He Yi remained silent, so Shang Jingyun went to ask Shang Jingwu, “Big cousin, what’s wrong with my sister-in-law? Is he feeling unwell, or are you playing games?”
Shang Jingwu ignored him and said directly to He Yi, “Let’s go somewhere else.”
”But there are so many delicious-looking dishes here that I haven’t tried yet,” He Yi protested softly.
Shang Jingyun quickly interjected, “Yes, yes, the food here is pretty good. Let’s eat together; the more people there are, the more dishes we can try.”
He Yi was immediately persuaded by his words, and looked at Shang Jingwu expectantly, asking, “Honey, honey, shall we eat here?”
Shang Jingwu glanced at Shang Jingyun, then at He Yi who was looking expectant, and finally reluctantly agreed.
With him around, Shang Jingyun can’t pull any tricks.
The three of them went into the private room together. Shang Jingyun seemed unaware that He Yi was avoiding him and continued to chat with He Yi very enthusiastically. He Yi was amused by his jokes and couldn’t help but chat with him.
Shang Jingwu watched silently from the side, not interfering, wanting to know what Shang Jingyun was really up to.
Shang Jingyun chatted about topics that interested He Yi for a while, then suddenly changed the subject and asked casually, “By the way, sister-in-law, don’t you and older cousin have any plans for a honeymoon?”
”Honeymoon?” He Yi asked, puzzled.
”It’s a custom that couples go on a honeymoon after getting married, where they can enjoy a lot of delicious food together. This is a tradition found all over the world, and other newlyweds go on their honeymoon,” Shang Jingyun explained.
He Yi’s eyes immediately lit up as he looked at Shang Jingwu and asked, “Honey, when are we going on our honeymoon?”
Shang Jingwu glanced at Shang Jingyun, who smiled innocently at him, as if he had only brought up the topic unintentionally.
”Honey? Aren’t we going on our honeymoon?” He Yi asked, shaking Shang Jingwu’s arm.
Seeing how expectant he looked, Shang Jingwu couldn’t bear to tell He Yi that he hadn’t originally planned on a honeymoon. Instead, he said, “We’ll see when you’re on winter break.”
”Winter break?” He Yi counted the days on his fingers and said with some dissatisfaction, “That’s still four months away, it’ll be a long wait.”
Shang Jingwu was a little confused as to why this child, who could solve advanced math problems correctly, needed to use his fingers to count numbers.
”When do you want to go?” he asked somewhat helplessly.
He Yi thought for a moment, then asked with great anticipation, “Is National Day okay? I’ll use a week in advance, and we can go during the rest of the winter break.”
Shang Jingwu mentally reviewed his recent schedule. “I can only free up five days.”
”Five days is fine too! We can keep the remaining 25 days for winter break,” He Yi said with a beaming smile.
In his view, since it’s a honeymoon, it should be exactly one month long, neither more nor less.
”My older cousin and his wife have a very good relationship,” Shang Jingyun remarked with a smile.
”Of course!” He Yi said matter-of-factly, then leaned over and gave Shang Jingwu a big kiss on the cheek, declaring openly, “I love my husband the most! And my husband loves me the most too, right?”
Shang Jingwu gave a faint “hmm” and gently pushed He Yi, who was about to climb on top of him, away a little. “Stop fooling around and eat.”
When He Yi saw someone come in and serve the food, he returned to his seat, drooling as he picked up his chopsticks and started eating.
Once he started eating, he forgot all about chatting with Shang Jingyun. Shang Jingyun put on a one-man show for a while, then peeled a shrimp and put it on He Yi’s plate, saying with a smile, “This kind of shrimp tastes better after you peel it. Little sister-in-law, why don’t you try it?”
He Yi had just eaten the shrimp shell and all, but upon hearing this, he swallowed the shrimp meat that Shang Jingyun had peeled in one gulp, exclaiming indistinctly as he chewed, “So good!”
Upon seeing this, Shang Jingwu put down the half-peeled shrimp on the plate and gave Shang Jingyun a warning look.
Shang Jingyun, however, seemed not to understand his meaning, and asked with a grin, holding up the freshly peeled shrimp, “Would you like to try some, eldest cousin?”
”No need,” Shang Jingwu said coldly.
Shang Jingyun then put the shrimp meat into He Yi’s plate, saying, “Then let my sister-in-law eat more.”
Seeing He Yi happily eat the shrimp that Shang Jingyun had peeled, Shang Jingwu felt disgusted and didn’t touch his chopsticks again.
Seeing this, Shang Jingyun said with a worried look, “Why aren’t you eating, cousin? Don’t push your body too hard. Otherwise, if something happens to you, your wife will be widowed at such a young age. That would be so pitiful.”
Shang Jingwu looked at Shang Jingyun as if he were looking at a dead object. Before he could say anything, he saw He Yi’s chopsticks suddenly fall to the ground.
The little guy was just enjoying his food, but now he suddenly raised his head, his mouth full of food that had just been stuffed in and hadn’t been chewed yet, and looked at Shang Jingyun with great anxiety, asking, “Will my husband die?”
Under Shang Jingwu’s death stare, Shang Jingyun explained to He Yi, “My eldest cousin has always been in poor health. The fortune teller said he might not live past 28, but with my sister-in-law around, there’s no need to worry. The fortune teller said you are my eldest cousin’s lucky star.”
