ICY Chapter 18

Chapter 18

As the main organizer of the college entrance banquet, Father Jiang and Mother Jiang, holding the intention of showing their best, had already discussed the menu with the restaurant. On the day of the event, they brought Jiang Shi early to the restaurant to carefully check and compare everything.

Before long, the Chu family of four arrived.

After all, it was a banquet celebrating the children’s college entrance, and neither family opposed the children’s relationship. Moreover, both sets of parents were eloquent and persuasive, so the meal revolved around the children’s childhood anecdotes, making for a very enjoyable atmosphere.

Taking advantage of Su Zhao Li’s trip to the restroom, Mother Jiang finally asked the question that had been lingering in her mind, “Mother Chu.”

“Hmm?”

“I’ve always had a question that I don’t know if I should ask. You are A Li’s caregiver, but we’ve never heard you mention A Li’s biological parents. Did… something happen to them?” Mother Jiang asked cautiously, afraid of stirring up bad memories or a huge secret. She had asked her son, who only said that Chu Nan Du had told him that A Li’s biological parents were very good to him.

“Son, go take A Li to buy an ice cream. Don’t bring him back until I send you a message.”

“Okay.” Chu Nan Du didn’t say anything, and immediately got up and went out.

“Xiao Shi, you should listen too. There are some things you’ll know sooner or later.”

Hearing the seriousness in Mother Chu’s voice, no one at the table spoke for a moment.

“What are you doing here?” Su Zhao Li asked as he came out of the restroom.

“I wanted an ice cream, wanna go together?”

Su Zhao Li glanced at the private room, “Sure.”

“A Li’s mother and I were very close friends. We’ve known each other since we were little, and we were even pregnant around the same time. After the children were born, we became each other’s children’s caregiver.”

“A Li’s home isn’t here. His parents were both lawyers and didn’t develop their careers here. You also know that A Li only transferred schools in his senior year. His parents had their accident during the summer vacation of his sophomore year.”

“A car accident. The whole family was in the car. You might also want to ask if it was retaliation due to their profession. No, it was just a simple brake failure and running a red light. They weren’t the only victims of that car accident.”

“We confirmed with the traffic police many times and did many analyses. There were no problems.”

“At that time, A Li was being protected in his mother’s arms. The impact of the car accident caused him a mild concussion and some scrapes. When we received the call and rushed to the hospital, A Li hadn’t woken up yet. His parents were already covered with white sheets.” Mother Chu’s voice choked, and she took the tissue that Father Chu handed her.

“We waited for three days before A Li woke up.”

“After the funeral, A Li said he wanted to go home, so we sent him back. We were staying at a hotel nearby at the time, and we told A Li to call us if anything happened.”

“That day, I was also feeling uneasy. A Li didn’t call all day. Worried that something had happened to him, I quickly went with Old Chu and Little Chu to see him.”

“When I got there, I found out what had happened. A group of people were surrounding their house. They were all relatives who had attended the funeral and were related to A Li. They were all gathered outside A Li’s door, using the excuse of wanting to adopt and take care of A Li because he was a minor. They kept shouting into the house, even starting to fight outside, and some were even smashing the door, trying to force their way in.”

“Don’t think I didn’t know they were just greedy for the house and assets that A Li’s parents had left him. They were all acting sanctimonious while doing the deeds of robbers, cursing at a child who had just lost his parents.”

“We called the police. When we went inside again, we found that A Li had already fainted at the door. A Li’s parents had a good reputation and good relationships in the legal profession, and many colleagues helped to suppress that group of malicious people.”

“After that, we brought A Li back and transferred him to another school.”

The story ended with Mother Chu sobbing uncontrollably. Mother Chu didn’t say much more, but everyone knew that a sixteen-year-old child facing the sudden death of his parents and being besieged by a group of unknown relatives would never be as simple as the story made it sound.

“Mom, Dad, Uncle, Auntie, I’m going to find A Li first.” After saying that, Jiang Shi rushed out of the private room without waiting for the others to answer.

“Don’t let A Li see anything!” Mother Jiang instructed him from behind.

·

“We’ve bought the ice cream. I’ll get A Shi one too. Red bean, right?”

