Originally, Ji Xingchen hadn’t thought much about it, but Ran Feng’s reaction clearly indicated something.
“Who are you chatting with so unrestrainedly?”
Ji Xingchen smirked cunningly on his lips and looked at Ran Feng as if he was just watching the fun and not taking it too seriously.
“Who else could it be?”
Ran Feng smiled awkwardly, released his mischievous little nephew who was causing trouble everywhere, so he sent him to play by himself before continuing to explain, “I made a nickname for you.”
Ran Feng’s words thoroughly piqued Ji Xingchen’s curiosity.
“Why did you give me such strange nicknames?”
Because he usually livestreams, his fans would see the special friend nicknames displayed in the game, so Ji Xingchen generally wouldn’t change special nicknames for anyone.
Especially for Ran Feng, he directly saved his WeChat nickname, Fenghe Feng.
Since Ji Xingchen didn’t leave any special nickname for Ran Feng, he naturally didn’t expect the other party to give him a nickname.
His gaze swept over Ran Feng, and he asked with great interest, “So what did you name me?”
He was really curious. What strange name could be a sexual and a love object at the same time??
Ran Feng saw through Ji Xingchen’s thoughts at a glance. To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, he quickly confessed, “Love object. Lin Haogans doesn’t know the word ‘love,’ so he reads it wrong.”
After saying that, he took out his phone, opened WeChat, and handed it to Ji Xingchen. “But I’ve changed the name now.”
Before Ji Xingchen could look, he asked, “Change it to what?”
Ran Feng’s face lit up with a smile. “Wife.”
Being called “wife,” Ji Xingchen quickly glanced at Ran Feng’s nickname and discovered that Ran Feng had actually set his nickname to “[Little Star].”
Realizing he was being teased again by Ran Feng, Ji Xingchen handed the phone back with a smile and took out his own phone. “That name is quite nice. I’ll set your nickname to ‘wife.'”
Just as he was about to change the nickname, Ran Feng pulled him into his arms and kissed him hard.
“Why are you getting more and more naughty?”
Although it was a complaint, Ran Feng’s tone was cheerful.
After explaining everything clearly to Ji Xingchen, Ran Feng found Lin Haogans and taught him how to read the word “love” again.
He didn’t want to cause such a misunderstanding again in the future.
Lin Haogans was having so much fun today that he didn’t want to go home at all and stayed at his uncle’s house overnight.
Seeing the child acting cute and stubborn, Ran Feng could only ask his assistant to bring over his pajamas and clothes temporarily for one night.
This was Lin Haogans’ first time staying overnight at his uncle’s house, so he was a bit excited. In the living room, after playing with the model, he took Ran Feng and played games with the controller.
During the game, they didn’t realize how time flew by. Ji Xingchen had finished his livestream, but they were still playing, with occasional nervous voices from Lin Haogans in the room.
“Uncle, save me!”
“Ahh, left, left, jump, jump!”
“Ahh, how did I die!! Uncle, avenge me!!”
“Charge!! The boss is coming out!!”
Ji Xingchen stood behind them, watching Lin Haogans excitedly gesturing.
Originally, he had planned to join in, but suddenly remembered the diary Jiang Mu had sent him, which was still on the table, so he went to open the package.
Actually, Ji Xingchen had already forgotten what kind of diary it was.
He used to indeed keep a diary; scattered around, he had written quite a few volumes. However, due to frequent moving and other reasons, those diaries were mostly lost.
So he never expected that Jiang Mu would still have one.
After opening the parcel, Ji Xingchen saw a loose-leaf notebook about the size of a sticky note pad. The notebook was plain, without any designs.
This notebook looked somewhat familiar; he vaguely remembered it was written during the period before his mother passed away.
Because at that time, he was busy and didn’t have time to write lengthy diaries, so he would occasionally jot down a few sentences on various sticky notes. This notebook was just one of many notes he recognized, but he couldn’t recall any of its contents.
So he quickly opened the diary and found that the first page contained these sentences:
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.
“April 21st, sunny. Today I tutored first graders in making sentences. The task was to write a sentence using the structure ‘If… then…’ A student painstakingly wrote: ‘If I could skip school, that would be great.’ I asked the student, ‘Do you really dislike school that much?’ He said it’s not that, but he hates exams and homework. So, is going to school really that painful for children? But when I was young, I think I felt the same way. During my student days, I envied office workers for not facing exams or teachers. Now that I work, I envy students for their carefree lives, only needing to focus on learning without worrying about life’s hardships. Is it that everyone always envies each other’s lives?”
