AM Chapter 63

[Adolescence 1] A Lively and Cheerful Child [Extra]

[Adolescence 1] A Lively and Cheerful Child

Chen Mo first rode a Ferris wheel at the age of fourteen, when he was in the second year of junior high school.

His mother was a coward and didn’t dare to play the large amusement park rides, saying that just listening to the screams of the people on them would make her dizzy. So, they almost never went to amusement parks.

Chen Mo’s first Ferris wheel experience was given to him by his adoptive father Chen Daxiang’s male husband, his male stepmother, Liang Jingren.

Before getting on the Ferris wheel, they played all the most exciting games in the entire amusement park. Liang Jingren didn’t spoil the fun at all, and he accompanied Chen Mo to play whatever he wanted.

Chen Mo happily ran, jumped, and shouted in the amusement park. He didn’t eat anything at noon, and by the end of the afternoon, he had sweated more than he drank. But he didn’t feel tired at all. He couldn’t even sit still on the Ferris wheel shrouded in the evening glow, leaning over to the left window to look out for a while, then turning around and kneeling on the stainless steel stool to look back.

The teenager’s eyes were full of color as he excitedly and sincerely said, “Let’s come play again next time!”

There was no response from behind.

Chen Mo turned his head and realized that the person who had brought him to play was now pale and looking down, his hands tightly gripping his knees.

“Are you feeling unwell?” he turned around gently and asked cautiously.

He was afraid that his expectations would be dashed, and the heart that was originally pounding with excitement gradually turned gray and sank.

Liang Jingren looked up at him. He frowned but forced a smile and said, “It should be better when we get to the ground.”

But Chen Mo was still worried, worried that the other party would cut off his expectations and fantasies because of a little unpleasantness, just like his mother.

He obediently and quietly sat down opposite Liang Jingren, no longer saying unnecessary words.

Fortunately, after the two reached the ground, Liang Jingren, who was back on solid ground, did look much better.

They found an empty bench to sit down and rest.

At this time, the sun had already set halfway, and the half that was still exposed was huge and red, stretching people’s shadows very long and illuminating the ground so that it looked like a scorching hot iron pot. The ice cream stand run by a clown opposite the bench now seemed to exude a refreshing coolness.

Chen Mo sat quietly on the bench, kicking his legs straight forward and looking straight ahead.

He knew that things at these amusement park-style stalls were generally very expensive. Although Chen Daxiang would give him pocket money, and quite a lot of it, he never spent money recklessly.

Perhaps he was influenced by his mother’s education that “money should be spent wisely.” But the fundamental reason was the previous family financial situation—his mother was a housewife with no income, and his father only drove a taxi. When he was busy, he made money, and the family of three could eat well and have fun every week. When he wasn’t busy, he earned enough to live on and had to pay the mortgage.

If it was something really worthwhile, he would buy it without hesitation, but ice cream… it would be gone after eating it, and it wouldn’t fill his stomach.

“Do you want to eat ice cream?”

Chen Mo was distracted when Liang Jingren asked him, but he was indeed staring at the ice cream stand opposite him, so he subconsciously said “um.”

Then, Liang Jingren suddenly stood up and pulled him up as well, saying, “I’ve rested enough. Let’s go buy ice cream.”

The two came to the clown’s ice cream stand, and Chen Mo hesitated when he saw the flavors and prices on the sign.

“Damn, how is it so expensive?!”

See, Liang Jingren also said it was expensive.

Eh? Chen Mo suddenly turned his head to look at the straightforward person.

“That, I brought money with me, I can buy it myself…”

Chen Mo was halfway through his sentence when Liang Jingren smiled and patted him on the shoulder, saying, “It’s okay, what flavor do you want? Just order it! I promised to let you have fun today, how can I be stingy and make a kid spend money!”

Liang Jingren offered to treat him and paid neatly for a seven-scoop all-flavor ice cream cup. He didn’t buy one for himself.

Liang Jingren also insisted on standing in front of the clown to watch the clown perform balloon twisting, then applauded very enthusiastically and took the balloon dog.

Chen Mo was a neat freak. He would never share a portion of ice cream with someone in normal times, but he couldn’t finish this ice cream, and the other party had bought it at a great price.

So, while Liang Jingren was taking the balloon dog, he secretly took several more wooden spoons—trying to let Liang Jingren taste every flavor.

Liang Jingren returned to the bench and saw his seven-colored ice cream cup filled with wooden sticks, and he laughed out loud on the spot. He didn’t hold back his strength and accidentally burst the dog’s leg, scaring both of them.

Then, they both looked at the lame puppy on the ground and burst into hearty laughter at the same time.

“Brother Ren, can I call you Brother Ren?”

Chen Mo asked this when Liang Jingren sat down beside him.

“Because calling you Dad or Mom is so weird, and I don’t want to call you that,” Chen Mo said with his head down.

“Haven’t you already called me that? Then just call me that!” Liang Jingren laughed, impolitely grabbing a wooden stick from him and scooping up a large spoonful of ice cream.

“Seriously, don’t call me Dad or Mom, I won’t answer even if you do. Just leave the title of Dad for Chen Daxiang,” Liang Jingren said, stuffing the wooden stick deep into his mouth in one breath.

Watching Liang Jingren’s entire head tremble and shake for a moment, probably from the deliciousness or the coldness, Chen Mo smiled and asked, “Is it good?”

Liang Jingren smiled and sighed, saying, “It cost money, so it must be delicious!”

