What's Wrong with This Alpha? - Chapter 51
Chapter 51 – The Twins
The wind blew, the snow melted, and that night, Duan Yi developed a low fever.
Afraid to wake Xiaoduan Mom, he quietly got out of bed, took two cold pills, and lay back down.
He slept more soundly than before, but he had a dream.
Duan Yi hadn’t dreamed in a long time.
In his dream, he saw Sheng Ming and Sheng Xi.
The two boys were only knee-high, soft and chubby, with faces as white as snow.
A natural warmth filled Duan Yi’s heart as he crouched down and asked, “What are you two doing here?”
Hearing his voice, Sheng Ming turned and stared at him with an expression of disbelief.
Unnoticing, Duan Yi casually pulled the boy into a hug and ruffled his hair. “I asked you a question. Why aren’t you and your brother napping at midday? Does your dad know you’re here swinging?”
Sheng Ming remained silent for a moment, then suddenly buried his face in Duan Yi’s chest.
Duan Yi froze, then chuckled awkwardly. “What’s this? You’re too old to be acting like this.”
Sheng Ming kept his face hidden, his small hands gripping Duan Yi’s shirt tightly, his body trembling. Duan Yi softened his tone, concerned. “Mingbao, what’s wrong?”
Without warning, Sheng Ming burst into tears.
Sheng Xi woke up to the commotion. He sat up in bed and blinked at Duan Yi.
Duan Yi was holding his brother, his chest soaked with tears. “What upset your brother?” he asked Sheng Xi.
Sheng Ming, like his older brother Sheng Yunze, was remarkably composed for his age. He rarely cried in front of Duan Yi, especially with Sheng Xi, his little shadow, around. Sheng Xi would mimic everything his brother did—if Sheng Ming cried, he would cry too.
But Sheng Xi’s reaction to Duan Yi was different from his brother’s silent tears. The younger boy not only failed to answer Duan Yi’s question but immediately burst into a full-blown wail, snot and tears smearing all over Duan Yi’s clothes.
Duan Yi hadn’t even managed to calm one child before another joined in. He suddenly felt this dream was becoming far too complicated. Though the boys were small, he couldn’t possibly hold both at once.
He gently sat Sheng Ming back on the bed, then placed Sheng Xi beside him. Sheng Xi sobbed breathlessly, clutching Duan Yi’s shirt corner tightly.
Kneeling on the floor, Duan Yi wiped the children’s tears. “What’s this, a crying contest? One after the other? Stop crying now. Let me see your eyes—do they hurt from crying so much? Mingbao, you’re the older brother. If you stop crying, Xibao will stop too, okay? You need to set a good example.”
Sheng Ming stared fixedly at Duan Yi, as if trying to etch his face into his memory. After a long silence, he spoke, his voice soft and childlike, with a hint of babyish sweetness, his voice trembling, “Dad said you’re going far away.”
Duan Yi’s heart skipped a beat.
Sheng Ming’s voice was soft and sweet, with the unique milky scent of a child. His voice trembled as he asked, “Do you think we’re annoying? Do you not want us anymore?”
Duan Yi’s heart softened. “No, who said I don’t want you?”
But those words seemed to unlock something. Sheng Ming’s tears began to fall like raindrops. He placed his hands on his knees, using them to support his thin upper body.
Head bowed, his shoulders shook with sobs as he stammered, “I’ve already…”
He choked back a sob before continuing.
“I’ve already been taking good care of my little brother. Today… today I read a new lesson…”
“I can wash my own clothes, make my bed, and eat properly…”
“The tree in our yard is about to bear fruit. You promised you’d pick them with us…”
“I was good yesterday, and my little brother was good too. We didn’t cause any trouble for Dad. I’m being good today, and I’ll be good tomorrow too…”
“Dad said you’d come back if I did a hundred things. I’m almost done. Why aren’t you back yet?”
“Why did Dad have to lie…?”
“Why did you have to lie!”
Sheng Ming’s stuttering words dissolved into a wail, his voice cracking with anguish.
Duan Yi stood frozen, the smile fading from his face as he struggled to distinguish between dream and reality.
Sheng Xi scrambled off the bed and clung to him, the child’s desperate grip fueled by the primal instinct to hold onto something precious, a strength no adult could fathom.
Duan Yi’s arm felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, Sheng Xi’s small hands digging into his skin, threatening to leave red marks.
