Beta Chapter 58: Hold Me

Chapter 58: Hold Me

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

“Go to bed, goodnight.” Duan Yizhou took the glass of milk Luo Songran had finished and sent him back to the master bedroom to sleep. However, he noticed that Luo Songran was standing in front of him, seemingly waiting for something.

Seeing the milk stain on the little troublemaker’s lips, like a little kitten, he smiled and wiped it away with his finger.

Luo Songran took Duan Yizhou’s hand, looking like he wanted to say something but hesitated. “…Um, I… Actually, I wanted to ask if you could accompany me to sleep, but I was afraid you haven’t forgiven me yet. It’s a bit embarrassing to say it out loud.”

Duan Yizhou sensed what the little troublemaker wanted to say, but he didn’t press him. He hoped Luo Songran would say it himself. So he just said calmly, “Go to sleep.”

“Oh…” Luo Songran dragged himself back to the room, glancing at Duan Yizhou outside the door. Seeing that Duan Yizhou had already left, he felt extremely annoyed and cursed himself several times. Was it so difficult to ask Duan Yizhou to sleep with him?!

Ah!!! He wanted Duan Yizhou to hold him while sleeping…

“Baby.”

Just as he was about to close the door, Duan Yizhou’s voice came from outside, instantly lighting up his eyes. He reached out and opened the door, poking his head out. “Ah, I’m here.”

Seeing Luo Songran open the door, Duan Yizhou’s eyes went from dull to happy, like a little cat waiting for a pat. He smiled and wiped away the milk stain from Luo Songran’s lips with his fingertip.

Luo Songran seized the opportunity to grab Duan Yizhou’s hand, looking a bit shy. “…Um, I want you to hold me while sleeping.”

“Not using the pillow anymore?” Duan Yizhou looked down at Luo Songran, who looked genuinely rare in this state. But indeed, it was adorable.

Luo Songran blushed when he heard Duan Yizhou mention the pillow and couldn’t help but wonder if Duan Yizhou had been watching him sleep at night?

“Mn, if there’s a real person, I don’t need the pillow anymore, right? Is that okay?” he asked with puppy eyes.

Duan Yizhou thought of the file he still needed to read, but seeing the rare coquettishness of the little troublemaker, a feeling he hadn’t had since they were “in love,” he couldn’t resist. Although he didn’t want to be swayed again, he could still see through this little trick. “Fine.”

He seems very rational, but he’s also very honest with his words. Luo Songran had no idea what was going on in the older man’s mind. All he knew was that he wasn’t far from coaxing Duan Yizhou, so he quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room.

In the spacious bedroom, soft orange light spilled gently. On the large bed, Duan Yizhou sat at the head, flipping through the files he needed to handle early the next morning. However, he couldn’t help but be influenced by the unwavering gaze of the little rascal beside him. After all, his eyes were as bright as light bulbs.

Luo Songran had no intention of actually sleeping. He just leaned against Duan Yizhou’s side, gazing at the man he hadn’t seen for several days, as if he couldn’t get enough of looking at him, completely unaware of his own infatuation.

This man was dressed in simple home clothes, his hair still slightly damp from a recent shower. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and was attentively reading the documents, exuding a mature and steady alpha aura in his calm seriousness.

His gaze passed over the sharp contours of his profile, then up to his sexy lips, and finally landed on Duan Yizhou’s Adam’s apple. He happened to see it bobbing, subconsciously licked his lips, and couldn’t help but reach out.

Little did he know he’d been caught red-handed by Duan Yizhou.

“Time for bed,” Duan Yizhou felt that if he kept being stared at like this by the little rascal, he’d have to take another shower. So, he simply put down the documents, grabbed the little rascal’s hand, and lay down, determined to coax him to sleep first.

“Huh?” Luo Songran looked puzzled when he realized Duan Yizhou was so decisive about going to bed. He hadn’t even touched his Adam’s apple yet, and he was already being pulled into his embrace.

In that instant of being embraced, his expression became a bit dreamy again. Oh, Duan Yizhou was hugging him. Did that mean he was forgiven?

“It’s a bit late, let’s sleep first,” Duan Yizhou pulled the blanket over them, slightly distancing himself from Luo Songran’s stomach.

Feeling Duan Yizhou deliberately putting some distance between them, Luo Songran quickly hugged his waist and pressed closer to him, looking up at him with a pout. “Why don’t you hold me tight?”

Duan Yizhou smiled helplessly. “I’m afraid of hurting your stomach.”

“But I want you to hold me tight…” Luo Songran tugged at his clothes, looking plaintive. “I’ve felt incomplete without you these past few days. Just hug me, please.”

Duan Yizhou couldn’t resist the little rascal’s coquetry. When it had come to this point, was it even possible to stay rational? He could only hug the little rascal tighter until he felt the slight bump of his belly against his own, sending shivers down his spine.

