Chapter Text
Jin Ling sat sideways on a sofa chair in his living room. One leg was thrown over the armrest the other dangled off to the side. Listening to his parents, uncle, and grandparents talking he scrolled aimlessly through his phone, looking for the perfect picture of Fairy to post to his Instagram. A question directed at his uncle Jiang Cheng caused him to pause his search and actually start to process what was being said around him.
“You are coming this weekend though right, Jiang Cheng?” His mom asked. His uncle looked unsure.
“Everyone will be there, even Jin Ling for once.” She gestured at him. Of course, they were talking about the annual family BBQ his grandfather, Jin Guangshan, held every year. Jin Ling had only missed last year because it was his second official date with Lan Sizhui and like hell was he was going to miss that just to spend time with half a family he barely likes. Seeing as how that was the first time he had been able to escape the dreaded family barbeque he had no idea what his mother was talking about. Either way, it was a false statement. He was going to be missing this year as well.
“Actually mom...I won’t be at this years either. I have plans.” He tucked his phone away as he said this, also turning to sit on the chair properly (he couldn’t believe his Grandma Yu hadn’t said anything about it beforehand honestly). This declaration had everyone turning towards him.
“I promised Lan Sizhui I’d go with him to his father’s wedding.” He defended himself. Grandma Yu’s nose scrunched at this like she had smelled something rotten.
“His parents aren’t married?” Her tone was not a good one.
“No, but I think they’ve been engaged for a long time though. Hold on I’ll go get the invitation.” He stood quickly and tried not to run to his room. He didn’t want to hear his grandmas whispered judgments about Lan Sizhui’s parents. They were really nice, and he didn’t see a problem with the fact that they weren’t married yet. He did catch his grandma’s shocked “You’ve never met them?! Do you even know their names?!” They didn’t, in fact, know Sizhui’s parent's names and suddenly realized that this might be a harder sell than he originally imagined. He completely ignored the rock that seemed to settle in his gut when he thought about the fact that he had been dating Lan Sizhui for a year now and his parents still didn’t know anything about him, and that they had only met him five times over the course of the year.
Reaching his room at last he shot Sizhui a quick text and then fished the invite out of his backpack. Taking the stairs back down two at a time he made it back to see his grandmother and mom leaning close to each other, having a whispered argument. They saw him though and pulled away from each other before he could catch any of the words.
He handed the invitation card to his mom and turned back to sit in his original chair but froze when he heard her gasp. Turning back to her, her hand was over her mouth and she looked as though she was about to cry.
He had no idea what to do. He couldn’t remember ever seeing such a look of utter sadness on his mother’s face. She quickly handed the card to his Uncle Chang who’s face quickly became clouded. With anger or sadness, Jin Ling didn’t know.
“Is..is everything okay?” He asked quietly as his grandmother pulled the card from his uncle’s hands. Her face was most definitely clouded over in anger. She looked at him, eyes narrowed.
“You’re not going.” Her tone left no room for argument. Jin Ling’s eyes narrowed in response but before he could answer Jiang Cheng stood up.
“Yes. He is. Jin Ling, ask Lan Sizhui if you can come over right now. The adults need to have a family discussion and it will be best if you’re not here. I’ll drive you.” Uncle Cheng left the room quickly after that, ignoring Grandma Yu’s sputtering of “How dare- “.
Jin Ling looked to his parents, both of which were too focused on the invite card that was now back in his mother’s hands. He quickly texted Lan Sizhui and ran to catch up to his uncle.
The 30-minute ride to Lan Sizhui’s was tense and quiet save for Jin Ling's quick directions. They pulled up to the large house and Jin Ling could see Lan Sizhui standing on the front lawn, his smile brightening as he caught Jin Ling's gaze. Lan Sizhui walked quickly to him, pulling him into a quick hug as soon as he was free of the Jeep.
The sound of a slamming door alerted Jin Ling that Jiang Cheng had left the vehicle as well. His uncle was resolutely making his way to the front door. Jin Ling looked to Lan Sizhui who smiled and gave him a thumbs up.
“I hope Uncle doesn’t hurt your dad” he whispered. Lan Sizhui laughed, bright and loud.
“Oh, dads not home, father made sure he wouldn’t be so don’t worry” he whispered back, smile still bright. Jin Ling nodded, pleased that they had thought that far ahead.
Jiang Cheng knocked on the door loudly and slightly more aggressively than Jin Ling thought absolutely necessary. The two boys stood to the side, still on the lawn, ready to witness the fallout of their coup.
Lan Sizhui’s father, Lan Wanji, opened the door looking entirely unruffled by Jiang Cheng’s loud and aggressive knocking.
“Jiang Wanyin, it’s been a while. How can I help you?” He was very polite considering Jiang Cheng looked like he was ready to murder him, Jin Ling thought.
“Where. Is. He.” Jiang Cheng bit the words out, though Jin Ling could see his uncle was struggling not to yell. Still, Lan Wanji looked unruffled.
“He’s not home right now, but I know he wants you and Jiang Yanli there this weekend.” With this said he pulled out three invite cards from his pocket and handed them to Jiang Cheng. At first, Jin Ling didn’t think his uncle would take them, he was just staring at them. Then, very quickly, he pulled the cards out of Lan Wanji’s hand as if he was afraid that they would disappear before he could get them. Again, Lan Wanji ignored his uncle’s rudeness.
