Chapter 15.3 (1/2)

Chapter Fifteen (Part 3 of 3)

The truth was apart from competing for Ting Ting’s affections, Qin Song loved their son. He was proud to be Shun Shun’s dad. The night of Shun Shun’s one month milestone lunch celebration, Qin Song’s relatives and friends were invited to his parents’ home. Ting Ting recently gave birth and it wasn’t convenient for her to stand too long. The whole night he carried Shun Shun in his arms around his parents’ home for his relatives and friends to see his charming son.

That afternoon all the Liang’s sworn brothers were present at the lunch banquet in honour of Qin Shun Shun. Qin Song felt proud he became a father at a younger age than when his sworn brothers first became fathers and shamelessly paraded and praised Shun Shun in front of them.

Ji Nan saw Qin Song’s crazy peac.o.c.k behaviour and turned to face Li Wei Ran who was beside her. ‘Fifth brother, take a look at sixth brother. His motor mouth is about to fall to his gloves from all that boasting.’

Li Wei Ran nodded his head. ‘Fourth brother you need to be more understanding of sixth brother’s situation. That childish monkey suddenly got promoted to be a dad, it would be strange if he wasn’t deliriously happy.’

Qin Song overheard Li Wei Ran’s backhanded compliment and quickly turned around to insult his cousin. ‘Men who are whipped by their wives don’t have the right to talk in front of me.’

Big boss wanted to shoot down his sixth brother’s annoying mouth and joined in the battle of words. ‘Men who only have one son but are already giddy don’t have the right to talk in front of me.’

When big boss’ triplets were born, he used them to put Chen Yu Bai and Li Wei Ran in their places because they only had two children each.

Qin Song tilted his head to the ceiling and laughed loudly. ‘Men who took seven years to become a dad have no right to talk in front of me.’

Qin Song felt he went easy on big boss because if he included the years big boss was secretly in love with Gu Yan then it took big boss ten years before he became a dad of triplets.

Big boss, Ji Nan and Li Wei Ran were in disbelief they were defeated by their childish sixth brother.

The former player Rong Yan narrowed his eyes. ‘Men who only have one naughty little son have nothing to be happy about.’

Qin Song was happy Rong Yan fell into his trap and triumphantly turned to face Rong Yan. ‘Men who don’t even have one son have no right to talk in front of me.’

Rong Yan wasn’t affected by Qin Song’s insult. Instead Rong Yan had a gleam in his eyes and glanced at Chen Yu Bai who stood opposite to them giving his darling daughter Chen An An a gla.s.s of water. The ice glacier Chen Yu Bai gave Qin Song an ice dagger and slowly lifted the bridge of his gla.s.ses with an index finger… Qin Shun Shun could sense that his daddy was in trouble with third uncle and opened his pair of dark eyes that had long eyelashes to give his daddy a pity look… Qin Song’s legs became shaky and carried his son quickly to his wife… honey, save me! Third brother looked like he wanted to s.h.i.+p me off to a desert in the Middle East.

The Qin household hosted the lunch banquet for Qin Shun Shun all afternoon and at five in the evening Qin Shun Shun’s dinner banquet officially started. During the most boisterous atmosphere of the dinner banquet, Qin Yun came downstairs to join the celebration with everyone. That night Qin Yun’s complexion appeared good. When a family portrait was taken, Qin Yun sat with his shoulder leaning into Zhang Yu’s shoulder, Commander Zhang and Mrs Zhang senior sat at the front with them. Behind them was Qin Song’s little family of three, it was picturesque family portrait.

Qin Song was busy all day entertaining guests and by the time all the guests left it was the middle of the night. He felt larthergic and crawled onto the middle of the bed with Shun Shun. When Ting Ting came out of the bathroom she saw he stuck his finger inside their son’s mouth. Shun Shun thought it was feeding time and suckled but his mummy’s yummy milk didn’t come out. Shun Shun was disappointed and cried loudly. Qin Song who laid beside his gullible son, was amused and laughed whilst rolling around on the bed.

‘Big brother Song!’ Han Ting Ting called.

