Strawberry Pop Pop Pop chapter 109

As it turned out, Su Li had misunderstood Liang Caicai.

During that afternoon, Su Li couldn’t concentrate on his class at all.

After the class, he received a call from his mother, Su Ling.

Su Ling had a loud voice, “It’s been a month, and you don’t plan on coming home, do you? They say when children grow up, they become wild. I think you’ve gone wild all the way to the Pacific!”

She was concerned about her son, and her tough words were followed by a much gentler tone, “It’s Friday today, come home for dinner tonight.”

“I might have something today.”

“What could be more important than the soy-sauce-crusted fish your father made?” Su Ling added, “He made it especially for you. How about your father and I pick you up from school?”

“No, no!” Su Li quickly responded, “I’ll come home now.”

“Alright, your room is all dusty; I’ll clean it for you.”

“No need, Mom, I really have something to do. I’ll leave after dinner.”

“…You ungrateful child.”

Su Li had been wanting to introduce Liang Xie to his father’s secret recipe soy-sauce-crusted fish for a while now.

He messaged Liang Xie, who replied quickly: [Alright.]

Half a minute later, Liang Xie sent another message: [If it’s getting late, don’t come back and spend the night at home, stay safe.]

Su Li: [=3=, kiss kiss kiss.]

Liang Xie: [Mm.]

Su Li put away his phone and boarded the subway heading home.

At this time, the subway was quite crowded, and Su Li leaned against a small corner, lost in thought. He overheard two people next to him discussing their elderly parents being hospitalized, one with a leg issue and the other having undergone heart surgery. The tired tone filled the narrow space during the evening rush hour.

It seemed like nobody, apart from those who worked in hospitals, wanted to spend an extended period in a hospital. Liang Xie was no exception.

Gradually, Su Li recalled the conversation he had with Liang Caicai on his way to school.

After the misunderstanding had been resolved, Su Li couldn’t stop apologizing.

Liang Caicai was completely understanding and had a good temper, “It’s not your fault. My mother and Xu Lin haven’t been very kind to you, so it’s natural for you to misunderstand. But don’t worry; I’m a more reasonable person. I don’t care much for things like family, class, or status.”

Su Li raised his head slightly, “…”

Liang Caicai made his stance clear, “I’m absolutely in support of freedom in love. I’m not like those old-fashioned people.”

“Really?” Su Li wanted to make sure he wasn’t being deceived and confirmed multiple times, “You really don’t object to me being with Liang Xie?”

“Of course not. I can’t wait for you to marry him,” Liang Caicai said as he stopped at a red light. “He has changed a lot after being with you. You might not know, but he used to be quite weird.”

“Weird?”

“From childhood to adolescence, he always ranked first in every exam. As long as he was around, no one else could ever be first in anything. His drawer was full of love letters. On Valentine’s Day, he received so much chocolate that it could fill a whole car! I envied him so much. We’re both alphas, but our fates were different.”

Su Li could understand Liang Caicai’s feelings perfectly, “My friend is like that too, but I’ve always thought he’s amazing!”

“That’s right, I think Liang Xie is amazing too!”

Liang Caicai couldn’t help but stifle a laugh, realizing that his indirect praise of Liang Xie had successfully brought him and Su Li closer.

They chatted about Liang Xie’s junior high and high school experiences, and as they approached the school, Liang Caicai finally got to the point.

“Actually, what Liang Xie was most exceptional at before wasn’t academics, it was running. He had a great aptitude for sports, and he consistently dominated the school’s track and field events. He’s a truly outstanding person in every way.”

Su Li’s eyelashes fluttered slightly as he looked at Liang Caicai, “What do you want to talk to me about? Why don’t you just say it? We’re almost at school.”

Liang Caicai appreciated Su Li’s straightforwardness.

“Actually, I wanted to ask you for a favor today.” He handed Su Li the doctor’s business card and spoke earnestly, “I can see that you genuinely care about Liang Xie. Maybe, for his sake, you could help persuade him. His leg is indeed severely injured, but there’s still hope. What if it could be treated? It’s worth giving it a try, right?”

Liang Caicai explained the details about seeking treatment abroad to Su Li, “I think he will listen to you. Your words matter to him.”

Su Li accepted the business card, and for some reason, it felt extremely heavy.

Seeking treatment abroad meant a long separation.

Seeking treatment abroad also meant that the excellent Liang Xie, who had always been at the top, might make a comeback.

A highly accomplished alpha and an ordinary omega didn’t seem like a perfect match.

Su Li unconsciously thought about their passionate night, the moment when Liang Xie was about to bite into the back of his neck, but he turned and bit into his own arm instead.

He asked, “Is there really a chance for a full recovery?”

“I can’t say for sure, but the results will be better than the condition he is in right now.”

Su Li pressed his lips together and remained silent.

Liang Caicai was good at reading people and knew exactly what Su Li was thinking at that moment. 

At this point, he wanted to speak up to vouch for Liang Xie, to tell Su Li that Liang Xie was not someone who broke promises.

Unfortunately, Liang Caicai knew Liang Xie well enough but didn’t know Su Li well enough.

All he saw was Su Li decisively tucking away the business card and nodding seriously, “Yeah, I’ll talk to him! Liang Xie needs to get better for his own happiness.”

