A Single Father’s Troubles - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Crying

Kuang Ye’s belly full of fire was extinguished clean by Lin Tingwan’s two drops of tears. He didn’t even manage to immediately refute the girlfriend that had dropped from the sky; he was only concerned with wiping Lin Tingwan’s tears, but was mercilessly dodged by him. Lin Tingwan turned his head and ran outside.

Kuang Ye grabbed his hand and barked, “Where are you going?! Not even eating?”

“I never wanted to eat in the first place. I’m leaving once I’ve made things clear to you.” Lin Tingwan struggled desperately, “Let go of me!”

“Clear about what?!”

“You have a girlfriend, stop messing with me!”

He twisted around in Kuang Ye’s arms like a slippery fish. Kuang Ye was so angry his head spun. “Sit down!” he roared violently.

The serving waiter’s tray trembled; he didn’t know whether to enter or leave.

Lin Tingwan looked at the helpless waiter as if for help, “Save me, I’m being kidnapped!”

The waiter was startled, his eyes darting everywhere.

Kuang Ye locked him in his arms by grabbing his waist from behind, chasing the waiter away with a sour face, “Haven’t you seen a couple fight? Get out!”

The people who ate here were either rich or noble; the waiter didn’t dare meddle in other people’s business. He quickly set the dishes down and drifted away silently.

Watching hope slip through his fingers, Lin Tingwan broke down.

The bitterness of raising a child alone for so many years, the guilt of having done something bad, the helplessness of being unable to escape Kuang Ye all sorts of emotions intertwined and surged into his heart. He cried wretchedly, large tears rolling from the corners of his eyes, gushing out incessantly like a broken faucet.

Seeing him cry so heart-wrenchingly, Kuang Ye’s temper vanished completely. He cupped his face and wiped his tears with pity, saying helplessly, “What are you crying for?”

“Hic… none… none of your business… you… liar… waaa…”

Lin Tingwan’s chest heaved as he cried, like a broken bellows, looking as if he might faint at any second. Kuang Ye was truly panicked; a layer of sweat broke out on his forehead as he coaxed him helplessly, “Baby, stop crying.”

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have been mean to you, shouldn’t have lied to you.”

Lin Tingwan ignored him entirely, having a hearty cry and vengefully wiping his snot and tears all over the culprit.

His childish behavior made Kuang Ye not dare to move. Eventually, sensing he was venting, Kuang Ye resigned himself to being a human tissue. He even specifically took off his jacket; the shirt was softer for wiping and wouldn’t hurt his face.

After ten minutes or so, Lin Tingwan was tired of crying. The table full of dishes was exceptionally fragrant, and smelling that aroma, Lin Tingwan grew hungrier and hungrier.

He wanted to cry but couldn’t help wanting to eat.

He endured and endured until an awkward scene occurred.

His stomach began to gurgle uncontrollably.

That sound was like a thunderclap in the quiet private room, exceptionally piercing to the ear.

Kuang Ye wanted to laugh but didn’t dare; his chest trembled slightly.

Lin Tingwan’s face flushed. He closed his eyes and said, resigned to his fate, “Laugh if you want to.”

“Laugh at what? I don’t think it’s funny at all.” Kuang Ye tried hard to suppress the corners of his mouth, took a towel, and wiped his face dry. “Eat first, we’ll talk after.”

Crying was also hard labor. Although Lin Tingwan was starving, he didn’t have much of an appetite. He used his chopsticks to move the pieces of meat Kuang Ye had placed in his bowl back and forth.

Seeing that it took him several minutes to finish a small piece of water-milled rice cake, Kuang Ye knew he couldn’t eat anymore. He put down his chopsticks and had the dishes cleared away.

“Tell me, when did you assign me a girlfriend?”

Lin Tingwan’s hands were pressed against the teacup, his fair fingertips turned a bit red from the heat. He looked down at the tea leaves unfurling in the water, his voice muffled, “I ran into you and your girlfriend shopping the other day.”

“Don’t just pin crimes on me. You saw me at the XX mall, right?” Kuang Ye was truly exasperated. “That was my older cousin. If you don’t believe me, I can call her right now and have her explain to you in person.”

Seeing Kuang Ye actually take out his phone to dial, Lin Tingwan hurriedly stopped him, “Don’t, don’t call.”

Kuang Ye held his hand and said very seriously, “I’ve been keeping myself pure for you; I haven’t looked for anyone else these past few years.”

