AMTWPICL Chapter 20

Song Linchu had just put on an innocent expression when he heard Grandpa Tan’s words. His eyebrows unconsciously raised, and he looked towards the young man.

Although the young man’s appearance was not stunning, he had a fair and delicate complexion, and gave off a gentle and amiable vibe.

The young man wanted to look at Tan Yue, but dared not. When he finally stole a glance at the man’s handsome face, his own face turned red.

However, he was clearly not a shy person, but rather timid in the face of Tan Yue’s cold aura, and dared not meet his gaze.

He lowered his eyes and said, ”Hello, Mr. Tan.”

Grandpa Tan also looked at Tan Yue eagerly.

Just as Tan Yue was about to say something, the young man blushed again and blurted out, “My name is Pei Zhou, I have admired you for a long time.”

Song Linchu: “…”

This line sounded familiar, as if he had said it before.

What did Tan Yue reply to him again?

He also looked at Tan Yue with a burning gaze, wanting to see the reaction of this straight steel man.

In the face of such a shura field, Tan Yue remained calm and said, “I have someone I love.”

Pei Zhou’s figure froze, and Grandpa Tan’s eyes went wide.

Tan Yue took Song Linchu’s hand that was hanging by his side. Song Linchu was momentarily absent-minded and reflexively wanted to pull his hand back, but the man held it tightly. His warm palm wrapped around Song Linchu’s hand as he walked two steps forward and stood in front of Grandpa Tan.

“This is my lover, Song Linchu. Linchu, call him Grandpa.”

Song Linchu smiled obediently at Grandpa Tan and said, “Hello, Grandpa.”

Grandpa Tan’s guaze covered head turned slightly, his gaze fell on Song Linchu, and he paused.

Song Linchu had a gentle temperament, and when he deliberately pretended to be obedient, the elders really liked him.

But Grandpa Tan didn’t show any pleasure, and it wasn’t clear whether it was because he was too weak or not, but he just responded with a faint “mm,” without the warm attitude he had towards the young man.

Tan Yue’s gaze sank slightly.

Song Linchu muttered in his heart, ‘What the hell?’ and wondered if Grandpa Tan really didn’t like him. This couldn’t be so cliché!

“Grandpa…”

Tan Yue was about to speak, but Grandpa Tan’s hand that wasn’t connected to the IV suddenly lifted up and stopped him. He gave Tan Yue a glance, and Tan Yue understood. He turned his head and said to Song Linchu, “There’s a place across the street that sells excellent candied chestnuts. Go and buy some to try.”

As he spoke, he released Song Linchu’s hand and took out a card, handing it to him. “If there’s anything you want to buy, use this card, I’ll send you the password on WeChat.”

Song Linchu understood immediately what he was trying to show off, and although he was still upset about being rejected by his in-laws, he was about to say he didn’t need it when Tan Yue directly put the card in his palm and pressed it.

Song Linchu finally accepted it and smiled, “Okay, gege, I’ll go buy some, and I’ll wait for you in the car when I’m done.”

“Okay, go ahead.”

Pei Zhou looked at the card in Song Linchu’s hand with envy and disappointment, but he wasn’t clueless. Seeing that Grandpa Tan had something to say to Tan Yue alone, he said, “I’ll go too.”

Grandpa Tan didn’t stop him, and as Song Linchu walked to the door of the ward and was about to open it, someone knocked on the door from outside, and then pushed it open. Two young men and a girl walked in, laughing and chatting, and the previously gloomy suite was instantly filled with laughter and joy.

“Grandpa…”

The girl walking in the front was about to speak when she looked up and saw the man standing by the bed, and her smile froze on her face.

“Tan…Cousin Tang.”

The other two were still joking around, but when they heard the girl’s words, they all stopped and turned their heads one by one like a slow-motion movie, and when they saw Tan Yue, there was a moment of panic on their faces.

“Cousin Tan.”

“Cousin Tan.”

The three called out one after the other, standing in a row with lowered heads like primary school students caught skipping class, afraid to even look at Tan Yue. They were Tan Yue’s little cousins from his uncle’s side, who had separated from Tan Yue’s grandfather’s family a long time ago.

Although they were not familiar with Tan Yue, that didn’t stop the three of them from being afraid of him. In fact, both the younger generations on Tan Yue’s paternal and maternal side were quite afraid of Tan Yue, the current patriarch of the family. Whenever they saw him, they would tuck their tails and wish they were cute little rabbits.

