Chapter 86 - Shattered White Moonlight
In this early morning, Zheng BuLu sat on the living room couch of the Lin family home. Lin Qian and Zheng PingQing sat opposite of him, while Lin YaZhi was seated on his right.
Lin YaZhi yawned as he rubbed his eyes and said: “Old Zheng, hurry and make a decision, ah. I still want to go back to sleep.”
Zheng BuLu had two huge eye bags on his face. He was obviously tired, and he looked at Lin YaZhi with a bitter expression.
After the phone call he had with Lin YaZhi, Zheng BuLu rushed back to Rong City overnight and knocked on the Lin family’s door early this morning.
However, he was the only one who spent all last night worrying. The three people in front of him didn’t look the least bit sleep deprived. In fact, when Lin YaZhi opened the door for him, Lin YaZhi looked annoyed! If he wasn’t so insistent, Zheng BuLu had no doubt that Lin YaZhi would’ve simply gone back to sleep.
Zheng BuLu was originally very worried, upset, and angry. He spent the whole night thinking of all the ways he could teach the two children a good lesson. Zheng BuLu even thought of initiating a preemptive strike, to jolt them back to reality first, then slowly guiding them patiently and systematically back to the right path.
And he really did start to do this. As soon as Zheng BuLu saw Lin Qian and Zheng PingQing, he scolded them, and scolded them, and scolded them. But he didn’t get a single change of expression from the two. In fact, they asked him to wait so that they could go back and brush their teeth and wash their faces first. It was only after they were clean and tidy that they invited Zheng BuLu to sit down.
Zheng BuLu let his temper out for half a day, but it was akin to hitting cotton with a hammer. There wasn’t even the slightest echo that could be heard. It made the present situation quite awkward.
Zheng BuLu didn’t know if he just imagined things, but Lin YaZhi looked like he was watching a funny show.
His temper was explosive, but in the end, it had minimal effect. Zheng BuLu found the situation baffling, so he turned to his son for clarification. But when he saw Zheng PingQing, Zheng BuLu got frightened.
He had been so angry that he didn’t notice until now, but Zheng BuLu found that Zheng PingQing had several bruises on his arms.
Zheng BuLu became so nervous that he forgot his anger. He quickly asked: “PingQing, why are you covered in bruises, ah? Who did you fight with?”
Lin YaZhi coughed to one side, and uncomfortably answered: “It was me.”
Zheng BuLu looked at him, obviously unwilling to believe this. “Brother Lin, don’t try to help him lie! Others may not know, but I know you well, ah. How can I believe that you would hit a child!”
Lin Qian: “….”
Zheng PingQing: “….”
For a moment, the trio seriously pondered how Zheng BuLu could develop such a fantastical impression of Lin YaZhi.
Lin YaZhi also became a little embarra.s.sed. After having a night to think about things, he regretted treating Zheng PingQing so harshly. After some hesitation, he said: “I found out about their relationship yesterday and acted impulsively. At the heat of the moment, I…”
Zheng BuLu became even more baffled. “Brother Lin, you really can’t lie well, ah. If you really did hit him because of their relationship, then why didn’t Ah Qian get hurt? You couldn’t have just hit PingQing, right?”
Lin Qian: “…..”
Zheng PingQing: “….”
Lin YaZhi’s eyes strayed to the right, then to the left. Unable to look directly at Zheng BuLu, he finally replied: “…I didn’t think about it. I started hitting Xiao Zheng, then suddenly realized their relationship wasn’t that big of a deal…”
Lin YaZhi’s tone was stiff and sounded very unreliable.
Sure enough, Zheng BuLu was at a loss. There was something wrong with Lin YaZhi’s words, but in the end, he couldn’t pick out any flaws. So Zheng BuLu could only bitterly turn back towards his son. After confirming that Zheng PingQing’s injuries were only skin-deep, he calmed down and said: “Let’s get back to talking about you two.”
