Shocking! The Broke Campus Heartthrob Is My Child’s Father - Chapter 31
After chatting with Jiang Ruoqiao, Jiang Yan returned to his room.
He wanted to spend more time alone with her, but she seemed exhausted.
The rooms at the farmhouse were decorated to hotel standards, each about 20 to 30 square meters, with two 1.35-meter-wide beds and a private bathroom. Lu Siyan had originally wanted to find Jiang Ruoqiao, but since Jiang Yan had called her away, Lu Yicheng had no choice but to take him back to their room.
A 1.35-meter bed was already a bit cramped for Lu Yicheng alone, let alone with a child added to the mix.
The owner was aware of this issue and had brought them a mattress to make a makeshift bed on the floor.
When Jiang Yan returned to the room, Lu Yicheng had just finished taking Lu Siyan out of the bathroom.
Now a full-fledged dad, Lu Yicheng was adept at taking care of Lu Siyan. He had washed his hands, wiped his face and back, and then sat him on the bed. From his backpack, he pulled out the baby powder he had bought earlier at the supermarket. Carefully, he applied the powder to Lu Siyan’s neck, armpits, and the creases of his legs. Lu Siyan was prone to heat rash if not properly cared for.
Lu Siyan sat obediently on the bed, already changed into his pajamas—just a tank top and shorts—feeling cool and comfortable.
He squinted his eyes, enjoying the sensation as his dad applied the powder.
Jiang Yan stood at the doorway for a while, chuckling, “What do kids eat these days to grow up so well?”
From Jiang Yan’s perspective, Lu Siyan was indeed a well-raised child.
His skin was fair, his height neither too tall nor too short, and he had a slightly chubby build with dimples when he smiled.
His natural curls were especially adorable.
Moreover, the child was not at all fussy. His eyes, dark like black grapes, sparkled with intelligence.
Most students their age didn’t have the patience to deal with children.
But Lu Siyan was an exception. Everyone on this trip enjoyed teasing him, and he always responded with a smile.
He perfectly met their highest expectations of what a child should be—cute, chubby-cheeked, someone else’s responsibility (meaning no trouble for themselves), lively yet well-behaved…
After applying the powder, Lu Yicheng patted Lu Siyan’s hand, “Go lie down.”
Lu Siyan quickly crawled to one side, pulled up the blanket, and pretended to be ready for sleep.
The air conditioning in the room was working perfectly.
Lu Yicheng picked up Lu Siyan’s changed clothes and headed to the bathroom. The child was active and sweated a lot, so Lu Yicheng always had him change into fresh clothes for his midday nap. In this weather, the clothes would dry after being hung outside for an hour or two.
Lu Yicheng went to the bathroom to wash the clothes.
Jiang Yan sat on the edge of the bed, watching Lu Siyan with interest.
Lu Siyan wasn’t sleepy yet. Seeing Jiang Yan staring at him, he let out a soft hum but didn’t say anything.
Most of the time, as long as no one provoked him, Lu Siyan was a very polite child.
The more Jiang Yan looked at him, the more familiar the child seemed.
Where had he seen him before?
He couldn’t quite recall.
Could it be that all good-looking children resemble one another?
Lu Yicheng quickly finished washing the clothes, found a hanger in the room, and hung the clothes on the retractable drying rack outside the window before closing it.
Turning around, he noticed Jiang Yan staring intently at Lu Siyan. He lowered his gaze and walked over, blocking Jiang Yan’s line of sight, “What are you looking at?”
Jiang Yan rubbed his chin, mimicking Lu Siyan by lying back on the bed with a pillow, and casually said, “Nothing, just thought your kid looks familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere before.”
Lu Yicheng: “…”
“He really is your kid,” Jiang Yan added offhandedly, “He kinda resembles you.”
Lu Yicheng remained silent, turning away to tuck Lu Siyan in and adjusting the air conditioner vent so it wasn’t blowing directly onto the bed.
Jiang Yan was just making small talk.
Since Lu Yicheng didn’t respond to such a trivial matter, he naturally transitioned to another topic, “You applied to move off-campus, so are you going to live at home then?”
Lu Yicheng shook his head, “No, I’ll find a place near the school to rent.”
“Tsk,” Jiang Yan was curious, “Why suddenly decide to move out and rent a place? At first I thought you’d be living at home.”
If he were moving out to live at home, that would make sense, but moving out to rent near the school… that was puzzling.
It seemed there wasn’t a compelling reason for it.
Lu Yicheng was really troubled.
The situation was simple, but the problem was that he couldn’t explain it yet.
One lie would lead to another, and he didn’t like that. After much deliberation, he decided to tell the truth. Pointing to Lu Siyan who was lying in bed watching him, he said, “I’ll have to take care of him in the future. Living on campus isn’t convenient, and home is too far.”
Jiang Yan was surprised, “You’re taking care of this kid?”
He almost blurted out “Why?”
Why indeed?
Didn’t the child have parents? But he swallowed the question, unsure of the backstory. Bringing up parents in front of the child might not be appropriate.
