Socialist Brotherhood

Little, Junior, Sister……

Shen Yang silently recited those three words through gritted teeth. Just a momentary lapse of judgement in his youth…...No, it was because he didn’t understand the wicked ways of the world as a primary school student and promised his teacher he would perform as a representative of the school on a television show. Naturally, there was no issue with the show itself; the key point was that he acted as the male lead’s little junior sister. Basically, it was Linghu Chun and Yue Lingshan’s[1] relationship.

As for why primary school students had to act out complex wuxia plays? Well, it was because the student who played the male lead had been learning martial arts since he was young……

Later, they won first prize on the show, and this nuisance of a nickname followed him for a full six years; he only managed to rid himself of it when he graduated from primary school. Who’d have thought that upon going to university years later, he would become roommates with Yuan Kai, who had taken leave and repeated a year due to illness, and so it became common knowledge again that he had been called by this nickname.

Since he couldn’t resist the tyranny of fate, he could only accept it calmly. Shen Yang was already used to it, but who’d have thought that Yuan Kai would call it out in front of the camera. Not wanting to be disgraced before a national audience, he hurriedly went up to the cameraman: “Cut out the part just then; make sure it’s not put back in during the later episodes.”

The cameraman laughed haha, neither agreeing or refusing him. Shen Yang figured that this guy wasn’t in charge either, so he simply shut up; he would discuss it with the director after they went back.

Yuan Kai realised that he’d dug a pit for Shen Yang, and guiltily changed the subject: “So uh, how’s that show you’re recording? Is it fun?”

“It’s not bad.” Shen Yang took the breakfast he handed him and warned in a low voice: “Don’t call me Little Junior Sister again!”

Yuan Kai nodded hastily and asked, terribly curious: “How are the girls? Are there any big beauties?”

Shen Yang looked serious: “I’ve never paid attention to beauty, and I don’t care whether they’re beautiful or not; in any case, they all have really good personalities and excellent character, and they’re very pleasant to interact with.”

Yuan Kai sneered: “Do you have to be so official?”

Shen Yang looked sideways at the camera lens and desperately explained: “I’m telling the truth!”

Yuan Kai had an epiphany and stiffly changed his tone: “You really speak well; our little junior s - our little student Shen is all about inner beauty.”

Shen Yang: “......”

At the same time, several youths huddled together and muttered to themselves in an office building over on the west side of City A.

“Why did the boss suddenly decide to go on a variety show?”

“You ask me; who am I supposed to ask?”

“Handsome (英俊 ying jun), you go ask.”

“Why should I go?”

“Because you’re handsome.”

“That makes sense.”

Bearing the heavy responsibility on his shoulders, Handsome strode over to stand in front of Su Hanying and asked heroically: “Boss…...”

Handsome was feeding cats and didn’t even lift his head: “Hm?”

Handsome took a deep breath and forced a smile: “Shall I help you feed it?”

“Meow……” The four kittens voiced their protest in unison, leaving their four rear ends pointing at Handsome.

Handsome: “......”

Su Hanying: “Speak, what is it?”

Handsome glanced at the camera and cautiously ventured: “It’s like this, boss, Nannan (楠楠) and Ah Piao (阿飘) wanted me to ask you why you decided to go on a variety show?”

Nannan: “......”

Ah Piao: “......”

WTF[2]!

Su Hanying: “Last night, you guys spent a total of four-hundred and sixty-eight.”

Handsome was confused: “So?”

Su Hanying: “It’s not easy raising you.”

Handsome was shocked: “You’re sacrificing your body to earn extra money?”

Su Hanying sighed deeply.

Handsome bawled: “Boss, we’ll work hard to turn the tides and beat the competition; think positively; we definitely won’t let you down!”

Su Hanying displayed a fatherly expression of relief.

Handsome calmed the stirrings of his heart and asked with interest: “Boss, what are they like?”

Su Hanying leisurely scratched under the chin of a black cat. His eyelashes lowered slightly, and he laughed softly for a while: “They’re very cute.”

