CH 66

Just now, the large door that had just been closed was suddenly pushed open from the inside. A middle-aged man dressed in exquisite clothing was standing inside. His eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Jiang Song, and a pair of silver-rimmed glasses were perched on his nose, making him look like a scholar.

Xie Yao was startled, and when he came back to his senses, he subconsciously took a step back and distanced himself from Jiang Song.

He looked up and saw Jiang Song smiling, but there were two small flames flickering in his eyes as he looked at him.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Xie Yao obediently let Jiang Song pull him over and tightly grip his shoulder.

“Dad,” Jiang Song called out to the man standing beside him.

After hesitating for two seconds, Xie Yao called out, “Uncle Jiang, sorry to bother you.”

Jiang’s father pushed his glasses up his nose and glanced at Jiang Song before slapping the hand that was resting on Xie Yao’s shoulder.

“You’ve had a long journey. Come in first. Your aunt is already waiting in the living room,” Jiang’s father said to Xie Yao.

Jiang Song let go of Xie Yao’s hand and hung his head while gripping onto him. Xie Yao struggled but couldn’t break free.

He followed behind Jiang’s father and walked inside. As the door closed, he managed to create some distance from the people in front of him, then leaned in close to Jiang Song and disapproved in a low voice.

“Let go first, Uncle and Auntie will see.”

Xie Yao gestured to his hand that was being held.

Jiang Song leaned in close to his ear and chuckled, “No.”

Without waiting for Xie Yao to get angry, Jiang Song grabbed his hand and walked quickly to catch up with their father who was walking ahead.

Jiang father turned his head and glanced at them, focusing on their hands hanging at their sides, which were tightly held together.

Xie Yao stiffened all over, and his anger disappeared when he realized he was being teased. At this moment, he just felt at a loss.

In the next moment, the elegant Jiang Uncle slapped Jiang Song on the back with a loud sound that made Xie Yao cringe.

“You little rascal, acting like a hooligan in broad daylight!”

Jiang father glared at Jiang Song and said coldly, “Let go of his hand.”

Xie Yao was shocked by the huge contrast between Jiang father’s behavior before and after. He felt sorry for Jiang Song, who had just been slapped, and shook his hand, trying to explain. However, Jiang Song’s hand was like glue, tightly holding on and refusing to let go.

Xie Yao had no choice but to maintain the hand-holding position and explain to Jiang father, “It’s not his fault, blame me. I was the one who forced him to hold my hand.”

Jiang father gave Xie Yao a cold look, and the young boy immediately tensed up.

His eyes behind the glasses were deep, and he looked at the young couple’s poignant expression of reluctance to part. Each word he uttered was full of resentment, “What’s the difference between you two and that monk?.”

Xie Yao was dumbfounded, “Ah?”

Jiang Song reached out and stopped him from talking, saying with a smile, “My dad is like this. He seems reliable but he’s actually very unconventional. Don’t mind him.”

“Jiang Song is right, come sit down!”

Walking into the living room, Jiang Mother, who couldn’t wait, walked over, punched Jiang father, and then waved to Xie Yao with a smile.

Jiang Song pushed Xie Yao from behind, pushing him towards her. Xie Yao turned his head to look at him.

Jiang Song smiled and said, “Go sit over there.”

Knowing that he wasn’t good at rejecting, Xie Yao’s ears turned red as he tried to walk naturally and sat between Jiang Song and Jiang’s mother.

“You’re Xie Yao, right? Can I call you Yao Yao?” Jiang’s mother looked at Xie Yao with a gentle gaze, and something in his heart was suddenly touched. He nodded his head while looking down.

“Yao Yao.”

Jiang’s mother smiled and called him, “You’re so good.” She looked up and down at Xie Yao several times, feeling very satisfied.

“Yao Yao looks so handsome. When he stands next to my Song Song, they look very compatible.” Jiang Song nodded in agreement, “You’re not wrong about that.”

Jiang’s father snorted, “Are you so happy to see people that you can’t even find your way north? Weren’t you just saying that you wanted to teach your son a lesson when you didn’t see him yet, so he’d know the consequences of not telling the family about his relationship?”

“What’s the result? Look at you now, you haven’t stuck to your word!” Jiang’s father was very disappointed.

Jiang’s mother slapped him again, and he immediately shut up.

