Chapter 94: His World
The reason Lin Xia could tolerate Meng Zheng and White Dumpling, those two selfie maniacs, was because they knew when to stop. For example, when it was time to eat, they would stop on their own without Lin Xia having to call them.
Because Lin Xia ordered four portions of chicken leg rice and was a regular customer, the shop owner sent over some homemade chicken soup. Every portion of chicken leg rice came with a small bowl of soup.
White Dumpling and Meng Zheng walked over feeling refreshed, smiles on their faces. Especially Meng Zheng—not only did he get his idol’s autograph, but he also took photos with him. He was incredibly lucky.
“Come, let’s take a photo to show Yinlang.” Lin Xia almost forgot about Tang Yinlang’s existence and wondered if he had eaten lunch yet.
Lin Xia took a photo and sent it to Tang Yinlang. Tang Yinlang quickly initiated a video chat.
“Why are you eating chicken? Shihuan is coming, so we’ll have to eat chicken tonight too.” Tang Yinlang didn’t know Liu Shihuan was already there; he was afraid Lin Xia and White Dumpling would get sick of eating chicken.
Lin Xia didn’t answer; he just snickered. Tang Yinlang didn’t understand why. Just as he frowned and was about to ask what was going on, he heard Liu Shihuan’s voice.
“Cousin, hello there!” He deliberately used a delicate, affected voice to speak to Tang Yinlang. Tang Yinlang shuddered all over, goosebumps rising.
Liu Fox, you can’t be this disgusting!
Seeing Tang Yinlang grossed out, Liu Shihuan felt much happier and spoke to him in a normal voice.
“I arrived this morning. Enjoying Lin Xia and An An all to myself.” Liu Shihuan’s sentence struck a nerve. Because of work, Tang Yinlang hadn’t seen Lin Xia and White Dumpling all morning, and White Dumpling hadn’t sent him messages to chat like usual.
But who was Tang Yinlang? As a dignified CEO, how could he endure Liu Shihuan’s provocation? So he smiled slightly and said to Liu Shihuan, “Don’t eat chicken for a while. The bird flu just passed.”
Liu Shihuan’s face instantly fell. It concerned his appetite. Being told this by Tang Yinlang, the way he looked at the chicken leg in his bowl changed.
Lin Xia couldn’t bear to see his idol wronged, so he decisively cut the video call, leaving Tang Yinlang in disarray facing his phone.
Besides, if Tang Yinlang kept talking, would they still be able to eat?! But afraid Tang Yinlang would be angry, Lin Xia sent a message saying the connection dropped—an obvious cover-up.
Tang Yinlang’s mouth twitched, and he sent a helpless emoji. But in his heart, he was thinking about how to “punish” Lin Xia, whose elbows were turning outward (siding with an outsider), when he got back—like spanking him.
“Let’s eat. If we don’t eat, it’ll get cold.” After Lin Xia spoke, the group dug in. Liu Shihuan and White Dumpling were the happiest. One loved chicken, one loved meat; they ate the two big chicken legs with great satisfaction.
Meng Zheng’s mouth and hands were moving, but his eyes were staring foolishly at Liu Shihuan. He didn’t dare look openly, so he could only steal glances.
Not only was Liu Shihuan good-looking, but even the way he ate was beautiful.
Liu Shihuan’s eating movements were very pleasing to the eye. Lin Xia’s weren’t bad either; one could tell he had been trained.
Meng Zheng knew his own posture must be ugly. Fortunately, he had White Dumpling with him. White Dumpling was also noisy when eating…
Meng Zheng looked gloomily at White Dumpling, who was gnawing on a chicken leg. White Dumpling ate happily, his mouth covered in juice. The whole scene was too unbearable to look at. But so what? White Dumpling was cute. He was cute no matter how you looked at him. Liu Shihuan and Lin Xia would even help wipe his mouth.
Thinking of this, Meng Zheng pulled out a tissue, folded it in half, and wiped his mouth after every bite, acting just like a refined girl.
Liu Shihuan accidentally saw this scene and felt his eyes burn. He quickly turned his head away—out of sight, out of mind.
