Chapter 127: After the New Year, "We have grown old together."
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the servants and bodyguards of the manor went home or had holidays, and only the butler and a few bodyguards stayed on duty.
Before leaving, Aunt Liu made some shepherd's purse and pork dumplings and three-fresh wontons, which can be cooked directly in the pot.
Tian Ruan slept until noon and ate dumplings. Suddenly, he noticed that there was snow outside the window. He asked in surprise, "Is it snowing?"
Yu Jingmo: “Yeah.”
The butler waited on the side and said with a smile: "Auspicious snow indicates a good harvest. This year is a good year."
Tian Ruan suggested: "Mr. Yu, let's make a snowman."
After brunch, Tian Ruan put on a scarf and gloves and stepped out of the main house. Except for the road leading to the gate, the rest of the place was covered with thick and soft snow.
Tian Ruan had played in snow ten times thicker than this in Changbai Mountain, but he was still amazed. It rarely snowed in Suzhou City, and one or two snowfalls a year were considered good enough. Such heavy snow is rare in ten years.
The sun came out, and snow was still falling from time to time. Tian Ruan looked up at the snow crystals falling like catkins, and caught one on his gloves. It was very small and fragmented, unlike the goose-feather-sized snow crystals from Changbai Mountain.
If you look closely, the snow crystals look like tiny six-petal flowers, each one very delicate and exquisite.
Tian Ruan lowered his head and wanted to taste it, but heard Yu Jingmo say: "The main component of snow is H?O, which contains a small amount of impurities, such as dust, microorganisms, nitrogen compounds, and sulfides in the air."
Tian Ruan: “…”
It's really not romantic at all.
Yu Jingmo: "You can play, but you are not allowed to eat."
Tian Ruan rolled up a small snowball, smiled at the unromantic man next to her, and threw it on him.
The splashing snow foam scattered all over the ground. Yu Jingmo was as cold as an iceberg, motionless, staring quietly at the young man with red lips and white teeth. Against the backdrop of ice and snow, his smile was warmer than spring water.
Tian Ruan rolled up two more snowballs and threw them at him. Yu Jingmo still didn't move, just looked at him, "...Mr. Yu, throw them back. Haven't you ever played snowball fights with others?"
Yu Jingmo: “No.”
For someone like Yu Jingmo, who had received aristocratic education since childhood, it was natural that he had never played such an unruly game as snowball fight.
Tian Ruan taught him, "Roll the snow into a small ball and throw it at the opponent. If you get hit, you lose."
Yu Jingmo lowered his eyebrows and kneaded a small snowball, then gently threw it at the young man's feet, "Childish."
"We can find out whether we are childish or not by having a competition." Tian Ruan was full of confidence. Although he didn't know much else when he was in the children's welfare home, he was very good at playing snowball fights with other children in the winter.
"Um."
Yu Jingmo played with him. When a snowball hit him, he dodged to the side and the snowball passed by his shoulder. When he aimed at the young man, he judged the trajectory of the movement and hit him accurately.
Once, twice, three, four times, every time.
Tian Ruan: “…”
Tian Ruan didn't believe it. It was originally easy to hit Yu Jingmo, but he always fell short by a little bit. A slight mistake can lead to a huge error. Tian Ruan was almost angry to the point of fainting during the New Year's Day.
Seeing the young man's cheeks getting more and more puffy and his face getting more and more rosy, Yu Jingmo made a "mistake" and was finally hit by Tian Ruan.
Tian Ruan: “Oh yeah!”
After that, Yu Jingmo's "mistakes" increased in number, and he and Tian Ruan had a back-and-forth relationship. Both of them were covered in snow. Tian Ruan laughed and pounced on Yu Jingmo, rolling in the snow.
Yu Jingmo brushed the snow foam off his head and said, "We can be considered to have grown old together."
Tian Ruan stared at Yu Jingmo without blinking, his thick black eyebrows were stained with snow crystals, his deep and dark phoenix eyes were as sweet and cool as spring water, his straight nose divided the sunlight and shadow, and his thin lips seemed to contain a touch of spring.
Tian Ruan couldn't help but secretly kiss him. Unlike his cold and hard appearance, this resolute and cold man had soft lips.
Yu Jingmo lowered his thick eyelashes, his eyes met Tian Ruan's sparkling brown pupils, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly: "Like?"
"I like it." Tian Ruan hugged Yu Jingmo and nudged him affectionately like a little squirrel finding its favorite pine nut.
There were not many people in the manor, and Yu Shang went to Mr. Yu's house to pay New Year's greetings, so the couple could have fun to their heart's content.
