Translated by Springlila
Edited by Springlila
Trigger Warning: Mention Of Self-Harm
Lou Cheng’s mother came to the house the next day after the phone call.
Lou Cheng saw that Yue Yun was holding a huge cardboard box. He wasn’t sure what it was and asked.
Yue Yun has a strong psychological quality. She is calm and reserved when she is facing Ding Xuerun, the “daughter-in-law” who is very different from what she expects. “This is a gift for you,” she said with a smile.
“Mom, you don’t need to bring a gift when you come…” Lou Cheng’s expression froze the moment he opened the carton’s lid.
“I was walking by the bookstore and noticed the auxiliary teaching materials. You should be able to use them. I’m not sure what’s good, so you’ll have to decide which ones to buy.” She almost bought all of the high school teaching supplementary materials at the bookstore.
Lou Cheng had a feeling of suffocation: “Mom, why are you so polite…”
“Thank you, auntie, I will supervise Lou Cheng and let him use this,” Ding Xuerun said calmly.
Lou Cheng: “…”
“I still want to buy you some clothes, but I don’t know Xuerun’s size.” Yue Yun is very busy at work and does not have time to go shopping for clothes on weekdays. She always asks a regular tailor who knows her aesthetic preferences and gives her tailor-made seasonal clothing every month.
It was already noon, and she ordered takeout from a nearby five-star hotel for her two children: “Generally, most aunts are not as good as this. This hotel is close by. I said hello to their boss and left your address. In the future, three meals will be delivered to your door on time in the morning, noon, and evening, with different dishes each day.”
Lou Cheng used to spend a lot of time outside and only used the kitchen a few times a week. She hired an aunt for him, but she fired her because he often didn’t come home. Now that Lou Cheng is about to start learning, he needs to eat properly, and she can’t let him eat the messy food outside.
Ding Xuerun and Lou Cheng did not attend the school’s second-year to third-year cram school after the semester ended because Lou Cheng simply couldn’t keep up with the current study progress. Despite the fact that he received more than 300 points in the previous exam.
Ding Xuerun went to the preliminary round of two competitions while tutoring him. Each subject’s preliminary competition time differs from that of each province and city.
Lou Cheng is also looking into the performance test. He didn’t intend to do this at first because he had no interest in attending film school or becoming a celebrity.
But he checked and found that the National People’s Congress and Nortel were both located alongside the North Third Ring Road, and the distance between the two schools was only three kilometers. He can get there in less than ten minutes on his motorcycle, which is faster than a car.
At the time, Lou Cheng felt that it didn’t matter which university he attended. He just wanted to be closer to Ding Xuerun, and Nortel fulfilled that requirement.
As soon as August arrived, Ding Xuerun said that he was going back to his hometown. He specifically inquired a few days in advance. He found Siji osmanthus, collected it in a glass jar, and made osmanthus candy for Lou Cheng.
Before leaving, he put it in his refrigerator and said, “I’ll be back on August 20.”
He began to pack his things.
Lou Cheng refused, his hands pressed against his duffel bag: “Don’t you plan on making up lessons for me? What will I do when you leave? I don’t want to leave you.”
“Lou Cheng, I want to go home to see my mother.”
“Isn’t your mother and your father both in Guilin? Your father is with her. Don’t go, you have to accompany me.”
Ding Xuerun looked up at him: “My mother’s death anniversary is coming up in a few days.”
Lou Cheng was startled, and helplessly released the hand pressing on his duffel bag: “I’m sorry, Runrun…I don’t know…”
Ding Xuerun occasionally mentioned his mother. Lou Cheng imagined it to be a gentle, beautiful woman based on his description. Ding Xuerun, on the other hand, never mentions this.
His heart was sour as he looked at Ding Xuerun’s soft and firm profile.
Ding Xuerun comforted him: “It’s okay Lou Cheng, I didn’t tell you, don’t apologize.”
“Then… Then I will go with you.” Lou Cheng scratched his head.
