Chapter 41: I Feel I Really Look Like Your Dad
Shou Jiaxun’s personal vehicle was a Mercedes-Benz C-Class entry-level business sedan. The brand was decent, but the plain black paint paired with the conventional styling was miles away from being flashy.
It was a car model that a high-level corporate worker could afford with a bit of a stretch. Its advantage was that it was easy to drive and didn’t attract thieves; the disadvantage was that its appearance wasn’t fierce enough to intimidate anyone. Idle drunks had no psychological barrier when they wanted to come up and strike a conversation.
Shou Jiaxun drove the car out of the garage and stopped by the roadside. He tossed his phone to Liang Bo to set the navigation, while he took out a cigarette pack, intending to light one and take a couple of puffs to calm down.
As soon as the little red dot flickered, three alcohol-reeking Alphas wandered over to borrow a light.
Shou Jiaxun passed the lighter out through the window. The three drunks lit their cigarettes but didn’t leave. They smiled grinningly and asked Shou Jiaxun if he lived nearby or came here to play? Why smoke outside in the middle of the night? Did he have a fight with his husband?
President Shou smoked his cigarette expressionlessly, cursing in his heart: To hell with “Loved by All”.
The buffs stacked by “Ren Wo Tou” all seemed to be textual traps.
“Winning While Lying Down” meant him, a big straight man, being topped by a man; “Descendants Filling the Hall” had to be birthed from his own belly; “Loved by All” seemed to mean stepping into a nest of hooligans, unable to pull out or shake them off.
Liang Bo turned on the interior light, turning his head to glare at the three drunks: “What? You got a problem?”
Since the sedan’s body was low, the three outside had to bend down significantly to look inside, so being stared down by the Alpha inside didn’t carry much pressure. Instead, they teased Shou Jiaxun: “Your boyfriend? So small. Is he of age?”
Liang Bo opened the door and got out without a word, cracking his knuckles as he introduced himself: “I’m his bodyguard. What of it? Big brother wants to spar?”
He deliberately made his voice sound thick and goofy, adopting a foreign accent. At first listen, it made one doubt his IQ… the type that seemed like he wouldn’t bear civil liability for his actions.
The gaze of the three drunk Alphas shifted from looking down to looking up. Before Liang Bo could circle around to them, they had already chuckled awkwardly, returned the lighter to President Shou, and briskly turned to leave.
Shou Jiaxun insisted on finishing his cigarette, stuffed the butt into the car ashtray, and then turned to ask Liang Bo: “Is your home not on the map?”
Liang Bo looked embarrassed. “I haven’t decided which home to go to.”
President Shou smiled in embarrassment and asked, “How many homes do you have?”
Assistant Liang touched his forehead with a conflicted expression, humming and hawing as he explained: “There’s one super close, three minutes away, but I’d be alone if I went back. I want to go to the home with my dad, but that one is far. I’m afraid you won’t want to drive me.”
Shou Jiaxun was amused by him. “Hah! As long as it’s not out of Beijing, I’ll take you.”
Since he didn’t plan to go back to sleep at Uncle Guo’s place tonight anyway and would find a hotel nearby later, distance didn’t matter.
Liang Bo raised his eyebrows and immediately reached out to press the car’s CarPlay, voice-commanding a residential complex name, setting the navigation in one second.
—Cross-district, estimated travel time forty-five minutes.
President Jia (Shou) couldn’t help but laugh and scold: “You little schemer (Old Six).”
Liang Bo pouted, proactively confessing to Shou Jiaxun: “The home over here is the school district housing I bought when I was little. I lived here from elementary to high school. But because it’s super far from the company where my dad works, after I started high school, basically I was the only one living here.”
So the other place Liang Bo didn’t mention, Shou Jiaxun could guess, must be the residence near the AI engineer dad’s company for easy commuting. It was also the “proper home” where Little Student Liang reunited with his dad on holidays.
Liang Bo’s proper home was in a row-house villa area far from the city center. Although far from Beijing’s core business district, it was only a ten-minute drive from the High-Tech Industrial Park. It was quite reasonable for his dad, an AI engineer, to settle here.
However, when the small car stopped at the Liang family’s gate, Liang Bo showed a very confused expression, craning his neck to look out the window. “Eh? Why are the lights off?”
Shou Jiaxun unlocked his phone and held it in front of him. “It’s almost one a.m. Isn’t it normal for lights to be off?”
Liang Bo frowned and shook his head, analyzing seriously: “Not normal. My dad usually sleeps at two or three. Logically, coming back at this time, I should still be able to scrounge a late-night snack with him.”
President Shou was slightly embarrassed and suggested, “How about you call your dad now?”
Liang Bo nodded and stayed in the car to dial his dad. His dad actually picked up instantly. Father and son spoke at the same time, asking where the other was.
Liang Bo said: “I’m back at your house!”
His dad said: “I’m at your house.”
Shou Jiaxun’s mouth twitched as he suppressed a laugh, thinking like father, like son; truly compatible.
When Liang Bo hung up, he shrugged and looked sideways to ask, “So what now? Send you back?”
“Don’t, too much hassle.” Assistant Liang waved his hand awkwardly, looking at Shou Jiaxun with pitiful eyes. “You’d have to go back at nearly two a.m. anyway. How about making do at my place for the night? You can sleep in my dad’s room.”
“Oh…” President Shou pretended to struggle for a few seconds, then nodded. “Alright.”
Although a row house is called a villa, the interior area usually isn’t exaggeratedly large.
For example, Liang Bo’s home: the main functional area on the first floor had only two halls—a large living room plus a dining room—and the attached kitchen and bathroom weren’t very big.
