Edited by Yummers
Ah-Jiang didn’t think he’d come back at such a coincidental time, he was right on time for Little Rock’s wedding.
It hasn’t even been two months since he’d decided to marry Jing Jing and have a wedding. Since Jing Jing was pregnant, everyone said it would be better to get all those celebratory events over before her stomach protrudes.
Shi Tou was just like a cog, rotating numbly with whirring sounds under other’s push, until Ah-Jiang returned.
Ah-Jiang had come back, but he was already about to get married.
His relatives all spoke nonstop while Shi Tou sat there with a dropped head, while a bunch of people gathered around Deputy Director Jiang*. These relatives of his had never contacted him in the past before. Shi Tou couldn’t even recall if he had relatives in this neighborhood or not. Well, who would’ve thought that the idiot of Cun Bei would have such an impressive friend?
His head dipped down lower and lower, his fingers intertwined together as he felt the gazes of the others’, it was as if he would only be satisfied once it became a dead knot.
“Don’t just focus on chatting, everyone. Eat some fruit.”
A woman walked out of the kitchen, carrying a plate of mixed fruits. Even though it hasn’t been long, anyone with a sharp eye could tell what the little protruding bit of her stomach meant.
The neighbors started ridiculing the little idiot. “Oh, Ah-Can, we couldn’t tell that you had quite a speedy pace!”
“Right right. I say, this idiot has god’s protection──ouch, what are you pinching me for?! Oh, oh, look at my mouth, I couldn’t stop it. What I meant was, our Ah-Can is an honest person, very trustworthy!”
The few elderly women pulled Jing Jing over to ask all types of questions. But, she merely covered her mouth to smile reservedly, not saying anything excessive as she passed a piece of fruit on a fork to Shi Tou.
The young male sat with his body leaning sideways, two legs closed together tightly without lifting his head at all. He was like a kid that had done something wrong.
“Ah-Can, what is it?”
Shi Tou shook his head lightly. No matter how Jing Jing shook his shoulder, he wouldn’t turn his body over.
He knew that Ah-Jiang was looking; he was scared of meeting Ah-Jiang’s eyes.
Jing Jing thought Shi Tou was just being difficult. She held up the fork and put it next to the young male’s mouth. The meddlesome people on the side started making endless noises as they became rowdy again.
Suddenly, a clear shattering sound rang.
Deputy Director Jiang* accidentally bumped the cup on the table. It fell on the ground and broke.
The man said “sorry” as he stood up to grab his coat. He said he still had some things to take care of so he had to return to the compound first. Deputy Director Jiang* was now temporarily living in the Jiang* family estate from before. It’d already been turned into an office recently so that it would be convenient to be used as a place to serve leader figures coming from outside.
Seeing that Deputy Jiang was about to leave with a cold aura, Jing Jing pushed Shi Tou’s lightly. “Aren’t you guys friends? Why don’t you see him off?”
Shi Tou lifted his eyes in a delayed reaction and grasped the corner of his clothing, following behind Ah-Jiang after some hesitation.
He didn’t say anything as he remembered the events from last night and ran back to the house. But the morning of that day, Ah-Jiang ended up coming to find him. They didn’t get to say anything as the village secretary pushed in a group of people. After messing around the whole morning, Ah-Jiang’s patience finally ran out.
Shi Tou followed behind the man quietly while looking at the fallen leaves on the ground, eyes following the swaying shadow that belonged to Ah-Jiang.
Then, the shadow stopped. He stopped in his steps as well.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Little Rock…”
Lf tfjgv atf rbecv bo Ct-Aljcu remxlcu lc j ygfjat, la kjr ybat iluta jcv mbiv.
Ktf mbgcfg bo Vtl Kbe’r mibatfr tjv ubaafc kglcxis ogbw tlr ugjrq. Lf kjr ilxf j mglwlcji kjlalcu obg tlr aglji, j atlc ijsfg bo rkfja mbnfgfv tlr qjiw fcalgfis. Lf kjr rmjgfv atja Ct-Aljcu kbeiv rmbiv tlw, yea la kjr wemt wbgf oglutafclcu ab atlcx jybea atf ojma atja Ct-Aljcu wluta cfnfg ajix ab tlw jujlc. Dea ja atf rjwf alwf, tf jirb ofia kgbcufv. Lf kjcafv ab afii Ct-Aljcu, “P’nf kjlafv akb atberjcv, bcf tecvgfv, jcv obgas-atgff vjsr obg sbe.”
I really did wait for you.
But in the end, Ah-Jiang didn’t scold him, nor did he not talk to him.
Ah-Jiang said, “Congratulations.”
“Congratulations that you’re getting married…” The second line was, “Also, congratulations, you’re going be a dad.”
“Mn.”
“Little Rock, are you happy?”
Shi Tou slowly raised his neck, Ah-Jiang had his back facing him. His back was both wide and straight; if the other had spread his arms out, he wouldn’t have been able to see the sun anymore. It seemed like a long time had passed when he finally nodded his head softly. “Mn…”
Ah-Jiang said, “Is that right? If you’re happy, then I would also be happy.”
