Jian Qiaoxin had a guilty conscience, but this didn't stop him from being hard-headed: "I'm afraid to disturb you."
"Really?" Yan Gan's voice was low, "I thought you were having too much fun, and you have completely forgotten my existence, right?"
Jian Qiaoxin sneered: "How can this be..."
The two of them chatted, and Xiao Jingyi consciously left the house. After all, it seemed that pink bubbles were beginning to appear in the house, and it was necessary to leave a little space for the young people who are in love.
Yan Gan leaned against the window and rubbed his eyebrows: "Did you throw up today, did the little guy mean to you?"
"I didn't throw up much." Jian Qiaoxin touched his belly unconsciously, but suddenly exclaimed.
Yan Gan was taken aback: "What's the matter?"
"He... he moved, he was kicking me."
"..."
Mr. Yan's voice was a little puzzled: "Really?"
Jian Qiaoxin smiled: "Really, you mentioned him just now and he moved."
Yan Gan's voice also contained a low laugh. He relaxed his tight body just momentarily, and cursed softly: "This little bastard."
Both of them became quiet for a while.
After some time.
Jian Qiaoxin said: "Mr. Yan, you have to pay attention to your body."
Yan Gan raised his eyebrows: "Who complained to you again?"
"No one." Jian Qiaoxin laughed, and it was necessary to avenge the poor Secretary Li: "It's really not Secretary Li."
"..."
Yan Gan said very meaningfully: "He is having too much free time."
Jian Qiaoxin was lying on the sofa and chuckled helplessly. He muttered: "Then who made you don't take care of your body..."
Yan Gan: "I think you are getting bolder, and even dare to take control of my affairs."
"I care about you, not controlling you." Jian Qiaoxin felt a little overwhelmed after thinking about it. His voice was unconsciously lighter: "Or...you can take that I didn't say anything, yeah?"
Yan Gan raised his eyebrows: "Too late."
"..."
You are unreasonable
He lay down on the sofa and chatted with Yan Gan. They talked for a long time. He didn't realize the time until he yawned and hung up the phone. Jian Qiaoxin looked at the half-hour call in a daze.
When he was in college, he also watched his roommate talking on the phone with a lover all day long.
At that time, he felt quite speechless and completely helpless with his roommate. It was obvious that they talk with each other every day, so why could they talk for so long and not want to hang up? Didn't his roommate feel annoyed? Didn't he feel tired?
But when he put on his roommate's shoes, he found it very interesting; he became quite talkative and wanted to tell the man about things that he found interesting and fun. When he saw an old and interesting tree today, he even wanted to take pictures to share it with Yan Gan. Those things that seemed boring in the past would become very meaningful if he were to tell Yan Gan.
My god
Jian Qiaoxin buried his face in annoyance, this is not good.
The next day
As soon as the light came up, there was a loud sound of firecrackers from far and near. When his next door neighbor also started to lit up the firecrackers, Jian Qiaoxin was forced to get out of bed as well.
After Jian Qiaoxin finished washing up, he heard a knock at the door.
"Hello? Is anyone home?"
In the courtyard, Xiao Jingyi happened to be there. He glanced at Jian Qiaoxin. Jian Qiaoxin nodded hesitantly, and Xiao Jingyi went to open the door, and a few villagers in the village were standing outside.
They were very enthusiastic with a basket in their hands, and walked into the house while chatting happily.
Jian Qiaoxin quickly came out.
The middle-aged man with dark skin and probably in his fifties was leading the group. He smiled and said, "Xiao Xin, I haven't seen you for many years, you've grown up. Uncle even carried you when you were a baby!"
Jian Qiaoxin smiled awkwardly: "Uncle, you are as handsome as you were when you were young."
"Hahaha" The uncle put things on the table: "As expected of a big star, he really knows how to talk."
Jian Qiaoxin stopped him from putting gifts on the table: "Having you come to visit me is an honor, why do you need to bring stuff over?"
The uncle also took his wife along, and the woman interrupted: "It's okay, it's the New Year's Day, the new year's goods, they aren't expensive, just accept them."
Jian Qiaoxin glanced at the things on the table. It was indeed not very expensive things, such as fruit, meat, and even tobacco and alcohol, but there were hundreds of them. He shook his head: "Please just leave the fruits, and take the rest home."
The uncle's face got a bit displeased, but he quickly covered it. He took out a cigarette: "Xiao Xin, you don't come back to the village very often these years, so your relationship with us villagers has faded. I remember that year, your dad raised you by himself, we had exerted a lot of effort."
"..."
