Chapter 84

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Xia Xingcheng’s sister in law was called Fang Ying. She was thin and petite and wasn’t very pretty, but she had a particularly heroic spirit.

As for Xia Xingcheng’s parents; Papa Xia was nearly in his sixties yet still had a tall and lofty figure, and Mama Xia had a gentle and graceful appearance that wasn’t hidden by her age.

Xia Xingcheng also had a pair of lovely twin nephews. Their nicknames were Ding Ding and Dong Dong, and they were only five years old this year, just the right age for naughtiness.

Yang Youming opened his suitcase in the living room and gave out the gifts that he had bought for Xia Xingcheng’s family.

Afterwards, Papa Xia invited him to sit at the dining room, and the whole family had dinner together.

The entire house was brightly lit, and the enticing aroma of food wafted throughout the warm room. Ding Ding rode a small car around the house while Dong Dong’s curiosity was roused the moment he saw Yang Youming. He squeezed his way through the grown ups’ legs and pulled at Yang Youming’s pants, tilting his head up to ask, “Are you a superstar?”

Fang Ying crouched down to pick her son up, then turned to foist him onto Xia Ye. “Take your son away, don’t make trouble.”

At that time, Xia Ye who had just begun to take off his coat had no choice but to stop and hold Dong Dong in his arms, stifling the fire in his heart.

The atmosphere was lively for a good while before the whole family finally sat down. Yang Youming sat next to Papa Xia while Xia Xingcheng sat on his other side. Fang Ying helped Mama Xia in the kitchen to place the hot dishes on the dining table while Xia Ye went to the liquor cabinet to take out a bottle of baijiu. Placing the bottle on the table, he said, “We’ll be drinking this today, it won’t be a problem for Ming ge, right?”

Yang Youming laughed and answered, “No problem.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Xia Xingcheng felt someone squeezing in between him and Yang Youming, so he turned his head to take a look and saw that it was Dong Dong. Dong Dong tried his hardest to force his way through, pulling at Yang Youming’s clothes and staring at him with curious eyes. “Are you a superstar?”

Not at all an expert in dealing with children, Xia Xingcheng bent down and said to Dong Dong, “Why don’t you go play by yourself?”

Fang Ying, who had just put down a bowl of soup, turned around and carried Dong Dong away once again.

When everybody was finally seated, Xia Ye filled everyone’s wine glasses and the whole family raised their glasses to welcome the guest.

Fang Ying settled her two sons to her left and right, then with her phone in her hand, she asked Yang Youming, “Can I take a picture and post it to my Moments?”

Yang Youming didn’t have the chance to answer as Xia Xingcheng promptly blocked her. “Don’t ever.”

Fang Ying appeared somewhat regretful.

Yang Youming said, “It’s not too appropriate right now, but it’s fine if you wait until after the new year to post it.”

Yang Youming would have already left by then, and a minor picture on somebody’s Moments wouldn’t matter all that much.

Fang Ying immediately nodded happily.

Mama Xia said, “Can I post one too?”

Xia Ye tsked. “Mom, why are you joining the fun at your age?”

Mama Xia hadn’t answered when Xia Xingcheng spoke up first, “What’s wrong with her age? How can you say this? No matter how old my mom is she’ll always be a beautiful young lady.”

Mama Xia laughed as she said, “You’re spewing nonsense.” But she looked happy nevertheless.

Xia Xingcheng looked at Fang Ying and said in an odd tone, “My mom aside, sis-in-law, I don’t recall you being the type to chase stars?”

Fang Ying was peeling shrimp. She had just fed one to Ding Ding, and this piece was supposed to be for Dong Dong, but upon hearing Xia Xingcheng’s words, she answered, “I don’t chase stars, I chase handsome guys!” With that, she then fed the shrimp to Ding Ding again.

Dong Dong’s wide open mouth closed silently as he stared at his mom.

Ding Ding, who had barely swallowed his food, had to start chewing again, and he let out a seemingly distressed sigh.

Fang Ying donned a smug little smile on her face.

Xia Ye snorted as he pointed a finger at Fang Ying. “Why are you so shallow?”

Without stopping to think, Fang Ying said, “If I weren’t shallow, why would I marry you?”

Back then, she and Xia Ye dated when she was attending graduate school, while Xia Ye himself hadn’t even finished high school. Fang Ying’s parents were both teachers and strongly opposed Fang Ying and Xia Ye’s relationship. However, Fang Ying persisted, and after graduating, she first took the civil service exam, then got married, got pregnant, and then gave birth all in one go. At the time, she had only considered Xia Ye because of his handsome looks.

In an instant, Xia Ye was shut down and rendered speechless.

Hearing this, Yang Youming laughed and picked up his wine glass to toast Papa and Mama Xia, then toasted the pair of husband and wife Xia Ye and Fang Ying. Although he didn’t say much, he was polite and well-spoken. No matter what Papa Xia said to him, he would always respond well; Papa Xia was so delighted that he unconsciously drank a few more glasses of baijiu.

As he drank, Papa Xia started telling the sole guest in their house about his younger days, when Xia Ye and Xia Xingcheng were still kids.

He said that Mama Xia was already over thirty years old when she gave birth to Xia Xingcheng. Moreover, the fetus was in the wrong position and born prematurely to boot, so the whole family was exceedingly nervous. He was born with great difficulty, so he was immensely treasured since he was small.

Right then, Mama Xia said, “You don’t know this, but when I was pregnant with Xingcheng, I dreamt that a dragon landed on the roof of our house and many people came to see him. Later on, I found out that I was pregnant so I figured that it was definitely a lucky omen and I must give birth to the baby.”