“No need Lou Cheng,” Ding Xuerun smiled, “I can go back by myself. Don’t relax and study when I leave. You should memorize English vocabulary, complete the homework I assign you, and I’ll check it when I come back.”
Lou Cheng didn’t know what to say. He responded blankly, and then he couldn’t hold back, suddenly leaned over to hug him and pressed Ding Xuerun’s head against his chest firmly, “Runrun, I don’t know how to comfort you. If you want, you can think of me as… a mom.” His face was flushed after he finished speaking, and he quickly said, “Forget it.”
Ding Xuerun returned his hug. When he heard what he said, he was both amused and moved. Only Lou Cheng would say something like that.
He hugged Lou Cheng’s waist and straightened up after a while. Ding Xuerun looked at him intently, as if he wanted to kiss him. Lou Cheng blushed and tilted his head to kiss him.
Lou Cheng obviously has a lot of experience compared to before, but it is still raw. Holding Ding Xuerun’s chin in one hand. He moved gently, slowly biting his lips, sticking out the tip of his tongue, tentatively hooking it, and quickly retracting it.
Lou Cheng has tried it several times, and his cleanness addiction seems to have been cured. He only felt very comfortable kissing Ding Xuerun, and there was no resistance at all. Thinking that Ding Xuerun would return in more than twenty days, Lou Cheng couldn’t help it. He hesitantly stuck his tongue out, the tip of his tongue slowly and powerfully penetrating between his lips.
Ding Xuerun didn’t respond, and he was a little dazed. He didn’t know what to do. His eyes were shy and confused. He just accepted it with his mouth open not knowing how to resist. Lou Cheng was getting more and more excited, as if tasting a delicacy, gently brushing Ding Xuerun’s mouth, his flexible tongue invaded the hinterland.
Lou Cheng had never tried this before. He felt at the time that it was more like a kind of confession and expression, which made him feel the taste, and his heart was full.
Lou Cheng, insatiable after a deep kiss. He raised his hand and brushed away the tangled hair on Ding Xuerun’s face, brushed his brows with his fingertips, and pressed his head down again.
He loosened Ding Xuerun’s grip and hugged him. And then said in low voices: “You can return to your hometown, but I would like to purchase a plane ticket for you. You said that when you receive advertisements, you have a small amount of money in your pocket. What is it about taking the train that you find so appealing? Isn’t time more valuable than money?”
Ding Xuerun paused: “You’re right.”
For the first time, Lou Cheng recited such philosophical words, and then savored them again and again: “Isn’t time more valuable than money?” He felt satisfied after saying that sentence. And in his heart, he said, “I am your man, and everything I say is correct.”
He rested his hand on the back of Ding Xuerun’s head and pressed his forehead against Ding Xuerun’s. “I let you go back to your hometown, let you rest, and when you come back, I will continue to kiss you,” a pair of black eyes stared at him deeply. “Make your mouth swollen like that,” he added.
Ding Xuerun smiled: “The sweet-scented osmanthus candy can be eaten in two days when the color becomes like honey. Then you can open the can.”
Lou Cheng said okay.
Ding Xuerun’s plane landed around eight o’clock in the evening. Lou Cheng has platinum members with various airlines. It is not that he flies more on planes. It is because his dad has invested in several civil aviation companies and is a guest of various airlines.
He was one of the first Chinese business leaders to invest in private jets. He used to be extravagant, and he had to fly around in his private jets.
Lou Cheng is naturally subjected to this type of treatment. It is less expensive to purchase plane tickets on the same day. If there is a first-class cabin, only the fuel and machine construction costs will be incurred.
Ding Zhaowen picked him at the airport at eight o’clock. When Ding Zhaowen returned home, he tucked his notice away and said, “Runrun, we’ll see your grandmother tomorrow when we return to our hometown. She fell a while ago and now has poor legs.”
Visiting Ding Xuerun’s grandma was just one of the reasons.
