Qian Ruqing had a weird mischievous smile on her face. If internet girls saw this, they’d say: it’s a typical CP shipper high on the sugar.
She quickly took out a coin and went to the kitchen to wash it. While walking, she said, “Xiao Yun, you should make one too. This year, our family will have two lucky dumplings. You both get one, and the one you make will be for Yan Yan.”
It didn’t matter if the relationship between a mother-in-law and son-in-law was bad; the key was that Xiao Yun cared for Yan Yan! Qian Ruqing quickly recovered from self-blame and worry.
It had to be said that mother and son shared the same brain circuits, and their optimism was nearly identical. Faced with the awkward situation she had created with good intentions, she adopted the attitude of “As long as I’m not embarrassed, it’s others who will be embarrassed.”
This was the first time Zhuang Xian had come to the Yan family. As soon as she entered, she felt uncomfortable with their old and narrow home. But Qian Ruqing didn’t care about her expression since she didn’t even show a good face to her son. Qian Ruqing chatted with her as if nothing was wrong even though she was wondering what had happened between her and Yan Yan. However, Qian Ruqing had her own logic, she believed that conflicts between mother and son-in-law could be resolved.
She quickly brought out her family photo album.
“When children grow up, they become distant to their parents. They are better when young. Even if they were naughty, they were little troublemakers by their mother’s side. Look, this is Yan Yan right after he was born, six pounds seven ounces, it’s his father who took the picture.”
Zhuang Yiyun who was wrapping dumplings glanced toward the sofa and Yan Yan immediately raised his hand to block his eyes.
“Mom, what are you doing? Don’t show my naked butt everywhere!”
“Haha, isn’t it typical for babies to be photographed without clothes? Next time, you can go see Xiao Yun’s baby pictures at his mother’s house.”
Zhuang Xian didn’t respond. No pictures were taken when Zhuang Yiyun was born.
Yan Yan’s childhood photo album was thick. Qian Ruqing organized it meticulously, with photos arranged by age and the shooting date and location written on each photo. Everything was neat and tidy.
“A special picture is taken every year on his birthday… Here, this is it. He marked his height on the doorframe and wrote the date he measured it.”
With Qian Ruqing’s actions, Zhuang Xian couldn’t help but look in the direction she was pointing. It was in the corner of the living room leading to the bedroom. There were many height lines drawn in colored pens and dates written next to them in black pen.
“As he grew up, he started comparing himself to others and cared about his height. He was really upset when he didn’t reach 1.8 meters.”
“Mom!”
“Oh, come on, it’s just family here. Xiao Yun and your Aunt Zhang aren’t strangers, right. There’s no need for him to fuss, right, Xiao Yun?”
Yan Yan turned sharply, glaring at Zhuang Yiyun, afraid he would mention the incident when he was frustrated with his height and drank cold milk late at night, only to end up in the hospital.
Zhuang Yiyun obviously thought of it and the smile at the corner of his mouth deepened. Looking at Yan Yan, whose eyes were as wide as copper bells, he suddenly wanted to tease him.
“Well, there is…”
Before he could finish speaking, Yan Yan bumped his elbow into his waist. Pushed by the bump, Zhuang Yiyun’s upper body leaned forward, and his lips were close to the back of Yan Yan’s head. He should have stepped back to create some distance, but instead, he extended his hand in this position.
He gestured above Yan Yan’s head and said, “He does care, but Yan Yan has grown taller recently. He’s 1.82 now.”
“Really?!” Qian Rujing exclaimed in delight. “You can still grow taller at 21?”
Yan Yan gave his mother a fierce look, but he was slightly moved by Zhuang Yiyun’s clumsy coaxing skills.
He tried to move sideways to create some distance, but as soon as he moved, he was stopped.
“Don’t move.”
“Why?”
“There’s flour on your head.”
Yan Yan instinctively turned his head, and at the same time, Zhuang Yiyun blew out a breath of air, trying to blow the flour off Yan Yan’s head. Yan Yan’s gaze fell on his slightly pouted lips, feeling the breeze he blew across his forehead and the top of his head, lifting his hair. It was cool, yet scorching hot.
‘Fuck, is this man doing it on purpose?’
