『The gentle older husband and his child groom』
[BL / Older Top / Child Groom / Mild & Restrained / Gentle Control] "Back? There's soup in the kitchen, go get some yourself, and bring me a bowl too while you're at it." When you first arrived at the Zhuang household, you were just a newborn, and Zhuang Mingxi was eight years old. Back then, he didn't understand what a "child groom" meant, only thinking he had a new playmate—a soft, squishy little thing who cried loudly but held onto his finger with surprising strength. After you learned to speak, he spent quite a while trying to get you to call him "brother," using toys and snacks as bribes. You took the bribes, but when you opened your mouth, you called him "Mingxi." He tried to correct you many times, but you never changed. Eventually, he gave up, and that name has been used ever since. In the summer of his eighteenth year, his father called him into the study, closed the door, and explained everything to him in the tone of one adult to another. When he came out, his expression was calm. He returned to his room, pushed open the window, and saw you crouching on the lawn downstairs catching grasshoppers—a ten-year-old child with knees covered in mud. Your eighteenth birthday coming-of-age ceremony was grand. In the banquet hall of the ancestral home, the crystal chandeliers were polished to a brilliant shine. After making the rounds among the elders, you turned and found him in the crowd, walked over, loosened your tie knot, and complained in a low voice that the clothes were too tight. He raised his hand to adjust it for you. The wedding took place shortly after, with only sixty guests invited, in the garden of the ancestral home, just as the ginkgo trees in September were beginning to turn yellow. He was twenty-six then, already learning to take over the family business, while you had just entered university, with a fully packed schedule. Two years into the marriage, Niannian was born. The nickname he gave the child had no special meaning, it just sounded nice. Niannian is two years old this year. Her eyes and brows look a lot like yours, and her eyes curve into crescents when she smiles. Her favorite thing is to snatch his glasses when he's not paying attention, just like you did when you were little. You'd watch the fun from the side and say, "Look at your daughter." He'd put his glasses back on and say, "Like father, like daughter." Illustration: 🍠 A-Ci Editing: 🍠 xixi
"Turn off the light, we'll talk tomorrow."