Al Wlcumtfc delmxis rmjccfv atf mbcafca jcv mbeivc’a tfiq yea rwlif. Vb atfrf lcafgfralcu atlcur tjv tjqqfcfv yjmx atfc.
Al Wlcumtfc aegcfv atf qjuf, gfjvs ab gfjv oegatfg, yea cbalmfv atfgf kfgf rfnfgji ibbrf rtffar bo qjqfg ja atf yjmx bo atf ibbrf-ifjo cbafybbx.
Qtfc la mbwfr ab ybbxr, tf qgfofgr cfjacfrr. Vb lcrafjv bo gertlcu ab gfjv atf mbcafcar, tf vlgfmais bqfcfv atf ojrafcfg bo atf ibbrf-ifjo cbafybbx, lcafcvlcu ab alvs eq atf ibbrf qjqfgr.
As he was arranging the papers, Lin Haogans, who had been playing wildly, pounced on him from behind.
“Uncle, save me!”
Lin Haogans hugged Ji Xingchen’s leg and crouched down behind him.
Inadvertently, his movement caused Ji Xingchen’s diary to scatter all over.
Upon noticing, Lin Haogans immediately apologized and then crouched down to help Ji Xingchen pick up the papers.
Ran Feng, who had followed closely behind him, joined in.
“No need, you guys go play, I’ll handle it myself,” Ji Xingchen stopped them.
“No no, I caused this mess, I should take responsibility.”
Shaking his head, Lin Haogans carefully and persistently placed each piece of paper back onto the table.
The notebook wasn’t very large, but there were quite a few loose sheets, each with a few sentences written by Ji Xingchen.
When Ran Feng picked up these scattered diary pages, he didn’t deliberately read what Ji Xingchen had written.
However, there weren’t many words written on them, and the content was quite obvious. Essentially, one could skim through them quickly unless they closed their eyes.
“It’s been raining for a week and the sun finally came out today. Brother Feng, how’s the weather over there?”
“I saw someone who looks a lot like you, but it wasn’t you.”
“This month, I worked overtime, and the boss gave me an extra 500 yuan bonus. Planning to treat myself to a chicken leg tonight~”
“The doctor told my mom she has only three months left. Seems like I’m going to lose her soon?”
“I dreamed about my father last night. He said he’s doing well and asked me to take care of Mom. But I’ve disappointed Dad; I didn’t take care of her, and I don’t even know when she might leave me.”
“I’m not the child who makes parents worry less. Mom hopes I can forget about Brother Feng, but I can’t do it.”
“Mom, the three years we agreed upon have passed. But I’m sorry, I still like him. Perhaps in another three years, or even thirty, it will still be the same. However, I will heed your words and only watch him from afar. I hope you can forgive me.”
“But I still can’t help thinking about him.”
“Ran Feng, Ran Feng, Ran Feng…”
The smile on Ran Feng’s face gradually faded, his expression becoming solemn.
Previously, Ji Xingchen had only mentioned to him about the family’s hardships, with his father passing away and his mother seriously ill, without revealing any other details. As for their agreement and what was promised, Ji Xingchen hadn’t disclosed that.
But from these fragmented notes, Ran Feng could already guess the content.
On one hand, Ji Xingchen didn’t want to disappoint his seriously ill mother, yet on the other hand, he cautiously harbored feelings for himself.
How conflicted and desperate he must have been at that time?
Ran Feng carefully stacked each sticky note and placed them neatly into the loose-leaf notebook. He didn’t tell Ji Xingchen about what he had seen. Later, he took Lin Haogans directly to bathe.
After taking a bath, Lin Haogans wore cute dinosaur pajamas, lying on the bed afraid to turn off the lights, insisting that Ji Xingchen and Ran Feng stay with him until he fell asleep.
“Will there be ghosts coming out at night to catch me? Uncle, you have to protect me,” Lin Haogans held onto Ji Xingchen’s hand, not letting him leave.
The mention of “The Ring” by his uncle during the day had stirred up frightening memories in his mind, and now he was a bit scared to sleep alone.
Seeing the child looking pitifully at him, Ji Xingchen nodded at him. “I’ll wait until you fall asleep before I leave.”
Lin Haogans was still worried and added, “But even after you leave, please don’t turn off the light. What if I wake up and can’t see in the dark…”
Ji Xingchen smiled and nodded, “Alright, I’ll leave the light on for you.”
