Rabbit Charm

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/32098642.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M, M/M, Multi, Other
Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī -
Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī (Cartoon)
Relationship: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Jiāng Yànlí/Jīn Zǐxuān,
Jīn Líng | Jīn Rúlán & Lán Jǐngyí & Lán Yuàn | Lán Sīzhuī & Ōuyáng
Zǐzhēn
Character: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Niè Huáisāng, Jiāng
Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Jiāng Yànlí, Lán Jǐngyí,
Jīn Líng | Jīn Rúlán, Ōuyáng Zǐzhēn, Lán Yuàn | Lán Sīzhuī, Wēn Níng
| Wēn Qiónglín, Granny Wēn (Módào Zǔshī), Wēn Qíng (Módào Zǔshī)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, 2007 Flip Phone Charms, Su She
| Su Minshan is an Asshole, Some characters are only mentioned -
Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Minor Character Death,
Ouyang Zizhen is a Wen, Everyone's A Family, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
is a Wēn, the Wen love their Wei Ying, Chenqing and Suibian as dogs,
Jiāng Fēngmián and Yú Zǐyuān Bashing, kind of?, there's hate so i
guess it needs to be tagged, POV Alternating
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2021-06-21 Updated: 2022-11-02 Words: 29,925 Chapters:
15/?

Rabbit Charm
by aoeros

Summary

“You gotta promise me that when you’re back home and settled in, I’ll be the first you
come to see. Because I’m going to miss you more than anyone else will, Lán Zhàn. Except
your brother, of course.”

“Of course. I promise to come find you first after I’ve settled back in.”

“Great! Then I promise to call you whenever I can. And, I will definitely not forget you.”
 Promises

“Lán Zhàn!”

He didn’t need to look up from his book to know who had decided to join him in the window nook.
There was only one person he knew of that called him by his birth name so casually, so it was
technically pointless. Despite that, Lán Wàngjī did look up only because he knew it would just end
in pouting and whining if he didn’t.

“Wèi Yīng.”

“Aw, c’mon, Lán Zhàn....Do you have to be so formal? We’ve been friends since third grade!
You’re allowed to call me ā-Yīng. Or, ā-Xiàn if you want.”

He knew that, but he wouldn’t. Not when he was the only one that called him Wèi Yīng. Likewise,
Wèi Yīng was the only one that called Lán Wàngjī by the name his parents gave him. Not that the
sentiment had ever been noticed. For all his flirtatious behaviors, Wèi Yīng was unbelievably
oblivious.

“We’ve been classmates since third grade,” he corrected. If there was any displeasure with the
correction, the other didn’t show it and instead just smiled. Wèi Yīng was always smiling. Always,
somehow, so bright and sincere. “We’ve only been friends since freshman year.”

“What? No way! We were definitely friends longer than that! Don’t you remember when we
played together during recess?”

He was either teasing or he legitimately believed his memories of their elementary days. He
supposed that would be how Wèi Yīng remembered them. Lán Wàngjī, meanwhile, distinctly
remembered trying his hardest to get away from the loud, pushy child that always seemed to find
him. He also remembered they’d only met because the soccer ball Wèi Yīng had been playing with
that day nearly knocked Lán Wàngjī unconscious. Something his uncle hadn’t quite forgiven even
to this day, though he had warmed up to Wèi Yīng in the last four years. They never actively
played together as children. At least, they hadn’t in Lán Wàngjī’s mind.

Wèi Yīng’s head, however, was an enigma and no one could ever really understand how he saw
the world.

“What is it you wanted, Wèi Yīng?”

Wèi Yīng gave a small pout, but it only lasted for a couple seconds before his lips spread into a
devilish grin. Lán Wàngjī pretended it didn’t have an effect on him. He watched in mild curiosity
as the other lifted his hidden arm from where it had been tucked next to him, revealing a bottle of
alcohol. If Lán Wàngjī was anyone else, his eyes would’ve bugged out of his sockets. He wasn’t
anyone else, though, and was able to maintain somewhat of a leveled expression.

“Where did you get that?”

“Míng-gē!”

Naturally. Of the three chaperones they had for the week, Niè Míngjué would of course be the one
to supply them with alcohol. He’d always been the “fun” one out of him, Lán Xīchén, and Mèng
Yáo. It was the main reason Lán Wàngjī didn’t necessarily like him despite how close he was with
his brother. Before freshman year, he would’ve even complained to Lán Xīchén about his choice of
friends, but he couldn’t do that anymore without being a hypocrite. Because he himself had no
intention of dropping the friendship with his own budding alcoholic.

Though, maybe he would have a chance to earn his brother’s intervention by reminding him that
his friend could get into serious trouble for doing what he did.

“Drink with me, Lán Zhàn!”

“No, and you shouldn’t be drinking either. We’ve been out of school for less than two weeks and
you’re not even nineteen yet. It’s illegal.”

“Yeah, but Colorado law says that as long as we have supervision from someone twenty-one or
older, we’re allowed to drink, especially on private property. Since the lodge is owned by your
uncle, that makes it private property. We’re also being supervised by Xī-gē and his totally secret
boyfriends who all just happen to be twenty-one and older.”

He scowled. Sometimes, he forgot that Wèi Yīng was best friends with Niè Huáisāng for a reason.
They were both a lot craftier and smarter than they generally acted. And, of course Wèi Yīng
would go out of his way to memorize another state’s alcohol laws, though he knew him well
enough to know it wasn't for himself. No doubt it was done so he wouldn’t risk getting Lán Xīchén
and them into any serious trouble. With a sigh, Lán Wàngjī dropped the subject and returned his
attention to his book.

“Lán Zhàn?”

“I won’t stop you then.”

“You’re not going to drink with me?”

If anyone ever told him it wasn’t possible to hear pouts, he’d call them a liar. Even though he
wasn’t looking at Wèi Yīng and couldn’t even see him with his peripheral vision thanks to his hair,
he knew he was pouting just from the tone of his voice. He’d never admit to anyone that it had an
effect on him that he had to smother.

“I would rather not.”

“You’re such a fuddy-duddy, Lán Zhàn,” he said with an undertone of mirth as he uncapped the
bottle. “At least keep me company?”

“Mn.”

It was quiet between them after that as he read and Wèi Yīng made his way through the bottle
slowly. He didn’t know why, but Lán Wàngjī expected Wèi Yīng to chug the drink. It was actually
a relief that he wasn’t and it made the silence between them comfortable. At least until Wèi Yīng
decided it was too much effort to stay sitting up and leaned onto Lán Wàngjī’s shoulder. It wasn’t
uncomfortable exactly, but he never was good with physical contact even when it came to his uncle
and brother. Even when he was small and still had a mother, affection was strange to him despite
her own affectionate nature. Maybe that was why it was so awkward with Wèi Yīng now.

“Hey, Lán Zhàn,” Wèi Yīng said. He didn’t look at him, but he did hum in acknowledgement.
“You’re going to college to study music, right? Where are you going?”

For once, Lán Wàngjī couldn’t be sure if the other was just forgetting or if he hadn’t actually told
him his plans before. He knew they had a discussion with Niè Huáisāng and Jiāng Chéng about
university plans, but Lán Wàngjī wasn’t sure if he’d chimed in or not. He tended to be much less
open when Jiāng Chéng was around than when it was just him and Wèi Yīng or Niè Huáisāng as
the two weren’t particularly close, so it was entirely possible he hadn’t said anything about where
he was going.

“I was offered a full scholarship to the Gūsū Institute.”

“Gūsū? Lán Zhàn, that’s all the way in China!”

It sounded like a protest on the surface and maybe when their friendship was new, he would’ve
easily fallen for it. But, Lán Wàngjī was much better at deciphering Wèi Yīng’s hidden meanings.
He didn’t doubt Wèi Yīng was a little bit sad at the news; Gūsū had a mandatory full-time
residence policy, after all. Their students didn’t get holidays off, so he certainly wouldn’t be
visiting home at all for the next six years. He would probably pout about it later in private. But,
what he heard in his voice at that moment was nothing but pride. He was so selflessly proud of Lán
Wàngjī’s accomplishment. This, too, was another thing about Wèi Yīng that made him so
incredibly brilliant to the point of needing to physically look away lest he go blind.

Which was just his way of saying he had a hard time coping with Wèi Yīng’s figurative radiance
without wanting to cry just because it was so very strange to him that anyone could be that way.
Even his brother, as gentle and supportive as he was, had selfishly hoped Lán Wàngjī wouldn’t get
the scholarship just so they didn’t have to be so far apart for so long. His uncle also had a look of
uncertainty when he got it, but it was largely drowned out by the pride he had in his youngest
nephew. That might have been due to having been a Gūsū student, though.

“My uncle was a student of theirs. One of their most successful. No doubt they have the same
expectations for me.”

“That’s a lot of pressure. Gūsū is super picky about their list of best alumni. There’s only, like....I
think four acknowledged prodigies in what? Three hundred years?” Wèi Yīng asked, though it
wasn’t a legitimate question, and he smiled widely. “But, if anyone is going to earn a place on that
list, I know it’ll be you. Lán Zhàn is amazing!”

He was acting as if he hadn’t accomplished the same thing. Yúnmèng University, while nowhere
near as selective as Gūsū, was the most difficult university in the United States to get into. And,
Wèi Yīng had gotten in all on his own whereas Lán Wàngjī was certain his relation to his uncle
was a large factor into why he was accepted into Gūsū. Bringing his book up, he hid the lower half
of his face behind it as he looked out the window.

“Wèi Yīng is also amazing.”

Despite his attempt, he knew his ears were now red and betraying him, but Wèi Yīng had never
noticed when he blushed anyway, so he wasn’t bothered.

“Never said I wasn’t, but Yúnmèng isn’t remotely as prestigious as Gūsū and you know it.”

“There are rumors that Yúnmèng was offered a place in the Ivy League but declined. That is
nothing short of incredible.”

“Isn’t gossip and rumors against your uncle’s rules? I’ve been a bad influence on you. Your uncle
would definitely be having a stroke right now if he had heard you,” he said playfully. “It’s not the
only school that’s rumored to have gotten the offer, so it’s not that special. Anyway, this isn’t about
me, Lán Zhàn; it’s about you.”

There he went again. Deflecting praise and downplaying his own accomplishments. Most of the
time, it was easy not to think about, but at times like this, Lán Wàngjī found it impossible to shut
out. And, he somehow ended up with less respect for Jiāng Fēngmián and Yú Zǐyuān each time it
happened despite having none for them to begin with. Well, none for Yú Zǐyuān; he supposed her
husband wasn’t awful since there was no question as to whether or not he loved his kids and
godson. He was just cowardly. Jiāng Yànlí and Jiāng Chéng undoubtedly got their backbones from
their mother.

Closing his book with a harsh slap, he was only a little sorry that it had startled Wèi Yīng. He’d
have been even more sorry and would’ve apologized immediately, but it was cute seeing him jump
so the apology would be a lie. And, lying went against everything Lán Qǐrén had taught him and
his brother.

“Lán Zhàn?”

“Do you remember that small souvenir store we all stopped at the other day?”

“The one that should’ve been a gift shop at a zoo? Yeah, of course. What about it?”

“...I got you something.”

“Huh? Lán Zhàn, you didn’t need to get me anything.”

“Wanted to.”

It wasn’t a lie. When he bought the little charm, he had fully intended to give it to Wèi Yīng. He
was close to doing it, too, but then Wèi Yīng flashed that perfectly happy smile at him and
suddenly he found it too difficult to do. When it came to gifts, Lán Wàngjī was never good at
giving or receiving. It was awkward either because he felt like he was obligated to give a gift back
eventually or because he was worried the recipient wouldn’t like what he gave them. And, when it
came to Wèi Yīng, everything was always more complicated than that and he had gotten nervous
that it would be interpreted wrong. Or, rather, he was scared Wèi Yīng would interpret it correctly.

But, it was too late to get cold feet now. He’d already told Wèi Yīng he had bought him a gift. So,
Lán Wàngjī set his book aside and reached down into his bag. He pretended to rummage around to
give himself a couple moments to calm down before pulling out the charm. He admired the little
white rabbit and garnet for a little longer than he intended. It was such an obvious gesture that
despite how dense Wèi Yīng was, he couldn’t be sure if he’d pick up on it or not. Regardless, he
sat up and held it out, not looking at the other as his ears burned hotter than they had earlier.

“Wait, seriously?” Wèi Yīng asked just before he devolved into a fit of soft laughter that caught his
attention. He stared at him in what was either confusion or terror; he couldn’t quite tell. “Lán
Zhàn...!”

“If you don’t like it, I’m sorry. You don’t have to--”

“No! That’s not--Lán Zhàn, I love it! It’s just--This is too funny!”

“...Why is it funny...?”

He watched as Wèi Yīng reached into his pocket and, to his absolute surprise, pulled out a nearly
identical charm. Except this one had a black rabbit and pink tourmaline. Lán Wàngjī could only
pray his ears weren’t glowing from how red they probably were.

“I, uh....Yeah, I bought it to give to you, but remembered you don’t like getting random gifts, so I
backed out. Figured I’d just give it to Shījiě when we got home, you know? Do you, ah....Do you
want it? You don’t have to take it.”

“I do,” he said a little too quickly. “I want it.”

“Really? Awesome! But, we have to make a promise, too. Otherwise, this random gift exchange
will be totally ruined and our friendship will be doomed.”

“That’s ridiculous. We aren’t children,” he said even as he offered the faintest of smiles. “What are
we promising, Wèi Yīng?”

“You gotta promise me that when you’re back home from China and settled in, I’ll be the first you
come to see after your uncle and Xī-gē,” Wèi Yīng said, smiling that specific smile that always had
Lán Wàngjī’s heart going still. “Because I’m going to miss you more than anyone else will, Lán
Zhàn. Except your brother, of course.”

“Of course,” he laughed, doing his best not to blush more than he already was. It was a miracle the
heat hadn’t already spread to his face. He held out the charm and let the other take it. “I promise to
come find you first after I’ve settled back in.”

“Great! Then I promise to call you whenever I can,” Wèi Yīng swore excitedly, repeating Lán
Wàngjī’s prior action with his own charm. Lán Wàngjī spent far too long staring at and admiring
it. “And, I will definitely not forget you.”

It sounded like a joke. Like Wèi Yīng was poking fun at his bad memory because it was something
he did often. But, there was something sincere and determined in his voice that made it clear it
wasn’t a self-deprecating jab. Lán Wàngjī realized a bit too suddenly that promising not to forget
him would naturally be something Wèi Yīng did. The last people to leave him were his parents and
he couldn’t even remember their voices anymore. But, a sudden accident that happened when he
was three was a lot different than a friend going away to university at eighteen. He couldn’t be
blamed for it.

“I know you won’t forget me, Wèi Yīng. Your memory is bad with dates and one-off incidents, not
people.”

“Ā-Yīng!” Lán Wàngjī would never admit to how disappointed he was when Niè Huáisāng came
running over to interrupt their talk, but it went away immediately when he noticed how upset he
looked. “You have to come quick, ā-Yīng! Ā-Chéng’s in a fight!”

“What? Damn it, Shīdì! Where is he?”

“Out back!”

Wèi Yīng pocketed the charm he’d just gotten and set his bottle of alcohol aside before hurrying
outside. Lán Wàngjī stood to follow him, but he was pulled back down roughly.

“Huáisāng!”

“Relax, ā-Jī. There’s no fight. Ā-Chéng’s in the bathroom. Ā-Yīng will come storming back in
soon and probably want to hit me, but he won’t and we’ll laugh about it.”

“Then why did you lie to him about a fight?”

“I love ā-Yīng, but he can be a goddamn bastard sometimes. Going behind my back to ask my
brother for alcohol and not even offering to share with me? That’s just rude. Besides, there was no
other way to get you two clumsy lovebirds apart and I wanted to ask you something.”
“Wèi Yīng and I are not....What could possibly be so important?”

“Yeah. Sure. Keep lying to yourself, ā-Jī. Anyway, you kind of just answered it. I saw you
exchange those cute little rabbits you both bought and thought maybe you two finally stopped
running in circles. Guess I was wrong. What a shame,” Niè Huáisāng said, his disappointment
genuine. It made Lán Wàngjī turn red all over again. “You know, I hope you two confess before
you both go off to university. I’ve got a bet going with ā-Chéng about when you two are gonna
actually talk about your feelings and I don’t feel like losing. Yànlí and Xī-gē were in on it, too, but
their deadlines are long gone.”

Well, now he was going to wait until he got back from China just to spite Niè Huáisāng. Not that he
had any intention of confessing anyway.

“What were their deadlines?”

“Yànlí was convinced you two would be a thing by senior prom. She got pretty close, too, but
imagine her disappointment when you two went together just as friends. Xī-gē was way too
ambitious, I think.”

“...How so?”

“He said you two would’ve already kissed by the end of freshman year.”

He almost sputtered. That soon? He loved his brother, but Lán Xīchén was too romantic. Lán
Wàngjī never would’ve even thought of it. The entirety of freshman year was spent getting used to
constantly being around Wèi Yīng’s loudness. He hadn’t been at all focused on anything more
than that.

“Anyway, speaking of Xī-gē, I also wanted to ask if you know what he might want for Christmas.
He won’t tell Gēge or Yáo-gē because he never does and they’re really struggling to figure out
what to get him.”

“Xiōngzhǎng doesn’t need anything.”

“Obviously, but I’m not asking what he needs. I’m asking what he wants. I know you Láns aren’t
big on Christmas or gifts in general, but--”

Their conversation was interrupted by barks followed by the undeniable sound of a scream. Neither
of them so much as took a second to look at each other before they were both up and sprinting
through the lodge, nearly colliding with Jiāng Chéng on the way. Their other classmates were less
urgent in their movements, more curious than they were worried. When the three of them burst
through the back door, their chaperones were already there. Lán Xīchén was firmly scolding Sū
Shè, though he looked like he wanted to be yelling at him, while Mèng Yáo was carefully leading a
dog that shouldn’t have even been there out front.

“What the hell happened?” Jiāng Chéng asked, his mind seeming to put the pieces together on its
own before he even finished his sentence. At that point, it was nothing short of divine intervention
that he had the mindset to not attack Sū Shè. “Where’s Shīxiōng?”

“He ran off, but ā-Míng went after--Boys!”

He and Jiāng Chéng had already started running, intent on ignoring Lán Xīchén so they could go
after them. But, his brother was faster and grabbed their shirts to pull them back.

“Let go of me!”
“Absolutely not! What do the two of you hope to do? You’re not even wearing shoes! Inside, all of
you!”

They weren’t given a choice as the four of them were ushered inside. A poor choice on Lán
Xīchén’s part because as soon as he shut the door so he could wait outside for Niè Míngjué and
Wèi Yīng, Jiāng Chéng was on top of Sū Shè and he was angry enough to where he just might
actually kill him. It took the combined strength of him, Niè Huáisāng, and two of Jiāng Chéng’s
teammates to pull them apart and only then did Mèng Yáo come to see what the commotion was.
He had the good sense to separate Sū Shè from the rest of their class so he couldn’t be jumped the
moment his attention was off of them, but Lán Wàngjī couldn’t help but think he wasn’t at all
bothered by the beating he hadn’t been able to prevent. A part of him wondered if he had stayed
out of sight intentionally to give Jiāng Chéng a little time to vent. After that, all they could do was
wait. But, waiting proved to be pointless.

Wèi Yīng never came back.

A month later, a memorial service was held for him at the cemetery where his parents were buried,
his headstone having been placed next to their shared grave. It was a simple ceremony that
consisted of the guests mostly mingling and sharing stories of Wèi Yīng, offering condolences to
his family despite the fact that Jiāng Yànlí was inconsolable even with her husband and son with
her and Jiāng Chéng was - unsurprisingly - too angry with the world to sit still long enough to be
approached. Jiāng Fēngmián spent the majority of the memorial kneeling in front of the two
headstones in tears begging Wèi Yīng and his parents to forgive him. Yú Zǐyuān was, much to his
disgust, no less callous than she always was but at least she had the courtesy to keep her mouth shut
during the service or be civil when she did have to speak.

