Chapter 115 (Extra)
That afternoon, after finishing lunch in the company cafeteria, Xie Siheng returned to his office, planning on taking a quick midday rest. Just then, his phone buzzed.
He checked and saw that Chi Wang had sent him a message: a photo of the lunch being served in An An’s school cafeteria—a bowl of meatball soup, crispy fried minnows, stir-fried peas, and some leafy greens.
An An was having the same set meal as Chi Wang.
Xie Siheng started a video call with Chi Wang, and he answered right away. Chi Wang’s lovely face filled the screen. No matter when, there was always a sparkle in his eyes when he looked at someone, and the corners of his mouth curved in a slight smile. Even his gaze seemed brimful of vibrant, happy energy. “Hey, Senior, take a look at our An An.”
He flipped the camera toward An An, who was seated at the cafeteria table with classmates on both sides. A little girl with pigtails on his left was scooping a meatball from her bowl, eager to drop it into An An’s. An An, however, reached over for the boy’s bowl on his right, using that to accept the girl’s meatball, then took the boy’s spoon and ladled some fried minnows into the girl’s bowl.
Both kids blushed, smiling happily. Everyone looked very satisfied.
Chi Wang joked, “‘If soldiers come, use generals to block; if floods come, use earth to hold them back. My fate is mine alone, not the heavens’!’ Hahahaha…”
Xie Siheng: “…”
He asked, “Like this, can he actually eat in peace?”
Chi Wang replied, “Probably, yeah.”
Sure enough, before he could elaborate, An An tucked his head down to focus on his food. Any kids who approached now were guided back to their seats by the teacher.
Xie Siheng fell silent. After a moment, he remarked, “He’ll finish his final year of kindergarten this year. It’ll be better once he’s in elementary school.”
Chi Wang asked, “Have you had lunch yet?”
Xie Siheng answered, “Yes.”
Chi Wang set his phone on the table in front of him. “All right, watch me do a little lunchtime mukbang.”
He grabbed a spoon and began describing what he was eating. “Today’s meatballs are really tender—juice even squirts out when you bite them. So good. The fried minnows are delicious, too. We should make some at home one of these days—An An loves them. Well, I do too.”
Suddenly, Chi Wang’s attention wavered. “An An, what are you doing?” he asked. From the corner of his eye, he saw An An sneakily pick up the greens from his bowl and drop them into the boy’s bowl on his right.
Caught red-handed in the act of picky eating!
An An: “…”
He gave a sweet, well-practiced little smile, showing not the slightest hint of shame, only the cunning of a child who hoped he could charm his way out.
Chi Wang put on a stern expression. “You can’t just skip the veggies! Don’t you realize what happens if you only eat meat?”
An An tilted his head a bit, puzzled.
Chi Wang tried to scare him. “If you don’t eat veggies, your body will rot!”
An An’s eyes fluttered, his thick lashes lifting as if to say “Yeah, right.”
Chi Wang: “…”
In an annoyed tone, he said, “Hurry up and eat your veggies! Don’t go giving them to other kids.”
An An: “…”
Reluctantly, he reached into the boy’s bowl, picked up some greens, and forced himself to eat them, frowning. Chi Wang promptly scooped a bunch of vegetables from his own bowl into An An’s. “You have to finish these. You need both meat and veggies for a balanced diet.”
For his part, Chi Wang wasn’t a big veggie fan, but he knew they were good for you and always made sure to eat some.
Only after watching An An scowl and finish off all the vegetables did Chi Wang turn back to the screen. “See that, your son’s a picky eater—he must’ve learned it from you, huh?”
Xie Siheng: “?”
He refuted it firmly, “I’m not picky.”
Chi Wang arched an eyebrow. “You never eat okra, though.”
Xie Siheng: “…”
He did find the slimy texture somewhat revolting. He avoided that dish if he could, but that didn’t mean he was picky, right?
Seeing him at a loss for words, Chi Wang smirked in triumph. “Nothing more to say, huh? You’re a picky eater, and your son’s following suit. You’ve gotta lead by example, no more being picky.”
Xie Siheng: “…”
He stayed silent, resigning himself to the blame.
