TMISIU- chapter 57

Wei Ying walked up to Lan Zhan, who was holding a bag of sugar roasted chestnuts, and he handed it to him.

The chestnuts were still warm, and the fragrance came to his face.

Wei Ying took out one and peeled it, the sweet and dense taste made him squint his eyes, and the irritation seemed to fade away.

He asked Lan Zhan: “How do you know I want to eat sugar roasted chestnuts, where did you buy it?”

Lan Zhan looked at Jiang Fengmian who was still standing there, and then walked towards the elevator entrance with Wei Ying while saying, “There is a shop selling sugar roasted chestnuts next to the fruit shop.”

When buying fruit before, Lan Zhan saw Wei Ying look at the fried chestnuts next door several times and knew he wanted to eat them so he went to buy them while they were talking.

“Is that so? I don’t remember.” Wei Ying peeled another chestnut and fed it to Lan Zhan.

Seeing Wei Ying’s expression as usual, Lan Zhan relaxed a little. He didn’t ask about the ward, but asked, “Will you go back to school in the afternoon?”

Wei Ying continued to eat chestnuts, nodding as he said, “I missed so many classes yesterday afternoon plus this morning, I have to catch up on my classes and homework.”

After following Lan Zhan out of the hospital, Wei Ying suddenly looked back at the tall building of the inpatient department, Lan Zhan seemed to know what he was thinking and asked him, “Do you want to go take a look?”

Wei Ying dropped his eyelashes in silence for a moment and finally shook his head.

They went back to school, and life seemed to be no different from before.

High school was intense, and Wei Ying didn’t have much of a mind to think about anything else; he was focused on preparing for the TOEFL and final exams.

But the day before New Year’s Day, Baoshan Sanren called him personally, and the old man spoke earnestly, hoping he could come home for a meal in the evening.

Wei Ying agreed.

Jiang Fengmian drove to Gusu High School to pick up Wei Ying.

When the guard at the gate saw him, he asked politely: “Mr. Jiang came to pick up your son?”

Jiang Fengmian only smiled and nodded.

After school, Wei Ying and Lan Zhan walked to the gate of the school and saw Jiang Fengmian at a glance.

In the past two days, Jiang Fengmian had come very often, sending gifts and food, and Wei Ying had almost become uncomfortable with this man.

Jiang Fengmian hurried forward, took Wei Ying’s schoolbag in the surprised eyes of the guard, and said with a smile: “I’ve come to pick you up and take you back to Grandpa’s house.”

Wei Ying felt that this smile on Jiang Fengmian’s face was somehow familiar. He thought about it and did not refuse.

After all, after so many years, no matter what kind of person Jiang Fengmian was, their father-son relationship could not be changed.

Lan Zhan had never had a good impression of Jiang Fengmian, and now it was even worse, he just asked Wei Ying in a low voice: “Are you coming back tonight?”

Wei Ying hesitated, thinking of Grandpa’s intention of wanting him to stay overnight on the phone, and said with uncertainty, “I should be back.”

Lan Zhan didn’t say anything, just said “Okay”

After Wei Ying bid farewell to Lan Zhan and got into Jiang Fengmian’s car, Nei Huaisang, who had just witnessed this scene, almost had his eyes popped out.

He walked up and put his hand on Lan Zhan’s shoulder and asked in shock, “Xuesheng, why did Ying ge get into Jiang Cheng’s dad’s car?”

He suddenly thought that Jiang Fengmian was also involved in the CAC competition, and suddenly realized:

“Did he ask Ying ge to apologize? Or is he trying to bully his way in?”

Lan Zhan threw away Nei Huaisang’s hand and turned to walk away without a word.

Nei Huaisang stood in place worrying about Wei Ying’s safety, and suddenly thought of the look on Lan Zhan’s face just now, that expression, it was as if he saw Wei Ying being abducted and sold.

---

Wei Ying sat in the passenger seat and watched Jiang Fengmian fumbling with the radio, while asking him what songs he liked, he said whatever.

Jiang Fengmian then played some songs that he thought high school boys would like to listen to, and deliberately looked for topics to talk about with Wei Ying.

It was nothing more than learning and painting.

