He Asked Me to Call Him ‘Husband’… in the Empty Night Store

Xie Yaoyao was like a stubborn, angry little puppy, desperately burrowing and rubbing against Ning Shixue’s chest.

The soft hair on his head stood up.
His fair, tender cheeks were rubbed red from the friction.

Ning Shixue was also innocent.

Not only had Xie Yaoyao not gone, he hadn’t gone either.

Xie Zhaozhou finally spoke.
His eyes were dark, his tone indifferent, but he was playing the role of a doting father as he told Xie Yaoyao,
“What are you crying about? When you’re older, we’ll do it again, and you can come.”

Huh?

Xie Yaoyao looked up.
Tears splashed onto his fair, soft face.
But he instantly got excited.

Baby wanted to go!

Ning Shixue: “…”

Ning Shixue snapped back to reality, and his face couldn’t help burning.
Getting married once in a lifetime was enough, right?

The original host had already had a wedding with Xie Zhaozhou.
Even though the original host hadn’t shown up, and only Xie Zhaozhou was at the wedding, why would they need to do it again?

Xie Zhaozhou looked up at him.
Before he could speak, he pressed his thin lips together, his Adam’s apple moving.

He almost let some flirtatious words slip out.

But meeting Ning Shixue’s moist peach blossom eyes, with their helpless and shy look, his heart suddenly softened.
Forget it.
If he teased him too much, Ning Shixue would definitely get angry again.

Xie Zhaozhou wasn’t afraid of him getting angry.
At most, Ning Shixue would just be shy and annoyed when pushed too far.
He didn’t actually dislike him.

But he was afraid of Ning Shixue feeling wronged.

Like last night, just because he didn’t hold his hand, Ning Shixue lowered his head and stopped talking to him.
Although Ning Shixue hid it well, he could feel it.

Those eyes, which had finally gained some emotion, turned cold again like a snowy night.

It felt like reaching through a layer of ice to touch a faint flame.
The night was too cold; it could freeze over in an instant.

But it melted very slowly.

Now, Ning Shixue was desperately signaling him with his eyes, begging him to shut up.

“…”
Xie Zhaozhou’s tongue ran over his teeth.
His gaze seemed to hide a smile, or maybe not.
His eyebrow raised slightly, his tone very serious as he said,
“I’ll do it again with you.”

But it was too serious.
It still sounded annoying.

[Since that’s the case, I won’t be polite. I’m Xie Xingxing’s auntie. I want to go too!]

[I’m different. I’m Xie Xingxing’s internet birth mother. I want to sit at the kids’ table! Shy.jpg]

Xie Yaoyao was also very excited.
Big Daddy and the baby were getting married!
He would go too!

He would tell all his little friends in kindergarten to come to the baby’s wedding. Hehe.

The interview ended like this.
He Miao excitedly took Ning Shixue’s hand to introduce him to Mu Na.
She hugged Ning Shixue’s arm and said,
“This is Little Ning Gege.”

He Lin raised his hand, then didn’t know how to stop her.
In the end, he didn’t interfere with He Miao.

Anyway, He Miao was only five now.
Even if she liked Ning Shixue and wanted to marry him, it was just a child’s game-like affection.
She should learn that bigamy was illegal when she was older, right?

Actually, He Miao had liked Xie Zhaozhou before.

He Lin had brought He Miao to meet Xie Zhaozhou several times.
But Xie Zhaozhou was so cold, he wouldn’t play with her.
So He Miao lost interest in him.
And her preference for looks seemed to lean more towards Ning Shixue’s type—a cold, vivid, beautiful person.

This was surprisingly consistent with her mother.

A little girl just over five already had a fixed aesthetic sense.

He Lin instinctively felt this wasn’t a good thing.

But he didn’t know what to say to He Miao.
Could he tell her she was wrong?
He didn’t seem to have that right either.

He Lin was a director.
He spent even more time on film sets than actors.
Sometimes, when filming on location, he could be away from home for months at a time.
He simply couldn’t get away.

Miaomiao was mostly raised by his parents.

His wife, Shen Yi, had opened a jewelry design company abroad and rarely returned home either.

He felt he spent too little time with Miaomiao.
That’s why he didn’t refuse the invitation to this show.

For the first time, He Lin felt uneasy.
Should he clean up his messy personal life?

At least one of her parents should be reliable, right?

He Lin went to play with He Miao and the others for a while, then went out for a smoke.
It was still snowing, so he didn’t go far.

Xie Zhaozhou followed him out.

He Lin offered him a cigarette.

The cameraman didn’t follow.
He Lin raised an eyebrow, temporarily putting aside his own thoughts, and nudged Xie Zhaozhou’s shoulder, asking,
“What’s up with you? Trying to chase someone?”

He had thought Xie Zhaozhou would remain celibate his whole life.

