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All of Nie Huaisang’s regulars had a schedule that he knew by heart. Wen Ning stopped by once every two weeks to get cookies with Wen Yuan, Wei Wuxian and his coworker Shen Yuan got various pastries at the beginning of each week, Lan Xichen would indulge in an afternoon lunch once a week, and so on.
Jiang Cheng came three days a week and alternated between a bagel for breakfast or one of da-ge’s smoked meat sandwiches for lunch, and never deviated from that routine.
So Nie Huaisang was a bit surprised when Jiang Cheng walked into the bakery for the fourth time that week holding a piece of paper and wearing a happy smile.
“You look happy today,” Nie Huaisang said, leaning on the counter to address his favorite customer. “Something good happen?”
Da-ge called Jiang Cheng his newest “work crush” but Nie Huaisang really liked Jiang Cheng, more than anyone else.
Jiang Cheng nodded and said, “Jin Ling’s birthday is tomorrow. We’re throwing him a party next week and I was wondering if you have time to do cupcakes.”
Nie Huaisang perked up at the idea. He loved birthday cakes, cupcakes, pull-apart-cakes, or anything of the like.
“Sure!” he said, already committed to helping. “What were you thinking of?”
Jiang Cheng unfolded the paper and explained, “Jiejie usually makes a cake for the family, but Jin Ling really likes Blue’s Clues so we were thinking something like this?”
He offered out the paper which featured a rough cupcake design that had blue frosting…everywhere.
Nie Huaisang looked at Jiang Cheng with a raised eyebrow.
“Jin Ling drew it,” Jiang Cheng explained. “Really, anything Blue’s Clues would be great. Regular cupcakes would be fine but I think Wei Wuxian mentioned a cupcake cake?”
He was just too cute. Nie Huaisang was going to melt from Jiang Cheng’s description of pull-apart-cakes.
“I’ll see what I can do!” Nie Huaisang said as he slipped the paper in his apron pocket. “What flavors does the birthday boy like?”
“What does every kid like? Chocolate,” Jiang Cheng listed. “Vanilla, banana, and Jin Zixuan wants some with red bean paste. We’re inviting twelve kids.”
Nie Huaisang’s jaw dropped. “Twelve! That’s a lot!”
Jiang Cheng nodded in agreement. “That’s where my next question comes in. Does your brother do catering?”
As if on cue Nie Mingjue called, “Catering for what?”
Nie Huaisang groaned internally as his brother joined him at the counter smelling like smoked meat and his homemade sauces. He completely ruined the aesthetic of the bakery, but as long as he was an equal owner of the business Nie Huaisang couldn’t complain about what his brother did when customers were around.
“Jin Ling’s birthday party.”
“I can do that,” Nie Mingjue agreed readily. “Kids are great.”
“You only say that because they use you like a jungle gym,” Nie Huaisang muttered, a bit miffed his brother was still there taking up Jiang Cheng’s time.
As if he could read Nie Huaisang’s mind, Nie Mingjue grinned and said, “I’ll even come over and help. Your sister deserves to kick back and relax.”
Jiang Cheng agreed and the two discussed plans while Nie Huaisang sketched out a few ideas for the desserts. Finally Jiang Cheng waved goodbye and flashed one of his small but so brilliant smiles at Nie Huaisang.
Nie Huaisang heaved a sigh and glared at his idea page.
“Stop sulking,” Nie Mingjue instructed, poking Nie Huaisang’s back to make him stand up straight.
“I’m not sulking!” Nie Huaisang protested. “I thought he was going to ask me out.”
Nie Mingjue shook his head and said, “That wasn’t going to happen. You should’ve seen that one coming.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nie Huaisang asked, but his brother was already on his way back to check on the rolls for lunch.
Wei Wuxian was the bravest man of all time. Party shopping wasn’t supposed ot be scary, but Jin Ling had to love dogs and want a puppy party, which meant all the supplies had to be puppy themed.
When Jin Ling pointed to a huge Blue’s Clues balloon and grabbed the string to pull it down, Wei Wuxian didn’t scream, even when it floated close to his face.
