Chapter 97

Chapter 97

For two days straight, Bo Yiming had been sleeping in the same bed as both his dads.

The next morning, when Wen Cishu woke up, he saw the child sitting beside him, legs crossed, quietly studying him.

Bo Tingyuan had left for the company early that day and was already gone.

"Yiming?"

Wen Cishu looked up. "What are you looking at?"

Bo Yiming's gaze traveled upward from the collar of his shirt. "Little Dad, how come you’ve been wearing Big Dad’s pajamas the last couple days?"

Now that he remembered, it seemed Wen Cishu had been wearing them since the day they returned from the farm. But at the time, he’d been too worried about Little Dad being sick to notice immediately.

Wen Cishu buried his face in the blanket.

He had thought only he and Bo Tingyuan knew about this!

Between pretending not to know and explaining properly, he chose the former.

"Really? Maybe I picked the wrong one. We share a closet now, so mix-ups happen."

As soon as he said it, the kid tugged at his oversized sleeve.

Bo Yiming: "Little Dad, Big Dad's pajamas are so much bigger on you."

Wen Cishu slowly closed his eyes: Let me think how to spin this.

"How about you call Big Dad and ask him?"

Right away, Bo Yiming actually made the call.

When Bo Tingyuan's voice came through, Wen Cishu gave the kid a look.

—Definitely his own flesh and blood, doing whatever he wants.

Still, he was immediately curious about how the CEO, busy at work, would answer such a question.

Bo Yiming called out, "Big Dad," and cut to the chase.

The person on the other end of the line went quiet for a moment.

Wen Cishu held back a laugh.

Being a parent was really hard—having to deal with a child's questions first thing in the morning.

Just as he thought Bo Tingyuan would brush it off, his watch chimed with Bo Tingyuan’s deep, steady voice explaining clearly, word by word.

"Yiming, it’s like how you love when the stars play with your special tennis ball. When your little dad wears my clothes, it makes me happy too."

His tone was calm, and the analogy was fitting, making it all sound totally normal.

Wen Cishu and the suddenly wide-eyed little monkey met his gaze.

Bo Yiming tilted his head. "Little Dad, so when you wear Big Dad's clothes, does it make you happy too?"

Wen Cishu thought to himself: This kid, up early and full of questions!

He glanced at his watch, "Hmm, just like your father."

"Okay~" Bao Yiming shrugged, "Guess I'm the only one who found that strange."

The call ended quickly.

Wen Cishu urged the little one to go wash up and prepared to get up himself.

The phone on the nightstand vibrated.

He grabbed it without thinking—it was a WeChat message from Bao Tingyuan.

"That's not what you said yesterday."

Back then, when Bao Tingyuan handed Wen Cishu the pajamas, he had casually complained that the clothes were too big.

Wen Cishu typed quickly, face blank, "Why must you remember every little thing?"

—Not even any kisses!

Three days and still nothing!

Wen Cishu suspected Bao Tingyuan had started taking his medication again.

But the guy was being stubborn—completely unmanageable.

Sitting sideways with a frown, he received a call.

Zhu Wei.

Wen Cishu cleared his throat, modulating his voice, hoping she wouldn't notice he'd just woken.

"Wei?"

Zhu Wei first asked how he was feeling before explaining the reason for her call.

It was about the studio stake she'd promised him earlier, which required Wen Cishu to sign a few agreements.

"If you're busy, I can send a lawyer over."

"No problem."

Wen Cishu was bored at home and was feeling better. "I'll go with the lawyer. How's Rong Rong?"

"If you're coming, I'll bring Rong Rong. Let's have a meal together."

Zhu Wei’s voice bubbled with laughter.

Wen Cishu could almost see her beaming through her cheerful tone.

"Sure, I'll bring Yi Ming along."

Caught up in their enthusiasm, they settled on meeting that afternoon.

Wen Cishu told the kid their plans.

"Yay! Rong Rong!" Bao Yiming launched himself onto the bed.

The impact of his 110-pound frame made quite the impact, almost sending Wen Cishu flying.

He ruffled the little one's hair and asked gently, "Yi Ming, you haven't mentioned wanting to enter the entertainment industry as an idol lately. What are your thoughts? Wanna tell me about it?"

Bao Yiming plopped down onto his Papa's lap, gazed up at him, and shook his head obediently. "Papa, I think I should do something that gives me more freedom."

"Hmm?"

Wen Cishu didn’t quite grasp his meaning. "Can you explain it a bit more clearly for me?"

Bao Yiming hugged his Papa's arm, closed his eyes, and slowly explained, "If I go into the entertainment industry or do other things, I won’t have any freedom. I won’t be able to come to you whenever I want."

Wen Cishu looked at the child's face with slight surprise.

"I want to be like Big Dad—able to do whatever I want. Oh! No—" He opened his eyes and smiled, his eyes shining with childish sincerity. "Big Dad still has to go to the company. I want to stay at home. Papa, I’ll stay with you every day. Okay?"

"Of course, that’s fine."

Wen Cishu scooped him up in a hug, saying seriously, "But Papa doesn’t want to be the one influencing your decisions. I want to be your support instead."

Bao Yiming cocked his head adorably. "Then, Papa, can I take a break from school soon?"

Wen Cishu: "!!!"

At noon, Wen Cishu and his son headed out for their lunch date.