He Lin’s tone was a bit suggestive.
Frankly, when he found someone who suited his taste, he just wanted to take them to bed.
He was used to it.
He couldn’t be bothered to think about anything else.

Xie Zhaozhou frowned, his eyes distant and cold.
Cigarette in his mouth, he walked a few steps away.

He Lin was confused.
“What are you doing?”

“Your thoughts are too dirty,”
Xie Zhaozhou glanced at him.
“I’m afraid you’ll influence me.”

Ning Shixue had just gotten up to play with Miaomiao and the others.
He was wearing a very loose sweater.
When he raised his arm, the sweater lifted, revealing a section of his supple, slender waist.

Xie Zhaozhou’s gaze, through the window, fixed on him.
It traced his beautiful waistline, moved up to his neck, collarbone, and then inch by inch traced over his pale, vivid cheeks.

It wasn’t until Ning Shixue, sensitive to being stared at, noticed someone watching him that Xie Zhaozhou finally looked away.

His phoenix eyes lowered, the depths dark.

What He Lin said wasn’t wrong.
Xie Zhaozhou had indeed had such thoughts.

Xie Zhaozhou’s stern features were blurred by the smoke.
Actually, he had entertained those frivolous and wicked thoughts.
He did care a bit about Ning Shixue.
When Ning Shixue burrowed into his arms, he felt it.

Anyway, they were already married.
Why not coax him into bed first?
Ning Shixue might not necessarily refuse.

But the thought only lasted a second.
He snapped out of it, his heart skipping a beat.
He instinctively felt he would regret it later.
He had never been good at this kind of thing.

He Lin was amused.
If you’re not dirty, what were you just staring at through the window?

He couldn’t help mocking him.
“You hang out with me. What kind of good person are you?”

Xie Zhaozhou was shamelessly calm.
“I’m a family man.”

He Lin automatically filled in the rest of the sentence.
Unlike you promiscuous guys.

He Lin: “…”

Go to hell with your ‘family man.’

–

Little girls all liked good-looking big brothers.
Mu Na was also very enthusiastic towards Ning Shixue.
They even let Ning Shixue play house with them.

Although Ning Shixue just wanted to lie down.

Now, Ji Xiao and Xie Yaoyao were their babies.
Tang Haohao was the daddy.
Ning Shixue played the little monster.
The little monster was coming to catch the babies.
They needed to build a castle to stop the little monster.

Mu Na brought out her building blocks and various puzzles.
The kids started building a castle.

Mu Na’s surname was indeed Mu.
But in her mother’s language, Mu Na also meant ‘hope.’

The little monster, Ning Shixue, was slacking off again.
He lay beside them and didn’t go to catch the kids.

Xie Yaoyao was very dissatisfied.
His little mouth puckered into a trumpet shape as he commanded Ning Shixue,
“You need, stand up and catch us!”

What was wrong? Didn’t the baby know how to play?
The little monster was supposed to catch them and eat them.

This little monster wasn’t even proactive about eating.

“Does this count as catching you?”
Ning Shixue could only perfunctorily grab his chubby little hand, and then Ji Xiao’s little hand.

But Tang Haohao, who was assigned to be the daddy, didn’t come over.
He Miao looked up, puzzled, and waved to him.
“Haohao didi, you not come play?”

Tang Haohao was always the daddy.
If he didn’t come, how were they supposed to play?

Was Little Monster Ningning supposed to be the daddy?

Tang Haohao initially pretended not to hear.
He faced away from He Miao and the others, kneeling on the sofa playing with his little tractor.
Tang He’an frowned, thinking he was very rude.
He nudged him with his leg.
“Miaomiao is talking to you.”

But Tang Haohao still refused to go over.

It wasn’t until Mu Na went to the bathroom that he went over and played with He Miao and the others for a few minutes.
When Mu Na came back, he turned around and went back to the sofa, isolating himself.

“Little sister,”
Mu Yuan called Mu Na from the kitchen.
“I’ve heated it up. Take the goat’s milk to everyone.”

Mu Yuan and the others in their family always called Mu Na ‘little sister.’
It sounded like a nickname.

Grandpa Mu raised over a dozen goats himself.
The goat’s milk was freshly milked just now.
Heated up, it smelled rich and milky.
But not all the guests from Yan City could get used to the taste.

It had a bit of a gamey smell.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Try some first. If you can’t drink it, just leave it,”
Grandpa Mu said cheerfully.

Tang He’an took it, thanked him, then looked at Tang Haohao, puzzled.
This little rascal was very unusual today.
He also sat on the sofa, leaned down, and asked Tang Haohao,
“What’s wrong with you? Why won’t you play with Little Sister Mu and the others?”

He didn’t know what had touched a nerve.
Tang Haohao instantly bristled.
He didn’t even care that Yan Ting was there.
His chubby face fell, clearly in a bad mood.

