Chapter 27

Wen Cishu pinched his cheeks and tugged them.

His own child was adorable no matter how he looked at him~

Bo Tingyuan adjusted his rimless glasses. "Are you sleeping with your little dad again tonight?"

"Of course!"

Bo Yiming tipped his head up and said eagerly, "Little Dad, I'll definitely do my best to tell you a French story today."

Auntie Zhong was bringing in the cakes and desserts they had brought home.

Bo Yiming hurried over and said happily, "Grandma Zhong, isn't my grandpa amazing? He can even make cakes himself."

Auntie Zhong said, "When you were little, your grandpa made toys for you, too. He's quite good with his hands."

"Oh, right." Bo Yiming had almost forgotten. "Where are those toys?"

Auntie Zhong began explaining.

While the two were talking, Bo Tingyuan picked up the suit jacket in Wen Cishu's arms and slowly drew it away.

Wen Cishu felt the fabric brush against his arms as it slowly slipped away, as though its warmth were being carried off with it.

Just as the jacket was almost entirely out of his arms, he caught its sleeve and asked softly, "Have some cake with us, all right?"

Bo Tingyuan draped the jacket, still carrying Wen Cishu's warmth, over his arm and explained, "Mother called me earlier and told me to call her back as soon as I got home. She's waiting for me."

"Then go on." Wen Cishu let go.

Bo Tingyuan's mother was a decisive, no-nonsense iron lady who managed the family's vast business interests. Every minute she waited was a minute of business delayed.

Earlier, Bo Tingyuan had casually mentioned sending the little monkey to school in France. If he made a call that night, his mother could probably arrange everything within an hour, and the little monkey could be escorted straight to school upon landing in Paris the next day.

Of course, today was Li Yun's birthday, so it might also be about that...

When Wen Cishu came back to his senses, he saw that there was actually a lit candle on the cake.

He slid off the sofa and sat on a cushion beside his little son.

"Baby Mingming? Where did the candle come from?"

Beside them, Auntie Zhong said with a perfectly straight face, "Auntie Zhong conjured it up, of course. Whatever our young master wants, I can conjure it up."

Smiling, Wen Cishu raised his hands to take off the beads around his neck, loosened his bun, and leaned back comfortably. "Grandma Zhong has a treasure chest hidden in her pocket."

Bo Yiming laughed along with his little dad. "Yes, Grandma Zhong is even better than Doraemon."

Auntie Zhong chided them, "You two have fun. I'll go check on the calming herbal soup. Yiming, don't let your little dad eat too much cake. Cream isn't easy to digest, either."

"Okay~" Bo Yiming urged his little dad to join him in making a wish.

Wen Cishu did not insist that wishes were only for birthdays. He played along, clasping his hands beneath his chin and closing his eyes. Three seconds later, he said, "Done. Your turn, baby."

Hearing his little dad shorten "Baby Mingming" into an even sweeter endearment, Bo Yiming really wanted to turn into a tiny bundle like little Xiao Qi and curl up in his little dad's arms.

He made his wish just as earnestly.

At the doorway, Auntie Zhong had not quite left.

Through the gap in the door, she watched the father and son with their heads together, having such a wonderful time, and her heart warmed along with them.

Over the past two days, everyone in the house had been saying that, with Sir coming downstairs more often and spending more time with the young master, the young master no longer liked running outside as much and had become fond of clinging to his little dad.

The young master used to like playing the little adult now and then. Now, though, he was especially clingy with his little dad, revealing his true, childish self.

In the study.

Bo Tingyuan finished his call with his mother, rubbed between his brows, and put his glasses back on.

He returned to the bedroom but heard no sound from inside.

When he opened the door, all he saw was the half-cut cake on the sitting room's coffee table and the jewelry Wen Cishu had worn lying on the sofa.

There was no one there.

"Yiming?"

Bo Tingyuan called in a low voice but received no answer.

A nerve at his temple gave a sudden twitch. His thick brows knitted at once, and he strode farther inside.

There was no sign of Wen Cishu on the bed or in the bathroom. The taut string in Bo Tingyuan's heart stretched almost to breaking point.

He dreaded coming across an unconscious figure in any of the passageways.

A faint melody drifted from the walk-in closet, like someone humming leisurely, the lilting notes gentle and lovely.

Bo Tingyuan walked toward it step by step. As though stirred by a breeze, the sound turned and shifted its tune as it wound into his ears.

Although he had never heard Wen Cishu hum these tunes before, he could not mistake that clear, pleasant voice. His heart immediately settled.

Of the walk-in closet's double doors, one was shut, while the other stood half-open.

Bo Tingyuan approached and was about to knock when he happened to catch sight of a slender profile in the full-length mirror.

Wen Cishu had just taken off his trousers. Wearing only the subtly patterned Chinese-style shirt he had gone out in earlier, he was humming as he undid the tiny buttons on its pipa sleeves.

His back was to the door. In the mirror, the dark hem fell against the outsides of his snow-white, straight thighs, swaying as though over fragrant, soft jade, concealing yet revealing...

