After Transmigrating as the Northeast CEO's Pampered Little Husband - Chapter 65

Gu Jiaoyang had initially thought bumping into Qiu Xue twice was quite a lot, considering they were in different departments one in Oil Painting and the other in Illustration and didn’t even have classes in the same building, so they shouldn’t cross paths often.

However, he frequently ran into Qiu Xue going to see Qiu Yu whenever he returned to his dorm. Qiu Xue didn’t really have anything specific to discuss with Qiu Yu; he just claimed that since he was new to the place, he wanted to stay close to his older brother.

Consequently, Gu Jiaoyang’s university life turned into a ‘threesome,’ as he, Qiu Yu, and Qiu Xue always ended up going to and from classes and meals together.

Gu Jiaoyang wasn’t sure how to feel about this arrangement. Yet, remembering the other party’s unusual connection to Huang Fugui (the father ghost), he decided to keep this “amusement” around for the time being.

“Hello?” Dai Gucan’s deep voice came through the phone. Gu Jiaoyang was changing clothes in his dorm room, clutching his phone, and the sound instantly made his heart feel warm and fuzzy.

Dai Gucan’s voice was inherently gentle, but its low pitch gave it a slightly cold, reserved quality. Only when he drew out certain syllables did the warmth show through. For the most part, he kept his voice low in his throat, which resulted in a strong projection, making it easier for people to hear him during meetings.

This was likely a habit he couldn’t shake; even during intimate phone calls, his articulation was always impeccably clear, as if he were reading from a script.

“Coming down now, mwah!” Gu Jiaoyang finished dressing without hanging up. On the other end, he heard the sound of a car door closing, a slight rustle of clothes, and then the distinct crinkle of a plastic bag, which was unusually clear during the call.

They didn’t have much to say to each other. Even when they talked, it was mostly Gu Jiaoyang rambling on, telling Dai Gucan about every little thing that happened at school. During these times, Dai Gucan would usually reply with a slow, deliberate “Mhm” over the phone, or sometimes, hearing Gu Jiaoyang vent his dissatisfaction with a teacher, he would let slip a faint, unnoticeable laugh, only to quickly cover it up with a cough and comment that the teacher sounded too strict.

Gu Jiaoyang, carrying the results of his last two days of painting, walked down from the dorm and reached the entrance of the student residential area. Amidst the mingling crowd, his eyes immediately found Dai Gucan, who was standing under a street lamp, holding a plastic bag.

The streetlights on Culture Road at night cast an orange-yellow glow, which wasn’t particularly bright but certainly warm. The narrow road was busy with couples and students strolling out or heading back. Theoretically, Dai Gucan, dressed all in black, shouldn’t have stood out among the vibrant, high-spirited students. Yet, Gu Jiaoyang saw him instantly: the man whose black clothes looked coffee-coloured under the light of the streetlamp.

“Good evening! Did you miss me?” Gu Jiaoyang rushed over like a little cannonball, throwing himself into the man’s arms and thoroughly nuzzling him. This action turned his soft, black hair into a fluffy bird’s nest resting limply on his forehead.

Dai Gucan, slightly helpless, wrapped an arm around Gu Jiaoyang’s waist and replied, “I did.”

He reached up to smooth the messy hair back into place, then couldn’t resist gently ruffling it up again before reluctantly letting go.

“I brought you a little cake.” Dai Gucan held out the plastic bag to Gu Jiaoyang.

Gu Jiaoyang opened the bag and peered inside, spotting a freshly cut rose stuck onto a novelty-packaged cupcake that was about the size of his face. It looked incredibly fresh, as if it had only just been placed there.

“Wow! A rose!” Gu Jiaoyang peeled the rose, which had been taped to the box with colourful adhesive, and held it to his nose for a sniff. He then used Dai Gucan’s hand for support as he carefully pinned the small rose onto his own chest.

He looked exactly like a groom attending a wedding, complete with a buttonhole.

Gu Jiaoyang smiled happily and pulled Dai Gucan towards the car park to find the car.

Watching Gu Jiaoyang admire the little rose made Dai Gucan’s ears flush. He then subtly pulled Gu Jiaoyang’s hand their fingers already interlaced into his pocket and squeezed it tight.

