Chapter 40

When the two of them reached the foot of the mountain, Yan Bozong received a phone call. The phone rang suddenly, and Qi Liangqin turned his head to look, hearing Yan Bozong say, "Just reached the foot of the mountain... we're here... what's up..."

After hanging up, Yan Bozong asked, "Are you hungry?"

Qi Liangqin paused for a moment. It was already getting dark, and he was indeed a bit hungry. The food at the temple was all vegetarian, and the strong scent of sandalwood made it hard to enjoy. He hadn't had much lunch.

"There's a little stall, let's eat something before we head back."

Qi Liangqin was pleasantly surprised. He had completely forgotten his earlier vow to act distant and aloof. He didn't want to miss this opportunity. Who knew when Yan Bozong would invite him again?

It was a barbecue stall. Eating grilled skewers while drinking beer on a summer evening was an absolute delight. The sky had just turned dark, and there were still not many customers. They found a spot at the far side to sit. Qi Liangqin quickly realized how big a mistake he had made.

He had nothing to say to Yan Bozong.

He wanted to act cool and maintain his image, so he remained reserved. But Yan Bozong also didn't seem comfortable being alone with him. His eyes carried a hint of wariness.

It seemed that his impression of him still hadn't shaken off the image of Pan Jinlian.

Then he noticed that Yan Bozong would occasionally take out his phone and type a few words, as if sending a message to someone. The replies came quickly, and the phone would ping. Qi Liangqin felt something must be going on, and Yan Bozong didn't want him to know.

He thought Yan Bozong was just stalling.

"This beer's a bit bitter," Qi Liangqin said.

"The beer sold on this mountain is all monopolized by this stall. Qingdao beer tastes better. This one is locally produced." Yan Bozong put his phone in his pocket, seemingly relieved, and sighed. "Let's go back. Are you full?"

"I'm full," Qi Liangqin said, standing up. Yan Bozong went to pay, and he waited for him by the side. After the payment, they started walking toward the hotel. Just a few steps in, the streetlights suddenly lit up.

"Oh," Qi Liangqin let out a soft exclamation, watching as the whole world seemed to brighten all of a sudden.

Walking behind, his attention was suddenly drawn to the shadow of Yan Bozong that fell on the ground.

The shadow was longer and thinner than Yan Bozong himself, looking almost fragile.

He remembered watching a TV show or something once, where it was said that a person's soul would attach to their shadow. If someone stepped on their shadow, it would stay with them for life and never leave.

On the summer street, the trees were lush and green, bathed in the dim yellow light, filled with the warm, summery air. The road was quiet, with hardly anyone around.

Qi Liangqin secretly quickened his pace, stepping on Yan Bozong's shadow.

After stepping on it and realizing that Yan Bozong hadn't noticed, he stepped on it again a few more times, then decided to step on his shadow with every step. If stepping on a shadow meant being together for a lifetime, then Yan Bozong would probably be with him for all eternity now.

When they arrived at the hotel, Yan Bozong didn't go straight to his room. Instead, he stood by the door of Qi Liangqin and Yan Songwei's room.

He knocked on the door, and Yan Songwei came to open it, smiling at them.

"Where's Mom?" Yan Bozong asked.

"She probably went back to her room. You just got back?"

"Come out for a minute, I need to talk to you."

Yan Songwei glanced at Qi Liangqin, then followed Yan Bozong out of the room. Qi Liangqin closed the door, changed his shoes, and slipped on the disposable slippers to head inside. He noticed the window was open, and the night breeze was flowing in. However, in this season, with the house in the mountains, bugs could fly in if the windows were open. He quickly closed the window and went to take a shower.

When he finished his shower and came out, he found that Yan Songwei still hadn't returned. He wrapped himself in a bathrobe, sat down at the edge of the bed, and grabbed his bag, pulling out a new set of clothes.

Fortunately, he had prepared enough and brought an extra set of clothes. As he was dressing, he noticed a strange scent—slightly sweet and fishy.

As a man, he was quite familiar with this smell. He glanced at the bed and then looked around. His sharp eyes spotted two used condoms in the trash can, sticky inside.

He immediately understood.

It seemed that while they were up the mountain, Yan Songwei had a quick fling. But who was the other person? Was it Tan Qingqing, or perhaps a one-night stand?

He wasn't upset, but he wondered what Madam Yan and the others would think. It seemed that when Yan Songwei was fooling around, Madam Yan and Yan Yuan had caught him, which was probably why Yan Bozong had received that phone call and then invited him for a meal. Clearly, he was stalling, waiting for everything to be sorted before allowing them to return.

When Yan Songwei came back, his face was indeed a little awkward. Qi Liangqin sat cross-legged on the bed, sighed a couple of times, and stared at Yan Songwei.

