Taking Care of Chu Dong

Wu Yue specially rushed through all the formalities before the new year to take Chu Dong back, so that he could spend the new year with Chu Dong as his family. His parents died early on, and he had no other relatives. As for the relatives on Zhao Qian's side, he no longer intended to contact them.

He woke Chu Dong up early in the morning in good spirits, he picked him up and kissed his face, "Go, Dad will take you to buy new year goods."

Chu Dong was rarely drowsy and sobered because of the stubble on his chin. He stared at Wu Yue and reached out to touch his chin, "Beard."

Wu Yue put him by the dining table and turned to the bathroom to shave. Breakfast was porridge, meat buns, and corn. Chu Dong was scooping some porridge when the phone that Wu Yue placed on the table vibrated. Chu Dong glanced at it, the caller ID showed only one character, "Qian". Water was still splashing in the bathroom, the TV in the living room was still presenting the morning news, and Wu Yue didn't hear anything.

Chu Dong stared at the vibrating smartphone for a while, he raised his hand and gently swiped on the screen to hang up.

Wu Yue took Chu Dong to the big shopping mall in the city center, pushing him to the supermarket, clothing shop, and bookstore in his wheelchair. Wu Yue bought three sets of new clothes and new shoes for the Chu Dong in one breath, he also bought a lot of new year goods. Fortunately, he was strong enough to move Chu Dong while holding the large bags and small bags. He ran upstairs and downstairs without panting, and took everything home on just two trips.

The heating at home was turned on, Chu Dong was sitting on the carpet and sorting things with Wu Yue. Wu Yue told Chu Dong that he'd take him to visit his grandparents' tomb in a few days to tell them that their precious grandson had returned home. Chu Dong, while separating food and toolstuff, nodded with a "hmm".

Just then, the doorbell rang. Chu Dong looked at the door, Wu Yue walked over, he glanced through the peephole and paused.

The doorbell still rung persistently, but Wu Yue turned his head to look at Chu Dong. There was a complex, hesitant but serious expression on his face. He walked towards Chu Dong and squatted down, his palms subconsciously covering the backs of his hands, he said, "...Your mother is here."

Chu Dong didn't speak, looking at him like he was ignorant. Wu Yue asked: "Do you want to see her?"

After a long period of silence, Chu Dong put a look of expectation and joy and said, "Yes."

Wu Yue couldn't refuse Chu Dong. He took him off his wheelchair and sat him down, he then got up to open the door.

Zhao Qian was standing outside, her expression unhappy and wronged. She was still beautifully dressed, apparently she specially dressed up before coming to find them. Wu Yue opened the door for her, she walked through the entrance of her own house and complained, "Why did you open the door after so long? You don't answer my calls. Tomorrow will be New Year, and my parents are still waiting for us to worship together..."

Her voice abruptly stopped and her gaze fell on Chu Dong's face. The eyes of the two met, Zhao Qian backed away like she just received an electric shock, almost screaming out: "Wu Yue, who's this!"

Chu Dong shivered from the fright, Wu Yue stood in front of him with a reproachful expression on his face: "He's your son!"

Zhao Qian's face turned pale, her painted high heels almost tripped on the tiles and her bright red nails left scratches on the shoe cabinet. She looked at Chu Dong in disbelief, like he was a demon that had crawled out of hell, "You... where did you find him? How did you get him back?!"

"He's our son! Shouldn't I take my own son home?"

"What son, what son! He's a he-she!" Zhao Qian saw Chu Dong and at first glance her gentle and elegant facade was suddenly broken, "He's a monster!"

"Shut up!" Wu Yue clenched his fists and shouted angrily. He had never been so fierce towards Zhao Qian, and he had never spoken to her so loudly. Zhao Qian was immediately shocked, leaning on the wall and staring¹ at him. Wu Yue's heart was bursting with anger but he forcibly resisted it, instead turning around to quickly push Chu Dong back to his room.

"I'm sorry." Wu Yue held Chu Dong's hand, touching his face, and continously apologizing, "Don't listen to your mother's nonsense."

Wu Yue left Chu Dong in the room, turning around and closing the door.

Chu Dong sat there silently for a while, he then slowly shook the wheels of the wheelchair, quietly approaching the door and opening it.

"It was me who left him in the hospital, but now you brought him back! What do you want me to do? How can I act calm in front of him?"

"You dare to mention that! You did such a big thing without telling me! He's a living person, just because you can abandon him doesn't mean you should²! Zhao Qian, do you still not know how to repent?!"

"He's a male and female monster!"

"Don't you dare say those words again!" Wu Yue's voice was full of anger yet he still controlled his volume, "He's our child, you should go and apologize to him now..."

"I don't want to!" Zhao Qian cried, "He hates me so much, he must want to kill me! You shouldn't have brought him back and let us meet..."

Chu Dong gently closed the door.

Wu Yue finally drove Zhao Qian out. He felt extremely exhausted, standing there alone in the living room full of scattered clutter. He had a headache. If he had known that Zhao Qian would have such an extreme reaction when meeting Chu Dong, then he would've rather never let her in. Wu Yueben also hoped that Zhao Qian would regret and blame herself for the mistakes she made in the past. Who knew that after so many years, she hadn't grown up at all, but instead became even more arrogant and selfish. He even annoyedly reflected on whether he had spoiled her too much in the past, enabling her to become what she was now.

