A Single Father’s Troubles - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Eyesore

Kuang Ye waited for a while until someone came out of the elevator. It was a man in his early twenties wearing a hoodie, with a fair and tender little fatty sitting on his shoulders.

Seeing it wasn’t Lin Tingwan, Kuang Ye lost interest. However, the child looked somewhat familiar, so he spared him another glance.

Watching the chubby child and the man in the hoodie playing intimately, Kuang Ye couldn’t help but imagine the daily life of a family of three. Although he didn’t like children, if it were Lin Tingwan’s, it wouldn’t be that hard to accept.

After waiting another two minutes, Lin Tingwan finally came out.

The oncoming wind gently blew Lin Tingwan’s fine bangs, revealing those bright and clear eyes. The beautiful young man left Kuang Ye mesmerized. He lowered his head and pressed his hand against his chest, wanting to tell that thing to stop f**king beating, but the heart in his chest was completely beyond his control.

Just as Kuang Ye was about to raise his arm to say hello, Lin Tingwan didn’t see him; with a smile on his lips, he walked quickly to the side of the man in the hoodie.

Kuang Ye’s footsteps froze in place, his gaze fixed deathly on the three of them.

The man in the hoodie giggled and whispered something in Lin Tingwan’s ear; a flash of surprise crossed Lin Tingwan’s face, but in the end, he nodded indulgently. Then, the man pulled a phone from his pocket and took a few selfies. The warm yellow streetlights fell softly on the three of them—a picture of harmony. Anyone who saw them would sincerely sigh that they were truly a happy family.

But Kuang Ye was not happy.

Standing just a few meters away, Kuang Ye had never realized that when a person is angry to the extreme, it feels as if the blood in their entire body is about to catch fire. He desperately suppressed the urge to rush forward and choke Lin Tingwan to death, glaring at the three of them with eyes full of cold light. Kuang Ye muttered in his heart: Remember this being a stepfather is okay, but being a “male third party” is not. I’d rather die than be the other man.

Kuang Ye expressionlessly ditched the flowers, ditched the cake, and slammed the gas pedal to the floor. The Aston Martin accelerated away, viciously giving the “family of three” a face full of exhaust.

Time rewinds to a few minutes prior.

Bian Wang looked at Lin Tingwan expectantly: “Brother Tingwan, we have a group project that requires a photo of brothers together. My brothers are all in the West District and it’s a huge hassle to go there. How about you take one with me?”

Lin Tingwan truly couldn’t understand why college students nowadays had to submit this kind of homework. But on second thought, even the National University of Science and Technology had an Interstellar Navigation Academy now, so a photo wasn’t that outrageous, and he agreed.

Bian Wang posed, taking dozens of photos from every possible angle.

Lin Tingwan sensed that people nearby were already watching, so he took a step back and said, “Are any of these usable? Let’s go.”

“They’re usable, totally usable! It perfectly reflects the happy scene of three brothers in harmony. I can turn this in now!” Bian Wang looked at a certain photo where his and Lin Tingwan’s shoulders were almost touching; he added the rest to his favorites and, feeling it wasn’t secure enough, uploaded a copy to his cloud drive.

He hoisted Guagua back onto his shoulders: “Guabao, ready? The Wangwang Spaceship is about to launch.”

Guagua grabbed Bian Wang’s hair—which was stiff from hairspray—with both hands like he was grabbing two horns, and shouted, “Ready… cough cough… set!”

An iron-gray giant brushed past them, leaving a face full of exhaust.

“What an idiot, driving with no manners!” Bian Wang cursed loudly at the car as it sped away.

Lin Tingwan covered Guagua’s mouth and nose and pulled Bian Wang back: “Cough… forget it, forget it.”

Bian Wang glared sullenly at the Aston Martin. Turning back to see Lin Tingwan and Guagua, his mood instantly brightened, and a smile overflowed from his eyes, looking indescribably handsome: “I’ll listen to whatever Brother says!”

