Under the woman’s scorching gaze, everyone began itching to move.
Without changing expression, Gao Qin angled toward the restroom.
Yan Su Ang and Xiao Bai stood very close together, looking thoroughly taken.
Jia Zhi Qing was preparing to slip away too, but the paths to his left, right, and front were all blocked tight. Gao Qin had finally moved and opened a gap, but before Jia could act, Lian Jue Xiu’s long arm hooked around him and hauled him against his chest. “Mom, it’s him.”
“……”
Gao Qin, who had already made it halfway away, turned around and came back with complete justification.
Yan Su Ang released a relieved breath.
Xiao Bai looked at him. Although he had no idea what was going on, he copied Yan Su Ang and let out a convincing breath of relief too.
The person actually involved had far more complicated feelings. Jia Zhi Qing distinctly saw a sharp gleam flash through Mother Lian’s eyes, almost hot enough to scorch him, and his face began to burn. He shifted uneasily, only for Lian Jue Xiu to tighten his hold.
“Don’t be shy. You were going to meet the family sooner or later!” Lian Jue Xiu forced each word through clenched teeth, the threat perfectly obvious.
Jia Zhi Qing looked at him aggrievedly. You clearly said I wouldn’t do just a moment ago. How did I suddenly become acceptable?
Mother Lian examined Jia Zhi Qing from head to toe, every inch of him, again and again. Finally, she said slowly, “The clothes you’re wearing…”
The oversized plaid seemed to tremble under her scrutiny.
“Retro,” Lian Jue Xiu answered with lightning speed.
“And his hairstyle.” Mother Lian’s gaze moved up to his hair.
“Matches the clothes. Retro too.” As he spoke, Lian Jue Xiu shot meaningful looks at Gao Qin and Yan Su Ang, who were standing to one side enjoying the show.
Gao Qin remained completely unmoved, as though he were merely a figure painted on the wall.
Yan Su Ang’s heart softened. He coughed lightly and said, “Actually, I’ve been thinking of buying a set myself.” Mm. It would make a decent curtain.
Mother Lian looked at him and smiled faintly. “Yan Su Ang. Mm, I’ve seen many of your movies. You act very well.”
Yan Su Ang modestly replied, “You flatter me, Auntie.”
Her gaze slid downward. Xiao Bai was staring at her without blinking, his large round eyes wide open.
“And he is…”
Yan Su Ang said, “Zeng Bai. Xiao Bai.”
Mother Lian asked pointedly, “You two…”
“Exactly as you’re thinking.” Yan Su Ang’s arm tightened around Xiao Bai’s shoulders.
Mother Lian nodded. “You have good taste.”
Yan Su Ang smiled smugly.
“As for you…” Mother Lian looked at Jia Zhi Qing, then at Lian Jue Xiu, and sighed. “It appears I don’t understand you nearly as well as I imagined.”
“……”
Lian Jue Xiu laughed dryly. “Sometimes I surprise myself with my choices too.”
If you’re that surprised, stop holding me so tightly.
Jia Zhi Qing rolled his eyes.
Mother Lian asked, “And how should I address this gentleman?”
Lian Jue Xiu squeezed Jia Zhi Qing’s unresponsive shoulder hard.
The pain snapped Jia Zhi Qing into action. “Please don’t be so formal, Auntie. I’m Jia Zhi Qing. Just call me Zhi Qing.”
“Jia Zhi Qing?” Mother Lian repeated it with another meaning in her tone, as though hearing “low value,” and gave Lian Jue Xiu a meaningful look. “That’s quite an interesting name.”
Elio’s Notes: 贾志清 (Jia Zhi Qing) is jokingly heard here as 价值轻, roughly “low in value” or “light in value.”
The outlook was probably not optimistic.
Yan Su Ang watched the strange atmosphere among the three of them and hurriedly smoothed things over. “Auntie has come such a long way and probably hasn’t eaten much. Why don’t we eat first?”
Mother Lian smiled. “You really are thoughtful.”
Both Lian Jue Xiu and Jia Zhi Qing immediately felt slightly uncomfortable about losing face.
