The Promise Sealed with Our Lips

Time pa.s.ses quickly when one is having fun. When He Nuo’s elder brother was on his business trip, he thought of how He Nuo had helped him babysit his son throughout the holidays so he brought a piece of clothing back for He Nuo — a white corduroy shirt that even had a cap attached to it. He Nuo was really excited, this was the first time for him to own a new piece of clothing all to himself. But he couldn’t wear it now in this weather, he could only wear it when school reopens in autumn. He tried it on and went to his fourth and fifth brothers’ room to check his reflection in their mirror (at his parents’ side), and when he left the room, he coincidentally b.u.mped into his fifth brother. The He Nuo who was wearing his new clothes felt uneasy, like he had just been caught red-handed in the middle of a theft attempt. He folded his new clothes and placed it in his cabinet.

The next day, his eldest brother ate at home and wasn’t in a rush to return after he was done. Little nephew wanted He Nuo to bring him out to play, and after they had played around for awhile He Nuo saw that the sky was turning dark so he returned home with his nephew. When he entered the yard, he was about to bring his nephew to his parents’ side to look for his eldest brother when he heard the angry voice of his fifth brother, “I don’t care, in any case, I like it, so I want to bring it to school.”

He Nuo was stunned. His eldest brother spoke, “If you like it, I’ll buy it for you on my next business trip. Give it to sixth brother this time ba.”

“No way, I want it this time, you can buy it for him on your next trip.”

“I’ve already given the clothes to him, how do you want me to get it back? How could I even ask for it?” Eldest brother felt like he was being put on the spot.

“Just go get it back from him~ You’re the one who bought it, you can give it to whoever you want.”

“But I bought it for sixth brother.”

Fifth brother didn’t know how to reply to that. He was probably angry now.

“Why did you waste your money on buying that, does he deserve it? Get it back from him and give it to your fifth brother.” An unhappy voice had announced the final verdict of their dispute.

“Pa.” Eldest brother didn’t know what else to say.

“Pa already asked you to give it to me, Big bro go and get it back from him~”

He Nuo held his nephew’s hand as he walked out of the courtyard. He walked over to the end of the single-storey houses, then squatted down and said to his nephew, “Dongdong, can you do Sixth uncle a favour?”

The little guy nodded his head. The kid could sense that He Nuo seemed different. He was still smiling, but the kid felt like Sixth uncle was upset right now.

“Dongdong, don’t tell anyone that we had gone back just now. We’ll go back again now, and when you enter the yard just shout, ‘Papa, I’m back’, then go over to your Yeye’s side to look for your Papa okay?”

“Un.” The kid solemnly nodded his head. He wanted to help his favourite Sixth uncle.

They went back to their house. He Nuo took a deep breath, then smiled at his nephew before he pushed the yard’s door open.

“Papa, I’m back.” The kid shouted as he ran towards his Dad, while He Nuo followed him.

“Pa, Eldest brother.” He Nuo greeted them, then looked at his fifth brother, “Ai, Fifth brother, you’re here? And I was planning to look for you too. The clothes that Eldest brother bought for me is too big on me, so I was wondering if it would suit you instead.”

“It’s too big on you?” Eldest brother asked out of curiosity, because these two brothers were

“Un, it’s a bit big.” He Nuo smiled in embarra.s.sment, then turned around to say to his fifth brother, “I’ll bring it out for you to see, it shouldn’t be too big for you.”

He Nuo went to his room to open up his cabinet, then felt around the top shelf for his clothes and took it out.

He returned to the other side, “Fifth brother, look. It even has a cap.”

Fifth brother had gotten what he wished for, so of course he ran away happily to try his new clothes on. After he checked his reflection in the mirror, he even came out to show his Dad how it looked on him, “Pa, Eldest brother, it looks good right. I told you it would look good on me.”

He Nuo said, “Un, it’s not too big for Fifth brother, it’s very fitting on you.” But n.o.body paid any attention to his words. He quietly left the room.

In his own room, He Nuo took out the package in the corner of his cabinet and unwrapped it layer by layer — it was the thousand layer buddha’s hand conch sh.e.l.l. He held it carefully in his hands and kept staring at it until his glabella stopped feeling heavy. His eldest brother had good intentions, if he didn’t take the initiative to give the clothes back, it would have put his eldest brother in a spot; moreover, even if he didn’t help his eldest brother resolve his dilemma, that piece of clothing would never be his anyway. He Nuo, just knowing that your eldest brother had bought clothes for you is enough.

That piece of white clothing was taken away by Fifth brother when his school reopened. By the time he returned home after he graduated from university, that piece of clothing was already worn out. After his fifth brother eliminated it from his clothing selection because it had begun to turn dark yellow, He Nuo took the chance when n.o.body was around to put that piece of clothing in his own luggage. He didn’t wear it, but he kept it for many years as he was grateful to his eldest brother for giving him his first, new piece of clothing in his life.

School was about to reopen. He Nuo thought of another matter — he hadn’t told Shi Yan that he had changed cla.s.ses. They were getting along really well now, and He Nuo had already liked and accepted him as a friend. Shi Yan really was an interesting person, you would understand this aspect of him the more you hung out with him. He had a fine sense of humour and was particularly witty, so it’s no wonder that everyone would like him and admire him. From the looks of it, it wasn’t all just cause of his good looks, and also, he was actually a very considerate and kind hearted person. Whenever he spoke rudely and scolded He Nuo, it was all because he was mad that his goodwill was rejected, and it wasn’t because he had really lost his temper. Now, even the little guy wasn’t afraid of his fierce appearance. The moment he saw him he would cling onto him, and was even closer to Shi Yan than he was to He Nuo’s younger brothers.

He Nuo decided to be an ostrich and drag it out until school reopened. When they reported to their cla.s.s, Shi Yan would find out anyway, so they’ll talk about it then. In any case, He Nuo wasn’t afraid of Shi Yan’s fits of fury now. He’s like a paper tiger, after he curses it out he wouldn’t keep it in his heart anymore — this foolish He Nuo had completely forgotten that Shi Yan’s previous actions were nowhere close to being broad-minded at all.

T/N: Tbh translating PSWOL is very difficult for me cause it breaks my heart…….but currently my angst tolerance is higher than before so I’ll soldier on ٩(｡•́‿•̀｡)۶ Next update should be a ma.s.s update of about ~4 chapters? Cause drama’s gonna unfold soon…….