Even wrapped up like a little rice dumpling, he stubbornly stretched out his left hand and bent his thumb inward.
It meant "thank you."
Cheng Shenzhi looked a little helpless and asked, "How many times have you thanked me tonight?"
Zhong Yu froze, then hesitantly held up three fingers.
Cheng Shenzhi: "…"
Cheng Shenzhi laughed. Looking at the child's confused expression, he very much wanted to reach out and rub his cheek or his hair, but in the end he restrained the urge and made his expression more serious.
Zhong Yu keenly sensed the change in atmosphere. He straightened a little too and looked at Cheng Shenzhi with nervous unease.
Cheng Shenzhi remembered what he had seen when he kicked open the door earlier, as well as Pan Youzhi hiding downstairs.
And unfortunately, he had only recently learned that the Pan family's cash flow seemed to be in trouble. Presumably, that was also the reason Zhong Yu had suffered these things lately.
But Zhong Yu was only eighteen.
He softened his voice and asked, "What are you planning to do next?"
Would he go home, or leave with Cheng Shenzhi for now?
If Zhong Yu chose the former, Cheng Shenzhi would put pressure on Pan Youzhi from the shadows until the man never dared make such moves again.
As for Pan Wang… Should he have someone beat him up, or make Pan Youzhi throw him out?
Zhong Yu immediately understood what he meant.
His eyelashes trembled. He lowered his eyes and pointed to Cheng Shenzhi's phone.
There was hesitation in the movement.
After all, a phone was an extremely private thing, and the man before him looked like someone who cared a great deal about privacy.
But in the next second, an unlocked phone was already being held out to him.
Zhong Yu looked up at Cheng Shenzhi's expression before accepting it. He turned slightly so Cheng Shenzhi could see the screen, then began writing his plans word by word in the notes app.
Cheng Shenzhi lowered his head from where he sat and watched Zhong Yu lay out everything he intended to do.
[I'm going to suspend my studies.]
The very first sentence was completely outside Cheng Shenzhi's expectations.
But it was obvious Zhong Yu had not made the decision on impulse.
He typed quickly, and his reasoning was very organized.
[I'm taking my sister away.]
He typed the name of a place. Cheng Shenzhi knew it: a small city in the south. Its economy was not especially developed and the cost of living was low, but most importantly, its educational resources were fairly good.
[I've researched it. The climate there is good, so I probably won't get sick as easily. I've worked as a teaching assistant before. If I can't find that kind of work, I can be a server or carry bricks at a construction site. I also have the money Mom left me. And the policies there are very supportive, especially toward orphans.]
When he typed the final word, Zhong Yu's fingers paused and his eyes dimmed.
But he quickly pulled himself together again.
[I'm her older brother. I can definitely raise her well.]
Cheng Shenzhi could no longer keep reading. He asked, "What about your uncle?"
Uncle?
Zhong Yu had never even considered that choice. He hesitated for a moment.
[I don't want to cause him trouble.]
Besides, Zhong Yu had always known that his uncle actually…did not like him very much.
One could even say Zhong Hanqing did not especially want to see him.
There was no evidence. It was only a faint intuition. From the first moment Zhong Yu met Zhong Hanqing, he had known the man did not particularly like him.
But with his little sister, it was different.
Zhong Yu thought that was fine. Xiaoxiao was still young and needed more care.
But there was no possibility he would leave his little sister in Zhong Hanqing's care and go away alone.
Zhong Yu shook his head and pointed seriously at himself.
[I'm already eighteen. I'll raise my sister properly.]
Cheng Shenzhi could not listen any longer. He reached out and almost forcibly lifted Zhong Yu's chin, making him meet his eyes. "What about you?"
…Me?
Zhong Yu blinked in confusion.
Cheng Shenzhi asked, "What about your education? Don't you really like your current major?"
Given Zhong Yu's circumstances, pharmacy was absolutely not a convenient choice. The six-year combined bachelor's-and-master's program and the meager salary at the beginning of his career could not solve his current problems quickly.
Besides, Zhong Yu's grades were excellent. He could have chosen almost anything in A City, even across the country.
Cheng Shenzhi could casually name several faster and easier paths.
Zhong Yu's personality, circumstances, and choices all made one thing perfectly clear to Cheng Shenzhi: he had absolutely not selected this major carelessly.
The question dimmed Zhong Yu's eyes. He pressed his lips together and gently shook his head.
