Chapter 22 Severing Ties

Jiaojiao was already fast asleep in her mother's arms. When Jiaojiao's mother called, Su Mu looked at the two men at the table who were obviously drunk.

"Sister-in-law, you take Jiaojiao home first, be careful on the way. I'll take them both home after this place is cleared up."

Jiaojiao's mother hesitated for a moment, then gave Su Mu a few more instructions, saying that she was sorry to trouble him, as Jiaojiao had to go to school the next day, so she left first.

Only two drunkards remained in the private room, empty bottles lying scattered about.

Meng Lingxuan and Jiang Ran sat on either side of Su Mu, continuing their illogical conversation across him.

Su Mu initially tried to listen, quietly moving the wine bottle a little further away. But he soon realized that he could no longer keep up with their leaps of thought and increasingly whimsical topics.

Meng Lingxuan was a little confused by Jiang Ran's suggestion that he be the groom. After thinking about it seriously for a few seconds, he suddenly realized and announced in a very generous tone, "Groom? Oh... okay, you're the groom."

"But! Don't you dare steal my best man! He's mine!"

Jiang Ran seemed very satisfied when she heard that the "best man" had been confirmed. She nodded repeatedly and a silly smile appeared on her face.

"Brother Meng, don't worry, you'll definitely be the best man! Nobody can take you away!" He leaned forward, past Su Mu, trying to put his arm around Meng Lingxuan's shoulder, but the distance wasn't enough, so he compensated by putting his arm around Su Mu, his face pressed against Su Mu's. "We're planning to have our wedding on an island! Mu Mu really loves the sea. You, with your wife and Jiao Jiao, absolutely! You absolutely have to come!"

Su Mu: "…………"

He sat silently between two drunken men, listening to Jiang Ran earnestly planning their island wedding, from the location selection and decorations to the guest list, speaking as if it were the real thing.

An island? What island? Did he agree to any plans regarding islands?

However... the sea.

He truly loved the sea. That love carried the distant, almost yearning imagination unique to children from the southern inland regions.

Phoenix Village is surrounded by mountains on all sides. Looking up, you see dark green peaks, and looking down, you see winding field ridges and streams.

In Su Mu's childhood, the sea existed only on the flickering screen of an old television, and in the occasional glimpse of brightly colored tourist brochures. It was an endless blue expanse with waves rolling with white foam.

I went to study in Jiangzhou, a bustling city built along the river, vast and mighty, yet also part of the river itself. I once went to the riverbank with my roommates; there was a park that had been developed into a scenic area, planted with some half-dead trees and paved with neat but monotonous stone paths.

Skinny Monkey and Fatty Knife got bored after walking for less than half an hour, saying that this lousy park was not as interesting as the internet cafe on the back street of the school, and they clamored to go back and play games together.

Only Jiang Ran remained, and asked Su Mu, "Do you still want to leave?"

Su Mu remembers nodding at the time.

So they really did walk slowly along that unremarkable park path. From dusk until it was completely dark, the streetlights lit up one by one, casting fragmented and swaying light and shadow on the river.

The trail was long, and it took about two hours to walk back and forth. Jiang Ran would occasionally point out a particular boat shape in the distance or remind him to watch out for the uneven stone slabs under his feet.

Looking back now, Jiang Ran was indeed very good to him.

After all, who would bother to spend two hours walking with another person in a boring park where there are hardly any ghosts?

It wasn't the kind of deliberate flattery, nor was it a grand gesture; it was just some small, even seemingly inexplicable, acts of companionship.

Many details, like bubbles slowly rising from deep water, surfaced one after another. He used to deliberately ignore them, or explain them away as this young master's temper or a whim, but now everything could be explained by Jiang Ran's affection for him.

While Su Mu was reminiscing about the past, the two drunkards were still discussing the best man.

The title of best man clearly pleased Meng Lingxuan greatly. He puffed out his chest and tried to appear serious and reliable: "Of course! Who else but me can be the best man? Let me tell you, I'm the King of Wine in Phoenix Village. I'll definitely help you fend off the drinks! I'll make sure everyone who tries to get you drunk is passed out!"

Jiang Ran said indignantly, "I originally wanted to reserve the best man position for my two college roommates... but who knew those two would be such stumbling blocks on my path to love! They're more trouble than they're worth!"

He waved his hand, as if shooing away something annoying: "So, those two have been completely removed from the groomsmen list!"

Meng Lingxuan was stunned, clearly shocked by this "best man appointment and dismissal system," and blinked blankly: "Huh? It can be...like this?"

"That's right! If it weren't for those two meddling in my life, my happiness... would have been long gone..."

