Chen Qiusu followed Yang Shao’s gaze, staring for a while, not understanding what Yang Shao was looking at. “What’s wrong?”
“This is your room?” Yang Shao asked, probably unnecessarily. “I’m supposed to share a room with you?”
The room issue had been something Chen Qiusu had wanted to discuss with Yang Shao for a while, but he hadn’t found the right moment. He cleared his throat, “Cough, yes.”
They both had a kid now, and even though they weren’t legally married, to the Chen family, Yang Shao was part of the family. Naturally, the couple would share a room. They hadn’t prepared a separate room for Yang Shao, but they hadn’t totally forgotten him—there was a pillow waiting for him.
Recently, Chen Qiusu had been hovering around Yang Shao, behaving with a careful, measured presence. Yang Shao almost forgot the nightmare he experienced almost every night because of him.
Behind the polished exterior of this person was a terrifying beast, and the scent of cedar carried a chilling undertone. Yang Shao couldn’t help but feel that Chen Qiusu’s pheromone intensity was overwhelming, enough to stir memories of the past—alpha males were always dangerous.
Chen Qiusu knew what Yang Shao was thinking. He lowered his eyes, a little apologetic. “The reason we’re sharing a room is to avoid arousing suspicion from the family. I’ll leave the bed for you, and I’ll sleep on the couch.”
With so many eyes on them, they had to put on a show. Chen Qiusu knew that his marriage to Yang Shao was to make up for the past. Yang Shao didn’t need to play the role of a partner in this transaction.
Actually, this room was bigger than Yang Shao’s entire house. There was plenty of space for Chen Qiusu to sleep, and Yang Shao wasn’t afraid of him. He had already learned to be cautious, not wanting to end up in a dangerous situation with Chen Qiusu.
A knock on the door broke the awkward silence. It was Yang Tao’s voice from outside. “Daddy!”
Chen Qiusu opened the door, and Yang Tao eagerly dashed into the room, excited to share his new space. “Uncle Chen, my room is so big! Great-grandma even gave me lots of toys.”
“Do you like it?” Chen Qiusu lifted him up.
“I like it!” Yang Tao replied excitedly. “And I got my favorite model gun! Can I take it apart? I can’t read yet, so I don’t understand many books…”
Until dinner, Yang Tao was bubbling with excitement. The whole family was doting on him. Unfortunately, since he could feed himself, there wasn’t a chance for anyone to feed him.
Yang Shao was told to relax, but he just didn’t feel comfortable. He didn’t want to stay downstairs, worried that Chen Qiusu’s mom would start asking questions. He didn’t want to face Chen Qiusu alone in the room either, as it would be even more awkward.
He had hoped to go to Yang Tao when it was time for bed, to help him sleep and maybe even stay with him. But unfortunately, Chen Qiusu’s dad got there first and took Yang Tao to the room to tell him a story.
Yang Shao had no choice but to bite the bullet and go back to his room. He leaned against the bed, pretending to be on his phone, but actually keeping an eye on Chen Qiusu’s movements.
In truth, he was quite far from Chen Qiusu, who was seated by the window, focused on his work. Chen Qiusu had been considerate enough not to make him uncomfortable, so he kept his head down and didn’t look up.
Even so, Yang Shao still waited for Chen Qiusu to fall asleep before he would try to sleep himself. He couldn’t understand—don’t rich people have their own study rooms? Why did Chen Qiusu insist on staying in the bedroom?
The screen on his phone began to blur, and his eyelids felt heavy, as if glued shut. He could still vaguely hear the sounds from his phone, but his thoughts had become a tangled mess. The phone slipped from his hand, and he tilted his head, falling asleep.
Chen Qiusu capped his pen and placed it on the desk. He looked up at the bed, noticing that Yang Shao had been quiet for a while. There was no sound of him shifting or fabric rustling. The same video was repeating on his phone, and Chen Qiusu knew that he had fallen asleep.
Yang Shao was still wearing his house coat over his pajamas, and he lay crooked on the bed. Just watching his sleeping posture made Chen Qiusu uncomfortable.
He sighed, stood up, and walked to the bed. Yang Shao had too much pride, always pretending to be strong and not willing to admit when he was exhausted.
He leaned down, hesitated for a moment, then reached out to unbutton Yang Shao’s coat. He gently supported the back of Yang Shao’s neck, half-holding him in his arms as he took off the coat and lifted the blanket to tuck him in.
“Daddy…” The knock on the door was followed by Yang Tao’s crying voice, “Uncle Chen…”
Chen Qiusu froze. Before he could let go of Yang Shao, the man in his arms stared at him, eyes wide open.
“What the hell are you doing!” Yang Shao looked down and saw that his coat had been taken off. “Damn! You really can’t change, can you?”
Chen Qiusu’s face turned serious, unable to explain, “I…”
“Daddy… are you and Uncle Chen sleeping?” Of course, at that moment, Yang Tao was knocking on the door. Yang Shao, like a firecracker, was immediately triggered. Who the hell is sleeping with Chen Qiusu!
Afraid that Yang Shao might get too agitated, Chen Qiusu stepped back a few paces and turned to open the door for Yang Tao.
Yang Tao was holding a pillow, barefoot, his eyes red from crying. As soon as he saw Chen Qiusu, he jumped straight into his lap.
“What’s wrong?” Chen Qiusu picked up Yang Tao and wiped away his tears.
After being coaxed to sleep by Grandpa, Yang Tao suddenly woke up. His room was too big, and it was his first time spending the night there. He felt a little scared and had to look for his dad.
