ACMS 31

Chapter 31 – Explosive News

Qiao Man’s one word—“Daddy”—startled Lin Jing so much she took two steps back, staring at him and Shen Hechuan in disbelief.

According to her investigations, Shen Hechuan had always been single. Not only did he not have a son, he didn’t even have a wife or husband.

Besides, not long ago, Shen Hechuan’s mother had wanted to set her up with him. Though she hadn’t managed to meet Shen Hechuan back then, she had assumed that as long as she worked hard to please Wu Huilan, it would only be a matter of time before she secured the match.

Once she married into the Shen family, sooner or later Shen Hechuan would fall at her feet—and she’d have the final say in the household.

But now it turned out—Shen Hechuan already had a child this big?!

And there hadn’t been a single word of it?

An illegitimate child? Did Wu Huilan want her to be a stepmother?

Lin Jing’s expression shifted, but she quickly calmed down. As long as she could marry into a wealthy family, being a stepmother didn’t matter.

Once she had her own child, this illegitimate one with unclear background would be under her control.

Thinking this, the smile on her face grew even more sincere. “I didn’t expect Mr. Shen’s child to be this big already. Aunt Lan never mentioned it. He’s really adorable. How old are you?”

The question was directed at Qiao Man. But the little one didn’t answer. Instead, he looked up at Shen Hechuan.

Shen Hechuan didn’t intend to clear up Lin Jing’s misunderstanding. He’d already told Qiao Man that Lin Jing was just someone unimportant.

He looked at her and said calmly, “Do you need something? This is my private time.”

He was clearly trying to dismiss her. Lin Jing picked up on it, but this kind of encounter with Shen Hechuan was rare—she wasn’t going to let it slip away that easily.

She believed her looks and figure were outstanding. The previous blind date had fallen through only because Shen Hechuan hadn’t met her. She never expected that even after he saw her in person, he’d be completely uninterested?

Biting her lip, she pressed on. “I don’t know what Mr. Shen thinks about Aunt Lan’s suggestion last time. How about we find time to talk properly? I’ve always…”

“Miss Lin.”

Shen Hechuan cut her off coldly. “I’m already married.”

Lin Jing: “…”

After Lin Jing left, Shen Hechuan reached out and pinched Qiao Man’s cheek. “You little rascal.”

Qiao Man giggled, popped a piece of apple into his mouth, and swallowed it in one gulp.

After dinner, Shen Hechuan took Qiao Man home. As soon as they walked in the door, he received a photo of the KTV lounge from Qiao Le.

It looked like Qiao Le was reporting his whereabouts.

Shen Hechuan opened the image, saw the drinks laid out on the table, and reminded him to drink less.

Right after he sent the message, a call came in from Pei Wenjing. Shen Hechuan guessed why before even answering. Sure enough, the moment the line connected, Pei Wenjing’s voice exploded: “I heard you got married?!!”

Heard from who? Naturally, Zhao Lei—nicknamed the Big Loudspeaker.

“Yeah.” Shen Hechuan grabbed a headset and put it on. While talking, he went into Qiao Man’s room to get his clothes.

Pei Wenjing was still in shock. “Is it really Qiao Le? That kid we met at Might Bar last time?”

“He’s not a kid. He’s already nineteen,” Shen Hechuan replied, taking out a set of pajamas.

“Nineteen and not a kid?!” Pei Wenjing protested. “Wasn’t that Cheng family girl eight or nine years younger than you? And didn’t you complain she was too young?”

Shen Hechuan had no rebuttal. “…Oh.”

“What do you mean, ‘Oh’?!” Pei Wenjing pushed. “What’s going on? I thought you were just a little interested in him. Who knew you’d go and get married in secret? Does your family even know?”

“Haven’t had time to tell them,” Shen Hechuan said as he brought the clothes to the bathroom and started running a bath for Qiao Man.

“Aren’t you afraid they’ll object? Qiao Le is a man,” Pei Wenjing reminded him. “Didn’t your old man always talk about wanting a great-grandchild?”

Object?

Shen Hechuan thought of how his mother had been eager to discuss the bride price with Qiao Le and couldn’t help curling his lips slightly. “No.”

“…What are you smiling about?” Pei Wenjing caught the laughter in his voice. “What’s going on? I don’t get it.”

“We’ll talk later. I’m busy.” Shen Hechuan waved Qiao Man over.

