Extra V: Chapter 136 – Work

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Xu Jian had always told Qin Chen that his uncle, Liu Dingxiang, sold tea leaves and casually grew some fruit and flowers on the side. So, in Qin Chen’s mind, Uncle Liu Dingxiang was a down-to-earth tea farmer—one with a refined taste for life

That was until Xu Jian took him home to meet his uncle. While driving, Xu Jian suddenly rolled down the car window, pointed outside, and said, “Brother Chen, look! That’s my uncle’s tea plantation!”

Qin Chen glanced in the direction Xu Jian was pointing and saw two massive tea-covered mountains.

Qin Chen: “?”

It wasn’t until they were almost at the house that Qin Chen finally realized—his future uncle wasn’t just a simple tea farmer. He was a well-known local tea merchant who had more tea farmers under him than Leyu had artists.

As for the so-called “growing fruit on the side,” it turned out to be an entire orchard at the foot of the mountain. The grapes, strawberries, and other fruits they had received before all came from there.

Qin Chen, upon learning the truth: “…”

Utterly oblivious to Qin Chen’s current state of mind, Xu Jian continued excitedly, “It’s just that we came back at the wrong time. The tea leaves were just harvested a few days ago, so the new shoots haven’t grown yet. Otherwise, I could’ve taken you to experience tea picking. But it’s the perfect season for grapes and watermelons now—we can go pick some grapes…”

Xu Jian went on enthusiastically about all the things they could do once they arrived, while Qin Chen was only worried about one thing—whether he’d be kicked out by Xu Jian’s uncle.

He and Xu Jian had been together for quite some time now. Ever since they made their relationship public, Uncle Liu Dingxiang’s stance had remained unclear. Though he frequently sent them fruits and local specialties, he had never openly expressed his approval.

Even during occasional video calls with Xu Jian, Liu Dangxiang never brought up Qin Chen at all. So Qin Chen suspected that the man still wasn’t too pleased with him.

After being together for so long, Qin Chen was already feeling anxious about meeting the parents, but after listening to Xu Jian talk in detail about Liu Dingxiang throughout the trip, he became even more nervous.

Noticing Qin Chen’s unease, Xu Jian paused, patted his shoulder, and reassured him, “Brother Chen, don’t worry. My uncle and the others are really nice; they definitely won’t make things difficult for you.”

After saying that, he hesitated for a moment before laughing, “Look at you, you’re more nervous than I was when I met your parents.”

Last year during the Lunar New Year, Qin Chen had taken Xu Jian, who didn’t have time off, to the Qin family’s old residence for the New Year’s Eve dinner. That had officially counted as bringing him home to meet his parents.

Now hearing Xu Jian’s words, Qin Chen smirked and glanced at him.

“You weren’t nervous? Then who was the one who got so tense in front of my parents that they started walking out of sync?”

Since Qin Chen’s parents had long known about their relationship, they had been incredibly warm when welcoming Xu Jian, calling him “Xiao Jian” every other sentence—more affectionately than they called their own son. The enthusiasm had left Xu Jian completely overwhelmed, and he’d been so nervous walking from the foyer to the living room that he ended up tripping over his own steps.

Qin Chen had laughed at him about it for ages afterward, which pissed Xu Jian off so much that he refused to let him on the bed that night. The next morning, when Qin Chen shamelessly clung to him, Xu Jian suddenly transformed—poof—into a cat.

He furiously meowed at Qin Chen, who was left holding only a few strands of cat fur, then stomped off on his little short legs to the cat bed he had ignored for ages.

Qin Chen immediately went to coax his puffed-up boyfriend, but as soon as Xu Jian saw him coming, he nimbly leaped onto the highest perch of the cat climbing frame. Then, lifting a paw, he pointed at the curtains.

“Meow!”

Xu Jian: Don’t move! If you come any closer, I’m climbing the curtains!

Seeing his overly dramatic, overweight boyfriend threatening to go airborne, Qin Chen’s heart nearly stopped. He quickly whispered in a coaxing tone, “Little ancestor, come down first. Be careful, you might fall.”

Xu Milk was on a diet every day, but the results weren’t very noticeable. At one point, the cat stood on the scale, meowing about having hit a plateau, saying it was hard to lose weight.

Qin Chen stared in silence at his round, pudgy body.

The little cat climbing frame was enduring a weight it was never meant to bear at this age.

Qin Chen raised a hand to guard Xu Jian’s back and coaxed, “Be good, come down first.”

Xu Jian: “Meow—”

No!

Qin Chen raised his hand in a solemn vow. “Alright, alright, I promise—I won’t bring up yesterday’s incident again.”

Xu Jian’s tail, which had been swaying mid-air, paused. “Meow?”

Really?

Qin Chen nodded seriously. “Truer than pearls.”

