The Banquet
With a baby growing in his belly, Shen Yuan naturally could not drink. Qiao Hailou shielded him carefully and did not let him touch a drop. No matter who tried to toast Shen Yuan, Qiao Hailou waved them off. Any glass raised in Shen Yuan’s direction was either drained by Qiao Hailou himself or passed to the best man, Li Lin.
No one expected Li Lin to have such a low tolerance. He got drunk almost immediately—and that alone would have been fine, except that once drunk, he refused to let go of Shen Yuan. He did not shout or make a scene, but he cried nonstop, completely losing his composure.
Qiao Hailou found him an eyesore and tried to send him away. Li Lin refused, sobbing, “My dad told me to look after my brother. What did I do wrong? I have to stay with my brother.”
Shen Yuan remembered it then—those words his uncle had once said to Li Lin, back when Shen Yuan had just arrived at the Li household.
They had all been very young. When Shen Yuan first moved into the Li family, it had been hard for him to blend in with that group of rich kids. It was the first Sunday after he arrived. A whole gaggle of Li Lin’s friends had come over to play, and Li Lin had proudly dragged his newly acquired bargain brother over to introduce him.
At first everything was fine. But when they started playing video games, Shen Yuan—who had never seen one before—was completely clueless. One of the kids casually sneered, “What kind of country bumpkin are you? You’ve never even seen this?”
Li Lin had exploded on the spot. “My brother is not someone you get to laugh at!”
He kicked the kid out immediately.
Shen Yuan sighed softly. Old ties still mattered. If he pushed Li Lin away now, the boy would only make more trouble. Shen Yuan reached out and touched Li Lin’s forehead—it was burning hot. Gently, he coaxed him, “It’s okay, it’s okay. No one’s chasing you away. Are you dizzy? Big brother will take you to a room to rest, all right?”
Li Lin looked at him with tear-filled eyes and nodded obediently, pitiful like a big dog.
Shen Yuan was about to take him to the rest room when Qiao Hailou grabbed his arm. “Let your uncle take him. Why are you getting yourself involved?”
Qiao Hailou muttered sourly under his breath, “You know you treat him like a brother, but even if he calls you ‘brother,’ he doesn’t see you that way. Why aren’t you more careful?”
Shen Yuan replied calmly, “If you use someone, don’t doubt them; if you doubt them, don’t use them. I already asked Li Lin to be my best man. There’s no point suspecting him now. I’ll be right back. Old Qiao, I’m twenty-three, not a kid. Stop worrying for no reason. Or what—do you want to stuff me in your pocket and carry me around?”
Qiao Hailou grumbled, “You’re misusing idioms… Hey, you’re really going? Let’s go together!”
Qiao Hailou watched helplessly as Shen Yuan led the drunken Li Lin away. He hesitated, about to follow, but another guest intercepted him with a raised glass, tying him up.
Shen Yuan helped Li Lin onto the sofa. Anticipating accidents, the staff had prepared plenty of medicine. Shen Yuan rummaged through the medical kit, found some hangover pills, and poured a glass of water.
He placed the pills and water on the coffee table, bent down, and nudged Li Lin. “Wake up, Li Lin. Take some medicine before you sleep—it’ll make you feel better.”
Li Lin had just dozed off. Woken by Shen Yuan, he opened his eyes groggily. Seeing Shen Yuan, he thought he was dreaming. He reached out, hooked an arm around Shen Yuan’s neck, and leaned in to kiss him.
Luckily, Shen Yuan reacted quickly and slapped him across the face.
Smack.
That sobered Li Lin instantly. He sat up, hair a mess, eyes reddening at once. “I didn’t mean to…”
Suppressing his anger, Shen Yuan said, “There can’t be any more of these ‘I didn’t mean to’ moments. You promised me, and you still did this. That’s the only reason I let you be my best man.”
Choking back tears, Li Lin asked, “Brother, do I always make things hard for you?”
Shen Yuan answered coldly, “Yes.”
Li Lin lowered his head. “…I know I shouldn’t keep liking you. But I’ve liked you for so long, it’s become a habit. I don’t know if I can change. It keeps pouring out of my chest. Whenever I think of you, it’s like this. Liking someone isn’t like turning off a faucet—you can’t just shut the valve and make it stop.”
After a moment of thought, Shen Yuan said, “I’ve never shown you my real self. What you like isn’t me—it’s just the idea of a gentle older brother. We should see each other less from now on. Time heals everything. If you don’t see me, your feelings will fade.”
He continued, “Rest here properly. No one will come in. I’m going back to the banquet.”
Li Lin cried even harder and grabbed his wrist. “Brother, I know I have no hope in this lifetime. Can I at least line up? In the next life, don’t be with Qiao Hailou—be with me. I won’t be your brother anymore.”
Shen Yuan looked at him quietly. One by one, he pried Li Lin’s fingers off his wrist. Coldly, he said, “No.”
Without hesitation, Shen Yuan continued, “In my next life, I still want to be with Qiao Hailou. In the life after that, too. I love him.”
Li Lin was left speechless. “…”
He slumped, letting go like a defeated stray dog, out of tricks.
Shen Yuan gave him one last look, left the room, closed the door carefully, and stared blankly at the doorknob for a moment before letting out a long sigh. He felt that Li Lin would finally give up for good this time.
