Chapter 19

"Come inside, hurry." Li Yun quickly ushered him into the hall and asked the housekeeper to bring a cup of hot tea.

Just then, Bo Tingyuan came over with Bo Yiming.

"Tingyuan, Cishu was coughing. See if it's anything serious," Li Yun said nervously.

Hearing that, Wen Cishu felt as though he were treating Bo Tingyuan like a doctor.

"I'm fine. Maybe I was talking too fast."

Before he had finished, Bo Tingyuan's hand closed around his shoulder and drew him closer into his arms, letting him feel the warmth of his chest.

The housekeeper brought the hot tea. Bo Tingyuan held it to his lips and watched him take two sips. "You're really all right?"

"Mm." Wen Cishu gently inhaled the fragrance of the tea. "The jasmine in this tea smells delicate and lovely."

"Cishu, you have good taste," Li Yun said. "It is indeed from an old friend in the south. Take some home later."

Wen Cishu accepted without standing on ceremony, smiling as he nodded.

Being a junior meant he could ask for things with such perfect confidence.

Afterward, Li Yun invited the guests to dance, taking to the piano himself as the birthday celebrant to liven things up.

Wen Cishu had observed earlier that the guests were all middle-aged elders. Quite a few probably came from scholarly families; at a glance, they were cultured intellectuals or meticulous, professional government workers.

Now, as everyone danced with their partners, there was quite an air of traditional romance from the last century.

Bo Tingyuan was watching Wen Cishu's expression, concerned that he might feel unwell, when someone nudged his outer elbow.

He turned his head, looking through his glasses at his furtive son.

"Hm?"

Bo Tingyuan bent his head slightly to accommodate his little son.

Bo Yiming rose onto his tiptoes and whispered, "Big Daddy, hurry up and ask Little Daddy to dance!"

Bo Tingyuan glanced at Wen Cishu, who was lost in concentration, but did not act immediately.

As the self-proclaimed "two daddies' cutest little son," Bo Yiming felt duty-bound to move behind them, right between his two fathers, and say in a voice neither too loud nor too soft, "Little Daddy, Big Daddy said he wants to ask you to dance. Do you want to?"

"Hm?" Wen Cishu turned to look at his son, then at Bo Tingyuan, his upturned eyes blinking like fluttering butterfly wings.

Bo Yiming grinned and withdrew, his mission accomplished.

He clenched a fist at Big Daddy and mouthed: Go for it!

He really wanted to see some precious moments of his daddies dancing.

Bo Tingyuan raised his hand. Wen Cishu placed his hand in it, then was drawn securely into his arms.

Just moments ago, Wen Cishu had been thinking how traditionally and old-fashionedly these middle-aged elders danced, and now he was joining their ranks.

The others warmly made some room for them.

At the sight, Li Yun played with even greater enthusiasm, his face wreathed in smiles.

Amid the bright, easy rhythm of the waltz, Wen Cishu lifted his eyes slightly toward the man before him and asked with a hint of teasing in his voice, "You weren't actually planning to ask me to dance, were you?"

With that, he glided out with a dance step and turned.

His loose clothes floated, while the jade pendant and beads on the counterweight ornament weighed lightly against the fabric at his back, faintly outlining his slender waist.

He was indescribably beautiful.

Bo Tingyuan immediately drew him back into his arms, moving a beat ahead of the piano.

Noticing something was off, Wen Cishu sought his gaze in puzzlement. "Hm?"

The hand at his back abruptly tightened, as though it wanted to press through the thin fabric against his skin.

Amid the piano music, Bo Tingyuan held him close as they danced and said in French, [I want to take you home.]

Chapter 19

When it was time to leave.

Li Yun made a point of seeing them out.

At the porch, he said, "Tingyuan, I have a couple more things to say to Cishu."

"Mm."

In the evening breeze, the loose strands at Wen Cishu's temples stirred gently.

Bo Tingyuan took off his suit jacket and draped it around his shoulders. "I'll wait for you in the car."

"Mm." Feeling the warmth inside the jacket, Wen Cishu tugged it around himself and looked at Li Yun. "Dad?"

Li Yun drew his gaze back from his son's retreating figure and said earnestly, "Cishu, don't worry. I don't have anything terribly important to say. I just wanted to tell you that Tingyuan has always been a quiet child, not much given to expressing himself. You know, his mother's family also had an enormous family business, after all. His upbringing was strict, with no fewer rules than the Bo family's. From the time he was old enough to understand things, he had to bear intense pressure."

"Mm." Wen Cishu thought it seemed his haphazard questions earlier had worried his elder.

"I know."

Beside the car, the assistant had already opened the door, but Bo Tingyuan did not get in. Instead, he turned to look at the people beneath the porch.

Li Yun saw this too and sighed. "Tingyuan is stronger than I am. I couldn't spend a single day in that suffocating environment where you aren't allowed a will of your own. After he returned to the country, the old man's health deteriorated day by day, and he was eager to push every burden of the Bo family onto his shoulders. For three or four years, even I received several harassing calls a week from relatives in the Bo family's collateral branches, let alone him."