Although it was summer and their hands might feel a bit warm stuffed into a trouser pocket, neither Gu Jiaoyang nor Dai Gucan minded the intimate gesture. Even when their tightly clasped hands started to feel sweaty inside the confined space, neither of them wanted to let go.

This was because both Gu Jiaoyang and Dai Gucan were busy playing little games with their joined hands.

One would lightly scratch the other’s palm, and the other would gently squeeze a pinky finger.

They exchanged glances, both amused by their own childishness.

Since the next day was the weekend, Gu Jiaoyang had spent the entire afternoon in the studio finishing his painting. By the time he mounted it in the frame, evening had arrived without him noticing, forcing Dai Gucan to come and pick him up after dark.

The car park was lit by large, surrounding lamps. Due to their unique, artistic design, the lighting effect wasn’t very effective a potential case of form over function. The distorted light made the right side of the car park noticeably darker, which was where Dai Gucan had been forced to park due to his late arrival.

“What did you paint?” Seeing that Gu Jiaoyang hadn’t mentioned the artwork he was carrying all the way, Dai Gucan asked, only to be met with a mysterious expression.

“You’ll find out when we get home!”

Gu Jiaoyang winked at Dai Gucan and placed the framed painting in the back seat.

Dai Gucan opened the car door and got in. He hadn’t even inserted the key into the ignition when Gu Jiaoyang reached over and stopped him.

Gu Jiaoyang leaned closer to Dai Gucan from the passenger seat…

The car park lighting was quite dim. The only light illuminating the car’s interior was the reflection bouncing off the rear bumper of the vehicle parked in front. This reflection wasn’t strong enough, only serving to broadly slice Dai Gucan’s highly defined face into areas of black and white, and to outline a pair of bright eyes.

Due to the side lighting, Gu Jiaoyang could clearly see his enlarged pupils and translucent irises.

Gu Jiaoyang shifted his gaze downward. Past the shadow under his chin was a prominent Adam’s apple, his long, elegant neck confined by a shirt buttoned right up to the top. Finding this restrictive, Gu Jiaoyang reached out and undid the top button.

Stopped by Gu Jiaoyang, Dai Gucan froze for a moment, then watched the hand emerge in the dim light.

The hand wasn’t large; in fact, it seemed quite slender to him. The knuckles weren’t prominent, and the joints always carried a faint pink blush, especially the fingertips, which looked like they were numb with cold even in the heat of summer. Under the harsh, pale light, they appeared almost translucent now.

Dai Gucan stared at the hand as it reached beneath his Adam’s apple and deftly unfastened the shirt button.

His immediate reflex was to flinch away, but he resisted, instead unconsciously swallowing hard.

The hand’s owner didn’t seem satisfied with undoing just one button; while the other fingers worked at the fastenings, the index finger arched slightly to brush against his Adam’s apple, which provoked him to swallow repeatedly.

Since the car engine wasn’t started, the air conditioning was off. The temperature in the confined space was already too high, and soon, the air they exhaled was hot.

“What is it?” Dai Gucan asked in a muffled voice, discovering with a start that his own voice had become hoarse.

“I feel like doing something naughty.” Gu Jiaoyang winked. Even his mischievous grin looked endearingly cunning, like a little fox, to Dai Gucan.

The shirt had been unbuttoned down to the third fastening, and the hand lightly stroked the skin beneath, its fingertip tracing the cleavage between his pectoral muscles.

Feeling the scorching touch on his skin, a bead of sweat appeared on Dai Gucan’s forehead. After a long moment, he couldn’t help but reach out and firmly grasp the increasingly audacious little hand, his breath coming out in hot puffs.

“Stop messing around. Let’s go home.”

The environment inside the car was a little too basic; his car had only the original seats, no soft cushions, and the hard central console and small fridge were between them. He was worried his young boyfriend might be uncomfortable or hurt himself.

“If… if you really want to… I’ll get a different car.”

Having aggressively read up on all kinds of things, Dai Gucan managed to blurt out this sentence after a long pause. His ears, hidden behind his hair, immediately turned a fiery red. He frantically jammed the key into the ignition and started the engine, hoping to drown out what he had just said with the sound of the motor.

Gu Jiaoyang’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. His gaze was no longer subtle; he openly ran his eyes all over his boyfriend, who was now driving.

Holy moly, he gets it. I love it!

The little person in Gu Jiaoyang’s mind started driving a sports car, speeding down the motorway at 200 mph, never to return.

