watched as the two drove out of the villa area, her heart filled with endless emotion.
Uncle He stood with his hands behind his back, watching the car drive into the distance. Hearing her, he nodded in agreement and turned to walk back inside. To be precise, it was since the old master fell seriously ill that the young master had never worn such lively colors again.
Liang Zhou drove directly to a shopping mall. After checking the floor directory, he entered the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor.
As they stepped out of the elevator, he took the glasses from his pocket and put them on. After a moment's thought, he took Yu Shulin's hand and instructed in a low voice, "If anyone tries to talk to you later, ignore them, understand?"
Yu Shulin nodded, his attention entirely on his held right hand. Liang Zhou's hand was large, his palm dry and warm. Holding it so casually almost completely enveloped Yu Shulin's entire hand.
It felt a bit strange.
The mall they had come to was relatively upscale, and it was still morning. The entire third floor was sparsely populated; at a glance, there were more shop assistants than customers. Liang Zhou's appearance was far too striking. As they walked, they garnered countless admiring glances from the female assistants. Yu Shlin was very unaccustomed to being the center of attention like this; even his walking posture became somewhat stiff.
The feeling of his hand being held was novel and comfortable. Liang Zhou was in a good mood. His eyes swept over the clothing styles in the various shops, and then he led Yu Shulin into a warmly decorated store on the right.
"Welcome." A shop assistant stepped forward with a smile, her gaze towards Liang Zhou almost glowing green. "We just got in a few new autumn styles today that would suit the guest beside you very well. You..."
"That one and that one. Get his size for him to try on," Liang Zhou interrupted her introduction, directly pointing at two clothes hanging in the middle of the store.
The shop assistant paused, then nodded with a smile. "Of course, just a moment."
Yu Shulin took the clothes into the fitting room. Liang Zhou wandered casually around the store, pointing out a few more items for the assistant to fetch in Yu Shulin's size and send into the fitting room. After looking around, he ignored the appraising looks from others in the store, sat down on the sofa provided for customers to rest, and looked down at his own palm—still too thin, the newly appointed older brother Liang thought. Have to feed this younger brother up and get him taller.
"Um, sir."
He snapped out of his thoughts, looked up expressionlessly at the blushing shop assistant standing before him, and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Nothing... no, something. I wanted to ask, are you... Mr. Liang Zhou?" The assistant grew more nervous under his chilly gaze, stammering.
"No." He denied decisively, raised a hand to tousle his hair, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smirk, his expression instantly turning roguish. "A lot of people say he looks a lot like me. Is the resemblance really that strong?"
The assistant, looked at askance by him, felt her slightly flushed face instantly turn bright red. Her mouth opened slightly, and she shook her head vigorously. "No, not at all alike." Having said that, she clutched her wildly beating heart and floated back to the counter to talk with other excited-looking assistants.
Liang Zhou watched her leave, lowered his head, the roguish smile disappearing from his face. With a blank expression, he went back to looking at his palm.
When Yu Shulin came out after changing, he immediately sensed the strangely charged atmosphere in the store. He looked questioningly at Liang Zhou, who had approached, silently asking: Were you recognized?
Liang Zhou shook his head, looked him up and down approvingly, and said, "Good. We'll take this set. Just wear it like this."
Yu Shulin turned to look in the mirror and also thought this outfit was nice, so he nodded. He fetched his backpack from the fitting room and prepared to go to the counter to pay.
"What are you doing?" Liang Zhou frowned at the wallet he had taken out.
"P-paying, of course..." he answered somewhat guiltily, tightening his grip on the wallet. He knew Liang Zhou was good to him, but precisely because Liang Zhou was good to him, he didn't want Liang Zhou to spend money on him.
Liang Zhou's face darkened. He snatched the wallet and threw it back into the backpack, then pulled Yu Shulin towards the counter. "Don't waste the money your mother left you. From now on, I'll provide for you."
"But..."
"An older brother providing for his younger brother is only right and proper. No 'buts'."
The hand holding his was warm. Yu Shulin looked up at his profile, blinked, tightened his grip on the backpack, and smiled. "Okay."
The two of them bought clothes very quickly and left not long after.
The shop assistant watched them enter the elevator with a starry-eyed expression, cupping her face. "Even though it wasn't Liang Zhou... he's so handsome! And his brother is so handsome too!"
Her companion, however, looked puzzled. "Are you sure it wasn't Liang Zhou? They look so much alike..."
"Oh, it definitely wasn't. Liang Zhou is that aloof gentleman type. That guest was all bad-boy handsome. How are they alike?" the shop assistant retorted, completely forgetting who had first been suspicious.
Her companion rolled her eyes. "Hopeless case of celebrity crush."
It was already half past ten when they left the mall. Liang Zhou drove to buy some gifts, and by the time they reached their destination, it was exactly lunchtime. Liang Zhou didn't mind whether visiting during lunch was appropriate or not; he just took Yu Shulin's hand and entered the apartment building.
The door was opened by a round-faced young man who looked quite adorable.
"Who are you loo—" The smile on his face was replaced by shock when he saw Liang Zhou. His eyes widened as he looked Liang Zhou up and down, then down and up again. Finally, gathering his energy from the depths of his diaphragm, he bellowed, "Duan! Fei! Tang!"
"You little rascal, what are you hollering about at noon? Who's there?" A vigorous voice came from inside the apartment, growing closer.
Liang Zhou looked expressionlessly at the approaching figure, took off his glasses, and nodded. "Teacher Gao, it's been a long time."
"Liang... Liang Zhou?" The gray-haired man, about sixty years old, widened his eyes. His expression was remarkably similar to the young man's, also looking Liang Zhou up and down repeatedly. Finally, he boomed, "So you still remember this old man! Get your ass in here already!"
