Chapter 33: 33

“Ooh, the more I see the kid, the more I like him! He’s so attractive! I’d love to squeeze his face, hahaha…” The old lady laughed cheerfully while holding the tablet, her wrinkled face full of heartfelt love and tenderness.

She muttered, pointing: “It’s just that these eyes are a bit smaller, otherwise they would look more like Zhuopu’s…” The words that fell from the old lady’s lips stopped. Although her daughter didn’t say anything at the moment, how could she not know that her daughter was feeling bad!

The old lady was in her eighties and had lived a smooth and happy life. Sometimes it was hard to convince her daughter to do some things but when she saw her daughter cornered, sullen all day long, instead of living a good life, this was definitely not a good feeling.

To put it bluntly, her daughter had given up on herself and didn’t want a good life, but why shouldn’t her grandson enjoy a happy life while he was young? There was no one close to him and he was not like those fun-loving young people who didn’t get married and didn’t have children, but lived their lives in style, eating, drinking and having fun all their lives. 

Her grandson had been a good boy since he was a child and never let anyone worry about him, and he hadn’t changed much since he grew up. Except for confessing his sexuality in high school, he had always just studied hard. He had neither puppy love nor any handsome guys around him. After the death of her son-in-law, her grandson came back from abroad to lead the company, and finally fell in love, but her daughter did that kind of unethical thing.

“I’m just saying, don’t bully these father and son again. If you don’t like them, just play dumb.” The old lady admonished her silent daughter and her eyes returned to the screen. Suddenly, her mood improved.

Mrs. Qin propped her head up and muttered rather unconvincingly, “Why are you talking nonsense about me again, Mom, when did I bully someone’s child?” No matter how angry she was, she wouldn’t be like that.

“I’m just giving you a precaution, I don’t think you would either. Mom took you to volunteer in the orphanage when you were very young, to help those poor children. My intentions should be clear to you. All these years you have also been persistent in doing charity work. In a family like ours, where there is no shortage of anything in life, it is all the most important to learn to be tolerant and kind. Think about it, you can help those unfamiliar children without hesitation, why not share a little tenderness with those around you? Whether it’s Zhuopu or Lu Ying, you are at fault.”

“Fine, fine, whatever you say is right.” Mrs. Qin was depressed and didn’t want to argue with her mother.

The old lady rolled her eyes helplessly, “Try to be open-minded about things. Why bother to change what you can’t change and hit the wall? It’s better to change your own perspective and give yourself a way out. As I see it, it’s only a matter of time before Zhuopu and Lu Ying become a couple. In the future, his child will come to play; don’t make a face to spoil the fun. Not to mention that the big one will be upset by you, the baby will be scared to tears.”

“Mom! Where am I scaring babies…” Mrs. Qin wanted to vomit blood. Her mother was literally saying that she was a bully who specialises in bullying the weak.

“When I met Lu Ying at the hospital, I even gave his son a Year of the Pig jade ornament, worth at least tens of thousands…” Mrs. Qin sighed helplessly. At that time, she still felt a little guilty in her heart. She just never expected that in the blink of an eye…

When the old lady heard that, she immediately smiled and said, “Yes, that’s what you should do. Even if it’s a superficial effort, you have to do it, ah. Come, come, teach me how to send red envelopes, I learned it during the New Year, but now I forgot again.”

“…who do you want to send the red envelope to?” Mrs. Qin asked, knowing the answer.

The old lady glared, pointed to the child on the screen and chuckled: “Of course it’s for my grandson. I want to laugh as soon as I see him, he’s so funny and cute. It’s the child’s sixth birthday, how can you be an elder without something to show for it.”

Mrs. Qin squirmed and found an excuse: “The birthday was yesterday, it’s already over. You’re in such a hurry before the things even begin to take shape…” she said, sullenly thinking about the situation. Now she and Lu Ying had had an ugly fight and she had made it clear that she would not accept Lu Ying and the child. Lu Ying… she was afraid he wouldn’t want to see her either. Just like back then, she was simply trying to frighten Lu Ying and wanted him to back off knowing the difficulties. She never thought that the result would be so rapid and effective.

The result was that the young man was white as a sheet and ran away with the cheque as fast as he could. He never came back and never touched any of the money in the bank. When her son came back alone a week later, never mentioning Lu Ying’s name again and going to work calmly every day as if nothing had happened, she was terrified for a while, fearing that her son was preparing a big move. Eventually, many years had passed…

Thinking about it now, she was afraid that something went wrong with her son at that time, but they never knew it.

