Chapter 168 IF Line: Childhood Sweethearts (01)

[This side story shows Xie Hengzhi and Pei Yizhong remaining good friends, and Xie Xingchen and Lin Yao's childhood friendship.]

"Xingxing, take your gifts, we're about to head to Uncle Pei's house."

Yun Qing turned around and looked at her son, who was still disassembling a toy gun in the living room. He was only three years old, but he could already disassemble and reassemble a toy gun very skillfully. He was at the age when boys are mischievous and was simply a little devil.

He urged, "If we don't move now, we'll be late."

“I don’t want to go. I don’t even know them.” Xie Xingchen deftly loaded the soft bullet and, with a snap, hit the bullseye hanging on the wall.

Xie Hengzhi was already annoyed by kids, and seeing Xie Xingchen like this only made him more annoyed. He didn't even bother to say anything, just grabbed the little brat and dragged him out: "Shut up if you don't want to get beaten up."

Xie Xingchen gripped the gun in his hand, his lips clenched. "Dad, I can't shoot."

"Be gentle with your son," Yun Qing reminded him.

Xie Hengzhi had no choice but to change from grabbing to hugging, the movement was very awkward. He coldly pressed Xie Xingchen into the car seat and couldn't help but threaten: "Don't do anything reckless in other people's homes, or I'll beat you up."

Xie Xingchen pointed the gun at him and said in his own voice: "Bang, shot dead."

Xie Hengzhi: "........."

What's so good about this thing being born?

Yun Qing, being good-natured, sat down beside them, took out a photo, and pointed to the people in it, introducing them: "This is Aunt Lin and Uncle Pei. These two little darlings are twins, a few months younger than you. One is named Lin Yao, and the other is named Pei Xiang. Got it?"

"I can't remember." Xie Xingchen didn't even look at the photo, turning his head to look at the scenery.

The original plan was to go to the amusement park today, but then Uncle Pei invited us to dinner, so we had to change our plans. Anyone would be unhappy in that situation. It would have been better to go to the training camp with my older brother.

Xie Xingchen had a long face the whole time.

Yun Qing joked, "Pei Xiang is very cute. Go meet her, and if you like her, try your best to marry her as your wife."

Xie Xingchen turned his head: "What is a wife?"

“It’s your other half, just like me and Dad,” Yun Qing explained.

"I understand, Dad is your wife," Xie Xingchen concluded.

Xie Hengzhi raised his hand to his temple and couldn't help but ask, "Is he mentally challenged?"

"Mingming is very smart." Yun Qing laughed heartily, reaching out to pat Xie Xingchen's head, very indulgently: "You could say that, so now that you've met your little bride, do you want to go?"

Xie Xingchen knew the word "bride" from television; he had seen it on TV. A bride is someone who wears a veil at her wedding. But he couldn't imagine Xie Hengzhi wearing a veil—it was terrifying.

"No," Xie Xingchen said firmly. "I don't want to marry someone like my father."

Xie Hengzhi: "........."

Seeing that he was on the verge of displeasure, Yun Qing quickly urged, "Drive, why bother arguing with a child?"

Xie Hengzhi didn't like children to begin with, and then he had two very sharp-tongued children, Xie Yunhuai and Xie Xingchen, making life extremely chaotic. He often longed to return to the days when they were just the two of them.

He turned his head to look at Yun Qing and compromised, "For your sake, I won't hold it against you."

Yun Qing smiled and leaned over to kiss him, praising, "Of course, you are the best husband in the world."

Xie Xingchen carefully corrected: "It's my wife."

Xie Hengzhi, unable to bear it any longer, said: "Shut up."

Yun Qing really enjoyed watching the father and son bicker, and was even recording it on video, saying off-screen, "Dad and Xingxing get along so well."

The son, with whom Xie Hengzhi had a harmonious relationship, pressed the replica gun against the back of Xie Hengzhi's head once more: "Bang, your wife killed you."

Xie Hengzhi suppressed the urge to punch someone: "............It's really because of you."

However, he was shot five times by Xie Xingchen along the way. If they had been real guns, his head would probably have been blown open. He's such a rebellious son.

Yun Qing coaxed and tricked the father and son until they reached their destination in a seemingly peaceful manner.

Xie Xingchen reluctantly got out of the car and slowly followed behind. He saw the legendary twins, a boy and a girl. The two little ones were wearing the same overalls. The one on the left was smiling very brightly, while the one on the right had a cold look on his face and his lips were so pouty that a water bottle could hang on them.

Xie Xingchen immediately laughed; she was so cute.

"Isn't your little sister pretty?" Yun Qing observed his expression, took his little hand, and gestured for them to hold hands.

Xie Xingchen grabbed Lin Yao and said from the bottom of her heart, "You are so beautiful."

Yun Qing: ? ? ?

Lin Han: ? ? ?

Pei Yizhong was incredulous. He pushed Pei Xiang forward and explained, "No, this is the younger sister. The one you're holding is the older brother."

Xie Xingchen held the other person's hand and persistently praised, "You're so beautiful."

Lin Yao was only two years old, and his speech was still a little hesitant, but he was very rational: "I am... a boy, not... pretty..."

Xie Xingchen ignored him, reached out and hugged him, nuzzling his cheek against him: "You're prettier than the one next to you."

Pei Xiang, who had been laughing, burst into tears upon hearing the comparison, wailing, "I...I'm the prettiest!!!"

