Wild Creatures

Chapter 27

Circumstances and temperament go a long way in making decisions and no two situations are identical; who knew what the Jiangs were going through, what fuelled their response?

But even so, A-Yuan would still have been younger than six…a small child.

The Jiangs…Lan Zhan knew of them, but didn't actually know them. Right now, they are financially quite well off. So it might not have been a wealth issue, the affordability of looking after an extra mouth to feed…so then, what?

"Madam Yu never told me the exact reason. She mostly went on about how I didn't know anything about bringing up a child and I was going to regret my decision. I think I surprised her…by going ahead anyway. Lan Zhan…if you saw A-Yuan when he was three….? Oh my God! My little Radish was so cute!!! There's no way anyone could resist him! His cheeks were so squishy and he was just adorable." Wei Ying lets out a quiet squeal.

Lan Zhan smiles into the darkness of the room.

Just how much Wei Ying loves his son is apparent all over his face, in his voice.

"Wei Ying is an excellent father." Lan Zhan tells him, proudly. "And A-Yuan is flourishing. He's a happy child."

"You really think so?" Wei Ying asks.

Uncertainty has crept into his voice.

"Mn. Lans do not lie. And I see it every day."

"A-Yuan wasn't always like that." Wei Ying says softly. "His parents died when he was two…and then, someone left him on the bus, the one I happened to be on. He spent about a year between A-Qing and A-Ning, Wen PoPo, myself and some other relatives. But A-Ning and A-Qing were both studying and they couldn't provide a stable home environment, PoPo said she wanted to adopt, and she would have if she was twenty years younger…and then the relatives who were helping them out, they moved back to Qishan. A-Yuan would've gone into the system and there was no guarantee he would be okay…or even if he would be allowed to see his blood family ever again."

"So Wei Ying stepped up. It cannot have been easy…" Lan Zhan murmured. He was trying to recall what he was doing three years ago.

"For the first year, A-Yuan didn't speak."

A noise of distress leaves Lan Zhan at the thought of the bright child, now so bubbly and bright, being so traumatised that he didn't want to talk.

"What happened?" The scent of vanilla and lotus flowers surrounds him, calming his agitation.

"We kind of developed our own sign language. It became a fun game because obviously, he had needs, and I was tearing my hair out - privately, of course - because I didn't know what to do. He didn't even try to play with anything, or engage in any way. I took him to a child psychologist who told me that he was still terrified of change, and I shouldn't lose hope…that everything was going to be okay. Once A-Yuan figured out that he was safe and his situation was going to be stable, he would start developing on his own…with help." Wei Ying smiles, his lips curving against Lan Zhan’s cool skin.

"Did it work?" Lan Zhan was marvelling at how wonderful a parent Wei Ying had become.

"It took a lot of patience. Every day when I woke him up, I would give him positive affirmations. I told him how much I loved him, how important he was to me. And I'd ask him if he was okay to give me a hug. In the beginning, I would hug him first. And then…one day, I thought he was still asleep, so I tried to get my finances sorted. But the bills were piling up and I really needed a second job…that day was particularly hard. I started crying…and the next thing I knew, A-Yuan was hugging me! All by himself!! I tell you, Lan Zhan…I couldn't believe it, at first. When his soft little arms came around my neck, those tears turned into good ones. I knew he trusted me, then. Everything changed after that."