Meng Ting truly remembered that he was supposed to be affectionate; even if he bit, it didn’t take much force. His wet tongue didn’t go up, but instead he kissed downward. In no time, he had taken Yan Sui’s Adam’s apple into his mouth, nibbling and then licking it.
“Meng Ting…” Yan Sui whispered; his tone was still not heavy, but it already carried a hint of warning. His arms gradually tightened. Meng Ting had been flirting with him until now, and the fire in Yan Sui’s heart had long been burning.
However, even Meng Ting might not be able to hear it at ordinary times, let alone at this time. While he was randomly kissing people, he propped his hand on the bed and rubbed Yan Sui’s arm muscles with his other hand. “Yan Sui, be good; we won’t fight.”
Meng Ting saw Yan Sui’s patience as a prelude to a fight, and he even persuaded people with good intentions.
As he spoke, his lips finally left Yan Sui’s neck, but there were clearly some moderately heavy kiss marks left in those places. He cupped Yan Sui’s face with both hands, then slowly came up to the corner of his mouth, touched it, licked it again, and then smelled it again.
“You are Yan Sui. I can smell it.”
Meng Ting spoke with pride, then released his grip on Yan Sui and leaned on the side of his neck. “Be good. Let’s sleep.”
Therefore, Meng Ting’s kiss came to an end here. Yan Sui was teased to the point of burning with desire, but Meng Ting was about to go to sleep now.
Yan Sui took a deep breath. He propped his hand on the bed and then exerted force. The two people’s positions immediately changed. “Sleep?”
Yan Sui didn’t wait for Meng Ting to respond. He lowered his head and kissed Meng Ting’s lips. It wasn’t a kiss like Meng Ting’s, where he nuzzled, rubbed, licked, and nibbled, but rather a domineering and passionate kiss that prevented anyone from retreating. It didn’t allow people to retreat, and naturally, it also didn’t allow people to sleep.
Meng Ting, who originally had already closed his eyes, slowly opened his eyes again. The corners of his mouth curled up, and his eyes were heavy with sleep, but he still responded to Yan Sui’s kiss. The taste of wine in their mouths mixed together, and the intoxicating feeling spread all over his body, fuzzy and fluttering.
The kiss lasted for a long time, but the passion between the two people remained unabated. Their bodies were so close that they could feel the heat rising in each other’s bodies. Yan Sui’s kiss left Meng Ting’s lips and fell on his neck again. The buttons that had been unbuttoned once were even easier to unbutton this time.
Meng Ting let out some intermittently soft hums. He touched Yan Sui’s hair, then moved his hand downward to find Yan Sui’s clothes’ buttons. He unbuttoned them very slowly. He had to deliberate over each button for a considerable amount of time. At the same time, he is also extremely persistent. If he touches one, he won’t let go until he unbuttoned it.
He sometimes dislikes Yan Sui for kissing him and preventing him from unbuttoning his shirt. He’s also requested that Yan Sui kiss him somewhere else.
Finally, he finished unbuttoning Yan Sui’s clothes. He stretched out his hand, then buried his head on the side of Yan Sui’s neck, closing his eyes.
The two people’s skin touched each other, and they were engaged in the most intimate activities for each other. This feeling was still more than just shyness. Meng Ting closed his eyes and contemplated the feeling for some time before concluding that it was indeed joy. He feels happy if he can make Yan Sui happy, and he is happy if he can do something for Yan Sui.
“Yan Sui, I like you.”
Meng Ting withdrew and then whispered these words in his ear. Every time he said this sentence, he felt that he liked Yan Sui a little bit more.
The intoxicating words of love, coupled with the overly emotional mutual help just now, left Yan Sui stunned for a while before replying to Meng Ting, “I like you too.”
He gently embraced the person, and those thoughts that were still clamoring for more suddenly dispersed in this tender confession. Patience is hard work, but he was happy to endure it for Meng Ting.
“Meng Ting, I’ll wait for you to grow up.”
Yan Sui pulled Meng Ting’s arm away, sat up and got out of bed first. He went to the bathroom for a while, then came out to the bed again, and then hugged the person up.
Meng Ting started to sweat again after drinking. Naturally, it would be uncomfortable to sleep like this. Yan Sui carried him to the bathroom to give him a hot bath.
The bathroom has a double bathtub. Normally, he and Meng Ting prefer showers, and they rarely use the bathtub. At this time, it comes in handy for bathing drunk people.
Meng Ting frowned uneasily as the warm water wrapped around his body. Before he could open his eyes, Yan Sui’s hand patted his back. “I’ll take you to take a bath; don’t be afraid.”
