BDBE 83
Chapter 83 Going Back on One’s Words
After finishing their business, Shen Wanchao and Zhou Hui didn’t rush back. Instead, they planned to rest for the night and return home during the day. Zhou Ruolin had also packed up and left after having dinner with the two children last night.
Therefore, this morning, only Zhou Mingchen and Lin Anyi were at home. It was a wonderful summer vacation, so naturally, they wanted to sleep in.
The scorching sunlight outside couldn’t penetrate the window, and the room maintained a comfortable 26 degrees Celsius.
But perhaps it was the youthful energy of a boy; even with the air conditioning on, Zhou Mingchen lay sprawled on the bed with only a corner of the blanket covering his belly button.
Last night, Zhou Mingchen played games for several hours in his room until 2 a.m. before finally going to sleep.
Now that his dad didn’t interfere with his gaming time much, and it was summer vacation, Zhou Mingchen had been enjoying himself for a few days. To be honest, he was even getting a little tired of it. Haha.
The boy slept carefree on the spacious bed. His expression was peaceful and happy as he snored.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door twice. After a moment of silence, someone pushed the door open a little bit.
Lin Anyi took a quick look, saw that Zhou Mingchen was still asleep, and pushed the door open. He went to draw back the curtains.
Lin Anyi stood by the bed and looked down at Zhou Mingchen. Noticing that he showed no sign of waking up, he squatted down beside the bed to take a closer look.
With Lin Anyi so close, he could see the soft hairs on Zhou Mingchen’s face, radiating a warm glow in the soft morning sunlight.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Mingchen was finally awakened by the sunlight. He frowned and slowly opened his eyes… only to see Lin Anyi’s face so close to his, so close that he could see the other’s eyelashes trembling.
“Ah!”
Zhou Mingchen grabbed the blanket and covered his lower body. He sat up abruptly.
“Damn it!” “Zhou Mingchen shouted, “You almost scared me to death!”
Lin Anyi tilted his head, “Why are you so flustered?”
Zhou Mingchen’s head was burning with fear. He clutched the blanket tightly, and secretly checked that everything was alright before stepping one foot off the bed.
“What do you want?” Zhou Mingchen asked.
Lin Anyi didn’t know how to answer.
He had gotten up an hour ago, washed up, ate breakfast, and even done some homework. He was just bored at home, so he couldn’t help but come to find Zhou Mingchen. There was no particular reason.
Zhou Mingchen was already standing on the floor; he stretched his arms and yawned. He turned around and patted Lin Anyi’s shoulder. “Okay, I’m going to wash up. I’ll take you out to eat later…”
He stopped abruptly, leaned close to Lin Anyi’s ear, and sniffed twice.
“You’re wearing perfume?”
Lin Anyi was startled. He clutched his neck with a flustered expression. “No.”
Zhou Mingchen found his obvious attempt to cover it up even more amusing. He grabbed his shoulders and pulled him closer: “I smell it, you definitely wore perfume. Not bad, Lin Anyi, you start dressing up as soon as you’re on vacation?”
“What brand of perfume is this? It smells pretty good.” Zhou Mingchen moved even closer. His nose almost touched Lin Anyi’s neck, “Give me some too.”
Lin Anyi placed his hands against his chest and emphasized again: “It’s not perfume.”
“Let me go…”
Zhou Mingchen stopped when he saw that Lin Anyi’s ears were red and that he was avoiding eye contact. He finally realized what he was smelling.
As an Alpha not yet an adult, Zhou Mingchen wasn’t completely oblivious to pheromones before; he’d smelled his dad’s, his father’s, and others’ pheromones, but he could only detect them, not feel them like an adult Alpha, and never experienced any extraneous emotions from them.
This was the first time he’d smelled Lin Anyi’s scent.
It was also the first time he’d known that mere scent could make someone’s heart flutter.
It was sweet, like the scent of some kind of flower.
Lin Anyi told Zhou Mingchen to let him go, but he didn’t actually struggle. Zhou Mingchen seemed not to hear what he said.
Then, it was unknown who approached first, who closed their eyes first.
Two warm breaths mingled, and their noses almost touched.
“Xiao Chen! We’re back!”
