When the elderly doctor arrived, he was so angry his beard practically bristled. He kept scolding while treating the wound, and anyone who dared interrupt got scolded along with An Zi Yan. Wu Xin sat beside An Xun, clutching his hand as she nervously watched every movement the doctor made. After finishing the bandage, the doctor repeated his warning several times. “If you mess around again, when I see your grandfather someday, I’m going to tell on you. Absolutely disobedient.”
“With a body like yours, it’ll probably be a long time before you get the chance.”
“You rotten brat.” The old doctor muttered as he left. Seeing that An Zi Yan’s wound was nothing serious, Mai Ding finally relaxed. An Xun cleared his throat. “It’s a little early to talk about children now, but you can think about it someday. The most important thing is what the two of you want. If you don’t want one, we won’t force you.” Mai Ding pressed his lips together and said nothing. An Xun looked at him. “And don’t feel guilty toward us because of the child. At least our family still has Su. Your family only has you. If anything, we owe your family an even greater apology, so don’t let it weigh on you.”
Mai Ding nodded. An Xun was also a serious man of few words, so Mai Ding rarely had a chance to truly talk with him. Mai Ding understood Wu Xin’s feelings toward him very well, but he had never been able to figure An Xun out. In truth, An Xun was not as difficult to understand as Mai Ding imagined. Ever since he accepted Mai Ding, Mai Ding had simply been his son’s lover in his eyes. Once he had decided to accept that, he would not turn around and doubt his own decision again. An Xun patted Wu Xin’s hand. “You don’t have any objections anymore either, do you?” Wu Xin shook her head.
“I think you’ve just been stuck at home by yourself too much lately. In a few days, the two of us should go on a trip. The children are grown. They don’t need us worrying over them anymore.”
“What about Bai Xiong…”
“I’ll talk to him.”
An Zi Yan stood up. Wu Xin reached out and caught his arm. “You’re leaving already? Stay for dinner.”
“Mm. I’m going to sleep for a while.”
Mai Ding was still sitting rigidly upright on the sofa. An Zi Yan lightly pushed his head. “What are you still sitting there for?” Mai Ding waved his hands. “I’m not sleepy.”
“Even if you’re not sleepy, you’re coming into the room with me.”
Mai Ding felt terribly awkward hearing An Zi Yan say they were going into the room in front of his parents, so he hurriedly explained to An Xun and Wu Xin, embarrassed. “Uncle, Auntie, I’m just going with him to check whether his wound was bandaged properly. We’re not going to do anything.” His unnecessary explanation only made things sound more suspicious. When he saw the looks on Wu Xin’s and An Xun’s faces, he scurried after An Zi Yan. The moment he entered the room, An Zi Yan lay down on the bed.
It felt as though they had just survived a war. Mai Ding was exhausted too. Was it over? The calm did not feel real yet. He watched An Zi Yan and realized An Zi Yan was looking back at him. Only then did he dare believe it. It really was over. An Zi Yan moved his fingers without saying anything.
“I’m not your puppy!” Mai Ding complained as he lay down beside him. An Zi Yan lay on his back while Mai Ding lay on his stomach. Their fingertips rested lightly against each other, and that alone was warm enough to burn.
“Mai Ding.”
“What?” Mai Ding waited for An Zi Yan to continue, but after several minutes nothing came. He opened his eyes. An Zi Yan had already fallen asleep. No matter how many times Mai Ding saw his sleeping face, it still made his heart race. Whatever An Zi Yan had been about to say could wait until he woke up. Mai Ding was willing to wait. He closed his eyes again. Maybe the question of children was still too early for the two of them. Whatever changed in the future could be left for the future.
Would the two of them have the same dream? Only they knew what was inside their dreams.
Mai Ding shamelessly returned to work. His coworkers definitely knew he had quit. How was he supposed to explain it? Before he could come up with anything, he had already stepped into Public Relations. After not seeing him for several days, his coworkers looked at him in surprise. Sure enough, they knew.
“Mai Ding, why are you back?” Guo Ping asked.
“I only quit on impulse. I didn’t really want to…”
“On impulse? I think your problem is that you’re impulsive way too often.” Fan Shao Jun cut him off. Feng Fei Meng scolded, “Serves you right. This is probably karma for playing with women.” Mai Ding had the strange feeling they were not talking about the same thing.
“What does this have to do with playing with women?”
“Enough. Stop trying to hide it. Yan already told us.”
“T-told you what?” Mai Ding began to stammer. Had An Zi Yan been so devastated over the past few days that he had angrily announced to the entire Public Relations Department that Mai Ding was the man he loved?
“What else would he tell us? The reason you took leave. You went to see a doctor because of kidney deficiency, right?”
Mai Ding had indeed imagined too much. Surely there had been some better excuse! What kidney deficiency? There was nothing wrong with his kidneys!! Liu Wei patted the spot where Mai Ding’s kidneys were. “All better now?”
“No wonder you kept making mistakes lately. If something’s wrong with your health, you should tell us.”
Mai Ding could neither admit it nor deny it. He glared hatefully at everyone in Public Relations laughing at him and sat back down at his desk. “If I told you, you’d only laugh at me.” That sounded suspiciously like an admission.
“Of course we wouldn’t.”
“Aren’t you laughing at me right now?”
“Mai Ding.” Gao Shuang spoke again in his usual gloomy tone.
“What?”
“I want to ask what impotence feels like.”
“I don’t know!” Whenever Gao Shuang opened his mouth, nothing good ever came out. He was the sort of person who followed behind after everyone else had finished a massacre just to make sure nobody was still alive.
Sitting in his familiar seat, Mai Ding looked across the entire Public Relations Department, at his coworkers and his desk. Nothing had changed. Everything was exactly as before. He could not understand why he had ever wanted to quit. It had been unbelievably stupid. He affectionately stroked his desk, the files, his pen, the computer, gently touching each one. Right now, he looked very much like…
A file smacked him on the head, followed by An Zi Yan’s cold voice. “Stop getting lost in your perverted little world. Work.” Mai Ding rubbed his head and watched An Zi Yan walk into his office. Really, nothing had changed at all.
“It’s over. Mai Ding’s kidney deficiency has already spread to his brain. He’s still smiling.”
“Is it contagious?”
“That’s enough!!!” Mai Ding shouted.