Chapter 81

The two had been quasi-boyfriends for a while now, but Ye Chen kept too many secrets, and his self-esteem issues made it hard for him to open up in front of Shen Mofeng. He was always incredibly soft, almost to an absurd extent, but he never initiated anything. This time, however, was a rare exception.

Shen Mofeng was deeply moved—half angry, half shamefully delighted. He couldn’t resist kissing back, the pressure on Ye Chen’s lips carrying a certain intensity. He assumed this was just another one of Ye Chen’s tactics, thinking Ye Chen would continue secretly scheming with excuses that were equal parts infuriating and amusing. Yet, as Ye Chen responded, his thoughts went silent… or more accurately, they weren’t silent but rather filled with the white noise of an unmodulated radio frequency, making it impossible to decipher any meaningful thoughts.

This little liar, who always spoke nonsense, had his mind go completely blank from just one kiss.

Shen Mofeng was slightly taken aback, his heart softening a bit.

Madness level reduced by 1%!

After a moment, the two broke apart, both gasping for breath. Shen Mofeng’s cheeks were slightly flushed, but his expression remained firmly controlled, still dark and intimidating.

Without missing a beat, Shen Mofeng interrogated, “During the filming of Aspiration For The Throne, when we moved to the outdoor set, you went to my room to shower…”

“Ge…” Ye Chen’s face flushed crimson, attempting to sweet-talk his way out, “Could you… kiss me again?”

Shen Mofeng’s lips curled mockingly. He pressed his lips back onto Ye Chen’s soft ones, lightly kissing while asking between pauses, “Was it to… use my body wash?”

Ye Chen: “…”

Even a kiss can’t stop Shen-ge from talking?

“Nope,” Shen Mofeng released him, “Answer the question. Was it to use my body wash?”

Ye Chen’s scalp was tingling, and he desperately resisted, even calling out a term he usually couldn’t bring himself to use, in a last-ditch effort to divert Shen Mofeng’s attention: “No, really no, Gege.”

It really wasn’t, because he didn’t just use the body wash—there was also the shampoo, lotion, essential oils…

“Still playing word games with me?” Shen Mofeng’s ears went numb from being called “Gege,” but he didn’t let it show, “You used everything.”

Ye Chen was on the verge of losing it, wriggling like a twisted sugar stick in Shen Mofeng’s arms, murmuring nonstop, trying to throw off Shen Mofeng’s sharp hearing: “I didn’t, Shen-ge, I’m not, you can’t do this, stop saying it, I beg you…”

“And also,” Shen Mofeng raised his voice, itemizing everything, “I treated you to dinner, and you called me ‘Dad’ in your head. I saved you from a falling tree, and you called me ‘Dad’ in your head. I gave you special acting lessons, and you still called me ‘Dad’ in your head… You think I’m old, that I’m like a father to you, right?”

“No! I never thought of you as my dad!” Ye Chen’s face turned red all the way down to his rear, “You’re my boyfriend!”

First, as the provider of food and shelter, then as a life-saving figure, and finally as a teacher and mentor… it’s the Three Dad Combo.

Shen Mofeng coldly remarked, “Three Dad Combo.”

Ye Chen was nearly overwhelmed with shame: “I didn’t think of it that way! It’s the Three Husband Combo!”

“Still lying.” Shen Mofeng stared straight at him, “If you think the age gap is too much, you can just say it.”

“It’s not too much at all!” Ye Chen instinctively refuted, but he had indeed considered the age gap before, a thought that couldn’t escape Shen Mofeng’s awareness now. So, before Shen Mofeng could expose his lie, Ye Chen resigned himself, bowed his head, rested his forehead against Shen Mofeng’s shoulder, and nuzzled him, confessing proactively, “I did think at first that a seven-year gap was a bit much, but later I felt it didn’t really matter. Besides, isn’t it better that you’re a few years older than me? I…”

Ye Chen swallowed hard and said softly, “Am I not your little boy?”

Damn! Shen Mofeng cursed inwardly, his back suddenly feeling hot, wishing he could let everything slide. But thinking about all the lies Ye Chen had told, he couldn’t just let it go; he needed to press Ye Chen a little more to feel satisfied.