Because he trusted Qin Chen, Xu Jian finally climbed down. But the moment he turned around, he discovered that, at some point, Qin Chen had posted on Weibo:

I pissed off this little ancestor, and now he’s sulking on the cat climbing frame, refusing to come down. What do to do? Urgent, waiting online.

Xu Jian took a look. Attached was a picture of himself, curled up on the cat tree like a round little tangyuan.

Xu Jian: “…”

Just as he was coaxed, he turned his head and let out a furious string of meows at Qin Chen: “Meow meow meow!!”

I’m mad again!

He hopped off the bed and stomped off toward the cat bed, leaving only an angry, puffed-up butt facing Qin Chen.

In the end, Qin Chen resorted to a sneaky trick—he turned off the air conditioning in the bedroom. In the dead of winter, even Xu Jian’s thick fur couldn’t withstand the magic attack of the cold. The moment Qin Chen dozed off, Xu Jian stealthily climbed onto the bed. Only after confirming that Qin Chen was deeply asleep did he carefully slip under the covers.

However, just as Xu Jian burrowed under the covers and was about to snuggle up to his personal human heater, Qin Chen who was supposedly asleep suddenly opened his eyes and pulled him into an embrace.

Xu Jian was so startled that he raised his voice and screamed. It wasn’t until he met Qin Chen’s amused gaze that he realized what had happened.

Realizing that Qin Chen had been pretending to sleep, Xu Jian was both annoyed and amused. With a sudden poof, he shifted back into human form and glared at him.

“You’re a grown man, and you’re still playing pretend? How childish!”

Seeing Xu Jian return to his factory settings after shifting back, Qin Chen—ever the man of action—felt that words were unnecessary. A lovers’ quarrel was best settled in bed, after all. Without giving Xu Jian a chance to react, he yanked the blanket up and flipped over, pinning him beneath him—

—And Xu Jian was pressed down by Qin Shen to the point where he was close to meowing. He couldn’t care less about getting angry. In the end, the whole matter was resolved through a very pleasant exchange in bed.

And now, hearing Qin Chen bring up the past again, Xu Jian’s face flushed red. “You said you wouldn’t mention that again?”

His first time meeting the parents, and he had walked out of sync? Xu Jian had never been more embarrassed in his life. Thank goodness Qin Chen’s parents hadn’t minded and had even helped smooth things over.

When he heard this, Qin Chen made a zipping motion over his lips, silently indicating—Fine, fine, I won’t say another word about it.

Xu Jian steered the conversation back on track. “I passed the test just fine back then, so you’ll be fine too. Have some confidence in yourself!”

Qin Chen turned to look at him.

“How is that the same? In my parents’ eyes, I was the one stealing someone else’s son. But in your uncle’s eyes, it’s his precious nephew who got abducted.”

Xu Jian blinked at him. “What kind of logic is that?”

Qin Chen replied matter-of-factly, “I’m the pig that’s rooting up the cabbage, and you’re the fresh, tender cabbage.”

Xu Jian: “…”

That analogy was something else.

No matter how nervous he was, they had already arrived at the doorstep. There was no turning back now—he could only keep moving forward.

Liu Dingxiang’s house was a self-built villa, not far from the tea mountains and orchard. As they slowly approached the house, Qin Chen and Xu Jian saw four people standing by the gate, looking in their direction.

Xu Jian had sharp eyesight and immediately recognized his aunt^[1]Mother side, his biao jie^[2]Older female cousin from mother side, and his biao di^[3]Younger male cousin from mother side. But then, his brows furrowed slightly.

“Who’s that next to my biao jie? I don’t recognize him.”

Qin Chen slowed the car and glanced at him. “You’re asking me?”

Xu Jian reacted. “…Forget I said anything.”

After getting out of the car, they retrieved the gifts they had prepared for Liu Dingxiang’s family from the trunk. Exchanging a brief glance with Liu Nuan, Xu Jian smiled at the older woman and greeted her, “Auntie.” Then, he nudged Qin Chen with his elbow.

Qin Chen followed suit. “Auntie.”

Hearing Qin Chen address her that way, his aunt was momentarily stunned before she broke into a smile. Looking at the large bags in their hands, she clicked her tongue in mild reproach.

“You two kids, really. Coming back and still bringing so many gifts. Are you just burning money for fun?”

Qin Chen maintained a polite smile. “It’s my first time visiting. It’s only proper.”

After some quick introductions, they finally learned that the man beside Liu Nuan was her boyfriend, who had just arrived yesterday.

Liu Nuan mouthed at Xu Jian: I can only help you up to here.

For Xu Jian and Qin Chen’s sake, she had even brought her own boyfriend back home to help share her father’s firepower.

It can be said to be loyalty.

