Chapter 24: About the Ancestral Sweet Tooth Gene
A deathly silence fell over the living room.
Right at this moment, Jiang Qing suddenly let out a light chuckle, breaking the silence.
“So that’s how it is.” He leaned back against the sofa, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Su Lin and Jiang Linmu. “No wonder Linmu was always a bit different from the rest of us growing up. He doesn’t even like eating sweet tofu pudding.”
This teasing remark instantly eased the tense atmosphere. Jiang Linmu couldn’t help but quietly retort:
“Brother, what does this have to do with tofu pudding…”
“Of course it has something to do with it.” Jiang Qing raised an eyebrow. “Our Jiang family’s ancestral sweet tooth gene somehow stopped with you, don’t you think that’s strange?”
He turned to Su Lin: “So, this one here is the true ‘Sweet Tooth Inheritor’?”
Su Lin finally lifted his eyes, meeting Jiang Qing’s smiling gaze.
“I’m not a picky eater.” Su Lin replied calmly, neither admitting nor denying it.
“Since the truth is now out in the open,” Jiang Yu said in a deep voice, “the next step is to discuss future arrangements.”
Jiang Linmu suddenly stood up and bowed deeply to Father and Mother Jiang:
“Dad, Mom, thank you for these years of not kill—ah, ptui, I mean the grace of raising me. Now that you’ve found your biological son, I… I will move out as soon as possible.”
“I won’t trouble you guys anymore!!”
The durian crepe cake Mother Jiang had just stuffed into her mouth almost fell out. She hurriedly set the cake down and exchanged a look with Father Jiang. Both of their faces simultaneously displayed expressions caught between laughing and crying.
“No, seriously, what is it with you kids? Why is it that one by one, you’re all thinking about ‘not troubling’ us????”
Mother Jiang stood up, walked over to Jiang Linmu, and shoved him right back down onto the sofa with a force that didn’t allow for any resistance. “Who permitted you to move out? Huh? Did you ask your mom for permission?”
Father Jiang glanced at Jiang Linmu and chimed in:
“Exactly. The house is so big, are we really short one room for you? You two kids, one is in a rush to move out, and the other refuses to come back. What, do you find us two old folks annoying now?”
Hearing this, Jiang Linmu frantically shook his head: “That’s not it, Dad, I just…”
“Just what!” Mother Jiang cut him off, then turned to look at Su Lin. “And you, Su Lin.”
Su Lin instinctively straightened his back.
“What do you mean you’re ‘used to living alone’ and ‘don’t want to trouble’ us? We’re your own parents, what’s all this talk about trouble or no trouble!”
As she spoke, she casually pushed the box of durian crepe cake on the table right in front of Su Lin. “Try this, it’s really delicious.”
Su Lin looked at the exquisite dessert in front of him, then at Mother Jiang’s undeniable enthusiasm and the smiling eyes of Father Jiang. Feeling somewhat at a loss, he whispered:
“…Thank you.”
Watching this scene, Jiang Qing couldn’t hold back a “pfft” and laughed out loud. He raised an eyebrow at Jiang Linmu.
“Hear that? Trying to run? No way. You are staying in this house.” He looked at Su Lin again. “As for this ‘Young Master’, it seems he won’t be able to escape our mom’s ‘affectionate feeding’ either.”
Jiang Yu coughed lightly, pulling the topic back on track:
“Since no one has any objections, then it’s settled. Linmu will continue to live at home as usual. Su Lin…” He looked at Su Lin, “We respect your wishes and won’t force you to move back, but a room will always be kept for you at home. Come back for meals often in the future, at least… once a week. That request isn’t too much, is it?”
This was already the biggest concession and the best way of expressing care he could manage.
Mother Jiang immediately added: “Yes! You must come back every week! Look at how thin you are!”
Su Lin was silent for a moment. Under those gazes filled with expectation and concern, he finally nodded.
“…Okay.”
From now on, the Jiang family would have one more person. Although it might just begin with one meal a week.
“Then… I’ll take my leave first.”
Su Lin stood up. This decision wasn’t easy for him, but he needed time to digest everything that had happened tonight.
“Ah, you’re leaving already?” Mother Jiang immediately stood up to follow.
Right at that moment, Jiang Qing’s voice rang out as he lazily lifted his eyelids:
“What’s the rush. It’s raining outside, didn’t you hear it?”
Once he pointed it out, the group finally noticed that the pattering sound of rain had started outside at some point. The raindrops were now densely drumming against the glass windows.
Jiang Qing shook his phone screen at Su Lin, showing the real-time weather forecast: “Looks like it won’t stop anytime soon. You just reunited with your family; if you catch a cold from the rain on the very first day, people outside will think our Jiang family is mistreating you.”
