Chapter 29: Those Two Kisses, Warmth in the Snow
Returning to his old nest in Jiangcheng, Li Ge turned into a pig, refusing to get out of bed until the sun was high in the sky. He was afraid of Ms. Min’s nagging, who would surely ask him endless questions about his “girlfriend.”
What was most terrifying was his grandmother. After seeing the girl’s photo, she was full of praise, wishing he would bring her back to discuss marriage during this Spring Festival, then get married on May Day and have a child on National Day.
After only two days, Li Ge already wanted to go back to Beicheng. Besides, his social circle was also in Beicheng.
He lay in bed, not getting up, found his cousin on WeChat, and sent a voice call, learning that Li Huan wasn’t coming back for Spring Festival this year. He had a place to vent his anger.
“Unfilial son, don’t you know that Spring Festival is a time for family reunion?” Li Ge urged, “Take a few days off and come back, help your brother block some of the fire.”
Li Huan: “I haven’t graduated from university yet, Grandma can’t rush me.”
Li Ge: “Aren’t you graduating this year? I’ll have Grandma start looking for you, the Li family’s lineage depends on you, make me proud.”
Li Huan: “Brother, are you crazy? I don’t like kids.”
“Is it a matter of whether you like it or not? It’s a responsibility.” Li Ge brainwashed his cousin, “Grandma is getting old, how can you bear it? Let her hold her great-grandson soon, and when she’s happy, all the money in her pocket will be yours.”
“…” Li Huan had never seen someone so righteously shift the blame. He returned the favor and brainwashed his cousin, “Yeah, brother, Grandma is so old, there’s a certain order to things. If it really doesn’t work out, you can go donate sperm, to continue the Li family line.”
Li Ge: “Are you fucking looking for a beating?”
Li Huan: “You’re the one who’s making me unhappy in the middle of the day. Alright, I’m not talking anymore, I’m having dinner with my boyfriend.”
“What?!” Li Ge sat up in shock, the call was hung up by his cousin.
He quickly typed a few words and sent them, warning his cousin: [I hope you’re kidding, stay on the right path, if you dare to go astray, I’ll break your legs!]
Soon, his cousin’s message came back.
Li Huan: [Just playing around, I know my limits.]
Li Ge: [Play my ass, break it off now!]
Li Huan: [Isn’t it just playing with an ass? Alright, don’t mind me, when I get tired of this one, I’ll find a girlfriend.]
How strange, what kind of sin did the Li family commit in their past life? Li Ge lay back down, thinking that at least his cousin had feelings for women and would definitely be able to get married in the future, unlike him, who only thought about men’s asses and couldn’t accept having children.
His thoughts took a turn, and Li Ge started thinking about the little assistant he longed for but couldn’t have. He didn’t know where Chen Shuo was hiding, whether he had returned to Beicheng, what he was doing at this moment, or when he could kiss him and then fuck him.
Wait a minute.
Li Ge suddenly sat up again, found Yuan Feng on WeChat, and inquired about Chen Shuo’s specific situation. Since Chen Shuo’s father was alive and well, why hadn’t Chen Shuo returned to Jiangcheng for six years, choosing to spend the New Year alone?
He could roughly guess that it was nothing more than a bad relationship between father and son. Perhaps there was a wicked stepmother and a half-brother, and the two brothers fought over the family inheritance.
Chen Shuo was a poor little thing with no mother to back him up. He couldn’t find a sense of belonging at home, his father didn’t love him, his stepmother hated him, and his brother was no pushover either.
In the end, the poor little thing fought one against three and lost miserably. In a fit of anger, he cut off all contact, ran off to Beicheng to make a living, and after many years of hard work, he finally earned a shabby little apartment.
The casual brainstorming session gave Li Ge a pang of sympathy. He cursed Chen Shuo’s factory-owning father for being a good-for-nothing, just a verbal greeting was all he did, he didn’t care about his own child at all, how hypocritical, what kind of loving father was he pretending to be?
An old pretender, no wonder his son was a little pretender.
Li Ge felt his opportunity had come.
With renewed vigor, he immediately got up. After washing up, he went downstairs to eat, but unexpectedly ran into a little girl with pigtails in the living room, about six or seven years old.
The little girl wasn’t shy at all when she saw him. After a sweet smile, she politely called out, “Hello, brother!”
Li Ge was amused, “Yo, whose little girl are you?”
“My father’s name is Jing Hai, my mother’s name is Wen Ling.” The little girl enthusiastically introduced herself, “My name is Jing Yuxi, my nickname is Mengmeng, I’m six years old, I like singing, playing the piano, and drawing. What’s your name, brother?”
