Chapter 109
Editor: Sahloknir
Shi Qing: “…”
He couldn’t do anything but lay there for a second.
He had to roll over again before he was sure Tan Mingjin had really used clips to secure his clothes.
Then he was silent again.
The System just heard Shi Qing call for it. It curiously popped out: [Host, what did we do?]
Shi Qing was silent for a few seconds. [Nothing, continue playing by yourself.]
The System, who was still a bit simpleminded after all this time, obediently went on its way.
But it was curious about something. Why did Host sound like he was gritting his teeth just now?
Tan Mingjin knew nothing about that exchange. He was worried that the clips would bother Shi Qing now that the youth turned over. After a moment of hesitation, he cautiously reached out for Shi Qing’s shoulder. Before he could ascertain whether the clip was bothering Shi Qing, the originally sleeping youth slowly opened his eyes.
Shi Qing’s eyes were very beautiful. Genuine peach blossom eyes peeked out under long eyelashes. They usually gave off an unruly feeling, but his eyes now seemed a bit seductive since they were clouded by sleep.
And now, these seductive eyes were looking at Tan Mingjin with a bit of confusion.
For some reason, the man who had just calmed his mind felt his heart race again.
Even the air seemed to heat up.
Neither of them said anything until Shi Qing seemed to wake up more. He blinked his pretty eyes and called out to Tan Mingjin.
“Uncle.”
The youth’s voice was usually very crisp, but perhaps because he had just woken up, his words were somewhat husky and gentle.
Tan Mingjin almost immediately recalled a novel that was popular amongst his cla.s.smates in elementary school. One of the characters in it was a pixie whose voice always had a seductive quality to it.
The man’s memory had always been exceptional. He could still recall several pa.s.sages from the book about that pixie, which described Shi Qing to a ‘T’.
He was still in a daze when the youth woke up completely. Shi Qing sat up and looked down disgruntledly at the clips on his shoulder. He immediately threw a tantrum. “What is this!? Who did this to me?!”
Somehow, Tan Mingjin found the complaint somewhat endearing.
His heart seemed to beat even faster.
The man subconsciously hid his emotions and coughed dryly. He used cold words to disguise the guilt that welled up inside. “I did it. I’ve told you before to not wear the kind of clothing that shows your shoulders. Boys like you need to be more proper.”
He knew that his words would not go over well the moment he said them. Shi Qing has always hated being criticized. Every time they had a disagreement due to this, it always culminated in a big argument.
“So what if I’m a boy!? Are boys not allowed to dress like this? Why am I the only one that can’t when everyone else can? My clothes aren’t even the kind with holes in them yet!”
As expected, Young Master Shi, who hadn’t slept enough, exploded again. He obviously believed that Tan Mingjin was picking a fight.
Little Shi Qing also woke up with him and retook his place on his larger counterpart’s shoulder. His face was just as angry.
His little face had unhappiness written all over it with a hint of grievance as well. He glared at Tan Mingjin like the man had wronged him in some way.
The youth was still fuming, “You’re even trying to control what I wear. Why didn’t you say anything about Cheng Yunling when she attended that awards ceremony in that skimpy outfit that showed her entire back? Why didn’t you say she was indecent? Oh, I know, because you were too busy watching with great interest!”
Little Shi Qing on his shoulder also bared his fangs: “Pei pei pei!”
Tan Mingjin wrinkled his brows slightly at the accusation.
What did this have to do with Cheng Yunling.
Then the man remembered that Shi Qing suspected he liked Cheng Yunling and wanted to steal her away.
Again, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He tried to open his mouth to explain.
However, Young Master Shi acted like he had seized a great advantage. He didn’t give Tan Mingjin a chance to speak, firing off remarks like a shotgun.
“You say that I’m indecent when I wear loose clothing, but you sit in front of the TV every day staring at Cheng Yunling’s bare shoulders!! Once or twice would be fine, but then you go and search up commercials she’s been in! You obviously have a thing for indecency after watching her commercials eight times in a row. Why is she allowed to be indecent but I’m not?!”
His argument was obviously twisting the truth.
When he was at home, Tan Mingjin tended to sit in his office and watch the news occasionally.
Yes, sometimes he glanced at Cheng Yunling’s commercials, but that was because she reminded him of his late mother.
His mother had worked herself to the bone to support their family. She was reluctant to waste money on pictures, so Tan Mingjin could only reminisce about his mother using his memories when he missed her.
So when he discovered that Cheng Yunling looked like his mother, Tan Mingjin would look up every time he saw one of her advertis.e.m.e.nts. They made him feel like his mother was still alive and well, smiling gently at him.