Ting Ting stepped to the bed and took out Qin Song’s finger from their son’s mouth. ‘Honey, I washed my hands before. It’s clean.’

‘It doesn’t matter. You can’t stick your fingers in Shun Shun’s mouth,’ Han Ting Ting said and glared at Song Song.

Han Ting Ting picked up Shun Shun and hugged him. Shun Shun could smell his mummy’s yummy milk and leaned his little chubby head against his mummy’s chest. Her heart melted at the sight of Shun Shun’s adorable little gesture. She quickly pulled down her night s.h.i.+rt to breastfeed Shun Shun on the bed.

After Shun Shun was born, he didn’t torture Ting Ting’s body as he did when he was inside her tummy. Qin Song’s mum spent a lot of energy and money to buy the best nutritious ingredients to cook dishes for Ting Ting’s consumption. Ting Ting’s small frame benefit from Qin Song’s mum’s attentive care and her body was healthy and vibrant. That was why since Shun Shun was born, he got to drink his mummy’s yummy milk. Ting Ting was used to breastfeeding Shun Shun but Qin Song’s eyes would always widen and honed in on the beautiful sight of Ting Ting breastfeeding.

Han Ting Ting glanced at Song Song and felt he acted unusual than the other times she breastfed Shun Shun… Song Song suddenly pressed his body against her back and she felt his hot breath at the back of her neck, it made her s.h.i.+ver. Her body tensed and turned around to face Song Song. ‘Hey.’

‘Um,’ Qin Song whispered.

Song Song suckled Han Ting Ting’s ear and she tried to shake him off. ‘We can’t.’

‘The doctor clearly said that after one month we can,’ Qin Song said. He bit Ting Ting’s soft earlobe and breathed heavily. His hands rubbed up and down her body. She leaned back on his chest and breathed weakly.

Shun Shun’s little nose was close to his daddy’s finger. Shun Shun didn’t want to stop drinking his mummy’s yummy milk but it was hard for him to breathe and he cried loudly to show that he wasn’t happy about his late night milk drinking time being interrupted.

Ting Ting heard Shun Shun cried and put more force into stopping Qin Song’s seductive movements. Qin Song’s eyes were red and teary, he wished he could swallow her whole.

‘I feel a little discomfort tonight… can we wait for another two days?’ Han Ting Ting bargained.

Ting Ting hugged Shun Shun and looked helplessly at Qin Song. Qin Song’s body stiffened and he pulled both Ting Ting and Shun Shun onto his lap. He inhaled her delectable fragrant body for a while and reluctantly loosened his grip. ‘I’ll wait until you feel more comfortable and I’ll ask for interest from you.’

Han Ting Ting sat on Song Song’s lap and felt his hot big package pressed against her lower back. She bit her lips for a while before tilting her head to kiss his chin. ‘Song Song, I’m sorry.’

Qin Song hugged Ting Ting tight and leaned his chin on her shoulder. Qin Song looked down at their son who was fed and sleeping peacefully against her chest, suddenly Qin Song felt choked from abundant happiness. Qin Song pulled up Ting Ting’s night s.h.i.+rt and kissed her deeply. ‘Um, I’ll go shower.’

Han Ting Ting felt bad for Song Song and pulled him back to the bed. ‘Wait.’

‘What’s wrong? Having second thoughts? We can do it?’ Qin Song teased.

Han Ting Ting’s face was bright red. ‘Song Song, if you feel too uncomfortable, we can.’

Qin Song burst out in laughter. His little wife was too loveable! ‘I’m ok, after a shower I’ll be good.’ He lifted the bed sheet and covered it over Ting Ting and Shun Shun’s bodies. He pinched Ting Ting’s nose. ‘If you’re not up to it, I’m not going to force you. I want you to recover fully because you need to be beside me for the rest of my life.’

Han Ting Ting heard Song Song’s teasing tone but their faces were close and she saw his sincere heart behind the teasing. He pulled the bed sheet over her and Shun Shun and her eyes became teary. She knew that like her, he was thinking about Qin Yun too.

Qin Song and Han Ting Ting both felt life was too short but love was too deep. Love magnified everything beautiful in life but it also magnified every painful separation in life.