Between sobs and hiccups, Sheng Xi showed Duan Yi his chubby, pale arm. “I’ve… hic… gotten thinner. Kiss me… kiss me, and come back… don’t leave…”
Duan Yi opened his mouth, but a stone seemed lodged in his chest, the pain so intense it made breathing hurt.
He realized he couldn’t answer.
With a click, the bedroom door opened. Duan Yi turned, unable to make out who had entered, when someone called out, “Duan Yi.”
First, a single voice.
Then, as if countless voices joined in, calling his name in a cacophony of tones, one after another.
Duan Yi groaned softly, his eyes fluttering open to the ceiling of his bedroom.
Xiaoduan Mom watched him anxiously. “Baby, did you have a nightmare?”
Duan Yi remained unresponsive for a long moment, not even registering her words.
It wasn’t until Xiaoduan Mom gently dabbed his face with a silk handkerchief that he startled awake, roughly wiping his face with his hand.
His cheeks were soaked with tears.
Xiaoduan Mom’s voice was as soft and gentle as a spring breeze. “What’s wrong? What did you dream about? You were crying so hard I couldn’t wake you.”
She knew her son well.
Duan Yi was the type to appear warm and outgoing but keep his emotions tightly guarded. He preferred to grit his teeth and endure hardships alone, loathing to burden others.
Though he seemed mischievous and playful, he was deeply sensitive. He rarely complained about injustices, and it was exceedingly rare for anything to reduce him to tears like this.
Duan Yi turned his head to look at his pillow. It was indeed soaked.
The villa blazed with lights as the nanny and butler hurried from their beds, gathering outside the second young master’s door.
Duan Ji Huai reached for the phone to call their private doctor, but Xiaoduan Mom stopped him. “Don’t bother him in the middle of the night just for a minor cold,” she said. “It’s too much trouble.”
She then ushered Duan Ji Huai to the kitchen, where he joined the nanny in watching over the sedative soup being prepared for Duan Yi.
Duan Shaoheng, the only one unaware of the situation, was startled awake by the commotion in the house. He went to check on Duan Yi and, learning it was nothing serious, was shooed back to bed by Xiaoduan Mom.
She worried about Xiaoduan’s restless sleep and her husband’s early work schedule—Duan Shaoheng had a magazine announcement at five the next morning.
Duan Yi felt embarrassed. “I’m sorry for waking you up.”
Xiaoduan Mom smoothed his hair behind his ear. “You didn’t wake me. I suddenly felt uneasy in the middle of the night and woke up on my own.”
Duan Yi looked at her. Xiaoduan Mom smiled. “Whenever something happens to you or your brother, I feel restless. That’s the bond between a mother and her child. When I came to check on you, you were tossing and turning with a low fever. It scared me half to death.”
Duan Yi was usually very healthy; his last fever had been three years ago.
Since the car accident during summer vacation, his immune system hadn’t been the same. That’s why he fell ill after standing in the snow for just a short while tonight.
Hearing Xiaoduan Mom’s words, Duan Yi suddenly blurted out, “I dreamed I had a child.”
Xiaoduan Mom paused, then chuckled. “You’re still a kid yourself. How could you have a child? Are you thinking about dating?”
Duan Yi shook his head. He didn’t know how to explain the concept of parallel worlds to Xiaoduan Mom.
Even after that dream, Duan Yi found it hard to distinguish between the parallel world and reality.
“Is there really such a thing as a mother’s intuition?” Duan Yi asked Xiaoduan Mom.
Xiaoduan Mom took the sedative soup from the nanny, gently stirred it with a spoon, scooped up a spoonful, blew on it, and held it out to Duan Yi.
Duan Yi stared at Xiaoduan Mom’s face and obediently took a sip.
“Of course,” Xiaoduan Mom said softly. “You and I have a special connection. If Xiaoduan is sad and crying, Xiaoduan Mom feels it too.”
Duan Yi held the soup in his mouth, remembering Sheng Ming and Sheng Xi clinging to him and crying so hard they nearly broke his heart.
It was just…
It was just another parallel world…
But it felt so real.
Duan Yi’s mind was in turmoil.
Yet he had truly had Sheng Ming and Sheng Xi. He had watched them grow from palm-sized infants to toddlers learning to walk, from babbling babies to stumbling children.
