In a Relationship With the Rugged Guy Next Door - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Dissolving the Adoption, Coming Home.

Chen Jingming was pushed into the passenger seat.

The car door locked with a click. Chu Feng leaned his weight against the door with one hand, preventing Jingming from getting out.

“Brother?” Jingming pushed against the door twice, but it wouldn’t budge.

Chu Feng stood outside with his head lowered, turning slightly away. Through the car window, Jingming could hear Chu Feng speaking, but he couldn’t hear his foster mother’s voice on the other end.

The foster mother was stunned for a long moment. “Chu Feng? Put my son on the phone.”

Chu Feng: “If you have something to say, say it to me.”

“What is there to say to you?” Her voice rose in agitation. “Do you remember what you promised us back then?”

Chu Feng suppressed his emotions: “Do you remember what you promised me back then!”

Foster Mother: “We raised A-Ming to be healthy and strong. Is there a problem? You promised never to see him again. You have no blood relation to him; it’s not your place to speak. We are his family.”

“Bullshit!” Chu Feng rarely used such crude language. He gripped the phone tightly. “Raised him healthy and strong? Where were you when he was suffering alone out there? Where were you when he needed help? You know exactly what’s been in your hearts all these years.”

Perhaps out of guilt from being exposed, the foster mother softened her tone. “Chu Feng, regardless of what you say, Chen Jingming is our son now. To be honest, maybe there have been some issues, but we will settle matters between us and A-Ming ourselves. Please let him come home.”

Chu Feng: “Then I’ll be honest with you too. I will never let Jingming leave. This is his home.”

“Absurd!” She hissed. “A-Ming’s name is on the Chen family household register! No matter what you say, he is our son!”

Chu Feng gritted his teeth. “Then please cooperate and dissolve the adoption relationship.”

The foster mother lost control again, screaming into the phone: “Let Chen Jingming answer the phone!”

“I said, speak to me.” Chu Feng’s arm against the door grew more tense, and sweat broke out on his forehead. “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. I will contact you after consulting a lawyer.”

“Chu Feng! What right do you have?!” Her voice choked with sobs. “We haven’t mistreated A-Ming in these ten-plus years. We loved him. You are too cruel… how can you…”

Chu Feng’s tightly shut lips trembled. He took a deep breath. “Aren’t you the cruel ones? The cruelest part is that you never realized how cruelly you treated him. Is it A-Ming you love, or is it A-Ming (the deceased son)? Do you think Chen Jingming doesn’t understand that?”

Hearing this, Jingming frantically tapped on the window. He tried to climb over to the driver’s side, but that door was locked too.

Foster Mother: “What do you know?”

Chu Feng: “I only regret that I understood too late.”

Foster Mother: “Hearts are made of flesh. Can’t we be a little biased? Isn’t Chen Jingming biased too? You want to wipe away thirteen years of upbringing with a few casual words!”

“I’m telling you,” Chu Feng said, the veins on his neck bulging as he lowered his voice, “If I had known even a hint of your true intentions back then, I wouldn’t have let him go with you if it killed me.”

The other end went silent for a while before she spoke: “Chu Feng, I won’t talk to you anymore. You have no standing.”

The call ended.

…

The Outburst

Jingming saw Chu Feng put the phone away and tapped the window again. “Brother!”

Chu Feng turned around, his emotions not yet settled. He forced a smile at Jingming, took a deep breath, and said, “It’s over. Let’s go.”

He got into the driver’s seat and handed the phone back. “Baby, you’ve told them you’re safe. Don’t contact them again for a while.”

Jingming remained silent.

“Promise me this,” Chu Feng insisted, staring firmly into Jingming’s eyes.

Jingming: “Mhm, I understand. Brother, what did she say? Did she yell at you?”

“No.” Chu Feng managed a small smile and rubbed the back of Jingming’s head. “Who would dare yell at me?” He flexed his bicep playfully.

Jingming smiled. “Mhm.” Since his brother didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t press.

After a moment, Jingming whispered: “Brother, once when she was drunk, she held me and cried. She said when I was little and had a fever, she stayed by my side for a day and a night. In my delirium, I called for ‘Mom.’ She said ‘Mom is here,’ but I said ‘I don’t want this Mom.’ She cried so hard.”

“Before the adoption, countless people warned them that you were eleven and would remember your birth mother forever. They promised us they wouldn’t mind,” Chu Feng said, opening the window and driving away from the busy street.

Jingming observed Chu Feng out of the corner of his eye. Chu Feng’s brow remained furrowed, and he didn’t speak.

“Brother, what’s for dinner?” Jingming asked.

“Beef offal hotpot,” Chu Feng replied. “Aunt Xiang gave us a bag of local loquats. Didn’t you say you liked them? I’ll peel them for you when we get back.”

