Translator - Kate from dummytranslations
Editor - Chubby Dragon
2.11 A Strong Return
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Editor - Chubby Dragon
2.11 A Strong Return
By the time Mu Rou and Ou Yu found the courtyard behind the restaurant with the help of an attendant, Hao Ritian had, once again, cracked under Qin An’s endless stream of words.
To some extent, autism was the enhanced version of an introvert. In severe cases, the patients may even repel social interaction and may even suffer with suicidal tendencies. However, Mu Ziwen had been accompanied by his mother’s stable management for many years. So, his overall situation was much better than those with severe autism.
In Hao Ritian’s case, his behaviour was not much different from a normal, albeit super introverted, person. If no one took the initiative to talk to him, it would be very difficult for anyone to discover that he was autistic. Although he didn’t communicate with others much at the moment, if someone beside him talked incessantly for a long time, he would definitely respond, and not to mention, he even had Feng Qi by his side providing him support.
Hao Ritian was an egoist who abhorred being tied down and loved his freedom. Even in reality, he didn’t have many friends, just collaborators with connected interests. His personality appeared formidable to others, and he didn’t really want friends either.
So, Hao Ritian found the present Qin An to be really annoying. He could neither avoid nor scold him, and could only bitterly bear with him. Hao Ritian was truly about to be driven crazy by Qin An.
When he saw Mu Rou and Ou Yu appear, Hao Ritian practically seemed to have seen his salvation. His eyes lit up and he immediately jogged over to Mu Rou and stood behind her, his pinched brows relaxing.
Mu Rou’s face couldn’t help but reveal how touched she felt when she saw how much her son missed her in such little time. He really was her good son. However, she soon noticed that her son seemed a little out of sorts. Examining her son’s expression and conduct had already become a habit of hers. One could even say it was deeply rooted in her bones. This was why it took her little effort to realise that her son’s expression carried a hint of annoyance when he ran to her.
Mu Rou was immediately, and very pleasantly surprised. According to reason, she ought to be worried about her son being annoyed, but under the premise of his special circumstances, any expression other than his usual blank face deserved her delight. She swept her eyes around and looked at Qin An since he was the only new face.
While she was looking over at him, she happened to see Qin An look at her son with a wistful expression and was surprised. She took Hao Ritian’s hands in hers and asked softly, “What’s the matter? Not happy?”
Feng Qi and Qin An followed after Hao Ritian when he ran to Mu Rou and came just in time to hear her question.
Hao Ritian didn’t answer but his eyebrows bulged like a small bag as he frowned. Mu Rou laughed at once, then looked at Qin An and motioned at him, “Is this your new friend? Won’t you introduce him to Mom?”
Hao Ritian shot a glance at Qin An’s direction quickly and the bags in his eyebrows bulged a little bigger.
However, Qin An had already come forward to answer her with familiarity, “Hello, Auntie. I’m Qin An, a sophomore at Imperial University like Ziwen. You can call me Little An. You’re so beautiful, I can’t see you having a son as old as Ziwen at all! But Ziwen is really good too. I’ve been talking with him for so long and he didn’t mind that I was annoying. He’s going to be my friend from now on. What great luck, I’ve actually made a friend to my liking here!”
Hao Ritian’s eyes were dead. Here he goes again.
Mu Rou’s eyes, however, brightened. This boy was good. He was both candid and cordial, polar opposites with her son, and to top it off, he was talkative and chattered non-stop even with her son. His personality was perfect for making friends with her son.
At that moment, Mu Rou’s idea coincided with Feng Qi’s.
Hence, when Qin An was done introducing himself, she amiably responded, “Yes, yes, yes. It’s also fate that you’re both studying in Imperial University. You have to come play with Ziwen more in the future!”
She intentionally observed her son’s expression when she answered Qin An and sure enough, hints of bedevilment and annoyance flashed in his eyes, making her unable to help but secretly laugh in her heart. This was great. Her son hadn’t further withdrawn because of the incident the other day and was, instead, developing in a better direction. She was over the moon.
Qin An readily replied he was already intending to do that, as due to his chattiness, no one in his family wanted to hang out with him alone, and even his friends would become overpowered by him, and so, force him to hold back. Now that a friend who wouldn’t avoid him no matter how much he talked and would even earnestly listen to him had finally appeared, he was going to do whatever it took to snag him.