Two months after the memorial service, Lán Wàngjī departed for China. It had been suggested he
take extra time to grieve his friend, Lán Qǐrén offering to contact the dean to discuss it, but he’d
refused. Lán Wàngjī couldn’t stand going out to town with his brother or Niè Huáisāng and passing
by places Wèi Yīng loved to drag him to. All he wanted was to get away and go somewhere that
didn’t have Wèi Yīng’s memory at every corner. Lán Wàngjī had actually left New York with less
than he should’ve in his desperation to get away. Clothes mostly and a few pictures of his family.

And, of course, a black rabbit and pink tourmaline charm dangling from his phone.
 Chapter 2
Chapter Notes

This will be a Wàngxiàn story, but I also want there to be a balance between Lán
Wàngjī's romantic and familial relationships. Naturally, Wèi Yīng will take the front
seat when the time comes, but he also spent the last 13 years dedicated wholly to his
family, so he won't be blindly pushing them aside.

Also, please keep in mind I have a million different stories being worked on alongside
this one, so expect irregular updates. I'll try my best not to spend months working on
new chapters, but I also don't make any promises.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Lán Wàngjī looked away from the press when he heard the honking of a car horn and he leaned
over to peek out into his driveway through the window over the sink. As expected, he saw his
brother’s car pull up behind his own. He waved out of habit, but of course Lán Xīchén didn’t
notice as he put the car in park and any chances of him looking up to see him in the window was
preemptively stunted when two teenagers tumbled out of his car. Well, Lán Jǐngyí jumped out. Jīn
Líng was calmer and less excited, though not in a way that suggested he didn’t want to be there.
Which was to be expected. The relationship he had with Jīn Líng wasn’t the same as the one he had
with Lán Jǐngyí; he didn’t see or hear from him nearly as often as he did Lán Jǐngyí, so their
relationship simply wasn’t as strong. He still cared for him, though, but how could he not? After
all, Jīn Líng was Wèi Yīng’s nephew and in those first five years of Jīn Líng’s life, he had loved
his nephew more than even Jiāng Yànlí.

If he couldn’t offer the boy even the tiniest piece of his heart, how could he ever claim the right to
say he had loved Wèi Yīng?

He removed his apron and met his nephews at the door even before they knocked, opening it to see
Lán Jǐngyí’s broad smile and Jīn Líng’s own pleasant one. He stepped aside to welcome them
inside just as Lán Xīchén approached with the boys’ bags.

“Wàngjī,” his brother greeted with a smile. He would never adapt to seeing how dim it was
compared to how it was when they were younger. “Thank you for taking them. I’m sorry for
ruining your plans.”

He blinked slowly. There were no plans, though he suspected Lán Xīchén knew that and was just
being polite. Even if he had planned something, Lán Wàngjī couldn’t fault his brother for the
sudden change; it was his work that put him in the position. Naturally, his first choice would’ve
been the Jiāngs and Jīn Zixuān since they were within reasonable driving distance, but they had
already departed on their trip, so he was his only choice. Niè Huáisāng was also unavailable and
they wouldn't know where he went off to this time until he got back from another spontaneous
vacation. Besides, hosting his nephews two summers in a row wasn’t an inconvenience at all. Even
if he would only be looking after them for three weeks out of the eight they had before the new
school year this time.

“Xiōngzhǎng, I’m not bothered. There is no need for you to apologize.”

“Ah, Wàngjī. Such a good brother. What would I do without you?”

It wasn’t the same light-hearted rhetorical question he used to ask. Though he wasn’t expecting an
answer, the thought behind it was genuine. He doubted his brother would have had the will to
survive these past five years if he didn’t have Lán Wàngjī to lean on. As much as he loved Lán
Jǐngyí, carrying on after not only the sudden passing of their uncle but also the deaths of Niè
Míngjué and Mèng Yáo within half a decade wouldn’t have been possible on his own. Or, rather, it
wouldn’t have been possible without the support of someone who knew his pain all too well. In
that, at least, Lán Wàngjī had experience. He knew how to help his brother live in spite of having
lost those he knew to be his soulmates.

“Will you be staying for lunch? I’m making panini with vegetables and rice.”

“As much as I would love to have one of Dìdi’s home-cooked meals, I’m afraid I can’t stay.
Syracuse is another two hours away and my flight leaves in three.”

“All right. I won’t keep you then.”

“Ā-Yí, ā-Líng, behave yourselves.”

“We will,” Lán Jǐngyí said.

“We’ll try,” Jīn Líng corrected, though his expression was anything but serious. “Have a safe trip,
Chén-bó.”

“I will. I’ll see you all when I get back.”

With that, Lán Xīchén gave his son a hug before returning to his car, waving goodbye to Lán
Wàngjī and Jīn Líng before driving off. When the car turned a corner and disappeared from sight,
Lán Wàngjī shut the door and turned to the boys. For whatever reason, they had entered a quiet
argument with one another. So quiet that Lán Wàngjī hadn’t even noticed until he could physically
see them. Which was highly unusual; whenever they fought, they did so with no volume control.
Noticing they were now being watched, the two straightened and tried to look as if nothing had
happened.

It was pointless, but he let them have their dignity.

“Your rooms have been prepared. Go and unpack while I finish lunch.”

Lán Jǐngyí and Jīn Líng quickly grabbed their bags and hurried upstairs. They started arguing
again, this time a little bit louder, midway up the stairs but Lán Wàngjī tuned them out for the sake
of giving them privacy. If it was important, they would come to him. Instead, he gave his attention
to the food he had been preparing. He alternated between grilling the panini on the press and the
sides, making sure the vegetable stir fry and rice didn’t overcook. By the time the food was done
half an hour later, the boys were already seated at the island counter with a cup of tea each waiting.
They were no longer arguing and were instead being unusually quiet. If he didn’t know any better,
he would think they were up to something nefarious. But, he did know better.

Lán Wàngjī served them each a plate before fixing his own. Usually he would eat sitting, but he
only had two barstools and they were both occupied, so he remained standing across from them. It
gave him the best view as Lán Jǐngyí and Jīn Líng sent glances and glares to one another,
occasionally making small, unassuming gestures that would’ve been missed by anyone else. They
were communicating. Talking in a way only they could. Or, perhaps they were arguing. It looked
like a very heated display. He would’ve been impressed if he wasn’t worried it would escalate into
something louder and more physical.

“What is wrong?”

“Nothing,” the two said in unison.

He wasn’t convinced and stared blankly at them. They held out for a minute, but eventually they
looked away and squirmed uncomfortably. It worked as it always did and Lán Jǐngyí sighed.

“Shūshu, Líng and I....We were wondering if our friends could come down this weekend and spend
the next couple weeks with us.”

Lán Wàngjī blinked, surprised by the question for several reasons. He’d never known Lán Jǐngyí to
hesitate to ask for things; as far as he was aware, he’d made it very clear from the day he was
adopted that he was more than happy to spoil his nephew. Yes, he was strict, but he very rarely
denied him anything. It shouldn’t have been such a struggle for him to ask. Another thing that
surprised him was the fact that Lán Jǐngyí and Jīn Líng actually had friends they wanted to bring
around. Their families were wealthier than their classmates and, in the case of Jīn Líng, famous
through both of his grandmothers’ former modeling and acting careers. To them, “friend” had
always been equated to groupie at best and leech at worst. Because of that, they had very few
people they had felt comfortable enough to invite into their homes. Even with those few safe
companions, they had never once met anyone they felt close enough with to invite to his home.

Because he lived nearly six hours away from everyone else, Lán Wàngjī’s house had been
mutually acknowledged as a safe haven of some sorts. He had harbored Niè Míngjué at some point
during the early days of his treatment after he lashed out physically at Niè Huáisāng and Mèng Yáo
from the stress and humiliation of everyone’s fretting. When Luó Qīngyáng and her family moved
from China, Lán Wàngjī let them live with him until they found a place of their own. There was
even a week or two during his first year of living there where he housed Jiāng Yànlí and Jīn Líng
after she suffered a miscarriage and couldn’t cope with Jīn Zixuān and Jiāng Chéng avoiding
eggshells. It was The Place to go to recover from stress. So, it made sense the family circle didn’t
want to invite just anyone into that space.

The fact that his nephews had met people they trusted enough to introduce him and his home to
them was really all the reason he needed to permit it.

“Who?”

“Yuàn and Zizhēn.”

“...The Wēn boys?”

“Yeah! You know them?”

He knew about them and had a few pictures courtesy of his brother’s habit of documenting any
moment of Lán Jǐngyí’s life he could catch, but he hadn’t personally met them. They had moved to
New York midway through the school year and as a rule, Lán Wàngjī didn’t make spontaneous
trips to the city. He went to events to support his nephews, but otherwise remained in Inlet. Seeing
as Wēn Yuàn and Wēn Zizhēn weren’t a part of the same clubs and sports as their friends, he
hadn’t had the chance to meet them. If they had been present at any of the events, they hadn’t
crossed paths.

“You will need to decide who will be sharing rooms.”

“They can come?” Jīn Líng asked.

 “Yes.”

“Great!” Lán Jǐngyí exclaimed. “I’ll bunk with Yuàn!”

“No, I’ll room with him. You can share with Zizhēn.”

“What? No! Why the hell do you get to decide that?”

“Because you have a crush on Yuàn that’s bigger than Jiùjiu’s temper and I’m not about to leave
you two unsupervised at night so you can take advantage of Jī-shū’s schedule.”

Lán Wàngjī attempted to push the implication out of his mind. He didn’t need to go down the
rabbit hole that was his nephew’s sexual endeavors. Though, he supposed if he was going to be
intimate anywhere, there weren’t many places that were safer than either his own or his uncle’s
home. A part of him hoped the two did feel they could trust the safety of his home enough to “take
advantage”. He wouldn’t be too pleased, of course, but other than a serious talk on proper consent
and safety, he wouldn’t do much to actively stop them. There was no stopping curious and
hormonal teenagers, so the best that could be done was offer a safe environment so they didn’t go
rolling around in playgrounds or alleyways.

“I don’t have a crush on him. He’s just....Look, it’s not like that, okay?”

“Right. That’s why you’re always gawking at him and following him around like a love-starved
puppy.”

It should’ve been a completely normal interaction between the two of them. And, it would’ve been
if Lán Jǐngyí had made a remark of some kind. But, he didn’t and the silence caught both Lán
Wàngjī and Jīn Líng’s attention. They looked at him and something in him cracked at the
frustrated look on Lán Jǐngyí’s face. He was poking at his half-eaten rice as if it had personally
offended him and looked close to tears.

“Jǐngyí?” He looked up at him, apparently surprised. “What is it?”

“...Nothing. I’m tired. I’m going to take a nap.”

“What? Hey, Jǐngyí, wait--”

Lán Wàngjī reached out over the counter and caught Jīn Líng’s arm, stopping him from following
his cousin.

“Jī-shū, I....I didn’t....”

“Mn,” he hummed, acknowledging Jīn Líng’s lack of ill intent. “Shūfù and Wèi Yīng have not
been served yet. Come.”

The two set about preparing two meals, placing them on the shared shrine in offering to Wèi Yīng
and Lán Qǐrén. As they bowed, each with a lit incense stick in their hands, they decidedly ignored
the sound of pacing on the second floor. For the first time ever, Lán Wàngjī felt a pinch of regret
and dread.

What had his brother left him with?

Chapter End Notes

Okay, so. A few things to know so that this chapter makes sense.

- Lán Jǐngyí was adopted by Lán Xīchén, Niè Míngjué, and Mèng Yáo when he was
around 7; two or so years after Wèi Yīng went missing. He and Jīn Líng grew up
together as cousins through Jīn Zixuān and Mèng Yáo. Jīn Líng is 18 (and has actually
graduated high school) and Lán Jǐngyí is 17. Because they grew up together, Jīn Líng
also grew up with frequent exposure to Lán Wàngjī; that means he's not as intimidated
by him as he is in canon, but is clearly still not confident enough to make "big"
requests.
- On that note, it's worth noting that because the two family units are connected in the
way they are, everyone's relationships with each other will reflect that. They're all one
big family. So what if Lán Wàngjī and Jiāng Chéng still aren't friends? At least they're
not actively hostile towards one another and do actually talk to each other. Mostly
about Wèi Yīng or their nephews.
- The deaths mentioned in this chapter happened in the last five years before this
chapter took place. Lán Qǐrén died of a sudden and unexpected heart attack. Niè
Míngjué was diagnosed with lung cancer and after a year or two of failed treatment, he
opted for assisted suicide. Mèng Yáo was always kind of fragile mentally and was in
and out of care for clinical depression ever since the lodge incident (he was the one
that let Sū Shè bring his dog, but wasn't aware of Wèi Yīng's fear) and after Niè
Míngjué's death, he kind of just snapped and overdosed on medication less than a year
later.
- Niè Huáisāng was already in a bit of a frail state since Wèi Yīng's disappearance and
assumed death, so after his brother died, he just said fuck it. He can't really stand
being in the city for long periods of time but unlike Lán Wàngjī who just moved to a
small town in the state, Niè Huáisāng decided he would go on trips whenever and
wherever he wanted. On a totally random and not at all related note, don't expect to
hear from Sū Shè at all.
- Lán Wàngjī has a memorial shrine for Wèi Yīng and Lán Qǐrén. It's shared because
he doesn't want to have two separate altars in his living room. He serves them a meal
every single day and when he's hosting his nephews, Jīn Líng assists him by serving
Wèi Yīng's offering.
 Chapter 3
Chapter Notes

I don’t know how important it will be, but I’m going to include the ages of everyone
involved in Lán Wàngjī’s immediate family/friend circle minus Lán Jǐngyí and Jīn
Líng since their ages were told in the end notes of the last chapter.

Lán Xīchén - 38
Lán Wàngjī - 32
Niè Huáisāng - 31
Jīn Zixuān - 36
Jiāng Yànlí - 35
Jiāng Chéng - 31
Luó Qīngyáng - 34
Lǐ Bōlín - 33
Luó Mián - 7

Yes, Jiāng Yànlí and Jīn Zixuān were teen parents. I don’t know if canon ever
mentioned how much older she was compared to her brothers, but I didn’t want to
make Jiāng Yànlí unreasonably older here. So, teen parenthood it was. I don’t think
their mothers would’ve been too disappointed.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The first couple days came and went with no further incidents. Lán Jǐngyí recovered from his
strange fit before dinner and woke up the next morning with the incident out of his mind. Lán
Wàngjī and Jīn Líng hadn’t forgotten, but neither of them said anything about it. Jīn Líng even felt
guilty enough to almost take back what he said about sharing a room with Wēn Yuàn, but he
suspected Lán Jǐngyí wasn’t the only one that idolized him and that bit of selfishness was the only
reason he didn’t. As if the two really needed something else to compete over. It was only going to
get worse when it dawned on Jīn Líng his cousin was going to be graduating with their new friend,
making whatever rivalry there was between them almost pointless, but that hadn’t happened yet.
Lán Wàngjī decided to cherish the calm before the storm.

He also quietly hoped the storm hit after his brother returned so the parents were the ones that had
to survive it. Even if it was bound to be nothing but inconsolable sulking, he was never any good at
dealing with it. Oftentimes, he made it worse without meaning to.

“Jiùjiu!”

“Miánmián, don’t run!”

Lán Wàngjī looked down when his leg was attacked, tiny arms wrapping around his calf. Looking
up at him was the smiling face of the girl that was, as far as he and her parents were concerned, his
niece. His only niece, in fact. Lán Wàngjī always did his best not to treat her too differently than he
did his nephews, but it was difficult not to. Not so much because she wasn’t a little boy, though that
certainly played a small part, but because they lived in the same town and he was more physically
involved in her life. During the school year, he would often look after her in the afternoon on days
Luó Qīngyáng and Lǐ Bōlín couldn’t escape work in time.
“Hello, Mián. What have we told you about running?”

“...Running inside is a no-no.”

“Mn. And, what has your Bàba told you about trips to the store?”

“Stay with him or Māma.”

“That’s right. Did you run indoors?”

“Yes, Jiùjiu.”

“Did you stay with your māma?”

“...No, Jiùjiu....”

“What do we do when we break the rules?”

Luó Mián hurried back to her mother, distinctively not running but also not walking either, and he
watched Luó Qīngyáng pick her daughter up. He couldn’t hear them, but he knew Luó Mián well
enough to recognize when she was apologizing. She always tucked her head into his or her parents’
necks when she apologized. Once the little scene concluded, Luó Qīngyáng set her daughter back
down and they came up to him.

“Didn’t expect to see you here so soon, Wàngjī. You did your shopping last week, didn’t you?”

“Jǐngyí and Rúlán are staying with me.”

“Really? I thought it was Xīchén’s summer to have them. Did he have to cancel?”

“Xiōngzhǎng was asked to go on a business trip and he couldn’t refuse. The Jiāngs and Zixuān had
already departed on their vacation and Huáisāng is nowhere to be found, so he asked me to take
them. It’s only for three weeks,” he explained. “I’m here with Jǐngyí and Rúlán to stock up on
snacks.”

His house only ever had healthy snacks, most of them homemade. The boys were fine with them,
but they had a freer diet than what Lán Wàngjī allowed himself to have. Usually, he was able to
stock up on things they liked before they arrived, but the change in plans had been a last minute
adjustment and he didn’t have the chance. Which was just as well. He was content to do his own
shopping for things he felt he was too low on while Lán Jǐngyí and Jīn Líng worried about their
own snack supply. Already the cart he was pushing around had more junk food than ingredients
and he had no clue where the two went off to this time. Hopefully they were also keeping their
friends in mind.

“I see. How is Xīchén? I heard he started therapy?”

“Mn. At Jǐngyí’s insistence. It’s only been a couple months, but he says it’s helping. His therapist
suggested he consider getting a pet. Jǐngyí will be leaving for university sooner than he wants to
admit, so a pet might be good for him.”

“If he needs recommendations, I can ask Bólín. He has friends that work with the humane society.
As long as it’s not a service animal, I’m sure he could help.”

“If Xiōngzhǎng goes through with it, I’ll let him know to contact you or Bólín. He’ll trust your
opinions more than a stranger’s, I think.”
“Huàn-jiù is getting a puppy?”

“No, Miánmián. Huàn-jiù doesn’t know what he wants yet. He might want a kitty.”

“...Huàn-jiù should get a puppy. Kitties are mean.”

Lán Wàngjī huffed while Luó Qīngyáng simply patted her daughter’s head. Before their
conversation could continue, the boys turned into the aisle and sprinted over to him. They were
holding what looked like a selection of DVD cases and looked like kids at an all expenses paid trip
to a candy store.

“Shūshu! Shūshu, look! They’re doing a huge sale on horror movies! Can we buy some?”

Horror movies. He knew Jiāng Yànlí and Jīn Zixuān wouldn’t care. Jīn Líng was eighteen now
after all and they had never been strict about what movies he watched; he, his father, and Jiāng
Chéng had a horror movie marathon tradition every October to celebrate Halloween. It was Lán
Jǐngyí that had always had his media intake monitored and restricted. An unfortunate leftover from
his and his brother’s own upbringing, though his brother had always been more lenient than their
uncle had been. He would need to ask Lán Xīchén if it was all right. Then there was the Wēn
brothers. Lán Wàngjī had no idea what their parents were like.

“I will message Xiōngzhǎng to ask. I will also need to speak to Yuàn and Zizhēn’s parents.”

“Aw, c’mon, Shūshu. Does Bàba need to know?” Lán Jǐngyí whined, earning a huff of laughter.

“Yes. I won’t keep secrets from my brother, especially regarding his parenting style. I’m sure he
won’t mind, but I need to ask. If he and the boys’ parents agree, I’ll bring you both back before the
sale ends to choose which movies you want.”

“Yuàn told us his dad is fine with it,” Jīn Líng said, ignoring the skeptical look he gave the two.
“He doesn’t lie.”

“I’d still like to check. Do either of you have their parents’ numbers?”

“I’ll ask Yuàn. I guess we should put the movies back?”

“Yes,” he said. “Did you two get everything?”

“We still want popcorn, but they’re out of the good brands. An employee told us they’re getting a
new shipment in a couple of days.”

Lán Wàngjī nodded and watched the two hurry off to put the movies back, Lán Jǐngyí taking his
phone out to presumably text Wēn Yuàn.

“Who are Yuàn and Zizhēn?” Luó Qīngyáng asked.

“Friends. They’re coming down this weekend to stay for a couple weeks.”