So, Shen Mofeng controlled his emotions and coldly said, “You joined several health groups for middle-aged and elderly people, promoting pillows and using me as an example, didn’t you?”

“…” Ye Chen lost his voice, “Please, don’t say that!”

The worst part had come, and Ye Chen’s mental state crumbled. He panicked like a little puppy, wanting to jump off Shen Mofeng’s lap and run away.

Forget everything! He just wanted to escape before his secrets were fully revealed; he would be so humiliated he might just die on the spot!

“Be honest.” Shen Mofeng tightened his right arm around Ye Chen’s waist, raising his left hand to slap Ye Chen’s rear end. The force was light… obviously just a tease.

Ye Chen was stunned by the slap, and his already flushed face somehow turned an even deeper shade of red.

Shen Mofeng slowly repeated, “You heard your old man has a serious smoking addiction. When the weather turns cool, he coughs all night and can’t sleep, and you, as his son, listen to that every night, feeling like your heart is being twisted in pain…”

Ye Chen’s head tilted, his body slumping against Shen Mofeng’s shoulder, utterly exhausted and giving up the fight.

“As for your old man,” Shen Mofeng said slowly, “ever since he started using the pillow you recommended, even if he only sleeps six hours a day, he’s as lively as can be, able to run and jump around, right?”

Ye Chen didn’t say a word, but his thoughts uncontrollably agreed: yes.

Shen Mofeng rubbed Ye Chen’s waist, his expression half-smiling, “Am I a lively dragon and animated tiger^[1]Vigorous and lively, baby?”

Ye Chen gritted his teeth, tears of regret welling up in his eyes!

Right now, he was regretting it all—deeply regretting…

“And you still say you entered the industry for me,” Shen Mofeng couldn’t tolerate that lie the most, “and that ‘I’m your dream’?” 

Ye Chen: “…”

Shen Mofeng: “…Spring dream?”

Ye Chen’s face flushed as he hypocritically said, “Please don’t be like that.”

Shen Mofeng shot him a fierce glare: “You’re the one who thought of it.”

After failing to deflect blame, the little rogue Ye wriggled around, mumbling softly.

A moment of silence fell over the room, and the mysteriously cheerful atmosphere, after crossing a certain threshold, finally sank into heaviness.

“Chen Chen,” Shen Mofeng said gently, “I still like you and don’t intend to break up with you.”

Ye Chen tightly clutched Shen Mofeng’s clothes and mumbled in response, “Mm.”

Shen Mofeng became serious: “But you’ve lied to me so much, and we can’t just gloss over it… You tell me, how should we resolve this?”

His tone grew grave, and Ye Chen steadied himself, forcibly pulling away from his feelings of shame to align himself with Shen Mofeng’s wavelength.

He had deceived someone, and no matter how many reasons he had, right was right and wrong was wrong. He felt there was no justification for his actions. Besides, when someone is deceived by someone they like, regardless of the reasons, it hurts.

He actually… owed Shen Mofeng a sincere apology all along.

“Shen Ge,” Ye Chen cleared his throat and said earnestly, “I’m sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have lied to you, and it won’t happen again.”

Before Shen Mofeng could respond, Ye Chen, with red-rimmed eyes, got off his lap and solemnly bowed to him: “I’m truly sorry.”

The visual effect was akin to attending a funeral…

“…” Shen Mofeng felt a headache coming on and pulled Ye Chen back, “Is there anything besides an apology?”

He could hear everything now and knew how heartfelt Ye Chen’s apology was, but it still wasn’t enough to soothe his anger.

Ye Chen, feeling anxious, quietly said, “You say it… as long as you can forgive me, anything is fine.”

Shen Mofeng bit his lip and asked, “Your quasi-boyfriend, aren’t you going to take it a step further?”

Like an octopus, Ye Chen wrapped his limbs around him, declaring firmly, “I will.”

First establish a family, then pursue a career!

Now that the title was secured, Shen Mofeng pondered for a moment, considering future benefits: “What about compensation in actual actions?”

