"Don't cry, don't cry, don't be afraid," Chen Yunqi's heart ached at the sight of San San's heartbroken appearance. "You're alright, don't be afraid... That bastard was trying to bully you, but I found you and didn't let him succeed. Don't cry."
He tenderly cupped San San's face in his hands, kissing her as he said, "You haven't done anything wrong to me, it's me who's wronged you. I couldn't bear the thought of him touching you... even if it was just touching your clothes... I blamed you for your ambiguous relationship, I lost my temper with you... I bullied you... You weren't bullied by him, it was me... I didn't comfort you properly, instead I hurt you like a madman... San San... I'm sorry..."
San San was stunned by what she heard. She looked up at Chen Yunqi blankly, tears still on her face. Chen Yunqi's eyes were red, and he seemed to be confessing, rambling on and on.
"San San, I've been hurting you from the very beginning. I was so stupid that I couldn't see your feelings and made you sad. I got into a fight with someone else and hurt you... I was only concerned with selfishly possessing you and didn't try to understand your feelings... I didn't take good care of you. I'm not a good boyfriend... Someone like me... doesn't deserve your sincere heart..."
It took San San a long time to roughly understand what he was saying. He interrupted the incoherent Chen Yunqi and whispered to him, "Don't say that... I love you... You are the best person I've ever met in my life..."
Chen Yunqi was also stunned. San San looked at him earnestly and said, "I don't remember what happened last night, it doesn't count. It was my fault, I was stupid and cowardly. Don't blame yourself. I know you love me, and I won't blame you no matter what you do to me. You have to remember that too..."
"San San, how can you be so kind..." Chen Yunqi lowered his head in shame, "Are you... still in pain? Lie down so I can take a look and put some more medicine on you..."
"Ouch..." San San reached out and cupped his face, pressing down slightly to make him look up at her. She tried to lighten the mood and said, "It hurts so much... Brother, be gentler next time."
Chen Yunqi understood that San San was trying to comfort him, and he felt even more guilty. He mentally berated himself, got up, poured San San a glass of lemon water with honey, and asked cautiously, "Are you still feeling unwell? Do you want to sleep a little longer?"
"Ugh... I'm not sleeping anymore, I'm so hungry and my head hurts, but I don't want to sleep," San San was about to rub her eyes when Chen Yunqi stopped her, saying, "Don't rub them, get up and wash up. Eat something, we need to go to the police station..."
"Huh?" San San hadn't expected things to escalate this much. Her eyes widened in surprise as she asked, "Did you call the police? Then... what are you going to do... what if others find out... will it affect your work?"
“No, don’t overthink it. I’m not afraid, you don’t need to worry about these things,” Chen Yunqi said firmly. “If we don’t call the police, other people will be bullied by him, right? When we get there, just tell the police what you remember. I’ll stay with you the whole time, don’t be afraid.”
"Hmm..." San San nodded as if she understood, then asked as if she remembered something, "Did you get into a fight again last night? Are you hurt? Let me see."
As he spoke, he pretended to examine Chen Yunqi's injured arm. Chen Yunqi willingly allowed him to examine his body, and honestly said, "No, really no, I promised you I wouldn't fight anymore, I remember, I even held back when I was furious... It's just with you... I promise I'll learn to control my emotions from now on."
San San was relieved, and then noticed that Chen Yunqi was wearing an apron around his waist. She looked at him curiously and asked, "What are you doing? Why does the house smell strange?"
"I...I'll make you some soup..." Chen Yunqi said suddenly, a little embarrassed. "Um...you should wash up first, then have some soup. Your stomach won't be able to handle so much alcohol..."
San San looked incredulous upon hearing this, hurriedly got up to brush her teeth and wash her face, and then followed the strange smell to the kitchen, where she saw Chen Yunqi fiddling with his shiny new kitchen utensils. The strange smell was coming from a stew pot on the stove.
"What are you cooking?" San San walked up and hugged Chen Yunqi's waist from behind, rubbing against his back for a while, and curiously peered into the pot.
Feeling guilty, Teacher Chen had been searching for various ingredients since early morning to learn how to make soup. He was now intently watching the soup in the pot, pondering what the recipe meant by "it's easy to stick to the bottom, so it's advisable to use a bamboo mat at the bottom when cooking." When he saw San San arrive, he ladled out a bowl of soup that looked and smelled terrible, carefully blew on it to cool it down, and handed it to San San to try.
