Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Early Monday morning.

Aunt Zhong had just finished her breakfast and was about to head upstairs to the second floor.

She was about to take the stairs when she heard the elevator moving.

This antique elevator, aside from its exceptional beauty and century-old commemorative value, could truly be called decrepit.

Normally, only Wen Cishu used it, so Aunt Zhong assumed he had woken up unusually early today. She quickly pulled back her foot and hurried over.

However, behind the gate wasn't Wen Cishu but Bao Tingyuan with a suit draped over his arm.

The carved elevator door slowly opened, and Bao Tingyuan glanced at her. "Good morning, Aunt Zhong."

Aunt Zhong nodded, looking surprised that the eldest young master had taken the elevator down and deliberately peeked in.

Without another thought, Bao Tingyuan knew who she was looking for. He didn’t explain, just instructed, "Aunt Zhong, Cishu is in my room today. Remind him to have breakfast after nine o'clock—the same digestive herbal porridge as yesterday."

"...Alright, alright."

Aunt Zhong paused, unsure what to say.

She watched the back of the Bao family's eldest young master suspiciously, her mind spinning with wild theories:

What’s the big deal about sharing a room?

Why did the eldest young master look so pleased?

She remembered that last week, the two had slept together twice—but it was in the second young master's bed.

What was the real difference?

Shaking off her thoughts, Aunt Zhong gave the elevator another look.

Then she took the stairs to the second floor and pushed open the second young master's bedroom door, only to find the little troublemaker sprawled like a starfish on the bed, half the blanket on the floor.

She crept forward, carefully shifting the child into a proper sleeping position before covering him with the blanket.

"...$%#$..."

Bao Yiming muttered something unintelligible.

Aunt Zhong couldn’t make it out, so she leaned in closer.

A hand suddenly shot out from under the blanket as Bao Yiming pouted and grumbled, "...Big... Dad... Hmph!"

Aunt Zhong smiled and shook her head. Only kids this age could still be deep in dreams at this hour.

She glanced back at the room divider, recalling the expression on the Bao family's eldest young master earlier—things in this household were finally improving.

-

Nine o’clock, right on time.

Wen Cishu woke up, opening his eyes to see a little monkey blinking playfully at him.

"Yi Ming..."

Realizing whose bed he was in, Wen Cishu froze, his dark eyes going wide.

He deliberately reached out to pinch the little monkey's chin. "What are you doing? Trying to scare Daddy first thing in the morning?"

Bao Yiming rubbed his chin against his little daddy's palm like a little puppy.

"Little Daddy, is Big Daddy's bed soft?"

Wen Cishu pretended to be calm, pushing himself up. "Aren't all the mattresses at home the same? If you want to sleep here, I'll ask Big Daddy tonight and let you have the bed?"

Bao Yiming pouted. "But then I won’t have Little Daddy with me?"

Wen Cishu was still half-asleep, his mind foggy, so he stayed silent.

He leaned back on the pillow to wake up properly, noticing the clear dent on the adjacent pillow and unconsciously patting it.

Last night...

Wen Cishu’s gaze met the little monkey’s sparkling eyes, quickly coming to his senses as he yawned and kicked off the blankets. "Alright, Daddy’s going to wash up. Have you had breakfast?"

"Yeah, just a bit." Bao Yiming pushed the slippers neatly toward his little daddy. "I left room for about a third more so I could eat with you, Little Daddy."

"Aww, how sweet."

Wen Cishu ruffled his neck and led him toward the divider.

Bao Yiming followed his little daddy into the bathroom, eagerly helping squeeze toothpaste and pour water. "Little Daddy~~"

The little mischief in the mirror blinked his eyes, clearly "plotting something."

Wen Cishu took the toothbrush. "Go ahead, Daddy’s listening."

Bao Yiming clung to his little daddy, coaxing sweetly about wanting to buy a gift for Brother Xingxing and hoping Daddy would accompany him.

Hearing "gift," Wen Cishu remembered his own birthday was tomorrow.

