Gu Hai took two sets of clothes out of the bag, one he handed over to Aunt Zou and the other to Bai Han Qi. He then said in a clear voice, “These are the clothes that we had specially made for you. You can wear them to attend the wedding ceremony. Why don’t you try them on and see if they fit?”
A cheerful expression settled on Aunt Zou’s face, “Aiya! It’s still the kids who know how to take care of us ah! I was just worried about not having any clothes to wear when the day came!”
Bai Luo Yin handed another bag to Aunt Zou, “There is some jewelry in there. Have a look and see if you like them or not!”
Aunt Zou was so touched that she did not know what to say, “Just look, you both spent money again.”
After she said that, she rushed to her room to try on the clothes.
Having been silent for a while, Bai Han Qi finally snorted and laughed. “The older she gets, the more she wants to show off…”
Bai Luo Yin looked at Bai Han Qi, who still wore the same unchanging set of clothes that he had for the last decades or so: a sleeveless vest, large pants, sandals… he couldn’t help but to say, “Dad, you should also try these clothes on to make sure they fit. If they don’t, we can have them altered.”
Bai Han Qi waved his hand, “I don’t want to, it’s too hot.”
“If it’s hot, how come you didn’t turn the air conditioner on ah?”
Now that Gu Hai mentioned it, Bai Luo Yin finally took notice of the temperature in the room. When they entered, he had thought that the reason he was sweating profusely was because of having walked up the stairs. But now, he realized that the room was actually really hot— unnecessarily hot.
With a palm-leaf fan beside him, Bai Han Qi would rather use his own hands to fan himself than willingly spend money on the electric bill.
Seeing that, Gu Hai suddenly felt ashamed.
“Alright, dad. I will go with you to try the clothes.” Bai Luo Yin’s voice broke the awkward atmosphere.
Once they were in the room, Bai Luo Yin helped Bai Han Qi change into the new pair of shoes before he straightened up his pants and carefully buckled up the belt. Bai Han Qi looked down at him and ruffled his hair affectionately.
“Son, dad has been wanting to ask you. Between the two of you, who is marrying who ah?”
Without lifting his hand, Bai Luo Yin continued on to tie the shoelace and said, “There won’t be such a division in our marriage. We are getting married with equal status.”
“Exactly, that’s how it should be. We are not worse off than his family or anything. When it comes to marriage, you cannot yield… This a matter that will last a lifetime. Although dad has always sided with Da Hai, when it comes to really urgent and important matters, dad’s heart will nevertheless be tied to yours. There is still a long, long road ahead for the two of you. Remember dad’s words, no matter who was or will be wronged, don’t wrong yourself.”
Bai Luo Yin nodded, “Don’t worry, dad. I will make up for all the anger that you suffered in this lifetime.”
Bai Han Qi burst into a loud laughter.
Gu Hai had gone out for a bit and now that he had returned, the father and son were still holed up in the room without coming out! What are they whispering about? Gu Hai tilted his head over.
“Dad, Gu Hai is back. Let’s go out.”
Just as Bai Luo Yin turned around to leave, Bai Han Qi suddenly pulled him back. He secretly asked, “You are not losing out to him in that aspect, are you?”
Bai Luo Yin naturally understood what that aspect that Bai Han Qi mentioned was— his heart tightened, and he immediately shook his head.
Bai Han Qi smiled and looked at Bai Luo Yin with eyes full of confidence and satisfaction, you are indeed worthy of being my son.
“Remember, you must not lose in that aspect by all means.”
However, Bai Luo Yin felt ashamed of Bai Han Qi’s confidence in him.
That night, due to Aunt Zou’s kind invitation, the two decided to stay over for dinner. When Gu Hai took the initiative to go out and buy the ingredients, Bai Luo Yin went down the stairs with him.
After the two had just left for not too long, Bai Han Qi turned to Aunt Zou and said, “Turn the air conditioner off for now. We can turn it on again when the kids are back.”
Bang, bang, bang…
“There’s someone knocking on the door. I’ll go and open it.”
When Bai Han Qi opened the door, he was met with the property management employee. He quickly looked over at Aunt Zou with a perplex expression. “Did we not pay the electricity bill for this month?”
“It’s been paid ah!” Aunt Zou walked over from the kitchen, “I paid it yesterday afternoon.”
With that, Bai Han Qi smiled and returned his gaze to the property management employee. “We paid already.”
The employee, who normally had a nasty attitude, was now putting on a rare smile and looked at Bai Han Qi and Aunt Zou.
“You have won a prize!”
“Won?” Aunt Zou’s eyes widened as she stared at him in shock, “Won what prize?”
“Our property management company had held a raffling event for free electricity just now. Your household won first prize for 10,000 yuan worth of electricity. Congratulation!”
After saying that, he handed Bai Han Qi and Aunt Zou the award certificate that had just been written for them to see for the time being.
Bai Han Qi was shocked to say the least. “Is there really such a good thing?”
“Yes!” The employee continued to look at Bai Han Qi with a smile plastered on his face. “But you must use it all within one year, otherwise it will expire and become invalid.”
Once Aunt Zou composed herself, she shifted a suspicious gaze over to Bai Han Qi. “Say, do you think those two kids conspired together to make this happen ah?”
Before Bai Han Qi had a chance to respond, the neighbor Lao Zhen approached them with a certificate of his own in his hands.
“Lao Zhen, you also won a prize?” Bai Han Qi quickly asked.
Lao Zhen smiled until the top of his brows rose, “Yes! I won 500 kilowatts, that’s enough to use for three months!”