However, the two were unfamiliar with each other and had nothing to say.

Wei Ying’s answer was very perfunctory, but Jiang Fengmian was not at all annoyed.

In the car, Wei Ying finally remembered how familiar Jiang Fengmian’s smile was.

When he had met Jiang Fengmian at the Crab House before, accompanying Jiang Cheng to catch the doll, Jiang Fengmian had that smile of pleasing and indulgence on his face. But now the smile was a little stronger and a little more awkward.

He suddenly felt a little funny.

Jiang Fengmian had failed to please a fake son, and now he was trying to please a real one, changing roles so quickly, as if he didn’t have any feelings for Jiang Cheng.

Perhaps only such a heartless person would find a lover after the death of someone he loved dearly, without a care in the world.

Seeing that Wei Ying really didn’t have much interest in talking to him, Jiang Fengmian stopped talking after a while.

In the evening rush hour traffic jam, one after another honking sound came from the car window, mixed with the unpleasant music in the car.

Wei Ying closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep but just as he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly heard Jiang Fengmian said:

“Wei Ying, I haven’t been able to say sorry to you during this period of time. I am responsible for Jiang Cheng and Yeong Lee. I have broken up with Yeong Lee.”

Wei Ying closed his eyes and did not respond.

Jiang Fengmian knew that Wei Ying was listening. He rubbed his fingers on the steering wheel, hesitating for a long time before finally saying in a breath:

“In fact, I haven’t fulfilled my responsibilities as a father all these years. Now it seems ridiculous to start being a father, but I really think so, I hope you… It’s not that I want you to accept me as soon as possible, but that you don’t resist me and give me a chance to make up for you.”

Jiang Fengmian had always been good at speaking. Even though these few words were spoken with hesitation and apprehension, but obviously, he had been preparing for a long time.

Wei Ying half opened his eyes. Jiang Fengmian suddenly became so serious that he didn’t know what to say at the moment, only pressed his lips lightly.

Seeing that Wei Ying didn’t speak, Jiang Fengmian turned to ask carefully: “You and… Zhan are living together now, right?”

Hearing Lan Zhan’s name, Wei Ying’s gaze instantly turned to Jiang Fengmian, his gaze was clearly guarded.

Jiang Fengmian saw this wariness, smiled bitterly and hurriedly explained:

“I’m not trying to oppose anything, Zhan is a very good child. I just want to say that you are free to do what you like and be with the person you like, and dad will always support you.”

He could tell the relationship between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan at a glance. He had no opinion about it, nor was he qualified to have an opinion.

However, the Lan family’s family style was strict, the old man of the Lan family was notoriously old-fashioned and conservative.

He thought of his own father- in-law, who was just like him, and couldn’t help worrying that Wei Ying would experience ups and downs like himself in the future.

Wei Ying was a little stunned by Jiang Fengmian’s sudden remark. He was silent for a while and turned his head to look at Jiang Fengmian.

Jiang Fengmian looked at the traffic ahead.

Noticing Wei Ying’s line of sight, he turned to look at him, and asked warmly, “What’s wrong?”

Wei Ying pursed his lower lip, and didn’t respond to Jiang Fengmian’s previous words. He only said: “Turn off the music, it’s unpleasant to listen to.”

Jiang Fengmian was stunned for a moment. A smile appeared on his face as he said ‘okay’ and quickly turned off the music.

After the Sanren family moved out of the professor building of the Gusu University, they had been living in a villa area on the outskirts of the city, a detached house, which was taken care of by the two elderly people.

With a bright moon in the night sky, the car slowly drove into the yard with a light on.

Wei Ying saw two elderly people in the warm yellow light in the car, supporting each other and standing in front of the house, and after seeing the car coming in, they walked two steps forward, waving to him with a smile.

Wei Ying remembered this scene for a long time for some reason.

After getting out of the car, he was welcomed into the house by the two old people, and was greeted by the fragrance of rice and melting warmth.

Hong Shu helped him hang up his school bag and coat and took him to wash his hands.

Together with Baoshan Sanren, they held him to the dining room where dinner had already been prepared.

There were plenty of dishes on the table, so Hong Shu asked him to sit down and introduce these homemade dishes to him with a smile.

