Chapter 298: Was It You, Kid? |
The room was quiet.
The two of them were tightly embraced. As time passed, An Yuanyao gradually began to relax. Maybe their position wasn’t very comfortable, so she shifted slightly.
Liu Changqing gently stroked her head with his hand while his mind wandered to the matter of buying a house. Although he had brought it up with An Yuanyao last time…
“Honey…”
“Mm? What’s up?”
Hearing An Yuanyao’s voice, Liu Changqing responded. Then An Yuanyao, who had been resting against his chest, slowly sat up.
Her face was tinged with shyness, like she had something to say but was too embarrassed to say it out loud.
She seemed a little bashful…
It took a while before she finally spoke slowly.
“!!!”
Liu Changqing was stunned.
He stared at An Yuanyao, who had just said those words. Their eyes locked, and his heart started racing. Instinctively, he glanced back at the tightly closed bedroom door where the kids were sleeping.
He turned his head back, looked at her… took a few deep breaths, then said,
His tone a little louder than usual—
“That’s not really appropriate… You’re still pregnant…”
Hearing that, An Yuanyao froze, mouth slightly open, a look of pure confusion on her face.
“What’s wrong with being pregnant? I’m still—”
“Ms. An, have some self-respect! The doctor clearly said nothing like that in the first three months!”
“……”
Those words landed in An Yuanyao’s ears. She thought about it for a moment and then… her lips parted slightly in realization.
Only now did she realize—what Liu Changqing thought and what she actually meant weren’t the same thing at all.
Snapping out of it, she gave Liu Changqing a light shove on the shoulder and spoke faster than usual.
“What are you even thinking! I meant… why don’t we grab a late-night snack!”
“A… a snack?”
“Yeah, I didn’t eat much at dinner… I’m kinda hungry now…”
“……”
Looking at An Yuanyao’s dead-serious face, Liu Changqing suddenly felt a bit disappointed for some reason…
The next morning.
Because they had gotten back too late last night, Liu Changqing didn’t go jogging with his son. It wasn’t until Liu Zhiyue returned from his run, breakfast in hand, that Liu Changqing finally woke up properly.
As Liu Zhiyue came in from his run, breakfast in hand, Liu Changqing had just stepped out of the room and gently pulled the door shut behind him.
He squinted his eyes hard to wake himself up and gave a reminder:
“When you walk Zhou Shiyan home at night, be careful. There’s some creep hanging around that area…”
After saying that, Liu Changqing turned toward the bathroom to wash his face.
Hearing his dad say that, Liu Zhiyue paused, then walked over to the dining table with the breakfast, asking as he went:
“What kind of creep?”
“Not sure exactly… just that he’s quick and clean with his attacks, and he likes to hit people on the head with bricks.”
“Bricks?”
That keyword caught Liu Zhiyue’s attention. After placing the breakfast on the table, he immediately turned around and strode toward the bathroom.
He stopped at the doorway and asked, watching his dad squeeze toothpaste:
“Dad, where’d you hear that?”
“A friend of mine. He got smacked with two bricks last night…”
As he spoke, Liu Changqing began brushing his teeth, looking at himself in the mirror, brushing up and down with his right hand.
Brush, brush—
Wait a second!
His brushing suddenly came to a halt.
Liu Changqing looked like he had just remembered something. After a brief daze, he turned his head toward the doorway and stared at his son, whose expression was looking a little off.
His eyes scanned the boy—
Tall frame… athletic gear…
Noticing the way his father was eyeing him, Liu Zhiyue, who had been keeping his head down, looked up and met his father’s gaze.
“Dad…”
“What did you do last night?”
White foam flew from Liu Changqing’s mouth as he spoke. Realizing that, he immediately stepped back to avoid spitting on his son.
He lifted the water cup, rinsed twice, spit it all out, then stuck the toothbrush back in the cup. Turning back to his son, his eyes narrowed as he lowered his voice:
“You came back later than usual last night…”
Hearing his dad say that, Liu Zhiyue clearly caught on. His face flushed with guilt.
“Dad… your friend, is he badly hurt?”
“It was you?!”
That one line was all Liu Changqing needed to confirm it—his own son was the one who whacked Chen Dafu in the head last night.
Seeing how his father reacted, Liu Zhiyue knew he was in trouble. He lowered his head apologetically and admitted,
“I thought he was being super sneaky… figured it was the guy who ambushed me last time. I just… couldn’t help myself…”
“Super sneaky?”
Liu Changqing recalled what Chen Dafu had said last night. The pieces came together in his mind.
According to Chen Dafu’s account, he was hiding downstairs at the girl’s place he liked, hoping to surprise her—only to be mistaken for a creep and whacked by his own son…
Thinking of this, Liu Changqing raised a hand and smacked his own forehead with a loud slap, looking like his world was falling apart.
Seeing his dad like that, Liu Zhiyue realized how serious it was and quickly asked,
“Did I mess up bad…”
“More or less…”
Looking at his worried son, Liu Changqing hesitated for a moment but gave him a somewhat comforting answer. Then he forced himself to sound casual.
“It’s actually not that serious. I already took him to the hospital last night. He… just got a bit of a head wound, nothing major.”
“A bit of a wound? That doesn’t sound right… I remember hitting him pretty hard…”
“The doctor said he’s tough. Don’t ask about it anymore. Go shower, eat your breakfast, then get to school. Don’t worry about this.”
“……”
Watching his son walk away, Liu Changqing stood at the sink for a while. He rinsed the toothbrush, reapplied toothpaste, and quietly resumed brushing.
In his head, though, he was deep in thought—
He had called the police last night. If they traced it back to his son…
Sure, there’s that old saying: Even the emperor must face justice like commoners…
But also—even a tiger won’t eat its cubs.
Liu Changqing was conflicted.
On one side was Chen Dafu, who had helped him when times were tough. On the other, his own son…
After thinking it over, Liu Changqing came to a decision.
He finished brushing quickly, washed his face, wiped it dry with a towel, then strode out of the bathroom.
He walked straight up to his son and asked,
“Did you pick up a jade pendant last night?”
“Yeah, I found one…”
“Good. That’s all I needed to know.”
Hearing that, Liu Changqing felt a bit more at ease.
Even if it wasn’t entirely honest, well…
Sorry, Dafu.
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