They[3]?

Something’s going on!

Handsome’s eyes lit up, but no matter how much he asked after that, Su Hanying refused to say any more. Disappointed, he went back to share the information he’d gotten with the small group and got halfway through the story before he realised -- this building was owned by the boss and the golden daddy who paid their wages was their bro, the boss himself; was there any need for the boss to go “sell his body”?

Similar questions were asked of the other guests. They went to school or work as usual, but they returned to the mansion earlier than they normally would.

At five o’clock, Su Hanying’s car drove into the garage. Upon entering, Duan Weiwei was alone in the lounge, holding a pillow in a stupor. She blinked when she saw him come in, and her eyes were slightly red-rimmed.

Su Hanying stopped out of courtesy and looked at her quizzically.

Duan Weiwei wiped her eyes: “Su-ge, can I borrow your car to go to the pharmacy?”

Su Hanying: “You want to buy medicine?”

Duan Weiwei was full of self-reproach; she told him about the incident that had led to Shen Yang cutting his hand that morning. “I know there’s some medicine that’s very good for wound healing, so -- ”

Su Hanying’s brows drew imperceptibly closer. He interrupted her: “Which medicine?”

Duan Weiwei told him the name, and Su Hanying turned and walked out: “I know the one; I’ll go buy it.”

Duan Weiwei: “......”

“Weiwei, didn’t you come back really early?” Yan Jiaqi, who had been eavesdropping upstairs, ambled down slowly and feigned confusion: “Why didn’t you go earlier?”

Duan Weiwei’s expression faltered. “I came back via subway, so it wasn’t very convenient.”

Yan Jiaqi disdained Duan Weiwei’s “innocent” act, but she said sympathetically: “Then you should have told me when I came back; I could have taken you too.”

Duan Weiwei’s smile became even more rigid. “As long as you don’t mind the trouble, I’ll definitely rely on you the next time something happens.” She saw that Yan Jiaqi was ready to say more and quickly stood up. “Right, I still have some work to do, so I’ll go up first. See you later.”

Yan Jiaqi chose to quit while she was ahead and smiled amiably: “You go then, work is important.”

By the time Shen Yang came back, the “flames of war” had already dissipated into thin air. He was the last one to return because after following him for most of the day, the cameraman discovered that Shen Yang’s daily life was genuinely boring and suggested they film a bit more in order to liven it up and show his active and youthful student side.

Thus, Shen Yang invited his classmates to play basketball. He was blocked eleven times and scored zero points.

After the match, Shen Yang purposely stopped by the internet-famous shop located in the streets behind the university to buy some desserts. Upon entering the mansion, he was greeted enthusiastically by everyone.

Several people fought over the desserts and in the end there was only a peach yoghurt mousse left in the bag. Shen Yang hadn’t found Su Hanying yet, and it was only after asking around that he learned he was upstairs. “Then I’ll bring it to him directly.”

He really just wanted to take a bath.

As soon as he entered the bedroom, Shen Yang saw Su Hanying sitting in bed wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, which made him seem even more aloof. He felt inexplicably nervous, worrying that he was disturbing the other party, but Su Hanying had already raised his head.

“Do you eat sweets?” Shen Yang lifted up the bag and forced himself to go ahead and ask: “This desserts shop is really famous; want to try?”

Su Hanying put down his book and lazily removed his glasses. “Does your hand still hurt?”

Shen Yang: “Huh?”

Su Hanying: “Come, sit.”

Shen Yang walked over automatically and sat down on Su Hanying’s bed.

Su Hanying: “Give me your hand.”

Shen Yang obediently put out his hand. He belatedly realised that Su Hanying knew about the injury he had sustained that morning and said hurriedly: “It’s just a small cut; it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

He wanted to retract his hand, but Su Hanying held it in place. The other boy’s hands were very cool, but his words were very warm: “I’ll put the medicine on for you again.”

