The black SUV slowly drove into the villa area. The headlights lit up the road ahead, and the place where the light was shed always gave the illusion that the outside temperature was not low.
When they were almost to the Chen house, the man in the driver’s seat began to look around, craning his neck. After carefully analyzing the road conditions, he skillfully turned the steering wheel to park the car sideways in the parking space. Soon, when the car was steadily parked and the engine turned off, the interior instantly fell into darkness, with only the faint light from the nearest streetlamp crawling over the windshield, casting a few streaks of light on their faces.
What his gaze happened to catch when he looked up were two separate villas, brightly lit.
His actions of unfastening his seatbelt stopped abruptly. Yan Cheng seemed to suddenly think of something. His eyes narrowed, and his gaze inadvertently swept over the person in the passenger seat. He pursed his lips, as if he had something to say rolling around between his teeth. He frowned and weighed it for several seconds, probably feeling that he already knew the answer, so he didn’t speak again. At this moment, Chen Jinyao still had her head down, but because she was wearing too much and it was too puffy, her actions were clumsy. She had been earnestly fumbling for a good half day, rustling about, but in the end she was still impatient and unable to unfasten her seatbelt.
Yan Cheng really couldn’t stand watching any longer, so he leaned over to help.
“You’re a bit stupid!” He clicked his tongue, unable to hold back from muttering a criticism.
Then, the moment the words left his mouth, Chen Jinyao very rudely choked him, looking fierce, “Say that again if you dare!”
“……” The desire to survive made him shut his mouth.
The couple arrived at the Chen house shortly before 6:30. The sky outside had already darkened, the night curtain was being pulled down inch by inch, then dotted with stars across the sky.
The one who came bouncing to open the door for them after hearing the doorbell was Chen Jinyao’s sister, Chen Jinyao.
“Sis, brother-in-law.” She greeted them enthusiastically and took the things they bought, then complained, “You two came so late, I was almost starving.”
“Mainly because we went shopping after work.” Chen Jinyao supported Yan Cheng as they changed into slippers and teased, “It’s not that late, just in time for dinner.”
At this time, Auntie came out of the kitchen carefully carrying a casserole of mutton soup.
The rich aroma wafted over, and Chen Jinyao pursed her lips, rendered speechless.
The two sisters usually had a good relationship. Occasionally bickering once in a while was instantly forgotten. When they were young they had been the most natural alliance. At times like this, even if her sister was unkind she still couldn’t be unjust. She slowly sidled over, eyes curved smiling mysteriously, “Since you two came back just because I told you to come back, hmm, brace yourself anyway.”
Her words were ambiguous. Chen Jinyao narrowed her eyes, confused.
The living room was bright and the TV was on and noisy.
When Chen Jinyao put the gifts they brought on the coffee table, her dad glanced at them, then got up enthusiastically to welcome them in, “It’s just a family dinner at home, why bring things? Come on in, let’s eat.”
“Yan Cheng, we men will have to drink a few glasses today,” her dad called out familiarly to Yan Cheng, instantly closing the distance between them, not a trace of strangeness with his son-in-law.
Since his father-in-law had taken the initiative to extend an olive branch, Yan Cheng naturally had no reason not to take it. He restrained his usual roguishness and was unusually serious, “Sure.”
He looked exactly like an extremely satisfactory obedient son-in-law.
As soon as he finished speaking, he was viciously kicked by the expressionless Chen Jinyao next to him.
The pain made him subconsciously hiss, and he glared at her.
Chen Jinyao was unyielding, “What do you mean sure!”
“……” Ungrateful, aren’t I trying to get on your dad’s good side?
Her dad usually didn’t have many hobbies, except for drinking a little.
Due to his health, doctors had advised him to drink less, but he just wouldn’t listen. Especially when there were guests at home, he would seize the opportunity to drink and chat merrily with them.
This was probably the most justified time he could drink a little.
Chen Jinyao set the tableware, “Dad, you’d better not drink.”
“Yes, Dad, we still have to go back later, Yan Cheng has to drive.” Chen Jinyao sighed and chimed in agreement.
Her dad was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly raised his voice, “Go back? Go back for what? Don’t we have rooms at home?”
“I have to work tomorrow.” She was a little helpless. “The clinic over there is too far.”
