Chapter 43 Tonight, I'll let you touch me.
Lu Shangyan's mind went blank, and he lost the ability to think independently for a moment.
Especially when he saw Pei Yumin approaching him little by little, he even forgot to breathe. In the cramped space, Pei Yumin pressed closer and closer until he had nowhere left to retreat and his back was pressed against the wall.
Pei Yumin's voice continued: "You haven't answered my question yet."
Even though they were so close, Pei Yumin seemed determined to know the answer, staring intently at him.
From childhood to adulthood, Lu Shangyan had been asked many questions by his teachers, and he could answer them all. But now, he couldn't give an answer to this simple "yes or no" question.
His eyelashes trembled slightly, his lips quivered, and he made a sound from his throat, but it was muffled and unclear.
Pei Yumin leaned forward a little more, until his nose was almost touching Lu Shangyan's. Lu Shangyan's eyelashes began to tremble violently, and finally closed completely.
Pei Yumin already understood the answer he hadn't said aloud. He chuckled softly, and just as their lips touched, there was a sudden knock on the door.
Lu Shangyan suddenly opened his eyes and instantly became clear-headed. His hand, which was hanging by his side, was placed on Pei Yumin's waist, and the two of them, whose waists were almost touching, were separated.
Pei Yumin had been leisurely and tentatively probing him just moments before, but now she was a little impatient and just wanted to make the kiss happen quickly: "It's okay, no one can come in."
Lu Shangyan pushed him again, his brows furrowing.
"Are you two inside?" Tang Suichen's voice rang out, then turned worried: "Could it be that you're fighting inside?"
He suddenly raised his voice and began frantically twisting the doorknob.
Lu Shangyan pushed him away, but stopped when he was about to open the door. He then stood aside and gestured for Pei Yumin to open the door. He didn't want to appear in front of anyone right now because he felt that his expression would definitely be noticed by others.
Pei Yumin rubbed his temples, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
Tang Suichen was about to kick down the door when he saw Pei Yumin and instantly breathed a sigh of relief. But after seeing his expression, he pushed him aside and went inside to look at Lu Shangyan: "They really started fighting?"
The moment Lu Shangyan met his eyes, he quickly lowered his head.
Tang Suichen was still unwilling to give up and wanted to run forward to see, but Pei Yumin stopped him: "He didn't fight." After he finished speaking, he stared at Tang Suichen meaningfully: "But you came at a very bad time."
Lu Shangyan pursed his lips, afraid that he would say something else incoherent, so he could no longer remain silent: "It's nothing, let's go back first."
When she walked up to Pei Yumin, she tugged at his sleeve and exchanged a glance with him.
Tang Suichen was extremely perceptive; even the slowest person would have noticed something was wrong. He nudged Pei Yumin's arm in an ambiguous manner.
Pei Yumin dodged away, gritting her teeth as she whispered, "When I get back, I'll definitely find a way to make Song Yuxin divorce you."
Lu Shangyan coughed lightly and quickly walked past Tang Suichen.
Tang Suichen exclaimed that this was an undeserved disaster, no wonder Zhao Jian had kept telling him to come out and take a look.
Back at the restaurant, the three men had different expressions. Halfway through the meal, Zhao Jian glanced around and continued, "I've discovered that Chong County has quite a few fun and delicious things to do. Since we can't leave anytime soon, let's find an opportunity to get together more often, shall we?"
Pei Yumin glanced at him: "We're staying in the same hotel, just around the corner, so why would we need to get together?"
Zhao Jian used serving chopsticks to put a piece of fish on Zhou Keling's plate: "I was talking about him."
Zhou Keling replied, "Okay, I can be your tour guide."
Zhao Jian quickly said, "I saw an ancient town in Chong County. You can take a boat around the town and there's a whole food street inside. Let's go check it out tomorrow night."
"Okay." Zhou Keling looked at Lu Shangyan: "When do you want to go?"