If she hadn’t scared Lu Ying away, if she hadn’t intervened… nothing would have happened later. As her mother said, why should she care what kind of person her child chooses to fall in love with? In her eyes, Lu Ying had nothing to offer except for a good looking face. He had not even gone to primary school, how could he be worthy of her son? But if a person is really unattractive, who will like him? If he was shallow, ignorant and stupid, even if her son liked him, he wouldn’t continue to like him. Wouldn’t it be better to just sit back and wait for the breakup?

But what was the result of her separating them?

Lu Ying went back to his hometown to live his own life, just as she wanted, and had a lovely child.

Her son had been infatuated for many years, and there were still unknown hidden problems with his mental state.

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter whether you recognise the child or not. Zhuopu doesn’t care, and this old lady cares even less. I like whoever I like, huh, don’t bother with me, I’m your mother, not your daughter.” The old lady shook her fist triumphantly and urged her daughter to help her, “Teach me how to give out red envelopes. They are all my babies, I must give him a big red envelope without discrimination. It would be great if you could bring the father and son back now. Oh, I really want to meet the fat boy. And what about Lu Ying, I haven’t seen how good looking this young man really is. Ooh ooh ooh, I am so anxious. When Zhuopu praised him to the skies I couldn’t believe it, haha.”

“Mom…”

Mrs. Qin looked helplessly at the urchin-like old woman. What else could she do but go along with her? She had to take her phone and open WeChat to teach her, “If you want to send it, you can only send it to Zhuopu, I don’t have Lu Ying’s number.”

The old lady lowered her head and entered the numbers carefully, muttering under her breath, “I have to hurry up and ask Zhuopu to give me Lu Ying’s number, but I don’t know if the child will agree to video chat with me. Maybe as soon as he hears I’m Zhuopu’s scary mother’s mother, he will be too frightened to see me, right?”

“……” Mrs. Qin choked and rolled her eyes, “Okay, okay, stop it, didn’t you want to send a red envelope? You can’t stop talking about it, hurry up and send it.”

“I’m getting old and I like to nag, I can’t help it. My grandson never thinks I talk too much when he accompanies me.”

“……” Mrs. Qin took a deep breath. Wasn’t she the one who gave birth to Zhuopu?…

A tinkling sound of money sent rang out; the old lady was successful. She immediately brought up the phone to her mouth again to send a voice message, “Zhuopu, this is the red envelope for your son from Grandma. Although it’s a day late you have to make up for it. You should have told me before so I could prepare a gift for the child. When are you going to bring him home to meet Grandma?”

It took a while for the other side to reply. Qin Zhuopu received the red envelope and replied, “Thank you for the red envelope, Grandma. Zaizai has to go to school every day, Lu Ying has to work, and I’ll be busy abroad, so I definitely won’t be able to see you anytime soon. I’ll talk to him about what you want and see if he’s willing. Then I’ll take him to see you.” When he was alone at home, he was anxious and had trouble sleeping because of his thoughts, but every time he saw Lu Ying’s face, saw him talking, saw him smiling, he felt very satisfied, as if his heart that had been empty for many years had finally been filled.

“Fine, you guys go about your business and come when you are free. Zhuopu, Grandma really likes this boy, I like his face very much. It’s not that I’m talking nonsense, but this boy and you really do look like father and son, which means that you two have a deep fate. I’ve never met Lu Ying, but I think you have a husband and wife look. I’ve seen many families that look more and more alike as they live together, especially husband and wife, hahaha, people who don’t know think they are brother and sister.”

The old lady even thought to herself that perhaps this was Zhuopu’s fate in this life, that there was no blood bond with the child, but another kind of fate. As long as children are raised with care and love, they will not grow up to be crooked, and it doesn’t matter whether they are biological or not. Biological children are not necessarily filial and adopted children are not necessarily unfilial.

Qin Zhuopu’s heart was soothed by her words, and his face was beaming with joy: “You are worthy of being my grandma. I’m sure you will like them both if you meet them. The little guy is called Lu Zaizai, he’s very good and sensible. Grandma, I really treat him as my own son.”

Perhaps at the beginning he was constantly convincing himself that if he loved Lu Ying, he had to try hard to love Lu Ying’s child. Yet after meeting Zaizai, in just a few encounters, Qin Zhuopu felt there were new rewards and new joys every time he met the child, and his fatherly love had been easily awakened.

