TYAM Chapter 99

Jiang Wang dragged Peng Xingwang back to a concealed spot, peeked around to check both sides, and only after confirming no one was nearby did he straighten up to look at Ji Linqiu on the second floor.  

He looked much thinner, his face pale. But the moment their eyes met, it was as if they had never been apart.  

“Hey, Juliet,” Jiang Wang called up to him, tilting his head back. “Aren’t you going to shed a few dramatic tears, get all emotional, and then take a flying leap to elope with me?”  

“Mr. Jiang-meo,” Ji Linqiu rested his chin on his hand, smiling at him. “Your Juliet is already preparing to climb over the wall.”  

“You know how to climb walls?”  

“I can even climb trees.”  

He was never actually under house arrest by his parents. Besides, in the past two months, they hadn’t even bothered to lock the doors. He simply took a turn and slipped right out, circling to the narrow alley at the back of the courtyard to meet Jiang Wang.  

They had not contacted each other once during this time, yet it felt like they had been in touch every day, able to guess exactly what the other was thinking.  

So much so that even such a ridiculous scene felt more like a brief work trip rather than a dramatic reunion, almost comical.  

As soon as Jiang Wang saw Ji Linqiu walking toward him, he reached out and turned Peng Xingwang away.  

“Don’t look back just yet, go admire that old ox by the roadside for a bit.”  

“Huh??”  

Before the kid could react, the two of them kissed over the trellis covered in climbing vines, like an old married couple. Their faces got smudged with dust.  

Before the kiss, Jiang Wang had been a little uncertain.  

But the moment their lips met, he immediately felt reassured, like everything would have a solution.  

He wanted to reach out and touch Linqiu’s face or say something particularly cheesy, but the kid had already turned back.  

“Brother Linqiu!! I missed you so much!!”  

“Shh, keep your voice down.”  

Ji Linqiu crouched down, plucked a stalk of foxtail grass, wove it into a small crown, and placed it on Peng Xingwang’s head.  

“Brother missed you too. Missed you both so much.”  

At this moment, Chen Danhong was still at the neighbor’s house borrowing a threshing machine, and Ji Guoshen was out for a walk. There was still plenty of time.  

Jiang Wang held Ji Linqiu’s hand through the fence covered in interwoven vines and asked in a low voice, “Everything okay at home? Have their emotions settled a bit?”  

Ji Linqiu was silent for a moment.  

“The first month was rough. They got anxious even when the TV played news about bookstores or tutoring classes. But this month, it’s better.”  

Jiang Wang looked up at him uncertainly.  

“Should I talk to them tonight?”  

Ji Linqiu’s gaze darkened slightly.  

“No need.”  

“…Then I’ll stay nearby for a few days, secretly meet with you, and take Xingwang back first. You can talk to them on your own?”  

Ji Linqiu still didn’t agree.  

“That’s not necessary either.”  

Jiang Wang’s heart sank.  

He knew Ji Linqiu too well.  

His baby rarely lost his temper, but when he did, it was usually something big.  

The problem was that Linqiu had always been the most obedient kid growing up. No signs of teenage rebellion whatsoever. But if he’d been bottling it up all this time and planned to explode tonight, Jiang Wang wasn’t even sure if he could stop him.  

Ji Linqiu brushed his fingers over Peng Xingwang’s face through the vines, then looked at Jiang Wang.  

“You two just wait nearby. I’ll call you in for dinner tonight.”  

Jiang Wang instinctively nodded, then abruptly froze.  

Wait a second! Dinner??  

‘Your family treats you like a delicate cabbage and me like a wild boar. Are you sure they’ll actually let us in to eat??’

“You… better be careful.”  

Ji Linqiu glanced at him.  

“They’ve had almost two months to calm down. What do you think I’ve been waiting for?”  

Jiang Wang shrank back slightly, like a schoolboy being scolded by his teacher.  

That was actually a very adult strategy.  

If they had tried to argue and explain everything clearly on the day things blew up, it would’ve just turned into a heated fight. When emotions run high, it doesn’t matter if you’re a grown-up or an elder. Stubbornness can lead to people jumping straight off a balcony on impulse.  

