Chapter 60: Jiang Liannan
Li Dong knew Jiang Liannan was fuming. He thought about it and decided not to react.
At this stage, his heart was still tied to Chen Wuhou, while he also could not resist a fresh piece of eye candy.
The reasons for seducing Chen Can were nothing more than two things. One was to take revenge on Chen Wuhou, making him taste the bitterness too.
The other was to dispel loneliness, wanting to know what it felt like to be with a man.
A person like that was quite scummy. He was no better than Chen Wuhou.
After so many worlds, Li Dong understood very well that the “pitiful” often had plenty that made them “detestable.”
These clingy little scummy shous meeting him was, to put it narcissistically, their karmic blessing.
“…” The other refused to look at him and even walked faster.
Staring at Li Dong’s back, Jiang Liannan felt awful. He stopped, folded his arms, and did not move.
He refused to believe that Chen Can would not notice he had fallen behind.
“Why did you stop?” Li Dong had already noticed. He rolled his eyes inwardly and looked back.
“How am I supposed to face people like this?” Jiang Liannan said coolly, touching the reddened corner of his mouth and his lips.
“Where is your mask?” asked Li Dong.
“No idea,” said Jiang Liannan, perfunctory.
“I just saw it.” Li Dong came over and searched the two pockets of his pants. He found the mask quickly. “Here.”
Jiang Liannan kept his face stubborn and acted like he had not seen it.
“I will put it on for you,” Li Dong said, lifting his hands while internally ranting: you are in your mid-thirties, could you please have a little self-awareness? You are not some teen boy, yet acting… spoiled.
“What you said just now made me uncomfortable,” said Jiang Liannan.
“Then I am sorry,” Li Dong replied immediately, cheerful about it.
“It is not about apologizing,” said Jiang Liannan, straightening his mask. “Did I make you misunderstand? I am not casual.”
“I never thought you were casual,” said Li Dong. Which was exactly why feelings should not be discussed lightly. “Come on, they probably started the toasts.”
“…” Jiang Liannan said nothing, his gaze full of stubbornness.
“I really did not,” Li Dong added, softening. He looked like he was reflecting. “Maybe I phrased it badly. If it made you uncomfortable, that is on me.”
He opened his arms and gave Jiang Liannan a warm hug.
“Do you have a straight-guy brain? You can actually say things like that,” Jiang Liannan sniped, then leaned into Li Dong’s chest. His eyes turned wet and wanted to cry.
“Uncle Lian, you really cry so easily,” Li Dong murmured, cupping his face and kissing his damp eyes.
“Get lost…” Jiang Liannan raised a fist and thumped him once.
That one hug and one kiss and Uncle’s mood went sky high. His long-time crush getting married started to feel like, well, just a thing or whatever.
Sure enough, by the time they returned to the main table, the newlyweds had stepped out. The bride went off to change for the toast round.
“Lao Si, you okay?” asked Fu Changyin, craning his neck to study their Lao Si’s eyes. Yes, one hundred percent the look of someone who had cried.
“I am fine. I feel pretty good now,” said Jiang Liannan. “Can-can went in to comfort me. He was right. I should like someone better.”
Everyone was stunned. “…” Wait, Chen Can knows?
All eyes moved to Li Dong. The kid looked unruffled by something that would normally shock people out of their chairs.
Maybe kids who grew up overseas really did have stronger tolerance?
If Li Dong had heard that, he would have laughed. Strong tolerance, where?
If he were so tolerant, he would not be this aggravated by a dumb web novel.
“He knows and did not blame me,” said Jiang Liannan. That was what Chen Can had said himself. This was not the place to say more. “Where is Wu-ge? Why is he not out here toasting?”
“Lao Wu is helping the bride change,” said Feng Mantang. “Pregnant ladies move slower.” He glanced carefully at Jiang Liannan, hoping he had not poked a sore spot.
“Oh.” Jiang Liannan only nodded.
“Uncle Lian, have some tea,” said Li Dong. “Take off the mask. I will get you something to eat.” He looked after him carefully.
Everyone around the table felt relieved and a little touched. The kid really knew how to take care of people. Consider it making up a little for his dad, since Lao Si had it rough all these years.
“Thanks.” Feeling secretly delighted, Jiang Liannan hesitated, then tugged the mask down to his chin and let Li Dong serve him tea and food, playing the part of a real patient who barely needed to lift a hand.
Plenty of men had tried to be attentive to Jiang Liannan over the years. Not to mention pouring tea and serving food, there were many who would have gladly carried his shoes.