“I don’t know what you like to eat, so I have made a variety of dishes. If there’s a dish you like, tell grandma, grandma will cook it for you later.”

Wei Ying was somehow uncomfortable, not for discomfort, but because he had never experienced such overwhelming attentiveness before.

He curled up his fingers and whispered a sentence of “thank you”.

“What is there to thank in your own home.” Hong Shu smiled.

When she heard a “ding” in the kitchen, she turned around to fetch the last dish in the oven but Jiang Fengmian hurriedly asked Hong Shu to sit down and went to get the dish.

It was a garlic-flavored roasted wing. It was roasted well, with a hot aroma.

Jiang Fengmian put the dish on the empty place on the table, but Baoshan Sanren, who had already sat down, slowly stood up.

It hadn’t been long since the old man was discharged from the hospital so his hands and feet were still inconvenient.

He supported the tabletop with one hand, his body slightly leaned toward Wei Ying, and the other hand slowly moved the plate of grilled wings in front of Wei Ying, and said in a kind voice:

“Children like to eat these, we are too old to eat them.”

Wei Ying looked at the uncontrollable trembling hand and heard the sound of “children”.

Suddenly his vision became blurred.

He blinked quickly, stood up and assisted Baoshan Sanren to sit down on the chair.

Jiang Fengmian took out the various drinks that had been prepared and asked Wei Ying what he wanted to drink.

Wei Ying said he only drank rice wine.

Hong Shu made that rice wine and seeing Wei Ying liked to drink it, she smiled very happily and said:

“Your mother liked to drink my rice wine since she was a child, but she would get drunk if she had more than one bowl. Once she secretly drank too much and passed out. I thought she was sick and took her to the hospital, it turned out to be a joke.”

Wei Ying was yearning and curious about his mother, and the two old people then told him a lot of things about Cangse Sanren’s past.

In their narration, Wei Ying knew that his mother was like the daughters of all wealthy families, simple and naive, growing up in a loving environment, but neither of them told why Cangse Sanren ended up going to Lotus Pillar Bay alone.

The atmosphere of this dinner was like the New Year’s Eve dinner of an ordinary family.

Perhaps the house was so warm that it was easy to relax.

Wei Ying suddenly had an illusion that he seemed to have been here all these seventeen years, and every day when he came back from school and threw his school bag on the sofa, his grandmother would make a table of dishes and call him for dinner, and his grandfather would ask him what he had learned at school today.

With seventeen years of absence and blankness, no matter how deep the blood ties were, it was impossible to make the strangeness disappear overnight.

It might take a year or two or even longer to fill the gap in these years.

Perhaps one day the cracks would be healed by the years, and they would eventually be in perfect harmony.

In the middle of dinner, Baoshan Sanren hesitated for a long time, but still mentioned Jiang Cheng to Wei Ying.

This was the choice they had to make.

“It’s our fault that he did such a wrong thing, it’s our fault that we pampered him too much, so he didn’t learn well and walk on the wrong path.”

Speaking of this child, Baoshan Sanren eyes show a sigh of regret:

“We raised him, and we didn’t ask him for anything in return. We won’t continue to raise him when he becomes an adult. He made his own mistakes and he should pay the price. The result of the school’s side is to withdraw from school. We won’t stop him again, just…”

After all, he was the child they raised with his own hands. He was able to sever this kind of nurturing with a cruel heart, but he still couldn’t stand watching him and his grandson get caught in a lawsuit.

Baoshan Sanren sighed.

The sudden and dramatic changes in the past few days made the old man much older, he pleaded with Wei Ying:

“My child, I know you will not forgive him, and I do not ask you to understand him. It’s just that can you look at grandpa’s face and stop pursuing his legal responsibility anymore. You will have nothing to do with him in the future, and we will never keep him here. This will always be your home.”

If Jiang Cheng did not do such a thing, they might continue to keep Jiang Cheng at home after so many years of affection.

But now they knew that their own grandson would never be able to live in harmony with Wei Ying; letting him stay here, they were afraid that Wei Ying would not come back at all.

The dining room was quiet, Hong Shu also looked at Wei Ying earnestly, and Jiang Fengmian remained silent.

