“Except death, nothing can tear us apart,” Yibo declared, “Zhan, you owe me so much that you have to pay back with your whole life. Just be content with being Mrs. Wang and don’t disappear with your daughter again, or I will lock you up and treat you like a toy for a month when I find you!”
He was not threatening or joking, he was for real.
Zhan felt his leg weakened.
This was the claim of Yibo, that nobody could be Mrs. Wang except him.
Zhan blinked but didn’t say anything. Why did he do so much for me?
Though Zhan could felt his affection for him, he didn’t sure that it was only about love or it was his hallucination.
His heartbeat fastened when he thought about this.
But Yibo thought Zhan was unwilling to do so, “Zhan, are you going to slip away? It was my child you stole! Without me, you wouldn’t have such a cute and smart daughter. Without her, Darren would have died! Think about how many benefits you have got from it!”
“I know,” Zhan said calmly.
He did owe him and feel guilty about him. If this was the compensation Yibo wanted, he would do this for him. he would stay and be a good Mrs. Wang.
“Good to see you being cooperative.” Yibo complimented him in satisfaction.
The only thing he was thinking about was to keep Zhan around him and to give Fei an intact family.
They were both the people he loved.
“Can we go back now?” Zhan said.
“Sure.” Yibo let go of him. He had got the answer he wanted from him anyway.
Yibo readjusted his clothes and got off the car. He stood by the door and reached out his hand to Zhan gently, trying to help him out.
Zhan felt shy to refuse him, so he held his hand and went off the car slowly.
Yibo went to the back of his car, opened the trunk, grabbed a traveling bag, and handed it to Zhan around him, “Take it.”
“Can’t you take it yourself?” Zhan wondered.
“I have something else to take,” Yibo brought boxes of gifts from the trunk, like tea, wine, some food for the elderly, and so on.
“This is my first time to visit my grandpa-in-law. He may be unconcerned about something material, but I need to show my concern for him, right?” Yibo closed the trunk and locked the car with lots of bags in his hands.
Zhan felt Yibo was really a considerate person, always taking good care of the people around him.
Yibo and Zhan went back to grandpa’s house and saw Darren sitting in the yard alone.
He heard the sound of opening the door and saw Yibo and Zhan as well.
Darren stood up, looked at Zhan, and said, “Grandpa has fallen asleep.”
Yibo ignored him and put those things down in the living room.
He turned his head to Zhan and said, “I get into the room first. When you are in, we can go to sleep.”
Then he glanced at Darren, obviously trying to irritate him.
Zhan felt helpless in mind. Sometimes Yibo was like an immature child, and Zhan was his favorite toy that nobody could take it away from him.
“You hear me, my dear?” Yibo asked him persistently.
“I hear you,” Zhan said to calm him down.
“Hurry up, my patient is wearing thin,” Yibo urged impatiently.
Zhan looked at Darren and said, “Thank you. Why don’t you go to sleep?”
Darren put his hands in the pocket, looked at the night sky, and said, “I haven’t seen so many beautiful stars for a long time. I want to admire them as long as I can since they will be unavailable for me when I’m back to the city.”
“You can see the stars on the top of Mount Maple,” Zhan suggested, “It’s late now, you should get some rest. You can sleep in the room next to grandpa’s.”
“Yeah,” he nodded.
“I should go. Good night,” Zhan turned around and was about to leave.
“Zhan…” Darren said after a hesitation.
Zhan turned back and looked at him, “Yes?”
“I…Nothing, Good night,” Darren said with a smile.
Once Zhan got in the room, Yibo held him immediately and smelt the aroma from him, “What takes you so long?”
“Just a small talk,” Zhan didn’t think they had talked so long at all.
“You can take a shower and then sleep in the room in the west of the house,” Zhan handed the traveling bag to him.
“I want to sleep by your side tonight.”
“The bed is not as big as one in our home. It will be so crowded to have three people on it,” Zhan moved away from his arms gently, “That’s not good for Fei.”
“With Fei here, I won’t do anything strenuous to you. And that was why I asked you to go out with me to express my deep feelings for you,” Yibo patted the side of the bed, “I only take a little space and won’t squeeze you.”
It reminded Zhan of the situation in the car and his face flushed immediately, “Stop teasing me!”
Yibo looked at him earnestly, “Sure, I stop.”
Zhan felt Yibo meant it seriously, but he couldn’t trust him since Yibo had never been serious about such kinds of things.