“I didn’t know Líng and Jǐngyí had friends that serious. They must be good kids if they want them
here.”

“Xiōngzhǎng and the Jiāngs have never complained about them,” he said. “If Jiāng Chéng has no
complaints and Xiōngzhǎng is fine with having them over as often as they apparently are, I trust
they’re well-behaved.”

“That’s true. You’re okay with it? I know you don’t like a crowded house.”
“Mn. I don’t mind having a houseful of teenagers. There’s plenty of space and the basement’s been
renovated, so there’s an extra space for them to take advantage of.”

The basement had been renovated for an entirely different reason, but he could put off getting
rabbits for a few more weeks. It wasn’t entirely ready for them anyway, so it wasn’t a loss.

“You did always like kids, so I can’t be surprised. We’ll have to come by sometime to meet them.
Right, Miánmián?”

“Yep! If Māma says so, then we have to do it!”

Lán Wàngjī reached down to ruffle Luó Mián’s hair; not enough to ruin it, but enough to frizzle it
just a bit. She pouted and shoved his hand away to fix it.

“Tell the boys I said hi. We need to get going or Bólín and I won’t get dinner done before bedtime.
Say bye, Miánmián.”

“Bye, Jiùjiu!”

“I’ll see you soon, Mián. Remember to stay with your māma, okay?”

“I will, Jiùjiu. Promise.”

Luó Qīngyáng and her daughter left, Luó Mián waving to him until she had turned the corner. Lán
Wàngjī grabbed the bottle of chili oil he’d originally come to the aisle for before going to the
movies to find his nephews. When he found them, Jīn Líng was kneeling in front of a Siberian
Husky that was very obviously pregnant while Lán Jǐngyí stood a bit to the side talking to the
owner. About what, he didn’t know, but considering how interested he seemed in the dog, he could
only guess it was about the puppies or maybe the breed. Probably trying to see if a Siberian Husky
would be a good fit for Lán Xīchén.

It wouldn’t be, seeing as they were known to be highly energetic and his brother would likely need
something calmer, but he wasn’t going to stop his nephew from looking into it. He knew Lán
Jǐngyí was very serious about helping his father find the perfect fit for him. It was the same energy
he had when convincing Lán Xīchén to get into therapy.

“When is she due?” Jīn Líng asked.

“Not for another month at the least. Are you interested in the puppies?”

“Uh. Maybe. I’d have to ask if it’s okay.”

“Well, there’s more than enough time. They still need to be weaned and that’ll take at least an extra
two months.”

“Shūshu! Are we leaving?”

“Mn.”

“Thanks for letting us pet your dog, sir. She’s really pretty.”

“Thank you. I’m sure she loved the attention.”

The boys said their goodbyes to the dog before following Lán Wàngjī to the registers. As the three
of them loaded the groceries into the car, Lán Jǐngyí’s phone pinged and it was amusing how
quickly he pulled it out of his pocket to receive the message. He sent one in return before turning
 his phone to him, letting him see and he immediately saw the phone number. Lán Wàngjī
memorized it quickly and finished putting the groceries in the car, letting Jīn Líng take the cart
back inside.

“Who will I be talking to?”

“Their dad. I had no idea their dad flew in yesterday.”

“...Flew in?”

“Yeah. Their dad’s a teacher, so he stayed back in California to finish the year off and settle things
with their house. So, their aunt, uncle, and grandma have been the ones in charge of them.”

He was going to ask about their mother, but quickly decided against it. If she wasn’t mentioned, it
was clear she wasn’t around for one reason or another. It wasn't his place to ask and it wasn’t Lán
Jǐngyí’s place to tell him assuming he knew the answer. The two got into the car and while waiting
for Jīn Líng to get back, he pulled out his phone and added the number to his contacts.

“Do you know their father’s name?”

“Wēn Yīng! I remember because I thought it was hilarious because his aunt and uncle’s names are
Qíng and Níng. I also thought it was kind of funny that his name has the character for ‘baby’. Their
parents must not have been very original.”

Lán Wàngjī hesitated in typing in the name. It’d been years since he had to actively spell out that
particular name. His entire name was literally just two differences away from being identical to
Wèi Yīng’s and it hurt how much he wanted to type Wèi instead of Wēn. That would hurt a lot
more, though, so of course he didn’t and instead opened a new chat before he completely lost his
nerve.

This is Lan Wangji, Jingyi and Ling’s uncle. I’d like to talk to you about your sons before they
come to stay with us.

Jīn Líng slipped into the passenger seat after he sent his texts to Wēn Yīng, giving him the perfect
excuse to shove it into his pocket and ignore the immediate response he got. Driving was always a
good excuse to put off answering a call or text he didn’t want to for as long as he could.

Chapter End Notes

Lán Wàngjī and Miánmián absolutely would’ve been friends if canon wasn’t so
dismissive of its women. In this story, he and Miánmián know each other because she
was an upperclassman at Gūsū. She graduated after Lán Wàngjī’s fourth year and they
stayed in contact. She and her family moved from China when Little Miánmián was 3.
And, yes. Jīn Líng’s legal name is Jīn Rúlán and yes, he still prefers Jīn Líng in
everyday life because Rúlán is “too girly”. No, he doesn’t outright hate his legal name
and is in fact very attached to it. Give you three guesses as to why. Lán Wàngjī and
Jiāng Yànlí are the only ones to use Rúlán casually and he’s 100% okay with that.
 Chapter 4
Chapter Notes

Why are text messages in stories so awkward to write? The alignments suck, the fonts
suck; everything about them sucks. But, it’s so much worse just using paragraphs to
describe a conversation, so. Here we are.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

There was only so much a person could do to put off responding to a text, but Lán Wàngjī was
always very good at finding every little excuse possible. At least until he was called out. And, that
was something Lán Jǐngyí was always very good at, so it only took half an hour of uselessly
moving around the house for the young Lán to ask when he was going to answer Wēn Yīng. He
glared at his nephew, who only smiled innocently before going to join Jīn Líng outside.

Lán Wàngjī took a few more minutes just to be a bit spiteful for having been called out like he was
before he took his phone from his pocket. He really didn’t like having to talk to strangers.

ah the famous lan wangji! i’ve heard a lot about you!

what can i do for you? is this about the movies?

It took a moment for him to conclude he probably heard about him secondhand from whatever Lán
Jǐngyí told Wēn Yuàn and his brother. He’d long since gotten used to hearing about how often his
younger nephew gushed about him to anyone that would listen. Still, it was a bit of a strange
situation to talk to someone who knew probably everything there was to know about him while his
knowledge consisted of the man’s name.

Partially. Rulan told me you were fine with it. I wanted to make sure.

like the responsible adult your nephews say you are. i guess i should’ve asked for your number,
huh?

sorry for making you do all the work. yes i’m fine with them watching horror.

yuan gets seasick easily though. just watching a boat can make him queasy. so maybe nothing with
a lot of boat scenes? other than that, they can handle it really well.

I will keep that in mind.

Could you tell me if Yuan and Zizhen have any restrictions or schedules?

like medication? zizhen has asthma but it’s always been very mild. he keeps an inhaler just in case
but it’s nothing you need to monitor. he has it under control. just make sure he has it with him
when he leaves the house and it’ll be fine.

other than that there isn’t anything for you to worry about.

wait!

yuan’s vegetarian. is that a problem?

Not at all. I am vegan and do not handle meat or animal products.

Yuan won’t need to worry about cross contamination.

A small part of him was happy that he’d be hosting someone who could fully appreciate his
cooking. Lán Jǐngyí and Jīn Líng never complained, of course, but he knew they were happier with
non-vegan meals. The only complaint he’d ever gotten was from Jīn Líng when he and his mother
had come to stay with him, and that was only because he was offended Lán Wàngjī offered his
uncle vegan food when he vividly remembered Wèi Yīng had been a fierce lover of meat. Jiāng
Yànlí had shut it down and made him understand, of course, and there hadn’t been a complaint
since.

Besides, he let Jiāng Yànlí use his kitchen to make a pot of lotus root and pork rib soup so she
could offer a bowl to Wèi Yīng everyday while she was there, so the offense was quickly forgiven.

he’ll be happy to hear that. but should i not send this box of popcorn with them? i don’t know if it’s
vegan.

I don’t mind keeping non-vegan snacks as long as they remember to store them in the correct
cupboard.

Jingyi and Rulan can show them where to put it when they get here.

sounds fair and reasonable. will that be all, lan wangji?

For now, yes. Can I contact you again if I have any other questions?

of course! feel free to just say hi if you want too!

As bad as he felt about it, that wasn’t likely to happen. At best, Lán Wàngjī would just send
pictures of the boys to Wēn Yīng. He did that for his brother, the Jiāngs and Jīn Zixuān, so adding
Wēn Yīng to the list wouldn’t be any trouble. Socializing with strangers, however, was; especially
over text. It wasn’t exactly a medium that often kept his attention. With that bit of business done,
Lán Wàngjī set his phone aside and went about preparing lunch.

“What’s for lunch, Jī-shū?”

“Quinoa salad. There will be croutons. Where’s Jǐngyí?”

“Being weird again,” he said, plucking a piece of papaya from the plate. “...Were you this weird
with Xiàn-jiù?”
Lán Wàngjī faltered and just barely managed to avoid slicing through his fingers. Jīn Líng looked
at him with an unimpressed stare as he quietly judged him for his reaction.

“Jǐngyí and I have very different ways of handling our crushes and ‘awakenings’.”

For starters, Lán Jǐngyí wasn’t actively trying to push the target of his affection away and was
instead eager to keep him close. That was undoubtedly something he learned from his fathers; all
three of them were possessive and clingy by nature. Furthermore, Lán Wàngjī had immediately
come out to his brother solely because he needed help understanding his newly realized attraction
for men and Lán Xīchén was the only person he knew he could really trust to help him do that. Lán
Jǐngyí, however, seemed determined to figure it out on his own and Lán Wàngjī didn’t know how
to feel about it. On one hand, it felt as if he couldn’t be trusted with the task and that hurt but on
the other, he was relieved because crushes were a topic he didn’t know how to handle.

He silently cursed his brother for leaving him to deal with this particular situation alone. Maybe
he’d call Luó Qīngyáng and ask her for assistance.

“We can’t do anything to coax it out of him. Just leave him be. He’ll decide when to come to us.
Avoid teasing him about it in the meantime.”

“Yeah, all right.”

“And, stop eating the papaya or there won’t be any left for the salad.”

Jīn Líng turned red with embarrassment as he realized he’d been idly picking at the pieces of fruit
his uncle had been cutting. Without so much as a word, he hurried out of the kitchen to rejoin Lán
Jǐngyí and left Lán Wàngjī to laugh quietly to himself.

******

“Bàba?”

Wēn Yīng’s head shot up when he heard Wēn Zizhēn. He was supposed to be asleep. Wēn Yīng
shoved the little white rabbit charm into his pocket as he smiled brightly.

“Ā-Zhēn! What are you doing awake? It’s midnight. You should be getting all the sleep you can
before you lose it partying all night with those friends of yours.”

“I woke up thirsty....Are you okay, Bàba?”

“Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You were playing with that rabbit again. You always do that when you’re upset.”

If a string of curses went through his head at that moment, it was no one’s business but his own.
Wēn Yīng instead chose to shrug and slump in defeat, giving Wēn Zizhēn his best pout.

“Āiyā, ā-Zhēn. I’m just being a sentimental old man. Feels like just yesterday you two didn’t want
to ever let go of my legs and now you’re making plans to leave me all alone for two weeks. Where
did all the time go?”

“Don’t let Gūmā and Nǎinai hear you say that.”

“Well, it’s a good thing they’re asleep then, isn’t it? Something you should be getting back to.
Little radishes need their sleep.”
 Wēn Zizhēn grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before letting Wēn Yīng crush him in a
suffocating hug, laughing along with him as he did. Wēn Yīng kissed his son’s head as he loosened
his hold on him.

“Goodnight, ā-Zhēn.”

“Night, Bàba.”

He watched Wēn Zizhēn disappear back down the hall and remained standing idly where he was by
the counter until he heard the bedroom door close. Only then did he pull the charm back out of his
pocket. Like a machine, he started twirling it between his fingers without even consciously doing
it.

“Sentimental indeed. Old Man Lán must be spitting blood up there.”

Chapter End Notes

I wonder how many of you thought this was going to be an amnesia fic. Anyway,
here’s the Wēn family list of ages because they’re relevant now.

Wēn Lí (Granny Wēn) - 62

Wēn Qíng - 36
Wēn Níng - 29
Wèi Yīng - 31
Wēn Yuàn - 17
Ōuyáng Zizhēn - 16
 Chapter 5
Chapter Notes

Me: I won’t be updating my fics too often.

Creative Boost: Allow me to introduce myself.

This is bad. I’m going to end up setting a personal standard with how much writing
I’ve been doing and then it’s going to be really disappointing when the boost goes
away. Send help.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Ugh. Where are they?”

“Jī-shū lives six hours away from the city, Jǐngyí. What did you expect?”

“It’s been, like, ten hours, though.”

“...It’s been five and a half hours.”

“What? No way. What time is it?”

Lán Wàngjī glanced behind him to the open window where Lán Jǐngyí and Jīn Líng were sitting.
They weren't being as quiet as they thought they were. Once he checked the time, probably hoping
to prove his cousin wrong, Lán Jǐngyí groaned again. There was a soft thunk from Lán Jǐngyí
letting his head fall forward to rest against the window screen. Lán Wàngjī would’ve rolled his
eyes if he was anyone else, but instead he just huffed at the other’s impatience. Jīn Líng, however,
did roll his eyes and the only reason he knew was because Lán Jǐngyí whined about it.

“The hell’s that about?”

This time, he did roll his eyes but he made sure to turn away from the window so the boys didn’t
see. They’d never let it go.

“The Wēn brothers are coming to stay here with them. Jǐngyí is being impatient.”

“Yuàn and Zizhēn? You allowed that?”

“I saw no reason to refuse. They have never had friends they wanted to bring here. If nothing else,
I would like to meet them.”

“You don’t even know them. Doesn’t letting them over violate some kind of rule you probably
have?”

“It does not and no one has ever given me any reason to not welcome them. Xiōngzhǎng never said
anything bad about them and if they haven’t caused you to have any complaints worth venting to
me about, they must be very well-behaved.”

“...The fuck does that mean?”

It meant exactly what it sounded like and he knew Jiāng Chéng knew that, so he opted not to
answer.

“Unless you do have complaints?”

“Piss off,” he growled before Lán Wàngjī heard who he could easily identify as Jīn Zixuān say
something, though he was too far from the phone to hear him clearly. “The peacock wants to know
how his peachick is doing.”

“Don’t call him a peachick!” There was silence for about five seconds before, “I’m not a damn
peacock!”

“The peachick is doing well.”

“Huh? What about me?” Just like his father, it took a moment for Jīn Líng to process. And, just
like his father, he turned red and declared, “I’m not a peachick!”

“No, just a chick,” Lán Jǐngyí said.

“You--!”

He ignored the bout of light wrestling the two got into, but there was a small smile on his face.
Judging by the attempts to hide his laughter, he wasn’t the only uncle who was amused.

“How is Yànlí?”

The tsk he received in response told him he’d just opened a door he shouldn’t have, but whatever
he was about to rant about was cut off before it began when Lán Jǐngyí and Jīn Líng announced
they could see their friends’ car.

“Sounds like our cue to cut this short. Guess I’ll have to bitch about it another time.”

“Wonderful.”

“Tell those two I said to behave themselves. They get so rowdy when the Wēn brats are around. I
don’t envy you.”

“I’m sure I will manage. Goodbye, Jiāng Chéng.”

“Yeah. Talk to you later.”

He ended the call as a minivan pulled into the driveway, Lán Jǐngyí and Jīn Líng rushing out the
door no less than three seconds later to greet their friends. They’d moved so quickly that Lán
Jǐngyí’s shoes were on the wrong feet and Jīn Líng had to take extra time to put his left one on all
the way once he was outside.

“Línglíng! Jǐngyí!”

The boy that called out to them had opened the door before the van was even fully in park and if he
hadn’t heard the driver scold him loudly for it, Lán Wàngjī would’ve sneered at the
irresponsibility. He still did, kind of, but it was no more than a disapproving frown. Realistically,
he knew it was impossible to control excited kids and excited teenagers could be even more
untamable, but it said something about the parenting choices that the boy would feel comfortable
enough to do so. He couldn’t imagine either of his nephews ever doing that.

“Hey, Zizhēn!” Lán Jǐngyí said as Wēn Zizhēn gave him and Jīn Líng high-fives. “You’ll never
guess what Shūshu let us do!”

“Did he get you a dog or something?”

“No dogs,” Lán Wàngjī said with a bit more firmness than he planned.

“Jī-shū has the same no dog rule that Jiùjiu has. So, no dog. But, we did get to make a--”

“Shhh! Not yet! We have to wait for Yuàn!”

As if summoned, Wēn Yuàn approached carrying his bags while a man who was likely either their
father or uncle was close behind with another set of bags. Wēn Zizhēn’s if he had to guess. Unlike
his brother, who was openly energetic, Wēn Yuàn was calm. It was like watching another Jīn Líng
without the resting scowl he learned from Jiāng Chéng or the passive upturned nose attitude he
learned from Jīn Zixuān. In fact, Wēn Yuàn’s default expression seemed to be a pleasant and soft
one.

“Zizhēn, remember your manners,” Wēn Yuàn said, tone gentle but firm. “Mr. Lán, thank you for
letting us visit. I’m Wēn Yuàn.”

“Wēn Zizhēn. Thank you for having us.”

“Mn. It is nice to meet Jǐngyí and Rúlán’s friends,” he said before he looked back up at the man.
“Lán Wàngjī.”

“Wēn Níng,” he said with a slight stutter. The uncle then. “Jǐngyí’s told us a lot about you. We
hope our boys will behave and not cause too much trouble.”

While it sounded as if he was talking to Lán Wàngjī, Wēn Níng was looking at his nephews. Well,
he was looking at Wēn Zizhēn specifically, but both of them looked away as if they had already
gotten caught doing something. Wēn Zizhēn took his bags from Wēn Níng before the brothers were
pulled into the house and undoubtedly to the basement where the fort had been set up.

“Thank you again for having them. They were excited to meet you.”

“Does Jǐngyí praise me that often?”

“All the time. The sweet dear can talk our ears off for hours about how great his favorite uncle is.”

Lán Wàngjī was a very sturdy man with an incredibly mild fear response. He did not jump, run, or
otherwise react to surprise and fear that often. But, when the elderly woman who just barely
reached Wēn Níng’s chest in height spoke, even he couldn’t push down the obvious startle; he even
jumped back an inch. He hadn’t seen or heard her approach at all.

“I....I see.”

“Gūgu....Be nice.”

“Oh, ā-Níng, hush. I’m just teasing him,” she said before smiling at him, arms behind her back in a
way that could only be described as militarian. “Hello, dear. I’m Wēn Lí, but you can call me
Pópo.”

That was a very familiar term he wasn’t sure he should be using, but he also wasn’t comfortable
with the idea of going against Wēn Lí’s suggestion. If it could even be called that. It felt more like
an order. How could one elderly woman look and act so innocent but manage to be equally
intimidating? He’d never met anyone like her before.

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Lán Wàngjī said, deliberately avoiding any name or term. “Would
you and Wēn Níng like to come in for a while? You had a long drive.”

“We’re fine, Mr. Lán. It’ll be a long drive back to the city. We wouldn’t want to stay longer than
we should and impose on you. I’m sure you don’t have enough room for all seven of us.”

“It would not be a burden.”

“We appreciate the offer, hon, but ā-Níng’s strength is needed back home. My son is still
unpacking and heaven forbid he lift something he shouldn’t and get himself hurt. Besides, you’ll
have your hands full with those four; you don’t need the stress of hosting us, too.”

“Your...son?”

He went through what he knew about the Wēn family. There were only four people aside from the
boys and Wēn Níng had called Wēn Lí his aunt, so that would mean she was also his siblings’
aunt. There wasn’t ever any mention of another man in the family and Lán Jǐngyí had told him just
about everything he could about them without delving into anything overly personal.

He must’ve been visibly confused because Wēn Lí chuckled.

