The day Jiang's parents found out that their son came out as gay, Jiang Shui and Qi Yan were having sex with each other in the apartment.
Since being discharged from the hospital, Qi Yan and Jiang Shui have moved in together. The place I chose to live in was a re-rented apartment, which was close to Qi Yan's gallery and much closer to where Jiang Shui studied cooking.
There were only two of them in this small apartment, and occasionally Jiang Ze would come over to stay for a while and then leave.
No, Jiang Ze slammed the door angrily and shouted to Jiang Shui: "Brother! My second uncle asked you to go home!"
Jiang Shui opened the door and looked at Jiang Ze with a confused expression: "Why are you calling me home at this time?"
"...Well, I accidentally said something about you and Qi Yan." Jiang Ze had already admitted in his heart that he was a pig teammate, but when he was chatting, he spoke quickly and said, "Really, I I didn’t mean it! Now my second uncle is looking for you everywhere... Be careful when you go home."
Jiang Shui looked at Jiang Ze for a long time, and then closed the door with a bang.
Jiang Ze touched the tip of his red nose, turned around and left without tears. Inside the room, Jiang Shui glanced at Qi Yan in annoyance, met Qi Yan's puzzled gaze, and asked, "Do you want to go home with me?"
They have been together for almost half a year, and this is the first time Jiang Shui has offered to take him home.
Qi Yan paused for a while and shook his head: "I'm not ready yet, so let's forget it..."
"But my parents already know." Jiang Shui walked over, ignoring his shocked gaze, and hugged him from behind: "Go back with me. I'm timid and don't want to face it by myself."
Qi Yan's face turned slightly red. He tilted his head and said, "When will it be? Wait until I get ready tonight..."
"We can't prepare now." Jiang Shui kissed his side of the face from behind: "After today, everything will get better."
In fact, Qi Yan wants to say that it's good to be like this now. He doesn't have to worry about his parents for the time being and can live a good life in their world.
In Qi Yan's heart, meeting his parents was still a long time ago.
It can be considered a rush. Qi Yan simply packed up, and with an uneasy mood, he and Jiang Shui got into the car heading to Jiang's house. On the way, Qi Yan kept twisting his clothes and looking out the window.
Jiang Shui pursed his lips and said comfortingly: "Don't worry, Jiang Ze has paved the way for us."
"...What if your parents don't agree with us?" Qi Yan said worriedly: "I'm afraid that Jiang Ze has paved the way and when I go, your parents will kick me out without even listening to what I say..."
"Are you worried about Jiang Ze?" Qi Yan's humorous tone made Jiang Shui laugh out loud.
Qi Yan glared at Jiang Shui. Couldn't he see that he was nervous now? Still laughing!
"It's not that I'm worried about Jiang Ze, I'm just thinking that if Jiang Ze tells your parents about our situation, and your parents don't agree from the beginning..." Qi Yan lowered his eyes in silence, "You can't blame them either. Old man, after all, it’s okay not to accept homosexuality.”
"Don't worry, I'm here." Taking advantage of the red light, Jiang Shui reached out and stroked Qi Yan's cheek.
Hearing him comforting himself like this, Qi Yan actually smiled: "You said you were timid, and you told me not to worry."
"I think my parents are very reasonable." Jiang Shui thought for a moment and said seriously: "They probably won't do anything particularly extreme. Even if I don't agree, I will beg them."
Qi Yan raised his eyebrows and stopped talking.
He still trusted Jiang Shui, oh no, very much.
When they arrived at Jiangzhai, Jiang Shui parked the car on one side, got off the car, walked around to the other side and opened the door for Qi Yan.
Qi Yan looked at the huge and magnificent villa and suddenly felt very small.
Jiang Shui stood next to Qi Yan and said, "Are you scared?"
"Well, a bit." Qi Yan did not deny it: "I didn't expect you to be the son of a big family."
"Yeah." After Jiang Shui finished speaking, a strange look suddenly appeared on his face: "By the way, my family... is quite a lot, so don't be angry when you are surrounded for a while. They don't mean any harm."
Qi Yan suddenly imagined himself looking like a monkey surrounded by people, and he shook his body coldly.
As soon as they arrived at the door, the door was opened from the inside, and an old man who looked like a housekeeper stood at the door, smiling with narrowed eyes.
"Young Master, Mr. Qi, you are back."
"Uncle." Jiang Shui called, then turned to Qi Yan and said, "This is our housekeeper. We all call him Uncle."