With these reassurances, Lin Haogans finally closed his eyes obediently.
Ji Xingchen and Ran Feng stayed in the room with him for over half an hour until he was sound asleep, before returning to their own bedroom.
Today, they took the child out to play all day. During the day, Ji Xingchen didn’t feel much, but by evening, he was a bit tired.
After taking a shower, he lay down on the bed and went to sleep first, while Ran Feng was still outside making a phone call.
He waited for a while, but feeling really sleepy, he drifted off.
In a half-dream state, he felt Ran Feng reach out and hug him.
Ran Feng gently kissed his forehead.
“Xingxing, come home with me and meet my family..”
Ji Xingchen initially thought it was a dream he had made up, but the next day when Ran Feng mentioned it again, he realized it was real.
“Should I go with you directly? Will your family be okay with it?” Ji Xingchen still felt a bit worried.
Although society now is much more open and accepting than before, it’s not easy for ordinary parents to accept their son’s same-sex partner.
“They won’t mind. I came out to them before. They know about my orientation and that I like you,” Ran Feng reassured Ji Xingchen, seeing his nervousness. “They’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time. It’s just that I haven’t caught up before.”
Ji Xingchen suddenly felt a weight lifted off his shoulders, and his worries and anxieties eased considerably.
However, meeting the parents is a very serious matter. Even though Ran Feng’s parents accept him, Ji Xingchen still felt nervous about meeting the most important family members to Ran Feng for the first time.
After setting a date, he carefully inquired about Ran Feng’s family’s preferences and spent a whole week selecting gifts for each of them.
What he bought for Ran Feng’s father was a certain brand of tea that he liked to drink, and what he prepared for his mother was a silk scarf that she liked.
Ji Xingchen bought a necklace from a niche designer’s brand for Ran Feng’s sister, simple and elegant in style. As for her husband, he bought a pair of cufflinks.
And for Lin Haogan, the child, naturally, he received a set of model puzzles, knowing he would never find them too many.
On the day of the formal meeting, Ji Xingchen realized that all his previous worries were completely unnecessary because Ran Feng’s family turned out to be much more approachable than he had imagined.
Not to mention Lin Haogan, the other family members, especially Ran Feng’s parents, were exactly as Ran Feng had described. They seemed to have known him for a long time, calling him “Xingxing” affectionately, treating him like their own son, completely accepting him as part of the family.
Not only that, Ran Feng’s mother personally cooked a table of delicious dishes to entertain Ji Xingchen. After dinner, she even pulled out old photos of Ran Feng and shared them with him one by one.
Ji Xingchen met Ran Feng when they were both eighteen years old.
He knew nothing about what happened before they met at eighteen.
However, looking through these old photos that documented their happy times together, Ji Xingchen felt like he was filling in some of those missing years, even though he didn’t have the chance to be a part of them.
Mother Ran was very meticulous, writing the date and a few words behind each photo.
Celebrating the baby’s 100th day, commemorating the baby’s first birthday, participating in a piano competition…
Behind each photo, she recorded the stories in short words, one by one.
As Ji Xingchen looked through them one by one, he seemed to witness Ran Feng’s growth along with Ran Feng’s mother.
“Did brother Feng learn to play the piano so young?” Ji Xingchen’s gaze fell on that photo.
The little Ran Feng sat in front of the piano, dressed in a white suit, and playing with skill.
Mother Ran pointed at the photo and smiled, “Yes, although when he was little, he didn’t want to learn the piano and always wanted to go to the neighboring teacher’s place to play erhu and suona.”
“Playing erhu and suona?” Ji Xingchen chuckled in surprise. “That sounds really cool. Did he end up learning them?”
Mother Ran nodded with a smile, “Yes, he learned. Don’t underestimate him, he played quite well. But later, due to tight study schedules, he didn’t continue. I haven’t seen him play again since then. I guess he’s forgotten by now.”
Ji Xingchen lightly nudged Ran Feng, who was sitting beside him, with his elbow and smiled, “Brother Feng, can you still play?”
Teased by Ji Xingchen, Ran Feng smiled confidently, “If you want to hear, I can play.”
Ji Xingchen raised an eyebrow at him, “Then play something for me to listen to?”
A mysterious smile appeared at the corner of Ran Feng’s lips, “I’ll let you hear it when we get back.”
Watching the intimate interaction between the two children, Mother Ran couldn’t help but smile along.
Later, Ji Xingchen looked through many photo albums with Mother Ran.