“That would be the boys’ father, dear. He, ā-Qíng, and ā-Níng call themselves siblings, but ā-Yīng
is my boy. Adopted, mind you. We found the poor dear no more than thirteen, maybe fourteen,
years ago with nowhere to go. We all grew so attached to him that we didn’t have the heart to let
him leave.”

“I see. It’s good he found his way to you then.”

“Yes, and he and the boys mean the world to us. We would do anything for them.”

Her smile was warm and her posture was nothing but relaxed, but why did that sound like a threat?
And, a threat on whose behalf exactly? Wēn Yīng or his sons?

“Ahah....Gūgu, we need to go. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Lán.”

“We’ll see you in two weeks, hon.”

Lán Wàngjī didn’t know what to say, so he just bowed to them and watched them until they got
into the van and drove off. It wasn’t until they had turned a corner and were out of sight that the
tension in his muscles went away. Had he made a mistake involving himself with this family?
Shaking his head, Lán Wàngjī went inside and locked the door despite it not even being noon yet.
Hearing the noise from the basement, he made his way down the stairs only to find all four of them
already tucked into the fort watching an action movie.

“Shūshu! Did Níng-gē and Granny leave already?”

“They did.” Thank the divines. “Did you get Yuàn and Zizhēn set up in your rooms?”

“Yep! Is it okay if we sleep down here tonight?”

“So long as you keep the space clean and remember to turn the TV off when you’re done with it,
you can sleep down here all you’d like.”

“We will, Jī-shū.”

Chapter End Notes

Wēn Níng does suffer from a permanent stutter in this AU, but I won’t be showing it
because typing out several hyphens is annoying. He stutters the most with W, J, A, T,
and TH. I imagine he stutters more around strangers (especially intimidating ones and
Lán Wàngjī is naturally intimidating) than he would with people like his family.
Having a speech impediment and being shy is the worst. I myself struggle a lot with
my Rs and trying to talk to a stranger is like an Elmer Fudd audition, so I understand
your pain, Wēn Níng.

Also, I stan Granny Wēn. Granny Wēn is my second favorite support character in the
series solely because I adore good media grandmothers. I loved Grandmother Fa and I
love Granny Wēn. I have an agenda to make sure she gets all the love, support, and
personality I can give her. Starting with her being the sneakiest little old lady Lán
Wàngjī has ever met. Because someone has to give him a run for his money in the
intimidation department and Wēn Qíng had to learn Intimidate and Scary Face from
somewhere in this AU. And, she knows exactly what she’s doing. Leaving hints and
wanting him to call her Pópo. Which, if you didn’t know, is what you call your
husband’s mother.
 Interlude
Chapter Notes

Surprise! Double update! Forget ‘Catching up with the Kardashians’. ‘What’s

Happening with the Wens’ is where it’s at.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“How did it go?”

“He’s such a polite young man.”

“I don’t think he was being polite. I think he was scared,” Wēn Níng said. “Gūgu did her
militarian grandmother act on him.”

“To his credit, I only startled him.”

“Good. Our boys will be safe with him then. Anyway, I looked into the Jiāngs and we won’t have
to worry about ā-Yīng coming into contact with her or Jiāng Fēngmián. From what I found, they
divorced ten years ago. Jiāng Fēngmián moved back to China and she went back to Florida. Can’t
find any news on why they divorced, but from the looks of it, neither have had any contact with
their kids or grandson since the divorce.”

“That’s good, but you know he’ll reach out to Jiāng Fēngmián eventually.”

“And, he’s allowed to, but only when he’s ready. Which he’s not. Ā-Yīng is still not sure if he’s
going to reach out to any of them.”

“He might not have a choice.”

Wēn Qíng raised a brow, forgetting that they couldn’t see her, but it didn’t matter. Wēn Lí seemed
to know what her brother meant.

“It’s very rude to look through windows, ā-Níng,” she said with absolutely no heat to her words
whatsoever. “What ā-Níng means is that Lán Wàngjī has a memorial shrine. It was closed, so we
couldn’t see who it honored, but it was there.”

She frowned before pulling her laptop over, setting her coffee down. Typing into the search bar,
she browsed the results until she came across an article that seemed relevant.

“Jiějie?”

“It’s more likely that it’s for his uncle. Lán Qǐrén passed away five years ago. Might also be his
brothers-in-law; they both passed away in the last five years, too.”

“Goodness. That poor boy. Do you think ā-Yīng knows? He didn’t sound too fond of him, but he
still respected him.”

“Hard to say. Little shit didn’t even tell us he’d recovered from his amnesia until I got the career
upgrade here in New York.”
“Jiějie....”

“I’m not mad, Dìdi, but it would’ve been nice to know sooner. We were all so worried what he’d
do when he did eventually--”

There was a crash from upstairs and Wēn Qíng inhaled, her immediate reaction being frustration.
She knew this was going to happen.

“Uh. What was that?”

“I swear to God, I--Wēn Yīng!! If I come up there and that shelf isn’t where ā-Níng left it, I’m
slashing your head open and tossing you back into the woods myself!”

“Uh....Maybe don’t come up here until Dìdi gets home?”

“This fucking--I have to go make sure our brother didn’t hurt himself so that I can hurt him.”

“Don’t kill him.”

“I would never kill him, but I will seriously maim him. See you two when you get back.”

Wēn Qíng got up from the sofa and all but stormed her way up the stairs. Wēn Yīng was standing
outside his bedroom, door closed and trying to look innocent. If not for the fact that he was
cradling his arm, she would’ve let it go and just banned him from the upstairs until their brother got
home.

“Let me see.”

“Ah, Jiějie, it’s just sore. You don’t have to--”

“Do not make me get you to the ground and sit on you.”

“Jiějie! You wouldn’t!” Wēn Yīng cried, but he did as she wanted and let her take his arm. “...It’s
okay, really.”

She trusted him to not hide any serious injuries from her anymore, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t
going to check. She was a doctor and an older sister; it was quite literally her job to fret. Too bad
she didn’t get paid for the latter. Wēn Yīng was more work than her actual patients.

“What the hell were you thinking? You know you can’t lift heavy objects.”

“I wasn’t trying to lift it, Jiějie, I was trying to scoot it over a little so I could get to my desk. My
arm’s sore because I tried to catch it.”

Wēn Qíng sighed, letting go of his arm before motioning for him to follow her downstairs. He was
done unpacking for the day. In the living room, she shut her laptop and tossed the remote to Wēn
Yīng in a silent command for him to sit and stay put.

“Ā-Níng and Gūgu are on their way home.”

“O-Oh. That’s, um....That’s good. H-How did it go?”

“Gūgu likes him. He’s polite and she believes the boys will be safe with him.”

“Of course they will be! Lán Zhàn is the best!”

Fucking Christ. And, he said this guy was his best friend? He looked more like a lovesick
schoolgirl crushing on a celebrity.

“Yes, yes. We’ve heard all about how amazing he is from Jǐngyí. We don’t need to hear it from
you, too,” she said, earning a pout. “...Have you figured out what you want to do yet?”

At that, Wēn Yīng leaned back and crossed his arms. The remote was forgotten, tossed onto the
chair across from them.

“I....I want to try getting a hold of ā-Sāng. Oh, uh. That’s Niè Huáisāng. He was my other best
friend back then,” he explained. “I figured if anyone is least likely to be angry with me, it’ll be him.
Might be able to ask him what the chances are of everyone else being mad. Or, how mad they’ll
be.”

“It’s not your fault, ā-Yīng. You’ve only just recently recovered from your amnesia. Anyone would
struggle with figuring out how to handle your situation.”

“I don’t think Jiāng Chéng’s ever considered anything more than a month as ‘recent’ and
Christmas was six months ago.”

“Then this Jiāng Chéng would be an idiot,” Wēn Qíng huffed, catching her brother’s gaze.
“What?”

“Please never talk to him. I don’t think the universe would be able to handle it. You two are more
alike than either of you will probably ever admit.”

She snorted and made a point to not make any promises. If everything went well, there would be
no avoiding the two of them meeting. She and her family weren’t going to just let their Wēn Yīng
integrate back into his old life without them, especially since he was the legal guardian of their
nephews.

“Do you think Lán Zhàn will figure it out before I’m ready to tell him?”

“Don’t know. If he’s as smart as you and that nephew of his say, probably. But, we did tell the
boys not to hound him with stories of you because we don’t know if he’d be as open to hearing
about their Bàba as we are about him, so it won’t be from them.”

“Huh. Hadn’t thought of that.”

“Of course not. That’s why we had to think of it,” she teased. “Come on. Let’s go let Chénqíng and
Suíbiàn in. It’s your turn to clean up after them.”

“But, Jiějie, I’m injured!”

He whined about it, but that was it. Wēn Yīng followed her and when they walked out back, he
knelt to greet the black and white Retrievers. His memories might’ve returned, but it was good to
see they didn’t have to get rid of their dogs. It would crush the boys, though she knew they
wouldn’t so much as complain when it was explained to them. While Wēn Yīng grabbed the bags
and went to clean up, Wēn Qíng took the dogs inside. When her brother came back in, she and the
dogs were situated comfortably on the couch watching some random crime documentary.

“You know, maybe you’re so sour all the time because you watch nothing but people being the
worst creatures ever.”

“We’re not watching that steampunk fantasy or whatever it is you got yourself into. You get riled
 up and some of us are trying to relax.”

“Meanie,” he whined even as he sat down, letting Suíbiàn crawl halfway onto his lap. “Can we at
least watch something that's not depressing?”

Chapter End Notes

What’s this? Wèi Yīng isn’t afraid of dogs? More likely than you think.

Wēn Qíng and Jiāng Chéng bonding over how many times a day their idiot brother
gives them a heart attack (or headache) when? These two can also bond over their
shared love language of shouting and threats of trauma.
 Chapter 7
Chapter Notes

Haha. Yep, totally called the creative burnout. But, hey, I’m back. With three chapters
ready to be posted. So, look forward to the update spam.

Also, because my sister and some friends have commented on it, yes; I’m aware the
story has a dull tone to it. If anyone was wondering, that’s the point; Lán Wàngjī’s
perspective is just that. Dull and robotic. He has his moments of joy, but as far as he’s
concerned, his world lost its life and light years ago.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Mornings were always Lán Wàngjī’s favorite time of day. His schedule meant he was awake
before most others in the neighborhood and he had a silent, friendly relationship with the people
who did get up as early as him. They waved to him as they hurried to their cars or while taking out
their trash and he waved back while taking out his own. They never said a word to each other
unless there was something going on in the neighborhood like a block party to celebrate a holiday
or to warn each other of nearby construction that would disrupt their routines, but it was nice and
amicable.

Normally.

When he didn’t have difficult thoughts to cope with.

Thoughts centered around the Wēn boys. Or, more specifically, things they did or certain behaviors
that triggered a very cruel, sadistic side of his imagination. Things like the cackley undertone of
Wēn Zizhēn’s laugh that had made Wèi Yīng’s so distinctive or Wēn Yuàn’s smile that was just as
bright and toothy as Wèi Yīng’s. He pretended not to see the white rabbit motifs on their phone
cases and when they had asked about the black rabbit hanging from the silver chain on his neck
while offhandedly mentioning their father had something similar on his keyring, he shoved the
traitorous hope into the darkest recesses of his mind. Instead, he did his best to focus on other, less
Wèi Yīng-centric thoughts.

Mostly regarding Lán Jǐngyí and Wēn Yuàn’s relationship because that was admittedly an
interesting thing to witness. Jīn Líng had been correct; his cousin did follow Wēn Yuàn around like
a puppy. But, to Lán Jǐngyí’s credit, it didn’t seem to be completely intentional. Yes, they were
always next to each other while the four of them grouped up, but from what Lán Wàngjī saw of the
two outside a group setting, their gravitation was strangely coincidental and without any thought or
planning. It was comical how often the two would find each other without meaning to. Mostly
because when they did, they would forget what they were originally doing and talk until reminded.
Or rather, Lán Jǐngyí would talk and Wēn Yuàn would listen while offering whatever little input he
could manage to get in from time to time. He never had any complaints with how his friend
dominated the conversation and Lán Wàngjī had overheard him tell Jīn Líng he liked Lán Jǐngyí’s
constant chattering; apparently, he was used to it as his father also had a voice that never stopped,
so it was comforting.

“Morning, Shūshu.”
Lán Wàngjī gave his standard “mn” in return as he set a small bowl of diced cantaloupe on the
counter for Lán Jǐngyí to snack on. He did an incredible job of hiding how hard his heart had
jumped when his thoughts were abruptly disrupted, though he should’ve expected it. It was six in
the morning after all and Lán Jǐngyí was always up by then thanks to his slightly adjusted Lán
sleep schedule.

“What’s for breakfast?” Lán Jǐngyí asked, picking at the cantaloupe pieces thoughtfully as he tried
to find the sweetest ones.

“What do you think Yuàn and Zizhēn would like?”

“Uh....Yuàn’s not picky as long as it’s something he can eat, but Zizhēn likes French toast.”

French toast it was then. He would start prepping when the brothers were up so that by the time Jīn
Líng joined them, he wouldn’t have to wait long to eat. It was a good thing his nephews talked a lot
about their friends because according to them, the Wēn brothers were always up and ready for the
day by seven-thirty; something they had proved in just two days. That worked well with how Jīn
Líng always woke up at eight unless he needed to get up earlier.

“What time is it in Beijing?”

“Six,” he said before he thought for a moment. “In the evening. Do you need to talk to
Xiōngzhǎng?”

“I don’t need to. I just wanted to ask if he put any thought into what he wanted. For the pet?”

Lán Wàngjī smiled a bit. He admired Lán Jǐngyí’s devotion to helping his father, but sometimes he
wondered if he was a bit too focused on it. Then again, it had helped Lán Xīchén get into therapy,
so his persistence had a 100 percent success rate so far.

“Why don’t you ask him the next time he calls you? He might still be working.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah, I can wait,” Lán Jǐngyí said. Something told him he didn’t just want to ask about
the time in Beijing, but before Lán Wàngjī could ask what was on his mind, he beat him to it. “So,
uh....What do you think of Yuàn and Zizhēn?”

“I have no complaints. They are well-behaved and I am just happy you and Rúlán have made
friends you are comfortable with,” he said. In truth, he rather enjoyed their company. Wēn Zizhēn
specifically had a very romantic personality and there was something charming about it. “You
sound nervous asking me. Is something on your mind?”

“Well, no. Not really. Guess I’m worried it was too sudden? Them being here, I mean. You
weren’t even supposed to have Líng and I, so having Yuàn and Zizhēn over was definitely sprung
on you. I know you like your space.”

“Jǐngyí, I appreciate your concern, but you don’t have to worry. If I did not want them here, I
would not have allowed it.”

Lán Jǐngyí didn’t get to respond before the basement door opened and Wēn Yuàn walked out,
rubbing one eye as he yawned. Even if it had only been two days, it felt unusual to see him awake
so early. His nephew seemed to share that opinion because he looked just as surprised as Lán
Wàngjī felt.

“Hey, Yuàn. What’s up?”

He was fairly certain Wēn Yuàn had said “bathroom”, but he was tired and it came out a mumbled
mess. Quite frankly, it was cute. It reminded him of how Jīn Líng was during his junior high years.
Though, it quickly became clear he was much less coordinated than Jīn Líng was because he
walked right into the corner of a wall. Lán Jǐngyí was quickly at his side and escorting him to the
bathroom with a laugh. Clearly, at least one of the Wēn brothers did not react well to their sleep
schedule being disturbed. As oddly adorable as it was, he hoped it didn’t become a regular thing.
Lán Wàngjī didn’t want to run the risk of either of them getting hurt because of it, especially if the
four of them intended to use the basement as their bedroom for the duration of the trip. To his
knowledge, a semi-conscious state could be dangerous.

When Lán Jǐngyí returned a couple minutes later and sat at the counter again, he noticed his
nephew had very obviously been splashed with water. His hairline was wet and the collar of his
shirt was mildly soaked. Seeing his quiet curiosity, Lán Jǐngyí turned a tiny bit pink.

“I had him splash his face with some water to wake him up a bit.”

“...And, you?”

“Yuàn looked at me like I was talking in Dutch, so I showed him what I meant,” he said before
looking a little thoughtful. “Actually, he might know Dutch. Maybe tongues instead?”

“Is he multilingual?”

“Oh, yeah. He and Zizhēn both are. Granny wanted them to be. Career advantages and all that, you
know?”

“Mn. Perhaps you and Rúlán can learn from them. It would certainly benefit your futures.”

“Bàba and Lí-shěn said the same thing. Granny’s actually taught us a little bit of Spanish.”

“Did she? What did you learn?”

“Numbers,” Lán Jǐngyí said far too quickly. That was clearly a lie, or at least a half-truth. “We
learned numbers. And, weekdays.”

“Like miércoles?”

His nephew turned red and focused intently on his bowl of cantaloupe. Lán Wàngjī huffed,
deciding to leave him be. It was, after all, the Spanish word for Wednesday; alternative uses aside,
there was nothing wrong with it.

“Wait a minute. How do you know what that means?”

“It means Wednesday, doesn’t it?” he asked, sounding far too innocent by his standards. Lán Jǐngyí
looked at him suspiciously. “Shūfù, as smart as he was, did not know any languages aside from the
two he taught Xiōngzhǎng and I. His students were very creative in getting away with cursing in his
classroom. Wèi Yīng and Huáisāng favored miércoles once they learned of it.”

“Did Shūgōng ever find out?”

“He did, but only after he retired. He never would have admitted it, but he was impressed.
Offended, but impressed.”

“He was? That doesn’t sound like Shūgōng.”

“Shūfù was very strict and traditional, but he could appreciate creative loopholes as much as
anyone else. I suppose it helped that he was already retired, so it was no longer his problem,” Lán
Wàngjī said before he smiled a bit. “He did warn his replacement, though, and the students were
very shocked when they were called out.”

Lán Jǐngyí snorted, very obviously amused by the infamous Lán-style of petty retaliation. He,
unfortunately, didn’t learn it. He was very much like Niè Míngjué in that he was open and clear
with his anger. The two looked up when Wēn Yuàn returned to the kitchen, looking much more
awake and aware than he was before. He supposed that meant Wēn Yuàn was awake for the day
now.

“Snack?” Lán Jǐngyí asked, pushing the bowl of cantaloupe over as his friend joined him at the
counter. “Are you awake now?”

“Yes. Thanks for the help.”

“Of course!”

“I’m making French toast today. Is that all right?”

“Sounds great, Mr. Lán. Zizhēn will love it.”

“If you would like something else, you can ask. I will not be bothered.”

“Oh, no. It’s okay. I’m looking forward to it. Your food is really good, Mr. Lán.”

“Isn’t it?” Lán Jǐngyí asked, smiling wide at the praise to his uncle. Wēn Yuàn smiled back,
completely unbothered by his friend’s neverending pride.

“Since we’ll be having something Zizhēn likes today, is there anything you would like tomorrow
morning?”

Wēn Yuàn looked at Lán Jǐngyí as if to ask something and even though no words were exchanged,
he didn’t miss a beat.

“Shūshu always lets us choose breakfast and he makes sure we get a turn to pick. Today is
Zizhēn’s choice, tomorrow will be yours, and then it’ll be back to Líng then me. Lunch and dinner
are always planned ahead, though.”

“Oh. Uh....There’s an egg sandwich recipe I found the other day I haven’t gotten to try yet. It’s a
vegan one. Is that okay?”

“Mn. You can tell me what I’ll need later.”

It was apparently going to be a very active morning. Lán Wàngjī’s phone rang and when he saw it
was his brother, he passed it to Lán Jǐngyí. He walked out of the kitchen and into another room to
talk and almost immediately after he’d turned the corner, the basement door opened a third time
that morning as Wēn Zizhēn poked his head out. He spotted Wēn Yuàn and made a beeline for
him, sitting in the stool next to him.

“You’re up early.”

“So are you. What’s up?”

“I had to use the bathroom and decided to stay up. Is Líng still asleep?”
“Yeah. Should we wake him up?” Wēn Zizhēn asked with a mischievous look on his face. At least
until he noticed Lán Wàngjī. “Oh. Morning, Mr. Lán.”

“Good morning, Zizhēn. I would advise against waking Rúlán so early. He’ll be unhappy the rest
of the day.”