“Good, good, well said. I am relieved that you are like this. Grandma has long wanted to say that you like Lu Ying so much and have been obstinate for so many years, but it is not easy to say whether you can fully accept other people’s children or not. The human heart is very difficult to control, the more you like some, the less you can turn a blind eye to something, and there might even be jealousy, indifference, madness… If you can’t fully accept other people’s children, why bother to provoke the child’s father.”

Qin Zhuopu smiled bitterly. He had had all the thoughts his grandmother mentioned, but he made sure about himself at the beginning, otherwise he would not take the first step.

“So his name is Zaizai. The name is cute, too.”

“He and Lu Ying are both very cute.”

Grandma laughed, “Okay, okay, then you do your best, try to get married and become a father sooner.”

“Thank you, Grandma.”

“You go and get busy, Grandma won’t bother you.”

“Grandma, is my mother well?”

The old lady glanced at her silent daughter and replied with a nod, “Yes, she’s fine, she eats and sleeps well and has put on a few catties.”

“Mom!” Mrs. Qin was at her wits’ end with her old mother.

“Okay, I’m going to work then. See you later, Grandma.”

“Bye bye,” the old lady said, sounding like a happy child.

Compared to her, the daughter next to her looked like a wooden figure.

“I’ve sent a red envelope and you don’t know how to express yourself. You’re too stingy.” The old lady shook her head.

Mrs. Qin was speechless: “This is not a matter of money…”

The old lady sighed: “You’re just stubborn. I don’t think that Lu Ying, that child, will want to live with you either. Maybe in the future Zhuopu will just go to live with them over there. Anyway, young people are happy wherever they are, so why bother to find happiness with their elders.”

“……”

Mrs. Qin’s chest was tight, but she had no words to say.

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Lu Zaizai’s last term of kindergarten officially started. When Lu Ying was returning from a parent-teacher meeting a week after school started, the sky in Caifeng City was overcast. Every day was cloudy and rainy, either showering or drizzling, and you were guaranteed to get wet.

The sun had not been seen for a long time, the apartment was damp and the socks and underwear that couldn’t get dry were hanging in rows, fluttering in the draught in a spectacular manner.

“Hey, it’s been a while since I’ve been on a date with my boyfriend. It’s raining every day and he can’t even come over to see me. I want to buy a car.” Fei Qiqi sighed sadly during a lunch break.

Lu Ying followed suit with a sigh, “Me too.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, several colleagues looked at him oddly, ready to gossip.

As an afterthought, Lu Ying felt that something was wrong and added in a small voice, “I mean the car.” It wasn’t about a boyfriend!

“We understand!” Several people nodded in unison.

“……” Lu Ying blushed silently.

At that very moment Qin Zhuopu sent a WeChat.

“The meeting is over, I just ate the bread from your shop with my secretary. I like the new product very much. I’ll send you tomorrow’s order later.”

“En, thank you for your patronage!” Lu Ying straightened his back and replied in a businesslike manner.

Their shop originally didn’t do remote online sales. Brother Yang said that if you wanted to eat, you needed to eat the freshest; what’s the point of eating overnight bread. Not to mention the smell and the shelf life; he didn’t want to bother with making that kind of money.

As a result, Qin Zhuopu, who had a membership card, called and insisted that he wanted to eat the freshest food in their shop on the same day, and that he would pay for the packing and delivery costs. Qin Zhuopu personally communicated with Boss Yang, and Boss Yang seemed to have no reason not to agree. It wasn’t difficult to pack, it wasn’t difficult to call a courier, so what was there not to agree to? Brother Yang put Lu Ying in charge of this matter.

So every time, Qin Zhuopu placed an order a night in advance and the shop would send his share out as early as possible the next day. Basically Qin Zhuopu could eat it in three to five hours. It was good for lunch or afternoon tea, all that.

“I’ve sent you a package, keep an eye out for it.”

“En.” Lu Ying didn’t ask anything else. Qin Zhuopu often sent express mail, mostly stuff for Zaizai, sometimes fresh fruit, and yesterday he received a box of frozen fresh imported beef, enough for him and Zaizai to eat for two days. Today he brought two catties for Brother Yang.

The express package arrived at the bakery and Lu Ying skillfully signed for it. He saw the big box and thought it was food again. He picked it up and realised it wasn’t heavy. When Yang Sigu saw it, he teased, “Something delicious again?”

Lu Ying blushed. Qin Zhuopu was quite attentive; basically he would send everything for Zaizai to his home and if it was food, he would send it to the shop so that Lu Ying could share it with his colleagues and get closer with them.

