Extra: The Right to Choose (Part 1)
While eating breakfast, Qu Ke suddenly asked, “Dad, what kind of relationship are you and Uncle Ren now?”
A mouthful of fried egg got stuck in Qu Tongqiu’s throat. It took him a long while to swallow it down, his face and neck flushed red, and he said awkwardly, “Uh… why are you asking this?”
Qu Ke pouted. “I at least have the right to know whether he’s going to be my new ‘mom’, right?”
“……”
“Dad, it’s been so long already. You don’t really think I know nothing, do you?”
Even though he knew that living under the same roof, his daughter couldn’t possibly be unaware, and he’d already prepared himself mentally to be honest with her, having such an open talk about this rather taboo, rather marginal topic in front of milk and fried eggs still made Qu Tongqiu feel embarrassed. “This… I… I can’t really explain it clearly…… Why don’t you ask Uncle Ren?”
Luckily, Ren Ningyuan was away on a business trip and not at the table.
Qu Ke looked dissatisfied. “I already asked Uncle Ren.”
“Oh?” Qu Tongqiu hesitated. “What did Uncle Ren say?”
“He said you’re friends.”
“……”
Qu Ke propped her cheeks with both hands, looking gloomy. “You adults are too crafty. Whether I’m getting a new mom or a new dad, I don’t mind, but don’t let me be the last one to know.”
“……”
“The craftiest is still Uncle Ren. No matter what, he should at least give you a proper status.”
“What status? Don’t talk nonsense.”
“If there’s no status and you’re just ‘friends’, then on what grounds does he get to take advantage of you?”
Qu Tongqiu panicked. “What advantage… he’s not taking advantage of me. Kids shouldn’t think nonsense. There’s nothing going on between us. Hurry up and eat, it’s time for school.”
After sending Qu Ke off, Qu Tongqiu hurriedly tidied up and went to work.
Although his daughter wasn’t satisfied with his answer, he really hadn’t been brushing her off. He was telling the truth.
His relationship with Ren Ningyuan was a bit hard to define. The way they got along felt, to him, somewhere between family and lovers.
In daily trivial matters, the boundary was rather blurry. But when it came to the “hey-hey” side of things, it was very clear.
Though he felt embarrassed to compare too much, for most couples who had just started living together, it would normally be passionate every night, thunder and lightning, minds full of that kind of thing, doing it several times a day being perfectly normal.
With him and Ren Ningyuan, it was really too formulaic. Ren Ningyuan didn’t look like someone controlled by desire at all—very steady, very restrained, even polite.
Those scenes in novels or TV dramas where emotions surge and people get intimate regardless of place never happened to them. Being suddenly pressed against doors, tables, walls in a burst of passion—none of that existed.
Usually, Ren Ningyuan would even ask him, “Is it okay?”
With Ren Ningyuan’s face, saying such words gently and politely, it made Qu Tongqiu feel as if Ren Ningyuan were still negotiating a contract at the conference table.
After he answered “Okay”, the two of them would very properly get onto the bed, take off their own clothes, and then enter the procedure.
And almost without exception, it was once a week, every Friday night.
As if it were some kind of weekend variety show.
Of course, even so, he still found Ren Ningyuan extremely sexy, and this kind of courteous sex was already very good for him.
Friday night arrangements were also quite reasonable. After all, male-male sex has physical limitations.
Once things really got going, he’d end up flushed red and thick-necked, done until he couldn’t take it anymore, half-dead, and the next day he’d have to sleep until afternoon before waking up. Then Sunday could be used to rest and accompany his daughter, and Monday would start a new work week.
Ren Ningyuan was very rational, very gentlemanly, and very skilled. During the time they’d lived together, he had never treated him badly or put him in a difficult position in any respect.
Qu Tongqiu was someone used to living an ordinary, steady life. He felt that there was really nothing to pick at about Ren Ningyuan or this kind of life. It was just that he couldn’t answer Qu Ke’s question.
Thinking deeper, why had Ren Ningyuan let him live here? Even that, he couldn’t answer.
The reason he himself stayed was because Ren Ningyuan and his daughter were the two most important people to him. Being with them made his life feel complete.
As for Ren Ningyuan’s insistence on keeping him, the reasons were very vague, and he’d always been muddle-headed and never asked.
That night, Ren Ningyuan had suddenly climbed into his bed, suddenly flipped him over and did him several times, suddenly asked him to move in. By the time he recovered from this series of shocks, he realized he’d already obediently complied.
At first, in a daze, he thought Ren Ningyuan was expressing love. While surprised, he’d blushed and been flustered for days, unable to tell east from west. Only now did he feel that maybe he’d misunderstood. What Ren Ningyuan had expressed through action instead of words back then was simply “wanting to have sex”.
And naturally, Ren Ningyuan wanted his only biological daughter to stay. Qu Ke would certainly insist on living together with him, her “dad”, and that was probably also one of the reasons Ren Ningyuan kept him.
Thinking this way only made him more confused.
But he didn’t really have time to be confused. Today was Friday, and there were many things to do. The takeaway shop had grown bigger and hired professional chefs long ago, so he no longer needed to cook personally, yet he was still very busy.
