Chapter 34: The Culinary Tycoon

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You are the best in my heart

Chang Le shook his head. They had only heard Yu Qingze mention his grandfather once, and it was just in passing. He had never talked about anyone else in his family.

But Chang Le could infer that such a situation usually involved something distressing, which was why it was never mentioned.

Yu Qingze held Chang Le’s hand and leaned against the wall. He organized his thoughts and spoke slowly in a way that Chang Le could understand, “My father and my mother knew each other since childhood, like childhood sweethearts. As they grew up, it was natural for them to become a couple. At that time, our family was very poor, but they were very loving and hardworking. They worked together to improve our family’s situation.”

“For the first few years, they were too busy with their business and didn’t have children. It was only after our family became more financially stable that they had me. My mother took care of me at home for a year, and then she went back to doing business. As our family earned more money, we bought a big house and hired household help. In theory, our family should have been happy, right?”

Chang Le nodded. Having a husband, a son, money, and a house, and not having to worry about livelihood anymore, that was already a very good and happy life.

That’s what he thought, but apparently, there was a “but” coming up.

“According to my grandpa, when I was two years old, my parents suddenly started fighting all the time. It wasn’t just arguments; sometimes they even got physical, and the house was constantly in chaos. It went on for about a year, and then my father gradually stopped coming home, while my mother stopped doing business and spent her days in tears. Later, I found out that my father had an affair with someone else and that person gave birth to a son who was only six months younger than me.”

Chang Le’s eyes widened. How could Yu Qingze’s father be so…

“You think my father is a scumbag too, right?” Yu Qingze asked, tilting his head.

Chang Le nodded. The word “scumbag” was a perfect description.

Yu Qingze looked at Chang Le with a touch of warmth in his eyes, gripping his hand tightly, and continued, “My mother found out about the affair and fought with him because of it. She refused to let the outsider and their child become part of the Yu family, even though she had already given up on my father. However, my mother didn’t want to divorce him.”

“Afterward, my mother became seriously ill with depression and passed away when I was five years old. Less than half a year after my mother’s death, my father married the other woman. So, I gained a new mother and a younger brother. But the new mother didn’t like me, and my brother didn’t like me either. I lived with them for over two years, and it was very tough. When I was eight years old, my grandpa, who knew I wasn’t living well, took me back to our hometown, and I lived with him.”

Yu Qingze looked into the distance, lost in his memories.

In short, it was a melodramatic story of a scumbag father who cheated on his wife, drove her to despair, and then married the other woman, leaving the original wife’s child to suffer.

As Yu Qingze reminisced about his family, he felt like it was a third-rate soap opera, incredibly melodramatic.

He didn’t remember much about his mother from his childhood. He was too young at that time, but he remembered his mother crying all the time, and then she was hospitalized. Yu Qingze described the relationship between his stepmother and him to Chang Le in a casual manner, but in reality, that woman pretended to be a loving mother in front of his father, but as soon as his father left, she would beat and scold him.

In his view, that woman didn’t need to pretend like that at all because his father didn’t care about him either. Otherwise, if he had been around every day, how could he have not noticed his son’s condition?

He simply didn’t care.

Due to his parents’ situation, Grandpa Yu grew cold towards his father in his early years and continued to live in their hometown. It was only by chance that he discovered his grandson was being abused, and despite scolding his father, he didn’t listen. So he took his grandson back to live with him.

When Yu Qingze was 16 years old, his grandpa passed away. His scumbag father had hardly visited him until his grandpa’s death. At his grandpa’s funeral, because of the instigation by that woman, the father and son had a big fight. From then on, their relationship plummeted to freezing point, and they hardly saw each other.

Yu Qingze didn’t have any feelings towards that scumbag father either. Later, when he started his first year of college, he encountered conscription and directly enlisted. He completed his coursework through correspondence while in the army and graduated a year early after returning to school.

After graduation, he became an apprentice to a famous chef through a connection with a fellow soldier. The chef had a close relationship with his comrade’s family and didn’t hold back any secrets, teaching Yu Qingze all his skills.

But these things weren’t easy to talk about with Brother Le. He simply mentioned his grandpa’s passing and that he had no further contact with his scumbag father. He stopped there, not mentioning anything about himself living alone.

Chang Le looked at Yu Qingze’s profile, feeling a pang of sadness in his heart. So Big Brother Yu had a difficult childhood. He himself had a rough childhood too, but his father loved him. However, Big Brother Yu’s father didn’t seem like a father at all. Fortunately, he also had a grandpa who loved him.

“So, Brother Le, I always wanted to have a warm and harmonious family since I was a child, a family where everyone loves and cares for each other, where there’s filial piety between father and son. That must be incredibly happy.”

However, later he discovered his own sexual orientation, and having children wasn’t possible for him. But the desire to find a loving partner and build a harmonious family still remained. He even thought about adopting a child in the future because having filial piety between father and child could still be achieved.

