To Marry My Little Chestnut - Chapter 27

Zheng Tingyang remembered Yu Yan’s seventeen-year-old tears very clearly. Even though many years had passed, that single teardrop still felt like a salty sea capable of drowning him in suffocation. Back then, he had been penniless, and even his promises were empty checks. Yu Yan was bound by his family status and shackled by a money-loving father; he was never his own master.

When everyone else was celebrating leaving the cage of school, the wind blew through the door, flipping open the notebook Yu Yan had thrown at his feet. Zheng Tingyang had knelt down, using the dim light to read the notes inside. Parallel lines can never intersect. When the starting points are different, even if time is extended infinitely, the final destination is already predestined.

Zheng Tingyang did not believe that. He believed in human effort, he believed that fate is determined by heaven but shaped by man, and he believed even more that this love could be turned around. Even if it could not, he had to try before he would accept it.

On the way back to Haicheng, thinking of the news of the elder Mr. Yu’s death, he could not help but pull Yu Yan tighter into his arms. What was he actually afraid of? Was it the resentment of never being able to mark Yu Yan in this lifetime? Was it the guilt of fearing Yu Yan would discover his true face? Or was it the regret that he was not by Yu Yan’s side to protect him from suffering when the Yu family went bankrupt?

This President Zheng was no dragon among men. To repay Pei Changji for the favor of promoting him, he had worked himself to the bone for the Changhang Business Association and offended many people. However, he was ruthless and meticulous; few could touch him. A year ago, he discovered the elder Mr. Yu was dabbling in mining. He and Xiao Kai set a trap, causing the Yu family to slowly spiral into bankruptcy.

The final stock manipulation required him to go abroad to manage the trades personally. He had planned it perfectly: the day after the Yu family went bankrupt, he would take his money and go exchange it for Yu Yan’s freedom. But on the way to the airport, he was intercepted. Firearms were legal abroad, and the overpass became a scene of blood and fire. A single bullet nearly took his life. By the time he woke up, the news of the Yu family’s collapse had already spread, and ten thousand messy affairs were waiting for him.

The doctors refused to let him leave the hospital. He clutched his wound and returned to the country, but by then, half a month had already passed since the bankruptcy. On the day he saw Yu Yan again, he wore a black suit and spent everything he had to redeem him. Even though he finally held his treasure in his arms, he realized there was still so much he could not do.

Yu Yan had been injected with heat-inducing drugs; his body was in agony. In that half-month, he had become excessively thin, his eyes filled with terror and a pitiful longing to be marked. The room that night was too dark. Tortured by the heat until he lost his mind, Yu Yan simply gripped Zheng Tingyang’s cuff and spoke from instinct: “Bite me. I beg you, just once. Please, help me, Tingyang.”

Zheng Tingyang smiled bitterly. The wound that pierced from his back to his chest soaked through his black shirt. He held Yu Yan’s face and kissed him meticulously, his voice hoarse: “But I am a Beta.”

What was this unrequited love worth? That night was both lingering and painful. The belated intimacy cut through their hearts like a knife. Fearing it would be the last time, he was ruthless. Yu Yan sobbed until he was breathless, eventually lying in his arms like an exhausted kitten. He stayed by the bedside watching the person he had dreamed of, unable to sleep. He smoked one cigarette after another. He called Jing Chen and said, “I am going to marry him. I must.”

As his psychiatrist for all these years, Jing Chen understood his obsession. He could only tell him plainly: “Both of you will be in pain. You will terrify him.” Never being able to mark him. The Yu family’s bankruptcy. The death of Father Yu.

“I am willing,” he paused. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yu Yan’s foot sticking out from under the quilt. He tucked him back in, then sat by the bed, intimately rubbing his nose against Yu Yan’s forehead. “I will wait slowly. Now that I have everything, I will wait until he is willing.” He had waited all these years. Now that the moon was within reach, would he still be afraid that he could not pluck it from the sky?

