The Guide to Capturing a Black Lotus
Translator: Fuyu
Chapter 123.2 - New Year's (Modern-day)
Part 4 of 7
There were still five days until New Year's. Cars from all directions converged toward the city's numerous traffic hubs like blood flowing through a body's countless veins. Although traffic was slow-moving, it kept moving forward.
There was a red dot slowly heading towards the airport.
The colorful dots gradually became smaller. The city's road network was like a body's intertwined muscles and bones. As the view zoomed out further, the image of clouds billowing above the Earth's surface and mountain peaks could be seen.
"0306 turned off his connection." Xiao Qin put down the tablet with a gloating look. Only the huge positioning interface was shining in the darkness.
Director Xu lit a cigarette. As the smoke drifted upwards, he glanced at the red dot. "Let him go. It's almost New Year's. He's lucky that he has a home to return to."
***
Part 5 of 7
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
Ms. Liang dashed to the door when she heard the doorbell, but she suddenly stopped. She turned her head to look at the person by the door and cleared her throat. "Old Ling, your daughter is back. Who are you trying to fool? You've been waiting here every day for Miao-er to come back. Now that she's back, why are you acting like this?"
The named person furrowed his brow, calmly took his time to hide his glasses, straightened his cuffs and opened the door.
As soon as he opened the door, a gray figure rushed over and hugged his neck.
"Dad!"
"Ah." Old Ling lifted her a few inches off the floor as if she was a kitten and almost sprained his back.
When Ling Miaomiao let go of her dad, she saw her mom, who had elegant makeup on and was disdainfully looking her over with furrowed brow. "Why are you dressed so shabbily?"
Ling Miaomiao smiled at her foolishly. Her mom didn't know that they had been separated for almost 20 years.
Ms. Liang took a few steps back in bewilderment.
Ling Miaomiao quietly watched as her mom's expression changed. Her furrowed brow relaxed, the downward corners of her lips went up, and her eyes lit up. It was like watching a crumpled flower soaking in hot water and unfurling its petals. Her warm smile cast away the past two decades.
Ling Miaomiao seized the opportunity to introduce, "Mom, this is-"
And then, Ms. Liang walked right past her, took the suitcase by the door, and said in a voice as sweet and friendly as a late night radio host's. "Little Mu, right? Come in, come in. It's cold outside."
Ling Miaomiao: "..."
Hearing Mu Sheng bashfully call out "Hello Aunty" like a well-behaved child, Ms. Liang was one second away from giving him a big hug. Her eyes were full of love as she said, "Aiya, don't treat Aunty and Uncle as outsiders."
Ling Miaomiao turned her head and was stunned by Mu Sheng's pitiful, innocent look. How could he change faces so quickly?
Old Ling couldn't find an opportunity to join the conversation, so he took out the new slippers they had prepared in advance from the show cabinet, "Little Mu, here…"
When Mu Sheng saw his esteemed father-in-law leaning over to hand him slippers, he almost couldn't maintain that innocent expression of a person that hadn't seen much of the world.
Before Ling Miaomiao could react, Mu Sheng had already bent over to bow and grabbed Old Ling's hand "I dare not."
Faced with Mu Sheng looking upwards at him with focused attention, Old Ling was almost starstruck by Mu Sheng's thick eyelashes and bright eyes at such a close distance.
So handsome! Old Ling inwardly sighed, but then his thoughts took a turn. His daughter was so cute, so these two were very suitable for each other!
Mu Sheng was frozen in a bowing position. His heart was pounding.
Old Ling thought; what a polite child.
"Little Mu, change into these slippers." As Old Ling pounded on his sore back as he straightened up, it looked as if he had been brainwashed. His eyes were full of tenderness and love.
Old Ling affectionately patted Mu Sheng's shoulder and said, "Miaomiao will entertain you. I'm going to fry a fish as the last dish."
His esteemed father-in-law was cooking for him. The teenager's brain crashed like a computer. The shining look in his black eyes was very adorable.
