PTBLSI chapter 44

 

Qi Xi looked at Fu Yanchuan carefully, surprised. Ever since he had known him, Fu Yanchuan had often been silent. This was the first time he had said something like that to him. Qi Xi asked uncertainly, “Brother Yan, what are you thinking about? Me?”

Fu Yanchuan fell silent again. He tightened his arms around Qi Xi, pressed his lips against him, and sucked them in. Then, he suddenly bit his lip.

Qi Xi shrank back in fright. However, Fu Yanchuan let go of him and avoided the topic by asking, “Besides hot pot, what else did you eat?”

Qi Xi started counting. “A lot: fried chicken, grilled squid, big hot dogs, and milk tea. The mall we went to today had so much food. Next time, let’s go together again, okay?”

All Fu Yanchuan could think about was how none of the food Qi Xi ate was healthy. He immediately became dissatisfied with Qi Xi’s so-called best friend. Didn’t he know that Qi Xi gets sick easily? Was this how he took care of people?

Fu Yanchuan touched Qi Xi’s stomach and asked, “Are you in any discomfort?”

“No.”

Qi Xi felt healthy, but after flying and walking around all evening, he couldn’t stop yawning. “Brother Yan, let’s sleep.”

“Tired?”

Qi Xi rested his head on Fu Yanchuan’s shoulder and nodded. “Yeah. We walked around for a long time. I bought Xie Hui a lot of things. I finally got to buy things for him, too!”

Hearing the name Xie Hui again, Fu Yanchuan pushed Qi Xi up. “Go to sleep.”

“Oh.” Qi Xi reluctantly looped his arms around Fu Yanchuan’s neck, kissed his neck, and said, “I’m going. Brother Yan, you should sleep early too.”

Fu Yanchuan didn’t move. Qi Xi slowly let go of him and got down.

They had slept together outside for several days. To Qi Xi, it felt like nothing had changed. He naturally went back to his own room.

Fu Yanchuan stared at Qi Xi’s back until he was out of sight. Then, his gaze darkened. He picked up the down jacket that Qi Xi had just taken off and found a smartwatch in the pocket that hadn’t even been turned on yet.

It must be the gift Xie Hui gave Qi Xi. He examined it for a moment, took a photo, and sent it to his personal assistant.

[Buy the same model. Deliver it tomorrow morning.]

When Qi Xi woke up the next day, he thought Fu Yanchuan had already gone to work. Hugging the orange cat, he went out and saw Fu Yanchuan in the living room instead.

He ran over, sat beside him, leaned against him, and asked, “Brother Yan, aren’t you going to work?”

“No. Vacation is starting soon.”

Qi Xi remembered that Spring Festival was coming up. He looked at Fu Yanchuan and asked, “Are you going home for the Spring Festival?”

Fu Yanchuan pulled him over in one motion. Qi Xi ended up lying on his legs again. Fu Yanchuan lowered his eyes and looked at him. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

When Qi Xi was little, he really looked forward to the Spring Festival. His mom would let him eat as many snacks as he wanted, his grandpa would buy him gifts, and Qi Feng would even stay home and play with him during those days.

But later, no one bought him gifts anymore. No one cooked his favorite dishes for him on New Year’s Eve anymore. Everything had changed, even though it was clearly the same house and the same number of people.

At that time, he wondered if he had become invisible. Otherwise, why did it feel like no one could see him? Qi Tian Dasheng was the only one who kept him company.

He looked back at Fu Yanchuan and wanted to nod, but ultimately didn’t. Even though Fu Yanchuan had been living there for a while, he hadn’t forgotten that it wasn’t his home. Fu Yanchuan had his own family. He couldn’t stay with him all the time.

Not receiving an answer, Fu Yanchuan lowered his head and asked, “You don’t want to?”

“As long as you wish me a ‘Happy New Year’ on New Year’s Day, I’ll be very happy!”

Something in Fu Yanchuan’s eyes stretched out and seized Qi Xi. He grabbed Qi Xi’s neck and kissed him. Qi Xi grabbed Fu Yanchuan’s hair, staring at him wide-eyed for no clear reason, as he was sucked and rubbed.

