novelDad, Don't Be So Stingy
| ← Ch.384 | Ch.386 → |
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Grandmother Qi took a glance at Guan Liya and held her hand."They're really mother and son. Look at how natural he greets his mother."
Guan Liya could not disagree with her and nodded in agreement. It was heart-wrenching to look at Qi Youxuan's joyful expression when he greeted his mother. This was the first time he called out to his mother since he was born, and they felt unfamiliar with it, but the sight of his exhilaration made them happy yet melancholic altogether.
Ruan Danchen held Qi Youxuan's hand and brought him into the kitchen. Then, she made him sit on the chair before boiling the water to cook the dumplings with Song Yu.
However, Qi Youxuan got off the chair as soon as his buttocks touched it and trailed behind Ruan Danchen like he was her tail.
Qi Youxuan could not hold Ruan Danchen's hand due to her kitchen work, so he held onto the corner of her shirt. Ruan Danchen lowered her gaze and saw him staring back at her with his big round eyes, looking especially reluctant to leave her side.
Qi Youxuan felt embarrassed but he did not avoid direct eye contact with Ruan Danchen when she lowered her gaze. His head remained lifted but his face was flushed red as a beetroot due to the embarrassment.
This was the first time he realized that his biological mother would accompany him from now on. It made him happy to finally have a biological mother now and he fought the urge to show her off publicly. He wanted to stick closer to her but was too embarrassed to do so.
Ruan Danchen lifted him and put her on the kitchen table after the water was heated to boiling point. Qi Youxuan's face appeared devastated from his previous crying. All the tears were wiped clean but his face appeared tainted still, so she turned on the faucet and set the water temperature to 'warm' before letting him wash his face.
"Sit here and wait for a while, I'll be back soon, " Ruan Danchen hurried to the living room after giving him her instruction.
She lacked the courage to face the elders in the Qi family after all the commotions just now. The more Grandmother Qi chose to forgive her and acted as if nothing had happened, the more apologetic she felt deep down.
She felt awkward when she returned to the living room.
"What are you looking for?" Qi Chenglin noticed that she was rummaging through her bag in search of something.
"Looking for Youxuan's face cream. I brought it with me everywhere I went. His face looked devastated after all the crying just now so I let him wash his face. Since the winter's atmosphere is dry, I'll apply some cream on his face or else his skin will get damaged from the cold, " Ruan Danchen answered and finally found a bottle of Johnson face cream in her bag.
Grandmother Qi was delighted after taking this in and immediately felt that Liu Ronghua and the Shen family were not important issues at all. Most importantly, Ruan Danchen was Qi Youxuan's biological mother; she would take care of Youxuan lovingly with all her heart. The fact that her second grandson's family was finally reunited was better than everything else in the world.
Qi Youxuan was already on the ground when Ruan Danchen returned to the kitchen. Song Yu was the one who put him down from the chair.
Qi Youxuan was pestering Song Yu to give the dumplings with money stuffed inside them to him at the moment."Auntie, I actually made a few markings on some of the dumplings, not all of them though. It's okay, I'm not greedy, I don't want all of them. Just give me those that had markings on them since I don't eat much."
Ruan Danchen broke into laughter. She then asked him to sit tight while applying face cream on his face.
Song Yu teased him playfully and purposely."How can I do that? We need to depend on luck when we eat this kind of dumplings. It only works if you ate it inadvertently and vice versa if you premade markings on the dumplings."
"Mom!" Qi Youxuan yelled happily and hugged Ruan Danchen's thighs straight away. He had the feeling that he finally had support and protection now.
Ruan Danchen scratched his nose and said, "Just try on your luck since you made markings on them, right?"
Qi Youxuan pouted. When Ruan Danchen and Song Yu were busy and diverted their attention from him, he grabbed the dumplings with markings on them with his bare hands, which then resulted in him blowing on his fingers due to the heat from the hot dumplings.
Ruan Danchen noticed that Qi Youxuan was holding a plate of dumplings like they were his treasure after she finished serving the rest of the dumplings. She was unsure how to react when there were quite a few dumplings on his plate."Can you even finish them?"
"I'll take away if I can't finish them and continue tomorrow, " Qi Youxuan answered with determination.
When all the members in the Qi family sat down in the dining room and munching through the dumplings, Grandmother Qi informed Ruan Danchen to follow Qi Chenglin to pay a New Year call 1tomorrow. Her action meant that she had acknowledged Ruan Danchen's status in the Qi family completely.
After they finished the dumplings and were about to return home, Grandmother Qi held Ruan Danchen's hand and called out, "Xiao Ruan!"
Grandmother Qi let out a heavy sigh before continuing, "What happened tonight was too sudden, so don't overthink when you're home later. It's considered a relief since Madam Liu isn't your biological mother. Everything you have is given by her if she's your biological mother. You can't disregard your bloodline no matter what happens, because even your blood and bones are gifts from her. How can you disregard it or return the debts, right? We have no choice and certainly can't watch her suffer in agony. It's not an easy task for her child with such a mother.