Yan Songwei smiled. "You figured it out? My older brother even told me to keep it from you."

"Who was it?" Qi Liangqin asked. "Did Qingqing come?"

Yan Songwei smiled, a little embarrassed, and lay down on the bed, letting out a sigh. "Afterward, I just fell asleep. Didn't realize I lost track of time. You wouldn't believe how scared I was when Mom knocked on the door."

"Where's Qingqing?"

"She was kicked out. You have no idea how fierce Mom can be."

Madam Yan had always been a bit fierce, and now with this situation, she was so angry that she couldn't even eat dinner.

"Mom, don't be mad. Didn't you already kick that woman out?" Yan Yuan tried to comfort her.

"I was up on the mountain making wishes to the Queen Mother, hoping that those two could live a happy life together. But when I came down, I ran into this! If the Queen Mother doesn't blame me, I'm embarrassed enough myself!"

There was a knock on the door from outside. Yan Yuan quickly got up to open it. Yan Bozong walked in, and as soon as Madam Yan saw him, she angrily asked, "Has Qi Liangqin returned? He doesn't know about this, right?"

Yan Bozong shook his head. "I told Yan Songwei, and no one has told him."

Madam Yan was so angry she was about to cry. She repeated what she had just said to her eldest son, "I just made a wish at the temple, hoping that those two would live happily together. But as soon as I came down the mountain, I was slapped in the face!"

"What exactly happened? I just asked Yan Songwei. He looked a bit embarrassed, and he said a few scattered things. I didn't bother to ask further, just scolded him a little."

"When I came back with Mom, she was worried about Yan Songwei being injured and lying down, so she wanted to check on him. But after knocking on the door for a long time with no answer, she got even more worried that something had happened. She told me to call him, but no one answered the phone. The door was open, though. When we went inside, we saw the room was a mess, and there was a smell. Mom should have just ignored it, but she went searching the whole room. In the end, she found a woman in the bathroom, the dancer, what was her name again? Tan Qingqing."

Madam Yan angrily said, "This kind of temptress, I'll hit her every time I see her! She's married, and yet she shamelessly gets close to a married man! What does she think she's doing?!"

Yan Bozong found the scene amusing as he thought about it. When Madam Yan got angry, no one could stop her. He wasn't sure how Tan Qingqing had been kicked out.

"My mom has always hated women who ruin marriages..." Meanwhile, in the room, Yan Songwei scratched his head and explained the situation to Qi Liangqin. "I think it's over between Qingqing and me. My mom is completely disgusted with her. There's probably no chance of saving it."

Qi Liangqin felt a little uneasy when he heard this and asked, "Why is your mom reacting so strongly?"

"My dad was a bit unfaithful when he was younger, and it really upset my mom. That's also why she dislikes Qingqing. She hates anything that seems like a temptress."

A temptress... does that mean I'm a temptress? Qi Liangqin felt a pang of guilt and lowered his head.

"What's wrong? Are you upset?" Yan Songwei asked.

"Huh? No." Qi Liangqin looked up and said, "What are we going to do now? I was planning on divorcing you after a while."

Yan Songwei looked surprised. "Divorce? You were thinking about divorce?"

"Wasn't that the plan all along?" Qi Liangqin said. "I can wait, but Qingqing can't, she keeps pushing me."

"It was always a long-term task. Now that this has happened, I think there's no need for us to divorce."

"If your mom has completely closed the door on Qingqing, I feel like we could divorce at any time. It wouldn't matter now, since there's no use in me staying married to you. It'd be better for you to regain your freedom sooner and find someone better. But I'm not rushing you to divorce, I'm just saying that if you want to, you can do it anytime."

"Do you really want to leave our family?"

Qi Liangqin smiled and joked, "Of course not. But I do know that eventually, I'll have to leave your family. I'm fine with it, I'll leave everything up to you."

"Let's just stay for now. I can't cut off Qingqing just like that. Sigh, I really don't know what I was thinking when I came up with such a stupid idea."

"Don't you want to go comfort her? Has she left the mountain already?"

"She left crying and took a cab, I didn't stop her."

Probably didn't dare to stop her. Yan Songwei still feared Madam Yan a lot. When she was furious, her face turned red and her neck thick with anger, so how could he dare to defy her?

"You don't look down on a guy like me, do you?" Yan Songwei asked. "Think I'm a coward?"

Qi Liangqin smiled, jokingly raised his hand, and made a gesture with his fingers, "Just a tiny bit."

"I just don't want to make my mom angry or upset," Yan Songwei said. "There are plenty of women, but only one mom."

Is this what makes him a jerk? Qi Liangqin thought. But no matter how much of a jerk Yan Songwei was, there would always be women coming after him. It's all a matter of mutual desire—one is willing to give, and the other is willing to take.

