Just as he turned the corner, someone grabbed him.
"You brat, where have you been? Do you know how worried we've been?"
Lian bowed. "Aunt Ana…"
Escorted by Aunt Ana (his father's fiery youngest sister), Lian obediently followed her home.
As soon as he entered, Lian knew the situation was serious. Besides his parents and grandparents, his three aunts and two uncles were also waiting.
His cousins kept giving him glances.
His grandmother saw Lian and immediately pulled him into a hug: "Lian, you scared Grandma to death! Where did you go this afternoon? We've been looking for you like crazy…"
"I, I…" Lian wasn't a good liar, but in this situation, he had no choice.
After calming himself down, Lian told what was probably the biggest lie of his life: "I ran into a classmate at the hospital, and we went to an internet cafe together…"
"Which classmate?" His grandfather, a former high level official, still retained his former air of authority.
Without hesitation, Lian answered, "Yiou."
His mother, obviously recognizing the name, quickly explained, "He's the son of Director Youa from the Animal Husbandry Bureau."
Upon hearing that the other was also from an "official family," his grandfather seemed calmer: "Obviously not a good kid. Avoid him in the future." He then fell silent.
Lian felt immense guilt towards Yiou. Being introverted, Lian didn't have many close friends, and Yiou was his one and only best friend.
Moreover, Lian knew that once the lie was told, only Yiou could ultimately cover it up.
And the price of covering it up would likely be the wrath of his parents.
However, to Lian's surprise, his parents didn't seem to scold him much; they simply repeatedly reminded him not to make the same mistake again.
Second Aunt, with a smile, spoke up for him.
It was simply that children's playfulness was in their nature, and an occasional outburst was no big deal.
Lian's attention, however, was focused on the aunt's mouth, the image of that soft tongue that had darted out from that mouth that afternoon flashing through his mind.
Only the aunt Ana who had found him was somewhat unforgiving. After everyone else had spoken, it practically became a lecture by the aunt.
The aunt had a fiery temper, and Lian had always been afraid of her.
Now, watching the aunt's lips constantly moving up and down, Lian dared not even breathe.
Finally, his mother intervened to end it all, calling everyone to eat: "It's rare to have the whole family together like this, come and eat quickly… Little sister, your nephew should know he was wrong. Don't say anything more. Come and eat, getting angry is bad for your health."
"Okay, sister-in-law."
Lian breathed a sigh of relief, but as soon as he looked up, he met the aunt's brown eyes, which glared at him. Lian quickly lowered his head again, a strange feeling stirring within him.
"The aunt is a beauty. I was too young to notice that when I was younger."
Dinner was undoubtedly torture for Lian.
At the dinner table, the elders chatted and laughed, while Lian, sitting at the very edge, could only silently put his food into his mouth.
His cousin Juan (eldest Aunt son) secretly smiled bitterly at him.
Unlike Lian, Juan was relatively outgoing and often got scolded by his parents for going out to play.
And his parents always compared Juan to the usual "homebody" Lian.
Now that Lian was being scolded for the same reason, his cousin felt no joy, but rather a deep sense of sympathy.
Although Lian and Juan had different personalities, they were good brothers. Seeing his cousin's expression, Lian could only blink, indicating that he didn't care at all.
His eight-year-old cousin Dawn (Aunt Lan's little girl), unaware of her cousin's problem, kept laughing without a care.
Lian couldn't help but make a face at his little cousin, who, far from being frightened, laughed even harder.
Seeing his cousin's reaction, Lian knew he held no authority over his young cousin.
Feeling dejected, his hands fumbled, and his spoon fell to the ground. Lian had to bend down to pick it up.
Because there were many people, the dinner table was quite noisy, and no one noticed Lian's dropped spoon; everyone continued doing what they were doing.
His father sat next to his grandfather, with Second Aunt close beside him. Lian looked down and noticed Second Aunt's left hand was between his father's legs, stroking him up and down.
By now, Lian was no longer surprised. Seeing his father calmly toasting his grandfather, he even felt a touch of admiration.
"Even being teased like that by Second Aunt, he can still pretend. Dad really is a man of officialdom."
While Lian's disappearance was a disaster for him, it provided a rare opportunity for this large family, who rarely gathered.
Lian's two uncles were both businessmen, though in different industries. Although they had some contact before, today they had surprisingly found a project they could collaborate on.
Lian's father, of course, wouldn't be absent either. These days, business is difficult to do without government intervention.
Thus, Lian's "disappearance" turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The family left happily.
The Eldest Aunt and her husband left with their child Juan and took care of dropping off the grandparents.
Aunt Ana went on her own.
Second Aunt's husband left with Dawn.
Second Aunt stayed behind temporarily, saying casually to everyone, "Brother-in-law will take me home later."
Lian naturally understood Second Aunt's true intentions.
But just as he had thought before, "What does this have to do with me?" He turned and went back to his room, casually picking up a history book and absentmindedly flipping through it.