After eating, they packed up the takeout boxes and threw them into the trash can outside.
The sky was very blue, and the sunlight was warm. White Dumpling invited Liu Shihuan to the second-floor balcony to sunbathe. Liu Shihuan accepted White Dumpling’s invitation.
Lin Xia watched the person and the tiger go up to the second floor. When he saw them again, White Dumpling was being held in Liu Shihuan’s arms, seemingly fast asleep.
“An An fell asleep.” Liu Shihuan walked down the stairs carefully, speaking softly, afraid a large movement would wake White Dumpling.
“There’s a lounge here, over there. If you’re tired, you can lie down and rest with An An.” Lin Xia pointed out the location of the lounge. Liu Shihuan had rushed over early in the morning and tossed about all morning; he should be tired, right?
Liu Shihuan nodded and carried White Dumpling to the lounge. After settling White Dumpling down, he took off his shoes, got into bed, and lay beside White Dumpling, staring intently at him.
The cub was truly cute, whether awake or asleep. Just such a small ball, so fragile it made people afraid to use force. But even so, he still liked him very much. He wanted to hold him, pet him, kiss him.
But this wasn’t his cub. No matter how cute, it wasn’t his.
Liu Shihuan gave a self-deprecating smile, a trace of sorrow flashing in his eyes. He closed his eyes, his eyelashes trembling slightly, and crystalline liquid flowed from his eyes.
The color of the sky was blue—that was melancholic blue. The color of the sky was black—that was suffocating black.
Closing his eyes, it was total darkness. The window was covered by curtains, blocking the light outside. His world was pitch black.
But today seemed a little different. In the pitch blackness, there was a flash of a white silhouette, passing so quickly it made one think it was a hallucination…
In the afternoon, Lin Xia closed the shop early to welcome Liu Shihuan. Tang Yinlang also got off work early and came to the pet shop to pick everyone up.
The two cousins met and exchanged “fake” pleasantries. It was clearly brotherly affection, yet it looked awkward to observers.
Mainly, Tang Yinlang and Liu Shihuan still remembered the “unpleasant” confrontation at noon. Tang Yinlang disliked that Liu Shihuan diverted the attention of his partner and cub, while Liu Shihuan was upset because Tang Yinlang had bad-mouthed his favorite chicken meat.
Lin Xia held White Dumpling and stood to the side, watching Tang Yinlang acting rarely childish. He wanted to laugh but didn’t dare. Seeing they were about done talking, he finally stepped in to smooth things over.
Lin Xia thought the two adults would stop, but at the vegetable market, Liu Shihuan counterattacked. He bought a chicken and deliberately dangled it in front of Tang Yinlang’s eyes.
“…” Tang Yinlang’s hands ITCHED. He really wanted to beat a certain infuriating fox until he went bald! But on second thought, beating people would affect his image, and Lin Xia and White Dumpling would oppose it. It wasn’t worth it at all.
This battle ended with Liu Shihuan’s victory. He walked in front carrying a bag of chicken, smiling with narrowed eyes, looking particularly smug. Tang Yinlang walked behind with a dark face.
Two adults bickering like this was childish no matter how you put it, but Lin Xia felt a bit envious. Because Tang Yinlang and Liu Shihuan were cousins with a good relationship, having grown up together. Because their relationship was good, they could do such childish things; this was just their way of interacting.
Once, he had many brothers and sisters in the Cheng family too, but the only one “good” to him was Cheng Ye. To gain Cheng Ye’s approval, he was very obedient and well-behaved, rarely making requests of Cheng Ye. He didn’t even dare to speak loudly to Cheng Ye, always walking on eggshells around him.
But so what? In the end, he was still deceived. There was never any familial affection between them. What he wanted was nothing more than something Cheng Ye disdained…
While Lin Xia was lost in thought, a child running out from an intersection almost crashed into him. Tang Yinlang, with quick eyes and hands, pulled him to his side.
The child apologized to Lin Xia, and the older brother following behind also apologized to Lin Xia on his brother’s behalf.
“It’s okay.” Lin Xia smiled and waved his hand to let the two children leave.