It was very late by the time they returned to Haicheng. Yu Yan was already prone to sleepiness during pregnancy. When he was carried out of the car, he only gave a dazed whimper and quickly curled up in the man’s arms to sleep. Two small boxes of couriered packages were piled at the front door; they were the fertilizers Yu Yan had bought for the Bird of Paradise. After carrying him back to the bedroom, Zheng Tingyang went to loosen the soil for the Bird of Paradise in the study.

He always found this plant interesting. With just one seed and some soil, it would grow large leaves and deep roots even in a room without sunlight. No wonder the flower’s meaning was unrequited love; it really was the same. Unrequited love. Zheng Tingyang pondered the words silently.

After listening to his subordinates briefly report on company affairs, Zheng Tingyang slipped into bed. He was quite tall and sturdy; when he moved closer, he gathered Yu Yan into his arms. Yu Yan’s pregnant belly had grown quite large. His palm rested on that soft roundness, and he could feel the child inside pulsing, moving with strong, rhythmic kicks.

Yu Yan hummed, turning over uncomfortably and burying his face in Zheng Tingyang’s chest. The little person wanted to burrow in, but his belly hit first. He rubbed his stomach against Zheng Tingyang dissatisfiedly, trying to squeeze further into the embrace. His soft face was marked with red patterns from the pillowcase. Zheng Tingyang’s Adam’s apple bobbed. While Yu Yan slept, he kissed his lips repeatedly, sucking on them until Yu Yan almost seemed breathless in his dream.

“Xiao Yu, do not move,” he whispered, patting his back to soothe him while pressing against him. “It will be over soon.”

In the middle of the night, Yu Yan dreamed again. The car that hit him in his dream tonight did not feel like it wanted to crush him like the previous days. Instead, it seemed to gently nuzzle him with its front, not hurting him at all.

The Next Day

Yu Yan was still a bit dazed when he woke up. He was changing into his pajamas in the bathroom, staring blankly at the full-length mirror and frowning. He could not help but reach out to touch the base of his thighs, wondering if his skin had become sensitive again lately. Why were his thighs red again? It made him feel uncomfortable whenever he put on his pajama pants.

What kind of fabric was rubbing him so painfully!

He dressed grumpily. Zheng Tingyang was setting the breakfast table and, seeing his unhappy face, asked, “What is wrong? Do you have some morning grumpiness?”

“No,” Yu Yan puffed out his cheeks. Like a kitten, he approached wanting to complain, but then felt it was too embarrassing to say out loud. He stood in front of Zheng Tingyang for a moment before finally saying, “Never mind, it is nothing.” He had intended to get closer, but before he could reach him, his little belly bumped into the man first.

Zheng Tingyang felt the soft impact of the abdomen. Looking down at the chestnut short hair and the grumpy little face, his heart softened into a puddle. “Who bullied you so early in the morning? Zheng Tingyang set down the plate. “Tell me about it.”

“I want to buy clothes.”

“Do you not like the ones I bought before?” Zheng Tingyang asked. Everything in the house was provided by Zheng Tingyang. From socks to underwear to the small card holder Yu Yan used when going out, everything was perfectly arranged.

“I just want to buy some anyway,” Yu Yan snorted, sticking out his belly as he walked to the dining table. He stood on his tiptoes and simply rested his protruding belly on the table. “I have money.” Zheng Tingyang ignored the utensils in his hand, putting them down to help support the little belly. “Okay, we will buy them.”

They say pregnant Omegas can have volatile moods. Yu Yan was still frustrated while eating, mostly at himself. No one would choose to be born an Omega, delicate, fragile, and dependent like a dodder flower. He could not understand why his skin would turn red just from the friction of his pajamas, making it painful even to walk.

During the meal, he could not help but ask, “Am I being very annoying? Having too many demands? Gosh, why am I so fragile?”

Zheng Tingyang understood the reason for his anger and remained silent for two seconds. “It is my fault.”

Yu Yan said, “It has nothing to do with you! I am just mad at myself.” He could not always be a little sun. Occasionally, he became a little ball of anger. After being grumpy all morning, his sensitivity made him realize he was making a mountain out of a molehill, getting upset all morning just because his inner thighs were red. It was as if his temper had worsened.