Just then, Su Mu, who had been quietly listening, suddenly felt a jolt in his eyelids. Almost out of an instinctive sense of crisis, he covered Jiang Ran's mouth a second before she was about to reveal more of her dark history or shocking words.

Jiang Ran's remaining words were stuck in her throat, turning into a muffled groan.

Su Mu: "It's getting late, we should go home."

Jiang Ran blinked, his mouth covered, seemingly wanting to protest, but Su Mu held it tightly, his eyes clearly warning him. In the end, he just grunted and obediently stopped struggling, looking innocently at Su Mu with his eyes, which were unusually moist due to alcohol.

Meng Lingxuan mumbled a reply: "Oh... well, okay then, Xiao Jiang, let's go... let's go."

The three of them stepped out of the private restaurant, and a night breeze blew, carrying the chill of late autumn.

Meng Lingxuan was practically hanging off Jiang Ran, mumbling things like "best man" and "block drinks." Jiang Ran was slightly better off; at least she could walk in a straight line on her own.

After finally getting him to the car, Su Mu opened the back door and shoved the heavy Meng Lingxuan inside. As soon as Meng Lingxuan touched the seat, he slumped down like a lump of mud, taking up almost the entire back seat. His legs were curled up, and his head was pressed against the door; he was already unconscious.

Now, there's absolutely no room left in the back seat.

Su Mu opened the passenger door and said to Jiang Ran, "Get in the car."

Jiang Ran obediently climbed up, her movements somewhat slow. Su Mu went around to the other side and got into the driver's seat as well. He leaned over, pulled the passenger seatbelt, and the metal buckle made a crisp "click" in the quiet car, securing Jiang Ran to the seat.

Jiang Ran cooperated well, even slightly raising her arm to make it easier for him to move, but her eyes never left Su Mu's face, her gaze fixed on him like that of some large, docile, and clingy canine.

The streetlights in the town were sparse, casting a dim, yellowish glow.

Meng Lingxuan was fast asleep in the back seat, snoring evenly. Su Mu knew that Meng Lingxuan had a peculiar habit: when he drank too much, he would black out and have almost no memory of what happened that night when he woke up the next day. So he didn't take what happened at the table to heart at all; he just listened to the drunkard's ramblings and ignored them.

The troublesome one is the person next to him.

Jiang Ran seemed to have entered another drunken state, a talkative mode.

He was usually a man of few words, especially around people he didn't know well, and always seemed a bit aloof. But at this moment, the alcohol seemed to have opened a floodgate in his brain, and words he would never normally utter came out like a bursting dam.

"Mumu..." He turned his head to look at Su Mu's profile as she focused on driving, his voice muffled and nasal, "I like you."

"Mumu, please don't leave me..."

"Mumu, I miss you so much..."

Su Mu felt his ears getting hot. He had never seen Jiang Ran drink like this before.

There were gatherings during college, but back then Jiang Ran was a well-known aloof beauty in the college. She came from a good family, was exceptionally beautiful, and had a cool and aloof demeanor, exuding an aura that kept strangers at bay. Who would dare to be so tactless as to urge her to drink? She would usually sit in a corner, watching others make a fuss with a detached expression.

No one could have imagined that this charismatic male god would turn into this when he got drunk.

Su Mu glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Jiang Ran was leaning back in her seat, her bangs slightly disheveled, her cheeks flushed from the alcohol, and she was still softly murmuring his name and some incoherent confessions. When she looked over, her gaze was focused and pure, filled with complete trust and undisguised affection.

That's really... unfair.

She's even more endearing than that whimpering little puppy in the cardboard box at home.

The car slowly came to a stop in front of a rather long red light.

Jiang Ran leaned closer, her frankness and arrogance tinged with drunkenness: "Mu Mu, give me a kiss."

Su Mu instinctively wanted to refuse, to say "Stop messing around," but when he turned his head, he met Jiang Ran's eyes, which were shining brightly with anticipation, and her slightly upturned face.

He hesitated for a moment, but finally leaned forward slightly and quickly, like a dragonfly skimming the water, touched Jiang Ran's lips.

Instantly separate.

However, Jiang Ran was not satisfied. The moment Su Mu stepped back, he seemed to be activated by some instinct, and suddenly chased after her. Not once, but twice. First, he pressed his lips heavily against Su Mu's lips, and then, as if feeling that was not enough, he turned his head and gave Su Mu's lips a delicate, lingering kiss on the corner of her lips.

The warm, moist touch, mixed with the smell of alcohol and Jiang Ran's refreshing yet domineering aura, instantly overwhelmed all of Su Mu's senses.