Yu Jingmo held the young man's tender face and was about to kiss him when he heard a cute cry: "Aiya~"
“…”
Yu Ti quickly turned his back and said, "You guys continue, I didn't see anything."
The housekeeper appeared and said, "Miss Yu Ti, please come in and have a seat."
Yu Ti waved her hands, stole a glance at the couple, and laughed happily: "My uncle and my uncle-in-law are so loving."
Tian Ruan wanted to hide in the snow and turn into a snowman, but Yu Jingmo remained calm as he adjusted his clothes. He patted the snow off Tian Ruan and said calmly, "Didn't Yu Shang bring you the New Year's money?"
Yu Ti turned around and said with his teeth bared, "I want to personally wish my uncle a happy new year."
If the gate of the manor had not been closed, people paying New Year's greetings would have already broken down the threshold. Only Yu Ti would have climbed over the wall and not taken the usual route.
Yu Ti: "To express my apologies for disturbing your fun, I'll tell you some gossip. Do you want to listen?"
Tian Ruan immediately responded: "What gossip? Let's talk about it while we build a snowman."
Yu Ti was a rich lady. Although her parents didn't bring her up very strictly, she was subject to many restrictions. She was very happy to make this snowman. She squatted in the snow and rolled the snowball and said, "Second Grandpa got into a fight with someone in the nursing home and broke his back. I'm afraid he will have to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair - no, it seems like he's already spent the rest of his life."
Tian Ruan: “That’s good news.”
Yu Ti: "Then it was Uncle Fadada's house. During the Chinese New Year, he secretly gave Yu Jun a red envelope, but Hai Mingyue found out and they had a fight. Yu Jun was so angry that he didn't want the money from his cheating father, so he punched Uncle Fadada and sent him to the hospital."
Tian Ruan: "Celebrate together!"
Yu Ti: "The famous foreign cartoonist Sab is coming to China for a book signing the day after tomorrow. Do you want to go?"
Tian Ruan: "Idiot?"
Yu Ti: "...It's sab, even though it sounds stupid."
Tian Ruan shook his head, "I'm not his fan, so I won't go."
Yu Ti said pitifully: "Uncle, please, go and get me an extra autograph. I really like him."
Tian Ruan was kind-hearted: "Oh, then I'll take Lu Qiuyan with me, so you will have three copies of the autograph."
"Ah, uncle, you are so kind. Don't worry, I won't let you queue in vain. I will definitely buy you some milk tea and give you red envelopes."
Tian Ruan asked Lu Qiuyan on WeChat, and Lu Qiuyan said it was no problem. So I didn't ask what kind of comics Sab drew and just decided to go.
The snowman is crooked, as if it is sticking its butt out and making a funny gesture.
Tian Ruan inserted a carrot as the snowman's nose and two cherry tomatoes as eyes, and put on a hat and scarf, but it still looked weird.
Yu Jingmo came out and took a look, "This is the first time I've seen a snowman touch the edge."
Yu Ti shyly replied: "It's hard for a snowman to do this."
In order to correct the atmosphere, Tian Ruan didn't ask Yu Ti for help, but built another snowman by himself. It was right behind the snowman with its butt sticking out. It stood upright, tall and mighty, full of tough guy feeling.
Yu Ti observed: "It's even more bitter."
Tian Ruan: “…”
As it turns out, Yu Ti brought more "surprises" than just that.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Tian Ruan invited Lu Qiuyan to go to the signing location, a venue that often hosts various exhibitions.
The venue was packed with people, and at first glance, all they saw were girls wearing beautiful clothes. The walls, pillars, and hanging advertising screens of the venue are all covered with images of two boys cuddling together.
Therefore, when two handsome boys who looked like they came out of a comic book appeared in the stadium, the girls immediately stared at them like a pack of wolves.
Surprise, joy, an indescribable look.
Tian Ruan: “…”
Lu Qiuyan: "...What the hell? Why are they all girls?"
As soon as Tian Ruan saw the advertising screen, he understood that this Sab was a BL cartoonist.
Yu Ti pretended to be nonchalant and said, "You guys just queue up here, I'll go buy some milk tea."
"Well……"
Yu Ti had already run away. Tian Ruan had always been honest and trustworthy, so he had no choice but to stay among this pack of female wolves. A cool girl in a leather jacket came over and asked, "Are you a couple?"
Lu Qiuyan: “It’s your ancestor.”
“…”
Tian Ruan queued silently.
The girl talked to him: "Are you friends?"
Tian Ruan: “Yeah.”
The girl giggled and said, "Do you like sab too? Then we are in the same boat, how about adding each other on WeChat?"
Lu Qiuyan: "I don't like idiots, get lost."
The girl raised an eyebrow: "Hey, why are you so fierce?"