Yan Yan’s gaze swept over Zhuang Yiyun’s neck which elongated due to his tilted head. The lines were graceful and the Adam’s apple was prominent. They were too close, and he could even see a small portion of his collarbone through the shirt’s neckline. The man’s whole aura enveloped him, carrying a strong masculine scent.
With their parents behind them, Yan Yan’s heart rate skyrocketed. Damn, this man is a devil! He made him want to bite. Having certain erotic thoughts in front of elders was doubly shameful, but this shame turned into a secret thrill, making him want to tread on the dangerous edge and test it.
Yan Yan never shied away from his desires and his appreciation of beauty, but this time, he suppressed them firmly.
“You have two whirls?”
“What?”
“On your head.”
“Oh, I heard people with whirls are smart.” Yan Yan sounded smug.
“Yeah,” Zhuang Yiyun smiled again and nodded reservedly.
A trace of indulgence could be detected in his smile, and Yan Yan immediately averted his gaze. What’s wrong with this person? Is it human nature to be so enticing?
He shook his head to clear the messy thoughts and moved away to continue making dumplings. His mother was still chatting with Zhuang Xian about his embarrassing moments like falling from trees, slipping while fishing, or accidentally uprooting carrots and planting onions upside down.
He couldn’t take it anymore. After enduring for a while, he ran to snatch the photo album.
“Go make your dumplings; you’ve got flour all over my album. Yan Ximing, hold him!”
Yan Yan’s father stepped forward and decisively pulled his son away. Qian Rujing watched him with a smug smile. Little did she expect that Yan Yan, driven to the edge, would yell, “Zhuang Yiyun, help me get it back!”
Two couples confronted each other with no regard for generational differences, and began running around the room, competing to snatch the album. After several rounds, youth and height prevailed, and the album ended up in Zhuang Yiyun’s hands.
“Give it to me quickly; I’ll put it away.” Yan Yan panted heavily, gesturing for him to hand it over.
Zhuang Yiyun didn’t listen at all. Right in front of him, he raised the album high and began flipping through it.
“Let me see…”
“What are you looking at? Give it back to me?!” Yan Yan couldn’t reach it, so he had to jump up to snatch it, but Zhuang Yiyun easily avoided him.
Zhuang Yiyun turned around, and the photo album he opened went from backlit to frontlit, and the page he opened was immediately exposed to everyone’s eyes. It was Yan Yan’s baby picture. The white and tender little infant stretched its limbs, with a bare bottom and a serene expression while asleep.
“Zhuang Yiyun—! What the hell are you looking at?!”
“…”
Zhuang Yiyun awkwardly closed the album and handed it to Yan Yan. Yan Yan’s lips were trembling with anger. It was so embarrassing, his bare bottom was displayed in front of three elders by his own husband! What a humiliating experience, what a torture to his dignity! Did Zhuang Yiyun really think he wouldn’t die of embarrassment?!
Yan Yan was angry, he didn’t even take the album and just ran away.
The three elders were dumbfounded, and even Zhuang Xian’s expression loosened a bit. Zhuang Yiyun chased after Yan Yan into the room.
Yan Yan’s hand wasn’t fast enough in closing the door, so Zhuang Yiyun blocked it with one swift motion, then pushed it open again and squeezed in.
“I was just casually flipping through it.”
Zhuang Yiyun closed the door and took a couple of steps toward Yan Yan, who had run to the window.
“Your mother said that every child goes through this phase. I’m sorry.”
Yan Yan let him speak, ignoring him. It was inexplicable; one moment his mother and the next Zhuang Yiyun, what were they doing flipping through photo albums?
“I really didn’t mean to. Don’t be angry, okay? Besides, it’s not shameful; it’s cute.”
“Zhuang Yiyun, even if one was zero years old, it’s still embarrassing! My mom showing it to your mom was awkward enough, and you held it up to look at it! I’ll beat you to death!”
Yan Yan was so angry that he lost his composure, and his sharp tongue became blunt swords. In the end, he couldn’t bear it anylonger and just rushed forward to push Zhuang Yiyun.
But his room was small, and Zhuang Yiyun was standing by the bed. When he pushed him hard, the man’s leg hit the edge of the bed without any defense and he toppled backward. His push was too strong, and with the loss of the point of support, his body also lost balance and fell directly on top of Zhuang Yiyun.
