Tang Junhe was stunned. Yang Xuan didn't move, just stood at the door with one hand on the handle of the suitcase. He looked down at him, his deep black eyes falling on his face. It was obviously a huge surprise, but the expression on his face was very ordinary, with that kind of usual calmness.
He didn't get an answer, Yang Chengchuan thought that there was a visitor at home. He put down the unanswered phone, got up and walked to the door to meet the guest, only to see his eldest son Yang Xuan standing outside the door. He was also startled for a moment, and then said in surprise and joy: "Why are you back at this time?" Tang Junhe subconsciously turned sideways to make way for him as he walked forward to pick up the suitcase in Yang Xuan's hand.
"Were you homesick? Or are you not used to the food over there?" The loneliness in Yang Chengchuan's heart disappeared at this moment. He put the suitcase in the corner by the entrance, and reached out to pat Yang Xuan's shoulder affectionately, "You didn’t tell me that you were coming back, I could have driven to pick you up. How did you get here from the airport, did you take a taxi?"
Yang Xuan took off his mask and put it on the counter, took off his coat and said, "Yes."
"For Chinese New Year, is there even a driver to pick up the job?" Yang Chengchuan reached out to take his coat, and asked warmly, "You wear so little, you're not afraid of catching a cold, are you? Are you hungry? You arrived just in time, the dumplings should be almost ready."
Tang Xiaonian in the kitchen put the dumplings into the pot and was cooking them. Hearing voices from outside, she poked her head out to look. Seeing Yang Xuan coming in, she was also stunned. The happy mood of a few minutes was cut in half in an instant. She forced a smile and said hello: "Xiaoxuan is back?"
Yang Xuan didn't respond, Yang Chengchuan replied in his stead: "He’s just arrived from the airport by taxi. It looks like he still wants to spend this year comfortably at home." He looked back at Yang Xuan, "Isn't that right?"
Yang Xuan sat down on the sofa, took out his mobile phone and fiddled with it with his head down, saying, "I'll call grandma." Tang Junhe sat down next to him, his eyes fell on the TV, but his attention was all on his brother.
"It's time, it's time," Yang Chengchuan sat down on the single sofa on the side, looked at him and said, "I wanted to call just now, but no one answered. Don't rush to hang up after you finish talking to her later. Wish your grandparents a happy New Year properly. I also want to give my greetings."
Yang Xuan dialed the number, and the other side quickly picked up. After he spoke a few words to them, seeing Yang Chengchuan who kept looking at him with winks, he avoided that annoying look with some impatience. He didn't want to trouble the two old people on New Year's Eve, but he hadn’t expected that they would offer to talk to Yang Chengchuan on their own.
In the past, Yang Xuan's grandfather and grandmother both hated the scumbag Yang Chengchuan. This year's behavior was really abnormal. Even Yang Chengchuan himself was surprised. He’d wanted to wish them a happy Chinese New Year, but he thought it was okay to save face, and hadn’t really expected to be able to get through the phone at all.
Yang Chengchuan took Yang Xuan’s phone, putting on a smiling face, and gave frequent responses to the other side of the line: "Don't worry, Yang Xuan's homework is not delayed much, have you seen his TOEFL scores? Don't get angry... it's all for the sake of the child's future, like I've said... Calm down, don't get angry..."
Listening to Yang Chengchuan's voice on the phone, Tang Junhe scooted closer to Yang Xuan calmly. He quietly stretched out his hand, held Yang Xuan's arm, and pulled his hand off his leg. Yang Chengchuan was nodding and bowing to the phone. At this moment, he felt that he couldn't hold back his face. He got up and went to the study, and had no time to care about their situation. Tang Junhe pulled Yang Xuan's hand to the gap between them, and fumbled to hold it.
Yang Xuan had just come in from outside, and his hands were cold and dry. Tang Junhe held them tightly, trying to transfer the heat from his hands to his brother's.
Yang Xuan didn't respond, and let him pull his hand down and hold it.