The sudden call instantly woke the two people in the room. Zhou Mingchen abruptly let go of him and walked towards the door, “Oh! I-I’m here!”
Lin Anyi, who had stayed behind, also turned his head away. He covered his mouth with his sleeve. His face was flushed and his eyes were filled with disbelief.
Shen Wanchao saw Zhou Mingchen come out of the room and teased with a smile, “I thought you were still sleeping in.”
Zhou Hui noticed Zhou Mingchen’s unnatural expression and asked, “Why is your face so red?”
Zhou Mingchen felt guilty. He immediately touched his face, “Is-is that so? Maybe it’s a bit hot in the room.”
Just as he finished speaking, Lin Anyi also happened to come out of the room and greeted Shen Wanchao and Zhou Hui.
Seeing that Lin Anyi’s expression was also a bit off, Zhou Hui raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything, Zhou Mingchen interrupted,
“He and I were just playing in the room, and we were so concentrated on the game that we were a little short of breath.”
Shen Wanchao frowned disapprovingly. He couldn’t help but scold them, “Don’t play games right after waking up. Your mind is clearest in the morning; you should use that time to do your homework… Never mind, I won’t nag you. Here, take this.”
He handed over the bag, “Put this in the kitchen for me; we’re making chicken stew tonight.”
Shen Wanchao had originally intended to ask Zhou Mingchen to do it, but Lin Anyi intercepted him: “I’ll go.”
Lin Anyi took the bag and recognized it: “These are… chestnuts from Xiaoli City?”
Shen Wanchao paused, then explained, “Yes, Zhou Hui and I went to the orphanage these past two days. It wasn’t anything major; we just wanted to see what the classrooms would look like after they were furnished, and also to visit the old director and chat with him about your recent situation. There were also some procedural matters; you know, the adoption process is very strict.”
Shen Wanchao and Zhou Hui had discussed it and decided not to tell Lin Anyi about seeing Lin Hui.
Lin Anyi was still a minor and about to enter his senior year of high school; there was no need to tell him these things at this stage. It would only add to his worries. Besides, Lin Hui had no intention of letting Lin Anyi know of his existence, and even if they were to be honest, they would wait until he was an adult and able to make his own judgments.
Shen Wanchao had already prepared these explanations, and Lin Anyi, as expected, didn’t suspect anything. He nodded, took the bag, and went to the kitchen.
Not long after, everyone went about their own business. Zhou Mingchen returned to his room. He closed the door, leaned against it, and slid down.
“Hah,” the boy sighed. He covered his face with his hands, spreading his index and middle fingers to reveal his eyes as he gazed at the sky.
The events of just moments ago flashed before his eyes again.
What had he been thinking? If his fathers hadn’t suddenly returned, what had he been planning to do to Lin Anyi?
Zhou Mingchen was on the verge of a breakdown.
But… why did Lin Anyi close his eyes?
…
That evening, Zhou Ruolin, Jiang Yin and her husband came over for dinner.
As soon as they entered the house, Jiang Yin quietly pulled Shen Wanchao aside and asked him in a low voice with concern, “They said you and Zhou Hui marked each other? Are you alright?”
Shen Wanchao subconsciously touched the side of his neck, feeling somewhat helpless. Although he had expected that this matter couldn’t be kept from anyone, he hadn’t expected that even his own mother would hear about it so quickly.
“It’s just a temporary marking, it’s okay, Mom, don’t worry.” Shen Wanchao patted her hand.
After saying that, Shen Wanchao looked up and met Zhou Ruolin’s gaze.
Zhou Ruolin smiled and winked at him. Shen Wanchao sighed helplessly.
It seemed Zhou Ruolin already knew about the temporary marking when he opened the door for himself and Zhou Hui.
In the center of the table was a chestnut chicken soup, prepared by Zhou Hui and cooked by Shen Wanchao based on a recipe, accompanied by several other dishes carefully cooked by the auntie. The table was laden with delicious food, a perfect balance of meat and vegetables, and a feast for the eyes and the palate.
Zhou Mingchen poured himself a drink first, then noticed Lin Anyi’s cup next to him. After thinking for a moment, he poured it for him, only to see another empty cup suddenly appearing before him. Lin Anyi diligently moved everyone’s cups to Zhou Mingchen, waiting for him to fill them.