Zhuang Yiyun instinctively hugged Yan Yan’s waist to prevent him from getting hurt, but he himself let out a muffled groan from the impact.
The two bodies entwined. Zhuang Yiyun still held the photo album in one hand and with his other hand, he lifted Yan Yan a bit and asked him, “Are you okay?”
With his movements, Yan Yan’s chest brushed against his firm abdominal muscles. Yan Yan felt the vibrations in his chest when he spoke, and his face turned red all of a sudden. The embarrassment and anger from a moment ago vanished, and Yan Yan had only one thought in his mind—he just held me with one hand, and his abs are so strong, he’s really boyfriend material.
“I’m fine.”
Yan Yan’s voice lowered, and the space suddenly became quiet, leaving only Zhuang Yiyun’s slightly hurried breath.
Body temperature gradually passed through the thin layer of their clothes, like a spider’s web entangling their hearts, restraining their movements. Both of them froze in place.
“I’m sorry, Yanyan.”
Zhuang Yiyun’s heart was pounding, and his voice was low and hoarse.
After Yan Yan asked that question in the car that day, he looked for a book to read. He didn’t find much inspiration in those academic works on love. However, in this moment, he remembered a sentence he had come across when he was young.
Perhaps because he had been too repressed during his youth, he had secretly fallen in love with detective novels, to the extent that he even read Agatha Christie’s autobiography. There was a sentence in it that said: “it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them”.
He didn’t understand it before, but at this moment, it seemed to dawn on him.
Yan Yan’s frantic appearance and flushed face, when viewed through his own eyes, somehow appeared cute.
Zhuang Yiyun put down the photo album, used both hands to help Yan Yan up, and put him at the edge of the bed. He then stood up.
Without having a detailed look at Yan Yan’s room, he extended his hand and said, “Don’t get flour on your bed. Sit here for a moment, I’ll finish wrapping the dumplings.”
The atmosphere at the Yan’s New Year’s dinner was too warm and it was hard for Zhuang Xian to show any negative feelings. Seeing the Yan family enjoying themselves, and her usually calm and composed son helping Yan Yan pick dishes, she felt increasingly irritated. She despised losing control, really despised it, and despised even more when she couldn’t release that loss of control.
Just when she thought she couldn’t endure it any longer, the Yan’s family dinner finally came to an end after Zhuang Yiyun and Yan Yan each ate a lucky dumpling.
She almost fled, she didn’t know what she was avoiding, but she couldn’t stay any longer.
“Xiao Yun, go see your mom off, it’s not good for her to go home alone on New Year’s Eve.”
Zhuang Yiyun didn’t feel any gratitude for his mother’s calmness. He was gentle in front of Yan Yan’s family, but when it came to the topic of Zhuang Xian, he turned cold again.
“No need.”
Zhuang Xian looked back at them one last time and then turned to the elevator. Qian Rujing hurriedly changed her shoes and followed her, insisting on seeing her off in the car. When they parted ways and waved goodbye, perhaps due to a motherly instinct or a superficial understanding from their younger years, Qian Ruqing intuitively felt that today had not been entirely unfruitful.
She didn’t say anything, just sent Zhuang Xian off and then turned back home. She wrapped her tight cotton coat around herself due to the biting cold wind and trotted into the elevator and went upstairs. After returning home, her cold hair was warmed by the warm air from the air conditioner, and her eyes softened when she looked at the two children.
Xiao Yun, this child, has no father, and his mother doesn’t love him. If it weren’t for their house, he would probably spend the New Year alone. Thinking like this, Qian Ruqing, who had originally planned to let the young couple spend New Year’s Eve by themselves, said, “Stay at home today. I’ll make you both sweet pancakes tomorrow morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year. May you have a sweet and happy year ahead!”
Yan Yan was about to refuse, but Zhuang Yiyun beat him to it.
“Okay, can we have an extra bowl of noodles?”
“Of course, noodles are good for a smooth year ahead.”
Under Zhuang Yiyun’s “flattery,” his mother made the decision, and Yan Yan had no room to refuse.
His face stiffened. They hadn’t shared a room on the Little New Year, and now they were going to share one on the Lunar New Year… His gaze flickered, his brain went haywire, and he automatically recalled the feeling of Zhuang Yiyun’s abdominal muscles earlier.