"Since we knew the truth now, then Chenglin was right. She didn't let you live your life as a vagabond for these past few years, raised you and you even received the education that you were supposed to have; these were undeniable acts of kindness. We'll repay her kindness instead of owing her debts of gratitude. What you did for her was a genuine act of repaying her kindness. Let Chenglin discuss with her later about the total foster fees from the moment she brought you in with her until now, then you're absolutely unrelated with her afterward."
Ruan Danchen knew Grandmother Qi was trying to shield the Qi family from being constantly bothered by the Shen family. Based on the Shen family's shameless attitude, Liu Ronghua could take advantage of her identity as Ruan Danchen's adoptive mother to disturb the Qi family again in the future.
Ruan Danchen took a glance at Qi Chenglin, who nodded in agreement, before saying, "Alright."
"We'll come back again tomorrow morning, " Qi Chenglin informed Grandmother Qi before leaving.
Qi Youxuan was leaping and jumping around when he held Ruan Danchen's hand, and it induced a great satisfaction in Grandmother Qi as she stared at the backs of the trio.
Ruan Danchen and Qi Youxuan were sitting at the back of the car. They initially wanted Qi Youxuan to sit in the safety seat but he protested that he would not be able to sit with Ruan Danchen together. Thus, Ruan Danchen immediately asked Qi Chenglin to dismantle the safety seat and threw it into the trunk of the car.
"Mom!" Qi Youxuan called out happily as he pounced into Ruan Danchen's embosom.
Qi Chenglin wanted Qi Youxuan to shut up but then he noticed that Ruan Danchen was hugging him and chirped, "Say it again."
"Mom!"
"Call me again."
"Mom!"
"Call me again."
"Mom!"
"..." Qi Chenglin was dumbfounded.
He let out a heavy sigh and forced the words down his throat.
The mother and son sitting at the back did not feel like their conversations were childish and boring. They felt gratified instead as the kid's constant repetition of "Mom" wiped away all the unhappiness which happened a few moments ago.
Ruan Danchen was satisfied by Qi Youxuan's reiteration of "Mom"; she no longer cared about those unhappy events. She gave up thinking about them.
The duo was laughing in the back of the car as Qi Youxuan squeezed himself into Ruan Danchen's embosom. He rested his head on her thighs and rolling around repeatedly in the back seat.
Ruan Danchen protected Qi Youxuan carefully as she was worried that he could fall down as he rolled around continuously in the car.
The car stopped in front of the traffic light. Qi Youxuan was still calling out "Mom" persistently while rolling around in the back seat, which induced annoyance in Qi Chenglin as his expression darkened. Just when Qi Chenglin was about to scold him to roll down the car if he insisted on misbehaving again, a car beside him slid down its car window.
The driver was a young man. He whistled towards Qi Chenglin's car and said, "Yo, so bold and unrestrained!"
"..." Qi Chenglin was left speechless.
Fortunately, his car windows were heavily tinted. Otherwise, he would feel embarrassed if anyone saw him in the car.
Qi Chenglin turned his head in annoyance with the intention of telling Qi Youxuan to behave himself, but what appeared in his eyes was Ruan Danchen's unburdened smile. Her smile was especially cheerful, and this was the first time she expressed such a delighted smile after Liu Ronghua left tonight.
Qi Chenglin's voice failed after noticing Ruan Danchen's smile. His expression was so gentle with his lips curled upwards, and creases appeared below his eyes as he stared at the most precious treasure in his entire life.
His gaze remained on her, only to snap out of it when there was a loud, impatient beep from the car's horn behind him, which he quickly sat up straight and drove his car.
It was half-past one o'clock at midnight when they returned home after staying up late to welcome New Year and finished the dumplings. Qi Chenglin urged Qi Youxuan to brush his teeth and wash his face before sleep as they needed to wake up early to pay a New Year call.
Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen went back to their bedroom. Qi Chenglin yanked her into his embosom instead of asking her to get changed quickly."Do you blame me for my unilateral decision making tonight?"
Ruan Danchen shook her head, then she took the initiative and hugged him before answering, "To be honest, it feels good after revealing the truth; at least I'm mentally relieved from the burden right now. I won't consider them anymore and there's no need to fear that they'll trouble you in the future."
Qi Chenglin sighed in relief; this was the best outcome if she was able to think this way.
Ruan Danchen lifted her head and stared at him, feeling especially secure with him by her side, and smiled."When did you start investigating this matter?"
"Liu Ronghua and the Shen family kept disturbing you, right? I wanted to investigate her and the Shen family to see if I can get ahold of anything against them so that they'd stop disturbing us. Then, I found all these as a result of my investigation, " Qi Chenglin explained it like it was an easy task.
