You are also someone’s favourite child

After hearing Gu Chenbai’s words, Tu Yan felt a stab in his heart, feeling sour and numb. The pain appeared again after a few seconds, hurting without bleeding. 

He paused in his steps, slowly fastening the button on his collar as he stood at the corner of the stairs, then he took some deep breaths before going downstairs and pushing open the door. 

The foreign bodily sensation between his legs hadn’t disappeared and all four of his limbs were soft. Leaning on the steering wheel, he quietly stayed there for a while. He wanted to start the car several times, but withdrew his hand. He always thought of Gu Chenbai for no reason, thinking about the way he slept, and his heart welled up in bursts of restlessness, so he turned on music from the car radio. 

All the songs were downloaded into the USB flash drive by his assistant according to the most popular songs. Tu Yan pressed a few times until he came across a soft ballad. 

However, before he could finish the song, someone called him all of a sudden. 

Tu Yan thought it was his manager and was about to connect through, but as he saw the name of the caller, his finger that was hovering over the screen immediately stopped. He turned off the music and rolled down the windows to let the cold wind come through a little. Only after he sobered up did he pick up the call. 

“Xiao Yan, are you busy? Why did you take so long to pick up the call?” 

Tu Yan was stumped. When was the last time he heard Qi Lan’s voice? It seemed like it was the night he received his certificate half a year ago that Qi Lan called and told him, “Sorry, XIao Yan, mom has a little something to do and can’t go home, but I still want to wish you a happy marriage.” 

 Her “a little” something required half a year to deal with. 

Tu Yan paused, then said casually, “I didn’t hear the call just now, what’s the matter?” 

Qi Lan should probably be at a corner of a celebrity’s party to be on the phone with Tu Yan, so the sound in the background was of the live performance of a piano and violin along with the fragmented noise of exchanging glasses. Qi Lan moved to a more secluded corner, and said to Tu Yan on the other end of the line, “I heard from Tu Feihong that you and the second young master of the Gu family are divorced?”

“Mn.”

Qi Lan laughed lightly, “Why?

Tu Yan said irritably, “No reason.”

“Alright, mom won’t ask anymore. This is your own decision, mom will support whatever you choose. Just that Tu Feihong is about to die from anger. He said you didn’t pick up his calls and now the Gu family wants to rescind their cooperation with him. All his six months of hard work will be ruined,” Qi Lan sounded like she was telling a joke, without a single bit of affection. She continued, “I don’t care how he is, I just want to ask how you are now?”

“I’m okay,” Tu Yan looked at the rear-view mirror indifferently, his fingertip unconsciously tapped on the leather sheath of the steering wheel twice, “What’s the big deal about getting a divorce? Aren’t you living well after being divorced for so many years?” 

Qi Lan withdrew her smile and asked seriously, “So you want to use your divorce as a revenge against your dad and I? To make us feel guilty?”

“I don’t.” 

“Xiao Yan, mom has said this before. If my failed marriage with your dad has made you afraid of marriage, I really am sorry. But this can’t be undone; I can’t patch things up with Tu Feihong because of you, that will never be possible.” 

Qi Lan covered the phone and greeted someone beside her, then continued, “You’ve already grown up, how could you still not understand? Love and kinship are just embellishments of life, not all of life’s——”

Tu Yan interrupted Qi Lan’s platitude talk and said, “You’re thinking too much. My divorce has nothing to do with you both.” 

“Alright, mom is just worried about your mood, nothing more. You can play with your friends, go out and travel, or come to where mom is at and play.” 

Tu Yan was about to speak, but a clamorous noise burst over on Qi Lan’s end of the call. Qi Lan covered the microphone and said, “Xiao Yan, mom has a little something to do that has to be settled, I’ll hang up first.” 

It’s “a little” something again. 

Tu Yan held his phone blankly, only pressing the shutdown button half a minute later, turning the screen black. 

Today was the day of his divorce for a whole month. 

That day, he had rolled in the sheets with his ex husband. 

That day, his mother only remembered to send him a late “Happy Marriage.” 

Everything was ridiculous. 

