The classmates were instantly at a loss.
Du Huaixi’s sudden shout of "brother" was too abrupt, and the classmates just felt she must have been talking in her sleep during class.
Otherwise, who was she calling "brother"?
Du Huaixi was immediately surrounded by her classmates.
"Du Huaixi, you suddenly shouted ’brother’ in class, were you secretly sleeping and talking in your sleep?"
Du Huaixi stuck out her tongue, "No! I have a brother!"
A female classmate asked curiously, "Who?"
Du Huaixi blurted out, "Junyan."
Everyone was at a loss, crying and laughing: "Du Huaixi, did you acknowledge Junyan as your brother?"
Du Huaixi said, "No."
"Then why are you calling him brother? You are not real siblings."
Du Huaixi opened her mouth but hesitated, not knowing how to explain for a moment.
After all, their sibling relationship was rather complicated to explain.
The girl sitting next to Du Huaixi asked, "Xixi, why did you switch seats next to Junyan during class? You aren’t..."
The girl winked at her, "Are you secretly in love with Junjun?"
Du Huaixi said, "Of course not. Okay, you all stop crowding here, I can’t breathe fresh air!"
Only then did the classmates scatter.
Han suddenly peeked a small head from behind Du Huaixi, "Du Huaixi, do you know that you and Junjun have the same dad?"
He spoke in a low voice, whispering into her ear, and Du Huaixi’s ear tickled, rubbing her ear and pushing Han’s face slightly away, but Han shamelessly squeezed back to hear more gossip.
Du Huaixi said, "I only know he’s my brother, a half-brother; we share the same dad, but not the same mom."
Han said, "Actually, Momo and I knew about this a long time ago."
Du Huaixi glared at him in surprise, "Really?"
Han: "Really, why would I lie to you."
Du Huaixi: "Why do you know about this?"
Han: "When Junjun was in the hospital, my mommy often went to the hospital to accompany him and take care of him, so my mommy told me about his background."
Du Huaixi said gloomily, "Why am I the last one to know I have a brother?"
Han said, "Because you’re silly!"
Du Huaixi turned around, waving her fist at him, "Momo can call me silly and I’ll admit it, but how dare you say I’m silly?"
Han sat at his desk, propping his head with his hand, squinting with a smile, "Alright, you’re not silly, you’re the smartest!"
After a pause, he said, "My mommy said not to tell you about this."
Han: "See, you and Junjun are siblings, but your mom didn’t tell you, meaning your mom doesn’t want you to know this fact."
Du Huaixi couldn’t help but be curious, "I’m really curious why I have a brother."
How did she get a brother?
Han said, "That, I don’t know. But I also want to know, why don’t you ask Junjun? He must know, and after you ask, come back and tell me."
Du Huaixi couldn’t help but laugh, "You’re really keen on gossip! Alright! I’ll ask at noon and tell you when I get back!"
Junjun had just packed up his desk, preparing to head to the cafeteria.
Du Huaixi grabbed his hand, "Junjun, wait for me, I’ll help you push the wheelchair."
Junjun paused in disbelief, "My wheelchair is electric, it doesn’t need pushing."
Du Huaixi said, "Alright then."
Du Huaixi moved to the side of the wheelchair, grabbing his hand, "Let’s eat together, I’ll treat you to something delicious."
Junjun instinctively wanted to pull away, after all, it was a bit odd for two people to hold hands at school. But Du Huaixi’s hand was soft and warm, holding his tightly.
He couldn’t bear to push her away, so he let her hold his hand all the way to the cafeteria entrance.
Du Huaixi ordered him a steak, ordered herself some pasta, and found a seat to sit down.
"Junjun, I want to know how my dad got together with your mom?"
Junjun thought for a moment: "I heard from my mom, dad was her first love, and she was dad’s first love too. They were together while studying, and only later parted ways. After they broke up, my mom had me, and dad married Aunt Guan and had you. Although we are the same age, I’m 10 months older, so I’m your brother."
Du Huaixi nodded, half-understanding: "Why did they break up?"
Junjun curled his lips, half-joking, half-serious: "If they hadn’t, the world wouldn’t have ’Du Huaixi’."
Du Huaixi said, "I could’ve been born into another family."
Junjun looked up at her.
Du Huaixi said, "So, why did they break up? Did they have a fight or was it because of something else?"
Junjun: "Mom broke up because..."
He paused, not sure how to explain to Du Huaixi, changed the subject, "Don’t ask, anyway, you’re too young to understand these things, just eat your meal."
Du Huaixi said: "You’re just ten months older than me, why can you understand and I can’t?"
Junjun said, "But dad and mom didn’t break up because they stopped loving each other. They actually love each other a lot, dad loves mom, mom loves dad too."
Du Huaixi was momentarily stunned: "So dad loves two women at the same time? He’s such a jerk."
Junjun choked harshly on a sip of soda.
Confirmed—she’s his dad’s true daughter.
Junjun said, "Dad’s not a jerk, he’s been very loyal to your mom. Before the accident, he didn’t even know my existence. Even after he knew about my existence, he didn’t divorce your mom for me."
Du Huaixi quietly took a bite of pasta, then asked: "Does your mom still love him now?"
Junjun: "I guess so... I’m not sure, adult stuff is too complicated."
He cut a piece of steak, just about to put it in his mouth, but suddenly thought of something, and put a piece of steak onto Du Huaixi’s plate.
Du Huaixi casually forked up the steak, took a big bite, chewed carefully, swallowed, then said, "Anyway, you promised me that if I call you ’brother,’ you have to help me with my homework."
Finishing, she continued to happily slurp her pasta.
Junjun was almost choked by her words again.
He put down his knife and fork, a bit helpless: "You recognized me as your brother just to let me help you with homework?"
Du Huaixi: "Isn’t the whole point of having a brother to take care of his sister?"
Junjun was speechless for a long time: "Does helping with homework count as taking care of a sister?"
Du Huaixi cautiously said: "Now that I’m calling you ’brother,’ you’re not going to back out, are you?"
Junjun almost threw his hands up in surrender: "Whatever I promised you, I will definitely do, okay? But there’s a condition, you can’t fall behind on your studies, otherwise, I won’t help you with it."