Shen Yang resisted a bit. “You don’t need to go to this much trouble; I want to take a bath, so it’ll just get wet again later.”

Su Hanying released his hand and cautioned him: “Take care not to get it wet.”

“Okay.” Shen Yang was touched; he hadn’t thought that he could meet such a good person as Su Hanying by randomly joining a variety show. To think that yesterday he had still been reluctant to share a room with Su Hanying, but it didn’t even take two days before he had his “change of heart”……

Shen Yang put the dessert on Su Hanying’s bedside table, took a set of clean clothes, and went into the bathroom. He took a quick shower, feeling refreshed when he emerged, and found that Su Hanying had already eaten the dessert.

This time when Su Hanying brought out the tube of ointment, Shen Yang didn’t refuse him. While he felt it wasn’t necessary to make such a big deal over a small injury, he couldn’t ignore the other party’s concern.

The bandaid, already wrinkled, was gingerly peeled off, exposing the wound on Shen Yang’s index finger. Su Hanying carefully held Shen Yang’s finger and gently applied the medicine; his serious attitude made it seem like he was handling some sort of fragile treasure.

The ointment was very cool, but Shen Yang’s ears reddened as the ointment was rubbed on. He stared at Su Hanying’s long, slightly drooping eyelashes and blushed inexplicably……

This image; this scenery -- the atmosphere was perfect.

The cameraman was very satisfied with the socialist brotherhood unfolding before his eyes.

After the medicine had been applied, the pair went downstairs one after another. At this time, the kitchen was buzzing with activity; Shen Yang had originally wanted to lend a hand, but nobody would let him help; they all limited him to being an observer on the grounds of “caring for those with disabilities”.

Long Nu’s workmanship was very good; she cooked swiftly and steadily, and Shen Yang grew hungry watching her. By the time the meal was served, his stomach was rumbling with hunger.

Four meat dishes, four vegetarian dishes, and one soup dish were arranged on the dining table, and everyone thanked the two chefs as usual…...No, to be precise, it was one chef and one helper; after all, Yang Tianchi had made no contribution aside from washing the vegetables, washing the dishes, passing bowls over and laying the chopsticks down.

As they were eating, several of them inevitably brought up the highlight of the evening -- the reveal of their ages and occupations. For modern-day people, age and occupation were also important considerations when choosing a partner, although the deciding factor was often still wealth or appearance……

According to the program group’s arrangements, each of them could provide three keywords as clues, and the other guests would use these to guess the corresponding occupation. A correct guess was worth ten points, and the person with the highest score at the end could obtain a mystery prize.

“Shen Yang should be younger than me?” said Yan Jiaqi casually, taking a mouthful of pork bone soup.

“Why?” Shen Yang felt this was impossible; he’d gone to university three years later than most people. Nobody in his cohort was older than him save for Yuan Kai, and from Yan Jiaqi’s appearance she couldn’t be older than twenty-four.

Yan Jiaqi: “Intuition.” She then turned to Long Nu and said, “Long Nu should be in something related to education, and I think Tianchi’s job has something to do with sports.”

Long Nu smiled wordlessly, and Yang Tianchi also kept his mouth sealed for a change. They all speculated until almost everyone had made their guesses. When it came to Su Hanying, there was a huge variation in their suggestions. One person guessed he was a model; another guessed he was a minor celebrity who hadn’t yet made his debut; yet others guessed he was a straight-A student[4] still in school, or a top-class chef who had to inherit his family’s chain of wine bars.

Yang Tianchi made an even more shocking guess: “An assassin.”

“......”

He chuckled to himself: “Like The Professional[5], hahaha……”

Shen Yang looked at the expressions of the others at the table and instantly felt a burst of second-hand embarrassment.

After they finished eating and cleaning up, the six of them sat in a circle around some answer buzzers in the lounge. If multiple people came up with the correct answer in the same round, only the first person to answer would get the full ten points; subsequent answers would be worth progressively less.

Everyone looked at each other and the atmosphere gradually started to become tense.