“Take a shower,” Zhan said in brevity.
“Yes, sir,” Yibo said and kissed him on the face.
Zhan glanced at him bashfully, while Yibo was overjoyed.
He opened the bag and took out the pajamas, and then Zhan led him to the bathroom. In the countryside, the water heaters were mostly electric.
“Sorry, that all we can get here,” Zhan thought that he had never been to the countryside before.
He was born with a silver spoon and had the best living conditions.
How would he experience the poverty of the countryside?
Suddenly, Zhan couldn’t help but feel appreciated, and soon it turned into a sense of guilt.
The various emotions in his mind made him love Yibo more.
Zhan finally realized that it was because of me that he would come here. I am sure that Yibo pampered me because he loved me deeply, such a delicate man wouldn’t have done so many things that demeaned himself in such a place otherwise.
I ran away from him because I had made mistakes and was too ashamed to face him, but now he came from miles away to search for me.
He was not asking for a divorce. He was asking me to live with him for the rest of my life.
It would be so easy for him to find a wife, but he chose me. I believed he was not retaliating against me but really wanted to live with me.
From where could I find such a good man, and why would I want to push him away?
Zhan reproached himself for not satisfied and determined that he would find a chance to reward him.
Yibo put his clothes away and was about to close the door, but then he noticed that Zhan was staring at him. Before he could say something, Zhan went into his open arms, held his waist, and put his face on Yibo’s chest.
Yibo though Zhan was over-enthusiastic but felt joyful about it.
“Now that you want to hug me so much, why don’t you take a shower with me?” Yibo said.
“You wish,” Zhan disengaged from his embrace, “You go first. Call me if you need anything, I will be waiting outside.”
“If we do this together, we can save some water and energy,” Yibo held his arm and invited him honestly.
“Don’t be silly, Yibo,” Zhan said slowly, “Stop wasting time. I can’t take a bath until you finish.”
Yibo stopped and turned on the shower faucet. Zhan helped him to close the door.
When he finished and left, Zhan went into the bathroom. When they were ready to sleep, it had passed 10 p. m.
They didn’t know it had been so late, but they did feel pretty exhausted.
Zhan laid down beside Fei, and Yibo held him in his arms. It was a happy family of three.
Yibo was content, “It feels good to sleep with my wife. Do you know how tough the days were without you?”
“We have a kid here,” Zhan pulled up the quilt for Fei.
“She has fallen asleep already,” Yibo tightened the embrace.
He felt calm and relaxed smelling Zhan’s aroma.
This was the deepest sleep Yibo had had in recent time. His wife was his best sleeping pill.
***
When he awoke it was 6 in the morning, while Zhan and Fei were still in the dream.
Yibo pulled out the arm pressed by Zhan slowly and carefully and got off the bed without any noise. Then he changed the clothes and left the room.
On his way to the bathroom to wash up, he found the light on the kitchen was on. When he finished the washing he went into the kitchen and saw grandpa was preparing breakfast.
He was busying all along and saw Yibo coming in, “Why don’t you get more sleep? It is only 6 a. m. … Is that because you can’t get used to the environment here? I’m so sorry for making you felt uncomfortable in the courtyard.”
There was a sense of blame and loneliness with grandpa.
“No, grandpa, I sleep very well. It is my habit to jog in the early morning,” Yibo said wearing sportswear, “You can ask Zhan if you don’t believe me. I do this every day unless I’m too sick to get up early.”
“Okay, so I won’t bother you. When you come back you can have breakfast,” grandpa said happily, “Go ahead, and be safe.”
Seeing him bustled around in the kitchen, Yibo said, “Let me help you.”
“Don’t worry, I can handle this myself,” grandpa was putting firewoods into the stove, and his wrinkled face was lit up by the orange fire, “You should go to jog.”
“Let me light the fire,” Yibo walked to the stove instead of walking away.
“Do you know how to light the fire, Mr.Wang?” Darren got in and heard what Yibo just said. He came here because of the same reason as Yibo.
From Darren’s perspective, Yibo might have seen this kind of wood-fired stove for the first time.
“There is always a first time in our life. I don’t know how to light the fire, but I can watch and learn. What’s the problem?” Yibo said calmly.
“It seems easy to light a fire, but in fact, it is a tricky job. But an excellent man like you can master it quickly,” Darren praised him.
