Chapter 111 - Are You Saying You’re Bigger Than Me
They finished their brunch and Yuan Ge cleaned up the dishes while Rong Qiuchen chatted with Vivi the little robot.
"Childe Yuan, Brother Puppet said that today is the 26th day of the lunar December, just the right time to kill the pigs, prepare the meat to celebrate the Spring Festival and go out to do the New Year's shopping. Do you have any servants at the house to help you with these things?"
"We are the only two living, breathing human beings in this house to celebrate the New Year. Vivi the robot, your 'puppet brother', could be considered half human. So who else can you expect to do proper shopping and prepare things in the traditional way? Let's just go to the supermarket and buy whatever you want to eat. That'll do."
"New Year is the most important festival of the year, how can it be taken lightly? In the old days in the Jingyu Troupe, the most fun we had all year was preparing for the New Year celebrations."
Yuan Ge scratched his head, "I've been abroad for many years, and I basically don't celebrate the Chinese New Year. If my parents don't come back, there wouldn't even be anyone to organize it, so my Chinese New Year holidays are rather lacking in ritual."
Rong Qiuchen looked rather enthusiastic and said, "If you don't mind, Childe Yuan, you can leave these matters to me.. There are still many rules that must be observed for the New Year, so that we can have good luck in the coming year."
Yuan Ge was amused by him, "You little old fashioned nerd, you care so much about these traditional customs, just like my mother. Are you sure you don't need to go back to your own home since you take the Spring Festival so seriously?"
Rong Qiuchen looked hurt by his words, "Why do you always want me to leave?"
"No, no, no, I'm not kicking you out. You've misunderstood me! Ah, if you're sure you're homeless, you can stay with me for as many days as you like. It's quite boring for me to spend New Year's alone anyway, and it'll be nice to have you around." Seeing that the boy's anxiety had eased slightly, Yuan Ge took him to the wardrobe in his bedroom, "Feel free to pick out any clothes you like. When you are done changing, we'll go out to do the New Year's shopping."
But after waiting for quite a while, Yuan Ge saw Rong Qiuchen awkwardly coming out of the bedroom, "Childe Yuan, thank you for your kindness in lending me your clothes, but this robe is very short, what should I do?"
When Yuan Ge saw what the boy was wearing, he was too exasperated to speak. It turned out that he had been trawling through the wardrobe for so long that he had only found the longest white shirt to put on, his legs and feet still bare wearing nothing.
"Who told you this was the way to wear a shirt! In the modern world people don't usually wear robes anymore, you have to wear a pair of trousers, and at the very least, underwear and socks first, okay?"
Seeing Rong Qiuchen's embarrassed look, Yuan Ge opened the wardrobe again and took out two brand new packs of underwear and socks, handing them to the boy, "These are for you, new ones. It's not convenient for us to share underwear, so keep them for yourself. From now on, you have to wear and change them daily, otherwise... you will be considered indecent if you are seen on the street without underwear, and you will be reported to the police!"
Rong Qiuchen took the soft underwear and socks and examined them for a while before saying, "These undergarments are quite different in style from those of my time. "
Yuan Ge put his hand on his forehead and shook his head, "I don't even know what underwear looks like in the Qing Dynasty, yet you're still cosplaying. Anyway, just put them on, and I'll help you choose your outerwear." As he spoke, he sized up Qiuchen's figure, took a pair of skinny jeans and handed them to him, then found a cream-coloured shirt with a jumper of the same colour scheme and told him to hurry up and change into it.
Sure enough, the outfit removed any incongruity in his appearance since they had met, transforming Qiuchen into a handsome and bright young man immediately. Standing in front of the mirror, he still looked a little uncomfortable and asked Yuan Ge uncertainly, "Childe Yuan, is it appropriate for me to go out dressed like this?"
"Yes, It will do. You'll charm tens of thousands of girls at least."
Hearing Yuan Ge's compliment, Rong Qiuchen couldn't help but smile brightly. That smile was so stunning that it made one dizzy just looking at it.
Yuan Ge dropped his gaze, but immediately exclaimed, "You're so slim! These are the skinniest pair of jeans I own. They're actually a bit loose on you."
"Overeating was never allowed in opera troupes, not to mention that I often played Dan roles, and the masters were particularly strict about my figure management. However, Childe Yuan is quite slim, and these trousers of yours are actually very tight on me, making me very uncomfortable...", he said, pointing to the tightness around his groin area.
Yuan Ge rolled his eyes at the boy fiercely, "What do you mean! The legs are loose and the groin area is too tight, are you saying you're bigger than me? Hmph, uncomfortable? Deal with it!"
Rong Qiuchen blinked and instantly understood what Yuan Ge meant. Seeing his childish obsession with comparing body parts, he just smiled but said nothing.