Linlin let out a little gasp and stared at him blankly. After hesitating for only a few seconds, she nodded. “All right.”
Yan Yuan smiled. “No, that won’t do. We can’t treat something this important so casually.”
Linlin tilted her head and teased him, “Then what should we do? Are you going to propose like Prince Kaisar?”
Prince Kaisar was a character in a movie that had premiered earlier that year, a love story set among the Uyghur people on the frontier.
Yan Yuan had watched it with Linlin, so naturally he knew the proposal scene.
Taking advantage of the moment, he dropped to one knee, took Linlin’s hand, and imitated the dialogue from the film. “I, Yan Yuan, have made up my mind. I will marry no one but Miss Linlin. I am willing to prepare a generous betrothal gift and welcome you into my home with the honors befitting a princess. For the rest of our lives, I will treat you well and protect you, and I will never let you suffer the slightest grievance.”
He looked so serious that it was impossible to tell he was joking. His eyes remained fixed on Linlin’s.
The morning light streamed in through the doorway, falling perfectly across him.
Linlin had been laughing, but she was suddenly stunned by his expression.
She looked down at him, her lips parting slightly as her heartbeat suddenly quickened.
“What are you two doing?”
Just as Linlin was about to speak, Jiang Chengzhou came out of the kitchen carrying breakfast.
Feeling shy in front of her brother, Linlin reached out and tugged at Yan Yuan. “Get up already. Lord Bayi is here!”
Yan Yuan rose with the motion, then dusted off his knees as if there were actually dust on them. A trace of amusement flashed in his eyes.
Jiang Chengzhou had only just come in from the mountains and had no idea what Lord Bayi meant. He looked completely bewildered. “What Lord Bayi? Me?”
Shen Man, who had followed him out of the kitchen, understood at once. She shot Yan Yuan a sideways glance. “Are you proposing?”
Yan Yuan gave a slight nod.
Jiang Chengzhou’s eyes widened. “My little sister just graduated! Why are you talking about marriage already?”
Linlin was about to protest, but he had already taken Shen Man’s hand. “If anyone’s getting married, it should be your brother first.”
Linlin: “…”
Yan Yuan: “…”
Shen Man: “Fine.”
Linlin immediately stood up for her. “Sister Manman, you have to put my brother through some tests. Don’t agree so easily.”
Shen Man curled her lips. “I’m reluctant too, but your brother’s getting old. Let’s indulge him.”
Shen Man and Jiang Chengzhou had spent years in a long-distance relationship, maintaining their feelings through letters.
Now that they had finally come together, Shen Man only wanted to do everything that made them happy. She didn’t want to waste a moment.
The air was thick with the cloying sweetness of romance, and Linlin broke out in goose bumps.
After breakfast, Linlin, Shen Man, and Yan Yuan all had to go to work. Jiang Chengzhou was assigned the task of going to the train station to pick up Su Li.
Jiang Chengzhou had learned to drive in the army. Yan Yuan left the car with him and took the bus to work instead.
Cars like this were unheard of on the island. The vehicles people saw most often were trucks and jeeps.
Once Su Li got into the car, he looked around from side to side.
Jiang Chengzhou found it amusing. “What’s with that look? Never seen a car before?”
He had completely forgotten that he himself had been just as curious a few days earlier.
Su Li leaned toward him. “Brother, how much did this car cost? Could you afford it?”
“Sixty-four thousand. With the purchase surcharge, it came to nearly eighty thousand.”
Su Li sucked in a sharp breath. “Forget it. I was thinking of buying one for Mom too, but I couldn’t afford it even if I sold myself.”
“Oh?” Jiang Chengzhou kept one hand on the steering wheel and glanced at Su Li. “Since when have you become so filial?”
“I’ve always been like this.”
Su Li said it with a perfectly straight face, shamelessly making things up.
Liang Ping had quit his job two years earlier and was now working under Yan Yuan.
Then there was Han Mei, who was now a teacher at a sports college as well as a coach for professional athletes.
Neither of them returned home very often, but they regularly sent money and gifts back to their families.
Everyone praised them for being successful and filial, but behind their backs, people would say, “What good is it for children to succeed if they can’t stay by their parents’ side?”
All three of Lin Zhilan’s children had promising futures. One had been assigned to another military district, while another was now working at a research institute in the capital.
Whenever people saw Su Li, they would tease him, “Are you going to fly away from home too when you grow up?”
Su Li knew they weren’t being entirely malicious. Their own children couldn’t compare, so they were simply trying to find some balance in that regard.
Every time someone asked him that, Su Li would answer openly, “Of course I’m going to fly away—and I’ll take my parents with me.”
Everyone would laugh.
Su Li would get angry and complain to his parents.
Lin Zhilan and Su Li assumed he had a complex about his name, so they sat him down and spoke to him seriously.
“Your father and I didn’t give you this name to tie you to our side. We have our own lives. As long as you’re doing well, it doesn’t matter whether you’re with us or not.”
Su Li said he understood, but he was still unhappy.
He could be childish sometimes. Since everyone seemed eager to make a laughingstock of his parents, he was determined to become the most filial child on the entire island and make everyone envy them.
Unfortunately, his brother had no idea what was going on in his adolescent mind. Su Li let out a long sigh.
Jiang Chengzhou thought to himself that children these days were truly impossible to understand.
By the time they got home, Yan Yuan had already returned from work early.
The moment Su Li got out of the car, he rushed over and hugged him. “Brother Yuan!”
Su Li used to be able to leap right onto Yan Yuan, but he was a young man now. The impact forced Yan Yuan to take two steps back. He patted Su Li on the shoulder. “You’ve grown taller again. Was the ride tiring?”
“Not at all. I’m just hungry.”
Jiang Chengzhou tossed the car keys to Yan Yuan, his tone faintly sour. “Lili, how come you weren’t this enthusiastic with me?”
Su Li curled his lip. “That’s because you haven’t written me a letter in two years!”
It wasn’t that Jiang Chengzhou never wrote home. He simply wrote only to Lin Zhilan, mentioning Su Lang and Su Li in passing.
At first, Su Li hadn’t thought much of it, since their father gave him something else to compare against. But later, when he learned that Linlin received a letter from her brother every month, he became furious at the blatant favoritism.
Yan Yuan was different. Whenever he called home, he always spoke with Su Li for a while.
And every New Year when he came home, he prepared a special gift just for Su Li.
Jiang Chengzhou rubbed his nose. “I was wrong, all right? I’ll write to you every day from now on. Happy?”
Su Li lifted his chin. “We’ll see how you do.”
Yan Yuan opened the door. “Come inside first. I brought back some food from a restaurant. Go upstairs and wash up, then come down and eat.”
“Which room is mine?”
Su Li noticed how familiar Yan Yuan seemed with the house, coming and going as though he lived there. His eyes rolled thoughtfully as he looked around.
Yan Yuan pointed upstairs. “The first room on the right. Your sister cleaned it up for you. Go take a look. If anything’s missing or you want to change something, I’ll take you out to buy it later.”
Su Li stopped. “Then where’s my sister’s room?”
“Across from yours.”
Su Li still didn’t move. “Then where’s Brother Yuan’s room?”
Yan Yuan finally realized what he was getting at. He rubbed his forehead and gave a helpless laugh. “Lili, I don’t live here.”
“Oh…”
His little scheme had failed. Su Li tossed over his shoulder, “Dad told me to ask,” then bounded up the stairs two steps at a time.
