Why was Lan Zhan being cagey, all of a sudden?

The pouches were definitely jewellery, though not rings, because Wei Ying knew those came in cute little boxes, and now was not the time to investigate the deep pang of disappointment he felt at that.

So there was only one way to find out.

He pulled Lan Zhan's hand so it rested between them, his open palm inviting Wei Ying to open each pouch carefully. First one, and then the other.

There were two identical bracelets.

A red thread connected four gold beads with one black one, to a tiny jade rabbit with a ruby eye. At the end of the red thread, both ends were sealed with a black bead. It was a pull-both-ends-and-close type fastening.

"It's beautiful..." Wei Ying gasps, his finger tracing the outline of the bunny. "I'm guessing one for you and one for me?" He goes to kiss Lan Zhan but the latter pulls away, looking ashamed.

What?!!

Why did Lan Zhan do that?

Lan Zhan never ever pulled away from a kiss!

Incredibly hurt, and a little humiliated, Wei Ying is about to get up, go Bury himself under a mound of pillows, something! When Lan Zhan's arms come around him, holding him tight.

"I cannot kiss Wei Ying in good conscience until he hears me out." Lan Zhan mutters against his throat.

Oh.

There was something else going on.

Lan Zhan had tried to be okay about this, as nonchalantly as Huaisang had told him in other words that his brother was wearing a tracking device disguised as a bracelet, and his brother (s?) were none the wiser.

That was their business.

But Wei Ying was his, and Lan Zhan really could not abide by lying to him, not when there was a smile of gentle delight on Wei Ying's beautiful face, without knowing what these bracelets were.

He was so, so innocent.

It was a crime against humanity to let anything happen to him.

But first, Lan Zhan had to come clean.

"So far, twice I have been terrified that something has happened to Wei Ying." Lan Zhan wants to word this carefully. He wants Wei Ying to know that he's coming from a place of caring for Wei Ying's safety first, and not some creepy, weird stalkerish tendency.

"Oh, my love, I'm so sorry!" Wei Ying hugs him tightly.

Lan Zhan lets himself have this, before the coming storm.

Which could go either way.

"Please, hear me out. We can throw these away, if Wei Ying wishes not to wear them." He ignores Wei Ying's wide eyes, full of trust even now. It's best to tell him everything in one go.

"Why-"

Lan Zhan puts a finger on his lovely lips, effectively stopping him from talking. Wei Ying is surprised, because Lan Zhan would not ordinarily do something like that, unless it was important.

He gives Lan Zhan a small nod to continue.

"There's a tracking device behind the bunny, under the gold plate backing. It is only because of our trying circumstances, and the danger surrounding Wei Ying. No other reason." Lan Zhan looks down, unable to meet his eyes and see the certain disappointment he must be feeling.

"So you got us both a bracelet each, because you didn't want me to feel weirded out. Or you know just how much I value your safety as well." Wei Ying lifted Lan Zhan's chin once more to look deeply into his warm golden eyes. "Only because you know I would be worried sick if something happened to either one of us and you didn't know where I was again."

Oh, to have his complete attention!

Wei Ying shivers, feeling more alive with every second that passes.

"My love. If there had been only one bracelet, then you're right, maybe I would have flipped out." Wei Ying kissed his lips, and after satisfying himself that Lan Zhan understood how sincere he was, he leaned back, smiling. "My heart, you haven't done anything wrong. In fact, I agree with you. I would feel so much better if you knew where I was, just in case that creepy guy comes after us again. Grandmother said they might try something soon."

Lan Zhan holds him close, revelling in the fact that he absolutely can.

"Let's put them on."

Wei Ying reverently takes his hand and opens the bracelet enough that it will slide on. He tightens the fastening by pulling on the ends of the red thread, tucking the black beads over and out so it's even more secure. Then he brings Lan Zhan's wrist up to his lips to place a warm kiss there, a wish for Lan Zhan's protection to be ever present.

Lan Zhan follows his example, doing everything Wei Ying had done to him.

"This is great!" Wei Ying says, brightly. "Now we'll both know where we are. Does it emit a signal?"

"Mn. Goes straight to my laptop. And my watch." Lan Zhan tells him the password.

"That's a date." Wei Ying taps his nose. "And it's not either of our birthdays...last month...omg! Is it the day we met?"

Lan Zhan's shy smile is all the confirmation he needs.

************

The dried mushrooms were rehydrated, garlic finely chopped, carrots peeled and sliced, chillies deseeded, spring onion finely chopped, and PoPo had whisked the eggs and gotten the sauce ready.

Lan Zhan cooked the eggs in the frying pan before stir frying the vegetables all together and then adding the eggs in the whole mixture, perfectly seasoned and ready to eat. The chilli oil bottle is also next to where Wei Ying normally sits.

The children have just minutes ago tidied up the table and set it ready for dinner time. Wei Ying is behind Lan Zhan's fancy camera, taking shots and footage, and trying to navigate a naughty JingYi, who keeps making faces at the camera instead of giving his honest opinion on the food.

A-Yuan, the bright and happy child that he is, is always smiling and rates the meal for texture, taste and how appetising it looks.

