There’s a psycho who has a crush on me

Chapter 44

Editor: Princess

Father Luo paid no attention to Yu Pei and instead picked up the fire tongs to poke at the charcoal, wanting to make the coals burn more vigorously.

Yu Pei watched Father Luo’s expressionless and rather serious face, yet he dared not speak rashly, so the two men sat together in silence.

After several minutes passed, Father Luo cleared his throat and asked Yu Pei, “Your name is Yu Pei, with the ‘ear but not clothes’ character, correct?”

Yu Pei was stunned for a moment, feeling that this father and son spoke in exactly the same manner. He answered with a smile, “Yes, Uncle.”

Yu Pei’s voice was very clear and bright. Even though he had passed through his voice-changing period, his voice remained soft with a youthful tone, which made Father Luo, who was accustomed to hearing his own son’s deep voice, feel somewhat refreshed. He raised his eyes to look at Yu Pei and discovered that this child was truly quiet. He lacked the vigorous energy that ordinary boys his age should possess, and his silent, quiet demeanor instead made one feel somewhat distressed.

He really liked this type of child.

Regarding the matter of Luo Changzhou liking men, they had not avoided arguing about it or making a fuss, yet the result had not changed in the slightest. They could not possibly force Luo Changzhou to marry a girl he didn’t like and bring her home, as this would not only fail to reverse Luo Changzhou’s sexual orientation but would also harm that girl.

Rather than making a scene to that extent, it was better to accept the unchangeable reality. He sighed and said, “Yu Pei, this is a good name.”

Afterward, he continued, “However, the character ‘Pei’ should be a surname, so how did it end up being used in your given name?”

Yu Pei was startled, “Um… I don’t know either. This name was given to me by my father.”

Yu Pei’s eyes were wide from bewilderment, and his appearance was well-behaved. Father Luo looked at his curious expression and couldn’t help but explain to him, “Look, the character ‘Pei’ is a pictophonetic character. Do you know what a pictophonetic character is?”

Yu Pei shook his head honestly.

Father Luo clicked his tongue, feeling that he had finally found someone to show off to. He had been a liberal arts student in the past, and the names of his two children, Luo Changzhou and his sister, had been chosen by him. However, both of his children had personalities that were too aloof, and they rarely sat together with him to talk. Mother Luo had also grown tired of hearing his explanations and was too lazy to listen anymore. Now he suddenly felt that it was quite nice that his son had found a partner who could sit and chat with him. If it had been a girl, he might not have felt so comfortable.

“Pictophonetic characters are one of the ‘Six Categories’ of Chinese character formation methods. They consist of two parts: one is the semantic component, and the other is the phonetic component. The semantic component indicates the meaning of the character, while the phonetic component indicates the same or similar pronunciation.” Father Luo dragged his small stool closer to Yu Pei, no longer caring about the charcoal, and began to explain Yu Pei’s name with a serious expression. “Your character ‘Pei’ has ‘clothes’ as the semantic component and ‘non’ as the phonetic component. The original meaning of the character ‘Pei’ describes the appearance of long robes hanging down. Sima Xiangru wrote in his ‘Zixu Fu’: ‘fluttering and swaying, with flowing sleeves and graceful cuts’, which describes the appearance of ancient beauties with their long robes flowing.”

While speaking, Father Luo gestured with his hands at his lower body, as if he were also wearing a long robe. After finishing, he laughed heartily and said, “So your name is quite poetic. Not bad, not bad, it’s a good name.”

Yu Pei had never imagined that his ordinary name could be explained in such a way. He stared at Father Luo with his mouth slightly open in surprise.

The timing of his birth had not been ideal. At that time, the relationship between Father and Mother Yu had already cooled to freezing point. Father Yu already had an excellent eldest son and many beloved mistresses around him. His expectation for a daughter had exceeded his desire for another son, not to mention that this son was premature, thin and ugly when he was first born. Due to his premature birth, his internal organs had not developed completely, he had serious lung murmurs, suffered from asthma just like his father, and was the son born by a wife he no longer loved. Therefore, he had casually given Yu Pei a name.

During elementary school Chinese classes, classmates would discuss the meanings of their names. Even Gu Zheng could explain that his name came from the characters “zheng rong” (majestic), and he had a big brother named Gu Rong. However, he could find no connection between his name and his big brother’s, nor did he know what other meanings his name might have.

“So my name actually has a meaning…” Yu Pei listened to Father Luo praising his name, feeling both surprised and bitter in his heart, unable to clearly identify what kind of emotion it was. He looked at Father Luo with admiration and said respectfully, “Uncle, you’re amazing!”

The corners of Father Luo’s lips curved, and although he had aged somewhat, his face still showed traces of his youthful handsomeness as he smiled with satisfaction. He picked up the fire tongs used for stirring coals and wrote the character “Zhou” on the ground, asking Yu Pei, “Now do you know what kind of character Changzhou’s ‘Zhou’ is?”

Yu Pei’s interest had been piqued by Father Luo. He had always liked liberal arts subjects, and now listening to Father Luo quote classics and cite references, he felt that the Luo family’s intelligence must be hereditary. He said excitedly, “It’s also a pictophonetic character. The water radical is the semantic component, and ‘zhou’ is the phonetic component, right, Uncle?”

