Chapter Text
At 6 years old, Jin Ling was practically a miniature version of Jiang Cheng; and, when looking at the two side by side, it’s easy to see why. It’s glaringly obvious in the way he talks, frowns, and even crosses his arms. Their similarities are probably why people often assume that he’s Jin Ling’s older brother.
Random people on the streets kept mistaking Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng as brothers. And Jiang Cheng, being the oblivious grouch that he was, initially didn’t understand that they were referring to him. After the fifth time Jiang Cheng heard someone across the street say something about Jin Ling’s ‘brother’ while he was with his nephew, he finally cracked.
He immediately called his siblings and demanded that they meet at a-jie’s house. His tone was angry and slightly hysterical, causing both his siblings to worry. The last time Jiang Cheng sounded like this, Jin Ling had fallen ill.
Arriving at his a-jie’s house, Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling were ushered in by her and made to sit on the couch. Everyone was there — Jiang Yanli, Jin Zixuan, and Wei Wuxian. Jiang Cheng sighed in relief at seeing everyone while Jin Ling greeted each of them before bouncing over to Jiang Cheng and demanding to sit on his lap.
Jiang Cheng lifted Jin Ling up and onto his lap. He then looked at everyone seriously before asking, “Am I going crazy?”
“What? A-cheng, what brought this on?” Jiang Yanli asked in concern at the same time Wei Wuxian answered, “Of course you are, Chengcheng.”
“This is the fifth time I’ve gone out with Jin Ling and heard people mentioning how cute he looks with his brother.”
“But...Jin Ling doesn’t have a brother?” Jin Zixuan said in confusion.
“Exactly! I don’t know what those people are even talking about but they keep mentioning Jin Ling and his brother.”
Wei Wuxian gaped at his brother, “What??”
Jiang Yanli stared at Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling for a while before suddenly smiling, “Ah!~ I got it.”
Jin Zixuan turned to her, “A-li, please explain to us.”
“I think they’re confusing Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling as brothers.” she said with a happy smile on her face.
Jiang Cheng sputtered and Wei Wuxian immediately burst into loud laughs.
“You hear that, Chengcheng? It’s probably your baby face.”
“Hmm. I don’t think it’s that,” Jiang Yanli said, “It’s probably the way A-Ling acts like you.”
Jin Zixuan was still gazing at them in shock but when he heard what Jiang Yanli said, he started nodding, “Mhm. That’s true. For some reason, Jin Ling acts like you more than he acts like either of us.”
“But- I- Huh?” Jiang Cheng couldn’t form any coherent words.
“Yeah, that’s probably the reason why people think you guys are brothers,” Wei Wuxian nodded thoughtfully, “But what I wanna know is why Jin Ling acts like you!”
“I’m not sure,” Jiang Cheng murmured.
“Well,” Jiang Yanli said, “A-Ling is right here.”
At once, all four adults looked at Jin Ling, who was busy playing with his jiujiu’s hands. Feeling their gazes on him, Jin Ling looked up.
“Huh? Why’s everyone looking at A-Ling like that?” he tilted his head in curiosity.
Resisting her urge to coo, Jiang Yanli asked, “A-Ling, mama’s just wondering why you like to act like your jiujiu all the time.”
Puffing his chest in pride, Jin Ling answered, “A-Ling acts like that because jiujiu is his favorite.”
Wei Wuxian’s and Jin Zixuan’s jaws dropped. At the same time, Jiang Yanli started giggling, glad that her theory was right. After processing that he wasn’t Jin Ling’s favorite, Wei Wuxian got a look in his eyes.
“Jin Linggg, why’s Chengcheng your favorite? Shouldn’t it be me?” Wei Wuxian wheedled while giving Jin Ling a positively disgusting pair of puppy eyes.
‘Hmph,’ Jin Ling thought, ‘Da-jiu shouldn’t be making those eyes. Obviously I’m better at them than him.’
“Jiujiu is the best,” Jin Ling exclaimed, his cheeks puffed out adorably.
“He’s nice and he makes my favorite food and he’s my favorite because he- he’s my jiujiu.” Unable to articulate just why he loved Jiang Cheng so much, Jin Ling proceeded to glare at his Da-jiu and baba, not understanding why they didn’t understand.
