Chapter 40 You Ripped It Off!

Chapter 40 You Ripped It Off!

Wen Yuchen's words exploded in Lu Chenghe's ears like a thunderclap, leaving him utterly bewildered.

By the time he recovered, Wen Yuchen had already vanished from the staircase.

Lu Chenghe dashed upstairs, taking the steps two at a time, and his first action was to call Yuan Hui.

Yuan Hui had just finished handling some documents, his voice still tinged with fatigue: "What is it, President Lu?"

Lu Chenghe settled onto the sofa: "Xiao Li seems to know about our past relationship."

Yuan Hui's voice held a hint of surprise: "Mr. Wen remembered?"

"No," Lu Chenghe replied, disappointed.

"Then how did he find out?" Yuan Hui asked.

Lu Chenghe sighed: "I don't know. Someone must have told him something."

The boss's low spirits might impact his own salary.

Yuan Hui offered comfort: "This might not actually be a bad thing."

He completely missed the point.

Lu Chenghe sighed again: "It was pointless to ask you. At your age, how about I double your salary so you can find someone?"

He hung up immediately after.

Yuan Hui: …What did eligible single men ever do to you?

Lu Chenghe slumped dejectedly into the cushions, feeling anxious yet hopeful as he awaited Wen Yuchen's arrival.

He didn't have to wait long before the doorbell rang.

Peeking through the peephole, he saw it was indeed Wen Yuchen.

Lu Chenghe quickly opened the door to find Wen Yuchen holding Zheng Zheng's hand with his left and a bowl in his right.

Wen Yuchen gestured with his head: "Go to my living room and bring over Zheng Zheng’s little chair!"

Lu Chenghe hurried out: "Okay, I'll be right back."

Zheng Zheng’s little chair was easy to find, and Lu Chenghe returned in less than half a minute.

Zheng Zheng was bent over the coffee table, his little bottom wiggling, scooping food with a spoon.

Seeing his little chair, he smiled sweetly: "Thank you, Fufu."

Tonight’s dinner was Zheng Zheng’s own choice—small shrimp wontons. Seven or eight translucent wontons were clustered in Zheng Zheng’s pretty little bowl.

Zheng Zheng didn’t need any supervision while eating. He sat in his little chair, ate with a spoon, and even knew to take a sip of soup when thirsty.

Seeing that Zheng Zheng was eating well, Wen Yuchen felt relieved.

Lu Chenghe, meanwhile, sat quietly like a little quail on the edge of the sofa, stealing occasional glances at Zheng Zheng and Zheng Zheng’s dad.

Wen Yuchen shot him a sidelong glance and got straight to the point: "Are you Zheng Zheng’s other father?"

Lu Chenghe’s heart leaped into his throat, and he answered truthfully: "Yes."

Wen Yuchen asked: "Why did we divorce? Did you start a new family?"

Lu Chenghe said dejectedly: "I didn’t start a new family! We divorced because of me—I was young and impulsive back then, acted without thinking, and couldn’t protect the two of you.

You said that to keep Zheng Zheng safe, it would be better for us to separate temporarily, so we divorced."

After speaking, he even pulled out the divorce certificate from under the sofa and showed it to Wen Yuchen.

Wen Yuchen frowned and shook his head: "I don’t remember any of this."

Lu Chenghe, switching from dejection to resentment, said: "Of course you don’t remember—you forgot all about us."

His tone was like that of a resentful spouse.

Wen Yuchen glared at him: "So you’re blaming me?"

Lu Chenghe quickly shook his head: "No, no."

"Then why are you showing up around us now? To fight for custody of Zheng Zheng?" By the last sentence, Wen Yuchen was clearly on guard.

Lu Chenghe said urgently: "No, I’m not here to fight for custody. I’m… I’m…"

"Tch, stop hesitating. Spit it out."

Lu Chenghe spoke awkwardly and shyly: "I… I want to win you back and remarry you."

Seeing his expression, Wen Yuchen rolled his eyes inwardly.

Lu Chenghe’s attitude toward Zheng Zheng didn’t seem neglectful.

But if he cared about Zheng Zheng, why didn’t he take custody and raise him after he was born?

Thinking of this, Wen Yuchen got angry and demanded: "Then why didn’t you take Zheng Zheng away to care for him when I was being dragged online?"

"You weren’t the one being dragged online—that person wasn’t you!" Lu Chenghe retorted bluntly.

Hearing this, Wen Yuchen immediately looked up and met Lu Chenghe’s eyes.

Lu Chenghe lowered his gaze and said: "We divorced before Zheng Zheng was born.