Xie Hengzhi had a terrible headache. He reached out to grab his son, who had caused the trouble, and lectured him, "Quickly praise your sister a couple of times."

"No praise." Xie Xingchen stuck to his bottom line, holding the man tightly and tilting his head to coax him, "Why are you unhappy? Do you want some candy?"

A candy made of orange was shoved into Lin Yao's hand. He looked down at it and handed it to Pei Xiang, who was wailing beside him: "Here you go."

Xie Xingchen was displeased and said seriously, "It's for you."

Lin Yao looked completely innocent, shoved the candy into her mouth, and explained with difficulty, "Little sister, cry."

Xie Xingchen looked at Pei Xiang, who was crying her eyes out, then looked up at Yun Qing and said bluntly, "This younger sister is not a good wife; she's too noisy."

Pei Xiang felt rejected and cried even louder.

Yun Qing quickly reached out to cover her son's mouth, looking embarrassed, and said, "He's talking nonsense, don't mind him."

Pei Yizhong scrutinized the little kid and found it quite amusing. He laughed and said, "He's actually more attached to Lin Yao. The other kids think he's aloof and don't want to play with him, so he's learning to speak very slowly."

“I’ll teach him,” Xie Xingchen volunteered.

So while the adults were chatting and gathering nearby, Xie Xingchen took a book, pulled Lin Yao to sit on the sofa, and started teaching him by pointing to the pictures in it.

"Little Tiger".

"Little tiger."

"Little kitten".

"Little Meow Meow".

"Silly boy."

Lin Yao suddenly looked up, his expression aggrieved: "You insulted me."

These three words were spoken with exceptional clarity.

Xie Xingchen couldn't help but laugh, reaching out to pinch his cheek: "How did you know I was scolding you?"

Lin Yao replied slowly and deliberately, "I...am not...a fool..."

Xie Xingchen was absolutely charmed.

Ahhhhh, how can he be so cute? If I had known Lin Yao was this well-behaved, how could I have waited two years for Yun Qing to finally meet him?

"You're such a good boy." Xie Xingchen pointed to himself and taught him, "Call me brother."

Lin Yao kept his lips pressed together, feeling that the other person was taking advantage of him, and refused to say anything.

Xie Xingchen explained to him, "I'm a few months older than you, so I'm the older brother. If you call me that, I'll help you fight off any other kids who bully you. I have a gun."

As she spoke, she took out the replica gun from her pocket and showed it to him.

Lin Yao's eyes lit up for a moment, and he looked at the other person with utmost admiration, then moved his lips and said, "I want it."

"Call me brother, Xingchen brother," Xie Xingchen patiently guided.

“Xing... Cheng... Brother…” Lin Yao couldn’t distinguish between retroflex and alveolar consonants, nor between nasal and non-nasal consonants, which was really a bit difficult for him.

With just that one name, Xie Xingchen gave away his precious toy gun and turned to Yun Qing, saying, "Dad, can you bring me those guns from home? I want to give them to Yao Yao."

Xie Hengzhi raised an eyebrow: "Who dares to touch your treasures?"

Xie Xingchen's expression changed in an instant: "If Yao Yao likes it, I'll give it to him."

Looking at her son's expression, Yun Qing fell into deep thought: "How could he... like Yao Yao more? Shouldn't little boys this age like pretty little girls?"

Pei Yizhong didn't take it seriously at the moment: "He's just a kid. He won't think like that in a few years."

After all, they were tested when they were born. Lin Yao and Xie Xingchen are both destined to differentiate into Alphas. When they reach a certain age, they will definitely prefer Omegas.

“Exactly, she’ll probably like chasing after Xiangxiang even more then.” Lin Han put Pei Xiang down from her arms. “Go invite your brothers to the toy room to play. Go on.”

Pei Xiang went over and pulled Lin Yao. When the latter saw his sister coming, he obediently got up, and Xie Xingchen could only follow behind reluctantly.

But after a short while, loud wailing came from inside again, even more mournful than it had been at the door.

The adults, forgetting their conversation, rushed over and saw that Pei Xiang had a square scarf, similar to a red veil, covering her head and holding it down tightly, while Xie Xingchen was pulling on the other end of it and wouldn't let go.

Lin Yao stood there, bewildered and stammering, "My sister...is... going to...be...the...bride..."

"Xingxing, you're bullying your sister again." Yun Qing bent down, trying to push his hand away.

"No, I don't want her to be my wife." Xie Xingchen repeated himself firmly.

"I am the bride." Pei Xiang cried as she pressed the handkerchief against her chest, but she was no match for the other woman and had to let go.

Feeling increasingly wronged, she hugged Lin Han and started crying, "Waaaaah, Mommy, I don't want to play with him anymore."

Yun Qing took a tissue to wipe the little girl's tears and said helplessly, "Xingxing is not usually like this. He is always very gentlemanly towards girls at kindergarten. I don't know what's wrong with him today."

Turning around, I saw Xie Xingchen solemnly placing the red veil on Lin Yao's head.

Pei Yizhong glared angrily: "This isn't right!!!"

Lin Han also felt something was off: "Something's not quite right."

Lin Yao stood there blankly, motionless, and slowly said, "Brother... can't see..."

Xie Xingchen lifted the veil, leaned over and touched the other's plump cheek, quite satisfied.

"I've made my choice, this is the bride."