Jiang Wang held Peng Xingwang’s hand and watched Ji Linqiu leave, feeling an unfamiliar tension creep up his spine.  

Like he was back in elementary school, realizing the teacher was about to get mad.  

The more composed Ji Linqiu seemed, the more Jiang Wang could sense the storm brewing beneath the surface.  

Someone’s rebellious phase was finally here.  

By the time Chen Danhong returned home, the courtyard was still eerily quiet.  

Ji Guoshen had gone out early, but when someone loses interest in things, even taking a walk feels dull. In the end, he just returned home to watch an old anti-Japanese war drama on TV.  

Chen Danhong sat with Ji Linqiu, picking vegetables in silence for a while before suddenly speaking.  

“Last week, I said I was going back to my mother’s house to pick up something, but actually, I went to Yuhan.”  

Ji Guoshen immediately switched off the TV and glared at her.  

“You went to Yuhan without telling me??”  

She lowered her head even more, as if admitting fault.  

“I left in a hurry. My friends at the senior university… thought I was sick or something. Even my teacher was looking for me, saying that even if I quit, I should at least take my books and assignments with me.”  

“So I went back.”  

Ji Linqiu didn’t react, just used his nails to pluck off the dried leaves on the vegetable stems, his fingertips stained with green juice.  

Chen Danhong thought that after nearly two months of emotional numbness, her son would finally show some reaction. But he still seemed like an empty shell, lost and absent.  

In a panic, she blurted out, “And then… I couldn’t help but tell Professor David about it.”  

He was a foreigner, completely unrelated to their social circle, very knowledgeable and kind. Surely, he could offer some advice.  

“I told him everything, and I said… I was really worried, asked if I should find a doctor, at least to help him adjust.”  

At this point, even she struggled to continue.  

“And then… David said… this is completely normal in England. You see it everywhere.”  

Ji Guoshen had still been sitting in the living room, but he couldn’t help himself anymore. He grabbed a stool and sat closer. “It’s more open abroad.”  

Chen Danhong glanced at Ji Linqiu cautiously, but he just kept picking vegetables.  

This quiet, detached son should have been what she had always wanted. Calm and undisturbed by anything.  

But now that it had truly come to this, all she felt was fear.  

She even had the urge to shake him, or say something, anything, just to make him seem alive again.  

Ji Linqiu finished a basket of vegetables and smoothly reached for another bowl of green beans to shell.  

Chen Danhong watched him, her back growing cold.  

After a long silence, she finally spoke.  

“That Professor David asked me if women in China still bind their feet, or if they’re afraid to wear sandals.”  

“I told him, of course not. Not only sandals, nowadays, you see little girls wearing flip-flops everywhere. The only problem is that they might catch a cold.”  

“And then David said, if you go back fifty years, in some places, an unmarried woman showing her legs or feet to a man would be punished. Sometimes even drowned in a pig cage.”

“He said that many things are like this. When emotions run high, it feels like the sky is about to collapse. But in the end, even liking someone of the same gender is just like wearing a qipao or sandals, merely a personal choice. It’s neither illegal nor does it harm anyone.”  

“I… I actually thought what he said made sense.”  

Ji Guoshen was stunned, hoping his son would say something, but Ji Linqiu continued peeling the beans, completely absorbed. Growing anxious, Ji Guoshen grabbed the bowl of vegetables and held it in his arms, pressing his hand down on his son. “Linqiu, say something! It’s been two months! Even if it’s just an explanation to your parents, say something!”  

Ji Linqiu tilted his head, assessing how many beans were left. “Doesn’t seem like enough to eat.”  

Ji Guoshen’s mind went blank. He thought his son had gone mad. Before he could speak, Ji Linqiu lifted his head. “Mom, make a few extra meat dishes tonight, and don’t add chili.”  

“Xingxing and Brother Wang are coming for dinner.”  

Chen Danhong was stunned for a long moment before she nodded, instinctively responding, “Xingxing likes beef. I’ll go buy two pounds.”  

Ji Guoshen also lifted his head, as if finally hearing some good news. “They’re coming over?!”  

Ji Linqiu stood up with a slight smile and turned to leave.  

At 7:10 PM, Jiang Wang was dozing off in the car when someone knocked on the window twice.  

