Part 4
Tang Mian: “My Papa and Shulu-Papa are chasing and playing.”
Yao Xuanyu: “Teacher said no chasing and playing on the stairs.”
Tang Mian: “They are adults.”
Yao Xuanyu: “True, my Dad and Mom do that occasionally too.”
Tang Mian held up the red booklet on his left side again. “Look, my Papa and Shulu-Papa got married!”
Yao Xuanyu said “Wow.” “Then you have two dads! So cool!”
Tang Mian bobbed his head, smiling until his canine teeth showed. “I think so too.”
After a while, Yao Xuanyu said, “Xiao Mie, if anyone at school says anything about you, I’ll help you!”
Tang Mian: “Why care about them?”
Yao Xuanyu: “Just don’t be sad because of what other people say.”
Because Tang Mian was starting school, Tang Yue had been worried about this for a long time. Today, he even asked the teacher to keep an eye on the kid.
When he came back, he asked Tang Mian several questions, thinking he was asking casually, but his anxiety had long been seen through by the child.
Tang Mian: “You said it yourself, they are ‘other people,’ so I won’t be sad.”
He looked at Tang Yue, who was being carried downstairs on Jiang Shulu’s back, and sighed. “As long as my Papa isn’t sad, it’s fine.”
Jiang Shulu carried Tang Yue and spun around several times. Tang Yue, whose son had started school, woo-hooed several times, then directed Jiang Shulu to pass by Tang Mian. Tang Yue saw Yao Xuanyu on the video call and greeted the little friend.
Before Yao Xuanyu could reply, the adults had left again.
Sounds of giggling came from the background.
Yao Xuanyu: “So Uncle Jiang can be like that too!”
Tang Mian: “So Brother Xuanyu doesn’t need to worry about me. Xiao Yue is also my mama. I am the proof of their love!”
Yao Xuanyu: “So cool.”
The final grilled fish pot was made by Jiang Shulu. Tang Mian asked a lot of questions.
“Papa, did you learn this before?”
“Xiao Yue said Papa could cook when he was very small. How small? As small as Xiao Mie?”
“Uncle Yao said Papa can also make amazing pastries, why!”
“Papa, Papa, is there any difference between you guys being married and not being married?”
The child had many questions; Tang Yue couldn’t answer them for a while.
He was busy taking photos to send to the group chat.
【Liu Xichao: What are you showing off for!】
【Yao Lixin: [Image] Candlelight dinner with my wife.】
【Liu Xichao: So when are you holding the wedding ceremony? My contacts told me your wife is choosing a wedding dress.】
【Tang Yue: What! Er-ge is going to redo the wedding? What about you, San-ge!】
Tang Yue kept staring at his phone. Jiang Shulu urged him to at least eat a few bites of rice.
【Liu Xichao: Then what about you, Xiao Yue? Jiang Shulu is so glorious, when is your happy event coming?】
Tang Yue looked at the man beside him.
Jiang Shulu also saw the group chat messages. He asked Tang Yue, “What do you think?”
Tang Yue recalled his schedule. Calculating carefully, there really wasn’t any time.
Tang Yue: “No chance this year.”
Jiang Shulu: “Then we’ll talk about it after the New Year.”
Tang Mian ate until grains of rice stuck to the corner of his mouth, and asked again, “Is there any difference between you guys getting married and not getting married?”
He added a sentence: “Besides this red booklet.”
Tang Yue actually couldn’t answer. Living here with Jiang Shulu during this time had already satisfied his fantasies.
Marriage, broadly speaking, seemed to be the official announcement, inviting colleagues and friends to a wedding, taking vows, and exchanging rings.
Tang Yue thought: Really no need to rush, haven’t even chosen rings yet.
Jiang Shulu: “What does Xiao Mie think marriage is?”
Tang Mian: “Wedding dress, auditorium, white doves, good food.”
After speaking, he thought of what he had seen on TV before. “Sleeping together every day, eating together, living together, and everyone knows you are in a relationship.”
Jiang Shulu smiled. “It means the relationship between me and Xiao Yue can be recognized by others.”
Tang Mian: “But the people I see getting married on TV don’t have children. Did I come too early?”
The little friend cupped his face, a bit distressed.
Tang Yue: “No! You are super important to Papa!”
Jiang Shulu hadn’t expected Tang Mian to have this question. He shook his head. “You choosing me and Xiao Yue is already our greatest happiness.”
