Fluffy WangXian Oneshots Book Two

Diamond With A Flaw Part 1

Chinese Proverb:

"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one." - It is better to be ambitious and sometimes fail than to never try to do anything at all.

Lan Zhan is having a bad day. Perhaps, when he missed his alarm and made himself late, he should have stayed indoors on the merits of being superstitious, but being a practical person, he then decides to continue with it in the hope of being able to turn it around.

Then he scalds his tongue on tea that's way too hot to drink, resulting in having to miss breakfast because he's burnt his taste buds off. His car doesn't start, so he must dismiss the driver for today and get an Uber.

Now, not only is he incredibly late, but it starts to rain. A drizzle might have been tolerable, but no...the Heavens decide to upend all content from the miserable clouds above him, and Lan Zhan is immediately drenched. When the Uber finally gets to him, the driver is a chatty bastard, and the first thing he asks is whether or not Lan Zhan is single.

Other people might be able to lie and get away with it, but Lan Zhan has never done such a thing and now left with a choice to either fib and reject whatever proposal, no doubt tantalising, this guy has in mind for him, or tell the truth and admit that despite his very marriageable age, no, he's not currently with anyone at the moment. Lan Zhan plays it safe and pretends not to understand him, keeping his eyes glued to his phone.

There's a message from his brother, requesting they meet for lunch because he has something important to discuss with Lan Zhan. He'll be arriving with his boyfriend, Nie MingJue and his boyfriend's little brother, Nie Huaisang at one o'clock sharp, and he's sent the link to the restaurant they've decided on.

Lan Zhan quickly replies via text that he'll be there, another item on his agenda for the day, as if he hasn't got enough to do. He has an assistant, a very capable one, but Lan Zhan didn't get this far in the corporate world by delegating. As it is, he can't even get his laptop out of his briefcase for fear of contamination; his feet are sticking on the car floor and making that awful tacky noise he associates with tanghulu and sugar syrup, and the back seat is dubiously clean at best with unidentifiable stains; in short, Lan Zhan isn't a risk taker when it comes to germs and bacteria.

They're stuck in traffic because of the bad weather, and then one block away from his office building, Lan Zhan figures he may as well walk the rest of the way seeing as he can't get any more wetter than he is.

Boy, was that a bad decision.

A bus speeds by in its own lane, right through a large puddle filled to capacity. It turns out, Lan Zhan CAN get wetter than he was upon exiting the somewhat drier vehicle.

He's so cold, he hurries into the corner shop run by a friendly auntie who knows his family, and exactly how Lan Zhan takes his tea, and thank goodness she's behind the counter today, on this most horrible of mornings.

This is it.

This is the moment when Lan Zhan can seize the day and fix it, turn it around so he can come out on top.

She talks to him about his uncle while she makes his tea, asking how Uncle Qiren is, what he's up to these days, and all the kind of small talk that Lan Zhan would prefer being hit by a discipline whip than having to indulge in but he's effectively trapped by the promise of something that's going to warm him up. His stomach rumbles right then, when the auntie pauses to breathe in.

She narrows her eyes at him, clucking her tongue.

"No breakfast? Aiyah! You need a good wife to take care of you. Listen to me, all you young people are the same! You don't think us old folks would feel so much better if you settled down soon, huh? I bet that's why your uncle is only semi-retired instead of living out the rest of his days peacefully. Is it that you can't find a nice girl?" She doesn't wait for him to reply. Lan Zhan just wants his tea. "If you don't mind someone a little modern, my neighbour's girl is looking, you know. She's a nice girl, likes dancing and such, and alright, she likes staying out but that would change once you started going out together." She accompanies her words with a constant wobbling of her head, like one of those bobble-head dolls. Once imagined, cannot be unseen...