The most crucial point is that, as soon as she finished speaking, Qin Zigui in the kitchen also cast a questioning glance at her, seemingly very interested in the answer to this question.
Sheng Yan: "???"
Why is Qin Zigui getting involved?!
Is it really meaningful for a grown man like him to be so jealous and arguing about this kind of thing?!
Sheng Yan glanced at the burly Qin Zigui, then at the beautiful Xu Qingrong, and felt a chill run down his spine. He lowered his head, trying to change the subject: "Mom, why are you asking this kind of question out of the blue?"
Xu Qingrong continued peeling the crab: "It's nothing, it's just that I always feel that Zigui takes care of you more than I do as your mother, and I'm afraid that I'm not a good enough mother and that you will dislike me."
Sheng Yan hadn't expected his mother to think that way, so he quickly reassured her, "Mom, what are you saying? You're the Empress Dowager. Can an Empress Dowager take care of people? Besides, think about it from another angle. What if Qin Zigui accidentally takes care of me for the rest of my life, and then he'll take care of you in your old age too? Wouldn't that be a great deal?"
"Dream on." Xu Qingrong didn't even lift her eyelids. "You think Ren Zigui can't get married and have children in the future, and you'll take care of her for the rest of her life? You really have a wild idea."
Sheng Yan tentatively asked in a low voice, "What if Qin Zigui never gets married or has children?"
Xu Qingrong forcefully tore off a crab leg: "Then I'll break his dog legs in place of your Aunt Qin."
"..." Sheng Yan asked again, "What if I never get married or have children?"
Without a second thought, Xu Qingrong forcefully ripped off another crab leg: "Then let's put your two legs together, chop them up, and feed them to Cuckoo."
"..."
Sheng Yan imagined himself and Qin Zigui, two disabled people, supporting each other, never abandoning each other, and walking through their incomplete lives together. He silently put down the crab leg in his hand.
Xu Qingrong glanced at him sideways: "So you still haven't answered me, if I and Zigui fell into the water at the same time, who would you save first?"
Sheng Yan felt that such a problem was impossible, because given Qin Zigui's swimming ability, he estimated that Qin Zigui would have swum back up with Ms. Xu before he even jumped in.
However, after thinking about how his and Qin Zigui's fates were still in Xu Qingrong's hands, Sheng Yan felt it was more important to please the Empress Dowager first. So, with a serious expression, he said without hesitation, "Of course, I'll save you first. Qin Zigui is a cunning dog paddler."
As soon as the answer was given, the sound of a bowl being placed on the cutting board came from the kitchen.
Qin Zigui took off his apron: "We're out of millet at home, I'll go out and buy some."
After saying that, he walked straight past Sheng Yan and Ms. Xu's table and went out the door.
Sheng Yan: "...???"
Qin Zigui wouldn't be so jealous of his own mother, would he?!
It might not be that bad, but Sheng Yan felt she still needed to coax her boyfriend. She pulled out a tissue, hastily wiped her hands, and said, "Mom, it seems we're out of drinks. I'll go out and buy some too," before hurrying off.
As soon as he stepped out of the building, he found that Qin Zigui had disappeared from his sight. He hurriedly turned around, and then with a "bang," Qin Zigui had once again successfully waited for him.
Looking at the silly little boy who had run straight into his arms, Qin Zigui finally couldn't help but chuckle: "Are you so afraid of making me unhappy?"
Sheng Yan then realized that he had been fooled by Qin Zigui again. He angrily clenched his fist and was about to punch him, but before he could land a punch, he was quickly kissed on the forehead: "Cute."
Feeling the soft warmth on his forehead and hearing Qin Zigui's low chuckle, Sheng Yan's ears turned red instantly. He lowered his fist, gritted his teeth, and said, "Didn't you hear my mother say she was going to break all our legs?! And you still dare to act recklessly!"
"That's why I tried to rescue you, because I was afraid you wouldn't be able to lie and Aunt Xu would trick you into revealing your lies." Qin Zigui said as if it were the truth.
