DSMIS CH66

Chapter 66: My Parents Are Here

Director Shen’s bellow immediately spooked the Samoyed sleeping soundly in his arms into flattening its ears into airplane mode, raising its massive head to stare at Shen Xing in dazed confusion.

Simultaneously, all three people in the living room looked up at once. Jiang Lin’s hand froze mid-pour as he served water to his parents, while Mother Jiang couldn’t resist darting a glance down at her son’s waist.

Inside the bedroom, getting no response from Captain Jiang, Shen Xing ruffled the chubby dog’s head in his arms and craned his neck to holler once more:

“Captain Jiang, waist!”

Father Jiang glanced toward the bedroom, looking as if he wanted to say something but held back. Mother Jiang took a sip of water, feigning composure:

“Why don’t you go in and let him touch it first?”

When Jiang Lin stepped into the bedroom, he was met with the sight of Director Shen sporting a head of messy, sleep-mussed bedhead, burying his face in Qianjin’s fluffy head. Seeing Jiang Lin, he lazily lifted his eyelids:

“Captain Jiang, this is my first time visiting your place, and you pull a bait-and-switch on me?”

Jiang Lin smiled as he stood by the bed:

“My parents are here. You wouldn’t let go of me, so I had no choice but to let Qianjin keep you company for a bit.”

Shen Xing didn’t even process the second half of the sentence. Those first five words struck him so hard he froze dumbfounded on the spot, shooting straight up in bed.

Panicked, yet terrified of being too loud as if afraid of alerting anyone outside, he whispered urgently:

“Who did you say is here?!”

“My parents. They thought you were returning to Tianjin today, and the family housekeeper made braised beef. They wanted to bring it over this morning so I could deliver it to you once you arrived.”

Recalling the two ear-splitting bellows he had just let out, Shen Xing turned his gaze silently toward the floor-to-ceiling window:

“Is it too late for me to jump out right now?”

Jiang Lin couldn’t hold back a laugh, stepping forward to ruffle his hair:

“Might be a little late for that. Still want to touch my waist? My mom told me to come in and let you touch it first.”

Shen Xing instantly yanked the duvet over his head. Beneath the covers, Jiang Lin watched the mound thrash and kick violently a few times before Shen Xing flung the blanket off again, emerging with his hair looking even more like a bird’s nest.

“What do I do?!”

Jiang Lin looked at him with an amused smile:

“It’s fine, my parents don’t bite. I told them you got back early and were sleeping in the room. If you’re too embarrassed, I can have them head home first and visit once you’re ready.”

Shen Xing’s eyes widened instantly:

“How could I do that?! Give me ten minutes.”

With that, he scrambled out of bed, frantically rummaged through the suitcase he had brought up last night, unearthed an outfit that looked presentable enough to meet the in-laws, and dashed straight into the bathroom.

Director Shen showered and washed his hair at a speed rivaling college military drills, even blow-drying his hair into a styled look before emerging. When he reappeared before Captain Jiang, he was looking completely sharp and respectable.

Jiang Lin looked at him and smiled:

“Looking handsome. Very good, exceptionally presentable.”

Shen Xing shot him a glare, took a deep breath, and pushed open the bedroom door.

In the living room, Mother Jiang and Father Jiang were somewhat nervous as well. After all, meeting their son’s boyfriend was a brand-new experience in their lives.

Father Jiang was repeatedly petting Heibao’s head. Just as Mother Jiang moved to stroke him too, a fluffy, snow-white Samoyed that looked chubby and plump came bounding out of the bedroom.

Not shy in the least, the Samoyed spotted Heibao and trotted over with its tail wagging merrily, instantly capturing Mother Jiang’s attention.

Mother Jiang reached down to pet its head. The “smiling angel” obligingly nuzzled against her hand, even narrowing its eyes happily. Knowing that Heibao was a retired police dog, she looked at the big white furball and asked with genuine curiosity:

“Can Samoyeds be police dogs too?”

The moment Shen Xing stepped out of the bedroom, that was the exact sentence that greeted his ears—right before he saw his shamelessly friendly dog burying its head straight into Mother Jiang’s lap…

The living room fell dead silent the second Shen Xing emerged. Jiang Lin spoke up promptly:

“Dad, Mom, this is Shen Xing.”

Shen Xing was more nervous right now than during his very first surgery:

“Uncle, Auntie, I’m Shen Xing…”

Director Shen’s looks were undeniably top-tier. Mother Jiang had been a bit of a sucker for good looks in her youth, and seeing Director Shen standing tall and upright beside her son—radiating the aura of an elite intellectual with high IQ, top education, and sharp competence—she was privately very satisfied. Still, having never met a son’s boyfriend before, she felt rather flustered:

“May I call you Xiao Xing? Linlin said you were arriving today. Your uncle and I don’t have much going on, so w-we’ll be heading back now. You two go ahead and touch—I mean, you two rest well at home.”