He turned them all away and never gave anyone a chance to get close.
Half of it was for keeping his body chaste for Chen Wuhou, and half because his standards were high. Thus, most people did not pass.
Today he finally tasted what it was like to be doted on by someone he was willing to accept. It was bliss to the point of bubbling over.
“Look, the bride and groom are here,” said Feng Mantang, excited.
Everyone focused at once. Even Jiang Liannan, who had been eating, set down his chopsticks to take a good look at what the bride looked like.
When she drew near, several people were a little dumbstruck. “…” Hm… the bride resembled Lao Si by about thirty percent.
Jiang Liannan sat there like a fool. For years, Chen Wuhou had done things exactly like this, always enough to be misleading.
He had always made him feel that he did like him, but could not cross the barrier of worldly opinion, so he ultimately backed down.
“Uncle Lian,” Li Dong patted his shoulder, “get up and toast the bride.”
“Mm…” His eyes were unfocused.
“Do not do that,” Li Dong whispered. “I hate seeing you like this. Keep it up and I will be mad.”
Jiang Liannan wanted to laugh but could not.
“Lao Wu,” he said, “wishing you a hundred years in harmony and a heart as one.” He stood and toasted the couple.
“Thanks, Lao Si,” said Chen Wuhou, smiling. “Thank you. Thank you, brothers.” His arm carefully supported the bride’s waist.
“Hahaha, Lao Wu, I wish you and sister-in-law a hundred years in harmony too. May you have a big healthy son at the start of next year,” said Feng Mantang. “Bottoms up.”
“Alright. Bottoms up,” said Chen Wuhou.
He drank real baijiu. The bride was pregnant, so she drank a soft drink for form’s sake.
“Lao Wu, you have an outstanding son like Can-can, plus a wife and a child on the way,” said Fu Changyin, pointedly. “You are blessed. Cherish the person in front of you. After marriage, run your family steadily.”
Chen Wuhou nodded nonstop. “Okay.” He drained the cup from Fu Changyin, then let his gaze slide over Jiang Liannan’s face.
Seeing him absentminded pleased him. “Come on, Lao Feng, you and I will have another.”
“Who wants to drink with you,” said Feng Mantang. “I will drink with the bride.”
The bride in Chen Wuhou’s arm was a young, shy beauty named Su Ye.
She had just graduated college, a fresh model with curves in all the right places. Pregnancy made her even more lushly full.
Su Ye knew she looked a bit like one of Chen Wuhou’s brothers, but she only smiled and said nothing, acting oblivious.
“This is Lao Si. Call him Fourth Brother,” said Chen Wuhou. “Come, toast him too.” He introduced Jiang Liannan to his newlywed wife with just that sentence, nothing more.
“Fourth Brother,” said Su Ye, gentle and sweet.
Jiang Liannan ignored her and sat back down to eat.
“Leave him,” said Fu Changyin. “He has a cold today. Sick people act like that.”
Jiang Liannan wrinkled his nose. The one acting like that is you.
“And Can-can,” said Chen Wuhou. “You two should toast as well. From now on we are family. No distance allowed.”
Everyone looked at Chen Can. The child had grown up motherless. Now his father was marrying and his stepmother was carrying a baby. What did he feel?
“Okay, Dad,” said Li Dong. “Congratulations on your marriage. A hundred years in harmony.” If they asked him to drink, he drank. Not a trace of reluctance on his smile.
The circle of aunts and uncles secretly ached. The child was too sensible. He would probably suffer a lot in the future.
“Good!”
Done with this table, they moved to the next.
Without blinking, Jiang Liannan watched Li Dong and tugged his mask down. “You okay?”
“Fine.” Li Dong sat and rinsed the taste from his mouth with a glass of water. “Baijiu tastes awful. You should not be drinking if you have a cold.”
A flush crept over Jiang Liannan’s face. He turned his chin away. “I do not have a cold.”
“Hm?” Li Dong tilted his head, puzzled, then oh-ed. “I get it,” he said bluntly. “You are hiding from me.”
Jiang Liannan said nothing. He covered his burning face with both hands.
“What are you shy about? Eat,” Li Dong told him.
He had been busy feeding Jiang Liannan and had barely eaten himself.
The dishes Chen Wuhou had the hotel prepare were very well made.
Sitting beside him, Jiang Liannan’s eyelids flicked now and then. He would glance at Li Dong.
Seeing the boy eating with appetite made him hungry too.