Lu Shangyan hadn't recovered from what had just happened. Only after feeling the intense gazes around him did he slowly raise his head. Seeing that everyone around him was staring at him, he realized that something was wrong.
Zhao Jian sensed something was amiss between him and Pei Yumin, because ever since they returned, the two of them had been unusually close, and Pei Yumin's face was always filled with an indescribable expression of happiness.
When he first started dating, Shi Yu would sit next to him, and he would do the same thing.
So he was even more eager to find an opportunity to test the waters and see what happened.
Zhao Jian said meaningfully, "Zhou Keling is the local tour guide, do you want to go?"
Pei Yumin then became magnanimous: "Go ahead, why can't you go?"
"He hasn't properly explored the city where he was born in years, so this is a good opportunity for him to spend a few more days there."
Zhao Jian drew out an "oh," indicating that his goal had been achieved, and then lowered his head and remained silent.
Before Lu Shangyan could fully recover, everything was already arranged. Zhou Keling looked down and fiddled with the fish in her bowl, but didn't eat it.
She added, "Then I'll do some research tonight and visit all the places Lu Shangyan used to like."
Pei Yumin said, "Then I can recreate memories that belong to both of us based on his past memories."
Zhou Keling gritted her teeth, smiled, and remained silent.
Zhao Jian, still holding back, sent a message to Tang Suichen:
[Has Pei Yumin always been this cold-hearted?]
Tang Suichen said:
[This is the first time I've heard this either.]
[Also, don't cause any more trouble, or I can't protect you.]
Zhao Jian disagreed:
I'm trying to help him.
Pei Yumin served Lu Shangyan with utmost care, even cutting boneless fish into small, easy-to-eat pieces before placing them on Lu Shangyan's plate.
Now, even if Zhou Keling says something on purpose, he can accept it well. At least he won't get angry at the slightest thing. After all, his position in Lu Shangyan's heart is completely different from Zhou Keling's now.
Even though it was just a light touch, it was still a kiss!
Lu Shangyan and Zhou Keling are just friends now, and they are friends who cannot kiss.
He adopted the demeanor of an empress, and did everything appropriately and properly.
-
But after returning to the hotel, Pei Yumin lost his magnanimous demeanor as the empress. He suddenly became extremely unrestrained and bold, like a spoiled concubine, except that this concubine was a man.
After taking a shower, he climbed onto Lu Shangyan's bed in an exceptionally seductive pose, subtly revealing his muscular waist and abdomen, which looked like he could work all night.
A look of panic flashed across Lu Shangyan's face, and he quickly moved the bed to the side, saying, "Your bed is next to me."
Pei Yumin took the opportunity to touch his stomach and said righteously, "The child needs me."
Lu Shangyan nudged him again: "He's fine now, he doesn't need it."
Pei Yumin had already lay down with a pillow in his arms: "You're not him, how do you know if he needs it or not?"
Lu Shangyan remained silent, staring down at him. Only then did Pei Yumin realize that what he had just said had also confused him.
But now that there were no outsiders around, his skin had already returned to its original thickness, and he leaned forward again, pressing his face against Lu Shangyan's side: "You've kissed me today, so you have to take responsibility for me."
Lu Shangyan blushed: "We didn't kiss."
Pei Yumin looked up: "So you don't want to take responsibility for me?"
Lu Shangyan quickly covered his mouth: "Can you please stop saying such strange things?"
Pei Yumin stuck out the tip of her tongue and licked his palm: "How about a kiss now? Let's make up for what we didn't finish during the day, and then you can take responsibility for me, okay?"
"No way!" Lu Shangyan was quite embarrassed by the sudden kiss and didn't know where to put his hands. "Are you getting up or not? If not, I'll go sleep in the other bed."
As he was about to stand up, Pei Yumin also sat up. He realized that it wouldn't matter if he slept on another bed, because Pei Yumin would still follow him.
So Lu Shangyan sat down again: "Indeed, it's more convenient to book two rooms now."
Pei Yumin was startled; this would be a losing proposition!