“Anything… anything is fine…” As a man, just mentioning “actual actions” made Ye Chen’s mind race with various scenarios, his eyelashes glistening, “As long as you’re happy.”

“……” Shen Mofeng was caught off guard by several shocking thoughts racing through his mind. After a moment, he lifted his eyelids slightly, incredulously asking, “Baby, so you’ve been looking at my photos every day? Is that it?”

Ye Chen’s face turned an explosive shade of red: “How did you figure that out?!”

Shen Mofeng shrugged helplessly: “I can’t exactly close my ears, and you just suddenly remembered it.”

—Ye Chen’s thoughts had been derailed to the yellow^[2]P*rn*graphic storm frequency by Shen Mofeng, and thoughts, as it turned out, had a strong tendency to diverge and connect with one another.

A few seconds later, Shen Mofeng said in a hushed voice, “…You even put it on screen, got my face all over it…”

After another few seconds, Shen Mofeng remarked, “You did that on purpose? I really underestimated you.”

“C-Can we not talk about this?” Ye Chen, feeling flustered, wanted to hit something. “Have you forgiven me or not?”

Shen Mofeng smiled gently, patting Ye Chen’s back as if soothing a child: “Mm, I forgive you… but I have one last request.”

Ye Chen replied, “You say it.”

Shen Mofeng exhaled softly, pondering how to phrase it.

When he read through Ye Chen’s memories, aside from the embarrassment and anger from the revelations, he felt more of a pang of sorrow and heartache. Otherwise, with his temperament, he wouldn’t have felt so unbothered after being kept in the dark for so long. However, he had seen so much in Ye Chen’s memories, and he understood the meaning behind Ye Chen’s question that night: “If I’ve been through a lot of hardship, faced poverty, done all kinds of jobs, and don’t have a high level of education, would you look down on me or despise me?”

He saw his little friend sitting behind a pile of vegetables, hugging his knees, using his sleeve to wipe the chalk marks on a little cardboard sign, reducing the price by fifty cents. After a while, he would sigh heavily and lower it by another fifty cents. Then again, with even more frustration, he would lower it by yet another fifty cents…

In fact, this scene felt incredibly out of place, and Ye Chen seemed too optimistic and carefree. When he ran into the elderly folks buying vegetables, he was still in the mood to banter with them. It appeared he not only lacked a sense of tragedy but was also quite humorous.

His little friend was very strong and didn’t need pity. Shen Mofeng didn’t want to hurt his self-esteem by bringing up these trivial past events.

Ye Chen nervously looked at him.

Shen Mofeng pinched his cheek, his tone light: “From now on, let me spoil you. Ask me for more; what’s mine is yours.”

Ye Chen lowered his gaze, still not quite used to this mode of having a boyfriend who buys things for him. He awkwardly replied, “…Oh.”

Shen Mofeng thought for a moment, finding an excuse: “Since we’re officially together now, I should get you a token of our love. Is there anything you like, baby?”

Ye Chen instinctively replied politely, “Nothing in particular.”

But he couldn’t control his thoughts!

“…A Lamborghini?” It was indeed something a young boy would like. Shen Mofeng smiled, feeling an incredible softness in his heart. “I’ll take you tomorrow…” Before he could finish his sentence, a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.

Ye Chen awkwardly wiped his face.

Shen Mofeng’s lips twitched slightly as he slowly confirmed, “A Lamborghini… tractor?”

The author has something to say:

Chen Chen’s nightly ritual of making cucumber juice was overheard loud and clear…

Chen Chen: Ever since my old father started using the pillow I recommended, even if he only sleeps six hours a day, he feels energetic and can run and jump, blabla… What are you all hesitating for? Hurry up and grab one!

Shen Mofeng: Today, I’ll show you what it means to be energetic. 🙂

Chen Chen is about to own two tractors, jumping into the ranks of wealthy farmers…

Just received a Lamborghini and dropped two hundred small red envelopes ╰(°▽°)╯

P.S.: This account isn’t settled yet… how could I let Chen Chen off so easily!! Right now, Shen Ge is just feeling sorry for Chen Chen, temporarily unable to unleash his beastly side. [doge]