Hao Ritian: …Wait a minute. Seriously, we have to have a proper discussion on this issue!
Finally done greeting his good friend’s mother and getting familiar with her, Qin An looked at Ou Yu and said hello to him, “Uncle Ou, are you also here for lunch?”
His personality was a tad carefree but after he was done greeting him, Qin An’s expression abruptly froze, looking a bit muddled.
His eyes focused on Ou Yu’s face, then he looked at Hao Ritian, then again at Mu Rou. He repeated this action robotically several times, and at last, saw light. No wonder Ziwen had appeared familiar to him moments ago. For a while, he hadn’t figured out why he looked so familiar, but now, he finally understood—Ziwen and Uncle Ou looked quite similar!
He was easy-going, but not stupid. There were many people who knew of Ou Yu’s matter, and even them, the younger generation would sometimes talk about it, with a few sighing with emotion on how Ou Yu was the sentimental type. Now, not only could he suddenly see his newly acquainted friend’s resemblance with Ou Yu, he could also see that he resembled Mu Rou a lot as well. He was plainly a combination of the duo’s respective advantages and Ou Yu had been searching for a woman this whole time, what was there to not understand?
Uncle Ou had not only found the person he’d been searching for, but incidentally a son too!
Qin An couldn’t help but reveal a look of astonishment on his face, to which Ou Yu unexpectedly smiled and said with a hint of pride, “Ziwen is my son. If you want to see him in the future, just come directly to Uncle’s house, got it?”
Qin An nodded involuntarily and realised after he did so, the depth in the implied meaning in his words. Did he mean he wanted to acknowledge Ziwen?
Seeing that Mu Rou didn’t seem discontent, Qin An felt relieved. What was he doing, thinking so much? The person he was making friends with was Ziwen, the person, and not his family. Seeing Uncle Ou as pleased as punch when he spoke of Ziwen, he needn’t worry about this at all!
Qin An no longer felt tangled up once he thought it through. No matter what the case was, he was, in any case, very happy for Ou Yu. After all, so many years of perseverance had finally borne fruit, it was something to be happy about.
After deeming they should be more or less done speaking, Feng Qi who’d been silent this whole time, looked at Ou Yu and Mu Rou, “Have you finished discussing everything?”
Ou Yu nodded, though traces of lingering fear and gratitude showed on his face. He knew in his heart, if Feng Qi hadn’t interfered flagrantly, his son and even AnAn would not have had a good ending. Let alone meeting them in this lifetime, he would’ve treated the enemy who harmed them like family and handed over all his hard-earned assets to that enemy later on.
Ou Yu was full of rage and shame at the mere thought of it. If he couldn’t give the two, mother and son, justice, he didn’t deserve to be a father or a husband.
This was why he was thankful to Feng Qi from the bottom of his heart. Simple worlds could not express his gratitude at all. Just one thing—if Feng Qi ever needed something in the future, he would surely risk life and limb to help him out. Though Ou Yu never said that out loud, he stored it in his heart.
“Since that’s settled, let’s go.” With that said, Feng Qi placed his hand on Hao Ritian’s shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world and led him out, making Papa Ou who had just decided to keep his gratitude towards Feng Qi in mind, jealous again.
Hmph, his son will surely be closer to him, his father, than to Feng Qi soon enough. He isn’t going to be envious, jealous or hateful!
The instant they left the courtyard, a searching, nervous expression came over Qin An’s face. Qin An’s eyes lit up when he saw the friend he came to have lunch with, and he cautiously made a hand gesture. Only after his friend gestured back, did he relax.
Luckily, that crazy girl had left.
Once he realised that, his normal attitude quickly bounced back. He and his friend had driven here together and his friend was still waiting, so Qin An had to say goodbye to Feng Qi and the others first.
After saying his goodbyes one by one, Qin An’s gaze finally turned to Hao Ritian. Catching him off guard, he grabbed Hao Ritian’s hand and shook it hard with all smiles, “Ziwen, I’ve got to go. When I see you next time, I’ll bring my favourite video game for us to play together!”
After saying that and shaking his hand, he ran to his friend’s side like a dog with two tails.
Hao Ritian who was forced to shake hands with him and then let go, “…”
Who wants to play games with you? Fuck off!
