Shu Cheng was playing with Shu Yao, laughing very loudly and happily.
Seeing this scene, Shu Ning was speechless for a moment, but he put on a smile:”Dad, me and brother are back.”
Shu Cheng did not hear, he was still speaking with Shu Yao about something. Shu Ning’s face was slightly unnatural, and he spoke louder:”Dad, I’m home.”
Shu Yao who had just lifted Shu Yao up only turned his head now. His mouth curved into a smile and he looked at them with a soft gaze:”Good to see you back, have you eaten lunch?”
“We ate on the plane,”Shu Ning sighed a breath of relief in his heart, seeing his dad’s appearance, he didn’t seem to have done it on purpose:”While we were all out, did you rest properly, dad?”
“I did, my little wifey really cares about a lot of things,”Shu Cheng joked, then he looked towards the tall and wise Shu Heng:”Let’s go to the study.”
“Okay,”Shu Heng patted Shu Ning’s shoulder and nudged his chin upward, signalling Shu Ning to go up for his rest.
Shu Ning understood, for him to do that in front of Shu Cheng meant he didn’t want his dad to find a reason to get Shu Ning to have children. Shu Heng was so considerate, and Shu Ning was very thankful, but he did not express it, he nodded obediently and went upstairs. Naturally, Shu Cheng had been the interaction between the two, no matter how low-profile they tried to be, they still couldn’t hide under his gaze. This was fine for him in the past, only because he did not think in that direction did he think they just had a good relationship, but now that he knew, everything seemed ambiguous to him.
“Dad, let’s go.”
Shu Cheng returned to his senses, and had the maid bring the unhappy Shu Yao away. Shu Yao was making noise and throwing a tantrum, wanting to find a sense of existence, but with just a calm glance from Shu Heng, the child started to behave, he pouted with grief and complained with his eyes. But Shu Cheng did not feel that Shu Heng was bullying the weak, so since he didn’t bear to settle him himself, it was not bad to leave it to Shu Heng. At first, Shu Heng had also thrown him to Shu Heng, and now if he were to throw Shu Yao to him again, Shu Cheng couldn’t feel at ease with that, the Shu family bloodline will end here if he ends up as another homosexual.
The two sat in the study while the maids left after setting down some coffee. The atmosphere was very imposing but subtle, until Shu Heng finally knelt down in front of Shu Cheng.
Shu Cheng couldn’t bear with this, so he pretended to not have seen. He took up his coffee, and looked at his documents after finishing his coffee. Shu Heng just knelt there with his back straight, not moving even an inch, he was even more like a statue than a statue. His adoptive father wouldn’t do anything to him, nor would he let him kneel for long, but despite how clear this all was in Shu Heng’s mind, he still felt guilty, quietly he was thinking about whether Shu Ning was taking his nap like a good boy.
Actually, Shu Cheng couldn’t even put his mind to the documents in his hand, his favourite son was kneeling just two meters away from him, his eyes would sweep over to him any time, messing up his feelings. Were his knees going to hurt? Didn’t he feel very wronged trying to keep a straight face? He had fallen for him, so it wasn’t as if they could just break up, it would hurt even more for them to do that. Shu Cheng had experienced it, he was a man with even more stories to tell than both Shu Heng and Shu Ning.
“Stand up, if Ning Ning sees you, his heart’s going to ache.”
“Dad.”
“……”In a moment, many things came up in Shu Cheng’s mind. When Shu Heng was young, he was so soft that he didn’t even dare to hold him, and when he smiled, it was so dazzling that its beauty rivaled that of flowers. WHen he was nine months old, he called him “papa”, nobody knew whether he was just babbling or calling him papa. Regardless, Shu Cheng felt that he must have called him papa, my son is the smartest in the world.
Now Shu Heng was kneeling. Shu Cheng sighed and went over to help him up. He should not have allowed him to kneel at the very start, now who was the one who felt pain? Wasn’t it still Shu Cheng himself?
“Have you planned everything?”
Shu Heng nodded:”I have everything in mind.”
“Just having a plan is not enough, Ning Ning is still young and is still prone to being fickle, you have to treat him well always, don’t give him the opportunity to regret this.”
