Chapter Text
Jin Ling loved his Cheng Jiujiu.
It wasn’t a weak feeling, no. He certainly, utterly and absolutely loved his Jiujiu. He was his grumpy grape uncle, the only one capable of understanding his murderous desire when someone said: smile for the camera as if he had to obey just because he was a pretty child. The only one who didn’t make foolish jokes expecting him to laugh or that dressed him in so shiny and uncomfortable clothes that he seemed a golden doll, or in uncle Wei’s words, a little peacock.
“Pavito, pavito! You’re a little peacock. A rightful son of your snooty father”
He didn’t want to be a little peacock! He didn’t want feathers coming out of his buttocks!! He had had nightmares about how his neck became large as a giraffe’s and blue as the deep sea, and then his back downside started to sting. When he turned to look at it, there were enormous and vibrant feathers where his ass should be, and he swore for the Jin ancestors, those dreams were moments of pure fear.
Long story short, he loved his momma (the best mom in the world), his dad (Big peacock?), and his uncle Wei (Mr. jokey-jokes), but hell, they didn’t comprehend that he had a grumpy and mature soul.
Also, they usually put him aside when they had “bonding moments with their partners” as his uncle Cheng called it. You know, mom and dad, uncle Wei and his scary-ice-cube of a boyfriend. His Jiujiu did not leave him alone, though. He didn’t have many friends of his age (any of them, sincerely), so uncle Cheng was his best friend and they spent a lot of time together. They pampered Fairy, shouted at dog owners whose dogs looked for a fight with her, watched and criticized movies and Tencent videos, drew purple and yellow people, did homework, baked cookies and cakes for his mom, accompanied each other while his Jiujiu worked as the boss of Yummeng Enterprises he was, and that kind of stuff. His uncle Cheng even taught him about accounting! Now he was better at saving money than his dad and uncle Wei.
“Jin Ling, you are my nephew, and no nephew of mine will be a pretentious peacock, understand? Do not waste money unless it is necessary”
“How do I know when something is necessary, Jiujiu?”
“It’s not obvious? When it is related to your mother, your work, or your dogs”
His uncle understands him. He talked to Jin Ling like he was an adult and put him on the bed when Jin Ling fell asleep on the sofa of his apartment.
Then, the smiley man came.
And everything was turned upside down.
He didn’t notice it at first sight. Smiley man penetrated into his uncle Cheng’s life as a hidden submarine. They were just corporate partners and brothers-in-law, so Jin Ling didn’t comprehend when and why they started to lunch together… with him seated between them!
He admitted that the Smiley man really gave him goosebumps the first time he saw him because Jin Ling had never believed before that a Lan could smile.
But this Lan smiled a lot and his Jiujiu seemed to have a weakness for his smile.
Oh, he had it. Many people could not recognize it, but Jing Ling knew uncle Cheng very well. When Lan Xichen was there, the sharpness and sarcasm in his words reduced to less than half of the usual. He even blushed a little sometimes, for the Jiang ancestors, blush! Could Jin Ling imagine the toughest man he knew bushing like a maiden before Lan Xichen? Of course not.
Well, perhaps he was making a storm in a glass of water since his uncle managed it as a professional, at least when Jin Ling was present, due to his blushes only consisted in a small, pale shadow of pink, nothing that could not be attributed to lights or temperature if he continued talking, as he always naturally did.
Nevertheless, that man was capable of reading his uncle as an open book, Jin Ling was sure. Lan Xichen’s smile became more bright and fond when his Jiujiu had one of his phantasmagorical blushes, and his chestnut eyes lighted up when his uncle’s silver orbs bored into his gaze for several seconds without talking, with an almost soft face. Like there was no one else in the world, not even his nephew who was sharing the same table!
Lan Xichen was a decent man. He didn’t make fun of him, nor scolded him. He helped Jin Ling with his homework and taught him how to improve his paintings, and since he was in his Jiujiu’s life, uncle and nephew fought less.
However, when his mom told him that he couldn’t go to his uncle’s apartment at the weekend because he would need time with Lan Xichen alone, Jin Ling decided he had had enough of this. He was irritated.
No, he was pissed off.
Lan Xichen already had an uncle, who actually is a grumpy old uncle.
(Yes, he was referring to Lan Qiren)
So, he wouldn’t take HIS grumpy uncle away!
This was the war.
And Jing Ling would be the winner, for sure.