Page 24

It had to be said, that last remark was very persuasive.

Wen Cishu said, "All right, we'll discuss it as a family and get back to you."

"Wonderful! Thank you, Yiming's dad! Say hi to Mingzai for me! I voted for him!" the staff member said quickly with a laugh. "Bye, Yiming's dad!"

Wen Cishu could almost see a string of exclamation marks rushing at him. He thought that this staff member, much like his little monkey, was truly full of enthusiasm for life.

That afternoon.

Wen Cishu took a short nap while the housekeeper washed his hair. When he woke, he felt languid all over.

Bo Yiming was bouncing around the dressing room looking for clothes. He turned his head and saw his little dad reclining against the sofa.

Wen Cishu's eyes were half closed, his freshly washed black hair draped over his shoulders like ink-black tassels.

His lustrous fingertips held a white jade bamboo-joint bracelet, slowly turning it bead by bead.

Bo Yiming sometimes found costume dramas unappealing, probably because seeing so much of his little dad in everyday life had raised his aesthetic standards endlessly.

"Hmm?" Hearing no movement from him, Wen Cishu opened his phoenix eyes and blinked. "Still haven't picked something for Daddy?"

With a flick of his slender fingers, he slipped the bracelet onto his wrist and rose with a hand on the sofa. "I'll wear a suit too, just like you and Big Daddy. Stop looking. It's too much trouble."

Auntie Zhong lightly steadied him.

Bo Yiming shook his head vigorously. "No! Suits are so boring. I like Little Daddy wearing pretty clothes."

Wen Cishu passed him and ruffled his fluffy hair. "Then why are you wearing a suit?"

"I'm a little foreigner!" Bo Yiming said, bouncing with a grin.

People had started calling him that when he began school, but he didn't mind at all, because his face did look distinctly mixed-race.

Of course, Bo Yiming considered himself a handsome little foreigner who had perfectly inherited both dads' good looks.

Wen Cishu couldn't help laughing.

Even Auntie Zhong laughed at that.

"Grandma Zhong, I remember Little Daddy has a really long string of beads. What clothes would go with that?"

Bo Yiming gestured with his hands, showing the beads' exact shape.

Auntie Zhong thought for a moment. "A necklace?"

Watching the little monkey turn around to gesture, Wen Cishu guessed, "Do you mean a back pendant?"

"Yes! That's it!" Bo Yiming said happily. "Grandma Zhong, can you find it?"

Seeing Auntie Zhong actually take him to look, Wen Cishu sank lazily onto the sofa and reminded him, "Yiming, bring Daddy a light one. A heavy one will weigh on my shoulders."

Bo Tingyuan seemed to have inherited the Bo family's old patriarch's interest in collecting antiques, skipping a generation, so he often sought out old pieces at auction houses.

There were several court necklaces and back pendants among them, one or two of which had over a hundred jade beads altogether.

Wen Cishu had never worn them since they arrived. Just looking at them was tiring.

Soon, Bo Yiming came out carrying two jewelry boxes. "Little Daddy, can you wear that outfit with the gold bird embroidered on it?"

"That's a white crane," Auntie Zhong said.

When Bo Yiming reached him and bent to put down the boxes, Wen Cishu quickly ran a finger down his straight nose.

"It's your grandpa's birthday today. Would it be appropriate for Daddy to go looking like he walked out of a museum?"

"Grandpa will definitely be even happier when he sees you."

Bo Yiming told Auntie Zhong, "Grandma Zhong, hurry and get Daddy that white crane outfit."

Wen Cishu had had enough of him. He caught Auntie Zhong's arm.

"Don't."

He remembered having a few modern Chinese-style outfits that wouldn't look out of place with a back pendant, and asked Auntie Zhong to fetch them from the other dressing room.

A little while later.

Wen Cishu changed into a midnight-blue brocade shirt and loose, flowing trousers in the same shade. The fabric had a subtle pattern of begonia blossoms, appearing and disappearing in the light, lending him an air of elegance and nobility.

He walked out while raising his hands to fasten the crescent buttons on his pipa sleeves.

"Wow!" Bo Yiming felt as if someone had stepped out of a TV drama. But he was still surprised. "Little Daddy, why aren't you wearing white?"

"You and Big Daddy are both wearing dark suits. Wouldn't I look out of place in white?" Wen Cishu looked down at the two back pendants.

One had a dark green jade pendant hanging from it, lustrous and understated.

"This one, then." Wen Cishu tugged up his trouser legs and sat on the sofa. "Help Daddy put it on."

Bo Yiming picked up the red-beaded back pendant and put it around his dad's neck, unable to resist admiring him. "Little Daddy~ I don't even want you to go out anymore."

"Why?" Wen Cishu tested the weight of the beads. It was all right, not too heavy.

Bo Yiming pouted and said childishly, "You'll get stolen away."

Wen Cishu tousled his hair and smiled. "Then shall Daddy change again?"

"No!" Bo Yiming caught his little dad's hand, unable to stop looking at him.