A flash of surprise flickered in Shu Heng’s eyes. His mouth was slightly open but when the words came to his mouth, he couldn’t say it, he felt very moved.
Shu Cheng picked up his empty cup and turned it in his hands:”Don’t look at me like that, I just don’t want Ning Ning to regret this in the future, then he would hate me as well. I am his father after all, I should be responsible for his future, he’s only seventeen right now. I will sleep with him tonight, I may agree to your relationship but there are some things I still need to make sure of.”
“Thank you, dad.”
“This is your decision, and I can respect it, but I won’t approve of it.”
“Dad…….”
“Since the two of you are together now, then cherish your time together, if you ever abandon him out of regret, then you don’t have to return anymore.”
“Dad!”Shu Heng got on his knees once again, and spoke very seriously:”Don’t worry, dad, he is the only one for me for the rest of my life, I will never let go of his hand, ever.”
“I will remember what you have said today, go, Ning Ning must be feeling very uneasy right now. We’ll have hot pot at home tonight, all our worries will be gone after a good bout of merrymaking.”
Shu Heng left and leaned on the wall. He sighed before returning back to his room on the second floor. As expected, Shu Ning was pacing about with unease, and seeing his appearance he quickly ran over and pounced into his arms:”Dad……What did he say?”
“What else could he say?”Shu Heng stroked the top of Shu Ning’s head lovingly, then tipped up his chin:”He was just worried that we’re too young and fickle right now, what are we going to do if we regret this? He wanted to stop us but he was afraid of hurting us. It was hard for him but I swore to him that I would never abandon you, but he still worries that you will blame him in the future if anything happens.”
“Why would I blame him?”The confusion in Shu Ning’s eyes were so gloomy that it hurt him to see.
“Because you’re only seventeen! Even if you have the ability to buy a mansion, how many people would believe you?”
“That’s true, I understand,”Shu Ning sighed and buried himself in Shu Heng’s arms, listening to his strong heartbeats. It felt very peaceful, his brother’s embrace was so warm that he didn’t want to let go for the rest of his life, so how could he ever regret this and hate his dad for it? Shu Ning knew that Shu Cheng had already agreed, but there was just a small part of his heart that felt like it was being tugged at. Shu Ning’s eyes turned, he had an idea:”I’ll sleep with dad tonight and throw all my shame away, I’m going to act spoiled to him tonight.”
“……”
“Don’t worry, I’ll deal with dad!”Shu Ning was very confident.
But he didn’t know where Shu Heng’s worries lie, Shu Heng was not afraid that Shu Cheng would not agree, he was just afraid that he might separate them for a year or two, and see that if after such a long time, they still loved each other, then they would be allowed to be together. Shu Heng didn’t want Shu Ning to worry about so much, so he carried him up to the bed, and coaxed him to sleep. Not long after, Shu Heng himself had fallen asleep as well.
In the evening, they had hot pot for dinner. Shu Cheng and Shu Heng had a bigger appetite so the vegetables that went in came and went very quickly, so did the meat, while Shu Ning was obediently putting his shrimp balls into the pot and waiting, his mouth was curved into a smile and he was very happy.
At night, Shu Heng was alone in the empty room, so he decided to just do some work.
In the bedroom on the third floor, Shu Ning and Shu Cheng were already laying on the bed. Shu Cheng slept on his side, looking at him with a leisurely gaze. Shu Ning felt slightly scared, he knew that he was going to ask.
“Have you thought it through?”
“Mm.”
“No regrets?”
“Mm.”
“Do you like……or love him? You are only seventeen, do you know the difference between like and love?”
“Dad, I’m not that young anymore.”
“Only a child would say that, but alright, I know that it’s too late to say anything now, you should return to L City tomorrow for your studies, separate for some time and calm down for a bit, and if you still want to be together, dad won’t say anything more.”
“Okay.”
“What brought the two of you home all of a sudden? Did something happen at the Szetos?”Shu Cheng was smart and managed to guess a little, after all, Shu Heng was his their only child so it was already very difficult for them to accept Shu Ning. It was impossible that the Szeto family didn’t want any children, but Shu Ning probably didn’t want to agree to it, didn’ he? My poor child. Shu Cheng leaned in close and held Shu Ning:”Did they ask about their conditions?”