Luo Songran didn’t know what Duan Yizhou was thinking, he just knew that being held by Duan Yizhou made him feel safe, filling all his anxieties of the past few days, and he closed his eyes contentedly. He was someone who fell asleep in seconds, and being hugged by Duan Yizhou made him fall asleep even faster.

The breathing of the little rascal in his arms gradually calmed down. Duan Yizhou lowered his gaze, deeply staring at the sleeping Luo Songran, his eyes scanning over and over again, as if trying to make up for the longing of the past few days with each gaze.

He looked for a long, long time. Finally, he gently kissed Luo Songran’s forehead.

“I missed you too.” The gentle warmth in his low voice merged with the night.

—

The next morning, the sky was still gray.

“Are you going out?”

Duan Yizhou was putting on his shoes in the hallway when he heard the sound behind him. Turning his head, he saw Luo Songran, who had just woken up, standing barefoot behind him, looking at him anxiously.

His gaze fell on Luo Songran’s bare feet, and he frowned. “Hmm, I have something urgent. Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”

“Then… will you come back at noon?” Luo Songran didn’t care whether he had shoes on or not. The first thing he did when he woke up was to go to the next room to look for Duan Yizhou. When he didn’t find him, he hurried downstairs and found Duan Yizhou about to leave.

He had never felt this way before. His feelings these days were unusually strong. He wanted to see Duan Yizhou, to be hugged by him, and now that he was back, he didn’t want Duan Yizhou to leave him again.

When Duan Yizhou saw him approaching, looking up at him anxiously, he felt a strange sensation in his heart. He rarely saw Luo Songran like this. He was always so enthusiastic, but suddenly he became cautious.

Wasn’t everything fine last night?

“I will.” 

Luo Songran’s dim eyes suddenly lit up, and he hurriedly walked up to Duan Yizhou, grabbing his clothes. “Can I have your homemade meal at noon?”

“Sure, I’ll come back and cook for you at noon.” Duan Yizhou opened the nearby shoe cabinet, took out another pair of shoes, and bent down to put them in front of Luo Songran. “Don’t walk around barefoot at home. You’re not like before. It’s easy to catch a cold when you’re pregnant, especially with the air conditioning on.”

Hearing Duan Yizhou nagging again, Luo Songran’s eyes moistened instantly. “…I still like it when you take care of me.”

Why did he only feel it so strongly now? Why did he treat Duan Yizhou like that before? Why did he only understand the value of something after losing it? He just liked Duan Yizhou taking care of him, liked Duan Yizhou’s attention to every detail, which really gave him a sense of security.

Duan Yizhou saw Luo Songran shedding tears, and in that moment, his heart completely softened. This wasn’t the outcome he wanted; he didn’t want to see Luo Songran sad, and he couldn’t bear it. His intention was only for Luo Songran to understand that he wanted his feelings reciprocated, not just to give endlessly.

But now, he felt like it wasn’t so important anymore, because he couldn’t demand that a youth twelve years younger than him be as steady and rational as him.

“Duan Yizhou.” Luo Songran reached out, wrapping his arms around the man in front of him, resting his head on his shoulder as he choked out, “I’ve really figured it out. I don’t want to divorce you. I like you. Please, don’t ignore me.”

Duan Yizhou stroked his back, looking down at the little rascal apologizing in his arms, genuinely softening, “I haven’t been ignoring you. Let’s talk properly when I come back at noon.”

Just now, it was his father suddenly calling for a board meeting, insisting that he must attend. Otherwise, he would have preferred to stay at home and listen to the sincere words of this little rascal.

“Then you go ahead and be busy.” Luo Songran released Duan Yizhou, looking meek, “I’ll wait for you to come home.”

—I’ll wait for you to come home.

These words warmed Duan Yizhou’s heart. It was the first time he truly felt like he had a little home, with someone waiting for him, the person he had fallen in love with for the first time, the person he wanted to love deeply for a lifetime.

“Okay, I’ll be back.” Duan Yizhou ruffled his hair and smiled. He decided not to dwell on anything anymore. There’s nothing to dwell on. How could there not be arguments in a relationship? It’s just that after the arguments, both sides make things clear, and there’s no lingering resentment.

“Can you hug me before you go?” Luo Songran looked at Duan Yizhou, requesting.

Duan Yizhou’s eyes softened with a smile. He pulled the person into his embrace, gently stroking the back of his neck, “Of course, I’ll fulfill whatever you want. Everything you want is what I want, too.”

He had always been right here, all his tenderness and affection were for Luo Songran. So, he didn’t want much. He just wanted to be in Luo Songran’s eyes, to be loved by him. Then, everything else in this period of time didn’t matter.

