UNCLTRD chapter 18

The kindergarten had allowed a whole week for everyone to rehearse. But Yang Tao was incredibly busy. At kindergarten, he had to act as a tree, then come home and teach Uncle Chen how to dance. In between, he also had to make his paper gun.

“Uncle Chen, no, no, no! You’re not doing it right.” Yang Tao was so anxious that he couldn’t even pronounce the sounds correctly. “Look at me, look at me.”

Teaching Uncle Chen to dance was much harder than Yang Tao had expected. After watching the video once, he would demonstrate the moves again. The moves seemed simple enough. He had learned them after a few tries, but he couldn’t understand why they were so difficult for Uncle Chen.

When Yang Tao told Chen Qiushu to step with his left foot, he would raise his right hand. When told to spin, he only took two steps forward and backward. Normally, he could distinguish left from right. So why was it so hard for him when it came to dancing?

Yang Tao got tired and turned to his paper gun. He let go of Chen Qiushu and sighed dramatically. “Uncle Chen, you need to practice properly. I’ll supervise you.”

The bedroom had turned into their dance practice room. Yang Shao lay on the bed, occasionally checking his phone and sometimes glancing at their practice. Eventually, he couldn’t help but say to his son, “You’re taking on too much. You should only sign up for one or two activities. Give the other kids a chance to perform. Don’t join everything.”

The class play, dance performance, arts exhibition – and that’s not all. Yang Tao had also signed his dad up for the parent-child relay race. If there were no limit to the number of participants, the Chen family would have joined in too. Even the grandparents would have had performances.

“Daddy, don’t just sit there. Don’t forget, you have the relay race too.” Yang Tao had high expectations. Everyone had to win. After all, with great power came great responsibility.

Yang Shao laughed. “So if we don’t win, we can’t come back to see you?”

Actually, he wasn’t that harsh. As long as they tried, that was enough. Yang Tao was focused on his paper gun and couldn’t multitask, so these thoughts were just in his mind.

Chen Qiushu turned around and saw Yang Tao lying on the desk, cutting paper with a small knife. “Be careful with your hand. Let me do it for you.”

Yang Tao firmly refused. “Uncle Chen, don’t slack off. I can handle it myself.”

Since Yang Tao came to live with the Chens, his great-grandmother had bought him many model guns. They couldn’t fit in his bedroom, so she had to put them in the storage room. He would dismantle one after another.

Yang Shao stood by, enjoying the spectacle, “Exactly. You should focus on yourself for once.”

Chen Qiushu, tall as he was, stood in the middle of the room, helplessly awkward, looking downright funny.

He hadn’t meant to slack off. He genuinely worried that Yang Tao would cut himself. But Yang Shao, as a father, wasn’t concerned, just mocking from the sidelines.

“Aren’t you worried? What if he really cuts himself?”

“It’s just paper. Yang Tao can even peel apples by himself.” Although the apples would look like they had been bitten by a dog, Yang Shao was calm. “If he cuts himself, we’ll just put a band-aid on it. He’s not that fragile. Kids should be raised roughly so they can grow strong. As long as it’s not life-threatening, even if he gets hurt, it’ll teach him a lesson. We can’t just keep them from touching dangerous things. Since he was little, he’s known that knives and scissors should be put away when not in use. He understands the danger.”

Yang Tao was still agreeing from the side, saying, “Daddy is right.”

Chen Qiusu didn’t expect Yang Shao to speak so reasonably and logically, and even get Yang Tao’s support and affirmation.

When it comes to patience, Chen Qiusu was definitely superior, but in terms of raising children, Yang Shao felt that he had more say. After all, he knew Yang Tao well, knew where his limits were, and as the saying goes, poor children mature early.

He hadn’t intended to talk to Chen Qiusu about these things, but as the conversation progressed, Yang Shao didn’t want Chen Qiusu to look too embarrassed or passive in front of Yang Tao.

“Yang Tao, it’s late now, let’s stop for today. Hurry and go to bed.”

“Don’t touch the stuff on the table, tell Auntie not to clean it up, I’ll need it tomorrow.”

After sending Yang Tao off, Yang Shao looked at the table. All the available space was taken up, leaving no room for him to work.

Chen Qiusu… was still standing there.

It was unclear whether he was thinking about what Yang Shao had just said or silently rehearsing the dance moves in his mind. Yang Shao didn’t care, comfortably lying down on the bed, intending to go to sleep while scrolling through his phone.

He was still somewhat awkward around Chen Qiusu. When Chen Qiusu wasn’t at home, he felt uncomfortable at home, and when Yang Tao wasn’t there, the two of them alone also felt awkward. He wasn’t sure whether it was his problem or Chen Qiusu’s.

Just as he was about to set his phone aside and sleep, a shadow loomed over him. He quickly turned around, and Chen Qiusu had walked to the bedside.

As expected, he couldn’t let his guard down with Chen Qiusu.

“What are you doing?”

Chen Qiusu hesitated, as though there was something hard to say. It made Yang Shao feel uncomfortable.

He sat up.

Chen Qiusu took a deep breath, “Can you do it?”

This made no sense. Who could understand what Chen Qiusu meant? Yang Shao feigned impatience, “What?”