“Come eat.”  

Peng Xingwang cheered, dropping his Switch, and dashed out of the car. “Grandpa Ji—!! Grandma!! Did you miss me?!”  

The courtyard erupted in excited voices, followed by laughter as the elders hurried to pour him water and fetch chopsticks.  

Jiang Wang rolled down the car window, looking toward the warmly lit house. He turned his head and kissed Ji Linqiu. “Should I go in too?”  

“Mm.”  

Although the meeting between the families was awkward, Chen Danhong still prepared five dishes and a soup, along with caramelized sweet potatoes.  

Ji Linqiu took a plate, piled it with Peng Xingwang’s favorite food, and pointed upstairs. “Xingwang, eat on the third floor. I need to talk to my family.”  

The boy had a crispy fried yellow croaker in his mouth and answered readily, grabbing his plate and disappearing upstairs in a flash.  

That left the four adults sitting at the table in silence. Usually, at times like this, Jiang Wang would crack jokes to lighten the mood. But today, before he could say anything, Ji Linqiu sat down directly.  

“Drinking?”  

Ji Guoshen sensed the tension and quickly shook his head.  

Jiang Wang looked into Ji Linqiu’s eyes.  

“Alright, then I’ll drink.”  

Ji Linqiu poured himself a full bowl of homemade sorghum liquor, lifted it with both hands, and downed it all in one go.  

His parents’ expressions changed instantly, reaching out to stop him.  

“Linqiu! What are you doing?!”  

Jiang Wang didn’t intervene. He just watched him.  

Like watching someone finally break free from layers of thorns, crushing every last shackle of fear underfoot.  

Drinking on an empty stomach burned.  

Sorghum liquor had a sharp, overpowering kick, enough to sting one’s eyes red and bring tears to the brink.  

Ji Linqiu had never drunk anything this strong in his life, let alone behaved so recklessly in front of his parents. As the empty bowl clattered onto the table, his cheeks flushed instantly, but his voice remained low and cold as ice.  

“Nobody say anything. I’ll speak.”  

He looked at his parents, his smile calm.  

“It’s been exactly 50 days. Have you both calmed down?”  

Chen Danhong had never seen him like this before. She had been about to bring food from the kitchen but now sat back down, trembling slightly, afraid he might do something drastic.  

“We’ve calmed down, we’ve calmed down. Linqiu, you calm down too.”  

“Mom, let me ask you something. I haven’t seen Jiang Wang for 49 days. Do you think we’ve grown distant?”  

Chen Danhong blankly turned to look at Jiang Wang.  

Not at all.  

Even though they weren’t sitting together, they still felt inseparably connected.  

Ji Linqiu smiled.  

He had drunk too fast, his cheeks were as red as peach blossoms, and his eyes burned with conviction.  

“Even if we hadn’t seen each other for four years, forty years, the moment I stand beside him, it would still be the same.”  

“Even if we’re not holding hands, we’re still holding hands. Even without an embrace, it’s still an embrace.”  

“This person… he’s a man. I’ve kissed him, had sex with him. I’m a man too. I see it clearly.”  

Chen Danhong’s face went pale as she tried to speak, but Ji Linqiu cut her off.  

“I said, let me talk.”  

“My whole life, I’ve never said what I truly wanted. Dad was away teaching in rural areas for years, and you raised me and my sister alone. I know it was hard for you.”  

“So I never asked you for anything. I never refused any of your requests to your face. I’m almost 30 now, and the only time I ever told Dad I wanted something was when he asked if I wanted to go to Normal University.”  

He looked at them, then at Jiang Wang, placing both hands firmly on the table.  

His voice carried a finality he had never expressed in his life.  

“Right now, in the future, for the rest of my life, the only thing I want is to marry Jiang Wang.”  

“Not to sneak around dating. Not to run away from you both in secret. I’ve made up my mind. He’s the only one. Even in the afterlife, it has to be him.”  

“Either we have a grand wedding in a cathedral with a garden, or we bow before the elders and drink our wedding toast in a traditional ceremony.”  

“If you didn’t hear me clearly, I’ll say it again.”  

“I. Want. To. Marry. Him.”