Chapter 25 – The Yan family’s secret

Translator: ChuRen/ YuQiChen

Yan Shu stood at the entrance of his courtyard, gazing into the misty distance where the man’s figure had long disappeared from view.

Yet, Yan Shu remained rooted in place, unwilling to move.

Perhaps Wei Tingxiao had known who he was from the moment he entered the house.

After all, he had trended on social media, even posting selfies when he left the entertainment industry. It was normal for Wei Tingxiao to recognise him…

Yan Shu smiled to himself. In a way, he was still a celebrity.

Although Wei Tingxiao recognised him, he had tactfully avoided bringing up any of the negative rumours from the internet during their conversation today. He had struck a perfect balance; no wonder Teacher Wei was so well-liked.

…

Meanwhile, the beloved movie emperor, Wei Tingxiao, was back at the guesthouse, currently kneeling and apologising.

Surrounded by the director, assistant director, and a group of staff, they were all inspecting him from head to toe, fearing that the male lead of the film had lost a piece of flesh somewhere.

“My fault! My fault! I’m sorry, Director Wu, this is the only time, if I make the same mistake again, you can replace me!”

Wei Tingxiao raised four fingers, swearing with sincere eyes.

“It’s impossible to replace you. Only you can play this role. It’s not all your fault. I underestimated your rebellious nature. You, this spoiled brat, need to be kept in check.” Director Wu scolded but couldn’t help but chuckle.

“When we first heard that Teacher Wei had disappeared, everyone panicked, except Director Wu, who calmly said this kid was fine,” the assistant director teased.

Wei Tingxiao: “?”

Assistant Director: “Director Wu said, ‘A glib-tongued, mentally sound, sleazy and dog-like person won’t get lost; he’ll find his way back.'”

Laughter erupted among the crowd, instantly lifting the mood.

Wei Tingxiao rolled his eyes, “Ridiculous!”

How is he like a dog?

Luo Hui was laughing so hard tears came out, as he was the most qualified to comment on this description.

But since Wei Tingxiao was their artist, they could tease him behind closed doors, but in front of everyone, it was better to save face.

Wei Tingxiao didn’t mind being teased by everyone. He was in a good mood and whistled his way upstairs.

Today’s getting lost was a pleasant surprise. Seeing that Yan Shu was doing well made him inexplicably relieved.

He didn’t usually worry about others, but for some reason, he had no resistance to Yan Shu. Why? He’d have to ask his psychologist about that some other day.

Thinking about how Yan Shu reacted when he deliberately called out his name before leaving, Wei Tingxiao couldn’t help but smile.

One for one, consider it even.

Since they both knew each other, there was no need to pretend.

The way the young man’s lips slightly parted when lost in thought, with a strand of hair at the top of his head being blown up by the wind, was just too adorable.

Wei Tingxiao opened his phone and deep in the photo album, the picture of the boy sleeping in the hospital was still intact. Despite deleting 9 photos, one remained.

Wei Tingxiao rarely found a boy cute, even when looking at his cousin, whom he had doted on since childhood.

He felt his mindset was a bit off, as if he needed to prove a certain conjecture. Without hesitation, he dialed his cousin on video call.

The video call rang for over ten seconds before the other party answered.

“Tingxiao-ge! Long time no see, I miss you! But could you hang up first? I’m gaming with my classmates; it’s unethical to ditch them. I’ll get back to you in a bit!”

“Wei Jiaheng! Hey—!”

Click.

The other party hung up first.

“…”

Wei Tingxiao flung his phone three feet away, accidentally throwing it under the bed.

After taking a few deep breaths, he crawled under the bed to pick up his phone and promptly blocked his cousin on WeChat.

He must have been crazy to video call that little rascal, and even entertain the idea that his cousin, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, could turn cute.

Now he realised that within the same species, there could be quite a difference. This little brother was no longer needed.

Not cute at all!

… 

In the evening.

Yan Shu had been seriously considering Wei Tingxiao’s suggestion from earlier in the day, so he searched online for some procedures.

First, he needed to choose a live streaming platform and register an account.

Based on recommendations from netizens, Yan Shu downloaded the Tangerine app, a popular short-video live-streaming app on the market.

After thinking for a while, he chose an ID for himself, named “Yun Juan Yun Shu”.

There was no special meaning behind it, just a play on words with the homonym of “Shu.”

He noticed that people who livestream usually had some professional equipment, like lighting, phone stands, microphones, and more.

At the moment, he didn’t have these prepared. With just a phone, he casually set it up in a place for testing to ensure the screen was clear.

Yan Shu planned to start by live-streaming some small embroidery crafts that could be done with a small embroidery hoop on the table, which was more convenient.

At home, there were also medium and large embroidery frames for larger projects, which took more time. Until he understood the user’s preferences, he decided not to consider those for now.

Knock, knock—

Yan Shu was engrossed in his research when there was a knock on the door.

“It’s so late, you’re not asleep yet?” Yan Jin poked his head into the doorway.

Ever since his son returned home, his daily routine had been good, and at this hour, he would have already turned off the lights and rested.

Yan Jin had just finished showering and passed by his son’s room. Seeing that the light was still on, he was worried that Yan Shu might strain his eyes from staying up late, so he came to remind him.

“Dad, do we have any tools that can be used as a phone stand?” Yan Shu couldn’t help but ask.

Originally, he was planning to use two stacks of books with a gap in between to place his phone flat on top, allowing for a top-down view of the table. However, this setup would only capture a portion of his embroidery hoop, not the entire panorama.