However, he was autistic and those with autism were not adept at communication or good at refusing people. He had no choice but to swallow this bitter fruit, how awful!
But other than him, the three remaining ‘elders’ were happy to see this.
Ou Yu and Feng Qi had each driven here while Mu Rou and Hao Ritian had taken a taxi. So, before fetching their cars, both Ou Yu and Feng Qi wanted to send the two of them home.
Ou Yu’s justifications were more adequate, though a bit overexcited, “AnAn, I’ll send you two back. You can get your household registration booklet and we’ll go register our marriage. Afterwards, I’ll call a moving company and help you guys move your stuff over. Do you think that’s alright?”
Mu Rou, “…”
So many things to tsukkomi about but nowhere to show it.
Even Hao Ritian was inwardly surprised. Isn’t Ou Yu acting too fast?
The corner of Feng Qi’s eyebrow twitched. Woodenly, he said, “It’s the weekend today and tomorrow. The Civil Affairs Bureau isn’t open.”
He didn’t expect this. He’d only given them space to talk, nothing more. How did they jump to this step all of a sudden? Weren’t they omitting too many steps in the middle?
This gave him a whole new level of respect for Ou Yu.
All of Ou Yu’s enthusiasm which had gone to his head abruptly extinguished, fading into smokes. He directed a glare of resentment at Feng Qi, yet appeared gentle and earnest again when he turned to Mu Rou and Hao Ritian, “Ahem, I was too hasty. Let’s go on Monday after work, and you can move in for now.”
Even Monday is also a bit hasty, okay?
Also, did you ask for our agreement to move?
A helplessness-induced headache suddenly hit Mu Rou. She felt as though her brain power wasn’t enough. To prevent Ou Yu from saying any more unreasonable words, she looked sincerely at Feng Qi, “Can I trouble you to send me and Ziwen home, Mr. Feng?”
A moment before Ou Yu could protest in discontent, Mu Rou pacified him gently, “Don’t worry. Even if we move in, you still have to give me time to pack, right? You can head on back to prepare. Ziwen likes his room to be clean and tidy, everything in plain view, and sky blue as the main colour. You can help him prepare a bedroom first.”
She had realised, the sooner they returned, the sooner they could face Ou Siyang and the others. So she changed the subject, “I’m going back to pack up as quickly as possible. Once we’re done, we’ll move out.”
Having received the task of arranging his son’s room and getting Mu Rou’s agreement to move out, Ou Yu immediately replied, full of gratification, “Sure, I’ll get it done.”
He couldn’t wait. His son had to go to school on Monday. So, they would pack all their stuff up and come by tomorrow at the latest. Once he thought on how tight their time was, he no longer argued about it.
“Ziwen, Dad will arrange a room you’ll like as quickly as I can. Wait for Dad to pick you and your mother up tomorrow!” Saying this, Ou Yu became nervous, wanting to reach out and stroke his son’s head yet afraid he wouldn’t like that. His elegant face twisted up, making those watching feel bad.
Eventually, Mu Rou couldn’t bear to watch him any longer, and pushed his outstretched hand to lightly stroke the top of Hao Ritian’s head. Hao Ritian raised his head in a daze, seemingly not giving a response. Ou Yu, however, was overcome with excitement and put the hand which had touched his son behind him, deciding he wouldn’t wash his hand today.
Full of energy as he left, Ou Yu’s back seemed to be on fire.
The task of sending them home fell on Feng Qi.
Strangers at first meeting but friends by the second, Feng Qi easily sent the two of them home this time around. After changing gears and stopping the car on the curb, the three of them got off.
Tentatively, Mu Rou asked him, “Mr. Feng, would you like to come in and sit down?”
This time, however, Feng Qi declined, “No, you two have to pack your things so I won’t bother you. I’ll come again to congratulate you on your moving day.”
Hao Ritian stood to the side in silence, his low bangs obstructing his eyes and preventing others from seeing his emotions. But after Feng Qi finished his sentence, he came over to Hao Ritian and lifted his bangs.
This simple move reminded Hao Ritian of what Feng Qi had said to him before—that he should try to look people in the eye when talking to them to be polite. So this time, without needing Feng Qi’s prompting, he naturally raised his eyes when Feng Qi stood in front of him.