“That’s true. Guess we should let him sleep. Where’s Jǐngyí?”

“On the phone. I think it was his dad.”

He turned his attention away from the brothers to clean the knife he’d cut the cantaloupe with,
giving them some semblance of privacy as they talked. Once the knife was washed, he busied
himself with whatever he could until Lán Jǐngyí returned to give him the phone. He looked
displeased, so he could only guess he was yet to succeed in his endeavor. Lán Wàngjī couldn’t say
he blamed his brother for being stubborn on the matter; a pet was much different than therapy.
Taking his phone back, he saw that the call was still going.

“Xiōngzhǎng?”

“Good morning, Dìdi. I hope the boys are behaving?”

“They are. Yuàn and Zizhēn are pleasant to have around. How is your trip?”

“It’s too early to regale you with the tale of my woes. Just know I wish people weren’t so
incompetent. Anyway, I’m glad to hear you like them; ā-Yí would have been devastated if you
didn’t,” Lán Xīchén said with a quiet laugh. “I wanted to tell you ā-Sāng called. He’ll be home in a
day or two. I managed to convince him to at least offer to take the boys if you wanted.”

Niè Huáisāng had called ahead of time to let someone know he was coming home? That was
entirely out of character for him to do. He came and went as he pleased, very much detached from
the rest of them. Lán Wàngjī was almost certain his brother-in-law had absolutely zero emotional
attachment to anyone other than his brother. There was a very good chance Wèi Yīng had been the
only exception.

“I do not mind keeping them, Xiōngzhǎng, though it’s good to hear he’ll be home.” Until he left
again. “Is that all?”

“It is. Please don’t let ā-Yí go nuts with the pet thing.”

“I will try.”

“All right. I should go. I have one more meeting today and I don’t expect it to be a quick one. I’ll
talk to you later, Wàngjī. Tell ā-Líng I said hi.”

“Mn. Good night, Xiōngzhǎng.”

The two hung up and when he looked back at the counter, he saw Lán Jǐngyí looking at him.

“Sāng-shū is coming home? He just left.”

Normally, he wouldn’t consider a month anywhere within the range of having “just left”, but
considering Niè Huáisāng had completely disappeared for an entire year after Niè Míngjué died, a
month was nothing.

“That is what Xiōngzhǎng said. He will probably call. Would you like to talk to him?”
 “No, thanks.”

He wasn’t surprised. Both Lán Jǐngyí and Jīn Líng had very poor opinions of Niè Huáisāng. After a
while, their ability to sympathize with his grief faded and now they just couldn’t forgive him for
how easily he could leave the family alone for long periods of time without so much as a word.

“Hey, Shūshu, when are Luó-āyí and Lǐ-shūshu going to visit with Miánmián?”

“When they have time.”

Chapter End Notes

Next up: Niè Huáisāng’s perspective and altar malfunctions. Let’s get the ball rolling
here, shall we?
 Chapter 8
Chapter Notes

If anyone thought for a moment Niè Huáisāng wasn’t going to be a fan guy in a
modern AU, you thought wrong. It’s not Niè Huáisāng if he doesn’t have a fan in his
hand.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Niè Huáisāng hadn’t been to a hospital since his brother’s last visit to one. He had adamantly
refused to step foot within them for any reason; if he couldn’t get medical assistance from a small
office, he wouldn’t get it at all and would look after himself. Thankfully, he was a very healthy
person and the worst thing that had happened to him was a case of a particularly stubborn flu. And,
that was before his brother had died. It even predated Lán Qǐrén’s heart attack. So, it would’ve
been a curious sight for the people who knew him to see him standing outside one staring in
through the glass doors. It was comforting to know there was currently no one he knew there to see
him, either because they were out of the country, six hours away, or just because it was nearly
midnight.

Well, that wasn’t quite true. There was one person. But, that didn’t count because that one person
was who Niè Huáisāng was specifically there to see. Whether or not they were really who they said
they were remained to be seen. Snapping his fan closed, he took a breath before stepping forward,
letting the doors open so he could enter. Immediately that very distinct hospital smell hit him and
he wished he could just snort a bottle of bleach to get rid of it. Instead, he approached the reception
desk. The man sitting behind the counter looked up at him with a tired, slightly annoyed glare that
honestly wasn’t anywhere near as frightening as it was probably meant to be.

“Hi!” he exclaimed with exaggerated cheerfulness. “I’m here to see Dr. Wēn.”

“Dr. Wēn isn’t scheduled for any patients.”

He gave a sweet smile to the man before dropping it, deciding he wasn’t in the mood to be nice.

“Look, I don’t know what your day’s been like or what you’re going through, but I really couldn’t
care less even if I tried. Just do what you’re supposed to do and tell me where Dr. Wēn is.”

“I’m not going to do that because I wasn’t told she was expecting anyone.”

“I’ve been in and out of hospitals enough times to know you’re supposed to check before turning
people away. So, check.”

The man rolled his eyes as he did just that, picking up the phone to call the doctor in question, but
Niè Huáisāng ignored it. He didn’t care about this guy, his problems, or his poor reception skills.
None of it was any of his business, though he debated complaining about it. As the brother-in-law
to both a Lán and a Jīn, he certainly had enough influence behind him to be heard. But, he decided
that was too much for a one-off interaction with a receptionist of all people. Besides, Lán Xīchén
would be upset with him and he didn’t want to even think about how disappointed Jiāng Yànlí
would be.
“Sure thing, Dr. Wēn. I’ll send him up,” the man said before he hung up, clearly annoyed at having
to actually do his job. “She’ll see you now. Head to the fourth floor with that elevator and it’s the
last room on the left at the end of the hall.”

“Thank you. I hope you have a wonderful night.”

Niè Huáisāng went to the elevator without so much as another glance at the guy, heading where he
was told to. A part of him worried he’d been misled, but it didn’t matter; if he was lied to, he
absolutely would raise Hell. Fortunately for him, he was smart enough to not be petty because as
he approached the door, he noticed the esteemed Wēn Qíng standing outside the office.

“Are you Niè Huáisāng?”

“I don’t want to be rude, Dr. Wēn, but I’d rather not waste my time. If he’s behind that door, I
would like to see him.”

“I don’t believe I stuttered.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Yes, I’m the one and only Niè Huáisāng,” he said. What was this? He felt like
he was dealing in some piss poor black market exchange. “Let me in or I’m leaving and calling the
Jiāngs to tell them someone is pretending to be their brother.”

“Āiyā. No need to call in the cavalry, ā-Sāng.”

Niè Huáisāng was startled by the sudden arrival of a second person and turned without even
registering what they’d said. If he had, maybe he wouldn’t have been so thoroughly surprised. Or,
maybe he would’ve been; honestly, he had no idea what the appropriate reaction was supposed to
be. All he knew was what his mind decided was appropriate, which was really just going still and
silent. He’d even dropped his fan and that was something he never did. Especially seeing as it was
the one Niè Míngjué had gotten him just a week before he died.

“Ā-Yīng...?”

Okay, so he knew he was there to see Jiāng Wúxiàn. But, he had come into this expecting a fake
Anastasia situation and had already thought of a hundred ways to deal with the situation; some of
them legal, most of them bloody and worthy of the FBI’s most wanted list. He honestly wasn’t
expecting to see Jiāng Wúxiàn again and, really, who could blame him? He’d disappeared in the
Colorado mountains in the middle of winter and it had been almost fourteen years since then. But,
there was no mistaking his best friend for anyone else. They may have only been fresh out of high
school the last time they saw each other, but Jiāng Wúxiàn hadn’t changed at all.

Well, no. That wasn’t entirely true. His features had sharpened over the years and his hair was
longer, probably waist-length, and pulled into a ponytail on the right side of his head that hung
over his shoulder. There was also the very obvious scar being hidden in his hair and the slight
discoloration on his left hand that anyone else would’ve missed, but Niè Huáisāng was nothing
without his eagle eyes. Seemingly noticing where his eyes were, Jiāng Wúxiàn gave a nervous
laugh and moved his arm behind his back.

He didn’t let himself dwell on it too much. Instead, he moved forward and pulled Jiāng Wúxiàn
into a hug. It startled the other, but within a few moments, he was hugging him back and suddenly
the world didn’t seem like such a dark, depressing place anymore. A selfish part of him wished it
had been his brother standing there with him, but he was more than willing to take whatever
miracle was thrown at him. Besides, he couldn’t be too upset. Not when he was the first person
Jiāng Wúxiàn reached out to when it should’ve been either of his siblings.
“Where the hell have you been all this time? Why didn’t you come home sooner, ā-Yīng?” he
asked, but a part of him felt he already knew the answer. “It was that bitch, wasn’t it?”

“Not entirely? A lot happened and I just wasn’t able to get in contact with anyone until now. I’ll
tell you about it, okay? Just, uh....Not out in the hall.”

And, just like that, he was ushered into Wēn Qíng’s office where they sat down on a loveseat as
Wēn Qíng went about filling out paperwork at her desk. Clearly, there would be no chance of just
the two of them together.

“Don’t mind her. Jiějie is just overprotective.”

“Jiějie?”

He hadn’t even ever called Jiāng Yànlí that. Granted, he was never allowed to, but still. Hearing
him call someone his sister so freely was strange but...endearing. Perhaps he was just happy to see
his friend had found a family that welcomed him fully.

“Yeah, I....God, I don’t even know where to start.”

“How about telling me what happened after you ran away from Sū Shè’s dog. Gēge looked for you
for hours; he didn’t come back until sunrise. Where were you?”

“Aha....To be honest, I don’t really remember what all happened that night. I know there was a dog
and I know I ran off, but I fell pretty hard at some point. I only really know I had to be out there for
maybe a month; Jiějie says I wouldn’t have survived any longer than that with how I was going.
Apparently it was a miracle all on its own that I was able to survive as long as I did.”

A month. Niè Huáisāng remembered asking someone in his university who did a lot of camping
and survivalist stuff how long someone in Jiāng Wúxiàn’s situation would’ve been able to survive
on their own in the conditions he disappeared in. Disguised as a hypothetical, of course, though he
was fairly certain Xuē Yáng hadn’t believed that for a second. Regardless, the guy had said they’d
have been lucky to last more than a week; if the cold hadn’t gotten to them, the hunger and thirst
would have. Of course, knowing how crafty his best friend was, Niè Huáisāng had given him the
benefit of the doubt, but he couldn’t see him surviving more than a week and a half. So, a month
was by all means a miracle.

He couldn’t say he was too surprised. If anything, Jiāng Wúxiàn was a natural survivalist. A month
in the wintery mountains was a lot different from three years in the foster system, but he was
adaptive. So, maybe it wasn’t a miracle but rather his own natural instinct.

“Was it Dr. Wēn who found you?”

“No. It was Dìdi and Jiěfu who found me. I managed to stumble my way into their skiing route.
She’s the one who got me to the hospital and looked after me, though. It was Māma who,
uh...found out who I was and tried to call Jiāng-shūshu, but--”

“Wait. Are you saying Fēngmián knew about this!?”

“Jesus, Huáisāng, calm down. No, Jiāng-shūshu didn’t know; you know he would’ve brought me
home if he did. It was Yú-shěn she got in contact with. She said some things that made Māma and
Jiějie worry about sending me back, so they just...didn’t. They got me treated and took me back to
California with them. I’ve been living as Wēn Yīng since.”

Wēn Yīng. Somehow a much better name than Jiāng Wúxiàn. Probably because it wasn’t a name
associated with insecurity and abuse. Sounded better, too.

“So, Yú Zǐyuān knew you’ve been alive this entire time and didn’t say anything,” he said. “That
fucking bitch. I hope she chokes on her own karma one day.”

He wasn’t sure what she had said to worry the Wēn family and he sure as hell wasn’t going to ask
because he wasn’t looking to strike off another name on his hit list. But, he wasn’t at all surprised
to hear she was the reason they hadn’t returned him. After it came out she hated him so much that
she was willing to fake search parties for him and leave him to die a freezing, miserable death with
no consideration for the suffering it caused around her, Niè Huáisāng was convinced there wasn’t
anything she wasn’t willing to do or say to keep Wēn Yīng away from her family. He was actually
glad the Wēn family took him in. Who could say what she would’ve done if they’d taken him back
to the Jiāngs.

“Ā-Sāng,” Wēn Yīng said quietly, snapping him out of his thoughts. “...How are Shījiě and Shīdì?
And....And, Jiāng-shūshu? I heard he and Yú-shěn divorced and he moved back to China.”

He really wished his friend wouldn’t refer to his abusers with such familiarity. Jiāng Fēngmián and
Yú Zǐyuān didn’t deserve it; one more than the other, but no matter what Jiāng Yànlí and Jiāng
Chéng said, their father didn’t deserve the second chance they were so generously keeping open for
him. He had his chance to be a good father and uncle, but he blew it and failed miserably.
Personally, he was glad the man ran back to China with his tail between his legs. Let him suffer in
isolation just like his would-be murderer of an ex-wife.

It wasn’t his choice in the end, though, no matter how much he wished it was.

“Yànlí and ā-Chéng are doing fine. They opened a bakery with Zixuān. Right now they’re out of
state on vacation with Zixuān. I’m sorry to say, but I don’t know how Fēngmián is doing. After he
moved, I stopped paying attention to him all together. You’d have to ask Yànlí about that,” he said
before leaning forward. “You are going to get in contact with them, aren’t you? They’ll be ecstatic
to see you.”

“I....I mean, I want to. Lán Zhàn, too, but I...was gone for so long and I didn’t have a single
memory of any of you until six months ago. And, I didn’t even call when I did remember, so--Are
you sure they’d be fine with seeing me again?”

“Ā-Yīng, have you ever heard of stories where someone dies or leaves and an entire group of
people just fall apart and go their separate ways? People like that are what we call keystones or
linchpins. They’re the ‘glue’ that brings and keeps people together,” he said seriously, staring
firmly at Wēn Yīng. “To us, you were that glue. We’re still amicable and we still have familial ties
to one another, so we haven’t completely fallen apart, but we haven’t spent any genuine or
meaningful time together as a unit like we used to since you disappeared. In fact, if it wasn’t for
Zixuān and Yáo-gē finding out they were half-brothers, we probably wouldn’t have stayed together
at all.”

And, what a miniature miracle that was. Granted, Lán Wàngjī had certainly gone out of his way to
keep in contact with Jiāng Yànlí, but that was purely done out of love for Wēn Yīng. But, it was
the accidental discovery between Mèng Yáo and Jīn Zixuān that brought them back together.

“What I’m saying is that there is no way Yànlí and ā-Chéng would ever turn you away. Even if
they are angry at first - and, you know ā-Chéng is always angry - they’d sooner go full psychopath
on you by chopping off your legs and locking you in their basement than let you go. Frankly, I
wouldn’t blame them if they did.”
 Lán Wàngjī might have a problem with that, but then again, he’d seen the kind of things he was
into when they were in high school. So, maybe not. At least if he was allowed to see Wēn Yīng.
Niè Huáisāng shuddered and forced the sickening image from his head.

“Haha. They’d have to get through Jiějie and ā-Yuàn if they wanted to do that.”

“Ā-Yuàn?”

“Oh! That’s right! I’m a certified papa of two!”

May the Lord himself help this man when Lán Wàngjī found out.

Chapter End Notes

Okay, so about the name situation. A number of characters have one or more names
for pretty much the same reason: adoption. Lán Xīchén and Lán Wàngjī’s birth names
are (obviously) Lán Huàn and Lán Zhàn. Lán Qǐrén had them changed when he took
them in because A) he still thinks courtesy names should be a thing and B) Qīnghéng-
jūn yelled at them a lot and the boys responded by flinching whenever their birth
names were used for a while after they were put in their uncle’s care which he
absolutely hated doing to them.

Wèi Yīng was just, well, Wèi Yīng until he was adopted by the Jiāngs. His name was
changed completely because Yú Zǐyuān absolutely refused to have a Wèi in her
household (she was the main breadwinner in this story, so she had most of the power)
and it was the only way Jiāng Fēngmián could get her to agree at all to letting him
bring Wèi Yīng home instead of leaving him in the system. Wúxiàn was another name
Wèi Chángzé and Cángsè Sànrén had considered for their son, but didn’t go with;
Jiāng Fēngmián was the only one they had told, so he considered it his own personal
rebellion against his wife. The same way Shījiě, Shīdì and Shīxiōng were the kids’
personal rebellion against her rule that forbade them from acknowledging each other
as siblings. Kudos to Jiāng Chéng, though; he had no problem calling his brother Wèi
Wúxiàn in rebellion, too, though he kept that one mostly between them.
 Chapter 9
Chapter Notes

I’ll be honest. This was supposed to be Wēn Yuàn’s perspective, but something
compelled me to write in Jīn Líng’s instead. And....I honestly like it so much more,
both in terms of writing it and how it turned out. Always make it a point to listen to
your characters, folks; they usually know what’s best. I hope I did him justice.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Where did Jǐngyí and your uncle go exactly?” Wēn Zizhēn asked.

“To get Miánmián so Luó-āyí and Lǐ-shūshu can have a date night.”

“So, she’s your cousin?”

“Not, you know, by blood or anything. Luó-āyí was Jī-shū’s friend in college and I guess their
relationship was serious enough for them to stay in contact after she graduated. I don’t actually
know Luó-āyí that well; that’s just what she said I could call her and I don’t really have a reason
not to. She’s nice, though.”

Both Wēn Yuàn and Wēn Zizhēn looked over at him when he walked in with a tray of lunch for
the shrine and Jīn Líng felt his skin prickle. It would’ve been creepy enough on their own because
that was just a fact about synchronized movements, but it didn’t help that they were both lying
upside down on the couch with their heads hanging off it. They were a pair of weirdos and
sometimes he wondered how he got roped into a friendship with them.

“What are you two even doing?”

“Feeding our brains,” Wēn Zizhēn said. “Gūmā says it’s good to do this. It sends more blood to the
brain which means more oxygen and that means better brain function. We do it three times a week
with Bàba.”

“It also helps with body functions, the effects of gravity, and stress. At least that’s what Āyí says. I
don’t know if it’s true, but it feels like it helps,” Wēn Yuàn said. “Plus, it’s fun.”

“Your family’s weird.”

“It’s good for the brain, Lánlán!”

Jīn Líng shook his head and deliberately pushed down the memory of Xiàn-jiù. He’d been trying
not to think of all the things his friends did that spurred some vague memories of his uncle for
almost a week now. It wasn’t their fault, of course; there was no way for them to know and Jīn
Líng wasn’t about to dictate how they should act.

“You should try it, Líng. It’s actually really refreshing.”

“No, thanks.”

Never mind the fact that he did sometimes hang upside down. It was only when he needed to think
or couldn’t focus, though. He tended to get a tiny bit emotional, so he didn’t like to do it around
people except his mom because she was the only one who could console him. But, at least he
could tell Jiùjiu his brother wasn’t as much of a crackpot as he liked to say he was when some of
his weirder habits could be backed up by a doctor.

Sitting in front of the shrine, Jīn Líng carefully set the tray of food aside so he could open it.
Behind him, he heard a hitched breath before one of the brothers started coughing like he’d just run
out of air to breathe. Jīn Líng looked back at them and stared in a mix of concern and confusion at
Wēn Yuàn who at this point was sitting properly on the couch with Wēn Zizhēn rubbing his back
and laughing a bit.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I just, uh, sucked in air through the wrong tube, I guess. Don’t worry about
me.”

Jīn Líng rolled his eyes, now just amused with the situation, and turned his attention back to the
shrine. He served the bowls of rice and cups of tea like he was supposed to, but before he could
light the incense sticks and bow, he realized he forgot the chili oil. Damn near mortified at the
thought of having offended Xiàn-jiù, he shot up and hurried to the kitchen to get it. It took longer
than it should’ve (almost three whole minutes; he just knew Shūgōng was steaming from his ears
at the tardiness) to find the bottle because apparently Jī-shū must’ve reorganized the kitchen since
it was in a completely different place in the fridge than he was used to and then he had to help it
heat up to room temperature so it could actually be served the way his uncle liked it.

When he walked back into the living room with the bottle, he found Wēn Yuàn and Wēn Zizhēn
next to the shrine with their backs turned to him. They were hunched over a little and whispering
furiously to each other.

“What are you doing now?”

