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Ye Yunqing grew up in the Chu household, so he naturally had his own room. But for most of his childhood, he and Cheng Jingyao would often “visit” each other’s rooms, and on any given day, they might end up sleeping in the same bed.
This habit significantly decreased during middle school. Ye Yunqing rarely visited Cheng Jingyao’s room anymore, and if Cheng Jingyao lingered in his room, he would even kick him out.
No one could say exactly why.
Maybe it was just a case of a teenager’s territorial instincts suddenly kicking in.
But after the college entrance exams, Cheng Jingyao often used the excuse “I won’t disturb your studies now” to shamelessly take over half of Ye Yunqing’s bed.
Later, after they finally admitted their feelings for each other, Cheng Jingyao became even more shameless and clingy.
Finally, one morning, Chu Lan caught them both coming out of Ye Yunqing’s room together, with a very conspicuous hickey on Ye Yunqing’s neck.
Chu Lan: “…”
The beautiful lady picked up a slipper and smacked Cheng Jingyao a few times, then took Ye Yunqing’s hand and asked if he wanted to call the police.
Cheng Jingyao: “???”
Ye Yunqing: blushes.jpg
When Chu Lan learned that Cheng Jingyao had truly gotten lucky enough to win over Ye Yunqing, she was quite relieved but still ordered Cheng Jingyao not to bully him.
Later, when the two went to college and moved out, they would occasionally come back home, and Cheng Jingyao would usually find a way to bring Ye Yunqing back to his room.
But today, for some inexplicable reason, he was being gentlemanly and asked Ye Yunqing which room he wanted to sleep in.
Before Ye Yunqing could respond, Chu Lan, smiling, took Tuntun by the hand and led him upstairs. “Tuntun will sleep with Grandma tonight.”
Although Tuntun was a bit reluctant to leave his dad, he hadn’t seen Grandma in a long time, and since Grandma was super cool today, he was full of admiration for her. Naturally, he obediently said, “Okay.”
Ye Yunqing felt even more embarrassed, shot a glare at Cheng Jingyao, and turned to leave. “I’ll sleep next door.”
Cheng Jingyao: “…” Really, my dear?
Next door to the Chu family was the Ye family.
When Cheng Jingyao was three years old, his father, Cheng Hui, went abroad to expand the overseas market, and his elder brother, Cheng Jingxuan, went abroad to study. Chu Lan then moved out of the Cheng family home and into the current Chu family home with Cheng Jingyao.
That’s how Cheng Jingyao met the pretty younger brother next door, who was two years younger than him.
Later, when the pretty younger brother’s family went through some changes, Cheng Jingyao brought him back to the Chu home, sharing half of his bed and half of his mother’s love with him.
At first, Ye Yunqing was very emotionally unstable, cried a lot, and was very clingy to Cheng Jingyao, so Chu Lan didn’t separate them when they slept.
One time, the two children had a quarrel, and Cheng Jingyao stormed back to his room, slamming the door and refusing to speak to anyone. It wasn’t until the nanny knocked on the door to ask if they wanted a snack that they realized Ye Yunqing was nowhere to be found. Panicked, Cheng Jingyao quickly called Chu Lan.
In the end, they found Ye Yunqing squatting by the flowerbed outside the iron gate of the Ye family villa, crying.
That day, Cheng Jingyao got a beating, and Ye Yunqing cried even harder. Despite the pain, Cheng Jingyao apologized while comforting his younger brother, telling him not to cry and not to run off alone, promising that he would never fight with him again.
The two children made up, but Chu Lan still prepared a room for Ye Yunqing.
Now, when Cheng Jingyao heard him say he was going next door, he instinctively grabbed his hand.
But Ye Yunqing’s eyes were smiling; he wasn’t angry at all. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been back. Come with me to take a look.”
Cheng Jingyao, thinking about everything that had happened today, felt his heart soften. He tightened his grip on Ye Yunqing’s hand and said, “I’ll go get the key.”
The Ye family house had been empty for a long time, and the Chu family’s nanny would occasionally go over to clean. The key was kept at the Chu house.
As they pushed open the heavy iron gate and walked through the familiar garden, it was as if they were instantly transported back to the past.
Inside, the furniture and decorations were just as they were in their childhood memories, but everything was covered in dust cloths, with their happy childhoods sealed beneath the passage of time.
Walking through the living room, on the right was the dance room that Ye Yunqing’s father had specially built for his mother.
One corner of the dance room was purposely left empty to accommodate his father’s exercise equipment. Despite all the empty rooms available, his father insisted on taking up a corner of the dance room, placing it alongside his mother’s dance shoes like the most loyal guard, protecting that soft space.
Now, everything was covered in a thin layer of dust.
And Ye Yunqing was no longer the little boy who used to work out with his dad and spin around on tiptoe with his mom…
He had grown up, with his own home and his own baby.
In the dance room’s mirror, Ye Yunqing’s eyes were slightly red. He turned his head and lowered his eyelashes, hiding the emotions surging within.
Cheng Jingyao came up from behind and tightly hugged him.
Ye Yunqing turned around and hugged him back. After a long silence, he choked out, “I so wish… I were Tuntun’s dad.”
Because he, too, had been teased for not having a mom or dad. In the midst of the children’s laughter, he silently called out, “Mom, Dad, please come…”
Please come and tell them that I’m not an unwanted child.
But his parents lay in their graves, unable to hear his call.
So when Tuntun, with a tearful voice, called out, “Dad, please come,” it triggered memories that he least wanted to revisit, making his heart ache unbearably.
“We are Tuntun’s dad,” Cheng Jingyao said.
“We can’t control what others say, but we can give him enough love, so that like today, he can firmly believe that he is loved, without fear, without hesitation, and without being afraid of rumors.”