“The dance for Yang Tao, can you do it?”

Yang Shao didn’t know whether Chen Qiusu had some kind of obstacle or was just pretending not to know. He grabbed his phone and played the video. “We’ve watched it so many times. I’ve learned it by just watching. If you really can’t do it, I’ll tell Yang Tao’s teacher to cancel that performance.”

“I’ll try again. If you cancel it, Yang Tao will be disappointed.”

Well, it seemed like everything Yang Shao had said earlier didn’t register. Kids need to learn how to deal with disappointment. You can’t always fulfill their wishes. If one day, Yang Tao wants the moon… who knows, maybe Chen Qiusu could even get him the moon.

“Try then,” Yang Shao wasn’t in the mood to advise him. Chen Qiusu was like the wishing well’s turtle, doing all this for Yang Tao as a form of compensation.

Chen Qiusu seemed like he had more to say. He hesitated for a while and then said, “If you’ve learned it, can you teach me?”

Wasn’t this just asking for trouble? Yang Shao refused Yang Tao, and now Chen Qiusu was coming to him.

Chen Qiusu was as awkward as a malfunctioning machine, his limbs completely out of sync with his brain. Who would believe that this usually gentle and refined Chen Qiusu would be so uncoordinated when it came to dancing? The hilarity was definitely more entertaining than the Spring Festival Gala that year.

If it weren’t for the way he doted on Yang Tao, Yang Shao wouldn’t have felt sorry for him.

“What’s so hard about it? It’s just a few simple moves.”

Yang Shao jumped off the bed, casually extending a helping hand to Chen Qiusu.

The nonchalant expression on Yang Shao’s face made the slightly nervous Chen Qiusu relax a little. He looked at Yang Shao’s hand, hesitated for a moment, and then took it, as though he were holding Yang Tao’s hand.

The Beta’s hands seemed a little smaller than his own—neither rough nor delicate. When his fingers gently pressed on Yang Shao’s hand, the distinct joints made Chen Qiusu more self-conscious. He wanted to adjust his fingers but was afraid that he was paying too much attention, which might make Yang Shao notice. His brief moment of ease was gone the moment he held Yang Shao’s hand. He tensed up again.

“It’s just two steps back, then two steps forward, then tiptoe in place, and wait for Yang Tao to spin.” How difficult could a kindergarten dance be? The hand movements were simple, and most of the actions involved Yang Tao moving around. Chen Qiusu could easily just stand there like a lamp post.

“Watch carefully…”

Yang Shao always seemed to frown and speak with an impatient tone. He kicked Chen Qiusu’s toe, and Chen Qiusu awkwardly stepped back like a puppet on strings.

The two of them stumbled around the room, each step feeling difficult. Yang Shao’s voice, slightly hoarse, occasionally made a “tsk” sound as a warning.

“Aiya, spread your legs,” Yang Shao was getting a little impatient. When he could, he didn’t just talk; he instinctively stepped his foot between Chen Qiusu’s legs to help him correct the posture.

The fabric of their loungewear was thin and soft, and the body contact made it easy to feel each other’s skin and warmth, distracting them both.

Yang Shao hadn’t been smoking much lately, but the faint smell of tobacco still lingered, mixed with his dismissive chuckles.

“Can’t even remember these few moves?”

Chen Qiusu felt wronged, “I remember.”

“You remember, but your hands and feet aren’t cooperating,” Yang Shao teased. “You know, you’re a bit off rhythm, right?”

Chen Qiusu wasn’t the kind of person who cared too much about his image, so he admitted openly, “I know, but I just can’t tell the difference.”

Yang Shao laughed, “Are you tone-deaf?”

So what if he was tone-deaf? It just meant that the arts weren’t his strength.

After practicing over ten times, Chen Qiusu finally completed the movements. Whether he was keeping the rhythm was another issue, but Yang Shao was doing Yang Tao’s dance moves, which made his head spin. He had to say something to distract himself.

“I called my uncle, they’re coming in a few days.”

The dance movements had become a mechanical memory for Chen Qiusu. His hands and feet had formed a conditioned reflex. Chatting with Yang Shao was no problem at all, “I’ll arrange for someone to pick them up.”

“No need, they’ll take a car here themselves. When they get to the station, I’ll go pick them up,” Yang Shao was still considering where to put his uncle and aunt. It wouldn’t be appropriate for them to stay at the Chen family house, and he feared they wouldn’t be comfortable staying at a hotel. So, he thought it would be best for them to stay in his small house.

Respecting elders was certainly a must. Chen Qiusu said, “I’ll go with you.”

Chen Qiusu might as well change his name to Chen Zhoudao (Zhoudao) is a term that means “thoughtful,” or “considerate,”..

“Young master…”

A woman’s voice interrupted their conversation. Both of them turned to look at the door. It was the housekeeper. “The door wasn’t closed, and madam asked me to check if you two want a late-night snack. Did I disturb you?”

Quite a playful moment, considering they were dancing in the room.

Yang Shao’s face darkened. He let go of Chen Qiusu’s hand. Tomorrow, he would have a serious talk with Yang Tao—starting tomorrow, Yang Tao should form the habit of closing the door behind him!