Just in Time Chapter 108
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 108 Lantern Festival
Yun Fang had never discussed his own death with Yi Chenliang.
He also rarely mentioned Wan Hui.
His feelings towards Wan Hui were complex. On one hand, she was his partner who had shared life and death with him for many years, and he trusted her. But on the other hand, this trust was mixed with caution, as Wan Hui's loyalty had always been to Ge San, and her actions were unpredictable, her personality flamboyant and crazy.
When Wan Hui attacked him, he felt surprised, yet it was also within his expectations.
The only thing that was truly unexpected was Wan Hui's real identity - Wang Youwei's sister.
He had almost forgotten about Wang Youwei.
He thought he would be calm when he remembered Wang Youwei again, but when he heard the name from Wan Hui's mouth, he actually felt a twinge in his heart.
Perhaps it was fate. Twenty years ago, he accidentally killed Wang Youwei. Twenty years later, Wang Youwei's sister took his life with her own hands.
A life for a life, it was the law of nature.
"Will she be the same as in her past life?" Yi Chenliang asked.
"I don't know," Yun Fang looked at the colorful lanterns on the street. "No one can predict the future."
As soon as they walked into the house, they discovered unexpected guests.
Tang Si, Sun Yuan, and Sun Yuan's father Sun Zhengnan were sitting on the sofa. Seeing them come in, Tang Si smiled at Yun Fang and said, "Sugar, you're back."
Then her gaze turned to Yi Chenliang, and she seemed to think of something. Her look at Yi Chenliang and Yun Fang carried a hint of contempt and disdain.
Sun Zhengnan was a middle-aged man who looked honest and simple, quietly drinking tea.
Sun Yuan had been scared by Yi Chenliang's beating last time and had behaved for a long time. He hadn't dared to come to his second aunt's house. This time, his mother had to persuade him to come. But he didn't expect Yun Fang to openly bring Yi Chenliang home.
Relying on the presence of his parents, and some misplaced confidence, he assumed that Tang Yi and Yun Heyu's attitude would be the same as his mother's, deeply disgusted with homosexuality. He was certain that Yi Chenliang wouldn't dare to act in front of so many people.
"Brother, you brought a classmate home for the Lantern Festival?" Sun Yuan smiled innocently.
Yun Heyu was cooking tangyuan in the kitchen, and Tang Yi was making tea. Seeing the two return, he quickly said, "Come, sit down and have some water first. We'll eat tangyuan soon."
Yun Fang ignored Sun Yuan and sat down next to Tang Yi with Yi Chenliang.
Then Tang Si just glanced at them briefly. She came today to discuss something important. "Second sister, what do you think about this matter?"
"Your brother-in-law and I just run a small business. We can't come up with that much money," Tang Yi's expression wasn't pleasant. "You should ask someone else."
"Second sister, you can't say that," Tang Si smiled awkwardly. "Brother-in-law earns so much, and your shop is doing well. I'm really out of options here. Besides, when Yuan Yuan gets into university and gets married in the future, we'll need to buy a house anyway. His father and I thought it's better to buy early than late. We're thinking of buying one in the city now. I'm not asking to borrow much, just 100,000 yuan."
Sun Zhengnan was still drinking tea, saying nothing.
Tang Yi almost laughed from anger. "Oh, so your Yuan Yuan needs to buy a house for marriage, and my Sugar needs to buy one too."
Tang Si pursed her lips, her gaze sweeping over Yi Chenliang. "Well, Sugar won't need to marry a wife in the future, right? Besides, you already have this apartment—"
Tang Yi slammed her teacup on the table, staring at Tang Si. "What are you saying? Who told you my Sugar won't marry a wife in the future?"
Tang Si smirked, "Doesn't he like men..."
"So what if he likes men? If he brings a man home, we'll still buy them a house and give a bride price. We won't skimp on anything!" Tang Yi said coldly. "Well, so you came here on a holiday just to make snide remarks and ask for money?"
"Second sister, calm down. Why are you so agitated?" Seeing that she seemed genuinely angry, Tang Si remembered her true purpose for coming. "Ah, I was just speaking casually. It's my fault for not choosing my words carefully."
Tang Yi remained cold-faced and didn't respond.
Tang Si took a sip of tea and sighed, "Your brother-in-law and I really have no choice. If we don't buy now, we won't be able to afford it in the future..."
Sun Yuan sat on the sofa, listening to his mother speaking humbly to his second aunt. He felt angry inside, thinking his second aunt and uncle were petty. It was just borrowing 100,000 yuan, not like they wouldn't pay it back. They were making such a fuss. Plus, being dragged out of the house by his mother on a holiday put him in a bad mood.
He looked at Yun Fang with a fake smile. "Cousin, so you've brought Yi Chenliang home? Does Second Aunt know you two are engaging in homosexuality?"
He deliberately glanced at Tang Yi. "Second Aunt, this Yi Chenliang is the one I told you about before. I caught them kissing when I came back."
As Tang Yi's anger rose and she was about to speak, Yun Fang cut her off.
Tang Yi was an elder after all, and it would be beneath her to argue with someone like Sun Yuan. It was most appropriate for him to handle this.
So he took a sip of tea and said calmly, "My parents know, although they found out later than you did."
Sun Yuan hated his composed and unruffled demeanor the most, looking at him with nothing but malice.
"Third Aunt, let me put it this way," Yun Fang ignored him and smiled at Tang Si. "We'd rather give our money away to beggars than give you a single cent."
Tang Si's face immediately darkened. "Second sister, did you hear what your Sugar just said!? Is this how you should speak?"