Lin Tingwan played outside with the child until about nine o’clock. Before they even reached home, the child was already sleepy as a little pig. Lin Tingwan gave Guagua a simple wash, settled him into bed, and then hurried to take a shower himself.

Lying back, his body was exhausted, yet his mind was filled with a thousand thoughts, making it impossible to sleep. He turned his head toward the window, listening to the bustle of the city night; countless memories surfaced in his mind.

He liked eating cake, especially from that private bakery at the school gate. Back when money was tight, he only ate it twice a month. Kuang Ye had found out about this hobby at some point, and afterward, Kuang Ye would buy cake every few days.

Actually, Kuang Ye looked like he had a bad temper and was bossy and difficult, but Lin Tingwan knew he wasn’t like that. He was very… gentle.

Even as a mere “bed partner,” he had been cared for like that. He wondered how Kuang Ye would treat his actual lover?

The night wind blew, and Lin Tingwan unconsciously hugged his arms, feeling a bit cold.

The child’s snoring suddenly snapped him awake. Realizing what he was thinking about, Lin Tingwan’s face flushed slightly, and he cursed himself twice. Kuang Ye has a girlfriend. It’s in the past. Stop thinking about it!

He warned himself, yet he couldn’t fall asleep, suffering from insomnia until after three in the morning before drifting off groggily.

Lack of sleep truly affected his work state. Lin Tingwan sat at his workstation, the computer on, the screen showing the new work group chat Pei Shaoyu had created. Looking at the member list, he fell into a daze without realizing it.

It wasn’t until a small red dot appeared on Pei Shaoyu’s avatar that Lin Tingwan quickly grabbed his notebook and stood up.

At the door of Pei Shaoyu’s office, Lin Tingwan raised his hand and knocked.

“Come in.”

Lin Tingwan pushed the door open and walked in.

Pei Shaoyu withdrew his attention from the screen. His gaze swept across the soft, pink-tinged earlobe of the beautiful young man before him, finally landing on his face. He proactively asked, “How is the child doing?”

“Much better.” Lin Tingwan thought Pei Shaoyu was subtly criticizing him, so he quickly stated his position: “President Pei, I will be careful in the future and won’t take leave randomly.”

“I didn’t mean to criticize you.” Pei Shaoyu’s gaze landed on Lin Tingwan’s face, staring at him intently.

Lin Tingwan instinctively touched his face, confused: “Is there something on my face?”

Pei Shaoyu suddenly stood up and reached out. Lin Tingwan felt a soft touch brush across his lower eyelid, pulling away instantly.

Before Lin Tingwan’s face could turn crimson, Pei Shaoyu had already withdrawn his finger naturally: “Here. Your dark circles are quite obvious.”

“…Maybe I didn’t sleep well last night.” Lin Tingwan pursed his lips and quietly stepped back a bit.

“Take care of your health while working. If you encounter any difficulties, you can tell me.”

“Thank you for your concern. Everything is fine for now,” Lin Tingwan replied politely.

Pei Shaoyu assigned some work tasks to Lin Tingwan. After finishing the instructions, he said, “That’s all. Nothing else, go get to work.”

Lin Tingwan picked up his notebook and stood up, but remained in place.

Pei Shaoyu proactively asked, “Is there anything else?”

Lin Tingwan scratched his face, hesitated for a long time, and asked, “President Pei, is there someone who hasn’t joined our work group yet?”

“Hmm?” Pei Shaoyu arched his eyebrows high.

“I checked the number of people who attended the meeting yesterday; it should be 18, but there are only 17 in the group… Everyone is already moving forward with the work. If someone isn’t in, they might miss messages.” Lin Tingwan’s voice grew quieter as he spoke; he felt his own words sounded too strange.

