Chapter 69.1 Du Du and his mother-in-law!
The first day of the New Year.
Mo Yi Yan, a 5’8″ man, spent the night curled up on a two-person sofa. The heating in the flat wasn’t very good, and the temperature in the living room was noticeably lower at night. The Chinese New Year Gala from the night before was being replayed on TV, and the sound of firecrackers could be heard outside the window from time to time.
His neck was stiff from sleeping in an awkward position. Sitting up, he discovered that half of his body had become numb as a result of the pressure, but was taken aback when a blanket slipped from his body and landed on the floor. He picked it up; it still had his body heat; Chen Jiao must have come out in the middle of the night to put it on him.
A faint smile appeared on Mo Yi Yan’s cold face as he thought of this. Moving his neck, his bones snapped, while the bedroom door creaked open.
Chen Jiao was still wearing yesterday’s clothes, he hadn’t changed into his pajamas, but he looked slightly tired, as if he hadn’t gotten enough rest the night before.
“Good morning.” Mo Yi Yan spoke first, pointing to the bathroom, “Can I go in there and clean up a bit?”
Chen Jiao hesitated for a moment then answered, “Yes.”
“Hmm, I’m not used to eating breakfast without brushing my teeth.” Mo Yi Yan said it in a very natural way, implying that he wanted to have another breakfast here.
Helpless, Chen Jiao had no choice but to go to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. There were still some wrapped dumplings from last night and a lot of vegetables, so a simple warming up would do.
As he moved about busily, looking at the fire on the gas, Chen Jiao suddenly felt… that this New Year didn’t seem to be as sad as it was before.
His parents died when he was young, and he had no relatives in S City. Therefore, every time he spent New Year’s Eve here, it would always be very quiet. He would sit alone in front of the TV watching the Spring Festival Gala, lie on the balcony watching the fireworks in the distance, then seriously wrapped the New Year’s Eve dumplings, cook them well, oversleep and then the New Year would come, and then it was wash rinse and repeat.
Except that this year, Mo Yi Yan suddenly came knocking on the door with a big bag of stuff on the night of New Year’s Eve. Ever since he woke up in hospital, Mo Yi Yan had become a different person and his attacks on Chen Jiao were really overwhelming, but the more he did this, the more frightened he became. Now even on New Year’s Eve, he had left his family behind to come here, and would rather sleep on the sofa than leave.
“New Year’s Day is about reunion. Even if it’s just two people making dumplings seriously, watching the Spring Festival Gala together and waiting for the New Year’s bell to ring, it’s also a source of rare happiness.”
When someone as cold as Mo Yi Yan said such words, Chen Jiao was really surprised to find out that they were so much in agreement.
As the water inside the pot boiled, he came back to his senses and began to put the dumplings into the pot. As he watched them roll around inside the pot like a gold ingot, he was stunned again.
What was he afraid of? Why did Mo Yi Yan’s enthusiasm towards him deter him? This was probably what people called pretentiousness, but his heart was still holding steadfast. His love could be unrequited and hopeless, but he didn’t have to be humble and undignified. If he ended up being just a passing flicker in Mo Yi Yan’s life, then he might as well have never appeared.
Breakfast was ready.
Mo Yi Yan didn’t say a word and helped pick up the dishes.
Just as the two of them finished, there was a knock on the door.
Mo Yi Yan took the initiative to open the door and even said a few words to the person outside.
A little curious, Chen Jiao stood up as well, only to see Mo Yi Yan close the door and carry in two large convenient bags, the items in the black ones not visible from the outside.
Mo Yi Yan lifted them up, “Go and get a large basin.”
“Ah?”
“Go on, this was delivered by a special person only this morning.” Mo Yi Yan laughed.
He was still very surprised, but he did as Mo Yi Yan asked and went to the kitchen to get a large stainless steel basin.
Mo Yi Yan told him to put the basin on the floor, then crouched down and asked him to help open the bags.
The moment he opened it, Chen Jiao froze.
One bag was filled with orange frozen persimmons, and the other was full of frozen autumn pears. Both were popular fruits that northerners liked to eat very much in winter, especially when they visited relatives in the first month of the lunar year. Everyone would use cold water to thaw a big pot, then they would get together to play cards and chat and when they were tired, the frozen autumn pears and the persimmons would have been thawed, and then they would sit around and start enjoying the delicacy.
All this beauty, for Chen Jiao, only remained in his childhood. And that really was his fondest yearning for the New Year. How did Mo Yi Yan know?
Looking at Chen Jiao’s surprised expression, Mo Yi Yan couldn’t help but remember the time when Chen Jiao brought two frozen persimmons back to his rented cubicle, defrosted them carefully, and then the two of them gathered under the quilt to watch the Spring Festival gala. Of course at that time Mo Yi Yan was forced to do so and the frozen persimmon he was given was even very astringent. It took him a lot of patience not to throw it away.
“What are you dazed for? Go and get some water for us to soak them, they’ll taste good when they’re thawed.” Mo Yi Yan urged Chen Jiao.
“How… do you know that I like these?”
Mo Yi Yan was still waiting for the words to follow, but Chen Jiao stopped talking, smiled instead, picked up the basin and went to the kitchen to get water.
After breakfast, Mo Yi Yan received two phone calls, both from his third brother.
Mo Yixu first reported ‘second brother’s heroic coming out’ incident that happened at home last night, then urged him to come home for dinner.
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