–

Sometimes, Tu Yan was really envious of Gu Chenbai, because Gu Chenbai had a family who loved him the most in the world. 

The most vivid memory Tu Yan had was of Gu Chenbai’s birthday in early July when the weather was very good. 

At the time, he and Gu Chenbai were already married for over a month. They were still in a state of half-unfamiliarity. Of course, the “unfamiliar” bit was the result of Tu Yan taking steps back and behaving like a demon towards everything. As in the beginning, Gu Chenbai had still tirelessly treated him well without asking for anything in return. 

After breakfast, Gu Chenbai put the dishes into the dishwasher. Then, he hesitated for a moment, before he asked Tu Yan softly, “Yan Yan, it’s my birthday today and my mom and dad prepared a little birthday party for me at home. There are no outsiders, only my mom, dad, and my ge, and my grandma and grandpa, would you be willing to attend?” 

Tu Yan shook his head reflexively, “No.” 

Gu Chenbai’s eyes were a little dejected, but he still smiled and said to Tu Yan, “It’s okay, then I’ll try to come home early and cook dinner for you.” 

Tu Yan knew Gu Chenbai was disappointed. In that second, he even wanted to say more hateful words to make Gu Chenbai more disappointed. In that way, wouldn’t Gu Chenbai slowly give up on liking him? Wouldn’t their marriage be able to end earlier? But he didn’t speak up. Instead, he ran outside without control and said, “Forget it, I’ll attend.” 

Gu Chenbai was very surprised and turned around to call mother Gu, telling her what Tu Yan liked and what he didn’t like to eat. 

Only when they arrived at the Gu mansion did Tu Yan know how much the Gu family loved Gu Chenbai. For Gu Chenbai’s small birthday party, they were all dressed ceremoniously and everyone prepared gifts for him.  

Because mother Gu loved him, her love extended to those around him, so she even prepared a gift for Tu Yan. It was a limited edition watch. 

Gu Chenbai’s grandfather was in very good health and had a gentle face. At first glance, he was an old man who smiled all the time. He showed Gu Chenbai the functions of his mobile phone that he had newly learned, also saying that he even knew how to shop online. 

Gu Chenbai’s grandmother slapped his grandfather hard on the shoulder, “You still have the cheek to say that. Who was the one who bought a massage chair and filled in the wrong address to Chaocheng’s house?”

His grandfather said in defiance, “I bought it for Chaocheng!”

Gu Chenbai deliberately teased his grandfather, “Grandpa, why didn’t you buy one for me too?” 

His grandfather immediately said, “Buy! I’ll buy one now!”

Gu Chenbai smiled as he held down his grandfather’s hand, “Don’t, grandpa, you should buy fewer things, be careful of grandma freezing your bank card.” 

His grandfather wanted a lot of face, so he straightened up and glared, “She dares!”

Tu Yan watched quietly by the side. Instantly noticing him, Gu Chenbai supported himself with his walking stick and sat beside him, lowering his head to ask, “Yan Yan, are you hungry? Do you want to have a bit of cake?” 

Tu Yan shook his head and turned his face away, returning to the cold expression from before. 

When Gu Chaocheng arrived, this was the scene he saw. 

——Gu Chenbai was carefully coaxing Tu Yan to be happy, while Tu Yan ignored him with a cold look on his face. 

Gu Chaocheng walked over and called out “Chenbai”, then handed the paper bag in his hand to Gu Chenbai, “Happy Birthday.”

Gu Chenbai smiled and received the gift before shaking Gu Chaocheng’s hand, then with a sense of adolescent self-righteousness1, he bumped the back of his hand, “Thank you, ge.”

Looking at the paper bag in Gu Chenbai’s hand, Tu Yan was suddenly stunned. 

Gu Chaocheng snorted lightly and asked with folded arms, “Where’s your gift? You probably only knew about Chenbai’s birthday today right?”

Tu Yan didn’t say anything. 

Gu Chenbai glanced at Gu Chaocheng scoldingly, then gently hugged Tu Yan’s shoulders as he said comfortingly, “It’s okay, Yan Yan. Being able to accompany me here is already the best gift.” 

