Translator: Mogumoguchan
Editor: Sarcasm
After sneezing a few times, Ji Xinglan’s nose finally settled down. He sat at the other end of the couch and both of them huddled together under the blanket. They enjoyed the heater and the ginger tea as they watched a movie.
Getting sick during the winter was no different than going through torture. Fortunately, they warmed themselves in time, and hence, after a few sneezes, they suffered no other symptoms, nor did their sneezes evolve into a fever.
But Yan Qiu had learned his lesson and had sternly warned Ji Xinglan against kissing him.
……
Yan Qiu really meant it when he said that he was only going to relax for a day. From the next day onwards, he stopped fooling around with Ji Xinglan. Before Ji Xinglan had even woken up, Yan Qiu brought the remaining half of the cake from yesterday and went into the study. He studied until the afternoon, while eating it.
At noon, Ji Xinglan was asked by Mrs. Ji to go out for some shopping. When he came back, he found one fat cat and an empty cake box on the table in the study.
“You ate so much dessert, don’t you want to have dinner?”, Ji Xinglan asked in resignation.
“Lan Lan ate it.” Yan Qiu was scribbling something on the paper. He only took time out to point at a certain fat cat rolling on the table, using it as his scapegoat.
“…My dad is back in Yixing City. Go get ready, we’re going to meet him and have dinner with him tonight.”
Ji Xinglan did not expose his lie and simply reached out a hand to ruffle Yan Qiu’s hair.
“We’ll be heading out at six.”
Yan Qiu looked at him in shock.
He had mentioned earlier that Field Marshall Ji was coming back, but Yan Qiu did not expect it to be so soon. He was not mentally prepared yet.
They were going to have dinner together now? This was too soon!
No matter how long it took, he would always be a little nervous whenever he met Ji Xinglan’s father.
Yan Qiu wanted to leave a good impression on his father-in-law, so he took a long while in front of the full-length mirror to tidy up his appearance.
In the end, he chose to wear a simple beige-colored sweater with a cashmere shirt and tie his hair into a neat ponytail; making him appear quite energetic.
Ji Xinglan was waiting for him downstairs. When he saw Yan Qiu walk over, he hugged and kissed him. “Aren’t you dressed nicely?”
‘There’s nothing nice about this.’ Yan Qiu knew that he was just teasing him, so he gave him a light push and urged him to hurry up and leave.
……
Ji Nai had reached Yixing City by noon. First he went to the military branch to handle the take over procedures, then at night, he headed over swiftly to meet them.
Mrs. Ji was unwilling to let him come home, only agreeing to let them meet outside to eat together.
They met in the restaurant where Yan Qiu and Ji Xinglan had gone on a date before. It was on the top floor of a building in the city center.
Because of the holidays the restaurant was bustling, with a long queue of people waiting outside. Fortunately, Mrs. Ji was a regular customer, because of which she had managed to reserve the last available room for them.
The waiter led them into the reserved room, but Ji Nai and Mrs. Ji had not arrived yet. There was only an air-con slowly releasing heat into the room.
“My mom said that she has a lot of work because of the year ending, so she’ll arrive a bit later. Let’s wait for them before we order anything. Do you want something to drink first?” Ji Xinglan pushed the menu towards Yan Qiu.
Yan Qiu ordered a glass of grape juice. When he had downed about a-third of the juice, the waiter opened the door.
Both of them looked over; Ji Nai had arrived.
They were a few meters apart, even then, Yan Qui could sense the uniquely fierce presence that only top-class alphas like him could emit.
‘His presence is very similar to Ji Xinglan’s. Just that it is more mature and stronger.’ Yan Qiu thought in his heart.
Since Field Marshall Ji Nai had rushed over directly from the military office, he was still dressed in his impeccable uniform; adorned with several medals of honor.
Yan Qiu did not understand what rank and status those colors and stripes meant. He just knew that Ji Nai seemed different from other people.
Yan Qiu remembered that Ji Xinglan seemed to have something similar on his own uniform, but he appeared inferior when compared to his father.
He could immediately tell that the tall alpha was from the army. His posture was upright, his nose was tall, and he radiated an imposing aura. There was also a formidable grandeur of a soldier on his face.
One could tell that Ji Nai had been incredibly handsome when young.
Twenty years ago, an attractive and talented alpha would most definitely have been the dream lover of the omegas of the former generation.
But Yan Qiu had just been born twenty years ago, so he did not quite remember what all happened at that time. All that he has learned comes from the history books.
At that time, Airam was not as strong as it currently was. There was some upheaval in the country due to the threat of external forces at the borders.
