Next time: Grandpa will harm me!
For the first time, Xie Mingtu was celebrating his birthday with his grandparents—or rather, it was the first time he had ever had family celebrate his birthday like this.
Back in the Xie family, his birthday had been an insignificant day, an ordinary end-of-year date that few people ever mentioned. What people talked about more was the upcoming New Year’s Eve.
He had never really celebrated a birthday. So when his grandparents and Su Xiaoman said they wanted to celebrate it for him, Xie Mingtu was a little slow to react at first.
“Celebrate… my birthday?”
In the Xie family, he had only ever seen Xie Lao’er, Xie Yaozu, and their parents celebrate birthdays. As for the others, at most they would get an extra egg on that day—nothing more.
In the village, people only held birthday banquets for elders on milestone birthdays. Back then, everyone was poor and couldn’t afford much celebration anyway.
And now, they were going to celebrate his birthday.
Xie Mingtu felt a moment of joy, then foolishly blurted out, “Manman, can I celebrate my twentieth birthday early?”
Su Xiaoman laughed and jumped up to knock him lightly on the head. “Don’t be silly. Stop dreaming. Be good—next year we’ll celebrate your twentieth birthday properly.”
A trace of disappointment appeared on Xie Mingtu’s face, his earlier excitement fading quite a bit.
He leaned close to Su Xiaoman’s ear and whispered, “Manman, can you help me tonight?”
Su Xiaoman’s face flushed red. Annoyed, she pinched his ear. At first, it had just been using her hands, but later this guy’s demands had grown. He would hug her and say he just wanted to rub against her. Su Xiaoman had wanted to curse him on the spot.
She thought, if you’ve got the ability, why not just go all the way? You’ve already done every borderline thing you shouldn’t be doing.
You’re the only one enjoying yourself, not even thinking about how I’m left hanging.
And she herself wasn’t any better—she didn’t even know who exactly was the one holding back. He was clearly having a great time, while she wasn’t happy at all!
This stupid dog!
“I’m not helping. If you keep messing around, I’m going to sleep with Grandma.”
Hearing this, Xie Mingtu could only lower his head in disappointment and respond with a quiet “Oh.” His ears drooped, and he looked down with lowered eyes.
“Since I was little, I’ve hardly had any birthdays… Now that I finally have Grandpa, Grandma, and you, Manman, I should feel satisfied…”
“I don’t have any big wishes. Just one small thing is enough to satisfy me.”
…
Su Xiaoman felt her teeth ache hearing this. She thought, if you’re really a man, can you just be direct? Don’t settle for your “small wish”—have a bit more ambition.
If your wish were just a little bigger, she might have agreed right away.
Did she really have to be the one to take the initiative?
“Manman…”
Su Xiaoman raised both hands and tugged at his cheeks, saying impatiently, “Fine, fine—I’ll agree.”
The moment Xie Mingtu heard that, he happily picked her up and spun her around seven or eight times. Su Xiaoman nearly got dizzy from it. During the days he had stayed at his grandparents’ house, all that training had definitely not been for nothing.
Yesterday, he had even held her up with one hand under her hips. Su Xiaoman had almost been scared to death.
What kind of strange pose and training method was that? What exactly had Grandpa Jiang been making him practice? Even if you’re lifting weights, you can’t treat your wife like a barbell!
What scared Su Xiaoman even more was that this guy still thought his body wasn’t strong enough.
He said his strength wasn’t enough and that he needed to train more.
Su Xiaoman thought, if you train any more, I’m going to start panicking.
Right now, he had only lifted her. What was he planning to do next?
The day before Xie Mingtu’s birthday, Jiang’s parents suggested that Grandpa and Grandma come over to the Jiang household for a meal so they could all celebrate together. Grandpa Jiang refused, Grandma Jiang didn’t agree either, and as for Xie Mingtu—there was no way he would go.