Wēn Zizhēn yelped out a “fuck!” and the two turned, one of them accidentally bumping the shrine
and sending it, along with the rice and tea, clattering to the ground. Complete with a panicked
shout from all three of them.

“What the fuck are you two doing!?”

“Líng--”

“You know what, never mind! Just move and go away so I can fix this before Jī-shū gets back!”

He angrily shooed the brothers out of the living room and to the basement. It wasn’t too difficult
because they seemed eager to leave the room. Whatever. Jīn Líng hurried over to the mess and the
first thing he did was pick the shrine up, straightening Xiàn-jiù and Shūgōng’s portraits before
grabbing the rag to wipe away the incense ash. With the shrine back in order and, thankfully,
undamaged, he rushed to clean the rice and spilled tea. He should have made Wēn Yuàn and Wēn
Zizhēn do it, but he honestly didn’t want them anywhere near the shrine after they’d knocked it
over in the first place.

“Sorry, Shūgōng. Sorry, Xiàn-jiù. I hope you’ll forgive us for not serving you lunch today. I
promise to have Jī-shū make extra dinner for you. With extra chili oil just for you, Xiàn-jiù.”

Jīn Líng bowed low with his forehead pressed to the carpet. He honestly didn’t believe either of
them were listening, but it made him feel better to pretend they were. Besides, it was something he
and Jī-shū did together and there weren’t a lot of things they found common interest in. As he sat
up again, he spotted Wēn Yuàn’s phone tucked under the couch. He must’ve dropped it when Jīn
Líng scared him. He rolled his eyes, convinced this was probably the universe’s way of making
him talk to them so he’d apologize for getting mad over an honest accident.

Picking up the phone, Jīn Líng noticed it was still open and while he wasn’t generally a snoop (no
matter what Lán Jǐngyí said, Jīn Líng had a right to read his little half-uncle’s messages to make
sure he wasn’t being mistreated by his new fosters), he couldn’t really be blamed for turning the
phone over. He wasn’t doing it to snoop but to just close whatever app was open so it would go
dark; he’d done it a million times before because for all his responsible behavior, Wēn Yuàn was
not very good with keeping his phone locked down. Snooping wasn’t his intent, but what was he
supposed to do when he turned the phone around and saw a picture of Wēn Yuàn and a guy who
looked suspiciously like Xiàn-jiù? To his credit, he didn’t swipe through the rest of the photos, but
he did stare at the one on screen longer than he would like to admit.

It was definitely long enough to conclude that despite not being the same round-cheeked high
school graduate in his memories, it was without a doubt his uncle. Jīn Líng wasn’t sure what he
was feeling at that moment, but he wasted no time hurrying down the stairs where Wēn Yuàn and
Wēn Zizhēn were arguing quietly. Not that he paid it any attention because the first thing he did
was grab Wēn Yuàn by the collar and all but shoved the phone in his face. He had a pretty good
idea what the answer was going to be, but he still had to ask. He had to be sure.

“Who is he?”

“Líng, just calm down and--”

“I don’t want to hear it! Just answer me! Why are you with him? Who is he to you?”

“He--He’s our dad.”

Jīn Líng didn’t know why, but he felt like his world had just shattered into a billion or more pieces.
He should be happy. Happy that the silly, annoying uncle he had so few precious memories of was
alive and well and even gave him more family than he already had. And, he was; of course, he was.
But, at the same time, it suddenly felt like his entire life was a lie and the universe was just playing
one big joke on him and his family.

“I....I need--Fuck, what do I--”

“Hey! Hey, breathe, okay?”

“Did you...know?”

No, of course they didn’t. They couldn’t possibly be that cruel. Jīn Líng felt dumb asking such a
thing, but he couldn’t take it back now.

“No, Línglíng, we didn’t know. I swear. I’m so sorry; if we had, we....Well, I don’t know what we
would’ve done. Told you...? Should we have?”

Out of nowhere, a glass of water was offered to him. When had Wēn Yuàn left to get it? Hell, when
had he even let go of him so he could leave? He let them help him to the ground where he drank
carefully with the brothers looking after him. Suddenly he felt a lot more grounded than he had
before. Not fully recovered, but better than he was just a few moments ago.

“...I need to call Māma and Jiùjiu. They should know. Right?”
 “I mean, yeah. Of course they should know. But, I just....I don’t think we should be the ones to tell
them,” Wēn Yuàn said.

“What the hell do you mean I shouldn’t tell them?”

“Look, I don’t know what happened before Bàba found us. But, I know Bàba’s had...problems for
years. Physical therapy, actual therapy, a lot of time in and out of care. I just don’t think it would be
good for him if he’s not the one who tells anyone.”

“So, what? I’m just supposed to act like I don’t know anything? How the hell am I even going to
look at Māma without breaking down? And, Jī-shū! Guys, he loved Xiàn-jiù! Like ‘get married
and live the perfect cottagecore life with a million rabbits and ten kids’ kind of love! I’ve watched
him live in nothing but misery for almost fourteen years because we thought Xiàn-jiù died! I can’t-
-You can’t expect me to...to stay calm! How am I going to sit at his counter and pretend I don’t
know?”

“Okay, okay. I know it’s hard. But, Líng, we can’t. Please, don’t tell anyone and risk hurting Bàba.
I promise when we get home, I’ll talk to him, okay? I’m sure....I’m sure he never wanted to hurt
anyone.”

They all jumped when they heard the front door open followed by Lán Jǐngyí and Luó Mián both
calling out they were back. Jīn Líng scrambled and moved to the tent where he curled up under the
covers; he wasn’t going up there. It would be obvious something happened and he couldn’t just
outright lie to Jī-shū if he asked what was wrong.

“Are you staying down here?”

“Duh. I can’t go up there right now. Just....Fuck, I don’t know! Tell Jī-shū I knocked over the
shrine and I freaked out, but I’m okay and taking a nap. That should keep him up there.”

“Okay. We’ll keep Jǐngyí and your cousin upstairs, too.”

Jīn Líng didn’t say it, but he appreciated them a lot right now. It was nice to not have to deal with
this whole mess on his own. The two hurried upstairs and Jīn Líng took a few moments to turn off
his phone. He did not need to be getting any messages from his mom and uncle. He’d crack like an
egg.

Chapter End Notes

I’m not saying Jīn Líng was right to even attempt to close the app on Wēn Yuàn’s
phone, but I’m sure most of us can agree we’ve definitely had friends we got that
comfortable with. Also, I wasn’t entirely sure if I should’ve used character names
instead of having the general text refer to them by familial titles, but I don’t know; I
think it’s kind of cute. What do you think?

The “little half-uncle” mentioned in this chapter is Mò Xuányǔ because Jīn Guāngshàn
is still a promiscuous pile of dung; one day I’ll write that Jīn Guāngshàn redemption
story, but that’s for another time. Mò Xuányǔ isn’t going to be a part of the story at all,
but I wanted to mention him anyway because I will never not give him a better life
than canon. He’s 11 in this story and lives with a foster family a few blocks from Jīn
Líng courtesy of Jīn Zixuān who absolutely has every interest in keeping up with as
many of his half-siblings as he possibly can.
 Chapter 10
Chapter Notes

I don’t know how well this chapter turned out. It’s kind of iffy to me, but I’ve
rewritten it three times already and I don’t want to write it again. I’m sorry if it sucks.

Something was going on and it wasn’t something as simple as knocking over the shrine. Lán
Wàngjī found it hard to believe Jīn Líng would be so worked up over accidentally knocking it over
that he not only skipped lunch but also chose to eat dinner alone. He was respectful and cared for
the shrine, but it wasn’t something he was so devoted to that it would shake him up that badly.
And, the looks he caught Jīn Líng sharing with the Wēn brothers didn’t exactly support the idea
either. It was very reminiscent of how Wèi Yīng, Jiāng Chéng, and Niè Huáisāng would look when
they were guilty about something and were hiding it.

The occasional glance Jīn Líng would throw his way also left him feeling suspicious. He didn’t say
anything, of course; not with him in the room with his friends and Luó Mián. It would embarrass or
upset him further to have his stress called out publicly like that. Instead, he focused on washing the
dishes he’d dirtied while making breakfast and cleaning the counter space. It wasn’t until Jīn Líng
walked into the kitchen, clearly hoping to just drop their breakfast dishes in the sink and hurry back
out to the living room, that he had his chance to talk to him.

“Rúlán,” he said, keeping his voice quiet so the others didn’t hear him. Jīn Líng flinched and very
much resembled a deer caught in headlights as he looked at him. “Is there something wrong?”

“No, Jī-shū.”

“Rúlán, if there’s something you need to talk about, I’m here to--”

“I wanna go home!” Jīn Líng exclaimed suddenly before his expression morphed into one of
mortification. Lán Wàngjī looked at him a little heartbroken while the other kids looked surprised
and a tiny bit horrified. “I....It’s just, I, uh. I’m not--”

“It’s our fault, Mr. Lán,” Wēn Yuàn cut in. “Zizhēn and I are feeling homesick and we weren’t sure
how to bring it up. We didn’t mean for Líng to talk to you about it.”

“I see. If you aren’t comfortable here, you don’t need to be worried about telling me. Should I call
your father?”

“No!”

This time, it was Jīn Líng and the Wēns who shouted. It left Lán Wàngjī and Lán Jǐngyí utterly
confused while Luó Mián looked as if she was about to start yelling, too, just to not be left out. She
didn’t, but he wished she had. It would’ve lightened the mood.

“It’s okay, Mr. Lán. Yuàn or I can call home.”

“We’re sorry. We just haven’t spent so much time away from home before and we’re just really
missing Bàba and Wàipó.”
“Mn. It’s all right. There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

Just like that, Wēn Yuàn and Wēn Zizhēn got up. They made their way downstairs, presumably to
call home, but they pulled Jīn Líng with them. He didn’t think too much of it, but the sentiment
wasn’t shared with Lán Jǐngyí as he followed after them looking angry.

“Jǐngyí--”

Not only did the basement door close before he could finish talking, but the doorbell rang. Sighing,
Lán Wàngjī went over to answer the door as Luó Mián collected all her drawings. Sure enough, it
was Lǐ Bōlín and they greeted each other just in time for her to run over to him.

“Bàba, I drew lots of pictures for you and Māma! Jǐngyí and his friends helped!”

“Did they? What about Líng?”

“Líng wasn’t feeling good, so he slept a lot. I think he’s still sick because he yelled at Jiùjiu.”

Lǐ Bōlín looked up at him, a little surprised to hear that, but Lán Wàngjī shook his head.

“He and his friends were roughhousing yesterday and the shrine was knocked over. Rúlán slept the
rest of the day,” he clarified. “He didn’t yell at me. Yuàn and Zizhēn are feeling homesick and
none of them knew how to tell me, so he panicked when I asked if something was wrong.”

“What’s ‘homesick’?”

“You know how you start to miss home a lot when you’re at school and it makes you sad?” Lǐ
Bōlín asked as he picked her up. “That’s being homesick.”

“Going home will make it go away?”

“That’s right.”

“Then they should so they don’t get sick.”

“They’re going to call home today. Do you want me to tell them you say bye?”

“Yes, please. Oh! And, this!” she said, looking through her drawings to pull out a picture of two
dogs. “It’s their puppies. If they have it, will it make them feel better?”

“I’m sure it will. I’ll make sure to give it to them. I’ll see you later, Mián.”

“Bye, Jiùjiu!”

He waved to her and Lǐ Bōlín before closing the door, looking down at the drawing of two dogs.
Or, at least, what was supposed to be dogs. Really it was just two round balls with ear-like loops
and stick legs, one of which was entirely black and missing its tail. He smiled a bit before going to
the basement door and knocking because the last thing he wanted to do was surprise them. He
heard something be yelled and assumed it was a go ahead, so he opened the door and made his way
downstairs.

“--me what’s going on!”

“Jǐngyí, we can’t.”

“Why the hell not? Look, if Shūshu did something to make you two uncomfortable, I’m sure he
didn’t mean it.”

“For fuck’s sake, Jǐngyí, we can’t tell you because we can’t trust you’ll keep your mouth shut!”

The tone of Jīn Líng’s voice silenced the three of them and nearly made Lán Wàngjī trip on the
way down the stairs. He’d never heard him sound so....Well, he couldn’t identify what it was he
had heard. Angry wasn’t quite right, but neither was panic. It was very clear that what he’d heard
wasn’t one of them telling him it was okay to come down but rather part of their argument, but
before he could turn and go back upstairs, there was a shuffling and soon enough Lán Jǐngyí was
shoving passed him with a quiet apology.

“Fuck!”

Now Jīn Líng just sounded desperate and of course Lán Wàngjī’s immediate instinct was to try and
console him. He didn’t get a chance to, though, because the brothers were immediately on top of it.
Lán Wàngjī knew he should turn around and let them talk, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t explain it,
and he was never one to support or participate in eavesdropping, but something was holding him in
place. A gut feeling maybe.

“I don’t know how I’m going to survive another week here. I can hardly look Jī-shū in the eye and
now Jǐngyí’s going to make it even harder. Damn it.”

“Líng, are...are you okay? Yesterday was bad, but you seem more on edge than you were before.”

“No, Zizhēn, I’m not okay. I spent all afternoon yesterday thinking about it and I....I think
Lǎoniáng and Shūgōng both knew, but never said anything.”

“What?”

“I was only five, so I don’t remember it clearly, but I do remember Lǎoniáng on the phone with
someone once and she was pissed. I’d never heard her sound like that before; she sounded like she
was out for blood. I was so scared, I ran off and hid under my bed and didn’t want to go anywhere
near her for the rest of the day. I think...she might’ve been talking to Granny? She’s the one who
tried to contact us, right?”

“That...makes sense, I guess. If he was threatened, then it would explain why Bàba never went
back or contacted anyone. I remember Āyí saying something about how it wasn’t safe for him
‘there’ once, but I never heard anything more about it. I guess she was talking about New York.”

“You said you think Mr. Lán’s uncle knew, too?”

“I can’t be sure, but one time while Jǐngyí and I were at his house after school, I needed to use the
computer to look something up. He’d gone out for a bit, so I couldn’t ask him, but it was for an
essay I was working on and didn’t think he would mind, so I used the one he had in his office. At
the time, I didn’t think anything of it, but I...I think I saw a picture of Qíng-jiě and Granny. This
was a few years before he died and I do remember he went on a trip out of state before I found it. I
just don’t know why he wouldn’t tell Jī-shū.”

Lán Wàngjī frowned and had decided he heard enough. He didn’t need to hear more because he
knew exactly what Jīn Líng was talking about. He remembered clearly the period of time Lán
Xīchén had expressed concern over their uncle because he’d been using the computer a lot more
than normal and making phone calls he never let him hear. Whatever was going on, he could - and
would - figure out the rest on his own. There was no reason he could think of for his uncle to look
into the Wēns, but if he did, that meant there had to be a purpose behind it. Fortunately, his uncle
was adamantly against digital storage, so anything he found would’ve been written down and he
knew exactly where Lán Qǐrén’s possessions were stored. Unfortunately, it was six hours away in
Lán Xīchén’s house and unless the opportunity presented itself, he couldn’t just drive to the city to
look through it.
 Chapter 11
Chapter Notes

I will neither confirm nor deny that I forgot a call from Niè Huáisāng was supposed to
happen. I will also not be confirming or denying that’s why Chapter 10 was so iffy to
me. So....Here’s that.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Lán Wàngjī looked down at his phone when it rang, expecting to see his brother’s name but was
instead met with Niè Huáisāng’s displayed on the screen. Surprised, he let it ring a couple more
times before he picked it up to answer. He hadn’t actually expected Niè Huáisāng to actually call.
Just because he said he would do something didn’t mean he would.

“Hello, Huáisāng,” he said, setting aside his laptop after closing the browser. “How are you?”

“Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! Thank you for asking, ā-Jī!”

For the first time since Niè Míngjué died, the answer was genuine. Something good must’ve
happened to him.

“That’s good. Xiōngzhǎng told me you’d be calling. What brings you home so soon?”

“I’ve had an epiphany, Lán Wàngjī. I suddenly realized with absolutely no provocation
whatsoever - which is really quite rude of whatever force is out there, by the way - that wasting my
life going on frivolous trips and living in total misery is a terrible way of honoring our dear friend
and my gēge,” Niè Huáisāng said, somehow sounding both sincere and dishonest all at once. “I
have a family! A family that ā-Yīng and Gēge were very devoted to; I can’t imagine how angry
they must be in their graves knowing I abandoned it. So, I’m calling to offer to take those boys off
your hands until Xī-gē gets back from Beijing because I have a lot of time to make up for in just a
week.”

“I will have to ask them.”

“That’s okay. I have nowhere to be; I can sit here and wait.”

“They are not here. They are out with Yuàn and Zizhēn so they can spend undisturbed time with
them before they leave tomorrow.”

“Oh. Well, that’s not a problem. You can just tell me what they say later,” he said. “But, how are
you doing?”

“Fine.”

“Are you? Why do you sound like something’s bothering you then?”

Of course. He’d forgotten Niè Huáisāng was one of the few people who could understand him. It’d
been a while since they had any meaningful contact.

“...Do you remember Shūfù’s trip to California a few years before he died?”
“I remember he was very intent on doing a lot of research on something when he came back. Xī-gē
was so worried about it that he legitimately thought he’d developed some kind of unsavory
addiction. I thought he was being ridiculous because the only thing Old Man Lán had ever been
addicted to was rules.”

Addiction was too strong a word, he thought, but it was a near thing. Lán Wàngjī was still
convinced his uncle had some disorder that went undiagnosed.

“I was thinking about it again and I think he may have been looking into Yuàn and Zizhēn’s
family,” he said, hoping he sounded convincing. “When I met their uncle, he looked familiar and I
realized I saw an image of him on Shūfù’s computer.”

“...What?”

There was something angry in Niè Huáisāng’s tone that surprised him, but he didn’t dare ask what
it was about.

“I looked into it out of curiosity. He may have just been looking into them because of the triad in
China that was in the news around that time. They’re not related from what I could find; I was just
surprised how small the world is.”

“You sure?”

“I see no reason to be unsure. Do you?”

“No, no. You’re right. Knowing what kind of person he was, he would’ve absolutely turned them in
if they were connected to a criminal organization. Good thing he did his research first, though.”

“Indeed. Do you still have the key to Xiōngzhǎng’s house?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course I do; it’s still my home, too. Why?”

“I’m driving the Wēn boys home tomorrow and wanted to stop by to look through Shūfù’s things.
If Jǐngyí and Rúlán choose to stay here, I’ll need to get in.”

“Oh, sure. Totally. I’m going out tomorrow to catch up with some people, but let me know and I’ll
leave the key under the bush if I need to.”

“Mn. If I’m gone before you return, it’ll be there.”

“Sure thing. Anyway, I need to do some driving, so I’ll let you go. Talk to you later, ā-Jī.”

They hung up and he opened his browser again to try to find anything that would’ve kept his
uncle’s attention for as long as it had. After ten minutes of failure, he shut down the device and
frowned. Well, frowned more. He recalled Lán Qǐrén had spent months, close to a full year,
obsessing over his research. That was almost a decade ago, so he couldn’t imagine how little there
actually was then when he couldn’t find more than six articles about them; and, even then, they
were all articles on Wēn Qíng’s medical successes.

Again, his phone rang and again, it wasn’t Lán Xīchén. It was shaping up to be a busy afternoon
after all.

“Jiāng Chéng.”

“Have I ever told you how much I hate my mother?”

 He blinked. So, it was going to be one of those calls.

“Many times. What has she done now?”

“Nothing new. Still won’t answer our questions or admit she was wrong or even look at the DNA
test so she can see ā-Diē wasn’t lying all those times he told her Shīxiōng wasn’t his. I really don’t
know why Jiě is still looking for answers when she knows she won’t get any.”

Closure. Assurance that she had made the right choice in cutting Yú Zǐyuān out of her and Jīn
Líng’s lives. Because like Wèi Yīng, Jiāng Yànlí was too good a person to hate anyone, but she
was also very much her mother’s daughter and if she knew she was justified, she would hate
someone for the rest of her life.

“There is nothing wrong with seeking answers.”

“...I feel a ‘but’ is supposed to be there.”

