“You liking him doesn’t mean I have to like him.”
“The fact that I like him is reason enough.”
“Just you liking him isn’t enough.”
“It’s enough for me.”
Ke Bu couldn’t find any way into their conversation. He really wished they would stop using the word like. Neither of them seemed embarrassed by it, but he was!
“It’s enough for you? What about children? Have you thought about that problem? If you haven’t, then think about it properly right now.” Liu Qing stared directly at Zhi Li. Ke Bu stared directly at him too. He could already guess Zhi Li’s willful answer. Society had never existed in Zhi Li’s eyes, but Ke Bu couldn’t be the same way. He wasn’t Zhi Li. Before Zhi Li could speak, Ke Bu cut in first. “It’s not that I have no awareness of it. I know Lan Yin and Uncle Zhi have never brought it up, but deep down they must also think it would be best if Zhi Li had a child someday. This isn’t about whether someone is open-minded. It’s a parent’s instinct. When it comes to filial duty, I really do…”
Before Ke Bu could finish, Liu Qing mocked him. “What are you trying to say? You know all that, but there’s nothing you can do? So you’re simply going to be this selfish? It doesn’t matter if you fail the Zhi family? Because love is the greatest thing in the world?” In the eyes of elders, the feelings and decisions of younger people always seemed ridiculous and childish, as though the elders understood everything while the children understood nothing at all.
“My life is mine to decide how to live.” Zhi Li’s answer was exactly as Ke Bu had predicted, completely willful. “I knew from the very beginning what kind of outcome two men being together could have. Why waste time thinking about it all over again? If these reasons were enough to convince me now, why would I have chosen Ke Bu in the first place?”
“How old were you at the beginning? And how old are you now? Do you think your entire life consists only of being young?” Liu Qing spoke with the attitude of someone who couldn’t possibly be persuaded, continuing to treat their immature relationship with contempt. Ke Bu’s fingers curled slightly. “You keep telling me I should leave Zhi Li. You say I can’t do anything alone. You say I’m useless, as though driving me away would make every problem disappear. But have you ever thought about one important thing? I’m not clinging to Zhi Li because I’m full of myself. It’s Zhi Li. Zhi Li can’t live without me!” How much confidence did it take to say something like that? Ke Bu himself didn’t know. He simply believed it had to be true. Absolutely true.
Liu Qing stood and walked in front of Zhi Li. “The two of you think taking turns saying things like that will…” Zhi Li suddenly wrapped his arms around Liu Qing. “Grandma, you’re the person I respect most in this life. I really want to be your good grandson and never make you angry. I want to listen to everything you say. But just this one thing, only this one thing, can’t you listen to me? Being caught between all of you makes me miserable. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t care at all. It’s precisely because you’re my only grandmother that this hurts so much. Grandma, please let us be together. Do you want me to kneel? Or do you want to drive me out of the Zhi family and force me to my death? Could you really bear to do that?” There it was! Zhi Li was copying lines straight out of a melodramatic television drama again. He had used the same trick on Lan Yin and Zhi Zuo Si before. Every time he delivered lines like these, he sounded like an elementary school student reciting a passage from memory. Sometimes he even had to pause for two seconds to remember the next sentence. Last time, this cheap trick had somehow worked on Lan Yin and Zhi Zuo Si, two people who never watched melodramatic dramas. Ke Bu had already considered that a miracle. This time, surely…
Liu Qing, still held in Zhi Li’s arms, raised one hand and patted his back. “Grandma didn’t mean that.” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ke Bu’s heart was filled entirely with exclamation marks. Could the people in this family please watch more melodramatic dramas in their spare time?!
“Then what does Grandma mean? You used a puppet to deceive me for so many years and you don’t feel even a little guilty. Then you did all of this to my person. So Grandma really does hate me, right? If you hate me, you might as well take a knife and kill me. If my own grandmother hates me, I’d be better off dead anyway.” For the first half, Ke Bu almost thought Zhi Li had reverted to his normal self. Then the second half turned back into television-drama dialogue.
“Don’t talk nonsense! What are you saying about dying? This isn’t a small matter. I’m worried about you too.”
“Actually, Grandma, stop coming after me. Wouldn’t it be easier to go after him?” Zhi Li was referring to Zhi Zuo Si. “He and Yin got remarried. Having one, two, or three more children would be quick and convenient. Yin does nothing all day anyway. If you don’t make her have children, what else is she supposed to do? That would solve the problem you’re most worried about.” He was actually dragging his own parents into this! Trying to redirect Liu Qing’s target! This move was simple… it was called having no humanity whatsoever! Ke Bu watched Liu Qing’s expression and, unbelievably, she seemed quite satisfied by the suggestion. “Now that you mention it, if she has two more children, maybe her figure will go out of shape. Then maybe Zuo Si will divorce her too.” Apparently, this entire family had no humanity.
“A perfect happy ending,” Zhi Li concluded.
“What part of that is a perfect happy ending?!” Ke Bu blurted out before he could stop himself.
Liu Qing looked at him. At that moment, Zhi Li leaned toward Liu Qing’s ear and whispered something. His voice was too soft for Ke Bu to hear. Liu Qing turned toward Zhi Li again, seemingly trying to confirm something in his eyes. A few seconds later, she let out a breath and walked toward the window, looking at the scenery outside. “I haven’t been back in such a long time. So much has changed.” Whether she was talking about things or people, only she knew.
“Zhi Li, spend the next few days showing me around.”
What did that mean? Ke Bu didn’t quite dare to decide. More importantly, he didn’t dare to be too certain.
He suddenly remembered the tunnel he had dreamed about on his first day in the hospital.
Just one more step through that tunnel. Maybe one more step would finally bring him to the fairy tale.
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