Linlin put the cap back on the medicine and said softly, “I have my brother. Yan Yuan is different.”
Jiang Chengzhou was completely at a loss for words.
In the guest room next door, Su Li was applying medicine to Yan Yuan.
Yan Yuan’s injuries were much worse than Jiang Chengzhou’s.
Su Li was unusually serious. After finishing, he looked earnestly at Yan Yuan. “Brother Yuan, don’t take my sister away.”
Yan Yuan had still been wondering what Jiang Chengzhou might have said to Linlin. At those words, he suddenly came back to himself.
He patted Su Li on the head. “Li Li, I’m not trying to take your sister away.”
“You are,” Su Li said glumly. “You want to marry my sister and take her to your house, don’t you?”
That was why their father, mother, and brother had all been so angry.
Yan Yuan chuckled. “I do want to marry your sister very much. But I’m here to join this family, not tear it apart.”
It took Su Li quite a while to digest what he meant. He stared blankly at Yan Yuan. “My sister brought you home?”
“Yes.” Yan Yuan tugged at the corner of his mouth, trying to smile. The moment his lips curved upward, the wound at the corner of his mouth immediately began to split.
He suppressed the faint ache between his brows, the warmth and composure in his eyes unchanged.
Su Li liked Yan Yuan very much, and after hearing him say that, he quickly accepted the explanation.
Jiang Chengzhou was also soon persuaded by Linlin. No one knew what he and Yan Yuan talked about that evening, but afterward, he seemed to accept Linlin’s relationship with him as well.
Only Su Lang remained. He knew he couldn’t withstand his daughter’s attacks.
Whenever Linlin tried to talk to him, he immediately found an excuse to slip away, leaving her frowning sadly.
Now that everyone in the family had been won over by Yan Yuan, Su Lang thought for a moment and called Zhou Chen for backup.
A father understood another father best. Zhou Chen would certainly understand how he felt.
Sure enough, Zhou Chen asked a great many questions about Yan Yuan.
By the time he finished, Zhou Chen fell silent. “Lao Su, whose side are you on?”
Why did this young man named Yan Yuan sound so perfect in Su Lang’s description?
Su Lang fell silent too.
Looking at things objectively, even if Su Lang was as demanding as possible, he could only find two flaws in Yan Yuan: he had no parents, and he was older.
Having no parents wasn’t Yan Yuan’s fault. If anything, it only made him seem rather pitiful.
Su Lang quickly said, “It’s his age. Linlin is only nineteen, while he’s twenty-four.”
There was a pause of several seconds on the other end. Then Zhou Chen reminded him, “Lao Su, you’re six years older than Doctor Lin.”
Su Lang: “…”
“Whose side are you on?”
Both fathers fell silent.
Su Lang called Linlin over to take the phone, while Yan Yuan, under Su Lang’s glare, sat down beside them.
“Father Zhou.” Linlin nervously wound the telephone cord around her finger.
Zhou Chen chatted with his daughter for a while. Linlin glanced at Yan Yuan beside her, then handed him the receiver. “Father Zhou wants to talk to you.”
“Uncle Zhou, hello. I’m Yan Yuan…”
The call lasted nearly half an hour. Linlin and Su Lang sat beside him, staring at each other.
Su Lang pretended to be angry and glared at his daughter.
Linlin wrinkled her nose at him and made a face.
Whenever she wanted to talk to her father, he always avoided her. She had already complained to her mother about it.
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Of course, Uncle.”
“I understand, Uncle.”
No one knew what Zhou Chen was saying on the other end. Yan Yuan could only keep agreeing, addressing him as “Uncle” over and over.
Su Lang grew annoyed listening to it and muttered, “Uncle this, Uncle that. Why keep calling him Uncle?”
Zhou Chen seemed to hear him through the phone and added, “You can stop calling me Uncle.”
“All right.” Yan Yuan glanced back at Linlin, then said into the phone, “Father Zhou?”
Shameless!
That was what Su Lang and Zhou Chen both thought.
Linlin, however, blushed faintly beside them.
Zhou Chen had been completely won over by Yan Yuan as well. Seeing his daughter happily chatting with Father Zhou without the slightest sign of an argument, Su Lang called Zhou Chen aside.
“I’ve discussed this with Auntie Lin. If the two of you insist on dating, that’s fine—but you have to agree to a few conditions.”
“Please tell me what they are.”
“First, Linlin is still young. You aren’t married yet, so you can’t do anything inappropriate.”
The tips of Yan Yuan’s ears turned red. “I understand.”
He wouldn’t even dare hope for more. Linlin was willing to kiss and hug him, and that alone was enough to satisfy him.
As for what would happen after they married… Yan Yuan’s entire face was already burning.
“Ahem.” Su Lang cleared his throat. “Second, you can’t interfere with Linlin’s studies.”
“All right. I can promise you that.” Yan Yuan knew how important her education was to Linlin. He still had to tutor her to win her favor; there was no way he would ever affect her studies.
Su Lang waved him off. “Go on, go on. I’m annoyed just looking at you now.”
Yet Yan Yuan only smiled.
Being given conditions was nothing. It meant he was being given a chance.
Yan Yuan had been beaten, and his injuries were particularly bad around his shoulder. It hurt even to lift his arm. Linlin felt so sorry for him that she nearly wanted to feed him every bite of food herself.
Yan Yuan couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face. He took his girlfriend’s hand. “I’m fine. It’s just a minor injury.”
Once they returned to the capital, she could do whatever she wanted to him. But under Uncle Su’s watchful eye, he had better keep a low profile for now.
Su Lang curled his lip and looked unhappily at Jiang Chengzhou. “What did they teach you in the military? Don’t you know any moves that look harmless on the outside but hurt on the inside?”
Jiang Chengzhou nearly spat out his food. “Uncle, you never taught me anything like that. Linlin, tell him.”
“Dad!” Linlin protested, hugging his arm.
Su Lang snorted and said to Jiang Chengzhou, “After dinner, I’ll go to the courtyard and give you a proper lesson.”
There was a clear threat in his voice. Jiang Chengzhou immediately complained, “Auntie, Uncle wants to hit me!”
Lin Zhilan lowered her head and continued eating. “I’m deaf. Don’t shout at me.”
During the first few days after the children came home, Lin Zhilan had been overjoyed.
Now the family was embroiled in “scheming and infighting” every day, and everyone insisted on dragging her into their disputes to pass judgment. It was giving her a headache.
Su Lang cast a smug look at Jiang Chengzhou. “I’m just saying, Yan Yuan knows how to date. At your age, you should be dating too, shouldn’t you? Hurry up and get married, then move out. Stop bothering me and your aunt.”
Yan Yuan had Linlin protecting him, but Jiang Chengzhou had no girlfriend to protect him.
He did, however, have his aunt as his trump card. “Auntie, look at him! He’s trying to drive me out again. He was like this when I was little, and he’s still like this now!”
The last remnants of Lin Zhilan’s maternal affection made her glare at Su Lang before saying to her eldest nephew, “Don’t listen to him. Your uncle’s going through menopause. His temper is terrible.”
“Menopause… Hahahaha!”
Su Li burst out laughing. When he felt his father’s gaze, his laughter immediately turned awkward. “Ha… ha… ha…”
Ugh. They were all bullying him!
Although their relationship had received the family’s approval, Linlin and Yan Yuan still didn’t dare act too intimate at home. In fact, they were even more restrained than before.
Su Lang and Lin Zhilan watched the two of them chase and evade each other every day, as if they were playing some kind of game, and could only laugh helplessly.
Still, winter vacation passed quickly. Once the New Year was over, they had to set off for the capital again.
