Intern Incubus Chapter 36: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Chapter 36: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Kiramekineko

 

“Height 1 meter 2, weight 40 kg, um… That’s probably the size… Okay, that’s the size, three sets.” Qiao Xi stared at the table on his phone and confirmed it with the clerk one by one.

Han Tian frowned slightly. “What are you doing?”

Qiao Xi waved his phone. “Buying clothes for the kids. I asked Yan Linlin to send me the height, weight and gender of all 39 children, so that I can choose the right clothes.”

Looking at Han Tian’s hesitant look, Qiao Xi was a little bit weak. “Uh, what’s wrong? Am I doing it wrong?”

“No, it’s right,” Han Tian said with a smile, “I just didn’t expect that you would be so careful. I thought before, you’d probably just buy 39 sets of the exact same clothes.”

“Hey.” Qiao Xi looked smug. “So you’re praising me?”

“Of course.” Han Tian smiled very softly.

“I’ll tell you what!” The complimented Qiao Xi couldn’t help but forget himself a little bit. “In the past, when we were in the Academy—ah no, in the orphanage, we would sometimes wear a small uniform dress, a white shirt with a bow. At such times, the dean would safely leave the assignment of clothes to me, and I never got it wrong once!”

“Oh…” Han Tian exclaimed in an admiring tone, “You were really good when you were a kid then! I remember, you were adopted before elementary school? So, when you were still in kindergarten, you were able to do such complicated things!”

Qiao Xi’s face turned white, he laughed falsely, and said, pretending to be calm, “Mn! I was very smart when I was a kid!”

Han Tian raised his hand and rubbed the top of his head, saying, “Yes, you’re smart now too.”

Qiao Xi, who was praised by Han Tian again, turned from white to red and grinned happily.

After they went home and had dinner, Han Tian came out after washing the dishes and found Qiao Xi sitting at the table, holding a watercolor pencil, lying there and wondering what he was writing, while the table was covered with large and small colorful greeting cards.

“What is this again?” Han Tian was very curious.

“Ah, this!” Qiao Xi tilted his head, and replied with a serious face, “I looked up on the internet, when sending a gift, it is best to bring a greeting card, so that the person receiving the gift will be happier.”

“Oh…” Han Tian nodded thoughtfully, while picking up a greeting card and trying to open it.

Unexpectedly, Qiao Xi pounced on him and snatched back the greeting card and put it upside down on the table.

“?” Han Tian looked puzzled.

“I… My writing, it’s not very good.” Qiao Xi’s face turned red. “It doesn’t match my smart image.”

This explanation made Han Tian laugh out loud, which in turn made Qiao Xi’s face even redder, and even his mouth puckered up.

“Let me see,” Han Tian held back his laughter and persuaded patiently, “I promise I won’t laugh at you.”

Qiao Xi looked at him half-heartedly, his hand still clasped on the greeting card and did not let go.

“How about I write it with you?” Han Tian suggested. “After all, this is also considered to be our joint delivery?”

Qiao Xi hesitated and said slowly, “Okay then…”

He hesitantly handed over the card and slipped another watercolor pencil to Han Tian.

When Han Tian opened the card, Qiao Xi almost held his breath as he stared at his face, lest the man’s face show a hint of mockery.

After all, Qiao Xi hadn’t practiced writing properly at the Demon Academy.

“Mn, it’s good,” Han Tian praised. “The content is very warm, the font is also very rustic and lovely, every stroke is very attentive, the children will definitely like it.”

“Really?” Qiao Xi’s eyes were glowing with surprise, as he didn’t expect his ugly, eye-catching font to be appreciated.

“Mn. that is, there is a missing signature.” After that, Han Tian took hold of the thick watercolor pen and wrote in the bottom right corner of the greeting card, in a flowing manner, the names of both of them.

[Qiao Xi & Han Tian]

“There, that completes it.” After Han Tian finished writing, he pushed the card back to Qiao Xi.

Looking at the two names on the handwriting, Qiao Xi’s cheeks warmed up slightly and he whispered, “We… Can we put our names together like this?”

Han Tian looked at him seriously. “Why not? Don’t we live together now? Didn’t we both give the gift together?”

Qiao Xi swallowed his saliva and whispered, “Oh…”

It’s just because of that. Okay.