Xie Yazhi came alone to deliver birthday gifts. She had prepared things for both her biological son and her daughter-in-law.
After putting the gifts down and saying only a few words, she left. When she came, Xie Mingtu did not meet her and had no intention of doing so. He returned to his room, climbed out through the window, and deliberately avoided seeing her.
Now, he was unwilling even to call her “Auntie.”
Xie Mingtu didn’t know how to face this mother, nor did he really want her in his life. In his heart, Liu Shufeng was his mother, and Su Guodong was his father.
Now he had parents, brothers, grandparents, and a wife. He didn’t need to acknowledge any more outsiders.
There was no need to.
He still remembered clearly what it had been like the day he went back to the Jiang family. He knew that Xie Yazhi didn’t like him and wasn’t satisfied with Manman as a daughter-in-law. That day, Manman had said those things, and Jiang Liming had almost hit her… Xie Mingtu remembered all of it.
When Su Xiaoman saw this, she found it both funny and exasperating. She hadn’t expected things to turn out the complete opposite of the original story—where the Jiang family had disliked Xie Mingtu. Now it was Xie Mingtu who disliked his Jiang parents.
At first, he had still called them Auntie Xie and Uncle Jiang a couple of times. Now he didn’t even want to say that.
He truly had no intention of acknowledging them as his parents.
At the beginning, Grandpa and Grandma Jiang had only thought he was being stubborn. Later, they realised he was serious.
Grandpa Jiang simply sighed. “A twist of fate.”
“You gained an adopted son, but you’re destined to lose a son. If Xiaotu doesn’t want to acknowledge you as parents, then let it be. Don’t force him,” he said openly to his son.
“You two can stay with Jiang Yantang, and Xiaotu will stay with us. Everyone goes their own way. That way there’s no arguing, and everyone’s happy.”
Xie Yazhi felt heartbroken. How could this be considered a happy ending? Her own biological son didn’t even acknowledge her!
After Xie Mingtu ran out, Su Xiaoman followed him. She didn’t like arguments either. With Xie Yazhi here, she could already imagine what would be said—things like parents apologising, asking them to get along well with Yantang, and so on.
Arguing was useless. It was better not to see each other at all and let everyone live their own lives peacefully.
Xie Mingtu had his grandparents. Jiang Yantang kept his parents. It could be considered a happy ending.
Parents like that… better off without.
Not long after running out of the courtyard, Su Xiaoman suddenly felt a pair of hands cover her eyes from behind. Without guessing, she already knew who it was.
“Stupid dog, let me go.”
It was a hidden little corner. Xie Mingtu pressed her against the wall and kissed her fiercely for a long time, as if venting something. Su Xiaoman held onto him. At that moment, snow began to fall from the sky.
Fluffy snowflakes drifted down, just like the snow that had fallen when Xie Mingtu was born.
Snow filled the air, the wind howling as it carried the flakes. The view became hazy. The evening sky was a misty blue, and their silhouettes, along with the falling snow, were reflected on the grey stone wall.
Su Xiaoman let herself lean against the man beside her. In the light snow, the two of them clung tightly together, as if there was nothing else left in the world but them.
She looked up at him and noticed a snowflake resting on his eyelashes—it was beautiful.
Xie Mingtu released her shoulders and gazed into her bright, watery eyes. After confirming that his reflection was the only thing in her amber pupils, he lowered his head again. His kisses became softer and more scattered, falling on her forehead, her temples, her brows, her eyes, her nose, and finally her soft lips.
They had already shared countless kisses. Even the most inexperienced beginner would gain some understanding through repeated attempts like these.
Su Xiaoman responded to his kiss. Her fingers traced along his face, from his brow bone down, brushing lightly over his long lashes, to the bridge of his nose, and finally grazing his lips.
When the kiss ended, Su Xiaoman, still leaning against the wall, wrapped her arms around his neck and bit lightly at his Adam’s apple. Xie Mingtu stiffened, but obediently and willingly offered that vulnerable spot to her.