“Gucan!” Mrs Lin took the toys out of her backpack and placed them on a park bench. They were clearly expensive, with the name of a famous foreign designer brand carved into the corner of each piece.

Mrs Lin looked around and found that her little boy had run off. He was busy picking leaves near a flowerbed and holding a handful of flowers. He then leaned over a stone railing and used a rock to mash the plants into a confused pulp before dropping the mess into a plastic biscuit tin.

Mrs Lin sighed helplessly, took out a water bottle, walked over, and offered it to her child. “Gucan, are you cooking again?”

The little boy, who was wielding the rock, nodded very seriously when he heard the question. He then thought for a moment before pouring another bunch of flowers into the tin and grinding them with the stone. The green and red juices stained the stone railing. After all this, he held up the unknown substance in the biscuit tin, beaming with pride.

“Mummy, I’ve finished cooking! This is a new product! Flowers and Grasses!”

Mrs Lin looked at the mysterious concoction her son held up to her face. She gave a little, resigned sniff and, pretending it was delicious, said with dramatic exaggeration, “Ah! It’s so yummy! Our Gucan is brilliant!”

The praised little boy shyly touched his cheek, closed the lid of his ‘dish’, and carefully tucked the box into his backpack.

“Mummy, you go and play with Auntie first. I’m going to play over there for a bit.” Gucan, hugging his backpack, pointed towards the grove of trees behind the swings and patted his mother’s thigh.

“Alright, be careful, though. I’m just going to chat with Auntie here.” Mrs Lin assumed he was off to collect more plants, so she sat down by the exercise equipment without a worry and called little Qin Yuan over.

“Okay!”

Little Dai Gucan nodded, hugging his backpack with his chubby hands, and bounced off towards the little grove.

Although it was called a grove, it was really only a few trees. Parents sitting nearby could see everything inside clearly. In the centre of the trees was a sandbox where several children were playing, shovelling sand with toy excavators.

Dai Gucan, still hugging his backpack, walked over to a corner where a little boy was meticulously moving sand around.

The boy had two sets of plastic tea-ware, complete with chopsticks and tiny dishes.

The little friend, who had built a small table out of sand beside him, looked a bit younger than Gucan. He was wearing blue clothes, his hair was slightly curly, and his large, black eyes were especially bright.

“All done! Is Daddy Dai making anything yummy?” The blue-clad boy patted the sand structure he had finished, then helped Dai Gucan arrange the tea party set on the makeshift sand table.

“Daddy Dai made delicious Flowers and Grasses. Chief Chef Lin certified it, so it’s a super dish that can go international.”

Dai Gucan was clearly very proud. He formed his chubby little hands into fists, placed them below his mouth, and pretended to cough, puffing out his little chest as he put the mysterious biscuit-tin concoction onto the table. His eyes kept flicking to the other boy, clearly soliciting praise.

The blue-clad boy clearly understood. His sand-covered hands immediately began clapping vigorously. He fully played along, widening his eyes and opening his mouth in an exaggerated “Wow!” expression.

“Daddy Dai is so amazing!”

As his friend clapped enthusiastically, Dai Gucan swelled with a moment of pride, then turned his face away, his ears slightly red. “Since you worked so hard setting the table, this daddy will allow you to be Gucan’s child in our role-play game!”

Yielding such an important role in his own pretend-play game, Dai Gucan felt incredibly generous.

The blue-clad boy clearly didn’t think so. He pouted and poked Dai Gucan’s cheek with his index finger. “No way! I’m already a son at home. I want to be a different character!”

Dai Gucan stared at his friend in surprise. He hadn’t expected his soft-looking playmate to be so ambitious!

How awful!

Dai Gucan folded his arms, huffing with annoyance, but looking into those big, shining eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

“Alright… alright then, you can be my wife. I’ve never let anyone else have this role before!” Dai Gucan snorted, putting his hands on his hips, and eyed the utensils on the table, still a little grumpy.

“What’s a wife? Is it a granny who’s old?” The blue-clad boy clearly didn’t know the meaning of the word. In his memory, the role-play game didn’t seem to have that position. Still, as long as it wasn’t the son role he’d already had enough of, being a granny wasn’t completely out of the question.