After the two of them finished writing the 39 cards, Qiao Xi threw the watercolor pencils on the table and fell behind his chair, sighing. “Oh, I’m so tired! It’s been a long time since I’ve written so many words!”

Han Tian stood up, folded the cards back one by one, and said to Qiao Xi, “Mn, it’s late, you go take a shower, I’ll collect them.”

Qiao Xi blinked. “Okay.”

When he came out of the shower, he deliberately dawdled in the living room for half a day, observing the bonsai for a while and looking at the night outside the window for a while.

Until he caught a glimpse of Han Tian coming out of the study and going into the bathroom.

He swiftly pushed open the study door and slipped in like a thief.

In Han Tian’s study, four walls were large bookcases straight to the ceiling, which were neatly lined with books.

In the middle of a wide desk, there was nothing but a monitor.

In front of the desk was a dark gray feather sofa, on which lay the little white whale in a blue apron.

Qiao Xi walked on tiptoe to the couch, patted the white whale, whispered a “long time no see” greeting, and stuffed a greeting card under the belly of the white whale.

It was the longest and most serious greeting card he had ever written.

Although the writing was still ugly, there were only two words in total: “Thank you.”

After hiding the card, he quickly slipped back to his room and quickly closed the door, only to feel his heart beating extra fast.

Phew…

Will Han Tian be happy after seeing this card?

I think so…

Qiao Xi thought anxiously, slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, reached out and pulled the small shark from the pillow…

Huh?  

The cake the shark was holding seemed to have something on top of it.

Qiao Xi carefully carried the shark to his lap, and then removed a new “decoration” from the cake.

It was a small star, a hand-folded, small star.

Not knowing what material Han Tian used, the little star shone brightly and twinkled in the soft room light.

Holding the little star, Qiao Xi first froze for a moment, then fell on the bed and grinned.

The next day, since they didn’t have to do the auction either, the two of them left in the morning.

“By the way, you practiced making black tea all day yesterday, how are you doing now? You shouldn’t get any more bad reviews, right?” Han Tian asked while driving.

“Uh…” Speaking of this, Qiao Xi’s face scrunched up again. “No, it’s weird, I did everything you said, it’s obviously a simple thing, but no matter how many times I try, the tea tastes weird.”

“So.” Han Tian turned the wheel and said, “Why don’t I prepare a set of tea bags for you, so you can just use that tea bag to make tea in the future.”

“Hmm? Tea bags?” Qiao Xi still had a bitter face, not really believing that using tea bags would suddenly improve his skills.

“Trust me. With that tea bag, you will definitely be able to make a very fragrant tea.” Han Tian’s tone was unquestionable.

Qiao Xi cocked his head, not understanding why switching to a tea bag would definitely be possible—but since Han Tian had said so, it must be true.

“And then…” Qiao Xi thought for half a day, but still spoke, “This, this, thank you…”

He took out the shiny little star from his sweatshirt pocket and held it in his hand, his face a little hot.

“Hm?” Han Tian glanced at him. “Didn’t you thank me yesterday?”

Qiao Xi knew that Han Tian was referring to the ugly greeting card with the ugly writing.

His face got hotter. “I… I didn’t write the card to you after I received the little star… I’ve been thinking of giving it to you since the beginning…”

Han Tian swept him with another glance, his eyes as gentle as water. “Mn, I know.”

Hearing these words, Qiao Xi lowered his head, trying not to let Han Tian find out how happy he was smiling, while solemnly putting the little star into his pocket again.

When they arrived at the orphanage, the children were curious and excited to see that the cake brothers had brought something else instead of a cake, so they chattered and gathered around.

Qiao Xi looked around and found the figure of Tong Tong at the end of the line.

The child was timid, biting his finger, looking at the crowd with both envy and fear, standing quietly at the end.

“Teacher Yan, can you ask Tong Tong to help with the registration? That is, if any child has received it, Tong Tong will draw a check mark after that child’s name?” Qiao Xi asked politely.

“Ah… Of course!” Yan Linlin immediately understood and ran over to Tong Tong and gestured to him before leading the child over.

Realizing that he had to take on such an important responsibility, Tong Tong was instantly serious, his little yellow and black face tensed up, his eyes opened extra wide, and the pen in his hand clenched extra hard.

