Living Next To The Male God

It took Tang Jinyu three days to accomplish walking from his bedroom to the living room.

His short legs trembled with each step he took and he slowly let himself slide down to sit, while holding on to the door frame of the living room. The clothes on his back were covered with sweat.

Although he thought that he was very quiet, the busy woman in the kitchen heard him and hurriedly turned off the gas stove to come and check up on him, "Baby! is my baby okay?" She wiped her hands on her apron and quickly bent over and picked him up, seemingly in distress about something and felt as though she didn't need to use more than half her strength while holding him "What do you want to tell mom? Mom will help you get it, do you want to eat sweets or a snack?"

"Want to… go."

He raised his finger and pointed to the ground. Not surprisingly, he saw the woman's eyes turn red but she tried to keep a smile on her face and said: "My baby is doing great, as he walked very well today. But Let's practice slowly, there's no hurry."

While talking, she placed Tang Jinyu on a children's wheelchair, which was enough to fit a five-year-old child.

Tang Jinyu saw her hands retreat and was in a trance for a moment. But soon a piece of chocolate was pushed near his mouth. He looked up at the woman and saw that she was  gazing at him nervously. He slowly opened his mouth and ate it, seeing this the woman showed a relieved smile.

"My baby is hungry, right? Mom will soon finish making dinner, just wait for a few more minutes." The woman's voice was gentle as she touched his head.

But she didn't walk forward a few steps before she turned around and pushed Tang Jinyu's small wheelchair into the dining room where she could see him, turning back to look at her child, time to time while cooking.

Tang Jinyu became accustomed to his mother, being overprotective over him, these days. Anyone who saw their own child, who had been in a wheelchair during the first years of their life, suddenly standing up by themselves would make people feel that it was a medical miracle.

Only Tang Jinyu knew that this was not a medical miracle, but a transmigration.

He used to be an ordinary student who was preparing for his college entrance examination. 

When he woke up one day, he didn't know what was going on. Not only did he go back 20 years, but his body also decreased in size, and he became a five-year-old boy. 

He had the same name and surname, but he was not in good health, and he doesn't know what was exactly wrong with him, besides knowing that his legs are a little bit unstable which creates a problem whenever he walks. 

His parents also seemed to treat him very carefully and wanted to protect him in the palms of their hands, to the point that even a little sneeze would make them concerned and worried about him.

He looked up and observed the woman, who was busy, in the kitchen .

Tang Jinyu has no familiarity with his parents.

When he was very young, his parents died in a traffic accident and he was raised by his grandfather. His current parents looked at him nervously and he also looked at them the same.

The woman who is cooking in the kitchen is called Chen Suling. She is Tang Jinyu’s current mother. She seems to be in her early thirties, has fashionable curly hair and clothes and was a very beautiful woman. She appeared like a person in the pictorial, he once saw, from the year 1990. She seems to be in a good mood today, as she was humming a tune while cooking, with a smile on her lips.

The apartment building wasn't soundproofed and many people lived on each floor. Not long after, the sound of footsteps going up and down and the noise of children chasing after each other sounded.

Tang Jinyu looked at the clock on the living room wall and tilted his head to look towards the door.

If anyone is more worried about his well being than Chen Suling, there is only one other person.

Tang Hongjun had just finished work and came back home. He smiled, the next moment he opened the door and saw his son. He put down his briefcase and hugged him, "Xiaoyu, did you miss Dad?"

Chen Suling rushed to the door to stop him, and said "Go wash your hands, you might have brought dirt from the outside, don't touch the child."

Tang Hongjun responded with a smile and went to wash his hands, change his clothes and picked up his child. He evidently lowered his voice and talked to him word by word.

Looking at the man's gentle and mature appearance, while holding on to his son's hand to speak to him, asking him questions about his day "What did Xiaoyu do today? Did you eat a lot of food? Would you like to play with your dad for a while?" Tang Jinyu shrank his hands, as he fell a while ago, his body was much dirtier than his cheap father.