San San didn't reach out to take it, but instead lowered his head and drank a sip from the soup. He immediately felt the alcohol from last night rising up from his stomach along with the soup. He suppressed the urge to vomit and said with tears in his eyes, "Brother... what kind of soup is this?"
"This is called Yam and Black Chicken Soup. It's very nutritious. Besides these two ingredients, I also added ham, shiitake mushrooms, goji berries, red dates, star anise, scallions, ginger, garlic... as well as longan, astragalus, and American ginseng... Oh! And my mom gave me fish maw and dried scallops... These ingredients weren't listed in the recipe, but I felt they were all very nutritious and good for replenishing blood, so I put them all in."
He looked at San San, who looked utterly dejected, and tentatively asked, "Is it good?"
After a long pause, catching his breath, he said to him, "Let me see the soup recipe..."
Chen Yunqi obediently opened the mobile app, clicked on the page "40 Recipes of Old-Fashioned Soup", found the recipe for "Yam and Black Chicken Soup", handed it to San San and said: "Here, this is what I cooked. It's a pity that we don't have a clay pot at home, but I just ordered one and it should be delivered tomorrow."
San San swiped the screen with his fingers, then suddenly stopped at the very end, his eyes widening instantly. Seeing his expression, Chen Yunqi, puzzled, leaned closer to look. The screen displayed a long summary: "...Yam and black chicken soup has the functions of invigorating qi and strengthening the spleen, nourishing stomach yin...replenishing blood and calming the fetus, and is most suitable for pregnant women in their first three months of pregnancy..."
The warm atmosphere instantly turned to freezing point. Chen Yunqi stared blankly at the contents of his phone, frozen from head to toe, a blush quickly spreading from his cheeks to his ears.
San San was also stunned. She looked up at Chen Yunqi and asked hesitantly, "Brother...last night...? Will I...be pregnant...?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? How can a man get pregnant..." Chen Yunqi snatched back his phone and frantically wiped the screen, as if trying to permanently erase that text.
"Then...why did you try to help me with my pregnancy...?"
"Um... well... pregnant women usually eat more nutritious food... no... it doesn't taste very good, right? I'll order you something else..." Chen Yunqi haphazardly put the lid on the soup pot and quickly opened the app to order takeout for San San again.
Seeing Chen Yunqi's strange behavior of giving irrelevant answers, San San couldn't help but laugh. She pressed down on his hand that was randomly tapping on his phone, snuggled into his arms, and said obediently, "It's delicious."
Chen Yunqi breathed a sigh of relief, hugged San San, and said, "Baby, I'm so afraid of losing you. I'm so anxious. All night I was thinking about how to hide you and protect you. I can't let last night's situation happen again. But that's not right. You're growing up now, and you need to learn to face society. When I'm not by your side, you also need to learn to protect yourself. Once I'm done with the interviews, I'll help you contact schools. There's still a month before school starts, so we can make it."
San San buried her face in Chen Yunqi's chest, smelling the strange soup smell on his clothes, closed her eyes and whispered, "Yes, I'll listen to you."
Chapter Seventy Progress
After personally tasting his own horrific cooking skills, Chen Yunqi sent San San off to take a shower without saying a word. He quickly ordered two light and delicious side dishes, a bowl of red date, longan, and millet porridge, and a bowl of coconut-based chicken soup. Then he swiftly began to destroy the evidence.
When the takeout arrived, Chen Yunqi was carrying a full pot of soup down the toilet. The piece of unsoaked fish maw was sticky and stuck to the bottom of the pot, and he couldn't get it out. The pot was too big for the dishwasher, so Chen Yunqi simply threw the leftover soup and the pot into the trash can in the fire escape.
After taking a shower and eating, San San felt much more energetic. While helping to clean up the messy kitchen, he picked up a piece of paper that had fallen out of the fish maw packaging bag. Curious, he looked at the words printed on the paper and asked, "What is fish maw? Is it expensive? How do you pronounce this word?"
Chen Yunqi was sweeping the leftover ingredients into the trash bag in his hand when he heard this. He leaned over to take a look and said, "It's pronounced 'min,' third tone. Fish maw is fish bladder. It's not a rare thing; it's very cheap."