Yang Tao snuggled into Chen Qiusu’s shoulder, inhaling his favorite pheromones, and said, “Uncle Chen… I miss my little bear..”
Having calmed down, Yang Shao quickly put on his coat and took Yang Tao from Chen Qiusu’s arms.
“Daddy, can we go back and get my little bear?”
That teddy bear was something Yang Shao won for Yang Tao at a claw machine. It was a symbol of victory, and Yang Tao was particularly fond of it, always hugging it to sleep.
Late at night, Yang Shao, being his usual lazy self, wasn’t keen to make an extra trip, figuring he could just sleep in Yang Tao’s room later.
But Chen Qiusu, always patient, immediately agreed. “You go change, and after you’re done, we’ll head out.”
Yang Shao, unwilling to deal with Chen Qiusu, couldn’t resist the earnest look in Yang Tao’s eyes. “Go ahead.”
The villa was quiet, with even the servants asleep. As they left, only the sound of crickets could be heard.
Having not gone out this late with his dad for a long time, Yang Tao, who had been crying earlier, regained his energy. He eagerly leaned on the window during the ride, enjoying the scenery.
The advantage of having a child was that awkward moments weren’t so awkward with Yang Tao chattering away.
Back at their small house from the big villa, Yang Tao was ecstatic. “Home is the best,” he said, quickly running into his room and grabbing the bear from his bed.
“Are you happy now? It’s late. If you don’t sleep soon, you’ll have trouble getting up for school tomorrow.”
Yang Tao, eyes twinkling, replied, “Daddy, can we sleep here tonight?”
Kids are like that; once you fulfill one request, they want more. Yang Shao narrowed his eyes at Yang Tao, who licked his lips and gave a shy smile.
Actually, Yang Shao also wanted to stay home, but he had run away the first night, fearing that Chen Qiusu’s family would misunderstand.
“Fine, we’ll sleep here tonight. It’ll be easier to send Yang Tao to school in the morning.” Chen Qiusu said.
Yang Shao’s tone was stiff. “We still have to go with your grandma’s tomorrow morning to burn incense.”
“We can go after dropping Yang Tao off at school. Don’t fuss, just let Yang Tao sleep.”
Yang Tao was delighted. With Uncle Chen speaking up, he knew his dad would agree. He quickly grabbed their hands and led them to the bedroom. “Daddy, Uncle Chen, you sleep with me in the middle.”
Damn, Yang Shao hadn’t even finished settling things with Chen Qiusu. Just being in the same room with him felt suffocating, let alone sharing a bed!
But what did a child know?
Yang Shao had to come up with an excuse. “That small bed of yours can’t fit so many people.”
This was true, and Yang Tao immediately shifted his attention to his dad’s room. His dad’s room had a double bed, so three people could definitely squeeze in.
“Then let’s sleep in your room, daddy.”
Yang Tao, knowing that with Uncle Chen around, his dad wouldn’t dare scold him, finally got his wish and slept between the two of them.
He kept talking and getting more excited, while Yang Shao just waited for him to fall asleep so he could send Chen Qiusu to the next room.
“If you keep talking, I’ll sew your mouth shut.”
Yang Tao covered his mouth and stared at Chen Qiusu, as if asking for help. Chen Qiusu just smiled at him.
“Can I say one last thing?” Yang Tao, who loved pushing his dad’s limits, carefully spoke when his dad didn’t respond. “Uncle Chen, read me a story. I’ll fall asleep quickly.”
Yang Shao, with his bad temper, snapped, “What story? When did you start needing a story to sleep?”
No one had ever read him a story; Yang Shao would just throw him on the bed, count to three, and order him to close his eyes and sleep.
Chen Qiusu, humoring Yang Tao, fetched a children’s picture book from the next room. “The Three Little Pigs…”
His voice was deep and soothing, and the rustling of the pages was incredibly calming. Yang Shao fell asleep even before Yang Tao.
Chen Qiusu got up to put the book back in the other room, but Yang Tao grabbed onto his shirt, still muttering, “Uncle Chen… stay with me…”
Chen Qiusu gently pulled his hand away, tucked them both in, and thought, if Yang Shao woke up tomorrow and saw his face, he would probably kick him out of bed.
…..
The next morning, Yang Shao was surprised when he saw Chen Qiusu walking out of Yang Tao’s room. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that Chen Qiusu had done the right thing.
Chen Qiusu was showing with his actions that last night was just a misunderstanding, and he wasn’t the type to be a lecherous scoundrel.
After sending Yang Tao to school, the two quickly returned to the Chen family house, changed clothes, and went up the mountain to offer incense with the elderly lady.
The mountain air was fresh and invigorating, and the old lady had brought their birthdates to get a fortune reading. Yang Shao, feeling bored, just followed along behind Chen Qiusu.
The temple was said to be very effective, with a lot of people coming early to pray. On the table beside the fortune-teller was a divination slip. Yang Shao didn’t believe in such things; he was just killing time.
“Hey! Draw one.”
Chen Qiusu, with his calm demeanor, stood quietly waiting, not showing any impatience. When Yang Shao spoke to him, he followed his lead and reached for one.
It was just for fun, as neither of them could understand the divination symbols. They intended to return it to the table casually, but at that moment, the elderly Taoist returned from the restroom.
“Above Dui, below Gen, the Hexagram of Xian.” The old Taoist glanced between the two.
Curious, Yang Shao casually asked, “What does that mean?”
“Xian is the feeling of an unintentional attraction.”
It was as if he said nothing at all—mysterious for the sake of being mysterious. Yang Shao, not understanding, glanced at Chen Qiusu. “Do you understand what it means?”
Chen Qiusu didn’t say anything.