However, Ruan Danchen knew all his information traced back to more than twenty years ago. This sort of investigation consumed time and energy, thus naturally it was not as easy as what he just mentioned.
"I found something during the investigation but it wasn't clear enough, so that was why I didn't tell you beforehand. I knew you'd be stressed to marry me if Liu Ronghua continued her stay with the Shen family in fear that they'd cause trouble to me. I knew you'd feel guilty for bringing such inconveniences to me, even though I always wanted to tell you that your matters were not inconveniences to me. This sort of miniature inconvenience was nothing to me. I don't mind bringing Liu Ronghua and the Shen family with me if I can marry you, but if you don't mind, I'll wreak havoc upon them and make sure they suffer without any chance to gain benefits." Qi Chenglin lowered his gaze and stared at Ruan Danchen seriously.
"I know you'll still feel stressed. It's useless if I merely said it without any actions, so I've decided to do it myself." Qi Chenglin smiled. The curve of his lips was soft and gentle but Ruan Danchen felt touched when she gazed upon it. She could feel her heart throbbed against the cage of her chest as she stared at this man. The more she stared at him, the more affectionate she was toward him.
She felt her heart wrenched a little. He was too kind to her by solving all the troubles she kept causing him. She had never done anything for him yet and this pained her every time she thought about it.
All of a sudden, Ruan Danchen tightened her arms around him and pushed her head against his chest firmly. She almost wanted to squeeze his chest bones away and buried her face within his precordium.
Her actions induced laughter in Qi Chenglin. He stroked her hair gently and asked, "What's the matter?"
"You're too kind to me, and I don't know what I should do to repay your kindness. I don't want you to be the only one devoting in this relationship, it'll exhaust you. I don't want you to feel fatigued; I want to do something for you, no matter how insignificant it seems. It made my heart wrench to see you devoting alone and treating me with such affections, " Ruan Danchen's voice was soft and sounded extremely cute when she buried her face on his chest.
Qi Chenglin stroked her hair gently like he was petting a pet."I know you won't let me feel tired, but it feels good to be able to devote to the woman I love."
However, his statement made Ruan Danchen feel more uncomfortable as deep down, her heart truly ached for this man whom she loved. She hugged his tall and muscular body tightly, inhaling the fragrance he emitted. Now, her heart raced at an incredible speed.
Then, Qi Chenglin heard her sigh heavily.
"What happened?" Qi Chenglin asked.
"Why are you so good? You have a good ability to induce heart-wrenching sensations with your goodness." Ruan Danchen brushed her face against his chest like a kitten.
Qi Chenglin broke into laughter."Sighing because of this?"
"Yes, because I feel extremely stressed when I have no idea how to treat you well or what I can do for you. You'll make me feel like I'm useless here." Ruan Danchen moved in his embosom again, feeling his firm, muscular chest which was elastic too. Most importantly, the fragrance he emitted induced addiction in her and made her feel secure and especially attached to him.
"Let me say something which may sound machismo." Qi Chenglin patted gently on the back of her head like he was playing with a kitten, but he really felt that she was acting like a kitten now when she kept rubbing her head in his embosom.
He lowered his head and his smile-curved lips brushed against her forehead gently. His voice was husky but soothing, with a slight tinge of power in it."It's a man's fault if he let a woman devote for her man. How can a man let a woman worry for him? It's a man's incapability to let a woman worry and exhaust herself for her man. A man's responsibility is to protect his woman and do no harm to her precious heart. If you're happy, then I'm a happy man too."
"Yes, macho man, " Ruan Danchen replied gently with a smile on her face.
She lifted her head, her hands which were originally on his waist went up and clasped on either side of his face. Qi Chenglin remained silent as he raised his eyebrows happily.
"I want to look at my macho man, " Ruan Danchen explained.
Qi Chenglin blushed for some reason when Ruan Danchen stared on his face, so he launched a counterattack."Do I look more handsome, and do you like me more the longer you stare at me?"
"Half correct. The more I stare at you, the more handsome you look, and the more I love you." Ruan Danchen tiptoed and kissed him on the lips.
Qi Chenglin could not help but laugh before lowering his head and kissed her passionately.
"Mom!" Qi Youxuan's voice traveled from the corridor.
Qi Chenglin sighed. Since the situation tonight was considered special, he decided not to make a fuss with his son. He had no choice but to release Ruan Danchen from his embosom.
Their bedroom door opened momentarily and Qi Youxuan was standing there, wearing bear-patterned footed pajamas with a toothbrush cup in one of his chubby little hands and a Johnson baby face cream on another hand. Inside the toothbrush cup were his toothbrush and toothpaste.
"What are you doing?" Qi Chenglin had a bad feeling about Qi Youxuan's appearance.