In this world, there was Sheng Yunze, but his two sons were nowhere to be found.
Xiaoduan Mom finished feeding him the sedative soup and tucked the blanket around him. “Mom will stay with you tonight so you don’t have nightmares.”
Duan Yi’s nose tingled. Looking at Xiaoduan Mom, he felt an inexplicable urge to cry.
At home, Duan Ji Huai practiced a strict, “spare the rod, spoil the child” approach to parenting. Xiaoduan Mom, however, was the gentle spring rain that softened the blows, always tender, loving, and forgiving.
To Duan Yi and his brother Duan Shaoheng, she was both fragile and immensely strong.
Whenever Duan Yi faced a problem he couldn’t solve or an obstacle he couldn’t overcome, his first instinct was to turn to Xiaoduan Mom.
Her influence on him was profound, so much so that his later parenting of Sheng Ming and Sheng Xi reflected her gentle strength.
Duan Yi couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to lose Xiaoduan Mom.
He also couldn’t bear to think of how Sheng Ming and Sheng Xi would feel if he were gone.
The thought pierced his heart like a thorn, inescapable, too painful to dwell on, yet throbbing faintly, a vast sorrow surging through every fiber of his being.
After Duan Yi promised Xiaoduan Mom he would go to sleep, she sat by his bedside and signaled the housekeeper to turn off the main light, leaving only a nightlight on the bedside table.
Duan Yi burrowed under the covers, closed his eyes, and tears began to stream down his face. He held his breath, afraid his sobs would betray him.
Yet even in the quiet night, Duan Yi couldn’t completely stifle his muffled cries.
Xiaoduan Mom didn’t call him out. She simply gazed at the strands of hair scattered across his pillow.
Her hand gently patted the blanket as she hummed a quiet lullaby.
Her soft, soothing voice coaxed Duan Yi toward sleep.
The night stretched on endlessly. Duan Yi couldn’t tell if he was crying because of Xiaoduan Mom’s tenderness or because he missed Sheng Ming and Sheng Xi so much.
He longed for them, for them all, but kept it buried deep inside, a secret he couldn’t share.
The snow fell all night. When Duan Yi woke up the next morning, his low fever had subsided.
But after crying for most of the night, his eyes were still red and swollen, like a rabbit’s.
He slowly got out of bed, dressed, and went to the dining room to sit down.
Duan Ji Huai put down his tablet and cleared his throat, signaling he was about to share his thoughts.
Before offering his personal opinions, Xiaoduan Dad always liked to put on a show.
The cough was his signature move.
“Duan Bao.”
When Xiaoduan Dad called him “Duan Bao,” it usually meant he was in a good mood and wanted to show a rare display of fatherly affection, offering Duan Yi some comfort.
Of course, when he called him “Duan Er” or “Duan Yi,” it meant Xiaoduan Dad was displeased and about to deliver a lecture on proper behavior.
“Even though you’re in your third year of high school, you should be focusing on your studies. But you didn’t take your first or second year seriously, so it’s too late to catch up now. I just want to know you’re willing to try. Don’t push yourself too hard. Whether you get into college or not, our family can afford to support you.”
Duan Yi ate his breakfast in a daze. “…Huh?”
His father, Duan Ji Huai, spoke with the weight of a mountain, “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. If anything’s bothering you, talk to us, okay?”
Duan Yi was completely bewildered. What pressure?
After offering some comforting words, Duan Ji Huai finally revealed the truth, “Your mother told me you caught a cold from studying too late last night. And that you cried in bed because you couldn’t solve the problems?”
Duan Yi: ……
Xiaoduan Mom gave a coquettish wink.
Duan Yi quickly took a few more bites of his bread. “Okay, okay, I get it! But I still want to say, my goal for the final exam is to rank in the top hundred in the grade!”
Ranking in the top hundred at Second High School meant he could choose any top-tier university.
No one in Duan Yi’s family believed his bold claim.
But he was fired up. He wiped his mouth and dashed out the door.
He stopped at the entrance of the residential complex.
In the distance, Sheng Yunze leaned against a withered tree, wearing Second High School’s winter uniform and white headphones, quietly waiting for him.
The moment Duan Yi saw Sheng Yunze, his heart swelled with a light, floating joy he couldn’t explain.
It felt like waking up from a dream where he’d longed to see someone, only to find them standing right there.
Storyteller Aletta's Words
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