Once everyone has eaten, and PoPo disappears with the children to play Lego, Lan Zhan and Wei Ying end up on the couch with Lan Zhan's laptop.

Wei Ying has already edited the video and made Lan Zhan do a voice over explaining what he was doing step by step.

Lan Zhan has taken control of the laptop now, and shows Wei Ying how to check their tracking bugs, and pinpoint where they are.

"I have a question, though." Wei Ying chews his bottom lip.

Lan Zhan concentrates on his fingers, wanting to bite him for entirely different reasons.

"Mn?"

"Well, you know Mo XuanYu is working in Wen Laboratories? And my grandmother specifically told him about working on a way to get past the signal blocking thing they've got going. I'm just wondering, since everything we've found out so far is pointing to the Wens, will this tracking device work there, too? I mean, just in case? Like, even if we storm the place, like Uncle XingChen mentioned earlier?"

Lan Zhan looks very smug, all of a sudden.

"I asked Huaisang for advice, and he says he can definitely recommend this type of tracking microchip. He went into details on the mechanics." Lan Zhan does NOT sigh about that.

"Alright, that's good." Wei Ying seems distracted.

Lan Zhan picks him up and arranges his body so that Wei Ying is sitting side-saddle. It's easier for them and the laptop screen.

"What is Wei Ying thinking about?"

"Well, since there was so much happening today, at Grandmother's place, I've sectioned everything off so it's easier to deal with, up here," he taps the side of his head.

"Mn. Good."

"And so, thinking about Mo XuanYu, if he's Warm Sky, working for the Wens, and a double agent for my grandmother, AND connected to the Gang that he won't name, then he can't be F4keSt0ries."

"Why?"

"There's absolutely no reason why he would draw our attention to the gang jackets? In fact, today he seemed really uncomfortable with chatting about both the jackets and his peers in the Gang, that's my main reason for thinking it's not him. And then I got to thinking, who else is really great with computers, and Huaisang pops up in my head, right?"

"True. Computer experts are hard to come by."

"But my love, it cannot be Huaisang who is F4keSt0ries because it was Huaisang who sent us the video clips first, and only after he did that, F4keSt0ries sent us the link second. If they were the same, they would know it's us from our email, right?"

"Right. So Wei Ying is saying F4keSt0ries is a third computer genius?"

"Yep! It's the only theory to make sense. But I suppose, it's one of the mysteries we don't need to focus on right away."

"Wei Ying has been thinking too hard about everything. Time for a break." Lan Zhan tells him, bringing the laptop closer.

He opens the tab on Google docs which has all of Wei Ying's chapters written down. He activates the speech to text app, and leans back with Wei Ying cradled against him.

"Tell me about how you used to distract A-Yuan. Did he ever do any tantrums? Was he ever unreasonable?"

"No, not that I can remember." Wei Ying thinks back during the past three years. "There's two times he cried, and we solved the issues in different ways. The first time he was fussy was because he hadn't slept the night before and it was a Sunday, so I was home anyway.

"He just wanted to lay on my chest and cry. It was...difficult for both of us. And then we decided to have a tea party. That was the funniest thing." Wei Ying smiles at the fond memory.

"Why?"

"Well, as you know, A-Yuan only had one stuffed animal to play with, and then including me and him, there were only the three of us attending this fancy tea party. So we made sock puppets join us, and Lan Zhan, you won't believe how much fun we had. They were all different colours, with different personalities, and they were so silly and naughty...that game taught me so much about A-Yuan, but about myself, too. Truly, the wonder that lies in innocent eyes is so precious, my love." Wei Ying shakes his head.

Lan Zhan could just imagine it, how Wei Ying would have created something wonderful out of nothing, entertaining his child in such a rich, fulfilling way that A-Yuan never thought he was missing anything.

"Second time?"

"Oh, haha, that was a little bit painful. It was close to Christmas time, and all his small friends were telling him about the Christmas trees they had decorated in their homes. We didn't have one, because that year the boiler decided to flood the kitchen and take a leave of absence, so all the festive money I'd been saving up was used to bring back hot water and warm our home." Wei Ying blushes at this particular memory.

"How did Wei Ying make him feel better?" Lan Zhan is feeling so proud of Wei Ying's genius mind. He was so nice!

"We pretended we were squirrels living in our own tree, and then of course, we had to decorate our home from the inside. It helped that at the time, A-Yuan's favourite movie was Alvin and the Chipmunks. We went down to the thrift stores and dollar shops and stocked up on paper glue and coloured paper and then I taught him how to make paper chains. We hung them up all over the ceiling in the living room." Wei Ying looks up, remembering. He points out a piece of clear tape that is still stuck to the ceiling.

Lan Zhan hugs him tightly, too overcome for words.

*********

A/N

Dear Beautiful Readers,

This one is because some of you complained that Mondays were bad enough without cliffhangers and how could I do that to you? One of you did big maths too!🤣🤣 for the next update, and you know how much I love keeping you on your toes...

Well, today is Easter Bank Holiday in the U.K. so I had a bit of extra time, and I managed to finish this chapter.

No cliffhanger here but fair warning, there's a lot more coming up!

Love you all,

Charlie