Mu Sheng blurted out, "How about I cook instead?"
Ms. Liang was very surprised. "Ah, you know how to cook?"
Old Ling had already neatly tied an apron on. Smiling, he pointed at the sofa. "It's okay. Relax."
The teenager took a deep breath and rushed into the kitchen. "I'll help you."
—
Part 6 of 7
The dining table was covered in plates of delicious-smelling food along with two unopened bottles of red wine.
"Little Mu is quite good at cooking." Old Ling opened a bottle of red wine. He was smiling so widely that the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were pronounced.
The news broadcast could be faintly heard in the background along with the clinking sound of chopsticks touching the bowls and plates. There was a warm yellow hue from the chandelier above the dining table.
"Thank you… Uncle."
Ms. Liang looked at Mu Sheng with the loving eyes of an elder and sighed with satisfaction. Then, she turned her head and flicked her daughter's forehead. "Look at yourself, then look at him."
Mu Sheng, who had just relaxed, tensed up again.
"It's okay." Ling Miaomiao tugged at the corner of his clothes. "My mom has always been like this.
"Little Mu, do you drink?" Smiling, Old Ling poured a small amount of wine into a glass.
Mu Sheng looked at the blood-red liquid in the glass and hesitated. "Red?"
"Little Mu, do you want to drink white wine?" Old Ling thought he met a kindred spirit. He wanted to drink baijiu too.
(T/N: The Chinese characters for baijiu is white wine, but it's very different from Western white wine. It has a high alcohol content like vodka, but the taste is different.)
Mu Sheng thought it over.
"Great, let's drink that then." Old Ling had already stood up in excitement and went straight to the wine cabinet under his wife's warning gaze. He took out a bottle of baijiu that he had been saving for several years.
When the aroma of the wine wafted out, Mu Sheng and Old Ling showed a pleased expression.
Mu Sheng secretly sighed in relief. "I can drink."
Old Ling stretched his finger out and pointed at him. "I knew you could drink this."
Miaomiao thought; pfft, he could drink her dad under the table. Ziqi, don't get my dad drunk.
Ling Miaomiao secretly pinched Mu Sheng's leg, but didn't give him away. "Dad, don't force him to drink."
Old Ling pinched his daughter's face with mixed emotions. "I know."
He pointed at his daughter and surreptitiously smiled at Mu Sheng. "Look, you're not even married yet, and she's already on your side."
Ms. Liang looked at her husband in askance and dryly coughed. "You're already drunk without drinking."
—
Part 7 of 7
Ling Miaomiao had a dad that believed in going with the flow. He saw through them, but didn't say anything. He bid them goodnight and walked into his bedroom as usual.
Ms. Liang was a bit uneasy and tense. Instead of walking into their bedroom to take off her makeup, she stopped at the ajar door. Talking through the crack in the door, she said to her husband, "What if they…"
After all, mothers were more cautious.
Ling Miaomiao was standing in the living room, waiting for her parents to decide on the sleeping arrangements. After taking a shower, she had changed into cartoon cat pajamas with two short cat ears on the hood. She was wrapping her damp hair up with a towel and part of her white arms were exposed.
Mu Sheng was standing behind her and absent-mindedly playing with the cat ears hanging from the hood of her pajamas.
"Aunty," Mu Sheng asked with lowered eyes, "Is Miaomiao sleeping with you?"
Ms. Liang turned her head and saw they had followed her over. They looked like they didn't understand anything. Her daughter's expression didn't need to be said. Little Mu's face looked calm and looked especially innocent.They looked like two children that were waiting to be exiled.
Old Ling came over and tugged on his wife's sleeve. They had already agreed for Little Mu to come to their home for New Year's. Why keep worrying?
Ms. Liang felt a sense of loss as well as gratification. Their daughter had grown up. She waved her hand and disdainfully said, "I won't sleep with her."
Mu Sheng lightly smiled.
