Chapter 187: I Really Am Your Son

I am your son.

After Pei Du woke up, someone said this to him.

He found it absurd.

He had merely gone out early in the morning to walk his dog, when halfway he suddenly felt dizzy and fainted; he is only eighteen this year, and he and Yinyin still have no child.

If they really had a child, it couldn't possibly be this old.

Pei Du looked around, his voice cold: 'Where is my dog? Please return it to me.'

He's been out for a while; Yinyin should be awake by now, and he still needs to go back to make breakfast for Yinyin.

I really am your son.

From just now until now, Shu Lingchen's pounding heart has never calmed down.

"The dog is fine in the car; the hospital doesn't allow pets inside." Shu Lingchen intercepted him, looking at his handsome face, which still bore a hint of youthfulness, his tone a little anxious: "Old Pei, uh—"

"Xiao Pei?" He tried changing his address: "You wouldn't have lost your memory again, would you? I'm Shu Lingchen."

"I don't know you."

In Pei Du's dark eyes was nothing but aloof strangeness.

So strange that Shu Lingchen began to wonder if he had really mistaken the person—maybe this individual merely happened to look like his father, with the same demeanor and impression, and nothing else.

"Dad..."

Pei Muyin beside him was already in tears.

If Shu Lingchen were still hesitating, then Pei Muyin had already confirmed it: the person before them was definitely their father.

The father who wiped her dirty hands, took her to splash in puddles, and played hide-and-seek with her.

"I am Muyin."

One extra 'son' isn't enough; we also need another 'daughter'.

Pei Du frowned, regardless of whether this was a prank or something else, he prepared to call the police.

But when his gaze fell on the girl's eyes brimming with tears, he hesitated slightly.

"Xiao Pei, we really aren't deceiving you, look—"

Shu Lingchen cleverly pulled out his phone and displayed his wallpaper.

"This is the photo taken after our graduation exam ended, at the class gathering that night when you came to pick us up; I was drunk, and my mother snapped it of us in the car."

Pei Du's doubtful gaze instinctively fell on that photo.

In the photo, the two people raised two fingers in a V sign toward the camera; on the right is the boy before him who claims to be his son, and on the left is the person with a faint smile……

That's not the point; the point is the year and date displayed on the phone.

Shu Lingchen unlocked the screen again, revealing the wallpaper: "There's also this one, a photo of the four of us taken last summer at that vacation villa."

Pei Du immediately spotted one of the people in the group photo.

It was Yinyin.

"This is my mother."

Pei Du's obvious pause was caught by Shu Lingchen, whose eyes lit up immediately as he pointed to the photo of Shu Shu and said: "Xiao Pei, if you still don't believe me, my mother will be here shortly."

The words fell.

Shu Lingchen's phone rang, and he hurriedly answered.

Shu Shu took a taxi from the airport, dragging a small suitcase, her feet practically flying as she rushed into the hospital.

"I'm on the third floor; which ward?"

"In 0318—" Shu Lingchen's voice came from outside the phone: "I've come out, hey here, turn around, Mom I'm behind you."

She turned around.

Shu Shu saw Shu Lingchen waving, and as she put down her phone she muttered curses while walking over.

"Shu Lingchen, I've told you over and over, drive carefully, carefully." Shu Shu looked him up and down; though her words sounded reproachful, her tone was full of concern: "Are you sure you're not hurt anywhere?"

"No." Shu Lingchen spread his arms, turned around to show: "My sister and I are both fine."

Only after confirming in person that they were unharmed did Shu Shu finally relax completely.

"Then why did you say the situation was complicated on the phone?" Shu Shu had a nasty suspicion: "Shu Lingchen, you didn't wreck someone, did you?"

"No, I—"

"Yinyin?" Shu Lingchen's words were cut off by a male voice.

Shu Shu's heartbeat skipped a beat, a current spreading from the top of her head down to her limbs.

Shu Lingchen stepped aside, revealing the person behind him.

At that moment.

Shu Shu froze in place, feeling that the scene before her was another illusion.

Until, she was firmly embraced.

"Yinyin, did you come to find me?" The person she thought was an illusion lowered his neck, burying himself familiarly in her shoulder, his voice apologetic as he said: "Sorry, I got lost while walking Great Fortune; have you been waiting for me at home a long time?"

Who knows how many sixty-second intervals passed before Shu Shu found her voice again.