Jian Qiaoxin recalled that it was really difficult for his dad to raise him, but he had always been alone, no one except the village chief grandfather helped their family.
He smiled: "Isn't that so?"
"Of course, it is, ah." The woman directly sat down next to Jian Qiaoxin: "At that time, we sent two cabbages over here!"
"..."
Jian Qiaoxin said: "Thank you."
Standing on the side, Xiao Jingyi stopped the uncle's act of lighting a cigarette: "You can't smoke here."
The uncle's movements froze in mid-air, he was a bit unhappy, and looked at Jian Qiaoxin: "Xiao Xin, is this your husband?"
Jian Qiaoxin and Xiao Jingyi looked at each other.
Xiao Jingyi said: "I am Mr. Jian's friend."
When these words were spoken, the faces of the uncle and the woman changed instantly, and their gaze landed on Jian Qiaoxin's belly with a strange look, their eyes got erratic.
Jian Qiaoxin rubbed his eyebrows and lost his patience in dealing with them: "Uncle, I am very grateful for you to come to see me. Now I am a little tired."
"Eh? Xiao Xin, I haven't been sitting for a long time now." The woman glared at her man unwillingly.
The uncle gave a light cough: "Xiao Xin, in fact, we are here this time to discuss something with you. You are now a celebrity, you must be living a good life. Your Brother Yu is going to college in the next two years, can you help with the tuition fee?"
Jian Qiaoxin was taken aback: "Me?"
The woman helped intervene: "Of course. Anyway, it's not that much money, isn't it just hundreds of thousands? You are a big star, you must be rich."
As she said, she touched Jian Qiaoxin's clothes: "Oh, look at the material of your clothes. It's so comfortable. It must have cost a lot of money. I heard that you celebrities' clothes cost hundreds of thousands. Surely you don't mind this little expense, do you?"
"..."
Jian Qiaoxin confessed: "You may have misunderstood, I have no money."
The uncle was surprised: "How is this possible? Xiao Xin, don't fool us just because you don't want to give money?"
The woman also said: "That's right, no matter how poor you are, you can't have a poor education. Xiao Xin, you have a good heart, you have to sympathize and pity our Xiao Yu. He passed the exam in second place, and he will have a bright future after he graduates, maybe he will be able to follow you and work for you. If you refuse to help, Xiao Yu will have to move bricks [1]. Do you have the heart to ruin a child's bright future?"
? ? ?
Jian Qiaoxin was about to laugh at the remarks, he was full of momentum: "Uncle, Aunt, I am very happy that you came to see me during the New Year, and to remember my dad with me. I think of the hard time my family went through in the past, because my dad wanted to push me through college, he did a lot of work by himself, and he didn't beg anyone for money. You two are decent people with hands and feet. I believe you will not do such a spineless thing, right?"
The uncle's face turned gloomy, and he snorted coldly: "Sure enough, a scholar like himself does speak differently. Now he is rich and looks down on us poor people. Let's go, let's go. It's a shame that we used to help your family so much. It's hard to fathom a person's mind nowadays."
The woman was also not happy: "How come this child speaks so badly, and you don't accumulate any good virtue for the child in your belly."
Jian Qiaoxin was getting upset, before he could say any retorts back, Xiao Jingyi spoke, "Are you two done? You can leave if there is nothing else."
The uncle wanted to say something, but when he saw Xiao Jingyi who was not easy to deal with, he swallowed the words in his throat. When they saw that things could not be done, they took everything with them when they left.
Jian Qiaoxin sat motionless on the sofa sulking.
Xiao Jingyi came back and stood beside him: "Now you know why Mr. Yan is not willing to let you come back?"
Jian Qiaoxin was taken aback: "Mr. Yan already knew?"
"He can guess it." Xiao Jingyi went to clean up the table: "Mr. Yan grew up in a complicated environment, and his mind is very delicate. He can surely guess it and let me follow you probably because of this."
Jian Qiaoxin couldn't help being a little embarrassed when he remembered how persistent he was with Yan Gan.
Xiao Jingyi didn't feel anything. He said, "Don't get angry. It's not good for your child. I'll make some breakfast."
"Okay."
This matter was quickly forgotten. Jian Qiaoxin thought it was just something trivial and would soon be forgotten, but facts proved that everything was not as great as he thought.
When he left at noon, Jian Qiaoxin began to feel that the eyes of people walking on the roadside looking at him were not right.
He could hear what those people were saying in their gossip.
"Have you heard? The Ma family's wife said that the baby in Jian Qiaoxin's belly is an illegitimate child, and he is pregnant with a rich man and is being abandoned by him."