"Can we still sleep on this bed?" Qi Liangqin glanced at the blanket. "It just feels a bit off."

Yan Songwei got up. "I'll call the front desk and have them change the room."

Yan Songwei, as a man, was certainly not as good as Yan Bozong. He wasn't as handsome, tall, or as responsible as Yan Bozong. He was just someone with a smooth tongue and a good family background. He was the typical rich second generation with a good nature but a lot of little flaws. He treated Qi Liangqin the same way, initially giving him a sense of superiority, like ordering him to sleep on the floor or kissing Tan Qingqing in front of him without caring about his feelings. But sometimes, he did have thoughtful moments—like when he noticed Qi Liangqin was asleep in the car, he turned down the music. He was also slowly learning to treat him like family.

That's how people are, with good sides and bad sides. No one is perfect. In the eyes of women, he might be a jerk, but in the eyes of the Yan family, wasn't he also a good son?

For example, Yan Yuan knew how to speak up for him.

"Yan Songwei is actually not bad, just a little bit of a flirt. Look, when you got mad, didn't he immediately make that woman leave?"

"Did he really make her leave? I think he didn't want her to go."

"He was just embarrassed. You got so angry, and said such harsh things. How could he still have the face to be in front of that woman? Luckily, it's over now, and Yan Songwei promised it won't happen again. If you keep getting upset, and if Qi Liangqin notices something, what if they start fighting and the family becomes unsettled again?"

Madam Yan stayed silent for a moment, her face cold, before speaking, "At first, I really didn't like Qi Liangqin, he just rubbed me the wrong way. But, if you set aside his gender, compared to the women your second brother was with in the past, his character is actually the most honest and straightforward. As time passed, I really started to like him more and more. Your second brother, well..."

Madam Yan sighed, not finishing her thought. After a brief silence, she said, "When we're young, we don't understand things, but eventually, we'll learn. This emotional debt will have to be paid off sooner or later."

She looked up at Yan Bozong and Yan Yuan. "You should go rest, both of you must be tired. Have you had dinner?"

"We ate with Qi Liangqin, not too hungry. You go ahead, I'll go back to my room."

Yan Bozong walked out of the room, but Yan Yuan followed him and asked in a low voice in the corridor, "Should we go check on second brother and the others?"

"Your second brother is good at soothing people. You don't need to worry about that. Go back and keep Mom company, she's probably upset and couldn't eat. You should order some fruit platters for her."

Yan Bozong was right. Madam Yan was so angry that she didn't eat dinner, only had some fruit porridge before washing up and going to bed. The next morning, when they left for the city, she didn't speak a word to Yan Songwei.

After this incident, Yan Bozong started paying more attention to his younger brother. People say that being observant can be troublesome, and he began noticing things he had never paid attention to before.

He found that Yan Songwei hadn't really cut off contact with that woman. He would sneakily look at his phone to send messages or go to a more distant place to make phone calls when the family was eating or watching TV. And Qi Liangqin, on the other hand, seemed completely unaware of it.

Everyone in the family knew Yan Songwei couldn't settle down, except for Qi Liangqin, his partner. The one kept in the dark in such situations was the most pitiful.

The man everyone hated also had his pitiable side. Qi Liangqin was unreliable, but was Yan Songwei any more reliable? It was like they were the same kind of person—birds of a feather.

When it came down to it, they were just as bad, really ridiculous.

Yan Bozong didn't understand these two husbands. To him, marriage, although not necessarily related to love, was sacred and required responsibility—it was the bottom line for a man. His own marriage with Shen He had been calm. In fact, when Shen He married him, she hid the fact that she had heart disease. He only found out later but didn't blame her much. He even helped her keep it a secret from Madam Yan. Over time, their relationship grew distant, but neither of them spoke of divorce. He never pushed Shen He to ask for a divorce, nor did he intentionally treat her coldly to force her to speak up. On the contrary, he had always tried his best to maintain and save their marriage. He was a rational person, mature from a young age. He understood that love wasn't a prerequisite for marriage, but even in a marriage without love, there should still be a sense of responsibility. He never thought affairs were exciting; in fact, he despised them. He believed that a person's character was far more important than their appearance or body.

This ridiculous couple, both unfaithful and yet related, made family matters hard to untangle. He decided to not get involved.

However, this sense of balance gradually shifted over time.

Because Yan Songwei's "unfaithfulness" continued. Once, he even saw Yan Songwei on the street, holding Tan Qingqing, speaking to her affectionately. He ordered the driver to stop the car, initially wanting to call Yan Songwei over to scold him and tell him to behave, but he still held back.

