Chapter 93 Want to Be Xiao Zai’s Husband

Chapter 93: Wanting to Be Xiao Zai’s Husband

Shi Zai smiled as the vehicle came to a stop. Shu Yangkuo was looking down at him intently. He lifted his hand, hooked it around the man’s neck, and sat up:

“Brother, sneak a kiss from me.”

“…”

Not understanding why he used the word “sneak,” Shu Yangkuo pressed the back of Shi Zai’s head against his chest and kissed the tip of his wife’s ear.

Shi Zai chuckled softly, then relaxed after a moment:

“Your little mermaid’s been kissed awake!”

“…”

Wishing he had kissed his lips instead, Shu Yangkuo recalled something, his ears slightly reddening. Just as he leaned in for another kiss, the person in his arms spoke again:

“Brother, it feels like I grew up overnight. When I was little, I often thought like this—I’d tell myself before bed, ‘Hang in there, tomorrow morning will definitely be better,’ and then I’d spend night after night in dreams I made up for myself… fantasizing that every tomorrow I opened my eyes, there would be an embrace waiting… Dreams, fantasies… I finally waited for you, Brother… That morning, I wasn’t scared at all—well, maybe a little. I was afraid it was all a pipe dream, afraid the embrace wasn’t real. So my tears were both from joy and panic, and I also wanted… to keep you here, mmm—”

Before he could finish, Shi Zai was lifted out of the truck bed. He only had time to glance at the two little ones—both had turned over, smacking their lips before falling back asleep. Turning his face, he found himself nestled into the broad embrace, then his face was lifted, and his lips were kissed firmly.

Content, Shi Zai threw his head back and laughed for a while.

Shu Yangkuo kissed his beloved’s large eyes again and again:

“I don’t know how old Xiao Zai was in his dream, so I didn’t dare…”

“Hahaha! Your moral compass is too strong!”

“…”

“By the way—”

Mid-sentence, Shi Zai stopped laughing, hummed softly, and reached up to pinch the man’s slightly reddened ear:

“Brother, why didn’t you show up earlier?”

“…”

“Making me search from age five to twelve, then to nineteen… No, Brother, don’t…”

As he spoke, Shi Zai felt Shu Yangkuo lean back against the railing. He shifted slightly upward to let the man bury his face more comfortably in his shoulder. Ah, Shi Zai’s past was a topic best avoided—every time it was mentioned, Shu Yangkuo would feel upset, even though they had long since resolved their emotional baggage and rewritten that history.

The fragments in his dreams included Wang Wang, Zhaozhao, and Shu Yangkuo, who was always nearby… Perhaps the four of them were in the same dream, or perhaps it was just Shi Zai’s imagination. It didn’t matter. The past Shi Zai had relied on such fantasies to get by. In a way, his ability to grow up resilient and optimistic was because, fatefully, they had silently told him—

Grow up safe and sound. One day, when you wake up, there will be an embrace, there will be kisses, there will be love.

And now he had it all. From that spring when he was nineteen until today, Shi Zai had never spent a day without love, never a day without being in Shu Yangkuo’s arms.

Whether the pottery figurine had truly appeared when he was five no longer mattered. What mattered was that, in those small fragments that kept him going, there was Shi Zai’s persistence and relentless pursuit of the world, there were people who loved him waiting for him in the future, and there were beautiful stories that quietly rewrote his originally bleak fate in his fantasies. What a glorious destiny, what a beautiful world of ours.

After composing himself, Shu Yangkuo straightened up, leaning back slightly so the person in his arms could look into his eyes:

“I couldn’t show up earlier.”

“…Why not?”

This was a question neither of them could answer—fate had destined it so. But Shi Zai wanted to hear what Shu Yangkuo would say:

“Because—Brother wanted to be Xiao Zai’s husband, not his father.”

“…Hahahahaha!”

Shi Zai threw his head back and laughed heartily. In his peripheral vision, he saw that although the man was embarrassed by his own words, he was still looking at him seriously.