When he heard this, Xia Xingcheng almost lost his head in shame and said, “Mom! Stop talking!”

Yet Yang Youming smiled and said, “No, I’d love to hear about it.”

Hearing Yang Youming’s interest, Mama Xia simply stood up and illustrated how smart and adorable Xia Xingcheng was when he was a child and how he had an innate talent for acting, so much so that both her cheeks reddened through and through.

Xia Xingcheng could hardly bring himself to listen to all of this anymore and buried his face in his hands.

When his mother went to put a bowl away in the kitchen, Dong Dong found an opportunity to climb onto his grandpa’s lap and pull at Yang Youming’s hand, both inquisitive and serious as he asked, “Are you a superstar?”

Yang Youming chuckled gently and said to him, “I’m not.”

Stunned, Dong Dong said, “Oh.”

Yang Youming helped him straighten out his messy collar and said, “I’m an actor.”

Dong Dong nodded without really understanding. He pondered for a moment, then peered around to ask Xia Xingcheng, “Second uncle, are you a superstar?”

Fang Ying had just come out of the kitchen when she heard this, and she said to Dong Dong, “Are you an audio repeater?”

Before Dong Dong could react, Dingding, who sat on the edge of the table, laughed loudly and imitated his mom’s tone as he yelled at Dongdong, “Are you an audio repeater?” As a result, this was shouted all night long, and they made so much noise that Fang Ying’s head hurt.

After the lively meal, Fang Ying helped Mama Xia tidy up the table and wash the dishes, letting Xia Ye accompany Xia Xingcheng and Yang Youming upstairs.

Before going upstairs, Mama Xia pulled Xia Ye over and whispered something in his ears. Xia Ye nodded and immediately walked over to pick up the two people’s suitcases.

Yang Youming waved him down and reached to take his own suitcase, “I’ll do it.”

Everyone had drank a lot tonight, and before the bottle of baijiu that Xia Ye had brought out was even finished, Papa Xia had already insisted on opening another one. Neither Xia Xingcheng nor Yang Youming drank baijiu all that often, but they still drank a lot with Papa Xia.

After Yang Youming took his suitcase, his footsteps as he trudged up the stairs were somewhat unstable.

Xia Ye had the best alcohol tolerance, and he took the large suitcase in his hands upstairs with lightning speed and soon disappeared around the corner of the stairs.

Xia Xingcheng followed behind Yang Youming. Seeing Yang Youming’s unsteady pace, he reached out to catch the man’s wrist and said, “Ming ge, you’re drunk.”

Yang Youming froze in place. He turned around and leaned close to Xia Xingcheng’s ear, pressing his index finger to his lips and whispering, “Shh—I’m not.”

Xia Xingcheng’s cheeks and eyes were red, and his vision went hazy as he stared at the man.

From the second floor, Xia Ye shouted, “Why haven’t you both come up yet?”

Yang Youming lowered his voice and said to Xia Xingcheng, “Don’t say a word.” Then, he turned and continued to lug his suitcase up the stairs.

Xia Xingcheng’s eyes followed Yang Youming’s back the whole way, and as they turned a corner, he saw Xia Ye smoking on the second floor. At the sight of the two of them, he continued walking ahead.

The villa only had two floors, and the third floor was a rooftop.

Xia Xingcheng’s parents stayed on the first floor. There were four rooms altogether on the second floor; one for Xia Ye and his wife, one for his two sons, one for Xia Xingcheng, and one for visiting guests.

Xia Ye walked in front and opened the door of Xia Xingcheng’s room. “I’ll collect the bed in a while, Ming ge can stay in the guest room next door.”

Xia Xingcheng didn’t understand. He grabbed Xia Ye’s arm and asked, “What?”

Xia Ye promptly shook his hand off and moved the cigarette away, fearing that it would burn him. “Isn’t second uncle and his family coming over to celebrate the new year tomorrow? Mom and dad originally wanted to put up a small bed in your room and empty out the guest room for second uncle.”

Xia Xingcheng asked, “So what about now?”

Xia Ye was a little impatient. “Now—mom told me to take the small bed and invite our guest to stay in the guest room.”

Xia Xingcheng tilted his head and asked, “What will you do tomorrow?”

Xia Ye said, “We’ll leave it to tomorrow.”

Xia Xingcheng firmly refused. “No, I’ll sleep on the small bed and my Ming ge will sleep on my bed.”

Xia Ye frowned as he stared at his brother wordlessly.

Yang Youming leaned against the door. His appearance was calm, but his eyes weren’t at all sober. He raised his head slightly and closed his eyes for a little while.

Xia Xingcheng pushed Xia Ye away and walked into his room. The lights weren’t on yet, but the light from the street lamp outside the window was enough for him to barely make out the outlines of his surroundings. He hadn’t been back for a long time, and he felt a sense of both strangeness yet also familiarity. He caught sight of a small bed set up next to the big bed, so he threw himself at the big bed completely and said, “My bed.”

Xia Ye saw that he was drunk and had no energy to nag him, so he raised his leg and kicked the suitcase over to a corner and said, “Whatever you want.”

He exited the room with the cigarette in his mouth and saw that Yang Youming was still standing in the doorway. He was a little apologetic as he asked, “Is it alright if you stay here?”

Yang Youming opened his eyes and his gaze fell on his face, showing a very faint smile. “It’s fine.”

Xia Ye nodded then turned towards his own room.

☆ ☆ ☆

⟵ Chapter 83 | TOC | Chapter 85 ⟶

Like this:Like Loading...