By the side, Gu Chaocheng watched the commotion, which wasn’t a big deal, and scoffed. 

Tu Yan pushed Gu Chenbai away and walked towards the balcony alone. Gu Chenbai immediately hurried after him. 

Tu Yan didn’t know why he suddenly felt like crying. He hated crying the most. All the directors he had worked with had said that he was good at everything, except that he couldn’t cry while filming. He wiped his tears with his back facing Gu Chenbai, but after doing so, his snot dripped down his nose. As soon as he sniffled his nose twice, Gu Chenbai handed him a piece of tissue. 

“Yan Yan, what’s wrong?”

Tu Yan took the tissue to blow his nose, and muttered, “Your mom and dad favour you, so why isn’t Gu Chaocheng jealous?” 

Gu Chenbai couldn’t help but laugh, “Probably because of my disability?” 

“But Gu Chaocheng treats you very well, everyone treats you very well.”

Gu Chenbai walked closer and asked nervously, “Yan Yan, what’s the matter with you?” 

“I——” I’m envious that you are favoured by everyone. 

Tu Yan was never so fragile. After crying like a little child, he stumbled out, “My mom and dad never celebrated my birthday with me.”

Gu Chenbai immediately pulled Tu Yan into his arms and gently patted his back. Tu Yan buried his face into his neck as he cried, choking with sobs, and only calmed down after a long time. 

After calming down, he felt embarrassed, so he pushed Gu Chenbai away and turned around to wipe his face full of snot and tears. 

Gu Chenbai didn’t speak as he quietly stayed by Tu Yan’s side. 

“I’m not as pitiful as you think, so don’t sympathize with me.” Tu Yan said fiercely with his back facing Gu Chenbai.

Gu Chenbai was filled with affection, “Okay.”

Tu Yan only turned back around after a long time. He clenched his fist and raised it in front of Gu Chenbai, demanding, “Stretch out your hand, I’m giving you a gift.”

“Oh?” Gu Chenbai lifted his eyebrow, opening his hand obediently. 

Tu Yan smashed his fist down on Gu Chenbai’s palm, then placed something in his hand. Gu Chenbai looked down; it was actually the tissue he had used to wipe his snot and tears. 

Looking at Gu Chenbai’s expression, Tu Yan laughed through his tears. Gu Chenbai pretended to be angry as he threw the ball of tissue into the trash. He then turned back and scraped Tu Yan’s nose a little, “I knew you were bullying me.”

Tu Yan became silent, then suddenly said, “Actually, I’ve bought you a gift. But it’s the exact same one that your ge bought.” 

Because Gu Chenbai liked taking photographs, he bought the newest camera. The gift was bought a few days ago. He had accidentally seen Gu Chenbai’s identity card and found out that his birthday was on the 9th of July. Before going to bed, his hands inexplicably went into a shopping app and searched for the newest camera. 

He didn’t think that he would take the initiative to get a gift for Gu Chenbai, let alone expecting to get the same one as Gu Chaocheng. 

Tu Yan took out the gift box that he had hid behind the cushion on the sofa. Initially, he had hid it in his bag, but after coming to the Gu mansion, he snuck it into the sofa. He wanted to pat Gu Chenbai’s shoulder and tell him that the gift was behind the cushion. This way, he didn’t need to say any blessings and wouldn’t be teased by him. He slowly took out the camera that was wrapped nicely from behind the cushion to Gu Chenbai, “Since you already have one, I’ll just…”

Gu Chenbai immediately grabbed it and put it down like it was precious treasure. He took Tu Yan’s hand and walked to the middle of the living room, then stuffed Gu Chaocheng’s gift back into the hands of the latter. 

Gu Chaocheng looked at them puzzledly. 

“Ge, Yan Yan has already given me the exact same one. Leave this one to use for yourself, I appreciate your thoughts.” 

Tu Yan blinked, a little stunned. He heard Gu Chenbai saying to his ear, “Yan Yan, you are also someone’s favourite child.” 

Footnotes