After finishing his meal, the little ball of anger sat on the sofa in a daze, feeling he was being overly delicate. He bit his lower lip, feeling aggrieved in his heart. He thought, if only I were not an Omega.

Zheng Tingyang realized he had made a grave mistake. He thought he should go to the hospital in a few days to get some medication to suppress his desires. Otherwise, with Yu Yan swaying his little belly around him all day and now sitting on the sofa poking a pillow like a little steamed bun, the sight was almost enough to melt his heart.

Yu Yan poked the pillow with his fingertip, making a small indentation and then smoothing it out out of pity. By the time he realized there was a man’s soft laughter behind him, it was too late. He turned his head to see Zheng Tingyang leaning against the doorframe, eyes full of smiles as he watched him. Yu Yan opened his mouth bashfully. Finally, he hugged the soft pillow tightly and, as Zheng Tingyang approached, he flopped onto the man’s lap like a roly-poly toy, muttering softly, “Tingyang, I am so easily broken.”

“Is it really that serious? May I see?”

Yu Yan asked softly, “Do you not think I am being unreasonable? The fabric of the clothes is clearly very good, but I want to buy new ones because I am uncomfortable and I like to lose my temper for no reason. I was not like this before.”

Even yesterday, he was not like this. How could his blood boil so suddenly, causing his temper to become so large? Were pregnancy hormones truly this terrifying? He asked seriously, his round deer eyes staring into Zheng Tingyang’s eyes, trying to find proof that the other did not despise his temper.

Zheng Tingyang’s gaze lowered slightly to the soft pillow; the hole poked into it had long been smoothed out. Yu Yan’s temper was soft to a certain degree. It turned out that what he considered losing his temper was merely this? Zheng Tingyang could not help but cover his mouth to laugh. “You were indeed not like this before.”

Yu Yan tilted his head and leaned closer. “Really? It seems I must self-reflect more in the future.”

Zheng Tingyang said, “Xiao Yu is very good at making money; you can buy as many clothes as you want. The Bird of Paradise at home grew well only because of the fertilizer you bought. I used it yesterday, and today the leaves have already grown larger.”

Thinking of his job at the flower shop, Yu Yan regained some confidence, though he still believed online shopping was more cost-effective. He thought he should spend his salary on things for Tingyang in the future. After browsing, he only added a few 200-yuan cotton shirts to his cart but could not bear to buy them.

“This app is cheaper,” Zheng Tingyang sent him a link to a mini-program. Yu Yan opened it. The clothes he had just added to his cart were all there, though they were not much cheaper. Before the final payment, there was a lucky draw. Yu Yan tapped the screen, watching the wheel spin for a long time before landing on the Free Order prize. He thought it was some kind of scam.

Zheng Tingyang took his phone into the study to make the payment. Shortly after, a surprised cry calling his name came from the living room: “Tingyang! I won! Look, did I actually win?”

Zheng Tingyang approached and feigned a careful examination. “Xiao Yu is so lucky today? It seems even the heavens think you really need some new clothes. Buy whatever you like from now on.”

Yu Yan was beyond satisfied, clutching his phone for a long time, refusing to let go. Coaxing him was far easier than coaxing a child. Xiao Yu rolled around happily on the sofa. Zheng Tingyang supported his waist and said softly, “Careful of your belly.”

Yu Yan gave a mysterious smile and showed him the phone. “When I was buying just now, it is a good thing I bought several items. Look, are they nice?”

Zheng Tingyang had not looked closely when paying. Now, he looked at the screen. Yu Yan had bought two of every item, all discounted styles for one or two hundred yuan. The very last item was a 2,800-yuan bow tie.

Yu Yan murmured, “The solid-colored tie you wore with that black suit at the banquet was too dull. It is better to add some pattern. When negotiating business, approachability is the most important! But I am way too lucky, even such an expensive item could be free!”

Even if it had not been free, he was going to buy it. But Yu Yan’s salary was only 3,500 yuan a month. Zheng Tingyang thought that the Xiao Yu he had spent so many years trying to marry back was simply too worth it. It filled his heart to the brim.

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