translated_Chapter 51

51: Qiu Shi Qiu Ci

“Younger brother, no, you have a new name, is it Allen? Aila? Am I calling you Allen or Aila?” Qiu Ci calculated on his fingers.

“Allen is the name Mr. Lewis gave you. I thought of a Chinese name for us.”

“What is it?” the little boy was extremely curious.

“My name is Qiu Shi, another way of writing the ‘Qiu’ of autumn. Your name is Qiu Ci, the ‘Ci’ of porcelain. The top part is the ‘ci’ of ‘one time, two times,’ and the bottom part is the ‘wa’ of tile.”

“Qiu Ci, autumn?”

Qiu Shi wrote on the paper, “This ‘Qiu’ with an ear radical.”

“Why ‘Qiu’?”

“We left in the autumn.”

“Then why change it to this ‘Qiu’?”

“Don’t worry about so much.”

Lewis had a large estate.

They lived inside.

Besides the two of them, there were other children of Lewis in the estate.

Tutors came to lead everyone in learning.

At first, the two were very interested.

Day after day, Qiu Ci gradually felt bored.

He often dozed off when the teacher was lecturing.

Especially during English class.

This was a part they had to study more than the other children.

Because they had left China, they had to quickly master spoken English.

“Allen, did you remember the phrase I just taught?”

Qiu Ci looked up, there were no notes on the paper, only a drawing of a person with an afro.

Obviously, he hadn’t been listening again: “Sorry, teacher.”

The English teacher was one of their uncles, and because of the class, they were relatively close.

“Can you tell me, why don’t you want to listen to the class?” the young man asked gently, not at all like the fierce teachers in the orphanage.

Qiu Ci lowered his head, knowing that he had done something wrong.

The teacher picked up his notebook: “Are you drawing?”

Qiu Ci was a little embarrassed: “…Class is boring…”

“Drawing is interesting?” the teacher asked.

Qiu Ci thought the teacher was blaming him, and remained silent, preparing to stand outside as punishment or copy things as punishment.

The teacher just nodded and let him sit down.

Qiu Shi twisted Qiu Ci’s arm hard: “Don’t wander off.” Qiu Shi warned him.

For a child, the teacher’s blame was a huge deal, and Qiu Ci was extremely afraid.

Sure enough, the teacher called Mr. Lewis after class.

Qiu Ci’s fearful and anxious emotions continued until Mr. Lewis came to see them again.

Lewis was still very young at this time, and a bunch of children happily greeted him.

Qiu Shi was unwilling to squeeze in with them, and took Qiu Ci to the kitchen to find something to eat.

Lewis looked around and found the two little mice in the kitchen.

“Aila, Allen, are you used to living here? Uh… is it that the food doesn’t suit your taste?” Lewis spoke Chinese very well: “Actually, the chef can cook Chinese food.”

Qiu Shi smiled embarrassedly: “The food is delicious, it’s just that we’re relatively free now.”

“Okay, I wanted to talk to Qiu Ci about it. Lin said he’s very interested in painting.” Lewis looked at the child who was constantly hiding behind Qiu Shi.

When Qiu Ci was called out, he trembled in fear: “I won’t be distracted in class anymore, Mr. Lewis. Sorry.”

“Don’t be nervous, little baby. I want to say that I’ll arrange an art teacher to teach you next week. Bern also likes it, you guys can go together.”

Qiu Ci and Qiu Shi’s eyes lit up.

“You’re not blaming me?”

“Blaming you for what?”

“Me being distracted in class, failing to live up to your expectations, something like that.”

Lewis laughed heartily: “Good child, just be yourself, what I want to do is support you.”

Qiu Shi reminded him: “Mr. Lewis, can I also go?”

Lewis waved his hand: “Eh, you can call me papa like them, good children.”

“Pa…pa?” This title was still a little unfamiliar to Qiu Ci, even awkward.

Mr. Lewis came in a hurry and also named the oldest child to accompany him to New York.

Their eldest brother was naturally very happy.

Thirteen-year-old Qiu Shi was like a rose from the Orient, exquisite and gorgeous.

Today, people from the Qin family were coming to the estate for a gathering.

This was the first time outsiders had appeared in this estate.

Qin’s father brought the young Qin Yishan to sit opposite Qiu Shi.

In the main seat was Old Mr. Lewis.

Different from his glorious self a few years ago, Lewis had a hint of fatigue.

“Aila, where’s your younger brother?”

Qiu Shi naturally said: “He’s in the teacher’s art studio, he’s been quite obsessed with it these days.”

“Good heavens, isn’t he even eating?” Lewis complained.

Qiu Shi smiled.

Lewis sighed: “Aila, I only have you two children left.”

Their last sister had passed away last month.

For more than a year, the children in the family were like chickens that had caught the plague in a henhouse, one after another, with all kinds of accidents and illnesses.

Qiu Shi once suspected that the next one would be himself or Qiu Ci.

“I’m preparing to send you back to China for a period of time. Mr. Qin is in China all year round, so this time, you can go back with him, okay.”

Qiu Shi was stunned, she thought she would never return to that land again.

“Whatever you arrange will be the best.” Qiu Shi was somewhat absent-minded.

Lewis looked at her with his turbid eyes: “Aila, your older brothers and sisters have all passed away, but I need an heir, can you promise me?”

This was a good job, a very good job.

Qiu Shi hesitated: “Is it just me? I’m a little worried… about Allen…”

“Allen only likes painting. Oh, right, you’re also learning to paint with the teacher, but you’re more suitable to work with me. This is also an interesting thing.” Lewis pondered.

Holding the knife and fork, Qiu Shi’s hands trembled slightly.

Lewis continued, “This is Qin Yishan, a few years older than you and your younger brother. You can be friends in the future, right?” It was a pleasure to introduce his children to his friend’s children.

Qiu Shi was somewhat absent-minded.

After lunch, the adults were going to talk. Qiu Shi was anxious to bring food to Qiu Ci. In the morning, Qiu Ci had been locked up in the storage room by him.

Qiu Shi also had concerns. Rumor has it that President Qin especially likes pretty little boys, and is quite perverted and bloody. Qiu Shi shook his head.

“Miss Aila.” Qin Yishan greeted politely.

“Ah? Oh, what’s wrong?” Qiu Shi asked.

Qin Yishan walked alongside her: “It’s nothing, I wanted to get to know you.”

“We’ve already met.” Qiu Shi wanted to go to the kitchen to find something to eat.

Qin Yishan seemed unable to see Qiu Shi’s impatience: “We only exchanged names, I wanted to get to know each other better. My father has many children, I thought I would see many peers here today.”

“Oh, my older brothers and sisters have all passed away.”

“Ha? Um… how do I say it, condolences, actually it’s not a bad thing.” Qin Yishan seemed a little clumsy.

Qiu Shi turned around: “What do you mean? You don’t think it’s good not to have siblings, do you?”

Qin Yishan gestured: “You have to think of it from a different angle. If you have a cake, you have to share it if you have siblings, but if there’s only one, you can enjoy it all to yourself, isn’t that good too?”