After Cheng Hui laid everything bare, Wen Yan experienced a scorching anxiety for the first time. Every time Cheng Hui glanced at him, he felt himself sinking into a pit of guilt from which he could not escape.
Yet Wen Yan was not the type to retreat in the face of hardship. He was trying to prove himself—to prove that he was the right person for Su Jingming.
Cheng Hui prepared some simple home-cooked dishes and walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands. At that moment, Wen Yan was filling a bowl of soup for Su Jingming, carefully blowing on it to cool it down before feeding him.
Su Jingming frowned slightly. "I can drink it myself!"
Wen Yan remained unmoved. "You’ll spill it in a moment."
The current Su Jingming was essentially a child; what if he scalded himself?
Cheng Hui had to admit that Wen Yan possessed a certain kind of grit. Just as she was about to say something, the phone on the dining table vibrated. Su Jingming leaned over curiously, his eyes fixed on Cheng Hui. "Mom, the phone! The phone! The phone!"
It was unclear why Su Jingming was so excited, but before Cheng Hui could even answer, he blurted out, "Could it be Dad calling?"
Cheng Hui and Wen Yan both froze. Wen Yan was the first to react; he wiped the corners of Su Jingming’s mouth with a tissue, set the bowl down, and asked, "Do you want some sweet and sour ribs?"
Wen Yan placed a piece of the ribs into his bowl, successfully diverting Su Jingming’s attention. With a heart full of mixed emotions, Cheng Hui took the phone and walked out to the balcony to answer.
A tiny, milky voice came from the other end.
"Mama."
Cheng Hui’s heart suddenly softened. "Baby, have you been eating well?"
"Yes!" Cheng Hui’s daughter, holding a phone that seemed larger than her own hand, asked while swaying her head, "When is Mama coming back?"
Cheng Hui closed the sliding glass door behind her, stealing a quick glance at Wen Yan and Su Jingming as they ate. She turned around, keeping her back to them. "Baby, Mama might have to stay away for a while longer. Your brother... is sick."
"Brother?"
As soon as the word left the child's lips, a man’s cold, detached voice came through the line. "Come back once things are settled. Don't miss out on too much of your daughter's upbringing." The man paused for a moment. "That son of yours is turning eighteen this year; he’s an independent adult."
Hearing her current husband’s icy tone, Cheng Hui felt a surge of grievance.
She had returned to Liangcheng alone, only to be met with such a catastrophe. As a woman, she had to handle her ex-husband’s funeral, and now she had to bear the reality that her son had lost his mind and was also gay.
"...Can't you at least comfort me?" Cheng Hui said, her voice nearly breaking with a sob. She no longer knew exactly who she was grieving for.
The man on the other end fell silent for a few seconds upon hearing her suppressed weeping.
"Since you can't let go, then bring your son back. The Chen family can afford at least one more set of chopsticks."
Cheng Hui stiffened. She had never considered taking Su Jingming away. The current Su Jingming required constant care; if he remained like this for the rest of his life, Cheng Hui didn't dare imagine the future.
Inside, Wen Yan watched Su Jingming finish his last bite of food before satisfiedly wiping his mouth.
Su Jingming looked at him with a bewildered expression. "Why are you taking care of me?"
"...Why do you ask that?"
"Because you're the Little Monster. Shouldn't you be... with me... with me..." Su Jingming scratched his head. "Having a fight instead?"
Wen Yan replied, "I'm more of a pacifist."
Su Jingming pouted. During this period, Wen Yan had seen many sides of Su Jingming he hadn't known before.
He would throw a tantrum if he couldn't find his Ultraman.
He would cry when he wanted to see Su Qicheng.
He would smile brightly over a single piece of candy.
And so many more... all versions of Su Jingming he had never seen.
By the time Cheng Hui finished her call and returned, Su Jingming was already sitting on the sofa watching Ultraman. She had composed herself on the balcony, but the moment she stepped inside, she met Wen Yan’s eyes.
The youth’s gaze held a hint of scrutiny, and perhaps a touch of playfulness.
Cheng Hui felt unsettled by his gaze and spoke up immediately. "Wen Yan, thank you truly for looking after Jingming today. In the future..."
She trailed off, hesitant.
Wen Yan simply watched her quietly, his features betraying no emotion.
Just then, the Ultraman on the television struck the monster.
Su Jingming suddenly stood up and said to Wen Yan with a grin, "Look, the Little Monster got hit."
Wen Yan nodded in response. "The little hero is very strong."
Listening to their mundane interaction, Cheng Hui felt a stifling pressure in her chest with no outlet for release. She stood there in silence for a long moment.
Su Jingming continued watching the next episode, while Wen Yan continued to wait.
He was waiting for Cheng Hui’s final decision.
He waited until nightfall approached, yet he received no definitive answer from her. Before he left, Su Jingming stood at the entryway to see him off.
Holding his Tiga figure, Su Jingming asked the question he asked every night.
"Little Monster, will you come tomorrow?"
"I will come."
Wen Yan gave his solemn promise; he would come.