Airam enjoyed its current peace and prosperity because Ji Nai had used all his strength and contributed to the country when he was called to serve the nation.
Ji Nai stepped inside the room. He then handed over his jacket and hat to the waiter who hung them before pulling out a chair for him.
Seeing Field Marshall Ji sitting across from him made Yan Qiu gulp nervously.
He was usually very talkative, but when faced with someone older than him, he turned shy, and it became quite hard for him to say anything suitable to the occasion.
Fortunately, Ji Xinglan did not intend to let him make small talk either. He just quietly handed the menu to his father.
Since Mrs. Ji was not here yet, Ji Nai was not in a hurry to order. He decided instead, to talk to his son for a while.
“Xinglan, I heard from your mother that you are about to have a child soon?”
When Ji Xinglan saw that he did not take the menu, he took it back and flipped through it while letting out a noncommittal hum.
His attitude was completely different from when he calmly told Yan Qiu that his father had come back.
Yan Qiu knew that he was being disagreeable again, so he could only talk to Mr. Ji nervously to lighten up the awkward atmosphere.
“Yes, but I’m not even two months along. We’re having twins.”
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.
There were three people in the room, but he was the one who had to stutteringly handle the awkward situation.
“Pa’ii yf tjgv bc sbe.” Al Rjl jikjsr ujnf boo j rafgc vfwfjcbg jcv fnfc ktfc tf rwlifv, tlr ojmf vlv cba mtjcuf wemt. “Qtfc sbe ulnf ylgat, P’ii vfolclafis ulnf sbe j teuf uloa.”
Cr tf rqbxf, Al Rjl’r fsfr wbnfv ab tlr rlifca rbc, jcv tlr rwlif kjr j ilaaif raloo.
He was clearly a mighty field marshall but in front of his son, the man was absolutely helpless.
Yan Qiu noticed a few strands of white in the hair of the pillar of the empire.
Yan Qiu quietly picked up his glass to take a sip.
He thought that Ji Nai was a person who cast aside his wife and son after he gained his achievements, but it seemed like this was not the case. As a father, the concern in his eyes was not fake. Yan Qiu did not know just what went wrong.
……
Mrs. Ji hurried over from the company. Even then, she only arrived at quarter past six.
In spite of being really busy, she was still dressed beautifully and not a single strand of her hair was out of place despite the rush.
Time did not seem to have left any traces on her face, she was still as charming as before.
Once Mrs. Ji entered the room, she greeted Ji Nai aloofly, and when Ji Nai wanted to pull out the chair for her, she pulled it out herself before she sat down. Then, in a cordial manner, she asked Yan Qiu to order.
“Order whatever you like. He’s the one paying.” Mrs. Ji pushed the menu to Yan Qiu and gave Ji Nai a look. Her voice was full of mockery too.
Yan Qiu found himself speechless.
……
There were all sorts of cold dishes and soup on the table. The waiter brought out a huge cold assorted seafood platter. The prawns, clams, and scallops sat on a bed of ice. There were also slices that one could squeeze on top of the seafood. There were also Alaska King Crab legs and red Boston Lobsters on it.
The waiter poured each half a glass of brandy but Yan Qiu continued to sip from his glass of grape juice.
Yan Qiu hesitated for a moment before deciding to ignore the awkward atmosphere around him. He grabbed a crab leg, dipped it in vinegar, and started munching on it.
Ji Xinglan vaguely remembered that Yan Qiu had previously ordered a bunch of barbecued clams in the barbecue shop. Since he liked those, he grabbed a clam, squeezed some lemon juice on it, and handed it to him.
Yan Qiu took it and ate.
The raw, sour, and weird taste made him scrunch up his face and purse his lips.
The ones worth 6 RMB each in the barbecue shop tasted much better. After eating just one he refused to have another and instead focused on eating the foie gras with bread.
The atmosphere in the room was rather strange. The four of them had to intentionally search for topics to talk to each other. Silence occupied most of their time together.
Ji Xinglan might not have said anything on the surface, but he unusually drank the brandy.
Ji Nai asked him about his studies. Ji Xinglan continued eating while giving simple answers and rejecting his suggestion regarding work.
“I don’t want to go to Imperial City,” Ji Xinglan rejected cooly yet resolutely. “The military division in Yixing City is pretty good too.”
Ji Nai nodded in resignation. “It’s fine. Yixing City is next to the sea and the largest marine base of Airam is here.”
Ji Xinglan’s answer was distantly polite.
He seemed to be still bothered by the phone call from last time.
