He had his back to the door as he quietly buttoned up his pajamas and looked down to fold up the bath towel.
Yun Xin leaned against the door with her arms folded. “Weren’t you not coming back? Though your good-for-nothing uncle is here, so you had to come.”
Wen Qingying still lowered his head as he did his own thing, and when he turned around to put away the bath towel, he looked at her indifferently.
“Don’t look at me like that, Wen Qingying. Is it fun to pretend to be a pig and eat the tiger[mfn]a metaphor for scheming to deceive. Pretending to be weak so the opponent will ignore you, then taking the opportunity to win the final victory[/mfn]?” Yun Xin was immediately angry when she saw his expression and began to speak loudly and incoherently, “If you’re coming back, then doesn’t that just mean you want something? Did you really think that you could take over the family business if my dad told you to? Don’t get too cocky, I tell you! You’re deaf and mute; how can you take over any business?”
Wen Qingying frowned slightly.
When Yun Xin saw his expression change, she immediately sneered and said, “What? Did I hurt your feelings?”
Wen Qingying lowered his head and typed a line of words on his phone, then walked to her, holding the door with one hand and holding the phone in front of her eyes with the other. “Sorry, I need to rest.”
He immediately tried to close the door, but Yun Xin stood there regardless, not letting him escape. “Wen Qingying, you think you’re so great? Isn’t gaining attention and sympathy all you can do? You’re a grown man—if you don’t play deaf and mute, are you going to die or what? Huh?”
The soundproofing in the house was very good, but Yun Xin became more and more agitated as she spoke. Her voice became too loud, and Yun Nan, who lived on the same floor, was startled and ran out in a hurry.
Seeing the confrontation between the two, she hurried over to pull Yun Xin: “Jie, what’re you doing? Ge finally came back, so what are you arguing about? I’ll accompany you back to sleep, okay?”
“Yun Nan! Have a conscience!” Yun Xin turned to look at her with wide eyes, “He’s your brother, so am I not your sister? Am I not?”
Yun Nan was anxious to pull her away: “That’s not what I meant. Jie, let’s go; it’s time to go back to sleep.”
Yun Xin pointed at Wen Qingying: “Are you happy? Now that my sister is protecting you, you must be especially happy, right? Wen Qingying, you’re too cruel! You and your mother took away my father, took away the family business, and now you want to take away my sister!”
She suddenly cried as she spoke: “Why do you want to take away my sister? Why do you want to take away my family!”
Yun Nan was at a loss when she saw her crying and could only persuade her dryly: “Jie, jie, don’t be like this; no one wants to take away father, and ge didn’t take me away; we’re all a family.”
“We’re not a family!” Yun Xin said angrily.
Wen Qingying had been expressionless and motionless but suddenly took a step forward and grabbed Yun Xin’s wrist, trying to pull her aside.
Yun Xin grabbed the door and refused to let go, but Wen Qingying easily broke her hold. She screamed and hit him, but it was like an ant trying to shake a tree.
When Wen Qingying got angry, he was so strong that she even felt like she was going to be crushed.
After being led along for a while, Yun Xin suddenly became silent.
Yun Nan was frightened, but she didn’t dare to shout loudly. Yun He usually liked quiet, and his room was far away from here, but it was not necessarily that he couldn’t hear. She had to hurriedly follow the two of them.
After passing through the entire corridor, they arrived in front of Yunxin’s room. Wen Qingying twisted the door open, turned around, and gestured to let Yun Nan not follow, then dragged Yun Xin in and threw her on the bed.
Yun Xin raised her eyes fiercely, and he looked back at her indifferently, gesturing, “Please don’t say these things in front of Yun Nan; she will be scared!”
After gesturing, regardless of whether Yun Xin understood or not, Wen Qingying turned around and was about to leave, but Yun Xin suddenly jumped up from the bed, held his waist from behind, and cried, “Wen Qingying! I hate you! I hate you so much! I’ll kill you!”
Wen Qingying frowned, struggled, and turned around, dragged her arm, pushed her on the bed again, then picked up the silk scarf at the head of her bed and tied one of her hands to the bedpost.
Then, while she was struggling, he turned around and walked out the door quickly.
The door closed behind them, and Wen Qingying touched Yun Nan’s head soothingly, then went back to the room and changed back into the clothes he originally wore as quickly as possible.
After leaving the bedroom, seeing Yun Nan crying as she waited there, Wen Qingying waved at her and went downstairs.
