Chapter 8 Our Son Goes Up

  That night, I sent off the innocent and obedient baby Cheng Qiao with a sweat, and also sent off my best friend who was equally sweaty. To this day, I still feel like there is a ringing in my ears.

  Is it that the girl's taste is really heavy to the point of public outrage, or has the boy become so simple that even distilled water can't compare?

  The key is that we haven't even touched on any sensitive topics, let alone anything related to children. Even the original ideas I wanted to instill in him, such as "men and women are together for procreation, but men with men is true love" or "in the future, there will be millions of good men who will unwaveringly embark on the path of being gay", were all shut down by that sudden dramatic turn of events.

  I recalled that play with only men and women, without men and men, and I felt more and more that the atmosphere of the girls' party that night was eerie. According to their usual practice and their own evil nature, when facing a legendary extreme temptress, they should have been trying their best to corrupt him instead of enthusiastically studying with him how to deal with an unresponsive woman. But those who didn't lose their memory, didn't change souls, weren't brainwashed, and couldn't possibly return to innocence did something that went against the ancient truth that "it's easy to change the world, but hard to change one's nature"... At that moment, I felt as if there was a dark wind blowing above my head.

  What really got me was the repeated failures of "not setting foot in 'Sweet Treats' for a week" and "having desserts delivered to the school gate for three days", which were both threats and bribes, but this time they didn't work. My curiosity, which had been inflated to its limit, finally found an outlet. Looking at their enigmatic smiles, I couldn't help but feel a deep sense of despair, thinking that life is just too tiring and it's better to just end it all with a swift stroke of the neck. My heart was racing so fast that it felt like it had turned upside down and got stuck in my lungs, making it hard for me to breathe. I was so fed up that I wanted to spike their desserts with a sedative and then send them off to spend a night at the "Cowboy Club" if they dared to keep pretending to be mysterious again.

  Just when I was full of resentment, the sound that I thought was more pleasant than any instrument in the world suddenly rang out above my head: "Auntie hello, my name is Cheng Qiao, I'm a friend of A Yao."

  I stood up with a start, and gazing at the beautiful face of this handsome young man, my scowl immediately turned into a smile. Before I could say anything, I heard Auntie burst out laughing: "You're Xiao Qiao, aren't you? You really are good-looking, Auntie likes you too."

  He pursed his lips, and in the dark eyes, a hint of amusement flickered: "It's fine, at least when going out, I don't have to worry about being complained about affecting the cityscape."

  I propped myself up against the table, barely standing upright. This shy and introverted smile was so powerful that it made my entire heart turn into a puddle of spring water. The surface of my body began to crackle with electricity, gradually forming a large patch behind me that enveloped me from head to toe. If my girlfriends were here, they would definitely exclaim in surprise: "Wow, what a guy! A macroscopically visible aura of maternal love!"

  Auntie took a closer look at Cheng Qiao, then shook her head: "I didn't expect you to be so humble, if you're considered okay like this, then our Yaoyao won't be able to find a boyfriend."

  Crack, the golden light of motherly love shattered all over the ground.

  I trembled with rage and looked at Auntie: "Auntie, I know you want to praise others, but you can't complete this step by belittling your niece. Even if you're tired of looking at me, don't be so embarrassing in front of Xiao Qiao!"

  "A Yao, Auntie was just joking, why did you take it seriously?" Cheng Qiao said.

  Aunt smiled faintly and looked at me with eyes that clearly said "you know I don't like to joke around".

  I looked at her and then at Qiao Cheng, who had a serious face. After a long time, I managed to squeeze out a sentence from between my teeth: "Well, actually I was just joking."

  "Call me Xiao Yi, I heard about you from Xiao Yu, you're a good kid, work hard," Auntie patted his shoulder, "Xiao Yi supports you too."

  Chao Qiao was surprised: "Really? Thank you, Aunt Xiang. Don't worry, I will definitely live up to your expectations."

  I looked at him in confusion: "What's going on that you need to add oil? Xiao Qiao, have you encountered some setbacks?"

  He curved his eyes and smiled like a kid who had just been rewarded with candy: "Oh, not yet."

  Aunt didn't say a word, her gentle gaze swept over me, revealing a meaningful smile, and then lowered her head to send messages with my uncle.

  My mouth twitched again, another inexplicable and intractable situation comedy, this kind of uninteractive feeling... really isn't ordinary annoying!

  But I was truly delighted to hear Xiao Qiao's pleasant voice, and seeing his face made me even more excited, with my heart blooming like a flower. The lump in my lungs had already automatically returned to its original position, fully aware of the situation. The iron-clad fact proved that in this era where Chinese and Western medicine have been competing for n years without a clear winner, visual enjoyment is indeed a supreme treasure that clears the mind, nourishes the lungs, beautifies the skin, and prolongs one's lifespan.

  "Hurry up, hurry up! Today I just made mulberry flavored ice cream and was thinking when to invite you, a top-notch dessert lover, to try the taste. Didn't expect you to come at such an opportune time." I walked out of the counter with a smile, gesturing for him to follow me.

  "It's just a big three, I'm very idle, this afternoon there is no class again, and I happen to come over to grab some food."

  Hehe, I smiled: "Not bad, this idea is good, you come to sister anytime and I'll entertain you with hospitality!"

  The footsteps behind paused for a moment, then followed up again. I heard his somewhat complaining voice: "A Yao, you always call yourself my sister, who is several years older than you, how can I bear it."

