Lin Shenzhi’s lips parted slightly, but he did not say anything.
Wei Ran simply assumed Lin Shenzhi was too nervous. “That was something that happened during the period when my dad was drinking heavily.”
“Back then, my dad was completely plastered every single day. My grandparents and maternal grandparents all took turns coming over to our house to take care of me and keep an eye on my dad at the same time.”
“One afternoon, I woke up from a nap and found not a single person at home. I knew my dad must have gone out drinking again, and I figured my grandpa and the others had taken advantage of my nap to go grocery shopping at the supermarket downstairs, so I just went to the sofa, turned on the television, and watched cartoons.”
“While watching, I got a little thirsty, so I grabbed an orange from the table and started peeling it. My attention was entirely fixed on the cartoons, so I was not looking at my hands and just peeled it absentmindedly.”
Wei Ran paused, as if recalling something quite terrifying. “After a moment, I felt something cool crawling on the back of my hand, and it seemed like it was moving. I looked down.”
“The orange in my hand had gone rotten, and the orange-red flesh was completely packed with white worms. They were squirming constantly, and quite a few of them had already crawled past the back of my hand and up my arm…”
Even now, Wei Ran could still vividly remember that scene. Innumerable tiny white worms were arching their little bodies, topped with tiny, sharp black heads, and it felt as though every single one of them was staring right at him.
Terrified out of his wits, he immediately hurled the orange away, wailing loudly as he shook his arms frantically, desperately trying to fling those bugs off.
He managed to shake the worms off quickly enough, but that cold, creepy sensation of something crawling all over his body never truly left him.
By the time his grandparents returned, he had already cried himself completely exhausted in his bedroom and fallen into a dead sleep.
“I can force myself to choke down oranges these days, but the one thing I can never…” Wei Ran unconsciously rubbed hard at his arm, struck by the phantom sensation that something was crawling across his skin.
Now that he was grown up, he knew logically that most bugs did not bite and could not really harm him, but that lingering, bone-deep fear had never faded.
So much so that whenever he saw a bug now, his whole body felt uncomfortable, especially the soft, boneless ones. If one got too close, he would instantly turn stiff as a board and find it hard to breathe.
“Why on earth do disgusting things like bugs have to exist in this world? Every single bug on the planet ought to be wiped out. No, not just bugs. Anything even remotely related to bugs should just drop dead!” Wei Ran grumbled in complaint.
He leaned over against Lin Shenzhi, rubbed affectionately against him, and took a deep, satisfied sniff of his scent.
Lin Shenzhi did not wear perfume, yet he carried an indescribable, cool fragrance that Wei Ran adored to the point of obsession. “You smell so good.”
In the end, Lin Shenzhi did not say anything. He gently ruffled Wei Ran’s hair, leaving Wei Ran’s locks completely tousled. “That is all in the past now.”
The car soon drove out of the national highway and entered the airport zone.
A few minutes later, Wei Ran and Lin Shenzhi stepped out of the vehicle.
The airport was bustling with crowds. Wei Ran stood on tiptoe and scanned the area, completely unable to spot his dad among the sea of people at a single glance.
“I will make a call.” Wei Ran fished out his phone. “Are you alright?”
Lin Shenzhi’s complexion seemed even paler than before, almost as if he were about to throw up. Wei Ran felt a twinge of worry; Lin Shenzhi was just too high-strung.
“Wei Ran!” A familiar male voice rang out.
Wei Ran immediately snapped his head toward the source of the sound. Near the wall at the far end of his right side, a middle-aged man dressed in a white casual outfit was waving at him.
The man was in his forties, wore glasses, looked scholarly and refined, and carried a faint trace of melancholy in the depths of his eyes.
Wei Ran hurried over with small steps. “Dad!”
Coming to a halt in front of the man, Wei Ran asked, “Did we not agree on tomorrow? Why did you come early?”
Whether it was his imagination or not, Wei Ran felt like his dad looked a bit stern today, which gave him an uneasy feeling.
