The vast sky was cloaked in ink-black darkness. Lights flickered in every corner of the mansion. Though the banquet had long ended, the first-floor dining room remained bustling with activity.
They were celebrating Old Master Tan’s eightieth birthday. No outsiders were invited; only family gathered together.
Old Master Tan beamed with joy, his wrinkles smoothing out, making him look years younger.
As for the commotion that had erupted two hours earlier, it was as if it had never happened.
Ye Mingxuan had eaten a slice of birthday cake and felt a bit stuffed. Tan Sizhe took him outside to walk it off.
“You’ve already dined with my family. Isn’t it time I dined with yours?”
Ye Mingxuan looked up in surprise. “Sir, you really know everything?”
Tan Sizhe: “Mhm.”
They walked to a window and stood side by side, gazing at the moon. Ye Mingxuan felt a tingle at his scalp. “So… you know my mother?”
Tan Sizhe: “I do.”
So he’d been deceiving the gentleman all this time, yet the gentleman knew everything and never exposed him. Ye Mingxuan felt so ashamed he wanted to dig a hole and crawl inside.
“Sir, I actually planned to come clean the day after Grandfather’s birthday.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.” Ye Mingxuan said, “I wanted Grandfather to enjoy his birthday. I never expected an accident at the banquet. I’m sorry.”
Tan Sizhe embraced him from behind, his cheek pressed against Ye Mingxuan’s temple as he gazed out the window at the distant, layered forests. “Don’t blame yourself. It wasn’t your fault. Besides, it was just a minor hiccup. The birthday banquet continued, didn’t it?”
Ye Mingxuan nodded silently, his eyes welling up. “I was so afraid you’d make me leave.”
Tan Sizhe lowered his gaze, turned him around, and cupped Ye Mingxuan’s face. “Then I’d be the worst kind of villain—abandoning my wife and child.”
Ye Mingxuan’s tears turned to laughter as Tan Sizhe wiped the moisture from his cheeks. “But you forgot?”
“What?”
“Last time in Italy, you sold your very first painting.”
Ye Mingxuan blinked, starlight flickering in his eyes.
Tan Sizhe gazed at him, deliberately pinching his cheek. “You’re already a capable young painter.”
“So even if you leave me, you have the means to live.”
Ye Mingxuan felt a feather-light tickle in his heart, warm and tingly. “Sir…”
His cheeks flushed as he wrapped his arms around Tan Sizhe. “But I don’t want to leave you, sir.”
Tan Sizhe tightened his grip on Ye Mingxuan’s shoulders. “Really?”
Ye Mingxuan nodded. Tan Sizhe smiled: “Alright, don’t leave. I wouldn’t want to let Xiao Mingxuan go either.”
They embraced by the window for a while. Even the breeze blowing in tasted sweet as honey. The man’s scent was fresh and natural—Ye Mingxuan especially loved smelling it. He closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly remembered something.
“Sir, there’s one more thing I lied to you about.”
“?”
Ten minutes later, Tan Sizhe looked at Xiao Li’s arm. It was fair and smooth, the shocking scars completely vanished.
Xiao Li gave a nervous chuckle: “Mr. Tan.”
Tan Sizhe looked at Ye Mingxuan, and Xiaoli hurried to explain, “Mr. Tan, please don’t blame Mr. Mingxuan. He was just trying to help me.”
Ye Mingxuan felt a twinge of guilt, his fingers clenching the fabric of his shirt. “I drew it yesterday…”
“Drawn?” Tan Sizhe couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. “And so well?”
“I… I just wanted to force them to confess,” Ye Mingxuan mumbled, head bowed. “I’m sorry for deceiving Grandfather and the others.”
“I understand.” Tan Sizhe dismissed Xiaoli and took Ye Mingxuan aside. “Don’t mention this to them. It’s our secret.”
Ye Mingxuan’s cheeks flushed crimson. “Okay.”
As they headed back to the dining room, urgent knocking suddenly echoed at the front door. The maid went to open it.
The moment the door swung open, a firecracker exploded with a loud bang, showering the area with colorful debris.
“Surprise!” A middle-aged couple appeared at the doorway. Expecting a scene of revelry, they were momentarily stunned by what they saw. “Huh?”
They stepped inside, surveying the empty hall with confusion. “Wasn’t this supposed to be a birthday banquet?”
How could there be not a single guest?
Ye Mingxuan stared blankly at the couple. The man had a refined, scholarly appearance and an exceptional aura. The woman radiated a spirited elegance, with willow-shaped brows and almond-shaped eyes, like a woman stepped out of an ancient painting. There was a distinct familiarity in her features.
It wasn’t until the words “Dad, Mom?” reached his ears that Ye Mingxuan looked at Tan Sizhe in shock.
Tan Sizhe calling them Mom and Dad? Could it be?!
“Son!” Liu Junxin’s lips curved into a smile upon seeing Tan Sizhe. She and Tan Yinghui approached, their gaze settling on Ye Mingxuan beside him. Liu Junxin’s eyebrows arched slightly. “This must be Mingxuan, right? Hello, hello!”
“Hello, Uncle and Auntie.” ” Ye Mingxuan’s legs felt slightly wobbly as he politely greeted them.
“Still calling us Uncle and Auntie?” Tan Yinghui smiled gently. “Shouldn’t you have changed that long ago?”
Ye Mingxuan’s ears burned. Liu Junxin patted Tan Yinghui on the shoulder. “Hey, no rush. Mingxuan just met us.”
“By the way, where is the birthday banquet being held?” Liu Junxin asked. “We’re a bit late. Will we still make it?”
Tan Yinghui: “Why aren’t there any cars outside? Where is everyone?”
Tan Sizhe and Ye Mingxuan exchanged glances: “Actually…”
Liu Junxin suddenly realized: “I know! They changed the location, right?”