"I heard that he's very ungrateful, he has so much money yet he does not want to fund some of it to the ones in need."
"I really didn't expect that someone who looks so glamorous is actually this kind of person. I really have been fooled by him."
"Then who is the person with him? Is it possible..."
Jian Qiaoxin's figure flickered, and Xiao Jingyi beside him supported him: "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay."
Xiao Jingyi said: "These people can be sued for defamation."
"It won't be good for this kind of gossip to get out to the netizens, if it becomes a hot topic, my agent will go crazy." Jian Qiaoxin shook his head and continued walking: "Actually, it's nothing. I've been in the entertainment industry for a long time. I've heard all kinds of unpleasant slanders."
What he is good at is forbearance. A strong mentality is his strongest shield, and it is impossible for him to be affected by this little thing.
The two went to the village chief's house. Jian Qiaoxin wanted to go in and play, and Xiao Jingyi went back by himself.
The village chief was getting angry in the house now: "This Ma Ju has no education and is unemployed, now he even dares to get his hand on Xiao Xin. What a bastard!"
Jian Qiaoxin was surprised, shook his head with a smile, and went in.
The people in the room turned around and saw him. Da Gua hurried over and said, "Brother Xiao Xin!"
Jian Qiaoxin touched his head and met the old man's eyes. He said, "You can't get angry during the Chinese New Year. It's not good for your blood pressure."
After that, he flicked Gua Wazi's head: "Did you say nonsense to Grandpa!"
"I was wronged!" Gua Wazi curled his lips aggrievedly: "It's not me, Grandpa heard them talking while he was on his walk."
Jian Qiaoxin frowned and saw that Da Gua's face seemed to be swollen. He sternly said: "You got into a fight with someone?"
Da Gua's face was a little guilty, he turned his face away and said, "No."
"No?"
Jian Qiaoxin squeezed his face: "Are you still daring to lie to people?"
"Aiyo!" Gua Wazi covered his face and said with no anger: "It's all those people's fault, who let them speak ill of you!"
Jian Qiaoxin laughed, the gloomy cloud in his heart had disappeared somewhat. He poked Da Gua's head: "Why do you care about what they said? Some people can't do anything to you, they can only attack you with words. They believe they can hurt you through words, so the simple way to deal with them is to ignore them. The more you care about them, the more happy they are."
Da Gua seemed to understand but not understand.
The old man was so angry anyway, he said angrily: "You go back today, don't stay here anymore!"
Jian Qiaoxin was taken aback. He knew that the old man wanted to protect him, fearing that he would be harmed by rumors, but what the old man didn't know was that he was already indifferent towards this.
Jian Qiaoxin smiled: "Where do I go back, my only home is here, where do you want me to go back?"
The old man glared at him fiercely.
Jian Qiaoxin simply walked to the side chair and sat down: "If you really want to drive me out, then I have nowhere to go, I can only squat outside."
Da Gua believed that it was true, and clamored: "Grandpa, don't drive my brother away."
The old man glared at Da Gua again.
The room quieted down for a while, and only a few people with different thoughts remained. The sound of firecrackers outside was still ringing. Da Gua's parents came downstairs and took the children upstairs, leaving the old man and Jian Qiaoxin to chat alone.
The old man said in a deep voice, "Call Yan Gan."
Jian Qiaoxin: "Grandpa!"
The old man leaned on a mahogany chair. He was very thin, but his complexion was very energetic. His eyes seemed to be able to pierce through people's hearts: "Don't call me Grandpa, you already want to protect him before marrying him. What is it gonna be in the future? Isn't that you will be bullied by him? What, I haven't said what I'll do to him, you already feel distressed?"
Jian Qiaoxin said helplessly: "You have misunderstood. Actually, Mr. Yan and I are not in that kind of relationship that you think. It was just an accident. Although this child belongs to him, the child will be brought up by him in the future, but we have no love and will not get married."
"You...you!"
The old man looked irritated again, and Jian Qiaoxin hurried over to massage his shoulders to calm the man down: "You have to pay attention to your high blood pressure, it's the New Year, I really don't want anything to happen to you, please calm down."
The old man snorted coldly: "You tell me honestly, do you like that bastard?"
"..."
"No."
Jian Qiaoxin's heart felt empty, and he seemed to say to himself: "I don't like him."
The old man closed his eyes and seemed to be sighing. It was as if he was feeling helpless with everything. After a while, he sighed: "You don't want this old man to be a busybody, I won't be offensive. But you must remember that the Yan family is a noble family, their members are not that easy to mess with. If you really don't like him, then forget it."