“I don’t think excellence and the mastery of lighting a fire are correlated, but I would like to give it a try,” Yibo helped grandpa up, “Let me do this, grandpa.”
“But… The ashes are going to stain your clothes,” he was hesitating.
“Don’t push yourself too hard, I can do this.” Darren approached the stove and crouched down,
“Can you do this?” Yibo didn’t believe Darren since he was also high-fed.
“When I was 18, I came to visit grandpa with Zhan and learned it in the summer vacation,” Darren watched the fire in the stove, “You can go jogging now. I can take care of this.”
Grandpa nodded and said, “Yeah, you can go. Don’t worry, I got Darren with me.”
Yibo nodded at grandpa and left the kitchen.
When Yibo was gone, grandpa asked Darren, “Is there any issue between you and Yibo?”
“No, grandpa. We are fine.” Darren said with a light smile.
“Do you think grandpa is too old and stupid to notice the hostile between you and him, especially when you were drinking at the night yesterday?” grandpa sighed, “Is it about Zhan?”
Darren was stumped by grandpa’s incisive question.
His smile faded away. It seemed that he was not willing to answer such a question, with his head lowered.
Through Darren’s expression, grandpa knew he was right. After hesitating for a while, he said, “What was going on between you and Zhan? How could you marry Lingjao and Zhan marry Yibo?”
Grandpa was not gossipy, but because it was related to his two grandchildren, especially Zhan, he had to make it clear.
“It will be fine if you are unwilling to tell. I can understand.” Grandpa continued to explain, “I don’t mean to pry into your privacy. I am just caring about you.”
Darren put a small stick into the stove, watching it burn and said, “It was all because of me…”
He briefly told grandpa what had happened five years ago and what was going on now.
“Grandpa, what should I do?” Darren was so painful, “It was I that betrayed Zhan at the beginning. I am so bitching that he was still on my mind and I wanted to get him back. However, he had already been married.”
Frowning, grandpa said, “What a pity! Maybe you are not destined to be a couple. Now that you have all found your partner, no matter what happened and how deeply you loved each other before, you can’t go back. After all, it is immoral to break his family.”
“I know it is immoral, so I can only restrain myself.” Darren looked straight at grandpa, “To be honest, I think Zhan married Yibo because he wanted to give Fei an intact family. It is all for responsibility but not for love.”
“There is no happiness in a marriage without love. Trapped in such a hell, won’t he be painful? In addition, I don’t think he doesn’t love me anymore as we have loved each other so deeply.”
Darren had always recalled their good old days. Their meeting each time was full of ardent anticipation, while separation was full of sorrow. They had spent their youth together. How could they forget such a pure affection?
“In my opinion, they are not like what you said. There is love for Zhan in the eyes of Yibo.” Grandpa drew a conclusion through observations yesterday.
“But, grandpa, I have heard Zhan talking about divorce with him.” Darren insisted, “If there is no problem, how would they talk about this?”
“Their marriage is their business. No matter if they divorce or not, we don’t have the rights to interfere in. Therefore, Darren, don’t torture yourself. Free him and yourself, so that you can go ahead.” Grandpa persuaded him, “Let it go. We should look forward.”
“Grandpa, I am afraid that… I can’t pretend nothing happened and just look forward knew truth at that time.” Darren clenched his fists and said, “Don’t worry. I won’t break their marriage. If Zhan initiates a divorce, I will chase him again. If he insists, I will stand behind him in silence and spend the rest of my life paying him back, even if it means losing my own life.”
Hearing that, grandpa was embarrassed. After all, Darren and Yibo were both his grandsons-in-law and he liked them both.
In his eyes, Yibo was cultured with high EQ, who was worthy of Zhan’s reliance. And Darren was as good as him, but was not that lucky.
“I don’t want you to lose your life. Just live well,” Zhan stood at the kitchen door, serious.
Grandpa looked at Zhan, Darren stood up behind the stove, “Zhan…”
“I paid a lot to save your life five years ago. How can you throw it away easily? What do you regard my efforts as? If I knew you would be like this, I would not have saved your ass!” Zhan scolded him, “Darren, life is precious. Cherish it.”
“Zhan, I know you still love me, right?” Darren stepped forward, slowed down when it was only two steps away from him, approached carefully and opened his arms trying to embrace him.
Zhan backed away, which meant rejection, Darren froze with his arms stopping in mid-air.
