MNL Chapter 47
by VolareChapter 47 The Ice Thaws, An Invitation.
To some extent, Qin Xin was a woman who valued ritual and romance, so no matter how busy Xu Huaiyang was, he would always make it back in time for special occasions.
The family had an extremely harmonious dinner. Xu Huaiyang consciously cleared the table and went into the kitchen, while Qin Xin cut a plate of fruit. When she came out, she found Xu Jing sitting motionless on the sofa.
Qin Xin didn’t quite believe it at first, but after following his gaze a few times, she realized that her son was actually spacing out.
“What’s wrong?” A glint flashed in Qin Xin’s eyes. “Are you in love?”
“…” Xu Jing raised an eyebrow. “You can tell?”
Hearing this, the mother and son looked at each other for half a second, and then Qin Xin couldn’t help but laugh.
Let alone now, if Xu Jing could have a relationship before he turned thirty, she wouldn’t know which temple to burn incense at.
“Did something happen to the Shen Yan’s family?”
Xu Jing hummed, saying, “His mother passed away a few years ago.”
Qin Xin sighed softly, then said, “Then his father must be a bastard.”
“…How do you know?”
Qin Xin snorted and said, “How many good men are there? That’s how it’s always portrayed in TV dramas: the mother dies, and the father brings home a stepmother within days.”
“I can’t agree with that.” Xu Huaiyang, with unknown listening skills, began to refute after hearing the first half of the sentence. Afterwards, he came out of the kitchen, wiped the water from his hands, and couldn’t help adding, “There are also many good men in this world like me. If you leave, I’ll follow you.”
Xu Jing thought to himself, they really didn’t care about his well-being.
“Then what about Xiao Jing?”
Without even thinking, Xu Huaiyang said as a matter of course, “He’ll inherit the family fortune, of course.”
Xu Jing: “…”
Qin Xin: “…”
“Don’t say such unlucky things during the New Year. Go stand aside.” Qin Xin pushed aside Xu Huaiyang, who wanted to join the conversation, and turned to Xu Jing. “Why don’t you give Xiao Yan a call now and ask if he’d like to spend the New Year with us? I haven’t cleaned up the guest room yet, so let him squeeze in with you tonight.”
“No.” Hearing the last sentence, Xu Jing subconsciously refused.
“Why?” Qin Xin asked in confusion. “Aren’t you two on good terms?”
Xu Jing didn’t say anything. Now, as long as he came into close contact with Shen Yan, his body would react. Not to mention lying in the same bed, that would be even more unbearable than killing him.
“I have OCD.”
After staring at each other for a while, Xu Jing got up and planned to return to his bedroom, but inadvertently saw the piano in the living room.
So he sat back down.
“Shen Yan told me he came to see you before.”
“Yes, he came to ask me about something.”
“What?”
“It’s nothing really.” Qin Xin smoothed her hair, her eyes a little evasive. “He just asked about some of your past.”
From childhood to adulthood, Qin Xin would always habitually say “It’s nothing really” whenever she encountered something she didn’t want to talk about. Before, Xu Jing would give up on asking further after hearing this sentence, but now it was different.
Qin Xin hesitated, glancing at Xu Huaiyang beside her. Xu Huaiyang was observing the rise and fall of stocks. Noticing something was wrong, he put down his phone.
Xu Jing sized up their reactions, thinking they really were hiding something from him.
“It’s not a big deal, just an accident that happened when you were little.”
Hearing “when you were little,” Xu Jing’s nerves immediately tensed. He had a feeling that what Qin Xin was about to say was very important.
“Do you remember going to Hongyan Kindergarten when you were little? Your dad and I were both very busy at the time. One day, we told the teacher we’d pick you up later, but you secretly ran out yourself. Afterwards, we didn’t know what happened. When we found you, you were hiding in a small alley near the kindergarten, trembling all over. You weren’t crying either. Afterwards, no matter how we asked, you never mentioned what happened that night.”
Xu Jing frowned, confused. “Why don’t I have any recollection of what you’re saying?”
“Because for a long time afterwards, you were like you were possessed. You spoke less and less. Later, your dad and I took you to see a psychologist. The doctor said you were traumatized that night, so he used hypnosis to help you blur that memory. As time went by, you’ve forgotten most of it now.”
It was as if a piece of memory had been forcibly dug out of his brain. Xu Jing tried desperately to remember what Qin Xin said, but he still couldn’t.
“You’ve always liked collecting Jueguan’s race car models. They’re all limited editions. The ones in your cabinet now were all bought with the help of my friends. But since that day, your number three model has been missing.”
Hearing Xu Huaiyang’s words, Xu Jing was stunned.