Ye Yunqing took a deep breath, his voice slightly nasal: “…Okay.”
“My dad loves me very much” — hearing this sentence from Tuntun in the livestream replay made their eyes well up with tears.
Perhaps they weren’t the best fathers, but the fact that Tuntun felt, remembered, and believed in their love was the best affirmation they could receive.
“I’m too emotional,” Ye Yunqing said as he let go of Cheng Jingyao, sniffing and trying to control his emotions. “I thought I shared the same feelings as Tuntun, but actually, he’s stronger than I imagined.”
Cheng Jingyao gently stroked the corner of his slightly reddened eyes, his gaze soft and tender. “You’re strong too. When you were little and got bullied, you didn’t even know how to cry.”
Ye Yunqing wrapped his arms around Cheng Jingyao’s waist, his tone soft with a bit of a spoiled edge: “That’s all thanks to you.”
Whenever someone teased him about not having a mom or dad, Cheng Jingyao would always come to his rescue, even saying he would share his mom with him.
“My dad’s no good, or I could share him with you too,” Cheng Jingyao said seriously.
After struggling with it for a while, he added, “Or maybe… I could be your dad.”
Little Ye Yunqing’s tears, which were on the verge of falling, immediately recoiled in shock: “No way!”
Cheng Jingyao: “Why not? I’m way better than my dad.”
Little Ye Yunqing: “Just no!”
Initially, he was still a bit sad, but after this conversation, how could he cry anymore?
Cheng Jingyao lowered his head and kissed him. “So now, I’ll keep comforting you.”
Ye Yunqing’s lips curled into a slight smile as he leaned in to kiss Cheng Jingyao, softly whispering, “Thank you, older brother.”
***
Next door at the Chu family house, in Chu Lan’s bedroom.
Tuntun had just taken a bath, dressed in the new little dolphin pajamas his grandmother bought, hugging a dolphin plushie, and lying beside Chu Lan, listening to a bedtime story.
“A group of baby sea turtles hatched on the beach. ‘Move over, I need space!’ ‘No, I’m first!’ they chattered, bustling about. They greeted each other and looked for their moms and dads. A passing crab told them, ‘Your parents are in the ocean. Hurry and go home.’
But to get back to the ocean, they had to cross the dangerous beach.
Fierce seabirds circled overhead, waiting to snatch the baby turtles as soon as they appeared… The waves scattered the baby turtles’ formation and threw them back to shore… But the baby turtles bravely continued their journey, step by step, towards the ocean…
…Finally, the baby turtles leapt into the ocean and into the arms of their parents. Their parents took them back to the ocean, and they lived happily together.”
Chu Lan closed the picture book and looked at Tuntun. “Tuntun is like the brave baby turtles, overcoming difficulties, crossing the long beach, and coming to his dads. From now on, the family lives happily together.”
Tuntun blinked thoughtfully.
Chu Lan waited quietly for a moment, and seeing he still didn’t speak, she patted his soft hair and asked, “The story about the baby turtles is over. Would you like to hear another one?”
Tuntun shook his head, snuggling into his grandmother’s embrace, and softly said, “Grandma…”
“Yes?”
“What is the Sea King?”
Chu Lan: “…”
She pulled the soft little one closer into her arms. “That’s not a good thing, Tuntun shouldn’t learn that.”
Tuntun tugged at the tail of his dolphin plushie. “But… they called Dad the Sea King.”
Chu Lan frowned slightly. “They’re talking nonsense. Your dad is not the Sea King.”
“He,” Chu Lan recalled with a smile, “promised your big daddy when he was three that he would marry him when he grew up.”
Tuntun’s eyes widened. “Huh?”
Although he didn’t fully understand, he asked, “Does Dad like Big Daddy?”
“Yes,” Chu Lan said, patting his little face. “So, Tuntun, don’t easily believe what others say. You need to see for yourself, feel it, and experience it.”
Tuntun blinked in confusion.
Chu Lan chuckled, realizing the little one couldn’t grasp such complex ideas yet. She changed her approach, saying, “Tuntun doesn’t need to listen to what others say. Just believe in your dads.”
“Okay!”
Tuntun nodded seriously, then after a moment of silence, sweetly added, “Grandma~”
“Yes?”
***
On the second floor of the Chu family home.
Cheng Jingyao pulled Ye Yunqing back into the bedroom, gently embraced him, and kissed him again.
Ye Yunqing wrapped his arms around Cheng Jingyao’s neck and kissed him back.
Their heated breaths mingled, and the moist sounds of their lips were so intimate it made one’s legs weak.
Knock, knock, knock—
The door was suddenly knocked on, causing both men to pause simultaneously.
Knock, knock, knock—
The knocking came again, from below the door, particularly clear in the quiet night.
They had to separate.
Ye Yunqing wiped his lips with the back of his hand and quickly tidied his clothes that Cheng Jingyao had disheveled.
Cheng Jingyao took a deep breath and opened the door.
Outside, Tuntun was holding his dolphin plushie, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.
“Big Daddy, I want to sleep with you guys~”
Cheng Jingyao: “…”
Cheng Jingyao decided to retract his fatherly affection for a second.
Then he let Tuntun in.
***
At 10 p.m., when night owls were most active, a well-known blogger’s Weibo post went viral.
@LawStudentXiaoZhao: “I hadn’t been online for a while, and only just found out there was another big stir in the entertainment industry. It wasn’t related to me, but seeing so many people saying Ye Yunqing is an orphan and comes from ‘poor origins,’ and is unworthy of someone, it made me laugh! Sorry, but according to that outdated feudal theory you have, Ye Yunqing’s background is much more ‘noble’ than some people’s!
