Work Text:
a-yuan is at the market stalls with wei ying and wen ning (heavily supervised by wen qing of course), when wen qing is looking through her grocery list. "We should buy some berries for a-yuan," she says. "They're healthier and good for hand-eye coordination when he's snacking."
wei ying, picking up an apple: is this a berry?
a-yuan: "noooo!"
wei ying, about an orange: "is THIS a berry?"
a-yuan, giggling, "nooooo!!!"
wei ying, pointing at a banana, "what about these berries?"
a-yuan scream-laughing, "that's not a berry!!!"
only to have the handsome serious-faced man behind the counter murmur under his breath, "well, it's sort of a berry," and wei ying perking up because YES, there are culinary and botanical definitions of berries, he's so glad someone gets him like this
after a few moments in which it is clear that wei ying is... interested, wen qing elbows wen ning and they continue grocery shopping with a-yuan, this time finding the strawberries wen qing *meant,* along with some other items she'd neatly itemized in her list.
when they get back, wei ying is still heavily in discussion, leaning into the man's space with a bright-eyed intensity wen ning hasn't seen in years. the man is well-groomed and polite, eyes straying fondly to a-yuan even as his attention snaps back to wei ying, which gives wen ning an idea.
he bends down to a-yuan's height and whispers in his ear. when a-yuan wraps his arms around the stranger's leg and asks if he'll be xian-gege's boyfriend, the startled-but-blushingly-pleased expression on wei ying's face is extremely gratifying.
“haha, what a silly thing to ask," wei ying asks as he tries to half-heartedly to disentangle a-yuan from the stranger's leg. "you can't go around asking strangers that! what if they're not single! What if they're not interested in xian-gege!" but he's looking up through his bangs as if he's scrutinizing the man's expression.
the man's ears turn red. "it's not silly at all," he says, after a brief pause (and a quick study of wen ning and wen qing's faces). "i would very much like to take you on a date. when you're free. if you're interested."
"We'll let you hash out the details," wen qing says as she beckons for a-yuan to come, and he immediately launches himself at her, bouncing between her and wen ning. "don't forget to get his number," wen ning mouths over a-yuan's head, and then out loud, "we'll just get coffee."
(while they wait for coffee, wen qing crosses out the last item on her well-worn grocery list. It reads, "set wei ying up on a date with someone he's interested in."
"good job, didi," she murmurs, reaching over to pat wen ning's hand, and then a-yuan's. "you did good today.")