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Out of all the places that Cangse Sanren thought of revisiting, the Cloud Recesses wasn't one.
She could already hear the reprimanding voice of a certain Gusu Lan Sect Member as she stood in front of the entrance, holding the chubby little hand of a small toddler by her side.
If it hadn't been for their donkey suddenly tripping over a stone and injuring itself on the outskirts of Caiyi Town, she wouldn't even be here in the first place, she lamented. But oh well, since she was already here, might as well have some fun, while her husband took their donkey to a doctor*.
Cangse Sanren turned to the toddler beside her, who was sucking on his thumb while he curiously looked around, silver eyes wide.
“A-Ying,” she cooed in fond amusement, matching eyes crinkling at the corners.
“Mommy,” A-Ying immediately said back, like she had expected him to.
Even though he sounded innocent enough, Cangse Sanren knew that her son felt childish delight in being able to talk back.
She couldn't help but feel gleeful at her son becoming sassy already at just one and a half years.
The female cultivator could still remember how Wei Changze had abruptly turned to her with a deadpan look on his face when A-Ying had done this for the first time, saying: “This is your fault.”, to which she had only madly crackled, with little A-Ying happily clapping his hands in the background.
Now, in the present time, she squatted down to the toddler's height, grinning despite her serious tone, “We're going to visit Mommy's old friend now. The people there are very boring, but be nice, okay?”
“Okay!” A-Ying repeated enthusiastically, despite not having understood what she had told him just now at all.
Cangse Sanren knew this, of course, and unsuccessfully tried to hold back her laughter.
In the Cloud Recesses, a certain Gusu Lan Sect Member shuddered as he thought he'd heard a familiar dreaded laugh. He could already feel his right eye twitching in annoyance as he turned towards the entrance to the Cloud Recesses.
“Uncle?” a young voice inquired and he turned back around to his two little nephews who had been trailing behind him obediently until now, his face softening on its own.
“It's nothing. Let us continue,” he said calmly.
He was about to start walking again when he heard a cheerful voice call his name from behind him.
“Lan Qireeeen,” the voice called, freezing his insides.
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Lan Qiren slowly turned around to face the newcomer.
As he had dreaded, Cangse Sanren was walking towards him, slower than he had been expecting her to. He almost raised an eyebrow at the surprising show of restraint until he saw the little toddler whose hand she was holding, while she waved at him with the other. Even though, he could feel a headache coming, he waited for the two to approach.
“Lan Qiren,” Cangse Sanren repeated excitedly. “Hi!”
“Cangse Sanren,” Lan Qiren replied dryly. “Need I remind you that loud noise is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses?”
Cangse Sanren waved him off, “No need, no need. I'm well aware of your Sect's many, many rules.”
Lan Qiren gave a noncommittal hum, not caring if he seemed impolite, “What brings you here?”
And what can I do to make you leave again?
Cangse Sanren's eyes were twinkling in amusement as if she knew exactly what he was thinking, “Oh, nothing much. We were just passing through when I thought 'Hey, why not visit my most favorite old classmate?'”
She was bullshitting and he knew it. But all he could do in the presence of three children was glare at her bright grin.
“You know, Lan Qiren, I've been thinking,” Cangse Sanren continued. “I've had such a good time here during my studies. This place really brought out the best of me.”
Lan Qiren had to remind himself that snorting was impolite.
“And I thought, I can't let any child of mine be deprived of this pleasure.”
Lan Qiren didn't like where this was going at all.
“So, I was thinking that once he's old enough, my dear A-Ying should come here to study too!”
Please, no. He couldn't take another Cangse Sanren.
Said
incarnation of evil
woman bent down to her son's height with a bright grin on her face, “Would you like that, A-Ying?”
But the toddler wasn't looking at her.
His attention laid on the younger one of the two other children, who was also looking at him. A-Ying's silver eyes were wide with innocent curiosity and as he studied the boy in white with the golden eyes, he found himself unable to look away.
The other boy was slightly hidden behind his older brother, who looked between the two of them with a confused look on his face. Lan Huan had noticed that his little brother had been staring at the unfamiliar boy ever since he had first seen him and it was unusual for shy little A-Zhan to stare at strangers.
“A-Ying?” Cangse Sanren called out questioningly when her son suddenly let go of her hand and stumbled towards Lan Qiren's younger nephew with clumsy steps.
It looked like little A-Ying was about to fall down, when he took a hold of the other boy's hand, much to the shock of everyone else. A-Ying grinned brightly as he held the other boy's hand tightly with his own chubby one.
“Pwetty!” he declared loudly, making the adults freeze both for different reasons, much like little A-Zhan, who was staring at A-Ying with wide eyes.
