A Single Father’s Troubles - Chapter 26

Chapter 26: So Scheming!

Kuang Ye had originally been in a good mood because of Lin Tingwan’s unexpected kiss, but seeing Bian Wang felt like discovering half a worm at the end of a delicious meal utterly disgusting.

Of course, Bian Wang’s mood was no better. His face was gloomy; one look and you knew he was cursing in his head.

He knew something was wrong!

Brother Tingwan was someone who hated troubling others. Suddenly sending Guagua over to his house to play tonight… at the time, he wondered if he was going out with that man.

He tried to fish for information from Guagua, but the child knew nothing.

Bian Wang was both anxious and annoyed; within just half an hour, a large stress blister had formed in his mouth. He spent the time fretting while letting out pained “hiss-hiss” sounds.

In the end, he actually came up with a good idea: he intentionally led Guagua through a session of indoor parkour and mini-basketball, running around to drain the child’s stamina.

Guagua was a little fatty, and his physical stamina was poor to begin with. After playing for thirty or forty minutes, the child was exhausted.

Little kids, once tired, want to sleep. Bian Wang quickly shoved his phone to Guagua and had him call his daddy.

Things went exactly as Bian Wang predicted: after picking up the call, Lin Tingwan immediately abandoned the date and came home.

But he hadn’t expected to run into the Mulsanne Man driving Brother Tingwan home!

Lin Tingwan’s lips were so red, and his hair and collar were a mess… Bian Wang didn’t need to look twice to know exactly what had just happened!

For the first time, Bian Wang felt the taste of jealousy sour and bitter. His chest felt incredibly stifled; he wanted nothing more than to rush up and fight that man, warning him to distinguish who came first—he was the one who had stayed by Brother Tingwan’s side first!

But he didn’t even have a justification to throw a punch!

The fists at his sides tightened and tightened, then slumped down dejectedly. Bian Wang, crestfallen, knocked on Lin Tingwan’s door.

Lin Tingwan had just finished wiping Guagua down and was planning to take a shower. He had just taken off his top when he suddenly heard the knock.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Bian Wang.”

Lin Tingwan casually grabbed the shirt tossed on the sofa, threw it on, and walked toward the door. “Coming.”

Lin Tingwan’s face was wet, likely having just washed it. Droplets hanging from his hair fell onto his fair, delicate neck, following the curve down into the open collar, exposing his beautiful collarbones.

The places where the light-colored shirt was damp became translucent, the fabric clinging tightly to his skin, making the pinkish flesh-tone loom through a distinct, hidden temptation.

The moment the door opened, Bian Wang received a massive shock. His mind went blank, and he stared dazed at Lin Tingwan. His gaze involuntarily landed on Lin Tingwan’s slender waist wrapped in the shirt, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.

He was a “waist-con.”

The first time he felt desire for Lin Tingwan was also because of his waist.

It was an accident; he was playing with Guagua and felt thirsty, so he went to the kitchen for water. He passed by Lin Tingwan’s bedroom, which wasn’t fully closed, and accidentally saw Lin Tingwan with his back to the door, changing clothes. Beneath the hem of the lifted shirt was a section of waist thin and white, so bright it was dazzling. Below that were two beautiful dimples of Venus, incredibly seductive.

That narrow gap in the door made Bian Wang completely possessed. From that day on, whether his eyes were open or closed, all he saw was Lin Tingwan’s waist. He even had dreams that were far too realistic; he could clearly remember in the dreams how he gripped those two thin, narrow hip bones, making him gasp beneath him…

The more unattainable it was, the more he craved it. Bian Wang had never desired a person so much.

He had been preparing, preparing to persuade his family and then confess to Lin Tingwan. And then, they would get married!

His family was open-minded, but he didn’t believe they could easily accept him marrying a man, especially one who already had a child.

Fortunately, his parents liked Guagua very much, which gave Bian Wang a bit of confidence.

Bian Wang had been moving slowly and steadily, waiting for the right moment. But he hadn’t expected that instead of a moment, he would get a powerful competitor!

Since that man appeared, everything had changed. He had never seen Brother Tingwan act so strangely… and what chilled Bian Wang even more was that one day while playing with Guagua, looking from a certain angle, Guagua’s eyes were exactly the same as that man’s!