They chatted a bit longer as Chi Wang finished his meal and prepared to head home, then ended the call.
By then, Xie Siheng no longer felt like napping. Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Zuo Qianxing walked in.
No sooner had he entered than he began railing against BV Company, accusing them of shady dealings and how they’d nearly signed a tampered contract. He was furious.
Nowadays, Zuo Qianxing no longer worked at Haisheng. He had taken over his own family’s business, which meant he was now out from under his older brother’s protection. But managing your own operation was different from working for someone else; Zuo Qianxing looked more haggard than before.
After venting his frustrations, he didn’t expect much of a reaction from Xie Siheng. He abruptly changed the subject to him. “So, your An An started school again, yeah?”
Xie Siheng: “Yes.”
Zuo Qianxing exhaled in a wistful sigh. “Time’s flown by so fast. An An’s already five years old—he’ll be in grade school next year.”
Ever since Xie Siheng got married, plenty of people had speculated—openly or otherwise—how long that marriage could last. It wasn’t surprising: at the time, he was so young, fresh out of college, and a wealthy family’s heir on top of that. Even for ordinary folks, it was rare to marry immediately after graduation; was marriage really so wonderful? Stepping right out of school into wedded life sounded like burying yourself halfway to the grave. And modern divorces aren’t exactly straightforward, either.
Some assumed Xie Siheng had signed a prenuptial agreement and predicted he’d regret it and divorce within three years. But Zuo Qianxing knew there hadn’t been any prenup. In fact, during the wedding, the Xie family had given quite a lavish dowry. Half the family fortune? No, but definitely a sizable share. There wasn’t the slightest hint of stinginess from them.
Others doubted the marriage from the start, yet Zuo Qianxing saw how happy Xie Siheng was—his once-cool demeanor had softened considerably. He came to work each day looking radiant. Divorce? What a joke.
But perhaps those most devastated by the marriage were Xiao Fu’s band of hangers-on. On the day of the wedding, they collectively lost it in their group chat, raging on and off the entire night.
Zuo Qianxing had lurked in that chat all night, relishing the drama. He still remembered those pitifully heartbroken reactions:
Xiao Fu’s Fan #1: [So he’s really Brother Xiao’s brother? Why’ve we never heard anything about that?]
Xiao Fu’s Fan #2: [He is—Brother Xiao cried. I feel so awful, I can’t breathe. Then who are we to him… just a bunch of bootlickers?]
Xiao Fu’s Fan #3: […We’re basically idiots, yeah?]
Xiao Fu’s Fan #4: [Shut up, Zhao Wanwan! Are you asking for a beating?]
Xiao Fu’s Fan #5: [But he’s not wrong. We are kinda stupid. Where’s Brother Yan? Let him scold Brother Xiao for us.]
Xiao Fu’s Fan #6: [Would that help? He’d never dare give Brother Xiao the cold shoulder. Didn’t Xiao Chengfeng get exiled abroad forever?]
Xiao Fu’s Fan #7: [It’s too much. How could Brother Xiao go behind our backs and become in-laws with Xie Siheng? We poured our hearts into this, only to end up like clowns.]
Xiao Fu’s Fan #8: [Look, it’s not so bad—if Brother Xiao isn’t at odds with Xie Siheng, he’ll have more time to hang out with us!]
Xiao Fu’s Fan #9: [True enough.]
Xiao Fu’s Fan #10: [I feel like we’ve been set free, but it’s ridiculous. I want to cuss out that big moron Xiao Fu.]
Xiao Fu’s Fan #10: [Xiao Fu’s little brother doesn’t even look like him. Are we sure they’re really related?]
Xiao Fu’s Fan $11: [They can’t be fake siblings, right? Maybe his mom had a kid when she left.]
They ranted for hours, and in the end, most of them decided to forgive Xiao Fu and continue their dogged worship of him.
Zuo Qianxing ate up the entire show from start to finish, thoroughly entertained—until, of course, they discovered he was a “spy” and kicked him out. After that, the gossip wasn’t nearly as juicy.
Now, five years had gone by, and as far as he knew, all those hangers-on were still loyally stuck to Xiao Fu, apparently never learning their lesson. It was a kind of comedic devotion, like they’d all been “gaslit” into being his devotees.
Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Zuo Qianxing said with enthusiasm, “Let me drop by your house today to see An An. It’s been, what, a month since I last visited? Bet he misses me.”
“…” Xie Siheng replied, “No, he doesn’t. Don’t bother him.”
Even though An An was still small, he carried a peculiar sense of responsibility, always trying to please everyone. Xie Siheng didn’t want him overworked emotionally. There was no need for a child to go out of his way making sure everyone felt welcome. People would love him anyway, even if he didn’t “carry water for them all.”
Zuo Qianxing, feeling snubbed, asked in confusion, “Not even just to stop by and say hi?”
With a steely edge, Xie Siheng repeated, “No. You can look at photos.”
Zuo Qianxing: “…”
How is looking at pictures not weird? That’s totally weird!
But since Xie Siheng had said so, Zuo Qianxing could only swallow his annoyance and nod.
After a brief pause, Xie Siheng broke with habit and explained, “If you come over, An An will feel obliged to keep you company, which is draining for him emotionally. Besides, he has extracurricular classes—he doesn’t have the time.”
Taken aback, Zuo Qianxing raised his brows. He hadn’t expected an explanation. Whatever frustration he’d felt vanished. A grin spread across his face. “Ah, got it—you’re worried that if I show up, he’ll skip his classes to hang out with me, right?”
Xie Siheng nodded.
Zuo Qianxing said, “Okay, okay, we’ll do it some other time then.” Anyway, there was no escaping it eventually.
He felt that after getting married, Xie Siheng’s personality had become more personable, more openly human.
*
That evening, when Xie Siheng got home, Chi Wang hadn’t returned yet, and An An wasn’t around either; the housekeeper had taken him to an extracurricular class.
Xie Siheng went to the study to read for a while. Outside, he heard Chi Wang’s crisp, vibrant voice, not even pretending to be steady or reserved in the slightest: “Hey, Senior, my roommates from college are here! Come out and say hi!”
Xie Siheng: “…”
He got up and walked over to the study window. Down below, he could see Chi Wang and his two college roommates.
After graduation, those two roommates had followed Chi Wang into his startup. You could say they were riding the wave of his success. They each held a small share in Chi Wang’s company, so even if they did nothing, they could just sit back and collect dividends. Luo Lianyun at least had some ambition and wanted to keep moving forward, but Shu Tingyu was totally laid-back, more or less a homebody who stayed indoors all day.
Since they were all in H City, visiting was easy.
Xie Siheng headed downstairs and saw Chi Wang pinching the flesh at Shu Tingyu’s waist. He frowned slightly but didn’t say anything.
Chi Wang’s mouth was going non-stop: “What’s this, Xiao Yu? Look at that belly of yours, about to become a life preserver.”
Shu Tingyu chuckled. “Can’t be helped. I’m a shut-in—flab is standard equipment.”
Chi Wang sounded exasperated: “You’re wasting that huge build of yours!!!”
Among the three of them, Shu Tingyu was the tallest at around 1.9 meters (6’3”) with a big frame—overall large and imposing, a pretty good-looking guy. But his personality was extremely lazy and childish; at this age, he still hadn’t dated anyone, with a very laid-back ‘whatever’ attitude.
Shu Tingyu said, “It’s fine. I’m not looking to date anyone anyway, so what does it matter if I’m out of shape?”
Chi Wang said, “If you worked out and built some abs, you’d look great! Don’t you want abs?”
Shu Tingyu really did have an ideal body type for building muscle—if he wanted, he could develop some amazing physique, something Chi Wang (with his narrower frame) just couldn’t achieve.
But Shu Tingyu responded matter-of-factly, “You can’t eat abs. What’s the point of having them?”
Chi Wang: “….”
Luo Lianyun chimed in, “Enough. Quit bugging him. Your hubby might get jealous.”
Xie Siheng: “…”
Acting unconcerned, he headed into the kitchen to boil water for tea.
He disliked having a lot of people in the house, so they only employed one housekeeper, plus they hired outside cleaning services from time to time (scheduling them when no one was home).
So in moments like these, he didn’t mind brewing some tea to welcome guests himself.