Lan Huan's first thought was that his baby brother felt uncomfortable at being touched by a stranger until he saw his red earlobes and the awe in his eyes.
Lan Huan's mouth formed a perfect o-shape as he came to a realization.
This however was lost on Lan Qiren, who was ready to spit out blood at the sight.
Cangse Sanren was the exact opposite.
After a second of processing, she promptly threw her head back and laughed loudly. Who knew her little A-Ying was so bold!
A-Ying ignored his mother as his grin turned into a smile with big innocent eyes that only a child could have and repeated in a sweet voice: “Pwetty.”
A-Zhan felt his head ready to burst as all the heat from his body seemed to rush there at once. His innocent mind thought that it must be because of the fact that there was currently a small sun right in front of him, emitting such a warmth that he could feel his insides melting.
Unconsciously, he gripped A-Ying's chubby hand back just as tightly with his own, unable to look at anything other than the other toddler.
A-Ying however wasn't finished yet.
Now that he had found such a pretty new playmate, he wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. Best, if they could be together forever!
Again, a bright smile graced A-Ying's face as he began to tug the other toddler towards the big garden he had seen earlier.
“Go play!“ A-Ying exclaimed excitedly.
As dazed as A-Zhan was, he obediently let himself be pulled along by this strange child he had just met.
Lan Huan felt a wide smile tug at his mouth as he hurriedly bowed to the two adults, one of them being his uncle who was still frozen in shock, and followed after the two toddlers.
A-Ying pulled the still dazed A-Zhan to the nearest pond and directed him to sit there on one of the big stones, making sure that the spot was clean of any smaller sharp rocks and dirt. His small chubby face was still shining brightly at A-Zhan like he was a precious treasure that he had just found.
A-Zhan felt his cheeks heat up at the look of utter adoration that A-Ying sent his way. His small heart beat loudly in his chest and since he was too young to understand, A-Zhan didn't notice that he had already lost it to the toddler with the silver eyes.
Said toddler felt like he needed to give his precious new treasure a gift to show his appreciation of his beauty and so he promptly went to look for flowers. Since he had often seen his father give his mother flowers and his mother always seemed happy to get them, his small mind decided that he would do the same for his new friend.
A-Zhan didn't understand what A-Ying was trying to do when he squatted down to pick up the white flowers that bloomed around the pond but decided to help him anyway. However, when A-Ying saw him get up and try to pick up flowers himself, he immediately shot back up, pouting hard at A-Zhan.
A-Zhan, feeling as though he had done something wrong, almost felt like crying before A-Ying promptly took his hand and pulled him back to the rock he had placed him on earlier.
“Put**,” A-Ying ordered in a solemn voice.
A-Zhan nodded obediently, forgetting his tears in place of watching A-Ying continue picking up more flowers, the bouquet in his arms getting bigger and bigger- at least in the measurements of their small bodies.
After deciding that he had gathered enough flowers, A-Ying straightened himself back up and quickly went back to A-Zhan.
Coming to a halt before the other toddler, A-Ying presented him the bouquet of white flowers with a big smile on his face, “Wowers!”
Little A-Zhan's eyes widened, both at the smile that his new sun gave him and the big bouquet of flowers thrusted into his face. He could smell the sweet aroma of the blossoms, which made the moment even more precious.
With burning ears, A-Zhan accepted the flowers, holding them delicately in his small arms, careful not to crush them accidentally. Even if A-Zhan didn't know how, A-Ying's smile only seemed to be getting brighter at that and distinctively he was worried that his small heart might just explode from how fast it was thumping.
But it was okay. He liked it.
Lan Huan smiled contentedly from where he was watching over the two toddlers while they played some more, happy that his brother had found a friend. Maybe, with the help of his new friend, his little Didi might even open up more and maybe even smile more, like he was doing right now.
At that moment he vowed to protect them both from anything that might want to take their radiance away, as any big brother would.
A bit further away, Lan Qiren and Cangse Sanren also watched the two toddlers, having followed them after the older Lan regained his composure.
“Aw, look at my little YingYing, already picking up beauties at this age,” Cangse Sanren cooed, while Lan Qiren shot her a slightly disgruntled look from the corner of his eyes.
But as his eyes fell back to the small pair and as he saw his nephew being excited and happy because of his new friend, even if he could not show it clearly, Lan Qiren's face softened on its own and he could feel a matching smile tug at his mouth.
“Looks like we might need to come a bit more often here,” Cangse Sanren teased her old classmate, who only harrumphed at her.
But Cangse Sanren's smile only got wider as she also watched her little A-Ying play with A-Zhan.
Maybe coming here was not such a bad idea after all.
Who knows, it might have even been fate.