Jian Qiaoxin nodded.
The old man said: "Yan Gan is also a responsible man. Although Yan's family is a complicated family, if you really like him, then this child is worth it."
Jian Qiaoxin pinched the shoulders of the old man, and he whispered, "I know."
The Yan family is not worthy, the glory and wealth are not worth it, but Yan Gan is worth it.
He chatted with the old man for a while, and when the old man got sleepy, he helped him back to the room to rest. When he went downstairs, he just met Da Gua's mother Mrs. Zhang, who was sewing something with a needle and thread.
Mrs. Zhang's figure was slender, but she was covered by a peasant cotton jacket. Her long hair was casually tied up by a rubber band, her complexion was gentle, and her eyes were big.
Mrs. Zhang, who was embroidering something, saw Jian Qiaoxin and smiled: "You're here?"
"Yeah."
"Da Gua's grandfather is sleeping?"
"Yeah, he's sleeping."
The two were not familiar with each other at first, but as a woman, she could not win her own enthusiasm, so she pulled Jian Qiaoxin closer and said: "Since you have nothing to do, then help me to take a look at this, do you think this looks good?"
Jian Qiaoxin looked at the cloth in her hand, with a pair of mandarin ducks embroidered on it. It had just taken shape, but it was beautiful and neatly weaved. He said with admiration, "It looks good."
Mrs. Zhang smiled: "That's good, that's good."
Jian Qiaoxin couldn't help being a little curious: "Is it for the children?"
Talking about this, Mrs. Zhang was a little embarrassed, a blush appeared on her face: "No, it's for my husband."
Jian Qiaoxin smiled understandingly.
After a while, Mrs. Zhang used the needle to prick a drop of blood on her fingertip, soaking it into the line, and she said: "I always make one every year, it's been several years."
Jian Qiaoxin watched her movements: "Why use blood?"
"The blood of the fingertips is also called the blood of the heart, and the blood of the heart can prevent disasters for the man you love." Mrs. Zhang's voice was soft and gentle: "I only wish him to be safe in his years."
From time to time, there were several sounds made by the chickens and dogs outside the farmyard, accompanied by the sound of the wind, but the house was inexplicably quiet and warm.
Jian Qiaoxin's heart moved slightly, and he blurted out: "Can I learn from you?"
Mrs. Zhang got stunned for a moment, and said with a smile: "Sure!"
As it happened that he was free, Jian Qiaoxin simply learned this craft with Mrs. Zhang, he wanted to make a handkerchief for Yan Gan, because that man wears suits all year round, a wallet would not be practical. Therefore, the only thing that probably could be used often is a silk handkerchief in the suit pocket.
Mrs. Zhang said: "You pick out a pattern first, it's better to be simple, and it will be easier for you to get started."
Jian Qiaoxin hesitated for a moment, he said: "I'll go with a bamboo pattern."
Although Yan Gan sometimes looked a little bit like a gangster, he was very powerful and domineering in his bones. In fact, rose was more suitable for him. Gorgeous and soft on the outside, but it's covered in thorns, which are very poisonous. But he did not dare to actually embroider a rose for the man.
Mrs. Zhang began to teach him how to embroider, and Jian Qiaoxin followed her guidance for a whole day. Although he was a little frantic at first, surprisingly it came out to be quite good after groping for the skills.
Later, when he was embroidering something, he received a call from his agent.
Nong Bai said: "Have you seen Weibo?"
Jian Qiaoxin stayed in the house to do embroidery for the whole day, and he was taken aback when he heard the words: "Not yet."
"Then hurry up and have a look." Nong Bai said: "Someone posted on Weibo that you had forgotten your origin after you became popular, and you are not even willing to help the village out of poverty when you return home during the New Year."
"..."
Jian Qiaoxin was speechless: "I see."
After he hung up the phone, he opened the Weibo app, and real-time hot searches on Weibo really started to heat up with the search tag #Jian Qiaoxin was accused of being ungrateful#
He opened the most popular Weibo tag, and the comments in it were almost tens of thousands.
The top most like comments were:
-Jian Pan Xia: "The celebrities make so much money in each movie, yet they don't donate it to those in need. They only think about making money every day. Jian Qiaoxin should get out of the entertainment circle."
-I Fight Hard on the Net: "He grew up on the mountain, he should know what hardship the people there have been through. Now that he is rich, he is unwilling to help others. This shows what a bad characteristic he has."
-On Behalf of Justice: "That family is really pitiful. I heard that the child got admitted to Tsinghua University but they don't have enough money to put him through school. Jian Qiaoxin simply ruined a child's future!"
