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“Baba, I’m bored!”
Wei Changze sighed, looking at his son with an exasperated expression. Little A-Ying had been bemoaning about his boredom for quite some time now.
He just shook his head, smiling a little at his son. “We’re waiting for Mama. You can be patient, right A-Ying?”
He knew it was futile, but he tried to appease his son anyway.
His wife was chasing the scoundrel that refused to pay them for their curse-breaking services. He wasn’t entirely sure if chasing the man to Gusu was a good idea, but they were due what they were owed. They couldn’t allow themselves to be swindled with A-Ying, after all.
So here they were, waiting in the room that Wei Changze had booked for the night. Wei Ying was bouncing off the walls while he himself sat at the low table, sipping on the complimentary tea their host served.
A-Ying gave him a look that spoke of incredulity. “But Baba! She’s been gone forever already! What if she got lost?”
Wei Changze was about to respond, but after looking at the incense stick that was now halfway burned, he couldn’t help but wonder if Cangse Sanren did get lost…or distracted. His wife let anything of interest steal her attention, after all. Mixed in with her penchant for mischief, he wouldn’t be surprised if she forgot the whole reason they came to Gusu in the first place.
With reluctance, he looked out the window to see the afternoon sun. It was rather late and they still needed to grab lunch. He turned to his son, giving in to the little boy’s demands.
“All right, A-Ying. We’ll go look for her.”
A-Ying cheered loudly, running to grab his shoes while Wei Changze stood. It took A-Ying a few minutes to put his boots back on, but once they were secured on his feet he slammed his little body into his father’s legs.
“I want up!”
Wei Changze chuckled, lifting his son into his arms, but A-Ying just shook his head.
“Higher!” the boy yelled, so Wei Changze adjusted his hold so he could place A-Ying on his shoulders.
“Now I’m taller than you and I’ll be the one to find Mama!”
Wei Changze just smiled fondly.
As they exited the inn, they got strange looks from the patrons, but mostly because A-Ying was pulling on his hair as if he could control his father’s movements that way. This earned them a few chuckles from the aunties, shaking their heads and recalling when their own children were that small. The man that was running the front desk gave him a sympathetic look, but Wei Changze took it in stride.
Fatherhood was no burden to him. A-Ying had inherited his mother’s quirks, but that just made him love them both more.
As they walked through the crowds, little A-Ying started to seriously scan the people around them. He looked absolutely adorable with the way he squinted his eyes and scrunched up his mouth and nose as if it would help him see farther.
Suddenly, A-Ying tugged on his hair a little too sharply and he winced in pain.
"Baba, look! Over there!" A-Ying yelled, physically turning Wei Changze's head in the direction that he wanted him to look. "I think that boy is lost."
That got Wei Changze's attention. Indeed, there was a little boy, possibly not much older than A-Ying, standing by himself in the crowded market. He wore Lan white and blue robes with a inner sect forehead ribbon, marking him as a part of the main family. He was standing idly, ignoring the people around him, kicking a little stone back and forth with his foot.
He took a look up at his son. "Maybe we should help him first, then find Mama?" he asked. A-Ying nodded vigorously, swinging his whole body back and forth for some reason and Wei Changze had to hold on to him tighter lest he fall off his shoulders.
After getting A-Ying resettled, he carefully approached the boy.
"Excuse me, young master, but are you lost?" he asked gently, smiling as friendly as possible so as to not scare the child.
He was mostly ignored. The little boy only scrunched his nose and looked away.
"Hey, that's not polite!" A-Ying grumbles, and Wei Changze had to repress a snort at the irony. A-Ying was rarely ever polite on a good day, often forgetting his manners since they weren't around polite society much while on the road.
The boy's eyes widened a fraction, but he stubbornly refused to say anything. Wei Changze laughed softly, kneeling down so that he was eye level with the little Lan.
"Let me guess, you were told not to talk to strangers?" he asked kindly, remembering how strict the Cloud Recesses were with their rules.
The boy nods, almost imperceptibly, pouting a little.
A-Ying swings his whole body sideways and Wei Changze barely reacted in time to catch the boy by the ankles, holding him upside down. Before he could lecture his son, A-Ying calls out, "Why can't you talk to strangers? How would you meet anybody that way? Or ask for directions? Or order food? That's a dumb rule!"
