A Single Father’s Troubles - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Confession

Lin Tingwan and Guagua had seen several of Bian Wang’s games before, but today was clearly the one with the largest audience.

As the team’s mainstay, Bian Wang was handsome and highly skilled a star player in every sense. Many in attendance today were his fans. The moment he stepped onto the court, the stands erupted like a mountain landslide, chanting his name. He was the center of attention. Wherever his gaze landed, screams followed.

When Bian Wang made his entrance, his eyes remained fixed on Guagua and Lin Tingwan from start to finish. Seeing the father and son sitting side by side, he couldn’t help but flash a smile, his two small canine teeth shining white. He looked clean and dashing. The person sitting next to Lin Tingwan went absolutely wild, screaming at the top of their lungs.

“AAAAHHHHHH! Bian Wang smiled at me!!!”

Infected by the excitement of those around him, Guagua started roaring too, shouting Bian Wang’s name at the top of his lungs, his small fists waving with great force.

“Wang-wang Ge… I’m right here…”

The smile on Bian Wang’s face grew wider. Although he couldn’t hear exactly what Guagua was shouting, it didn’t stop him from seeing the boy’s waving motions clearly. Bian Wang felt as if a spring breeze had blown through his heart. He quickly raised his hand and gave a vigorous wave in Guagua’s direction.

Then, looking at Lin Tingwan, he clenched one hand into a fist and thumped his chest over his heart before pointing directly at Lin Tingwan.

The people in the neighboring seats completely boiled over.

“Holy crap, man, is Bian Wang your friend? He’s greeting you!”

Lin Tingwan didn’t understand the meaning of the gesture. He hesitated for a moment, then mimicked Bian Wang’s movement, returning a somewhat clumsy version of it. Guagua followed suit, thumping his little chest and pointing at Bian Wang, successfully melting the hearts of a crowd of older brothers and sisters nearby.

Bian Wang broke into a full-blown grin, his body shaking with laughter to the point that his coach kept glaring at him.

The game soon got underway in earnest. Lin Tingwan wasn’t particularly interested in ball sports; his understanding of the rules was limited to “scoring” and “penalties.” Surprisingly, Guagua loved it. Lin Tingwan thought he didn’t understand what was happening, but after a while, he heard Guagua chatting with a boy nearby about the shot Bian Wang had just made though their conversation was a bit of a “chicken talking to a duck” situation.

Lin Tingwan: “…………”

Watching Guagua talk to the stranger until he was sweating and his face was flushed, Lin Tingwan suppressed a smile and wiped the sweat off the child. “Baby, drink some water. Your voice is going hoarse from all that shouting.”

Guagua was incredibly excited. Every time Bian Wang scored, he would shout “Go!” at the top of his lungs, putting in immense effort. By halftime, his undershirt was soaked with sweat.

After playing the first half, many boys and girls rushed toward Bian Wang during the break to offer him water. Bian Wang didn’t take any; instead, drenched in sweat, he walked toward Lin Tingwan. Lin Tingwan happened to look up, and their eyes met in mid-air.

Having just finished the game, the determination to win still lingered in Bian Wang’s eyes. Being stared at directly by those eyes reflecting a brilliant light, Lin Tingwan actually felt a sudden burst of aggression—as if… he had become Bian Wang’s prey.

This thought startled Lin Tingwan. His eyelashes fluttered as he averted his gaze.

By the time he adjusted his breathing and looked up again, there wasn’t a trace of aggression left in Bian Wang’s eyes. They were soft and clear, as if everything had just been Lin Tingwan’s hallucination. He looked at Lin Tingwan with a smile in his voice and winked: “Tingwan Ge, pass me a bottle of water?”

Lin Tingwan didn’t think twice and leaned over to grab the water.

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it! I have water-water.” The chubby child beat him to it, holding his own mineral water with both hands and offering it to Bian Wang, his star-filled eyes staring unblinkingly.

Bian Wang laughed at the stare and asked intentionally, “Gua-bao, was Wang-wang Ge handsome just now?”

Boys are naturally born with a reverence for strength. Bian Wang was covered in sweat, heat radiating from his body, his damp clothes clinging to him and outlining his powerful muscles. He looked incredibly strong, sunny, and handsome. Guagua’s eyes were glowing like a little fanboy’s; he was so awestruck he couldn’t speak, his eyes sparkling as he just nodded vigorously.

“Handsome!!!”

Bian Wang gulped down half the bottle in one go. He ruffled Guagua’s head and looked at Lin Tingwan with eyes full of laughter. Lin Tingwan smiled back slightly as Guagua leaned against his leg, looking up at Bian Wang with pure adoration.

It was a beautiful scene.

A field reporter from a certain media outlet couldn’t help but raise their camera and press the shutter.

The media report came out that very afternoon, posted simultaneously on Weibo, WeChat, and Douyin. The very first photo featured Lin Tingwan, Bian Wang, and Lin Guagua. Two handsome men and an incredibly cute child were simply too eye-catching; they precisely captured the attention of both “face-con” fans and “mommy” fans. Moreover, the photographer had captured the moment perfectly—the emotions were spot on and very warm. It was a 360-degree perfect shot that appealed to men, women, young, and old alike.