There was a change in Feng Qi’s expression. It looks like Wenwen is making great efforts to listen to what he said, and is even conscientiously executing them. A faint sense of accomplishment couldn’t help but rise in his chest. Though he managed to stop the corners of his lips from raising too high, his voice still carried a small smile as he spoke, “Find some time to get a haircut. It’ll affect your eyesight if you leave it this long. Besides, you have such a good-looking little face, you ought to show off.”
Mu Rou didn’t think there was anything wrong when she heard the first part of his sentence as she also wanted her son to get a haircut, and if Feng Qi could persuade her son, she would certainly be nothing but happy. However, when she heard the latter part, a corner of her mouth twitched. Was he flirting with her son?
Hao Ritian’s eyes sparkled but he didn’t answer.
Feng Qi didn’t mind. In the end, he couldn’t restrain his evil fingers from pinching his cheeks. The soft feel of them truly melted his heart, “Listen, Uncle Feng has to go. I’ll see you again after your father comes to pick you up.”
This time, he didn’t drag his feet any longer and after nodding to Mu Rou, got into his car. He rolled down the windows to wave at them to go back before driving away.
Mu Rou saw her son looking in the direction of Feng Qi’s car and her expression became slightly intense. She leaned close to her son and asked in a steady voice, “Ziwen, do you like Uncle Feng a lot?”
The expression in Hao Ritian’s eyes shook. Though he didn’t answer, Mu Rou could see that he was blushing a little. Her son was blushing, did she even need an answer?
My Rou took a deep breath, then softened her voice as she continued to ask, “So, you don’t like him? If you don’t like him, Mom won’t let him come looking for you from now on, alright?”
“…Like.” Hao Ritian answered softly. Seeing that his mother didn’t seem to have heard him, he raised his head and spoke a little louder, “I like Uncle Feng.”
This was the perfect occasion to show Mu Rou how special Feng Qi was to him. He would be borrowing his relationship with Feng Qi to ‘heal’ autism later on. How could he abandon such a great opportunity?
Mu Rou’s son’s eyes moistened due to shyness and embarrassment. Although she was delighted that he spoke of his feelings, her emotions were, nevertheless, very complicated. Like?
Actually, needless to say, she knew her son had been rescued by Feng Qi during a moment of desperation, and psychologically, he must’ve developed attachment and trust towards Feng Qi, the person who had saved him. What’s more, the image with which Feng Qi conducted himself was one that inspired confidence. So, it was no surprise that her son would come to like him. After all, her son’s reaction while in Feng Qi’s presence had already made it clear that Feng Qi was different to him.
But what did this ‘like’ mean? Or rather, to what degree did he like him?
As far as Mu Rou herself was concerned, she didn’t mind whether her son liked men or women. Thinking deeper, if she could find a man who liked her son to take care of him, she really wouldn’t mind, as long as he treated her son well.
However, one could tell at first glance that Feng Qi was not a simple man, which meant he wasn’t ordinary. She wasn’t sure of Feng Qi’s feelings and views on her son, and relatively speaking, she would rather her son find someone of a more average status. With all said and done, deep down, she feared that her son would make the same mistakes that she had made.
But no matter much she dwelled on it, she couldn’t control her son’s thoughts and feelings. At the moment, it looked like she would have to take it one step at a time.
Mu Rou didn’t start packing right away after taking Hao Ritian back home. Instead, she sat her son on the sofa and began to have a heart-to-heart talk with him. Her son was, of course, more important than any object.
“Ziwen, you met your father today. What do you think of him?” They would be living together later. Mu Rou had to do some ideology work with her son, or at the very least, understand his opinions. If her son was truly opposed to it, she would naturally prioritize her son’s opinion.
Her thoughts were practically projecting through her eyes. Hao Ritian, of course, couldn’t pick this time to drag his legs, nor could he allow her to back down. So, he hesitated for a short moment before murmuring, “…Not bad.”
Those two words heartened Mu Rou and her face relaxed, though her tone was still quite cautious, “Do you like him? You know your father is going to take us home with him, and then we’ll be living together. If you think it’s improper or you would find it difficult to get used to him and his place, be sure to tell Mom. Mom wants you to be happy.”
Hao Ritian looked into her eyes which were brimming with sincerity and adoration, and was dazzled for a second before snapping back and pursing his lips, “I’ll tell Mom if I don’t feel accustomed there. Though it was my first time seeing Dad, Dad seems really easy to get along with.”
