MNL Chapter 97

“Happy New Year, Shen Yan.”

“Happy New Year, Shen Yan.”

After the snow, the sky cleared, and the entire city was bathed in delicate and warm sunlight.

Today was New Year’s Eve.

Xu Huaiyang was dragged out of bed early in the morning by Qin Xin to prepare ingredients for the New Year’s Eve dinner. Xu Jing vaguely heard that there were important guests coming, but he still slept until he naturally woke up.

Unable to help in the kitchen, and with Yan Zhe sending a game invitation, Xu Jing played LOL in his bedroom for a while. Afterwards, he watched two wilderness survival documentaries on TV in the living room. Just as he was about to change the channel, the doorbell rang.

Qin Xin’s excited voice came from the kitchen, “Xiao Jing, go open the door!”

Xu Jing was curious about who could make Qin Xin so attentive. As soon as he opened the door, a familiar and flamboyant aura rushed towards him.

“Happy New Year, dear nephew.”

Xu Jing looked at the exquisitely dressed Qin Yan in front of him, hesitated for a long time, and called out, “Aunt?”

Qin Yan smiled brightly, “Surprise! Isn’t it unexpected?”

However, a hint of disappointment flashed across Xu Jing’s face. Qin Yan’s scrutinizing gaze landed on Xu Jing’s face, and she clicked her tongue, “Nephew, are you in love?”

Xu Jing raised an eyebrow, “How can you tell?”

Qin Yan reached out and pinched Xu Jing’s face, saying, “You’ve gained weight.”

Xu Jing: “…”

Qin Yan laughed heartily, telling Xu Jing to carry the large packages of gifts from outside into the house, while she entered empty-handed to find Qin Xin.

At first, Xu Jing was a little worried that Qin Yan would gossip with Qin Xin, but later he found that such thoughts were simply superfluous, because Qin Yan had been arguing with Xu Huaiyang ever since she entered the house.

Xu Huaiyang: “Oh, a rare guest.”

Qin Yan: “Brother-in-law, you’re getting old.”

Xu Huaiyang: “You’re talking nonsense.”

Qin Yan: “Not only old, but also out of shape.” She then said to Qin Xin, who was watching the show, “Sister, we have several young experts in our unit, handsome, rich, knowledgeable, and the key is that they’re young and healthy. I’ll introduce you to them later.”

Xu Huaiyang instantly exploded, “You Qin Yan! How dare you!”

Trying to poach his wife right in front of him, who knows what she might do behind his back to ruin his relationship with Qin Xin.

Seeing Xu Huaiyang’s face turning red with anger, Qin Xin quickly stepped forward to comfort him, while signaling Xu Jing to pull Qin Yan away.

The originally quiet villa was filled with the smoke of battle due to Qin Yan’s arrival. The two of them couldn’t stop bickering even while eating. Later, Qin Yan was too tired to argue, ending the battle with the sentence, “Brother-in-law, you have so much energy.”

Xu Huaiyang snorted coldly, satisfied.

After the meal, Qin Yan asked Xu Jing to take her out for a walk, and the aunt and nephew went to the park outside the villa.

“You seem to have a lot of opinions about my dad.”

Qin Yan was squinting at the sun, and after hearing this, she glanced at Xu Jing, her tone lazy, “Your aunt has a lot of opinions about all the men in the world.”

Seeing Xu Jing’s silence, she added, “Of course, except for you.”

Xu Jing looked down at himself, even more silent.

“People your age have a youthful spirit, righteous, emotional, kind, and lively, which is different from that group of smelly men.” Qin Yan patiently explained, and then casually touched Xu Jing’s head, saying, “Especially you, my dear nephew, you are the cutest.”

Xu Jing accepted it expressionlessly. This was the second time, after Shen Yan, that he had been given the adjective “cute.” It seemed that these two had very strong filters for him.

Qin Yan happened to mention it at this time, asking, “By the way, what about your good friend?”

Xu Jing said, “In Linhe City.”

“He’s living with his dad now?”

“No, he’s alone.”

Qin Yan sneered, saying, “So you see, men themselves are cold-blooded and selfish impulsive animals. They can often abandon all conscience, even humanity, for their own benefit. That’s why I hate them.”

Xu Jing did not deny Qin Yan’s criticism, only saying, “My dad isn’t like that.”

Qin Yan said, “I know.” Then she very impolitely complained about Xu Huaiyang in front of Xu Jing, “I and your dad are just incompatible. We argue as soon as we meet, ever since you were drinking milk in your sister’s womb. Ultimately, it’s because your dad’s mouth is too mean.”

The filial son Xu Jing expressed his agreement with silence.

