Chapter 25: New Year’s Greetings
Lin Xia drove steadily, carrying the excited Bai Tuanzi and the nervous little hamster to the Chen family’s home.
The Chen family lived in Huaxing District, also one of Jiangcheng’s affluent areas. Unlike Yuanyang District, which was mainly populated by military and political families, Huaxing District was mainly home to elites from various fields. The Chen family were prominent figures in Jiangcheng’s medical community.
Lin Xia wasn’t exactly relaxed arriving here, not because the people here were unfriendly, but because he could run into anyone in the community. Someone he might casually meet could be an elite who was on the front page of Jiangcheng Daily yesterday, and the cleaning lady he saw might be the mother of a famous lawyer.
In short, Lin Xia had become accustomed to being cautious here, afraid of accidentally offending someone and being blacklisted by a certain industry.
Although this was just a joke, it wasn’t impossible…
Arriving in Huaxing District, Lin Xia was, as usual, stopped by the community security guard. Knowing the rules, Lin Xia directly called Chen Mingjie, and the security guard let them in after receiving confirmation from Chen Mingjie.
“We’re here.” Lin Xia expertly parked the car in the underground garage and then carried Bai Tuanzi and the little hamster to the Chen family’s home.
Chen Mingzong opened the door, and his gaze immediately fell on the little hamster.
The little hamster was wearing a sky-blue plaid coat today. The clear and soft color, like the sky, made him look even more fair-skinned, much like a recent high school graduate.
The little hamster didn’t notice Chen Mingzong’s intense gaze. As usual, he greeted Chen Mingzong.
After changing their shoes at the entrance, they could hear the voices of Chen’s parents chatting, along with Chen Mingjie’s lazy commands.
“Get me an apple, not that one, that one!”
Hearing his younger brother’s bossy tone, Chen Mingzong uneasily glanced at the little hamster, hoping he wouldn’t dislike them for having an irresponsible younger brother.
However, it wasn’t entirely Chen Mingjie’s fault. He usually wouldn’t dare to act like this at home; he had only become like this after the shock yesterday.
Seeing that the little hamster looked normal, Chen Mingzong felt relieved, secretly deciding that after Chen Mingjie returned to normal, he would make him copy the Disciple’s Rules again.
Chen Mingjie lay sprawled on the sofa like a boss, leisurely commanding a strange man in the house. Seeing Chen Mingzong come in, the originally languid Chen Mingjie reflexively sat up straight, as if the casual person just now wasn’t him.
“Oh, An’an and Xiaoxia are here!” Chen’s parents got up from the sofa and took Bai Tuanzi from Lin Xia’s arms.
“My dear baby, Grandma misses you so much.” Chen’s mother warmly kissed Bai Tuanzi’s face, while Chen’s father looked like he wanted to hug Bai Tuanzi too but didn’t dare to compete with his wife.
“Awoo!” Hello, Grandpa and Grandma! Bai Tuanzi happily wagged his tail and greeted Chen’s parents.
“Oh, An’an is so cute!” With his large eyes still misty, with their own reflection in his pupils, who wouldn’t like Bai Tuanzi like this?
When Lin Xia was staying at the Chen family’s while awaiting the baby’s birth, Chen’s parents had taken good care of him. After Bai Tuanzi was born, they treated Bai Tuanzi as their own grandson, and the elderly couple had even fed and changed Bai Tuanzi’s diapers.
Holding Bai Tuanzi, Chen’s parents shifted their gaze to the little hamster behind Lin Xia, politely and subtly observing their future daughter-in-law.
Mm, pretty and cute, with rosy lips and white teeth, good-looking. No wonder Mingzong likes her; even they couldn’t help but feel pity for her. Although Mingzong said the child had mental problems, since Mingzong didn’t mind, they wouldn’t object either.
“Hello, we are Mingzong’s parents. Welcome to our home!” Chen’s parents said kindly to the little hamster.