Yan Qiu felt like this was the most arduous meal he had ever had. The complicated family relationship had caused a simple seafood dinner to turn into a battlefield.
Fortunately, the foie gras was really delicious and it managed to mostly divide his attention from the awkwardness.
Ji Xinglan saw that he liked eating it so he ordered two more portions of it. They were enough for him to eat until the end of the meal.
Since there were really no topics for them to talk about and they did not really want to talk either, the dinner ended soon.
In the end, Field Marshal Ji was really the one who paid for the dinner. Mrs. Ji did not hold back either. She chose whatever was expensive and even opened a bottle of Louis XIII, stating that she would take the bottle home if they did not manage to finish it.
The four of them took the elevator to go downstairs. Since Ji Xinglan drank, he could not drive. He had already asked the driver to come and pick them up.
Ji Nai called his driver over as well. When they reached the parking lot he patted his son’s shoulder and sighed, “It’s been a while since we last met, and you’re taller than me now.”
Ji Xinglan slowly opened the car door and let Yan Qiu get in first before he looked down and mocked Ji Nai, “It can’t be helped. I don’t even remember how many years it has been since we last met.”
Ji Nai knew that his son did not want to talk to him and the last time they actually talked to each other properly was to talk about the ABO Marriage Laws. They stopped contacting each other after that.
He never understood what was going on in his son’s mind.
Very soon Ji Nai’s driver arrived. Just as was about to get in, he remembered something.
He knocked on Ji Xinglan’s car window, “Half a year ago,” he stopped talking before the slight tipsiness gave him some courage and he continued, “I heard from your mother that you were feeling off so I came back to see you.”
……
Yan Qiu was stuffed and could not sleep. He laid on his back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
It was past midnight. He sensed Ji Xinglan turning beside him and it seemed like he was not sleeping either.
Yan Qiu stole a peek at him. Despite the room being dark, their gazes still met.
“Why aren’t you sleeping yet?” Ji Xinglan sounded a little resigned. He ruffled his hair and asked softly.
“I’m stuffed. Can’t sleep”, Yan Qiu moaned.
Ji Xinglan remained silent for a while before he reached out a hand and rubbed his belly to help him.
“Then, why aren’t you sleeping?” Yan Qiu asked.
Ji Xinglan did not answer. Yan Qiu asked tentatively, “Is it because of your father?”
Wanting to help him, Yan Qiu knew that he was the only one who could talk about this with Ji Xinglan.
“Talk to me about it, don’t keep it to yourself.” He hugged Ji Xinglan’s waist and acted cute. “Between us, we can talk about anything.”
Ji Xinglan stared dazedly at him. In the end, with a sigh he relented.
Since he was young, because of his background, a lot of people had shown him concern regarding this matter. But this was the first time Ji Xinglan talked about his father with someone else.
“…When I was young, the person I idolized the most was my father.
When I was in kindergarten, I noticed that whenever I mentioned my father, everyone would stare at me with admiration.
At that time, I swore that I would be as great as my father.
When I was young, my father was good to me. He played with me and was willing to let me ride on his back. But one day, my mother suddenly told me that he didn’t want us anymore.”
At that, Ji Xinglan couldn’t continue.
Yan Qiu pursed his lips and hugged him tighter. He understood. In the past, Yan Qiu had idolized Ji Nai as well.
After all, every young boy dreamt of becoming like the field marshal.
“…But he cast us aside so resolutely. Is he really the hero the world perceives him to be?” Ji Xinglan collected himself and continued. “Back then, I had always wanted to become a hero like him, but then later on, I felt lost.”
Yan Qiu sighed long and hard. He hugged Ji Xinglan even more tightly and gave him a peck on his lips.
“Alright. Don’t overthink it. Sleep.”
Ji Xinglan hummed and hugged Yan Qiu as well. When he held his lover, he did indeed feel much better.
“Good night. You’re my hero,” Yan Qiu said softly.
……
Ever since Ji Nai showed up, Ji Xinglan would occasionally appear dazed.
Yan Qiu knew that he could not rush things, but he also wanted to help Ji Xinglan get over this.
But the person who caused the problem must be the one to solve it. The only thing he could do was to comfort Ji Xinglan and make him happy.
He was also the only one who could make Ji Xinglan smile.
Whenever he saw that Ji Xinglan was not in a good mood, Yan Qiu would act like a lap dog. He would sit on his lap and like a vixen, would shamelessly ask for hugs and kisses. He was ridiculously clingy and cute.
Yan Qiu was sitting on Ji Xinglan’s lap when the end-of-term results came out.