Pei Wenjing asked suspiciously, “Busy with what?”

“Giving the kid a bath.”

Pei Wenjing: “…”

Shen Hechuan hung up and helped Qiao Man undress. Though he didn’t have much experience bathing children, Qiao Man was fairly independent.

After the shower, he blow-dried the boy’s hair and tucked him into bed.

Qiao Man lay on the bed, round eyes fixed on him. Shen Hechuan asked, puzzled, “What’s wrong?”

“I want to hear a story.” Qiao Man looked at him expectantly. “Uncle Shen, can you tell a story?”

Back when Qiao Le was working, he often didn’t get home from his shift until late. Qiao Man would already be sleepy, so after a quick shower, they’d just go to bed.

But at Linjiang Complex, with Qiao Le not working, he’d been telling bedtime stories every night.

Shen Hechuan had never done it before, but he picked a storybook from the desk, flipped to a random page, and began reading aloud.

By the time he neared the end, Qiao Man had already fallen asleep.

He put the book away, took a photo of the sleeping boy, and sent it to Qiao Le.

But Qiao Le didn’t reply—he was busy being forced to drink by his classmates.

Everyone had heard about Qiao Le’s family situation. At first, they avoided the subject out of kindness, but later, hearing he was returning to school, they were genuinely happy for him and insisted on drinking to celebrate.

Qiao Le didn’t know how much he drank, but by the end he couldn’t walk straight.

He called Shen Hechuan and asked him to come pick him up.

Classmates left in groups. Song Tongyu, who couldn’t drink much, stayed behind to wait with him.

When Shen Hechuan arrived, Qiao Le was squatting at the KTV entrance with Song Tongyu standing beside him.

Thinking he’d thrown up, Shen Hechuan got out of the car and bent down to help him. “Lele?”

Qiao Le looked up, his vision doubled. He blinked hard to recognize the person. “Shen Hechuan, you’re here~”

He hadn’t thrown up, but his face was flushed bright red.

“Yeah, I’m here.” Shen Hechuan helped him up and settled him in the car. Then he turned to Song Tongyu. “Thanks for looking after him. Where do you live? We’ll take you home first.”

“I live in Jiangnan District,” Song Tongyu said, waving his hand. “But I already called a car. You take Lele back to sober up. He drank a lot.”

Shen Hechuan nodded. “Alright.”

Just as he was about to get in the car, Song Tongyu suddenly called out, “Wait!”

Shen Hechuan paused. Seeing that the other boy looked hesitant, as if he had something to say, he shut the door again and asked, “What is it?”

Song Tongyu hesitated before asking, “Do you know what’s going on at Lele’s home?”

Shen Hechuan guessed he was referring to Qiao Le’s parents and nodded, “I know.”

“Lele really has a tough time. He works a lot harder than we see. I hope you can take good care of him.” Song Tongyu pursed his lips, considering his words. “What I’m saying might be a bit over the line, so please don’t be offended.”

Shen Hechuan understood he was genuinely concerned about Qiao Le and solemnly replied, “Don’t worry, I will take care of him.”

On the way back, Qiao Le had fallen asleep in the car. Shen Hechuan reclined the seat to let him sleep more comfortably.

When they arrived at the basement, Shen Hechuan parked the car, walked around, and helped him unbuckle his seatbelt. Qiao Le opened his eyes groggily. “Are we going to work?”

“No.” Shen Hechuan unbuckled the seatbelt and carried him out, “We’re home.”

Qiao Le was dizzy and didn’t quite understand. “Home?”

“Yeah.”

Shen Hechuan carried him to the elevator. “No need to go to work.”

Qiao Le didn’t know if he understood, but he gave a vague response.

Once home, Shen Hechuan set Qiao Le on the sofa. Qiao Le rolled over, hugged the pillow, and buried his face in it.

Shen Hechuan went to the bathroom to run water, and when he came out, Qiao Le was no longer on the sofa—he had rolled off onto the floor.

Amused, he bent down to pick him up but noticed Qiao Le’s face was covered with tears.

Qiao Le was crying.

He curled up on the ground, his forehead against the pillow. No sound escaped, but tears kept flowing.

“Lele?” Shen Hechuan froze, reaching out to lift him, “What’s wrong?”

Qiao Le didn’t respond, just kept crying, soaking part of Shen Hechuan’s shirt.