Ding Zhaowen was aware of what was being said about his son outside. Nobody believes him when he says that Ding Xuerun transfers several thousand yuan to himself every month, which is more than his salary. And the more it spread, the more outrageous it became, saying that his son had gone to work as a migrant worker in Shenzhen, but the most dangerous kind, earning ten thousand to twenty thousand yuan per month in exchange for his life.
He said that his son was sent to Renmin University and that his old family suspected him of lying. Now that he has the notice, he takes a picture of it and goes back, as well as looking up news reports on the Internet. There is a great deal of evidence. If you don’t believe it, you have no choice but to believe it. Who doesn’t envy his excellent son?
Ding Xuerun remained silent. He returned this time to look at his mother. Ding Zhaowen left the tablet and ashes of his wife in his room. Every day, he touched and wiped it, and he talked to her for a while.
Ding Zhaowen appeared to be insane after Ding Xuerun’s mother died. He could only see his deceased wife, not his son. On the table, there was an extra set of tableware. Let Ding Xuerun go and ask his mother for something to eat: “Runrun, your mother can’t hear you. You must go to her and tell her.”
Ding Xuerun thought he was very abnormal at the time and advised him to go to the hospital for a checkup, but Ding Zhaowen just couldn’t wake up. Ding Xuerun was so stressed out that he sometimes opened the window to smoke in the evening. He burned himself with a cigarette butt when he heard Ding Zhaowen crying in the next room in a suppressed voice.
It’s no coincidence that he transferred to a different school. He didn’t want to stay at home any longer, so he purposefully caused a commotion and requested that Ding Zhaowen agrees to his transfer.
When he left, Ding Zhaowen was better than before, and it has been almost a year now as if he had completely walked out of the shadows.
Ding Xuerun felt better after seeing him recover.
At eleven o’clock in the evening, Ding Xuerun received a video call from Lou Cheng.
His room was small and the soundproofing is not good. Ding Xuerun lowered his voice: “Lou Cheng?”
Lou Cheng immediately began to cry: “Baby, I miss you.”
“We had just separated in the afternoon.”
“I should not have let you go on your own. When you left, I started missing you.” He said, “I’ll come to you right now. Please send me your home address and be as specific as possible.”
“… Lou Cheng.” Ding Xuerun sighed, “I will go back on the 20th.”
“I can’t wait that long, I want to see you right away!” Lou Cheng looked like a rogue on the other side of the video, “I don’t care!”
“Then where do you sleep when you come?”
“I’ll sleep in a bed with you.”
Ding Xuerun used his phone to show how small his bed is: “I’ve been sleeping in this bed since kindergarten, you can’t sleep here.” Also, to explain to Ding Zhaowen why the classmates came and why they should sleep in the same bed as him.
“Damn, your bed looks like it’s the size of a school dormitory…” Furthermore, the room, like the house, was small. Fortunately, there is an evergreen window.
Lou Cheng is particularly persistent: “You send me the address. I’ll go shopping first thing in the morning tomorrow. I should be able to arrive in your Guilin city around noon.”
“Can’t you stay home?”
“No, I have already told my mother that I’m going to travel to Guilin.”
“Please don’t come tomorrow. I’ll be returning to my hometown tomorrow.”
“Is that the mountain where you came from? That would be great. I just want to see the scenery in Guilin.”
“Lou Cheng…”
“Don’t worry, I will make your family happy.”
Ding Xuerun had no choice: “Don’t bring too many things here, please.”
“Okay, okay.”
Ding Zhaowen most likely overheard him on the phone and knocked on the door to remind him: “Are you talking on the phone? Go to bed.”
“My father just told me to sleep,” Ding Xuerun replied.
“No. I want to talk to you.” Lou Cheng’s expression was dissatisfied. “Forget about it. Your father is also my father. I want to listen to him. Is it okay to send a message without speaking on video? Or you leave the camera turned on, I talk and you send messages. I just want to look at you.”
Ding Xuerun said “um,” then fell asleep while chatting with him, the camera still on. Lou Cheng was sleeping with his phone under his chin, and saliva had splattered all over the screen.