"Yeah, it really has been a while."

In the dashcam footage Shu Lingchen recorded, Pei Du and Great Fortune appeared as if they had materialized out of thin air on the main road.

It was utterly bizarre.

However, having experienced death and rebirth, Shu Shu looked at the much younger Pei Du before her, and at Great Fortune lying unharmed by her leg, tongue out, and after only three fantastical minutes she accepted it readily.

After all, what could be more unbelievable than this?

Furthermore, Shu Shu confirmed one thing.

This time Pei Du isn't suffering from amnesia; rather, he is the eighteen-year-old Pei Du, his memory still stuck at the time when they were dating.

Shu Shu lowered her head, looking at the hand that Pei Du had held since she left the hospital and never let go of; she shifted her gaze to his right wrist and stroked it with her fingertip.

It was completely smooth, with no scar.

After a moment of thought, Shu Shu blinked.

"Pei Du, if I say we actually time‑traveled to the future, arriving in a world over ten years later," she said, pointing at Shu Lingchen and Pei Muyin across from them, "they are our son and daughter—do you believe me?"

Shu Lingchen couldn't help but stare wide‑eyed, thinking Shu Shu's explanation was far‑fetched; he had at least shown photos and given substantive proof, so if Pei Du could believe that, there'd be something fishy.

The next second.

He then saw his young father stare for a moment, then say, "So that's how it is."

Shu Lingchen: "???"

No way, you just believed that with no doubt at all—why do I feel so unconvinced!

Pei Du turned his head, and the wariness and indifference in his gaze toward Shu Lingchen and Pei Muyin melted away like ice, replaced by a surge of joy in his eyes.

"Did I and Yinyin get married?"

Given Pei Du's habitual thinking, having children presupposes marriage.

"... Probably." Shu Shu neither denied nor affirmed, saying expressionlessly, "I just arrived two days before you, and I don't know much about the situation."

Pei Du's eyes softened, with a hint of shyness: "My and Yinyin's child… is very good‑looking."

From surprise to acceptance took no more than two minutes, all because of a single sentence from Shu Shu.

Shu Lingchen watched, utterly dumbfounded.

He instantly had the feeling that his parents, when they were dating, must have been frequently coaxed by his mother.

The dinner they had planned to go out for never happened.

This was Pei Du's "first meeting" with the children; he wanted to leave them a good impression of a father, so he decided to cook himself—preparing a tasty meal was easy for him.

The place where Shu Shu lives is right next door to the twins' building; since she was coming back, Shu Lingchen and Pei Muyin had already come over yesterday to fill the snack cabinet and refrigerator.

Pei Muyin wasn't eating her father's cooking for the first time, but when she picked up her chopsticks and took the first bite, she couldn't help but redden her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Pei Du asked anxiously, "Is the food not to your taste?"

"No."

Pei Muyin shook her head vigorously: "Delicious, really delicious."

To go along with her mother, the girl said in a muffled voice, "It's just… Dad's cooking is so good it made me cry."

Whether it's the former dad or the present dad, remembering them or not doesn't matter.

What matters is that Dad has come back.

Hearing that, Pei Du let out a faint chuckle.

Then he leaned close to Shu Shu's ear and said something.

He said:

"Yinyin, our daughter is very cute, just like you."

Pei Muyin has seen many sides of her father.

His patient demeanor when getting along, his reliable manner when communicating, his fierce professionalism at work.

But she had never seen what her father looks like when he's in love.

After the meal.

Shu Shu went to the kitchen to cut fruit; Pei Du followed, naturally taking the peeling knife from her hand. Seeing Shu Shu about to leave, he immediately fixed his gaze on her and asked earnestly:

"Yinyin, won't you keep me company?"

Shu Shu sat down, and only then was Pei Du satisfied; thereafter, every couple of strokes of the fruit, he lifted his head to glance at her.

In the living room.

Great Fortune happily chewed on the newly bought beef jerky chew stick.

Shu Lingchen and Pei Muyin hid behind the sofa to peek.

Pei Muyin spread her fingers, sheepishly covering her face, but her sparkling eyes showed through.

She exclaimed in amazement.

So this is what Mom and Dad were like when they were dating.

His heart and eyes were full of Mom; the emotion in his gaze when looking at her could only be described as fervent and cloying—really quite… unsubtle.

The game that Shu Lingchen and Pei Du had missed their appointment for, delayed by half a year, was finally played together.