He looked over in confusion, saying, “Didn’t you say before that it was out of print and couldn’t be bought?”
Xu Huaiyang coughed guiltily twice, replying, “That was to prevent you from remembering this incident again. I deliberately lied to you.”
Xu Jing’s mind was blank. He finally managed to figure out a fact from the chaotic thoughts, but this fact was even more unbelievable. It turned out that the person Shen Yan had been talking about all along was none other than him.
It turned out that such a coincidence could exist in this world.
In this way, Shen Yan’s previous incomprehensible behaviors were finally explained. At the same time, Xu Jing remembered the idiotic questions he had asked Shen Yan at Qiyuan Mountain. After returning, he had even hoped that the person was already dead.
Damn it, in the end, he had been cursing himself to die.
“But when Xiao Yan came to ask me about this last time, I felt like he knew something.” Qin Xin asked, “What’s going on?”
Xu Jing was silent. The only thing he could confirm now was that he had met Shen Yan that night. As for anything else, perhaps he could only find out by asking the other party.
“I’m going back to my room.”
“Wait, you haven’t explained this clearly yet.” Qin Xin wanted to stop Xu Jing, but Xu Huaiyang quickly pulled her back, advising, “Wife, wife, don’t worry. After Xiao Jing figures it out, he’ll naturally tell us.”
Watching the back of the teenager who was already adult-sized, Qin Xin leaned back on the sofa, sighing, “Being a mother is really tiring.”
Hearing this, Xu Huaiyang was alarmed. He immediately started massaging her back and legs, his face full of flattery. “Have a daughter, I’ll take care of her.”
Qin Xin gave him a lazy glance. “Get lost.”
Xu Jing leaned against the headboard, opening and closing his chat page with Shen Yan over and over again, but he couldn’t bring himself to type. The two of them rarely chatted on it. On QQ, there was only a question mark he had sent before when he heard something unusual at the other party’s house. Not to mention WeChat, it was just a few emoticons that the two of them had sent when they first added each other as friends.
His only seven emoticons were all taken from Yan Zhe, all Tom Cat types, looking stupid as hell. But the ones Shen Yan sent were the pink and tender cat types. No one would have thought that the aloof and unapproachable god of learning at school would secretly collect such cute emoticons.
Xu Jing inexplicably found it funny. Just then, the phone suddenly lit up, accompanied by the sound of a video call. Xu Jing shivered and his hand slipped, directly pressing “Accept.”
So the screen showed his current appearance, and…
Xu Jing raised one eyebrow high, his tone tinged with disbelief.
“…Shen Yan?”
A white bath towel was wrapped around Shen Yan’s hips, and six solid abdominal muscles were still dripping with water. The water droplets slowly flowed along the beautiful lines into the covered area, sexy like rippling water, stirring people’s hearts. Such a scene was magnified in the center of Xu Jing’s shocked pupils.
The scene on the other side and Xu Jing’s expression seemed to be paused.
“Sorry, just finished showering.”
After a long while, Shen Yan slowly moved the camera up, revealing half of a delicate, demon-like face. His slightly sharp peach blossom eyes also contained a hint of moisture. Undeniably, this was a captivating beauty among men.
Xu Jing unconsciously swallowed, moving the camera to the side, afraid of letting the other party see his abnormality.
Shen Yan seemed to have found a comfortable position to sit down, put the phone down, and said, “I have three things to tell you.”
“What a coincidence, so do I.”
“I’ll go first.”
Xu Jing: “…”
Shouldn’t a normal person let the other person go first?
“First of all, I bet you want to ask me about what happened when you were little.”
Xu Jing hummed, rarely praising, “Pretty smart.”
Shen Yan raised the corners of his lips in a smile. “That’s right, the person I’ve been looking for is you.”
Although Xu Jing had already accepted this fact in his heart, when he heard Shen Yan say it himself, he couldn’t help but feel his heart beat faster.
So much time had passed, and there were many things that were bound to be forgotten if you didn’t deliberately try to remember them. Although not by his own will, he still felt a little guilty.
“Sorry, I forgot.”
Shen Yan immediately said, “Don’t apologize.”
His eighth year was a nightmare, the beginning of the breakdown of Zhong Yiqiu and Shen Linzhi’s relationship. So, in Shen Yan’s memory, his eighth year was filled with countless roars and the sound of things breaking, as well as countless kicks and verbal abuse.
He and Xu Jing met on a moonless night.
Hongyan Kindergarten, including the after-school care, only let students leave at six o’clock. But that night, Shen Yan was suddenly sent there by Zhong Yiqiu, who said she would pick him up later. But soon after, he took advantage of the director’s inattention and sneaked out.