“There is nothing wrong with seeking answers, but some are foolish to chase,” he said and could
already feel the offended lecture. “She is not a fool. She should accept that she is wasting her time.
Continuously looking for them will only keep her miserable.”

“Yeah....I know. I wish she would, but she won’t. Guess we’re just as stubborn as her, too.”

At least they didn’t inherit her cruelty.

“Is that all you needed to say?”

“Want to get rid of me that much, huh?” Jiāng Chéng asked, though there wasn’t a trace of heat in
his tone. “Jǐngyí texted me earlier. He said Líng’s being weird. What happened?”

“I...am not sure. I thought it was because he and the Wēn boys knocked over the shrine, but it’s
been going on too long to be that. I tried to ask him, but he refused to answer.”

“That brat. All right, I’ll call him later and see if I can get it out of him. If it’s gotten to the point
where Jǐngyí feels the need to tell me of all people, it must be serious.”

He hoped it would work. Lán Wàngjī was starting to really worry about what was going on. He
heard Jiāng Yànlí say something to Jiāng Chéng and shortly after, they said their goodbyes so the
three of them could go out. Hanging up the phone again, he watched it for a minute just to see if it
would ring again.

It didn’t. Fortunately. He had talked too much already for one day.

Chapter End Notes

Later:
JC: *calls JL*
JL: *answers, hangs up, and turns off phone*
JC: .........
JL: I’m gonna die.
 Chapter 12
Chapter Notes

So close. So very close. It’s not going to be that easy, though. Sorry, Lán Wàngjī.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

It was early, around eight, when the five of them loaded into his car with the brothers’ and Jīn
Líng’s bags in the trunk. It had been a shock when Jīn Líng said he would stay with Niè Huáisāng.
Even Niè Huáisāng hadn’t been expecting it, which was why he had already made plans before he
even offered to take them. Lán Wàngjī couldn’t even be upset with that because why would they
have ever thought the offer would be taken up? It was no secret Lán Jǐngyí and Jīn Líng didn’t like
him. But, apparently whatever was bothering him was so bad that he didn’t want to be around Lán
Wàngjī and Lán Jǐngyí, so any escape was better.

He tried not to let it get to him.

So, by two in the afternoon, they pulled up in front of the Wēn residence where Wēn Lí and who he
recognized immediately as Wēn Qíng were waiting for them. One of the boys must’ve called them
or maybe they just had an impeccable sense of time. Regardless, he got out to help Wēn Yuàn and
Wēn Zizhēn with their bags. There was hardly even anything said between them and Lán Jǐngyí,
which he could tell devastated his nephew, and the two shared a look with Jīn Líng. It was clear he
wanted to stay, but for whatever reason, he didn’t. He wanted to ask about it, but by now he knew
he wouldn’t get any answers, so he didn’t.

“Thank you for driving them, Mr. Lán,” Wēn Qíng said. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience. These
two can be brats.”

“It was no inconvenience, Dr. Wēn. I was going to come to the city anyway to bring Rúlán home.”

And to snoop through his uncle’s belongings to figure out what exactly had kept the man’s interest
in her family active for as long as it was, but she didn’t need to know that. Lán Wàngjī didn’t think
she would appreciate learning her nephews’ friends’ granduncle had stalked them for close to a
year.

“Still, we’re sorry you had to make a detour. My brothers had plans made before Ā-Yuàn called us
to tell us they wanted to come home early.”

“Bàba’s not here?” Wēn Zizhēn asked.

“No, he’s not. He and Dìdi are out with a friend. They won’t be back until after dinner, so don’t
stay up waiting for him.”

“Hello, Líng. Hello, Jǐngyí,” Wēn Lí said, waving to them. “Will you two be staying?”

“Not today, Granny. Líng is going to stay at Bàba’s with Sāng-shū and I’m going back to Inlet with
Shūshu.”

“Well, it was lovely to see you two again. When Xīchén comes home, make sure you two drop
by.”
“We will,” Lán Jǐngyí said before looking at Jīn Líng with a glare. He must’ve said something they
couldn’t hear. “Well, I will.”

“Oh, my. Did something happen?”

“Your guess would be as good as mine,” Lán Wàngjī said with a sigh. “Excuse me. We should be
going. It’s a long drive back to Inlet.”

“Of course. We hope to see you again, Mr. Lán.”

He nodded out of courtesy before giving the boys their bags and returning to the car. Lán Xīchén
lived half an hour from the Wēns and it was a very tense ride. Neither of the boys said a thing and
the radio hadn’t even been turned on, so it was completely silent. Jīn Líng sat leaning against the
door looking out the window with a frustrated scowl and while he wasn’t scowling, Lán Jǐngyí sat
in the back with his arms crossed. He was even sitting behind Lán Wàngjī’s seat just to be as far
from his cousin as he could be.

It was honestly a relief when they pulled up to the house and were able to get out of the car. Lán
Wàngjī found that he very much preferred the polluted city air over the suffocating atmosphere of
the car.

Once inside, Jīn Líng went straight up to his room while Lán Jǐngyí plopped himself on the sofa
with the remote. Instead of going to the attic straight away like he had originally planned, Lán
Wàngjī decided to make lunch for the boys. Nothing complex; just quesadillas. No doubt Niè
Huáisāng would bring something for Jīn Líng to have for dinner, so he didn’t bother making
anything to put in the refrigerator. After letting the boys know lunch was made, he quickly grabbed
a mask from the drawer in the guest bathroom and climbed into the attic.

It was as clustered as one could expect from an attic of a family home. Neither he nor his brother
had ever felt the need to throw out a lot of Lán Qǐrén’s possessions, so there was a collection of old
furniture stored neatly in a corner and plenty of boxes. Not just of Lán Qǐrén’s things, but also
holiday decorations, things from his and Lán Xīchén’s childhood their uncle had saved, belongings
that had been left behind by their parents as well as his brothers-in-law and probably boxes of old
clothes and blankets that they never got around to donating. He knew it would take a while to look
through the boxes to find what he wanted but he was positive that if he didn’t at least know he only
needed to search through boxes of Lán Qǐrén’s papers, he wouldn’t have bothered.

He didn’t expect to become so tunnel visioned on his search that by the time he found what he was
looking for, it was already five-thirty. Lán Wàngjī quickly scanned the folders in the box, noting
that while a few of them were labeled with Wēn Lí, Wēn Qíng and Wēn Níng’s names, the
majority of them had Wēn Yīng written on them. None about the boys, but he didn’t imagine his
uncle felt any need to look into them too hard if he did at all. Knowing he’d end up being there all
night if he even opened one of the folders, he closed the box and made his way back downstairs.

“Hey, Shūshu. What’s that?”

“Some of Shūfù’s things from Gūsū. I thought I would put them up in the office.”

For someone who had gone through life without outright lying, Lán Wàngjī was realizing he was
very good at it. And, it was a lie he could keep for as long as he needed because his office was
strictly off limits, so Lán Jǐngyí wasn’t likely to walk in and see there was no display set up.

“Cool. Is Shūgōng’s xiao in there?”

 “It is not. I couldn’t find it. I’ll ask Xiōngzhǎng to look for when he comes back,” he said. It wasn’t
actually a lie; he couldn’t find it. Because he wasn’t looking for it. “We should go. It’ll already be
late enough when we get back.”

“Hey, Jīn Líng! We’re leaving!”

He scowled and crossed his arms, staring up at the vent that cut through the ceiling of the living
room to Jīn Líng’s room. There was no response, so he was either ignoring them or asleep. Lán
Wàngjī’s vote was on the latter; he couldn’t imagine Jīn Líng intentionally refusing to tell them
goodbye no matter how upset he was. Not when he’d never let anger stop him before.

“Whatever. Asshole.”

“Jǐngyí!”

This problem needed to be resolved quickly. He’d never heard either of his nephews use such
language and actually mean it. Lán Wàngjī made a note to call Jiāng Chéng tomorrow while they
were out with Luó Qīngyáng and her family to see if he had any progress getting Jīn Líng to crack.

Chapter End Notes

If none of you have lived in a house with a vent between your room and the room
directly below it, you missed out. It’s the most convenient thing ever. I miss it so
much.
 Chapter 13
Chapter Notes

Not my best chapter. My keyboard is messed up because someone spilled soda on it so

I need to buy a new one and it's been too hot to even think for about a week now.
Someone save me from my suffering.

Wēn Yuàn felt like an idiot. He had promised Jīn Líng that he and Zizhēn would talk to their dad
about what they learned. And, he fully intended to; of course he was going to. Promise or not, they
had questions of their own. The problem was that neither of them had actually put any thought into
how to approach him. They spent the entire night in their room trying to figure it out, even texting
Jīn Líng for help, and they weren’t any closer to a plan than before. Whenever they thought that
they were making progress, one of them would take a step back and worry it was too
confrontational. Jīn Líng got frustrated halfway through the discussion, told them to figure it out
themselves, and hung up.

Neither Wēn Yuàn nor Zizhēn dared to comment on how bitter and hurt their friend had sounded
when he said they knew his uncle better than he did as part of his argument. They didn’t think he
meant to sound the way he did.

“What if we just ask? Rip the Band-Aid off, you know?”

“I thought we agreed we weren’t going to corner him.”

“I know, but this whole careful thing isn’t going to work out. We’re not going to get anywhere if
we keep trying to dance around it.”

“Yeah, I know. I just....We’ve never asked about these things before, you know? It feels weird
bringing it up now when it never mattered before.”

“Bring what up?”

“Bàba!” the two exclaimed as they straightened the backs.

“It’s two in the morning. The both of you should be asleep. Did you have so much fun with your
friends that you messed up your sleep schedules?” he asked. “I bet the four of you are adorable
together, huh? Jiějie says you’re not, but she could look at a box of kittens and not care, so her
opinion is void.”

“Bàba, we....We were wondering if, uh....” Wēn Yuàn started, his voice trailing off as he looked
from the scar on his head and the leathery, discolored remains of his arm. He hadn’t ever given
them much though before either. Were they related to what happened to him? “We found
something at Mr. Lán’s and we wanted to ask you about it.”

Bàba gave them a look. It was a look they’d never seen on him before; they’d seen him serious
before, sure, but nowhere near as serious as he was in that moment. It only lasted a couple of
seconds before he looked scared. He looked like he was ready to run and they were prepared for
that. They were willing to let him run because they wouldn’t corner their dad for any reason and
Jīn Líng would just have to live with it. But, surprisingly, Bàba didn’t run off. Instead, he just kind
of deflated as he sat down at the desk.

“Bàba...?”

“You’re both so smart. I hoped, but I should’ve known it would happen.”

He knew then. Bàba knew there was a chance they’d find out, but still let them go to Mr. Lán’s
anyway. Beyond that, he still let them hang out with Jǐngyí and Jīn Líng even though he knew the
risk. It had to be some strange set of coincidences that they’d never seen any pictures of their dad
at either of their friends’ houses before. That also raised questions because from what they’d seen
and been told, Bàba was still very important to Jīn Líng and his family. It was weird the only one
that had a picture of him was the guy who liked him in high school but his own siblings didn’t.
He’d have to ask Jīn Líng about that later, but now wasn’t the time.

“You’re...Jīn Líng’s uncle. The one that’s supposed to be, um...dead?”

That was weird to say. He didn’t know why, though. It was the truth.

“Cutting right to the point, huh? That’s a very you thing to do, Yuàn,” he said, giving a little laugh.
It did little to lighten the mood, but he didn’t think it was supposed to. “Yes, I am. I--We should’ve
told you so you could’ve been prepared.”

We. So, it wasn’t something he was keeping from everyone. Wàipó, Āyí, and Jiùjiu knew. He
really shouldn’t be disappointed they were left out because he could only imagine how hard it
would be to discuss the situation with kids, but still. He was. He would’ve liked to be part of the
family secret. By the looks of it, Zizhēn felt the same.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Zizhēn asked. “Why did you let us get so close to Líng and Jǐngyí if you
didn’t want us to know?”

“Ā-Zhēn, it isn’t--Of course I wanted to tell you both. I just didn’t....I had such a hard time working
up the courage to tell Māma and them that I couldn’t even start to wonder how to tell you two.
Really, the only reason I told the others was because Jiějie got the career upgrade. I knew I
couldn’t come back to New York without letting them know I remembered.”

“...‘Remembered’?”

“Oh. Right. Yeah, I had a pretty serious case of amnesia. It, um....Doctors said it was the result of
mental and physical trauma. Kind of like a hard reset of the brain; apparently mine’s just as
extreme and dramatic as the rest of me. I don’t know if it was supposed to last thirteen years or if I
was ever supposed to recover, but, well, here I am.”

Wēn Yuàn looked at the scar on his dad’s head when physical trauma was mentioned. It had
always been a gnarly wound; it was long, almost spanning the entire length of his head, and had
healed without much medical assistance so it was kind of bulbous where the wound had been
deepest near the back. Wēn Yuàn had never given it much thought. He’d grown up seeing it, so it
was just a normal part of his life. The few times he had been curious, he hadn’t asked about it
because to him, it didn’t matter where it came from. Bàba was still Bàba. Now he knew how
significant it was and he felt awful for never caring about it before.

“Hey. I know that look. What’s wrong?”

“I....It’s so stupid. You wouldn’t have been able to answer me anyway, but I still feel like I
should’ve asked more about where you came from. I feel like a terrible son for not caring enough.”
“Āiyō, no. Don’t you dare start thinking you’re a pair of rotten radishes. Ā-Yuàn, ā-Zhēn, not
asking doesn’t mean you didn’t care and it doesn’t make you bad. I....I’m so happy you never
asked. It’s weird, I know, but it was such a comfort when I recovered to know that...that you didn’t
need to know who I was to call me Bàba. And, I’m still your bàba. I’ll always be your
bàba....Right?”

Wēn Yuàn blinked at Bàba’s tone. He sounded so small and scared; so much more than they and
Jīn Líng had been. Realization hit him so hard he was surprised he hadn’t been knocked off his
feet. Bàba was scared of what all this meant for his families. Wēn Yuàn and Zizhēn had been
scared, sure, but that was only for their unit. Their dad had to worry about not one but two whole
families. He had it a million times worse than they ever would because they could easily cut Jīn
Líng and his family out of their lives if they had to. But, for Bàba, it wasn’t that easy. Jīn Líng and
his family weren’t merely strangers or even friends to him; they were Bàba’s family, too, and he
knew Bàba. He knew he would want to contact them eventually and that had to be a terrifying
thing.

He knew they would welcome him back; Jīn Líng hadn’t been shy about telling them they all
missed him and wanted him back everyday he was gone. But, Bàba didn’t know that. He was going
into this blind. Wēn Yuàn and Zizhēn looked at each other for a few moments before nodding.

“Bàba,” Zizhēn said, earning his attention. “We, um....We’re not the only ones who found out. Líng
was with us.”

Bàba looked so worried all of a sudden, probably wondering how Jīn Líng was coping.

“We can give you his number? If you want to check on him.”

“I shouldn’t. Not yet. I’m....I want to, but I’m not....I don’t think I’m ready. But, he must be so
upset. Maybe I should?”

Bàba turned the seat around to lean forward on the desk so he could think, tapping his fingers
against the wood in rapid succession. They knew what that meant and the two went over to pull
him away from the desk before he worked himself into a frenzy. He glared at them, but only for a
second before he gave in.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to talk to Líng. We’ll do it, okay? If you want?”

“What? No. No, I can’t--This is my mess. I can’t ask you two to fix it. I’ll figure something out,
okay?”

“We want to help, Bàba.”

“And, you can. Just keep being my perfect little radishes. At least until I’m ready to move forward.
Jiějie said I shouldn’t rush things and need to go at my own pace. Lánlán’s hurting, I know, but
he’ll hurt less if I talk to him when I know what to say. If you want to reassure him, you can, but
just...let me decide what to tell him, okay? Can you promise me that?”

“Yes, Bàba. Of course,” Zizhēn said.

“Can...we ask you what happened? The night you went missing? He told us a tiny bit, but not a lot.
I don’t think he knows everything.”

“All right. We’ll sit and talk in the morning after breakfast, okay? I need to call ā-Sāng so he can
make sure Líng is okay. And, you two need to get to bed. Honestly, what’s Māma going to say if
she finds out?”
Wēn Yuàn and Zizhēn rolled their eyes knowing Wàipó wouldn’t care, but didn’t argue. They let
Bàba pull them into a hug before he left them to get ready for bed. They would learn everything
they wanted or needed to know in the morning. For now, they were content to have what they did.
 Chapter 14
Chapter Notes

I’m so sorry for disappearing for so long. Stuff offline happened and I completely lost
motivation to write at all. Here’s to hoping I can get back into the swing of things.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Lán Wàngjī had very strict policies when it came to invading privacies and boundaries. To him, a
person should only meddle if circumstances were extreme and demanded it. He understood and
supported Jīn Zixuān and Jīn Líng butting into little Mò Xuányǔ’s life like they did because he was
family who had a terrible history of being mistreated; they could back off just a bit in his own
opinion, but he couldn’t call them unreasonable for being so invested and worried. It was the same
with Lán Jǐngyí. The boy pushed boundaries when it came to his father, but that was because he
knew Lán Xīchén wouldn’t do things that were good for his health on his own until he was quite
literally shoved into it.

Meanwhile, there were plenty of times Lán Qǐrén trampled over both his nephews’ boundaries that
left a very dark filter on a lot of Lán Wàngjī’s interactions with him as a minor. At least he got
points for being well-meaning; Jīn Zixuān’s mother pried just for the sake of prying and knowing
things while his father was always looking for things to gossip about.

So, of course, when Lán Wàngjī decided to go through the files on the Wēns, he had his
reservations. His uncle was never malicious in his actions, but there was something inherently
wrong about having an entire family investigated. Still, he had faith that Lán Qǐrén had a good
reason for it because reading the journal of a teenager was very, very different from spending
money to have an entire family unit looked into. That helped him get over his hesitation and start
going through the files. He found nothing of too much interest for a while.

Wēn Qíng and Wēn Níng had clean records. The elder was an established medical professional,
specializing in several fields but primarily as a surgeon while her brother’s only career to speak of
had been a foster parent until around six years ago when his last foster was adopted into his family
and he retired. Why or how exactly Wēn Zizhēn entered the system and how the adoption took
place was beyond him; frankly, he had no interest in looking through the boys’ files he’d found
when he actually emptied the box. Lán Wàngjī had to draw the line somewhere and looking
through information on two teenage boys was where he decided it would be. Anything there was to
learn about them would be through them, his nephews, or whatever the other files gave him.

When he got to Wēn Lí’s files, he couldn’t say he was too surprised to see that she was, in fact,
connected to the triad in China. It certainly explained her behavior. What he hadn’t expected to
learn was that she was Wēn Ruòhán’s elder sister and he certainly hadn’t expected to learn she fled
to the United States with their younger sister not long before her first niece was born. He wanted to
call them foolish for not changing their names, but judging by how there had been no contact or
effort to retrieve them, he couldn’t. Apparently whatever had caused them to run hadn’t been
enough for Wēn Ruòhán to come after them. It did help him feel justified in his reaction to her even
though he didn’t think she was a particularly dangerous woman. Not without provocation anyway.

Everything else in her files was of no particular interest. Medical records, career information, bank
statements; things that weren’t important or very telling. Setting Wēn Lí’s pile of folders aside, Lán
Wàngjī stood to remove Wēn Yīng’s files from the box. His had been stacked on one side of the
box while the others had been organized but more or less placed with little care. Judging from that
alone, he knew they weren’t the ones his uncle had interest in.

That frightened him just a bit. Lán Qǐrén’s interest in people was minimal; he was fairly certain
that if it hadn’t been for his brother’s failure as a parent, his uncle would’ve spirited himself away
to some mountain to live as a hermit. If he took an interest in people, it was always very personal
and intimate to him. He invested his entire life into Lán Wàngjī and Lán Xīchén, wanting only for
them to succeed in life with little struggles, and had been a devoted and serious teacher because he
cared about his students’ futures. So, for him to take such an interest in Wēn Yīng was strange and
caused him to hesitate. He couldn’t imagine the boys’ father had been a friend. Someone he met in
passing in California, maybe.

“Shūshu, we’re home!”

“Jiùjiu, we’re home!”

