MNL Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Dream Awakening – Even if you’re unwilling to part, it’s time to wake up.

The day before their departure from Sanya, they visited the Rose Valley and the Atlantis Water World. While at the water park, Xu Huaiyang spent the entire time doing two things: keeping an eye on his wife and taking pictures of her. The former was solely because Qin Xin was dressed a little more lightly that day. Even Shen Yan found it incredible; Xu Huaiyang’s affection for Qin Xin was truly unwavering after twenty years.

According to Xu Jing, Xu Huaiyang once proudly told him that Qin Xin had pursued him. But the reality was that one day when Qin Xin was eighteen, she encountered some local gangsters on her way home from school. Back then, the town’s security was poor, and girls would disappear from time to time, only to be found raped and murdered. These men saw that Qin Xin was beautiful and wanted to drug her and take her away. Xu Huaiyang happened to pass by and immediately stepped in, fighting against seven men single-handedly. In the end, these seven men, bruised and swollen, clung to Xu Huaiyang’s leg, begging for mercy and promising never to touch the girl again. Upon hearing this, Xu Huaiyang unleashed another barrage of blows, yelling, “You depraved bastards! Don’t even think about this girl! In the future, if you see any girl, walk ten streets away! If I ever catch you again, I’ll beat you so badly your own mothers won’t recognize you!”

And just like that, the seven men crawled away. After that incident, no girls went missing in the town for quite some time. Qin Xin was famous throughout the town for her beauty, even being called “Little Xi Shi.” Countless families came to seek her hand in marriage, and every boy who saw Qin Xin couldn’t help but admire her. But Qin Xin didn’t take a liking to any of them, except for Xu Huaiyang.

After spending some time together, Qin Xin asked Xu Huaiyang out.

Qin Xin stuttered a bit, “Um, I… I kind of like you.”

Xu Huaiyang: “I’m willing.”

Qin Xin: “…”

And that’s how they got together.

On Qin Xin’s eighteenth birthday, Xu Huaiyang swore that he would only marry and love Qin Xin for the rest of his life.

And he truly did. When Qin Xin was giving birth to Xu Jing, she suffered a massive hemorrhage. The doctor came out several times to issue critical condition notices. Xu Huaiyang only said one thing at the time: if Qin Xin died, he would absolutely not live on alone. In recent years, Qin Xin had been left with aftereffects from giving birth, and her health was never quite the same. Whether it was a high fever that required hospitalization or just a cold and cough, as soon as Xu Huaiyang heard the news, no matter where he was on a business trip, he would buy a plane ticket and rush back that very night.

Sometimes, seeing the way Xu Jing’s family interacted, Shen Yan couldn’t help but feel envious. But more than that, he was happy for Xu Jing, to be born into such a happy family.

“Xiao Yan, Xiao Jing, come ride the roller coaster!” Qin Xin sat on the raft, smiling and waving to the two boys.

The ride they were on was called the “Wrath of the Sea Roller Coaster,” with four weightless water slides and torrents of water pouring down in the middle. Xu Jing was unlucky, always getting the most soaked. After one round, he was a complete drowned rat. Qin Xin and Xu Huaiyang were doubled over with laughter beside him. Shen Yan kept wiping Xu Jing’s back with a towel, feeling both helpless and amused.

Next, they played “Leap of Poseidon” and “Tornado.” The feeling of weightlessness from eight stories high filled the air with screams. But Shen Yan didn’t play this game; he just watched from below. Seeing Xu Jing’s restrained expression, he smiled and took over thirty pictures in a row with his phone, all with the same expression, giving off a faint sense of lifelessness.

But in reality, Xu Jing wasn’t restraining himself at the time. He just felt that when he suddenly dropped, his body was at the lowest point, but his soul was still floating at the highest.

In other words, don’t let his calmness fool you; he had already left for a while.

