To Marry My Little Chestnut - Chapter 14

That night, Yu Yan found it difficult to fall asleep. It was partly because his relationship with Zheng Tingyang had made a small bit of progress, keeping him in a state of excitement, and partly because he had only eaten cake instead of drinking his usual pre-sleep milk, leaving his stomach feeling uncomfortably full.

After exchanging goodnights, he buried himself in the soft duvet, tossing and turning. He picked up his phone several times, wanting to pour out his feelings to Xiang Qian. He was secretly messaging under the covers when he suddenly heard a soft click.

His bedroom door opened.

Yu Yan poked his head out from the duvet and locked eyes with the man entering the room. Zheng Tingyang was lightly dressed, evidently having just showered. He was shirtless, with only a towel wrapped around his waist, hanging low to reveal firm, full pectoral muscles and abdominal lines that curved downward like a sculpted mermaid line. In the dim light of the bedroom, the definition of his muscles was clear, casting deep shadows.

“What is it?” Yu Yan asked, his head peeking out.

Zheng Tingyang’s eyes froze. He clearly had not expected the person on the bed to be awake. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he frowned slightly. “Why are you still awake?”

“My stomach is full; I cannot sleep,” Yu Yan replied obediently.

After a moment of silence, Zheng Tingyang went back to his own room to put on a bathrobe. He then sat by Yu Yan’s bedside to tell him stories to coax him to sleep. “Do you want something to drink before sleeping? I can warm up some milk.”

Yu Yan shook his head. He felt like the cake had filled him up completely; he could not eat anything else.

Zheng Tingyang sat patiently by the bed, accompanying him and discussing the menu for tomorrow’s dinner. Yu Yan rested his cheek on the back of his hand, looking up at the man with sparkling eyes. Finally, he reached out and hooked his finger around the man’s fingertip.

“Tingyang, will you take me to eat hotpot next time?”

“I will not hide it from you next time. I will listen to you. Just do not secretly think I am a bad father who does not consider the baby, okay?”

Zheng Tingyang’s eyes reflected the warm glow of the bedside lamp. He gave a soft hum in response. “You are not a bad father.”

“Pregnancy is hard work,” Zheng Tingyang said with understanding. “I can comprehend that.”

“By the way, was there something you needed just now?” Yu Yan asked.

Zheng Tingyang had entered the bedroom without knocking, which was unlike his usual polite self.

“I thought you were asleep. I was afraid of waking you, but I worried you might not be sleeping soundly, so I came over to check.”

“Oh.” A spark of sweetness rose in Yu Yan’s heart. “Thank you. You really are very good.”

Come to think of it, there was always a glass of warm water by his bed when he woke up. Tingyang must come in to check on him every night after he falls asleep. It was his own fault for sleeping so soundly that he never knew. He wondered if he looked ungraceful while sleeping.

Before sleep, Zheng Tingyang read him the story of Snow White. Even though he had heard the fairy tale many times as a child, hearing it from Zheng Tingyang’s voice made it feel brand new. The voice was pleasant, the man was kind, and his broad palm rested on Yu Yan’s lower abdomen, gently rubbing it as he read.

The beautiful and kind princess was tricked by her wicked stepmother into eating a poisoned apple. After the princess fell into a deep sleep, the Queen placed her on a bed, planning to confine and control her from then on, ready to kill her at the slightest disobedience. Only then would the Queen be the most beautiful person in the world.

Yu Yan thought that perhaps the reason the cruel Queen did not kill the princess the first time was because the girl had once called her “Mother.” A poisoned apple requires a Prince’s kiss. If there were a kiss from a mother who loved her, perhaps it could also resist that vine-like poison. If the princess were willing to be obedient and step into the cage her mother built for her, would the ending be different? No need for a desperate struggle, no need for the dream to shatter.

Yu Yan dreamed again. This time, the dream was not about the baby. It was about his father, who had already fled the country.

The scene in the dream was from when he was ten years old. His father had taken him to the hospital to test his underdeveloped glands, calculating when he would be mature enough to be sent away to please wealthy bosses. His purpose in being raised was to be an exquisite gift for others. That man was not a good father. He never hugged him, never said he loved him. Only when testing his glands at the hospital, extracting his sweet chestnut scent, would he pat Yu Yan’s head and say, “My son is very obedient,” even as Yu Yan cried from the pain and dared not make a sound.

At ten years old, because his gland development was slow and small, his father had someone give him ripening injections, hoping he could be sent out for a political marriage by sixteen. On the second day of observation at the hospital, the weather was bright and clear. He was still a tiny thing. His glands hurt so much that he felt miserable, so he hid in the restroom to wipe away his tears. That was the day he met ten-year-old Zheng Tingyang.

Zheng Tingyang had been beaten until he was covered in bruises by his gambler adoptive father. Two children; one with swollen eyes from crying, the other with a face black and blue from being hit.

The children back then were thin and malnourished. Yu Yan pulled out the milk candies from his pocket and gave them all to him. The other boy did not even know how to peel the wrapper, so Yu Yan carefully peeled one and fed it into his mouth. The boy stood on his tiptoes at the sink to get water, using a damp tissue to press against Yu Yan’s nape, cooling the gland where the injection had been given.

The two little ones crouched on the hospital tiles, crying together and eating candy together without saying a word. Like two little hamsters, they chewed the milk candy into powder. The boy was too thin; Yu Yan ran back to his ward to steal all his snacks to give to him. The scrawny child blinked his clear eyes, took the candies, and said a raspy thank you. Yu Yan sat with him to soak up the sun.