The lights in the living room were turned off, leaving only the dim lighting in the hallway. The two generations said goodnight to each other and closed their respective doors.
"I'll show you my room." Ling Miaomiao held his hand as she gave him a tour of her room.
Her room wasn't small. There was a queen-sized bed, a wardrobe, a large bookshelf, a dressing table, and enough room for them to walk around. The wide area below the bay window had been transformed with tatami mats and a small, fluffy white rug.
Through the bay window overlooking the street, she could see the street decorated with colorful lights. There were flickering LED lights on the tall buildings, and the lights from the cars and street lamps were like a stream of lights that never stopped flowing.
She pulled the curtains shut.
Seeing Mu Sheng's gaze falling on her queen-sized bed, Ling Miaomiao explained, "I've liked big beds since I was a child."
Mu Sheng seriously nodded and looked to the right. There was an old photo on the nightstand. The girl in the photo looked to be around six or seven years old. She was wearing a dress with a tutu skirt. She was sitting on a slide with her arms raised in a cool and stylish greeting towards the person taking the photo. She was one second away from sliding down into a pile of colorful balls.
Startled, Ling Miaomiao dived onto her bed and pushed the photo down. "You're not allowed to look!"
Mu Sheng came over, put a hand on her towel, and helped her dry her hair. In an innocent tone, he asked, "Why?"
"Because… it looks too stupid."
She felt a bit hot. It took awhile for her to notice it was because he deliberately brushed his fingertips across her neck. When she raised her head in dissatisfaction, she saw that his eyes had turned completely black. She could see her figure reflected in his eyes.
The bed was laid out with a new gray plaid three-piece bedding. It was new to the point of feeling colored construction paper. The slightest movement would create a rustling sound. Ling Miaomiao didn't dare to move, but Mu Sheng leaned down and kissed every inch of her neck.
He very calmly asked, "Were your finals difficult?"
"Huh?" Ling Miaomiao incredulously opened her eyes and saw a hint of teasing beneath the restrained desire in his eyes.
Hearing movement from behind the door, Ling Miaomiao immediately understood and felt a chill run down her spine. It was like how a small mouse was used to being afraid of cats. Even if it grew into an enormous mouse, it would still be afraid of cats.
"I… I think it went okay" She frantically signalled with her eyes for Mu Sheng to let her get up from the bed, but he ignored her and kept kissing her neck.
His tone was surprisingly mild. "Did you participate in any club activities?"
Ling Miaomiao's face had turned slightly red. She raised her hand and started scratching him in resistance. "No, they didn't look interesting."
He grabbed her wrist and pressed it down above her head. He lowered his head, pressed his lips to hers, and deliberately rubbed them together. "Me too."
Their breathing overlapped, and they could also hear a slight sound at the door as if someone was relieved and gingerly walked away.
All clear.
Ling Miaomiao slumped into the bed in relief like a salted fish and let him hug her.
His kisses turned into nips. Smelling the scent of her home's body wash wafting from beneath her collar, she felt quite wonderful.
He seemed to smell the lingering scent of the body wash from her body too. His soft hair rubbed against her face.
There was the sound of fireworks from outside. The laws were different here. People weren't allowed to set off firecrackers in cities, but hearing the sound of fireworks going off in the distance reminded her of those old scenes. She almost could smell saltpeter and picture colorful paper lanterns hanging from trees and bright red couplets hanging down the sides of doorways.
After a while, he raised his bright eyes and looked up at her. "Is here okay?"
Ling Miaomiao paused before asking, "Why not?"
He gently kissed her cheek. "Because this is your home."
Ling Miaomiao hugged him, buried her face in his shoulder, and said in a muffled voice, "Ziqi."
Outside the window, the fireworks went off like lightning. With a bang, the sparks fell down like falling stars.
She tightly hugged him. "From now on, this is your home too."
(T/N: I see this artwork reposted a lot on Weibo during the holidays, but I haven’t been able to find a version with the artist’s name.)