Then they played “Octopus Race,” which required lying on a yoga mat and rushing down. Qin Xin suggested a race, with the loser buying the drinks. The three of them tacitly let Qin Xin win first place. But just as she was about to reach the finish line, Xu Huaiyang grabbed Xu Jing’s mat.

“…” Xu Jing immediately shouted, “Shen Yan!”

Shen Yan was originally in front, but when he turned around and saw that Xu Jing’s mat of fate was being strangled by his own father, he moved back, smiling, and grabbed Xu Huaiyang’s mat as well. The three of them looked at each other, and finally chose to let go of each other. But at the moment Xu Huaiyang let go, Shen Yan and Xu Jing simultaneously pushed Xu Huaiyang’s mat backward, and the two of them slid forward without looking back.

Xu Huaiyang angrily shouted from behind, “You two little brats!”

Afterwards, Xu Huaiyang stormed off in anger, but five minutes later, he came back striding in, carrying four cups of juice.

Qin Xin only had to coax him for less than five minutes, and Xu Huaiyang was all smiles again.

They spent the entire afternoon playing almost all the attractions. Even Shen Yan and Xu Jing felt their energy was somewhat depleted, so they decided to visit the aquarium one last time before heading back.

Shen Yan was admiring the sharks in front of a large window when he heard Qin Xin call out to him from behind.

“Xiao Yan, turn around!”

Shen Yan turned around, and heard two clicks.

Qin Xin was squatting down, taking pictures of him.

Shen Yan was stunned for a couple of seconds, and an unprecedented shyness flashed across his face.

“Xiao Yan, take a couple of steps to the side.”

Shen Yan did as he was told.

“Smile and strike a pose.”

Shen Yan’s lips curved slightly, but he didn’t know how to pose. He just bent his body a little, focusing more accurately on the camera.

Qin Xin took more than a dozen photos, becoming more and more satisfied with each one, liking them more and more. She couldn’t stop smiling. “Oh, they’re so handsome. No wonder he’s my son.”

Qin Xin’s eyes were full of the masterpieces in her camera, and she didn’t realize what she had subconsciously said. But at that moment, Shen Yan stared blankly at Qin Xin, and his heart felt like it was being soaked in a hot spring, warming him into a daze.

At this time, there happened to be a coral tank feeding performance. Shen Yan and Qin Xin watched for a while. When it was almost over, Shen Yan realized that Xu Jing was gone.

“Xiao Jing ah, he seems to have gone to the restroom.” Qin Xin was concentrating on recording a video with her camera, not at all worried that her son would encounter any danger.

“Oh, Xiao Yan, don’t worry. He’s so old. If he can’t beat the bad guys, can’t he run away? Besides, with Xiao Jing’s temper, if he really encounters bad guys, we should be worried about their safety.”

Shen Yan: “…”

That actually made sense.

But Shen Yan’s heart was still in his throat because he couldn’t see Xu Jing. He couldn’t show it too obviously in front of Qin Xin, so he could only use the excuse of going to the restroom to find the missing person.

Shen Yan found Xu Jing in the jellyfish exhibit. At the time, Xu Jing was standing in front of a blue jellyfish tank, staring blankly at the active creatures inside. Shen Yan didn’t go up to disturb him, but stood not far away, carefully observing the boy’s calm and focused profile. He was suddenly curious about what this person was thinking at this moment.

However, Shen Yan’s mind-reading skills failed at this moment. He couldn’t connect Xu Jing’s thoughts with the abstract jellyfish, so he couldn’t figure out what he was thinking for a long time. Finally, he turned around and went to the counter in front, secretly buying ten small jellyfish.

Later, when the four of them met up and were preparing to leave the aquarium, they encountered a professional photographer. The photographer said that he could take photos of them for free and give them the photos, but he wanted to keep one or two of the original shots to use for publicity.

“Okay, then please take a few photos for our family of four,” Xu Huaiyang said.

