UNCLTRD chapter 54

Though Yang Tao didn’t know what was going on, the moment his daddy said they were going out to have fun, he clambered out of bed groggily, just like a puppy responding to a command.

By this time, the housekeeper was already up preparing breakfast for the family. Seeing the three of them dressed and coming downstairs, she looked surprised. “Is something the matter?”

“No, nothing. We’re just heading out for a bit,” Yang Shao replied hastily, and the three of them left in a hurry, skipping breakfast. Yang Shao took on the role of chauffeur, letting Chen Qiusu sit in the back with Yang Tao.

From the rearview mirror, he could see Chen Qiusu fastening Yang Tao’s seatbelt. Yang Tao, still not fully awake, clung to Chen Qiusu’s arm. “Dad, where are we going?”

“To find pictures of you from when you were little.”

“So we’re going back to the old house?” Yang Tao’s eyes lit up immediately. Kids were nostalgic like that. No one had mentioned the old house to him, but even though he was perfectly happy in their big new home, as soon as someone brought it up, he began yearning for the past.

When they entered the city, the number of cars on the road increased significantly. It was still early, but plenty of people were already rushing about. Everywhere you looked, there were hurried figures going about their day.

After a while, Yang Tao suddenly shouted, “I see our old neighborhood!”

Yang Shao had walked this road countless times with Yang Tao. It was etched into their memories. Even though it had been a while since their last visit, Yang Tao hadn’t forgotten.

Once the car was parked in the garage, Yang Tao became visibly excited. He bounced up and down in the elevator, only stopping when Chen Qiusu intervened.

No one lived in the old house anymore, but Chen Qiusu had arranged for regular cleaning. This was Yang Shao and Yang Tao’s little nest, and he wanted to take good care of it.

Yang Tao headed straight for his room in the dark, quickly finding his photo album. He didn’t know which photo his alpha dad wanted to see, so he started going through the album from the very beginning.

Nowadays, most people kept their photos online for convenience. Yang Shao’s habit of storing them in a physical album was becoming rare.

The photos were arranged chronologically, spanning from Yang Tao’s birth to when he was five years old.

“This is when I was a month old,” Yang Tao explained, sticking close to Yang Shao and asking for details about each photo, even though he already knew them by heart. When it was his turn to share with Chen Qiusu, he knew the stories even better than Yang Shao.

“This is when I was seven months old. It was summer, and I was naked.”

“And this one…”

Yang Shao didn’t pay much attention to the two of them. Instead, he went to check the other rooms, opening windows to air them out. By the time he returned, Yang Tao had already reached the photos of when he was learning to walk.

Chen Qiusu wasn’t the type to fake interest. He listened intently, his patience endless. Yang Shao suddenly remembered something, pulled out his phone, and sat down next to them. “Let me show you a video of Yang Tao when he was learning to talk,” he said to Chen Qiusu.

Fortunately, his phone was still in good shape after all these years, and the video files were intact.

Though the phone itself was durable, the video quality was average. Still, it didn’t stop Chen Qiusu from clearly recognizing Yang Tao in the footage.

In the video, Yang Shao must have been excited to hear Yang Tao call him “Dad-da,” as he immediately started recording.

“Say it again, ‘Dad-da.’”

On camera, Yang Tao flailed his arms and clearly enunciated, “Dad-da!” Though Yang Shao didn’t appear on screen, Chen Qiusu could sense his excitement and joy through his laughter, and he couldn’t help but smile along.

“Don’t cry now,” Yang Shao teased casually. “He wasn’t calling you anyway.”

Hearing this, Yang Tao immediately started tugging at Chen Qiusu’s face, checking if he was crying. What was there to cry about?

Chen Qiusu pinched Yang Tao’s little hand, swallowing the bittersweet emotions rising in his chest. He couldn’t let Yang Tao see him get emotional.

“Hey, where are your photos? Let’s see how alike you two really are.”

They had left in a rush and hadn’t had time to dig through the storage room for his old albums. Since Chen Qiusu didn’t have any childhood photos on hand, he messaged the housekeeper to help find them.

“Let’s take the album back with us,” he said.

“Okay, okay!” Yang Tao agreed enthusiastically. He had just finished recounting the stories to his dad, but now he could share them with his grandparents and great-grandparent too. The idea of retelling everything made him even more eager.

By the time they were done looking through the photos, the sky was fully lit. Yang Tao was starting to feel hungry and was already craving the steamed buns from the breakfast stall downstairs.

The breakfast stall downstairs was crowded with people. While waiting in line, Chen Qiusu received a photo from the housekeeper.

Yang Shao and Yang Tao were both curious and looked at Chen Qiusu’s phone eagerly. The moment they saw the photo, Yang Shao was stunned. No wonder the Chen family didn’t ask for a paternity test back then—Chen Qiusu looked exactly like Yang Tao when he was a child, like they were made from the same mold.

Yang Tao had no idea whether they looked alike or not. His daddy said they did, so he “flatteringly” echoed him. He was very energetic and couldn’t sit still after standing for a short while. But since his daddy was still amazed by the photo, he couldn’t get a word in. Holding one of their hands, he suddenly used some strength and flipped over.

Startled, Chen Qiusu almost forgot what to say and hurriedly reached out to protect him. Yang Shao wasn’t surprised at all. “Behave yourself.”

Yang Tao chuckled cheekily. His dad had granted his last wish, and it was the simplest yet most difficult one. The challenge was having both dads around, but thankfully, they would always be there from now on.

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  Author’s note:
  
  Emotional Chen Qiusu: My son called me Dad, I want to cry.
  
  Pragmatic and hot-tempered Yang Shao: I only want to cry when I’m broke.
  
  Self-loving Yang Tao: I only want to cry when my daddy says I’m ugly.