Translated by Springlila
Edited by Springlila
Trigger Warning: Mention Of Self-Harm
Lou Cheng’s mother came to the house the next day after the phone call.
Lou Cheng saw that Yue Yun was holding a huge cardboard box. He wasn’t sure what it was and asked.
Yue Yun has a strong psychological quality. She is calm and reserved when she is facing Ding Xuerun, the “daughter-in-law” who is very different from what she expects. “This is a gift for you,” she said with a smile.
“Mom, you don’t need to bring a gift when you come…” Lou Cheng’s expression froze the moment he opened the carton’s lid.
“I was walking by the bookstore and noticed the auxiliary teaching materials. You should be able to use them. I’m not sure what’s good, so you’ll have to decide which ones to buy.” She almost bought all of the high school teaching supplementary materials at the bookstore.
Lou Cheng had a feeling of suffocation: “Mom, why are you so polite…”
“Thank you, auntie, I will supervise Lou Cheng and let him use this,” Ding Xuerun said calmly.
Lou Cheng: “…”
“I still want to buy you some clothes, but I don’t know Xuerun’s size.” Yue Yun is very busy at work and does not have time to go shopping for clothes on weekdays. She always asks a regular tailor who knows her aesthetic preferences and gives her tailor-made seasonal clothing every month.
It was already noon, and she ordered takeout from a nearby five-star hotel for her two children: “Generally, most aunts are not as good as this. This hotel is close by. I said hello to their boss and left your address. In the future, three meals will be delivered to your door on time in the morning, noon, and evening, with different dishes each day.”
Lou Cheng used to spend a lot of time outside and only used the kitchen a few times a week. She hired an aunt for him, but she fired her because he often didn’t come home. Now that Lou Cheng is about to start learning, he needs to eat properly, and she can’t let him eat the messy food outside.
Ding Xuerun and Lou Cheng did not attend the school’s second-year to third-year cram school after the semester ended because Lou Cheng simply couldn’t keep up with the current study progress. Despite the fact that he received more than 300 points in the previous exam.
Ding Xuerun went to the preliminary round of two competitions while tutoring him. Each subject’s preliminary competition time differs from that of each province and city.
Lou Cheng is also looking into the performance test. He didn’t intend to do this at first because he had no interest in attending film school or becoming a celebrity.
But he checked and found that the National People’s Congress and Nortel were both located alongside the North Third Ring Road, and the distance between the two schools was only three kilometers. He can get there in less than ten minutes on his motorcycle, which is faster than a car.
At the time, Lou Cheng felt that it didn’t matter which university he attended. He just wanted to be closer to Ding Xuerun, and Nortel fulfilled that requirement.
As soon as August arrived, Ding Xuerun said that he was going back to his hometown. He specifically inquired a few days in advance. He found Siji osmanthus, collected it in a glass jar, and made osmanthus candy for Lou Cheng.
Before leaving, he put it in his refrigerator and said, “I’ll be back on August 20.”
He began to pack his things.
Lou Cheng refused, his hands pressed against his duffel bag: “Don’t you plan on making up lessons for me? What will I do when you leave? I don’t want to leave you.”
“Lou Cheng, I want to go home to see my mother.”
“Isn’t your mother and your father both in Guilin? Your father is with her. Don’t go, you have to accompany me.”
Ding Xuerun looked up at him: “My mother’s death anniversary is coming up in a few days.”
Lou Cheng was startled, and helplessly released the hand pressing on his duffel bag: “I’m sorry, Runrun…I don’t know…”
Ding Xuerun occasionally mentioned his mother. Lou Cheng imagined it to be a gentle, beautiful woman based on his description. Ding Xuerun, on the other hand, never mentions this.
His heart was sour as he looked at Ding Xuerun’s soft and firm profile.
Ding Xuerun comforted him: “It’s okay Lou Cheng, I didn’t tell you, don’t apologize.”
“Then… Then I will go with you.” Lou Cheng scratched his head.
