DABGBTF 25

Lu Lu cleaned the bed that had been made a mess by the two of them, and heard Xie Zheng say, “Ordering takeout, what do you want to eat?”

“Don’t eat outside food anymore, let me make it. Some braised spare ribs and I’ll cook some porridge—how about that?” 

Lu Lu’s tone was a blatant temptation, making Xie Zheng very clearly realize that he himself was a person who was currently pregnant and needed to be treated with care.

F*ck, so awkward to death.

Xie Zheng said, “Whatever.”

The food Lu Lu brought over last time had either been eaten or had spoiled. Lu Lu took a glance and saw there was nothing usable either, so he simply went out to buy. 

Fortunately, right downstairs from Xie Zheng’s home, there was a supermarket. 

Lu Lu downloaded a recipe app, and on the way back after buying groceries according to the pregnancy recipes inside, he saw the message Cui Songbai left for him.

[Cui Songbai]: A-Lu, where are you?

[Cui Songbai]: Haven’t seen you at the company all day, and you aren’t at the hostel after work either. We even wanted to go to your room to find you to play cards, you kid couldn’t have been kidnapped, right?

Only at this time did Lu Lu remember that he had been out for a whole day and hadn’t remembered to tell Cui Songbai a single word. 

It was mainly because the things that happened today were too shocking that his usually bright brain had all become slow.

Lu Lu typed to Cui Songbai: wi, eo, ei¹This represents typing on a Pinyin QWERTY keyboard. Lu Lu is trying to type the character “我” (Wǒ – I/Me). “W” is next to “E”, and “I” is next to “O”.

Typing a single “I” character three times and hitting the wrong keys every time, only then did Lu Lu realize his hands were actually trembling. 

He stared at his fingertips, and suddenly his whole body squatted to the ground. He buried his face in his own arms, did not continue to reply to Cui Songbai’s message, but instead made a phone call to someone.

After two beep-beep sounds, the phone was picked up by someone. Lu Lu said, “Grandma.”

The elderly lady laughed amiably. “Have you eaten, Lu Lu?”

“Not yet, Grandma, have you eaten? You ate ah, ate what?—I plan to cook for myself today. Bought spare ribs, and also plan to make an egg custard—”

Lu Lu chatted with the elderly lady in a lively and bustling manner, and then suddenly quieted down; from the other end of the phone came the elderly lady’s puzzled voice. “Lu Lu? Lu Lu? Eh, is the signal bad?”

“The signal isn’t bad.” Lu Lu buried his head even harder into his arms and said, “Grandma, please congratulate me a bit.”

“Congratulations yo.” The elderly lady sounded very happy for Lu Lu, even though she didn’t know exactly what had happened. “Is there some good news, Lu Lu?”

Lu Lu in a low voice. “Mm.”

Congratulate him on what? Not congratulating him on becoming a father, but rather congratulating him on finally leaving something for Xie Zheng—a connection that could no longer be severed. Even if in the future the two of them were poles apart, they would forever be tied together. 

Lu Lu smiled with the corners of his eyes crinkled up. People passing by noticed him, and were also infected by some good mood.

Returning to Xie Zheng’s apartment, Lu Lu quickly finished cooking the food, a light and bland flavor, without a bit of chili pepper. 

Xie Zheng didn’t feel nauseous this time around, it was just that he ate without any taste or flavor. He felt like a cow chewing on A4 paper.

Lu Lu also brought back a large bag of lollipops for Xie Zheng, pomelo flavored, saying it was to let Xie Zheng eat a lollipop to satisfy his craving whenever he wanted to smoke in the future. 

Xie Zheng peeled one and held it in his mouth.

His estimated due date—when thinking of this term, Xie Zheng’s whole body went numb for a moment—was in February. Could it be that for the next half a year or more, he could only eat A4 paper and lollipops??

Xie Zheng had a burst of nameless anger, but every wrong has its cause and every debt its debtor²A Chinese idiom meaning one should seek revenge directly from the specific person responsible, not take it out on innocent bystanders.. Xie Zheng decided to save up this anger, and settle the score altogether after that one in his belly was born.

Lu Lu had already stuffed the bowls and chopsticks into the dishwasher, shaking the water off his hands and looking over. He saw Xie Zheng holding an unlit cigarette in his hand, currently placing it in front of his nose gently sniffing it. 

He thought for a moment, and squatted down in front of Xie Zheng. “Uncle Xie.”

This action made Xie Zheng think of Mi Tuan, the little dog always loved to squat by his feet, blankly raising its head to look at him, not to beg for food, but it was just purely liking to stare at his face.

“What is it?”

“Let’s make a three-point pact³An idiom meaning to establish a few basic, preliminary ground rules or a simple agreement with someone., alright?”

“A three-point pact? You speak it out first for me to hear.”