What if something had happened that prevented the child’s parents from caring for him?
Or worse, what if they were no longer around?
Suddenly mentioning it could upset the child if that were the case.
Lu Yicheng replied, “Yeah.”
Jiang Yan guessed the child was a relative of Lu Yicheng’s. Both shared the surname Lu, and since Lu Yicheng had decided to take care of him, their relationship must be extraordinarily close.
There was no need to pry further. It seemed likely that the child’s parents or other relatives were unable to care for him for some reason, so the responsibility fell to Lu Yicheng.
Having been classmates for two years, Jiang Yan knew Lu Yicheng well—he was a very responsible person.
Jiang Yan sighed, marveling at how much had changed over the summer. He then said, “I’ll transfer the 3,000 yuan I owe you later. Things have been so hectic lately that I completely forgot about it.”
Raising a child must be quite expensive.
Lu Yicheng glanced at him, “Okay.”
Jiang Yan continued, almost to himself, “I wanted to buy Ruoqiao a bag for her birthday, but she refused to accept it. I thought about it more, and there’s really no need to stretch myself thin right now. I’ll get her something better and more expensive in the future.”
Lu Yicheng remained silent.
Lu Siyan pursed his lips.
As they chatted, Jiang Yan rested his hands behind his head and brought up something else that had occurred to him, “Speaking of you renting a place, I remembered something. This semester, a senior colleague at my company finally saved up enough for a down payment. I saw on his social media that he’s signed the contract. I checked out the floor plan he posted, and honestly, the place isn’t big, but it has three rooms—a master bedroom, a study, and a kid’s room. Boss Lu, I won’t lie, I’m envious. When will I be able to buy a place and marry Ruoqiao?”
Lu Siyan was so angry that he covered his ears: I can’t hear it, I can’t hear this nonsense!!
But Jiang Yan was on a roll and showed no signs of stopping. He continued, “I want to hold a diploma in one hand and a marriage certificate in the other at graduation. But these days, I can’t bear the thought of having her rent with me as newlyweds instead of owning our home.”
Truthfully, Lu Yicheng wasn’t the best listener when it came to relationship matters.
No matter who asked for his advice or confided in him about such things, he struggled to offer any useful insights.
He was single, had never been in a relationship himself, and had never even had feelings for anyone.
Without theoretical knowledge or practical experience to draw upon, how could he possibly guide others?
But this time, if Jiang Yan had been more observant, he would have noticed something different about Lu Yicheng’s reaction.
In the past, he would listen quietly, his expression calm and unchanging.
Now, however, a flicker of impatience and restraint momentarily crossed his face.
These fleeting emotions were hard to catch. Even Lu Yicheng himself didn’t seem to notice them.
Jiang Yan was still fantasizing aloud about marrying Jiang Ruoqiao, but Lu Siyan’s patience had reached its limit. He couldn’t take it anymore! Ah, why did this guy keep going on about marrying his mom?! It was beyond annoying!!!
Lu Siyan’s face turned red with frustration. Unable to hold back any longer, he burst out angrily, “She won’t marry you!”
She’ll never marry you!!
Jiang Yan was caught between the sweet fantasy of imagining Ruoqiao as his wife and the harsh reality of exorbitant housing prices…
Hearing this sudden outburst, he sat up and looked over at Lu Siyan on the bed.
Lu Yicheng quickly covered Lu Siyan’s mouth, giving him a warning look.
Jiang Yan wasn’t angry; on the contrary, he found Lu Siyan adorable. Bored, he decided to tease the child a bit, “How do you know? She’s my girlfriend, and we have a great relationship. We hardly ever fight, and she’s already agreed to stay in the city after graduation. We’re definitely going to get married…”
Lu Siyan was furious.
He wanted to retort, “If it’s so great, then why didn’t you end up marrying my mom in the future? Hmph!” But with Lu Yicheng’s hand over his mouth, he had no outlet for his emotions.
Jiang Yan added, “Kid, I’m being honest, I think you’re really cute. How about this—when Ruoqiao and I get married, I’ll invite you to be our ring bearer. I’ll even give you a big red envelope…”
Lu Siyan was both anxious and angry, and now he felt wronged on top of that.
My mom won’t marry you!!
Hearing the bit about being a ring bearer was the last straw. Lu Siyan was so upset he seemed ready to explode. With his mouth covered, his pent-up emotions spilled out as tears that fell onto Lu Yicheng’s hand.
Lu Yicheng felt as if he’d been scalded and quickly released his hold.
He looked at Lu Siyan, whose eyes were red-rimmed.
Jiang Yan’s words still echoed in his ears. Lu Yicheng clenched his fists, his jaw tightening. His gaze turned icy as he bit out, “That’s enough.”
Lu Yicheng’s voice carried a chill. “I said, that’s enough.”
Jiang Yan was stunned.
After two years as roommates, this was the first time he had ever seen Lu Yicheng lose his temper. His tone was controlled, but there was an undeniable undercurrent of cold detachment.