Zhou Mingchen: “…” Am I a tea server?
Pouring drinks for everyone wasn’t Zhou Mingchen’s intention, but he still did it.
Until Shen Xianru chuckled and praised, “Xiao Yi is such a sensible child. Under his influence, Xiao Chen is now proactively pouring drinks for us. That’s great.”
Zhou Mingchen resignedly closed his eyes.
He knew an elder would make a fuss about praising him for such a small thing; he wasn’t a three-year-old anymore, how embarrassing.
Lin Anyi was also a little embarrassed; he didn’t expect to receive praise for such a small matter. He pursed his lips and smiled sweetly, “Grandfather is exaggerating.”
At the last family dinner, Lin Anyi was so nervous that he barely spoke a word, only poking at his bowl with his chopsticks, seemingly trying to eat air. After spending time together these past few days, although he was still somewhat reserved, he was much more familiar and relaxed.
Zhou Ruolin was very pleased by the sight. Without much thought, he said, “Last time I overheard Xiao Chen and Xiao Yi talking about changing his surname. Since most of the family is here today, why don’t we discuss it and settle this matter as soon as possible?”
“Change his surname?”
Shen Wanchao looked up, still not understanding what Zhou Ruolin meant.
The smile on Lin Anyi’s lips suddenly froze.
Zhou Ruolin, oblivious to Lin Anyi’s change, explained to Shen Wanchao, “A few days ago, Xiao Chen asked Xiao Yi if he wanted to change his surname. Xiao Yi said he wanted to change it to yours. I think that’s a good idea too. What do you think?”
The Shen couple beamed with joy upon hearing this. They naturally welcomed it with open arms.
Shen Wanchao was quite surprised and looked at Lin Anyi, “Xiao Yi, you really want to…”
Before he could finish, Shen Wanchao noticed that Lin Anyi was looking down; he didn’t look very willing.
Shen Wanchao trailed off, and Lin Anyi also remained silent. The atmosphere at the table immediately changed.
Zhou Ruolin finally realized he might have unintentionally said something wrong, and looked at Lin Anyi worriedly.
Shen Wanchao quickly changed his tone. He smiled as he said, “Actually, it doesn’t matter whether you change it or not. The most important thing is that we all accept Xiao Yi as part of our family, and we don’t need to worry too much about things like surnames.”
If he had heard before that Lin Anyi was willing to change his surname, Shen Wanchao would have been filled with joy and relief. But he had just returned from meeting Lin Anyi’s biological father yesterday, and the man wasn’t the scoundrel he had imagined; on the contrary, he seemed to care about Lin Anyi. His name was the last thing Lin Hui left for Lin Anyi.
If Lin Anyi wanted to keep his current surname, Shen Wanchao would unconditionally support him.
“Change it. I think it’s good,”
Zhou Mingchen, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up. He leaned back in his chair and touched the tip of his nose.
“From now on, when we go out, I can say he’s my brother, and if people ask why he doesn’t have the same surname as me, I can say he has my dad’s surname.”
Everyone immediately looked at Zhou Mingchen.
He scratched his head, glanced to the side, and continued, “Did I say something wrong? I can’t keep telling people about Lin Anyi’s background every time they ask.”
“Xiao Chen,” Shen Wanchao’s voice became slightly stern.
Zhou Mingchen, feeling dejected, muttered under his breath, “Anyway, I don’t think we’re really brothers right now.”
Lin Anyi silently clenched his chopsticks and lowered his head.
Shen Wanchao placed a piece of food on Lin Anyi’s plate: “Don’t overthink it. You’re still my child no matter what. Eat.”
“I’m sorry,” Lin Anyi’s voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.
Shen Wanchao smiled helplessly, and pulled his head to his shoulder: “Why apologize? You didn’t do anything that needs an apology.”
Lin Anyi leaned on Shen Wanchao’s shoulder; he didn’t dare to look at anyone present.
He was the one who said those words, and only a few days later, he went back on his word, it was truly unacceptable.
But… did he really want to become brothers with Zhou Mingchen, nominally and in reality?
He didn’t even know what he was thinking.
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