He looked at Zheng PingQing, then at Lin Qian. With pity in his eyes, he asked: “Where did you good children learn such messy things?”
“Dad, h.o.m.os.e.xuality is innate. It’s something you’re born with, not learned.” Zheng PingQing lightly explained.
“Nonsense.” Zheng BuLu patted the coffee table in front of him. “When you were a child, you said you were going to get ten wives when you’re older! How can you be born gay all of a sudden?”
Lin Qian looked at Zheng PingQing in silence.
Zheng PingQing crazily waved his hands, his voice panicked as he said: “Dad, you’ve got it wrong! I didn’t say such things, ah. I’m a pure, unsullied gay person!”
Zheng BuLu: “….”
Zheng BuLu felt his chest heave ever so slightly. He turned his gaze to Lin Qian and questioned: “Ah Qian, truthfully, PingQing had never had such inclinations before he met you. Be honest- did you bring him into that world…”
Zheng BuLu didn’t manage to finish his sentence before Lin YaZhi jumped up. He had been quiet all this time, but now, he angrily said: “What are you implying? Are you suspecting Ah Qian for this? Are you looking for a fight?!”
Zheng BuLu:” ….”
Zheng BuLu turned his doubtful eyes towards Lin YaZhi, shocked at his response.
Although Zheng BuLu found their phone call last night to be strange, he thought it was just because Lin YaZhi was in a bad mood from their children’s affairs. In his mind, Lin YaZhi was still a polite and gentle high school teacher.
Even when Lin YaZhi said that he beat Zheng PingQing up, Zheng BuLu’s first reaction was not to believe this statement.
However, right now, the man standing in front of him was fierce, rude, and ready to get physical with him.
Zheng BuLu finally realized that Lin YaZhi wasn’t helping Zheng PingQing lie, but really did beat him up…
At this moment, Zheng BuLu felt like the image he had of his friend was a white moonlight in his heart that had shattered.
For a while, he didn’t know if he should feel heartache for his son, or for his supposedly fake friendship.
Zheng BuLu looked at Lin YaZhi with a complicated expression on his face. His voice low, he said: “I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted to clarify the situation.”
Lin YaZhi pressed his knuckles, then reluctantly sat back down. He coldly said: “What’s there to clarify? They’re teenagers, ah. Isn’t it normal for them to fall in love?”
Zheng BuLu: “….”
Even Lin Qian and Zheng PingQing couldn’t help but secretly glance at Lin YaZhi from the corners of their eyes. They were shocked. Lin YaZhi’s att.i.tude today was remarkably different from his att.i.tude yesterday.
The couple didn’t expect that after a single night, Lin YaZhi would not only accept their relationship but also try to enlighten Zheng BuLu.
If it wasn’t for Zheng BuLu’s presence, Lin Qian would’ve given his father a brocade flag.
Lin YaZhi’s generation was quite conservative, so accepting their relationship showed his strong adaptive and receptive abilities.
However, Lin Qian was simply overestimating him. At this time, Lin YaZhi was only able to pretend in front of Zheng BuLu because the people he cared about already made it clear where they stood in the situation. In the end, Lin Qian hadn’t given him the opportunity to choose.
As for Zheng BuLu, Lin YaZhi’s intention wasn’t really to convince him, but to instead make himself feel better.
Lin YaZhi’s posturing was enough. For a while, Zheng BuLu really thought that he was unreasonable.
Zheng BuLu felt miserable. After a while, he tried to continue insisting: “I just wanted to know the cause and effect. Perhaps it’s worth discussing…”
“There’s no cause or effect.” Lin YaZhi interrupted. “How can there be a cause and effect in love?”
Zheng BuLu: “…” He just couldn’t understand. How can Lin YaZhi be so calm?
Was he really just thinking too conservatively?
However, Zheng BuLu was simply overestimating him. Lin YaZhi was saying such things entirely due to his own selfishness.