"Going today?"

"Mhm~" Bao Yiming nodded. "I want to pick carefully, so it might take pretty much all day. Is that okay, Little Daddy?"

Wen Cishu looked down at his son’s clear eyes, feeling something was up.

Still, he naturally wouldn’t refuse such a small request.

When they went downstairs,

Wen Cishu saw the house staff replacing the flowers in the house, and Uncle Xu looked especially cheerful.

Wait, is there some special arrangement for his birthday?

Just after breakfast in the sunroom, Bao Yiming’s watch rang.

"Big Daddy?"

Bao Tingyuan’s voice came through the watch, a little fuzzy:

"Yiming, has your little daddy had breakfast yet?"

Wen Cishu realized he didn’t have his phone and was unreachable.

He chimed in, "Yeah, already ate."

Bao Tingyuan: "What did you eat?"

Wen Cishu quickly glanced at his son, barely holding back laughter, and rattled off like a menu the food he had just eaten.

Bao Yiming added, "Don't worry, Big Dad. Little Dad ate slowly and carefully. I made sure of it."

Bao Tingyuan: "Good."

Wen Cishu poked his son's cheek. "Oh, so you were spying on me?"

Bao Tingyuan: "Yi Ming, let your little Dad take the watch? I want to talk to him alone."

Wen Cishu’s ears burned. Did this really have to be said now?

He hurriedly took the watch from the little monkey and walked toward the small garden. "Hmm?"

Bao Tingyuan: "Did you sleep well last night?"

A shiver ran down Wen Cishu’s spine. He quickened his pace, heading straight to the center of the garden, afraid his son might overhear.

"Quite well."

In truth, at dawn, he had felt Bao Tingyuan holding him the entire time.

When Bao Tingyuan got up, he had vaguely sensed kisses on his earlobe, neck, and the corner of his lips...

Disgustingly sweet.

Bao Tingyuan: "I told Uncle Xu to clear out part of my wardrobe today. Have the maids move some of your things over?"

"Wait?" Wen Cishu didn’t understand. They weren’t that far apart—weren’t they still in the same suite? Did they really need to merge closets too?

But then he imagined their clothes hanging side by side, and a sudden sweet warmth rose in his heart. "Understood."

"Cishu."

Hearing his name so rarely, Wen Cishu almost snapped to attention.

He mumbled, "Yes?"

Bao Tingyuan’s magnetic voice carried a hint of amusement. "You were talking in your sleep last night." (he said teasingly)

"!!!"

Wen Cishu was stunned. "Really? What did I say?"

See? This is why sharing a bed leads to trouble.

Bao Tingyuan replied leisurely, "You very seriously warned me—"

Then he switched to French, "You’d better kiss me every time you see me, or I’ll tickle your waist."

"I did not!"

For the first time, Wen Cishu found French completely alien to him, nearly throwing his hands up in protest right there in the garden.

He feigned ignorance. "Oops, yours truly doesn’t speak a word of French. Goodbye."

Bao Yiming watched as his little Dad stormed in huffily, puzzled. "Little Dad, did you and Big Dad have a fight? Wait, no—did Big Dad pick a fight with you?"

"Not at all. We don’t fight."

Wen Cishu fastened the watch back onto his son’s wrist, his eyes crinkling with a smile. "Let’s go, I’ll take you to buy a gift."

He shifted tone, dropping a deceptively casual but biting remark: "We’re gonna max out your Big Daddy’s credit card~"

The snark was so sharp it made even Aunt Zhong, who’d just walked in, pause mid-step.

Bao Yiming silently thought:

Max out Big Daddy’s credit card?

That’s even tougher than the challenges the show throws at us!

-

The two hardly ever went shopping together, so Uncle Xu specially arranged for a family assistant to accompany them, along with security, the mall manager, and brand associates to escort them the whole way.

From home goods to children’s wear, all the way through the clothing section, Wen Cishu grabbed whatever he liked.