Jian Qiaoxin: "..."
His WeChat had started to ring with messages constantly popping up, all of which were sent by his friends from the filming set or those he was familiar with. He had no choice but to reply one by one.
After pacifying his friends, Jian Qiaoxin felt that it was necessary to deal with this matter.
He was about to make a call. The cell phone showed an incoming call, the caller ID was Yan Gan. He was taken aback and answered: "Mr. Yan?"
"Yeah." Yan Gan's voice was a little hoarse: "Don't tell me that your phone is dead."
Jian Qiaoxin said accordingly: "Yes."
Yan Gan: "Yet you still haven't called me?!"
"..."
Too difficult
Jian Qiaoxin felt quite helpless, and he already knew why the man was calling. He explained the whole story to Yan Gan. At the end, it seemed that he was afraid of being misunderstood by Yan Gan. He said: "I have asked the village chief about my dad. Back then, he didn't owe this uncle any favors. On the contrary, the uncle's family avoided my dad because he saw that my dad had no background and was easy to bully."
Yan Gan said: "I know, I will deal with it."
"Huh?" Jian Qiaoxin pursed his lips. He unconsciously squeezed the handkerchief in his hand, and said: "It's okay, you don't have to get involved, I will find a way to solve it. The company must have been busy these days, you must have a lot to do."
Yan Gan's voice was low: "Jian Qiaoxin."
"Yeah?"
There was a moment of silence over the phone, just when Jian Qiaoxin was getting worried, Yan Gan's voice was full of magnetism, and said solemnly: "I only say this once, you must remember it well."
Jane Qiaoxin's heart jumped up.
"Your dad did not have someone to lean on so he got bullied, but you do."
It was a reassurance, Jian Qiaoxin took a deep breath and said: "But they exposed it on the Internet, and others won't listen to my explanation, and they may know that I am pregnant. If they are going to expose it, things will be difficult to deal with."
"Did you forget what Uncle said just now?" Yan Gan chuckled lightly and said casually: "I will handle it cleanly."
Jian Qiaoxin was a little flustered, he hesitated: "Then you have to be careful, they are not so easy to get along with."
There was a low magnetic laughter on the other end of the phone, and Yan Gan's perverse arrogance seemed to be transmitted over the phone: "Will I be afraid of him?"
"..."
Brother Yan had settled it.
In the end, until the call was hung up, Jian Qiaoxin was still immersed in the conversation just now. It turned out that one day, someone who has no one to rely on like himself could temporarily have a shelter?
Seeing him in a daze, Mrs. Zhang next to him said: "Xiao Xin, what's the matter, have you encountered any difficulties?"
Jian Qiaoxin came back to his senses, he smiled: "No, no."
It was getting late outside, and the embroidery in his hand had slowly begun to take shape; the stitches were poor, and the lines were so messy that he did not want to look at it.
Mrs. Zhang smiled and said, "Mine looked ugly the first time I started it. My man disliked it too."
Jian Qiaoxin was a little panicked, he said: "Really?"
Then, Yan Gan would be very disgusted, after all, that person's clothes were all custom-made, and everything he wore were of excellence. He was afraid that he would be laughed at.
Mrs. Zhang shook her head: "He said he doesn't like it, but he was actually happy in his heart!"
Looking at the things in Jian Qiaoxin's hands, Mrs. Zhang leaned in and reminded: "You can add a little blood from here."
Jian Qiaoxin nodded.
Mrs. Zhang said: "This painstaking effort can protect them from disasters, but if he wears your painstaking effort but cheated on you, then he will be retributed."
Jian Qiaoxin was holding the needle, and with a shake, blood beads really appeared on his fingertip.
Mrs. Zhang originally thought he would soak the blood in the line, but Jian Qiaoxin looked for a tissue to wipe the blood off.
Mrs. Zhang got curious: "Why not use it?"
Obviously he wanted to use it before.
"Because......"
Jian Qiaoxin looked at the handkerchief in his hand. He lowered his head, his fair and delicate face looked very gentle under the light, his eyes were filled with star-spotted smiles, and he sighed: "I don't want to stop him from being with someone better than me."
I don't want you to get your retribution, I want you to have a good life.
Some people are chasing wealth, fame and fortune; some are chasing glory and wealth; some are chasing eternal youth; some are chasing love and hatred; some are chasing wind, and some are chasing rain.
There are many things people want in this world, but I just want you to be well, Yan Gan.
---
Notes:
[1] Move bricks - this idiom means that the person can only do labor work with their hands. In a sense, a very low pay job with no education required.