“Brother Ren,” Chen Mo called out. After the other party responded, he also ate a bite of the same flavor of ice cream, then paused and said, “Did you marry Chen Daxiang for money?”

Liang Jingren blinked at him, “Why are you asking so bluntly?”

Chen Mo just stared at him while eating the ice cream that was gradually melting on the surface.

Liang Jingren shrugged, leaned back, and put his elbows on the back of the bench, laughing: “Yes, it’s for the money~”

Then, Liang Jingren turned his head to look at him and asked with a smile, “What if I said that Chen Daxiang actually owes me money?”

“That’s great,” Chen Mo said.

Liang Jingren was stunned, “Uh? What’s great?”

Chen Mo poked the softened pink ice cream ball on top with a small wooden stick and looked at him, saying, “I really can’t imagine you and Chen Daxiang going on a date at an amusement park. Fresh flowers stuck in cow dung, it’s too disgusting.”

Liang Jingren was stunned again.

Immediately afterwards, his elbows came down from the back of the chair, and his whole body changed from leaning backwards to leaning forwards.

“Pfft!” Liang Jingren bent over and covered his mouth, but in the end, he couldn’t help laughing, “What the hell are you thinking? Hahahahahaha!”

“By the way, hahaha, are you saying that I am a fresh flower?”

“…Fairy grass?”

“Pfft hahahahaha I’ve become a panacea hahaha~”

After that, until the sun completely set and it got dark, the two sat on the bench in the corner with a cup of melted mixed-color ice cream and chatted a lot.

Liang Jingren asked Chen Mo if he also liked to deliberately interrupt and tell jokes to amuse everyone and attract attention when others, even teachers, were speaking at school.

Chen Mo said no.

Liang Jingren shook his head with a smile, saying that he felt that Chen Mo had a talent in this area.

Chen Mo asked him, “What talent?”

Liang Jingren said, “It’s the kind of class clown who, when he speaks, everyone’s eyes are on him.”

Chen Mo immediately thought of those noisy and conspicuous guys in the class. He was silent for a while and said, “I don’t do monkey tricks.”

Which made Liang Jingren laugh again.

The second round was Chen Mo’s turn to ask Liang Jingren.

He asked Liang Jingren if he really had a super cool one-piece motorcycle suit.

Liang Jingren said, “Of course! But it’s not in the villa, I’ll bring it to show you next time!”

When it was still very bright in the afternoon, they had passed by an open-air performance theater and happened to see actors playing Power Rangers fighting monsters. Liang Jingren asked him if he wanted to watch, but he didn’t watch, saying it was childish. Liang Jingren stopped and stood for a while, then turned to tell him, “Their clothes look like my one-piece motorcycle suit.”

At that time, he ignored Liang Jingren because he wasn’t interested in tokusatsu rangers, and his target, the vertical roller coaster, was not far ahead.

Now Chen Mo remembered to ask.

Of course, his purpose was not simple: “Can I still ride your bike?”

“Of course, why not,” Liang Jingren replied with a smile, “Aren’t you going to ride it back later? Or do you want to chase my taillights all the way back?”

“I mean in the future!” Chen Mo said loudly.

Liang Jingren rubbed his head hard and said readily, “Sure, anyway, your garage is big enough. I’ll move all my babies over there when the time comes. You have to help me wash the bikes when you have time, I won’t give free rides!”

Hearing this, Chen Mo was so excited that he could touch more cool motorcycles that he didn’t react at all to the other party’s dirty hands casually touching his head. His eyes immediately sparkled as he agreed: “No problem!”

After returning home, he and Liang Jingren sat together at the dining table for dinner. In the past, Chen Mo always ate quickly and put down his chopsticks, but this time, for the first time in his life, he added a whole bowl of white rice, filling his stomach.

He had a particularly happy day—

So happy that before going to bed at night, he had to run down to the second floor, push open the door of the guest room, and shout with a grin, “Good night, Brother Ren!”

When he first met Liang Jingren, Chen Mo would never have imagined that it would only take half a day for him to completely accept Liang Jingren as his stepmother, and even be ecstatic and complacent about it.

After all, Liang Jingren was so handsome—not only was his height, appearance, attire, and temperament handsome, but Chen Mo also felt that his personality was very handsome, straightforward, bold, decisive, and very supportive of him, never spoiling the fun when speaking and doing things.

Moreover, Liang Jingren was also very good at driving, riding motorcycles, and riding cool motorcycles, and he also had a group of fierce-looking younger brothers who didn’t seem easy to mess with, obeying his orders and revolving around him. Those people looked rude and uncultured, and not easy to get along with, but because of Liang Jingren, they were respectful to him, a junior high school student.

The key was that when helping him ask the teacher for leave, Liang Jingren was always unambiguous and direct, which was just so cool!

Later, every time Chen Daxiang went on a business trip, whether it was on weekends or weekdays, Liang Jingren would take the time to take him outdoors to play.

Although they didn’t go to the amusement park again, Liang Jingren would take him for a ride on his bike, drag him to the park for aerobic jogging, and accompany him to the provincial museum…

Chen Mo really wished that Chen Daxiang would go on a business trip every week, every day!

In his spare time, Liang Jingren would listen to him seriously at the dinner table, care about his grades, and if his grades were good, he would reward him by buying him what he wanted.

Although these were also things Chen Daxiang would do, Chen Mo felt that what Liang Jingren did was different.

Chen Daxiang was ugly, and Liang Jingren was handsome—there was such an obvious and essential difference between the two!