At worst, I can sneak onto this bed after Lu Shangyan falls asleep at night, and sneak back before he wakes up.
But if they slept in two separate rooms, he wouldn't even be able to sneak a touch!
He could only hug his pillow and lie down on another bed. He threw a tantrum and turned his head away, unwilling to look at Lu Shangyan. But after less than five minutes, he decided to generously forgive this cold-hearted Lu Shangyan who had toyed with his feelings!
When he turned around, he saw Lu Shangyan chatting with someone on his phone, and he couldn't resist wanting to know who was on the other end.
He took a deep breath and started craning his neck to look in that direction.
When Lu Shangyan turned around, he was startled. It was the first time he realized that a human neck could actually stretch that long.
Pei Yumin was caught and sheepishly shrank back: "What are you doing? You can hardly stop smiling." After saying that, afraid that Lu Shangyan would suspect him, he deliberately added: "Could it be that you are still watching those so-called 'educational films'? Actually, if you want to learn, you don't need to watch them at all. I can teach you by example."
Sure enough, as soon as he said this, Lu Shangyan, eager to verify, wanted to shove his phone screen in his face: "I talked to my counselor, and he said I got the scholarship again this time."
He looked relaxed: "I originally thought I wouldn't get the first-class scholarship this time because I wasn't feeling well on the last day of the exam and didn't perform well."
Pei Yumin's mouth dropped open: "First-class scholarship? No one in our Pei family has ever received that in three generations! Shangshang, how are you so amazing! You single-handedly raised the value of our entire Pei family's academic qualifications!"
Lu Shangyan was a little embarrassed by his praise and for a moment forgot to refute his comment about "our Pei family". He just lowered his head and chuckled, then returned to his usual demeanor: "Actually, it's alright."
Pei Yumin said seriously, "What do you mean 'not bad'? You're incredibly amazing!"
Lu Shangyan pursed his lips, making a great effort to prevent the corners of his lips from turning up too much.
Pei Yumin said, "I wish I had met you in high school. Maybe I could have gotten into a top university."
“I probably wouldn’t know him.” Lu Shangyan calculated carefully: “Because when you were in your first year of high school, I should still be in elementary school.”
Upon hearing this, Pei Yumin truly realized how terrifying a six-year age gap could be.
If he had been clinging to Lu Shangyan all the time back then, someone would definitely have called the police and arrested him.
Pei Yumin quickly changed his tune: "Well, it's fine as it is now."
After saying that, he realized something was wrong. If he had known Lu Shangyan back then, he definitely wouldn't have let Lu Shangyan suffer so much.
But the past shouldn't be brought up all the time, otherwise Lu Shangyan will always remember it, so it's best for him to keep these things to himself.
From now on, he will try his best to make Lu Shangyan's life less difficult every day.
-
The next day, when Lu Shangyan woke up and went out for dinner, Lu He was sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for him. As soon as he saw him, he immediately came to greet him.
Lu He must have been sleepless for several days, as his complexion was much worse than before, but his eyes lit up instantly when he saw Lu Shangyan.
Lu Shangyan instinctively wanted to avoid him, but he blocked his way first: "Shangyan, I have something to say to you."
Lu Shangyan took a step back, not wanting to get too close to him: "There's nothing between us to talk about."
Lu He's expression was very awkward: "I'm not here to ask for your forgiveness." As he spoke, he took out a bank card from his pocket: "This card contains the money I've saved from working outside for more than ten years. It's a separate deposit for you, and there's 200,000 in it."
“I know I’m sorry. I knew everything that happened back then, but I still left. But I had no choice. They are my brothers, and Lu Lin is my son.”
"But I can't do what they do to a little kid like you... I had no choice, running away was my only option."
"Although I know it's too late for anything I say now, I hope you can accept this money, so that I can feel a little better."
Lu Shangyan didn't want him to have an easy time. He didn't want to accept the money; he just wanted to get back what was rightfully his.