The moment he received the email, he was so terrified that he did not dare to check.
“You shouldn’t be this scared.” Ji Xinglan teased him before he opened the email for him to read it.
“Not bad,” he said.
“Huh? Really?” When he heard this, Yan Qiu looked over skeptically.
Even though he did not get A+ for two subjects, he had clearly improved.
“It’s fine. You did well.” Ji Xinglan put his chin on his shoulder and smiled a little. “Let me reward you.”
Instinctively Yan Qiu wanted to run, but it was already too late.
‘I knew it, his reward is nothing good.’ Such were Yan Qiu’s regretful thoughts before he was pinned against the table.
……
New Year’s Eve arrived soon.
All the servants were on leave.
Yan Qiu and Ji Xinglan decided to thoroughly clean their house.
Mrs. Ji was in charge of cooking, but she was happy to do it. She wanted to make hotpot for them so chose the ingredients in the morning itself.
Even though they were the only ones spending the new year together, there was still a ceremonial air to it.
Mrs. Ji had clearly said that she would absolutely not let Ji Nai into the house, but at night, when Yan Qiu went downstairs, he saw the man himself in the living room.
He rubbed his eyes in astonishment thinking that his eyes were playing tricks with him.
But when he opened his eyes again, Field Marshal Ji was still there.
His coat was on the hanger and he was drinking tea while sitting on the couch. He was even playing with the cat. Lan Lan refused to let go of his pant leg, giving him a tender air despite his manly appearance.
Just like Yan Qiu, Ji Xinglan standing behind him was stunned as well. Then, he turned and went into the kitchen.
Yan Qiu could hear the voices in the kitchen.
“…Didn’t you say you will not let him come?” That was from Ji Xinglan.
Mrs. Ji sounded resigned. “He came over in the morning and stood outside the entire day. He even smoked through one and a half packets of cigarettes…”
Meanwhile, when Ji Nai looked up and saw that Yan Qiu had come down, he asked, “What’s the cat’s name?”
Yan Qiu suddenly regretted giving the cat its name, but he could only brace himself and answered, “Lan Lan.”
“Oh, Lan Lan.” Ji Nai nodded pensively.
When Ji Xinglan came out of the kitchen, he saw his father calling the stupid cat Lan Lan.
His temples throbbed.
……
According to Ji Xinglan, his father seldom came back, so it was even rarer that they could sit together and have a New Year’s Eve dinner as a family.
Since they were going to celebrate the new year together Mrs. Ji decided not to have an argument with him and let him stay for dinner.
Mrs. Ji prepared a variety of food, so much so that it would not lose to a conventional restaurant at all.
Once they finished dinner, Mrs. Ji tried to chase Ji Nai away on the pretext that they did not have a guest room.
But Ji Nai had no intention of leaving.
“I can sleep on the floor. I’m used to sleeping on bare grounds in the army.”
Yan Qiu’s lips twitched. He cast a glance at Ji Xinglan.
They were really father and son. Ji Xinglan inherited his liking of sleeping on the floor from his dad.
……
Yan Qiu and Ji Xinglan went back upstairs to their room. They did not know whether Mrs. Ji and Mr. Ji had finished discussing things with each other or not; but they never came upstairs.
Fireworks in the city had been banned for a long while and since there were few residents in their residential area to begin with, they did not hear any fireworks, so it was rather quiet despite the fact that it was the night of New Year’s Eve.
Yan Qiu received wishes from a few friends. After replying to their messages he got on a video call with Xie Yu who missed him. This made Ji Xinglan really jealous, so he could only put down the phone and play with him.
“This is the first time we’re celebrating the new year together”, Yan Qiu placed his head on Ji Xinglan’s chest.
Ji Xinglan caressed his cheek and said with a smile, “Who else would you want to celebrate it with aside from me? We’ll have plenty of chances in the future. We’ll celebrate all the new years together from now on.”
Ji Xinglan started counting down the time when it was nearly midnight. One minute before, he suddenly pinned Yan Qiu on the bed.
Yan Qiu originally wanted to send new year messages on the dot, but he was caught off guard and found himself below Ji Xinglan.
Ji Xinglan leaned down and kissed him deeply for a long time.
Yan Qiu was teased so much that his legs felt weak. Through the fog in his mind he realized that he had missed the midnight stroke.
When they came up for air, the minute hand had already moved past midnight. Yan Qiu looked at the sudden light outside the window. Apparently, there were some fireworks.
Ji Xinglan let him go, but he was not satisfied yet. So he leaned against him and refused to leave. Yan Qiu pushed him away and gasped, “Happy New Year.”