His mind went blank, and his ears burned.

Just then, the red light turned green. Su Mu almost scrambled back, gripped the steering wheel tightly again, and prepared to step on the gas.

Just as he was catching his breath, he glanced at the rearview mirror inside the car.

The scene in the back seat was clearly reflected in the mirror.

Meng Lingxuan, who should have been fast asleep, had somehow opened his eyes. He sat up, slumped in the back seat, and stared wide-eyed at the row in front of him without blinking.

To be precise, he was staring at the spot where he and Jiang Ran had just separated.

His eyes were filled with the bewilderment of sobering up, and a hint of disbelief and shock at the sight before him.

Su Mu: "…………"

Damn it. He forgot that Meng Lingxuan sobers up... pretty quickly too.

However, by the time Meng Lingxuan returned to Phoenix Village, he had almost sobered up.

When they were almost at Meng Lingxuan's house, Meng Lingxuan said, "Stop here, I'm going downstairs for a smoke."

The car finally stopped at the entrance of the alleyway where Meng Lingxuan lived. They drove in silence until Su Mu turned off the engine.

Meng Lingxuan didn't wait for his help and got down on his own. His steps were a little unsteady, but still relatively steady. Without even looking at Su Mu, he walked to the roadside, turned his back to Su Mu, and squatted down.

The streetlights in the alley had low wattage and dim, yellowish light, barely illuminating a small patch of potholed cement road, but making Meng Lingxuan's shadow, who was squatting there, appear long and lonely.

Su Mu closed the car door and stood there, hesitant to go over, still worried. But Meng Lingxuan lit a cigarette, the flame flickering between his fingers. In his current condition, it was best for him to avoid secondhand smoke.

He took a few steps forward and stopped two or three steps away from Meng Lingxuan: "Xuanzi, um... are you alright?"

Meng Lingxuan is a complete straight man, Su Mu knows this all too well, having grown up together. This guy matured early when it came to matters of the heart, but his mind is as straight as a telephone pole, even more rigid and inflexible than a telephone pole.

Meng Lingxuan didn't turn around, but took a deep drag on his cigarette, flicked the ash onto the ground, and said in a muffled voice from the front, "How long have you been here?"

Su Mu answered in a low voice, "...It's been quite a while."

Meng Lingxuan: "Do your parents know?"

Su Mu hummed in agreement.

Meng Lingxuan stubbed out his cigarette on the ground, crushed it, and then stood up abruptly, turning around. The dim light of the streetlamp shone on his face, clearly showing that his eyes were a little red. He looked at Su Mu, his eyes filled with hurt, grievance, and a surge of anger at being betrayed.

“So,” he began, “I’m the only one who didn’t know?”

“I was wondering why Uncle Su and Aunt Su treated him so well, like their own son. I thought it was because your friend, the young master, was particularly good at handling things and had made your parents happy… Su Mu,” he called Su Mu by his full name, “you don’t treat me like a brother at all. You didn’t even tell me about something so important.”

Su Mu hurriedly explained, "No, I was just afraid you wouldn't be able to accept it."

"What's there to be upset about!" Meng Lingxuan suddenly raised her voice. "You didn't commit murder, did you? You found a man, not a murderer! You..."

He seemed to want to swear, but he forced himself to hold it back.

He suddenly raised his hand and rubbed his eyes hard with the back of his hand. Then, as if he had exhausted all his strength, or as if he had nowhere to vent his anger, he angrily and heavily squatted back down, his back to Su Mu.

“As soon as you came back, I knew you must have suffered some injustice outside. You wouldn’t have come back if you hadn’t been unable to bear it. You’ve always been a strong-willed and stubborn person, ever since you were little. Back then, when someone tore up your textbooks, you would keep quiet and secretly glue them back together. Later, I found out, found the person, and gave him a good beating. I even knocked out his front teeth.”

"When we were kids, everyone said I was a bad student, a troublemaker, and couldn't even get into high school. You were a good student, and you... you were the only one who was close to me and didn't look down on me. Back then, I thought, even if we both get married, have kids, and have our own families in the future, we have to stay this close and not drift apart..."

When Su Mu was a child, he was fair-skinned, with the kind of skin that comes from the humid climate of the south, with a milky luster. He also had delicate features. He sat there quietly, like a doll that had stepped out of a New Year's painting.

Su's mother was skillful and loved cleanliness, so she always dressed him neatly with his cuffs rolled up.

