Although his mind was shouting this, he could not control his hand as it felt its way over to the back of her ear. With the pads of his fingers, he gently caressed it, very patiently rubbing, pinching, squeezing, fiddling.
Before long, that little earlobe was bright red and burning hot from his touches.
Chu Jian’s entire body felt out of sorts, and in a voice that was so small it was nearly buried by the whirr, whirr of the central heating system, she could not help protesting, “Why do you keep pinching my ears? …” It hurt a bit.
Jian Bianlin’s throat felt a little dry. “Your ears are pretty.”
The one he was torturing was most certainly himself, like trying to use a blunt knife to slice off his own flesh as this was dragged out, and the need to hold himself back was exhausting.
Thinking briefly, he decided he should take things slowly, step by step…
It was only after Jian Bianlin was discharged from the hospital that Xie Bin officially made the news public that Jian Bianlin would be resting for a period of time.
For a while, his fans were in an uproar, and all sorts of speculations existed.
According to Tong Fei’s descriptions, Jian Bianlin’s fans were all “girlfriend fans” or “wifey fans.” If the news of his surgery truly was released, there likely would be an uncountable number of people waking in the middle of the night from heartbreak, wishing with all their might that they could have gone under the knife in his place… Moreover, this all needed to be kept secret from their two families. And hence, things were left as they were. It was simply a pity that such a piece of news that could be used to bring in some publicity had to be wasted.
As for the pandemonium that had broken out amongst his fans, Chu Jian did not really take it seriously. What she most needed to worry about now were her parents and Uncle Jian, who were all coming to Shanghai tonight for a short stay…
Jian Bianlin had only just been discharged from the hospital right around the Gregorian New Year period, so he had not been able to return home. However, he could not give the true reason for this either. Uncle Jian had been quite disappointed, feeling that his filial son had forgotten that his ol’ dad had suffered a work-related injury, since the boy had not even made use of the holidays to go back for a visit.
Afterward, under the counsel of Chu Jian’s dad and mom that helped him see the light, Jian Bianlin’s dad decided to take advantage of the fact that Jian Bianlin would be “working” in Shanghai for the next month to go there with Chu Jian’s parents for a short stay.
Thus, while Chu Jian’s dad was working in full swing in the kitchen and her mom had completely plunged into conversation with Jian Bianlin’s dad, starting first with explaining that the daughter of the family living in the first unit of the first building of the community compound had been married off and moving the discussion on from there, Chu Jian threw a meaningful look at Jian Bianlin. “Mom, I just remembered that all the wine is over in Jian Bianlin’s home. We’re going to go grab some.”
“Go ahead.” Her mom’s voice sailed over from the living room.
Chu Jian shoved him out the door, then reached behind and shut it with a thump.
“I’m telling you, later on, when your dad tells you to drink, make sure you just keep the wine in your mouth and don’t swallow. Go spit it out in the kitchen. I’ll cover up for you.”
The son toasting the father was the Jian family New Year’s custom that forever could not be broken.
This had been so since Jian Bianlin was five years old… And hence, this was Chu Jian’s greatest worry. It had not even been ten days since he was discharged from the hospital. Alcohol absolutely could not be consumed.