San San remembered the white fish bladder he had seen when cleaning the intestines of a large carp his family had bought in the past, so he said "Oh" and began to read the paper word by word.
"...Wild Taishan...30-year-old fish maw...Male red-lipped croaker...Nourishing for postpartum women..."
As he read this, he looked up at Chen Yunqi and couldn't help but ask, "Brother, why do you have so many supplements for pregnant women at home...?"
Chen Yunqi scratched his head awkwardly and said, "...It was a gift from a Chaozhou businessman my mom knows... He wanted to ask my mom for a favor, but couldn't meet her, so he sent it to me... People from Guangdong... like nourishing things... um..."
San San said "Oh" again and added, "It doesn't look cheap, it must cost several hundred. It's such a waste to dump it, what will you do when your mother asks?"
"What can we do? We'll just say it's to nourish my daughter-in-law, she won't have any objections," Chen Yunqi said with a grin. He pulled the blushing San San into his arms and rubbed her gently, asking, "Baby... if men could really give birth, would you be willing to have one for me?"
San San was so embarrassed she couldn't lift her head. She pushed him away forcefully, turned her back, and stammered, "No... I won't have it..."
"Why!" Chen Yunqi, who had previously told San San not to talk nonsense, now seemed to be taking it seriously. He leaned against the cabinet and complained, "Your boar has a sow that gave birth to a litter of piglets. How come I'm not even as good as a pig!"
"I understand," Chen Yunqi said, noticing that San San's shoulders seemed to tremble slightly, but she still didn't respond. He then muttered in dissatisfaction, "You must think I'm not pretty enough, that I have single eyelids, and you're afraid that your child will also have single eyelids. You also think I can't cook, and you think I..."
"No way!" San San, who had been laughing in exasperation, quickly turned around to interrupt him, took two steps forward, and looked at him hesitantly, saying, "Brother... I'm a little scared..."
"Hmm? What are you afraid of?" Chen Yunqi took his hand, kissed it, and asked with a teasing look, "Afraid of the pain of childbirth?"
"Hey, stop messing around..." San San stomped her foot angrily, shaking off his hand and saying, "I'm scared... I'm scared of your family..."
"Ah..." Chen Yunqi then realized that San San was worried about how his parents would view their relationship, and whether they would be unable to approve or accept it, just like his own parents.
“I can’t say for sure,” he pulled San San back into his arms and hugged him tightly, gently rubbing his chin against San San’s head. “My mom… doesn’t really care about me. We’re not very close, and we only greet each other politely. I don’t want to hide it from her; I’ll find a chance to tell her later. As for my dad…” Chen Yunqi hesitated for a moment before continuing, “My dad abandoned me and my mom when I was very young. I never knew he existed until I was seventeen. He loves to drink, has a terrible temper, and is really scary when he’s drunk.”
San San had only heard that Chen Yunqi's parents were divorced, but this was the first time she had heard him mention these details. She immediately forgot about being teased by him earlier, looked up and asked with concern, "Will he get angry and hit people like my dad?"
Chen Yunqi imagined the scene that might happen after he came out to Zhou Jun, smiled and said, "Maybe, but I'm not afraid."
San San hung his head in worry and remained silent. Chen Yunqi straightened his shoulders, looked him in the eye seriously, and said, "Listen to me, don't be afraid. We've already overcome one difficulty, and we've faced the worst possible outcome. No matter what happens next, we can't give up again. I can't let you sacrifice so much for me in vain, and I won't let you get hurt again."
Chen Yunqi raised his finger and gently touched San San's worried brows. His fingertip brushed across San San's trembling eyelashes, slid down his nose, and landed on his lips.
"San San, after being with you, I realized how terrible I really am. Sometimes I even doubt if my existence is a good thing for you... My hobbies are selfish, and what I've done for you is not even a fraction of what you've done for me..."
San San gently clenched her fingers around her lips, raised her head, and said with sparkling eyes, "Brother, do you still remember the story of Ashima? She transformed into a mountain and became the Echo Goddess. No matter how others called her, she would answer them. The day I told you this story, I wanted to tell you that I was good to you because you were even better to me. Don't feel guilty, and don't think like that. I believe in you."