He prepared the tea, brought out a fruit platter, and then settled down in a single-seat armchair to listen to them chat.
But the moment he sat down, Chi Wang reached over, grabbed his hand, and started playing with it in various ways. The corners of Xie Siheng’s lips curved up.
Chi Wang caught a good look at Shu Tingyu’s seated posture, noticing the extra bulge was even more obvious. Feeling worried, he said, “You really should be living healthier. Don’t stay up late, okay?”
Shu Tingyu scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed to be scolded by Chi Wang at his age. He said hastily, “I know, I know. Now I only read novels until three a.m. At least I’m not pulling all-nighters anymore.”
Luo Lianyun teased, “That’s just ‘cause you’re getting older and can’t hold up, right?”
Shu Tingyu snapped back, “Who’s old? I’m only 25!”
Luo Lianyun said, “I heard that for men, 25 is when your physical condition falls off a cliff.”
At that, Shu Tingyu couldn’t help glancing at Xie Siheng.
Xie Siheng: “…”
Chi Wang laughed. “Don’t look at him. Our Senior’s still going strong—a good four or five times a night, no problem, going from nine or ten in the evening until three or four in the morning. No sweat. Don’t blame your age if you can’t keep up.”
Luo Lianyun: “…”
Shu Tingyu: “…”
Xie Siheng: “…”
That was definitely not something to say out loud in front of others.
Chi Wang spoke his mind with zero boundaries. Luo Lianyun, blushing, quickly cleared his throat and changed the subject.
*
That night, after dinner, An An returned.
When he spotted Luo Lianyun and Shu Tingyu, his lips twitched involuntarily before he put on his sweet, tight-lipped smile. He ran up to them, hugging Luo Lianyun first, talking with a slight slur, “Wuo Daddy, I missed you.”
Delighted, Luo Lianyun picked him up and spun him around. “Ah, my darling little godson. Your godfather missed you too.”
He soon put An An down. “But why does your voice sound funny?”
An An: “…Wuo Daddy, I’m changing my teeth.”
He kept his lips pressed together, not wanting Luo Lianyun to see.
Shu Tingyu reached out both arms. “Come here, baby, let me hold you! I’m here too.”
An An turned to him with a big smile, hugging him warmly. After that, instead of looking to Chi Wang, he cast a glance at Xie Siheng.
(madly hinting.jpg)
Xie Siheng cleared his throat. “An An, go do your homework.”
An An’s eyes lit up. “Okay.”
He nuzzled against Shu Tingyu’s cheek. “Shu Daddy, I’m going to do my homewok now.”
Shu Tingyu put him down right away. “Sure, go ahead.”
An An lingered for a moment, holding onto Shu Tingyu’s hand, then waved goodbye to both of them as he left.
After he was gone, Shu Tingyu said to Chi Wang, “The kid’s getting cuter by the day—growing a little more every time I see him, and he really does resemble you. So enthusiastic, so adorable.”
Chi Wang grinned. “Haha, right?”
Seeing him now with a five-year-old child, Chi Wang himself still brimming with energy and youth, without any signs of age. In front of outsiders he could look a tad more subdued, but in front of close friends, he remained bold in speech and laughter.
They liked that about him.
*
That night, Chi Wang and Xie Siheng lay in bed.
Xie Siheng said, “Don’t discuss our… bedroom matters in front of other people.”
Chi Wang blinked and promptly replied, “Sorry, I won’t do it again.”
It caught Xie Siheng off-guard how readily he agreed. He paused, then after a moment added, “I know you’re trying to praise my… prowess, but if you want to say it, just tell me. Don’t tell others.”
Chi Wang obediently said, “Understood.”
“…Also,” Xie Siheng continued in a chilly tone, “don’t touch other men’s bodies—even if they’re An An’s godfathers.”
Chi Wang: “Okay, I got it.”
Xie Siheng: “…”
His voice dropped another degree. “Tonight, I want to use that… ‘hug’ position. And the lights stay on. I want to see your face.”
Chi Wang: “?”
Chi Wang: “…?”
This is so sweet and light hearted!!! Thanking the author and the translator for their hard work ??????