Sheng Yan didn't believe a word of it: "At the rate you're going to save me like this, I reckon my legs will be broken tomorrow!"
"It's nothing," Qin Zigui replied seriously. "I have long legs, one of them is as good as two. If there really is a time like this, I'll definitely be the one in front to interrupt me first."
For a moment, Sheng Yan didn't know whether to curse Qin Zigui for being shameless or to be moved by Qin Zigui. He could only angrily throw out a sentence: "If you want to stand up for me, I have long legs too!"
Then he put his hands in his hoodie pockets and walked forward with his head down.
Qin Zigui laughed and quickly followed, trying to pull the chick's claws out to hold it, but the chick scratched back and then put them back into its pocket.
Qin Zigui led the chicken claw into his hand again, only to be scratched again. He led it again, then was scratched again, then led it again, then was scratched again. They played and frolicked all the way to the supermarket entrance, where Qin Zigui finally managed to hold the chicken claw in his palm.
Sheng Yan reached out to break Qin Zigui's paws, but before he could move, he heard a familiar voice coming from the supermarket: "The monthly allowance the city team gives me isn't even enough for myself, let alone money to buy you wine!"
Sheng Yan paused slightly, unsure whether he should go in now.
After Xue Yi's father was criminally detained for injuring him, he lost his job completely after being released. He relied on Xue Yi's grandmother's retirement pension and Xue Yi's city team subsidy to make ends meet by drinking heavily. But Wu Shan said that Xue Yi kept insisting that his family was fine.
If Sheng Yan went in now, Xue Yi might feel embarrassed, but if he didn't go in, he was afraid that Xue Yi's father would cause some trouble.
Sure enough, the next second a cold sneer came from a drunken voice: "That's why I said, why don't you hurry up and quit your city team? You've trained for so many years and you can't even make it into the first team. You're getting old, and when the third team doesn't want you anymore, you deserve to starve to death."
Xue Yi's voice was clearly trying to be calm and composed: "I said that as long as I can get into the top three in the city in this competition, I can get into the city's first team, and next year I will have a chance to go to the national third team."
However, he was met with even more disdainful mockery: "Come on, you? I heard your coach call your grandma and say that you're no good. You were not focused during the training camp. Sheng Yan only trained for a month and he surpassed you. You only got third place in the training camp, and you still want to get third place in the city? You're dreaming. Face reality and go out to work and earn money."
After he finished speaking, the supermarket's partition curtain was lifted, and a thin, sallow-eyed man with cloudy eyes came face to face with Sheng Yan.
The man reeked of alcohol and sullenness, his body hunched over, while outside the curtain, Sheng Yan, dressed in a white hoodie, stood tall and straight under the incandescent light of the newly fallen night, clean and bright.
An unexpected eye contact occurred, and Xue Yi, standing behind the man, twitched her fingers slightly, seemingly feeling ashamed and embarrassed, but quickly masked it with her gentle expression: "Ayan, what are you doing here?"
After speaking, his gaze fell on the hands that Sheng Yan and Qin Zigui were holding, his expression slightly cold.
Qin Zigui pulled Sheng Yan behind him.
This gesture of maintaining vigilance stung Xue Yi's eyes: "Qin Zigui, what do you mean?"
Before Qin Zigui could answer, Xue Yi's father gave a self-deprecating laugh: "What could it mean? He's afraid we'll hurt the young master again. This is the Xu family's precious grandson, a shooting genius. If you even touch him, you'll be sent to jail. He can get first place with just a little training. How could someone like you, with no talent and no family background, possibly be on your level? They used to pity you and give you a few meals. Don't take yourself too seriously. Do you even know if you're worthy?"
Five parts of Xue's father's words were mocking Xue Yi, and five parts were a veiled attack on Qin Zigui.
Sheng Yan's face turned cold even before Qin Zigui's. If it were before, he would have already thrown a punch.