With that confirmation, Bai Han Qi and Aunt Zou finally believed that they were truly lucky.
“Aiya, this is great. We don’t have to pay the electricity bill for one year…” Aunt Zou mumbled to herself.
Bai Han Qi hurriedly turned the air conditioner back on and urged Aunt Zou, “Turn on all the home appliances that can be turned on. We cannot let those bastards at the property management off lightly!”
That night, Bai Han Qi stubbornly forced Bai Luo Yin and Gu Hai to stay over for the night. The two slept in Bai Luo Yin’s bedroom, which was separated from Bai Han Qi’s bedroom by a single wall.
Very late into the night, Bai Han Qi did not sleep and instead leaned his head against the wall to listen to any movements from the other room.
Gu Hai was like a big lazy bug as he lied on the bed with Bai Luo Yin sitting on top of his body, massaging his shoulders and neck.
“It feels so much better with you helping to massage me,” Gu Hai said.
Bai Luo Yin was perplexed. “Say, how can your shoulders cramp up when you’re sleeping ah?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I have been in front of the computer for too long for the past few days.”
“But you have always been in front of the computer before. How come you weren’t then?”
Gu Hai feigned to have been wronged, “My shoulders have cramped up quite often in the past. It’s just that you never knew about it, that’s all.”
Hearing that, Bai Luo Yin looked worryingly at Gu Hai. “From now on, don’t sit in front of the computer for so long. Stand up and walk around from time to time, and move your neck around too. I’m telling you now, if you become paralyzed and lie on the bed before me in the future, I am not going to take care of you!”
While saying that, he exerted more strength in his hand as he massaged his shoulder.
“Ugh…” Gu Hai cried out painfully, “Be gentler…”
Bai Luo Yin clenched both of his hands into a fist and used his knuckles to press into Gu Hai’s shoulder blade, causing Gu Hai to immediately inhale.
“Good, good, pressing it that way feels very good.”
Meanwhile, Bai Han Qi’s ear nearly drilled into the wall as he secretly eavesdropped on the whispered conversation from the bedroom next door— and from those whispers, he was trying to determine their role.
“Lighter… can’t you be a bit more gentle?” Gu Hai voiced.
“If I don’t put more strength into it, would it feel good?” Bai Luo Yin’s voice sounded.
“But you used too much strength just now… ouch, ah…”
“What if I press like this? Does it feel better now?”
“It’s good… very good…”
Bai Han Qi clenched his hand satisfyingly. That’s amazing! As expected, my son did not disappoint me!!
Aunt Zou habitually felt around the spot beside her, but when she noticed that it was empty, she opened her drowsy eyes and looked around. In the end, she discovered a huge shadow at the side wall that was sneakily moving toward the door.
Oh my god! A thief got in!
Hence, Aunt Zou immediately grabbed a long stick that was standing near the bedside and roughly struck Bai Han Qi with it in one swift move.
“Ah!!”
Bai Han Qi fell to the ground with a loud thud.
One can imagine how surprised Aunt Zou was as she quickly got off the bed and turned the thief’s face around for a look, only to unexpectedly see that it was Bai Han Qi.
“You…”
There was a knock on the door and Bai Luo Yin’s voice sounded. “Dad, did something happen?”
Just as Aunt Zou was about to speak, Bai Han Qi hastily covered her mouth and then bit down on his teeth and said, “Dad is fine, go back to your room and sleep!”
Gu Hai and Bai Luo Yin complied and returned.
After facing such danger, Bai Han Qi was in cold sweats as he looked up at Aunt Zou. “Quick, help me up!”
Aunt Zou mustered all her strength to help Bai Han Qi back to bed, and when she switched the lights on to look at Bai Han Qi’s shoulder, there was already a large greenish-blue bruise.
“Tell me, are you deliberately looking for a beating? It’s the middle of the night and instead of sleeping, you’re sticking along the wall!” Aunt Zou sighed in disbelief.
Unexpectedly, Bai Han Qi happily said, “Suffering a hit was well worth it!”
In the other room, the second Gu Hai was beneath the blankets he started to be lovey-dovey with Bai Luo Yin.
“Hey, did you hear your dad’s roar just now? His stamina is at full power ah! Who could have guessed that at that age, our dad is still as energetic and fierce?! Do you think our Aunt will give birth to another little brother for you, huh?”
Bai Luo Yin shot Gu Hai a glance, “Meng Tong Tian is already sixteen, if she gives birth to another child, there will be a generation gap!”
Gu Hai stretched his hand out and placed it on Bai Luo Yin’s legs, gently caressing and stroking it back and forth in a suggestive manner while a lewd expression appeared on his face without hesitation.
“I wasn’t satisfied during the day.” Gu Hai employed an intimate and seductive tone to arouse Bai Luo Yin’s adrenaline. “I didn’t even get to greet your little chrysanthemum…” As he said that, his hand reached down flirtatiously.
Bai Luo Yin gripped Gu Hai’s wrist, “I’m telling you, don’t mess around here. Our house is not soundproof; my dad will hear us very clearly from his room.”
“What are you afraid of?” Gu Hai continued to tease him, “Our dad is so bold and unrestrained. That roar just now was exceptionally energetic!!”
Having said that, he moaned in Bai Luo Yin’s ear until Bai Luo Yin’s own breaths soon became heavier.
“Come, come!”
Gu Hai turned over and pressed Bai Luo Yin beneath him.
Bai Han Qi was still in the other room, secretly happy.