Mother Lian said, “Then Mr. Jia can accompany me. Jue Xiu, you should go back to what you were doing.” Without waiting for anyone to agree, she turned and walked away. But that single “Mr. Jia” had already expressed her opinion quite clearly.
The moment her back disappeared into the crowd, Jia Zhi Qing jumped a full step away, escaped Lian Jue Xiu’s arm, and stared at him with utter determination, as though death itself could not make him submit.
Lian Jue Xiu said, “Pretend to be my boyfriend until my mom leaves.”
“In your dreams!”
“Five hundred a day.”
Jia Zhi Qing remained unmoved.
“One thousand.”
Jia Zhi Qing still did not move, but his eyes had begun rolling thoughtfully.
“Two thousand.” Lian Jue Xiu’s gaze was nearly threatening.
Jia Zhi Qing gritted his teeth. “Twenty-five hundred.” This really was extra income: unexpected money arriving fast.
Lian Jue Xiu immediately slapped down the deal. “Fine. Ten two-hundred-and-fifties!”
Elio’s Notes: 二百五, literally “two hundred and fifty,” is Chinese slang for a fool or idiot. Lian Jue Xiu turns Jia Zhi Qing’s 2,500-yuan price into “ten idiots.”
“……” Jia Zhi Qing glared at him, then turned toward Yan Su Ang. “You’re the witness.”
Yan Su Ang smiled. “Fine. I hereby announce that starting now, the two of you are officially lovers in name.”
Jia Zhi Qing looked at Gao Qin too.
Gao Qin said, “I can attend as the family representative.”
“……”
Jia Zhi Qing ignored him and turned back to Lian Jue Xiu. “And remember to pay me back for the gas from last time!”
Lian Jue Xiu’s expression went from blank, to enlightened, to speechless. He had not expected Jia Zhi Qing to still be obsessing over that hundred yuan.
Jia Zhi Qing drew a deep breath and had taken only two steps when Xiao Bai called out to him.
“What?” Jia Zhi Qing nervously looked back.
Xiao Bai encouraged him. “Don’t be nervous.”
Jia Zhi Qing straightened his bow tie with deliberate composure. “I’m not nervous.”
“But you were walking with the arm and leg on the same side just now.”
“……”
When Jia Zhi Qing reached Mother Lian’s side, she was elegantly picking up fried noodles.
The golden noodles behaved as obediently as kittens in her hands. Even after she placed them on her plate, the rim remained perfectly clean.
Jia Zhi Qing was impressed. Whenever he ate noodles, the collateral damage spread far and wide, which was why Xiao Bai had gradually begun buying rice cakes instead and rarely cooked noodles anymore.
“You’re an actor?” Mother Lian asked suddenly.
Jia Zhi Qing panicked and blurted, “No, I’m a mana—” His tongue had actually twisted. He steadied himself and tried again. “I’m a manager’s assistant.”
Mother Lian seemed not to notice his small embarrassment. “At Weijie?”
“No, Yimate.”
“Oh.” Mother Lian responded casually. “Does your family know about you?”
Jia Zhi Qing thought about it. “I only have one cousin. He knows.” In fact, that cousin had just stood there watching the entire performance and had even served as witness and family representative.
“He doesn’t object?”
“Uh, I don’t think it counts as objecting.” A moment ago, Gao Qin had almost personally handed him over to Lian Jue Xiu.
Mother Lian smiled. “But a cousin isn’t your own brother, after all. Even if he objected, it wouldn’t matter much, would it?”
“……”
Jia Zhi Qing said solemnly, “He may only be my cousin, but we’ve always been as close as brothers.” When Gao Qin got fierce, Jia’s head went low. Truly, brothers.
“He has always taken excellent care of me.” Especially verbally. Even if Jia pretended to be hard of hearing, Gao Qin’s voice could still follow him like a shadow.
“At work, he personally guides me too.” Such as ordering him to pour tea, fetch water, work like an ox and horse, one command after another.
“So I’ve always been deeply grateful to him.” Exactly how grateful was a subject worthy of further investigation.
Mother Lian’s opinion of him seemed to improve slightly. “Whose assistant are you?”
“Gao Qin’s. He’s also my cousin.”