But even though he didn’t want to go over, he didn’t turn around and make faces at the kids.
Tang He’an didn’t push him further.

The wind and snow outside were too heavy.
It didn’t stop until evening.
They also had dinner at the Mu family’s place.
Grandpa Mu and Grandma Mu cooked them a lamb hot pot.

After dinner, Ning Shixue hadn’t forgotten the little lights he promised Xie Yaoyao.
He put on his down jacket and planned to go buy them.

But just as he was about to leave, he suddenly received a call.
It was from an unknown number.

Ning Shixue frowned and didn’t answer.
The phone rang for over ten seconds and finally hung up.
Then the person angrily sent him a message.

[Why aren’t you answering the phone? Grandpa told you to come home, didn’t you know? Dad also called you several times. You didn’t answer. What exactly do you want? Do you need people at home to coax you back?]

Ning Shixue raised his eyes and finally remembered.
This person should be the original host’s brother.

Actually, when he first took Xie Yaoyao on the show, someone from the Ning family had messaged him.

Telling him not to mess around.
If he took Xie Yaoyao on the show and something happened to him, how would he explain it to the Xie family?

Back then, Ning Shixue ignored him.

Later, after Xie Zhaozhou came on the show with him, the Ning family suddenly went crazy trying to contact him.
He blocked all the numbers.
He didn’t expect there was still one left.

Ning Shixue lowered his head and replied.

[Not going.]

The other person replied instantly.

[Have you lost your mind? I’m giving you an out, and you still won’t take it? If you do this, Grandpa will never forgive you.]

Ning Shixue found it a bit amusing instead.
His beautiful eyelashes curved, but there was no smile in his eyes.

[You know I’m crazy. Do you think I care if you forgive me? Are you negotiating with a madman?]

The other person seemed choked by the retort.
They didn’t reply for a long time.

Ning Shixue blocked him directly.

“I’ll go with you,”
Xie Zhaozhou also stood up as he walked out.
He glanced at the curve of Ning Shixue’s lower eyelids and couldn’t help smiling slightly himself, asking quietly,
“What are you thinking about?”

Ning Shixue shook his head.

He wasn’t going to get involved with the Ning family’s affairs anyway.

In the original story, the original host’s feelings for Xie Hanzhou weren’t completely irrational.

He had been weak since childhood.
Xie Hanzhou, however, was good at everything.
So he liked to cling to this big brother.
But it was just being a bit clingy.
It wasn’t enough to make him jump into the sea for him.

The original host had been sickly since birth.
He spent more than half the year in the hospital.
Even Old Master Xie was worried about him.

When he was five or six, the original host’s mother passed away.
Xie’s father immediately brought back his illegitimate son from outside.
This was the ‘brother’ who messaged him.

Old Master Xie thought it was disgraceful and didn’t like the illegitimate son.
But he still let him stay.

Although this illegitimate son wasn’t liked by the Ning family, unlike the original host who was doted on, outside, especially among people trying to curry favor with the Ning family, many would actually suck up to him.

Even the servants privately said, anyway, the young master wouldn’t live long.
After he died, wouldn’t everything in the Ning family go to his brother?

The original host was weak and timid.
When bullied by this brother, he didn’t dare speak up.
Until one time, Xie Hanzhou saw it happen.
Xie Hanzhou, with a dark face, beat the guy up.

Xie Hanzhou hated these illegitimate children the most.

That’s why he preferred hanging out with Qiu Mingchuan and the others rather than playing with some rich second-generation heirs.

Qiu Mingchuan’s family background was actually very poor.
He only latched onto Xie Hanzhou because they played in a band together in high school.

The only thing Xie Hanzhou felt comfortable with was that Old Master Xie’s family rules were very strict.
Xie’s father and his uncle Xie Mengyuan hadn’t produced any illegitimate children.

He wasn’t acting out for the original host’s sake; he just didn’t like it himself.
But the original host didn’t know that.
To him, Xie Hanzhou was like a god in his heart.

Until he died, he always liked Xie Hanzhou.

The original host’s health was so poor, and the Ning family still forced him into marriage with Xie Zhaozhou.
That was them giving up on him completely, basically sending him to the Xie family to wait for death.

Now, seeing that Xie Zhaozhou seemed to care about him, they hurriedly came looking for him.
Did they think he was a fool?

Ning Shixue ignored it and went out with Xie Zhaozhou.

It was very cold outside.
The snow had stopped, but the wind was even stronger.
Ning Shixue lowered his head, stepping on the snow.
He held onto Xie Zhaozhou’s sleeve, sliding along step by step.

Halfway there, hit by a gust of cold wind, Ning Shixue took a heavy breath and suddenly lowered his head, coughing violently.
He coughed so hard it was heartbreaking.
He couldn’t stop.
His lungs seemed to make a ragged sound.