Mother Jiang smoothed her skirt several times in a single sentence before tugging at the clothes of the man beside her:

“Old Jiang, didn’t you say you wanted to take me to that newly opened cha chaan teng?”

Father Jiang had no choice but to play along:

“Right! Your mom and I will take our leave now.”

The meeting came abruptly and ended just as abruptly. Shen Xing watched Jiang Lin’s parents step out the door. The second the door clicked shut, he stomped hard on Captain Jiang’s foot, shoved his head into Jiang Lin’s shoulder, and pinned him flat against the wall:

“Ahhhhhhh!…”

Holding back his laughter, Jiang Lin wrapped his arms around Shen Xing’s waist:

“What’s wrong?”

Shen Xing looked up in righteous indignation:

“What do you mean, ‘what’s wrong’?! Why didn’t you wake me up and tell me when your parents arrived?! Now what kind of impression do they have of me?! Are they going to think I’m completely frivolous and a total pervert?!”

Thinking about what he had hollered this morning, he felt he could pack up and leave this earthly realm.

“They won’t. My mom was even thirstier than you when she was young. She’ll understand.”

The morning had practically driven Director Shen into deep existential dread. Chuckling, Jiang Lin guided him to the sofa:

“Hungry? They brought braised beef made by our family’s housekeeper. Her cooking is fantastic, let me slice some for you?”

For the first time in his life, eating braised beef felt like chewing on wax to Shen Xing.

Just as Jiang Lin was about to comfort him, his phone buzzed. Picking it up, he saw a text from his mother:

Son, if he wants to touch your waist, be generous and let him touch it. Don’t be so stingy, okay?

After reading it, he held the phone up in front of Director Shen:

“See? Didn’t I tell you my mom would understand?”

Shen Xing stared dumbfoundedly:

“Auntie is truly extraordinary.”

Having woken up late, this meal basically doubled as lunch. After drinking a glass of Coke to soothe his nerves, Shen Xing finally recovered enough interest to tour Captain Jiang’s apartment. Jiang Lin showed him around room by room. Although he had seen it on video calls, seeing it in person still made Shen Xing marvel:

“Captain Jiang, are you living in a model display home?”

The apartment was a four-bedroom flat. One room was converted into a study, while the rest were bedrooms. Aside from the master bedroom where Jiang Lin slept, the other two guest rooms looked like they could be listed online for rent immediately. One room didn’t even have bedding—just a bare mattress on the frame, shabby to the extreme, taking minimalist living to its absolute limit.

“Living alone, I don’t have much to store. But if you move in, it’ll be perfect—there’s plenty of space. I checked the route from here to your hospital; driving takes only twenty minutes.”

Then, he immediately added:

“I don’t know where your place is. If your place is closer to work, would it be convenient for me to move in with you?”

Shen Xing turned around, crossed his arms, and smiled at him:

“Captain Jiang, so proactive? I literally just got back and you already want us to move in together?”

Jiang Lin pulled him directly into his arms:

“With our jobs, when work gets busy, it’s terrifying. If we don’t live together, we’ll basically turn into an online romance—the kind where we can’t even reply to messages on time. Once Director Shen clocks off, you might forget I even exist. What if you bump into someone with a great body, look back on a half-disabled guy like me, and decide someone else is more cost-effective?”

Captain Jiang’s weirdly passive-aggressive, pitiful tone caught Shen Xing off guard. What did people call this again? He remembered hearing colleagues at work mention it—oh right, playing the “green tea” card. Yet looking up into those eyes that held only his reflection, laced with subtle vulnerability and reliance, Shen Xing understood. In Fulan County, they lived right next door, ate breakfast and walked the dogs together, their workplaces separated by merely a street. They met at noon and came home together at night. Despite the heavy workload, they saw each other constantly.

Back in Tianjin, everything changed. Their workplaces were far apart; eating lunch together was out of the question. If they didn’t live under one roof, they truly might become mere cyber-penpals. Remembering how self-conscious Jiang Lin had always been about his injuries, it made sense that his thoughts would run wild. Fine, let him act like a little green tea. But while his mind softened, his mouth remained as sharp as ever:

“And what if I really do get seduced away by someone else?”

Jiang Lin clasped him tightly into his chest, leaning down to capture his lips:

“Then I’ll just steal you back.”

Shen Xing’s hand traced along his waist:

“Look at you, aren’t you quite confident? Let’s just stay at your place. Mine is too far from your precinct.”

Jiang Lin’s eyes lit up:

“Then should we go move your things over this afternoon?”

Shen Xing rarely saw Captain Jiang this impatient and eager. Since he didn’t have to report to the hospital until Monday anyway, moving his stuff seemed reasonable enough.

In the afternoon, the two first hauled up the boxes Shen Xing had brought back from Yunnan—several large cartons in total:

“I also bought some things and mailed them directly to my apartment. They should have arrived by now, so I’ll bring them over when we pack this afternoon.”

“What did you buy?”

“From Shipa Street again. Souvenirs for my family and some trinkets that’ll look great at home.”