The little Lan narrowed his eyes at A-Ying, a retort sitting on his lips, but he still honored the rule of not talking to strangers.
Wei Changze sighed. "Excuse my son, young master. He is still learning his manners, right A-Ying?" he pointedly said, shaking A-Ying a little and making the boy laugh. "My name is Wei Changze. I understand you're not supposed to talk to strangers, and that is an important rule to follow, but there are exceptions that you will learn about when you're older," he implored calmly. "A-Ying is right to mention some of those exceptions. If you are lost, it's good to ask someone for help."
The boys eyes widened further, finally looking at Wei Changze with some scrutiny. "I'm not lost," he finally says, kicking the pebble once more.
"That's good. I'm glad to hear that," he replied, righting A-Ying before the boy got a headache from all the blood rushing to his head. He sat A-Ying down on his knee and his son looked at the other boy curiously. "Are you waiting for someone?"
The boy nods. "My brother," he answered.
"You have a brother?!" A-Ying shouts excitedly and Wei Changze shushes him, reminding his son to use his small voice. With how nervous the little Lan seemed, he didn't want to frighten him and cause him to run off.
"Is it okay if we wait here with you until your brother gets back?" he asked, ignoring his son's pouting lips and crossed arms. "It's dangerous to be by yourself in a crowded place like this. There are bad strangers, after all."
The boy nods again, still looking apprehensive.
A-Ying nods along with him, as if the previous interaction never happened. "Baba is always right!" he announces, sticking his hand out toward the little Lan. "I'm A-Ying! What's your name? Can we be friends?"
"A-Zhan," the boy said, looking at Wei Changze rather than addressing A-Ying.
Wei Changze chuckled at A-Ying's pout, ruffling his son's hair. A-Zhan. So the little Lan's name was Lan Zhan? Where did he hear that before?
His eyes widened as realization hit him.
"A-Zhan! You're Lan Qiren's nephew!"
At the sound of his uncle's name, A-Zhan's eyes widened in full. "You know Shifu?"
"Who is Shifu?" A-Ying asked quickly, not wanting to be left out of the conversation.
A-Zhan pouted. "Not your Shifu," he grumbled, looking absolutely adorable.
Wei Changze put a hand on A-Zhan's little shoulder. "Your Shifu is a good friend of mine. My wife and I attended your first birthday celebration shortly after A-Ying was born," he explained. A-Zhan looked decidedly uncomfortable with his touch, so he quickly removed his hand. "You've grown so much, young master!"
"I'm grown too!" A-Ying piped in, hating to be ignored. "I met A-Zhan before?"
"Yes, when you were a baby," Wei Changze chuckled.
Before A-Ying could say more, the sound of running feet approached them.
"A-Zhan, I'm so sorry!" another little boy shouted. He was wearing the same robes and forehead ribbon as A-Zhan, but he was a bit taller. Wei Changze blinked, noticing that the two looked very much alike that if it weren't for the slight height difference he would think they were twins. "There was an auntie in front of me who kept chatting with the vendor so I couldn’t…”
He was carrying a large bag of nuts and Wei Changze managed to put two and two together.
A-Zhan let out a quiet "brother" before dashing behind the older boy's back, looking back at Wei Changze and A-Ying shyly.
"You must be Lan Huan," Wei Change started, turning his eyes to the boy in question who was looking at him with suspicion. "My name is Wei Changze. You probably don't remember me, since you were only three years old the last time we met, but I'm a friend of your Shifu. We saw A-Zhan by himself and we were checking on him, making sure he remained safe until you got back."
A-Ying puffed out his chest. "Yeah! Baba is a super strong cultivator and we kept A-Zhan safe from the bad strangers!"
Lan Huan looked back and forth between him and A-Ying, not sure what to make of the situation.
Eventually, he smiled kindly. "Thank you for looking out for A-Zhan," he said politely, bending at the waist in a perfect bow. "We’re waiting for our Uncle to finish his business. I went to grab a snack for me and A-Zhan but like I said, it took me longer than I anticipated."
Wei Changze found himself impressed with Lan Huan's vocabulary, but didn't comment on it.
"It's our pleasure, young masters," he replied, bowing back. A-Ying imitated him the best that he could.
"A snack? What did you get?" A-Ying asked urgently before launching himself off of Wei Changze's thigh. He looked at the bag of nuts curiously, then turned toward A-Zhan who only hid further behind his brother's robes. "Are they salty or sweet? Oooh, or are they spicy?!"
