CH 67

Xie Yao said, “I was eight years old at the time. My grandmother retired and returned to work. On the day of the photo shoot, she happened to bring me along and we ran into you and your father.”

Xie Yao was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and he never lacked for anything growing up.

His father was a very serious person, both at work and at home, and was the pillar of the family.

At eight years old, Xie Yao was very mature for his age, and his rebellious tendencies grew as he attended countless piano and calligraphy classes.

Xie Yao’s father was clearly not good at parenting, and only knew that he needed to cultivate an excellent successor from a young age.

Their family was actually very similar to the Jiang family, but there were also some significant differences.

The Jiang family had been in business for generations, and the rebellious father had gone into literary creation, while his son pursued e-sports.

The Xie family was full of literary giants, with grandparents who were both teachers. Xie’s father had gone into business, and Xie Yao was oppressed and had no freedom of his own.

The Jiang family was open-minded, so Jiang Song had the support of his parents for whatever he wanted to do, while the Xie family was strict and Xie Yao’s ideas were always vetoed by his father.

That day, eight-year-old Xie Yao managed to escape from piano lessons and went to A University with his grandmother. That’s when he met Jiang’s father, a former student.

While the adults talked, the two children played together, but they had nothing to talk about since they were six years apart.

Jiang Song was already a middle school student at the time and had begun playing games. He had a natural talent for it, and while the adults talked, he sat on a flower bed and played on his phone, dominating the game.

Xie Yao watched curiously, quietly and admiringly, without saying a word.

That was Xie Yao’s first exposure to gaming, and also the first time he met Jiang Song. He couldn’t remember exactly what happened at the time, but there was one sentence he would never forget.

After winning a game, young Jiang Song smiled and asked Little Xie Yao, “Do you like games too?”

“Turns out this is a game,” Little Xie Yao thought, “It’s nothing like playing the piano, but I really like it!”

This sentence was like a seed buried in Xie Yao’s heart, growing with the nourishment of rebellion amidst his busy schedule, until he decided to run away from home at the age of twelve.

The trigger was just a set of piano scores that Xie Yao received from his father on his birthday when he was twelve years old.

The scores were precious, but Xie Yao didn’t like them at all.

He deliberately chose “SUS” because he had heard his grandmother mention that Jiang’s brother played it the day before.

Xie Yao’s fondness for Jiang Song grew deeper and deeper. At first, it was just an admiration during his rebellious phase, starting from his enlightenment at the age of eight, to later chasing after him when he ran away from home at the age of thirteen, and then being shattered when his family was destroyed and his loved ones died. But eventually, the feelings and preferences couldn’t be suppressed, and burned more and more intensely.

Xie Yao only understood this now.

“When I was a kid, I was foolish and ran away from home without my parent’s consent. At that time, my family didn’t approve of me playing games, and I had been at odds with my dad for a whole year outside.”

Xie Yao spoke calmly when he talked about the past, his hands still resting on the piano keys, without the sadness he imagined.

‘My dad and mom died in a car accident on my birthday. He finally compromised and wanted to come see me. Later, I received a letter from the doctor. The envelope was dirty, full of cake and bloodstains. It was my dad’s apology letter to me.’

These words were on the tip of Xie Yao’s tongue, but he didn’t say them in the end.

He lifted his head in Jiang Song’s arms and suddenly smiled.

“Thank you for making me like games.”

Xie Yao glanced at Jiang Song and leaned his face against his neck. “I’m very happy now. They must be very happy too.”

The guilt and self-blame that had been haunting him for years had become a prison that kept him trapped in place, unable to speak of it. Now, under Jiang Song’s gaze, it all vanished into thin air, replaced by a simple declaration: “I love you.”

Although Xie Yao’s words seemed unrelated, Jiang Song didn’t delve into it and just smiled. “I love you too.”

Suddenly, Xie Yao leaned in and kissed Jiang Song on the lips, his face turning red. “Do you want to meet my parents and my grandma?”

After redeeming the Xie family’s house, Xie Yao had arranged for his parents and grandfather’s graves to be moved. Now, the three graves were neatly arranged on the hill behind the house.

Xie Yao had often come to pay his respects before, but now with the graves moved, the new graves looked clean and fresh. The plum trees on the hill hadn’t bloomed yet, but by next March, they would be covered in tender yellow blossoms.

Jiang Song picked a good day and drove with Xie Yao to the cemetery. He held a bouquet of flowers in one hand and incense and paper money in the other.

Xie Yao offered to help carry things, but Jiang Song declined and laughed. “No, what kind of son would I be if I let you carry things to meet your parents? They might think I’m bullying you.”

He extended his elbow, holding the bouquet of flowers, and gestured for Xie Yao to link arms with him. “Let’s go.”

“My mom is very easygoing and looks a bit like your aunt, but she’s quieter. My dad is serious and likes to have the final say at home, but he’s just bad-tempered.”

“My grandfather was a professor, just like yours.”

As Xie Yao and Jiang Song walked up the mountain path, Xie Yao talked about his parents.

“My grandma is doing well and receiving follow-up treatment at the sanatorium. She can’t receive visitors right now, but we can go see her during the Spring Festival.”

Xie Yao hadn’t had time to come and pay his respects in the past few days, and a few leaves had fallen on the graves. Jiang Song walked over and plucked the leaves, then placed the flowers neatly in front of the graves.

“Uncle, Auntie, Grandpa, nice to meet you. My name is Jiang Song, and I’m Xie Yao’s boyfriend.”

Jiang Song held Xie Yao’s hand and bowed in front of the graves.

“Yao Yao said that neither Uncle nor Grandfather liked flowers very much, so they only bought a bouquet for Aunt. But I brought a bottle of good wine just in case.”