Turning her head, Auntie smiled at Xie Yao, “Your uncle is a little crazy and talks really badly. Don’t lower yourself to his level.”

Xie Yao touched his ear and felt a little embarrassed, “It’s okay, we really did something wrong.”

Jiang mother couldn’t help but touch Xie Yao’s head and said, “You’re such a good boy. You didn’t eat anything on the way, did you? Are you hungry? I had Auntie prepare some food, so please eat some.”

Xie Yao had already eaten bread and drank milk in the car and wasn’t really hungry, but he looked into Jiang mother’s kind and smiling eyes, sniffed, and nodded. “Actually, I am a little hungry. Thank you, Auntie.”

The atmosphere at the dinner table was very harmonious. Xie Yao quietly observed Jiang Song’s two relatives and concluded that both parents had easy-going personalities.

Although Jiang father looked like he didn’t belong in this world, he didn’t get angry even after being scolded by Auntie four times during dinner, so he could be considered easy-going and approachable in a sense.

The Jiang family business was passed down from their ancestors. After several generations of hard work, it had become quite prosperous by the time it reached Jiang father.

However, Jiang father’s interest was not in business. Although he took over the family business, he worked in education and administration.

In the past two years, the couple had retired and started traveling around the world. The company was handed over to Jiang Song, who had hired someone to manage it. They lived a comfortable life in their own world.

After finishing the meal, Xie Yao accompanied Auntie in the yard for a while. Jiang mother patted Xie Yao’s hand and said, “Don’t be nervous. We just came back to see you.”

She smiled, “Jiang Song hasn’t had a partner for so many years, and she found you so quickly. We just wanted to have a meal with you two.”

As she spoke, she took out a bank card from her bag without Xie Yao noticing.

Xie Yao’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the bank card. He saw Jiang mother smile as she handed him the card and said, “This is Jiang Song’s dowry. Take it.”

Xie Yao’s hand trembled, and his mind became a mess. He stared at Jiang mother, shaking uncontrollably. “I, I can’t take it!”

Jiang mother didn’t listen and shoved the card into Xie Yao’s coat pocket, holding his hand to stop him from trying to take it out. “I said to give it to you, so take it. Don’t be shy.”

She saw Xie Yao’s teeth clattering nervously, and immediately burst out laughing, “You’re so nervous, kid. I’m not here to force you into marriage. Just let your relationship develop naturally, and we’ll just observe and won’t interfere.”

“Bringing gifts when visiting someone’s home is a common tradition for young couples meeting the parents. You don’t have to feel embarrassed about it.”

Xie Yao also knew he couldn’t refuse, so he just nodded and didn’t mention returning the gifts again. Jiang’s mother was very pleased.

“Let’s go inside. It’s cold out here. I’ll show you some photos of when Song Song was a kid.”

The mother and daughter walked upstairs, and behind them, Jiang’s father patted Jiang Song’s shoulder and said, “Go and get your mom to change.”

Jiang Song glanced at his dad and smiled, “Okay, let’s have some one-on-one time.”

Jiang’s father didn’t say anything, but pushed him forward with a silent urging.

Just as Jiang’s mother took out the photo album upstairs, the doorbell rang.

The two looked up and saw Jiang Song leaning against the door, “Mom, this is my photo album, my dark history. Let me share it with Yao Yao myself.”

He walked over, took the album from Jiang’s mother’s hand, and pushed her out.

“You should go and keep my dad company. He’s even jealous of my future daughter-in-law.”

Xie Yao was left behind, his heart racing at the mention of “future daughter-in-law,” his face turning red as he stood there feeling awkward.

Jiang Song saw his embarrassed look and couldn’t help but laugh as he closed the door.

Xie Yao was startled and walked towards the door, “Why did you close the door?”

But before he reached the door, Jiang Song leaned over and hugged him, his hands around Xie Yao’s waist, and planted a kiss on his lips. Xie Yao was so shocked that he almost jumped up.

Xie Yao touched his lips, his fingertips trembling, “W-why did you k-kiss me?”

Jiang Song leaned in and kissed Xie Yao’s lips several times, making a smooching sound, which made Xie Yao blush bright red.

Finally, Jiang Song pressed his lips against Xie Yao’s and opened the window to explore deeper, wrapping his arms around Xie Yao’s waist and lifting his chin, exchanging each other’s hot breath.

Afterwards, Jiang Song pulled him out of the embrace and lightly laughed, “Baby, don’t let your legs go weak.”