The two walked around the garden for a while. When they were about to go home, Xu Jing suddenly stopped Qin Yan, his voice a little soft, sounding like careful consideration, but even more like impulsiveness.

“Aunt.”

Qin Yan turned around, “Hmm?”

“Can you accept homosexuality?”

Qin Yan was stunned, and then confirmed, “Homosexuality?”

“Yeah.”

Qin Yan frowned, saying, “If it were someone else, I would respect them, but if it were you—”

At the moment of pause, her eyes quietly met Xu Jing’s. Qin Yan suddenly realized that she was not facing a simple question, because she saw extremely complex emotions in the young man in front of her: repressed confusion, anxiety, pain, and even what could be described as a desperate expectation.

At this moment, she was given the power of speech, and this power was very important because it contained something even more precious behind it: trust.

So Qin Yan didn’t ask anything, showed a gentle smile, and said seriously, “If it’s you, then I choose to bless you.”

At the moment she heard the answer, Xu Jing’s expression changed slightly, and a few shallow smiles appeared in his clear and bright eyes.

Later, Qin Yan was going to Dunhuang to deal with cultural relics. She originally planned to stay at home for one night, but Xu Huaiyang was not happy about it, because he knew that if this person stayed, she would definitely fight with him for his wife to sleep with tonight.

After finishing the New Year’s Eve dinner early, before it even got dark, Xu Huaiyang was staring at this eyesore like a tiger watching its prey.

In the end, Qin Yan grabbed Xu Jing, who was absent-mindedly sitting on the sofa, and said to Qin Xin, “Sister, I’ll take Xiao Jing out for a walk.”

Qin Xin didn’t think much about it, replying, “Okay, there are a lot of people outside, be careful.”

Xu Huaiyang was in a great mood, not only getting up to see them off with a smile, but even taking the initiative to open the door for Qin Yan.

After the two went out, Xu Jing looked at Qin Yan with a puzzled expression.

Qin Yan wrapped her coat tighter, saying, “Go.”

Xu Jing frowned, “Where?”

“Leave it to me with your mom, I’ll cover for you.” Qin Yan smiled, “There’s only one hour left until the last high-speed train to Linhe City leaves. It’ll be too late if you delay any longer.”

Xu Jing obviously didn’t expect that Qin Yan could infer this far from just one question. Although it might just be a guess, but the facts proved that she was indeed right, but now was not the time to think about these things. Qin Yan’s words were like a catalyst. Xu Jing had been hesitating before, but now after saying thank you, he had already turned around and run away.

Until that hurried figure disappeared from sight, Qin Yan didn’t know why, but she felt inexplicably worried. She turned her head and looked at the villa, the smile on her face slowly disappearing.

·

Inside the boxing gym.

Zhou Yuan had been training Shen Yan all afternoon. Even the coach who was instructing from the side was tired, but the one on the field was like a robot who had lost his senses, silently training for more than five hours without even drinking a sip of water.

Later, Zhou Yuan couldn’t stand it anymore, waving his hand to the side and shouting, “Xiao Yan, take a break!”

The robot turned a blind eye.

Zhou Yuan cursed a few times in a low voice, thinking, just for a championship, it’s not worth working so hard.

It wasn’t until it was dark outside that Shen Yan stopped. His training clothes were already soaked with sweat. He walked to Zhou Yuan and said, “Sorry, coach, I’ve delayed your return home.”

Zhou Yuan sighed, thinking, you know that too, but he still said politely, “It’s okay, how does it feel now?”

Shen Yan asked back, “How do you think I’m training?”

Zhou Yuan said honestly, “I think you can be my coach.”

Both of them were amused by this sentence.

Because they were going in the same direction, Zhou Yuan directly drove Shen Yan home. He also knew a little about Shen Yan’s situation, so he asked on the way, “What are your plans for New Year’s Eve? Why don’t you come to my house for dinner? It’s not far from here, and it’s just adding a pair of chopsticks and a bowl.”

Shen Yan refused, “I don’t want to trouble you.”

“Then you’ll be lonely spending the New Year at home alone. Listen to me, I wouldn’t abduct you.”

“Coach, are you sure I’m the one who should be worried about that?”

Zhou Yuan laughed and scolded, “You little brat, you’re too arrogant.”

Seeing Shen Yan’s firm attitude, Zhou Yuan didn’t force him, but after dropping him off, he asked a question that had been lingering in his mind for several days.

“What’s the situation with this young master you mentioned last time? Did you find a job as a bodyguard?”

Shen Yan’s movement of getting out of the car stopped. He didn’t turn his head, but replied in an extremely calm tone, “No, I found a boyfriend.”