“No need Lou Cheng,” Ding Xuerun smiled, “I can go back by myself. Don’t relax and study when I leave. You should memorize English vocabulary, complete the homework I assign you, and I’ll check it when I come back.”
Lou Cheng didn’t know what to say. He responded blankly, and then he couldn’t hold back, suddenly leaned over to hug him and pressed Ding Xuerun’s head against his chest firmly, “Runrun, I don’t know how to comfort you. If you want, you can think of me as… a mom.” His face was flushed after he finished speaking, and he quickly said, “Forget it.”
Ding Xuerun returned his hug. When he heard what he said, he was both amused and moved. Only Lou Cheng would say something like that.
He hugged Lou Cheng’s waist and straightened up after a while. Ding Xuerun looked at him intently, as if he wanted to kiss him. Lou Cheng blushed and tilted his head to kiss him.
Lou Cheng obviously has a lot of experience compared to before, but it is still raw. Holding Ding Xuerun’s chin in one hand. He moved gently, slowly biting his lips, sticking out the tip of his tongue, tentatively hooking it, and quickly retracting it.
Lou Cheng has tried it several times, and his cleanness addiction seems to have been cured. He only felt very comfortable kissing Ding Xuerun, and there was no resistance at all. Thinking that Ding Xuerun would return in more than twenty days, Lou Cheng couldn’t help it. He hesitantly stuck his tongue out, the tip of his tongue slowly and powerfully penetrating between his lips.
Ding Xuerun didn’t respond, and he was a little dazed. He didn’t know what to do. His eyes were shy and confused. He just accepted it with his mouth open not knowing how to resist. Lou Cheng was getting more and more excited, as if tasting a delicacy, gently brushing Ding Xuerun’s mouth, his flexible tongue invaded the hinterland.
Lou Cheng had never tried this before. He felt at the time that it was more like a kind of confession and expression, which made him feel the taste, and his heart was full.
Lou Cheng, insatiable after a deep kiss. He raised his hand and brushed away the tangled hair on Ding Xuerun’s face, brushed his brows with his fingertips, and pressed his head down again.
He loosened Ding Xuerun’s grip and hugged him. And then said in low voices: “You can return to your hometown, but I would like to purchase a plane ticket for you. You said that when you receive advertisements, you have a small amount of money in your pocket. What is it about taking the train that you find so appealing? Isn’t time more valuable than money?”
Ding Xuerun paused: “You’re right.”
For the first time, Lou Cheng recited such philosophical words, and then savored them again and again: “Isn’t time more valuable than money?” He felt satisfied after saying that sentence. And in his heart, he said, “I am your man, and everything I say is correct.”
He rested his hand on the back of Ding Xuerun’s head and pressed his forehead against Ding Xuerun’s. “I let you go back to your hometown, let you rest, and when you come back, I will continue to kiss you,” a pair of black eyes stared at him deeply. “Make your mouth swollen like that,” he added.
Ding Xuerun smiled: “The sweet-scented osmanthus candy can be eaten in two days when the color becomes like honey. Then you can open the can.”
Lou Cheng said okay.
Ding Xuerun’s plane landed around eight o’clock in the evening. Lou Cheng has platinum members with various airlines. It is not that he flies more on planes. It is because his dad has invested in several civil aviation companies and is a guest of various airlines.
He was one of the first Chinese business leaders to invest in private jets. He used to be extravagant, and he had to fly around in his private jets.
Lou Cheng is naturally subjected to this type of treatment. It is less expensive to purchase plane tickets on the same day. If there is a first-class cabin, only the fuel and machine construction costs will be incurred.
Ding Zhaowen picked him at the airport at eight o’clock. When Ding Zhaowen returned home, he tucked his notice away and said, “Runrun, we’ll see your grandmother tomorrow when we return to our hometown. She fell a while ago and now has poor legs.”
Visiting Ding Xuerun’s grandma was just one of the reasons.