Sun Zhengnan also frowned, obviously feeling that his nephew was speaking too rudely.
"We borrowed money - it's only right to pay back what we owe."
"Paying back debts is a matter of course." Yun Fang looked at Sun Yuan emotionlessly. "When Sun Yuan randomly read my diary, colluded with a group of people to humiliate me, and forced me to commit suicide, then by the same token, a life for a life should also be a matter of course."
Tang Yi's face changed drastically.
Yun Heyu, who had been listening at the kitchen door, came out and frowned. "Sugar, what did you say?"
"Sun Yuan peeked at my diary, knew I liked Song Cun, forced me to confess to Song Cun on the day of junior high graduation, gathered a group of people to watch the fun, and even humiliated me. They even took some very bad photos. I couldn't bear the mental pressure and could only choose to commit suicide."
Sun Yuan's face turned deathly pale, probably not expecting Yun Fang to dare to say it in front of so many people. He was completely frightened, but still didn't forget to make excuses. "It wasn't me who told them to do it! I couldn't stop them!"
Yun Fang stared at him coldly. "Sun Yuan, are you feeling guilty when you say this?"
Sun Yuan angrily smashed a cup, stood up, pointed at him, and said in a shrill voice, "You're just a pervert, pretending to be a normal person! If you weren't a pervert, would I have done this? I was doing it for your own good! It's you who don't appreciate a good person! You blame others for your poor psychological endurance!?"
Probably because he couldn't accept being exposed by Yun Fang in front of so many people, he angrily cursed him. "What's so great about you! You're just good at studying and always put on a superior look, as if you're so awesome!"
"You're disgusting! A pervert!"
The adults were all stunned by the sudden turn of events. Yun Fang waited for him to lose his temper, very calm.
But Yi Chenliang couldn't keep his cool. He grabbed a teapot next to him and smashed it into Sun Yuan's face with great force. The teapot broke into pieces as soon as it hit his face, and the scalding tea splashed onto Sun Yuan, making him howl in pain immediately.
Before the others could react, Yi Chenliang grabbed his collar and punched him, "You're the disgusting one! I should have beaten you to a pulp back then, you bastard! F*ck!"
Due to Yi Chenliang's sudden outburst, the scene became very chaotic for a while afterwards.
Sun Yuan was beaten up without any ability to fight back. Sun Zhengnan and Tang Si saw their son being beaten and came to separate them. Yun Heyu, along with Tang Yi, also came to separate them. In the small living room, a group of people were mixed together, with moans, curses, cries, the sound of broken cups, and the cheerful music of the New Year's Eve gala on TV intertwined, making quite a lively scene.
Yun Fang originally had no intention of fighting, but after Yi Chenliang started fighting, he found that sometimes violence was the most direct and effective way to vent anger.
After the chaos, Tang Yi was obviously extremely angry. "Get out! You get out of our house! Don't come to our house again!"
She thought about how much she had doted on her nephew Sun Yuan over the years, and her heart ached with anger.
She had treated him like her own son, but he almost took her own son's life!
"Get out of here, all of you!"
When Sun Yuan ran out the door, Yun Fang grabbed him by the collar, and Sun Yuan instinctively covered his head.
"Sun Yuan, when you sleep at night, Yun Fang's ghost will stand at the foot of your bed and demand your life from you." Yun Fang laughed lowly and let go of his hand.
Sun Yuan wailed and crawled down the stairs.
After the chaos, the living room was a mess.
Tang Yi sat on the sofa crying, and Yun Heyu comforted her.
Yi Chenliang and Yun Fang were cleaning up the broken ceramic shards and trash on the floor.
Yi Chenliang quietly asked Yun Fang, "Was I too impulsive just now?"
Before Yun Fang could speak, Tang Yi picked up the conversation, her voice still tearful, "Xiao Yi beat him well! He should have been beaten to death! That heartless bastard!"
"We're not done with their family! The son Sun Zhengnan and Tang Si raised! Do they really think our Yun has no one!"
Yun Heyu had five brothers. Except for the third brother who went out to make his fortune in his early years and got lucky to enter a freight company and work in the city, the other brothers stayed in the town. Not to mention they also had seven or eight cousins, which could be considered a large family.
"I must argue with the Sun family properly!" Yun Heyu was obviously also very angry.
Although it's modern society, in towns and villages, clan relations were sometimes still very important. Sun Yuan's family lives in the town, and the few families see each other every day. The brothers didn't like the Sun family much to begin with, but since they have Tang Yi and Tang Si as in-laws here, it's not easy to do anything about it. Now that they'd torn off their masks, they didn't need to be so cautious anymore. They could pick out any old story from the past and the Sun family wouldn't be able to handle it.
Tang Yi and Yun Heyu asked Yun Fang in detail about the incident, and Yun Fang told them everything truthfully. Tang Yi was so heartbroken that she cried.
This Lantern Festival was very chaotic.
When it was late at night, Yun Fang sat at his desk and opened the drawer that he had always kept locked.
Inside were the things of the previous host.
A suicide note, a few photos with Song Cun, a diary, an unwritten letter, a Rubik's cube that Yun Heyu had bought for him that he had been looking forward to for a long time, and the birthday gifts Tang Yi and Yun Heyu had given him this year.
"You see, it's okay to say it out loud."
"Your father and mother love you more than they love themselves."
"You haven't done anything wrong."
"Sugar, happy Lantern Festival."
A gust of wind blew by, making the curtain sway slightly, like a silent response.