-

Bao Yiming carefully picked out father-son matching outfits and enthusiastically sent photos to his big dad.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Rong Rong was wearing a blue gradient tulle dress, looking like a little princess.

She came skipping over.

Wen Cishu bent down to hug the adorable little girl. "Rong Rong, you look so pretty today."

Rong Rong shyly tugged at her uncle’s clothes and greeted them both politely.

Bao Yiming pointed his watch at Rong Rong. "Rong Rong, smile for the camera! I’ll take your picture."

Rong Rong giggled, ducking behind her uncle, her eyes curving like two crescent moons.

While they chatted and ate, their respective lawyers hashed out the details of the investment agreement.

Wen Cishu had hired a middle-aged female lawyer, surnamed He.

When the discussion was nearly done, she pulled Wen Cishu aside for a word.

Noticing her hesitation, Wen Cishu asked, "Attorney He, is there a problem?"

Attorney He pointed out several clauses in the agreement. "Mr. Wen, these terms heavily favor you. Even if Ms. Zhu’s studio encounters issues later, you're completely insulated. If I may ask—what is your relationship with Ms. Zhu?"

Wen Cishu understood. "Ms. Zhu faced some difficulties before, and I happened to be able to help."

Attorney He nodded, accepting the explanation.

"Attorney He, based on this agreement—"

Attorney He continued, "According to the agreement, Mr. Wen, your only obligation is collecting annual dividends. Covering Ms. Zhu’s concert earnings and song royalties. In other words, regardless of the studio's performance, as long as the songs generate profit elsewhere, dividends will still accrue to you."

Wen Cishu frowned—this seemed excessively favorable.

When he tried to renegotiate with Zhu Wei, she insisted, "I've already made up my mind. This is all I can give. Without you, I’d have had a hard time reclaiming the copyright."

She said with a laugh, "Don’t think my songs make much money—they really don’t. It’s just a small gesture."

Seeing her unwavering attitude each time, Wen Cishu stopped declining and signed the agreements.

Zhu Wei studied his signature like she’d found something surprising. "So today’s the day you show your real self."

Wen Cishu capped his fountain pen, smiling. "Wei-jie, just call me Cishu from now on."

"Alright." Zhu Wei extended her hand solemnly. "Then let’s start over—Cishu."

Wen Cishu shook her hand with equal gravity, smiling. "It’s a pleasure to be friends with you, Sister Wei."

Zhu Wei gazed at his unbelievably good-looking face, which never failed to impress no matter how many times she saw it, and smiled without a word. She thought: *I’m the lucky one here.*

Since Zhu Wei had posted pics of the two kids in the variety show group chat, Zhou Xu suggested grabbing dinner again that night, bringing Xiao Qi along.

Chu Han was away filming and had to skip the get-together, unfortunately.

She sent a red packet in the group, sending dinner money to still feel part of it.

The three happily took her up on it.

However, when Wen Cishu called Bao Tingyuan, he could tell Bao Tingyuan sounded a little surprised.

"What time will you be home?"

Wen Cishu couldn’t say for sure. "After dinner, maybe around seven."

There was a brief silence on the other end before Bao Tingyuan replied slowly, "I ordered a bed."

"Huh?"

The totally random comment threw Wen Cishu for a loop.

"Didn’t you say my bed was uncomfortable to sleep in?"

Bao Tingyuan spoke unhurriedly. "After all these years, it’s about time."

*Wasn’t that just something I said out of spite because you wouldn’t let me kiss you?* Wen Cishu thought to himself.

"What kind of bed did you get?"

"A smart electric one."

Bao Tingyuan’s tone was indifferent. "Come home early and test it out?"

Wen Cishu paused—

*Was he hinting at something else?*

Perhaps because Bao Tingyuan wasn’t in front of him, Wen Cishu blurted out, "You don’t even let me kiss you. What’s there to try?"

Bao Tingyuan countered, "Weren’t you the one always fussing over my health?"

Wen Cishu: "..."

*Should we really be talking about this on the phone?*

He muttered, lowering his voice, "Bo Tingyuan, you're really—shameless! I'm hanging up now. Bye!"

After ending the call, he thought about it and realized he had also spoken those shameless words without any sense of shame.

Three seconds later, Wen Cishu quickly forgave himself and laid into Bo Tingyuan with harsh criticism.

But as for the smart adjustable bed...

It did sound pretty interesting.

Wen Cishu opened the chat and sent a message: "Do you have a photo of the bed? Send it to me?"

Bo Tingyuan: "No."

Wen Cishu: "...Definitely on purpose!"

"Then I'll contact Uncle Xu."

Bo Tingyuan: "Nope."

Wen Cishu: Why isn't he trying to stop me?

"I'm really contacting Uncle Xu, and Aunt Zhong too."

Bo Tingyuan: "Want me to pass that along?"

Wen Cishu frowned at his phone.

Why did it feel like he was being completely played?

At that moment, a new message lit up his screen.

Bo Tingyuan: "I'm waiting for you and Yiming at home. Come back early."

That single sentence instantly brought Bo Tingyuan's face to Wen Cishu's mind, as if whispered in his ear.

He dropped the teasing and typed seriously.

"Got it. Miss you too."

A screenshot popped up in the chat.

It was Wen Cishu's profile picture with the words "Yeah yeah" beside it.

Wen Cishu couldn't resist teasing, "You actually kept that screenshot?"

But it made him feel all warm inside.