Tan Sizhe pinched the bridge of his nose: “Mom, actually…”
Liu Junxin said to Tan Yinghui: “Then we need to hurry, or we’ll be too late!”
Tan Yinghui nodded: “I’ll go get the car.”
Tan Sizhe: “Actually, it’s already over.”
Liu Junxin and Tan Yinghui turned back: “Huh?”
Tan Sizhe said: “It ended early.”
“Why?” Liu Junxin asked, turning back. “It ended? No one notified us.”
Tan Sizhe: “It happened suddenly. I’ll explain later. Uncle and the others are all in the dining room.”
Liu Junxin and Tan Yinghui exchanged a skeptical glance….
Two hours later, everyone had retired to their rooms. Tan Sizhe and Ye Mingxuan went to Tan Yinghui and his wife’s room.
Ye Mingxuan sat nervously on one side, not daring to move a muscle.
Having recounted the same story twice within a single day, Tan Sizhe finished speaking, took a sip of water, and faced his parents with a perfectly composed expression, showing no sign of embarrassment.
Ye Mingxuan, however, was a different story. His face was redder than a boiled shrimp, his head hung lower than low, as if weighed down by a millstone.
Tan Yinghui silently took a sip of water: “So complicated.”
Liu Junxin listened carefully before saying, “No wonder the banquet ended early. Your father and I thought we’d gone to the wrong place.”
“But it’s okay. As long as it’s resolved, your father and I both trust you completely.”
She studied Ye Mingxuan again. He was handsome, his small face as smooth as a freshly peeled egg. Her son said he was an artist? Hmm, he certainly had that artistic aura. When she first saw him, she’d thought he was some brooding prince.
“Mingxuan, come here,” Liu Junxin called to him.
Ye Mingxuan glanced at Tan Sizhe, then took small steps over to sit down. Liu Junxin took his hand and looked at his belly. “Good boy, you’ve worked so hard. Sizhe said you’re already over eight months along.”
“Good. As parents, we’re only at ease seeing you both doing well.” Liu Junxin held Ye Mingxuan’s hand, patting and rubbing it with a warm smile. “Your hands smell so nice! Do you have a link for that hand cream?”
“Still calling me Auntie?” Liu Junxin feigned reproach. “You should call me Mommy now. We just had dinner together.”
Ye Mingxuan’s cheeks flushed, his heart racing. Under Liu Junxin’s gentle urging, he whispered softly, “Mom.”
“Ah!” Liu Junxin’s eyes crinkled with laughter as she glanced at Tan Yinghui.
Tan Yinghui couldn’t wait: “What about me?”
Ye Mingxuan opened his mouth, but his throat felt blocked. No sound came out.
Dad.
He hadn’t uttered those two words in seven years.
He’d nearly forgotten how to pronounce them. Now, suddenly asked to call another middle-aged man “Dad,” Ye Mingxuan simply couldn’t bring himself to say it.
“Wh-what’s wrong?” Tan Yinghui looked slightly bewildered.
Seeing Ye Mingxuan’s state, Tan Sizhe rose and took his hand. ” It’s getting late. You two should get some rest. I’ll take Mingxuan back to his room.”
Tan Yinghui: “Oh, alright.”
After they left, Liu Junxin slapped Tan Yinghui on the back: “Didn’t Tan Ze just say it? Mingxuan’s father passed away. We’ve definitely brought up painful memories for him.”
“So that’s how it was!” Tan Yinghui slapped his forehead. “My fault, my fault.”…
Ye Mingxuan returned to the bedroom: “Sir, I didn’t mean to earlier… Uncle’s side…”
“Don’t worry,” Tan Sizhe said. “My father knows everything. It’s too late now. Go wash up.”
Ye Mingxuan nodded and made his way to the bathroom, his belly protruding.
Tan Sizhe took off his coat and hung it on the back of a chair. He poured himself a cup of hot water to drink, then suddenly remembered something. He called Uncle Ma: “Uncle Ma, have the rooms those three stayed in been thoroughly cleaned inside and out for tomorrow? Have all the gifts they sent been returned?”
“They’ve been returned, Mr. Tan. Rest assured.”
“Mm.”
After hanging up, Ye Mingxuan emerged wrapped in a bathrobe, his hair hastily towel-dried and still damp.
“Come here.” Tan Sizhe sat on the bed and patted the mattress. “Let me blow-dry your hair.”
A smile spread across Ye Mingxuan’s cheeks as he climbed onto the bed, turning his back to Tan Sizhe.
The hot air from the dryer blew steadily. Ye Mingxuan had never felt as lighthearted as he did today. Tan Sizhe’s movements as he gently tousled his hair felt like this: after traveling for an eternity, crossing mountains and wading through muddy swamps, finally reaching the end of the journey only to stumble and collapse—only to be caught securely in the next instant.
“Thank you, sir,” Ye Mingxuan said.
The hair dryer stopped. Tan Sizhe propped himself up beside him with one hand, leaning in close. “More than thanks, I want to hear something else.”
Ye Mingxuan stared at him. “What?”
Tan Sizhe: “Of course, I want to hear you say you love me.”
“!” Ye Mingxuan licked his lips. The room was so quiet, the only sounds were their breathing and heartbeats.
“Say it.” When no words came, Tan Sizhe gave his butt a light smack.
Ye Mingxuan let out an “Ouch!” and burrowed under the covers, half his face peeking out, eyes clear and moist.
Tan Sizhe chuckled softly, no longer teasing him. He got out of bed to shower. When he returned, Ye Mingxuan was already asleep.
He turned off the light and lay down, the room plunging into dimness.
Seconds later, a small, slightly warmer body pressed against his side.
“Sir, I love you.”