But Pei Yumin was quick-witted and reached out from behind him, snatched the card back, and stuffed it into his pocket: "Take it, why don't you want it? It's what you deserve."
"No matter what, he is still Lu Lin's father. How many bad things has Lu Lin done to you over the years? The compensation for emotional distress is more than this."
After saying that, he felt he made sense: "I'll contact a lawyer later and ask for a higher compensation for emotional distress. You were just a child back then, and what they did was abuse you!"
All these miscellaneous things added up, Lu Shangyan suddenly felt that even if those people sold everything they owned, they might not be able to pay back the money. After all, what were ordinary savings to a group of lazy people?
Seeing that he had accepted it, Lu He breathed a long sigh of relief. After so many years, the heavy stone that had been weighing on his chest had finally lightened a bit.
He didn't say anything more, but gave Lu Shangyan one last deep look before turning and leaving.
He hunched over, raised his hand to wipe his eyes, Lu Shangyan's Adam's apple bobbed, and the hand holding the bank card became even warmer.
-
The scholarship can cover tuition fees, so Lu Shangyan can use all the extra money he has to renovate the house.
He didn't want to touch the money Lu He gave him for the time being; he wanted to wait until everything settled down before making new plans.
Fortunately, rewiring and repainting the walls of the old house wouldn't cost much, and he could afford it.
Pei Yumin drove back and forth between his old house and the hotel every day. He even thought that he should cancel the hotel reservation and stay at the old house instead. That was his original plan anyway, so he only booked a room for three days.
However, she didn't expect that as soon as she voiced this idea, Pei Yumin would sternly reject it: "Those paints and stuff are not good for children! Think about it, you are so outstanding, what if your child is born a terrible student who can only score 3 points in math?"
Lu Shangyan simply couldn't believe it. There really was someone who could only score 3 points in math. He had almost always gotten full marks since he was a child!
He turned his head in surprise and saw that Pei Yumin also looked nervous. He suddenly realized, "In that case, it should be up to you."
Pei Yumin gritted his teeth and said, "Actually, I only got a single-digit score once when I was in the third grade of elementary school. After that, my scores were quite high."
Lu Shangyan raised an eyebrow, neither believing nor denying.
Pei Yumin changed the subject again: "You shouldn't come back to live here. You're a rich person now, do you need to save this little bit of money?"
Lu Shangyan nodded: "Raising children is very expensive."
He wants to give his child everything he never had as a child, even if the child is just a math idiot who can only score 3 points.
Of course, this was just a beautiful fantasy that the child knew only before he was born.
Upon smelling the pungent odor, Pei Yumin quickly pushed Lu Shangyan into the car: "Forget it, don't come here anymore. I'll keep an eye on things for you. This smell is too strong and it's not good for your health."
Before Lu Shangyan could refuse, he quickly added, "If you dare to disobey, I'll immediately have Ms. Yuan Qingyu teach you a lesson."
Yuan Qingyu's competition was over. She kept saying she wanted to come and help Lu Shangyan find a solution, but since she was an elder, Lu Shangyan felt it wouldn't be good for her to make the trip again, so he refused to let her come no matter what.
Furthermore, to some extent, he still listens to Yuan Qingyu, or rather, because he lost his mother a long time ago, he longs for and cherishes this kind of maternal care.
Sure enough, Lu Shangyan immediately agreed when he heard him say that. Pei Yumin's trick had never failed him before. He told the workers, then left with Lu Shangyan with a smile.
"Actually, I think you don't need to be so nervous. They will do a good job even if you don't keep an eye on them. After all, the final payment hasn't been made yet. If there's anything you're not satisfied with, you can ask them to fix it anytime."
Lu Shangyan responded and then touched his stomach.
He seemed to have grown a little older, and he started to plan what to do after school started.
Pei Yumin was pleased to see that he did not refute her: "But this old house is your house after all. I don't even have a legitimate reason to supervise the construction now. What if they think I'm an outsider and don't listen to me?"