Lu Ying looked down and opened the box. His smile gradually froze… embarrassed.

“Pfft…” Yang Sigu shook with laughter. Sending so many panties was really timely.

Lu Ying quickly closed the box. Yang Sigu patted his shoulder and said: “Not bad, not bad, very attentive. Each one is individually wrapped in a sterile bag, so they should have been washed and sterilised before being sent to you and Zaizai. Who is to blame that your shabby little apartment doesn’t even have a dryer for clothes?”

“It doesn’t fit. I reserved a one-bedroom, one-living room apartment with my landlady, but it’ll be more than half a month before anyone moves out.” The embarrassment faded and Lu Ying gladly accepted the package. Brother Yang was right, very attentive (*^▽^*).

“Why did you send the package to the shop? Brother Yang laughed at me!” Lying in bed at night, Lu Ying couldn’t help but criticise.

“Accidentally posted the wrong address. Do they fit?”

Today his butt felt strangely comfortable. Lu Ying blushed slightly and cursed shamelessly, “If they didn’t fit, I’d send them all the way back to you.”

On the other end, Qin Zhuopu smiled: “I asked if they fit  Zaizai, not you.” Lu Ying hadn’t changed at all from years ago, and Qin Zhuopu clearly remembered his size.

Lu Ying was annoyed and embarrassed, “Nonsense, I told you Zaizai’s size myself, you would be too stupid if you bought the wrong one.”

“Ha, they are all the styles I picked out myself, do you like them?”

Lu Ying wanted to gag him, but unfortunately he could only poke his phone indignantly, “I’m going to sleep!”

Qin Zhuopu sighed, “I am going to go abroad on a business trip soon. It is estimated that it will take a month. I won’t be able to come to see Zaizai in a short while.”

Lu Ying paused, “Zaizai won’t blame you, work is most important.”

“Lu Ying, there will be a package tomorrow evening, remember to check it.”

“Got it.”

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Early the next morning, Lu Zaizai woke up from his sleep, smelling the smell of food at home in a daze. He sniffed, his eyes finally opened a little wider, and he ran to Lu Ying in his slippers: “Dad, let me tell you, I had a dream last night!”

“What dream?” Lu Ying asked with a smile, handing him the plate of pancakes.

Lu Zaizai took the plate, his eyes shining, “I had a dream about a toy, hehehe.”

“……” A new trick for asking for toys, he’s not falling for it! Lu Ying glanced coolly at his son and urged him, “Brush your teeth and eat.”

Lu Zaizai nodded and said quickly, “I dreamed of a big, big toy factory, Dad, you took me there to play, and then a big gift box fell in front of us. Guess what happened next?”

He stared at Lu Ying with a look of magical anticipation, waiting for the answer.

Lu Ying couldn’t help it, “The gift box opened?”

“Yes! Keep guessing! What’s in the box?”

His heart was so tired, he just wanted to eat quickly: “Transformers, right?”

“No!”

“Ultraman?”

“No, neither!”

“Dinosaurs?”

“No, no, no! Keep guessing!” Zaizai covered his mouth and giggled, as if expecting that his father would definitely not be able to guess.

Lu Ying took a bite of his pancake and replied vaguely, “Lego blocks.”

“Haha, you guessed wrong! I knew you wouldn’t be able to guess, you confused dad,” Lu Zaizai giggled.

“…so what exactly was it?”

Lu Zaizai tilted his head and couldn’t stop laughing out loud before he could say anything. “Hahaha, this dream is so funny, there’s actually no toy in the gift box!”

“……” Lu Ying sneered; already very funny, enough.

Lu Zaizai continued.

“But!”

Lu Ying stared at him, biting the pancake and pretending to be looking forward to the next words.

“Inside the box was Uncle, ah!”

Lu Zaizai loudly revealed the mystery, laughing non-stop.

“I didn’t expect that! Uncle in the gift box! This dream is really amazing and fun.”

Lu Ying planted his head on the dinner table, unable to complain.

Fat boy, how much do you like your Uncle? Enough for him to toss and turn with you in your dreams, putting himself in a box and pretending to be a toy without fear of breaking his old back?

“You miss Uncle a lot?”

“En en en, I miss him.” Lu Zaizai nodded honestly.

Lu Ying sighed, “Uncle has been very busy lately, he has to go abroad for a month to work.”

“Ah… is going to a foreign country again.” Lu Zaizai was disappointed, then nodded good-naturedly, “That’s fine.”