Xie Yao opened the bottle and poured it carefully on the graves of the two men. The wine flowed into the soil and gradually disappeared.

Xie Yao smiled and said, “Look, they really like you. They drank all the wine we poured.”

Jiang Song placed the remaining wine in front of the graves and then took Xie Yao’s hand. “I’m afraid they’ll get drunk, so let’s leave the half bottle here for them to enjoy slowly.”

He turned to the graves and said, “Yao Yao is under my care now. You can rest assured that I will take care of him.”

“Is the house down there yours?”

As they walked down the mountain after paying their respects, Jiang Song pointed to a small villa at the foot of the mountain and asked Xie Yao.

“Yes, it’s mine. But it was auctioned off when my company went bankrupt. I only recently bought it back. It’s been empty for a long time, and there’s not much inside.”

The house had been empty for too long and lacked vitality, making it appear a bit desolate from a distance.

Jiang Song frowned and asked, “So where did you live before?”

“I rented a place.”

Jiang Song had sent him packages before and knew where he lived. Xie Yao didn’t have much to say about renting a place, and he spoke to Jiang Song with ease.

“Xiao P has been staying with the neighbors for almost half a month. We’ll bring it back home later.”

“Xiao P?” Jiang Song leaned against Xie Yao and smiled, “Is that the cat you picked up?”

“It’s him.” Xie Yao said, “I have to thank you for helping me with Xiao P before. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to keep a cat. Without you, Xiao P might not have been saved when it was picked up.”

Jiang Song nodded proudly, accepting the credit.

Xiao P was being fostered at a neighbor’s grandmother’s house, where she and her granddaughter had been taking care of it for the past two weeks. When Xie Yao came to pick up Xiao P, as a token of gratitude, he bought a few pounds of pork ribs and asked Jiang Song to bring a bucket of oil.

Watching the man in a suit carry the oil upstairs, Xie Yao touched his nose and said embarrassedly, “The grandmother is very kind and doesn’t want to accept any reward, but I can’t take advantage of them for nothing. I can only buy these things that she can’t refuse.”

After speaking, he added, “You’ve worked hard.”

Today happened to be Saturday, and the children didn’t have to go to school. When Xie Yao knocked on the door, it opened from the inside.

A small furry head poked out of the door crack, meowing softly and trying to jump onto Xie Yao.

The little girl followed closely behind, calling out, “Yao Yao brother, you’re back?”

“Moon Moon, is your grandmother at home?”

“She’s here!” Moon Moon glanced at Jiang Song, who looked very fierce, and hesitated for a moment before plucking up the courage to open the door. “Come on in.”

“Moon Moon, who’s here?”

The grandmother in the room was worried. Xie Yao and Jiang Song came in, put the things on the coffee table in the living room, and replied, “Grandmother, it’s me, Xie, from next door. I came to pick up the kitten.”

Xiao P had been circling around Xie Yao since he came in, rubbing against his legs and meowing softly.

Jiang Song reached out and petted it, and the grandmother came out of the room.

“Oh, it’s Xie who’s come back. And who’s this?” The grandmother walked over.

“This is my friend, Jiang Song, who’s been visiting for the past few days,” Xie Yao said.

“Oh, a friend visiting? That’s great.” The grandmother was pleased to see Xie Yao. “I saw you before, and you were so shy that you didn’t even say hello to us. But now you’re doing better, and you have friends coming over. That’s good. Young people should make more friends like this.”

The grandmother invited them to sit down, but Xie Yao smiled and shook his head. “We won’t sit now. We have something else to do later.”

“Oh, something to do? Alright, then. I won’t disturb you.”

After saying goodbye to the neighbors, Jiang Song and Xie Yao left together.

As they were closing the door, they overheard Xie Yao’s neighbor muttering, “How come these two kids brought so much stuff?”

Xie Yao’s room was not very tidy, but it was clean and full of life. It was a small room and you could see everything at a glance. Jiang Song took a look around and asked, “When does your lease expire?”

“In about a month, why do you ask?” Xie Yao replied.

Jiang Song squatted down and played with the cat, stroking its head. “Where are you planning to live after that?”

Xie Yao’s heart skipped a beat as he looked at Jiang Song, feeling a bit nervous. “I don’t have any concrete plans at the moment. If I haven’t figured out what to do by the time the lease expires, I’ll move back to my hometown.”

Knowing that Xie Yao’s hometown was the one they had seen earlier, Jiang Song disagreed, “That house looks like it hasn’t been lived in for years, and the furniture is not complete. It’s inconvenient.”

Xie Yao stopped what he was doing and asked, “What do you want to say, bro?”

Jiang Song rubbed the cat’s head and looked away, casually saying, “Come live with me in A City.”

He continued, “I’m the only one living in my house, and Cat Claw’s company will move to A City in the future. I’ll go back too, and my parents are rarely at home, so the house is empty and lacks vitality…”

He paused for a moment and continued, seemingly nonchalantly, “Besides, I’ll miss you if we’re apart.”

Jiang Song looked up at Xie Yao and asked, “What do you think, want to consider it?”

“Okay.”

Author’s note:

There’s one more chapter left, and I’ll post the ending around midnight.

When I was writing this chapter, I was really torn about whether or not Xie Yao should tell Jiang Song about his past. In the end, I decided against it. Xie Yao should let go of his past, and if he were to bring it up at the end, it would inevitably be tinged with lingering sadness.

Xie Yao just needs to focus on living a good life. Although he may not have been able to move on before, he should be able to let go now.

In any case, whether it was when they were young, when Xie Yao’s family had troubles and he had to pull himself together, or now when he has fully let go, Jiang Song has always been Xie Yao’s guiding light and key.