Then Ah-Jiang left, his steps were fast and sturdy, the black coat flew along the wind as the long shadow went further and further away.
In the next few days, it was like Ah-Jiang had disappeared. Shi Tou originally thought that Ah-Jiang wasn’t going to pay him any mind anymore, however, Deputy Director Jiang* started visiting his house frequently after merely two days.
He seemed to be very interested in the little idiot’s wedding. He made sure to understand everything from the general basics to the small details carefully. But in the end, he discovered a bunch of issues and ordered three golden secretaries to redo Shi Tou’s entire wedding plans from top to bottom. The location for eating was changed from the little restaurant in the village to a starred restaurant that had just opened in the neighboring city. Every expense of the wedding had been raised to the highest level—even the wedding invitations were reprinted—every detail, from big to small were rearranged with the utmost attention. It merely made the other young man of the village’s eyes go red, as they bluntly spoke that the little idiot had such good luck to be able to know such a generous and loyal friend like Deputy Director Jiang*.
But Shi Tou didn’t know what to do, Ah-Jiang rushed around as if it was his wedding. In these times, even though the two would stand in the same place, they would both subconsciously not look at the other, nor would they talk to the other. Their backs faced each other only to make sure that the other was behind them.
The day before the wedding, the bride was not allowed to see the groom, so Jing Jing went back to her parent’s house as she waited to be wed.
The village had a tradition where the night before the wedding, the newlywed’s bed should be slept by the groom’s close brothers for good luck. They were originally going to have Shi Tou’s younger cousin from his little uncle’s family help out with that, but Ah-Jiang kept suggesting himself, and on that day, he stayed over at Shi Tou’s house.
Red strips were hung around everywhere in the house and every door had a crimson red Double Happiness sign taped to it, haunting him.
They ate together quietly, waited for their food to settle down. Then during the night, Shi Tou turned his body a bit in the other room, he couldn’t sleep at all knowing that Ah-Jiang was right behind that wall.
At last, Shi Tou fished out a blanket. The weather had already turned cold, their place wasn’t like the southern parts, it’d be bad if Ah-Jiang caught a cold from the winds blowing at night.
He hugged onto that blanket as he stood outside the room door, not making a sound. He didn’t knock either as he stood outside dumbly like a stone statue.
Ah-Jiang seemed to have the same thoughts as the little idiot, Shi Tou didn’t stand there for long as the door opened.
“Little Rock.”
Ah-Jiang’s voice was a bit raspy, the slight pitch change allowed one to feel the hidden joy inside their tone.
Though it was this late, Ah-Jiang still hadn’t fallen asleep. It was as if he already knew that Shi Tou would come to find him.
Shi Tou let his eyes down, he dared not to look at Ah-Jiang’s face any further. He finally knew what he was scared of──he was scared he would regret, but he had already promised Jing Jing to be the kid’s dad.
“It will be a bit cold at night….” The young male raised the blanket a bit, speaking unclearly.
Ah-Jiang didn’t take the blanket, he turned his body sideways to let out a path.
The candlesticks were already set up in the newlyweds’ room, there were also pomegranates and red dates at the head of the bed. The mat given to Ah-Jiang was still rolled up, Shi Tou went over to unroll the mat and covered it with a bright red mattress, he did the task carefully with all of his focus, not even a wrinkle could be found. Slowly, Ah-Jiang’s breathing came closer and closer, just like Ah-Jiang earlier, it was as if Shi Tou had already known that Ah-Jiang would come over to hug him.
The two hands wrapped around Shi Tou’s waist, so tight that he couldn’t struggle out of it. The man’s breathing was a bit rushed, a bit rough, the warm air blew onto Shi Tou’s neck, making him shiver slightly.
Their reflection was in the mirror. Starting from when did a hug have the ability to let both of their eyes go red?
Ah-Jiang’s grip became tighter and tighter, he sucked in a deep breath before speaking in a hoarse voice, “Little Rock, you only need to tell…are you…really happy?”
If…you aren’t happy, you aren’t willing, he wouldn’t care what they would face or who they will hurt, he was willing to take his Little Rock away.
The young male went silent for a long time. So long that it felt like hundreds and thousands of years had passed…he already couldn’t remember how the man behind him had also hugged him so tightly before in every past life, every hundred years.
To be selfish and cruel was such an easy thing to accomplish, yet the idiot couldn’t do it.
He didn’t understand. It wasn’t that he didn’t think of himself, but he knew it was like the cotton candy that’d blown away from the harsh wind, falling into dirt, no matter how unfortunate, it was already too late.
He spoke dryly, “It’s very late, let’s sleep.”
Just like many nights in the past, the same way that Ah-Jiang had coaxed him.
In the end, Ah-Jiang let go, but before Shi Tou walked out of the door, he pulled him into his arms again.