Tang Hongjun didn't mind his behavior. After taking a closer look, he started to clean him up, patted his body, and took a wet towel to wipe his hands. He praised "Wow, Xiaoyu loves to be clean. Dad will wipe your fingers clean for you, see how pretty they are again, don't be angry anymore."

Tang Jinyu: ?

He wasn't even angry! He just shrank his hand because he didn't want to be touched.

Chen Suling brought the food and the family sat down to eat dinner.

In addition to Tang Jinyu struggling to walk, he also had trouble flexing his fingers properly.

As he was using a small blue spoon to eat, his parents, on the side, were watching him anxiously, for fear that he might choke while he was eating.

Every time he swallowed a mouthful of rice, he was praised loudly.

Tang Jinyu has never heard so much compliment since he was a child, which made him feel a little embarrassed, that his ears were hot.

After finishing dinner, the couple did nothing but played games with their child.

Seeing that her son was not interested in these toys, Chen Suling kept tilting her head towards the TV, asked her husband to turn on the TV and the two watched cartoons together.

In fact, Tang Jinyu wanted to read the news or something else, but seeing that the year was 1999 on the calendar, he rested his mind again.

It was now 1999, he wasn't born until after 2000, so there really isn’t that much of a difference if he saw the news or not.

While staring at the TV screen, Tang Hongjun was watching the cartoons more closely than Tang Jinyu then he approached his son and told him "Look this is a little monkey, next to him is a little pig, and a little horse, a white little horse…"

Tang Jinyu: "…"

Tang Jinyu blinked, then looked at the "Journey to the West" cartoon which was airing on TV, and looked at the young man next to him. He always felt that his dad had taken care of him too carefully, any normal five-year-old could understand all these things by himself already.

But Tang Hongjun and Chen Suling's attitude towards him was just like a baby that had just learned how to walk.

While thinking about this, he heard Chen Suling next to him whisper proudly "Hongjun, do you know? Today the baby walked from the bedroom to the living room by himself!"

Tang Hongjun was also a little excited when he heard that and clenched his hands while watching his son, smiling stupidly. He finally couldn't hold back and hugged him in his arms and kissed his forehead hard, his eyes going moist.

Tang Jinyu didn't know what to say, he did struggle for a few days before he finally walked a dozen meters.

Chen Suling said again "I have an appointment with a specialist and I can take Xiaoyu to check tomorrow."

Tang Hongjun nodded repeatedly: "Yes, It's time to have a reexamination. My dad has also made an appointment in the province. Let’s have the inspection done tomorrow and take Xiaoyu to the province again to check on the weekend."

"Ah!"

Tang Hongjun was a little excited when he heard that, there was a little mist on his glasses, and he took them off with one hand and wiped it casually with his sleeve.

Tang Jinyu stretched out his hand to help him. He had no parents since he was a child and he didn't know what a child from a normal family should do now.

Tang Hongjun misunderstood his action and took his little hand and kissed him with a smile and said "Daddy will continue to tell you, come on, let's keep watching cartoons."

Sitting in their arms, Tang Jinyu felt that he was thinking too much. He found that no matter what he said or did, even if he moved his fingers, his parents, who were obviously novices would burst into tears as if he had done something amazing.

After dinner was over, it was the most lively time in the corridor. Which was like having a lot of family members doing different kinds of tasks to help one another.

People who have passed by the same unit are also people, who come to this house to borrow some wool and some come to return a plate or a bowl.

Many people say hello to each other, with great enthusiasm.

Tang Jinyu tilted his head and looked at the curtains in the living room and overheard Chen Suling and Tang Hongjun whispering about taking him to a hospital tomorrow. As they seemed afraid of disturbing him while he was watching cartoons.

Tang Jinyu was lying halfway in his parents' arms, and he felt relaxed. This was the first time he ever felt this way.

He felt quite novel with this whole experience, if it all was just a dream then he doesn't want to wake up, especially when his parents are really good to him.

