33

The food stall was very popular, with people sitting at the entrance. The owner had prepared an open-air screen and was playing Hong Kong movies that he had watched countless times.

"Aze," Xiao Mingyang drank a sip of Coke, holding the skewers in his hand, "If you really tell it...will your mother accept it?"

Although same-sex marriage has been legal for many years, there is still a group of people who do not understand it. There were even radical elements who went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to harm same-sex couples.

Especially in places where education is underdeveloped, they cannot understand why people of the same sex are attracted to each other, why two people of the same sex fall in love with each other, and even regard intercourse between same sexes as dirty and sneer at it.

"That should be fine," Li Xiangze said, looking at the string in his hand. "When I got home the other day, I saw her watching the BL drama your mother recommended."

Xiao Mingyang was choked by the Coke.

Damn, he has to admit defeat to my mom’s trick.

"So...how did she react?"

Li Xiangze recalled: "I think I liked it very much."

"When are you going to tell me?"

Li Xiangze peeled the barbecue off the skewer and ate it: "Go home during the holiday."

"Okay," Xiao Mingyang grabbed a handful of skewers and started to pick them up with chopsticks, "Then we'll go together then."

He pushed the peeled part in front of Li Xiangze.

"I'll go by myself... Don't you want to eat?" Li Xiangze raised his eyebrows.

Xiao Mingyang smiled and said, "I like to eat it with the skewers."

"No, that's not the point." Xiao Mingyang held his hand, blinking, "Let me go with you, please!"

Li Xiangze clicked his tongue and laughed, "Why do you always use this trick?"

"Okay~" Xiao Mingyang pulled his hand and shook it, his eyes full of water.

Li Xiangze finally gave in: "Okay."

＊

At 8 o'clock in the evening, Xiao Mingyang took leave and went to the airport.

My uncle still looks as energetic as ever, but he has a lot more white hair on his head.

Xiao Mingyang was in a complicated mood, but he still managed to force a smile and waved in the direction of his uncle: "Uncle!"

The uncle handed the luggage to Uncle Zhang next to him and walked towards him with a smile: "Yangyang, long time no see."

"Yeah," Xiao Mingyang said with a stiff smile, "The food on the plane isn't tasty, right? Should we go to the secret base for a drink like before?"

Xiao Zhichen pinched his face and hugged him like when they were little: "Let's go."

It was late at night, and the other side of the river was ablaze with lights. The two of them sat together on the rocky beach, eating barbecued skewers.

"I haven't been here for a long time." A breeze blew by, and Xiao Zhichen squinted his eyes comfortably.

"Yeah," Xiao Mingyang raised his beer and clinked it with his uncle's. "After living on campus, I don't have as much freedom in coming and going."

"Really?" The uncle looked at him and smiled.

It’s still the same as when I was a kid, I can’t hide it from him.

"Well, it's actually quite free." Xiao Mingyang clinked glasses with his uncle again, then raised his head and finished the wine.

He reached for the second bottle, and his uncle put the rest behind him: "The last bottle."

"Alright," Xiao Mingyang drank half the bottle. He looked at the other side of the river for a long time, until his eyes felt sore. "Uncle, do you remember when we first came here?"

"Remember," the uncle leaned back, one hand on the ground, and looked at him sideways, "you weren't in elementary school yet. You were supposed to go to the amusement park that day, but your parents had something to do, so they sent you to my place."

"I was so sad at that time. They both lied to me," Xiao Mingyang smiled. "I think they are the worst parents in the world."

Xiao Zhichen smiled and patted his head: "After get off work, we came here fully armed to explore."

"That was my first time trying skipping stones." Xiao Mingyang looked at the cruise ship in the distance, as if he was back in his childhood.

The sun had not yet set that day. He was wearing all the protective gear for skating, and his uncle was wearing a helmet for cycling. The two of them pulled the tree slowly down the hillside.

Xiao Mingyang was not tall in elementary school, so he had to stand in the front when lining up in class.

As I slowly moved down the tree, my legs were shaking.

This height was too terrifying for him.

His uncle was by his side, telling him, "I'm here, it's okay."

Finally arrived at the small river beach below.

Xiao Mingyang was very excited and ran around happily.

They played skipping stones and chatted here together.

My uncle is different from other adults. Unlike my mom, he doesn’t tease him all day long, and unlike my dad, he only replies with one word after talking for a long time.

There is always a back-and-forth in their conversations. My uncle is not like an elder, but like his friend. They always talk about everything.

When did it change?

Xiao Mingyang looked at him with red eyes.

Xiao Zhichen stroked his head: "Our Yangyang has grown up now. He has become taller and more handsome than before."

Tears finally slid down his face. His uncle raised his hand to wipe them away, but he dodged sideways and said in a trembling voice, "Uncle, you have changed too."

If Xiao Mingyang had previously deduced that his uncle was the murderer and knocked a crack in the glass between the two of them, then this sentence would completely shatter the glass.

My uncle's smile was still respectable: "Everyone will grow old."

"You know that's not what I meant." Xiao Mingyang looked at him straight, tears streaming down his face.

The smile on my uncle's face froze for a moment, then he threw his head back and laughed. The shrillness in his laughter made people feel cold down their spines.