He drew a check for each tick, and was sure to check carefully several times, and then counted again and again, lest they get it wrong a little.

When he finally finished handing out all the clothes, Tong Tong wiped the sweat from his head and handed the crumpled paper to Qiao Xi, then looked at him with some uneasiness.

Qiao Xi took the paper solemnly and gave Tong Tong a thumbs up. “That’s great!”

The boy finally relaxed, tilted his head and smiled brightly, the usual inferiority complex that always lingered between his eyebrows was gone.

Yan Linlin, who saw the change in Tong Tong, whispered to Qiao Xi, “Thank you.”

Surprisingly, he was thanked by a human again?

Yan Linlin, of course, did not know Qiao Xi’s inner complex emotions.

Seeing that he did not say anything, she just thought that the young man was a bit shy, and did not say anything more.

He turned to Han Tian and said, “Dr. Han, it’s just that we need your signature on the donation agreement again this year, would you mind coming with me to the dean’s office?”

“A donation agreement?” Qiao Xi looked curiously at Han Tian and Yan Linlin.

“Dr. Han is the biggest donor to the orphanage, and every year we need to sign the agreement with Dr. Han and send the details of our expenses to Dr. Han,” Yan Linlin explained with a smile.

“Ahhh… So…” Qiao Xi looked at Han Tian, who was smiling but not saying anything, and once again thought of his plan to try to stuff money to him in different ways at the beginning, and his whole body was enveloped by embarrassment.

At this time, Tong Tong came over and pulled Qiao Xi’s coat, gesturing in the direction of the reading room, looking like he still wanted to hear Qiao Xi’s story.

Qiao Xi hurriedly took the opportunity to run away, not wanting to think back on how silly he had been.

This time, Qiao Xi told Tong Tong a story about a princess who, in order to save her brothers from being turned into swans, kept weaving clothes with thorns, and even though she was almost burned as a witch, she didn’t stop, and finally gave the clothes to her brothers so that they could become human again.

After reading this story, Tong Tong was sitting on the floor by himself as usual and began to look at the painting. Qiao Xi had some emotions.

Why did the king, who married the princess, also believe that the princess was a witch and agreed to burn her to death?

Tsk, it is true that human love is too unreliable!

While he was dazed, a pair of small, white hands tapped on his shoulder.

He turned around and saw that it was Little Guang, a 6 year old boy.

The boy was completely different from Tong Tong, with white skin, good features, and a sweet mouth.

In Qiao Xi’s memory, Xiao Guang was a very enthusiastic child. A month ago, when that scumbag Zhong Jian locked Tong Tong up, it was this kid who offered to go and deliver a cake to Tong Tong.

The only thing is, the expression on Little Guang’s face today doesn’t seem to be the same as before?

Although smiling, the whole person looked gloomy, and that smile also contained a strangeness.

And…

Qiao Xi twitched his nose. Strange, why the air with a little fishy smell? Did the caretaker forget to give Xiao Guang a bath yesterday?

“Hmm? Xiao Guang? What’s wrong?” However, Qiao Xi didn’t dislike Little Guang just because he didn’t take a bath, and still asked patiently.

“Little—Little Brother Qiao, can you play hide and seek with me for a while?” Xiao Guang grinned, and his smile became even weirder.

“This…” Qiao Xi instinctively wanted to say no, and felt that the idea made no sense to him.

“Could it be,” Little Guang pointed at Tong Tong, “that Brother Xiao Qiao is only willing to play with him and doesn’t want to accompany me?”

When asked by Xiao Guang, Qiao Xi could not refuse.

He could only stand up and say, “Mn, let’s play hide-and-seek, how do you want to play?”

Xiao Guang laughed, took Qiao Xi’s hand and walked to the end of the corridor outside the reading room and said, “It’s very simple, you turn your back, squat down, close your eyes, count from 1 to 100, and then come to me.”

Qiao Xi closed his eyes, turned his back to Xiao Guang, squatted in the corner and started counting.

The little light behind him, with a heated smile and incredible strength, picked up the fire extinguisher placed in the corner, and with a grim expression completely incompatible with his age, smashed it hard against the back of Qiao Xi’s head.