“You’re just wanting to eat it yourself, aren’t you?”

“So what?”

When they were almost to the restaurant entrance, Chu Nan Du pulled Su Zhao Li around the corner and sat down by the flower bed at the entrance of the restaurant. “Let’s chat for a bit.”

“Sure, what about?”

“Well… just chat about anything. I thought we would go to the same university, and then we could walk around the campus together when we had nothing to do, and sometimes go out to eat and play, and then go on trips to farther places during holidays like May Day and National Day.”

“Aren’t we still going to the same university?”

“Then let me ask you, if I and Jiang Shi both asked you out, who would you choose?”

“Why choose? Wouldn’t it be better for the three of us to be together? And if you two don’t want to see each other, I’ll arrange it well for you two, and I won’t favor one over the other.”

“Who would believe that? Besides, if a two-person trip becomes a three-person trip, what am I supposed to do…” Chu Nan Du muttered.

“Why wouldn’t you believe it? Jiang Shi is very important to me, and you’re just as important to me. We’ve known each other for eighteen years, no, nineteen years. We must have greeted each other when we were in the womb. All my big and small events since I was little have been spent with you. You know everything about me. You mean something very different to me, so I won’t forget my friends when I see someone I like.”

“Hmph, if you dare to forget your friends when you see someone you like, I’ll tell Jiang Shi that you liked him first.”

“Is… is that a threat? I’m scared. You can tell him whatever you want. I don’t believe he won’t be upset.”

“Tsk, shameless. Then I’ll share videos and photos of you from when you were little with him.”

“I was so good-looking when I was little, go ahead.”

“Really? There’s a video of you playing in the sand and digging a hole, and then getting buried in it, and there’s also one of you eating watermelon in the middle of summer while…”

“Okay, okay, stop talking. You win.”

“No matter what, you’re still my brother,” Su Zhao Li said as he unwrapped the red bean ice cream he had brought for Jiang Shi. “That’s something that can’t be changed in this lifetime.”

As soon as he took a bite, Su Zhao Li was overcome with happiness. “This is so good.”

“A Shi, what are you doing here?”

Jiang Shi suddenly appeared and gave Su Zhao Li a bear hug, making Chu Nan Du unable to watch.

“What’s going on?” Su Zhao Li pushed away Jiang Shi’s head, which was buried in his neck. The strands of hair tickled his neck.

“I missed you.”

“Really? I only left for a little while and you already missed me? Have a bite of red bean, I bought it especially for you, ah—”

“Is it sweet?”

Waiting for Jiang Shi to answer, Su Zhao Li was suddenly kissed by Jiang Shi, “Ugh, ugh”

Chu Nan Du, who was sitting there watching the young couple’s show, hadn’t reacted when someone covered his eyes. When he heard Su Zhao Li’s voice, he suddenly understood what was happening. His face turned red, and without looking, he turned around and ran.

Why did he have to experience this?!!! Chu Nan Du wailed in his heart.

Until all the shaved ice in his mouth melted, and the sweet fragrance of red beans filled both of their mouths, “Sweet,” Jiang Shi answered Su Zhao Li.

Su Zhao Li’s whole body was about to boil. He lowered his head and refused to look at Jiang Shi. “I’m not giving you any more.”

“I’ll eat you.”

!!! Su Zhao Li looked at Jiang Shi in shock. Jiang Shi said that! He said it! How did this person suddenly become so indecent!

Su Zhao Li’s face turned red, and he stuffed the ice cream into Jiang Shi’s mouth. “Eat this.”

The water from the red bean ice cream dripped on Jiang Shi’s hand. He quickly stuffed the remaining ice cream into his mouth and pulled Su Zhao Li over to kiss him again.

“Phew” Chu Nan Du opened the door to the private room.

“Why are you back? Where’s A Li?” Father Chu asked him.

“They’re talking outside,” Chu Nan Du said, his face red and his heart pounding as he told a lie.

“Oh, A Li sent me a message saying that he’s going to play with Xiao Shi, and we don’t have to wait for them after we finish eating.”

“Let them go.”

·

“A Shi, are you full?”

“Yeah,” Jiang Shi said, looking at him with a smile.