Her words, devoid of any flowery rhetoric or convoluted twists, flowed like a clear mountain spring, gently entering Chen Yunqi's heart, melting away the frost and nourishing his soul. From the moment they met, Chen Yunqi had witnessed so many precious qualities in San San. The boy's love was both tender and resilient, kind and powerful. If Chen Yunqi was the drifting cloud, then San San was the towering mountain, never ceasing to respond to all his expectations from the moment he entered her life.
After a hectic morning filled with laughter and tears, Chen Yunqi took San San to the police station to give a statement after tidying up the house.
San San didn't sleep well last night, and soon he fell asleep leaning against the car window, listening to soft music. After he fell asleep, Chen Yunqi lowered the volume and turned up the air conditioning. While waiting at a traffic light, he couldn't help but reach out and gently stroke San San's cheek, listening to his steady breathing and watching the dappled shadows of trees reflected on his face from outside the window. He felt incredibly at ease and secure.
The small carriage became the whole world. Whether it was scorching heat or freezing cold outside, spring flowers or autumn moon, peaceful times or the smoke of war, it was all irrelevant inside the carriage. Even if the road ahead was arduous and long, with a loved one by your side, you no longer needed to walk alone, and you would never feel lonely or isolated.
San San was sleeping soundly, and Chen Yunqi couldn't bear to wake him. After parking the car, he stayed with him for another twenty minutes before he had to gently pat his shoulder to wake him up.
"Baby, wake up, we're here."
San San woke up with a start, rubbed her eyes, and said groggily, "Brother, I had a dream. I dreamt about my mom and dad... and Xiao Yan..."
Chen Yunqi stopped his hand, handed him a tissue, and said with a smile, "Our San San is homesick, isn't she?"
San San, afraid he might overthink things, quickly stammered an explanation: "It's not that... it's just that I can't let go of them... I'm happy here too... as long as I can be with you..."
Chen Yunqi saw through his thoughts, reached out and pinched his cheek, saying, "Don't worry, given time they might come to their senses and stop making things difficult for you. I'll go home with you to see them then."
San San nodded, regained her composure for a moment, got out of the car, and followed Chen Yunqi into the police station.
Since San San is already an adult with the capacity for criminal responsibility, relatives are not allowed to accompany him when he gives a statement, according to regulations. Chen Yunqi escorted him to the door and said to him softly, "Don't be afraid, just tell the truth. I'll wait for you at the door, I won't go anywhere."
Not long after San San arrived, Liu Xin was also summoned. Accompanied by several people who appeared to be lawyers and bodyguards, she walked in and exchanged a distant glance with Chen Yunqi, her eyes filled with disdain.
Kevin and Xue Meng also arrived. The three of them sat on the bench outside the interrogation room for over an hour before the interrogation ended. The police brought San San out and said to Chen Yunqi and the others, "We have a general understanding of the situation. Currently, both the witness testimonies and physical evidence are circumstantial evidence, which is quite troublesome. Don't have too high hopes. Keep your phones accessible during this time; we will contact you again at any time to cooperate with the investigation."
After leaving the police station, Kevin suggested they go out for dinner, so they drove to a secluded private restaurant. After listening to San San describe the interrogation process, Kevin tapped the table and said, "I consulted a lawyer. If convicted of forced molestation, the sentence is up to five years in prison. This person is narrow-minded; if he doesn't get a prison sentence, be careful he might retaliate."
Chen Yunqi nodded and said, "I understand, I will be more careful."
Seeing Chen Yunqi's very serious expression, Xue Meng comforted him, "Don't worry, this kind of person will get his comeuppance sooner or later."
She placed a piece of braised eel with pickled cabbage and plum sauce into San San's bowl, smiling as she gestured for him to try it, and then asked Chen Yunqi, "What are your plans for the future?"
After a moment's thought, Chen Yunqi replied, "I want to send San San to school, but he doesn't have a local household registration and has missed a year. His foundation is a bit weak, and it will be difficult for him to get into a good school without connections. It might be quite troublesome."
Upon hearing this, Xue Meng said, "I can help you find some connections, or you could consider private high schools. The tuition is more expensive, but the environment and other aspects are quite good. The teaching quality is probably not as good as public schools, but it's not too bad either."
Chen Yunqi quickly put down his chopsticks, waved his hand, and said, "Don't bother Sister Meng, I already owe you too many favors. I hadn't thought of private high schools before, but if you know of any suitable ones, please recommend them to me."