Meng Ting slowly opened his eyes, stared at Yan Sui blankly for a long time, nodded, and then closed his eyes again. He leaned into Yan Sui’s arms, and no matter what Yan Sui did after that, he didn’t wake up.
It was Yan Sui’s first time holding such a big boy in his arms for a bath. He tried his best, but it was inevitable that he would lose sight of one thing and another in the process. Meng Ting didn’t fall or touch anything under his care, but he broke out in a hot sweat again.
Yan Sui wrapped the white bath towel around Meng Ting, carried him back to the room, dried him, changed him into pajamas, and covered him with a quilt. Yan Sui let out a long sigh of relief and looked at Meng Ting, who was still sleeping peacefully. A faint smile appeared on his face, and he felt an inexplicable sense of accomplishment.
He stared at the person for a while, then went back to the bathroom to clean himself up. When he returned to the room, he sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the person again.
In fact, Yan Sui himself didn’t fully comprehend the significance of viewing people in this manner, but when he caught sight of Meng Ting, he was compelled to gaze at him in this manner. His eyes and heart were filled with a tenderness that even he couldn’t fully comprehend.
Yan Sui looked at the mobile phone on the bedside table. It was already eleven o’clock. Two hours had passed since he took Meng Ting back upstairs. His lips curled into a helpless smile, then he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Meng Ting’s forehead. “You sleep first; I’ll be back later.”
His lips lifted up slightly. Instead of leaving like this, they fell on Meng Ting’s slightly warmer lips again, staying longer than before.
“Good night.”
***
Yan Sui emerged from the room, already dressed in his usual black suit. Only Zhao Bing was guarding their door. When he saw Yan Sui coming out, he took a step back and waited for Yan Sui’s instructions.
“Lead the way.”
Zhao Bing nodded and walked ahead.
The dance party in the living room downstairs is not quite over yet, but Yan Sui has no intention of going there again. The place he wanted Zhao Bing to lead him was nowhere else but in the Yan’s residence.
Tomorrow he would take Meng Ting away for a week, and there were some things that should be inquired about sooner rather than later. Because of this, Yan Sui was willing to leave the room rather than sleep with a clean and fragrant person in his arms.
The door of the room next to Yan Sui’s study opened, but there was a steeper wooden staircase. They went down to the first floor and then continued down to the basement. The lights turned on one after another. Zhao Bing still walked in front, and Yan Sui followed step by step.
The underground space of the Yan’s residence was quite large. After walking for a while, they arrived at a room guarded by a bodyguard.
“Open it.” The warm look on Yan Sui’s face completely dissipated after he said these words, and there was gradually more frost in his eyes.
“Yes,” the bodyguard nodded, turned around, entered the password, and then opened the door.
It was pitch black inside, with no light coming in. Zhao Bing, who was outside, turned on the light. The person inside closed their eyes and was in a daze for a long time before squinting to look at the people who came in. Then they saw Yan Sui sitting on the only chair in the room. Behind him is Zhao Bing, who stands big and tall, like a fierce deity.
“Grandson-in-law…” Wu Fengjiao’s voice trembled. She hadn’t even been locked up in this dark room for half a day, but she felt as though she had been there for several days. She looked much older than before, and her lips were white. Upon seeing Yan Sui, she was tempted to make a scene, but she lacked the courage to do so.
Yan Sui’s eyes fell on her as soon as he entered the room. After looking at her carefully, he did not find any resemblance between her and Meng Ting. Their eyes were not similar, their noses were not similar, their lips were not similar… their facial features did not resemble each other in any way.
Yan Sui thought of the Meng family again. There was nothing particularly similar between Meng Ting and the children of the same generation in the Meng family. Of course, this was just a sudden feeling he had after looking at them.
“Has Yu Meixuan contacted you over the years?” Yu Meixuan is none other than Meng Ting’s biological mother and Wu Fengjiao’s daughter.
“That dead girl stole my money and ran away, leaving me with a grandson. I don’t know where she went to die.”
Wu Feng had little understanding of the Yan family or the wealthy families in Haicheng. Presumably, in her point of view, their defining characteristic was having endless money. When talking nonsense, she seemed to really think that Yan Sui doesn’t know anything.
Wu Fengjiao is like this, but his Meng Ting could not be more honest. If he doesn’t want to reply, he will simply remain silent rather than lie.
However, the better Meng Ting’s nature is, the more anger one feels for his circumstances—toward the Meng family, toward Meng Ting’s biological mother, and also toward this Wu Fengjiao, who is right in front of him.
“I think she is either dead or has gone abroad. Otherwise, knowing that Meng Ting was well-off, how could she still not… come?” She was speaking her own innermost thoughts. She smiled a little guiltily and wanted to step forward, but Yan Sui’s eyes swept over her, and she subconsciously did not dare to move rashly.