“Manman…” he called her softly, his voice filled with emotion.
Leaning close to his ear, Su Xiaoman whispered gently, “Happy birthday, Mingtu.”
In the cold wind, their hands found each other, fingers interlocked.
By the time they returned to Grandpa Jiang’s house, Xie Yazhi had already left. And if she hadn’t, the two of them wouldn’t have come back anyway.
From a distance, Xie Mingtu could already hear the sounds inside the house—saving them quite a bit of trouble.
As soon as they entered the house, Su Xiaoman went to make ginger soup for the two of them. Xie Mingtu naturally ran warm, so even in the falling snow, he did not feel cold at all. But Su Xiaoman had left in a hurry and had not worn many layers. Once it started snowing, she immediately felt chilled, so Xie Mingtu held her and passed his body heat to her.
But the wind and snow were still heavy. Xie Mingtu protected her well, yet Su Xiaoman worried whether his thin clothes could really withstand the bitter cold.
Xie Mingtu smiled as he drank a bowl of ginger soup, then lifted his arm to show that he really was perfectly fine.
Su Xiaoman lowered her head and took a sip of ginger soup. The fiery heat gave her throat a slight stinging pain, but her body quickly warmed up. At this moment, Grandma Jiang came over and pointed at her lips.
Su Xiaoman froze. The next second, she ran to the mirror and only then discovered just how terrible she looked. Her lips had been bitten swollen by a certain dog. They looked as if she had undergone lip fillers—red, swollen, and alluringly ravaged.
Not to mention the patches of red marks on her neck. Luckily, she was wearing thick winter clothes, or Grandma would have seen all those little strawberries.
“Grandma, this is from eating an ice lolly earlier. It got frozen like this,” Su Xiaoman said, making a very obvious excuse.
“You really shouldn’t eat such cold things in winter. Look what happened to my mouth.”
“Why was someone selling ice lollies at the courtyard gate while it was snowing? I saw a few kids buying them, so I followed along…”
Grandma Jiang: “…”
What a poor excuse.
“Xiaoman, it’s fine. You don’t need to explain. Grandma has been through it. I know…”
Su Xiaoman: “…”
Knowing doesn’t stop me from dying of embarrassment.
Grandpa Jiang, meanwhile, walked over and patted Xie Mingtu on the shoulder, praising him. “Good lad. You’ve got your grandpa’s heroic bearing from back then.”
Xie Mingtu asked curiously, “Grandpa, what kind of heroic bearing did you have back then?”
Grandpa Jiang choked for a moment, thinking, Is this boy’s brain a straight line? Is this something you can just say out loud?
“It can only be understood, not explained. Silly boy, think about it yourself.”
“The fact that you could marry a wife like Xiaoman really is like a blind cat running into a dead mouse.”
“When I pursued your grandma back then, that was—” At this point, Grandpa Jiang stopped.
Xie Mingtu instantly understood. “I’m luckier than Grandpa.”
Grandpa Jiang jumped in anger. “You brat, how are you talking?”
Xie Yazhi had left, leaving birthday gifts for Xie Mingtu, as well as something specifically for her daughter-in-law, Su Xiaoman. She had prepared a winter coat for Xie Mingtu. The workmanship was exquisite and the price was clearly not low. Xie Mingtu only glanced at it and did not wear it. Instead, he sat by the fire roasting sweet potatoes, wrapped in Grandpa’s old military coat.
Grandpa Jiang was wearing the same kind of military coat, and by his leg was the same kind of roasted sweet potato.
“Grandpa, turn it over, otherwise only one side will cook.”
Grandpa Jiang looked at him with disdain. “Do I need you to remind me? Of course Grandpa knows.”
For Su Xiaoman, Xie Yazhi had prepared a fashionable scarf and hat. Su Xiaoman put these clothes, scarf, and hat together and asked Grandma Jiang to find a place to store them.