‘They should all know that jiujiu is the best.’
Desperate to know why Jiang Cheng was Jin Ling’s favorite among everyone, Wei Wuxian asked, “What about your mama, A-Ling? Isn’t she your favorite too?”
“Mama is also my favorite but her and jiujiu are equal,” He harrumphed, “Besides, mama and jiujiu are different. Mama is mama and jiujiu is jiujiu.”
Jiang Yanli held her hand up to her chest while Jiang Cheng blushed and ducked in order to bury his burning face in Jin Ling’s hair.
--
The day after that, Jin Ling was dropped off at school by his parents and was told that his jiujiu would pick him up afterwards. Excited, he smiled at his parents and hugged them both tightly, squealing in glee.
It was a wonderful start to the day. However, as the day went on, Jin Ling’s mood slowly soured. Everything was going wrong and he didn’t know why. He wanted to scream or throw a tantrum and the only thing holding him back was the knowledge that jiujiu would come pick him up later.
He wanted to be on his best behavior because he knew his jiujiu would reward him with ice cream if he behaved in class.
The mistakes kept piling up. First, when he checked his bag for his crayons, he found out that he forgot them at home while working on a drawing. Next, his pencil fell down and after he picked it up, it fell down again. He was absolutely ready to burst.
Finally, the last straw came when his classmates made him and another kid, Lan Jingyi, get married. They forced them to hold hands and give each other kisses on the cheek. At first, Jin Ling didn’t mind but then, as he spent more time with Jingyi, he felt himself twitch in annoyance.
Jingyi kept bothering him and when Jin Ling asked him to stop politely, just like his mama told him to, he didn’t stop and kept annoying him. It was nearing dismissal and Jin Ling had finally had enough.
He blew up at Jingyi, unable to keep up with his annoying-ness anymore.
“WILL YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE? I KEEP ASKING YOU TO STOP ANNOYING ME BUT YOU’RE NOT STOPPING. JUST LEAVE ME ALONE. I DON’T LIKE YOU. GO AWAY!”, he shouted before leaving in angry tears, wiping his eyes as he left
Surprised and hurt by Jin Ling’s words, Jingyi started crying as well. “I JUST WANTED TO BE A GOOD HUSBAND,” he screamed as Jin Ling left before beginning to cry uncontrollably, unable to stop.
The teachers around who were observing the fight immediately left to calm down each child. However, their efforts were futile and both Jin Ling and Jingyi continued crying until their fetchers arrived to pick them up.
--
Jin Ling cried until his eyes were red and puffy and his throat hoarse. He heard footsteps; and, thinking that it was a teacher, further curled into himself in the hopes that they would leave him alone. He was feeling too much emotions and just wanted jiujiu.
A warm hand was placed onto his back and he heard his jiujiu’s reassuring voice.
“A-Ling, are you okay? What’s wrong?”
Jin Ling sobbed wordlessly and clung onto his jiujiu, breathing in his soothing scent. “Jiujiu, I-” he hiccupped, “I’m sorry. Me and Jingyi got married and then he- and then he kept annoying me so I got mad. I- I feel so bad. I’m so bad, jiujiu.”
“No, don’t say that about yourself, A-Ling. I’m sure Jingyi will understand if you apologize.”
“Jiujiu, can we- can we go to him. I wanna say sorry because mama says it’s mean to shout at other people.”
“Of course we can, A-Ling.” Jiang Cheng’s expression turned fond, proud of Jin Ling, “Can you point him out to me? Maybe we’ll see him here.”
He hoisted Jin Ling up and Jin Ling glanced around frantically before pointing in a specific direction. “There! Jiujiu, we have to go there!”
--
While Jiang Cheng was comforting Jin Ling, Jingyi was also being held by his baba, who stroked his head and hugged him tightly.
“A-yi, what’s wrong?”
“Baba,” Jingyi cried, “I- Me and Jin Ling got married but then he got mad at me because I was being annoying. I just wanted to be a good husbanddd.”