Shortly past 2:00 PM, they took the Land Cruiser to Shen Xing’s place. Knowing he was returning, Shen Xing’s mother had dropped by a few days ago to clean and air out the rooms, so there was no stale, uninhabited odor when they stepped in. Shen Xing opened the door and stepped aside:

“Come on in.”

Truthfully, Jiang Lin had been quite curious about Director Shen’s home. He slipped off his shoes and stepped inside to take a look.

The decor in Shen Xing’s home differed from Captain Jiang’s by leagues. First, the color palette wasn’t the stark, bachelor black-white-grey, but warm natural wood tones throughout. Second, it definitely didn’t follow the minimalist doctrine.

In the dining area, there were two coffee machines alone—one commercial-grade espresso machine rivaling those in cafes, and a compact capsule machine. Beside them stood a natural wood sideboard; through the glass cabinets, rows upon rows of cups were displayed, easily numbering in the dozens, each uniquely shaped with its own flair, clearly hunted down from diverse locales.

In the living room, an irregularly shaped rug was laid out, accompanied by a bright yellow beanbag sofa next to the couch, while a vertical display cabinet in the corner was packed full of anime figurines and collectibles.

The layout of the bedrooms epitomized the lifestyle of an aristocratic bachelor. In this three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment spanning 140 square meters, aside from the master bedroom he occupied, one room had been converted into a study, and the other into a home gym. You couldn’t find a second bed if you tried.

“You don’t even keep a guest room? What if someone comes to stay over?”

Shen Xing sank onto his designated beanbag chair, letting out a breath of pure relaxation as he buried himself in his hand-picked throw pillows:

“Why would anyone else stay at my place? Aren’t there hotels outside? I hate having other people stay in my home.”

With that, he tugged Jiang Lin’s hem, eyes crinkling with amusement:

“Captain Jiang is the exception, of course. Besides, Captain Jiang doesn’t need an extra bed.”

Looking at him, Jiang Lin felt Shen Xing was like an exacting, finicky cat who had a million personal rules, yet chose to soften completely and act spoiled in front of him. Jiang Lin tapped the center of his forehead:

“Then I am profoundly grateful for Director Shen’s grace.”

Both were busy men; having decided to live together, the move had to be handled this weekend, or neither might have time the following week.

Over the next two hours, Captain Jiang truly experienced Director Shen’s absolute refusal to settle when it came to everyday life. At first, Director Shen said:

“Let’s just pick a few cups to bring along.”

Jiang Lin nodded, holding a storage crate behind him. Then he watched Director Shen scrutinize the sideboard back and forth:

“This one is best for latte art. This one was custom-made by a ceramic master—doesn’t this shade of blue look distinctive? That pastoral set comes with a matching teapot, maybe we should bring the pot too? These two are a pair. Oh! This is my absolute favorite breakfast mug—look, it swivels, isn’t that unique?”

And so, after “selective curation,” Captain Jiang’s storage crate was crammed with twenty mugs…

“Your place doesn’t have a coffee machine, right? I spent a fortune on this one—essential for pulling all-nighters. Pity the original box is long gone; how do we transport it?”

“Book an on-demand courier pickup; they provide professional packing services.”

Next, Shen Xing packed two sets of his favorite tableware.

By the time they stepped out past 4:00 PM, the Land Cruiser was packed to the gills with boxes, with several more large packages dispatched via courier.

Back at Jiang Lin’s place that evening, Director Shen collapsed onto the sofa like a melted pancake:

“Good lord, how is packing up a house more exhausting than performing surgery?!”

Jiang Lin was long accustomed to Director Shen’s “allergic to chores” constitution. When he sat down beside him, Shen Xing naturally laid his head on his lap, turning to wrap his arms around his waist. But turning sideways, he realized the position was somewhat suggestive. He looked up, and Jiang Lin looked down, both catching the spark of unrestrained heat in each other’s eyes.

Ten minutes later, leaving behind the clutter of boxes in the living room, Qianjin scratching and gnawing at cardboard, and Heibao tilting his head watching the silly dog, the two vanished into the bathroom. Before long, the sound of the shower filled the air.

The restraint held over from last night’s exhaustion didn’t survive this evening.

And this night also showed Captain Jiang that Director Shen’s stamina was an absolute enigma: the very Director Shen who had collapsed into a lump doing light chores was somehow capable of going three hundred rounds with him before finally going down—even if he still failed to claim the top position.

Even after collapsing in bed, Shen Xing remained unrepentant. Knowing Jiang Lin wouldn’t do anything more to him tonight, his hands wandered playfully across Captain Jiang’s waist:

“You have to listen to your mother, you know. If I want to touch it, you have to let me touch it. No being stingy.”

Enduring the rekindled flame, Jiang Lin pulled him tight:

“Director Shen, how about you just put me out of my misery?”

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Author’s Note:

Captain Jiang’s mom is truly extraordinary.

Mother Jiang: “If he wants to touch, just let him touch!”