Wei Ying was quiet for a while, and finally said, “Okay.”

He was not such a generous person, but he didn’t want to see his grandpa and grandmother caught in distress again.

Even though he knew that the two old people might not be as heartless as they say they were and would probably still care about Jiang Cheng, he no longer cared because Jiang Cheng was no longer in his eyes.

After that, the atmosphere on the dining table gradually became lively.

Wei Ying finished drinking a bowl of rice wine and couldn’t help adding another bowl.

After drinking, his eyes were still clear, and Hong Shu smiled and sighed that he was drinking much better than his mother.

After dinner, the family sat and talked in the living room.

Baoshan Sanren wanted Wei Ying to stay and showed him the new room.

The room was large, with a wide balcony, and several easels of different sizes.

But Wei Ying politely declined, only saying that he had to go to school early the next day and this place was a little far away from the school even by car.

Seeing that the two old people were disappointed, he promised that he would come and live during the holiday.

The old man thought he lived in the dormitory and asked Jiang Fengmian to send him back.

Jiang Fengmian, according to the address given by Wei Ying, sent him to the entrance of the neighborhood of Lan Zhan’s house.

Before Wei Ying got off the car, Jiang Fengmian was torn for a moment, but could not resist to vaguely remind his son:

“You are still young, there are some things that are better to do when you are an adult.”

Wei Ying has been sleeping on the way back. Shortly after he was woken up, he looked at him blankly and asked, “What is it?”

“Haha, it’s nothing.” Jiang Fengmian awkwardly closed the conversation.

Seeing Wei Ying’s appearance, he knew that this child was still a blank sheet of paper, and thought that Lan Zhan, who was so stable, should not be fooling around.

He smiled as he watched Wei Ying enter the neighborhood, but the more he thought about it, the more wrong it was.

He didn’t object to his son falling in love with Lan Zhan, but what happened to his son living in someone else’s house, at least let Lan Zhan should come to live in his son’s house occasionally.

Jiang Fengmian shook his head and decided to put the river view house he just bought under Wei Ying’s name as soon as possible.

---

When Wei Ying returned home, Lan Zhan was taking a bath in the bathroom.

Lan Zhan opened the door in a bathrobe after taking a bath and saw a figure flying over. He quickly hugged him, with his hands around Wei Ying’s buttocks and waist.

His expression on his face was calm, but the surprise smile in his eyes couldn’t be hidden.

“I thought you would stay at Grandpa’s house.”

Wei Ying’s legs clamped around Lan Zhan’s waist with one arm wrapped around Lan Zhan’s neck while the other hand hooked Lan Zhan’s chin and said with a smile, “I’m coming back to spend New Year’s Eve with you.”

Lan Zhan obediently raised his jaw, looking at Wei Ying who was somehow clingy tonight, the corners of his mouth hooked into a smile, and he asked in a low voice, “How to accompany, ah?”

Wei Ying didn’t react, and his mind was stuck and repeated: “How to accompany?”

Lan Zhan stared at Wei Ying’s confused eyes for two seconds and sighed in his heart as he carried Wei Ying towards the bedroom, asking in a rambling voice, “How was the food at Grandpa’s house?”

When Wei Ying heard this question, his eyes became bright and he said with a smile: “It was delicious, Grandma cooked a lot of dishes for me.”

“Which dish do you like best?”

Wei Ying tilted his head and tangled for a while, and finally said: “Roasted wings with garlic.”

After thinking about it, he added, “There is also rice wine made by grandma, it is delicious!”

No wonder.

Lan Zhan hugged Wei Ying and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Today was the last day of the year.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, you could overlook the neon- flickering riverside square, where the crowds were surging and lively, waiting for the arrival of the new year with great fanfare.

Lan Zhan wanted to put Wei Ying on the recliner, but Wei Ying’s arms and legs were wrapped tightly around him and he didn’t seem to want to come down, so Lan Zhan continued to hold Wei Ying and walked slowly around the room like a coaxing child, asking him about his first experience back at his grandfather’s house.

“I have a room now, with a big balcony overlooking the garden, and Grandpa said I can draw there.” Wei Ying nibbled on Lan Zhan’s ear.