Seeing the little hamster being accepted by his parents, Chen Mingzong’s expression softened considerably, losing his usual seriousness and appearing more approachable.
“You… um… hello!” The little hamster didn’t know how to address Chen’s parents, so he used the polite form Lin Xia had taught him.
“You” is more respectful, and adding “men” for two or more people, so “Youmen” should be right, right? The little hamster thought uncertainly.
“Hahaha…” The strange address provoked good-natured laughter from everyone. The little hamster was stunned by the sudden laughter, not knowing what he had said wrong.
“This child is really cute.” Chen’s mother couldn’t help but pinch the little hamster’s face, smiling, “Call me Mama Chen, and him Papa Chen,” she said, pointing to her husband.
“Chen… Mama, Chen… Papa!” The little hamster secretly glanced at Lin Xia. Seeing him nod, he readily followed suit.
“So well-behaved!” Now Chen’s father couldn’t help but touch the little hamster’s head. Chen’s father felt a pang of emotion. He had always wanted a soft and cute son, but in reality, his eldest son was serious and indifferent, and his younger son was mischievous. Where could he find a cute and well-behaved child like the little hamster? Now he had another son, how wonderful!
Chen Mingzong glared at Chen’s father’s mischievous hand and gently pulled the little hamster away, successfully receiving a glare from Chen’s father.
Chen’s father still looked happy, but he was frantically complaining about his eldest son in his heart. What’s wrong with touching his head? That’s my daughter-in-law! He’s such an ungrateful son!
Bai Tuanzi was temporarily taken care of by Chen’s parents, so Lin Xia pulled the shy little hamster to sit down. Chen Mingzong thoughtfully brought drinks and fruit. The little hamster thanked Chen Mingzong and slowly sipped his drink.
The drink had a straw, and the little hamster held the drink, sipping it little by little, occasionally looking alertly ahead, much like a beaver drinking water by the river, making people want to pet him.
“Don’t be nervous, just act like you’re at home.” Chen Mingzong took the opportunity to sit next to the little hamster and fed him a piece of cantaloupe with a toothpick.
The little hamster was used to being fed by Chen Mingzong and naturally let go of the straw and took the cantaloupe. The sweet and fragrant cantaloupe spread in his mouth, causing the little hamster to narrow his eyes in enjoyment.
Chen Mingjie looked up to see the heartwarming scene and turned his head unhappily, then slowly moved next to Lin Xia.
“Xiaoxia, let me introduce you. Jingran, my boyfriend!” Chen Mingjie introduced them without much enthusiasm. “This is my friend, Xiaoxia, you know.”
“Nice to meet you.” Jingran looked like a nerd, dressed in black clothes and wearing black-rimmed glasses. His hair was slightly long, and his skin had a pale look from years of staying indoors.
“Nice to meet you.” After greeting them, Jingran sat silently to the side, seemingly not fond of talking.
Actually, Lin Xia knew about Jingran. Jingran was a frequent topic in Chen Mingjie’s conversations; Lin Xia had often heard Chen Mingjie mention Jingran. Jingran was Chen Mingjie’s connection in the police station, a senior technical detective with excellent hacking skills. The last time, it was Chen Mingjie who had asked Jingran to investigate the little hamster’s and Tang Yinlang’s identities.
“Shell some melon seeds for me.” Chen Mingjie acted exactly like a lazy cat, bossily ordering Jingran.
Jingran didn’t speak, directly taking a handful of melon seeds, shelling them one by one, and placing the kernels in a small dish, very dutiful.
“Where’s Xiao Hei?” Lin Xia asked. Xiao Hei was Chen Mingjie’s cat, and it had a terrible temper. But Xiao Hei had one characteristic—it followed its master’s lead, fearing Chen Mingzong.
“Sleeping upstairs.” Chen Mingjie saw that a small pile of melon seeds had been shelled, then directly ate the melon seeds that Jingran had painstakingly shelled, finishing them in one mouthful.