Some people are born with a “melon-eating” (gossip-seeking) constitution.

On this day, Shen Zhidong was browsing his phone while eating, just like any other day. As he scrolled, he felt like he saw someone familiar.

Shen Zhidong scrolled back, his eyes wide as he refused to miss a single detail, trying his hardest to find evidence that the person in the photo wasn’t his little sister-in-law.

But he failed.

Shen Zhidong gripped his phone as if he were holding a hot potato.

Whether or not to tell his poor brother—who was (suspected of) gaining a bright green hat was a real dilemma.

The first half had been intense enough, but the second half was even more agonizing. Ultimately, the Sports University won the championship by a narrow margin. The venue erupted.

Even after the game ended, everyone was excitedly discussing the match; the atmosphere was incredibly lively.

5:30 PM.

Lin Tingwan stood with Guagua outside the locker room waiting for Bian Wang to change. Guagua was still gesturing wildly while describing today’s game to Lin Tingwan, who was listening intently. He didn’t notice that Bian Wang had already finished changing and come out.

He was still wearing the down jacket on top and basketball shorts on the bottom. Droplets of water still clung to his face. Watching the father and son, Bian Wang felt his heart swelling. He walked over quietly and pressed his gold medal gently against Lin Tingwan’s left cheek. Lin Tingwan snapped back to reality from the cold sensation.

“Ge, for you.”

Lin Tingwan stared blankly at the shining gold championship medal dangling in front of his eyes.

“Huh?”

Bian Wang hung the medal around his neck. The medal had been clutched in Bian Wang’s palm, so it still carried the warmth of his body.

Realizing what was happening, Lin Tingwan hurriedly took the medal off and tried to hand it back to Bian Wang. “Why are you giving this to me? It’s such a precious thing!”

Even if it was just gold-plated—look at how high gold prices are now! A medal this big, if it had two or three grams of gold, would be worth several thousand yuan!

“Just keep it. It’s mine, and I’m giving it to you.” Bian Wang looked at Lin Tingwan with a beaming smile.

Lin Tingwan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, holding the heavy medal in his hand. “What am I going to do with it?”

He tried to return it to Bian Wang, but Bian Wang just smiled and refused to take it back.

While the two were at a stalemate, a fair, tender little arm reached over Bian Wang’s head.

“I want it, I want it! I want the gold medal-medal!” Sitting on Bian Wang’s shoulders, Guagua hugged his large head with one arm and shouted.

Bian Wang naturally took the medal and handed it to Guagua, saying with a laugh, “Alright, for Gua-bao. I have plenty more at home; you can take whatever you like.”

“Yay~” Guagua hung the gold medal crookedly around his neck and puffed out his chest, looking incredibly proud. “Daddy, am I handsome?”

“So handsome Daddy’s fainting.” Lin Tingwan cautioned, “Gua-Xiao-Gua, play carefully. If it breaks, Daddy won’t be able to afford the replacement.”

“There’s no need to return it. If Guagua wants it, he can have them all.”

Lin Tingwan was about to say something else when Bian Wang invited him, “Ge, let’s go eat. I’m starving. The stir-fry at our cafeteria is delicious!”

“Wait, don’t you guys have a team dinner?” For such an exciting event as winning a championship, normally the leaders of the school’s sports department would arrange a celebratory feast for everyone.

Bian Wang said, “It’s fine. We’re all teammates; missing one meal won’t hurt. You and Guagua came all this way to see me play; spending time with you is more important.”

Bian Wang patted Guagua’s leg and asked, “Gua-bao, what do you want to eat?”

Guagua had been nibbling on the gold medal, but hearing this, he dropped the medal and gestured excitedly: “Eat meat-meat!”

“Alright, let’s take our baby to eat meat-meat~~” Bian Wang gripped Guagua’s legs and started running while holding him.

“Hey, Bian Wang, don’t run with him.”

Lin Tingwan hurried to chase after them, but Bian Wang was like a speedster, disappearing in a flash. Only the sound of Guagua’s giggling was left in the air.

The spectators hadn’t all left yet. Someone recognized Bian Wang and jogged over to say hello, “Hi Bian Wang! Is this your younger brother? He’s so good-looking!”

Thinking about the big task he was about to do, Bian Wang was in an especially good mood. Seeing that Lin Tingwan was still far away, his brain short-circuited and he said with a grin, “He’s not my brother, he’s my son.”

“Son, call him ‘Uncle’!”

Guagua’s entire mind was focused on that gold medal; he didn’t even hear what Bian Wang said and immediately shouted crisply, “Uncle!”

The “Uncle” in his early twenties was hit hard. He clutched his chest and stumbled back two steps as if mortally wounded, saying in disbelief: “You have a kid?!!! And the kid is already this big?!!!!”

Bian Wang burst into laughter, his face full of pride. “That’s right. A ‘single dog’ like you wouldn’t understand the envy.”

The man remained suspicious, eyeing Bian Wang and Guagua with a strange expression.