Lan Xichen froze, “What”
Oblivious to his baba’s reaction, Jingyi nodded and snuggled further into his embrace. “Me and Jin Ling got married a while ago so now I’m his husband but I don’t think he wants to be married to me.”
Lan Xichen internally went through all five stages of grief, lamenting the fact that Jingyi was now married and that he hadn’t even been there to witness it. Jingyi was only 6 years old… WAIT. JINGYI WAS ONLY 6.
He immediately despaired over what to do. How could this happen. He hadn’t even given his son the talk and he was now legally wedded to some other kid he hadn’t even met. Lan Xichen felt his heart break; he couldn’t even attend the wedding.
Finally gathering himself, he exhaled slowly and said, “Can I meet with Jin Ling and his parents so we can talk this out?”
Confused at his baba’s weird tone but excited that he accepted Jin Ling, Jingyi nodded enthusiastically. He couldn’t wait to let his baba meet Jin Ling. In fact, he was about to start looking for Jin Ling when he suddenly heard his voice near him.
He tugged on his baba’s clothes and pointed to the adult who was with Jin Ling. “Baba! Baba! There they are. Look, they’re coming!!”
--
“Jin Linggggg,” Jingyi cried when Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling reached them, “I’m sorry for annoying you earlier.”
Jiang Cheng put Jin Ling down and he glanced down in shame and guilt, “No. Don’t say sorry Jingyi. It’s my fault for being mean and shouting at you.”
“Yeah, but I was still really annoying.”
“No you weren’t. It was me who made a mistake.”
“No it was me who was wrong.”
“No me!”
Their apologies eventually dissolved into petty squabbles while Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng looked at them in amusement before accidentally locking gazes. Jiang Cheng looked down and blushed, utterly stunned at Lan Xichen’s looks.
Lan Xichen also blushed discreetly, feeling his heart beat erratically. ‘Is this what some people call love at first sight?’ Lan Xichen introduced himself. “Hi I’m Lan Xichen, and that’s Jingyi, my adopted son.”
Caught off guard by Lan Xichen’s smile, Jiang Cheng replied, “I’m Jiang Cheng and that’s Jin Ling, my nephew.”
“Mr. Jiang, is it alright if we go to a nearby cafe to solve this issue? Jingyi just told me that he and Jin Ling had gotten married and I’m worried about how this will affect them.”
Confused but willing to go along with him, Jiang Cheng nodded and agreed.
They both called the kids over and asked whether they wanted to go to a cafe so that they could talk for a while. The kids were a bit reluctant but agreed anyways.
--
Sitting down at the cafe a few minutes away from the kindergarten, Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen ordered hot chocolates and croissants for the kids to keep them from arguing and causing trouble while the two adults talked.
“Mr. Jiang, I’m afraid that this is a rather serious problem,” Lan Xichen said, a worried crease marring his forehead.
“What do you mean, Mr. Lan? I don’t think anything wrong happened aside from Jin Ling and your son getting into an argument.”
“What about the marriage? Shouldn’t it be annulled?”
Jiang Cheng stared at him and tilted his head in curiosity, “What do you mean annulled? Mr. Lan, are you aware that their ‘marriage’ is fake?”
Lan Xichen’s mouth opened in surprise. “Oh! I’m sorry for disturbing you then, I just.. I thought that it was real,” he said in mild embarrassment.
Jiang Cheng lifted his cup up and hid a small smile behind his drink.
‘Lan Xichen was...surprisingly cute.’
--
By the time Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling left, Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen had gotten closer. In fact, they could even be considered rather close acquaintances; and they could have even become friends if both kids hadn’t been tired and demanded that they go home.
On the car ride home, Jiang Cheng smiled slightly and Jin Ling glanced at him weirdly.
“Jiujiu,” he pouted, “why are you smiling so much?”
“Ah. It’s nothing, A-Ling.”
Jin Ling gave him an unimpressed glance which was rather reminiscent of how his mother looked scolding Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian. “Mhm. sureee,” he said sarcastically.
“Brat,” Jiang Cheng murmured fondly.
“Are you sure it’s not because of Lan Jingyi’s dad?” Jin Ling eyed him suspiciously.
Jiang Cheng blushed but said nothing except, “You brat.”