“…” Li Ge had never interacted with children before and was momentarily unaccustomed to this playful interaction.
Seeing the little girl looking up at him with her big, curious eyes, he squatted down and teased, “Why isn’t your nickname Xixi?”
Jing Yuxi answered seriously, “Mom said Mengmeng sounds better.”
“Mengmeng does sound better.” After a brief introduction, Li Ge corrected the little girl, “I’ll be twenty-nine after the New Year, almost two rounds older than you, it’s not appropriate to call me brother, you should call me uncle, understand?”
Jing Yuxi thought for a moment, confused, and greeted him again, “Hello, uncle.”
“Hey, so obedient, uncle will give you a big red envelope later.” Li Ge stood up. There was no one else in the living room. He looked down and asked the little girl, “Mengmeng, where’s your mother? I’m also looking for my mother.”
Jing Yuxi pointed her little hand towards the kitchen, “Mom and Aunt are making tea.”
“…” The titles were all mixed up.
Li Ge didn’t correct her again, let her call him whatever she wanted. Actually, he didn’t like having children at home. Whenever children came to visit during the holidays, Ms. Min would surely urge him to get married.
“You play by yourself for a while, uncle will go and see.”
“Okay.” Jing Yuxi nodded obediently, looking at Uncle Li’s tall figure, thinking of the strange brother at home.
The brother was also very tall, but he wouldn’t squat down to talk to her.
Li Ge was hungry and wanted to ask Ms. Min for a red envelope to give to the little girl. But as he walked to the kitchen door, he heard the two of them chatting inside. As he was about to leave, a very familiar name suddenly entered his ears.
“That child’s name is Chen Shuo, I saw him once when I went to Jing Hai’s hometown with him more than ten years ago. In a flash, he’s all grown up, and his personality is even more solitary than before.”
Li Ge instantly became like a thief, hiding to the side and listening carefully, but the kitchen was too big, and the sound wasn’t very clear.
“We didn’t have children before, it was for his sake.” Wen Ling sighed, “Mengmeng was an accident, I feel very sorry for him. I thought about getting an abortion, but Jing Hai couldn’t bear it. He went to Beicheng to discuss it with him, and he agreed. I’m very grateful to him, I don’t know how to get along with him, Mengmeng also wants to get along with him…”
Fuck, was that little girl Chen Shuo’s half-sister? Li Ge was stunned. What kind of fate was this? Even God knew he was thinking about Chen Shuo and was actively playing matchmaker for him, making up for his recent lovesickness.
“Uncle, what are you doing? You look like a gecko.” Jing Yuxi giggled.
“…” What a mischievous little girl. Li Ge turned back and gestured for her to be quiet, but Ms. Min’s voice came from behind him, startling him.
“You’re early today.” Min Lanshu introduced her son. Wen Ling was someone she had met through a charity project. The two of them got along very well and became friends.
The woman in front of him looked to be in her early forties, with faint smile lines at the corners of her eyes. Li Ge finally understood why the little girl had called him “brother” and Ms. Min “aunt” earlier, it was based on seniority.
He pretended not to know, put on a humble and polite attitude, greeted Chen Shuo’s stepmother, and then casually asked Ms. Min, “Mom, what were you talking about just now? I happened to hear you mention Beicheng.”
It was just some family matters that men weren’t interested in. Before Min Lanshu could fool her son, the little girl spoke up first, telling him for her.
“It’s brother.” Fearing that Uncle Li wouldn’t understand, Jing Yuxi told him in her childish voice, “I have a brother, brother came back to see Dad.”
Wen Ling smiled and explained, “He’s my stepson, he just came back from Beicheng yesterday.”
Fate was too strange, Li Ge still found it incredible. Worried that it was a different person with the same name, he asked about the stepson’s job. Wen Ling said she wasn’t sure about the company, only that her stepson worked as an assistant, which made him even more excited.
Li Ge wanted to know more, but Wen Ling was ready to leave with the little girl. Maybe he could see Chen Shuo today. He almost blurted out, “Aunt Wen, I’ll give you a ride.”
“Ah.” Wen Ling was stunned and said with a smile, “You’re too kind, I drove here, no need.”
“I can’t be at ease, just the two of you, let me drive.” Li Ge squatted down and teased the little girl, “Mengmeng, do you want brother to take you home? Brother is very good at being a driver.”
Strange, Jing Yuxi was confused again, why did uncle suddenly become brother? But the brother in front of her was better than the brother at home, he would squat down to talk to her.
So she happily nodded, “Okay! Thank you, brother.”
Kids were so obedient, much easier to coax than that aloof funeral face.