Now that his dad had come in, he suddenly remembered that there was a skilled carpenter in the house.

His dad had made so many wooden knick-knacks; there must be something useful, right?

“A phone stand? What are you planning to do?” Yan Shu felt a bit nervous, unsure if his dad would approve of this line of work.

Yan Jin silently looked at his son for a while and then suddenly clapped his hands, saying, “You should go to bed now. I promise to make a phone stand for you tomorrow that will be even better than those professional tools online. Don’t worry, Dad will take care of it for you.”

Yan Shu felt a sense of joy in his heart and also breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed that Yan Jin didn’t oppose him doing this at all. The encouragement and support from family members could truly give Yan Shu more motivation for this endeavor.

“Thank you, Dad. Good night, I’ll go to sleep now.”

After exiting Yan Shu’s room, Yan Jin took a deep breath and went downstairs.

He coincidentally ran into Zhou Lan just as he was returning home.

“Ge, although I rarely come back to stay, you didn’t have to come down specifically to greet me,” Zhou Lan teased.

“Forget it, I’m also getting ready to rest. Weren’t you usually over there?” Yan Jin asked.

“I don’t have much to do. I occasionally come back to take a look. Has my nephew gone to bed? I haven’t seen him in a few days, and I really miss him, hehe!” Zhou Lan grinned foolishly.

Yan Jin quickly stopped him, “Shu-er has gone to bed. Don’t disturb him. He just said good night to me.”

Zhou Lan paused for a moment, then broke into laughter, “Oh! I was wondering why your expression seemed off when I returned. Turns out, your son made you happy?”

Yan Jin’s face turned red, “My expression… What’s wrong with it?”

Zhou Lan metaphorically said, “Like the rapeseed flowers in spring, swaying in the wind. Yes, when you came downstairs just now, there were little yellow flowers blooming all around. Your own son hasn’t treated you like this in a long time. Now you’re enjoying it, right?”

Yan Jin didn’t argue and after a moment, he said contentedly, “He said he wants to livestream embroidery, and I promised to help him make a phone stand.”

“That’s great! Livestreaming is quite popular now, and it’s profitable. Little Shu-er definitely has the talent to build up his livestreaming room. I’ve seen him learning embroidery from our mother during this time, and he’s doing quite well. So, you can rest assured. He’s found something he loves to do, can stay at home with you, live a stable and peaceful life. Isn’t this what you originally hoped for?” Zhou Lan understood Yan Jin’s thoughts very well. During these three years when Yan Shu was away, his elder brother was also being stubborn, not visiting Yan Shu once, making the child endure hardships on his own.

In reality, he felt incredibly heartbroken. He clearly saw everything, his elder brother was also a stubborn person, just like the young Shu-er from before, keeping things to himself and not speaking out. This was clearly a genetic inheritance between father and son, both inherently stubborn.

“It is good…” Yan Jin sighed, “I have no other wishes. In this lifetime, I only hope for him to grow up well, to become a person of good character and integrity. In the blink of an eye, it’s been twenty years…”

Zhou Lan restrained his smile and suddenly asked, “Ge, are you not planning to tell Shu-er the secret of his birth?”

“I… I don’t know,” Yan Jin hesitated. “Can he accept the fact that his father is that kind of person? I think things are fine as they are now. He’s become more obedient and doesn’t inquire much about the past.”

“Alright, if you don’t want to tell Shu-er, I understand. But over all these years, you’ve never been honest with Mom and me about who that man was. If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t have…”

“If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have such a lovely son,” Yan Jin interrupted Zhou Lan’s emotional words.

“…” Zhou Lan felt that his elder brother was still unyielding.

If it weren’t for Yan Shu’s birth twenty years ago, Zhou Lan would have never known about his elder brother’s special condition, which was the biggest secret in their family.

Initially, Yan Jin had been stubbornly determined to venture into the big city, but a year later, Yan Shu came into the picture.

Thankfully, when Yan Shu was born, Yan Jin took him to a major hospital for a thorough check-up. He was a very healthy baby, just like any other ordinary infant, showing no signs of anything unusual.

This temporarily put their minds at ease.

Even so, three years ago when Yan Shu insisted on going to the capital city, Yan Jin was strongly against it.

At that moment, Yan Jin wasn’t sure if he was angry at his child’s rebellion or if he was afraid that his child would follow in his footsteps.

The more he opposed, the more the child resisted, and thus began the three-year silent war between father and son.

Now that the relationship between father and son was thawing, it was not only a relief for Yan Jin as the person involved, but even Zhou Lan, as an observer, felt happy about it.

“You should go wash up now, I’m going to bed. Remember, don’t tell Shu-er about our conversation today,” Yan Jin didn’t want his son to have any more psychological burdens.

Zhou Lan reverted to his lazy demeanor, “Got it, the best dad in the world. Our little Shu-er really has a great father.”

Yan Jin: “…”

The next morning.

Yan Shu woke up on time, helped his grandmother with some household chores for a while, and then began a day of embroidery.

He worked on his embroidery until noon, and only then did Yan Jin and Zhou Lan come downstairs, yawning.

“Uncle Lan, when did you come back?” Yan Shu exclaimed in surprise, then seeing the exhausted expressions on their faces, he tilted his head in confusion, “Did you guys not sleep well last night?”

Zhou Lan stepped forward and hooked Yan Shu’s shoulder, patting his head, “You wanted a phone stand, right? Your dad and I worked overnight to make an upgraded version with a sliding track. It’s amazing!”

Yan Shu: “!!”

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