Mu Rou eyes widened in surprise. Not only because her son had spoken so many words in one breath, but also because of her son’s feelings towards Ou Yu. It must’ve been because her son still harbored longing for his father in his heart, and Ou Yu’s behaviour today had been attentive and easy to get along with, which earned him brownie points.
If he knew this was their son’s evaluation of him, he would surely die from excitement. As she considered that scenario, Mu Rou suddenly felt a bit expectant of the future. She may have been calm and self-restrained today, but she was also somewhat nervous about their life in the future. Now, however, she calmed down.
As long as she had her son around, she could accept any change. Despite the demons and monsters, she would be a qualified female warrior and fight them all until they didn’t dare act up.
No matter how great Hao Ritian was, he wouldn’t have guessed Mu Rou unexpectedly picturing so many wacky stuff in her head. The two of them talked about Ou Yu for a while, and Mu Rou put in some good words for Ou Yu too.
Once the conversation ended, with Ou Yu’s parting words in mind, Mu Rou began to pack up, despite her feelings of helplessness. After all, he had always kept his word, and he said he would be coming to pick them up tomorrow at the latest.
Of course, Hao Ritian helped her pack too.
However, even though Mu Rou was already doing her utmost to cooperate with Ou Yu, she didn’t expect someone to knock their door not long after the two of them began to pack. When Mu Rou opened the door with some suspicion, two female employees from a housekeeping company were outside, politely claiming that they were there to help her pack up. Black lines appeared on her face. She knew without needing to ask that it was Ou Yu, that bastard, who had sent them!
It wasn’t good to drive them out when they were already here. Besides, they really did have a lot of things, so Mu Rou had no choice but to welcome them in. Other than a few personal belongings, they could help with everything else.
The two women were experienced and efficient, and got things sorted very quickly. By the time they left and Mu Rou glanced around, everything besides the bedrooms which the women hadn’t been allowed into, and the big objects in the house, had been put into suitcases. The place looked like they had just moved in.
They were so efficient, it was scary.
And what was more frightening was what was going to happen after this.
On Sunday, shortly after lunch, Ou Yu came to their door with a number of people specially there to move their things, while a private car and a big truck were parked downstairs. The sound of activity was so loud that tenants from the same floor couldn’t help but stick their heads out to watch the bustle.
“AnAn, let them move the things at their own pace. I’m going to take you and our son home so you can look around, and to let our son see if he likes his room. If there’s something he doesn’t like, I’ll change it myself.” Ou Yu fawningly moved close to Mu Rou’s side, and gave Hao Ritian what he thought was a loving and fatherly smile when he glanced his way.
Hao Ritian, “…”
He couldn’t bear to look.
Arguing at that point was meaningless. Mu Rou gave some simple instructions to the movers, then left with Ou Yu and Hao Ritian. They had to go have a look.
The excited Papa Ou acted as their chauffeur and drove his wife and son home.
After Ou Yu’s career had become stable, he bought a villa in an affluent neighborhood. Many of his business partners lived in the vicinity, and Ou Yu’s older brother and his family lived in the same neighborhood too.
Ou Yu hadn’t hidden the fact that he was welcoming back Mu Rou and their son. And because he not only hadn’t hidden it, but had even widely ‘publicised’ it—nearly to the point of telling everyone he came across—and was so proud of having a son that he was almost flying to the heavens, most of the people in his neighborhood knew that Ou Yu was bringing his wife and son home today.
After the car entered the area where the villa was located, Mu Rou who was sitting in the backseat looked outside and noticed with bafflement that the faces of people who saw their car was very enthusiastic—or more specifically, curious?
Mu Rou, “? ? ?”
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5 comments
Thank you for the chapter!! >~<♡♡♡
ReplyDeleteUhhh, Thank you for the hardwork translator-sama! This chapter is so fluffyyy
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chapter! I hope that bad guy gets what he deserves! (insert evil laugh here)
ReplyDeleteThnx for chapter..... ❤️❤️❤️
ReplyDeleteIt's so sad that Papa Ou didn't get to raise ziwen, he hasn't even been home yet he(OY) has bragged to the heavens��. I can imagine that he would have been one of those dads that dotes on their kids to the point the kids feel embarrassed around his(dad) friends.... ��
ReplyDelete