Lin Tingwan’s eyes flickered.

Kuang Ye arched an eyebrow: “You don’t believe me?”

Lin Tingwan blinked and didn’t make a sound. He knew better than anyone how heavy Kuang Ye’s desires were. He truly didn’t believe the man would endure for over four years. However, Lin Tingwan very smartly avoided this topic. He didn’t want to make things more complicated.

With red eyes, he said softly: “…Even if you don’t have a girlfriend, I already have a family. I don’t know what you want to do, but we can’t and shouldn’t interact anymore. I think you…”

Lin Tingwan looked up at Kuang Ye, but ultimately didn’t say the phrase “You don’t want to be a ‘male third party’ either.” He felt it was a bit hurtful.

“After all that, you still don’t trust me.” Kuang Ye stood up expressionlessly and said, “Come to a place with me. After we go there, we’ll talk again about how we should interact.”

Lin Tingwan stood still.

Kuang Ye ignored him and pulled his hand. At first, he didn’t move him; Kuang Ye applied some strength, but still didn’t move him.

He said with a fake smile, “Will you walk yourself, or should I carry you?”

Lin Tingwan looked at the calm Kuang Ye before him and shivered.

He really would do it.

Lin Tingwan let his hand hang powerless and followed Kuang Ye in silence.

The two got into the car one after another and remained silent the whole way.

The car stopped in front of a detached villa.

Before Kuang Ye could unbuckle his own seatbelt, Lin Tingwan had already unbuckled his. Kuang Ye glanced at him, said nothing, pushed the car door open, and got out.

Lin Tingwan followed him step by step into the house. The villa was empty, and Lin Tingwan was a bit scared: if Kuang Ye wanted to do something to him, even if he shouted loudly, probably no one would hear.

He was cursing himself in his heart for being so stupid to actually dare follow him here. Before he could curse a few more times, a “beep” sounded in the room.

Lin Tingwan’s body jolted, and he instinctively looked toward the source of the sound. The quiet villa lit up all at once, and the curtains slowly drew back. Everything inside was revealed before Lin Tingwan’s eyes.

He instinctively sized up the decorations in this beautiful little villa.

The soft furnishings of the house followed a black-and-white minimalist style; everything was visible at a glance. Lin Tingwan saw the silicone yellow duck nightlight on the coffee table, a pepper tree half a person tall by the floor-to-ceiling window, and a blanket printed with hollow colored stars.

Finally, Lin Tingwan’s gaze landed on the very familiar little bear pillow beside his hand.

It was a brown teddy bear wearing a hat, with two black bean-like eyes looking at him naively.

His panicked heart grew strangely quiet.

Kuang Ye took in his reaction without missing a beat.

“Come up after you’ve seen enough.”

As soon as Kuang Ye left, the pressure on Lin Tingwan lifted suddenly.

He hesitated for a moment, walked over, and picked up the little bear, turning it over to the back. Sure enough, he saw a zipper. He pulled the zipper down and reached in to pull out two sapphires of very high clarity. They were beautifully cut, reflecting dazzling brilliance under the lights.

Lin Tingwan stared at the gems in his palm, silent.

He stood in the living room alone for a long while, biting his lip, shoved the gems back into the bear’s body, and slowly went upstairs.

Kuang Ye led him through the tidy walk-in closet and study into the master bedroom. In the center of the master bedroom sat a two-meter floating bed.

Lin Tingwan felt his eyes burn at the sight of the bed and quickly turned his head, his gaze colliding with the photo frame on the nightstand. The young men in the photo, shoulders pressed intimately together, smiled at him.

Lin Tingwan’s eyes widened in surprise, thinking he was seeing things. He walked over slowly, picked up the frame, and studied it seriously.

Kuang Ye leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed, quietly watching Lin Tingwan look at the photo of him and Kuang Ye with teary eyes.

Lin Tingwan cried.

A crystalline tear slid down his cheek.

He wept silently.

Watching that tear, Kuang Ye bit his cheek hard, enduring the heat in his eyes, letting that organ in his chest beat violently thump-thump-thump.

For a split second, Kuang Ye felt all the blood in his body stop flowing, replaced by another kind of wildly burning, spreading impulse.

Every cell was screaming: Tie him up! Violate him day and night until these legs have no strength to run, making him assume all sorts of lewd poses beneath him, craving his possession every single second.