“They didn’t.”
“Really?”
Shu Ning knew he couldn’t keep it from him, so he told him:”They only asked about having children, and I want big brother’s kids as well. Modern medicine is very advanced now so it’s good to have children early as well, Grandpa Szeto said that he will take care of the children for us, and I think it’s a pretty good idea, a pair of twins for each family, what do you think, dad?”
Shu Cheng was dumbfounded for a moment, twins? Shu Ning was so clever, jumping at an opportunity as soon as it showed itself. He told him about the latest technologies, Shu Heng wasn’t going to give birth to children with a stranger, but they were going to make use of an artificial uterus. With both of Shu Ning and Shu Heng’s sperm, the children will have the genes of the both of them, there were already several thousand same-sex couples in the world who have done it already, it was very successful.
So that was also a possibility? For a man like Shu Cheng who was poker faced all year long, even he felt some surprise, he had never heard of such a thing. But that was normal, he had never had any worries in such an aspect, and Shu Ning said that he was the one who had done the research, so he had already been planning this since long ago. Shu Cheng was once again amazed, because he can see that Shu Ning was very mature, he had even planned for his future, he was the only one worrying.
His children will have their own lives to live, he should just let them go, it was a blessing to be able to be together with the one you love.
At around twelve o’clock at night, the door opened. Shu Heng sat up and saw his dad come in with Shu Ning in his arms. He was very confused:”Weren’t the two of you going to sleep together?”
“But he likes being your wife.”
For Shu Cheng to actually say that, how did he expect anyone to answer? Shu Heng was blushing, but fortunately the room was rather dark so nobody could tell.
After putting him down, Shu Cheng sighed:”The plane tickets for tomorrow.”
Shu Heng’s heart jumped, what had to come has finally come. He felt slightly stuffed up:”How long?”
“A year, two……”
Shu Heng’s heart has finally fallen to the bottom of the valley, it felt so bad, but he had to bear with it, his adoptive father was the sky itself so as his son he must listen to him.
“He will graduate in two and a half years, if you miss him you can just visit him, Ning Ning doesn’t care much about school, so as his brother, you should urge him to advance himself.”
So he’s not actually separating us?
Shu Heng raised his head, but said nothing. Shu Cheng understood what his son was feeling at this moment, sighed and ruffled his eldest son’s hair before giving him a kiss on the forehead, then gave the face of his second son a peck as well. Shu Cheng was very satisfied:”Sleep, I’m going now.”
“Good night, dad.”
“Good night.”
And so he left. Shu Heng quickly lied down and pulled Shu Ning into his arms, holding him tight. He was so moved, his dad was great, he was the best father in the world, I love you. The words Shu Heng was unable to speak, he repeated them many times in his heart before his mind wandered into the land of dreams. Early the next morning, Shu Ning woke up in Shu Heng’s arms and rubbed his big eyes, then naughtily he squeezed Shu Ning’s nose.
“I woke up a long time ago.”
Shu Ning’s mouth twitched:”Good morning, my great top~”How did I get back here? Did brother carry me over? No that’s not quite possible, then……dad?
“Dad said he booked your flight this morning, so wake up quickly, don’t make him wait.”
“Mm,”Shu Ning felt feeble, and he held Shu Heng’s finger:”You’re so godly and amazing……You’ll definitely find a way to see me, right?”
“Dad just said that you should pay attention to your studies more, he didn’t forbid me to see you, you’re making it sound like we’re committing adultery.”
Shu Ning’s face flushed, he was overjoyed. He took the back of Shu Heng’s head and gave him a big smooch:”That’s great, that’s great! I thought we would be separated,”When people mentioned crying of joy, that was probably how Shu Ning was crying and smiling at the same time right now.
Shu Heng leaned over and stuck his forehead on his, curling up the corners of his mouth:”You have to be filial to dad, okay?”
“Mm, you don’t have to tell me that.”
Shu Ning and Shu Heng went down to eat. Shu Cheng had already left, they reckoned that they probably didn’t want to see his two sons flirting with each other.
Notes:
baby SH says “pa ba”, daddy/papa in CN is ba ba, everyone thought he wanted to climb(pa)