“Do you like that room?”

“Like! I’ll take you to play next time.”

Lan Zhan smiled and said, “Okay.”

“Grandma said she wanted to knit a scarf for me and let me choose the wool.” Wei Ying again came close to Lan Zhan’s ear and whispered, as if he was sharing some happy secret.

Lan Zhan asked, “What color did you choose?”

Wei Ying curled the corners of his mouth and said, “I said both white and black look good, and Grandma said she’ll knit them both for me, so I’ll share one with you when the time comes!”

“Okay.” Lan Zhan’s smile deepened.

In the end, there was nothing more to say, Wei Ying finished being excited and began to get sleepy, resting his chin on Lan Zhan’s shoulder.

Lan Zhan kissed Wei Ying’s hair on the side and asked, “Do you want me to help you take a bath?”

Wei Ying completely lost his previous embarrassment and nodded as he said, “okay, okay.”

Lan Zhan turned to the bathroom with Wei Ying in his arms and placed him on the sink.

Wei Ying sat obediently, both hands propped up on the countertop, lips slightly open, looking at Lan Zhan eagerly, as if waiting to be serviced, as if he didn’t even know how to take off his clothes.

Lan Zhan stared at Wei Ying’s lips for two seconds, raised his hand to pinch Wei Ying’s chin and admonished, “No drinking outside in the future, not even rice wine, understand?”

Wei Ying was a little confused, but still nodded and said “yes”

But Lan Zhan knew at this point that if he asked Wei Ying to sleep with him, Wei Ying would not hesitate to say yes, even if he didn’t even know what sleeping with him meant.

Wei Ying didn’t notice that Lan Zhan’s eyes looked a little strange when he looked at him.

Remembering about taking a bath, he gently kicked Lan Zhan’s leg and urged, “I want to take a bath.”

But the next second he was kissed by Lan Zhan who leaned in, both legs were spread, and his waist and the back of his neck were tightly clamped.

He was forced to tilt his head up and close his eyes, accepting Lan Zhan’s gentle kiss.

He was kissed very comfortably, and his hands consciously embraced Lan Zhan’s neck, but the kiss became more and more fierce, making his scalp tingle.

He couldn’t help but raise his chest impatiently, his legs unconsciously clamping down on the person in front of him.

A hand stroked up from the side of his waist, making him shudder at every pass.

The hand finally stopped at the front of his neck, his fingers nimbly unbuttoning his school uniform shirt, and Wei Ying was so dizzy from the kiss that he didn’t realize his clothes were almost stripped clean until he was carried into the bathtub.

Lan Zhan ripped off the bathrobe that had long been half wet on his body and then stepped into the bathtub.

The small bathtub suddenly became cramped, and warm hot water was slowly poured into the bathtub.

Wei Ying moved to the side to make room for Lan Zhan, intending to soak with him, but he didn’t know what happened, he was hugged by Lan Zhan and pressed underneath as soon as he turned around.

❤❤❤

---

When the New Year was approaching, Wei Ying had been washed clean and lying on the bed, Lan Zhan half held him and applied ointment to his back hole.

Wei Ying leaned against Lan Zhan’s arms and was so sleepy that he was about to fall asleep, letting Lan Zhan’s hands fiddle and caress his leg and waist.

The skin that was originally fair and firm was a little red and swollen at the moment, as if it had been rubbed hard.

The moment the clock struck, the distant Ferris wheel outside the floor-to-ceiling window flashed with brilliant light, bright fireworks shone on the city’s night, and the tidal wave of people gathered in the riverside square shouted “Happy New Year” to the sky.

Everyone’s face was full of anticipation for the New Year.

Lan Zhan clasped Wei Ying’s hand, leaned down and kissed Wei Ying lips, who had already closed his eyes, and whispered, “Baby, happy new year.”

“Happy New Year.” Wei Ying wished from his sleep, and hooked the neck to kiss Lan Zhan back, but the kiss landed on his chin.

Lan Zhan held the back of Wei Ying’s head and lowered his head to complete the kiss.

With the arrival of the new year, people in the square went home with a smile after a big carnival.

---