Fortunately Jin Ling was preoccupied in picking out the toys to go in the goodie bags, which gave Wei Wuxian a brief chance to regroup and check his list. Plates, napkins, and other food related items had been obtained first along with the party hats that Wei Wuxian was sure no one but the adults would really wear.
With Jin Ling busy poking at a mini slinky and some bead necklaces, Wei Wuxian took a photo of the cute salt and pepper shaker couple that decorated one side of the napkins. He didn’t know much about Blue’s Clues, nor did he want to learn, but he liked the shakers and grinned before sending the image as a text to Lan Zhan.
[10:43 AM] WWX: Look Lan Zhan! It’s us!
[10:45 AM] WWX: We’re salt and pepper shakers!
[11:00 AM] LWJ: …
Wei Wuxian waited and frowned at the ellipsis. Usually his Lan Zhan didn’t take so long to answer text messages, but maybe he was busy. Wei Wuxian shrugged it off as no big deal and pocketed his phone so he could go help Jin Ling choose streamers and party blowers and noise makers.
[11:04 AM] LWJ: Marry me.
The morning of the birthday party Nie Huaisang had everything ready for Jiang Cheng’s order pickup. He refused to let his brother just take the order to the house when he set out to set up the catering, intent on seeing Jiang Cheng at least once before the festivities started.
However when the bakery door jingled and Jiang Cheng walked in he looked less than excited. He didn’t try to make small talk, just paid with Jin Zixuan’s money and waited for Nie Huaisang to bring out the pull-apart-cake.
“Alright, what’s wrong?” Nie Huaisang pressed playfully as he taped the receipt to the box. “Did the kids break something already?”
Jiang Cheng shook his head and sighed which made Nie Huaisang frown. It wasn’t uncommon for Jiang Cheng to be in a bad mood, but that never happened in relation to Jin Ling, and he seemed especially sullen when today of all days he should be beaming with excitement.
“Come on,” Nie Huaisang teased, reaching across the counter to poke Jiang Cheng’s shoulder. “Tell me.”
Surprisingly Jiang Cheng answered. Normally it took some teasing and a lot of prodding to get him to open up about what upset him.
With slumped shoulders Jiang Cheng said, “Only three kids showed up for the party. A-Ling sent twelve invitations and...” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “He’s going to be so disappointed his friends didn’t come.”
Something tugged at Nie Huaisang’s heartstrings. He didn’t know if it was the sad thought of Jin Ling only having a quarter of his guests show up or if it was the kicked puppy expression Jiang Cheng wore that made his chest ache.
“Do you have arts and crafts?” Nie Huaisang asked as a plan formed in his mind. “Da-ge will play with them if you ask, he’s a sucker for kids, and I have a bunch of construction paper and stuff that’s perfect for little kids.”
Jiang Cheng blinked. He was still holding the box of cupcakes and looked confused. “You’re...coming?”
“Of course!” Nie Huaisang said as he shoved a few extra goodies in a bag. “I have some cookies in the oven but as soon as those are done I’ll be right over!”
Jiang Cheng looked startled and asked, “But what about—”
“Let me worry about my business, and you worry about getting those to your nephew.” Nie Huaisang grinned and said, “I’ve got some ideas in mind to help make things exciting! Go have fun, I’ll be right over!”
With that he thrust the bag of baked goods into Jiang Cheng’s other hand and shooed him toward the door. Without wasting time, Nie Huaisang ran through a mental checklist of thigns he could gather from his place, paper, safety scissors, glue, colorful buttons, fabric scraps, anything that could be used in a fun activity, and started to look up where to get some kid sized aprons.
Personally Jiang Yanli loved the party. Everything was decorated nicely, Jiang Cheng got an adorable cake that she took photos of, and everyone was so nice!
Even Jiang Cheng’s last minute guest was sweet, having brought over a bunch of craft supplies and child sized aprons for the boys to decorate. That had been a huge hit, and the four children crowded around the table, passing glue around while they chattered excitedly about what they would cook when they got to wear their aprons.