Zhan said, “There is only friendship between us without love. I only have Yibo in my mind and I just want to be his good wife.”
This was Zhan’s goal and rule set by himself. He owed Yibo too much. He should bravely confront and solve the problem.
He would be Yibo’s backer, letting Yibo not worry about him.
When getting home, Zhan wanted to give Yibo a warm family which belonged to them only.
Darren put down his hand, with the light disappearing from his eyes.
This was the first time Zhan had expressed his firm love for Yibo.
Darren really couldn’t accept that Zhan had loved another man. He clenched his fists and teeth.
“Zhan, I just want to protect you as you did. This is my wish.” Darren lowered his head and left.
Grandpa looked at Darren leaving and then his gaze shifted to Zhan who looked indifferent.
“Grandpa, do you think I am so cruel? I have to be! I can’t give him any illusions because I don’t love him anymore.” Zhan said peacefully, “I have Yibo and Fei, What I should do is cherish them.”
“You are right. It is only because he cannot accept the fact within a short time. We should give him time and space.” Grandpa was understanding, “Don’t blame yourself. Nobody can help him, except himself.”
When they were still talking, Darren came out with his suitcase and backpack, Grandpa stopped him, “What are you doing, Darren? It is time for breakfast.”
“Grandpa, I have decided to leave today.” Darren turned his head and stared at grandpa.
“Come on! Have breakfast first! How can you leave hungry?” Grandpa walked out of the kitchen and came up to him.
Darren looked at grandpa, but he still refused, “Grandpa, I have reserved a taxi last night. I am in a hurry. I am so sorry.”
Grandpa could understand what he was thinking about and it took time to get out of the sorrow. Grandpa said, “Wait a minute.”
Grandpa hurried back to the kitchen, opened the pot and put several steamed buns into a clean bag. Then, he came up to Darren and handed him the bag.
“Remember to eat them. Don’t get hungry!” Grandpa tapped his hand.
“Thank you.” Darren carried the bag gratefully, “Grandpa, take care and see you!”
“See you and good luck, Darren.”
Grandpa saw him to the door. Darren bowed to grandpa and left reluctantly.
Grandpa waved to him and looked after him. Until he disappeared at the corner, grandpa stood there for a moment with tears in his eyes,
Zhan came up, “Grandpa!”
“Okay. I understand.” Grandpa comforted Zhan, “Yibo is a good man and deserves your love. As for Darren, he will have his own fate. Cherish what you have now. Don’t push away someone you love as he did, or you will regret.”
Zhan was silent. Nothing was more important than being understood by grandpa.
“Okay, I got it.” Zhan had changed his opinion, “I will cherish this marriage and also Yibo.”
Zhan looked up. What he saw was only Yibo running back down the country road.
Grandpa felt relieved, turned around and left.
Zhan was still seeing him approaching at the door until Yibo came up to him.
Yibo was sweaty and sweat poured down his forehead.
“You must be tired.” Zhan smiled.
“I am not familiar with this place, so I just ran nearby. It doesn’t matter.” Yibo caught Zhan’s hand and walked into the courtyard.
Zhan got him his towel, “Dry your sweat.”
Yibo took the towel and wiped his forehead and neck.
“Darren has left.” Zhan initiated the talk.
“Oh?” Yibo didn’t stop wiping. It seemed that he was not surprised at the news.
“Why aren’t you astonished?” Seeing him so quiet, Zhan wondered why Yibo was not excited by the departure of the rival. Maybe Yibo was just pretending to be calm. After all, Yibo was so mellow, but his heart might be bursting with joy.
“If I were him, I would have gone sooner than now.” He put the towel away, “I don’t want to watch others show affection. It is too embarrassing! Why bother?”
Zhan didn’t reply and walked into the bedroom to wake up Fei.
Yibo helped grandpa bring the breakfast down to the lobby, set chopsticks and pour the porridge into several bowls.
Grandpa, Zhan and Fei sat down to have breakfast. After breakfast, grandpa went to work in the fields and Zhan tidied up the table and kitchen.
When Yibo was playing with Fei in the courtyard, he got a phone call and returned to the lobby.
Then, someone was knocking at the door. It was so loud and urgent that it seemed there was something happening.
Fei ran to open the door. It was a woman in her fifties, who looked fierce.
Seeing the door opened, she shouted, “Come out! Zhan.”
She kept shouting and walked into the courtyard.
In the meanwhile, Zhan finished cleaning up and came out of the kitchen.