One is a bossy queen, the other a loyal dog. Lin Xia watched their interaction and thought silently.
“By the way, Xiaoxia, I haven’t told you about my love story yet.” With his friend here, the talkative Chen Mingjie opened up.
Upon hearing this, Jingran, who had been quietly shelling melon seeds, trembled slightly before relaxing. However, the observant Lin Xia noticed that Jingran’s ears were red.
“You definitely don’t know, this guy has been secretly in love with me for over ten years. If he hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known,” Chen Mingjie tapped his leg and glanced at Jingran, looking proud and smug.
Jingran and Chen Mingjie grew up in the same neighborhood. Before Jingran confessed, Chen Mingjie always considered Jingran as a brother and never noticed Jingran’s feelings for him.
However, Jingran was introverted, afraid that his feelings for Chen Mingjie would scare him, so he had been dragging it out, secretly sabotaging any person or thing that might lead to Chen Mingjie having a relationship. Therefore, Chen Mingjie hadn’t been in a relationship for so many years, not only because of strict family rules and his busy schedule, but also because of Jingran’s efforts.
Chen Mingjie always lamented, “Why doesn’t anyone confess to me! Don’t I have any charm?!”
Until now, Jingran hadn’t told him that he had hacked and deleted many confession messages sent to Chen Mingjie by other people, those people mistakenly thinking that the messages had been sent, but Chen Mingjie hadn’t replied.
“If he hadn’t rushed over the day before yesterday, pressing me onto the bed and confessing, I wouldn’t have known he liked me.” Since they were close friends, Chen Mingjie spoke freely. “Do you know why he came over?”
Chen Mingjie asked, Lin Xia shook his head in response. Jingran, sitting beside them, finally couldn’t sit still, blushing and lowering his head, said, “The melon seeds are gone, I’ll get more,” and quickly left, seemingly embarrassed to continue listening.
Chen Mingjie looked at Jingran’s retreating back, snorted arrogantly, and continued, “Didn’t I ask him to investigate Tang Yinlang last time? He thought I liked Tang Yinlang, and Tang Yinlang is so excellent, he was so stimulated that he couldn’t sit still and rushed to my house. The important thing is that he came with such force that even Old Master and Mrs. Chen let him in.”
At that time, Chen Mingjie was still lying in bed playing with his phone. When he heard someone knocking, he got up and opened the door. As soon as he opened the door, Jingran, looking like the world owed him millions, directly pressed him onto the bed and rattled off a bunch of stuff like, “Even though I’m not as excellent as him, I love you more than him,” “I’ve waited for you for so long, I’m not willing to leave without even saying ‘I like you’,” etc.
At first, Chen Mingjie was stunned. He had never seen Jingran so angry before and listened to a lot of Jingran’s nonsense until Jingran, not getting a response, kissed him. Only then did he realize what was happening.
Chen Mingjie’s first words after regaining his senses were, “Why kiss my forehead? Kiss my mouth!”
Jingran still had some reason. Although he was in a state of frenzy, he didn’t dare to be too presumptuous, so he only kissed Chen Mingjie’s forehead. Unexpectedly, Chen Mingjie, having been single for over twenty years, was filled with desire and wanted him to kiss his mouth.
Upon hearing Chen Mingjie’s words, blood rushed to Jingran’s scalp. He kissed Chen Mingjie’s cherry-like lips, and the two kissed passionately.
Only when Jingran had a physical reaction, and Chen Mingjie’s thigh was uncomfortably pressed against something hard, did they break apart. Chen Mingjie wanted to push Jingran away but was pinned down and forced to go out with him. Chen Mingjie, in order to prevent Jingran from “going dark” and “bearing the burden,” agreed, and was even forced to post on WeChat to announce it to the world…
Author’s Note: Chen Mingjie: It’s not scientific, I’m so handsome, why doesn’t anyone pursue me?
Jingran: Um… Do you want to eat sauerkraut fish?
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