Fu Yanchuan pulled back and said, “Qi Xi, you can ask me to stay.”

Qi Xi pressed his lips together. They were red and swollen. He replied uncertainly, “But won’t you be with your parents?”

Fu Yanchuan thought for a moment. “Would you be willing to go with me?”

“What?”

“Spend the New Year with my mother.”

Qi Xi blinked. “Can I? Wouldn’t that be strange? What if she doesn’t like me?”

“She will definitely like you.”

Fu Yanchuan kissed him again. This time, it was much gentler. He tossed the orange cat that Qi Xi was holding aside, pressed Qi Xi beneath him, and sank into the sofa.

Qi Xi wasn’t that slow. Ever since the last time he had seen Fu Yanchuan like that, he had deliberately avoided getting too close, even during kisses, and would just let him go afterward.

This time was no different. After kissing Qi Xi until he was weak and about to react, Fu Yanchuan let him go again. “Go eat breakfast.”

“Brother Yan!”

Qi Xi slowly got up. Just as he stood up, Fu Yanchuan suddenly grabbed his hand. Qi Xi thought he was about to do something, but instead, Fu Yanchuan simply put a smartwatch on his wrist.

Fu Yanchuan said calmly, “A gift.”

Qi Xi didn’t realize that it wasn’t the one Xie Hui had given him. While eating breakfast, he bragged to Xie Hui about how nice the watch looked.

Xie Hui didn’t notice the difference either and praised his own taste. Then, he showed Qi Xi his matching one.

Sitting to the side, Fu Yanchuan frowned almost imperceptibly.

New Year’s Eve arrived quickly. First, Qi Xi and Fu Yanchuan went to visit Grandma Qin and brought her gifts, but she was still unwelcoming toward them.

In the afternoon, Fu Yanchuan told Qi Xi to bring pajamas, saying that they wouldn’t be returning that night.

Qi Xi thought they were going to Fu Yanchuan’s house, but they ended up at a sanatorium. This sanatorium was like a villa complex made up of small individual villas, each with its own yard.

Qi Xi looked around curiously as they went in. When they reached the reception room, he saw a woman who looked very gentle. Thinking she was Fu Yanchuan’s mother, Qi Xi greeted her, saying, “Hello, Auntie.”

Fu Yanchuan smiled and pulled him back. “This is the doctor.”

Qi Xi had never seen a doctor not wearing a white coat. Embarrassed, he said, “Then…hello, Doctor Auntie.”

The doctor was amused. “Madam is in the yard.”

Fu Yanchuan held Qi Xi’s hand and led him toward the yard. Qi Xi didn’t forget to thank the doctor.

The doctor had been taking care of Lin Xianjing and had seen Fu Yanchuan many times before. This was the first time she had seen him bring someone along. She looked at Qi Xi a couple more times, still unsure of their relationship.

The yard was an antique-style Chinese courtyard with winding paths and corridors. Lin Xianjing sat in a wheelchair beneath a wintersweet tree.

The moment Qi Xi walked into the yard and saw her, he understood why Fu Yanchuan was handsome. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “Brother Yan, your mom is so pretty!”

Lin Xianjing looked very young, no older than her thirties, and well-maintained. True to her name, she had a serene temperament, sitting there like a painting.[mfn]林娴婧 (Lin Xianjing) 林 (Lín) — “forest”, 娴 (Xián) — graceful, refined, well-mannered, composed, 婧 (Jìng) — beautiful, talented, slender, elegant woman. The name combines the ideas of a forest with refinement and female beauty, forming a name that directly means a refined and beautiful woman, calm and composed in nature.[/mfn]

In fact, Lin Xianjing had barely changed in the last ten years. For most of that time, she didn’t even know who she was. It was as if her life had been frozen 10 years in the past.

Fu Yanchuan let go of Qi Xi and walked toward Lin Xianjing. After quite a while, Lin Xianjing finally raised her head to look at him. After looking at him for a long time, her eyes finally focused as if she were waking from a dream. She smiled at him.