After collecting himself, Shen Yuan turned around—and was suddenly grabbed and pulled aside, crashing into a warm, solid chest. Startled, he caught the familiar scent of men’s cologne. Obviously who it was. He stomped on the man’s foot. “Qiao Old Dog, are you trying to scare me to death?”
Qiao Hailou looked at him with a half-smile. “So you still want to be with me in your next life, huh?”
Shen Yuan’s face flushed bright red. “How long were you eavesdropping? Have you no shame?”
Hand in hand, the two walked away. Qiao Hailou put on an innocent act. “I didn’t hear anything. Hurry up—tell me. Do you still want to be with me in your next life? I didn’t hear clearly.”
Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. Qiao Hailou had definitely heard everything. He was just pushing his luck, forcing Shen Yuan to say it again to his face. This old man was truly troublesome—making a guy in his twenties coax him.
“You just keep pretending,” Shen Yuan said.
Qiao Hailou threatened, “Are you answering or not? If you don’t, I’m kissing you.”
Blushing fiercely, Shen Yuan muttered quickly, “I do. Is that enough?”
“Do what?” Qiao Hailou pressed.
Helpless, Shen Yuan shut his eyes. “I want to be with you in my next life.”
Satisfied at last.
Shen Yuan added thoughtfully, “If we’re still together next time, meet me when you’re ten years younger.”
Qiao Hailou teased him. “Didn’t you say you only liked uncles in their thirties or forties? Why make me younger?”
Shen Yuan stopped walking. The heat had faded from his face, but his ears were still bright red. “That was nonsense I said before. However old you were when I met you, I think I’d like you all the same. If you were twenty, I’d like the twenty-year-old you. If you were thirty, I’d like the thirty-year-old you.”
Qiao Hailou felt as if a little deer had rammed straight into his heart. Shen Yuan was the most cunning in this way—layered in disguises, yet completely unguarded with him.
Qiao Hailou’s heart softened instantly. He wrapped Shen Yuan in his arms, no longer joking. “Me too. Sigh. Sometimes I regret being born so early. I’m so much older than you—I’ll definitely die before you. I’m always afraid that after I’m gone, people will bully you, and I won’t be there to protect you.”
Shen Yuan’s eyes grew wet. He sniffed. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m strong. I can protect myself.”
“I know,” Qiao Hailou said gently. “I know my silly one is strong and brave. No one can defeat him. But I still want to protect him.”
After wading through a long stretch of hardship in the river of time, Shen Yuan was finally able to open his heart and accept someone else’s protection. As a child, abandoned again and again by his parents, his protector—his grandfather—had taught him to be independent, to protect himself. He hadn’t understood then, but now he realized he had long stopped believing in anyone else’s protection. He trusted only himself. Even after arriving at the Li household, he had never truly let his uncle protect him.
He believed no one could be relied upon. Only himself.
Now, he could still rely on himself—but he had long since accepted Uncle Qiao’s protection.
Shen Yuan buried his face in Qiao Hailou’s chest.
Qiao Hailou patted his back lightly. “Do you know how expensive this suit is? Stop crying—don’t wipe your snot and tears on my clothes again.”
“I’m doing it on purpose,” Shen Yuan said. “I’m not paying you back.”
“Uncle Qiao, you have to live a long, long time—like the old bastard turtle I always call you. Eternal and undying. You’ll definitely live a long life. Disasters live for a thousand years, after all. Anyway, you’re not allowed to die before me. Got it?”
Qiao Hailou laughed. “Eternal, huh. Fine. I’ll try to live past a hundred.”
Qiao Hailou’s phone vibrated. He checked it and said, “The staff is asking if they can set off the fireworks. Come on, let’s go watch.”
They found the best viewing spot. From John, they took Little Peanut, who was utterly exhausted from the day and already nodding off.
Qiao Hailou pulled him into his arms. “Baby, there’s something fun.”
Little Peanut yawned and woke groggily. Hearing a strange sound, he turned his head just in time to see fireworks shoot into the deep indigo night sky and explode with a crack.
Little Peanut leaned against Qiao Hailou’s right shoulder, Shen Yuan pressed close on the left.
Clapping excitedly, Little Peanut laughed. He was still so young and had seen so little—just fireworks were enough to amaze him.
Watching his mischievous little monkey of a son, Shen Yuan couldn’t help laughing.
“When I was little,” Shen Yuan said to Qiao Hailou, “we could still watch fireworks during the New Year. I loved them. Other kids had money to buy small fireworks. I didn’t. I was always so jealous.”
“You can buy as many as you want now,” Qiao Hailou said. “But they’re dangerous—better not play with them too much.”
Shen Yuan blushed. “I’m not a kid anymore. I was just talking about when I was little.”
Little Peanut wasn’t listening. Suddenly, in his babyish voice, he said, “I want to share with little sister. When is she coming? She’s so slow.”
“Wait a little longer,” Shen Yuan replied.
Five months later.
Shen Yuan gave birth to a baby girl. Her formal name was Shen Qiao Zheng; her nickname was Little Rice Cake.
However, unlike Little Peanut, his little sister was not so fortunate. At birth, it was discovered that she was not a completely healthy baby.