Just then, Uncle Xu knocked and entered the room, saying he had come to deliver something.

Wen Cishu immediately spotted the small velvet jewelry box in his hand. Judging by its shape and size, it seemed just right for a ring.

A thought flashed through his mind.

Bo Yiming asked first, "Grandpa Xu, what's that in your hand?"

Uncle Xu set the little box on the coffee table. "The eldest young master told me you asked about the ring, sir, so I went and found it. It was being kept on the third floor."

By the third floor, he meant the room where the family's other jewelry and art collection were stored.

Sitting beside his little dad, Bo Yiming quickly reached over, took it, and opened it.

It was indeed Wen Cishu's wedding ring from back then.

Wen Cishu smiled at Uncle Xu. "Uncle Xu, were you the one who put this ring on the third floor?"

Meeting his dark eyes, Uncle Xu reluctantly nodded.

Sir was usually excessively good-tempered, but when he got serious, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

And the eldest young master, too-why had he instructed him to deliver it?

Both of them were hard to read.

Truly, only people alike ended up in the same family.

His back faintly damp with sweat, Uncle Xu glanced at the innocent little young master, who looked utterly adorable at this moment.

Wen Cishu wouldn't make things difficult for Uncle Xu. He had only asked.

Before leaving, Uncle Xu added, "The eldest young master is already waiting downstairs."

"So soon?" Wen Cishu reminded the little monkey studying the wedding ring, "All right, go change and get your hair combed. We need to leave for the birthday banquet."

"Oh." Bo Yiming took out the ring. "Little Daddy, let me put the ring on you."

Smiling, Wen Cishu took it from him and pressed it back into the velvet lining of the ring box.

A blank, adorably bewildered expression appeared on Bo Yiming's handsome little face. "Huh?"

Why did Little Daddy put it away?

Didn't Uncle Xu bringing it over mean he should wear it?

Wen Cishu leaned over, pinched his son's little cheek, and said affectionately in a low voice, "You little silly."

Bo Yiming: ? What's going on? I don't get it!

Wen Cishu gave him no chance to ask, pushing him to go change. "Hurry up, or should Big Daddy and I go ahead? Will you walk there yourself?"

"No way!" Bo Yiming jumped up. "Even if I go by myself, I'm taking a helicopter!"

But when he reached the door, he leaned against the frame and poked his head back in. "Little Daddy, you can't go ahead with Big Daddy. You have to wait for me. I'm your adorable little son, you know."

Wen Cishu smiled and raised a hand. "I know, adorable little son. Go on, hurry."

He sent a housekeeper after him to help.

Meanwhile, Auntie Zhong pinned up Wen Cishu's hair so that it wouldn't cover the magnificent, precious back pendant.

Looking at Auntie Zhong in the mirror, Wen Cishu teased with a smile, "You too, Auntie Zhong? Joining Yiming in making a fuss over me?"

Auntie Zhong said, "Yiming isn't wrong. When you're beautifully dressed and looking radiant, anyone would be happy to see you."

She noticed that he kept holding the ring box, as if it were a lost treasure he had recovered.

The second young master really had changed so much lately.

Wen Cishu went downstairs first but didn't see Bo Tingyuan in the living room.

Uncle Xu said, "The eldest young master went to the little garden. He said he wanted to look at the potatoes you and the little young master planted last night."

Wen Cishu nodded and strolled through the corridor toward the little garden, his hands clasped behind his back.

The housekeepers coming and going couldn't help stopping to admire him as he passed through corridors and doorways in such splendid attire. Against the understated luxury of the Bo residence, each scene was practically indistinguishable from a movie shoot.

At the end of the corridor.

Wen Cishu stood behind the decorative glass window, looking toward the tall, straight-backed figure in the little garden.

Bo Tingyuan stood before that adorable little ceramic pot, studying it with utmost concentration.

Wen Cishu gazed at his figure, lost in thought.

Even when Big Daddy hit the little monkey with a small milk saucepan, he only changed his contact name; even though he was often carried out of the room, he only grumbled a little and never truly held it against Big Daddy. Perhaps that was because he knew clearly that Big Daddy loved him.

As he pondered this, the man in his sight unexpectedly turned around, his green eyes looking over from afar.

Wen Cishu didn't have time to look away.

During their silent eye contact, which lasted several minutes, Wen Cishu had the absurd illusion that Bo Tingyuan was kissing him with his gaze, and unconsciously tightened his grip on the ring box in his palm.

Suddenly, he remembered some things he had forgotten.

During their honeymoon, the two of them had embraced in a hotel.

After taking off his glasses, Bo Tingyuan had gazed at him for a long time with those mysterious, abyss-like green eyes as he kissed him over and over, as though seeking to see into his heart, his soul.

Without the lenses in the way, Wen Cishu could also clearly see the desire and heat in his eyes.

"Where's Yiming?"

Bo Tingyuan had already walked up to him and casually asked about their son.

He had long since taken in his unusually formal and extraordinarily handsome appearance today, not missing even his slightly reddened ears.