“Yan Yan, you’re here.”

In these ten years, the only thing Lin Xianjing hadn’t forgotten was this nickname, which only she used for Fu Yanchuan.

Fu Yanchuan squatted in front of her. “It’s cold outside. Let’s go inside.”

“No, the flowers smell so good.”

Lin Xianjing looked again at the wintersweet tree. Fu Yanchuan broke off a branch for her. “It’ll still smell good inside.”

“Yan Yan is so smart.”

She patted his head and finally let him push the wheelchair. Then she turned and saw Qi Xi.

Qi Xi subconsciously got nervous. He stiffly bowed to Lin Xianjing. “Hello, Auntie. My name is Qi Xi.”

Lin Xianjing sized Qi Xi up. Fu Yanchuan pushed her forward in front of Qi Xi. She took Qi Xi’s hand and said, “You’re a little friend from Yan Yan’s class, right? You’re so cute. Can I call you Xi Xi?”

After his mom passed away, no woman had spoken to him so kindly. For a moment, he didn’t notice anything strange about being called “little friend,” and he smiled shyly.

Only his mom and grandpa used to call him that. Having Fu Yanchuan’s mom call him that felt strange.

He glanced at Fu Yanchuan for help, but he only looked at him with a smile. Qi Xi could only respond, “I guess… that’s okay.”

Lin Xianjing broke off a few wintersweet blossoms and handed them to Qi Xi. “Here you go, Xi Xi. Flowers Yan Yan picked.”

“Thank you, Auntie.”

He brought the flowers close to his nose, sniffed them, and praised them generously: “They smell so good! Yan Yan is amazing—even the flowers he picks smell this good.”

Lin Xianjing nodded proudly. “Right? I think so too. Xi Xi should be friends with Yan Yan.”

“We’re already best friends!”

Qi Xi said without hesitation. Fu Yanchuan tightened his grip on the wheelchair as he looked at Qi Xi, who didn’t spare him a glance. Fu Yanchuan spoke up. “Let’s go inside first. It’s cold.”

After going inside, Fu Yanchuan became the odd man out. Lin Xianjing wanted to arrange the wintersweet, so Qi Xi looked everywhere for a vase. When the doctor offered to help, Qi Xi stopped her.

He didn’t think to ask anyone and searched around with Lin Xianjing. They finally found a vase that hadn’t been used in who knows how long. They put the wintersweet branch in it.

Holding the small branch that Lin Xianjing had given him, he said to her, “Auntie, wait a moment.”

After a while, he found a small glass bottle and put the little branch with just a few blossoms in it. He placed it next to the vase.

Suddenly, Lin Xianjing stood up from the wheelchair, leaned toward the small bottle, and said to Qi Xi, “This is so cute! Xi Xi is amazing!”

Qi Xi stared in shock. “Auntie, can you walk?”

Lin Xianjing was stunned for a moment, as if she couldn’t remember if she could walk. She looked at Qi Xi uncertainly. “I think… I can?”

When she stood up, Lin Xianjing was taller than Qi Xi had imagined. She was very thin, yet her posture was dignified and elegant. Qi Xi blurted out, “Auntie, you’re so pretty! You look like a fairy. No wonder Brother Yan is so handsome—he looks like you!”

“Xi Xi really knows how to talk, unlike Yan Yan.”

“Auntie, are you saying I’m better than Yan Yan?”

Lin Xianjing looked him over, then suddenly patted his head to comfort him. “Our Yan Yan is still the best!”

Qi Xi wasn’t discouraged at all, though, and instead praised Lin Xianjing. “If I had such a good-looking mom, I’d be better looking too.”

Lin Xianjing suddenly laughed.

The doctor had taken care of her for ten years. It was the first time she had seen Lin Xianjing smile at someone other than Fu Yanchuan. It was also the first time she had seen her talk so much. She finally understood why Fu Yanchuan had brought Qi Xi here. To everyone else, Lin Xianjing was a patient, but Qi Xi seemed completely unaware, cooperating with her as if she were a friend.