“Oh, the missing one should be Mr. Kuang Ye.” Pei Shaoyu stared at his face, which was as flushed as a ripe tomato, and explained, “Mr. Kuang was temporarily reassigned to handle their company’s project in S City. He likely won’t participate in this project anymore.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is.” Lin Tingwan hugged his notebook tightly. Hearing this, he should have been relieved, but for some reason, his heart felt complicated—like a pair of tangled earphones where he couldn’t find the end of the wire.

Looking at the disappointment on Lin Tingwan’s face, Pei Shaoyu’s gaze behind his glasses flashed, and he suddenly asked, “Do you and Kuang Ye know each other?”

Lin Tingwan’s eyelashes trembled, and he denied it flatly: “N-no. We don’t.”

“I was just asking casually… President Pei, then I’ll head back to the office to continue working?”

Pei Shaoyu stared at him with deep eyes, his lenses reflecting the cold light. Lin Tingwan felt a bit creeped out by the stare.

It wasn’t until Pei Shaoyu gave a faint “Mhm” that the pressure on Lin Tingwan suddenly lifted, and he quickly pushed the door open and left.

In the early stages of the project, there were a vast number of materials and documents to process. Lin Tingwan was busy to the point his feet barely touched the ground. By the time the first phase of the project reached a lull, more than a month had passed.

While he was busy beyond measure, Kuang Ye’s situation in far-off S City was no better.

A month ago, Kuang Ye had dressed himself up beautifully, prepared to become a stepfather, only to be hit in the face by the “Happy Family of Three.”

In a fit of rage, he applied for a transfer to S City—out of sight, out of mind.

Kuang Ye tried to use work to numb himself. After working day and night in S City for over a month, he found that other than making himself as tired as a dead dog, it had no effect.

He worked himself into a stupor, and the employees at the branch office were also suffering miserably. Complaints against Kuang Ye reached the Chairman, Kuang Mei. Things like: inhuman overtime, a violent temper where he scolded anyone he caught, using women like men, and using men like dogs… and so on.

Kuang Mei was one to cherish her employees. Unable to take it anymore, she forced Kuang Ye to return to City B for a vacation.

Kuang Ye was furious but helpless, because the head of the branch office was his older cousin. There were very few people who could boss Kuang Ye around; Kuang Mei, who grew up with him, was one of them.

Furthermore, Kuang Mei had a trump card: if he wanted to stay in S City, he had to help her look after Zhou Nuoning.

Zhou Nuoning was Kuang Ye’s three-year-old nephew a true reincarnation of a demon child, more troublesome than Nezha. Kuang Ye already hated children; the fact that he now turned pale at the mere mention of them was definitely thanks to Zhou Nuoning.

After spending just one day alone with Zhou Nuoning, Kuang Ye swore he would never have children in this life unless Lin Tingwan could bear one for him.

Given that Lin Tingwan was a man and couldn’t have children, Kuang Ye had already prepared to be “DINK” (Double Income, No Kids) for a lifetime with him.

He had it all planned out: they would keep a dog and a cat.

The dog was a stray from the neighborhood that Lin Tingwan had once fed.

Four years ago, he had adopted that dog, taken it for a checkup, and gotten its vaccinations, preparing to give it to Lin Tingwan. Who knew that before the dog could be brought back from the pet hospital, Lin Tingwan ran away first.

The dog found a home, while he became a stray.

Kuang Ye felt frustrated thinking about these things. To make matters worse, as soon as he stepped off the plane, he received a call from the butler saying the main water pipe at the villa had burst for some reason and would take over a month to repair. Kuang Ye was dazed with anger; who had he offended?

Kuang Ye neither liked staying in hotels nor wanted to return to the Kuang family home, so he had to move into that house at Luhu temporarily.

When he arrived at Luhu, the butler had already hired people to clean the place. Kuang Ye swiped his fingerprint to enter. As he stepped in, he glanced to the side and frowned.

At the door of the neighbor’s house, there was an additional red, cartoon-style tiger mat.

It looked like someone had moved in.

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