He picked up his chopsticks, eyes fixed on Li Dong’s. When he reached out, their chopsticks touched.
“For you,” Li Dong said without a second word and dropped the piece they both wanted into his bowl. “Eat.”
“Thanks.” Sweet to his core, Jiang Liannan griped inwardly while grinning. This really is straight-guy brain. He cannot tell I did that on purpose?
“Tsk tsk, Lao Si, Can-can treats you well,” said Feng Mantang. From what he could see, Chen Can served Lao Si like he was a pampered spouse.
“I am his Uncle Nan,” said Jiang Liannan. “It is not too much for him to treat me a little better.”
“Exactly,” said Fu Changyin. He looked at Li Dong’s gentle face and bit back other words.
The wedding went by in a round of eating and drinking. No incidents.
Guests who were not close took their leave after the meal. Soon only the tight-knit main table remained.
Chen Wuhou wanted to come back for a few more cups with his brothers, but the bride was pregnant and he was needed. “Su Ye has had a long day. I will take her home first. It is late. We brothers will get together in a few days…”
“Hurry, go with sister-in-law,” said Feng Mantang. “She is carrying a child.” He waved him off. “There will be plenty of time to drink later. Not tonight.”
“Can-can.” Chen Wuhou found Li Dong and immediately instructed, “Your Uncle Nan has been drinking. You drive him home.”
“Okay,” said Li Dong.
Behind his back, he twined his fingers with Jiang Liannan’s.
When everyone had gone, Li Dong heard an intermittent sobbing and felt a head lean against his back.
He frowned slightly. This time he did not know what to say.
After too many lifetimes of partings and reunions, Li Dong could not summon any big highs or lows.
Sometimes he would feel depressed, sometimes angry at their refusal to wise up, sometimes amused by the main shou’s innocence or extreme antics.
Thinking of that, Li Dong realized something.
Every time he entered a new world, he rushed to the main shou’s side.
Maybe it was not just that the main shou needed him. In this vast strange place, he also needed a belief to hold on to.
In a world with no home and no ties, the only familiar person was the main shou.
Leaning on Li Dong’s back, Jiang Liannan wept, “Can-can, your Uncle Lian really did like your dad before.” If not for his pride in his bones, he would have been on his knees licking long ago.
“Oh,” said Li Dong. With someone bawling on his back, all he gave was an oh.
“I still like him now…” Jiang Liannan said with hiccups.
Li Dong pressed his lips together and pried the hands around his waist off one by one. “Off you go.”
“How can it be so easy to forget? It needs time, okay?” Jiang Liannan clung tight and refused to let go.
“How long?” asked Li Dong. “One night, or one week?”
Tear-glazed, he stared. “…” Huh? One night? One week? Was he serious? “You have never dated abroad, have you?”
Pure little brat. He had no idea what it meant to like someone.
“No,” Li Dong answered and kept peeling his fingers off.
“Hey…” Jiang Liannan was anxious to tears again. What now?
“Aren’t we going back?” Li Dong looked around the hall with a plaintive little sigh. There was no one left but staff.
“Back…” He got the hint, quietly released his waist, and a suspicious red rose on his face.
“Then let’s go,” said Li Dong, walking ahead.
Catching up, arms crossed, Jiang Liannan said very casually, “We are walking the red carpet right now.”
Li Dong pressed his lips, eyes narrowing slightly.
“Are you desperate to get married?” he asked.
“…” Jiang Liannan was speechless for a moment. They were just chatting, yet this person always made his mood like riding a roller coaster, never a calm stretch.
How did someone like this exist…
“Uncle Lian, let me tell you the truth,” said Li Dong. “You are excellent. You just loved the wrong person.” He glanced back. “Promise me, love someone who deserves you.”
Staring blankly, Jiang Liannan felt his earlier surge of emotion shift again into something tender because of those words.
“Okay,” he said with a nod.
Then Li Dong walked over and slipped a hand into his pants pocket.
“W-what are you doing?” Jiang Liannan jumped.
“Finding the car key,” said Li Dong. “Got it.” He pinched it up and tossed it in his palm.
“You drank too,” said Jiang Liannan. “Let us call a chauffeur?” He wasn’t very assured about Li Dong driving, and the boy had just returned to China. He should not even have a license yet.
“It’s fine,” said Li Dong, as a veteran driver with a hundred years of experience, he was mainly worried about Jiang Liannan's condition. The man had cried and laughed all night and had been bullied by him in the restroom.