When he reached the hallway, Wen Qingying turned around and saw that Yun Xin had broken free from her restraints and was standing in the corridor on the second floor, looking down at him and yelling, “Fuck off! You bastard! If you have the guts, then never come to my house again! Go to hell!”
Wen Qingying turned his head and put his arm around the shoulder of Yun Nan, who followed him. He patted her lightly, lowered his eyes, then opened the door and went out.
It was like this every time. Every time Wen Qingying had to return to this house, Yun Xin would be inexplicably hysterical, like a mental patient.
But Wen Qingying never blamed her, because from a special perspective, their fates were exactly the same.
Also, because there was Yun Nan in between them, as the older brother and sister, they both loved her with great effort.
It was a bit far from the suburban villa to the city downtown, and it would take an hour by car. When he arrived at a main road, Wen Qingying called a taxi.
While waiting for the car, he sent a message to Tao Ling: “Sir, I have seen my relatives and am now preparing to go home.”
The car came, and the driver called him. Wen Qingying hung up, checked the license plate, and got in the car directly.
The driver tried to make conversation with him, but he pointed to his throat and waved.
“What? Such a handsome young man is mute?” The driver sighed in surprise.
Looking down at the phone, Tao Ling had sent another message: “You’re going back so late? Why don’t you stay at home?”
Wen Qingying thought for a moment and replied, “Sir, I don’t like it here, and I’m used to my bed.”
After exiting, he sent another message to Yun Nan: “Nannan, tell your dad tomorrow morning that I’m leaving. If he doesn’t ask, don’t tell him. If you want to tell him, say that I have something to do in the store.”
Yun Nan immediately said, “Ge, I’m sorry.”
Wen Qingying: “I’m sorry, ge scared you. Be good, Nannan. Good night.”
Tao Ling sent a message at last, “Be careful on the road.” After Wen Qingying responded, the phone stopped ringing.
After sitting still for a long time, Wen Qingying opened the window. The cold winter wind blew over his head, making one’s head ache.
Wen Qingying set the location at the west gate of the school. When he got out of the car, it was almost twelve o’clock.
He took a deep breath, walked to the door of the flower shop, stood there for a few seconds, and continued to walk along the road.
Tao Ling must have fallen asleep at this time. Wen Qingying took out his phone while walking, before finally putting it back in.
After a while, he reached his community and took out his card and keys. Wen Qingying glanced around casually and suddenly found a familiar figure not far away.
He was stunned, turned his head, and saw Tao Ling standing diagonally across the road.
The two saw each other at the same time.
Wen Qingying hurriedly retrieved the card and ran to the opposite side.
Tao Ling wanted to run, but his feet were slower than Wen Qingying’s, so he simply stayed where he was. He smiled and opened his arms, welcoming a hug within this winter cold.
Both of them were cold, but all the coldness melted away in an instant.
It was late at night, and Tao Ling was already frozen stiff. Just after sending a message to Wen Qingying, he felt really uneasy and went out immediately. He didn’t expect that it would take Wen Qingying so long to get here.
And he forgot to wear a scarf.
After hugging for a while, Wen Qingying frowned, took off his scarf, and wrapped it around him, holding his hand and walking into the community.
Wen Qingying pursed his lips all the way and held Tao Ling’s hand with great force.
When they got home, he immediately closed the window and turned on the heater, turned around and rubbed his palms to warm them, put them on Tao Ling’s face to warm him, and then hurriedly pinched his hands.
After a while, he found that Tao Ling was really cold, so he simply opened his down jacket and stuffed Tao Ling’s hands directly onto his stomach.
Tao Ling was startled and wanted to pull his hands away immediately, but Wen Qingying grabbed his wrists and refused to let go.
“Idiot, it’ll freeze you. I can just warm up later.” Tao Ling said to himself.
During the whole process, Wen Qingying just looked straight at him. Tao Ling felt that he might be angry, but mostly guilty.
He was too strong, and Tao Ling stopped struggling when he saw that he couldn’t struggle.
After a while, he took a step forward in this awkward posture, leaned towards Wen Qingying, tilted his head, and rested his face on his shoulder.
Wen Qingying froze for a moment and then finally released the grip on his hands and turned to hug his shoulders.
Tao Ling was freed, and he was completely embraced by Wen Qingying. He felt that there was no better place to go than this.
Warmth began to climb from the soles of his feet. Tao Ling couldn’t help it; he reached both his hands towards the back from Wen Qingying’s tight abdomen and hugged his waist.
TL: Happy holidays everyone!