Meng Lingxuan was the complete opposite. His parents were busy making a living and basically let him grow up freely. His clothes were often hand-me-downs from his older brother and didn't fit him. He was like an energetic and untamed little beast, running wild on the hillsides, field ridges, and riverbanks all day long, climbing trees to raid bird nests, and wading into the river to catch fish and shrimp. He would get himself covered in dirt, his face often covered in black ash from who-knows-where, and when he smiled, he would reveal a set of uneven teeth from eating too much sugar. He was a notorious troublemaker.

There's only one primary school above their village, and basically all the children from the surrounding villages attend there. At dismissal time, to prevent the children from running around and getting into trouble, the teachers require everyone to line up, hold hands, and walk out of the school gate until they reach the big banyan tree at the village entrance before they can disperse.

Back then, Meng Lingxuan was often the most outstanding one in the team, with the dirtiest clothes, the blackest hands, and mud stuffed under his fingernails.

The teacher frowned as she looked at his small, dark hands and asked, "Who wants to hold Meng Lingxuan's hand and go outside?"

The classroom was quiet for a few seconds. The children looked at each other, some secretly hiding their hands behind their backs, some saying no, only Su Mu said that he would go out with Meng Lingxuan.

Su Mu grasped Meng Lingxuan's hand, which was covered in mud and grass juice and was still a little wet.

Two hands, one black and one white, one dirty and one clean, were clasped tightly together.

Meng Lingxuan was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Su Mu. From then on, they would go out hand in hand every day after school.

Su Mu said to Meng Lingxuan, "If you wash your hands before you leave school next time, someone will hold your hand."

Meng Lingxuan said, "They don't care about me, and I don't care about them either. Don't worry, I'll wash my hands before holding your hand in the future."

Gradually, they started going to school and leaving school together. Meng Lingxuan would take a detour to Su Mu's house to wait for him, and Su Mu would sometimes secretly bring two pieces of candy from home and share one with him.

The primary school teacher was a middle-aged woman who wore glasses. She had a simple hope for the children in the small town to succeed, but also some prejudice. She called Su Mu to her office more than once and earnestly advised him: "Su Mu, you are a good child and your grades are good. Don't always play with Meng Lingxuan. You won't learn anything good from him, and he will only lead you astray."

Su Mu stood in front of the desk, looked into the teacher's eyes, and said very seriously, "Teacher, Meng Lingxuan is also a good student."

The teacher paused for a moment, then adjusted his glasses.

Su Mu continued, "Last time he represented our class at the town's sports meet and won a certificate in the long jump competition. I couldn't even get that certificate."

The teacher opened her mouth, looking at this usually well-behaved student, and for a moment didn't know what to say. Later, she indeed never again mentioned to Su Mu that the two shouldn't play together.

Meng Lingxuan was truly a free spirit, with the recklessness and disregard for consequences typical of country kids. His family didn't care much about his education, thinking that knowing a few words and being able to do basic arithmetic was enough. As a result, Meng Lingxuan matured early; before even graduating from junior high school, he started secretly dating like the other teenagers in town.

Back then, we even treated our classmates to wedding candy—Alpenliebe candy, which was very sweet.

His first girlfriend was from the neighboring village, and she had two braids. He brought her to Su Mu and introduced her proudly, while the girl shyly lowered her head. Su Mu looked at the two of them without saying anything, but went to the convenience store and used his saved pocket money to treat them to taro-flavored milk tea, which was very popular at the time.

Time slipped away slowly yet swiftly amidst the daily routine of going to and from school, laughing and playing, and Meng Lingxuan changing girlfriends one after another.

They grew up. Meng Lingxuan's family spent a lot of money on school selection fees to get him into the same junior high school as Su Mu. He could barely keep up with the junior high courses, but high school was like a foreign language to Meng Lingxuan.

Then Meng Lingxuan stopped studying and went to learn a trade from his elders.

The high school is in the county town, quite a distance from Phoenix Village, so students need to live on campus. With school about to start, Meng Lingxuan patted Su Mu on the shoulder, his expression unusually serious, even carrying a hint of older brotherly advice: "Xiao Mu, study hard. If anyone bullies you or does anything to upset you, remember to tell me. Don't keep it to yourself, okay?"

Su Mu looked at him and nodded.

After that, they saw each other less often.

Su Mu buried himself in books and exercises, striving for a vague but firm future; Meng Lingxuan, on the other hand, left school completely after graduating from junior high school and began to move around in towns and counties, learning to repair cars, then learning to be a chef, and later, he got married, had children, and started a new career, living a busy but ordinary life.

University and work are like two invisible threads, pulling Su Mu further and further away, from Jiangzhou to the even more distant City B. He returns to Fenghuang Village only a handful of times a year—Spring Festival, perhaps with the addition of Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day.