“How did the Meng family find you back then? What did they tell you?”
Yan Sui’s posture remained unchanged, but his tone slowed down a bit. He said, “Be specific. Whatever the Meng family can give you, what I can give will only be more than them.”
Wu Fengjiao paused, and her perfunctory expression changed instantly. She rolled her eyes and thought for a while before saying, “That day was May 20th. I placed a bet in a horse race and lost. On the way back, a tall, thin man stopped me.”
At that time, she thought that the man was going to rob and force himself on her1劫財劫色 (jié cái jié sè): lit. plunder color. T/N: According to the netizens, this term is a more ‘polite’ term of rape or sexual assault. While inappropriate, it sometimes used in a joke between really close friends or couple. As far as Chinese misogynistic remarks goes, 劫色 is pretty mild. It’s a term that’s almost always used in a joking/non-serious manner and isn’t really as strong as 強姦 (qiáng jiān) [rape], especially in the context of traditional Chinese gender roles and beliefs on female sexual submissiveness. 劫色 has been around for a very long time, from the days when the direct term 強姦 was considered too vulgar to be used outside of formal, legal necessity. 劫色 is often used in tandem with 劫財. On a very basic level, the words can be interpreted as ‘robbed of money’ and ‘robbed of beauty’, and the latter when contextualised in Chinese culture and its valuation of a woman’s beauty with ‘honour/chastity’ essentially means ‘violated’., so she was wary, but she didn’t expect that he was there to give her money. “He told me that the dead girl had given birth to a son, and he had been left in the orphanage for seven or eight years. They would give me money once a year, and I would take him back and raise him.”
“When I heard the name for the first time, I thought it was a girl. I didn’t expect that when I went to the orphanage, I would see a beautiful boy. It’s a pity that he was a fool…” Wu Fengjiao hurriedly bit her lip. She almost spoke out the words she used to say about Meng Ting in the past.
Yan Sui narrowed his eyes, and he did not bother to correct someone who had never loved and cared for Meng Ting. He frowned and said, “May 20th, isn’t that Meng Ting’s birthday?”
The only difference between Meng Ting’s old and new ID cards was the year. He always thought that this day was Meng Ting’s birthday.
But how could it be so coincidental? On Meng Ting’s birthday, Wu Fengjiao learned about Meng Ting’s existence and went to pick him up.
Wu Fengjiao lowered her head in embarrassment, but then she became confident again. “Who knows from which nook or cranny2旮旯角落 (gā lá jiǎo luò): corner; nook; recess; out-of-the-way place. T/N: Most likely from Chinese dialect; 犄角旮旯 (jī jiǎo gā lá), (dialectal, colloquial) every nook and corner; every nook and cranny; inconspicuous places. that dead girl gave birth? It was said that he was just born two or three days ago, but who knows if it was two or three days?”
“February or December, which day was it… Alas, I can’t remember it. When it’s time to register for residence, I just choose a date that I remember.”
That day was the day when the Meng family gave her money every year. Wu Fengjiao couldn’t forget it, even if she wanted to. She felt that choosing this day as Meng Ting’s birthday was still appropriate and convenient3便宜 (pián yi): cheap; inexpensive; advantage (usually unfairly gained); opportunity; convenient; handy; appropriate and convenient; to be best; to let sb off lightly..
For a grandmother to be irresponsible to such an extent is also astonishing.
“So is Meng Ting seventeen or eighteen?” Yan Sui’s voice was a little deeper, and the cold light in his eyes was even darker.
In the face of Yan Sui’s question, Wu Fengjiao was silent once again. However, she had never been interested in Meng Ting. She should have heard about it once or twice in the orphanage, but as time passed, she forgot about it.
Therefore, Meng Ting might have reached adulthood last year, or Yan Sui might have to wait a few more months.
“He was so thin at that time, almost like a five- or six-year-old child; even saying he was seven years old might be too much.”
Wu Fengjiao felt a rare sense of guilt for a moment. She recalled the first time she met Meng Ting. He was sitting in the corner of the room, holding a plump old cat. She talked to him for a long time, but he never paid her any attention from the beginning to the end.
The people in the orphanage didn’t like Meng Ting very much either. After pointing out someone to her and saying a few words, no one came out to see them off until she took the sleeping Meng Ting away.
That place was so eerie and strange. She didn’t want to stay there, so she took Meng Ting away and fulfilled her promise to the Meng family.
Yan Sui tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair. Even though this topic could be considered to be over, it was absolutely necessary for him to investigate further.