After stopping his laughter, Shi Zai lifted his face and kissed Shu Yangkuo’s chin. He really knew how to cheer him up. Yeah, if he had met this person when he was five, tsk, he really could have called him “Dad.” No, no, he wanted a husband, hehe.

Thinking back, although his childhood was tough, he had encountered good people too. Like the auntie in the west end of the village. When others were around, she would pretend not to see him to avoid gossip, but when no one was looking, if Shi Zai went to her for food or work, she would always give him something. After Shi Zai left for migrant work, he sent her money for two consecutive years. When he was fourteen, the auntie fell seriously ill. When he returned to the village during the New Year to visit, she was already on her deathbed, lying critically ill on a small bed in a side room. Shi Zai avoided others and stayed by her bedside day and night for three days, tending to her devotedly. Just before she passed, she suddenly seemed a bit better, asking for steamed buns and water. After eating, she held him and said, “I only regret that you weren’t born to me. If you were, I’d risk my life to tear those gossipers' mouths shut.” At the time, Shi Zai didn’t understand what she meant. Later, he learned that he was what people called a “heaven's curse.” The auntie also told him, “In the next life, if we have one, I’ll be Zaizai’s mother.” Shi Zai cried until his vision blurred, nodding repeatedly. Later, he kept vigil at her graveside for seven full nights before setting out for migrant work again.

And then there was the old lady whose whereabouts were unknown. Shi Zai’s memories of her were hazy—had she even existed? He chose to believe she had, just like every other “savior” he had fantasized about as a child. With these real and imagined kind people, he felt loved and helped to grow up well.

…

Because he believed, he hoped they would appear.

Lost in thought, he felt a tickling sensation in his palm. Looking down, he saw Shu Yangkuo writing slowly in his hand. Shi Zai smiled:

“Yeah, I’ve always been the little sun that never goes out!”

“Now you’re the big sun.”

“Hehe, then what are you, Brother?”

“The moon reflecting your light.”

“…”

Shi Zai paused for a moment before understanding. He buried his face and nuzzled for a long time. Light—once they embraced, they both had light.

Suddenly, he heard the man whisper in his ear, “Xiao Zai, don’t… kneel anymore.” The word “kneel” was mumbled vaguely. Shi Zai lifted his face, blinking. Oh—this was because he had mentioned kneeling to beg for scraps. Shi Zai immediately laughed:

“Brother really is a sensitive chicken…”

“That’s a different matter.”

“Hahaha, I’m talking about a different matter too—sensitive chicken, I just love eating sensitive chicken, is that not allowed?”

“…”

After pondering for a few seconds, Shu Yangkuo couldn’t help but pinch his own burning ear. There was no way to have a proper conversation with his wife.

Shi Zai laughed heartily and was about to spout more nonsense, saying “this ‘eat’ isn’t that kind of ‘eat,’” but before he could finish, the man silenced him with kisses. When he caught his breath, he glanced at the two little ones in the vehicle—still asleep, cool in the shade—and decided to chat with Shu Yangkuo a bit longer:

“Brother, if I hadn’t found the pottery figurine, would we still have met?”

“Definitely.”

“Then where would it have been?”

After asking, Shi Zai also fell into thought. Just as he was imagining other possibilities, two people approached. One of them called out to him from behind. Shi Zai turned around and immediately smiled—it was Su Ao, a friend of Jiang Ziqing. When Jiang Ziqing first entered the entertainment industry, the manager had suggested that Shi Zai debut with him as a duo, but Shi Zai refused. Later, Jiang Ziqing formed a duo with Su Ao, though they went their separate ways after just six months.

Su Ao was the same age as him, twenty-six this year, with a mild-mannered personality, like a molten lava rice ball. What he was like in private… well, that was unclear.

The person next to him, about as tall as Shu Yangkuo, was Su Ao’s partner, Nie Yichong. According to Jiang Ziqing, the reason their duo disbanded was because of Nie Yichong—one day, while Su Ao was practicing dance with the other trainees, this tall man showed up and said, “My prince, are you abandoning me and our child?” Everyone froze on the spot, then burst into laughter.

…Prince?? Which drama is he from?

