Extra: Peanut Couple Bits & Pieces 02-03: “Mr. Sheng, mm… you’re so sweet.”
“Hua Yong.”
Little Peanut stood on the sofa, leaning halfway out, calling softly — in his childish voice — to his father at the desk, who was in a meeting.
On one foot he wore a sock printed with cartoon peanuts; the other sock was nowhere to be found.
Sheng Shaoyou scooped him down with one hand and scolded:
“Don’t be rude.”
Little Peanut’s big eyes widened as Sheng Shaoyou took the other sock from the nanny — who’d fished it out from under a couch cushion — and knelt to put it on him.
The little one waved his soft white arms, explaining:
“That’s what the teacher said — a name is everyone’s own unique symbol. We should all learn to listen and also learn to summon!”
Sheng Shaoyou gave him a helpless look and corrected:
“That’s called calling. ‘Summoning’ is what the police do when they order a suspect to appear.”
“Daddy,” Little Peanut murmured around his pacifier, curious,
“what’s ‘the police’?”
“Police, prosecutors, and courts.”
“Oh~”
The three-year-old nodded solemnly, pretending he understood, then continued:
“Then what’s a suspect?”
“Someone who’s done something very wrong.”
“Like Wenlang Daddy?”
“You could say that,” Hua Yong interjected as he ended his conference call. He put his phone down and walked over, leaning over the back of the couch to hug Sheng Shaoyou and plant a light kiss on his forehead, smiling as he told Little Peanut:
“Your Wenlang Daddy is basically serving a suspended death sentence right now.”
“What’s that?”
“Better than a death sentence — it means the execution is postponed.”
“Really?” Little Peanut lay on the sofa, eyes fixed on his father.
“Will Wenlang Daddy die?”
Hua Yong pinched his son’s little cheek affectionately and teased:
“No, he won’t die — but he might wish he were dead, hanging on only by faith and your Uncle Gaotu’s divine mercy—”
“Don’t teach him nonsense!” Sheng Shaoyou couldn’t take it anymore and smacked the back of his hand.
“Stop pinching his face, he’ll drool tonight! Look, you’ve made it all red!”
“It doesn’t hurt,” Hua Yong muttered, withdrawing his slapped hand and weakly defending himself:
“Besides, Little Peanut likes it when I pinch his cheeks, don’t you, Peanut?”
But Little Peanut — fully aware of the family power dynamics — defected in an instant.
He scrunched up his little face and burrowed pitifully into Sheng Shaoyou’s arms:
“No no! Hua Yong, go away! Don’t pinch my face! I’ll drool!”
What if his deskmate Gao Lele saw him drooling? How embarrassing would that be!
Hua Yong threw up his hands in mock innocence, sighing to his lover:
“You see? Your son is going to climb over my head someday.”
“And yesterday you were climbing on Daddy,” Little Peanut shot back without missing a beat.
Sheng Shaoyou flushed crimson, pulling him out of his lap to scold:
“Don’t be cheeky!”
Unlike the unruly Hua Yong, Sheng Shaoyou was deeply traditional, steeped in ancient virtues.
Chastised, Little Peanut peeked out of Sheng Shaoyou’s arms and smiled sweetly at Hua Yong:
“Father, I was just kidding.”
You’d better be, Hua Yong thought wryly.
There’s a saying: “At three you can already see who they’ll be at thirty.”
Hua Yong had never been sentimental, never cared about any other three-year-old in his life — except this one.
This little thing, who grew from Sheng Shaoyou’s body, actually made him willing to compromise.
He never imagined he’d someday have calm, equal conversations with a creature barely up to his knees.
Adorable or annoying —
as long as this noisy little guy could grow up healthy in his lover’s arms, Hua Yong felt that fate had been very gentle with him.
Peanut Couple Bits & Pieces 03
Lately, Little Peanut was unhappy, because his deskmate Gao Lele kept skipping school.
At 4 p.m., Little Peanut trudged out of the preschool classroom with his little car-shaped backpack. Neither of his dads came — only the driver and nanny stood waiting.
“Little Master, Mr. Hua and Mr. Sheng had something come up. We’re here to take you home.”
Something came up?
Little Peanut, though small, was smart and suspicious. His logic and observation were far beyond his peers — who, like Gao Lele, struck him as muddle-headed little cuties.
He didn’t believe the “something came up” excuse at all — not when the house had been thick with the scent of orchids and cool woody liquor for days, and he’d already checked that the garden orchids weren’t blooming and the wine cellar was locked!
Every time this happened, both his dads disappeared for a week — surely sneaking off to eat ice cream and cake without him!
After all, he’d once overheard his father say in the darkened living room:
“Mr. Sheng… mm… you’re so sweet.”
Everyone knows — cake and ice cream are sweet! So they must’ve been eating cake!
Fuming, he stomped home and called Gao Lele on his kiddie smartwatch.
The first call went unanswered. He patiently called again — this time someone picked up.
But it wasn’t Gao Lele.
It was a warm voice saying:
“Little Peanut?”
“Uncle Gao Tu!” he greeted sweetly.
“Where’s Lele?”
“Lele caught a cold and is resting.”