Xie Yao buried his head into Jiang Song’s chest, too embarrassed to say a word, and didn’t want to lift his head.

Jiang Song coaxed him for a long time before finally getting him to come out of his shell. He half dragged, half carried Xie Yao to the bed in the room.

He opened an album.

The album recorded many photos of Jiang Song from birth to now, including photos of his one-month-old celebration, the little red flower he received in kindergarten, the first certificate he received in elementary school, and even a love letter he received in high school.

The love letter had no content, only a pink envelope with the words “To classmate Jiang Song” written on it, with a small heart drawn on the back.

Jiang Song pulled out this photo and threw it into the trash can.

Xie Yao reached out to pick it up and asked, “Why did you throw it away?”

Jiang Song hugged him and said, “That was my mother’s prank. At that time, I missed her birthday because I was playing games, and she was angry, so she wrote this and took a picture of it. There was nothing inside, just an envelope, saying she wanted to make my future lover jealous and teach me a lesson.”

Xie Yao picked up the photo, and Jiang Song hugged him and rubbed his neck.

“So, my little boyfriend, do you want to teach me a lesson?” Jiang Song seemed to know how powerful his voice was to Xie Yao and always liked to speak to him in a suggestive tone, raising the level of flirtatiousness to the max.

Blushing, Xie Yao pushed him away and changed the subject seriously, “How can you just throw away something that Auntie carefully saved?”

He put the photo back.

Xie Yao flipped through the album, from Jiang Song’s infancy to his teenage years, and finally stopped at a group photo.

Jiang’s father was still young in the photo, standing next to a kindly middle-aged woman, with a twelve or thirteen-year-old Jiang Song in front of them, and a small baby beside him.

Jiang Song saw that Xie Yao was interested in the photo and said, “That year, my father was a professor at A University and took me around the school. We met his teacher, and the little kid next to her, if I remember correctly, was the teacher’s grandson.”

Xie Yao’s hand paused for a moment, his thoughts drifting a bit, but he quickly regained his composure, made a sound of agreement, and continued to scroll down.

“This photo was taken when I went to participate in a piano competition in c city during my junior high school years,” he said, following the direction Jiang Song pointed to. The children in the photo looked only twelve or thirteen years old, wearing serious little suits, sitting in front of the piano under the spotlight, elegantly like a little prince.

Xie Yao looked at the photo of Jiang Song and reached out to touch it. “I also learned to play the piano.”

Jiang Song smiled in surprise, “Really?”

Xie Yao pursed his lips. “But that was when I was ten years old. I’ve forgotten most of it now.”

Jiang Song saw that he had been staring at the photo for a long time and suddenly asked, “Do you want to play together?”

Xie Yao turned his head in surprise, “What?”

Jiang Song pulled him up and, with the photo album in hand, opened the door and said, “My piano room is next door. Although I haven’t touched the piano for several years, my aunt has been cleaning it well.”

The piano room was very clean, spacious and bright inside, with a grand piano in the center, bathed in the sunlight shining in from the window.

Jiang Song walked over, pulling Xie Yao without hesitation to sit down, opened the piano lid, and pressed a key on the black and white keys. The beautiful sound of the piano flowed out.

“It’s still usable,” Jiang Song turned his head and held Xie Yao’s hand and put it up, “Für Elise, do you know how to play it?”

It was a piece that even beginners could master, and Xie Yao hesitated for a moment, “I remember some of it.”

“That’s good enough. Come on.”

The first piano key was pressed, and the music flowed out. Xie Yao’s movements were awkward, and the music he played was not smooth, but Jiang Song laughed and guided him patiently. The intermittent music in his ears began to connect and form a complete “Für Elise.”

Outside the window was a rare sunny day after a heavy snowfall. The piano room had good lighting, and the sunlight was focused on the piano, with notes jumping down. Xie Yao’s mood began to stir, and he felt as if his hands on the piano keys were glowing.

Both of them hadn’t touched the piano in a long time, so there were mistakes and awkward parts in the music, and the completeness of the song was poor, but Xie Yao was very happy.

As the last note ended, Jiang Song reached out and pinched Xie Yao’s finger.

“That was great.”

Xie Yao turned to look at him, his emotions fluctuating, his heart pounding and unable to calm down. He opened his mouth and suddenly said, “The person in that photo is actually me.”