Chapter 57 Father-in-law
My mother sighed, stepped forward and took my father's arm, her tone a little helpless and comforting: "Old Chen, this matter... I have never dared to tell you. Let's... go inside first, and I will tell you slowly."
Without saying anything, she pulled my father, who was still angry, frightened and furious, into the master bedroom and closed the door.
Lin Yan and I were the only ones left in the living room, and the floor was a mess and awkward.
I grabbed my hair in frustration and squatted on the ground. "Damn it! It's over! I forgot about this! My dad...he seems really angry!"
Lin Yan pulled me up, held me in his arms, and patted my back gently, his voice calm: "It's okay, Ruirui, you will know sooner or later. This is good, it will be resolved once and for all. But...are you really not afraid that your uncle will go back and tell everyone?"
I leaned into his arms, my nameless anger rising again. "Why should I be afraid of him? Whatever he says! His precious sons are useless, each one is worse than the other. Few of them can even finish high school! Trash! I, Chen Rui, am upright and honest. I am ten thousand times better than those useless pieces of trash in his family!"
Lin Yan laughed softly and rubbed his chin against the top of my head: "Well, our Ruirui is the best. Then you have to work harder and strive to stand higher so that they can't even see your heels."
"Stop talking..." I instantly wilted, "Speaking of this reminds me of the postgraduate entrance exam results... They haven't come out yet..."
The anxiety of an uncertain future temporarily overwhelmed the tension of the family storm.
It felt like a century had passed before the door to the master bedroom finally opened.
My father and mother walked out one after the other. My father's face was still gloomy, his brows furrowed, but his furious aura seemed to have subsided a little.
He walked to the sofa and sat down. He didn't look at us, but habitually took out another cigarette, lit it, and took a deep puff, with smoke curling around him.
Lin Yan and I were like two prisoners awaiting trial, not daring to breathe.
Silence. A suffocating silence.
Finally, my dad blew out a puff of smoke, and with a voice thick with fatigue and confusion, he asked a core question:
"What are you going to do next?"
Lin Yan immediately stood up straight, his tone extremely solemn, with unquestionable determination: "Uncle, we will get married in the future and stay together forever."
"Nonsense!" My dad looked up suddenly like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and his voice rose again, "Marriage?! What kind of marriage is two men getting?! What about the future? No children, what will you do when you get old?! Who will take care of you in your old age?!"
Lin Yan's expression remained unchanged, and his tone even carried a hint of comfort (or perhaps showing off wealth?): "Dad, don't worry. Our family... is well-off. Providing for you in your old age won't be a problem at all. We can even hire eight nannies to take turns taking care of you." He spoke very naturally, as if he was discussing what to eat for breakfast tomorrow.
My dad: “…”
He was obviously choked by Lin Yan's simple and unpretentious display of wealth (and that smooth "Dad"), his face flushed red, and it took him a long time to yell: "You! Don't call me Dad!"
That expression was as if the juicy cabbages in his own field were being taken away by a golden pig, and the key point was that the pig seemed to be acting so confidently!
Lin Yan seemed not to hear and continued to insist, his tone sincere: "Dad, this is a matter of time. Mom has already accepted it."
He looked to my mom for off-field support.
My mother folded her arms, her lips curled up slightly, her eyes showing a bit of interest in watching a show: "Well, that's a very smooth way to say it."
My father's ire instantly turned towards me, his eyes scanning me with a complicated expression, filled with the pain of "How could my good son have grown up crooked?" "Chen Rui! How...how could you...become like this?"
His question was vague, but I knew what he wanted to ask - why do you like men?
I looked at my father's eyes which were a mixture of confusion, disappointment and worry, and my heart calmed down.
I stood up straight, looked at him calmly, and said word by word, "Dad, it's because Lin Yan is good to me. Especially good. If it weren't for him, your son might still be a useless person who only knows how to play games every day and has no plans for the future. I like him, not because he is a man or a woman, but because of who he is, Lin Yan."
The living room fell silent again.
My father looked at me, then at Lin Yan, who was standing next to me with an upright posture and a determined look in his eyes, and took a few deep puffs of his cigarette.
In the smoke, his expression was obscure.
After a long while, he seemed to have finally digested this fact with difficulty. In an extremely tangled tone, with a hint of traditional thinking inertia, he muttered:
"Then...then am I...a father-in-law? Or...a father-in-law?" The question sounded a bit silly, but it revealed that his attitude had begun to loosen, but his cognition was still a little confused.
Lin Yan immediately picked up the thread accurately, his tone as natural as if he was discussing an academic issue: "Dad, logically speaking, you should be my father-in-law." He even bowed slightly.
