Those Sweet Times
Chapter 7 Part 2
The main campus of Nanshan University was more than a hundred years
old, some of the older buildings being built in the early twentieth century.
There were many giant trees on campus that now littered the lawn with
yellow leaves in the autumn wind. There were tourists taking pictures of
the scenery.
It was the first time that Xiang Nuan had visited the main campus. They
finished their business with the committee and Waiwai began to give her
a tour of the area, even giving historic facts about some of the landmarks.
They walked to a rock garden with a man made stream running next to the
garden. Xiang Nuan stopped to watch the koi in the stream and tore pieces
off her bread to feed them.
Suddenly she heard someone talking behind the rocks in a very irritated tone,
“It was worth 200,000 and you sold it for only 120,000? How did I get a son
like you? …...Where are you, come out here!”
He practically screeched the last few words, startling Xiang Nuan causing her
to drop the entire slice of bread into the water.
At the same time, in a resort far away from the city, Lin Chuyan was soaking in
the hot spring next to his cell phone on speaker mode.
The cell phone almost shook when Lin Xueyuan shouted at him.
Lin Chuyan wasn’t deterred, his father was so far away, there was nothing he
could do to him. He lazily rested against the wall of the hot spring and said, “Dad,
calm down. That watch was mine to begin with. Did you forget? That was my 18th
birthday gift from Uncle Liu.”
“Hehe and you aren’t ashamed to bring that up with me? If you weren’t my son,
would he give you anything at all! Besides, I have to return the favor when it’s his
kid’s birthday. How can you say that watch is just yours?”
“Dad, don’t get mad. Actually, I didn’t really sell the watch. It’s sitting in the p.a.w.n
shop; it can be bought back within 3 months.”
“Let me translate that for you: I shamelessly p.a.w.ned it for cash. Now if you don’t
want to part with it, you can redeem it…...Right?”
“I’m sorry, dad. I’m just too hungry.” Lin Chuyan was changing his tactics.
Just then an attendant came in the room after knocking to deliver some fruit and
drinks. Lin Chuyan indicated to her to put everything next to the pool.
Most of his body was submerged in the water as flower petals floated across the
surface. Steam blurred the shape of his body and face. It was quite humid inside
the room; his wet bangs, soft and messy, clung to his forehead.
The attendant bent over to put down everything and glanced over at the water. Tsk,
it was too bad that the petals were blocking the view. She couldn’t see anything.
He abruptly raised his head and gestured her to be silent-- --
His bright eyes narrowed, the corners of his mouth lifted up, and his slender index
finger rested just a short distance from her lips…...The attendant truly understood
the meaning “love at the first sight” just then.
How could anybody look so good…...That was all the attendant could think in her head.
Then she blushed and quietly left the room.
Lin Chuyan didn’t realize what was going through the attendant’s mind. All his focus
was on the other end of the cell phone. The temporary hesitation from Lin Xueyuan
told him that his dad was feeling sorry for him now.
But not soon afterwards his dad began to shout at him, “It’s for your own good that
I’ve stopped giving you an allowance. Look at you, you can’t do physical work nor
distinguish rice from wheat. You’ll die from hunger if left on the street. Is it that difficult
for you to find part-time work to earn some money for yourself? Can’t you be a piano
tutor with that level 10 piano certificate? You got full points on the Comprehensive
Science Test at the College Entrance Exam. Every parent would be happy to have
you as their child’s tutor. Look at yourself……”
“It’s too tiring.” Lin Chuyan used only three words to reply to his father’s suggestion.
“Nonsense! When I was in college, I didn’t even have a decent pair of shoes! I slept
only 4 hours a day and took on 3 side jobs. I survived!”
Lin Chuyan thought to himself: I’m different from you, my dad is richer than your dad.
Of course he couldn’t speak his mind or his father would explode.
Lin Chuyan: “Dad, I really admire you. No wonder mom fell in love with you out of all
the people that were chasing after her.”
Despite the fact that Lin Xueyuan sometimes had the urge to throw this son into the
nearest trash can…...he had to admit that this son was quite skilled at sweet talking,
softening you up. Even though he knew that his son had ulterior motives, he would
still fall for it.
A person like this, in ancient times, would be one of those treacherous court officials
who bully their subordinates and deceive their superiors.
What a terrible person.
Lin Xueyuan grunted and said, “Don’t play your tricks with me. I have my ways to take
care of you!”
……
Xiang Nuan wasn’t eavesdropping on purpose. She really wanted to see the koi
finishing eating the bread so she stayed a little longer. Waiwai stood next to her and
perked up his eyes to listen.
When the koi finished all the bread, they left and saw the father was still lecturing
his son over there.
Lin Xueyuan turned to cast a look at them while talking on the phone.
Xiang Nuan was startled by his stern look and stuttered, “So- so- sorry, we are just
pa.s.sing by……”
Lin Xueyuan didn’t expect that he would have scared the pa.s.sing students. He felt
sorry for the girl, covered the phone with hand, and also apologized to her. “Sorry,
my son……” He shook his phone while talking. “He’s quite shameless.”
Xiang Nuan felt so awkward, what kind of son would make his father openly
complain to strangers.
Waiwai acted as if he fully understood. He walked over to pat Lin Xueyuan’s shoulder.
“Big brother, take it easy.”
Lin Xueyuan lowered his eyes to check the hand on his shoulder, then leered at
Waiwai with a harsh voice, “Call me uncle.”
Waiwai and Xiang Nuan hurriedly left him alone.
Lin Xueyuan continued to shout at his phone, “Don’t take everything for granted just
because you have a rich family. After I die, I’ll donate all my a.s.sets to charity and leave
you with nothing!”
A sincere voice came from the other end of the phone, “Dad, I hope you will live forever.”