He tried to open his mouth and make a noise, but his mouth still couldn't open, his body resisted it instinctively, and he couldn't speak.

After trying for a while, Tang Jinyu gave up and made the appearance of watching the cartoon seriously.

Anyway, if he only watches cartoons now, his parents will be happy enough.

Early the next morning, Tang Jinyu was softly coaxed by Chen Suling and wore a clean little suit with a little white shirt, with a pair of overalls, and a sweater. He wore a little hat on his head and looked very energetic. Chen Suling was very satisfied and took a photo with him. The child in the mirror was carved like jade, with obsidian-like eyes, a small nose, his mouth pressed nervously and obediently reached out and hugged the adult’s neck, looking very good.

Tang Jinyu looked in the mirror and thought to himself, he looked similar back then when he was still a child.

The mother and son were cleaned up and waited at home for Tang Hongjun to drive his car to pick them up.

Tang Jinyu was sitting on the sofa playing with an electric panda. The fluffy panda could move on its own and it would make a "click" sound when it was gnawing on bamboo.

Chen Suling got up and went to get her bag and scarf. After thinking for a while, she changed her son's kettle to a warm one and went to the kitchen to pour out the hot water.

There were people talking in the corridor, the apartment building wasn't soundproofed and what was said was passed through clearly and the trace of criticism could be heard clearly "We all said that they should just have another one and they didn't listen. Their child obviously has a problem…What else can it be besides an intellectual problem!"

"I heard people say that their child is incapable of movement and that their wheelchair has been changed twice!"

"Thousands of imported wheelchairs…spending so much money like a bottomless pit that will never be filled up."

"You don't need to talk about them, Tang Hongjun was a senior director who returned from studying abroad, and Chen Suling is also the smartest out of all of us."

"On the outside, they seem so outstanding but how come these two clever people gave birth to a fool!"

…

Tang Jinyu: "…"

Why is it not his legs, but his head?

Chen Suling walked over quickly, closed the window tightly and drew the curtains into a knot, trying to block off the voices to prevent her son from hearing.

She turned pale and her fingers trembled.

Tang Jinyu initially thought that she was uncomfortable and tried to comfort her, he wanted to pat her hand gently, but after trying to move for a long time, he only moved an inch.

Eventually, Chen Suling noticed him and she hurriedly came over and let Tang Jinyu's little hand fall on the back of her hand. She said: "Baby, what do you want? Tell mom, and mom will get it for you."

The child was well taken care of by her. The tender little hand placed on the back of her hand moved again, and he opened his mouth and shouted "Mom".

The voice was very small, almost like light breath, accompanied by a hoarse voice that hadn't talked in a long time.

But just this sound made Chen Suling's tears fall.

She raised her hand and wiped her tears and smiled. With both hands, she carefully held her son's little hand, in the palm as if protecting him "Mom is okay, let's go to the hospital and wait. After taking medicine, our baby will be healed."

Tang Jinyu looked at her crying and he felt anxious and uncomfortable. These days, whether this was a dream or not but whatever the case may be, Chen Suling took good care of him. He had never had a mother before and now he regarded Chen Suling as his own.

Tang Hongjun came back after a while and ran up all the way, panting, but the smile on his face didn't dwindle at all. When he saw his son through the security door, he made a silly face towards his child.

Tang Jinyu giggled.

Chen Suling blushed and scolded him "How old are you? Why are you still making so much noise outside? Be careful to let people see you, and see how they make fun of you!"

Tang Hongjun said: "Everyone must have gone to work or school already, I'm sure no one saw it."

As he was talking, a teenage boy came over at the corner of the stairs. The boy was not fully mature, yet he was already very tall. He was only half a head shorter than Tang Hongjun.

He was wearing a school uniform and was carrying a school bag on his shoulders with a mask covering the lower half of his face, he nodded his head and greeted them.

"Hello, Uncle Tang".

Tang Hongjun rubbed the tip of his nose, then smiled and nodded at him, "Xiao Ye should be on his way to school, pay attention to safety on the road."