  "Others don't know, and it seems like you're really younger than me, so just keep on doing what you're doing." I sat down in a seat by the window.

  He sat opposite me, looking at me with a wronged expression: "But my friends will know."

  I was startled and immediately looked back: "You've also brought friends? Where are they? How come I didn't see them?"

  "No, they later... uh, anyway you can't treat me like your little brother or I'll get angry."

  Looking at his coquettish and cute appearance, I swallowed my saliva and said with difficulty: "This... is probably a bit difficult."

  The silence lasted until Axiu brought the ice cream over, and when she walked away, she couldn't help but glance back at the boy who was staring out the window with a sullen expression several times.

  I quietly picked up my spoon and took a few bites, sneaking a glance at his equally unbelievably handsome profile, and couldn't help but feel a little flutter in my chest: "Hey, do you know that I'm an illustrator?"

  Ignore me.

  "I continued to say: 'That's what I think, my craftsmanship is getting better and better. This mulberry flavored ice cream is really good, look at this fruit pulp is still very fresh, the sweetness is just right for me, how do you think?'"

  Keep ignoring me.

  What a pitiful child! I sighed endlessly in my heart.

  After swallowing the ice cream in my mouth, I stood up, bent over at a 30-degree angle, and said solemnly and loudly: "Cheng Qiao big brother, I was wrong. Please forgive this ignorant, shameless, and unscrupulous new version of the three-no girl!"

  He turned back to me with a look of surprise, his pursed lips slowly spreading outwards, and a smile seeped out from those moist eyes.

  I stared blankly at the pure and beautiful smile on his face, like that of a newborn baby, and for a moment I lost my composure, until Auntie happened to walk by with the bill, clearing her throat a few times, and I suddenly came back to reality, realizing what an embarrassing thing I had done.

  My body stiffened under the various gazes cast from the hall, I awkwardly covered my face and sat down, after a while, dryly laughed: "Well, you'd better come earlier next time." In front of beauty, I often couldn't hold on, there were usually few guests in the morning, and I didn't have to worry about losing face again in public...

  "Oh." He ate a few mouthfuls of ice cream, spoon in mouth, and asked me, "You said you were an illustrator, then what?"

  I looked at him with admiration, it's not easy to get back on track after being hit by me. After he reminded me, I immediately went to the counter to fetch paper and pen, cleared my throat, and said seriously: "My work in the illustration world has a bit of reputation, anyway, you're idle, why don't you be my exclusive model from now on? Don't worry, I won't ruin your image. Oh, by the way, I'll also give you half of the manuscript fee."

  If Ah Chian heard this, she would definitely criticize me for finding a high-sounding reason to frequently admire and appreciate this face from close range. In fact, it's not that I'm just an amateur illustrator, which is nothing wrong with that, after all, I am originally an amateur, but if you say I'm unprofessional, then I will absolutely argue back with my head held high.

  To know that art is like music, not only without borders, but also without the reason of resource monopoly. Facing this rare source of inspiration that can produce infinite inspiration for me, thinking that there will be a continuous flow of beautiful men from my pen to spread and be infatuated by a large number of beautiful men enthusiasts, I couldn't help but feel hot-blooded and excited, and even felt that I had a magical connection with the goddess Nüwa who created humans.

  Facing my enthusiasm, Cheng Qiao neither affirmed nor denied it, but instead asked me: "Do you really want everyone to see me?"

  "What's wrong with drawing you?"

  "I'm just bored and I don't have anything better to do, but I also don't want to be drawn by you and criticized by others."

  Ignoring his awkwardness, I narrowed my eyes and smiled: "It's not just you, it's you and your sons."

  "Cough...cough..." He swallowed hard, choking on the ice cream in his throat, shocked. "I don't have a son!"

  "Your excited reaction makes me think that you're not only a father, but maybe even a grandfather." I looked at him with deep meaning.

  He wiped his mouth and turned his eyes to one side: "This is good, if we can still have five generations under the same roof, it would be even better."

  I ignored his hateful words and carefully scanned his delicate eyebrows and eyes, laughing so hard that I almost drooled. Getting up to sit next to him, I drew while explaining: "You see, just by drawing your features, I can create this beautiful and slender young man. If we make the eyebrows a bit longer, it becomes this slanted and flying-into-the-temples style, and if we make the eyes narrower, doesn't it instantly become an unparalleled beauty? If we draw the eyebrows as sword-like brows, and deepen the eye sockets, doesn't it become a heroic and handsome but stern swordsman? If we lighten the eyebrow color and thin out the lips, isn't it a proud and arrogant noble young master? There are many more changes that can be made, I'm just roughly drawing their facial features for you to see now. Later, I'll use my computer to draw directly, adding hairstyles, hair colors, clothing, and backgrounds will definitely instantly kill countless readers!"

  He stared blankly for a moment: "These are...my son?"

  Looking at these stylishly different handsome men on paper, I laughed until my eyes narrowed into a slit: "Yes, yes, aren't they all stunningly good-looking? Not to mention other girls who like to look at handsome guys, even I, the original author, was infatuated to the point of being a little short-circuited, I'm really in love with this bunch of sons!"

  "Where's the son's father?"

  I blurted out, "No father can have a son, of course they love them more..." The word "father" got stuck in my throat, and I stiffened my neck.

  That "dad" was holding his chin with his hand, looking at me with pure black eyes that reflected my silly expression of being tongue-tied, and the innocent look on his face made me wonder if I had misheard the thought-provoking question just now.

  I swallowed hard and said: "What did you just ask me?"