Su Zhao Li suddenly thought of something, “I’m talking to you seriously.”

“I’m also talking seriously.”

“You’re bad,” Su Zhao Li said, pointing at him from behind.

“A Shi,” Su Zhao Li took his hand, “School is starting soon. I haven’t really walked around here in the two years I’ve been here. Let’s go shopping, I need to buy some new things for university.”

“Okay.”

The mall wasn’t far from where they ate, so the two of them walked there directly, which was a good way to digest their food.

“A Shi, there’s a dry pot place nearby, I want to eat their shrimp. Can we go there for dinner tonight?”

“You just finished lunch and you’re already thinking about dinner? Didn’t you eat enough just now?”

“It was okay, but I was too embarrassed to keep eating with the elders there.”

“What’s wrong with that? They all know you. Do you want to buy something to eat now?”

“No, let’s just have dinner earlier.”

“…”

The two of them walked and talked. Just as the green light was about to end, there were no more pedestrians on the crosswalk. A delivery scooter that was in a hurry ran onto the crosswalk, “Da” the red light turned on.

The rider, who had already started, didn’t expect there to be another vehicle on the crosswalk. The accident happened in front of Su Zhao Li.

The scooter was knocked away, and the rider fell to the ground, blood flowing from under him.

Pedestrians and several car owners quickly gathered around. Some were reporting the situation, and some were calling.

Traffic police in reflective protective clothing quickly arrived to report the situation and evacuate the crowd. The scene in front of him flashed before Su Zhao Li’s eyes like a revolving lantern and was stretched out.

He couldn’t see anything in front of him, and he couldn’t hear the chaotic sounds. Jiang Shi’s voice calling him was also as blurry as if trapped in the tide.

It wasn’t until he was carried away by Jiang Shi that he realized how bad his situation was.

His pale face was covered in layers of sweat. The soreness that started from his knees quickly spread to his whole body. A feeling of powerlessness filled him, and the trembling was more violent than ever before.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. He’s okay, and you’re okay too.” Jiang Shi found a place to sit down, hugged Su Zhao Li tightly, and began to comfort him.

Jiang Shi grabbed his trembling and icy hands, constantly breathing on them, trying to give him some warmth.

The August sun was still hot, but it didn’t seem to be able to warm Su Zhao Li.

“It’s okay, it’s okay…”

Faced with his helpless lover who was constantly trying to comfort him, Su Zhao Li let out a long breath, suppressed his trembling body, and tried to give him a smile.

“I’m so weak now, you can eat me however you want,” Su Zhao Li wanted to make a joke to comfort him.

“Don’t say that, let’s not talk about it, okay?” Jiang Shi kissed him, kissed his pale lips, kissed his tear-filled eyes, kissed his forehead covered in cold sweat.

“Am I very ugly right now?” Su Zhao Li asked him.

“You’re very beautiful. Our A Li has always been the most beautiful person in the world.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“A Shi, don’t cry.”

Su Zhao Li wanted to touch Jiang Shi’s face, which was soaked with tears, but his hand was held tightly by Jiang Shi.

He was anxiously trying to get up.

“Don’t cry…”

“It’s all my fault, A Li, I did so many wrong things. I hurt you before, twice. Why don’t you blame me? Why don’t you tell me? Why don’t you hit me? When you get better, hit me, okay? I’m not good to you, not good at all. I’ve done so many wrong things.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, and you haven’t been bad to me.” Su Zhao Li broke free from Jiang Shi’s hand, supported himself to sit up with his trembling hands, and wiped away the tears on his face.

“Smile.”

Jiang Shi looked at the person in front of him, who was so weak, with tears all over his face, but still wanted him to smile. He thought of what Mother Chu had said in the restaurant. Su Zhao Li was clearly the best person, so why did he have to experience these things?

He couldn’t imagine what Su Zhao Li looked like when he heard about his parents’ death, and he couldn’t imagine what he looked like when he was besieged in his home. Why did things have to be like this, why did they have to treat him like this.

Jiang Shi grabbed his hand and pressed it to his face, gently kissing him, as if Su Zhao Li was a fragile porcelain doll.

At this moment, Jiang Shi vowed that he would protect Su Zhao Li with his whole life, the love of his life.