“I can’t fall asleep by myself. Let’s sleep together.”
Ah-Jiang was so weird, he’s a grown man already yet he couldn’t sleep by himself. Shi Tou raised the corners of his mouth, exposing those tiny dimples.
“Mn.”
On the red bed, they each took a side on the left and right, lying on their backs as they stared at the same ceiling.
Ah-Jiang said, “Little Rock, let me tell you a story.”
Shi Tou nodded, he liked listening to Ah-Jiang tell stories, just like how he would in their younger days. So the past really was that wonderful…
Ah-Jiang’s voice softly echoed as he told a story that Shi Tou had never heard before, “A long long time ago, there was a ghost who lived in a river…”
Shi Tou was scared of ghost stories the most, but this story wasn’t scary at all.
Shi Tou became more and more sleepy with Ah-Jiang’s voice by his ear. Gradually, he felt someone hugging him from behind. He fell into Ah-Jiang’s world, unconsciously, so many years had passed, he closed his eyes in peace…
The booms of firecrackers scratched through the sky, the village’s wedding still followed old traditions. Once the bride’s car arrived, the groom would go over to open the door and help the bride who was in a red dress, while the woman attendant would carry a red umbrella. Sounds of clapping, joyful laugher, and firecrackers mixed together. No one saw that the groom’s hands were trembling.
The High Halls were the groom’s uncle and aunt, the two seats on the side were seniors and leaders of the village. Deputy Director Jiang* sat on the first seat below the High Hall, he was smiling too, as if he was happier than anyone else.
Once the pair of newlyweds walked in, the master of ceremony sang, “First bow to the heaven and earth──”
Shi Tou suddenly stilled.
“Lit the first incense──”
“The second incense──”
“The third incense──”
The groom didn’t move at all, the master of ceremony coughed lightly but Shi Tou turned his head back, looking towards Ah-Jiang blankly.
Ah-Jiang’s smile had faded at some unknown time. Under the background of joyful laughs, the deep pain hidden in his eyes was so evident and obvious.
A scene crashed into Shi Tou’s sea of thoughts.
Red candlelight under the moon, a couple was each wrapped on the two ends of a string-ball, faces that were unfamiliar yet made him feel warm filled up the whole hall, the smiles on their faces were so genuine and sincere…
Do you remember? Have you remembered something?
A thousand years ago, you and I had also once bowed to the sky and heavens, we also bowed to the hall…
At last, the bride sneakily pulled the groom’s hand, finally bringing him back to reality. Shi Tou looked away panically. He numbly followed after the bride’s movements, then finally finished the wedding.
During the banquet, Ah-Jiang’s spirit was a little too high, as if they were happiness brought out purposely. He helped drink many alcohol offers for Shi Tou causing his cheeks to go red from drinking. Even his secretary couldn’t help but stop him from drinking any more.
At night inside of the bridal chamber, tears fell from the red candles.
Shi Tou climbed onto the bed, taking up one corner on the side to lay down on the side of his body. Jing Jing had already changed into her night robe, she took off her earrings and bracelet, and looked back to see Shi Tou squirmed up in the wall corner in a funny position.
Her eyes drooped as she blew out the candle, climbing on the bed as well.
In the darkness, rustling noises could be heard as a crash sound followed. Jing Jing yelled in surprise, quickly opening the bedside lamp. Shi Tou sat on the ground while holding onto his head with red eyes, his head had hit the ground, instantly bumping tears out of him.
“Ah-Can!”
Jing Jing started pulling her opened night robe back together messily, quickly wanting to get down the bed to look. But the young male acted as if he’d seen a dreadful monster, he struggled to quickly get away, backing off into the walls’ corner.
Jing Jing looked at him dumbfoundedly. Suddenly, she knocked her head in realization and shook her head as she kept laughing.
Then she coaxed, “Ah-Can, come up and sleep.”
Shi Tou looked at her with a flushed face but was still completely cautious.
Jing Jing was also tired, not to mention she was pregnant. After coaxing the other for over ten minutes, her temper finally ran out. “Suit yourself.”
When Jing Jing fell asleep on the bed with her back to him, Shi Tou still stood in the same place dumbly. He didn’t climb on the bed either, he just squirmed into that corner.
He remembered the story of Peter Pan that Ah-Jiang had told him before.
In his blurry consciousness, he wished he could become the boy that could fly, fly out of the window, so he could go find his Ah-Jiang
Oh no 😢 😭
Oh noThanks for the chapter
Oh.. I thought he would go bonkers, and let Jing Jing ‘disappear’
Ohhhh…. How will this develop?
Really wanna know
Thx for the chappy
(≡^∇^≡)
Thank you for the translataion! Can’t wait to see how this lifetime will unfold.
THIS,,,, HOW CAN AH-JIANG TAKE THIS????? idk this hurts so much ah QAQ this chapter really made me burst into tears!!!! thank u for the chapter~
This is so sad! 😭😭😭
Thanks for the chapter! ♥️