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It wasn’t like Jiang Cheng was overly worried about Wei Wuxian. He knew Lan Wangji would take good care of his husband, no matter what form he took. But Jiang Cheng also couldn’t control his nagging conscience, and soon found himself walking down the path toward the Jingshi.
Today was the last day of the Discussion Conference. Thank fuck , Jiang Cheng thought to himself the moment he woke up earlier in the morning, back aching from all the sitting and chatting he’d done for the last two days. He’d scheduled for the Jiang Sect to head back to Yumeng promptly the following morning, which did not leave much free time for anything else. And Jiang Cheng really wanted to have another... uhm, heart-to-heart with Lan Huan in private.
( Ah, Lan Huan ~ It tickled him to no end that he got to address the Chief Cultivator so intimately.)
Jiang Cheng walked past the Cold Springs just in time to catch Wei Wuxian, buck naked, jumping into the water from a rocky ledge with frankly an alarming amount of enthusiasm.
“Wei Wuxian! Be careful!” Jiang Cheng immediately rushed over and scolded his brother, who had grown to an eight-year-old gremlin over the last two days.
“Oh! Hi Sect Leader Jiang!!!” Wei Ying waved both his arms in the air and sprayed water everywhere as a result.
“Why are you out here by yourself? Where’s Lan Wangji?” Jiang Cheng took multiple steps back away from the failing child once he deemed him not in danger of drowning.
“Lan Zhan is feeding the rabbits!!!!” Wei Ying said, pointed towards the Rabbits Hill.
“I’m surprised you’re not tailing him to pet the rabbits,” Jiang Cheng remembered the rabbits being brought in by Wei Ying literally a lifetime ago.
“They don’t love me,” Wei Ying frowned, tears suddenly forming in his doe eyes.
“Huh?” Jiang Cheng stood, dumbfounded. “They’re rabbits. They love whoever feeds them.”
“But they don’t love me, ” Wei Ying wailed, looking extremely sad and on the verge of tears.
“Ok, ok, don’t cry,” Jiang Cheng tried to put on a soothing tone, “Keep on swimming. Rabbits are no fun anyway.”
“I love rabbits!!! So much !! But they don’t love me !!!” Wei Ying sniffled, big fat teardrops are rolling down his chubby cheeks.
Jiang Cheng was at a loss as to what to do. He tried to recall what he had done with Jin Ling when he was a babe, but all he could remember was rushing off to find the nursemaids and eventually relying entirely on nannies to handle the emotional side of things. Also, who would cry over rabbits anyway?
“If you’re going to sulk, at least do it on dry land,” Jiang Cheng decided to focus on keeping the child from catching a cold instead of dealing with the tears first. He crouched down and offered a hand towards Wei Ying, who surprisingly obeyed and let himself be pulled out of the water.
Tossing the discarded white robes at the kid, Jiang Cheng grumbled, “Put your clothes back on and let’s go find something else you can do instead.”
Wei Ying, uncharacteristically, fastened his robes quietly and followed behind Jiang Cheng without much fanfare but a lot of sniffles. The pair wandered back to the guest quarters where the Jiang Sect stayed for the duration of the conference. They must look strange to the other disciples they pass by - with Jiang Cheng’s usual scowl replaced with a befuddled look and Wei Ying trailing behind, eyes brimmed red but no longer crying.
“Uhm... Are you hungry?” Jiang Cheng asked when they settled in his private room. With the mention of food, Wei Ying perked up and looked beseechingly at Jiang Cheng, “I’ll take that as a yes.”
It was long past breakfast but not yet lunchtime, and all Jiang Cheng had on his hands were a pouch full of spicy roasted lotus seeds. He handed it to Wei Ying whose return smile seemed to outshine the summer sun.
“Thank you Sect Leader Jiang!!!” Wei Ying said and immediately shoved a handful of seeds into his mouth with delight, thoughts of rabbits seemingly forgotten.
As he watched the kid munched on happily, Jiang Cheng wondered how much of his memories were returning, if at all. He entertained the possibility of rebuilding their relationship as Wei Wuxian grew up again without all the memories and burdens of past lifetimes. And seriously, how many lives would he have??? “Wei Wuxian? Do you remember who I am?” Jiang Cheng asked, with “ to you” left unsaid.
Wei Ying turned his large brown eyes from the lotus seeds to Jiang Cheng, “Hmm? You’re Sect Leader Jiang!”
“Is that it....?”
“Well,” Wei Ying paused, eyebrows knitted together as if he was giving it a great deal of thought. “I remembered you were a little bit... mean... at first,” he said, hesitating before continuing on with a shrug, “But then you gave me spicy lotus seeds!!!”
Jiang Cheng chuckled despite himself. The kid was honest if nothing else. “Just because I give you food, I’m suddenly not mean anymore?”
Wei Ying nodded enthusiastically, “You still look a bit scary, but it’s ok!!! Lan Zhan told me it’s just how your face looks - you can’t help it!”
“He said what?!!!!” Jiang Cheng yelped, but before he could say anything more on the matter, he heard voices echoing down the path toward his room.
“Uh oh! A-Ying is in so much trouble,” Wei Ying mumbled when he recognized one of the voices outside.
Just as Jiang Cheng was about to hunt down the source of the ruckus, the door blew open and Lan Zhan rushed in. “Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan walked right up to where the kid was and patted him up and down, “Are you ok?”
“Hanquang-jun, although I am only a guest at the Cloud Recesses, this is still my private chambers. How could you just run in like that?” Jiang Cheng protested. “And besides, why wouldn’t he be ok here? Stop being so ridiculously overprotective!”
“Lan Zhan!! I’m ok! Sect Leader Jiang gave me spicy lotus seeds!” Wei Ying interrupted, smiling and waving the almost empty pouch at Lan Zhan. “Isn’t he nice?”
“Wei Ying, I asked you to soak in the Cold Springs to speed up your healing progress. Did you do that?” Lan Zhan asked, ignoring the sputtering Jiang Cheng looming behind him.
“I did! Until Sect Leader Jiang came by and asked about the rabbits...” Wei Ying paused, “And I told him I didn’t go feed the rabbits with you because they don’t love me!!!!” He began to tear up in earnest.
“Oh no, here he goes again,” Jiang Cheng muttered. “Lan Wangji, I have no more snacks to offer the kid to cheer him up - so you work your magic or whatever.”
“I told you before - the rabbits love you, Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said softly, cupping the kid’s face with both of his hands and gently wiped away the tears with his thumbs. “But you have to be patient with them. They’re very skittish.”
It took all of Jiang Cheng’s strengths to not gag, “Are you two done being all mushy here?” He scrunched up his nose and wiggled his fingers at the pair.
“Sect Leader Jiang,” Lan Zhan stood up and turned to face him, “My apologies for coming in unannounced. I was worried when Wei Ying disappeared again and was alarmed when a few disciples informed me they saw him following behind you looking...distressed.”
“Yes, so I could find something fun for him to do since he was crying over the rabbits,” Jiang Cheng said. “If I had known the Cold Springs could speed up his healing, I would have let him stew in there by himself.”
Lan Zhan barely acknowledged Jiang Cheng’s response before turning back to the troublemaker and said, “Wei Ying, bid Sect Leader Jiang goodbye. We need to head back for the lecture.”
“Goodbye, Sect Leader Jiang!!!” Wei Ying all but shouted, gone were the tears shed over rabbits, “Thank you for the lotus seeds!!!” He bowed deeply before bouncing out of the room behind Lan Zhan.
Jiang Cheng felt a headache forming and reached for the teapot. He wished he had snuck in more wine.