The entire afternoon, Qi Xi stayed with Lin Xianjing, drawing comics and telling her the stories behind them. Finally, Lin Xianjing praised him: “Xi Xi draws better than Yan Yan!”

Qi Xi immediately became proud. “Yan Yan says I draw well, too!”

Watching them, Fu Yanchuan thought of his own childhood. Whenever Fu Zhenrong thought he hadn’t done something well, he would punish him by making him face the wall at the end of the corridor. But when Zhenrong wasn’t around, Xianjing would come over, sit beside him, face the wall with him, and tell him stories.

He still remembered one of those stories. There was a little pig whose dad taught him to be brave. So, when the little pig met a wolf, he bravely fought it. Then, he met a tiger and fought it too. In the end, the little pig returned home covered in injuries, thinking that he still wasn’t brave enough.

Later, the little pig met a rabbit. The rabbit told him, “Your dad isn’t right about everything. Everyone has their own strengths. You just need to do what you like.”

Each time Lin Xianjing finished a story, she gave him a chocolate.

When it got dark, the New Year’s Eve dinner that Fu Yanchuan had ordered was delivered. There was a full table, but only the three of them were there.

Lin Xianjing didn’t know it was New Year’s Eve today. To her, it was just a day when her son got out of kindergarten. Qi Xi was just a friend her son had brought home to play with. But, in reality, Fu Yanchuan had never attended kindergarten.

While eating, she kept picking food for Fu Yanchuan and Qi Xi. She told them, “Don’t be picky. Picky little friends won’t grow tall.”

Qi Xi wasn’t usually picky, but Fu Yanchuan was. Qi Xi squeezed next to him and also picked food for Fu Yanchuan. He pressed one hand on Fu Yanchuan’s thigh under the table as if he’d found someone to rely on. He said, “Yan Yan, you have to eat properly, okay? If you don’t eat on time, your mom will be sad.”

Fu Yanchuan took Qi Xi’s hand and leaned close to his ear. “Xi Xi isn’t being good.”

Being called “Xi Xi” by Fu Yanchuan made Qi Xi shiver. He quickly backed away and complained to Lin Xianjing, “Auntie, Yan Yan isn’t eating properly, and he’s bullying me!”

“Yan Yan, don’t bully Xi Xi. You finally made a friend; you have to get along, understand?”

Fu Yanchuan smiled without realizing it.

After dinner, Lin Xianjing needed to take her medicine. Because the medicine had a sedative effect, she would fall asleep after taking it.

Before going to sleep, she suddenly grabbed Qi Xi’s hand and gave him a candy. She said to him, “Don’t be afraid. Just listen to Dad.”

After Lin Xianjing left, Qi Xi picked up the candy and recognized it as the same kind of candy that was especially sweet that Fu Yanchuan had given him before. Finally, he asked Fu Yanchuan, “Brother Yan, is your mom… kind of like me, not very smart?”

There was no one else left in the reception room. Fu Yanchuan wrapped an arm around Qi Xi, sat down on the sofa, and suddenly hugged him tightly. He buried his face in the hollow of Qi Xi’s neck for a long time before saying, “She’s crazy.”

Qi Xi was shocked. After a long silence, Fu Yanchuan told him, “Ten years ago, I left for two years. After I left, she tried to kill herself. When I came back two years later, I found out she had survived but gone mad.”

Qi Xi hadn’t expected it to be like this. Not knowing what to say, he could only hug Fu Yanchuan tightly and pat his head the way Lin Xianjing had patted his.

Fu Yanchuan continued, “She used to be a dancer. When I was little and learning the cello, I would play for her, and she would dance along.”

The scene turned into a picture in Qi Xi’s mind, and he froze for a moment. Suddenly, Fu Yanchuan raised his head, looked straight at Qi Xi, and asked, “Did I scare you?”

“What?”

Qi Xi asked in confusion. Suddenly, Fu Yanchuan picked him up and walked toward the bedroom they would use tonight.

“Nothing. Sleep.”

 

---

You can read the full completed story here with instant full access. ✨