Lu Qiuyan relied on his height and long legs. Even if the girl wore high-heeled leather boots, he would only look at him coldly and said, "I'll say it again, get lost."
“…”
The girl rolled her eyes and walked away, "You're crazy."
Tian Ruan looked at Lu Qiuyan in confusion.
Lu Qiuyan said calmly: "As a good student, you'd better stay away from such a scoundrel."
Tian Ruan thought for a moment and said, "I have been in contact with it, and I will protect myself."
As an orphan, he had of course been harassed by hooligans on his way to school. Although he wasn't very good at fighting, he still knew some basic self-defense techniques.
Lu Qiuyan looked at him and said, "You look so harmless, it makes people want to bully you."
Tian Ruan: "But I'm not that easy to bully." He made an angry expression, "Am I as scary as the King of Hell?"
Lu Qiuyan: "If King Yama is a rabbit spirit, you look like one."
“…”
Yu Ti returned with milk tea and grape egg tarts in a flattering manner and shared them with the two of them. "Thank you for your hard work. Are you tired? I brought a cushion so you can spread it on the floor and sit on it."
There were indeed too many people queuing, so the three of them had a simple picnic on the spot, stood up to stretch their limbs, and about half an hour later, it was finally their turn.
Unexpectedly, Sab turned out to be a male cartoonist with a fair and friendly appearance, wearing a baseball cap, and slender fingers. He was very dashing when signing, and he would also draw a Q-version figurine or flower.
Signed comic books need to be purchased on the spot, and each person is limited to one copy. Staff will distribute and collect payments.
While Tian Ruan was waiting for the person in front, he opened the book and took a look: two men were rolling naked on the bed, with big buttocks and vivid sculptures, unlike the ones on the website that always had large areas of white holy light on key parts.
“…”
Lu Qiuyan glanced at it and said, "It's an eyesore."
Being so close, Sab heard these words. He looked over with a smile and said in broken Chinese: "Thank you for the compliment. My painting is very hot."
The girls cast strange looks at him, but Lu Qiuyan remained unmoved and threw the comic book in front of Sab, "The customer is God, have a service spirit, sign it."
“…”
There was total silence and no one dared to speak.
Yu Ti pretended not to know them and followed behind. When it was her turn, she smiled as brightly as a flower, "Silly, I like you."
Sab smiled warmly: "What did you call me?"
Yu Ti: "... Mr. Sab, I like your comics."
The last one was Tian Ruan. He didn’t say anything and just wanted to leave quickly. Sab stared at his face and suddenly asked: "Would you like to be my model? You are so good-looking."
Tian Ruan: “?”
Lu Qiuyan pulled Tian Ruan over and stuffed the comic book into Yu Ti's arms, "Let's go."
Sab looked at their hurriedly leaving backs and laughed: "This is also material."
After leaving the venue, Lu Qiuyan said to Yu Ti: "Salary."
Yu Ti gave him a red envelope of 500 yuan, "Thank you. Actually, this teacher Sab is a very nice person."
Lu Qiuyan: "He's a nice guy who's trying to get money from you middle school students. It's a comic that exposes your buttocks. It's not even labeled as 18+, and it doesn't have a publishing code. It's 250 yuan a copy. They really treat you like fools."
“…”
Lu Qiuyan said to Tian Ruan: "As her uncle, you have to educate her well."
Tian Ruan didn't pay for it. When he heard that the book cost 250 yuan, he was extremely surprised: "Is it painted with gold? So expensive?"
Yu Ti ran away holding the comic book: "You don't understand! I am willing!"
Tian Ruan ran after her: "Stop right there, you unfilial daughter!"
A Rolls-Royce slowly stopped, honked twice, and the window glass rolled down, revealing Du Henbie's gentle face in the back seat. His usually gentle face now looked a little serious.
Tian Ruan walked over and asked, "Brother, why are you here?"
Du Henbie: "I was just passing by and saw you running. What do you have to do?"
Tian Ruan: "Let's go to the amusement park later."
Du Henbie: "Grandpa Helans passed away. It happened last night."
Tian Ruan was stunned, "...How could it be?"
"The old man has always been in poor health. After he went bankrupt, his condition took a sharp turn for the worse. He had two operations but it was useless." Du Henbie exhaled a breath of white air, "I just don't know how He Lansi is doing."
"He didn't go back?"
"No. I'm in the hospital taking care of the funeral."
"You're going over now?"
"Well. If possible, I hope you can contact Yu Jingmo. After all, he and Helan Si have known each other since childhood, and maybe he can be a little comforted. Helan Si doesn't have many old friends around him..."
Tian Ruan nodded, "I understand, you go first. Mr. Yu and I will go together."
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