Tan Yue didn’t respond to the greeting and his cold gaze fell on them, “What’s the joyous occasion? Tell me about it too.” The three of them suddenly felt the temperature in the ward drop by ten degrees. Although Tan Yue’s voice was calm and steady, those who knew him well could tell that he was angry.

“Nothing…nothing much,” the girl said. But Tan Yue refused to let them off the hook, “I see you’re quite happy. I want to hear about it.”

The taller boy cried and apologized, “ Cousin Tan, we were wrong.”

“Hmm?” Tan Yue prompted.

“We shouldn’t have been loud and disturbed grandpa’s rest. We won’t do it again. Sorry.”

“Forget it,” Grandpa Tan said weakly. “I have something to talk to Cousin Tan about. You guys can go outside and take a walk with them.”

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief and quickly left. It wasn’t until they got into the elevator that they relaxed and the taller boy clutched his chest, saying, “Damn, that scared me. My heart didn’t beat this fast even when I was caught cheating.”

The girl said, “Wasn’t it said that Cousin Tan was supposed to come over at night after work? Who sent the false information?”

The shorter boy said, “He used to prioritize work. Who knows what happened today? Oh, right, Grandpa was going to introduce Pei Zhou to him. Is cousin here to meet you, Pei Zhou?”

Pei Zhou discreetly glanced at Song Linchu, hesitated for a moment, then nodded and made an “mmm” sound.

“Wow, did you hit the jackpot? Do we have to call you brother-in-law from now on?” teased the shorter boy.

Before Pei Zhou could speak, the girl immediately said, “Brother-in-law, when my cousin is angry, you have to help us persuade him. He’s so scary!”

Song Linchu: “…”

I’m not dead yet!

But thinking of Grandpa Tan’s attitude, Song Linchu hesitated to say that he was actually Tan Yue’s boyfriend.

Tan Yue wanted to pretend to be boyfriends just to make the old man happy.

If the old man wasn’t happy about it, what was the point?

———————-

In the hospital room.

After everyone left, Tan Yue sat down in front of the bed and asked, “You don’t like Linchu, do you?”

The old man sneered and said, “Do you think lying to me is fun?”

Tan Yue remained calm and said, “I’m not lying to you.”

The old man coldly chuckled, “You’re not the kind of person who falls in love at first sight. You didn’t have feelings for anyone a few days ago, now you suddenly like someone after my accident. I may have a damaged skull, but not a damaged brain.”

“It’s not love at first sight,” Tan Yue calmly replied. “It’s just that he was always someone else’s boyfriend before, and I didn’t want to interfere.”

The old man remained skeptical, primarily because the timing of this boyfriend’s appearance was too coincidental. He was brought just when he was severely injured.

“So, when I recover, you two will break up due to personality differences?” the old man questioned.

Tan Yue paused for a moment, realizing that he hadn’t thought about what would happen once their fake relationship ended.

In truth, he had a good impression of Song Linchu and had patience for him that exceeded others.

If only…

Due to his hesitation, Grandpa Tan’s breathing became labored. “Good! You’re just deceiving me, you little brat. You’ll make me happy for now only to disappoint me when I recover. I…”

“Grandpa!” Tan Yue noticed his grandfather’s condition and immediately pressed the nurse button. There was a rare sense of urgency on his usually indifferent face.

Grandpa Tan took a few deep breaths and finished what he wanted to say: “You’re going to anger me to death even before it’s my time to die!”

Tan Yue grabbed his grandfather’s hand and said, “I’m not lying to you. I’ve decided to marry him.”

Grandpa Tan was stunned!

The hurried footsteps of nurses and doctors could be heard outside the door, and Tan Yue looked into the murky eyes of his grandfather and said seriously, “We’ve talked about it, and we’re going to register our marriage on New Year’s Day.”

“Really?” the old man asked.

“Really,” Tan Yue replied.

Grandpa Tan’s breathing became steadier. While Tan Yue might deceive him about being in a romantic relationship, he wouldn’t lie about marriage.

Tan Yue was someone who took marriage seriously from the bottom of his heart.

Especially with what happened several years ago. Their family’s status was unclear, and his father was determined to pass on the family business to his half-brother from another mother. To achieve this, he went to the extent of sending him overseas, isolating him from the centers of power, but when it became clear that he had no chance of rising to the top, he resorted to marriage alliances to expand his career.

At this moment, the doctors and nurses entered the room, but Grandpa Tan waved them off. He took a deep breath and said excitedly, “I don’t need any checkup. I’m perfectly fine. Someone, pinch me to see if I’m dreaming.”