Grandma Jiang said nothing much. “Next time, let Yazhi take them back. She doesn’t need to send things anymore.”
The four of them had dinner together, celebrating Xie Mingtu’s nineteenth birthday. Grandpa Jiang was happy, so he opened a bottle of baijiu and insisted on pulling his youngest grandson into drinking with him.
Since childhood, Xie Mingtu had never touched alcohol, nor had he had much opportunity to. But with Grandpa Jiang pulling him along, he did not dare refuse and drank some liquor with him.
Although Grandpa Jiang normally neither smoked nor drank, his alcohol tolerance was excellent. He taught his grandson, “Grandpa normally doesn’t touch alcohol or cigarettes, but your grandpa’s drinking capacity is natural.”
“Those people who want to drink me under the table—useless.”
“Xiaotu, we don’t have to drink often, but we must be able to drink. Come, Grandpa is in the mood today. Drink a couple of cups with me.”
“Pour it.”
Xie Mingtu was also very honest. He downed a cup of baijiu in one go. After several cups, his whole body became dizzy, and he could no longer tell east from west.
Su Xiaoman brought him back to the room. His face and neck were flushed, and he only knew how to smile foolishly at her, murmuring, “Manman, Manman.”
She fetched water to wipe his body. He let Su Xiaoman move him around however she wanted. Su Xiaoman took off his clothes and wiped his chest and back. When she got to his trousers, she paused for a moment.
Then she thought, It’s not like I haven’t seen it before, and gave up resisting, wiping this drunkard down completely. The person who had been clamouring during the day for Manman to help him was now lying obediently on the bed asleep.
Su Xiaoman thought: I did help you. It took a lot of effort too.
After wiping down this 1.86-metre-tall man, she felt as if she had run an 800-metre race. Xie Mingtu might look slim, but he was not light at all. His body was full of lean, firm muscle, and his abdomen actually had eight-pack abs.
Previously, Su Xiaoman had thought it was six. Just now, she counted carefully and even poked them twice, touching them several times. She almost startled Xie Mingtu awake and frightened herself.
She did not want to help him again.
Su Xiaoman washed up and went to sleep. When she lay beside Xie Mingtu, she patted his cheek, kissed his lips, and said happy birthday again.
She had originally planned to agree to him on his birthday. Who knew this guy would get drunk and sleep like a dead pig? What else could she do?
No!
In the darkness, Su Xiaoman opened her eyes and stared at the man beside her, thinking: This year, I must take him down.
The next day, after waking up from his drunken sleep, Xie Mingtu sat silently at the doorway wrapped in the military coat, looking as if he had been struck by lightning. Seven or eight icicles hung from the eaves above him, and outside, everything was already covered in silver.
After thinking it over and over, only one sentence remained in Xie the dog’s mind:
—Grandpa harmed me.
His nineteenth birthday had passed in the blink of an eye while he slept… He had actually slept through it?! He had no memory of anything. He slept through it?!
What about his Manman? Manman had promised to help him. He had thought it would be an unforgettable nineteenth birthday night, but who knew he would fall asleep just like that?
If there were regret medicine in front of him, he would definitely eat a whole basket of it. Yesterday, he should never have drunk those cups of alcohol with Grandpa.
“Xiaotu, what’s wrong?” Grandma Jiang asked with concern. Her youngest grandson had been sitting at the doorway since early morning, reflecting on life. She had no idea what had happened.
“Nothing.” Xie Mingtu wrapped the military coat tighter around himself.
By the time Su Xiaoman slowly woke up, Xie Mingtu immediately appeared beside her. Su Xiaoman rubbed her eyes. She had been busy enough last night and was exhausted. On a cold day like this, it was best to burrow under the covers, stay in bed, and refuse to get up.
“Manman, Manman…”
The moment she opened her eyes, she heard the familiar “Manman, Manman.”