The uncle stood up, walked to Xiao Mingyang, squatted down, and still gently stroked his head: "Tell me, what do you know?"

The look in the man's eyes frightened him. Xiao Mingyang gritted his teeth and said, "I know everything, including my car and your biological parents."

Xiao Zhichen smiled and nodded: "I know everything..." He suddenly exerted force on his hands, grabbed his hair and pulled it back hard. His eyes were bloodshot, "You know shit!"

"Uncle," Xiao Mingyang's eyes were already filled with tears. "I know you feel wronged, because you've always been suppressed by me... Xiao Zhe... But in fact, you are really outstanding. You are the best uncle I have ever met. Regardless of whether you and I are related by blood or not, you are my most beloved uncle... While there is still time, I haven't told Xiao Zhe about the car. Uncle, let go, I beg you..."

Feeling the force on his hair gradually loosening, Xiao Mingyang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"But Yangyang," his uncle wiped his tears, "how long can you keep this secret? There's no turning back..."

"No, you do!" Xiao Mingyang hugged him, "Uncle, I haven't given up on you, so don't give up on yourself. Please, don't give up on yourself..."

"There is another way." His uncle patted his back gently.

Xiao Mingyang raised his head, his face covered with tears and snot: "What should I do..."

Before he could finish his words, he fell into darkness.

＊

"Brother Ze, isn't Xiao Ming back yet?" Su Yutong stood beside Li Xiangze's desk. "The next class is physical education. It will be hard to rehearse if he doesn't come."

"Let me ask." Li Xiangze took out his cell phone.

From last night till now, he has sent no less than ten messages, but not a single one has been replied.

【泽】When will you return to school?

There was still no response from the other side.

"Please ask for leave for me in the next class, thank you." Li Xiangze stood up and left the classroom.

He clicked on the positioning system that Xiao Dayang had prepared in advance.

Same location as last night.

Yueding Hotel.

He put his cell phone in his pocket and rushed to the liberal arts class.

In the past, he had never had the experience of going to the door of other people's classes to call out to them, because he had few friends and he didn't have the courage to do so.

"Classmate, who are you looking for?" asked the classmate sitting near the door.

Li Xiangze swallowed and said, "Call Bai Tao, thank you."

Bai Tao came out slowly: "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Do you know Yueding Hotel?" Li Xiangze looked anxious.

Bai Tao wasn't the type to be inattentive, so he immediately became serious: "I know, what's wrong?"

Li Xiangze lowered his voice and said, "Xiao Mingyang disappeared last night. His location is here."

"Catching an adulterer?" Bai Tao suddenly became interested.

Li Xiangze rolled his eyes at him and said, "Try to find out which room he is in later and send it to me."

"OK."

Li Xiangze turned and ran, but after a few steps, he noticed someone following him: "Why are you following me?"

“There is strength in numbers.”

Li Xiangze: "..."

Li Xiangze: "It's not about catching an adulterer."

"That's also because there's strength in numbers."

Li Xiangze: "..."

Li Xiangze: "Do you know any psychiatrists?"

"Yes, it's Fuzi's brother-in-law."

"Let him come too."

＊

"Xiao Zhichen! I'm warning you! Don't mess around! I only treat you as my uncle!" Xiao Mingyang roared heartbreakingly, "And I have a boyfriend!"

Xiao Zhichen smiled and let go of his hands that were unbuttoning his clothes: "How can you take a shower if I don't take off your clothes?"

Xiao Mingyang was tied to a chair and couldn't move at all: "Then you untie these ropes, I'll do it myself."

The uncle bent down and pinched his face: "What if you run away?"

"I won't."

"I don't believe it." After saying that, he continued to unbutton his clothes.

Xiao Mingyang closed his eyes and tried to save his life: "Uncle, you know my sexual orientation. If you touch me like that, what if I have a reaction?"

Xiao Nansheng stopped what he was doing, put his hands on the back of the chair, and met his eyes. "That's perfect, we're not related by blood either."

Xiao Mingyang gritted his teeth and said, "That model is wrong! No, no, you are straight!"

"Has anyone ever told me," Xiao Zhichen smiled and stroked his face, "that your eyes look a lot like your mother's. Since you won't be coming back anyway, why not..."

"Ahhhhhh! I refuse!" Xiao Mingyang dodged backwards desperately, his chair almost tilted up. "Don't you think the age gap between us is too big?"

The uncle laughed even harder: "When you read fantasy novels before, wasn't the age difference between your master and apprentice even bigger?"

"How can it be the same?!" Xiao Mingyang collapsed and shouted.

"Okay," the uncle buttoned up his shirt, "let's not wash it, since we're leaving here soon anyway."

Xiao Mingyang finally grasped the point: "I won't leave!"

"Yangyang," Xiao Zhichen squatted down and looked up at him, "This is the only best solution I can think of. Didn't you say you love me? You just need to leave here..."

"I left, and then what?" Xiao Mingyang gritted his teeth, "It will be easier for you to take action, right?"

The uncle pinched his knee: "No."

"Do I look like an idiot to you?" Xiao Mingyang looked at him. Yesterday's tears had disappeared, replaced by anger.

It turns out that no matter how much he said yesterday, my uncle didn't listen at all.