It did not matter.
Cheng Shenzhi stared at him for a long time. The young man's face still held traces of childishness, yet he had already resolutely prepared himself to shoulder responsibilities that many adults feared and avoided.
Cheng Shenzhi wanted to sigh. Instead, his fingertip gently brushed Zhong Yu's cheek. It was as soft as he had imagined.
He looked at the young man's startled, helpless gaze, his pupils round. He was clearly still so young.
"Would you marry me?"
When Cheng Shenzhi said it, he was extraordinarily calm.
This was what he should have done from the beginning.
Zhong Yu, however, was completely stunned. He even wondered whether he had heard wrong. The subject had leapt so wildlyâhow had they possibly arrived here?
He stared blankly at Cheng Shenzhi for several seconds, lips moving, unable to produce anything. He only raised a hand and pointed at himself again in confusion.
Me?
This time, however, Mr. Cheng was no longer as accommodating as before. Not only did he fail to acknowledge Zhong Yu's shock or sympathize with his panic, he asked again, "Would you, Yuyu?"
It was practically pressure.
Zhong Yu was completely at a loss. He did not even realize that the other man was taking advantage of the situation to naturally begin calling him by his childhood nickname. Even his father and uncle had never called him so intimately.
He only lifted a pair of misty eyes. Countless questions tangled and fought chaotically inside his head.
For a moment he even forgot the terrifying events of that night. Pitifully, he pointed to himself, then to Cheng Shenzhi, his face full of bewilderment.
He really looked terribly pitiful.
Cheng Shenzhi stroked Zhong Yu's hair. It was soft, exactly as he had imagined.
He told Zhong Yu, "Because I liked you from the first moment I saw you."
Cheng Shenzhi certainly was not a good person. He would never stand by and watch an animal like the Zhou family boy ruin someone, but neither was he so blindly kind that he would personally take a stranger to the hospital.
And after mistakenly thinking Zhong Yu was an omega, he had even worried he might suffer lasting damage and brought him back to his own home.
"In fact, if none of these things had happened…" Cheng Shenzhi paused, looked at Zhong Yu's wary and confused eyes, smiled faintly, and said, "Right now, I should be courting you."
Step by step, properly and in order. Perhaps he would have used Zhong Jue as an excuse to chat with Zhong Yu at an amusement park on the weekend, or perhaps while "revisiting his alma mater" he would just happen to meet an outstanding junior student…
He absolutely would not have dragged Zhong Yu into bed like some pervert the very first time they met, frightening him so badly that when he woke he fled the hospital without taking either the business card or bank card, then avoided Cheng Shenzhi ever since.
But it did not matter.
From now on, everything could return to the proper path.
"So," he said very softly, almost deliberately tempting him, "why don't we introduce ourselves again?"
Zhong Yu had no idea how the situation had developed to this point. His thoughts were a complete mess and he did not know what to say, yet kind Mr. Cheng, who had saved him, was waiting for his answer.
His head felt dizzy. Suddenly remembering something, he urgently traced a vertical line and a half-curve in the air.
âBut he was a beta.
He did not dislike being a beta. In fact, he was even grateful that as a beta he held no sexual attraction for alphas. It had spared him countless problems and also saved him the monthly expense of suppressants.
But an alpha as outstanding as Mr. Cheng should still prefer omegas, shouldn't he?
Zhong Yu instinctively thought that this was a very tactful rejection, but Cheng Shenzhi said, "I don't like omegas."
Then there seemed to be no reason left to refuse.
Moisture gathered in Zhong Yu's eyes again. He was so anxious he wanted to cry, but Cheng Shenzhi gently wiped it away and coaxed him. "After we marry, you and your sister can both continue studying. You can tell me anything you want. I'll also give you regular living expenses. If you're worried, we can sign a prenuptial agreement."
After thinking, he added, "But I may have to trouble you, Yuyu, to help me through my rut."
"All right?"
Zhong Yu looked at him through tear-blurred eyes. His thoughts had been completely led along, and in the end he nodded while choking back tears.
==========Author's Note:==========
The next update will be at midnight on the 18th. I'll send all my babies little red packets then.
Detailed version: Because the main story is short, only a little over 250,000 characters, and JJWXC seems to have changed some rules. I only just came back and haven't completely figured them out.
I miscalculated the word count, so I need to compress it a little. Kisses, babies.