Her younger brother was still in high school. Upon seeing Qin Chen, he stared unblinkingly before calling out, ‘big brother’ Then, with wide, hopeful eyes, he asked if he chould ask for an autograph.

Qin Chen nodded readily. “Of course.”

After everyone entered the house, Xu Jian craned his neck to look around before asking his aunt, “Auntie, where’s my uncle? I haven’t seen him.”

Liu Nuan, who had just brought over a plate of fruit for them, answered in her mother’s place.

“Dad went to weed the fields. He said that when you guys arrive, you can head to the tea mountain to find him.”

Hearing this, Xu Jian and Qin Chen exchanged a glance—Tea mountain?

Xu Jian was familiar with the area, so he declined Liu Nuan’s offer to guide them. He and Qin Chen set off together to find Liu Dingxiang, who was busy weeding the tea fields.

On their way, they passed by the orchard. Xu Jian casually plucked a bunch of grapes and peeled off the protective bag covering them. Holding the grapes by their stem, he offered them to Qin Chen.

“My uncle’s grapes are really sweet. Try one, Brother Chen.”

Qin Chen took them but didn’t eat them right away. “Go back and wash them first.”

Xu Jian, completely unfazed, plucked a grape, peeled it, and held it up to Qin Chen’s lips. “Try it. My uncle’s orchard grows a lot of different fruits, all for home consumption. He doesn’t use pesticides or ripening agents, so they may not be as big as store-bought ones, but they’re organic and super sweet!”

With Xu Jian personally feeding him, how could he refuse? Qin Chen lowered his head and took a bite. His eyes narrowed slightly in approval.

It was really sweet.

Xu Jian’s eyes curved with delight. “Sweet, right?”

Qin Chen: “Not bad.”

The two continued peeling and eating as they walked, finishing the bunch just as they arrived at the tea mountain.

Earlier, from the car, the scale hadn’t been as apparent. But now that they were here, Qin Chen finally realized just how vast the plantation was. The tea fields stretched far into the horizon, endless and lush.

Standing at the edge of the path, Qin Chen plucked a tea leaf and sniffed it. “Smells good.”

Then, glancing at Xu Jian, he asked, “Where’s uncle?”

Xu Jian looked around, then cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Uncle—”

Qin Chen, startled by the sudden yell, glanced at him.

“Why are you shouting so loud? You’ll hurt your throat.”

Xu Jian replied matter-of-factly, “Uncle never carries his phone when he’s working. Calling him won’t do any good.”

As if to confirm his words, a man with a white towel draped around his neck emerged from about ten rows of tea trees away. He raised a hand and waved toward Xu Jian.

“Over here.”

The man looked to be in his 40s, wearing a straw hat and holding a hoe; he was the very image of a farmer.

Seeing Liu Dingxiang, Xu Jian’s face lit up with joy. He grabbed Qin Chen’s wrist and was about to walk over, but Liu Dingxiang stopped them.

“Wait a minute. There’s a hoe under the tree next to you. Bring it along.”

Qin Chen turned his head and indeed spotted a hoe resting at the base of a nearby tree.

It was his first time handling a farm tool, so he found it a bit novel. He picked it up and weighed it in his hands—it was heavier than he expected.

As they approached Liu Dingxiang, both he and Xu Jian greeted him in unison, “Hello, Uncle.”

Liu Dingxiang wiped the sweat off his face with the towel and fixed his gaze on Qin Chen for a few seconds, scrutinizing him for several seconds without responding.

Qin Chen, composed as ever, met his gaze head-on.

One second, two seconds…

Just as Xu Jian started feeling the atmosphere grow awkward and was about to say something to ease the tension, Liu Dingxiang suddenly pointed to a row of tea plants beside them and asked Qin Chen, “Do you know how to weed?”

Hearing Liu Dingxiang’s words, Xu Jian froze. “Huh?”

Weeding? Brother Chen?

Compared to the wide-eyed, stunned Xu Jian, Qin Chen remained much calmer. He lowered his gaze to the hoe in his hands and, under Liu Dingxiang’s scrutiny, spoke unhurriedly,

“I haven’t done it before, but I can learn.”

He had long known that getting Xu Jian, this particular cabbage, wouldn’t be easy.

Xu Jian snapped his head toward Qin Chen, eyes filled with doubts which means—

Brother Chen, why are you learning to weed?

Liu Dingxiang, on the other hand, simply nodded.

“That’ll do.”

Five minutes later, Xu Jian stood off to the side, watching as Qin Chen swung the hoe, loosening the soil and clearing weeds around the tea plants with surprising proficiency. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

A triple-award-winning Golden Film Empero actually knew how to farm!

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The author has something to say:

Jian Cat: Man, is there anything else I don’t know about you?

After finishing the “Meeting the Parents”, I’ll write about the ShengJiang CP~