Bian Wang originally speculated that Lin Tingwan and the Scumbag were former lovers, but the Scumbag had messed around outside and had a child, making Brother Tingwan raise it for him.

But soon, Bian Wang dismissed this possibility. If Guagua were the Scumbag’s child, Brother Tingwan wouldn’t possibly keep Guagua from meeting his biological father.

There was also the unavoidable fact: although Guagua looked like that man, he looked even more like Brother Tingwan. Their noses and chins were shaped almost identically. Both were so cute.

Thus, Bian Wang had a bolder guess:

Guagua must be the child of Brother Tingwan’s sister. The Scumbag had hurt Brother Tingwan’s sister and heartlessly exploited Brother Tingwan too. The sister had the child by accident, and in her grief, she abandoned the child to start a new life, leaving Brother Tingwan to take on the responsibility of raising the boy…

Although the idea was melodramatic, Bian Wang couldn’t think of any other explanation for why Guagua looked like both Lin Tingwan and had the shadow of that Scumbag.

This Scumbag is truly a piece of trash! Not only did he hurt an innocent woman, he hurt Lin Tingwan too. And now, he has the gall to show up at the door how shameless!

Just thinking about how much grievance and hurt Lin Tingwan must have suffered made Bian Wang feel as if a giant hand were twisting and kneading his heart.

He stared straight at Lin Tingwan, his eyes filled with a thousand words.

Heartache, pity, indignation…

Bian Wang took a deep breath, softened his voice, and said warmly, “Brother Tingwan, if you feel that raising a child alone is too hard, I… I…”

Lin Tingwan tilted his head and looked at him, his gaze very confused.

A precarious droplet of water at the tip of his hair fell with his movement, landing on the open collar and vanishing into more hidden places.

Bian Wang’s gaze darted away quickly. His face turned deep red, and his heart pounded so violently it blocked the words in his throat. He scratched his head in frustration, but his tongue was stiff and wood-like; he simply couldn’t get the words out.

Lin Tingwan found it bizarre. Seeing a layer of sweat on his forehead and his face red with anxiety, he said considerately, “Do you want some water? I’ll pour you a glass.”

“…Okay, thank you.”

Lin Tingwan poured a glass of water, handed it to Bian Wang at the entryway, and gave an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Guagua is asleep, it’s not convenient to let you in.”

Bian Wang was silent for a moment, then took the glass and gulped it down in one go before handing it back.

He gave Lin Tingwan a reassuring smile. “It’s fine, I feel much better after the water.”

“Mhm. What were you about to say just now?” Lin Tingwan casually placed the plastic cup on the shoe cabinet.

Bian Wang scratched his head. “Oh, I was saying, if you feel raising a child is too hard, bring Guagua to my house to play more often. My parents love him to death; they wish he could come every day.”

He looked at Lin Tingwan expectantly and added, “Besides, Guagua likes me a lot, and I like him a lot too. You know that.”

Lin Tingwan couldn’t help but laugh.

Guagua and Bian Wang did indeed have a particularly good relationship and played well together. Even though they were separated by over a decade in age, he didn’t know how they had so much in common.

“Okay.”

Seeing him smile, Bian Wang also flashed a row of white teeth. “By the way, I have two matches this week. If you and Guagua are free, do you want to come watch?”

He fished two tickets out of his pocket and handed them to Lin Tingwan.

“Okay, we’ll come if we have time.” Guagua quite liked watching ball games; Lin Tingwan had taken him twice before.

Bian Wang stood there for a bit longer.

Lin Tingwan asked him with his eyes if there was anything else.

Bian Wang shook his head and said softly, “Go in and rest. I’m leaving.”

Lin Tingwan nodded and reminded him, “Be safe on the road. Visibility isn’t good for driving at night.”

Bian Wang smiled.

Only after his figure disappeared at the stairs did Lin Tingwan turn and lock the door, tossing the disposable cup Bian Wang had just used into the trash.

In the elevator.

The brilliantly smiling Bian Wang of a moment ago leaned tiredly against the elevator wall, letting out a slow sigh.

Lin Tingwan was a very gentle person, but his gentleness was only shown unreservedly to Guagua. To others, his gentleness had limits, or rather, boundaries.