Over the past few days, no matter the occasion, Xu Huaiyang and Qin Xin had never treated Shen Yan as an outsider, as if they had already thought of him as their own son from the bottom of their hearts. Shen Yan remembered every time.

The photographer took a total of five photos: two group photos of the four of them, with Xu Huaiyang and Qin Xin standing in the middle, and Shen Yan and Xu Jing standing on either side; two photos of Xu Jing and Shen Yan together; and one photo of Xu Huaiyang and Qin Xin together.

Everyone in the photos was smiling. It was a beautiful time, sealed in the photos and even more so in Shen Yan’s heart, never fading.

On the last day, they went to West Island and Coconut Dream Corridor, tasted the famous local shaved ice and coconut chicken, and saw the romantic glass sea and coconut groves. The Sanya trip finally came to an end with the ebb and flow of the sea.

Before boarding the plane, Xu Jing was flipping through a new comic book in the waiting area. The person next to him suddenly leaned over and said to him, “Close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Just listen.”

He was playing mysterious, too.

Although Xu Jing was complaining in his heart, his body was very honest. He heard the person next to him rummaging for a while, and then felt something placed in his palm. It was icy cold. Xu Jing opened his eyes and saw a small transparent bottle.Zhan Blue jellyfish were swimming and flowing inside, like beating hearts.

Xu Jing blinked, obviously surprised. “Why did you think of buying this?”

Then he realized.

“Stalking me.”

Shen Yan replied without batting an eye, “I was admiring you in the open. So what were you thinking at the time?”

Xu Jing raised his eyebrows and said, “Don’t you have mind-reading skills?”

“They sometimes fail.”

Xu Jing stared at the jellyfish swimming inside for a while. After a long time, he suddenly smiled and replied, “I wasn’t thinking about anything. Thanks, deskmate.”

At this moment, Shen Yan said sincerely, “I hope it can live for more than three days in your hands.”

“…Don’t jinx it.”

But he was indeed a veritable biological killer. Everything he raised died. In the past, Qin Xin always felt that her son was too dull, like a little old man who didn’t want anything all day long, so she bought a lot of cute little goldfish and turtle cubs for Xu Jing to raise, thinking that he could cultivate his emotions and feel the charm of life in the process. As a result, in less than half a month, they were all gone.

Later, Qin Xin lowered her requirements and bought some easy-to-raise potted plants, such as sunflowers and green princesses, thinking that they wouldn’t all die, right? But in the end, they didn’t even leave a leaf. From then on, Qin Xin never had the idea again.

Later, when Yan Zhe found out about this, the guy didn’t believe in it. He always felt it was a coincidence. He insisted on bringing the most tenacious and only cactus at home for Xu Jing to raise.

However, in less than a month, it also died.

Yan Zhe’s jaw dropped when he saw it at the time. He pointed to the blackened thorn ball and jumped up and down, saying, “This thing is from the great desert of South America. It’s still alive and well even if I ignore it for half a year. You can raise this to death?! Jing-ge, do you have radiation on you??”

Xu Jing’s expression was three parts innocent and seven parts dazed. It was also the only time he didn’t curse back when facing Yan Zhe’s complaints.

So it’s better to rely on yourself than to rely on others.

Hopefully, these jellyfish will be a little more tenacious.

Watching Xu Jing carefully hold the bottle in his hand, but with a calm expression that told the creatures inside to fend for themselves, Shen Yan tilted his head and smiled.

Although someone didn’t answer the question just now, Shen Yan had a feeling that one day in the future, he would definitely know the answer from Xu Jing.

The plane streaked across the sky, leaving a long white line before disappearing, like a grand and beautiful dream. Even if you were unwilling to part, it was time to wake up.

And at the end of this dream, Shen Yan was carefully holding the photo. The smiling boy inside had a moved expression, and his lips were slightly raised, as if he wanted to say something.

He listened very carefully, and finally heard it.

That person said, you will never be alone again.