There was a break after the boys’ finished to let the glue on their aprons dry and they gathered to sing to Jin Ling, take pictures, and let him blow out his candles. Between the food in Nie Mingue’s smoker and the cupcakes Nie Huaisang made, everything was delicious and Jiang Yanli wished Jiang Cheng would invite them around more often.
There was a moment where Jiang Yanli felt…disappointed that only three of her son’s friends came to his party. But those feelings were quickly quashed when she saw how much Jin Ling loved his party and didn’t even seem to notice the smaller guest list than was originally intended.
All in all, she considered it a success, especially when Nie Huaisang approached her with a sneaky smile and a fun plan.
The party was in full swing, or as full a swing it could be with a ratio of four kids to eight grownups. There would’ve been nine but Ouyang Zizhen’s dad dropped him off with a promise to be back to get him later.
Jiang Cheng felt like a failure.
They’d planned it out so well! Wei Wuxian took Jin Ling to the party store to choose decorations—a true testament to how much he loved the kid because everything Jin Ling wanted was Blue’s Clues or puppy themed—and goodie bags, Jiang Cheng took care of food and cake, and Jin Zixuan sent out the invitations. There were only four kids including the birthday boy. Fortunately Jin Ling hadn’t noticed anything wrong, maybe because as a little kid he didn’t know the effort his father and uncles put into the celebration, which Jiang Cheng took some comfort in.
His nephew shouted excitedly and ran around to throw himself at Jiang Cheng’s legs, capturing him in an awkward hug.
“Jiujiu!” Jin Ling all but shouted, his eyes sparkling with delight. “I found a clue!”
“Really?” Jiang Cheng asked with a smile.
“Mhmm!” Jin Ling held up a piece of blue paper clutched in his hand. “It was next to the stereo!”
“I have another!” Lan Jingyi shouted as he barreled over. “Blue left it on your shoes!”
Jiang Cheng blinked at the obvious paw print shape of the paper and took it from Jin Ling just as the other boys crowded around, all of them excited about the clue hunt. They shoved to get closer and Jiang Cheng noticed each of them held a little notebook and crayon.
He glanced over to where Nie Huaisang spoke in a low tone to Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian, clearly in the middle of plotting something.
“Jiujiu!” Jin Ling said, interrupting Jiang Cheng’s thoughts. “We need to find the next one!”
Jiang Cheng smiled and crouched down to take the paw print clues from the two boys. “Where do you think the next one is?” he asked as he held up the two clues. “Jin Ling found this next to the stereo which makes…what does the stereo do?”
“It makes music!” Wen Yuan chimed in happily, scrawling something in his notebook.
“Very good,” Jiang Cheng said. “And where did this one come from?”
“Shoes!” Lan Jingyi repeated, bouncing up and down. “They were on Jin Ling’s shoes!”
“Don’t touch my shoes!” Jin Ling said, pushing Lan Jingyi away when he stepped too close.
Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow at the action but asked, “What can you do with shoes?”
“Run!’
“Jumping!”
“Dancing!” Ouyang Zizhen declared, throwing his hands in the air. “You dance to music with dancing shoes!”
That must have sparked an idea because in an instant the boys rushed away in a burst of excitement in search of the final clue.
Jiang Cheng rose to his feet and asked, “What’s all that about?”
“Oh nothing,” Nie Huaisang said in a voice that clearly meant something was going on. “Just getting something ready for the birthday boy. Trust me, he’ll like it.”
Jin Ling did like it. The final clue led them to the closet where kid jewelry waited for the boys, and once they grabbed them and all crowded on the couch—it was a good enough substitute for the Thinking Chair—the boys went through the clues and decided they were meant to have a dance party.
Jiang Yanli applauded them for figuring it out and helped arrange the plastic bead necklaces for the kids to wear while Jin Zixuan queued up the stereo for some music. Jin Ling made a big deal showing off his necklaces—yellow and purple—while his friends trailed behind to show anyone who would look their notebooks filled with crayon scribbles of a stereo, shoes, and a closet.
Jiang Cheng huffed in amusement and met Nie Huaisang’s eyes which sparkled with delight. “You planned this?”
“Are you surprised?” Nie Huaisang asked, bumping his shoulder against Jiang Cheng’s playfully.