When Lin Qian came out of the closet, he kept saying that he was the one who pursued Zheng PingQing first. Since there was no one else there at the time, Lin YaZhi could still stubbornly put all the blame on Zheng PingQing. But if Zheng BuLu investigated, Lin Qian will certainly become somewhat responsible…
No. He will never allow his baby cabbage to be condemned by the father pig.
Even if it was the cabbage that took the initiative, it’s still the pig’s fault!
No one is allowed to hold his cabbage accountable!
The others didn’t know Lin YaZhi’s inner thoughts and only thought that he had a revelation overnight.
Even Zheng PingQing, who was beaten up by him, couldn’t help but praise: “Uncle Lin, you’re really open-minded, ah. Lin Qian is fortunate to have a father like you.”
Lin Qian smiled and added: “Dad is so nice.”
After getting praised by his son, Lin Yazhi’s mood lifted. He raised his chin and forcefully said: “It’s nothing. A parent’s greatest desire is for their children to be happy. Gay or not, as long as you’re happy, Dad will definitely support you.”
Zheng PingQing enviously said: “That’s the kind of father I want, ah…”
Zheng BuLu: “!!!!”
Zheng BuLu suddenly felt a sense of crisis in his heart. He felt like he would lose his son right this moment if he didn’t say something.
But he really couldn’t accept the fact that his son became gay seemingly overnight.
Zheng BuLu rubbed his temples for a long time, then finally came up with a solution.
He can find allies.
Zheng BuLu coughed and said: “It’s great that Brother Lin can calmly accept this, but frankly, this isn’t a small thing. There are few parents who can easily accept it like you do…”
“Dad, we don’t need other parents to accept it.” Zheng PingQing said.
His words. .h.i.t Zheng BuLu’s heart. Zheng BuLu restrained his emotions and tried to smile as he replied: “But what about your mother? Don’t you care about your mother’s feelings?”
At his question, Lin YaZhi couldn’t help but laugh out loud in great pleasure.
Lin YaZhi now found Zheng BuLu quite pleasing to the eye because now he was able to definitely confirm: Zheng BuLu and Chen ShiYi really had nothing in common with each other, nor do they talk privately.
Zheng BuLu looked at him in confusion. “Why are you laughing, Brother Lin?”
Lin YaZhi relaxed and said in a casual, but boastful way: “Oh, I forgot to mention it. ShiYi also knows about their relationship, and she thinks the same way as I do.”
Zheng BuLu: “….”
Lin YaZhi was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to capture the essence of his words, so he kindly helped Zheng BuLu and said: “ShiYi and I think alike.”
The room fell into a long and awkward silence.
After who knows how long, Zheng BuLu stood up and said: “Let’s finish here for today. I’ll go back first and think about this again. We can talk again once everyone can think more clearly.”
Lin YaZhi happily stood up and replied: “I’ll walk you down.”
Zheng BuLu looked at Lin YaZhi’s proud smile and felt complicated.
In one short day, Zheng BuLu not only found out that his son was gay but also uncovered the true personality of his new friend.
He felt that compared to his son’s secret, Lin YaZhi’s sudden change was more difficult to swallow.
What white moonlight, this was false, false.
For the richest man in the city, sure enough, only plastic friendships between phony middle-aged men were possible.
Father pig: smoking.jpg
I found this funny, but also very sad. The one person in this situation that is closest to the t.i.tle ‘parent’ was Zheng BuLu, and he was. .h.i.t hard in this chapter. (In my personal opinion, Chen ShiYi and Lin YaZhi aren’t very good parents. They certainly try, but…if Lin Qian and Zheng PingQing weren’t adults…)
It’s extremely hilarious that Lin YaZhi is his ‘white moonlight,’ but it’s also sad that the new friend he treasured wasn’t a genuine friend at all.
Honestly, Lin YaZhi was somewhat sc.u.mmy in this chapter.
Also, Lin YaZhi and Chen ShiYi got the ‘we’ll wait for you to accept us, even if it takes decades’ speech, but Zheng BuLu didn’t, ah. He deserves the same consideration, ah!