I was only involved for a short time during your pregnancy and didn’t have time to leave my scent.

So as soon as Zheng Zheng was born, he was only familiar with you and refused to get close to me. He would cry whenever I approached.

During that time, I often secretly went to see you, hoping to help care for Zheng Zheng, but he wouldn’t even let me feed him.

Only when you held him would he stop crying and allow me to touch him.

When Zheng Zheng was ten months old, you disappeared without a trace. That person was identical to you—Zheng Zheng would let him hold him but refused me.

That person treated Zheng Zheng poorly. I secretly took Zheng Zheng away, but he cried and cried nonstop.

I kept him for a week and hired a professional nanny to care for him. He had a fever three times and vomited whenever he drank milk. I got scared and returned Zheng Zheng to that person.

I gave him a lot of money, but he refused to take good care of Zheng Zheng. When I went to confront him, he had moved away with Zheng Zheng!

Luckily, a year later, you came back. I also found you through the opening of the Kids' Variety Show."

After Lu Chenghe finished speaking, he lowered his head, waiting for Wen Yuchen to respond.

Wen Yuchen felt a twinge of sadness and wasn’t sure how to start.

Although he had no memory of the past events Lu Chenghe described, he had some guesses about his own true situation.

His heart ached for that little child—thank goodness he came back.

Wen Yuchen patted Lu Chenghe on the shoulder.

Both of them were slowly processing these painful memories.

Just then, the slurping sound of little Zheng Zheng drinking soup with a spoon stood out clearly in the quiet living room.

Hearing the noise, Wen Yuchen and Lu Chenghe couldn’t help looking over, their gazes soft.

Zheng Zheng, by now with a round, full belly, said happily, "Dad and Fufu, call me Zheng Zheng. Why do you call me Zheng Zheng?"

Wen Yuchen wiped his little greasy mouth: "Because Zheng Zheng is cute."

Zheng Zheng: "I'm cute."

After saying this, he wriggled his little bottom and snuggled up to Wen Yuchen.

Wen Yuchen still had some questions to ask. To avoid any disruption from the little guy, he picked up the remote and asked Zheng Zheng: "What cartoon does Zheng Zheng want to watch today?"

Lu Chenghe, quick to catch on, promptly turned on the TV for Zheng Zheng.

Zheng Zheng flipped through the options: "Zheng Zheng today, watch Teletubbies."

Wen Yuchen put on Teletubbies, got Zheng Zheng settled into his plush little armchair, and said to Lu Chenghe: "Watch Teletubbies."

Lu Chenghe: "Oh."

Wen Yuchen glanced over; Zheng Zheng was already absorbed in the cartoon.

Lu Chenghe jumped in first: "Xiao Li, what else did you want to ask?"

Hearing this name, Wen Yuchen frowned with displeasure and said with disdain: "What kind of name is that? Change it."

"Only my mom calls me that, and besides, our relationship isn't that good right now!"

"Then what should I call you? Call you Chen Zi along with your fans?" Lu Chenghe muttered.

Wen Yuchen didn’t mind: "That's fine too."

Unexpectedly, Lu Chenghe pouted: "I don't want to."

Wen Yuchen glared at him: "You don't want to? Hey, call me what you want, or not at all!"

Lu Chenghe: ಥ_ಥ

"How did Zheng Zheng come to be?" Wen Yuchen asked the question he cared about most.

Lu Chenghe glanced at his stomach: "Of course, you had him."

Wen Yuchen was speechless and shot back: "Is that what I meant?"

"Oh~" Lu Chenghe caught on, his cheeks slightly flushed, and said: "At the time, I was in my rut, we were both healthy, so, we had sex, and Zheng Zheng happened."

Wow, a one-time thing—getting a male beta pregnant in just one go.

"Why didn't you use protection? Couldn't you afford it?" Wen Yuchen posed the pointed question.

Lu Chenghe cried out in protest: "I wore one, but you pulled it off!"

Wen Yuchen: ...

His cheeks instantly turned bright red; he covered his face and closed his eyes.

How could someone be so bold in their youth!

Lu Chenghe was about to say more.

Wen Yuchen clamped a hand over his mouth: "Alright, quiet down for a bit."

Lu Chenghe: (｡•́︿•̀｡)

Since he and Lu Chenghe hadn't divorced due to relationship issues back then, Wen Yuchen felt that Zheng Zheng should still know about the existence of his other father.

As for Lu Chenghe's proposal of remarriage—

Wen Yuchen directly put on a fierce, snarling expression: His memories hadn't returned yet, so he absolutely would not agree.