CH 6

Just in time, the school bell rang.

Shi Yunnan looked at the little boy who was obediently looking for the teacher to line up for dismissal, “What’s his name?”

“He is called Little Goldfish1 in the family, his given name is Luo Jinyu2.”

“It’s a cute nickname.” Shi Yunnan smiled and asked casually, “The child’s surname is Luo? Where are his paternal grandparents?”

“The patriarch has persuaded the two elder in-laws to bring the little young master over and raise him very early on.”

The Luo family was powerful, and now that Luo Lingsheng was in charge, who wouldn’t want to send their children to a higher place? As for the change of surname, it was also the result of Luo Lingsheng’s initiative to exchange benefits.

Uncle Qin said, “Second young master, you wait here for a while, I will pick up the little young master.”

“Good.”

Shi Yunnan stood there for a while, and saw Uncle Qin leading Little goldfish out.

With a closer look, Luo Jinyu’s face was chubby, and he also carried a little baby fat. He was wearing the little yellow hat configured for the kindergarten, and a few handfuls of fuzzy hair stuck out, making him look very cute and lovely.

“Little young master, come, Grandpa Qin will show you a person.” Uncle Qin looked at Shi Yunnan, and suddenly became a little confused about his address.

Patriarch and second young master Shi were still in a verbal ‘marriage agreement’ for the time being.

Shi Yunnan found this child very interesting, and actively bent over to pinch his baby fat, “Little goldfish, nice to meet you, call me Brother and I’ll buy you sweets.”

“No.” Little Goldfish refused with a stern face, and walked outside with a small school bag on his back.

“……”

Shi Yunnan rarely got defeated by a child. He stood up at a loss, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

The two followed Little goldfish outside together, uncle Qin explained in a low voice, “Second young master Shi, please don’t be offended, Little goldfish grew up next to the patriarch, so his nature is a little more mature than normal children.”

Shi Yunnan didn’t take this matter to heart at all, and snorted, “I think it must be because of Luo Lingsheng, the uncle who carried a stern face all day long. The child followed this example, and has also become a little adult.”

Uncle Qin smiled and didn’t refute.

It was said that nephews were like uncles, and now the little young master was a replica of the patriarch when he was a child.

The car was still parked at the same place.

Walking in the front, Little gold fish pedaled his small short legs, attempting to climb into the car with puff and blow.

Seeing this, Shi Yunnan approached and grabbed him by the collar, “Up you go!”

“……”

Little goldfish, who was suddenly lifted up, was dumbfounded. Luo Lingsheng, who was about to reach out to hold the baby, was also startled for half a second. A trace of helplessness swayed from the bottom of his eyes, “Second young master Shi, how can you carry a child like this?”

He had no idea. He thought it was the same as carrying the little kitten by its scruff.

Shi Yunnan shrugged, “Sorry, no experience, it’s just easier this way.”

Little Goldfish climbed into the child safety seat in the back row, blushing slightly, “Uncle, is he your friend?”

Shi Yunnan smile and raised his eyebrows secretly when he heard the words——

More than a friend?

Next, he would have to play the role of a ‘boyfriend’, or even ‘other half’.

Just as he was about to tease the kid again, he saw Luo Lingsheng turn around and exhorted word by word, “It’s family, he’s going to live with us in the future.”

……family?

When Shi Yunnan heard this long-lost and somewhat unfamiliar term, his smile was suddenly frozen at the corner of his mouth. He lowered his eyes to cover up his expression, and his hand hidden in his trouser pocket was unconsciously squeezed into a ball.

“Why don’t you get in the car?” Luo Lingsheng asked.

Shi Yunnan quickly raised his head, and the corners of his mouth curled up again, “I didn’t expect Mr. Luo to enter the play even faster than me.”

On the first day of acquaintance, they could already be called ‘family’.

Luo Lingsheng was silent, and stared at Shi Yunnan for a while—

The other party just stood beside the car door and smiled at him. Even if it was well hidden, that smile still had a trace of despondency and astonishment that had not yet been retrieved.

Luo Lingsheng removed his eyes, pretending to be unaware, and called his full name for the first time, “Shi Yunnan.”

“En?”

“Get in the car and go home.”

These six words were like a magic spell.