However, the kitchen was open-concept. At a glance, the main space was open, just lacking the smoke and fire of life (lived-in feel).
The second floor had two bedrooms and a living room, the structure clear at a glance. The third floor was half terrace; through the glass door, one could see a few potted plants and a standing punching bag outside.
The other half was indoor space. Besides a bookshelf and desk, there was a ping-pong table.
In short, one look told you it wasn’t a family with complex demographics.
While giving Shou Jiaxun a simple tour, Liang Bo also introduced his family members: “My Alpha father passed away quite early. My O dad didn’t remarry.”
So his family situation was very similar to Uncle Guo’s—both single-parent families, both Omega fathers raising a child alone.
President Shou felt slightly curious. “If I may ask, what was the cause of your Alpha father’s passing?”
“Acute myocardial infarction. Sudden death. Gone just like that while working, very sudden.” Liang Bo showed a very helpless expression.
Shou Jiaxun’s heart tightened suddenly. He looked up at Liang Bo with a dazed expression, feeling like the other was talking about him… in his past life.
Liang Bo thought he didn’t believe it and mumbled an addition: “In their line of work, the pressure is high. When my A dad passed, my O dad was right beside him. He called the ambulance immediately, but unfortunately, they couldn’t save him.”
President Shou stammered subconsciously: “Your O dad must have been heartbroken.”
Liang Bo nodded gloomily. “It took him a long time to accept it.”
The topic stopped there; continuing would only bring tears.
Liang Bo pushed open the master bedroom door. “You sleep here. I’m across the hall. Call me if you need anything.”
Shou Jiaxun entered the room and looked around. A sense of incomparable familiarity suddenly rose in his heart. He turned and stared wide-eyed at Liang Bo. “Hey! Does your dad… travel often?”
Liang Bo was surprised. “How did you tell?”
President Shou touched his forehead and smiled awkwardly. Apart from the decoration style, the aura inside this bedroom was exactly the same as his room in his past life—and this life.
To put it bluntly, it was so concise it had a “hotel feel.”
Because of frequent business trips, daily necessities were carried along. Apart from deliberate decorations, there was almost no redundant clutter at home.
Liang Bo didn’t pry into how President Shou noticed the clue, so he entered the room to look around with him. “Sometimes business trips, sometimes overtime so late he sleeps at the company. Probably mostly because when I was at school, he felt bored being home alone.”
“Overtime until sleeping at the company… Tsk!” President Shou felt like he had met a kindred spirit, muttering as he looked at Assistant Liang, “No wonder we get along so well. Tell the truth, did you find a familiar shadow in me?”
Liang Bo raised his eyebrows in resistance. “Stop right there. I’m just accommodating you. Not very familiar, thank you.”
Shou Jiaxun laughed, then complained cheekily, “Look at you… still won’t admit it.”
Assistant Liang rolled his eyes at him and gave a fake smile. “Guo Duoyu annoying you isn’t without reason.”
Shou Jiaxun pouted, feeling like his sore spot had been stepped on. He drooped his head and sighed. “Sigh! Petty. Not talking anymore, goodnight.”
Liang Bo, however, suddenly got stubborn. He pulled a chair over and sat in front of President Shou, looking up to refute: “It has nothing to do with being petty. Jokes depend on the occasion and the person. Someone wants to date you, and you make them call you ‘Daddy’. Can they not be angry?”
Shou Jiaxun pouted even more exaggeratedly. “You’re saying Guo Duoyu wants to date me?”
“No, I didn’t say him.” Liang Bo’s expression was serious, his denial crisp.
Didn’t say Guo Duoyu, so of course, he meant himself.
Shou Jiaxun took a deep breath, suddenly reaching out to push Liang Bo, along with the wheeled chair he sat on, out the door. “Whoever, whatever… it’s all my fault, okay? I’ll change in the future. No, I’ll change right now.”
Liang Bo was tall with long legs. The chair under his butt moved, but his feet gripped the floor firmly.
Shou Jiaxun pushed the chair with difficulty, so Liang Bo had the chance to nag incessantly: “It’s not entirely your fault either. I think we can have a good talk about this.”
“Don’t talk, go to sleep quickly.” President Shou’s tone was a bit like coaxing a child, and naturally, his mindset was similar.
But Liang Bo wouldn’t let it go, arguing with him: “We both slept all afternoon and evening; I bet you can’t sleep.
Let’s talk… Guo Duoyu said you like kids. Do you really not plan to have one of your own?”
Shou Jiaxun used the strength he’d used to suck milk (all his might) and finally pushed him out the door. “Not having one. No such plan.”
Liang Bo stuck his foot in the door crack to press. “Are you afraid of pain?”
“Yes!” President Shou was righteous. “Is there a problem? Shouldn’t I be?”
“But there’s painless delivery!” Assistant Liang smiled mockingly. “You can also have a C-section. Sleep and it’s born.”
“If you’re not afraid, you give birth! No one’s stopping you!” President Shou was slightly exasperated.
Liang Bo spread his hands innocently. “You think I don’t want to? I don’t have that function!”
“You’re just standing there talking without back pain (armchair quarterbacking). Shut up.”
“Oh no no no.” Assistant Liang frowned and wagged his finger. “If my partner gives birth, I will definitely go into the delivery room to experience the labor pain simulator. I will lie down with him to welcome the baby’s birth.
Absolutely won’t just stand on the side and watch the fun.”
The two retorted one sentence after another, voices getting louder. Just as they were about to spiral into a loud quarrel, Shou Jiaxun was caught off guard by the scene Little Student Liang described and burst into a long laugh: “Hahahahahaha—”
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