GREAT, I CAUGHT AN ANNOYING FAIRY- DRAGON

Prologue

Madam Yu beamed with a smile when a wonderful surprise showed up at her doorstep, bearing with travelling bags. 

"My boy," she embraced Jiang Cheng before letting him into the house. "Yanli, come see who's here after six years," Yu Ziyuan looks at her son with tears in her eyes. Jiang Cheng had no way of defending himself at this point. 

"Cheng Cheng," his sister popped out of the bedroom in her pyjamas, with her porcupine hair poking in all directions. 

"Jie," He hugged her next, nostalgic for her gentle pats.

Moments later, they serve him a heavy lunch and watch him eat. "Are you not having some?" Jiang Cheng raised his eyes after greedily slobbering up the soup his mum made. His palate missed this taste. 

"That's not important right now. Look how skinny you've become." Madam Yu was prepared to top him up. Jiang Cheng faced his bowl, hiding the teardrops soaping up in his orbs till they manage to disappear. 

"I decided to go on leave. Is it okay if I stay here for the next few months?" 

*Tah!* 

 "Ah!" Jiang Cheng held the back of his head after getting slapped with a ladle.

"What are you, a stranger? A guest? This is your father's house, who can stop you from living here, you ungrateful snob? .... You live in the big city, not returning calls or visiting your mother. I swear Jiang Cheng, I am this close to joining your father in the grave because of you," Madam Yu was the aggressor and yet she was the one pooling up tears.

"Take it easy, Mother. A'Cheng, you should apologize before she floods this place," Yanli rubbed their mother's back.

"I'm sorry Mother," Jiang Cheng bowed low. 

"Hmph!" Madam Yu averted her eyes. Yanli had to roll her up with sweet words to get her to simmer down. 

Jiang Cheng withheld a smile when he entered his old room. It was unbelievably just as he remembered it. "Mother cleans it every day," Yanli intercepted him at the door. "She spends her mornings and evenings at the temple, praying to the heavens to bring you home. You have no idea how happy she is."

"Jie, it wasn't my intention to stray so far from home...I just."

"It's okay A'Cheng. You're here now, that's all that matters. Go on in, I'll help you get set up," Yanli was always like this- too easygoing. Jiang Cheng had never witnessed her complain or throw tantrums since they were children. 

It took a while to settle in. Jiang Cheng brought enough clothes to last a year and the women were firm about stacking them all in the closet. He curled up in his bed afterwards and dozed off.  

"Didi, are you awake?" Yanli's melodious voice chimed him out of the nap hours later. "It's time for supper," she added. 

"Already?" Jiang Cheng glanced at his wristwatch, astonished at how long this nap took. He had not slept well in a long while so this felt kind of new. He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and then sat at the table. 

"Bless this food, son," Madam Yu brushed a few grey strands off her face as she checked the soup in the hot pot. Jiang Cheng lazily drew his palms together. Prayer was a strange word to him now. He didn't know how to start or what to say. 

Sensing his struggle, Yanli took over and did a few sentences in his name. "Thank you for this feast...and for bringing my baby brother home," she ended on a simple note.

Madam Yu did not appreciate her son eating so slowly but was patient. She did feel horrible about hitting him earlier. What if Jiang Cheng left because of it and never came back? But speaking about it and apologizing was not happening anywhere near the future. He is her baby and she believed it was in her rights to punish him for speaking foolishly.