If it could be said that Zhao Qian's derailment stepped on Wu Yue's bottom line, then Zhao Qian's attitude towards Chu Dong had made Wu Yue give up on her completely. He gave up the idea wanting to provide Chu Dong maternal love, and decided to raise Chu Dong by himself from then forward.

Wu Yue calmed his emotions down in the living room before pushing open the bedroom door. He looked over with an anxious heart, seeing the flowers and plants on Chu Dong's balcony, he was relieved and walked over.

When Chu Dong saw him walking towards him, he knelt down and said "You guys fought."

Wu Yue gently held his hand, there was a bit of helplessness and bitterness in his eyes, "I'm sorry, I scared you."

Chu Dong obediently shook his head, he looked at the potted plants planted on the balcony that had been left by Wu Yue's parents. Even after the old couple left, Wu Yue still came to water them regularly. It's just that he doesn't know how to cultivate them properly, the flowers and plants in the pots were gradually withering.

Chu Dong suddenly asked: "Am I a monster?"

Wu Yue's fingers tightened. He held Chu Dong's hands tightly, bringing them to his mouth and kept on kissing and stroking it. His actions were full of heartache. He looked at Chu Dong seriously and said: "Chu Dong, you are dad's most beloved baby."

"Dad will never lose you again." Wu Yue was a little choked up. He brought Chu Dong's hand to his lips and put emphasis on every word, "From now on, Dad will stay with you for the rest of his life and guard you, okay?"

Chu Dong saw Wu Yue's red eyes and scowled. He felt the hot breath and touch between his fingers, and stretched them out little by little to stroke Wu Yue's warm cheeks.

His voice was as light as cigarette smoke, "Okay."

After that episode, they still continued tidying up the living room. The courier package Wu Yue bought was also delivered to their house. A huge box was moved inside as Chu Dong sat aside and watched. Wu Yue rolled up his sleeves and neatly unpacked the box. Inside were wooden boards, brackets, screws and other tools. Seeing the surprised Chu Dong, Wu Yue smiled and said, "I'm going to install a big bookcase for you."

He carried the large and small tools to the bedroom, digging out a pair of gloves and a toolbox in the house and directly starting. Chu Dong rocked his wheelchair and followed him, he saw that Wu Yue had spread the planks and brackets on the floor, pushing away the small desk to put aside and clearing a large area. He squatted on the ground and beat, and held the board against the wall for a while, gesturing. The room was warm and Wu Yue sweated out his clothes a short while after starting, he had to take off his shirt and throw it aside before continuing to build the bookcase.

Chu Dong sat by the door, looking at Wu Yue's back. Wu Yue will turn thirty-five years old next year, but his body hadn't fallen out of shape at all. He was thin when he was a soldier, and became stronger after middle age. The muscles of his shoulders and arms were distinct, and the lines became even more trenched when doing labour. His skin had been tanned to a deep wheaten colour from running all the year round, and the sweat dripped from his back into the loose waistline of his trousers.

Wu Yue was very good at this kind of manual work, he put together a large bookcase in less than two hours. The bookcase was connected to a long desk, and two vertical cabinets were placed next to them, almost occupying the entirely of the two walls. When Wu Yue was done, he turned around and asked Chu Dong: "Do you like it?"

Chu Dong laughed and nodded. Wu Yue happily cleaned the room and lifted the Chu Dong from his wheelchair. "When the time comes, we'll put books in it. You can read as many books as you want."

Chu Dong leaned on his shoulders, a warm smile appeared as his eyes dropped down. He gently wiped the sweat from Wu Yue's temples with the back of his hand, he said in a soft voice, "You sweated a lot."

Wu Yue realized that he was still shirtless, he hurriedly put Chu Dong on the sofa and went to the bathroom to wash up. They ate dumplings at home in the evening, and after eating, they sat on the sofa and watched TV together. Chu Dong seemed to have rarely watched TV, when they were watching the news, he didn’t understand a lot of things. Wu Yue held him in his arms and explained to him one by one. Unknowingly, it was already very late.

At bedtime, Chu Dong stopped Wu Yue again.

"Can we sleep together?" Chu Dong looked a little cautious, with a little anticipation, looking at Wu Yue with soft and bright eyes. When Wu Yue saw him like this, he couldn't say a word of rejection. He lifted the quilt and lay in, jokingly saying: "You said before that you want to sleep alone."

Chu Dong moved closer and nestled in his arms, "Dad is so warm."

"Of course, Dad's in good health and has a high body temperature..."

Wu Yue stunned for a moment, he then reacted and looked at the Chu Dong dumbly. Chu Dong seemed amused by his slow half-beat expression, he smiled crookedly against his arm, and buried himself in his chest. He stopped talking.

Wu Yue's heart was beating hard. He instinctively tightened his arms and held the person in his arms firmly, stroking Chu Dong's soft hair with his big hands, touching his ears and cheeks, and putting his cool feet on his legs to cover them. Chu Dong's body was warm and soft, with the pulsing and breathing of life, he finally lay in his arms quietly. Wu Yue didn't want to let go for even a moment. He wanted to warm every inch of Chu Dong's body, hug him, protect him, and give him everything.

He'll never let Chu Dong feel cold again.