Lin Tingwan’s sobbing made Kuang Ye snap back to his senses. His Adam’s apple bobbed deeply twice, and he took a large step back. He took two deep breaths before his surging emotions gradually cooled down.

Lin Tingwan had no idea what he had almost encountered. He wiped his tears and gently placed the frame back in its original spot.

He really regretted it; he shouldn’t have met Kuang Ye. Everything was too messy. He didn’t know why things had turned out this way.

Had it been any other normal person, Kuang Ye’s actions had already clearly delivered the message that he couldn’t forget the old flame. They would have understood the current situation long ago.

But Lin Tingwan truly couldn’t figure it out. Because his initial positioning of their relationship was flawed.

When they were together back then, Kuang Ye hadn’t made a formal confession, and the two had haphazardly ended up in bed. Lin Tingwan didn’t know what the situation was between him and Kuang Ye, but he was too embarrassed to ask. So he searched online himself. As soon as he entered the keywords, the two large words “fuck buddies” popped up.

Lin Tingwan compared them point by point:

1. No emotional entanglement, no interference in each other’s lives.

2. A relationship involving material or monetary exchange.

3. Frequent occurrences of intimacy.

Except for the first point, the second and third points were far too accurate—especially the third point, to the extent that Lin Tingwan felt like crying just seeing it.

Thus, this emotional idiot Lin Tingwan very easily believed the answer online and still firmly believed they were fuck buddies to this day.

Unfortunately, neither of them had realized this fatal problem yet.

Lin Tingwan looked silently at the little bear and other things he had bought. He racked his brains for a long time and finally vaguely figured out what Kuang Ye wanted.

“Kuang Ye.”

“Mhm.” Kuang Ye squinted at him with feigned indifference, believing he looked very impatient, not knowing that his gaze was tender enough to melt someone.

“You… is it because there’s no one by your side and you’re lonely again, so you came to find me?” Lin Tingwan asked while looking into his eyes.

It could be like that, right? Just as he was very familiar with Kuang Ye’s body, Kuang Ye was also familiar with his. Better to do it with someone familiar than a stranger—he’s not used to others?

“It’s not just now; it’s always been only you. There has never been anyone else,” Kuang Ye answered very displeased.

Lin Tingwan’s mind was a mess, and he didn’t take those words in at all. Seeing Kuang Ye nod, he said to himself, “You’re lonely, and you want to resume our previous relationship, right?”

Kuang Ye felt something was wrong. He met Lin Tingwan’s gaze directly and confessed: “Yes, I want to start over with you.”

Lin Tingwan hadn’t expected it to truly be like this. Kuang Ye really wanted to “do it with someone familiar”!

He closed his eyes, his mind a total blank.

Seeing him piteously trembling, Kuang Ye reached out to pull him, wanting him to sit down and talk properly. But Lin Tingwan misunderstood his intention, thinking Kuang Ye wanted to make some out-of-line move, and shrank back in alarm.

Repeated acts of resistance made the suppressed fire in Kuang Ye’s belly ignite. He had used both the soft and hard approach, yet he still didn’t trust him!

Kuang Ye’s face darkened. He sat on the edge of the bed with his legs spread, patted his lap, and commanded: “Sit over here.”

How could Lin Tingwan dare go over? His courage was only tiny to begin with; whenever he encountered something, he had to probe with his antennae first, only extending his soft body from the shell when he felt safe. Now that Kuang Ye looked like he wanted to devour him, even with ten times the courage, he wouldn’t dare go over.

Kuang Ye grew impatient, rose, and walked toward Lin Tingwan. Seeing him move, Lin Tingwan ran outside in a panic. He hadn’t run two steps before his collar was gripped fiercely. Lin Tingwan’s grip loosened as he tried to pull at his collar, but Kuang Ye seized the chance. With a pull of his arm, he easily yanked him into his embrace.

Lin Tingwan felt his body go light, followed by falling into a scorching embrace.

Lin Tingwan was so terrified his face turned pale. He struggled incessantly, but how could he be a match for Kuang Ye? Not only did he fail to escape, but he was pinned down even harder. With another move, he was given a slap on the bottom neither light nor heavy. A loud sound echoed in the quiet room.

That one slap made Lin Tingwan’s face turn crimson, his eyes filling with two pools of tears. Before he could snap out of the immense shame, a pain hit his earlobe. Kuang Ye pressed close to his ear and warned in a low voice: “If you want to talk properly, then stop moving around!”

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