“Very clever.” Father Luo smiled and nodded, praising Yu Pei. “Changzhou’s name was taken from the ‘Li Sao’. Luo Changzhou means the islet of the Luo River. The Luo River was a branch of the ancient Yellow River. One of the four goddesses in ‘Li Sao’, Mi Fei, was there. Changzhou also has an older sister named Luo Changyan—”

“What are you two talking about here?” After preparing the maple syrup, Luo Changzhou came out carrying a cup. Upon entering the courtyard, he saw Father Luo and Yu Pei sitting close together, chatting and laughing harmoniously. He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow and ask, “You even wrote my name on the ground?”

He had thought that Father Luo wouldn’t accept Yu Pei so quickly and had wanted to prepare the maple syrup quickly to come out, but these two seemed to be getting along quite pleasantly.

Yu Pei’s cheeks were flushed red from laughing, and his eyes sparkled as he looked toward Luo Changzhou, saying, “Uncle and I were discussing your name.”

“My dad just likes to boast. Don’t listen to his nonsense.” Luo Changzhou said deliberately.

“You unfilial son, how dare you speak about your father like that?!” As soon as these words fell, Father Luo’s eyes widened and he raised the fire tongs as if to strike him.

Seeing this, Yu Pei moved to shield Luo Changzhou behind him quickly.

Father Luo’s eyes hurt from being shown their affection, and he looked at Luo Changzhou with disgust before continuing to poke at the charcoal.

Luo Changzhou smiled and pulled Yu Pei’s hand to sit back down. Yu Pei asked him, “Changzhou, you have an older sister?”

“Yes.” Mother Luo, who had just come out carrying the cut meat and sauces, heard Yu Pei’s question and said with a smile, “Changzhou and his sister have a good relationship. A while ago, Changzhou specifically called his sister to borrow a hot water bottle.”

“Hot water bottle?” Yu Pei was stunned for a moment when he heard these three words, because Luo Changzhou had often brought a cloud-shaped hot water bottle to school before. The first time he saw the hot water bottle, he had found it strange, because according to Luo Changzhou’s personality, he shouldn’t have bought such a soft and cute hot water bottle.

Mother Luo continued, “Right, he said his hands got cold while riding his bicycle to class, and that he wanted to take a hot water bottle to warm them. He got up every morning to heat the hot water bottle.”

So the hot water bottle that Luo Changzhou had always brought for himself was actually his sister’s. Yu Pei looked at Luo Changzhou with emotion, and Luo Changzhou, his lips curving, reached out to ruffle the back of his head, and put the skewered meat on the grill, first grilling a honey-glazed pork belly skewer for Yu Pei.

Yu Pei praised how delicious this sauce was, and Father Luo immediately said proudly that he had made this sauce himself and told him to take two bottles home with him when he left.

Yu Pei couldn’t refuse, so when he left, he carried two bottles of Father Luo’s special honey meat sauce on his back, along with a jar of maple syrup.

Summer nights in the south came very late, and the beautiful sunset and dusk could always last until very late. When Yu Pei left the Luo family after eating his fill, the sun had just sunk below the horizon, but bright and gorgeous afterglow still remained on the horizon, stretching his and Luo Changzhou’s shadows very long.

He and Luo Changzhou walked very close together, their ten fingers tightly interlocked, and their shadows on the ground were also closely pressed together, like souls that could only be complete when they were together.

On the way to see him off, Luo Changzhou asked Yu Pei, “Did you have fun at my house today?”

“Very much!” The smile on Yu Pei’s face had not disappeared even now. Perhaps it was the enthusiasm of Father and Mother Luo, or perhaps it was Luo Changzhou’s gentle companionship at every moment, but Yu Pei felt as if he were a member of the Luo family, experiencing the warmth called “home” for the first time.

Although the house they lived in wasn’t large, and the courtyard wasn’t as spacious as the garden of the Yu mansion, it was warmer than the luxurious yet lonely Yu mansion.

It was just that after Father Yu died and Mother Yu left the Yu mansion, no matter how hard he and his big brother tried to maintain surface tranquility, they could never piece together the broken Yu family again.

Thinking of this, the smile on Yu Pei’s face faded gradually. However, in the next moment, Luo Changzhou pinched his face with his fingers gently, pulling it into a smile: “If Ah Pei is happy, then Ah Pei should smile every day.”

Yu Pei raised his head and looked into Luo Changzhou’s blue eyes that were gazing at him. There were scattered lights in his eyes, perhaps reflections of the morning star in the sky behind him. Those stars had once silently witnessed his sweet yet somewhat bitter secret love, and had also gazed upon every stretch of road that he and Luo Changzhou had walked hand in hand under the same night sky.

“Okay.” Yu Pei smiled broadly and made a very serious promise.

“I will always stay by your side.” Luo Changzhou leaned close to his ear and said softly. Then he laughed again and said, “If Uncle Zhang hadn’t come, I really would have wanted to kiss you.”

Yu Pei turned around and indeed saw the familiar black vehicle stopped by the roadside. Yu Pei didn’t know what he was thinking, but he suddenly lowered his head and kissed his own palm, then raised his hand to cover Luo Changzhou’s lips, saying, “This counts as having kissed.”

Luo Changzhou was startled, then shook his head with a smile and said, “That doesn’t count. I’ll make up for it later.”

“See you Monday then.” Yu Pei waved at Luo Changzhou.

Luo Changzhou also said, “See you Monday.”

The two intertwined shadows on the ground finally separated reluctantly. Yu Pei walked toward the car while looking back at Luo Changzhou with longing, and Luo Changzhou remained standing in place, watching him get into the black vehicle.

“Ah Pei.”

As soon as Yu Pei sat in the car, the voice of the person in the driver’s seat startled him. He looked up toward the rearview mirror and saw Yu Qing’s familiar face in the reflection.