Shi Yunnan couldn’t help laughing, and suddenly felt very sweet.

Occasionally, pie would also fall from the sky. No, he picked up a very eloquent marriage partner.

……

The ‘engagement banquet’ that Luo Ling Sheng had promised at Shi’s house could not be implemented for a simple reason——

Although the two had verbally agreed on a flash marriage, they had not really reached this step. In addition, the time was too hasty, which made it easy to appear ‘fake’ to outsiders.

After going back and forth, the two reached an imperceptible consensus, and temporarily moved this to a later date.

A supper was arranged at home.

Little Goldfish scooped up his own fish custard carelessly, and couldn’t stop glancing at Shi Yunnan.

Shi Yunnan sized up his small eyes for a while, and then broke the silence, “Little goldfish, do you think I’m particularly good-looking? That’s why you like me so much?”

The last five words were bitten hard and slow, with obvious and deliberate intention to tease the child.

“I didn’t.” Little goldfish inexplicably blushed, and hurriedly buried his head in the bowl of fish soup, pretending that nothing had happened.

Shi Yunnan stared at his bulging little baby fat, and tried his best not to laugh. He could understand it——this little goldfish was pretending to be a mature child, but he was just a curious baby inside.

Uncle Qin suddenly expressed concern, “Second young master Shi, is the food not to your liking? I saw that you didn’t move your chopsticks much.”

Shi Yunnan shook his head, “No, my appetite is already small.”

Luo Lingsheng, who was sitting in the main seat, suddenly asked, “Uncle Qin, is there fish soup left in the kitchen?”

Uncle Qin replied, “Yes, the little young master loves to eat fish, so I specially asked the servant to prepare more.”

Luo Lingsheng nodded, “Serve second young master Shi a bowl.”

Shi Yunnan’s eyes lit up subconsciously, but he refused to admit it, “No, the food that children eat, why give it to me?”

Luo Lingsheng looked at him, his eyes hidden under the lens had a hint of amusement, “Really? But I saw you greedily staring at Jinyu’s fish soup.”

“……”

Shi Yunnan had a rare sense of embarrassment at being seen through, and coughed sheepishly.

Uncle Qin smiled knowingly, and turned around to get it ready.

Soon, a bowl of fragrant fish custard was placed in front of Shi Yunnan.

The deboned steamed fish meat was mashed and then stirred into the watery egg mixture to steam for a second time. Finally, it was topped with sesame oil.

As a child, Shi Yunnan loved to eat fish, and often accidentally got the bone stuck in his throat. This dish was the one that mother Shi often made for him.

Later, when his mother died, Shi Yunnan, who had no one to care for him, got stuck a few times while eating fish at the dinner table. Over time, he sealed his favorite dish in his memory.

Shi Yunnan held back his emotions and blew the broken hair on his forehead without rushing to move his chopsticks.

“Eat up, you can’t waste it.” Luo Lingsheng suddenly snapped at his nephew.

Little goldfish quickly picked up his bowl and said to Shi Yunnan, “You can’t waste it either.”

“Who said I was going to waste it? I intend to eat it. ” Shi Yunnan hummed and laughed in response, but the satisfaction that flowed from his eyes was like a little fox who stole the fragrant fish.

The meal was a quiet and extraordinarily harmonious one, and the time passed by in a flash.

At ten o’clock in the evening, Shi Yunnan was lying in a relatively unfamiliar bedroom environment tossing about.

The reverse jet lag hadn’t been adjusted back. Too many things had happened today, and he really didn’t have the leisurely mind to see Duke Zhou3.

Shi Yunnan casually found a coat and put it on, intended to take advantage of the night to go out for a walk and exhaust his energy. As a result, he ran into a figure at the corner just a few steps out of the room——

Luo Jinyu, who should have been sleeping obediently, stood at the door of his bedroom with red eyes, helpless and aggrieved.

A child was always a child. If he pretended to be an adult during the day, he would still show his heart when encountering difficulties.

Shi Yunnan squatted down close to him, “Why are you crying?”

Little Goldfish wiped away his tears, and shook his head without speaking.

Shi Yunnan really had little experience with children, “Why are you crying? I will take you to find uncle? Or to Grandpa Qin?”