Ding Zhaowen was aware of what was being said about his son outside. Nobody believes him when he says that Ding Xuerun transfers several thousand yuan to himself every month, which is more than his salary. And the more it spread, the more outrageous it became, saying that his son had gone to work as a migrant worker in Shenzhen, but the most dangerous kind, earning ten thousand to twenty thousand yuan per month in exchange for his life.
He said that his son was sent to Renmin University and that his old family suspected him of lying. Now that he has the notice, he takes a picture of it and goes back, as well as looking up news reports on the Internet. There is a great deal of evidence. If you don’t believe it, you have no choice but to believe it. Who doesn’t envy his excellent son?
Ding Xuerun remained silent. He returned this time to look at his mother. Ding Zhaowen left the tablet and ashes of his wife in his room. Every day, he touched and wiped it, and he talked to her for a while.
Ding Zhaowen appeared to be insane after Ding Xuerun’s mother died. He could only see his deceased wife, not his son. On the table, there was an extra set of tableware. Let Ding Xuerun go and ask his mother for something to eat: “Runrun, your mother can’t hear you. You must go to her and tell her.”
Ding Xuerun thought he was very abnormal at the time and advised him to go to the hospital for a checkup, but Ding Zhaowen just couldn’t wake up. Ding Xuerun was so stressed out that he sometimes opened the window to smoke in the evening. He burned himself with a cigarette butt when he heard Ding Zhaowen crying in the next room in a suppressed voice.
It’s no coincidence that he transferred to a different school. He didn’t want to stay at home any longer, so he purposefully caused a commotion and requested that Ding Zhaowen agrees to his transfer.
When he left, Ding Zhaowen was better than before, and it has been almost a year now as if he had completely walked out of the shadows.
Ding Xuerun felt better after seeing him recover.
At eleven o’clock in the evening, Ding Xuerun received a video call from Lou Cheng.
His room was small and the soundproofing is not good. Ding Xuerun lowered his voice: “Lou Cheng?”
Lou Cheng immediately began to cry: “Baby, I miss you.”
“We had just separated in the afternoon.”
“I should not have let you go on your own. When you left, I started missing you.” He said, “I’ll come to you right now. Please send me your home address and be as specific as possible.”
“… Lou Cheng.” Ding Xuerun sighed, “I will go back on the 20th.”
“I can’t wait that long, I want to see you right away!” Lou Cheng looked like a rogue on the other side of the video, “I don’t care!”
“Then where do you sleep when you come?”
“I’ll sleep in a bed with you.”
Ding Xuerun used his phone to show how small his bed is: “I’ve been sleeping in this bed since kindergarten, you can’t sleep here.” Also, to explain to Ding Zhaowen why the classmates came and why they should sleep in the same bed as him.
“Damn, your bed looks like it’s the size of a school dormitory…” Furthermore, the room, like the house, was small. Fortunately, there is an evergreen window.
Lou Cheng is particularly persistent: “You send me the address. I’ll go shopping first thing in the morning tomorrow. I should be able to arrive in your Guilin city around noon.”
“Can’t you stay home?”
“No, I have already told my mother that I’m going to travel to Guilin.”
“Please don’t come tomorrow. I’ll be returning to my hometown tomorrow.”
“Is that the mountain where you came from? That would be great. I just want to see the scenery in Guilin.”
“Lou Cheng…”
“Don’t worry, I will make your family happy.”
Ding Xuerun had no choice: “Don’t bring too many things here, please.”
“Okay, okay.”
Ding Zhaowen most likely overheard him on the phone and knocked on the door to remind him: “Are you talking on the phone? Go to bed.”
“My father just told me to sleep,” Ding Xuerun replied.
“No. I want to talk to you.” Lou Cheng’s expression was dissatisfied. “Forget about it. Your father is also my father. I want to listen to him. Is it okay to send a message without speaking on video? Or you leave the camera turned on, I talk and you send messages. I just want to look at you.”
Ding Xuerun said “um,” then fell asleep while chatting with him, the camera still on. Lou Cheng was sleeping with his phone under his chin, and saliva had splattered all over the screen.
