QT: LAC Chapter 117: Seventh World (21)

Chapter 117: Seventh World (21)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

After a long time, Mama Bai seemed to understand what her son said. The first reaction was, “No!”

Unlike Liu Tao’s traditional male dominated family, Bai Duan’s family would actually have to listen to what the female side had to say. Papa Bai’s character was gentle and low-key. He had been shaking hands with the shopkeeper, while Mama Bai was shrewd and clever. She was in charge of all the major and minor matters in the family.

With willow eyebrows standing, Mama Bai’s face was livid and her voice was sharp, “Bai Duan! I’ll tell you, you!” Before she had finished speaking, Mama Bai heard the sound of something hitting the ground. Someone knelt down in front of her, but this person was not her son with his calm face and stubborn eyes, but her niece, Lin Lin.

“Aunt! Don’t blame cousin! Blame me if you want! It’s all my fault!” Lin Lin thought that there would be such a day, because she made up her mind, so she didn’t hesitate to act. “It’s my curiosity. I went to explore the haunted air raid shelter with my friends, which made cousin go to save us. Liu Tao was also saved by my cousin at that time, so he fell in love with him and began to pursue him! Later, later, I was also blamed. It was I who took my cousin to play the American radio drama and asked Liu Tao to form a CP with cousin. None of this would have happened had it not been for me!”

She turned her cousin onto the ‘bent’ road, which was always a big stone in Lin Lin’s heart. She regretted it and was afraid. She looked up at her aunt, and cried as she said it. However, she still trembled and turned all the responsibilities on her shoulders.

Lin Lin’s actions exceeded everyone’s expectations. Even Bai Duan didn’t react for a while. He reached out and tried to pull her up. “Lin Lin, don’t say it’s your responsibility. It has nothing to do with you! It’s my business to like Liu Tao. I just like him alone. If the person was not him, I can’t be moved no matter what you do!”

Lin Lin was pulled by Bai Duan, but she still kneeled on the ground and refused to get up. Her eyes were misty with tears and she looked at Mama Bai, continuously apologizing. Lin Lin’s mother looked at her daughter, who was trembling with the tears. She was very distressed, but she didn’t do anything. However, Mama Bai was equally sour and astringent in the face of the crying little niece.

Lin Lin had been lively and clingy since she was a child, which was totally different from Bai Duan’s high cold independence, and Lin Lin Lin’s parents were busy with their work. Most of the time, the little girl and Bai Duan were taken care of and raised together by Mama Bai.

Mama Bai didn’t realize the fun of raising another child with her son. Almost all the maternal love was invested in Lin Lin. Although it was in the name of aunt and niece, she deeply loved her like a real daughter. Her relationship was a little closer than that of Bai Duan.

Looking at her niece who loved her so much since she was a child, and seeing her crying so hard, Mama Bai couldn’t help it. She put her hand around Lin Lin, touched her head, and stared at Bai Duan, “Don’t speak for your cousin, my son, of course I understand! He had an idea since he was a child. If he didn’t like it, someone couldn’t force him.”

“Well, I’d love to.” Bai Duan looked at Lin Lin being held in his mother’s arms as she stopped crying gradually, released her hand and nodded.

“You! Have you made any sense?” Mama Bai almost fainted by Bai Duan’s natural appearance. She subconsciously raised her hand to fight, but looking at Bai Duan’s cool and handsome eyebrows and eyes, she couldn’t do it.

Bai Duan didn’t let them worry about him since he was a child. Although he had excellent grades and a cold personality, he never disobeyed his parents. It can be said that he had always almost been like a child of another family, even during the rebellious period. However, Mama Bai never thought that this child, who had always been proud of himself, would ‘stop singing and make a surprise.’

“I’ll tell you Bai Duan! It’s impossible! I can’t agree with you being with a man!” Mama Bai snapped.

“Auntie—” Lin Lin grabbed Mama Bai’s clothes and prayed in a trembling voice. Suddenly, the house became a mess again.

Old Man Bai thought it was so noisy that his brain hurt. He endured and endured, and finally raised his voice, “Enough! Be quiet!”

Although she had a strong temper, Mama Bai was very filial. She never confronted Old Man Bai. In fact, she still followed Old Man Bai’s meaning and allowed her son to be ‘tossed’ by him.

Now that Old Man Bai opened his mouth, Mama Bai stopped immediately and turned to look at him, “Dad! You also discipline this bastard!”

Old Man Bai’s face was gloomy, his eyes were fixed on Bai Duan for a moment, and his voice was a little hoarse, “Do you really like him? Love him?”