Jingming tried to act cheerful. “Yay! Thanks, Brother~”

“Baby.”

“Mhm?”

Chu Feng went quiet again after Jingming responded. He bit his lip and kept taking deep breaths.

Chu Feng was angry—not at Jingming, but at the world. He realized that for thirteen years, Jingming must have hidden his own sadness to keep the adults happy.

Suddenly, Chu Feng pulled the car over and slammed his hand against the steering wheel.

“Brother!” Jingming grabbed his hand. “What’s wrong?”

“Fuck! Fuck!!” Chu Feng clenched his fists. He stopped hitting the wheel because Jingming was holding him, but he buried his face in his arms and began to sob.

Jingming was terrified. “Brother, please don’t be like this. Don’t cry.”

“I’m so useless, Jingming. Your brother is useless.” Chu Feng looked up, his face full of regret, and hit the wheel again.

Jingming unbuckled his seatbelt and lunged over. “Don’t, Brother! You’ll get hurt!”

Chu Feng pulled Jingming into a fierce embrace, and Jingming adjusted himself to sit on Chu Feng’s lap.

“Brother, I’m okay,” Jingming soothed, rubbing Chu Feng’s back. “I don’t know what she said, but I’m fine. We’re together now, with family and friends. And…” he paused, “last night we successfully did it. Isn’t that great?”

Chu Feng let out a muffled laugh, finally relaxing his grip. His face was covered in tears as he swayed Jingming back and forth.

…

The “Salty” Conversation

“Brother, my back hurts,” Jingming complained. Chu Feng had been holding him so tight he’d had to arch his back awkwardly.

Chu Feng let go and started rubbing Jingming’s lower back. Jingming cupped Chu Feng’s face. “You cried.”

“I’ll look,” Jingming said, lifting Chu Feng’s head. He kissed Chu Feng under his eyes.

“The tears are dirty,” Chu Feng whispered, pulling back slightly.

Jingming licked his lips. “Brother’s tears are salty.”

Chu Feng smiled. “Are my tears that salty?”

Jingming kissed his cheek, then his lips, then his forehead. “Salty Brother.”

Chu Feng was completely cheered up by his “puppy-like” little brother. “Did I sprinkle salt on myself?” he joked, rubbing Jingming’s waist. “Does it still hurt?”

Jingming shifted, and his hips pressed against Chu Feng’s growing arousal.

“Brother, is that part of you also very salty?”

“Eh?” Chu Feng turned red. “Baby—”

Jingming loved seeing him like this. “You’ve ‘eaten’ mine, but I haven’t ‘eaten’ yours yet.”

“No, no, no,” Chu Feng shook his head.

“Why?”

“It’s… dirty there,” Chu Feng said, pushing him away gently while laughing.

“Is mine not dirty then?”

“Baby’s isn’t dirty.”

“You just decide everything, don’t you?” Jingming feigned anger, crossing his arms.

Chu Feng sighed. “Why do you want to? I don’t understand why you like my… my chest, let alone that part. It’s big and ugly.”

“Because gay people like it!” Jingming replied, then narrowed his eyes. “Then why do you ‘eat’ mine?”

“Because it makes you feel good.”

“…” Jingming was speechless. Then he asked, “Then… what about ‘plugging’ the back?”

Chu Feng’s ears turned crimson. “That… I truly like.”

Jingming was stunned. So for Chu Feng, the ideal is just taking the pants off and going for it!

He teased Chu Feng about not being “really gay” because he didn’t like oral sex. In response, Chu Feng grabbed Jingming’s hand and shoved it inside his heavy denim jeans.

It was scalding hot. Jingming pulled his hand out, blushing furiously.

…

Future Plans

They met Hu Xianyun in town, who was carrying boxes for her new “foodie” social media account. Jingming helped her carry the boxes home.

“I want to make my own money,” Jingming told her. “I don’t want to rely entirely on Brother.”

Back at home, they ate a massive beef offal hotpot. Afterward, while Chu Feng peeled loquats for him, Jingming messaged his friend Xue Dongni, asking for work leads.

“Baby, open up,” Chu Feng said, feeding him a golden loquat.

Once the chat was over, Chu Feng’s expression turned serious. “Baby, I have something to discuss with you.”

“Mhm, go ahead.”

“Do you want to dissolve the adoption relationship with your foster parents?”

Jingming froze. He didn’t know how to answer. The thirteen years had been a distorted, hollow experience, and he had always felt he owed them something.

“Okay,” Chu Feng said, seeing the look in his eyes. “I understand.”

Chu Feng made the decision: “Thirteen years ago, I decided you should go with them. Thirteen years later, I am deciding again. Dissolve the adoption. Come home.”