PPS Chapter 191

Chapter 191 “Thank you, Dad”

After the fireworks were done, Gu Yusen went to the kitchen to bring out the warmed-up New Year’s Eve dinner. The family sat neatly at the dining table, ready to eat.

Outside, fireworks occasionally exploded in the sky.

Other families were setting them off too.

So lively.

Gu Yusen placed the last steaming dish on the table, and the aroma of the New Year’s Eve dinner instantly filled the entire dining room. The table was covered with a sumptuous array of dishes: the braised fish glistened with an enticing sauce, the steamed crabs were a bright red, and there were plates of delicate dumplings, with thin skins and generous fillings, neatly arranged on the plates.

There was a cake on the table with four different flavors. It looked good.

Chu Zhaoyi sat at the table, chopsticks in hand, but his eyes kept darting towards the window – the fireworks that occasionally burst in the night sky illuminated his profile, making it flicker between light and shadow.

He never focused while eating.

“Don’t watch, eat first.” Gu Yusen sat down next to him, gently nudging his elbow, his tone laced with a hint of helpless amusement.

Chu Zhaoyi turned his gaze back, picked up the peeled shrimp from his bowl and put it in his mouth, the corners of his lips slightly raised: “I just think this year’s fireworks are especially beautiful.”

Brighter than any he’d seen in all these years.

Gu Yusen didn’t say anything, just silently peeled another shrimp for him, the action as natural as if he’d done it a thousand times.

Zhang Anru watched Gu Yusen’s actions with satisfaction. Chu Zhaoyi never took good care of himself in life, and she assumed Gu Yusen was too young to take care of himself.

But even if Gu Yusen’s tie was crooked, Chu Zhaoyi’s little curly hair was always perfectly beautiful.

Gu Yusen took good care of Chu Zhaoyi.

Even if Xie Tingyun didn’t want to admit it, it was difficult not to. He sighed deeply.

Just treat it like his little cabbage growing legs and cozying up to the pig.

He decided to imitate and peeled a shrimp, placing it in Chu Zhaoyi’s bowl, afraid of being rejected, not daring to look up at Chu Zhaoyi’s expression.

But only a few seconds passed before he vaguely heard Chu Zhaoyi’s voice in his ear, very soft.

“Thank you, Dad.”

Xie Tingyun’s hand froze in mid-air, the shrimp meat on the tip of his chopsticks almost falling off. His ears felt like they had been gently tickled. That “Thank you, Dad” was as light as a feather, but it stirred up a monstrous wave in his heart.

He lowered his head, his throat as if something was blocking it, his fingers unconsciously tightening around the chopsticks.

He thought it would take a very, very long time to hear that title from Chu Zhaoyi’s mouth.

The hurt Chu Zhaoyi calmly faced his pain. He understood that Chu Yu’s harm to him was unrelated to the clumsy Xie Tingyun trying to please him.

Since he could forgive Zhang Anru and Xie Yuyin, why should he exclude Xie Tingyun?

The table suddenly fell silent for a moment, even the sound of bowls and chopsticks colliding ceased. Zhang Anru’s soup spoon hovered at the edge of her bowl, her eyes widening slightly, then she lowered her head, the corners of her mouth unable to help but rise.

Xie Yuyin blinked, secretly glancing at Chu Zhaoyi, then at Xie Tingyun, trying to suppress the smile at the corner of her mouth, pretending to concentrate on picking up food.

Gu Yusen sat next to Chu Zhaoyi, the shrimp in his hand half-peeled, his movements also stopping. He turned his head to look at Chu Zhaoyi, his eyes filled with a hint of understanding, which then turned into a gentle smile.

Chu Zhaoyi was the bravest boy.

After Chu Zhaoyi said those words, the tips of his ears had already turned red.

He lowered his head, poking at the rice in his bowl with his chopsticks, as if to poke that “Thank you, Dad” into the rice and hide it. His heart was beating a little fast, his fingers were slightly tense, but his heart was inexplicably much lighter.

Xie Tingyun finally came back to his senses, cleared his throat lightly, and tried to make his voice sound calm: “Yes, eat more.”

After he finished speaking, he placed another piece of fish in Chu Zhaoyi’s bowl, his movements much more natural than before, but his fingers were still trembling slightly.

How disappointing!