“Umn, it’s settled.” Bai Duan nodded heavily.

“Dad?!” Mama Bai looked at Old Man Bai incredibly, and couldn’t accept him. It seemed that he calmly accepted this matter — clearly, Old Man Bai was more conservative than her, paid attention to family inheritance, and should have been more responsive than her.

Against the incredible eyes of all the people, Old Man Bai sighed, “It’s no wonder that DuanDuan… this is all my fault.”

Bai Duan took a swipe at the corner of his mouth. He really didn’t know how he came out of the closet, “Grandpa, this matter has nothing to do with you…”

“You don’t understand.” Old Man Bai looked at his favorite and proudest grandson deeply. His eyes which were always hale and hearty were now dim. “Last time, I asked you to promise me not to touch the ghosts again. Do you know why?”

“… You don’t want me to get hurt?” Bai Duan was dazed.

“That’s just one part of it.” Old Man Bai shook his head. “What’s more, I remember that the road of Onmyoji is not easy. Five evils and three deficiencies are unavoidable punishments, I thought that if I had let you leave this road early, you would have no worries in your life, but I was really naive… ” After a pause, he sighed, “compared with other punishments, I’d rather you cut off your offspring, at least you can do well yourself…”

“Dad? What do you say!” Mama Bai could not accept the old man’s saying at all, “Just now, didn’t the police comrades have told you that you should not spread such harmful feudal superstition everywhere?”

“Some things are not feudal superstition at all. Do you want to deceive yourself?” Old Man Bai and his daughter-in-law often quarreled, and immediately went back, “Your son really killed ghosts and babies! The police comrade just admitted it, didn’t he? Our ancestors have produced so many Onmyoji, and you have also read the genealogy. Isn’t it clear that the result of every Onmyoji in the end?”

Mama Bai choked and opened her mouth, but she did not know how to refute.

“Most of my life I have been yearning for someone to follow in the footsteps of the Onmyoji and want to make our family brilliant again. But now, I want to open up. It’s the most important thing for my children to live happily and smoothly.” Old Man Bai took a look at Bai Duan and his back was slightly bent. “As for inheritance…The inheritance of Onmyoji can be broken so that other descendants will not be harmed by it…”

Old Man Bai was really sad. He was sad that he had taught his grandson the means and methods that would only kill his grandson. He was also sad that his ancestral inheritance would be broken by his own hands and he would have no face to see his ancestors.

Seeing that Old Man Bai was so sad, even if Mama Bai was unwilling to say anything, she dared not say anything. But looking at her expression, she still couldn’t accept her son’s bringing back a man instead of a daughter-in-law at all. Only because of her filial piety to Old Man Bai, she could not bear it.

Looking at the daughter-in-law, Old Man Bai was full of guilt and debt, but he couldn’t help his daughter-in-law to embarrass his grandson, so he decided, “The one you like, bring him back to me someday, if he’s really a good one… then live well. Even if you have no children, you can have a companion when you are old.”

Old Man Bai had always said the same thing in Bai family, which meant that Liu Tao could go to the door of the Bai family.

Mama Bai was discontented. She took off her apron without saying a word and threw it on the back of the chair. She turned her head and left with her bag. Papa Bai looked at her son, sighed and followed his wife out of the door.

Old Man Bai was exhausted and went back to the house to have a rest. Lin Lin’s mother was afraid of influencing him to have a rest. After wrapping up the remaining dumplings and putting them in the refrigerator, she also took Lin Lin back home.

It was a rare family gathering that ended badly, but for Bai Duan, it seemed like the best result.

In the evening, Bai Duan told Liu Tao about his coming out to his family. Liu Tao was surprised at the news, but Bai Duan at the other end of the phone was a little depressed, and he could not express his happiness. He comforted Bai Duan with a soft voice for half a day. As soon as he hung up, he booked a ticket to the city.

Two days later, the dusty Liu Tao appeared at Grandpa Bai’s door with expensive gifts. Old Man Bai gave him a sharp look up and down, finally allowed him to enter the door, and then called Bai Duan’s parents.

Although the parents of the Bai family still couldn’t accept that their son liked men, they hesitated for a long time after receiving the phone call from Old Man Bai, and finally came to see the gangster who turned his son onto an “evil road”.

Liu Tao didn’t know how many big waves he had experienced. He knew people’s hearts clearly and was good at dancing. He just met his father-in-law and mother-in-law, who were extremely disgusted with him. This little thing couldn’t defeat him at all.