Unfortunately, his wish didn’t come true.

Yu Qingze turned his head, looked at Chang Le, held his hand, and asked, “Brother Le, what do you think? Would you like to build a family like this with me?”

Chang Le was momentarily stunned. Did he want to? Of course, he did.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

But…

Can he achieve Big Brother Yu’s wish of filial piety between father and son?

Chang Le hesitated for a moment, then withdrew his hand and slowly and seriously gestured.

Chang Le: Big Brother Yu, you deserve a better partner.

Yu Qingze knew that he was thinking about all those uncertainties again. He held his shoulders with both hands and said very seriously, “Brother Le, in my heart, you are the best partner! There is no one else!”

‘In my heart, you are the best partner!’

With that sentence, Chang Le felt like his heart was struck hard. Inside, there was a gushing flow of honey, and small flowers bloomed one after another, filling his heart with sweetness, intense and fragrant.

This was the sweetest and most beautiful confession he had ever heard, and the immense happiness and touched emotions made him want to immerse himself in it.

Chang Brother Le gestured, asking, “Is it really true?”

Yu Qingze lifted his hand and gently covered Chang Le’s brows and eyes. Those eyes were shimmering with a captivating light, like twinkling stars, so beautiful that he couldn’t help but want to kiss him.

But now wasn’t the time. It would scare him. Yu Qingze told himself not to be impatient, not to scare away this timid little turtle.

“Of course it’s true. Brother Le, you don’t know how wonderful you are. Don’t dismiss yourself so easily, okay?” Yu Qingze said softly.

Chang Le pursed his lips and didn’t reply. He didn’t know how to answer this question because he knew he couldn’t live up to it.

Since reaching the age of marriage, he had been rejected and denied too many times. Even if others didn’t remind him of his physical flaws, he knew he wasn’t a suitable candidate for marriage.

Seeing this, Yu Qingze put on a serious face, pretending to be sad, and asked, “Don’t you believe what I said? Don’t you trust my judgment?”

Chang Le immediately shook his head, of course, he believed in what Big Brother Yu said. He gestured and said, “I believe.”

Yu Qingze felt a bit emotional and continued, “If I say you’re the best partner, why don’t you believe it?”

Chang Le was taken aback, feeling like he had been led into a pit by Big Brother Yu. He didn’t know how to answer because no matter how he answered, it wouldn’t be right.

After a while, he gestured, “I believe in your judgment, but I don’t believe in myself.”

Yu Qingze sighed inwardly, knowing that this little turtle had been hiding for too long. If he wanted him to raise his head high again, it would take time.

He said, “It’s okay, I will make you believe. We don’t need to rush, let’s take it slowly.”

Chang Le looked at him with confusion.

Yu Qingze continued, “Brother Le, you haven’t answered my question from earlier.”

What question? Chang Le thought for a moment and then remembered the question Yu Qingze asked about whether he was willing to build a happy and harmonious family together.

Thinking about this, Chang Le fell silent. Although Big Brother Yu liked him, and he himself had secretly liked Big Brother Yu for a long time, could he make Big Brother Yu happy?

He was very uncertain about this question. Even if their communication was not a problem anymore and Big Brother Yu didn’t mind his scars, there was still the matter of having children…

He touched the faint red birthmark between his eyebrows and lowered his head with a sense of sadness.

He hoped that Big Brother Yu could have his own children. He hoped that Big Brother Yu could fulfill his childhood wish for a loving and harmonious family, filled with filial piety between father and son.

And this, he might not be able to fulfill.

Seeing him bow his head again, Yu Qingze didn’t have the heart to press him further. The progress made today was already enough. He lifted Chang Le’s head and said, “Brother Le, let’s not rush with this question. You can take your time to think about it. When you have made your decision, let me know, but don’t make me wait too long, alright?”

Chang Le nodded and felt a sense of relief in his heart.

However…

“But, the question I’m asking you now, please tell me today,” Yu Qingze said again with seriousness.

The primary goal for today was to confess his feelings and find out if Chang Le also liked him.

That goal hadn’t been achieved yet.

The previous question indeed wasn’t urgent; it was just a natural question that arose in that situation. For now, it was impossible for Chang Le to overcome his self-doubt and accept his proposal.

However, it was still possible to make Chang Le confront his own feelings.

Even though through their previous conversations, Yu Qingze was already about 80-90% sure that Chang Le liked him and not Dahe, he wanted to hear it directly from him.

It was important.

“What question?” Chang Le looked at Yu Qingze with confusion.

Yu Qingze stared at Chang Le, feeling both hopeful and anxious, and asked, “Brother Le, do you like me too?”

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Thingyan [Translator ordinaire]: Yu oppa, saranghae 🤭🤭🤭

Ps. I am bombarded with heavy course load and work these days. Updates are a lot slower than it used to be. After end of September, I’ll be able to get back to the usual faster updates 🥲