Shen Hechuan hugged him, reflecting on what Song Tongyu had said.

Qiao Le had always been optimistic, cheerful, and motivated in front of him, like the sun, full of endless energy. But as Song Tongyu had pointed out, Qiao Le’s life was harder than they saw.

Sighing silently, Shen Hechuan gently stroked Qiao Le’s back, waiting until he slowly stopped crying, before carrying him into the bathroom.

Though drunk, Qiao Le was a good drinker and didn’t make a fuss—he let Shen Hechuan undress him.

The only problem was that Qiao Le had no ability to bathe himself—his skills were no better than five-year-old Qiao Man’s. Shen Hechuan had to take on the task of bathing him.

It was a real test of Shen Hechuan’s self-control, especially given their close relationship.

After bathing Qiao Le, Shen Hechuan had no choice but to take a cold shower himself. When he came out, he found that Qiao Le had fallen asleep on his bed.

It was already 2:30 in the morning. Shen Hechuan was too tired to bother with anything else, so he threw off the quilt and lay down next to Qiao Le.

Anyway, it wasn’t the first time they’d slept in the same bed.

Qiao Le unconsciously moved closer to him. They both used the same shower gel, with a faint scent of lemon and sea salt, making it hard to tell whose it was.

Shen Hechuan lowered his head and kissed the sleeping Qiao Le on the forehead. “Good night.”

Qiao Le was unaware and shifted into a comfortable position in his arms.

Shen Hechuan reached out to turn off the light, and the room fell into darkness.

The next day, when Shen Hechuan got up, Qiao Le was still sleeping. This was rare.

Qiao Le’s biological clock was usually very early, so Shen Hechuan guessed it was because he drank too much the previous night and was too tired from crying.

Shen Hechuan left the room and closed the door behind him.

Aunt Yang had already prepared breakfast. She greeted Shen Hechuan before going to wake Qiao Man up.

The first thing Qiao Man did when he came out was look for his brother. Shen Hechuan made a “hush” sound, signaling that Qiao Le was still sleeping, and asked him to speak quietly.

Qiao Man covered his mouth and nodded, indicating he understood, and then followed Aunt Yang to wash his face and brush his teeth.

Afterward, they were about to have breakfast when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Aunt Yang went to open the door. Just as Shen Hechuan finished making porridge for Qiao Le, he heard Aunt Yang’s voice, “Mr. Shen, your parents are here.”

His parents?

Shen Hechuan set the bowl down and walked over, just in time to meet Wu Huilan and Shen Zhenghe, who had just entered.

“Mom, Dad, why are you here so early?” Shen Hechuan asked. “Have you had breakfast?”

“My God, you’re still thinking about breakfast?” Wu Huilan asked. “I heard your illegitimate child is already here. What’s going on?”

Shen Hechuan: “…”

He probably knew what was going on. “Did Lin Jing say that?”

“Isn’t that right?” Wu Huilan replied. “She said she saw it with her own eyes, and you told her you were married?”

Shen Hechuan: “Yes, I’m married.”

Wu Huilan was stunned. “Then the child she was talking about…”

“Is that the one?” Shen Zhenghe, sharp-eyed, spotted Qiao Man on the other side of the restaurant.

Qiao Man had never seen them before. When he saw strangers entering the house, looking aggressive, his first reaction was to put down his bowl, get off the stool, and stand up with a nervous expression.

Aunt Yang quickly walked over to comfort him. “Don’t be afraid, Xiao Man.”

Wu Huilan also saw it, and she covered her chest, muttering, “Oh my God,” then pointed at Shen Hechuan and said, “You’re really something! Are you worthy of Lele? What have you done?”

She had wanted a grandson, but now it was clear that Shen Hechuan was with Qiao Le. She was still preparing the bride price list just yesterday, and now, suddenly, there was such a big child!

Shen Hechuan: “…”

“Xiao Man.” He turned around and called, “Come here.”

Qiao Man was a little scared but still let go of Aunt Yang’s hand, walked over, and grabbed Shen Hechuan’s hand.

Shen Hechuan said, “Say hello.”

Qiao Man obediently said, “Hello, Grandpa and Grandma.”

“…”

Wu Huilan took two steps back, looking like she was about to faint, and waved her hands vigorously. “Stop, stop, don’t say that, is this really necessary?”

She was genuinely about to faint.