Side Story 4: Jia Mingchuan X Su Ziqian
Heavenly Heart Park, with its vast area, beautiful environment, and complete recreational facilities, is now covered in a blanket of white snow. Normally, it's a popular spot for recreation, but on this snowy winter day, only a few people are out having snowball fights.
Because of his parents' frequent arguments, Jia Mingchuan became increasingly taciturn. He didn't know why his once happy home now seemed to be full of cracks.
Despite repeated attempts to persuade her, his mother eventually moved out, which greatly upset Jia Mingchuan. He wandered aimlessly further and further until he arrived at this park, which was covered in white.
The more he walked, the more numb his legs became. The more loving his parents had been for over a decade, the more painful it was for him now. He wondered what he would do if his parents really did get divorced.
Just as his restless and anxious mood was about to completely overwhelm him, a small, red, ball-of-your-mouth-like cannonball suddenly flew into his arms.
Su Ziqian: "..." Can I say, was it really just slippery? Who knew the road surface was so slippery?
It was a little warm. He rubbed against the person a couple of times, then grabbed onto the person's white down jacket for support to steady himself. He slowly raised his head, feigning composure, and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I apologize."
Jia Mingchuan's thoughts were interrupted as he looked down at the red figure... Well, it was a red sweater, which was not only thin but also let in the wind in the snow, right?
He spoke slowly, "Aren't you cold?"
Su Ziqian: "Huh?" This person wasn't angry at all.
When he finally saw the person in front of him clearly, he was utterly shocked. Wasn't this the school heartthrob?
He was incredibly lucky today; he bumped into the school heartthrob just by stepping out the door. He smirked, about to introduce himself to Jia Mingchuan... but never mind, introductions weren't important. But this guy seemed preoccupied?
"You're not cold, but you seem... unhappy?" Su Ziqian asked, almost without thinking. But Jia Mingchuan had already asked him if he was cold, asking him if he was happy was probably within reason.
Jia Mingchuan looked at the guy trying to scam him; he was quite fair-skinned. "I'm not unhappy, just sad."
Su Ziqian: "..." So you're still unhappy. He then asked, "Did you come alone?"
Jia Mingchuan: "Yeah, alone. I'll probably be alone from now on."
Su Ziqian felt a little sad listening to this. Had this guy broken up with his girlfriend? Oh, wait, no, he'd heard their school heartthrob was a model student. "In that case, how about I keep you company for a walk... consider it an apology?"
Jia Mingchuan wavered a little. He seemed to find the boy's voice in front of him inexplicably pleasant and melodious, like a warm ray of sunshine in winter, which made him feel much more comfortable.
He nodded slowly. "Okay."
Su Ziqian hadn't expected Jia Mingchuan to agree, but to his surprise, he actually did. It was somewhat unbelievable; he had met him before, and Jia didn't seem like an easy person to get along with.
He blinked his light blue eyes, feigning composure. "Let's go find a warm corner and play chess, how about Ludo? I have the equipment."
Only then did Jia Mingchuan notice that the black-haired boy in front of him was carrying a bag on his back.
Jia Mingchuan was suddenly dragged away by Su Ziqian to play Ludo. They only played one game because Jia Mingchuan thought the black-haired boy might be cold. So the two went to the shopping street to enjoy the warmth, then went to the arcade for an afternoon, and then went to the bowling alley.
It was almost 11 o'clock. After eating and drinking his fill, Jia Mingchuan finally remembered that it was time to go home. He suddenly realized how quickly the day had passed.
Su Ziqian smiled, his eyes crinkling, and asked in a clear voice, "Want a ride? My driver will be here soon."
Jia Mingchuan shook his head, smiling gently as he replied, "No need, I'll have someone pick me up in a bit. Shall we exchange contact information?"
Su Ziqian was taken aback. He had thought about it before, but it seemed a bit like he was throwing himself at the problem. Now, exchanging contact information seemed like a natural progression.
When he got home, no one asked him why he was back so late. His father was nowhere to be found, and no one cared about his whereabouts.
Jia Mingchuan hadn't been sleeping well lately, so he managed to sleep in late that night. When he returned to school the next day, he was indeed late, but luckily the teachers were called to a meeting over the loudspeaker, and he managed to avoid it.
His deskmate Hu Yi, looked at him like he was an alien. "The academic genius who's never late is late! Big news! What happened yesterday? Tell me!"
Jia Mingchuan replied leisurely, "I'll tell you if you guess it."
Hu Yi looked at him speechlessly and said, "Is it really necessary? So mysterious. But it's okay, I'll find out sooner or later."
Jia Mingchuan was taken aback. "I just met a guy, and we went to play games."
Hu Yi: "Sure! How did you two meet?"
Jia Mingchuan: "Stealing an accident? Does that count?"
Hu Yi: "... No, so many people have tried to extort money from you, but has anyone ever succeeded? How did they manage to get away with it?"
Jia Mingchuan took out his textbooks from his bag and said slowly, "He was probably too engrossed in thinking, and it was a snowy day, so his head was freezing cold, and that's how he bumped into something. He probably didn't do it on purpose."