“I came early to have a look. There is a lot that needs preparing.” Wei Yun pulled his suitcase along and started walking.
Wei Ran quickly chimed in, “Dad, Lin Shenzhi came too.”
Wei Yun immediately cast his gaze behind Wei Ran.
Lin Shenzhi stepped forward, locking eyes with Wei Yun.
Lin Shenzhi gave a slight, polite nod. “Hello.”
“Hello.”
Wei Ran looked back and forth between the two of them, growing involuntarily nervous and stumbling slightly over his words. “Dad, this is Lin Shenzhi, the one I told you about before. Lin Shenzhi, this is my dad.”
With a voice that carried a mix of cool detachment and awkwardness, Lin Shenzhi said, “Dad.”
Wei Yun looked at Lin Shenzhi, reached into his pocket, pulled out a thick red envelope, and handed it over.
Seeing this, Lin Shenzhi’s eyes widened slightly. Gone was his usual calm composure from the office; instead, he looked completely at a loss for what to do.
Standing off to the side, Wei Ran was equally stunned by the sight.
“Our first meeting. It is only proper,” Wei Yun said in an even tone, drawing the attention of the two young men back to reality.
Feeling rather flustered, Lin Shenzhi accepted it. “Thank you.”
Wei Yun turned his gaze to Wei Ran.
With a completely blank mind, it took Wei Ran a good while to process what was happening before he hurriedly led them away from the airport.
Once outside, the three of them found the driver and got into the car.
Inside the vehicle, Wei Ran was wedged squarely between Lin Shenzhi and Wei Yun. He kept his hands placed neatly on his thighs, sitting up straight and staring straight ahead.
Lin Shenzhi and Wei Yun sat on either side with Wei Ran in the middle, both of them keeping completely silent.
Feeling the heavy atmosphere, Wei Ran did not even dare to breathe too loudly.
As the car merged onto the national highway, Wei Yun took the initiative to speak up. “Wei Ran is far too undisciplined in his habits. If there is ever anything he does not do properly in the future, you can let me know.”
“Okay.”
“Such a grown man, yet he does not act like an adult at all.” Wei Yun glanced at Wei Ran.
Wei Ran listened with a bitter expression. He just could not wrap his head around it. This was Lin Shenzhi’s first time meeting his dad, so why on earth had it suddenly turned into a disciplinary review of his own flaws?
The drive back was identical to the journey there, yet Wei Ran felt as though the trip dragged on in absolute agony. By the time the car finally stopped, Wei Ran half-fancied that his back and legs were aching from exhaustion.
After getting out of the car, Lin Shenzhi brought Wei Yun inside, while Wei Ran seized the chance to be helpful by eagerly grabbing the luggage.
Once inside, Wei Yun looked around before sitting down in front of the sofa. He proceeded to conduct a ten-minute-long interrogation with Lin Shenzhi in a strict question-and-answer format, focusing primarily on how utterly unreliable Wei Ran was, supplemented by questions about how the wedding preparations were coming along.
Wei Ran shrunk back into the corner with a miserable expression, keeping as quiet as a timid newlywed bride who did not dare make a peep.
Learning that they had not even decided on a specific date for the wedding yet, Wei Yun immediately shot a look at Wei Ran.
Wei Ran shrank his neck back and did not dare utter a sound.
Noticing this, a faint smile played at the edges of Lin Shenzhi’s lips. He had never seen Wei Ran like this before. In front of Wei Yun, Wei Ran looked precisely like a cat whose scruff had been pinned down, behaving with absolute obedience.
Giving Lin Shenzhi a resentful glare for simply watching the show without offering to help, Wei Yun… wait, Wei Ran hurriedly steered the conversation elsewhere. “Dad, why do we not talk about this tomorrow? Look at how many hours you spent on the plane. Should you not get some rest first?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Wei Ran hastily added, “There is no rush to sort all this out right this second.”
Wei Yun thought about it and decided that made sense, so he dropped the subject.
Quickly grabbing the suitcase, Wei Ran headed for the stairs. “I will take you up to check out your room.”
Wei Yun stood up and followed.