“Okay, I’ll be your wife then.” The blue-clad boy nodded, reached out a grubby little hand and tucked it into the gap between Dai Gucan’s arm and body as he stood with his hands on his hips, using the leverage to move closer to the table.

“A wife means Daddy Dai’s spouse. Never mind, you won’t understand. It just means Mummy Dai! You’re so silly!” Dai Gucan didn’t pull away from his friend’s grubby hand. Instead, he patted the other boy’s plump little tummy with a look of exasperated fondness.

“So, I’m Mummy Dai? That’s brilliant! Does that mean I should call you ‘Husband’? That’s what my mum calls my dad!” The blue-clad boy, thrilled with his new role, clapped his hands excitedly.

“Yes, exactly!”

“Husband! Let’s eat!”

“Oh! Yes, Wife!”

Dai Gucan and his little friend happily settled into their roles, pretending to take turns eating the unknown concoction on the table and making delighted sounds about how delicious it was.

After ‘dinner,’ the blue-clad boy poured the remaining ‘food’ into the sand to bury it, then helped Dai Gucan collect the utensils.

The plastic cutlery, stained with the mashed flower and grass remnants, looked rather messy, but neither boy seemed bothered. They simply tossed the used utensils into the backpack. Then, the two of them knocked down the sand-built table and rubbed their damp hands in the sand.

That made their hands clean, and the surface felt smooth.

“Wait, we forgot something!” Dai Gucan suddenly had an idea and smacked his chubby, clenched fist into his other palm.

“What is it?” The blue-clad boy, who was pretending to be full and lazily reluctant to move, scratched his cheek when he heard the question.

“We haven’t had the wedding ceremony yet, have we?” Dai Gucan tugged at his sleeve, looking annoyed.

“What’s a wedding ceremony?” the blue-clad boy asked. He looked up at his friend with a hint of admiration, as if Gucan knew everything.

“It’s when I propose to you and you say yes. Only then can we be husband and wife, and you can be Mummy Dai,” Dai Gucan explained, folding his arms with a serious expression.

The blue-clad boy paused, sensing it sounded like a lot of hassle. He simply said, “Well, I agree now, so I’m Mummy Dai.”

Dai Gucan was unhappy with his friend’s lack of effort. He huffed and poked the boy’s belly.

“No! We have to play the game properly! You can only be Mummy Dai after we get married. Otherwise, I won’t let you be Mummy Dai!”

Dai Gucan insisted fiercely. The blue-clad boy immediately froze, wrinkled his nose, and looked like he was about to cry when he heard he wouldn’t be allowed to be Mummy Dai.

“Waaah!!! You’re breaking your promise! You’re a big liar!!!!” The blue-clad boy didn’t actually have any tears, but his dry wailing made Dai Gucan feel awkward, so he quickly reached out and covered his friend’s mouth.

“Don’t cry! Those are the rules! I’m not a big liar! I’ll ask Mummy for a ring tonight, propose to you tomorrow, and once you say yes, you’ll be Mummy Dai!”

The blue-clad boy, eager to be Mummy Dai, stopped his crying and thought about it. Today and tomorrow weren’t that far apart, so he nodded and agreed.

“Then I’ll come and find you tomorrow, and we’ll carry on playing. I can bring my other friends over; they’re all my sons in our role-play game. I’ll bring them to meet their mummy tomorrow!” Having successfully soothed his friend, Dai Gucan patted his chest proudly, clearly envisioning a happy, bustling family scene tomorrow.

“Great, I’ll wait for you.” The blue-clad boy held out his hand and linked pinkies with Dai Gucan, giggling as he did so.

“But what’s your name? I can’t keep calling you Mummy Dai once we finish playing!” Realising he hadn’t asked his new friend’s name, despite having met him a couple of days ago, Dai Gucan asked.

The blue-clad boy froze. Remembering how strict his nanny was about him not playing outside, he felt guilty and nervously offered his deskmate’s name, whispering: “My name is Xi Chuanbai.”

The blue-clad boy thought to himself that this way, his new friend wouldn’t know his real name, the nanny wouldn’t find out he had sneaked out to play, and he could even pin the blame on his annoying deskmate.

“But my nickname is Yangyang. You can call me Yangyang when it’s just the two of us,” the blue-clad boy added after a moment’s thought.

He didn’t want his new friend calling him by his deskmate’s name. This was their little secret.

Support