The orphanage where Meng Ting once stayed was closed a year after he left. The children there were transferred to nearby welfare homes and orphanages, and some past written materials were lost as a result.
The people who used to work there before were scattered all over the place. It will take some time to find them all and remind them of Meng Ting, but with his people’s work efficiency, it shouldn’t take too long.
But by recognizing Meng Ting, the Meng family should have confirmed his identity, yet now there is a situation where even Meng Ting’s specific date and month of birth cannot be determined.
Is Meng Ting really a child of the Meng family? Although it was a bit arbitrary to be so suspicious, Yan Sui still placed a question mark in his heart.
As soon as the investigation started, he found that there were many things that needed to be investigated. This also included the entanglement between Yu Meixuan and Meng Yide, which was so sensational at the time that even he had some impressions of.
Wu Fengjiao, seeing Yan Sui’s sudden silence, did not dare to remain silent. She continued, “Our family’s Ting Ting likes cats and dogs the most. He often fights with the neighborhood kids over them. He treats them better than he treats me.”
Wu Fengjiao said sourly, but it seemed that whatever she said casually made her feel guilty for a while under Yan Sui’s gaze. The reason for her guilty conscience was that she indeed had not treated Meng Ting well.
“Tell me in detail about the time when Meng Ting fell ill when he was eleven years old.”
Wu Fengjiao’s eyes suddenly widened a little. She thought in her heart that she didn’t mind saying it, but she was afraid that after Yan Sui heard this, he would no longer be willing to give her what he had promised her before.
Yan Sui could see through Wu Fengjiao’s thoughts at a glance. He leaned forward slightly and met Wu Fengjiao’s gaze. “Tell me the truth. I’ll give you five million, with the added condition that you have to leave the country.”
“Five…five million…” In total, the Meng family had only given her seven to eight hundred thousand yuan over the years——less than one million. Yan Sui gave her five million as soon as he made the move. Her lips trembled, and then she made up her mind and nodded her head.
She originally couldn’t stay in Donglin Town any longer. If she has money, going abroad is nothing; at worst, she could just hire a translator.
They engaged in conversation from eleven o’clock until two o’clock at night. Three hours later, Yan Sui learned more specifically from Wu Fengjiao’s words what kind of life Meng Ting lived in those seven years.
He endured starvation, swearing, ostracism, injuries… and persecution from the only family he had ever known and outsiders.
After raising a kitten or puppy for seven years, one would naturally develop some feelings for them. Yet, faced with the temptation of money, Wu Fengjiao still sold Meng Ting. She doesn’t question why someone would want to harm a child like this; she only sees what she desires. Her ugliness is not just skin deep; it also extends to her soul, which is beyond redemption.
“Add another five million. Don’t allow her to escape before she turns seventy!”
Yan Sui said to Zhao Bing as he walked out of the basement.
The so-called five million given to Wu Fengjiao, plus what Yan Sui is now adding, will not fall into her hands at all, but it is still considered money spent on her. The money would send her to a nunnery abroad, and Wu Fengjiao would not be able to walk out of that place until she was seventy years old.
Foreign countries are not as simple as Wu Fengjiao thought. She doesn’t understand the language, has no money, and can’t escape from the nunnery. Whatever she once made Meng Ting suffer in the past, now Yan Sui pays her back twice as much.
List of Idiom in Chapter 039
睡眼惺忪 (shuì yǎn xīng sōng): drowsy-eyed (describing the state when a person just wakes up); have a drowsy look; sleepy with eyes half closed; have eyes heavy with sleep; be sleepy-eyed/bleary-eyed; a sleeping person who has just woken up and is not yet fully awake.得心應手 (dé xīn yìng shǒu): lit. what the heart wishes, the hand accomplishes (idiom); suit one’s mind and hand—work with facility/high proficiency; skilled at the job; entirely in one’s element; going smoothly and easily; (idiomatic) with high proficiency and facility, having perfect control over something; Metaphor of proficiency or doing things very smoothly.
意猶未盡 (yì yóu wèi jìn): to wish to continue sth; to have not fully expressed oneself; to be left wanting more; to yearn for more; unsatisfied pleasure; have not given full expression to one’s views; describes that the activity makes people feel good, but they are not fully satisfied after it is over.
嘆為觀止 (tàn wéi guān zhǐ): to gasp in amazement; to acclaim as the peak of perfection; astonished; breathtaking; marvel at; admire greatly; be struck with admiration; an idiom derived from historical stories.
轟轟烈烈 (hōng hōng liè liè): vigorous; dynamic; large-scale; on a grand and spectacular scale; describes the prosperity of a career. It also describes the great momentum and grandeur.
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