It felt like confronting a flood or fire head on.
What was frightening was that it couldn’t be blocked or covered up. “You can drive.”
The stubborn old man was obsessive about his little habit to the extreme.
There was no persuading him. If you try to persuade him, he’ll glare at you.
After the little interlude,
the family was still quite harmonious at the dinner table.
It was just that, under Chen Jinyao’s winks, Chen Jinyao gradually discovered something wrong, such as the dishes on the table, especially the ones placed in front of her and Yan Cheng, were supplements, and her mother kept putting food in their bowls, and was very attentive in urging Yan Cheng to drink the mutton soup.
One bowl was not enough, she still wanted him to have another bowl.
“Mom, this is……” She pursed her lips, a little hard to bring up.
Her mother cut her off, “You have a weak constitution and are afraid of the cold, eat more.”
“……” I may have a weak constitution and be afraid of the cold, but why target me? There was no need to implicate the innocent, what did this have to do with Yan Cheng? Chen Jinyao was rendered speechless. She turned her face and secretly glanced at Yan Cheng, only to see him put down his bowl after drinking the wine, his earlobes already red. He drank the mutton soup very satisfyingly. She lowered her eyes to stare at his belly for a while, slightly bulging, the corner of her mouth twitching imperceptibly. Chen Jinyao leaned towards him and whispered in his ear, “Don’t drink too much of this stuff.”
As soon as Yan Cheng heard this, he immediately understood. Then he became happy and bit her ear in return, deliberately blowing into Chen Jinyao’s ear, the hot and humid breath carrying the smell of alcohol, “Are you afraid?”
“Yes, yes, I’m afraid you’ll explode on the spot if ignited,” she returned.
“Tsk.” Hearing this, Yan Cheng recovered his momentary laziness and smiled roguishly, “Don’t be afraid, you’re here right?”
Chen Jinyao frowned, “??????”
“A fire extinguisher.”
“……………………”
Although she couldn’t hear clearly what secrets they were whispering to each other, her mother still vaguely sensed the subtle ambiguous atmosphere between them, quite harmonious, with some sense of a couple going through life properly. This relieved her worries a lot.
She felt like there were some things she wanted to point out at the table, but after thinking about it, she still put it back in her stomach.
The recent rumors about them and Huo’s family outside made her start to regret it. She regretted marrying off her daughter in a hurry to cut off her delusions for a married man, which led to the even more embarrassing situation now.
She designed this “Hongmen Banquet” dinner, which may have had a somewhat insidious taste, but her original intention was still to hope her daughter and son-in-law could live well together.
“Yao Yao, you two are about the same age.” But she still had to hint around about what she should, not noticeable checking them out several times, pondering for a long time, she still plucked up the courage to ask, “Have you ever thought about when to have a baby?” She was conservative. When she heard people say outside that the Yan-Chen marriage wouldn’t last long, she anxiously wanted to help out.
And a child was a tie that bound a marriage together.
The sudden and awkward turn in topic caught Yan Cheng off guard. He almost burned himself on the mutton and threw it back into the bowl. He endured it and hooked up the corners of his foxy eyes. After thinking about it, he deliberately kicked the ball back to Chen Jinyao with bad intentions, “I’m fine with anything, it depends on what Jinyao thinks. I respect her opinion.”
Chen Jinyao’s parents nodded satisfactorily at this reply.
Then they unanimously fixed their eyes on Chen Jinyao.
“…………………………” She had just shoveled some rice into her mouth and almost spat it out again, “????????”
Next to her, Chen Jinyao, who was a bystander, refused to get involved but didn’t hide it either, pursing her lips and holding her belly while laughing uncontrollably.
Her mother now felt she was giving well-meant but unwelcome advice, “Yao Yao, you’re not young anymore.”
The atmosphere at the dinner table changed. It no longer felt as harmonious as at the beginning.
Under Yan Cheng’s teasing gaze, Chen Jinyao felt even more flustered on her face. She gave some vague perfunctory responses, taking them as her listening and agreeing.
She was afraid that if she didn’t give some indication, she would be nagged to death.
It was all just pretext, like travelling during New Year’s or coming early to pay New Year visits.
If she had known it would be like this, she would rather die than come.
………
This dinner was really too difficult to get through.