Mother Jiang immediately caught on: “How can you leave in such heavy rain? It’s too unsafe!”
Father Jiang nodded: “Indeed. It wouldn’t hurt to wait until the rain lightens up.”
Jiang Yu glanced at the undeniable downpour outside the window, then threw a look at Jiang Qing, and ultimately gave a slight nod as well: “The rain is quite heavy. Stay and have a casual meal with us. It should stop by the time we finish eating.”
Following everyone’s gaze, Su Lin looked out the window. The dense curtain of rain shimmered under the streetlights. After a few seconds of silence, he finally sat back down.
“…Okay, sorry for the intrusion.”
Jiang Qing watched as Su Lin sat back down.
Don’t be in such a rush to leave.
He hadn’t had enough fun yet.
“My name is Jiang Yunxin. From now on, if anyone tries to bully you, just come find me… especially if it’s Jiang Linmu!”
“Mom… in this house, haven’t I always been the one getting bullied…” Jiang Linmu aggrievedly shrank his neck.
Jiang Yunxin seemed to suddenly remember something, her eyes lighting up: “Oh, speaking of which, although you and Su Lin were born in the same year, month, and day, he was actually born a few minutes earlier than you. According to the rules, you have to call him older brother.”
“…”
Sitting to the side, Jiang Qing couldn’t hold back a “pfft” and burst out laughing.
“Hahahahahaha Jiang Linmu suddenly has three older brothers hahahahaha… In the future, will we have to call you Fourth Treasure? Hahahahaha Fourth Treasure…”
Jiang Linmu blushed furiously from being laughed at, holding it in for a long time.
He immediately turned to Jiang Qing, attempting to salvage a bit of dignity: “Second Treasure, stop laughing! What’s so funny!”
Jiang Qing laughed even harder, forcefully patting Jiang Linmu’s back: “Don’t worry, your older brothers will ‘take good care’ of you!”
Jiang Linmu buried his face in his hands in absolute despair.
He suddenly felt that maybe being swapped at birth wasn’t the most tragic thing. The most tragic thing was inexplicably becoming the absolute bottom of the food chain.
Jiang Shuchen looked at his newly acknowledged son, Su Lin. In silence, he pulled a black credit card from his wallet and pushed it across the coffee table to Su Lin.
“Take it.”
“Pocket money.”
Staring at the black card on the table, Su Lin froze. His instinct was to refuse: “I don’t need…”
“Tsk.” Jiang Shuchen frowned slightly.
“A child of the Jiang family cannot go without money in their pockets.” He paused, his gaze sweeping over Jiang Qing and Jiang Linmu, before adding, “They all have one.”
The still-laughing Jiang Qing immediately raised his hand, waving his wallet as if to prove his innocence: “Dad isn’t being biased, I have one too. Although it’s been frozen recently.”
Jiang Linmu also chimed in quietly: “Yeah… I have one too.”
Jiang Yunxin smiled and smoothed things over: “Just take it, it’s your dad’s goodwill. He’s just this kind of person; he doesn’t know how to say nice things, all he knows is how to throw cards around.”
Su Lin looked at the black card, then at Father Jiang’s seemingly tough but actually clumsy way of showing care. He remained silent for a few seconds and didn’t decline further. He simply tucked the card away quietly and whispered:
“…Thank you, Dad.”
Jiang Shuchen nodded in satisfaction and picked up his strawberry milkshake again.
Watching this from the sidelines, Jiang Qing clicked his tongue in amazement. He nudged Jiang Linmu with his elbow and lowered his voice: “See that? Our dad’s way of expressing himself hasn’t changed in decades. Simple, crude, but… effective.”
Jiang Linmu looked at the black card Su Lin had accepted, remembering how flustered he was when he first received his own card.
“Dad… when will my card be unfrozen…”
“When the thawing period arrives, it will unfreeze itself. How did you even pass school? You don’t even understand a simple principle like that?”
Jiang Linmu looked down at his phone.
October 21st.
“…”
Winter hadn’t even arrived yet, and Spring was still very far away.
Translator’s Note:
- Thawing Period (化冰期): A hilarious pun by Father Jiang. Jiang Linmu asks when his bank card will be “unfrozen” (解凍), and Father Jiang treats it like an actual block of ice, saying he has to wait for the literal “thawing period/spring melt”!
- Treasure (寶): A cute nickname Chinese parents use for their kids (Da Bao = Big Treasure/Eldest, Er Bao = Second Treasure, etc.). Jiang Qing mocking Jiang Linmu as the “Fourth Treasure” seals his place at the absolute bottom of the family hierarchy!
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