The older brother scolded the younger brother as they walked, telling him to watch where he was going. The brothers acted as if no one else was around; the older brother even smacked the younger brother’s butt, and the younger brother admitted his mistake aggrievedly.
Lin Xia watched the brothers’ small figures and couldn’t help but space out again. This was what real brothers looked like. What a pity he had never experienced it.
“What are you thinking about?” Tang Yinlang, seeing Lin Xia in a daze, asked with concern.
“Nothing.” Lin Xia snapped back to reality, acting as if nothing was wrong, but his heart felt warm. Although he hadn’t received the familial affection he craved in the past, he now had many people (and a tiger) who loved him. He should be content with this. “Is everything bought? Let’s go back and make a big meal.”
“All bought.” Seeing his relaxed expression, Tang Yinlang felt relieved. He cooperated with Lin Xia to change the topic; he wouldn’t force Lin Xia to talk about things he didn’t want to discuss.
“Then let’s go back.”
Riding Tang Yinlang’s car back to the small villa, the three adults organized the ingredients together. Liu Shihuan was in the kitchen. White Dumpling didn’t want to watch cartoons anymore and followed into the kitchen. He lay on a chair, watching the adults busy themselves. He couldn’t help, so at Liu Shihuan’s suggestion, he started singing.
White Dumpling didn’t just know how to sing “Don’t Look at Me Just Being a Sheep”*; he knew other songs too, all learned while watching cartoons. (TN: Theme song of Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf)
“Aowu!” Monkey Bro, Monkey Bro, you’re really something…
As White Dumpling got high on singing, it turned into hysterical screaming—hardly singing anymore. Lin Xia’s hand holding the casserole pot shook involuntarily, almost losing his grip.
They put the soup on to simmer and prepped the other dishes, waiting for the soup to be mostly done before cooking the rest. During this interval, they could rest for a while.
Lin Xia washed his hands and carried White Dumpling outside to let him watch TV. With the TV on, White Dumpling stopped singing and watched cartoons with intense concentration. Lin Xia also had to wait on White Dumpling and give him water.
“There are two more rooms upstairs. Do you want to go up and take a look?” After White Dumpling finished his water, Lin Xia wanted to use this time to help Liu Shihuan tidy up a room.
“I want to stay in Cousin’s small villa. I’m used to living alone.” Liu Shihuan shook his head, not wanting to trouble Lin Xia.
“Shihuan is living at my place. He likes peace and quiet,” Tang Yinlang explained to Lin Xia and White Dumpling.
“Aowu!” An An wants to sleep with Brother Shihuan! White Dumpling turned his head to look at Liu Shihuan, a bit unhappy.
“It’s just next door. If An An wants to sleep with me, that’s fine too,” Liu Shihuan said with a smile. Although he liked living alone and didn’t like others in his space, he could accept sleeping with the cute cub.
“You don’t want Papa now that you have Brother Shihuan?” Lin Xia poked White Dumpling. This heartless little tiger, how could he not include him?
“Aowu!” An An wants Papa too! Let’s all sleep with Brother Shihuan together! The innocent White Dumpling spoke without restraint, amusing Lin Xia and Liu Shihuan. Only Tang Yinlang had a face full of black lines.
Tang Yinlang seriously suspected that before he came along, did White Dumpling often incite Lin Xia to find other people…
“No way. Cousin Lin Xia has to sleep with Cousin. If you sleep with me, when you wake up, you won’t see me anymore!”
Author’s Note: White Dumpling: Papa, let’s sleep with Brother Shihuan together, okay? Lin Xia (secretly delighted): Not that I want to, it’s An An who insists on dragging me along! Tang Yinlang (smiling sinisterly): Do you want Liu Shihuan not to see tomorrow’s… Said I’d make it up, but I broke my promise. Sorry (T_T) Just wanted to type, then discovered an assignment due tomorrow wasn’t finished. Crying in the toilet. Goodnight (≧▽≦)/
Recommended Reads
![[ABO] After Accidental Marking, I Became Everyone’s Darling](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ABO-225x300.jpeg)
![Enemies on a Narrow Road [Esports]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/enemies-on-a-narrow-road-214x300.jpg)