In the end, Chen Jinyao practically fled pulling Yan Cheng along.
She didn’t want to listen, she didn’t want to listen. It was like listening to scriptures chanted by a tortoise1.
But you can run from the monks but not the temple. Before leaving the Chen house, her mother pulled Chen Jinyao aside and asked her, “That Yan Cheng treats you well, right?”
As parents, their hearts still leaned towards their own child no matter what.
“Very well, don’t worry,” Chen Jinyao nodded.
After a pause, she added, “I’ll live my own life well by myself. Mom, today makes me very embarrassed.”
“What’s there to be embarrassed about,” her mother didn’t think so. “I’m doing this for your sake. I’m afraid you’ll…” She suddenly stopped talking in the second half of the sentence.
“Afraid I’ll what? Afraid I’ll do something earth-shattering again because of Huo Qidong? Mom, you’ve never believed me. Those things in high school, I didn’t do them.”
“Look at you, you still have that expression, the expression of not believing me.”
“Anyway, don’t do this anymore in the future. Yan Cheng and I will be fine living our days. When you guys do this, I don’t even know what to do instead.” Chen Jinyao said all this in one breath. Her brows were slightly furrowed. “Forget it, let’s not talk about it anymore. It’s already 9 o’clock, let’s get going first.”
Her mom, “Alright, anyway as long as you say it’s good for you I’ll believe it for now. Right, I packed the mutton soup for you to take away. You can just simmer it and eat it when you get home.”
“……”
———————————————–
“My mom is awesome, she used to urge me to marry before, now urging me to give birth, too scary,” coming out of the Chen house, Chen Jinyao still seemed somewhat apprehensive.
Yan Cheng walked by her side, holding her hand, a shallow fleeting smile flashing in his eyes.
She concluded, “They just want to use every means to solidify our marriage.”
The hazy moonlight lengthened the shadows of the two.
After a moment of silence, Chen Jinyao looked up at him and shook his hand, seeming to laugh and not laugh while asking, “Hey, are you hot?”
“Hot,” Yan Cheng admitted very frankly.
“Don’t worry, just take a bath when you get home and you’ll be fine.”
The man lifted the corners of his lips, “I don’t think that’ll work.”
“……”
When they were almost at the parking space, they ran into Huo Qidong.
It was so late, yet he was still wandering around, walking his family’s Golden Retriever.
Such an encounter was rather awkward. Yan Cheng reacted quickly, immediately pretending to be drunk and slumping over Chen Jinyao, burying his furry head in the crook of her neck and rubbing it.
In the dark of night, Huo Qidong’s eyes narrowed, “Yao Yao, long time no see.”
His tone even carried an intimate feeling like meeting an old friend.
“……” Chen Jinyao nodded not very enthusiastically and replied with a “Long time no see”. Then, taking advantage of the deliberately drunk Yan Cheng, she ended this reunion after a long absence.
Huo Qidong squinted with great interest as he watched in the direction the car left.
More than half an hour later, the two of them returned home.
As soon as the car was parked steadily, the “drunkard” in the passenger seat started rustling around. Half-closed eyes, he reached out and twisted her hair tips, murmuring casually, “Yao Yao?”
She subconsciously “hmm”ed, then was stunned for a moment.
Yan Cheng’s thin lips moved slightly, vicious when critiquing, “Really unpleasant to the ear.”
“……” You must not know how the word “death” is written!
It was quietly peaceful for a moment.
Chen Jinyao urged him to get out of the car quickly.
Because inexplicable tranquility in a narrow, dark space with only a lone man and woman could easily produce other “chemical reactions”.
Their eyes collided, seemingly with crackling sounds.
It was almost at the moment she reacted to push him away that Yan Cheng suddenly didn’t know what got into him. With one hand grabbing her wrist and pulling her into his arms, and the other hand pressing down on the back of her head, he leaned down and kissed her.
With her teeth parted open, she was filled with his breath, carrying a faint alcohol smell but aggressive breath, as if wanting to swallow her whole.
- Listening to scriptures chanted by a tortoise (????) is an idiom meaning a very tedious experience. The story goes that a tortoise bit the heel of a monk. To make it let go, the monk chanted scriptures to it the whole night. So it refers to an extremely long drawn-out experience. ↩︎
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