Hu Yi hadn't expected his deskmate to have such a fun weekend.
"Sigh, that's great. My brother hardly talks to me anymore since he started school, and he's become very opinionated. Every day when he comes home, he says to me, 'Brother, can't you act like a mature adult? You're so childish...'" Hu Yi laughed. His adorable younger brother was actually lecturing him now, and his little mouth would go on and on with long, rambling speeches every day. It was quite amusing.
Jia Mingchuan saw his brother-obsessed brother deep in thought and breathed a sigh of relief when he was no longer questioned.
A week later, Xiao Feiqi still hadn't contacted him. Okay, we can conclude that Xiao Feiqi really didn't intentionally try to scam him.
Perhaps his attention had shifted; Jia Mingchuan hadn't spoken to his parents for many days. But he didn't feel sad anymore. He gradually came to terms with it; maybe everyone has their own ambitions, or perhaps they simply had different paths and couldn't work together.
However, what he didn't know was that Jia's father was already on the road to his wife's crematorium.
Recently, Mr. Jia has been staying at his wife's current place for a long time; who remembers that he even has a son?
As the weather gradually warmed up and summer vacation arrived, he returned home dejectedly. Looking at his parents, who had reconciled, he felt utterly, extremely, and completely superfluous.
After finishing his meal, he went back to his room, only to find that his phone, which had been malfunctioning, suddenly rang with WeChat call.
When Jia Mingchuan saw it was Xiao Feiqi, he suddenly felt incredibly wronged; he had been waiting for so long...
His trembling fingertips gently pressed the answer button, suppressing the turmoil in his heart. "Hello?"
A pleasant male voice came from the other end of the line, no longer like the warmth of the sun, but like a cool breeze in early summer. "Hello, handsome, I'm sorry, I was very busy with studies before... but now it's summer vacation, I have a lot of time, can we hang out together again?"
Jia Mingchuan was angry at himself for being so useless; this friend he had only known for a day had made him think about her for so long.
"Are you angry?" the boy continued to ask.
Jia Mingchuan: "I'm not angry. I understand. We still have WeChat, you can chat with me there..."
Su Ziqian recalled Jia Mingchuan's forlorn look in the winter air that day, and his heart trembled slightly. "Okay, from now on, I'll contact you via WeChat. Can we keep in touch often?"
Jia Mingchuan didn't hesitate. "Okay."
They gradually reconnected. After that incident, Su Ziqian had been away from home for many years, only returning after graduation.
One day, his parents asked him if he wanted to participate in a dating reality show. Su Ziqian saw Jia Mingchuan's name on the list and, remembering their unpleasant breakup, simply replied with two words: "No."
But Su Ziqian thought that was the end of it, only to find that he still couldn't escape it.
He no longer likes crowds and prefers quiet places; he's also developed a terrible temper when he wakes up.
One day, after his identity was exposed while he was eating at Crimson Flame Courtyard, his relationship with Jia Mingchuan gradually improved. Jia Mingchuan also gradually stopped acting like a gentle and refined young nobleman, which made him feel helpless yet deeply attracted.
Long after the romance variety show ended
Finally one day
Jia Mingchuan asked nervously, " Ziqian, when can we get our marriage certificate?"
Su Ziqian evaded the question, "I'm tired..."
Jia Mingchuan said, feeling wronged, "Wife, I want to make up for the eight years we lost. Otherwise, let's get our marriage certificate."
Su Ziqian: "..." Who proposes like this?! I don't even need to think to know what to use to make up for it.
In the end, Su Ziqian surrendered; he was genuinely afraid.
Even after leaving the Civil Affairs Bureau to receive their marriage certificate, Su Ziqian looked at the blue sky, his feelings indescribable.
He looked at Jia Mingchuan quietly, while Jia Mingchuan smiled happily. After they put the marriage certificate into his bag, Jia Mingchuan picked him up and said, "Let's go home and plan our honeymoon. After the honeymoon, we'll have our families prepare for the wedding."
Su Ziqian shattered his unrealistic fantasies. "Hey, you need to get to work."
Jia Mingchuan hung his head dejectedly. "Okay, it's alright, let's get married first, and then we'll go when you're on vacation."
Su Ziqian ruffled his hair. "Good boy, work hard and try to have time to play during winter break."
Jia Mingchuan nuzzled Su Ziqian's neck again with his fluffy head, murmuring, "Wife, I love you..."
Su Ziqian chuckled, tickling his lips, "I love you too, little blind man."
Jia Mingchuan was ashamed of his own stupidity. "I did suspect it was you at the time. Wasn't I following you? But who knew I'd lose track of my wife without even realizing it."
Su Ziqian: "Oh? Is it my fault? Is it because I'm short?"
Jia Mingchuan continued, "No, I blame myself for being stupid. My wife was right in front of me, and I didn't even realize it. No wonder you were just circling around me, lost in your own fantasies."
Su Ziqian: "I'm worried you'll be all alone; it's too much trouble to team up with other people."
Jia Mingchuan had no way to argue, "My wife is right!"