Shen Yang unconsciously sat up a bit straighter; his age and occupation weren’t advantageous to him at all, and might even become a disadvantage to him. After all, at the age of twenty-four, he was still only in his third year of university; there had to be a story behind that, and it wasn’t a very good story……

Shen Yang saw that nobody wanted to be the first to speak, and the strange impulse to blow open his covers himself emerged in his heart. Just as he was about to speak, Long Nu nervously suggested: “Or shall we draw lots?”

Seeing that nobody objected, she took out a keychain with the five lucky blessing results on it and said: “There’s only one ‘great fortune’ here; whoever draws that will be the first to speak.”

Yang Tianchi asked curiously: “Don’t you study tarot cards? This isn’t the same system?”

Long Nu sternly declared: “All walks of fortune-telling under the heavens are of the same family.”

Perhaps because she was the owner of the lucky blessings, Long Nu was the first to draw the ‘great fortune’. Hesitantly, she said: “Companionship, love -- ”

“I know!”

Yang Tianchi and Yan Jiaqi pressed their buzzers at almost the same time; the latter was a fraction faster. Shen Yang thought for a bit, then pressed his buzzer too and wrote down his guess. Duan Weiwei followed him shortly after; only Su Hanying hadn’t moved.

At this moment, Long Nu said her third keyword: Animals.

Shen Yang was stunned and knew instantly that he had guessed wrong. He saw Su Hanying leisurely press the bell and lower his head to write down a few words.

At last, the answers were revealed. The others had all guessed kindergarten teacher or some form of teaching, but Su Hanying’s paper had on it a bold and powerful word: zookeeper.

“Only Hanying guessed correctly.” Long Nu confessed: “I work in the panda exhibit in the City A zoo.”

“Wow!”

Long Nu’s occupation was completely out of everyone’s expectations; zookeeping itself wasn’t a common occupation, let alone panda keeping?! Most people haven’t even seen a real panda, but Long Nu got to see them every day, and could even touch them every day!

Shen Yang was almost beside himself with excitement: “Didn’t Huan-mei give birth to Nian Nian last year; then do you get to interact with Nian Nian?”

“Well, I’m actually Nian Nian’s nanny.” When Nian Nian was brought up, Long Nu’s smile was particularly radiant; her eyes seemed to be full of starlight, and her usual reserved timidity was nowhere to be seen.

Shen Yang was nearly bursting with envy; as a person who watched panda livestreams on the internet regularly, he couldn’t contain the bitterness in his heart: “You must have saved the world in your last life.”

Long Nu’s smile sweetened; suddenly, Su Hanying asked: “How old are you? 23? Or 24?”

Long Nu: “I’m 25.”

Su Hanying nodded and made arrangements without consulting anyone: “Long Nu, you choose the next person.”

Nobody felt that his behaviour was incorrect; Long Nu turned directly to Shen Yang, who was sitting beside her, and pointed quickly at him. Shen Yang’s brain froze for a moment; he hadn’t thought it would be his turn so soon. He took a deep breath, thinking over the three keywords he’d prepared, and was about to speak when he saw five hands reach for the buzzers simultaneously.

Shen Yang: ???

Yan Jiaqi said while writing her answer: “You don’t have to speak; we’ve all guessed yours.”

Shen Yang panicked: But I’m an impenetrable mystery?!

The author has something to say:

Shen-mei: My mysterious self is doubting life.

[1] Characters from Jin Yong’s novel, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

[2] 沃日 / wo ri, pronounced similar to slang term 我日 wo ri which in term comes from 我入(你) wo ru ni aka f*** you. In short, it’s basically an expression of shocked indignation.

[3] Originally this was 他 ta vs 她 ta / he vs she; Handsome thinks Su Hanying is talking about a girl when he’s talking about Shen Yang.

[4] 学霸 / xueba lit. ‘study king’

[5] Apparently the Chinese title is 这个杀手不太冷 / ‘this assassin isn’t too cold-blooded’; this is probably intended to be a reference