This somehow turned into proof that he liked Cheng Yunling in Shi Qing’s eyes.
Tan Mingjin: “You’ve misunderstood—”
Shi Qing: “Pei. What’s there to misunderstand? Did you think I wouldn’t find out about your feelings for her when we live under the same roof??”
Little Shi Qing cooperated: “Pei pei pei!”
Tan Mingjin: “It’s not what you think—”
Shi Qing: “Yes, I know. I’ve only seen the surface. After all, Uncle is willing to believe her over the child you’ve raised by your side for years. You think that I drugged her, and you were willing to throw me out for her sake.”
His anger-filled words gradually grew quiet. In the end, he was gritting his teeth with a fierce expression.
On the other hand, little Shi Qing wasn’t acting fierce or spitting at Tan Mingjin anymore. His head drooped down as he sobbed and wiped at his tears.
The youth took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling at a forty-five degree angle.
“Since you’re willing to go so far for Cheng Yunling when you haven’t even confessed yet, then what will happen to me when you two make it official? I bet you can’t wait to throw me out then. When you two get married this year and have two children in three… When Uncle has a new family, I’ll be living on the streets.”
Little Shi Qing: “Ying ying…ying…”
Tan Mingjin: “…”
What is wrong with this child’s brain.
He couldn’t help but hold his forehead, “Shi Qing, listen to me first.”
“What else is Uncle going to say? You’ve already made your move.” The youth bristled with a stubborn expression, pretending he didn’t care as he pointed to the clips on his clothes.
“This is the proof.”
“Cheng Yunling hasn’t even stepped in the door yet, and you’ve already started to physically punish me.”
Tan Mingjin: “…”
President Tan, who was now deeply aware of what it meant to throw a tantrum and nitpick, rubbed at his brows.
“Those clips are just to help hold up your clothes.”
Shi Qing snorted coldly and ripped one off, “Do you take me for a three-year-old?”
“Uncle, you like Cheng Yunling, don’t you? Fine, let me tell you right now that I like her too. You saw how close we were before.”
Tan Mingjin, who immediately recalled how hard little Shi Qing was spitting at Cheng Yunling: “…”
Yes, he saw it. Very clearly too.
Even though he knew that Shi Qing was still angry, Tan Mingjin wanted to laugh right now.
He obviously didn’t like her, but he insisted he did. How could this child be so funny?
As the man thought this, he could not help but smile faintly. He asked Shi Qing, “Do you really like her?”
He just wanted to tease Shi Qing a little, but the youth in front of him furiously glared at him after his question.
As for little Shi Qing, he was stunned for a few seconds and stopped sobbing.
Instead, he wailed.
Shi Qing didn’t cry, he just questioned the man with burning eyes.
“What’s that supposed to mean? You still won’t give up on her after seeing how close we are?”
Tan Mingjin: “???”
Tan Mingjin: “That wasn’t what I…”
But the youth didn’t want to listen to anything he had to say. The rims of Shi Qing’s eyes reddened from grievance or anger. He gave his uncle a wicked glare like a little wolf cub: “I’ll show you how much I like her!”
With that, he turned, shoved his feet into his shoes and stalked out.
BANG!!!
He slammed the door closed especially hard.
President Tan, who was left alone in the lounge: “…”
Even from a distance, he could still hear little Shi Qing’s wails. That sound made everyone who heard it shed tears. The uninformed would definitely think that Tan Mingjin had badly bullied him.
Tan Mingjin waited until he could no longer hear the sound of little Shi Qing’s cries, before he slowly pinched his brow. With a little hesitation, he sat down on the bed.
It hadn’t been long since Shi Qing was here. His warmth still lingered on the bed.
The man slightly looked down and set his hands on the soft blanket. He gently stroked it like it was Shi Qing’s head.
***
Every member of the crew knew that Young Master Shi’s methods of pursuing Cheng Yunling had escalated again.
Nevermind the daily truckful of roses, the young master somehow justified sticking self-righteously around the set everyday with three bodyguards surrounding him like a couplet.
First line: You are my little heart
Next line: I am your big baby
The horizontal finisher: Great luck and fortune
Every day, this young master came to the set with his three bodyguards like clockwork. He would then lay down on his recliner with his bodyguards surrounding him like the lines in a couplet.
High profile was too light of a description.
It would be more accurate to say that Shi Qing’s entourage was the most attention grabbing group on set.
Although every move of his was very high profile, most of the crew still liked Young Master Shi due to his generosity.