“you…”

“What about me?”

“Nothing, you’re quite reasonable.”

“To be honest, he bought a house for me, saying he wanted to live together, and I…,” Su Li firmly told Liang Caicai, “I’m part of his family now.”

In Su Li’s mind, buying such an expensive house to live together was undoubtedly a plan for marriage.

Liang Caicai was at a loss for words for a moment. He couldn’t bring himself to say that he also bought a property for his little lover, with the sole purpose of making his little lover leave quietly without any fuss or crying.

Liang Caicai often had little patience for troublesome matters. But when it came to Liang Xie, he had always taken it to heart.

Su Li said to Liang Caicai, “I used to feel that no one in Liang Xie’s family cared about him, but you seem different. Although it might not be appropriate for me to say this, I still want to thank you.”

Su Li addressed Liang Caicai with “您” (a formal form of “you”), making Liang Caicai feel a bit awkward.

After a while, he said, “If it weren’t for me selfishly leaving the Liang family back then, leaving him alone to bear the pressure from the family, he might not have…” Liang Caicai’s voice trailed off, and he sighed, “It’s my fault. I owe him.”

However, he didn’t want others to tell him that it wasn’t his fault. He and Liang Xie were twin brothers who should have faced their destinies together, but he had betrayed his brother’s trust and escaped on his own.

At that time, he knew very well that the one who couldn’t escape was Liang Xie, and he knew it very well.

But he didn’t want to stay in that toxic family anymore; he chose to leave.

Liang Caicai didn’t wait for Su Li to say comforting words. He reached out and patted Su Li’s shoulder, “In the future, just call me ‘brother’ like Liang Xie does. When you guys get married, I’ll definitely give you a big red envelope!”

By the time Su Li snapped out of it, the subway had already arrived at his destination.

His family’s residential complex was just a ten-minute walk from the subway station. Su Li reached home in no time. From a distance, he saw Su Ling carrying a bag of groceries heading towards their house.

He ran up to help Su Ling with her bags, “Mom!”

“Hey, you’re here pretty early. Come, let Mom see if you’ve lost weight.” She took a closer look and surprisingly found him gaining weight. “Is the cafeteria food that good? Are you drinking bubble tea all the time?”

“Don’t falsely accuse me, Mom. I’m eating my three meals regularly.”

“That’s good. You look better with a little weight.” Su Ling’s mother smiled and patted his back. “Let’s get inside, your dad made that soy sauce crispy fish tonight; it’s incredibly delicious. I wanted to eat a piece first, but he insisted on saving the largest piece for you. He missed you even though he didn’t say it aloud.”

She was so delighted as she chatted.

Su Li touched his head and adjusted his collar.

Su Ling had noticed, of course, as an experienced person, but she didn’t mention Su Li’s recent changes that she usually would’ve nagged about.

Just before Su Li finished his dinner and was about to leave, she packed a whole box of soy sauce crispy fish for him. It was obvious it was enough for two people.

She held Su Li’s hand, and with rare warmth and patience, said, “You, always so simpleminded. You should be a bit more clever in handling such things.”

Su Li didn’t understand why she thought he was being simple.

Su Ling sighed, “Alright, go on. Look at you, with that longing look in your eyes, you’re as eager as an arrow…”

Su Li understood and, with the box of fish, stood at the doorstep, seemingly unable to take a step.

“Mom, I’m actually in a relationship.”

“I noticed that a while ago.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me anything?” Su Li found it hard to speak.

Su Ling was prepared for this and had acted warmly so that Su Li would open up. She then took out a questionnaire that she had prepared yesterday from her pocket and handed it to Su Li. “It’s all here. Answer them one by one.”

“Huh?” Su Li held the box of fish and quickly ran off. Even if Su Ling wanted to fetch the electric scooter now, she couldn’t catch up with him.

Su Li ran a long way, wiping the sweat from his forehead, speechless. He wasn’t prepared for this to be an “interrogation” kind of night.

At this moment, the evening breeze brushed his cheeks.

Sitting on a bench in a nearby park with the box of fish, Su Li couldn’t help but think.

Kids with their soccer balls were running around, bringing intermittent waves of warmth on the spring day. He took out the doctor’s business card from his pocket and looked at it. The English letters on it were already etched into his memory.

“Going abroad…”

He murmured to himself, “Holiday plane tickets are so expensive. How about… using Liang Xie’s card?” After careful consideration, he reached an agreement with himself.

Liang Xie’s phone rang at this moment. “Where are you?”

Su Li stood up. “I was just about to return, Liang Xie. I have something to tell you tonight.” He stepped to the side of the road and hailed a taxi. “I’m taking a taxi back now! Wait for me, okay?”

His voice pierced through the clouds, hitting the beginning of summer, making people feel dizzy, as if they had just had a pleasant dream.

 “wait for me, okay…”

This sentence, in the following three years, became the closing words of Su Li’s conversations with Liang Xie every time before boarding a plane to see him.

THE END.

So this if finally it!! THE END.

Also you can check out Stars Run To Him from the same author, It’s in the same shared universe as this story with the characters having brief appearances

Also more of Su Li’s and Liang Xie’s troubles when facing Su Li’s parents will be in the extra chapters of Stars Run To Him.