“I’m just impressed you thought this up so quickly,” Jiang Cheng admitted. “I thought this would be a glitter glue nightmare.”
Nie Huaisang laughed, his voice rising above the music and blurred conversations around them. “You have such a way of giving compliments!”
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes and turned to grab a cupcake. He swiped some frosting off and poked Nie Huaisang’s cheek with it, eliciting a startled sound before he bit into the treat.
“So mean,” Nie Huaisang giggled as he cleaned his face. Slowly he licked the frosting off his finger, taking his time while he maintained eye contact with Jiang Cheng.
“These are really good,” Jiang Cheng said. At lease he had the consideration to swallow before he spoke unlike Wei Wuxian who spewed crumbs at Lan Wangji.
Jiang Cheng finished his cupcake and said, “Thanks again, this was really good of you.”
“Anytime,” Nie Huaisang said. “You’re my favorite after all.”
Jin Zixuan eyed the three party guests as they danced and chased each other around the living room, jumping off the couch despite Jiang Yanli’s insistence of, “No jumping on the furniture! You’ll get hurt.”
He had personally delivered the invitations to all of Jin Ling’s friend’s houses, he knew half the people who didn’t attend had no reason to miss the party. Mo Xuanyu informed him that one family had come down with a bad case of the flu and could barely get out of bed let alone contact anyone, so they were excused but the rest...
It took a gentle hand on Jin Zuxian’s arm to bring him back to the moment.
The aroma of sweet baked goods and savory brisket and veggies filled the house and backyard, shouts of glee echoed as We Wuxian chased the kids around while Wen Ning picked up the discarded toys in their wake, and the smile on his son’s face, oh the joy A-Ling wore so easily took priority over anything else Jin Zixuan had been thinking of.
Beside him Jiang Yanli rested her head on his shoulder and gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. “I think four children were more than enough, don’t you?”
Jin Zixuan scoffed, certain he and the other men of his family could’ve stepped up to wrangle all twelve had they arrived, but ultimately agreed with his wife. “Including Wei Wuxian there are five.”
Jiang Yanli laughed and rested her head against Jin Zixuan’s shoulder. He hummed contentedly and decided he’d wait until another day to deal with the families who didn’t have the decency to say no.
Jiang Cheng was in the middle of washing some dishes when Nie Huaisang wandered into the kitchen.
“Still here?” Jiang Cheng asked. He half expected Nie Huaisang to leave before cleanup.
Nie Huaisang shrugged and leaned against the counter next to Jiang Cheng and said, “I was offered a goodie bag if I stayed.” He held up his wrist and displayed a candy bracelet that was no doubt in the goodie bag.
“Nice,” Jiang Cheng said. “Hey, break a piece off for me?”
Nie Huaisand smiled deviously and leaned into Jiang Cheng and said, “Why don’t you take one yourself?”
Around Nie Huaisang’s neck was a candy necklace, with little rings of candy held against his skin like a choker.
Jiang Cheng’s gaze flitted to Nie Huaisang’s and tentatively he leaned down to ghost his lips across the necklace. He tried not to touch Nie Huaisang’s skin, tried not to read too much into what was being offered, and grazed his teeth against the other man’s neck as he bit down on one of the candy loops.
Nie Huaisang shivered slightly at the touch but did nothing more than crane his neck back to allow Jiang Cheng better access. When Jiang Cheng pulled away he had secured three candy pieces and chewed them thoughtfully.
“You know,” Nie Huaisang began, tracing a finger along Jiang Cheng’s arm. “If you want more all you have to do is ask—”
“Huaisang!” Nie Mingjue stomped in to glare at his brother. “Stop slacking and come help pack up the leftovers for Xichen’s brother!”
Face flushed Nie Huaisang hissed, “Da-ge! I’m trying to—”
“Now. Huaisang.”
Nie Mingjue crossed his arms and waited for a sulking Nie Huaisang to huff and say, “Fine!”
The two brothers returned to where everyone was divvying up the catered food and Jiang Cheng finished washing the dishes. While he dried his hands he thought about Nie Huaisang’s offer and wondered what he should make of it.