He Yi was a little confused. He only heard the phrase “won’t live past 28 years old.” He was so frightened that he stopped eating and burst into tears, dropping the food from his mouth. He looked at Shang Jingwu with teary eyes and asked, “Husband, you won’t die, right?”
When Shang Jingwu saw He Yi’s silly and ridiculous appearance, he didn’t find it funny at all. Instead, he felt as if his not-so-healthy heart was being squeezed tightly, and he was in pain.
He took a deep breath, slightly easing the dull pain in his chest, and quickly reassured He Yi, “It’s alright.”
He had never really felt anything about death before, but Shang Jingyun’s reminder made him realize that if he died, He Yi would be a widow. Even if he left all his inheritance to He Yi, the little fool might not be able to hold onto so much money and might be bullied by others.
So even if it’s just to prevent this little guy from being bullied, he’ll have to live a few more years.
He Yi was still terrified that Shang Jingwu would die. Tears streamed down his face as he rushed over and hugged Shang Jingwu’s neck, saying in a pitiful voice, “Husband, you can’t leave me alone. Mom doesn’t want me anymore, and you can’t abandon me too. I’ll starve to death if I’m alone.”
Seeing him crying and hiccuping, Shang Jingwu reached out and gently patted his back to help him catch his breath, saying helplessly, “Didn’t I promise you? I won’t abandon you, don’t cry.”
He Yi then remembered that Shang Jingwu had made a pinky promise with him, and he felt a little relieved. He nuzzled Shang Jingwu’s neck and said, “Then you can’t go back on your word.”
”No, I won’t.” Shang Jingwu patiently continued to reassure him.
Seeing this, Shang Jingyun smiled and clapped, “My eldest cousin and his wife have such a good relationship. Grandpa will definitely be very pleased to know this. I hope you can continue to be so loving.”
Shang Jingwu looked up at him and said coldly, “You don’t need to worry about that.”
After saying that, he left with He Yi. He Yi, confused, followed him into the car. Then, realizing what was going on, he said, “Honey, I’m not full yet. I haven’t finished my food.”
”Let’s eat somewhere else. Your face is all stained from crying. Aren’t you ashamed?” Shang Jingwu said, taking a handkerchief to wipe He Yi’s face with obvious disgust.
He Yi obediently closed his eyes, tilted his little face up and let Shang Jingwu wipe his face clean, then smiled and said, “Thank you, husband, you’re so good to me.”
Shang Jingwu patted He Yi’s face and reminded him, “Remember this in the future, stay away from Shang Jingyun. If you get led by the nose by him again like today, I’m going to spank you.”
He Yi nodded and said, “I remember. But why? Honey, you always tell me to stay away from my brother, but you never tell me why. That makes it easy for me to forget.”
Shang Jingwu said irritably, “How are you going to get first place and win a scholarship with a memory like that?”
He Yi retorted, unconvinced, “That’s different. The things I learn in class are simpler and easier to understand. Once I remember them, I won’t forget them. But I don’t understand this kind of thing, so it’s easy for me to forget it.”
Shang Jingwu had no choice but to explain, “He loves to lie and deceive people. Someone like you is easily fooled. You can’t tell which of his words are true and which are false, so it’s easy for him to play you for a fool. Like that time when we were playing hide-and-seek, you almost drowned, didn’t you? That’s why I told you to stay away from him to avoid this happening again. Do you understand now?”
”Does my brother like to lie? So when he said his husband was going to die, was he lying to me too?” He Yi asked.
The fortune teller had indeed said that, but Shang Jingwu was afraid that telling He Yi the truth would scare the little guy to tears, and then he would have to comfort him and explain a bunch of things, which gave him a headache. So he gave a vague “hmm” and then changed the subject, asking, “Where do you want to go for National Day?”
He Yi’s university started in early September and then had two weeks of military training. Now there are only a few days left until National Day. Taking He Yi out to play definitely requires planning the itinerary in advance. Shang Jingwu wants to decide on the location as soon as possible and then have someone make the arrangements.
He Yi’s attention was immediately diverted, and he began to seriously consider Shang Jingwu’s question. However, he was completely unfamiliar with the outside world. After thinking for a while, he finally shook his head and said, “I don’t know either. You choose, honey. It has to be something delicious and fun.”
Shang Jingwu didn’t have any particular place he wanted to go, so he handed the task over to Du Yuwei. The next day, he received a proposal from Du Yuwei with three alternative options, all of which were located overseas.
Because there are too many people traveling domestically during the National Day holiday, and all kinds of places are crowded, it is not suitable for traveling. In addition, Shang Jingwu has mobility issues, and many places in China do not have adequate accessibility facilities. Furthermore, He Yi likes to run around, so there are too many troubles to have a vacation in China. It would probably be difficult to have a good time. Therefore, Du Yuwei chose places that were less crowded and convenient for Shang Jingwu to travel.
Shang Jingwu presented three options to He Yi for him to choose from. He Yi studied them for a long time and finally chose a route with more delicious food.
Before setting off, Shang Jingwu was called over by the old man. The old man knew that the two of them got along very well, and his mood improved as well. He had been in much better condition recently, and Shang Jingwu was happy for his grandfather.
The old man chatted with Shang Jingwu for a few minutes, then asked about their vacation destination. After some deliberation, he said, “Jingwu, I recently contacted a doctor who said there’s still a chance your leg can be cured. Would you like to go see him?”