Startled by the twin greetings, Lán Wàngjī shot out of his chair and in the process, knocked half of
Wēn Yīng’s files onto the floor. He audibly cursed as he knelt to clean his mess. Perhaps it hadn’t
been a wise decision to be productive with less sleep than he normally got, but it was the optimal
time to do so. With Jīn Líng and the Wēn boys gone, there wouldn’t be many chances to get Lán
Jǐngyí out of the house and he would rather commit his questionable deed without his nephew there
to distract him or find out what he was doing. As intimidated by his granduncle he had been, Lán
Jǐngyí adored Lán Qǐrén about as much as he adored Lán Wàngjī. The last thing he wanted was to
ruin the kid’s opinion of Lán Qǐrén.

Not caring much for neatness and deciding he could tidy things up later, Lán Wàngjī hurriedly
shoved the mess of papers back into the folders. As he did, he noticed an envelope among the
papers and frowned. It looked very out of place. Maybe if it had been a manila envelope, but it was
a simple pale blue one. It stuck out because his uncle was, again, a very peculiar man about a lot of
things. Such as what kind of envelope was used for what, right down to the color. White was
naturally for expense-related mail like bills and taxes while he sent things like invites in red and
letters in pale blue. Curious, not being able to figure out why his uncle would leave a letter among
Wēn Yīng’s files, Lán Wàngjī plucked it out of the pile of papers to look at it. There was no stamp,
so clearly it was never meant to be mailed, but it did have his name written on it.

He blinked, staring at the envelope in confusion that was in no way mild. Before he could take the
letter from it, though, he was swiftly reminded why he’d knocked the files over to begin with when
a knock sounded on the office door. Quickly placing the folders back on the desk and tucking the
letter in the central drawer, he went over and slipped out of the office to see Lán Jǐngyí and Luó
Mián looking especially overjoyed as they stood with their hands behind their backs.

“What do you two have?”

“A present for Shūshu.”

“For me? What for?”

“Jǐngyí said Líng was a meanie to Jiùjiu and made you sad, so we got you presents to cheer you
up!”

Lán Wàngjī glared at Lán Jǐngyí, but he stared back with absolutely zero remorse. Shaking his
head, he let it go because there was nothing he could say that would change Lán Jǐngyí’s mind.
Until his cousin apologized, he would continue to be bitter and rude about it.

“Jiùjiu is not sad, Mián, but thank you for being so nice. What did you two get me?”

“Jǐngyí goes first!”

“What? Why do I have to go first? It was your idea.”

“Because oldest goes first, duh!”

Lán Wàngjī watched with amusement as Luó Mián crossed her arms over her chest, completely
forgetting about the stuffed toy dangling from her grip. She remembered quickly, though, and
gasped in horror when she realized she’d spoiled the surprise.

“No! Bad Jiùjiu! Jiùjiu didn’t see!”

“Mn. Jiùjiu saw nothing. Jǐngyí?”

Lán Jǐngyí rolled his eyes, but relented without a fight. From behind his back, he revealed a
snowglobe with two white rabbits in the center. It was out of season without a doubt, but cute
nonetheless. Judging by Lán Jǐngyí’s proud grin, he could only guess he was smiling that soft
smile he had whenever he saw a rabbit, fake or not.

“Does Shūshu like it?”

“I do. Thank you, Jǐngyí. And, what did Mián get me?”

“A bunny for Jiùjiu to hug and feel better!”

The stuffed toy she held out to him was a white rabbit with a blue bow at the base of its upright ear.
Clearly, she’d given careful consideration to the aesthetic of his house when picking it out. Picking
her up, Lán Wàngjī planted a kiss on Luó Mián’s cheek that caused her to squeal happily before he
was suddenly wearing the stuffed toy on his head.

“Is it a hat now?”

“Yep!”

“Are you sure? I can’t hug a hat.”

“It’s a special hat, Jiùjiu!”

“I see. Thank you for the special gift, Mián. How about we go put Jǐngyí’s in the living room and
then see what your parents are up to making all that noise in my kitchen?”

“Mn!”

******

It was six when the Luós left and Lán Wàngjī spent an hour cleaning the kitchen while Lán Jǐngyí
sat in the living room on his laptop playing some game one of his friends had recommended to
him. They spent an hour watching a movie before Lán Jǐngyí decided it was a decent time to go to
bed. Eight was early for the both of them, but it would take a few days for Lán Jǐngyí’s sleep
schedule to be corrected and it fixed itself faster if he worked up to his usual bedtime. Only when
his nephew had disappeared upstairs did Lán Wàngjī return to his office where he sat at his desk
and stared at the drawer that held his uncle’s letter.
 He knew the letter had to do with Wēn Yīng because he highly doubted it would’ve been stached
with his files if it wasn’t related, so the logical thing in his mind would be to read the files first so
he had an idea of what his uncle may have written to him. At the same time, he didn’t think it
mattered what the order was because there was a feeling in his gut that told him he was going to be
blindsided either way. So, with that in mind, he decided he would see what Lán Qǐrén had to say
first.

It started out simple enough; Lán Qǐrén stated that he wrote the letter with every intent of being
completely transparent. There was even a request for patience which said a lot about just how
honest his uncle was going to be. It went on to say things he’d already heard, such as how he’d
always done what he believed was best for him and Lán Xīchén, but he acknowledged that
sometimes his decisions ended up causing difficulty and pain for them. Outing Lán Xīchén’s
sexuality and relationship with his late husbands by wrongfully going through Lán Xīchén’s
private writings as well as the incident in Colorado, which could’ve only happened because his
uncle insisted on them inviting their entire class rather than just the classmates they wanted to
invite due to his rule about being fair and inclusive, were the two main examples he gave.

He’d known his uncle felt awful for a lot of the stress he caused them, but he had never properly
acknowledged any of it before. It felt nice to see it now.

That said, I’m afraid I may be making another mistake, but I do not know what to do. I can only
hope, if I have hurt you, you’ll forgive me for the choice I’ve made.

Lán Wàngjī frowned at the confession. His uncle went on to talk about his trip to California. Small,
unimportant things at first that felt more like he was rambling and avoiding the subject for as long
as he could. Lán Qǐrén didn’t ramble. That told him just how out of sorts he was while writing the
letter. The rambling ended quickly, though, as if the writer had suddenly awoke from a trance.
And, then he gave the written equivalent of ripping off a Band-Aid that left Lán Wàngjī feeling
sick to his stomach and dizzy with something he couldn’t pinpoint.

Wàngjī, your Wèi Yīng is alive. He is alive and well surrounded by a family that adores him.

Chapter End Notes

Apologies for the lackluster ending to this chapter. To be honest, there was supposed
to be an actual letter from Old Man Lán, but it sucked. So, this is what we get.
 Happy (late) Birthday, Wèi Yīng!
Chapter Notes

Despite the title, this is a story-relevant chapter. Consider this my contribution to our
favorite chaos gremlin’s birthday. <3 Also, crap’s about the hit the fan, so strap in.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Jīn Líng looked up from his book when a knock interrupted him. He rolled his eyes, marked his
page, and took his time getting off his bed. He knew Sāng-shū was only going to tell him dinner
was ready, so he didn’t feel any urgency. Besides, he hadn’t heard him leave and he wasn’t sure if
Sāng-shū had gotten better at cooking during all of his spontaneous trips. There were a couple of
more knocks as he got to the door that sounded a bit more urgent.

“Yeah, yeah. I heard you already, Sāng-shū,” he said, pulling the door open. He was only slightly
worried to find his uncle standing there with his phone held to his ear. “I don’t want to talk right
now.”

“It’s not your parents or your uncle,” Sāng-shū said before listening to whatever the person on the
other end had to say. “Well, not that one. Anyway, it’s for you. Here.”

“Sāng-shū, I--”

“Ā-Líng, I promise you that if you don’t take this call, you will regret it.”

Jīn Líng didn’t groan, but it was a near thing. Instead of arguing, he took the phone and for a few
long seconds, contemplated whether or not to hang up. But, he didn’t because then he’d have the
estranged uncle mad at him, too. And, unlike Jiùjiu, Sāng-shū wasn’t out of state.

“Hello?”

There was what sounded like a sharp inhale before at least four seconds of silence. He was just
about to say something that would probably have his mom scolding him when the man on the
other end spoke.

“Lánlán, hey.”

He didn’t know if it was possible for a person to freeze so perfectly that they turned into living
statues, but he would swear until the day he died that it was. Jīn Líng didn’t know how else to
describe the way his body went still at the sound of his Xiàn-jiù’s voice. And, it was his voice;
there wasn’t a doubt in his mind. Not only had it not changed much at all since he was five, but
Xiàn-jiù had been the only one to ever use that ridiculous nickname.

“Hey, if this is a bad time or--hell, it’s probably a bad idea. You don’t have to talk if you don’t
want to. You’re....You’re probably mad, so I get it if--”

“What? No! Xiàn-jiù, I’m not....Well, okay, I am . I’m mad and I’m confused and I don’t know
what to think, but I don’t....Don’t hang up,” he said, not sure if he was whispering or if that was
just because he suddenly felt so small. “Please.”
“...All right, kiddo.”

It got quiet again as Jīn Líng moved to sit on his bed, his door closing thanks to Sāng-shū in what
was probably meant for privacy. Suddenly, he felt the rush of a thousand questions run through his
head. There was too much he wanted to know. He could ask what happened that night in Colorado
or ask how he met the Wēns or even ask if he ended up going to Yúnmèng if he wanted to avoid
the heavy questions.

There were so many questions floating around to choose, so why were the first words out of his
mouth, “Didn’t you miss us?”

Thirteen years of thinking his uncle was dead and what felt like another thirteen years of a
complicated emotional roller coaster only for his first question to be accusatory in nature. Jīn Líng
blamed his dad; he had to get it from him. Māma would never in a million lifetimes say something
so insensitive.

“I....Of course I miss you. All of you.”

Miss. Not “missed”. So he hadn’t missed them at all over the years? At first, he wanted to be
angry; he wanted to demand what that even meant. But, he didn’t. Maybe it was clinging to the
past, but Jīn Líng refused to believe it was as simple as that. How could it be? Jiāng Wúxiàn - or,
Wēn Yīng now - had always been devoted to his family. And, judging by how much his friends
boasted about their dad, that hadn’t changed at all.

“Was it...? Did Lǎoniáng threaten you to stay away? Is that why you never even called us?”

“Āiyō, no. That’s not it. It’s a bit - well, okay, a lot - more complicated than that.”

“Then why, Xiàn-jiù? I don’t want to be mad at you for staying away, but if it wasn’t because you
were threatened or blackmailed, then--”

“Lánlán, I’ll explain. I promise. But, I was hoping that we could talk about it in person. It’ll be
easier for you to understand, I think, if you saw me.”

His heart was either about to stop or explode. He didn’t know which one and he didn’t even know
why. Was he that excited about seeing his uncle in the flesh for the first time since he was five?
Maybe he was just nervous about it. Whatever it was, he would sooner sell his soul than let the
opportunity slip by.

“Yes! Definitely! Where should we meet? And, when? Do you need a ride? I can ask Sāng-shū if I
can borrow his car--Wait, you can drive. Never mind, I can meet you--”

“Whoa, slow down, ā-Líng! Breathe and let me talk, okay?” Xiàn-jiù said with a laugh, the tension
dissipating with it. “We don’t need to go anywhere. I’m...outside.”

“...Outside?”

His eyes went to his window and for a moment, he wondered. But, that had to be wishful thinking.
There was no way. Right?

“Yeah. I, uh....I may not have thought to call before driving all the way--”

Jīn Líng had dropped the phone and charged over to his window before he could hear the rest of
Xiàn-jiù’s sentence. He’d never been more thankful that his room had one of the best views of the
street; immediately, he spotted Níng- gē’s car. In the driver’s seat, he could clearly see Wēn Yuàn,
but his eyes all but zoomed in on the figure in the passenger’s seat.

“Xiàn-jiù!”

It had been years since he ran through the house so eagerly. The last time he could remember, he
still believed in Santa Claus. But, he very much resembled his childhood self with how quickly he
sprinted down the stairs and to the front door; he could even vaguely hear someone, probably
Sāng-shū, tell him to slow down. Vaguely because he was hyper focused on his destination like it
was some kind of lifeline. He couldn’t be bothered to take in anything else around him.

When he pulled open the door and stepped out on the front step, he saw that Wēn Yuàn was
already out of the car. He was waiting and soon enough, after what he thought was some kind of
last minute deep breathing session, Xiàn-jiù got out. Just as he walked around to join his son, him
and Jīn Líng made eye contact and oh . He immediately understood why his uncle said it would be
better if he saw him.

“Xiàn-jiù, what...happened?”

“There’s a lot to say. Let’s go inside, yeah?”

******

Jīn Líng sat silently on the couch with Xiàn-jiù and Wēn Yuàn sitting in the armchairs on the other
side of the coffee table. Somewhere, probably the kitchen, he could hear Sāng-shū making what
was most likely a mess. His mind was taking in a lot of things at the moment, verbal and visual, as
he sorted through the actual novel his uncle had just told him. He even heard a car door slam some
distance up the street and that was impressive because he was very good at blocking out noise that
wasn’t immediately within his vicinity.

“You really don’t remember everything that happened that night?”

“I don’t. Everything I told you is everything I remember.”

Which wasn’t a lot at all because all he’d told him of that night was going out to help Jiùjiu with a
fight, getting scared off by a dog, and then falling from what was probably the drop that was half a
mile behind the lodge. It was the one part of his memory that was still splintered. Somehow, that
was a terrifying restriction because the possibilities of what he was missing were endless.

“You said you didn’t just get amnesia. How did it happen?”

“It wasn’t sudden. I didn’t just wake up from my fall and have no idea who I was or anything. I
was disoriented, but that’s all. It was...gradual? I don’t know why and the doctors can’t give me a
concrete explanation either, but over a couple of weeks, things just started...disappearing, I guess,”
Xiàn-jiù explained. “The best anyone can guess is that I entered some kind of traumatic survival
mode where anything that wasn’t essential was just tossed out. I’m sure there’s an official term for
it, especially now, but there wasn’t thirteen years ago and I haven’t really looked into it since.”

He refused to take offense to the idea that the memories of their family weren’t essential enough to
keep around. It sounded awful on the surface, but there was no way to fairly judge. Jīn Líng
couldn’t imagine what it was like, so how could he begin to understand what was essential and
what wasn’t?

“You’re not...upset, are you?”

“Maybe a little? It’s not like it doesn’t hurt knowing we weren’t important, but I....I’m not mad or
anything. It’s fine. You’re alive, so it worked and that’s what matters.”

“So, it was my dad and Jiùjiu who found you?”

“Well, ‘found’ is a bit inaccurate. Truth is, I stumbled right into their ski route. Jiěfu probably
would’ve rolled all the way down the mountain if he’d been less experienced. They got me to
Jiějie, she got me to the hospital, and you know the rest from there, ā-Yuàn.”

“Not quite. I still don’t understand what Líng said about his grandma knowing you weren’t dead.”

Jīn Líng almost flinched at the dejected look on his uncle’s face. That combined with knowing she
left him to die had to be heartbreaking. How could it not be? Even with how much she hated him,
Jīn Líng knew Xiàn-jiù still loved her. He probably never imagined her hate for him would be so
severe. It couldn’t be easy knowing the only mother figure you could remember had wanted you
dead.

“Yeah, uh....Māma - I mean, Wēn Lí. She found the house number on my phone and called it. It
took a few days, but eventually Yú-shěn answered. She wasn’t...nice about it.”

“What did she say, Bàba?”

“It doesn’t matter what she said. All that matters is that it was enough for the family to take her
seriously.”

It did matter. It mattered a lot. He wanted to press for an answer, but if he did, Xiàn-jiù might run
off or something.

“Did they find out why you recovered so suddenly?” he asked. “You said it happened all at once,
right?”

“It did, and yes. The doctors said it was because the conditions were as close to what they
would’ve been the night I ran off. It was winter, it was dark, and there was an angry dog barking
nearby. It triggered my memory,” he said. “Granted, they said it shouldn’t have happened all at
once, but you know. If my brain is dramatic enough to perform a mass exodus then it’s dramatic
enough for a mass recovery.”

That was true. He couldn’t help but snort at the very in-character reactions. Leave it to his uncle to
have the strangest medical circumstances ever. But, then he saw Sāng-shū hurry out of the kitchen
and down the hall to the bathroom and suddenly he was reminded of another detail he didn’t
understand.

“Why did you get in touch with Sāng-shū first? You could’ve called Māma or Jiùjiu.”

Hell, he could’ve even called Wàigōng, though he certainly didn’t blame him for not doing so. He
kind of hoped he continued to not contact the man. While his personal memories of his grandfather
were good ones because of how doting he’d been, Jīn Líng wasn’t an idiot. Being a good
grandparent didn’t make someone a good parent and there was a lot of grief and resentment
between him and his own kids.

“I know. I do, Lánlán, and I will contact them. I just don’t...know how I’d even approach them, you
know? When I got a hold of ā-Sāng, it was because I thought he was the safest option at the time.
Besides, ā-Sāng is a scheming genius; I’m definitely going to need him to figure out how to
navigate all this.”

“...You know he’s estranged, right? We don’t really talk to him anymore.”
 “Well, someone does because he told me everything I wanted to know. He even knows where
Jiāng-s hūshu lives and he’s never been to China.”

Jīn Líng could feel the blood drain from his face. How the hell did someone like Sāng-shū know
something like that? No one knew where his grandfather lived now; he’d completely disappeared
off the map after the divorce and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t find him. It was
small, but he had to admit that earned some respect from him. But, why hadn’t he said anything
about it? How many of these twist secrets were there and how many people knew them?

He didn’t think he wanted to know.

“What about Mr. Lán’s uncle?” Wēn Yuàn asked. “Líng said he thinks he once saw a picture of
Wàipó and Āyí. Did you ever see him in California?”

“...I did, yeah,” his uncle said, looking a little sad. “Of course, I didn’t know who he was at the
time. He approached me and I forgot what he said, but I guess my response tipped him off to my
condition because he apologized for confusing me with someone else.”

“That must be why he did his research. Kind of crappy of him to not tell Jī-shū.”

“Don’t be too hard on him, okay? Honestly, I don’t think there was ever going to be a right choice
here. Knowing him, he probably thought not saying anything was the best thing he could do for
Lán Zhàn. He was always doing what he felt was best for his nephews.”

Jīn Líng and Wēn Yuàn both rubbed the back of their necks. There wasn’t any way to argue with
that, was there? If he had learned anything since seeing the picture on Wēn Yuàn’s phone, it was
that navigating a situation like this was not easy. And, that was just him thinking about himself. He
couldn’t imagine what it’d have been like if he had to consider others.

Xiàn-jiù looked like he was going to say something, but the front door all but burst open and before
anyone could get up, in walked the one person none of them wanted to see at that moment.

“Jiùjiu!? What--I don’t--Why are you here!?” Jīn Líng shrieked as he stood, his first instinct being
to want to try and hide Xiàn-jiù from view. It seemed Xiàn-jiù and Wēn Yuàn had it handled,
though, because the man had dove behind his armchair as soon as the door had opened. “Don’t you
know how to knock!?”

“Don’t you dare stand there and try to lecture me about my manners, you little punk. Do you have
any idea how worried Jiě and Zixuān are?” Jiùjiu asked before his attention went to Wēn Yuàn. As
much as he tried, he was unfortunately standing a bit too suspiciously in front of his dad’s chair and
it didn’t get past his uncle. “What are you two hiding?”

“We’re not hiding anything, Jiùjiu. Will you tell me why you’re here?”

There was a very blank stare from his uncle before he walked over and, with as much care as he
could muster, moved Wēn Yuàn out of his way. Jiùjiu was not a short person, so it was easy for
him to see over the chair, but Xiàn-jiù had always been praised for his sneakiness. It actually took
Jiùjiu walking around to find him and by that point, both teenagers were holding their breaths
because what else could they do?

“Uh....H-Hey, Shīdì. Fancy seeing you here...?”

Chapter End Notes

 Please don’t judge this chapter too harshly. I’m writing this while waiting for Genshin
Impact to update and my mind is very much distracted with anticipation for Nahida
and the conclusion of the Sumeru arc. I was supposed to get this done yesterday, but
that didn’t happen, so it’s also rushed to be out in a timely manner.

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