The younger Lan looked overwhelmed, but A-Ying was insistent.
"Hm? What's the matter?"
Lan Huan looked between A-Ying and A-Zhan curiously. "A-Zhan?" he asked, seeming concerned about A-Zhan's continued silence.
"No," was all that A-Zhan said, hiding fully behind his brother now. A-Ying took that as a challenge, following the young boy until they were both running circles around Lan Huan.
“H..hey!” Lan Huan yelped. “You two are going…”
“A-Ying,” Wei Changze piped in, scooping his son up and tucking him against his side with one hand. “I don’t think he likes that.”
A-Ying just let all his limbs dangle and turned his head. “We were just playing!”
“Did you ask him if he wanted to play?”
A-Ying looked genuinely confused. "Why wouldn't he want to play?"
Wei Changze shook his head. "We are waiting for their Shifu to return, plus we were looking for Mama, remember?"
As he said this, two voices approached them. One was calm and serious, the other wild and exuberant.
It seems his wife found the little Lans' Shifu.
"I'm just saying, Qiren! We haven't seen each other in ages! Come on, let's get a meal together!" Cangse Sanren shouted, not noticing them at all. "You haven't seen A-Ying since he was a babe either. Don't you want to see his cute little face?"
Lan Qiren sighed. "You do realize that I have duties in Cloud Recesses. I cannot just ignore…”
“Be hospitable is a rule right?” his wife interrupted. “And what’s more hospitable than having lunch with old friends!”
Wei Changze cleared his throat, making the two aware that they had an audience. The arguing stopped.
"A-Ze! A-Ying!" Cangse Sanren exclaimed, rushing to her two boys with a fond expression.
"Mama!" A-Ying yelled, making grabby hands towards his mother. "You were gone forever!"
Wei Changze handed their son over, bowing at Lan Qiren. "It's good to see you again, Qiren."
"Well met, Changze," Lan Qiren huffed, bowing in return before looking at his two nephews. His eyes zeroed in on the bag in Lan Huan's hands. “A-Huan, what is that?”
Lan Huan tightened his hold on the bag of nuts, suddenly looking shy. "Um...I..."
Cangse Sanren, never liking to lecture children, guffawed and slapped Lan Qiren on the shoulder. “Come on you old goat,” she interrupted and set her son down so she could put both hands on her hips. “It’s just a snack. Kids deserve a treat once in a while!”
Lan Qiren just gave her a look.
"Besides, this gives us the perfect opportunity to catch up! The boys are obviously hungry. Let's grab a bite to eat together! It’s been years! You never write! We have to catch up."
“Don’t blame the lack of communication on me,” Lan Qiren said quickly, sounding just a bit bitter. “When was the last time you bothered to send a letter?”
She paused. Wei Changze gave her a look.
“Okay,” she admitted, “You might have a point there, but that just means it’s more important that we catch up.”
Lan Qiren was still scowling at her though, so she continued, “Besides all of A-Ze’s cooking makes my tongue feel like it’s going to melt off.”
“It’s training your spice tolerance,” he responded, chuckling a little. She threw an offended look at him, but he just looked back at her with a fond expression on his face.
“I like Baba’s cooking!” A-Ying announced and Wei Changze looked at his wife with a smug smile.
“See, my entire family has betrayed me!” she bemoaned.
“I don’t suppose you’ll be reasonable about this will you?” Lan Qiren sighed, motioning for his nephews to come closer.
“What does ‘reasonable’ mean?” she replied, looking over the children. "In my definition, I'm being perfectly reasonable! The boys are hungry. Let's not keep them waiting."
The two little Lans looked at their uncle, one pleading and the other carefully neutral. Wei Changze shared a look with Lan Qiren, causing the latter to sigh.
“Fine. Let’s get this over with. I do have duties to attend to after.”
Wei Changze smiled, grateful that he gave in. He knew that if Lan Qiren really didn’t want to spend time with them, he would have left by now. The waffling was just his stubborn nature, unable to admit that they were friends. His wife had broken nearly every Lan precept and loved to tease and play pranks, and with the strict way Lans were brought up, it was like mixing oil and water.
But they had found common ground as long as Wei Changze was around to temper the two.
And with that, they followed Lan Qiren to enjoy lunch together.