The sun that day was warm. The hospital gown was too large, and it did not fit Yu Yan well. The boy carefully rolled up his sleeves for him. Yu Yan placed cartoon bandages on the boy’s face. The boy seemed just as thin as he was, though his frame was larger, making him look more skeletal. There were no baby fat cheeks, only deeply sunken cheeks and eye sockets.

Later, nurses and bodyguards were searching the entire hall. The empty corridor echoed with, “Young Master Yu, where are you? Come out now.”

Yu Yan was found by the elderly butler. The butler glanced at the boy beside him, his brow furrowing deeply. He warned Yu Yan not to make friends randomly, as his father would be unhappy, especially not with shady children. He said the child was a bad kid whose foster parents did not even want him.

Yu Yan muttered softly, “He is a good kid.”

“That is still not allowed. Do you want to make the Master angry?”

Before being led away, Yu Yan left the milk candies in his pocket. He looked back three times at the child watching him in the sunlight. He still reached out his small hand, waving goodbye to the good kid. It was just one afternoon. He did not know the boy’s name. He could only call him the thin kid who soaked in the sun with me.

His father did not allow him to make friends; his first marking must not be ruined by a boy’s naive emotions. That distant afternoon, that thin, pitiful child, Yu Yan thought they would never meet again.

Later, in high school, Yu Yan was beautiful and liked by many. During one lunch break, he was cornered in the restroom by a senior who wanted to smell his scent. He was scared, but before he could hide, someone rushed in and fought the other person. It was the delinquent who had been criticized by the school assembly; his name was Zheng Tingyang.

The youth was brash. When the dean of students arrived, Zheng Tingyang hid Yu Yan in a stall and accepted the punishment alone. After everyone left, the boy sat there with a bloody nose. Yu Yan walked out of the stall and handed him a tissue. “You, you have grown tall?”

Zheng Tingyang tilted his head slightly. There was a hint of joy in his narrow gaze at being recognized. His lips did not curl into a smile; he feigned coolness and used his hand to measure Yu Yan’s height, which only reached his chin, letting out a snort. “Why have you not grown?”

Then he coolly walked away with a hand in his pocket, only to be criticized and given a demerit the next day. Yu Yan, hidden in the school assembly line, thought about how the kid he met once at the hospital had grown so tall. He could not help but smile. Xiang Qian leaned over and asked, “What are you laughing at? Your family’s cook makes such good food; please share some of your lunchbox with me today. I will trade you my spicy strips!”

Yu Yan’s mind was empty except for the silhouette of the boy walking away. He repeated the name in his heart many times, imagining that the next time they met, he must tell him his name. That day was also a bright, sunny day.

“Alright, I will head over immediately. Call the bidding project team to the conference room; I will be there in fifteen minutes.”

Yu Yan opened his eyes groggily. The sunlight peeking through a small gap in the curtains was a bit piercing. In the living room, he heard the sound of a man talking on the phone while putting food in the microwave. Was it already nine o’clock? Yu Yan’s head felt like it was filled with paste. Having dreamed for so long after sleeping late, he felt as if his soul had been drained.

Zheng Tingyang was putting on his coat and holding his car keys. His laptop was on the shoe rack, displaying an email his secretary had just sent. He took the time to look at it while dressing, with his phone pressed to his ear listening to the secretary’s report and arranging the meeting. Yu Yan had not drunk his pre-sleep beverage yesterday. Zheng Tingyang was afraid his glands would be uncomfortable upon waking, so he had intended to wait until Yu Yan woke up before leaving.

“Director Zheng, I am afraid you will have to go to the capital personally for the bidding this time. Haoyang Group also wants it and is already outbidding us with the headquarters, bypassing us directly.”

Zheng Tingyang gave a hum of acknowledgment, preparing to leave. “Wait for my arrangement. First, give me a brief overview of the project team’s revised plan.”

Just as he finished speaking, Yu Yan’s bedroom door opened. A sleepy little ball waddled out slowly. The plush ears of his lamb pajamas hung softly on his shoulders, and several strands of short hair poked up from sleep. His face was flushed, and his sleeping posture seemed poor; two buttons over his protruding belly had popped open, revealing glimpses of his fair little stomach. He was not wearing socks and was barefoot again. His eyes were barely open, and he walked unsteadily like a little cloud, falling into Zheng Tingyang’s embrace.

“Mmh, are you going to work?”

He brought with him the warm fragrance unique to a cozy bed. His cheek, soft as a marshmallow, rubbed against the man’s suit.

Zheng Tingyang said into the phone, “I will speak with you later.” He reflexively pulled the boy into his arms and cupped his small face. “If you are sleepy, go back to sleep. Wake up when you are rested.”

“Your work is hard. I, I should see you off.” Yu Yan’s mind was not clear, and he said somewhat confusedly, “I dreamed of you yesterday. I missed you a bit when I woke up.”

After saying it, he realized something was wrong and corrected himself as he woke up more, “I wanted to see you.”

Zheng Tingyang reached out, tucking the hair near Yu Yan’s cheek behind his ear. He leaned down and pressed his forehead against Yu Yan’s temple. “Thank you for missing me.”

Yu Yan bit his lip. His head felt dizzy from the man’s voice. He leaned against Zheng Tingyang softly, feeling as if he had lost all sensation. His slightly bulging belly pressed against the man, and he hooked his finger around the man’s necktie. Zheng Tingyang supported his waist, fearing his belly was too heavy or that he was uncomfortable. He leaned down to match his height. “What is it?”

Mwah!

Yu Yan gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. He nervously avoided the man’s gaze. “Good morning. Be, be careful on the road.”

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