“Alright then.” Secretly pleased, Jiang Liannan, a pure shou, had especially liked confident, steady men ever since his first awakening. Felt this kind of man was especially manly. Not to mention they’d already slept together. Not to mention they had shared a bed that every now and then, the scene replayed itself.
It was around ten-thirty. In the car, he yawned twice. When Li Dong looked again, he was asleep.
Li Dong looped through the city once, then drove back to his own small villa.
He opened the door and went in to check. No one.
Back at the car, he patted Jiang Liannan’s cheek. “Uncle Lian, we are here.”
“Mm…” He blinked awake and stepped out drowsily. “Drive carefully when you head back…” He paused and rubbed his eyes. “Or go back tomorrow?”
“Sure,” said Li Dong, serious. Walking behind him, he scooped him up horizontally when he realized what was happening. “Shh. I will carry you upstairs.”
Jiang Liannan clamped a hand over his own mouth, the other arm gripping Li Dong’s neck. His heart pounded like it would burst from his chest.
This was Chen Wuhou’s house. The little brat was carrying him upstairs like this.
What if they were seen?
He shut his eyes and dared not think. His head and heart were full of a single word: stimulating.
“I live on the second floor. My dad is on the third,” Li Dong said, explaining the layout as he walked. “Which means we are about to roll in the sheets in the room right below the bridal suite.”
“!!” No way. Too much. “Mmph…” He shook his head hard, trembling in his arms.
The door opened and Li Dong tossed him onto the bed. He scrambled up in a panic. “Can-can!” he hissed. “Your dad will kill me. Let me go. I cannot stay here.”
“You do not want to fool around with me?” Li Dong paused mid undress and looked up.
“That is not it…” He was so anxious he could jump. He did want to. “Just not in your house. If your dad finds out, I will die a horrible death.”
He knew Chen Wuhou’s temper well. When he exploded, there was nothing he would not do.
“What are you afraid of?” said Li Dong. “My dad will not find out.” He went on undressing. “As long as you keep your voice down, he will assume I am watching porn.”
“Can-can…” Torn, he loved being with Li Dong.
But this was wrong. Doing this near Chen Wuhou crushed him under a heavier guilt that left him breathless.
“If you are this timid, who would want to be with you,” said Li Dong, heading for the bathroom.
The attitude was clear. If he wanted to go, he could. Li Dong would not stop him.
“Calling me timid?” Jiang Liannan ground his teeth. “Do you know what your dad is like? When he goes mad, ten oxen could not hold him. If I were not timid, how would I have survived to now?”
No answer. Li Dong was in the bathroom.
“I am not afraid he will do something to me…” he said. “I am afraid he will lose his head and do something to you.”
Still no sound from inside, and he did not dare raise his voice.
He sat on the bed a while, then got up and went to find Li Dong. “Can-can?” The door was ajar. He muttered, “Exhibitionist.”
He drifted around the room, giving it an overly picky inspection.
“This is too bare. How does Lao Wu do as a father?” he said. “Marrying a wife and forgetting his son. Really has him all figured out.”
If Chen Can were his son, he would spoil him to the heavens.
“Uncle Lian,” Li Dong came out, freshly showered.
“What is with your dad?” Jiang Liannan pointed around. “You flew back from overseas for his wedding and this is the room he gives you?” The word “trash” was in his eyes.
“This is the guest room,” said Li Dong.
That answer made him bristle. “I know it is a guest room. So he lets you live in a guest room?”
“My dad did not arrange it,” said Li Dong. “I came back that day alone. I just picked a room.” He was towel-drying his hair.
“What?” Jiang Liannan laughed in anger. “Does your dad not want you anymore?” He finally understood that the affection Chen Wuhou showed was a façade. In truth, Chen Can was not favored at all.
“Uncle Lian, do you feel sorry for me?” Li Dong tossed the towel aside.
“I guess,” he said, dropping his arms from his chest.
“You…” Li Dong frowned. wanting to make things difficult as usual, but thinking about it, he closed his mouth without saying anything.
Silence stretched.
“Send me home,” said Jiang Liannan, turning a little. Maybe because he had just exploded at Chen Wuhou, he now had a bit of elder’s authority about him.
“Okay, but let me ask one thing,” said Li Dong. “How old are you really?”
If he answered honestly, Li Dong planned to send him back. They had time and did not need to rush.
Otherwise…
“28,” said Jiang Liannan.
Author’s Note:
“Ahem!” Uncle Lian: “No matter what, he must not find out I am 35.”
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