Qi Yan also called out. The old man narrowed his eyes and led them inside: "The master and his wife are all waiting."
One sentence made Qi Yan's originally anxious mood tremble even more.
Jiang Shui held his hand, hoping to give him courage through its body temperature.
After being led into the main hall by Uncle, the first thing Qi Yan saw was Jiang Ze standing on one side facing the wall.
His heart tightened, Qi Yan wanted to gloat, but couldn't.
—Isn’t it because he helped him put in a good word with Jiang Shui and then got punished
After Uncle's figure moved away, Qi Yan saw that almost every seat in the luxurious living room was occupied by people.
Judging by their age, almost all of them were the elders of Jiang Shui and Jiang Ze. Those sitting in the middle of the living room and squinting at him must be Jiang Shui's parents.
The atmosphere was a bit awkward. Jiang Shui didn't say anything and Qi Yan didn't dare. He squeezed Jiang Shui's hand from below and motioned Jiang Shui to speak.
"... Mom, Dad, uncle, aunt, I'm back." Jiang Shui shouted one by one, and then introduced to them: "This is Qi Yan, my... lover."
"Humph!" A middle-aged man snorted coldly, glared at Jiang Shui, and turned his head to ignore them.
Qi Yan was a little embarrassed. Just as he was about to say something, he heard the woman next to the man smile at them.
"What are you doing standing there? Find a place to sit."
Jiang Shui nodded and said to the woman, "Mom, thank you." Then he pulled Qi Yan and sat on two chairs brought over by his uncle.
Although there isn't even a sofa, Qi Yan is already very satisfied... It's better than kneeling on the floor!
As soon as he sat down, Qi Yan was bombarded by his seven aunts and eight aunts.
"I heard he's a painter, which is a good profession."
"Now that I can open a gallery by myself, I won't have to worry about life anymore."
"Hey, it's much stronger than our river water."
"Indeed, in this case, the two of them would be a bit out of place."
Qi Yan thought that he would be the target of public criticism. After listening to their words, he realized that it was not him that they were talking about, but Jiang Shui...
Turning around, he saw Jiang Shui lowering his head in silence, as if he couldn't hear what they were saying.
For a moment, anger arose in my heart. Maybe they were just joking, as the elders wanted to inspire the younger ones... But Qi Yan didn't think they used the right method.
As family members, do they really understand Jiang Shui? Do they know Jiang Shui's efforts? Or to put it more bluntly, have they ever eaten food made from river water
They certainly haven't eaten.
"Sorry, I can't listen anymore." Qi Yan interrupted them coldly.
The surrounding sounds suddenly stopped, and Qi Yan could feel that all eyes were focused on him.
"As a junior, it's really rude to interrupt you, but I'm sorry, I can't listen anymore."
"Jiang Shui has done really well. As long as he wants to, he can go abroad for further study in the next second. I believe that when he comes back again, he will become the pride of everyone."
"Being out of place is the right way to describe me. I'm just a painter, I only have one gallery, and nothing else. I won't make any progress, and my life will just end at where I am now. stage."
"But Jiang Shui is different. He is making progress every day, and his progress is endless. Maybe you now think that he has nothing to do, or even that his so-called ideals are worthless, but I believe in him."
"Please forgive my offence. Have you all eaten the food made by Jiang Shui?"
"It only took two days from the time I met Jiang Shui until he wanted to cook a meal for me. But everyone here has been his family since childhood."
"Yes, the Jiang family is a big family, a very prosperous family. The heir is like gold wrapped in gold powder, shining golden from the inside out."
"The river water has only washed away the layer of gold powder, but he is still a piece of gold. He wants to create his own world somewhere else."
"He wants your support, and he wants the food he makes to make you feel his care and love."
"Half a year ago, I was not gay, and neither was Jiang Shui."
"But half a year later, my lover is Jiang Shui, and Jiang Shui's lover is me. It's that simple."
There was no sound in the silent room, as if everyone was shocked by him and could not speak.
Qi Yan stood up and slowly knelt down.
"We are all Jiang Shui's elders, that is, my elders. I apologize for the rude words I just said, but I don't regret it."
"Uncle and auntie don't have to accept me, but please accept Jiang Shui's ideals."
"He also cares about you, otherwise he wouldn't have stayed here and wouldn't want to leave. If he didn't care, he could fly abroad almost the day he moved out."
"Jiang Shui cares about you and loves you, so he has been waiting for you to give him a chance to show off."
What Jiang Shui needs has always been everyone's recognition.