“I know what happened all those years ago hurt everyone in your family, but I think it’s been long enough, don’t you?” That was the most Jin Ling had ever heard Lan Wanji talk to anyone who wasn’t Sizhui or his fiancé. Jiang Cheng’s fist tightened around the invite cards but he didn’t say anything, his eyes focused solely on the cards.
“I’ve included a third one, for Madam Yu and President Jiang. Just in case.” This got a snort from Jiang Cheng, his eyes finally leaving the cards and sweeping back up to Lan Wanji.
“I’ll pick up Jin Ling later tonight when it’s safe to do so.” Lan Wanji nodded at this.
“He won’t be here then either.” Lan Wanji informed him before turning and heading back in the house, closing the door behind him and leaving Jiang Cheng on the doorstep.
Jiang Cheng turned on his heel and started for the Jeep. Before getting back in though, he turned to the two boys, eyes falling on Jin Ling.
“I’ll text you when I’m on my way to pick you up.” With that, he got back into his Jeep and drove off.
“I can’t believe it worked!” Sizhui said, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him excitedly as soon as Jiang Cheng was out of sight.
“I told you it would be Uncle Cheng who came. I’m worried about what’s going to happen at home though. Grandma Yu looked so mad…” Jin ling crossed his arms, almost like he was hugging himself. Lan Sizhui’s smile softened, and he pulled Jin Ling's arms away from himself and wrapped his arms around him instead. Jin Ling returned the hug, burying his face in Sizhui’s neck.
“It will work out fine. And even if they don’t come, at least we tried right?” Jin Ling nodded, still tucked into Sizhui’s shoulder. Lan Sizhui hummed and then lead Jin Ling into the house.
When Jiang Cheng picked him up several hours later Jin Ling knew the ‘adult’ conversation they had didn’t go well. The fact that his uncle brought him back to his apartment, not Jin Ling’s house, was all he needed to figure that out.
“I’ll drop you off at school in the morning. Your backpack is in the back of the car.” His uncle said as they climbed the steps up to his apartment. As soon as they got into the apartment Jin Ling tried to escape, heading straight for the spare room that was designated as his, but Jiang Cheng stopped him with a strained ‘wait’. Jin Ling turned; Jiang Cheng’s gaze was fixed on something just beyond him but after a moment he turned and locked his gaze on Jin Ling.
“How…. how long have you known that Wei Wuxian knew your mother and me?” Jin Ling considered lying but brushed the thought away quickly. That wouldn’t help his family reconcile. Sighing he pulled out his phone and pulled up a picture he had taken of Lan Sizhui. At first glance it was just a side shot of Sizhui, who sat with his fingers poised over the strings of a guqin, ready to play. Jiang Cheng looked confused, turning his gaze from the photo back to Jin Ling.
“How does this answer anything?” Rolling his eyes Jin Ling zoomed in on the wall behind Sizhui. The wall was covered in various framed photos. Zooming in on the photos made them slightly blurrier but you could still see the figures in them. Jin Ling knew his uncle had seen what he wanted to show him when he heard his breath catch in his throat.
The middle picture was of three people, two boys, and one girl. The middle one was Wei Wuxian. To the left and right of him was Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli, Jin Ling's mother. Wei Wuxian had his arms thrown over the other two’s shoulders and he and Jiang Yanli had wide smiles on their faces. Jiang Cheng had a smaller, and dimmer smile adorning his face.
“They have at least three other photos of the three of you on the walls around the house.” Jin Ling said, closing the photo and putting his phone away. “Not to mention the other photos of either just him and mother or just him and you. It didn’t take me long to figure it out the first time I went to his house to meet his parents.” He shrugged.
“You never said anything. Why.” Jiang Cheng said this as more of a demand than a question. He shrugged again.
“No one has ever asked about Sizhui’s parents. The three of you have only ever met him five times in the year we’ve been dating. None of you seemed all that interested.” Saying it out loud made a deep sadness that Jin Ling had thought he suppressed rise up. Jiang Cheng frowned.
“Then why…”
“Why did I bring it up tonight? Because Sizhui and I overheard his parents talking about the wedding a few months ago. Wei Wuxian was upset but adamant that Lan Wanji not invite you guys. He didn’t think any of you would come and he didn’t want to cause, and I quote ‘any more tears in the family than I already have’.” Jiang Chengs frown seemed to deepen, “the next time I was over we spoke to Lan Wanji and got his approval and help to find a way to at least invite you guys to the wedding. Hence, today.”For a second Jin Ling thought he was going to be yelled at, but Jiang Cheng simply sighed and ran his hand through his hair, his gaze finding that imaginary spot behind Jin Ling again. When he realized his uncle was done interrogating him, he bid him goodnight and finally retreated into his bedroom.
Jin Ling spent the next hour texting with Sizhui, letting him know everything that had happened since leaving. It took a while for him to fall asleep that night, his thoughts a tangled mess of worry and sadness.
Morning came quickly and the two were out the door with only 20 minutes left to get Jin Ling to school on time. Before Jin Ling could get out of the Jeep once they did arrive, Jiang Cheng put his hand on his shoulder.
“Your driver will pick you up after school. If it’s not your driver, if its anyone else, you call me right away and you stay in the school until I get here. You understand?” His uncle's face was twisted with worry and maybe just a bit of anger. Jin Ling only nodded, too worried himself to say anything. His uncle nodded and gave his shoulder a light squeeze before letting Jin Ling get out of the vehicle.
As he watched his uncle drive away, he could only wonder what had happened between his family and Wei Wuxian all those years ago.