Nose, eyes, mouth—there wasn’t a single feature that looked alike.

“That can’t be right. I haven’t even heard any news of you being in a relationship.”

Just as Bian Wang was about to speak, he saw the panting Lin Tingwan catching up from the corner of his eye and quickly said, “Got stuff to do, gotta go.”

With that, he took off running again with Guagua in his arms.

The physically unfit Lin Tingwan finally managed to spot Bian Wang’s shadow. But before he could shout, Bian Wang ran off again.

Lin Tingwan propped his hands on his knees and gasped for air, saying breathlessly: “Whew… Bian Wang… stop… stop running, I’m out of breath.”

When that man saw Lin Tingwan’s face, he was first stunned by the sheer beauty, and then it dawned on him.

This is the real dad!

Fearing his classmate would blurt out the joke he just made, Bian Wang quickly pulled Lin Tingwan away.

While he was bold when doing something guilty, Bian Wang felt truly nervous during dinner, afraid Guagua would mention the joke from earlier. So, whenever Guagua opened his mouth to speak, he stuffed food into it. At first, Guagua was quite happy; Wang-wang Ge was cool for winning the game, so he cooperated fully.

But after several rounds of stuffing, Guagua refused to open his mouth. He covered his face with his hands and said muffledly, “Wang-wang Ge, if you feed me any more, my tummy is going to explode!”

Lin Tingwan also said that Guagua had eaten plenty and couldn’t have any more.

Bian Wang sheepishly withdrew his hand. Looking at Lin Tingwan’s beautiful face still tinged with a flush, he asked as if casually, “So, Tingwan Ge, what are your plans for later? Going straight home?”

“Mhm.”

“Perfect. I’ll take you. I drove today.”

“No need,” Lin Tingwan said. “We’ll just take a taxi. It’s a long detour for you to take us to Luhu before going home.”

“It’s fine, I’m not in a hurry to get back.” Bian Wang was very persistent. He looked into Lin Tingwan’s eyes, a dark light flickering in his gaze. His voice was low, carrying a hint of a spoiled tone: “I want to drive you. Let me drive you, Tingwan Ge.”

“Besides, I have something I want to say to you.”

Lin Tingwan looked at Bian Wang in confusion, just about to ask what couldn’t be said now, but when he met Bian Wang’s gaze, the words died in his throat.

Bian Wang was staring directly at Lin Tingwan, his focus intense. Inexplicably, Lin Tingwan thought of that “determined to win” look Bian Wang had on the court.

Lin Tingwan felt the atmosphere getting a bit strange. Bian Wang’s gaze made him feel anxious, his scalp tingling.

Lin Tingwan forced a smile and said, “Really, no need. We’ll just take a taxi.”

Bian Wang looked into his eyes. The stainless steel utensils clinked together, making a crisp sound.

“Ge, this is very important to me. I insist.”

Lin Tingwan’s expression shifted from confusion and disbelief to utter astonishment. Bian Wang kept looking at him, his clear and undisguised gaze answering Lin Tingwan’s silent inquiry.

Lin Tingwan’s heart began to thumping. He suddenly remembered the look on Bian Wang’s face last night when he repeatedly insisted they attend; he thought of the gold medal Bian Wang gave him; and then he remembered Kuang Ye once telling him that the way Bian Wang looked at him was “not clean.”

Now, he finally understood Kuang Ye’s unspoken words.

However, Lin Tingwan still couldn’t believe it.

It couldn’t be.

Bian Wang actually… actually had feelings for him…?

Lin Tingwan’s mind was a mess.

How could that be? How could Bian Wang like him!

Lin Tingwan found it incredible and unbelievable. He was even a bit panicked, not knowing how to handle it. He even prayed in his heart that Kuang Ye would show up. He didn’t know why he thought of Kuang Ye at a time like this, but he felt that if Kuang Ye appeared, things wouldn’t be so difficult to deal with.

Bian Wang saw Lin Tingwan’s pupils shrink. His expression went from shock and confusion to a total blank. He keenly understood that Lin Tingwan now knew his feelings completely.

Bian Wang was very handsome. His features weren’t just standard good looks; they carried a bit of rebellious swagger, making him seem a bit cool and unapproachable. However, at this moment, his silhouette had softened entirely. The smile on his lips was full of affection, and his eyes were incredibly tender.

“Tingwan Ge, give me a chance. Let me drive you home, okay?”

He looked at Lin Tingwan with total focus. His gaze was very sincere, and there was even a nearly imperceptible trace of pleading.

Lin Tingwan had an illusion.

What Bian Wang was saying now wasn’t just about a chance to drive them home; he was hoping Lin Tingwan would agree to give him a chance to officially pursue him.

Communication between people doesn’t rely entirely on words; body language can also transmit a massive amount of information. A single look, a single movement, can reveal each other’s thoughts.

Lin Tingwan’s gaze met Bian Wang’s for a fleeting moment, and he immediately realized Bian Wang’s intent.

His heart skipped a beat.

He had guessed right.

Bian Wang was confessing to him.

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