SG 58

When he came out of the elevator, Yan Anqing pressed the doorbell of Grandma’s house, and the heavy security door soon opened from inside.

When Grandma saw Yan Anqing, her eyes curved like two new moons as she smiled with joy. “My baby looks so much better after a few days of rest.”

At first she had worried that after closing his shop, Yan Anqing might not adapt, but now his complexion looked even better than before. That showed that Xiao Chu was a reliable kid who had taken good care of her baby.

After changing into slippers, Yan Anqing saw his mother, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time.

“Anqing, you’re back.” Mother Yan stood up from the sofa and greeted him awkwardly. After living apart for so long, she no longer knew how to get along with her eldest son.

“Mom.” Yan Anqing greeted her politely.

“Sit down, all of you, why are you standing?” Grandma held Yan Anqing’s hand and led him to sit on the sofa.

“You said earlier you had something important to say, so urgent that you made me call the baby back and send Xiao Zhou away. What’s the matter?” She picked up a pear and peeled it while she asked.

Mother Yan looked at Yan Anqing and spoke as gently as she could. “Mom, I came back this time to discuss something with you. I want Anqing to live with me. He’s grown up now, and I don’t feel at ease leaving him here alone. If he still wants to open a pottery shop, he can sell this one and open another one where I live.”

After remarrying, she had settled with her husband in the capital of the neighboring province and had a younger son. Yan Anqing didn’t get along with that younger son, and her current husband didn’t want people to know that his son had an autistic older brother. Over the years, Anqing only came back during summer vacations and New Year to visit his grandparents.

Now she realized she had paid too little attention to Yan Anqing. This time, no matter what her husband said, she wanted to bring him over to live with her.

Grandma’s hand that was peeling the pear stopped, and she couldn’t understand. “Why? Isn’t my baby living just fine here?”

“Mom, I won’t beat around the bush. Have you seen the video online? Anqing’s pottery shop got exposed by a malicious influencer. The whole internet is talking about it.”

“I know. Wasn’t it already resolved? Everyone knows now that Anqing was wronged. I saw the clarification video myself.” Grandma had been following the matter closely, putting on her reading glasses every day to check the latest updates online.

“What video?” Yan Anqing asked, confused.

“It’s nothing, have a pear first, moisten your throat.” Grandma handed him the peeled pear.

“Mom, the problem isn’t whether it’s been clarified or not. What’s Anqing’s relationship with that man? In the video, that man was protecting him. Two grown men hugging each other like that, does that look proper?” Mother Yan couldn’t keep being tactful anymore. That was the real reason she wanted to take Yan Anqing away.

Grandma understood as soon as she heard that. “You mean Xiao Chu? I know. He’s a good kid. That day, thank goodness he protected the baby.”

“He’s not ‘that man.’ He has a name. His name is Chu Baiyan, and he’s my boyfriend.” Yan Anqing didn’t understand what video or clarification they were talking about, but when he heard his mom and grandma talking about Chu Baiyan, he didn’t like his mom calling him ‘that man.’

“Mom, listen to him. Yan Anqing said that man is his boyfriend. How can I let him keep running a shop here? I’ve accepted that he’s autistic, but now he’s gay too? If I keep ignoring him, who knows what’ll happen next? How am I supposed to hold my head up?”

Mother Yan’s face was full of disappointment, and her voice sounded bitter. She thought heaven was too cruel to her. It was bad enough to have an autistic son, but for him to also be gay?

“Anqing doesn’t understand anything. Someone says a few nice words, and he gets fooled. You and Dad are getting old, you can’t control him anymore. What if someone plays with him, and a few years later that person goes off to get married and have kids? What will he do then? While this can still be fixed, sell the shop, cut things off cleanly with that man, move to another city, and start over…”

“Chu Baiyan didn’t trick me. I know what ‘couple’ means. I like him, and he likes me. I’ll be with him all my life. I won’t move to another city.” Yan Anqing interrupted her with agitation.

“What do you know? You’re just stupid…” Mother Yan hadn’t expected her usually quiet son to talk back. Her anger made her lose control of her words.

Bang Grandma slammed the pear she was peeling down on the coffee table, cutting her off and startling both of them.