Shu Lingchen discovered that his father, when young, played games remarkably well.

The two, whose faces were virtually identical, sat cross‑legged before the TV, their coordination extremely high, winning round after round and playing to their hearts' content.

Outside the window, the sky gradually shifted from deep blue to deep black.

Pei Muyin tugged at Shu Lingchen's sleeve and reminded him, "Brother, it's getting late—we have early class tomorrow."

"Ah, I—" the words reached his lips, but upon catching his sister's subtle glance, Shu Lingchen instantly understood, immediately putting down the game controller: "Right, right, early class, early class—sis, if you hadn't reminded me I'd have forgotten; we need to head back to our apartment."

"Little Pei, shall we stop playing for today?"

Pei Du: "Okay."

Shu Lingchen and Pei Muyin left, hurrying to the entryway to change shoes, but Shu Lingchen suddenly ran back in, scooping up the Great Fortune from Shu Shu's arms in one grab.

"Although today is our first meeting, after a few hours together I and Little Fortune have gotten along very well—I declare, as immovable as mountains, no one can separate us, so I'm taking it back to my place first."

Without waiting for Shu Shu to protest, Shu Lingchen clamped his arms around the bewildered dog, even snatching its chew stick, packing the dog and snack together, and hurried out with his sister, slamming the door.

The quiet living room now held only Shu Shu and Pei Du.

"That brat—who taught him to talk like that?"

"As immovable as mountains," Shu Shu muttered under her voice as she rose to grab the remote and turn off the TV.

"What I just said wasn't quite complete," Pei Du said, lightly pursing his lips: "Not only the daughter, the son is also very much like Yinyin—equally cute."

Shu Shu narrowed her eyes: "How come I feel that the cuteness in this sentence is different from the cuteness in the previous sentence?"

"It's late, time to sleep." Pei Du didn't continue the conversation, shifted tone, and bluntly asked: "Do I and Yinyin share a room?"

"" According to Shu Shu's account, from Pei Du's perspective, they were still dating, their relationship was very good, and as long as they were together they were sleeping together. Shu Shu pinched her fingers, slowly nodded: "Ng."

This means "yes."

However, despite receiving an affirmative answer, Pei Du remained seated without moving, his dark eyes silently fixed on Shu Shu.

Only three seconds.

Shu Shu then understood that Pei Du's purpose in asking that question was to probe her.

As expected.

Pei Du: "Yinyin lied to me."

Been exposed.

But Shu Shu wasn't too surprised; the few sentences she'd made up had too many loopholes, completely unable to withstand scrutiny.

He must have suspected from the start.

While playing a game just now, Pei Du casually asked Shu Lingchen where "they" were now; Shu Lingchen turned his thoughts and said that the older version of them had gone abroad on vacation.

Pei Du then asked why they hadn't seen any wedding photos or similar items at home.

Shu Lingchen then said: "Because... because you two didn't get married in this city; you only bought a house here to accompany me and my sister to college. Our real home is in An Shi."

By common sense, Shu Lingchen's answer could fool someone for a while.

But the key is, whether he's eighteen or thirty-six, Pei Du is utterly sharp; how could you deceive him?

"Alright."

Shu Shu admitted.

She thought her fabricated "future time-travel oddities" had been exposed.

As she was pondering how to explain to Pei Du that they had two children roughly their age...

She heard Pei Du speak in a low voice: "Actually, I and Yinyin have already broken up, right?"

"Huh?"

Shu Shu froze for a second.

She thought his doubts would surface regarding the two kids.

Pei Du walked up to Shu Shu, took her hand from her side, palm open, fingers interlaced, gripping her hand.

"We probably haven't held hands in a long time."

Pei Du looked at their joined hands, then stepped forward, resting his chin lightly on Shu Shu's shoulder, using the same posture as before to embrace her.

"It's been a long time since we last hugged."

Pei Du then lifted his head, meeting Shu Shu's eyes, close to her.

This distance—

Pei Du's gaze fell on Shu Shu's lips; after a few seconds, he lowered his eyes, bent down, and slowly leaned toward her.

Shu Shu's gaze lingered for a moment, but she didn't dodge.

But Pei Du stopped his motion the instant before touching Shu Shu; at the same time, he released her, let go of her hand, and stepped back two steps.

He retreated to a distance no longer within the intimate range.

"It's also been a long time since we last kissed."