"I'm here to brush my teeth!" Qi Youxuan answered before attempting to walk past Qi Chenglin and went into their washroom.
However, his attempt was futile as Qi Chenglin lifted him straight away when he just reached Qi Chenglin's side."You have a washroom in your room too."
Qi Youxuan looked at him seriously and replied, "Dad, I've decided to sleep with my Mom tonight after our reunion. It's obviously unrealistic to let Mom accompany me in my room because you won't agree to it, so I compromised in the end, and here I am now. Don't worry, I won't sleep in between you and Mom. Mom will sleep between us so that you can hug her and sleep too."
"..." Ruan Danchen was left speechless.
What did this kid learn usually?
"..." Qi Chenglin's face darkened with annoyance and said, "I won't allow it even if you sleep on the other side of the bed."
Qi Youxuan's short limbs moving around in the air when Qi Chenglin lifted him by grabbing the collar of his pajamas made him look like a tortoise.
"Dad, don't be so stingy. You've been hugging Mom and sleep for so long, so what's wrong with me hugging half of Mom?" Qi Youxuan hissed through gritted teeth as he waved all four limbs in protest.
"Do you really think I don't know you well? If I allow you to sleep here tonight, I can guarantee that you'll come here again tomorrow night. You're not a baby anymore; do you even feel ashamed of yourself?" Qi Chenglin raised his eyebrows and did not release his grip on Qi Youxuan.
Qi Chenglin pouted and complained silently. If Qi Youxuan was a tortoise, he would be a fat tortoise.
"Dad, tonight is supposed to be a reunion night, right? We should reunite together in bed too!" Qi Youxuan said while continuously waving all his four limbs in the air.
"..." Qi Chenglin was dumbfounded.
Was that how reunion work?
Ruan Danchen would not embarrass Qi Chenglin in the presence of Qi Youxuan as it would damage his reputation and dignity as the head of the family. She would not plead with Qi Chenglin in front of Qi Youxuan unless absolutely necessary.
She knew Qi Chenglin would soften up and agreed if she spoke, but when the frequency increased, Qi Youxuan would start to plead with Ruan Danchen on every issue. That would be detrimental to his growth, so it was necessary to be strict and dour at times.
Thus, Ruan Danchen remained silent on this matter and watched their whole conversation from the side.
She smiled at Qi Chenglin when he glanced at her.
Qi Chenglin then shifted his gaze back to Qi Youxuan and noticed that he was staring back at him with his big, cute eyes, trying desperately to act cute.
Did the mother and son know that their actions were against the rules?
Qi Chenglin let out a heavy sigh before glaring at Qi Youxuan and said, "Just for tonight. If you dare to come again tomorrow night, I'll lock the bedroom door in the future."
"Alright, alright, alright!" Qi Youxuan appeared especially funny when he nodded his head quickly in response.
Qi Chenglin pursed his lips and put him down on the ground. Qi Youxuan then brought his cup and Johnson face cream and rushed into the washroom to get himself cleaned before getting into bed happily.
Qi Chenglin took a peek at him before changing his clothes and went into the bathroom for a quick five-minutes bath. After that, it was Ruan Danchen's turn to go into the bathroom.
When Ruan Danchen exited the bathroom, she noticed Qi Chenglin sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at Qi Youxuan who was rolling on the other side of the bed with disgust. Qi Youxuan yelled during the rolling process, "There's Mom's scent here!"
Then, he grinned upon noticed Ruan Danchen exiting the bathroom."Mom, I asked Dad. He said you usually sleep on this side of the bed!"
Ruan Danchen got into bed happily and the duo sandwiched her quickly. Qi Youxuan squeezed into her embosom immediately after she laid down, inhaling rapidly on her shoulder like a dog."Mom's scent!"
Naturally, Ruan Danchen turned to face Qi Youxuan and kissed him on his chubby cheek. However, Qi Chenglin turned her back almost immediately and said, "Don't turn your back on me."
"..." Ruan Danchen was left speechless.
Did Qi Chenglin plan to let her lie on the back for the whole night?
"Time to sleep. Goodnight Dad, goodnight Mom, " Qi Youxuan greeted sweetly out of exhilaration that night. That day was considered the first day of New Year after they returned home, and he felt the beginning of New Year went off to a good start.
____________________________________________________________________________
Extra Mini-Scene:
<<Mom!>>
Qi Youxuan felt that he had an extremely powerful support after having a mother.
Qi Chenglin: Don't eat too much meat.
Qi Youxuan: Mom!
Qi Chenglin: Go to bed.
Qi Youxuan: Mom!
Qi Chenglin: Go back to your room.
Qi Youxuan: Mom!
Finally, Qi Chenglin had reached the end of his forbearance."If you call Mom again, I'll send you back to your grandma's house for two days!"
| ← Ch. 384 | Ch. 386 → |