Qin Yun pa.s.sed away the following Monday after Shun Shun’s one month milestone celebration…

Qin Song was ready for work but he carried Shun Shun in his arms and didn’t want to be separated from Shun Shun. Han Ting Ting helped him carry his suitcase to the front door. When they opened the front door they were startled to see Zhang Yu standing outside in a daze.

Qin Song got a bad feeling. ‘Mum?’

Zhang Yu composed her pale body. ‘Where are you going? Don’t leave. Go farewell your dad, he’s about to pa.s.s away.’

Han Ting Ting’s whole body was shaking and dropped Song Song’s suit case. ‘Mum…’

Qin Song felt lost for two seconds before he turned around and gently put Shun Shun in Ting Ting’s arms. Then he draped an arm around Zhang Yu’s shoulder. ‘Ok, we’ll go see dad.’

Qin Song’s family entered his parents’ bedroom. Qin Song saw his parents’ room was taken up by a cloud of white lab coats. The doctors that wore the white lab coats, all looked sombre. They heard footsteps and turned around to look at him. He nodded his head. ‘You can all leave.’

The doctors left the room. Zhang Yu, Qin Song, Han Ting Ting and Shun Shun stayed behind in the room that was filled with a heavy atmosphere. Zhang Yu played with Qin Yun’s hand. Qin Yun creased his forehead and tried to fight his drowsiness, he slowly opened his eyes for the final time. Qin Yun saw Zhang Yu and struggled to force his mouth to smile.

Qin Yun smiled weakly but everyone saw the gentleness behind his weak smile. Inside their trembling hearts they saw Qin Yun the infamous prideful man.

‘Don’t you want to say anything to me? Like declaring your love for me? It’s your last chance,’ Zhang Yu said.

The moment Zhang Yu stepped into the room she hid her broken heart. The Zhang Yu who stood in front of Qin Yun smiled brightly like the carefree Zhang Yu who Qin Yun met for the first time decades ago… the love Qin Yun and Zhang Yu shared was the best thing that happened in Qin Yun’s life.

Qin Yun gently patted Zhang Yu’s hand and she sat on the bed beside him.

‘Qin Song!’ Qin Yun called. He stretched out his hand to Qin Song. Qin Song gripped his hand and helped him sit up against the head bed. ‘I’m sorry. I’ve never praised you once.’ He paused to gather all his strength. ‘It wasn’t because you’re not smart or didn’t excel enough nor was it because I didn’t think you’re strong. It was because I worried too much about your future. You were a child that was too fortunate. The moment you were born there was a circle of people ready to protect you, love you and dote on you. Your life path laid in front of you was too smooth. It was though you’ll never get to taste failure. I was really worried. I was worried what would happen if you were ever faced with struggles and how much you’ll be able to cope… I’m sorry, it’s only now that I realised I was wrong. I can now see that you don’t just own luck. I should have known a lot sooner that because you’re my son that you won’t let obstacles get in your way and you have the same blessings in life as I do… I feel that you’re my blessing… Song Song, having a son like you, I have no regret left in this lifetime.’

Qin Song leaned forward and used an arm to support his dad. He forced himself to smile. ‘Dad, I know. Is there anything else you want to say to me?’

‘Um, I do have one thing that won’t let my heart be at peace… my woman, in the future I have to burden you to take care of my woman,’ Qin Yun said. He gently patted his son’s shoulder and handed over the duty of protecting Zhang Yu to his son.

Qin Song nodded his head. ‘Dad, be at peace. I promise that for the rest of my life I’ll make sure that mum gets to continue to be unreasonable, lively, stubborn, get to have her way and don’t have to follow protocols like how her life is when you were by her side.’

After Qin Yun exchanged a duty for an oath with Qin Song, the two generations of the Qin household held onto each other’s shoulder like two close brothers. There was no longer the fear of a painful separation between them, they treated death like it was a long deep sleep. Ten years, twenty years, one hundred years later… because they shared a close bond they would meet again.

Qin Song stepped back and brought his wife and son to stand in front of his dad.