Perhaps the topic discussed during family time was a bit too advanced. After eating, when Tang Yue was feeding the fish outside, he was still thinking about this question.
It was Jiang Shulu who took away the fish food, fearing he would feed the fish to death.
It was still drizzling outside. Tang Yue sat in the pavilion, looking at the rippling lake surface.
Jiang Shulu sat next to him, and Tang Yue reached out to hug Jiang Shulu’s waist.
Tang Yue: “Shulu-ge.”
Jiang Shulu hummed in response.
Tang Yue: “Do I need to meet your mother’s parents?”
Jiang Shulu: “You don’t have to.”
Tang Yue: “Then how did you feel when you met them?”
Many media reports were published with the consent of Jiang Shulu’s maternal grandparents, but how much was embellished was unknown to the public.
This old past seemed desolate after becoming a story. Tang Yue had read it over and over again outside the recording studio.
He had been to that small attic, seen the carvings on the wall, and seen Jiang Shulu’s tears.
He still couldn’t go back to that time to hug the young Jiang Shulu.
So he had to hug the current him every day, clinging so tightly that anyone who saw them would think he and Jiang Shulu could never be separated.
Jiang Shulu: “Didn’t seem to feel much.”
Across the pond was the floor-to-ceiling window of the first-floor living room. Tang Mian was playing a dancing game. The little guy jumped around, completely unaware of how funny his twisting looked.
Tang Yue: “What about after everything is over?”
Jiang Shulu: “Send them back to their hometown.”
Tang Yue: “Then I’ll go with you to send them off.”
Jiang Shulu: “Don’t you dislike meeting strangers?”
Tang Yue: “I’m accompanying you.”
He nuzzled Jiang Shulu’s neck. “Can I not?”
The porch light wasn’t bright, but it was enough to see the silky rain. Tang Yue grabbed Jiang Shulu’s hand, pretending to pinch the reflection of the light on the pond surface.
Jiang Shulu: “Of course you can.”
The next second, he felt something strange on his finger. Tang Yue had conjured a ring from somewhere and was sliding it onto Jiang Shulu’s ring finger.
Jiang Shulu grasped Tang Yue’s hand. “When did you buy this?”
Tang Yue: “Not telling you.”
Jiang Shulu: “That’s cheating.”
Tang Yue: “I’ve held back for a long time. I originally planned to put it on you when we took the marriage certificate photo. You don’t know what they said online, saying you looked shabby without a ring. How could that be.”
He started rambling again. Tang Yue, who never used to pay attention to bad reviews, still cared about evaluations related to Jiang Shulu.
Jiang Shulu cupped Tang Yue’s face. Amidst the sound of water occasionally splashing from the swimming fish in the pond, he asked softly, “Will Xiao Yue still leave?”
Tang Yue couldn’t stand Jiang Shulu speaking like this; he felt like he wanted to bite him.
He touched Jiang Shulu’s Adam’s apple, sitting entirely into Jiang Shulu’s embrace. “Won’t leave.”
Tang Yue asked in a husky voice, “So, Ge, can you go a little deeper and keep me here thoroughly?”
— 「Marriage Certificate」
Tang Yue: This is a marriage certificate?
Jiang Shulu: Then what does a marriage certificate look like where you are from?
Tang Yue thought for a moment: We don’t seem to have paper versions. It’s branded directly into the body.
Jiang Shulu didn’t quite understand.
Tang Yue: There’s a special laser device where you can choose to mark your name on the part of your partner’s body you wish to leave it.
Jiang Shulu: Similar to a tattoo?
Tang Yue: Depends on the planet’s customs. On some planets, you can’t divorce once married, so very few people get married. Once married, it’s truly ‘white head not leaving.’
After speaking, he thought of that Tang Yue: But he probably won’t get married. Compared to him, my brain is full of love and romance.
In a different time and space, Tang Big-Yue was browsing a shady interstellar part-time job website.
Tang Big-Yue: Holy crap, being a marriage decoy pays twenty thousand an hour? Is that spirit money? If not, I’m going for it.
Translator’s Note:
- Soft rice / Soft rice man: A slang term for a man who lives off a woman (or in this case, his partner), similar to a “sugar baby” or “moocher.”
- Pigeon: Slang for standing someone up or failing to keep a promise.
- Ge / Jie / Qianbei: Older Brother / Older Sister / Senior. Used as honorifics.
- San Ge / Er Ge: Third Brother (Liu Xichao) / Second Brother (Yao Lixin), referring to their age rank in the group Away.
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