Qi Yan knelt there, facing all the silence in silence. The atmosphere made people feel terrible, and even the future was dark.
He and Jiang Shui might be finished at this moment.
Suddenly, there was a movement around him, and Qi Yan turned his head to look over. Jiang Shui was kneeling next to him, holding his hand tightly.
He was agitated, trembling.
In the bright and luxurious hall, two young men knelt in the middle, waiting for the sentence as if they had accepted their fate.
When everyone was silent, Jiang Ze's particularly loud voice suddenly came from behind.
"I've eaten the food cooked by my elder brother! It's very delicious!"
"You stinky boy, stop talking. I told you to face the wall, where did you go?"
"No, Mom, you really should try it. When I don't eat, I go to my elder brother's place to get food..."
"Ouch! Why don't you eat every day? You want to be promoted to an immortal!"
The conversation between Jiang Ze and Jiang Ze's mother eased the atmosphere around them, and everyone breathed an almost inaudible sigh of relief.
After a long time, Qi Yan felt his arms being held up by a pair of hands.
"Get up, kid." Mother Jiang's gentle smile gave Qi Yan a lot of warmth. She caressed Qi Yan's cheek and said softly, "Thank you for being willing to speak for Ah Shui."
"...I'm not speaking for him, but because he's not worth it." Qi Yan smiled: "Auntie, Jiang Shui is really powerful."
"I know, I've always known it." Jiang's mother also smiled: "From the moment you came in, I knew that our Ah Shui is a blessed child."
"Auntie..." Qi Yan's eyes filled with tears. The darkness that had just oppressed her was now dissipated by the light of maternal love.
Jiang Shui was also pulled up by his uncle.
His uncle, Jiang Ze's father, was a man of no words. He patted Jiang Shui on the shoulder and said, "The sandwich is delicious."
Jiang Shui raised his eyebrows, glanced at Jiang Ze, and found that he was looking at the sky and did not dare to look at him.
"Hey, let me tell you, my sister-in-law is the one who knows everything about this." The younger-looking middle-aged woman walked up behind Jiang's father and pushed his shoulder: "You don't know about your own son?" What are you doing every day?"
For a moment, the atmosphere seemed like a big family gathering, or it had been a family gathering from the beginning.
His anxious mood returned to calm. Qi Yan met Jiang's father's eyes and nodded lightly.
Sure enough, Jiang's father snorted coldly, but he didn't look away.
Qi Yan felt that he was being accepted by the entire family.
"Okay, okay, don't make the atmosphere too depressing and scare other people's children."
Jiang Shui's aunt took out an apron from somewhere, put it on and walked to the kitchen.
"I'm cooking first, and I asked you to come and check me halfway through. Really, I'm not interested anymore."
Halfway through, Aunt Jiang suddenly stopped and turned to look at the river with a smile: "Come on, nephew, give me a shot."
Jiang Shui was naturally willing. He smiled very happily, let go of Qi Yan's hand, and followed Aunt Jiang into the kitchen.
His ideals are being accepted!
Jiang Shui was happy, and Qi Yan also looked at his back and smiled.
Great, this is finally settled.
He was surprised that the Jiang family accepted him so quickly, even though he was a boy. He was also surprised that the Jiang family was so easy to talk to. It seemed that as long as he spoke to them, they would listen carefully.
The previous estrangement was probably the result of lack of communication. Thinking of Jiang Shui's dull look, Qi Yan smiled helplessly.
During the meal, many of Jiang Shui's dishes were praised by everyone. It was not a deliberate compliment, but a genuine shock and surprise after eating it.
Everything is so beautiful.
At night, Qi Yan walked side by side with the river, feeling the night breeze blowing around him.
Jiang Shui held his hand and refused to let go. Qi Yan also held his hand, and the two felt the warmth coming from each other's hands.
Peace of mind and caring.
"Qi Yan, thank you."
The sound of the river comes with the wind.
Qi Yan smiled in his heart, but said mercilessly: "Thank you, I didn't do anything for you."
"Well, from now on, you just have to wait obediently if I do anything for you."
"Tch, you seem to be relieved when you say that. Find a time to go abroad for further study."
"I don't want to leave you..."
"Huh, when the time comes, I will go abroad to relax, not accompany you to further your studies."
"Really?"
"It's fake, don't believe it."
"No, I believed it, you can't go back on it."
…
Qi Yan almost held the river water deeply in his palm;
Jiang Shui, on the other hand, held him carefully and protected him.