“Don’t find uncle, he doesn’t like me crying.” Little goldfish held it in for a few seconds, but still couldn’t hold back the words in his heart, “I dreamed of my mother.”

“……”

Shi Yunnan’s heart tightened because of this sentence, so he simply carried Little goldfish back to his room, and tentatively asked, “Do you remember what she looked like?”

“It’s in the photo, and the dream.” Little goldfish sobbed aggrievedly, “Why do other kids have moms and dads, but I’m the only one who doesn’t?”

Shi Yunan put him down firmly on the bed, “Who said that? I don’t have a mother either.”

Little goldfish blinked in tears, “Are you the same as me?”

Shi Yunnan gathered the quilt for him, and his tone was unconsciously low and gentle, “Well, we are the same, but I know where they are.”

“Where?”

Shi Yunnan followed his mother’s example from memory and gently stroked Little goldfish’s forehead.

The nostalgia in his eyes rose little by little. He seemed to coax the child, but also reminisced about his former self.

“They are in the sky, they are stars, and you can see them when you look up.”

“Uncle said the same.” Little Goldfish mumbled sullenly, and put his little hands around Shi Yunnan’s coat, “Do you really want to live with me and uncle in the future? Like family?”

“En, I’ll rob your fish soup every day.”

“No need to rob, I will share with you.”

Children’s emotions came and went quickly.

The two only talked for a few minutes before Little goldfish fell asleep again. Shi Yunnan left the room lightly, and as soon as he went out, he met Luo Lingsheng who was guarding the door.

The man had been in the study since dinner, and had not come out until now.

Shi Yunnan looked at the person in front of him, and immediately changed to a teasing expression, “In less than a day, Mr. Luo blocked me at the door twice? Why don’t you just come inside?”

“I saw you did a good job coaxing the child.” Luo Lingsheng was afraid of waking up the child inside, so his voice was very low, “Jinyu is still young, so he will inevitably cry once in a while when he wakes up. I have troubled you.”

“No trouble, one of the reasons why Mr. Luo asked me to pretend to be a marriage partner, is it for him?” Shi Yunnan had guessed it long ago.

Luo Lingsheng didn’t deny it, and tapped his fingertips on the armrest faintly, “One is to block the purposeful rotten peach blossoms4, and the other is indeed for Jinyu.”

He looked at his legs, and his eyes gradually darkened.

“I cannot move around easily and can’t accompany him to participate in some activities in the park. Uncle Qin is too old, and it’s hard finding a subordinate to accompany him, so a parent in the formal and legal sense is needed.”

“It is inconvenient to find an opposite sex partner. Jinyu has no sense of security, and the divorce after the subsequent agreement expires can easily affect a woman’s reputation.”

Every single statement and reason was logical and precise, so that people couldn’t find faults with it.

Shi Yunnan smiled, bending down to look at Luo Lingsheng’s gaze, “Mr. Luo, do you have a third reason?”

The overhead light cast a hazy shadow under his slender eyelashes, tremblingly sweeping across people’s hearts, the air was permeated with a vague ambiguity.

Luo Lingsheng’s seemingly calm eyes hid the turbulent waves as he sat quietly in his wheelchair and denied, “No, just for these two reasons.”

“Marriage is a very prudent thing, even same-sex marriage isn’t a hundred percent harmless. Therefore, I hope that second young master Shi thinks carefully and doesn’t regret it after the agreement takes effect.”

“Regret? How could that be possible?”

Shi Yunnan stretched out his finger and waved it, his fingertip deliberately almost touching Luo Lingsheng’s thin lips.

The moment he was about to touch, Luo Lingsheng’s broad palm pinched his fingertip and stopped him, “Second young master Shi.”

The man’s palm was a little hot.

Shi Yunnan, who failed to molest him, sighed regretfully and replied, “Mr. Luo, I am an adult, and I have the right to take charge of and be responsible for my own life.”

He didn’t care about Luo Lingsheng’s many reasons for ‘fake marriage’. At this moment, he also hid the secret reason for needing this ‘fake marriage’.

“My luggage and documents, you already had someone retrieve them for me.”

Shi Yunnan was not in a hurry to pull away from his hand. Instead, his fingertips hooked in the palm of Luo Lingsheng’s hand and provoked him to give the answer——

“Then tomorrow, we can get our certificate.”