Lu Lu raised his hand, his slender fingers resting on the back of Xie Zheng’s hand, his fingertips stroking along Xie Zheng’s fingers—both like smoothing Xie Zheng’s fur and like taking advantage of Xie Zheng. He said, “Even if it’s for Uncle’s own body, the number of times smoking and drinking must be reduced. Otherwise…”

Xie Zheng pinched Lu Lu’s face, narrowing his eyes. “Otherwise?”

Lu Lu: “Otherwise, when the baby is born, I will tell the baby stories every day.”

“What stories?”

Lu Lu cleared his throat. “Baby, you are a lucky child, you live in a belly of red lights and green wine⁴An idiom traditionally used to describe a scene of debauchery, partying, feasting, or a bustling nightlife., you… you grow up in the love of your daddies…”

Xie Zheng: “…”

What the hell? 

Goddamn belly of red lights and green wine—he began to doubt how exactly the stupid deer got into university.

Xie Zheng was ultimately amused into laughing. “No need to worry.”

Perhaps because he was steeped in the business world, always dealing with shrewd people, Lu Lu discovered that Xie Zheng almost never directly said “yes” or “no.”

He knew this answer counted as Xie Zheng agreeing with his idea. He also smiled, using his head to rub against Xie Zheng’s hand.

At night, Lu Lu didn’t go back and slept in Xie Zheng’s apartment. 

Both of them couldn’t quite sleep. Xie Zheng could feel Lu Lu’s movements of tossing and turning. 

After a while, Xie Zheng heard Lu Lu ask him, “Uncle Xie, do you think the baby is a boy or a girl?”

Xie Zheng didn’t speak. 

His impression of this life in his belly was a lump that had grown (couldn’t see clearly) hands and feet (and was not feces), he found it hard to imagine that this thing actually also had a gender.

Lu Lu also quieted down, and Xie Zheng gradually got sleepy. He closed his eyes, preparing to fall asleep. Just one second before he was about to fall into dreamland, he felt Lu Lu’s hand slip into his covers, gently placing it on the position above his lower abdomen. 

Xie Zheng heard Lu Lu’s very light voice. “You grow up in the love of your daddies…”

Xie Zheng reached out his hand in a daze, grabbing Lu Lu’s hair to pull him up a bit, going to kiss him. 

The boy opened his mouth, letting Xie Zheng probe his tongue inside. He felt a very rich bitter taste.

Xie Zheng: “Blegh.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Lu Lu let out a “pfft” laugh. “Just finished eating vitamins.”

Xie Zheng lightly patted his back once, spat twice, and went to sleep resting on his arm.

The next day, Xie Zheng went to the hospital again. To do a prenatal checkup. 

When Lao Tian’s wife was pregnant, Xie Zheng was still a young, inexperienced kid; he remembered very clearly that Lao Tian said prenatal checkups involved putting some kind of forceps into the body, and every single person coming out of the consultation room had teary eyes. 

However, he didn’t expect that after only a few years had passed, prenatal checkups only required drawing a little blood or urine, then passing it through AI to test and analyze the data—fast and accurate.

Xie Zheng sat swaggering and unbothered in the middle of a bunch of big-bellied pregnant women to line up. 

The test results came out very quickly—the fetus was developing very well and was also very healthy. 

The doctor was still that previous Omega doctor. She knew Xie Zheng and Lu Lu definitely didn’t understand this, so she gave the two of them detailed instructions on a whole bunch of precautions, then also scheduled the time for the next checkup.

In the afternoon, Xie Zheng had an important gathering. 

The bosses of several large companies in the industry gathered together in the chamber of commerce, communicating and discussing development prospects with each other. 

When Xie Zheng first entered the industry, he felt this kind of gathering was extremely meaningless—wasn’t it just a few pot-bellied CEOs gathering together to brag? Later, he discovered that every word spoken by the few big shots in the industry was a weather vane. Walking behind them, even if you couldn’t eat the meat, you could still drink the soup.⁵A common business idiom. “Eating meat” means getting the primary profit or main opportunity. “Drinking soup” means getting the residual benefits or secondary profits. Essentially, it means that following industry leaders closely will still yield some reward, even if you aren’t the main player.

He had previously suffered hardships because of this. He didn’t expect that after only a few years, he himself had also become a person who could lead the weather vane.

Xie Li also came to the chamber of commerce today. His company wasn’t doing as prosperously as Xie Zheng’s right now, but theirs was a family business—a starved camel is still bigger than a horse⁶A famous Chinese proverb. It means that a large and powerful entity (like a wealthy family or big corporation), even when in decline, is still far more formidable and resourceful than an ordinary one.. The two brothers were both considered popular figures; surrounded by a circle of people, the sounds of flattery didn’t even stop.

Halfway through during the tea break, Xie Zheng fished out a lollipop from his breast pocket and chewed it with a crunching sound. Xie Li looked at him with an expression like he had seen a ghost. “Xie Zheng, what are you eating?”