He specifically instructed the manager to ring up each item separately—charging them one by one instead of all at once.

The manager naturally had no objections, though he couldn’t help imagining how overwhelming the cardholder’s notifications would be today. Enough to make him lose it.

But Wen Cishu didn’t find joy in shopping. Exhausted, he collapsed onto a boutique’s sofa to rest.

Bao Yiming nibbled on a pastry, totally baffled.

—He just wanted to buy one gift for Brother Xingxing! Just one!

Now, the bodyguard vehicles accompanying them had their trunks packed with shopping bags, and a large portion still needed to be shipped to the estate by the mall’s delivery service.

Wen Cishu leafed through the lookbook handed to him by the consultant. It featured a variety of men’s shirts in loud colors—every shade of the rainbow—each more flamboyant than the last, making him frown deeper with every page.

Finally, a pristine white shirt appeared before his eyes—a visual palate cleanser.

A simple business-style piece, ideal for a refined man.

But Bao Tingyuan didn’t wear white shirts.

Then again, he could always wear it himself.

"One in black, one in white."

"Of course," the associate said, waving someone over to wrap them.

Seated across from him, Bao Yiming, mid-bite into his dessert, quickly tapped a message on his watch.

"Big Daddy! Little Daddy picked out two shirts for you~"

Big Daddy, the evil dragon knight who tormented pea-princess Little Daddy: "Got it."

"Don’t forget about dinner."

"Goooot iiiit~"

Bao Yiming grumbled to himself—Big Daddy was clearly thrilled on the inside, yet he always acted all cool.

"Hm? Yi Ming, what was that?"

Wen Cishu picked up the teacup and took a sip. It was jasmine tea, but not as fragrant and rich as the two boxes he had received from Yiming’s grandfather last time, so he immediately put it down.

“Hey, Dad,” Bo Yiming shook his head slightly, “Let’s go out for dinner tonight? I feel like having escargot.”

Wen Cishu glanced at him sideways—seems like this little monkey’s French genes were acting up again.

“Alright then, let’s have French cuisine.”

Bo Yiming scooted over and sat next to his father, leaning against him. “Dad, should we also invite Big Dad? It might seem awkward if just the two of us go, right?”

Wen Cishu suddenly recalled what Bo Tingyuan had said that morning and wondered whether he would actually follow through.

“Then you’d better ask Big Dad first whether he’s available. What if he isn’t free tonight? Right?”

“Yeah! You’re right.” Bo Yiming nodded repeatedly, quickly taking off his watch to make a call and then handing it to his Xiao Baba (little dad). “Dad, you invite him~ I’m going to check those clothes over there!”

With that, he jumped up and ran toward the children's clothing section.

Wen Cishu: “….”

“Hello? Yiming?”

The voice on the phone was Bo Tingyuan’s usual calm and distant tone.

“No, it’s me.” Wen Cishu replied softly. “Yiming wants to invite you to join us for some hometown cuisine.”

From the other end of the line came Bo Tingyuan’s deep chuckle, adding a unique sense of mature charm to his already sensual voice.

Wen Cishu was momentarily taken aback.

He couldn’t recall ever hearing him laugh like that before. He wondered how enchanting this man would be if he smiled in person…

A moment later, Bo Tingyuan suppressed his amusement and returned to his usual composed seriousness. “Okay, I’ll make the arrangements. Tonight, we’ll have dishes from our hometown.”

Hearing that serious tone, Wen Cishu couldn’t help but feel slightly amused.

In a childish way, he retorted, “It’s *your* hometown, not mine.”

After a brief pause, he hurriedly added, “And whatever I said in my dreams doesn't count—you can’t take it seriously.”

Receiving no reply, he lowered his voice and asked again, “Did you hear that? Promise me quickly.”

Bo Tingyuan: “Mm, I promise you.”

Only then did Wen Cishu finally feel reassured.

After hanging up the phone, he suddenly realized—

Hmm? Shouldn’t he have made that promise to me in French just now?