Lu Ying comforted him, “Eat quickly.”

Lu Zaizai dutifully ate but couldn’t help saying, “I wanted to tell Uncle about the dream I had, he would find it particularly funny. I’m sure he can’t guess what’s in the box either, can he?”

Lu Ying said deliberately, “Not necessarily, Uncle is very smart. He read a lot of books and went to a very, very good university.”

“Uncle is awesome!” Lu Zaizai had an admiring look on his face.

“En.”

“Then I want to be as good as Uncle when I grow up.”

Lu Ying genuinely smiled and stroked his son’s head.

“You sure can.”

It was a rare day when it didn’t rain. The sun still didn’t come out, it was cloudy and the wind was a bit chilly.

Lu Ying had a busy day as usual and was ready to get off work at almost five o’clock in the evening.

Fei Qiqi walked into the workroom, smiled at Lu Ying and said, “Brother Lu, your delivery has arrived. Hurry up and check it.”

“Okay, I’ll be right there.”

Lu Ying washed his hands and pushed the door open but when he walked to the entrance of the shop, there was no courier or package!

There was only an unexpected visitor.

“Lu Ying.” Qin Zhuopu smiled at him.

Lu Ying was simply speechless: “Why are you so childish and doing this? You think you’ve come as some kind of big surprise, don’t you?”

“I hope I am a surprise.” It was a surprise to him that he could find time to come over and see the person he wanted to see before he left on his business trip.

Qin Zhuopu’s gaze was so burning that Lu Ying avoided looking him in the eye and whispered, “Then why didn’t you put yourself in a gift box?”

“……” Qin Zhuopu considered seriously, “I’m afraid that’s a bit difficult.”

Lu Ying puffed out a laugh, “Can you two stop being equally stupid! The little fat guy laughs at me every day that I’m a confused dad. I think you’re a confused dad…”

The air was suddenly quiet.

Lu Ying’s smiling face froze. Qin Zhuopu lowered his head and closed his eyes. When he looked up again, he grabbed Lu Ying’s hand and held it tightly, his voice trembling a little.

“Lu Ying, I can.”

Lu Ying didn’t break away, looked at the sky and slowly said, “I’m going to pick up Zaizai from kindergarten now, what about you?”

Qin Zhuopu’s face looked delighted and he nodded, “I’ll go with you.”

“What about your car?”

Qin Zhuopu was taken aback, “I didn’t drive, I took the subway from the airport and came straight here.”

Lu Ying shyly pointed to the worn out electric moped, “Ahem… then you sit behind me, I’ll take you.”

Qin Zhuopu smiled deeply: “Good.”

Lu Ying got on the moped first, and Qin Zhuopu sat behind him.

Lu Ying felt uneasy and couldn’t help but ask him, “Are you afraid?”

“Pfft.” Qin Zhuopu laughed, “I can ride a motorbike.”

“……huh, so great, oh.”

Lu Ying had no more worries and the electric moped quickly set off on the road.

The cold wind blew against the two men’s faces.

Lu Ying noticed in the rearview mirror that Qin Zhuopu had a smile on his face all the time, the most relaxed and comfortable expression that only appeared when you were with someone you liked.

Qin Zhuopu suddenly straightened up and put one hand on Lu Ying’s shoulder and the other on Lu Ying’s waist.

“Don’t look at me, look at the road.”

Lu Ying shivered a little, “Who, who is looking at you!”

The moped speeded up; Lu Ying no longer dared to look around, allowing the man behind him to hold him all the way to the kindergarten.

Many children had already been picked up at the kindergarten entrance, so Lu Ying hurriedly ran to the door and looked around. The teacher saw him at a glance and immediately brought Lu Zaizai forward.

Lu Zaizai ran to the door head over heels and darted to Lu Ying…’s side.

“Uncle!”

“Zaizai…”

Qin Zhuopu opened his arms to the fat kid and steadily caught him.

So solid to hold in his arms.

Lu Ying looked aside at the big guy and the little guy hugging each other and gently raised the corners of his mouth.

“…when the child goes to kindergarten in the future, I will pick up and drop him off together with Zhuopu every day…”

The future that he had once told Grandpa Lu about was finally coming true today.

***

Mini-theatre:

Mr. Qin: Grandma, this is Lu Ying.

Lu Ying: Hello, Grandma!

Grandma：Quickly, get me my glasses!

Grandma: …can Grandma ask you for a dance? o(*////▽////*)q

Lu Ying: ……

Mr. Qin: ……

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