Jin Ling looked smug throughout the drive and when they arrived home, he waited for Jiang Cheng to unbuckle his seat before he immediately left to find his mom so that he could tell her of his ‘discovery’.
Jiang Cheng glared when Jin Zixuan and Wei Wuxian eventually found out. They teased him until his eyes were tearing up in frustration and he was blushing from embarrassment rage.
--
That week, the only notable thing that occurred was Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen’s first meeting and the marriage and the mutual dislike between Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi. Both adults expected that to be the last time they would ever meet. However, not even a week later, another incident happened, causing them to meet again.
--
Wednesdays were A-Ling and Jiujiu bonding days. It has always been like that, and it would continue to be that way.
Jin Ling had always favored his jiujiu over his other uncles and demanded that he get to spend more time with him. So, his parents agreed and allowed his jiujiu to pick him up from kindergarten every wednesday.
His jiujiu always came to pick him up and he was never — not even once — late. However, on that day, Jin Ling’s jiujiu was late.
At first, he thought that his jiujiu would just take a few more minutes to arrive. However, as time passed and as his classmates left one by one, Jin Ling began to panic. It was already 4 pm and the last kid from his class left. The only other person besides him was another kid from a different class.
Moving closer and squinting at the kid’s face, Jin Ling noticed that it was Lan Jingyi. Jin Ling was beginning to get antsy and he could tell that Jingyi was feeling the same, in the way that he fidgeted and shifted every now and then. Turning to him, he waved at him.
“Hi, Jingyi,” he said awkwardly.
Jingyi brightened, happy that Jin Ling was still waiting as well.
“So, uh, what time are you going to get picked up?” Jin Ling asked cautiously, afraid that Jingyi would get picked up earlier than him and leave him alone.
Jingyi immediately wilted and looked down at the ground, “I don’t know. My baba always picks me up on time but today he’s late. Do you think he forgot about me?”
Jingyi sounded extremely close to tears.
“No! I’m sure your baba is gonna pick you up. Just like my jiujiu will pick me up,” he hurriedly exclaimed, trying to reassure Jingyi to keep him from crying because as much as Jin Ling cried, he did not know how to handle tears.
They waited together in silence for a while, both scared that they would be left alone and forgotten by their respective fetchers. Eventually, Jingyi couldn’t keep his composure and started sobbing.
Seeing Jingyi cry made the situation feel that much more real and before he knew it, Jin Ling was hugging him and crying as well.
--
That was the scene that both Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen saw upon arriving. They had accidentally met up along the way; and, noticing that they were going in the same direction, asked each other whether they were going to the kindergarten.
When they both learned that they hadn’t picked up their kids yet, they internally breathed a sigh of relief for similar reasons. In Jiang Cheng’s case, he was glad that Jin Ling wasn’t alone. Similarly, Lan Xichen was also thankful that Jingyi wasn’t alone.
They both saw Jingyi and Jin Ling and tried picking up their respective child. However, their tears were unrelenting and through the blurriness, both Jin Ling and Jingyi were unable to see that the people holding them were actually their guardians.
They clung to each other and refused to separate. Finally, they calmed down once Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen spoke and they were able to recognize them.
Reunited with his jiujiu and held safely in his arms, Jin Ling buried his head into his neck, his violent sobbing turning into quiet sniffles. Meanwhile, Lan Xichen was unable to calm Jingyi down, no matter what he did.
Jin Ling, seeing that his new friend was still crying, tugged on Jiang Cheng’s shirt and pointed to Jingyi, wordlessly commanding him to move closer. Amused, Jiang Cheng obeyed and moved until he was in front of Lan Xichen.
Satisfied, Jin Ling reached his arms out and wrapped them around Jingyi, imitating his uncle by tucking Jingyi’s head into his neck. After a long moment which involved the kids hugging while the adults stood awkwardly, Jingyi calmed down and looked up from where Jin Ling had tucked his head.
He turned towards Lan Xichen and said, “Baba, did you forget about me? Was I being bad?”
At his words, Lan Xichen held him tighter and stroked his back reassuringly, his eyes suspiciously shiny, “No, A-yi. It was baba’s fault. Something came up during work and baba tried to call Wangji and uncle but they were handling something important. Baba promises to try his best to never do that again.”