His own brother, who had grown up with him, was someone he had known since childhood. If he really paid attention, he knew that the saying "old habits die hard" was true. It would be hard to change Yan Songwei into a responsible and decent man.

But Qi Liangqin was changing.

This man, who had once seemed like a venomous snake ready to strike and kill him, suddenly seemed to have transformed. He radiated a fresh, warm energy, like the green buds sprouting in spring, shedding his former garishness and turning into the soft, pale yellow of willow tips.

Qi Liangqin filled his days to the brim. He wasn't just studying or reading, but also learning painting. On weekends, he followed Yan Yuan to study pottery, flower arrangement, and yoga. He woke up early every day, even earlier than Yan Songwei. By the time he left the house, Qi Liangqin was already back from his morning run.

They didn't meet often. Recently, Yan Songwei had intentionally reduced the number of times he came home for meals. He often left in the morning and returned late at night, sometimes staying at an outside apartment when work got busy. The most frequent times they met were in the mornings. Yan Songwei would leave for his run, and on the way, he would see Qi Liangqin coming back, sweating and panting, greeting him while wiping his forehead.

"Good morning, big brother." Qi Liangqin would politely nod, half-bowing, and the two would pass by each other.

Sometimes, Yan Songwei would turn around and look at Qi Liangqin's fading figure. But Qi Liangqin would never turn back to look at him.

It seemed like Qi Liangqin had truly changed for the better.

But his brother, Yan Songwei, remained the same. Gradually, after getting used to this gentle yet distant version of Qi Liangqin, it seemed like he had forgotten how recklessly and shamelessly he had once flirted with him.

When someone makes a mistake and then truly repents, even though the mistake remains a stain in their history, should they be forgiven and given a chance to start over? As an observer, can one set aside past contempt and look at the person with fresh eyes?

Yan Bozong appeared cold and indifferent, but his heart was warm. In this society full of resentment, he was obviously more tolerant and composed than most people. Qi Liangqin vaguely realized this.

Now, opportunities to interact with Yan Bozong had become rare, and he wasn't indifferent to it.

Missing, according to Baidu Baike, means "longing." It often refers to the feelings or attachments one feels after being separated from a lover, family, or friend for some time.

He and Yan Bozong were not truly separated, and they didn't meet that infrequently, but he still felt that tangled, unclear emotion, constantly thinking about Yan Bozong. But he had to hold himself back; he needed to maintain the aloof, ethereal image of the "cool, distant" woman, the kind of persona that would make Yan Bozong forget his past shamelessness.

But still, he wanted to see him every day. He was thinking of ways to meet Yan Bozong more often without being noticed, without revealing that he still harbored desires. One day, Yan Songwei said to him: "Big brother is truly unshakable. It's a little rainy outside today, but he still went for his morning run."

What was said without intention, was heard with meaning. From then on, Qi Liangqin started the habit of running every morning. Fearing that if he left at the same time as Yan Bozong, it would raise suspicion, he always left half an hour earlier.

Sometimes it was already light outside, sometimes the weather was bad, and it was still dark, with streetlights still on. He ran through this wealthy neighborhood, surrounded by lush greenery, with the fragrance of flowers in the morning air. Every house had its own garden, and they were spaced far apart from each other. This was a life he had never seen before, a different kind of lifestyle, and he was slowly becoming a different version of himself. This sometimes excited him. Running was no longer just his way of seeing Yan Bozong, it became something that made him feel alive, as if life was rushing by and only running could keep him in pace with it.

By the time he turned to head back, he would always meet Yan Bozong halfway. Sometimes earlier, sometimes later. He would greet him as he ran, calling out "Good morning, big brother."

Yan Bozong would just nod, without saying anything. Qi Liangqin always wanted to turn back and look, but he held back. In those moments, it wasn't desire or excitement that filled his heart, but sadness and melancholy, feeling that this unspoken affection was bitter, and the future was uncertain.

Today was another beautiful day, the sun had just risen, and a rainstorm had passed yesterday, so it wasn't too hot. He was running back along the small path, almost at his doorstep, but still no sign of Yan Bozong.

It seemed like he wouldn't meet him today. He thought with a little disappointment, wiping the sweat from his brow. Just as he was about to stop and rest, he saw Yan Bozong running out of the gate, heading his way.

Qi Liangqin immediately perked up and ran toward him, then greeted him: "Good morning, big brother."

Their gazes met, and this time, Yan Bozong didn't remain silent. The corners of his mouth curved into a small smile, and he said, "Good morning."

Qi Liangqin was stunned for a moment. The two had already passed each other. He quickly turned around to look back, then swiftly turned his head again, looking up at the morning sky. Half of the sky was painted red with the early morning glow, as if the wind itself was filled with radiant colors. His steps became much lighter, and he couldn't help but skip a few times.