Once upstairs, Wei Ran led Wei Yun to the guest room Lin Shenzhi had already had staff tidy up.
After going inside and setting the suitcase down, Wei Ran looked at Wei Yun, who did not look angry in the slightest, yet still managed to send shivers down Wei Ran’s spine, and prepared to make a swift exit with a parting remark. “Well, dad, you get some rest first.”
“Come back.”
Having already bolted all the way to the doorway, Wei Ran obediently trotted back into the room and stood at attention.
He had been terrified of Wei Yun since he was a kid, and that fear had carried over into adulthood. Even though he could somewhat understand Wei Yun nowadays, it still gave him the creeps.
Wei Yun glanced at him and asked calmly, “Do you still have money on you?”
Wei Ran experienced a brief moment of distraction. He had heard that exact question plenty of times from Wei Yun back when he was in college, as Wei Yun would check in with him like clockwork every single month.
Truth be told, Wei Yun had always treated him quite well. Aside from the first half-year when he was drowning his sorrows in alcohol, Wei Yun had never once lost his temper with him and had taken wonderful care of him.
“I do.” Wei Ran scratched his head. “I have been saving all the money from before…”
During his junior year of college, Wei Ran had independently created a simple game. Although the game itself was rather modest, its creative concept was fantastic and immensely popular, even winning the domestic Best Creativity Award that year.
That success had brought a small wave of fame to the name Wei Ran, attracting a well-known gaming company that offered to buy the complete ownership rights from him, netting him a tidy sum of capital that was neither too small nor too large.
Over the past few years, he had not touched a single penny of that money. He had stashed it all away, originally intending to use it as startup capital for his own business after graduation, having nurtured a game concept from his freshman year all the way through to graduation.
But now, he had decided to use those savings for his wedding.
Lin Shenzhi was not short on cash, and that little sum of money was probably nothing more than pocket change to him, but Wei Ran had no intention of comfortably sitting back and letting Lin Shenzhi shoulder every single expense.
Without a word, Wei Yun walked over, unzipped his luggage, and pulled out his wallet. He extracted a pre-prepared bank card and handed it straight to Wei Ran.
Wei Ran did not take it.
“Marriage is a lifelong matter. Since you like him and chose to marry him, you need to treat him well,” Wei Yun said.
Staring at that card, a surge of warmth rushed straight from Wei Ran’s chest up to his eyes, and he nodded heavily. “Mhm.”
Heading back downstairs, Wei Ran immediately hurled himself onto the sofa, burying his face in Lin Shenzhi’s arms and breathing in his scent to his heart’s content, before proudly holding up the bank card with both hands to show Lin Shenzhi.
“My dad did not say no. He even told me to treat you well, hehe.” Wei Ran grinned with utter, silly happiness.
A look of gentle exasperation crossed Lin Shenzhi’s eyes. Wei Ran really was just like a cat, always rubbing against people and acting spoiled. “Mhm.”
Wei Ran reasoned, “He was probably just a bit mad at me for not telling him beforehand.”
If his own son had gone ahead and gotten married behind his back before casually breaking the news to him afterward, he would be furious too.
Thinking about it, Wei Ran chuckled again. Anyway, he was not going to have a son, so he would not have to worry about that sort of headache.
“What are you laughing at?”
“I was wondering if you regret this?” Wei Ran looked up at Lin Shenzhi from where he sat. He himself did not really care, but what about Lin Shenzhi?
Shifting slightly to the side to keep Wei Ran from pressing down on his stomach, which felt a bit uncomfortable and made him feel slightly nauseous, Lin Shenzhi asked, “Regret what?”
“Marrying me. After all, it is not like we can ever have kids in the future.”
Lin Shenzhi fell silent, his expression gradually turning rather peculiar.
Sensing this, Wei Ran grew somewhat nervous. “Do you like kids?”
Meeting Wei Ran’s gaze as if trying to peer deep into his soul, Lin Shenzhi did not answer the question directly. Instead, he countered with one of his own: “If, and I mean if, what if we could have children?”