“….” The doctors and nurses looked at each other.

Tan Yue secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Now he had to convince Song Linchu.

Song Linchu stood behind a long queue, smelling the fragrance of sugar-coated chestnuts, shivering in the cold wind.

He had bravely taken the medicine Tan Yue had bought for him last night, and he didn’t know whether the medicine was good or his body was just too strong. He had sweated profusely last night and was fine after taking a hot shower this morning.

But as soon as the cold wind blew, his nose started to itch, and he sneezed several times.

This sugar-coated chestnut shop was probably a popular one. Today was also Christmas Eve, and there were as many people as a million soldiers crossing a river.

Song Linchu wanted to leave a few times, but he was tempted by the fragrance of sugar-coated chestnuts and couldn’t bear to leave.

Just as his appetite and the cold wind were wrestling with each other, his phone rang. Song Linchu glanced at the caller ID and answered, “Gege!”

“Yeah, where are you?”

“I’m still buying sugar-coated chestnuts. Only 123…8 more people to go!”

Tan Yue got into the elevator and wanted to ask why he didn’t ask the driver to buy it, but then he remembered that he didn’t have the driver’s contact information, and Cheng Bin had something to do today and didn’t come along.

“I’ll come find you,” Tan Yue said.

The hospital was not close to the sugar-coated chestnut shop and Song Linchu had just paid.

Tan Yue looked at the long queue and frowned, realizing that he had miscalculated.

He had always had someone else buy whatever he wanted to eat, so he naturally didn’t know that this shop had such a long queue.

Tan Yue watched as the shop assistant handed over a big bag with seven or eight packets of chestnuts inside. He didn’t say anything and just reached out to take it. Song Linchu couldn’t wait and reached into the bag for a chestnut.

He peeled it and put it into his mouth. The freshly cooked chestnut was sweet, soft and fragrant. It was even better than Song Linchu had imagined.

As expected of something recommended by Tan Yue. It was definitely the top one among all the sugar-coated chestnuts he had ever eaten.

“Is it delicious?” Tan Yue saw that Song Linchu’s eyes were half-closed with satisfaction, like a kitten that had just eaten its favorite snack and his voice unconsciously softened a bit.

“Yeah, it’s delicious! Very delicious,” Song Linchu gave a thumbs-up and praised without reservation. Then he asked, “Gege, do you want to try it? Let me peel one for you!”

Tan Yue didn’t like to eat outside, feeling that it was beneath his dignity. However, when he saw the young man’s bright eyes, Tan Yue didn’t refuse.

Song Linchu picked a big one, peeled it open, and handed the yellow-orange chestnut meat to Tan Yue’s mouth.

Tan Yue lowered his head slightly and bit off the chestnut, avoiding contact with Song Linchu’s fingers.

However, this feeding gesture was still too intimate, and in this situation, with so many people watching, Tan Yue’s movements were a bit stiff, and he didn’t notice someone’s smug expression.

For the first time in his life, Tan Yue ate in this kind of situation, and it didn’t feel bad at all.

“Let’s go,” Tan Yue said to Song Linchu after finishing the food in chestnut in his mouth, “let’s eat in the car.”

“First wait for me, gege!” Song Linchu said, walking to the nearby milk tea shop and handing the receipt to the clerk. The clerk then handed out a bag with four cups of milk tea.

“Let’s go, gege.”

Tan Yue held him back. “The car is over here.”

“No,” Song Linchu explained, “this is for your cousins and the blind date partner, they are in the VIP lounge of the hospital.”

Tan Yue’s face suddenly turned cold. “Couldn’t they get it themselves?”

Song Linchu coughed and said, “They thought I was your assistant, so they asked me to get for them.”

Before that, they had determined that Pei Zhou was Tan Yue’s blind date and it was very likely to be successful, so they naturally treated him as a brother-in-law. Pei Zhou, who was shameless, didn’t even explain himself!

As for him, Song Linchu originally wanted to say that he was Tan Yue’s friend, but Tan Yue’s cousins saw that he was dressed plainly, had no famous brands, and was holding Tan Yue’s card in his hand. Naturally, they took him for Tan Yue’s assistant, and asked him to treat Pei Zhou for Tan Yue’s sake.

Song Linchu himself had planned to buy chestnuts, and the milk tea shop was right next door, so he thought it would be easy to do, and didn’t bother to explain himself.

“Do you want to deliver it with me?” Song Linchu asked.

Tan Yue spat out one word: “Deliver.”

Why not? He would personally deliver it to them!