Xie the dog’s ears were far too sharp. Even when he was sitting at the doorway, the moment he heard Su Xiaoman waking up, he rushed straight to her side.
Xie Mingtu took off the military coat and held a comb in his hand, very attentively serving his beloved Manman by combing her hair. Su Xiaoman was happy to be treated like an empress dowager and let him gently comb her hair.
“Manman, you promised…” Xie Mingtu’s faint voice came from above her head.
Su Xiaoman’s hand paused as she reached for the face cream. Then she lazily propped up her chin and tilted her head to look at Xie Mingtu.
“Promised what?”
“You promised to help me…” Not only had his voice become faint and eerie, even his eyes looked green with resentment.
Su Xiaoman declared firmly, “I already helped you!”
Xie Mingtu: “!!!!”
“I was exhausted to death. I was so tired that I only woke up now. Don’t tell me you forgot?”
Xie Mingtu was completely confused. His expression looked even more like he had been struck by lightning. Helped? Had something really happened last night? But he had forgotten all of it?
—Grandpa harmed me!
Su Xiaoman smiled, held his face, and kissed him. “Next time.”
Xie Mingtu, utterly dejected, put Grandpa’s military coat back on, feeling the warmth and care from Grandpa.
Xie Mingtu’s birthday was on the seventeenth day of the twelfth lunar month. In a few more days, it would be New Year. Su Xiaoman and Xie Mingtu did not plan to stay at Grandpa Jiang’s house for the New Year. Instead, they planned to return to Qiaoxin Village.
After being away for some time, they really should go back. They were afraid Liu Shufeng would be terribly worried, so they wanted to return and reassure her.
They had already agreed with Grandpa and Grandma that they would come back on the third day of the New Year and spend a few days with them. On the eighth day, Xie Mingtu would report to a certain army unit for special training.
Su Xiaoman and Xie Mingtu carried their things back. Under Grandma Jiang’s loving care, both of them were dressed extremely warmly. Even though Xie Mingtu insisted he did not need it, Grandma Jiang still put a thick cotton-padded coat on him, wrapping him up properly.
Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang were wearing sweaters knitted by Su Xiaoman. They were two grey sweaters, with pretty patterns woven into them. The two elders loved wearing them. She had knitted Xie Mingtu a vest, along with a scarf and hat.
As they were leaving, Xie Mingtu, who had been forced into the thick cotton coat, was also made to wear a hat by Grandpa.
Grandpa and Grandma saw them onto the train. As soon as they reached their seats, Xie Mingtu quickly took off the scarf and hat and wrapped them around Su Xiaoman instead, making the already bulky Su Xiaoman look even more tragic.
Su Xiaoman reached out with her ice-cold hand to touch Xie Mingtu, only to discover that his palms were sweating. This Xie dog really did run warm, making her both envious and jealous.
No matter how much she wore, her hands would not warm up. They had just boarded the train, and now a cold wind had started blowing again. Her nose and cheeks had been frozen tender red. The wind carried dampness, cold enough to pierce the bones.
Su Xiaoman breathed out, closed the train window, then turned and hugged the arm of the man beside her. Her hands naturally slipped into his coat pocket, borrowing his warmth.
Xie Mingtu wrapped an arm around her shoulders, easily enclosing his Manman in his embrace. He felt a burst of pride.
His arms were growing stronger and stronger, protecting the person in his embrace.
The two first went to Nanjiang City to visit Wang Huaixian. Unexpectedly, Wang Huaixian and Grandpa Jiang were old acquaintances. Wang Huaixian had also never expected Xie Mingtu to be Grandpa Jiang’s biological grandson.
“What a coincidence. I haven’t seen the old man for so many years, and now I’ve met his biological grandson.”
“I have to write him a letter.”
After saying goodbye to Wang Huaixian, Su Xiaoman and Xie Mingtu returned to Qiaoxin Village.
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