In front of Bai Duan’s family, Liu Tao’s calm and polite performance showed that even if Mama Bai held a magnifying glass to poke at him, she had to admit that he seemed to be a really good young man, and the interaction between the other and her son also showed that they had a deep feeling, a zither instrument and a singing voice — if she could have such a son-in-law instead of a daughter-in-law, Mama Bai probably could wake up with laughter.

Looking back at the precious gift Liu Tao bought for herself, Mama Bai’s tone was a little gloomy, “I heard that your family is from the countryside? Very poor? Where did you get the money to buy these things?”

For such a question, Liu Tao had been ready for a long time, and directly took out the property certificate that he had entrusted to deal with urgently, “I made a small game not long ago, although it has not really appeared, but also raised a lot of funds. Later, I put the funds into the stock market, and made a few more. Next, I plan to register a game company. Now I am in the process of preparation, and I have successfully loaned money to the bank. Please rest assured that I have the ability to make your son have no worries about food and clothing, and support you two elders.”

Liu Tao said that he was being modest, but the property certificate he took out was a large number for a college student who has no identity background and has not graduated yet, which was enough to prove his ability and future.

Mama Bai closed her mouth and tried to think about what else to criticize. Old Man Bai was more satisfied with Liu Tao, the “granddaughter-in-law”, and finally left for dinner.

In this way, under the silence of the two families, Bai Duan and Liu Tao formally came together. However, no matter what attitude their relatives had towards same-sex love, their love had not been affected in the slightest, and they had always been close.

Bai Duan continued his studies with outstanding achievements until he graduated from the Ph.D. program, and was absorbed by NASA as a high-end talent. Occasionally, he cooperated with the police to deal with some strange events, but in order to avoid family worries, he did not act in the name of ‘Onmyoji’.

Liu Tao, as he planned, registered a game company and developed several games with good reputation and income in recent years, which rapidly expanded the scale and assets of the game company. Finally, he successfully went public and made great progress all the way, becoming a new high-value business, and the scope of investment was no longer limited to the game industry.

After his son’s achievement, Liu’s parents were sent to the city to live a good life for the aged and met Bai Duan’s family formally. Liu Yun’s child, Bai Duan and Liu Tao’s “new son”, came with them as a son.

After the two families met, the atmosphere was a little stiff and awkward, but there was no conflict. Even Mama Bai, who was strongly opposed, gradually accepted the fact that her son liked men after years of running in. Anyway, no matter what means she used, her son was stubborn and tough. He refused to repent. Only his parents could finally compromise.

Bai and Liu families were low-key people. They were also worried about their son’s ‘abnormality’. In addition, the state had not passed the same-sex marriage bill, so Bai Duan and Liu Tao did not hold any ceremony or announce to the world, but just lived in peace.

Anyway, the husband and wife lived so many lives. Even Bai Duan, who didn’t remember anything, didn’t care about these formal things at all.

Even though there was no wedding ceremony, Bai Duan and Liu Tao were still in harmony and had a long life together. They were in perfect harmony in their work and life. The only contradiction was that every few years or so, Liu Tao couldn’t help but take off his skin bag and play a pithy invisible play. When he did this, he had to bear the cold face of his lover for a week.

Until they both retired, white haired into old age, Bai Duan finally couldn’t help asking the question that puzzled him all his life, “Are you a man or a ghost?”

Liu Tao, who had given up proving his human identity, “Guess?”

Bai Duan gave him a look and held Liu Tao’s unsmooth hand, “If I die, will I continue to reincarnate, or will I become a ghost like you? What about you? If you run out of longevity, will you reincarnate or become a ghost again?”

Liu Tao, “…”

Babe, you subconsciously still think I’m a ghost, right?

Holding Bai Duan’s shoulder, Liu Tao leaned close to him and admired the red sunset outside the window, “When you die, you will be reincarnated, I am the same as you, we will meet again in the next world, and then renew the front edge — no matter how many times you are reincarnated, you belong to me.”

Listening to the strong exclusive desire in his lover’s tone, Bai Duan smiled, “That’s good, then I’m relieved. I was afraid that after I died, you would still roam this world. How lonely that would  be… “

Being ironed by Bai Duan’s words, Liu Tao kissed his lover and climbed up the wrinkled corner of his eyes. He was sentimental and intimate.

“In the next life, you have to be a human being, not a ghost.” Bai Duan chuckled and said, “I can’t believe it. I’ve lived with a ghost all my life…”

Liu Tao: “……”

Baby, I’m human, really! Can’t you just trust me once?!