Yan Ningke cried aloud-not wailing, but choking out quiet sobs that only made anyone listening ache more.
Shao Ke said nothing more. He simply held him quietly, letting his tears soak his clothes.
Aunt An came downstairs after tidying the upstairs rooms. Seeing them, she exclaimed, "What happened? Why are you crying so hard? Oh dear!"
It never occurred to her that they had argued. Aside from how close they usually were, they were still hugging now. No matter how she looked at it, this could not have been a fight.
Yan Ningke had been crying in earnest, but Aunt An's repeated "oh dears" made it impossible to keep going.
"Auntie, have you been secretly taking comedy classes behind my back?"
Aunt An looked bewildered. "What? What classes?"
Has this child cried himself silly? What nonsense is he talking about?
Yan Ningke sat up, pulled a few tissues from the table, and noisily blew his nose. "Comedy classes. With your talent, it'd be a waste not to perform at the Spring Festival Gala."
Unable to follow his train of thought, Aunt An returned to what concerned her. "What upset you so badly that you cried like this?"
Although she did not suspect a quarrel, Aunt An still sneaked a glance at the man sitting stiffly beside him.
Shao Ke: "..."
Yan Ningke noticed her look too. Embarrassed, he covered half his face with a tissue and explained on the man's behalf, "Your soup was so good that I got a little emotional."
Aunt An's eyes filled with astonishment. "So you cried over soup?"
Was he really that sentimental?
Her expression was so obvious that Yan Ningke's awkward embarrassment surged. He silently raised the tissue to cover his entire face.
Shao Ke lowered his head at leisure, the corners of his