Chapter 104
Seeing what was in Lu Heng’s hand, An Le’s face instantly flushed red. He didn’t say a word, just slowly lowered his head.
An alpha’s stamina was always impressive. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, An Le went to the bathroom to rinse his mouth, only to be pulled into the bathtub by the alpha who had squeezed in after him. They played for another round before finally going back to sleep.
Before drifting off, An Le thought that perhaps Lu Heng really had been very sad. Why else would they have done it so many times today?
Still, if it made Lu Heng less sad, he was willing.
An Le snuggled into Lu Heng’s arms and happily closed his eyes.
The next morning, a thick blanket of snow covered the ground outside. There were far fewer cars on the road, but many more pedestrians.
They were all bundled up in thick down jackets, wearing hats and gloves, their necks turtled as they walked through the snow.
There were also children in the community courtyard, packing snowballs and having snowball fights with their friends.
An Le and Lu Heng walked along the edge of the fun, a happy feeling bubbling up inside them. He rarely showed such joy just because of snow. Copying the others, he scooped up some snow and formed a ball in his hands.
He had never played in the snow before… or maybe he had as a small child, but he couldn’t remember.
Later, when he was with Xiao Xiao, he would just curl up at home whenever it snowed, too cold to even think about going out. He’d never played in it.
Now, he held the snowball, looking ahead uncertainly, not knowing where to throw it.
Lu Heng, walking beside him, noticed his lost expression and asked in a low voice, “Want to play with them?”
An Le hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Mhm.”
Lu Heng gave him a gentle push. “Go on, then.”
An Le glanced at the group of pre-teens and said, his face flushing, “But I… I…”
He didn’t dare.
It didn’t matter if it was a group of children or a group of adults; he just didn’t have the courage.
But he deeply envied their ability to play with such reckless abandon. It was a part of life that he had missed out on.
Lu Heng didn’t try to persuade him further. Instead, he simply bent down, grabbed a handful of snow, and packed it into a ball.
An Le watched him curiously, wondering what he was about to do. Suddenly, he saw Lu Heng hurl the snowball, hitting a boy of about twelve or thirteen in the distance.
The boy immediately spun around. Lu Heng raised a finger and pointed directly at An Le.
An Le was completely stunned.
The boy’s gaze darted back and forth between the two of them. Lu Heng was tall and, though handsome, looked incredibly cold—not the type to be packing snowballs.
An Le, on the other hand, looked much younger. He was small, with a youthful face, and he was still holding a snowball, his expression lost and adorable.
The boy quickly locked onto his target and yelled to his friends, “Hey guys, look! That’s the one who hit me! Everyone, get him!”
Terrified, An Le turned to look for Lu Heng, but he had already run off.
A barrage of snowballs descended on him. A moment later, the kids swarmed him, pulling him into their game.
Since the other kids were younger than the twelve-year-old, An Le and the older boy each became the leaders of a small team, and the snowball fight began in earnest.
Lu Heng stood in the distance, watching. He saw An Le go from being timid and afraid to make any big moves, to slowly integrating into the little group, and finally, letting go and playing freely with the children. A smile spread across his face.
His Le Le deserved to be this happy.
An Le played with the children for a long time, until their parents started calling them home for dinner. Only then did he jog over to Lu Heng, still buzzing with an excitement that hadn’t faded. His voice was filled with exhilaration and laughter. “Sir, I… I’m back.”
An Le was hot from playing. His back was damp with sweat, and his hair was slightly wet. The hat he’d been wearing when they first came down was nowhere to be seen.
Lu Heng touched his cheek and asked softly, “Are you hungry? Shall we go home and make dinner?”
“Okay.”
An Le was panting from exhaustion, but soon he started having fun making little white puffs of breath in the cold air.
As soon as they got home, Lu Heng pulled him inside and turned on the heater. He waited until the room was warm before helping An Le change into dry clothes.
Once changed, they went to the kitchen together.
They cooked together and ate together, as inseparable as conjoined twins.
After dinner, they sat on the sofa to watch TV.
With the new year approaching, Lu Heng wasn’t as busy and had been spending the last few days at home with him.
“Le Le.”
An Le had played all morning and was now drowsy, nestled in Lu Heng’s arms. Hearing his name, he answered instinctively, “Hmm?”
“Your family’s issues and my family’s issues are all resolved,” Lu Heng said. “Next year, how about I send you to school?”
He’d had this idea for a while. After all, there was so much An Le didn’t know. Lu Heng didn’t mind, but he was afraid An Le would feel insecure.
An Le’s moments of insecurity usually came when he encountered something he didn’t know how to do and was too embarrassed to ask for help.
He would stand in front of him, his eyes welling with tears, biting his lip for a long time before finally whispering, “Sir…”
Lu Heng loved it when An Le called him “Sir” with tears in his eyes, but that was for their private moments. An Le shouldn’t have to feel so distressed all the time.
The mention of school woke An Le up a bit. He seemed to recall Lu Heng telling him before that he would send him to school once everything was settled.
He had agreed.
But now that the time had actually come, he felt a wave of stage fright.