“Your dad and I aren’t dead yet!”

“Do you hear yourself? Is that something a mother should say?” Grandma took a breath. “Anqing’s intelligence is perfectly normal. The hospital’s report says so. Do you know how many awards he’s won, how many professors have praised his ceramics?”

“When you thought you couldn’t go on living like this, I didn’t blame you. After all, Anqing’s own father gave up even earlier. Your dad and I took on the responsibility because we pitied you and we pitied the baby.”

“Now you’re not even grateful. You’re blaming us for not raising him right. Tell me, what did the baby do wrong? Outsiders may not know, but you do. Don’t you know how he’s lived these past twenty years? You know he has autism, but do you know how hard it was for him to open a pottery shop and live on his own?”

“You say he should move to your city. Have you found a place for his shop? What kind of location suits Anqing? What help can you give him? What care can you give him? Can your husband and younger son accept him? Even for an ordinary person, starting over in a new city isn’t easy, let alone for Anqing.”

Grandma grew more emotional as she spoke. She took the cup of tea Anqing handed her and drank a sip to calm herself, then held his hand.

“These things can be figured out slowly later. Anqing looks no different from others now. Xuanxuan’s dad won’t object like before. We have a place to live, and even if it comes to it, I can support him. But we can’t let him be with a man.”

Mother Yan’s voice grew weaker. Her mother’s words made sense, and she hadn’t thought that far. When she saw all the online comments, her first reaction was just to get Anqing under her watch.

“You have the right to pursue happiness. Why can’t he? He can support himself here, and he can live independently. He’s doing better than we ever expected. If someone is willing to stay by his side, what does it matter whether that person is a man or a woman? If you had raised him yourself, you wouldn’t judge him so harshly.”

“Even when someone caused trouble in the shop, Xiao Chu quietly handled everything behind the scenes because he didn’t want Anqing to worry. If you hadn’t shouted so loud today, tomorrow the pottery shop would reopen, and he wouldn’t even have known this happened.”

Grandma shook her head and sighed. “I’ll say this clearly today. I won’t agree to let him go live with you. You just live your own life well, and take care of Xuanxuan. He’s in middle school now, that’s when he needs your attention the most. I can still live a few more years, and you can’t accompany Anqing for a lifetime anyway.”

“This is the path Anqing chose, so let him walk it himself. I’ve met Xiao Chu and talked with him. I may be old, but I’m not senile. I can tell whether his feelings are real or fake. You’ll understand in a few years. How much is face worth? Your child’s happiness matters more than your pride.”

Mother Yan wanted to say more, but Grandma waved her hand. “Let’s not rush to conclusions about whether two men can live together. Let Anqing be with him for a few years and see. Haven’t we always said that time reveals a person’s heart? What’s the hurry?”

The bedroom door opened. Grandpa stuck his head out with a stern face. “What are you two arguing about? You made me lose my chess game. No matter what your mom says, her opinion is my opinion. Your mom is the leader of this family. I unconditionally support every decision made by the leader.”

Even though he’d forgotten many things after a lifetime in the army, his soldier’s authority never faded.

After speaking, Grandpa was about to close the door and start another round when he saw Yan Anqing sitting on the sofa. He instantly switched to a smile. “Baby’s here, I’ll go make lotus root starch for you.”

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When Chu Baiyan got home that afternoon, Yan Anqing wasn’t at his desk designing like usual. The blanket on the bed was puffed up in a mound, clearly hiding someone underneath.

Chu Baiyan thought he had just napped too long and hadn’t woken up yet, but when he came closer, he saw a small part of his face exposed. Yan Anqing’s eyes were red.

“What’s wrong? Did Grandma scold you?” His heart tightened. They had been cheerful that morning, so how did it turn into this in the afternoon?

Yan Anqing shook his head. Chu Baiyan took off his coat and pants, threw them on the sofa, and lay down to hug the curled-up person through the blanket. “Why are you crying?”

“I know everything now.”

“Know what?” Chu Baiyan kissed his eyelids. With no context, he couldn’t guess what he meant.

“That video. I saw it.” The touch of his lips made his eyelids itch a little, and Yan Anqing blinked as he spoke softly.