His head spun for a moment, and his vision went black.

He could only stumble and hold onto Xie Zhaozhou’s arm.

His cheeks were pale, devoid of any color.
The corners of his eyes were red, contrasting with the moisture in them, shimmering and fragile.

“Breathe in,”
Xie Zhaozhou held him in his arms, letting him breathe slowly.
The congestion in Ning Shixue’s chest gradually eased.
Xie Zhaozhou shielded him from the wind, and he finally stopped coughing.

Xie Zhaozhou held his cold hand and said quietly,
“I’ll go buy them. Let me take you back first.”

Ning Shixue hesitated for a moment, but shook his head.

Anyway, they were almost there now.
Just a few more steps.
Going back now, compared to buying them and then going back, wasn’t much different.

If Xie Zhaozhou took him back now, he would still have to come out again.

Ning Shixue followed behind Xie Zhaozhou.
The wind and snow were blocked.
He pressed his lips together, then couldn’t help raising his hand and tucking it under Xie Zhaozhou’s down jacket hood.

Xie Zhaozhou’s shoulders and back stiffened.

Ning Shixue pushed him like this, swaying back and forth as they walked, like kindergarten kids.
The wind and snow all hit Xie Zhaozhou’s face.
But Xie Zhaozhou couldn’t help chuckling softly.

It was too cold in the northern city.
Besides out-of-town tourists, not many people were willing to go out at night.
When they got to the small supermarket, they found only him and Xie Zhaozhou there.

The old grandpa running the shop was drowsy and just waved for them to get what they needed themselves.

Ning Shixue held Xie Zhaozhou’s hand, wandering through the aisles.
Finally, in a corner, they found several kinds of little lights.

There was a small bench nearby.
Xie Zhaozhou pressed on his shoulder and said quietly,
“Sit down and rest for a bit.”

Ning Shixue obediently sat down.

Xie Zhaozhou went and got some hot water from the old grandpa, put it in a paper cup, and handed it to him.
The water wasn’t very hot, just right for warming his hands.

“These should be pretty,”
Ning Shixue’s beautiful eyes sparkled as he showed Xie Zhaozhou a string of little lights.

They were just cheap plastic lights.

The aisle was a bit narrow.
Xie Zhaozhou crouched in front of him and held his cold wrist.

Ning Shixue’s cheeks were still pale.
He was wearing a lot, but his whole body still seemed cold.
His wrist bone was thin and fragile, the light blue veins under his skin very clear.

Only his lips were pursed red.

Xie Zhaozhou suddenly remembered when Ning Shixue was sick once during his high school years.

Actually, he couldn’t even remember this person’s face back then, and he didn’t care at all.
But the incident caused such a stir.
Old Master Xie even went to the hospital overnight.
He only heard about it when he accompanied the old man there.

Yan City was rainy.
He had just gotten a little wet from the rain.
That night, he had a high fever that wouldn’t break, causing many complications.

It almost killed him.

The hospital issued critical notices several times that night.

Back then, Old Master Xie sat in the hospital corridor, shaking his head, and told him this child just didn’t seem destined to live long.
How long could he live? Till his teens? Twenties?

Ning Shixue’s fingertips were cold and slender.
He was still holding that string of little lights.
The lights were all on, flickering on and off, reflecting on his pale, vivid cheeks.

He seemed to think it was a bit childish and turned them off one by one.

Xie Zhaozhou couldn’t help raising his hand and touching his cold cheek.
It was too cold.
His throat tightened suddenly.

He admitted he cared a bit about Ning Shixue.
Although he didn’t know exactly how much he cared.

But he suddenly couldn’t help wondering, could he, many years from now, still bring Ning Shixue to this little supermarket to buy lights?

Ning Shixue was startled by the touch.

He froze.
Xie Zhaozhou had just touched his face, without any lust.
He was at a loss.
After a moment, he finally spoke.
“Second Brother?”

Xie Zhaozhou pressed his thin lips together and lowered his hand.
His gaze was so gentle it hardly seemed like him.
“Can you call me ‘gege’?”

Ning Shixue used to call Xie Sui ‘Brother Xie’ too.
Only Xie Hanzhou did he directly call ‘gege.’

Xie Zhaozhou felt he wanted to completely erase the other person’s mark from him.
But it also seemed like he simply wanted to hear Ning Shixue call him that.

Ning Shixue’s toes curled again.
He was a bit embarrassed.
This sounded way too sweet, didn’t it?

Anyway, he couldn’t say it.

“…I’m an adult,”
Ning Shixue’s whole body radiated resistance.
“Only kids call people that.”

“Fine, adult,”
Xie Zhaozhou didn’t push him.

But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Xie Zhaozhou’s eyes held a hint of a smile, his voice low and lazy, leaning in with a mischievous look.
“What should an adult call me?

“Call me ‘husband’?”