Finally, everyone covered their mouths, snickering while eating melons.

The man looked tall and fierce, but his words were full of melancholy, and he carried the look of a dumped husband. After rambling nonsense, he even cradled his prominently bulging pregnant belly and shed tears... Everyone tut-tutted, turning their gaze to the company's cutest trainee, Su Ao. How could a little Teacup Poodle not only get a Tibetan Mastiff pregnant but also abandon him, making the Mastiff cry so pathetically???

Incredible, absolutely incredible!!

Later on, Su Ao quit being an idol and took a different path, so no one knew what happened between them afterward.

But Shi Zai, through Jiang Ziqing, knew their follow-up story. Even without hearing the gossip from that big mouth, he could tell now—he never expected to run into them here, still looking happy and sweet. The child they were holding was two years older than their Wang Wang, handsome in his own way.

After chatting for a bit, they each went back to their own happiness.

Shi Zai looked away and suddenly burst into laughter, hanging onto Shu Yangkuo again, picking up their earlier conversation—if they were to meet again, where would it be, and under what circumstances? Inspired by Su Ao and Nie Yichong’s encounter, Shi Zai rambled nonsense: "Bro, what if you were a pregnant terracotta warrior? After waking up, I’d be jealous of whoever got you pregnant while taking care of you, only to find out years later that it was actually our child! In fact, we were together in our past life—after I got pregnant, you continued incubating the child for me..." Before he could finish, Shi Zai got a light swat on the rear. He hissed, then laughed loudly again.

Shu Yangkuo helplessly, gently rubbed the spot for the person in his arms. What kind of nonsense was this?

If they were already together in their past life and had a child, why would they have to suffer the pain of separation and reunion? In every lifetime, he wanted them whole—he didn’t like hearing these bizarre hypotheticals. What kind of messy people had his wife known before?

Seeing the grumpy guy looking displeased and even lowering his eyes, Shi Zai quickly kissed and coaxed him:

"Alright, alright, I won’t make wild assumptions anymore. We only have that one way of meeting, okay?"

"Mm, it should be that way."

Hearing this, Shi Zai let out a long "oh," blinked, and said:

"Every couple has their own story of how they met. As for us, ours is naturally the most special—compared to others, meeting in bed beats all... hahahahaha!"

"..."

His wife had trapped him again, Shu Yangkuo stayed silent. A perfectly good thing had to be made so indecent—he had no response.

Seeing the man embarrassed again, Shi Zai couldn’t help laughing a while longer before just managing to stop:

"Bro, guess what my first impression of you was?"

"..."

How was he supposed to boast about himself? Shu Yangkuo's eyelids flickered, shook his head, and said nothing.

Shi Zai held back laughter and said, "I see you, this old fossil, in two ways: fierce in bed, stingy and shy out of bed; fierce downstairs, stingy and shy above the waist—mmph!" After struggling for a moment, Shi Zai’s mouth was freed. Seeing the man’s flushed ears and neck, he laughed uncontrollably.

So hilarious, hahahaha! After all these years, the man was still like this—but also consistent, just like his love for him.

In the blink of an eye, the two little ones had woken up at some point and were playing rock-paper-scissors in the truck bed. Wang Wang knew how, but Zhaozhao didn’t—one teaching, the other adorably cluelessly following along... Their four little hands moved like seagulls now dancing, now pausing, adorably clueless.

They started moving again—toward the distant mountains, toward the other side of the sea, toward a harbor full of love, toward this brilliantly beautiful world.

This time, the two of them pedaled together. Though their heights differed greatly, they stood side by side, hand in hand. Though their personalities were completely different, their love was deep and enduring. One listened quietly, the other laughed joyfully—life, in such moments of tranquility and passion, moved onward toward tomorrow after tomorrow.

In the whistling wind, one laughed and teased, "Bro, were you already thinking about it from the very beginning?"... Thinking about what? The other, with a faint expression, nonetheless raised his eyebrows almost imperceptibly, facing the light—and admitted with a soft laugh, "Mm."

—Wanted to be Xiao Zai’s husband.

—Had thought about it from the very start.