Xie Zheng directly fished out another one and threw it to him. “Catch.”

Xie Li was dumbfounded. “Why did you bring so many lollipops?”

Xie Zheng casually held the lollipop in his mouth and said, “Protecting the fetus.”

Xie Li: “…”

Xie Zheng curled the corner of his mouth, smiling frivolously. 

He had always separated work and life, but because he had a pomelo-flavored lollipop in his mouth, Xie Zheng naturally thought of Lu Lu. 

Before the stupid deer went to the company this morning, he gave him an oral once. Xie Zheng still felt refreshed all over even now. 

He was in a good mood, and kindly gave Xie Li a reminder, “Recently someone is making fake bids to catch white wolves empty-handed⁷A well-known idiom referring to someone who tries to gain massive profits or scam someone without investing any capital or taking any initial risk themselves.—pay a bit of attention yourself and don’t get scammed.”

Xie Li looked at Xie Zheng with a complex expression. 

One second, this person was so frivolous, and the next second, he was truly teaching him like an older brother. Xie Li really both respected, feared, and hated this older cousin. He quietly said a thank you and then said, “Why is there a hospital smell all over you, what happened to you?”

Xie Zheng: “Prenatal checkup.”

Xie Li: “…” 

He rolled his eyes and left.

—

For the next few days, Lu Lu had continuously been cooking for Xie Zheng. 

If it could be done at the apartment, he would come to the apartment to do it; if there wasn’t enough time, he would simply handle it at the company. 

Xie Zheng simply had Lu Lu greet those few classmates of his, directly letting Lu Lu move into his own apartment. 

Lu Lu had very few things—one schoolbag, one backpack, and also a very large drawing board, with a stack of finished drawings clipped onto it.

When Lu Lu was putting his clothes into the wardrobe, Xie Zheng was flipping through Lu Lu’s drawings to the side. 

Song Qingyuan said Lu Lu was very inspired. Xie Zheng actually couldn’t tell the good from the bad of sculptures or drawings either, but looking at Lu Lu’s drawings made him feel very comfortable. 

The top few pieces were some sketched landscapes and characters in various poses. Xie Zheng flipped further down, and the very bottom piece was a watercolor landscape, the cherry tree next to Gongzhu Huailiu Lake.

Xie Zheng picked the drawing up and discovered that in the bottom right corner, someone had written two characters in pencil.

The light and shallow handwriting, what was written was his name, Xie Zheng.

Lu Lu put all his clothes away into the cabinet, leaned in next to Xie Zheng, and also saw that drawing in Xie Zheng’s hand.

“When was this drawn?” Xie Zheng hooked the corner of his mouth and smiled. “Even secretly writing Uncle’s name—you like Uncle this much?”

“Just drawn a few days ago.” Lu Lu answered Xie Zheng’s two questions in order. “Mm, I like you.”

Xie Zheng usually also loved to tease Lu Lu, listening to his little lover say he liked him, missed him. 

However, this utterance of “like” sounded different from all those other “likes.”

Xie Zheng raised his eyes to look at the young alpha, the smile at the corner of his mouth remaining unchanged. He curled his finger and flicked Lu Lu’s forehead once. “A little kid who isn’t even as big as my dog already knows what liking is?”

Lu Lu started to laugh. “Eros is the oldest among the gods. He is the most glorious among the gods. The behavior of pursuing love will sprout from adolescence, logically speaking, I have indeed reached the age of knowing what liking is, Uncle Xie.”

Xie Zheng: “…”

M*therf*cker, what the hell? Did this stupid deer just suddenly give him a philosophy lesson by quoting classics and citing sources?

So silly. Silly to death.

—

Lu Lu’s Weibo

[Posted one day ago]

@Deer: Baby, baby, be obedient and listen well, don’t make Daddy feel unwell. Baby, baby, I really want to meet you.

• 1
  This represents typing on a Pinyin QWERTY keyboard. Lu Lu is trying to type the character “我” (Wǒ – I/Me). “W” is next to “E”, and “I” is next to “O”.
• 2
  A Chinese idiom meaning one should seek revenge directly from the specific person responsible, not take it out on innocent bystanders.
• 3
  An idiom meaning to establish a few basic, preliminary ground rules or a simple agreement with someone.
• 4
  An idiom traditionally used to describe a scene of debauchery, partying, feasting, or a bustling nightlife.
• 5
  A common business idiom. “Eating meat” means getting the primary profit or main opportunity. “Drinking soup” means getting the residual benefits or secondary profits. Essentially, it means that following industry leaders closely will still yield some reward, even if you aren’t the main player.
• 6
  A famous Chinese proverb. It means that a large and powerful entity (like a wealthy family or big corporation), even when in decline, is still far more formidable and resourceful than an ordinary one.
• 7
  A well-known idiom referring to someone who tries to gain massive profits or scam someone without investing any capital or taking any initial risk themselves.