Wen Cishu nodded.

He knew very well that without iron-fisted methods, there was no way to take over the Bo family's business.

No matter how well the old man arranged things before his death, it could not stop others from itching to claim a share.

"But I'm not telling you this to complain on Tingyuan's behalf," Li Yun said, changing tack. "Rather, I want you to know that, for Tingyuan, things in this world broadly fall into just two categories."

"Hm?" Wen Cishu was a little curious. "Which two?"

Li Yun smiled. "Your health, and everything else."

He raised a hand. "Go on. Tingyuan is waiting for you. Come eat here at New Year. I'll cook for you myself."

Wen Cishu nodded and explained once again, "Dad, Tingyuan and I are fine. Please don't worry."

"Good." Reassured, Li Yun watched Wen Cishu walk over to his son.

He nodded at his son, who looked his way.

After the car drove away, an old friend saw him still standing beneath the porch and came over to ask about it.

Li Yun quickly wiped the damp corners of his eyes.

Just before they left, Bo Yiming had received a model plane of a special type from his grandfather, one that could not be found anywhere else.

He had been so excited he nearly jumped on the spot, then quickly climbed into the car and buried himself in playing with it.

So carried away was he that, by the time he came to his senses, he discovered he was sitting all alone in the back seat of a car.

He leaned forward and looked ahead through the windshield.

Big Daddy and Little Daddy's car!

"Uncle Liu, did Big Daddy push me into the car just now?" Bo Yiming asked the driver indignantly.

Deliberately leaving his adorable little son forlorn and all alone!

Master Liu looked at him in the rearview mirror. "You got into my car yourself, young master."

"Huh?" Bo Yiming's voice weakened. "I did?"

"When the eldest young master got into his car, I saw him deliberately turn to look at you," Master Liu said. "Perhaps he was puzzled too."

Handsome Yiming scratched his head in distress.

Who had handed over that happy time sitting between his two daddies?!

Oh, it was him.

Never mind, then.

The Bo family mansion.

Bo Yiming jumped out of the car and ran forward, seeing Big Daddy get out carrying Little Daddy.

The oversized black suit jacket nearly enveloped Little Daddy completely, his long black hair spilling outside it and swaying gently.

"Hm?" He followed alongside Big Daddy and asked softly, "Did Little Daddy fall asleep?"

Just then, the suit collar was tugged down a little, revealing a pair of smiling, upturned eyes. A soft voice said, "Little silly, didn't you say we were going to eat cake together?"

"Oh!" Bo Yiming smiled.

Little Daddy was so cute like this!

Every guest had received a little cake baked by Li Yun himself.

When Bo Yiming received his along with his present earlier, they had agreed to eat it at home.

Uncle Xu and the others were all waiting at home. From the state of the three of them, they could tell the evening must have been very pleasant.

As they headed toward the stairs, Wen Cishu looked up and blinked. "Shall we take the elevator?"

It seemed he had rarely ever ridden that antique elevator with Bo Tingyuan.

Bo Tingyuan stopped, turned, and carried him into the elevator.

Bo Yiming, who had gone one step ahead, turned to find the elevator already slowly carrying his two daddies upward. "?"

His handsome little face stern, he rushed up to the elevator entrance on the second floor to wait.

Inside the elevator.

Wen Cishu gazed at the panels of carved latticework, gently swinging his dangling lower legs. Resting his cheek against Bo Tingyuan's broad shoulder, he narrowed his eyes and admired that cool, captivating face.

"Aren't you curious what your dad just said to me?" he asked softly.

As soon as he spoke, Bo Tingyuan's dark green eyes signaled for him to look outside the elevator.

Wen Cishu slowly turned his head and met the little monkey's glaring face.

Bo Yiming: ==

Overcome with amusement, Wen Cishu collapsed against Bo Tingyuan's shoulder, trembling softly with laughter, the hanging hem of his clothes swaying lightly.

Bo Tingyuan keenly felt as though he were holding a begonia that had attained immortality, its petals fluttering down in a shower.

When he walked out, Wen Cishu lifted his foot and made a little tapping motion in the air toward the little monkey. "Why are you looking at us like that?"

Bo Yiming followed alongside them all the way into the room.

"We went there together, so weren't we supposed to ride home together too?" he said aggrievedly.

He lifted his eyes for a glance. "Big Daddy didn't even remind me I'd gotten into the wrong car!"

There was a hint of teeth-gritting, as though he truly was very upset.

Once set on his feet, Wen Cishu naturally gathered the suit jacket around himself with both hands and said gently, "We thought you wanted to admire Grandpa's present all by yourself."

He freed a hand and tugged his little velvet bow tie. "You're so handsome today. How about a smile?"

Bo Yiming deliberately pushed Little Daddy around in a circle.

With his back to Big Daddy, he said, "Baby Mingming only smiles for Little Daddy."