Zhou Yuan: “…………”

What the hell?

Zhou Yuan was shocked. He spent a full five minutes downstairs in the apartment building digesting what he had heard. When he started the car to leave, he only felt a strange pain in his butt.

After Shen Yan returned to his room, the first thing he did was run to the bedside to find medicine. He had trained too hard today, and obviously his heart couldn’t take it anymore.

At this time, it was completely dark outside, and everything in the room was tightly wrapped in this darkness. Cheerful laughter came from the apartment across the street, clearer than during the day. Shen Yan leaned against the window and smoked, his stern profile blurred in the rising and dissipating smoke from his fingertips. He half-closed his eyes, using the street lights to quietly watch the scene of that family preparing to eat a reunion dinner.

He had only learned to smoke after Zhong Yiqiu passed away, but he never really had a nicotine addiction. It was just that sometimes when his emotions were suppressed to the extreme, he would choose to relieve them in this way.

However, in the torment of this emptiness, Shen Yan suddenly wanted to see someone very much. This longing was a little crazy, making him feel that even cigarettes couldn’t suppress it.

But what could he do? Shen Yan put out the cigarette and walked to the living room. Perhaps because of the side effects of the medicine, he unknowingly fell asleep on the sofa.

In a trance, Shen Yan had a bizarre dream. In the dream, it was a desolate Gobi Desert, with sand and stones everywhere, a desolate sight. Xu Jing stood in the center of the desert, the savage wind blowing his soft hair into a mess. That figure was so thin that he didn’t look like a human, comparable to the surrounding dry poplar branches.

And on the horizon, a sudden sandstorm rolled up a sky-covering sandstorm. He frantically ran forward while calling Xu Jing’s name, but the person in the center of the desert didn’t move, not even turning his head, and was finally completely swallowed up in this chaos.

Shen Yan in the dream was wide-eyed and splitting.

“No—!”

The person on the sofa suddenly opened his eyes, his heavy breathing echoing in the dark room for a full two minutes. It wasn’t until his consciousness returned that Shen Yan stiffly supported his body, which was soaked with cold sweat. He looked at the time.

—23:50

He had slept for two hours.

Many messages popped up on the screen, all sent by Jiang Pei half an hour ago, asking him if he wanted to go out for New Year’s Eve dinner, and also sent a group photo, obviously their band was having a gathering. Shen Yan was too lazy to type, so he sent an emoji to refuse.

Less than half a minute after putting down his phone, he picked it up again. He still couldn’t help but dial the top phone number. As he expected, no one answered.

Shen Yan also took out the cigarettes from his pocket. This pack was bought on the day he resumed training. Sometimes it was to relieve the pain on his body, and sometimes it was to suppress his emotions of longing. Anyway, in a short period of time, only the last one was left. As soon as he finished lighting it, the doorbell rang at this moment.

The phone next to him lit up at the same time.

Shen Yan didn’t look carefully, just glanced at it casually and went to open the door. At this time, there were still five minutes left until the New Year.

As a result, the moment the door opened, a face that was pale from the cold and with a red nose appeared in front of him. Xu Jing was holding the wall panting. After hearing the movement, he also looked up, seeing Shen Yan with a cigarette in his mouth. In the misty smoke, his expression was cold, his eyebrows and eyes were sharper than usual, and he was looking down at him. The two’s eyes collided, and they were both stunned.

The person who should have been celebrating the New Year in Jiaqing City was now actually standing at his doorstep. Adding to the nightmare he just had, Shen Yan was in a trance for a long time before he reacted. As a result, he choked on the smoke as soon as he spoke.

Xu Jing frowned, putting aside what he originally wanted to say, and reached out to take the cigarette from Shen Yan’s mouth.

Shen Yan acquiesced to this action, coughing and asking, “Why did you come?”

Xu Jing said lightly, “I left something here.”

He had packed all the luggage together, and he had specifically checked it before leaving.

“What is it?” Shen Yan asked.

Xu Jing didn’t answer, but suddenly raised his hand to hold the back of Shen Yan’s head and pressed him down, then raised his head and kissed his lips.

The bitter taste of tobacco spread in his mouth. Xu Jing felt very choking the first time he tasted it, but he still didn’t stop. Seeing Xu Jing’s slightly frowned brows, Shen Yan took the initiative to deepen the kiss.

When the distance between pupils and heartbeats cleared, the bell of twelve o’clock just happened to ring, and fireworks were rampant outside, the sound was deafening, just like all the repressed unease and longing, echoing at this moment.

Xu Jing stopped the kiss and, in the first second of the new year, whispered in his ear, “It’s my heart.”

“Happy New Year, Shen Yan.”