Wen Cishu's humming rippled through the air, soft and tender.

To Bo Tingyuan's ears, it carried a seductive note that Wen Cishu himself did not know was there.

Just then, a sound came from the sitting room.

Bo Tingyuan withdrew his gaze, quickly turned, and walked out.

Seeing his big dad, Bo Yiming asked in confusion, "Where's Little Dad?"

"Getting changed." Watching him pull out a cushion on the rug and sit back down, Bo Tingyuan asked, "What were you doing just now?"

He sat on the sofa and picked up the counterweight pendant lying to one side.

"Little Xingxing called me." Bo Yiming raised the watch on his left wrist, showing off his little friendship.

Wen Cishu came out just then in a loose lounge shirt and saw Bo Tingyuan sitting on the sofa, toying with the counterweight pendant between his fingers.

The jade pendant with its dark green markings actually had some weight to it.

Yet it looked small between Bo Tingyuan's strong, long fingers.

As Bo Tingyuan watched his son speak, his thumb slowly stroked the markings on the jade, gently and casually.

Wen Cishu glanced at it, then looked away.

Why did that movement look more and more like the way he rubbed his hand?

He, too, looked at their beaming son and asked, "Yiming, what did little Xingxing talk to you about? You're so happy."

Bo Yiming beckoned with his little spoon. "Little Dad, let's keep eating cake. Then I'll tell you."

The round cushion Wen Cishu had been sitting on had been moved.

He bent down and was about to pull it over beside his son when a hand rested lightly on the back of his shoulder and pressed down. Following that pressure, he sat, right beside one of Bo Tingyuan's long legs.

Wen Cishu picked up his dessert spoon and scooped up some cream.

"Go on, your big dad and I are listening."

Bo Yiming chuckled. "Little Xingxing wanted to ask me some questions. There were parts of his homework he didn't understand."

"You even help each other study?" Wen Cishu marveled. This really was a delightful surprise.

The original novel's main gong really was an upright person.

"Of course. I'm older than him, so I have to teach him."

Bo Yiming even put on the air of a little teacher.

Having finished his cake, he knelt on the cushion, braced both hands on the coffee table, and leaned a little closer. "Little Dad, once the show is over, can we invite little Xingxing, little Rongrong, and little Xiao Qi over to play?"

"Of course." Wen Cishu teased him. "Just the children? Not their moms and dads?"

Bo Yiming frowned, seemingly never having considered that at all.

"Pfft..."

Wen Cishu thought, You really were only planning to "kidnap" the children to play with.

Smiling, he turned the silver spoon between his fingers and held it to his lips, quickly licking the little bit of cream on its back.

As he smiled, he heard Bo Tingyuan's low voice from above and behind him.

"Yiming, weren't you going to tell your little dad a French story tonight?"

Bo Yiming looked up at his big dad. "Hm?"

Bo Tingyuan reminded him, "Go get a storybook from the study. Then you won't forget how to tell it."

"Oh, right!" Bo Yiming immediately pushed himself up against the coffee table, then remembered Grandma Zhong's words. "Little Dad, once you finish that tiny bit, you can't have any more. The rest... give it to Big Dad. Big Dad, keep an eye on Little Dad. I'm getting the book! I'll be right back!"

With that, he dashed out, his footsteps thumping even through the rug.

His eyes curved in a smile, Wen Cishu thought that with all that noise, if they lived in a high-rise apartment, they would receive piles of complaints no matter how good the soundproofing was.

Bo Tingyuan looked at the person who had unknowingly leaned against his leg, carrying a languid, soft allure.

Without the little monkey's cheerful chatter and laughter, Wen Cishu slowly turned his head, only then realizing that Bo Tingyuan seemed to have been gazing down at him quietly all along.

Bo Tingyuan leaned against the back of the sofa, relaxed and at ease, with a hint of composure. As Wen Cishu turned, his fingers brushed the hair away from his temple, revealing his entire, perfect profile.

For an instant, the room was especially quiet.

Wen Cishu felt the warmth of his fingertips.

The thumb that had been stroking the jade pendant now brushed lightly over his cheek and the base of his ear, even touching his soft earlobe.

It gave a light flick, as though toying with a jade pendant.

Wen Cishu's breathing unconsciously slowed. Once again, he saw a deep, unspeakable desire in those eyes.

A little awkwardly, he asked, "Do you... want some cake?"

Though he received no affirmative answer, Wen Cishu turned all the way around, scooped up a dab of cream, and quickly raised the spoon to Bo Tingyuan's lips.

Bo Tingyuan glanced at the spoon.

The sweet sight of Wen Cishu smiling as he ate the cake surfaced once more.

"Hm?" Wen Cishu lifted the spoon again in invitation.

Bo Tingyuan took the little spoon from his hand, but instead of putting it into his own mouth, he bent down and brought it to Wen Cishu's lips.

The sitting room's main light was on, but there was another lamp on the distant wall, its light shining from directly behind him.