After Wen Yan left, Cheng Hui sliced some watermelon for Su Jingming. She watched as he meticulously picked out every seed, placing them into a separate dish.
Cheng Hui asked, "Aren't you eating?"
"Ah... I'm waiting for the Little Monster to come tomorrow so we can eat together."
For a fleeting second, Cheng Hui felt as though Su Jingming was faking his condition; his focused expression while picking out the seeds didn't look like someone with a mental impairment at all.
Suddenly, Cheng Hui asked, "Jingming, what kind of person do you think Wen Yan is?"
Su Jingming’s movements paused. In a daze, a memory flashed through his mind.
In the vision, there was a boy he didn't recognize, but who had asked a similar question: "What do you think of Wen Yan?"
Cheng Hui curled her lips in a self-deprecating smile, about to say more.
Su Jingming resumed what he was doing and whispered, "He is very good."
Hearing this answer, Cheng Hui’s face turned pale, and a thousand words stuck in her throat, unable to be voiced. The television continued to play Ultraman. Under the warm yellow light, Su Jingming knelt on the carpet, carefully picking seeds out of the watermelon.
His profile, illuminated by the lamp, seemed somewhat surreal.
On his way back, Wen Yan stopped to buy a cup of milk tea for Wen Miao. He had only walked a few steps away from the shopping street when he ran into Zhang Jia.
Zhang Jia looked as though she had been waiting for him for a long time; the milk tea in her hand was already empty.
She looked Wen Yan up and down before finally saying, "Can we find a place to talk?"
After Su Jingming’s accident, Ren Wei and Li Yang had suggested visiting him, but Wen Yan had rejected them all. His motives were selfish; he didn't want Su Jingming to have contact with these people for the time being, fearing it might trigger bad memories.
Seeing that Wen Yan wasn't agreeing, Zhang Jia continued, "I just wanted to..."
"Wanted what?" Wen Yan’s voice was cold. "The photo—did you give it to them?"
The June evening breeze was not gentle, carrying the unique sweltering heat of summer.
Wen Yan’s eyes grew darker, and his expression turned increasingly frigid.
Zhang Jia had never imagined that a single photograph would cause such a massive catastrophe. When she heard that Su Jingming’s father had committed suicide by jumping off a building right in front of him, she felt she deserved to die ten thousand deaths.
She had been the one most unwilling to let go, yet in the end, she had become a sinner whose crime could never be spoken aloud.
She couldn't see Su Jingming, so she could only find out where they were currently staying. She had waited for a long time in this shopping street, the one closest to Su Jingming’s home.
Wen Yan pursed his lips, his initial suspicion now hardened into certainty. It felt as if someone was squeezing his heart, refusing to give him even a moment to breathe.
He would never forget the way Su Jingming had walked home that day, filled with hope.
That should have been the bravest act of his life.
To go and forgive, to face those nine years of darkness.
Wen Yan took a deep, heavy breath. He walked forward a few steps, and as he passed Zhang Jia, he said coldly, "If you truly feel guilty, then you should stay far away from him."
"So, is this all my fault?!" Zhang Jia blurted out almost without thinking. "If anyone is to blame, it's you two! You are going against the grain of society!!! Wen Yan, can you really have a clear conscience?! Who was it that dragged Su Jingming into this? Don't you know that better than I do?! Aren't you afraid of what will happen later..."
Zhang Jia spoke with agitation, the tears in her eyes refusing to fall. What had she done wrong? She began to lose her understanding, her grasp on things.
Wen Yan looked down at her indifferently. "Even if there is to be retribution, I will be the first to stand in front of him. It has nothing to do with any of you."
Looking at his cold eyes, Zhang Jia felt for a moment as if she were seeing Su Jingming.
Su Jingming had once looked at her with that exact same gaze.
Utterly indifferent, completely unconcerned, as if she were a total stranger.
Zhang Jia seemed unable to bear it. She wiped away a tear that was about to fall and walked away with large strides. That was the last time she appeared in Liangcheng, and the last time she appeared before Wen Yan.
Just because she had spared him an extra glance that day, her entire youth had been colored. In the end, no one expected that she would leave the city where she had lived for seventeen years carrying guilt, apology, and resentment.
Before boarding her plane, Zhang Jia sent Wen Yan a text message.
*I'm sorry.*
Three simple words. Wen Yan felt no significant emotion upon seeing them; he deleted the message decisively. When he looked up again, he met Su Jingming’s eyes.
With his eyes curved into crescents, Su Jingming said to Wen Yan, "Ultraman fights the Little Monster, the Little Monster fights Ultraman."
Wen Yan raised an eyebrow, just about to answer him.
Cheng Hui walked out of the room with a magazine and sat down beside the two of them.
Wen Yan glanced over from the corner of his eye. The magazine in Cheng Hui’s hand was a brochure for a sanatorium. His breathing suddenly grew rapid. Then, they heard Cheng Hui speak slowly.
"Wen Yan, I plan to send Jingming to a sanatorium."
---
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 陈 | Chen | Surname of Cheng Hui's current husband. |
| 疗养院 | Sanatorium / Care facility | A place for long-term medical treatment or recuperation. |