“Is it serious?” Little Peanut forgot his grievances instantly, his little face wrinkling with worry.
“Not serious,” Gaotu reassured him.
“His fever’s gone. He’ll be at school tomorrow.”
“Good!”
Little Peanut’s mood flipped sunny again.
“See you tomorrow!”
“Good boy. See you.”
Before hanging up, he heard his godfather’s voice faintly in the background, whining:
“Why won’t you even hug me?”
Little Peanut thought: When I go out with him he never wants to carry me. But now he’s begging Uncle Gao Tu for hugs? Adults are complicated.
Then he thought of his own dads.
Daddy hadn’t been feeling well — he even threw up after a sip of fish soup the other night, and Father kept fussing, asking if he was “pregnant again.”
He didn’t understand what that meant.
That night he asked Sheng Shaoyou directly:
“Daddy, they said you might have something again — what does that mean?”
Sheng Shaoyou froze, his face reddening.
Little Peanut stared up at him with big eyes, waiting for an answer.
But Sheng Shaoyou dodged, closed the book, and asked:
“Would you like a little brother or sister?”
“Yes!” Little Peanut clapped his hands happily.
“Then I’d be the big brother!”
“You really want to be a big brother?”
“Mm! Big brothers protect their little siblings!”
Sheng Shaoyou smiled, ruffling his hair:
“Didn’t know you were such a little hero.”
Little Peanut blushed and buried his head in his daddy’s chest, whispering:
“I’ll protect you too.”
He adored Sheng Shaoyou, wishing every night to fall asleep in his arms. But Father insisted he sleep alone and forbade him from sneaking into the master bedroom at night.
The only time he had Daddy to himself was storytime — but even that was soon interrupted.
His jealous, immature Father barged in, muttering:
“Who needs your protection? Go to the back of the line.”
Little Peanut poked his head out and scolded:
“Father is annoying! Go away!”
“What did you say?” Hua Yong’s face darkened.
But Little Peanut clung to Sheng Shaoyou and stuck out his tongue:
“Bullying kids! Shame on you!”
Unfortunately, his Daddy still sided with his Father, making him apologize.
Hua Yong stood by the door, watching his beloved Alpha tuck in the one person who dared to defy him, then — once the door was closed — buried his face in Sheng Shaoyou’s chest and complained softly:
“That little thing is so mean to me.”
“You started it,” Sheng Shaoyou scolded him privately.
“Stop competing for attention with a three-year-old. How old are you?”
“I’m just a baby of three hundred months,” Hua Yong murmured into his neck, his breath warm and scented faintly of orchids.
Sheng Shaoyou squirmed and suddenly thought of something.
“Little Peanut said… he wants a sibling.”
Hua Yong’s smile vanished and he flatly refused:
“No.”
Rare for him to speak so firmly, but Sheng Shaoyou didn’t get angry — just sighed and stroked his hair.
“You…”
Hua Yong hugged him tighter and whispered after a long silence:
“You scared me enough already. Mr. Sheng, please don’t do that to me again. Once was more than enough.”
Even after all these years, he still shuddered when he thought of how close they’d come to losing Sheng Shaoyou during Little Peanut’s birth.
Sheng Shaoyou softened, letting him cling.
“Fine, I was just saying.”
Hua Yong looked up at him with bright, wet eyes:
“Mr. Sheng, I’m timid. Don’t say things like that again. If you do—”
he paused, then threatened:
“If you do, I’ll get a vasectomy.”
Sheng Shaoyou laughed but didn’t dare call his bluff — because he knew Hua Yong would.
When Little Peanut was born and Sheng Shaoyou hemorrhaged, doctors issued four critical notices in three hours.
Hua Yong summoned a lawyer on the spot, drew up a will, and refused to even glance at the baby, entrusting him to Shen Wenlang instead.
When Shen Wenlang asked:
“Why don’t you raise your own child?”
Hua Yong replied evenly:
“Wherever Mr. Sheng goes, I’ll go.”
Shen Wenlang never told Sheng Shaoyou about the rest of that conversation:
“Don’t talk nonsense! The baby’s so small — he’s yours and Sheng Shaoyou’s!”
“We both deserve to die,” Hua Yong said coldly.
“He and I killed Mr. Sheng. If not for his blood in the child’s veins, do you think I’d let him live?”
Standing in the hospital corridor, he was like a beautiful, lifeless sculpture.
When asked:
“Don’t you love your child at all?”
“I do,” Hua Yong admitted quietly, his face twisted in pain.
“Because if I didn’t, Mr. Sheng would be angry.”
Fortunately, fate spared them, and Sheng Shaoyou came back from the brink.
From then on, Hua Yong worked hard to learn to love Little Peanut.
When the baby first called him “Father” and flashed a toothy smile — Hua Yong knew he’d learned.
Three years later, this little troublemaker both loved and hated him.
Having someone who shared his blood was truly strange —
and more so, that this child was the crystallization of his and Sheng Shaoyou’s love.
But — no more.
No more siblings.
Hua Yong refused any joy that put Sheng Shaoyou at risk.
He was perfectly content as they were.
All he wanted was…
to spend a very long, very happy life together.