Drunken Mistake

DM 31

The Cloud recess is a gated community of the elites of Suzhou, who are coincidentally all Lans, consisting of  leaders like politicians, businessmen, scientists and Professors. It was not easily accessible to the outsiders and so Wei Wuxian and Xue Yang were stopped at the gate. A'Yuan slept soundly in Wei Wuxian's arms.

"Neither of you are Lans," the guard pointed out.

Wei Wuxian looked apologetically at Xue Yang. "We're here to meet a Lan," Xue Yang provided.

"Ok. Who?" The guard asked.

"I don't know his name. I stayed here for six months when I was twelve. His nephew  used to call him Shufu but he asked me to call him Baba," Wei Wuxian explained.

"You'll have to do better than that," the guard said.

"His house is called Hanshi. It's right next to Jingshi," Wei Wuxian recalled suddenly.

"Ah, well what do you know. You're Wei Changse's Son?" The guard asked in surprise.

Wei Wuxian breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can you tell me your mother's name so that I can confirm?" The guard requested.

"Cangse Sanren," Wei Wuxian informed.

"Well, that's right. When did you change your name?" The guard asked. "I was one of the youth volunteers searching for you when you went missing. Your Baba hasn't smiled once since losing you and your Lan Er Gege..., hmmm, anyways you're back now," the man grumbled.

"What happened to Lan er Gege?" Wei Wuxian asked with longing.

"He paid for his crime. He was underage and so was punished under the family law.  After that he never came back from boarding school and settled in Beijing. Taking his name in front of Lao Lan is forbidden. Anyways it's great that you're back, that too with family. You're practically a Lan and he is a Lan through marriage. Welcome to Cloud Recess," the guard explained.

Wei Wuxian opened his mouth to try and explained but Xue Yang tugged his hand and shook his head. He was waiting for an opportunity to reveal that Lan Wangji was perhaps his adaptive cousin in some measure.

The guard then called another man in a similar uniform. "Liu Feng, I'm taking my break. I have a precious cargo to deliver to Lao Lan," he explained.

Five minutes later Wei Wuxian stood before a gate straight out of his dreams. When he entered it a servant led him to the warm pavilion where Wei Wuxian had fallen asleep on his first night in Hanshi eighteen years ago. Little A‘Yuan found the platform pretty cosy and opted to curl up in a corner and continued to sleep.

"You're shufu is pretty traditional," Xue Yang pointed out.

Wei Wuxian laughed. "He was the director of the laboratory where my parents were employed as scientists," he recalled.

"Wow, that's cutting edge," Xue Yang commented.

"Shufu enjoyed his tea very much," Wei Wuxian recalled.

Just then a man with a stern face and a stiff beard appeared in the room. His eyes fell on Wei Wuxian and softened. "You look like your mother still," he said, taking a seat. Then he looked at Xue Yang, "Is that your husband and son?" He asked.

Wei Wuxian shook his head. "How did you figure that I'm gay?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"After you left and before your Er ge left, he confessed to your Da ge what he did. He paid for his sins. But such experiences often leave a life changing impact. I am guessing you are here seeking answers I can't give and your er ge has long since exiled himself from Cloud Recesses," Shufu replied.

"I'm not here for that," Wei Wuxian admitted. "I have no grievances against Er ge. I remembered only recently how he locked me in the basement along with the dogs and starved me for an entire weekend. It was the stuff of nightmares but my husband helped me overcome the trauma of it. Yes, his rejection of me hurt but he was a Lan and I an orphan, about to become his cousin. And I developed a crush on him. Knowledge of our entanglement could have destroyed his reputation. I understand his rejection now but I was young then and I took it the wrong way and before I knew it I found myself stowaway on a bus to Beijing. Even when I was found the driver took pity on me and let me ride. I remembered that A'Die had studied at Beijing University. I knew a few names of his friends. However on the way I caught pneumonia. I was hospitalized. Luckily a friend of my father, Jiang Fengmian was the one who admitted me to the hospital. He noticed my pendant with my parents' pictures, guessed my identity and renamed me Wei Wuxian. However due to the fever I lost a chunk of my memories. My experience in Cloud Recess has only been coming back to me in pieces recently. That's what brought me here. Well that and the fact I'm getting divorced and need a distraction. I thought Suzhou would be good for that and I can stay here for the next month, not in Hanshi but in Suzhou. My sister-in-law works at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow. I could visit her as well and explain the divorce too. I hope I didn't disturb you by the visit, " Wei Wuxian explained.

"Wei Wuxian?" Shufu asked.

"Yes. When I regained consciousness I told them my real name but the paperwork for custody had already been drafted and I have been Wei Wuxian since. My closest friends still call me A'Ying," he explained.

Xue Yang whipped his head with wide eyes as he said the name but Wei Wuxian's eyes were focussed on his Shufu.

"A'Ying has however forgotten the names of his bully and you. He only remembers Shufu, and Lan er Gege." Xue Yang interjected.

"Oh I'm Lan Qiren," Lao Lan recalled.

"Uncle Qiren," Wei Wuxian bowed.

Wei Wuxian turned to Lao Lan and looked down shyly. "Shufu, can you tell me Er ge's name. I want to remember this part of my life," he requested.

Suddenly Lan Qiren mood turned sour. He didn‘t want to remember the boy who in his eyes was a criminal. Even if Wei Wuxian had forgotten about it. Lan Wangji had ran away from Cloud Recesses while Wei Wuxian was still missing. As the adults searched for the missing child, the teenager slipped passed and went back to boarding school, refusing to come home. Months later when Lan Qiren had visited him and told him about the missing A’Ying that he confessed that it was he who had locked the child in the basement. His guilt prevented him from returning and Lan Qiren didn‘t know whether reminding Wei Ying of his past was a good thing.

He was saved from his dilemma by Wei Wuxian who asked innocently, "Is it Lan Zhan? It's a name that came to me in a dream," Wei Ying stated.

Lan Qiren contemplated deeply and nodded. "His birth name is Lan Zhan," he stated.

Xue Yang smiled beside them. Things were getting interesting. 'Burn Wangji Burn,' he thought and  smiled to himself.

A/N Another double update. Check out the previous chapter.
Do vote and comment.

I couldn't update much for almost the entire weekend because my two year old had a stomach infection and today the  nanny is absent and I'm typing on my phone.