After Yang Chengchuan made the call, he walked out of the study and handed the phone back to Yang Xuan. Tang Junhe immediately let go of Yang Xuan's hand, moved aside, and put his two hands together one on top of the other.
This scene fell on Yang Chengchuan’s eyes. A pair of harmonious siblings. He also saw that Tang Junhe often relied on Yang Xuan, so he smiled and said: "Junhe is very happy to see his brother back, right?” He sat on the sofa and looked at his two cubs, one big and one small, born to him more than ten years ago. He sighed with some relief, “You are both brothers. Even if you didn’t grow up together, your relationship is still stronger than that of outsiders. Treat each other well."
When Tang Xiaonian heard this in the kitchen, a trace of unhappiness flashed across her heart. She raised her voice and shouted: "Jun He, come and serve the dumplings."
Tang Junhe went to the kitchen. Tang Xiaonian put the dumplings on a plate, and asked in a low voice, "Why did he come back? Wasn’t he supposed to stay abroad until the seventh or eighth day of the lunar new year?"
"I don't know." Tang Junhe picked up the dumplings and was about to go out.
Tang Xiaonian was so angry at how she had nowhere to vent her anger, and at how he had nothing to do with her, so she could only pick up the dumplings and follow him out.
The four sat around the table, and Tang Xiaonian pretended to be concerned and asked, "Why has Xiaoxuan come back so late? Couldn’t you buy an earlier ticket?"
"The flight is more than ten hours long." Yang Chengchuan looked at Yang Xuan, "Right, what time did you leave the house in the morning?"
"After seven o'clock." Yang Xuan said.
"Well, this flight has the most suitable time," Yang Chengchuan explained to Tang Xiaonian, "It's not necessary to get up early, and the time to come back is not too bad. Because of the time difference, it’s earlier in the United States, right?"
Yang Xuan gave a perfunctory "Mn". In fact, he was quite lucky, the plane took off on time, but he had a little trouble getting a taxi when he came back. He waited for nearly an hour at the airport before he could get a taxi. But it didn't make any sense to tell Yang Chengchuan about it, so he didn't bother to say more.
"Why did you suddenly think of coming back? Didn't you say you were coming back on the seventh or eighth day?" Hearing Yang Chengchuan ask this question, Tang Xiaonian paused with the chopsticks in her hand, and stretched her ears to wait for Yang Xuan's answer. Tang Junhe subconsciously glanced at Yang Xuan.
Yang Xuan didn't respond, and said calmly, "I'll come back if I want to."
No matter what, Yang Chengchuan was really happy in his heart. He felt that his eldest son had grown up and knew how to miss him as a father. If Yang Xuan hadn't come back tonight, it would be hard to say how lonely he would have been this New Year's Eve. After all, Tang Junhe, the youngest son, doesn't have his surname, and he had never given him a single kiss since he was a child. Looking at him, he worried about the bleak future.
After Yang Xuan finished his meal, he put down his chopsticks. Yang Chengchuan looked at him and asked, "Are you full? The real New Year's Eve dinner hasn't been served yet."
"I'm a little tired, I want to take a bath." Yang Xuan said.
"Go ahead, it's quite tiring to sit down on a plane for more than ten hours." Yang Chengchuan never restrained him.
Yang Xuan went back to his room, changed his clothes, and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
Seeing Yang Xuan go back, Tang Junhe also ate the rest of the meal without tasting anything. He didn't like eating dumplings at first, so his thoughts were all on how to get to Yang Xuan's room tonight. On New Year's Eve in the past, Tang Xiaonian insisted on waiting until the end of the Spring Festival Gala before turning off the TV to go to sleep. If this year is the same, then wouldn't he have to wait until the early morning to go to Yang Xuan?
Tang Xiaonian watched TV while eating, occasionally being amused by the clichés in the sketch. Seeing Tang Junhe put the bowls and chopsticks on the table, she turned her head to him and asked, "Are you full too? There will be New Year's Eve dinner later."