People who were drawn into his heart could enter and leave his home freely.

Thinking carefully, if Guagua was asleep or his parents weren’t home, Lin Tingwan had never let him in at night. He was guarded against him. He didn’t have those kinds of thoughts about him.

Bian Wang’s face was full of confusion. Would the Lin Tingwan who kept him outside the door of his heart ever truly accept him?

Endless dejection swallowed Bian Wang, and he felt like retreating.

But when the elevator doors opened and he saw that big black car, he suddenly remembered the hateful face of the Mulsanne Man.

No, he couldn’t think like that!

As long as Brother Tingwan still allowed him to appear in his life, he had hope. After all, his relationship with Guagua was great, that was a natural advantage!

Bian Wang swept away his previous dejection and immediately perked up, straightening his body and clenching his fists, his eyes filled with fighting spirit.

Lin Tingwan had no idea that Bian Wang, whom he had always treated as a younger brother, actually had other thoughts about him. However, Bian Wang’s comment about “raising a child alone being too hard” reminded him of the past.

After Guagua was born, for a period, Auntie Fang Jie felt that raising a child alone wasn’t good, so she started introducing him to potential partners.

Knowing his orientation, the men Auntie Fang Jie introduced were all high-quality. Lin Tingwan didn’t want to date; he only flipped through the profiles in front of Fang Jie out of politeness.

None were as handsome as Kuang Ye; none were as tall as Kuang Ye; none had a body as good as Kuang Ye; none were as charismatic as Kuang Ye… Although he had been avoiding it, Kuang Ye had indeed left a heavy, colorful stroke in his life.

After refusing two or three, Auntie Fang Jie eventually gave up.

Exactly, he thought. A single father with an ordinary appearance and an ordinary job like him had nothing worth boasting about.

Lin Tingwan came out of the bathroom after showering. The little person sleeping on the bed heard the movement, crawled up groggily, and called toward him in a daze, “Daddy.”

Lin Tingwan tossed the towel aside and stopped Guagua from crawling out of the covers. “Baby, lie down. Don’t come out, it’s cold.”

“Oh.” Guagua was snapped awake by the chill and quickly curled back into the quilt, leaving only his big eyes visible.

Lin Tingwan gave his hair a quick blow-dry before lifting the quilt to slide in.

Guagua expertly snuggled into his arms like a little frog, affectionately rubbing his warm cheek against Lin Tingwan’s chest before sticking close and going still.

Lin Tingwan casually combed through his hair with his fingers, thinking of what Bian Wang had said. “Baby, not sleeping?”

“Slept enough~~” Guagua’s eyes were sparkling.

“Then, talk with Daddy for a bit, okay?”

Guagua gave a soft “Mhm,” looked up, and kissed him on the chin. Lin Tingwan looked at him with surprise. Guagua covered his mouth and laughed silently, his big eyes curving into little crescents—utterly adorable.

“Hehe, Daddy, do you like baby’s kisses?”

“I do.” Lin Tingwan smiled too and kissed Guagua’s left cheek, which was flushed from sleep. “How about baby?”

“Like it, like it!”

Lin Tingwan couldn’t help but smile, his lips curving as he gave a gentle pat on the boy’s head.

“Guabao, Daddy wants to ask you a question. Think about it carefully before you answer me, okay?”

Guagua looked at him in confusion.

Lin Tingwan hesitated and said, “Do you want another father? Or… other relatives?”

“I have a daddy, why would I want another daddy?” Guagua tilted his head, completely puzzled.

While Lin Tingwan was trying to figure out how to explain it to him, Guagua suddenly became downcast, his fluffy head rubbing back and forth against Lin Tingwan’s chest.

The child’s emotions were very easy to read: when he stopped talking or became exceptionally clingy, it meant he was feeling something.

“Baby?”

Guagua silently lowered his head to play with his fingers, then started picking at a fuzzy ball on Lin Tingwan’s pajama, saying nothing.

Lin Tingwan didn’t force him; he just gently rubbed his back, using this method to tell him that Daddy was always here.

Guagua finally couldn’t hold it in. He hugged Lin Tingwan’s neck tightly and burst out crying.

Support