He and Meng Lingxuan gradually became familiar names in his contacts, occasional likes on social media, and an indispensable meal during the Spring Festival every year, filled with the warmth of home cooking and the warm greetings of a long-awaited reunion.

They've known each other for over twenty years. How many twenty-year periods does one have in a lifetime? The mud of childhood, the running of adolescence, the restlessness of youth, the hustle and bustle of adulthood…

"Xuanzi..." he called out.

Meng Lingxuan suddenly stood up: "Alright, stop talking. You never treated me like a brother at all."

After saying that, he rushed home.

When Su Mu returned home, the lights in his parents' room were already off, and the living room was quiet except for the soft purring of the puppy in the cardboard box in the corner. He took Jiang Ran back to their room.

Jiang Ran turned on the light. The light stung her eyes, and she opened them to see that Su Mu's eyes were terribly red and filled with tears.

Jiang Ran's lingering drunkenness and sleepiness vanished instantly. He practically scrambled out of bed, reaching out to gently touch Su Mu's damp cheek: "...What's wrong? What happened? Is something wrong, kid?"

Otherwise, why would Su Mu be so heartbroken?

Su Mu rubbed the affected area haphazardly with the back of his hand, but the more he rubbed, the more the grime spread, his voice filled with anger.

"It's all your fault! Why did you have to... why did you have to make me kiss you? Xuanzi saw it, and now he's breaking up with me... He's my best friend since childhood..."

“When I was little, my parents would come home late, and I was scared because I was home alone… so he would come and keep me company… and help me fight off the people who bullied me. I really cherished him… but now he wants to break off all ties with me…”

Jiang Ran listened, looking at Su Mu's red eyes and nose, utterly at a loss. He could only use his fingertips to gently wipe Su Mu's face again and again, clumsily coaxing, "Don't cry, Mu Mu, don't cry, okay? It's my fault, it's all my fault... Please don't cry..."

He kept repeating the same few sentences, not knowing what else to say. In the end, all he could do was gently pull Su Mu into his arms, let him bury his face in his shoulder, and pat his back gently with his palm.

Su Mu didn't know how he fell asleep. He hadn't stayed up all night in a long time, and he just drifted off to sleep while feeling sad.

The next day, when Su Mu woke up, he was listless and felt lethargic all day. In the afternoon, the sunlight slanted into the yard. Su's mother was picking vegetables in the kitchen, while Su Mu sat on the sofa in the living room, staring blankly at the TV.

Suddenly, the courtyard gate was gently pushed open a crack, and a small figure slipped in—it was Jiaojiao.

She was wearing a pink dress, clutching a folded card with a crookedly drawn rainbow and sun in her hand. She ran up to Su Mu, looked up at him, and handed him the card, saying in a childish voice, "Brother Su, this is from Daddy."

Su Mu paused for a moment, then took the card.

The card was opened, revealing two lines of text. The top line, with its childish handwriting and crooked strokes, was Jiaojiao's work, expressing reconciliation. The bottom line was written by Meng Lingxuan.

Just like when I was a child.

Su Mu looked at those words. He remembered. It was when he was in fourth or fifth grade of elementary school. Once, Meng Lingxuan insisted on copying his homework, but Su Mu felt that copying homework was wrong and refused to give it to him no matter what.

Meng Lingxuan felt embarrassed and argued with him, ignoring him for several days. Later, Su Muxian couldn't hold back any longer and used a piece of paper from his exercise book to write a neat "letter of reconciliation," which he secretly slipped into Meng Lingxuan's schoolbag. The letter contained childish phrases like "we're still good friends" and "don't be angry anymore."

After reading the letter, Meng Lingxuan felt awkward for a long time, but finally went to Su Mu's house and said, "Alright, I forgive you," and the two finally made up.

Su Mu squatted down and hugged Jiao Jiao tightly: "Thank you, Jiao Jiao."

Jiaojiao reached out her little hands and hugged Su Mu as well.

Jiang Ran is still asleep; her alcohol tolerance is really not that high.

Jiang Ran woke up in the evening, rubbing her hair and looking at the puppy, when Su Mu's phone vibrated.

He picked it up and saw it was a message from Meng Lingxuan. His tone was still a bit stiff, but the content almost made Su Mu laugh out loud, yet also feel a little like crying: "Your boyfriend is alright, isn't he? But he was standing at my door at six o'clock, so tall, like a door god, he almost scared my mom. She thought he was some dog thief."

-

A note from the author:

Xuanzi: The shock of opening my eyes to two men kissing.

Young Master Jiang: They almost mistook me for a dog thief and beat me up (feeling wronged)