When seeing her, Zhan said, “Ms. Ziyaa, are you looking for me?”
“Do you think chikuapu is a fool? So you tricked him into coming here every day and bringing something to you? He nearly emptied the house for you!” Ziyaa accused him angrily.
Zhan explained, “I have given back all the things to him and I didn’t take anything.”
“How can I believe you? Do you have any idea how much those things are worth?” Ziya raised her eyebrows, looking unconvinced.
“How much do you want?” Yibo ended the call early and went over to Zhan, staring at Ziya.
Though his stare was peaceful, ziyaaaaaaaaaloveeee still felt shocked.
Swallowing, Ziya pretended to be calm and asked, “Who are you?”
“I am his husband!” Yibo put his arms around Zhan’s shoulder.
Ziyaa was shocked and angry, shouting, “How dare you! You have got married, so why did you seduce my poor Chikuapu? Shame on you! Fuck you!”
“Mind your words!” Yibo restrained himself from quarrelling with her, “Go back and ask your son!”
“Do you think he can be bullied easily?” Ziyaa put her hands on her waist and said, “Let me tell you! I won’t leave until you compensate us!”
“This is enough!” Yibo generously handed her a wad of cash.
Looking at the red cash, Ziya calmed down immediately. There was a smile on her face, with her hands reaching for the money.
Yibo took back the money in a flash and Ziyaa didn’t even touch it.
He said discontentedly, “What do you mean?” He continued, “If you want to take the money, say sorry to my wife first!”
“Fine!” She agreed for the sake of the money. She looked at Zhan and said, “I am so sorry. I was just talking nonsense. As you know, I was uneducated, so please don’t take it to heart.”
Her attitude changed so fast!
Zhan smiled, “Never mind!”
Yibo gave her the money. Ziyaa smiled more happily.
Yibo said, “It has been over. If I hear you talk nonsense later, I will let you pay me back double the money! Is that clear?”
“Get it! I won’t say a word!” Ziyaa was so happy that she began counting the money.
She glanced at them halfway through the count and put the money into her bag, “I will just go back and pretend I haven’t been here today.”
She was greedy and calculative, but it would be easy to deal with her.
“You have given her a lot, right?” Zhan knew it was large when seeing the wad of money.
“Problems that can be solved with money are not problems.” Yibo couldn’t care less about the money, as long as things could be solved easily.
Zhan was about to say something and the door was opened in a hurry.
ChristieYeap rushed into the courtyard, not looking well.
When she came up to Zhan, she was fully attracted by handsome Yibo and froze.
Seeing that, Zhan asked her, “What’s the rush, Christie?”
“Zhan, bad news! Mr. Jiang fainted.” She looked back and gasped.
“What?” Zhan thought he had misheard, “How come?”
“I don’t know. He just fainted in a sudden.” Christie shook her head, “Let’s get moving!”
Zhan went out in great anxiety. Yibo caught his hand and said, “Don’t worry. I am here.”
“Well!” Zhan was comforted by the words. He looked at Christie and said, “Please help me look after Fei.”
“Okay.” Christie held Fei and saw them leave.
After a while, Christie asked Fei, crouching down, “Fei, who is that man?”
“He is my father.” Fei said proudly.
“Your uncle is handsome, but your father is more handsome. Why are those handsome men all married?” Christie cupped her face disappointedly, looking at Fei’s eyes.
“Because they are popular!” Fei’s answer was brilliant. “So you should have taken the initiative.”
Christie was upset, “My life is hopeless.”
Fei raised her chin with one finger and observed carefully, “I think you are so young and beautiful. Many men are fond of women like you.”
“Twenty-two is considered as an old woman here.” Christie sighed, “You see. Here are women at my age being the mother of two children. Though I have been fixed up with many boys, most of them didn’t get along well with me.”
“Why don’t you seek a job in the city? There will be more chances.” Fei suggested, “With your education background and personality, it is not difficult to get one.”
“I have just come back here to work, I can’t leave now. If I have chance to work in the city, I will visit you.” Christie held her hand and said, “At that time, you need to show me around.”
“A piece of cake.” Fei patted her chest.
Christie tapped the tip of her nose.
☆~~~~~~◇~~~❌~~~◇~~~~~~☆
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I am obsessed with WangXian and YiZhan so much… currently love to read and write stories about them…
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I hope the author will finish this story. It’s almost two years yet no update