"I'm sleepy." Tang Junhe said, yawning at the right time.
"Why sleepy, what time is it? Wash the onions and peel the garlic for me in a while. You won't be sleepy after doing some work." Tang Xiaonian said. Before the auntie left, she’d prepared the dinner for New Year's Eve and put it all in the freezer. Tang Xiaonian only needed to take it out, reheat the dishes with some green onions and garlic, and serve them on the table.
"Go to sleep if you're sleepy," Yang Chengchuan was in a good mood at the moment, and excused Tang Junhe, "He’s in his growth phase, so it's not bad to sleep more. I'll help you wash the onions and peel the garlic in a while, are you satisfied? "
"Do you still remember what a green onion looks like?" Tang Xiaonian glanced at him, "Have you even touched one in the last ten years?"
"Look at what you said, I remember what you looked like more than ten years ago."
"Oh, you mean I'm just an onion in your heart, right?" Tang Xiaonian and Yang Chengchuan started bickering for a long time, and her mood eased for a moment. She said to Tang Junhe, "Go to sleep if you want to sleep. With that said, she got up and took an apple from the kitchen, walked back and put it on Tang Junhe’s hand, "Eat an apple before going to sleep, you haven't eaten any fruit today."
There was the sound of running water in the bathroom, and Tang Junhe sat on the sofa in the living room and gnawed on an apple. He didn’t know if it was because Yang Chengchuan brought up their relationship from more than ten years ago, but the air between Tang Xiaonian and Yang Chengchuan suddenly heated up, and there was some flirting in the conversation. After a while, Tang Xiaonian poked his head out from the kitchen, told Tang Junhe to go to bed early, and stretched out his hand to close the kitchen door.
Hearing the faint chatter and laughter coming from the kitchen, Tang Junhe rolled his eyes, ate the apple in his hand in two bites, and threw the core into the trash can. He got up from the sofa and walked to his room, quickly took out something from it, and then locked the door. He raised his body and glanced at the frosted glass door of the kitchen, where Yang Chengchuan's back was indistinctly revealed. He looked at the kitchen, walked quickly to Yang Xuan's room, stretched out his hand and turned the doorknob - the door was unlocked. He opened it and walked in.
When Yang Xuan came back from the shower, he opened the door and saw Tang Junhe sitting upright by his bed. Now, it was Yang Xuan's turn to be stunned: "What—"
As soon as he spoke, Tang Junhe hurriedly stretched out his index finger to his lips, and made a gesture for Yang Xuan to keep quiet.
Yang Xuan subconsciously raised his eyebrows, then smiled, walked over and sat down beside the bed. He lowered his voice and asked, "When did you come in?"
"Just now." Tang Junhe took off his shoes, crawled over to Yang Xuan from the bed, knelt down beside him, and looked at him without blinking.
Yang Xuan glanced at him: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Tang Junhe's eyes were full of burning expectation: "Ge, you came back for me, right?"
"What do you think?"
"I think you did." Tang Junhe looked at him and said.
Yang Xuan raised his eyes to look at him. He felt that his younger brother seemed to be a little different from before, especially when looking at people. He used to like to look at people from the bottom up, his eyes straightforward and naked, but now he lifted his chin slightly, his straight gaze somewhat covered by his slightly drooping eyelids. It gave out an inexplicably seductive look.
Although he knew nothing about Tang Junhe's recent behavior, Yang Xuan still noticed this very special change. He stretched out his hand and pulled Tang Junhe's chin, studied him, and asked in a low voice in an interrogating tone: "Where have you been recently?"
Tang Junhe thought about his recent whereabouts sensitively. He hadn’t realized that his gaze had changed, and he thought his plan had been exposed. A trace of anxiety flashed in his eyes, and he tried to make a calm expression and said: "Right at home…”
When he panicked, he concealed that seductive expression. Yang Xuan was a little dazed, and thought for a moment that he had imagined things.
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