Lu Shangyan turned his head away, too lazy to pay attention to him, because he had a vague feeling that Pei Yumin was about to say something shocking again.
Pei Yumin did not disappoint him: "If you agree to date me now, I can openly supervise the construction."
Lu Shangyan simply closed his eyes.
Pei Yumin sighed. He and Lu Shangyan had already kissed and slept together, and their child was due in a few months. Besides, he felt that Lu Shangyan definitely liked him too, so why was he unwilling to date him?
Pei Yumin couldn't help but say, "And another thing, once a child is born, he/she needs a father."
Lu Shangyan said, "That's me."
Pei Yumin couldn't deny his physical structure, so he could only say, "Then I'll be the mother."
After saying that, he pretended to be aggrieved and whined, "Honey, let's give the child a complete family together. You said you want to give the child the best of everything, and a complete family is also very important."
Lu Shangyan naturally understood this principle, but he had his own considerations.
Although the case is almost over and he will receive the corresponding compensation and his money will return to his pocket, it doesn't mean he doesn't have to keep running after Pei Yumin.
Through his time with Pei Yumin, he realized that Pei Yumin had a happy and fulfilling family life, a stable job, and a considerable income. He also felt that his own family was certainly well-off. In comparison, the gap between him and Pei Yumin grew wider and wider.
He has no parents, which is something he cannot decide, but he has a stable job and a family, which is something he can decide.
From childhood to adulthood, he has never had anything that completely belongs to him. Love may end one day, and even if he gets married, he may get divorced. In a few years, will Pei Yumin still completely belong to him?
He dared not gamble; he always considered the worst-case scenario. He feared that the gap between him and Pei Yumin would widen and they would gradually cease to be on the same path.
He had thought about these things countless times. Sometimes, when Pei Yumin acted coquettishly and playfully in front of him, asking to date him, he had considered saying yes. But what good would it do him to agree? He would still have nothing.
He has no house, no job, and is currently burdened with unfinished cases. His future is not bright. But Pei Yumin is different from him. His future is bright and promising. No matter which way he goes, it will be much smoother than his.
He didn't want to hold Pei Yumin back, but he also didn't want to keep him waiting too long. So after thinking about it for a long time, the answer he could give in the end was still: "Let's talk about it after the case is over, okay?"
If he could really afford a house, a home that would belong to him and his unborn child, a home that would never be driven away, a home that Pei Yumin could live in, then he would dare to have a proper relationship with Pei Yumin.
He felt that only in this way would he not be making a one-sided demand, nor would he be trying to appease Pei Yumin with a small favor like a meal. Only then would they be considered equal, because he was the one providing Pei Yumin with shelter from the wind and rain.
A smile appeared on his face: "I really won't keep you waiting too long, don't worry."
Looking at his expression, Pei Yumin was momentarily lost in thought and unable to continue asking questions: "It seems that I really do have a place in your future plans."
That's enough for him now. Lu Shangyan has been forced to do many things since he was a child. If he can't even control his own love life now, what is he?
He had said long ago that he wanted Lu Shangyan to be completely happy and free.
Pei Yumin felt the atmosphere was too oppressive, and wanted to say something nice to coax Lu Shangyan: "Actually, I think you can rely on me a little more."
Lu Shangyan felt that he was already very dependent on him, and wondered how much more dependent he would become if he continued to depend on him.
Pei Yumin sighed: "After all, I am the child's father now, but you won't let me do anything for the child. You won't let me tell the child stories at night, you won't let me talk to him, and you won't even let me touch him. I feel that this is my dereliction of duty as a father."
Lu Shangyan understood the deeper meaning in his words. After a long silence, he finally lowered his head and whispered through gritted teeth amidst Pei Yumin's affected sighs, "Then tonight... you can touch him, but really only once."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Lu Shangyan: Stop talking! I have my reasons. Romance? Just wait for my notification. [Sunglasses]
Pei Yumin: My husband is so manly, I love him so much! [pleading emoji]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