He was like a fighter jet among the rich second generations, the kind that had luxury written in bold on his face. Not to mention treating everyone to meals, milk tea and cake on a daily basis, he would even invite everyone to stay in a hotel when the place they were filming changed.
Who wouldn’t like this kind of sucker kindhearted person?
There’s only probably two crew members bothered by Shi Qing’s presence.
The first was Cheng Yunling, and the other was Zheng Xuexue, who was jealous Cheng Yunling managed to ‘hook up’ with such a rich young man.
Cheng Yunling was just troubled because she realized Shi Qing didn’t like her despite making such a big show of courting her.
Zheng Xuexue was just jealous to the point that her eyes turned red.
Especially when it was lunch time. Young Master Shi, who always acted arrogant and domineering to everyone else, would hover attentively around Cheng Yunling.
“Here Yunling, eat one of these. I’ll feed you,”
“Here, I know you like to eat this. I’ll feed you.”
“Have a sip of milk tea. I’ll feed you.”
The way he treated Cheng Yunling like a priceless treasure made Zheng Xuexue want to explode from envy.
What did Cheng Yunling do to deserve this??
Look at how sly that woman is! Can you believe she actually complained yesterday that she’s gained two pounds in a few days?!
Bragging!
She was definitely bragging!
However, in reality…
Shi Qing: “Here Yunling, eat one of these. I’ll feed you.”
Young Master Shi gestured for Cheng Yunling to open her mouth.
Cheng Yunling: “…No thanks.”
Shi Qing: “I saved your life, a debt you can never repay. Why are you so reluctant to let me feed you?”
Cheng Yunling silently opened her mouth.
She was about to close her mouth when the food was close.
Shi Qing: “Don’t move. Keep this position and don’t move.”
—Click!
The bodyguard next to him immediately took a picture of ‘Shi Qing feeding Cheng Yunling’.
The smile on Young Master Shi’s face immediately faded. He threw his chopsticks away and turned. “How was it? Did you get a good shot?”
The bodyguard patted his chest as he showed the photo to his employer: “Look at this, young master. It’s super clear.”
Cheng Yunling, who didn’t even get to eat that bite of food: “…”
In the afternoon, Shi Qing treated everyone to milk tea. He brought one over to Cheng Yunling, turning the straw in her direction with a sunny expression. “I’ll feed you milk tea.”
In order to maintain her figure, Cheng Yunling had abstained from milk tea for a long time. But the allure of the enticing fragrance made her turn away in agony. “I can’t. There’s too many calories in that for a drink.”
Shi Qing: “Have a sip. It’ll be fine.”
He added, “You can never repay the debt you owe me for saving your life.”
So Cheng Yunling tried to justify it to herself. “I don’t want to drink it, but someone is forcing me to.”
Satisfied, she scooted over to take a sip.
Young Master Shi: “Wait, don’t move. Keep this position while I get my uncle on video chat so he can see how much we love each other.”
When the video chat was set up, Cheng Yunling slurped her milk tea in the background and watched as Young Master Shi talked to Tan Mingjin.
Anyway, Shi Qing forced her to drink this, so it would be a waste to not finish it.
As she drank, Cheng Yunling didn’t forget to act professionally and show a shy smile when Shi Qing bragged about their ‘harmonious relationship’.
But for some reason, maybe she saw it wrong, but Cheng Yunling felt like President Tan always had a weird look in his eyes.
Tan Mingjin took the time to sit in his office and video chat with Shi Qing, silently listening to him blather on.
“Uncle, did you see the picture I sent you? Yunling actually wanted to eat it herself, but I think it’s more intimate when I feed her.”
“Aiya, I really like her too much…and she likes me so much back.”
The man looked at little Shi Qing, who was trying to roll his big cute eyes: “…”
Oblivious to the fact that the little Shi Qing on his shoulder had betrayed him, Shi Qing continued to chatter.
“This is probably what it’s like to be in love. I’m practically living on set now because it’s so hard to go a day without seeing Yunling.”
Little Shi Qing：”Pei…Bleh!”
Shi Qing turned to look at Cheng Yunling, who was taking full advantage of Zhang-jie not being here to slurp down her milk tea. “I don’t think anyone on Earth likes her more sincerely than me.”
Little Shi Qing was so disgusted with himself that he sprawled out listlessly like a corpse.
Shi Qing: “Uncle, why haven’t you said anything?”
Tan Mingjin watched quietly as little Shi Qing, who realized his head was facing Cheng Yunling’s direction, twisted his little body so that his head was somehow facing Tan Mingjin while his b.u.t.t and feet were aimed at Cheng Yunling.
He tried to hold back his laughter and nodded with a serious face.
“I also think that you are very sincere.”