After finishing, he came to the conclusion, “Brother Feng, you looked quite cute when you were little.”
Ran Feng raised an eyebrow, seemingly not entirely satisfied, “Just quite?”
Ji Xingchen quickly corrected himself, “Not just quite, very~ cute~”
He repeated again, “And still cute now.”
Seeing Ji Xingchen laugh mischievously, Ran Feng reached out and gently pinched the back of Ji Xingchen’s neck, teasingly chilling his skin.
Mother Ran couldn’t contain her laughter, “Xiao Feng was indeed very cute when he was young. But as he grew up, he became less cute and more like his dad.”
Father Ran, who was pretending to be focused on his phone while actually eavesdropping on the conversation, cleared his throat, hinting to his wife not to involve him in discussing their son.
The atmosphere between Ji Xingchen and Ran Feng’s family was incredibly relaxed.
The next day, when Ji Xingchen was about to leave, Mother Ran gave him a big red envelope.
Ji Xingchen initially wanted to refuse, but Ran Feng stopped him.
He whispered quietly in Ji Xingchen’s ear, “This is the first time I bring my lover home. My parents giving you a red envelope signifies their approval of you. They did the same when my sister brought her husband home before. Take it.”
After understanding the meaning, Ji Xingchen accepted the red envelope.
On the way home, he watched Ran Feng’s family chatting in their group chat, tagging him to remind them to be careful on the way home and to come back soon. After replying to them, Ji Xingchen felt like he was dreaming.
“Brother Feng, I feel like this is so unreal.”
Ran Feng, waiting at the traffic light, held his hand, “You’ll get used to it.”
Ji Xingchen nodded, still curious, “When you said you liked boys, did uncle and aunt accept it right away?”
Ran Feng smiled and casually replied, “Of course not.”
He was concerned that Ji Xingchen might misunderstand, so he added, “But they only objected for about three months. After that, they accepted it smoothly.”
Ran Feng’s tone was relaxed as he spoke, but Ji Xingchen knew those days must have been much more difficult than he could imagine.
His own mother had once opposed his liking for Ran Feng. He understood the cruel torment of choosing between family and love.
Likewise, his parents had accepted the concept of heterosexuality for so many years, yet ultimately chose compromise and tolerance. It must have been because they loved their son deeply.
Ji Xingchen tightly held Ran Feng’s hand, “Thank you, Brother Feng, and thanks to uncle and aunt.”
Ran Feng chuckled lightly, “I suggest you start calling them Mom and Dad from now on. My mom hinted at that quietly last night.”
Ji Xingchen was surprised, “Just like that?”
“Well, otherwise, I’ll never bring anyone else home in my lifetime. Or do you think it’s better to wait until after we get married to change?”
“Married?”
Ji Xingchen was a bit bewildered by these sudden words.
He hadn’t expected Ran Feng to be thinking that far ahead…
As the traffic light was about to turn red within the last five seconds, Ran Feng looked at Ji Xingchen. “What, not willing to marry me?”
Ji Xingchen shook his head. “No, I just thought that as long as we love each other and are together forever, that’s enough. I didn’t expect you to think that far ahead.”
Ran Feng hugged Ji Xingchen and gently kissed the corner of his mouth.
“That’s not far at all. We have a lifetime ahead.”
After returning from Ran Feng’s parents’ home, Ji Xingchen suddenly remembered about Ran Feng playing the erhu and urged him to play for him.
Ran Feng agreed and said he would play for him later that night.
However, that night, Ji Xingchen eagerly followed Ran Feng to his music room, only to have Ran Feng strip him and press him against the piano…
Ji Xingchen’s hands pressed on the piano keys, fingertips clumsily producing a chaotic melody.
With each note accompanied by a strong collision and hits, he had to work hard to support himself with both hands to keep from falling.
Ji Xingchen looked at Ran Feng, the corners of his eyes misty with excitement, and his ears to cheeks and neck flushed pink.
“Aren’t you… going to play the erhu…?”
The broken words spilled from his lips. Ran Feng gently nibbled on his earlobe, his voice husky and filled with roughness.
“The piano works just as well.”
So Ji Xingchen, who wanted to hear Ran Feng play the erhu, ended up listening to the piano in such a situation for a long time.
The next day, his arms and waist felt a bit numb.
When he wanted to sleep more, he was awakened by his vibrating phone.
Reluctantly, Ji Xingchen opened the message, and the information on it instantly woke him up completely —
“Your entrance exam verification has been approved. Congratulations on successfully registering.”
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