Li Ge sat in the passenger seat. Seeing that his mother and Wen Ling were still chatting at the door, he turned back and asked the little girl, “Mengmeng, what’s your brother like?”
Unexpectedly, as soon as he asked, the little girl’s bright eyes suddenly lost their light, her small mouth slightly pouted, her sadness and grievance written all over her face.
“Brother doesn’t like me.”
“…” The little girl’s appearance was heartbreaking. Li Ge deeply empathized, wanting to say that her brother, that pretender, didn’t like him either, as if he was above everyone else. If he didn’t like her, she shouldn’t like him either.
But a child’s world was pure and clean, how could they understand the complexities of adults? Li Ge calculated in his head, the little girl was six years old this year, and Chen Shuo hadn’t been home for six years, the siblings had completely missed each other.
He reluctantly spoke up for Chen Shuo, comforting her, “Let me tell you a secret, Mengmeng, I know your brother, it’s not that he doesn’t like you, it’s just his first time being a brother, he’s a bit inexperienced, you have to understand your brother, give him time to get to know you.”
Jing Yuxi’s small brain turned and turned, only clearly remembering one sentence: brother didn’t dislike her.
It was his first time being a brother, and he didn’t know her yet.
The Jing family’s villa was also in the suburbs. Li Ge was familiar with the address Wen Ling gave him, about a half-hour drive from his house. On the way, Wen Ling repeatedly thanked him, both for the ride and for making Mengmeng happy.
With a child present, Li Ge couldn’t inquire about Chen Shuo, he was about to explode, desperately wanting to know everything about Chen Shuo, and then to provide some warmth in the snow, perfect.
When the car stopped at the villa gate, Wen Ling warmly invited him in for a cup of tea. He readily agreed. After entering the house, he quickly scanned the area, the first floor was quiet.
The little girl ran up the stairs, and Wen Ling called out anxiously, “Mengmeng, come down quickly, don’t disturb your brother.”
Jing Yuxi didn’t listen to her mother, her small figure disappearing in a flash.
What a good child, this was exactly what Li Ge wanted. Although he didn’t know what the little girl was up to, it would be great if she could lure Chen Shuo down.
He casually asked, “Aunt Wen, is Uncle Jing not home?”
Wen Ling: “He probably went out to buy groceries, said he was going to cook tonight.”
On the second floor, Jing Yuxi knocked lightly on the door and called out bravely, “Brother, it’s Mengmeng.”
Soon, the door opened.
“What is it?”
Jing Yuxi looked up and saw her tall brother, her little heart a bit nervous, still afraid that her brother didn’t like her.
She gathered her courage, smiled sweetly, and invited her brother coquettishly, “Brother, come down and play Go with Mengmeng, so you can get to know Mengmeng.”
“…” Chen Shuo was stunned, not understanding why Jing Hai’s daughter would invite him downstairs to play Go, when she hadn’t dared to approach him yesterday.
Of course, he didn’t need this child’s closeness either. He was just here to spend the Little New Year, to confirm that Jing Hai’s health was fine, and then to leave. He wouldn’t have any contact with the Jing family in the future, it was that simple.
“Hey, the little girl has already invited you, are you going to say yes or no, why are you putting on airs again?”
“…” The voice echoing in the hallway made Chen Shuo’s heart skip a beat. He thought he was having auditory hallucinations due to severe insomnia.
As if in disbelief, he completely opened the door, and then Li Ge appeared in front of him, his eyes burning as he looked at him, the smile in his eyes deepening.
“A day apart feels like three years.” Li Ge said something the child wouldn’t understand, “We’re still so in sync.”
Chen Shuo stood there silently, no one knew what he was thinking at this moment.
“Mengmeng,” Li Ge reached out and patted the little girl’s head, “You go downstairs and get the Go set ready, I’ll bring your brother down in a while.”
“Okay!” Jing Yuxi ran away happily.
“Don’t misunderstand me.” Li Ge explained, “Mengmeng’s mother happens to be my mother’s friend, she came to my house for New Year’s greetings, and then I drove them back. Her mother saw that I had worked hard driving and invited me in for tea, and I happened to hear that Mengmeng’s brother’s name is Chen Shuo, so I thought I’d come up and see if it was you.”
After speaking, Li Ge heard Chen Shuo utter two words, very lightly, almost inaudible.
He asked, “What did you say?”
Chen Shuo: “Dog shit.”
Li Ge: “???”
“You’re really a piece of dog shit.” Chen Shuo stared at Li Ge, his tone carrying an unprecedented harshness, blaming all his sleepless nights and the eight dead fish on Li Ge.
And those two kisses that he couldn’t stop thinking about.