He was afraid that he didn’t know anything and that going to school would only expose his ignorance.
An Le clutched Lu Heng’s shirt, hesitating for a moment before asking, “Sir, can… can I study at home?”
“No.”
Lu Heng refused. “You have to go to school.”
It wasn’t that he couldn’t study at home, but if he did, he would remain this timid forever.
Although Lu Heng wanted to keep him close, he wanted even more for him to go to school, to make friends, to spread his wings.
Only then could the stars in An Le’s eyes keep shining whenever he smiled.
But An Le had been shut away for too long. Even if his wings could open, they no longer had the strength to fly. He lowered his head, holding back tears. “But Sir, I… I don’t want to go.”
There would be so many people at school, and he’d have to stay there all day. He didn’t want that.
“I can study at home. I can work harder. I don’t want to go to school.”
An Le wrapped his arms around Lu Heng’s waist and said pitifully, “I’m… I’m very smart. I learn quickly.”
Seeing An Le’s tear-filled eyes, Lu Heng’s heart instantly softened. “Le Le.”
An Le: “Husband~”
Lu Heng: …
Seeing that it was working, An Le hugged him tighter and continued to plead, “Husband, I don’t want to go to school.”
Lu Heng: …
Thanks to An Le’s whining, Lu Heng didn’t bring up the matter again. But what An Le didn’t know was that when school started the following year, Lu Heng would still trick him into going.
An Le, unable to see the future, thought he had successfully handled Lu Heng and ran back to his room to call Xiao Xiao.
Lu Heng received a phone call.
It was from Gu Rou.
Her voice was trembling, on the verge of tears. “Xiao Heng.”
Lu Heng was long accustomed to this, immune to the sound of her voice. He asked coldly, “What is it?”
Gu Rou didn’t answer right away, pausing for a moment before saying, “It’s nothing. Mom just wanted to hear your voice.”
“Well, you’ve heard it now,” Lu Heng said. “I’m hanging up.”
“Don’t! Don’t hang up.”
Gu Rou wiped away her tears. “Xiao Heng, can I… can I hear you call me ‘Mom’ just one more time?”
It had been a very long time since Lu Heng had called her Mom. How long? He couldn’t remember exactly, but it had to have been at least ten years.
The word “Mom” was something Lu Heng could no longer say. He had forgotten how.
“For the sake of us once being mother and son,” Lu Heng said, “don’t make things difficult for me.”
Gu Rou froze, then burst into tears. So, just calling her “Mom” was now considered “making things difficult.”
She had never imagined that she and Lu Heng would end up like this.
Her child…
For the first time, Lu Heng was patient with Gu Rou. He didn’t hang up, listening to her cry for a good while.
Finally, she spoke. “Let’s leave it at that, then. Xiao Heng, Mom wishes you a bright future and a happy life. If there is a next life, I hope you never meet parents like me and Lu Chuan.”
“I’m sure of it,” Lu Heng replied.
Whether it was a bright future or a happy life, Lu Heng was certain of both. His life would definitely be a good one, because he had An Le.
And as for not meeting parents like Gu Rou and Lu Chuan in the next life—that was also a certainty.
Hearing Lu Heng’s “I’m sure of it,” Gu Rou finally lost the courage to say anything more.
After hanging up, Lu Heng called Li Jie to ask what had happened with the Gu and Lu families.
He learned that, just as he had planned, Gu Rou had left the hospital yesterday afternoon. She had a friend find her a car, and after arranging to meet Lu Chuan, she had run him over.
Gu Rou had originally intended to run him over two or three times to make sure he was dead.
But because her driving skills were poor, she hadn’t managed it. Lu Chuan hadn’t died and was now lying in the ICU.
The doctors’ prognosis was extensive damage to his spine. He would never be able to stand again. Even if he survived, he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life.
Hearing this outcome, a satisfied smile curled Lu Heng’s lips.
He had been unwilling to do these things himself, afraid of dirtying his own hands, and afraid that An Le would find out and think he was too dark-hearted for not even sparing his own father.
But then again, his father had never planned on sparing him.
Besides, his own hands were clean.
This was all just the romantic debts and hatred that Lu Chuan had brought upon himself. It had nothing to do with him.
As for Gu Rou… today’s phone call was likely her last. Her final fate would be arrest for attempted murder, but due to her mental illness, she would ultimately be sent to a psychiatric hospital.
“What are you smiling about, Sir?”
An Le came out of his room to see Lu Heng sitting alone on the sofa, smiling. But the TV in front of him was playing a bland commercial, certainly not the kind of thing that would make someone laugh.
Curious, An Le walked over and waved a hand in front of Lu Heng’s face. “Sir?”
The moment he spoke, Lu Heng grabbed his wrist and pulled him into his lap.
An Le instinctively wrapped his arms around Lu Heng’s neck and asked with a shy smile, “Did something good happen?”
Something had, indeed.
From this day forward, Lu Heng thought, no one would ever disturb his and An Le’s life again.
So he whispered, “Yes. Does Le Le want to know what it is?”
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