Master-Disciple Relationship? (1)

Early in the morning, Mu Wanli had just gotten up and was preparing breakfast in the kitchen when Ruan Qingmu’s voice rang out behind her.

“Mom, I will go out for a morning run. I’ll return after I’m done!”

Mu Wanli turned her head to look and was taken aback.

Early in the morning, her son was already dressed in a complete set of winter clothes, wearing the new leather jacket she had bought and dark blue jeans underneath. He had probably just washed his face as his fair skin was slightly pink and his eyes were shining.

In all the years of her son’s life, she had never seen him get up so early in the winter to go out for a run.

“What happened to you?” she asked suspiciously. “You went out for a run early morning yesterday. Are you still planning on going today as well?”

Ruan Qingmu made a few energetic jumps and a small puff of white air came out of his mouth. “Mn! The most important time in the year is spring and the most important time in the day is the morning. I’ve decided to go to bed and rise early and going for a jog every morning.”

He approached Mu Wanli and looked at the meat filling and thin dough crust in front of him. “Potstickers?”

Mu Wanli smiled and poked his head. “Didn’t you suddenly say you wanted to eat this today yesterday?”

“Mm, make some more. I can eat half a pan.” Ruan Qingmu waved at her and dashed out the door in a flash.

The streets were not very crowded on New Year’s Day, with the occasional true morning jogger passing by, a hearty, lean uncle, and a fit, pretty young girl.

He stood at the entrance to the alleyway and ran back and forth along the crossroads, stomping his feet while taking out his mobile phone every now and then to sneak a peek.

“It’s too late. I’ll tell you in detail tomorrow. Is it convenient for me to come over in the morning?” Qin Yuan had sent this WeChat message last night.

“Convenient! Your suitcase is still at my house. You can come get it, no problem.”

“Okay. Then, should I bring breakfast for you in the morning?”

“It’s not like my house doesn’t have food. It’s strange for you to bring KFC every day. Why don’t you come to my house to eat? My mom has been thinking of making potstickers for you!”

***

The taxis kept driving past. Every time one came, he poked his head in and looked around a few seconds. Aaahhh! Why wasn’t he here yet?

The owner of the 24-hour convenience store at the alley entrance looked at him and felt strange, calling out, “Child, are you waiting for someone?”

Ruan Qingmu remembered that he had borrowed the owner’s mobile phone here the other night, so he turned his head and ran over, buying a cup of hot soy milk and warming his hands around the paper cup. “Yes. I’m waiting for a fellow student.”

The shop owner smiled. “Is it a girl student? You’re so eager.”

Ruan Qingmu looked down and took a sip of the hot soy milk. “Who’s playing with a girl?! He’s a boy, and even a class monitor, and a student council member. His grades are really excellent.”

The shop owner looked straight behind him. “Is he tall?”

“Hey, how do you guess it?” Ruan Qingmu beamed with a smile. “Yes, ah. He’s tall and very good at basketball, super awesome.”

The shop owner pointed at his back. “Your super awesome fellow student.”

Ruan Qingmu suddenly turned around. “Huh?”

After a few minutes of not staring at the cars at the intersection, his boyfriend popped up and stood quietly behind him, with handsome eyebrows and eyes, looking very attractive.

But his eyelids were slightly swollen, and he was carrying too much stuff in his hands, a large bag like he had just rushed to the market, and he looked a bit of a mess.

Ruan Qingmu pretended not to notice his slightly swollen eyelids and only looked down at his hands. “You have chicken on your left hand and duck on your right hand*. You only lack a fat baby on your back to be a wife returning to her parental home, right?”

*T/N: This is a lyric from a song from Teresa Teng with the title <<>>.

Qin Yuan walked alongside him toward the massage parlor, his eyes smiling in the winter morning light. “It’s clearly a hairy-legged son-in-law visiting.”

Ruan Qingmu glared daggers at him and extended his foot to kick him. “Don’t put your nose on your face*! Whose son-in-law are you?!”

*T/N: Put one’s nose on one’s face: means that one party gives face to the other and does not care about the other’s behavior, but the other party does not appreciate it and becomes more arrogant.

Qin Yuan didn’t dodge and received it kindly. “Your house’s. A newly promoted son-in-law in your house, who is also a class monitor and a student council, with good grades, tall, and super awesome at playing basketball.”

Ruan Qingmu’s cheeks burned and he almost tripped over a trash can on the corner of the street. Fuck. How long had this guy been standing there and why did he eavesdrop on other people’s conversations so well?

He forcibly changed the subject. “Did you empty your fridge?”

Qin Yuan looked slightly nervous. “I didn’t have enough time to discuss it with you. I passed by a shopping mall and casually bought a set of skin care products for your mom, a velvet scarf for Yun-jie, and a set of educational toys for Xiao-Zhuang. I acted discourteously yesterday and came over empty-handed. Would your mom think badly of me because of this?”

Ruan Qingmu sighed and reached out to pick up some things from him. “You being like this is a problem. I always portray you as a little pitiful child who is unloved by his parents in front of my mom. My mom thinks you’re from a low-income family and is self-improving. With you being like this, aren’t your good, strong, and miserable persona slightly collapsing, top student?”

Qin Yuan smiled. “It’s not collapsing. Your boyfriend has always been handsome and quite strong.”

Miserable was also true.