“Oh.” Mother Lian’s expression remained perfectly natural, leaving Jia Zhi Qing completely unable to read her. She seemed profoundly mysterious. “How did you and Jue Xiu meet?”
Jia Zhi Qing answered with complete seriousness, “Through work.”
Mother Lian thought for a moment. “The artist you handle is…”
“Xiao Bai.” Jia Zhi Qing secretly wiped away some cold sweat as he spoke. They were all perfectly ordinary questions, but beneath Mother Lian’s powerful presence, he was gradually beginning to feel unable to breathe.
Lian Jue Xiu watched the two of them talking continuously and absentmindedly swirled his wine. “What do you think they’re talking about?”
Gao Qin answered, “Probably his family background and how the two of you met.”
Lian Jue Xiu could not help worrying. “You’re Jia Zhi Qing’s cousin. I wonder if that relationship is going to lower his score.”
“……” Gao Qin said coldly, “Don’t worry. I’m not yet notorious throughout the country and overseas.”
Yan Su Ang laughed from the side. “You really look like the son caught in the middle, worrying whether his wife and mother will get along.”
Lian Jue Xiu sighed. “If I don’t manage to placate my mother, I won’t be a sandwich. I’ll be a meat patty.”
Gao Qin pondered. “I’m suddenly feeling an urge to sabotage you.”
“Then hurry to a psychiatric hospital and get it treated.”
Xiao Bai, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly asked, “Is Zhi Qing trying to pursue Director Lian’s mother now?”
“……”
Gao Qin was speechless.
Lian Jue Xiu spilled half his wine.
Yan Su Ang covered his forehead. “How did you arrive at that conclusion?”
Xiao Bai said, “Because I couldn’t reach a conclusion, so I picked one at random.”
Afraid Xiao Bai would ruin everything, Lian Jue Xiu hurriedly explained, “The conclusion is that from now on, Jia Zhi Qing is my lover, my sweetheart, my boyfriend. Understand?”
Xiao Bai stared blankly. “No.”
“……”
Lian Jue Xiu glared at Yan Su Ang. “How do you normally educate him?”
Yan Su Ang answered with great pride, “By indulging and spoiling him.”
Lian Jue Xiu decided this would not do. His mother seemed to like Xiao Bai, and if she questioned him for information, her sharpness could very easily expose their trick. So Lian Jue Xiu decided to administer a powerful dose.
“Xiao Bai.” Lian Jue Xiu put on an extremely solemn expression. “Actually, Jia Zhi Qing has already decided to spend the rest of his life with me.”
“……” Xiao Bai looked at Yan Su Ang.
Suppressing a laugh, Yan Su Ang nodded.
“Even though we’re both men, what we have is the same as what a man and a woman have. It’s love.”
“……” Xiao Bai looked toward Gao Qin.
Gao Qin neither confirmed nor denied it.
Lian Jue Xiu continued his grand performance. “So you have to give us your blessing.”
“But…” Xiao Bai asked in confusion, “wouldn’t spending your whole life with another man feel strange?”
“No, no. I’m incredibly happy.”
“……” Xiao Bai turned his head toward Yan Su Ang again. “But last time you clearly said you didn’t want to spend your whole life with a man.”
“……”
When did I ever say something so outrageous that Heaven and earth should condemn me for it?
Under the combined stares of Gao Qin and Lian Jue Xiu, inspiration flashed through Yan Su Ang’s mind. “You mean that day at the amusement park?”
Xiao Bai nodded.
Yan Su Ang sighed. “That day, you asked whether I would spend my whole life with Lian Jue Xiu…”
Lian Jue Xiu’s forehead filled with black lines. What kind of bizarre question was that? Had I somehow become Xiao Bai’s imaginary rival without even knowing it?
Xiao Bai said, “Director Lian is a man.”
“But he isn’t the man I have in mind.” Yan Su Ang suddenly caught Xiao Bai’s hand and looked at him deeply. “If you had asked me that day whether I would spend my whole life with you, the answer would have been completely different.”
Xiao Bai seemed to understand and yet not understand. “So… I eliminated Director Lian?”
Yan Su Ang wiped a hand over his face. “If you want to think of it that way, fine.”
“……” Fine my ass! Lian Jue Xiu complained furiously inside.
Leave a Reply