But not now. He had promised Qin Zigui that he wouldn't fight, and the competition was about to start. He couldn't get hurt or cause trouble. So he didn't say a word, just held Qin Zigui's hand tightly, and went straight past Xue Yi into the supermarket.
Behind him, Xue Yi's father sneered, as if deliberately speaking to Xue Yi: "See? They're brothers. So what if you were close to them before? They said they'd dump you, and they still did."
"Enough!" No matter how good Xue Yi was at pretending, she couldn't stand her father humiliating her like this in front of the person she admired most. She grabbed the bag in her hand and hurriedly walked out.
But the middle-aged man, whose life had been a complete failure, wasn't about to let him off so easily. He followed him slowly, saying, "What? Feeling ashamed? Or is it a painful reminder? But you can't blame them for dumping you. When you schemed against them, even scheming against your own father, you should have expected this day to come. Your dad is a criminal, your mom is a whore who ran off with the money, and you yourself are a good-for-nothing who can't do anything but scheme. What makes you think you're worthy of competing with others..."
"Can you shut up!" Xue Yi could no longer bear it. She turned around and finally shouted these words with an angry expression that was almost pleading.
As he turned around, he saw through the supermarket's glass window that a boy in a white hoodie was sneakily taking something and trying to put it in his shopping basket next to the shelves piled high with snacks, but was caught by a boy in a black hoodie.
Then the boy in the white hoodie quickly tilted his head up and kissed the other person, as if he were being coquettish, being unreasonable, or trying to please him. Meanwhile, the boy in the black hoodie remained indifferent and put the bag of snacks back. The boy in the white hoodie then quickly tilted his head up and kissed him again.
The simple movements, under the clean lighting, appeared so vivid, warm, and lovely.
In that instant, Xue Yi's fingers unconsciously clenched into a fist.
She herself was not worthy of Sheng Yan, but what right did Qin Zigui have to be worthy of him?
He was just the child of a mistress no one wanted, and he was just something Sheng Yan picked up out of kindness. He and I shouldn't like Sheng Yan either, but why is it that he can be with Sheng Yan and be liked by Sheng Yan, while I can only be cold and distant by Sheng Yan?
Sheng Yan used to be very good to me. If Qin Zigui hadn't forced me to stop contacting Sheng Yan, if Qin Zigui hadn't blocked me, if Qin Zigui hadn't told Sheng Yan that I had deliberately framed him, I could at least still be friends with Sheng Yan.
That complex mix of emotions—jealousy, envy, regret, annoyance, and resentment—accompanied by the sweet scene before him, pierced his entire body with a sharp pain.
"What are you thinking about?" the man beside her asked impatiently.
Xue Yi clenched his fist: "It's nothing."
Just in time, some good news arrived.
Xue Yi looked down and saw a WeChat message from the city team coach: [Your grandma and I have already talked to you. If you don't get into the top three this time, you'll have no hope of making it into the city's first team. Your current skill level is probably only enough to finish fourth. Be prepared.]
His knuckles tightened around the phone until they turned white.
Before Sheng Yan arrived, he had a real chance of making it into the top three, but now that Sheng Yan is here, he's been overtaken again.
Why do he and Sheng Yan always end up on this path?
Why does Sheng Yan always try to compete with him when he already has everything?
He didn't want to hurt Sheng Yan, but he was also unwilling to let his life become a mess; he couldn't have nothing.
Beside him was his alcoholic father's incessant insults, before him lay everything he could never have again, and in his hand lay his last chance to realize his dream.
In the autumn fog of the south, it always rains in the evening, making it damp, cold, and sticky, which is extremely uncomfortable.
When the raindrops covered the phone screen, Xue Yi finally pressed the shutter button, then put away her phone and turned to walk into the narrow, dark alley between the buildings.
He didn't want to hurt anyone; he just wanted to give himself a chance.
That's what he thought.
In the brightly lit corner of the supermarket behind him, after kissing Qin Zigui a thousand times without managing to bribe him with a bag of spicy strips, Sheng Yan finally kicked Qin Zigui away in anger. As a result, before Qin Zigui could even react, Sheng Yan himself clutched his stomach and gasped for breath.