Lan Jingyi sniffed again before nodding his head. “Okay, baba. You have to pinky promise okay?”
Lan Xichen’s expression softened even further and he looked even guiltier, “Okay, A-yi.”
“As payment for being late, you have to let Jin Ling come over tomorrow okay?”
“He can come over tomorrow, but don’t forget that you need to ask whether he’ll be allowed to come first.”
Satisfied with that, Lan Jingyi then turned around again to poke Jin Ling on the cheek. Jin Ling, who had been talking with his jiujiu, then levelled a half-hearted glare at him.
“Are you okay now, Jingyi?” he asked stiffly.
Jingyi beamed, “I’m all better now~ thank you, Jin Ling! By the way, do you wanna come to my house tomorrow?”
Jin Ling stared at him in shock before excitedly looking at Jiang Cheng. “Jiujiu! Jiujiu! Can I pleaseee go?”
Jiang Cheng fondly gazed back at Jin Ling before saying, “We have to ask your parents first, A-Ling.”
Not satisfied with his answer, Jin Ling frowned before looking at him with puppy eyes. “Please, jiujiu? Pretty pleaseeee”
Jiang Cheng felt his willpower crumble but quickly looked away so that he wouldn’t give in. “How about this, A-Ling. I’ll ask your parents tonight and I can text your friend’s baba whether they agree or not.” After saying that, Jiang Cheng gave Lan Xichen a pleading look — looking exactly like his nephew did — and Lan Xichen nodded his head, stifling a small smile from breaking out over his face.
“Okay, jiujiu,” Jin Ling sulked. Jiang Cheng sighed in relief, glad that they could find a solution without Jin Ling throwing a tantrum.
Jiang Cheng looked at his watch and gasped in surprise, “It’s already 5 pm. We need to go now, A-Ling.” He then looked at Jingyi and patted his head softly, murmuring, “Thank you for spending time with A-Ling today.” and straightened up to thank Lan Xichen as well.
“Thank you for allowing A-Ling to visit your house. Is it alright if we exchange numbers so I can keep you updated on his parents’ decision?”
Lan Xichen beamed at him before offering his number and thanking Jin Ling for staying with Jingyi. Finally, the pair of father and son left and Jiang Cheng carried Jin Ling over to his car. He strapped Jin Ling into his booster seat and got into the driver’s side before driving to his a-jie’s house.
--
On the way back, Jin Ling continued chattering about wanting to go to Jingyi’s house the next day. By the time they reached home, Jin Ling’s excitement hadn’t abated and in fact, it had increased even more.
He got off the car, nearly skipping in happiness, and entered the house with a blinding grin on his face.
“Mama, baba! Can I go to Jingyi’s house tomorrow? He’s so nice and we got married and he said that we can play together,” he chattered cheerfully and smiled, a stark contrast from his usual pout.
Jin Zixuan gaped, mouth open in shock. He looked like he had died and suddenly been resurrected from the shock.
“A-Ling… what?!” he exclaimed.
Oblivious to his father’s dilemma, Jin Ling pouted at him. “Baba, were you not listening to me,” he scolded, “I wanna play with Jingyi tomorrow at his house.”
Jin Zixuan fainted, Jin Ling screamed, Jiang Cheng snickered, and Jiang Yanli giggled.
“Baba!” Jin Ling shouted, “Are you okay?”
Jiang Cheng reluctantly carried Jin Zixuan up on the couch and laid him down while they waited for him to regain consciousness. Still giggling lightly, Jiang Yanli comforted Jin Ling. “Your baba was just surprised, dear. He’ll be alright soon. Now, tell me about your day? How was it?”
“Mama, it was great! We had art class and my teacher said that my drawing was really really nice. Then we had math and it was hard but I solved it by myself,” he puffed out proudly.
“That’s really nice dear. Can we see your drawing please?”
“Okayy. I’ll show you guys over dinner,” Jin Ling happily exclaimed, “I’m not done with my story yet. Okay and then when it was time to go, jiujiu was late! And it was just me and Jingyi left so we stayed together”