However, when he was about a kilometer away, Shen Yan remembered Zhong Yiqiu telling him to stay there and wait for her. After thinking about it, he gave up on that idea.
Shen Yan returned to the alley near the kindergarten, not going any further, but finding a step to sit down.
In such a dark place, Shen Yan touched the burn scar on his hand caused by his own father, feeling the pain brought by the large and small wounds on his body. At only eight years old, he couldn’t even cry.
But when he remembered the scar on Zhong Yiqiu’s forehead, which was not from someone else’s hand but from Shen Linzhi smashing an ashtray in front of his eyes, Shen Yan clenched his fists tightly, his eyes red and his whole body trembling.
Just then, someone appeared at the entrance of the alley, slowly walking into the darkness where he was with light.
It was a fair-skinned little boy, dressed neatly and cleanly, with a porcelain doll-like appearance, carrying a black backpack on his shoulder and holding a flashlight in his right hand.
Shen Yan stopped sobbing.
After regaining his senses, he stared fiercely at the approaching person like a wolfdog, but found that the other party didn’t mean anything else, but instead raised the flashlight and wanted to get closer to look at him.
Shen Yan said coldly, “What do you want?”
The boy sat down beside him without saying a word.
Although the boy in front of him looked harmless, Shen Yan still didn’t let his guard down, pretending to leave. At this time, a childish voice came to his ears, “Are you crying?”
Shen Yan was stunned, wanting to say “What’s it to you?”, but the boy looked over with his round eyes, saying, “Don’t cry.”
Although Shen Yan was still young at that time, he had a deep memory of those eyes.
Seeing this, the boy seemed to be bolder, and actually used his hand to wipe away the tears that were still in Shen Yan’s eyes.
“Here, this is for you.”
Shen Yan’s eyes widened. He looked down and found a brand new race car model in his hand, stunned for a long time.
“If you’re unhappy, you can come to the kindergarten to play with me.”
Perhaps because he was too young and ignorant at the time and needed such kindness, he couldn’t help but ask, “What’s your name?”
But he waited a long time without getting a reply. Shen Yan looked at the boy in confusion. At this time, the boy was already holding the flashlight tightly in his hand, with an undeniable fear in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
The boy’s voice became very strange, a trembling that was too terrified to speak.
“I’m afraid of the dark.”
Only then did Shen Yan notice that the light of the flashlight was weakening. In just a moment, the boy picked up his backpack and ran out.
And he, in the darkness, never knew the name of the boy who ran towards the light.
…
After quietly listening to Shen Yan’s story, Xu Jing was silent for a full half minute, finally asking a soul-searching question, “Are you sure I was this stupid when I was little?”
Shen Yan didn’t know when he turned off the camera. Xu Jing couldn’t see the picture, but he only heard a soft laugh. “Honest and fair, every word is true.”
Xu Jing felt like he had no face to see Shen Yan anymore.
“I wanted to return this race car model to you, but I couldn’t find you afterwards.”
Meaning that Shen Yan was also unaware of what happened next, but Xu Jing had an answer. He knew his fear of darkness, and later, when the flashlight ran out of power, he bumped around and couldn’t find his way out, so he was left with severe psychological trauma after getting out.
“The second thing, I bet you want to ask about the female voice you heard today.”
“…” Xu Jing was noncommittal. “Oh?”
“It was an accident, but she’s like half a sister to me.”
“Sister?”
Xu Jing thought, what kind of sister could make that kind of sound next door at night?
“You saw her at your door last time?”
Shen Yan: “…”
Hearing it that way, it did sound a bit strange.
“Her name is Jiang Pei. She and I are not that kind of relationship.”
Xu Jing snorted softly, saying, “What’s it to me?”
Shen Yan turned on the camera again. This time, he had already put on a shirt, and the lazy feeling between his brows was gone.
“I’ll explain it to you clearly, but not now.”
Xu Jing’s gaze wandered across the screen, saying, “Then what’s the third thing?”
The two of them had been on the phone for over an hour. Shen Yan stared at the clock hanging on the wall, finding that the timing was just right.
When the second hand crossed the twelve mark, two voices sounded at the same time.
“Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year.”
At this moment, many message notifications popped up one after another at the top of Xu Jing’s phone screen, all blessings from unfamiliar friends, without even a note. Xu Jing had no intention to pay attention to them. He naturally assumed that the third thing was this sentence, “Happy New Year.”
So, without thinking, he said, “Looks like there’s no need to guess.”
“No.”
The person on the other side denied him.
The lowered voice was full of determination, with an inexplicable ambiguity in the night.
“My third thing is, an invitation for you.”