Qin Zigui immediately placed his palm on his abdomen and frowned: "Is your stomach hurting again?"
"No, it just happened suddenly."
Sheng Yan endured it for a while, then, feeling better, tried to smuggle the spicy strips back in.
With a cold face, Qin Zigui snatched the spicy strip from Sheng Yan's hand again, placed it in a position that Sheng Yan couldn't reach, grabbed his wrist, and walked towards the grain area.
Actually, there was rice at home. Qin Zigui bought millet to make porridge for Sheng Yan, but he was worried that Sheng Yan would have a stomachache after eating so many crabs, especially drunken crabs. He didn't expect the reaction to be so quick this time.
It's probably also related to the recent high training pressure.
"When you get back, don't eat anything else. Drink ginger tea, have some porridge, eat some vegetables, and then go to sleep, understand?" Qin Zigui instructed as he paid the bill.
The sales clerks who have worked here for years couldn't help but laugh: "You've really taken care of Xiao Shengyan since he was a child, making sure he eats and dresses well. Even his mother didn't worry about him this much."
When Sheng Yan was a child, he was so handsome, sweet-talking, and good at causing trouble that almost everyone in the area knew him. Even Qin Zigui, who cleaned up his messes every day, became famous.
Sheng Yan felt a little embarrassed after hearing this and turned to leave the supermarket.
Qin Zigui smiled and lowered his head, borrowed an umbrella from the cashier, and followed him out: "Why are you so embarrassed?"
"I'm not embarrassed, it's just that the auntie made you sound like my adopted daughter-in-law." Sheng Yan pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt so that Qin Zigui couldn't see his profile.
Qin Zigui raised an eyebrow slightly: "Isn't that so?"
Sheng Yan immediately turned around, very seriously: "Of course not, being a child bride is not a good thing. At the very least, you are a live-in son-in-law."
Qin Zigui nodded: "Yes, I also think of myself as a son-in-law who marries into his wife's family."
Sheng Yan paused for a moment, then realized what he meant and immediately launched into a tirade: "Qin Zigui! You took advantage of me again!"
While protecting him, Qin Zigui chuckled softly, "I'm your boyfriend, so it's not like I'm taking advantage of you."
"Go ahead and tell my mom if you dare!"
"Aren't you afraid Aunt Xu will break my legs?"
"Interrupting is best!"
The two bickered and dawdled for most of the day until the rain started to pour down, and finally they returned to the courtyard.
Sheng Yan didn't wait for Qin Zigui's umbrella. Taking advantage of the hoodie, he darted under the eaves, took off his hat, and brushed his hair back: "Mom, Grandma, Grandpa, we're back."
As soon as he finished speaking, he realized that the atmosphere in the room was strange.
At home, Xu Qingrong, who usually didn't act like an adult, was unusually serious and focused as she sat on the sofa, looking down at something on her iPad. When she heard his voice, she looked up and called out in a calm and gentle voice, "Ayan."
Sheng Yan slowly lowered his hand, which had been fiddling with his hair.
At that moment, he suddenly had a very bad premonition, and even intuitively hoped that Xu Qingrong would not say anything more.
However, Xu Qingrong still finished speaking gently and slowly: "Let's go abroad."
As the five words, spoken so casually, slowly landed, Sheng Yan almost instinctively turned around, wanting to seek Qin Zigui's support.
Qin Zigui stood under the sycamore tree outside the courtyard, looking at the messages on his phone. His pale knuckles, set against his black hoodie, revealed the chill of autumn.
[Yu Bai Fei Bai]: Damn it! Qin Zigui! Something's happened! Someone posted your and Sheng Yan's photos on our school's online forum!
In that photo, in the hazy twilight, under the bright lights, a boy tilts his head back and kisses another boy's cheek with a smile—it should have been the purest and most beautiful scene of early autumn.
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