My dad: “…”
He seemed to be completely struck by this title. He slapped his thigh suddenly, unable to hold back any longer. "Damn it! I gave birth to a son with a penis! And in the end, he became a father-in-law?! Chen Rui! You kid! How can you be so useless!"
He pointed at me bitterly, as if I had failed to live up to all his expectations of my masculinity.
I was on the verge of tears: "Dad! Please be reasonable! Look at your son's small body, and then look at him!"
I pointed at Lin Yan, a tall and strong man with broad shoulders and long legs, and said, "Do you think I can beat him?!" What the hell is going on!
"Shut up!" My dad's face flushed red, as if burned. He turned away angrily, "I'm not listening! Who wants to hear about your messy private conversations?"
I:"……"
I held my forehead in my hand speechlessly, "Didn't you mention the father-in-law first..."
Over the next few days, the atmosphere at home became extremely tense. My mother remained calm and went about her business.
My dad turned on the "stalking" mode. No matter what Lin Yan was doing, he could always find an angle to glare at Lin Yan from time to time with a complex look that was a mixture of scrutiny, dissatisfaction, exploration, and "my cabbage has been taken away."
That look was as sharp as an X-ray, making Lin Yan feel uncomfortable all over. He was even cautious about talking to me or making eye contact, for fear of irritating the sensitive nerves of this new "father-in-law".
Hiding back in my room at night, I somewhat helplessly comforted Lin Yan: "My dad is like this. When he gets angry, he's like a stubborn donkey. He might... mainly be angry that we kept it a secret from him and didn't inform him in advance."
Lin Yan nodded thoughtfully, a gleam in his eyes: "It seems... conventional methods are no longer effective. I can only use my trump card."
The next day, Lin Yan disappeared for half a day.
When we got back, the trunk was packed to the brim: Moutai, Wuliangye, premium Longjing tea, designer cashmere scarves, the latest smartphones—all hard currency that my dad loved.
In the following days, Lin Yan completely transformed himself into a "good son-in-law who is filial to his parents". He served the father-in-law and served him tea and water, calling him "Dad" more affectionately than his own son. It was so natural and fluent, as if he had been calling him that for twenty years.
"Dad, try this tea."
"Dad, do you think this phone is easy to operate?"
"Dad, what would you like to drink tonight? I'd like to have a couple of drinks with you?"
Under the continuous tug-of-war between my dad's "staring skills" and Lin Yan's "sugar-coated bullets + sweet talk", the frost on my dad's face finally began to melt visibly.
Especially after drinking a few glasses of Moutai, the old man felt dizzy and his eyes looked much kinder when he looked at Lin Yan.
That dinner, my dad drank a little too much again.
He patted Lin Yan's shoulder, his tongue a little tied, but his tone was extremely serious: "Xiao Lin... you... you kid... can't bully my son... do you hear me? He... he has a stubborn temper, but a soft heart... you have to... treat him well..."
Lin Yan immediately sat up straight, his eyes extremely serious: "Dad, don't worry! I promise you that I will take good care of him, protect him, and never let him suffer any grievances!"
When my father heard this, his eyes suddenly turned red.
He wiped his face, like a wronged child, his voice choked with sobs: "Wu... then... then my big fat granddaughter... is gone... where is the granddaughter we promised... "
His long-cherished dream of playing with his grandchildren was ultimately shattered without leaving a trace.
Looking at his father's aggrieved expression, I felt a pang of pain in my heart. I leaned over and whispered, "Dad...actually...what you've always wanted...is a younger sister, right?"
I remember when he was a child, he always said, "It would be nice to have a daughter."
Lin Yan was listening beside me. He was stunned at first, then he looked at my dad’s drunken state with a “shattered dream”, then looked at me, and couldn’t help laughing softly.
He put his arm around my shoulders, and with a hint of mischief and a touch of resigned tenderness, he teased the drunken father-in-law:
"Dad, this... there's really nothing I can do. Who told you that your son... was so good, but he had to fall into the hands of a 'man' like me?"
My dad: “…”
He burped, looked at Lin Yan, then looked at me, and finally seemed to have completely recognized the reality. He sighed long, drunkenly and with infinite melancholy.
There was loss and unwillingness in that sigh, but in the end, there seemed to be a hint of... helpless acceptance.
Well, the bomb at the end of the year did explode, but at least it was finally suppressed with Lin Yan’s “money power” and shamelessness, as well as my father’s obsession with his granddaughter.
As for the future? Who cares! Anyway, I have Lin Yan as my "fire extinguisher".
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