Ji Xinglan tugged at the strap on his pyjamas and chuckled, “Happy New Year, babe. I hope that you’ll be happy every year.”
Yan Qiu laughed. Got up, wore his slippers, and went towards the window.
They stood by the window and stared at the bright fireworks exploding in the sky above the suburbs, far away from the city. Ji Xinglan hugged Yan Qiu from behind and said proudly, “I kissed you for a full year just now.”
Yan Qiu found himself rendered speechless.
…But that was…kind of…the truth.
Ah, what sort of stupid logic was that!?
He found Yan Qiu’s stunned expression cute. Ji Xinglan gave a light peck on his cheek and gave him a red envelope. Yan Qiu said, “I’m not a kid.”
“Then, it’s for the babies. Keep it first.”
Yan Qiu thought about it. The babies were yet to be born, so he could only keep it till then.
“Did you prepare any New Year’s gift for me?” Ji Xinglan refused to let go while hanging off of him.
“Of course.”
A few days ago, Yan Qiu had seen someone mention in the forum that there was a male’s perfume that was very similar to Ji Xinglan’s pheromones. After smelling it, he found that to be true. So he discreetly spent quite a bit of money to buy it, intending to give it to Ji Xinglan.
Right when Yan Qiu moved to get it, Ji Xinglan pushed him on the bed.
“Can I choose on my own?” Ji Xinglan asked.
Yan Qiu looked at Ji Xinglan’s bright eyes and how the stars and fireworks outside the window behind him lit him up.
So he put his hand on Ji Xinglan’s shoulder and said, “Okay. We’ll do whatever you want.”
……
Yan Qiu leaned in Ji Xinglan’s embrace and gasped for breath, both naked.
“Sleep.” Ji Xinglan kissed his forehead gently. “It’s almost two.”
Yan Qiu did not know when he fell asleep, but when he woke up, he found that the bed was already empty.
He got up and went to take a look in the bathroom, only to find that the bathroom was dark. It did not seem to be occupied.
The dark sky showed that it was still night. Everything outside was silent and only a bit of moonlight shone through the window.
Yan Qiu picked up his terminal to check the time. It was only half past three in the morning. He frowned.
‘What is Ji Xinglan doing? Meeting his lover at night?’
Ever since Field Marshal Ji came back, Yan Qiu could tell that Ji Xinglan’s state of mind was not right. He turned around and faced the wall, but with his thoughts running wild in his head, he could not sleep. So he got out of bed and opened the door, intending to go outside to take a look.
The moment he opened the door, he heard people arguing.
On close inspection he found that the voices were coming from next door, which was Mrs. Ji’s room.
The rooms were a bit far apart so Yan Qiu could not hear clearly what they were arguing about. The only thing he could tell was that they sounded quite agitated and that made him even more worried.
He quietly shut the door behind him and went into the corridor to take a look. He did not know whether he should go in or not.
Clearly this was their private matter and he should not butt into it, but they were arguing really fiercely and Yan Qiu was getting a little worried.
He did not even know where Ji Xinglan was.
After thinking for a bit, Yan Qiu decided to go in and take a look. But the moment he placed his hand on the cold handle, someone reached out from the dark and covered his mouth.
“Shh.” That person told him to be quiet.
Mogumoguchan: …I don’t get this animosity toward Papa Ji.
Sarcasm: Blame his mom for not explaining things clearly to a young boy who idolized his dad & also foisting her own issues with her relationship on him.
Sarcasm is right. I didn’t know how good my dad was until I moved out of my mother’s house. Yan Qiu sure has become accommodating with Ji Xinglan – is it hormones or just from spending time together? Either way, I like it!
Thanks for the chapter ❤️
When mother ji said “he didn’t want us anymore ” & “removed the mark through surgery ” i thought father ji cheated but it was also mentioned that he was always busy and no mention of other people so.. .. What really happened? Hmmm…
thank you for the chapter! ╰(⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝)╯
Pathetic
Yeah @sarcasm. I really hate when one parent forces their negative feelings about the other on the kids. They don’t even realise how much damage they are doing!!
If it was that Daddy Ji decided to dedicate his life to the military cause, that’s no reason to ruin the child’s perception of him. From what YQ said, their country was going through some difficult times back then so I think it really is something to do with his work…which does make him a hero because apparently the freedom they’re enjoying now is largely thanks to him…
What @sarcasm said is something that happened in reality to a guy really close to my family, his ex-wife took away his son and painted him jet black in the kid’s eyes. God knows how long I’d been since they saw each other, not to mention speaking.