“No problem,” Xue Meng said readily. “My daughter has a classmate who goes to a private high school. I heard it’s pretty good and not too far from your home. I’ll ask you about the admission requirements and contact information later.”
"Thank you so much," Chen Yunqi said, raising his teacup to Kevin and Xue Meng. "I'll offer this tea instead of wine to express my gratitude. You are both benefactors to me and San San."
Kevin also picked up his glass and laughed heartily, "You don't seem like the type to be so polite! Don't thank me, I have ulterior motives. If you can join the company and become my right-hand man, that would be the greatest reward for me."
San San, who had been sitting quietly without saying a word, quickly picked up her teacup and said softly, "Thank you... I'm sorry to have troubled you... I..."
"Alright, alright, why are you thanking me all the time just for a meal?" Xue Meng took a sip of tea, pressed down San San's hand that was raising its cup, and smoothed her loose curly hair. "The world is so small, you'll meet the people you're meant to meet. It's fate."
Xue Meng kept putting food on San San's plate, worried that he might feel awkward. This private restaurant specializes in seafood, which San San wasn't used to, but he was too embarrassed to refuse, so he tried everything. Then, when everyone was chatting and not paying attention, he secretly put the bitten shrimp and abalone into Chen Yunqi's bowl.
Chen Yunqi caught a glimpse of his little actions out of the corner of his eye. While continuing to chat and laugh, he quietly picked up the food in his bowl and ate it one by one. San San thought he hadn't noticed, so he continued to put the geoduck sashimi that he didn't like, the crab claws that he couldn't bite, the oyster meat in the oyster omelet, and the crispy skin of the roast goose into his bowl. He also took a piece of his steamed pork rib.
During the meal, the restaurant owner personally greeted Kevin and even asked the kitchen to bring each of them a serving of sweet soup. After San San finished his drink, Chen Yunqi took his empty bowl, pushed his own portion in front of him, and looked at the sugar stains stuck to the corner of his mouth, feeling an itch in his heart like a cat scratching.
Kevin and Xue Meng were both straightforward and humorous people, and they got along very well, learning about each other's family backgrounds and sharing anecdotes from their work. They only reluctantly got up to say goodbye when the waiter came to inform them that the restaurant was closing. Before leaving, Xue Meng asked the waiter to pack some of San San's favorite snacks, handing him the container and saying, "Next time, don't eat what you don't like. Don't force yourself. Learn to say no, don't always be shy, okay?"
San San hadn't expected her to notice so carefully, so she blushed and nodded obediently, saying, "I'll remember."
On the way home, Chen Yunqi drove without looking to the side, reached out and accurately grabbed San San's ear and twisted it, saying fiercely, "You've become picky about food, huh? You still treat me like a garbage can? If you keep being picky, I think you'll never grow tall and will be a little dwarf forever."
San San chuckled, stuck out her tongue and made a face where he couldn't see her, then remembered something and turned to ask, "Brother, do I really still have to go to school?"
“Go, of course you should go,” Chen Yunqi said, raising one eyebrow. “What are you doing not studying at such a young age? Staying at home as a stay-at-home wife? You can’t have children, and you can’t take care of your husband. Aren’t you afraid of being disliked?”
San San glared at him angrily and said, "You...you're looking down on women! That's sexism! That's wrong!"
Chen Yunqi laughed when he heard this, "Wow, our San San is so enlightened and knows so much. She can become a lawyer in the future and advocate for the rights of women."
San San turned away, facing the car window and ignoring him. After a moment, she couldn't help but turn back and ask, "...Then...what if I...what if I can't keep up with my studies...what if my classmates...don't like me...I don't understand anything..."
“No, it won’t,” Chen Yunqi slowly backed the car into the parking space, pulled the handbrake, turned to face him and said, “Our San San is so good-looking and cute, she’s sure to be popular. As for grades, don’t put pressure on yourself, just do what you can. If I don’t have time to tutor you in the future, we’ll hire a tutor, or if all else fails, you can repeat a year. You’re so smart, you’ll be fine.”
Before San San could respond, he suddenly looked disappointed and pouted, saying, "Sigh, a whole bunch of female classmates will definitely come knocking on my door then. What am I going to do? Just thinking about it makes me jealous..."