Luo Songran heard Duan Yizhou finally speaking to him gently, and looked up at him, “Aren’t you mad at me anymore?”

“How could I be?” Duan Yizhou kissed away the moisture at the corner of his eyes, tenderly saying, “Let’s turn the page on this. No more tears, just stay at home and wait for me, alright?”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Luo Songran hugged Duan Yizhou tightly, burying his face in his shoulder and couldn’t hold back his tears anymore, pouring out all the regrets and guilt of the past week, along with the emotions from last night that he hadn’t cried out yet. After all, he hadn’t had the chance to tell Duan Yizhou some sincere words before falling asleep last night, which had annoyed him.

Now he truly knew he was wrong. So, what he was waiting for was Duan Yizhou’s words. He wanted Duan Yizhou, he liked Duan Yizhou, and he didn’t want Duan Yizhou to ignore him.

Seeing him cry like this, Duan Yizhou felt uneasy. Just as he was about to comfort the little rascal, there was a knock on the door, and a deep middle-aged voice came from outside, “President Duan, the car is ready.”

Luo Songran hadn’t heard this voice before. He looked at the door in confusion, then back at Duan Yizhou, his eyes somewhat dazed, “Where are you going?”

Seeing tears still clinging to his lashes, Duan Yizhou wiped them away with the back of his hand, “My father wants me to attend a board meeting. It seems to be something important, so I have to go.”

“Is it something serious?” Luo Songran asked.

“It shouldn’t be.”

Luo Songran thought that he shouldn’t let Duan Yizhou be like him, so he said, “Then you go ahead and be busy. I’ll just stay here today and not go anywhere, not to the bar or to play with cars.”

Seeing him solemnly promising, Duan Yizhou couldn’t help but laugh and reached out to pinch his ear, “So obedient?”

It seemed like the little rascal was even cuter when crying.

Luo Songran nodded seriously, “Yeah, I’ll definitely be obedient. I won’t argue with you anymore in the future.”

Though Duan Yizhou remained somewhat skeptical, as long as he could stay home obediently and wait for him to come back today, that would be enough. So, before leaving home, he hugged the little rascal again, thinking that there were surveillance cameras at home to keep an eye on him.

The door closed slowly, and the tall figure disappeared behind it, leaving the large house quiet.

Luo Songran stood at the entrance, watching the closed door. Suddenly, he had a good idea. It was impossible for him to stay obediently at home. He bought a bouquet of roses and decided to give Duan Yizhou a surprise at Neptune Group. But he never thought that going out would be unlucky. Halfway through the drive, it started pouring rain.

Neptune Technology Group, Chairman’s Office—

“What’s this?”

With a ‘snap’, the middle-aged man threw a stack of documents onto Duan Yizhou’s desk, looking at his son with seriousness, as if his son had committed some heinous crime. The atmosphere in the chairman’s office was very oppressive at this moment, just like the torrential rain pouring down outside the window.

Duan Yizhou looked at the documents thrown in front of him, and his expression stiffened slightly when he saw Luo Songran’s prenatal examination report. He was somewhat surprised and lifted his gaze to his alpha father, “How did you know?”

“Guess how I found out.” 

Duan Yizhou wondered how his father could have found out. “I don’t know.”

“Fucking hell, I’m having a second child? Four months along. Your mother found out during her checkup at Su Yi’s.” The father said angrily.

Duan Yizhou, “… I’m thirty-two, and mom’s having a second child?”

His own child was only two months old, and suddenly he had a sibling who was four months along?

“What, can’t your old man still be vigorous? Now is not the time to discuss this.” The father was annoyed by his son’s skeptical gaze, but what annoyed him even more was this, “Tell me, what’s going on between you and RanRan? Did you get him pregnant?!”

Duan Yizhou was dumbfounded. He hadn’t thought about how to explain this yet, after all, the child was an unexpected surprise. His relationship with Luo Songran had only just taken a qualitative leap yesterday, and it wasn’t completely clear yet, “Dad, I—”

“Don’t ‘I’ me. Let me tell you, you must explain this to me today. Do you not understand what kind of person Luo Panzhi, the head of the Galaxy Group, is?” 

Duan Yizhou held his tongue for two seconds, then asked, “What kind of person is my father-in-law?”

His father stared at him dumbfounded, angry enough to throw the pen on the table at Duan Yizhou, “You got his precious RanRan pregnant and you want him to be your father-in-law? Dream on! If RanRan doesn’t tear you apart, I will!”

“The child is an accident.” Duan Yizhou quickly caught the pen his father threw at him. He didn’t know how to explain this, “I and RanRan—”

“RanRan what RanRan!” Duan’s father glared at him, “Duan Yizhou, you really surprised me. I’ve been worrying about when you’ll start dating and get married, and now, you just give me a shock. Aren’t you just bullying the kid? If Luo Panzhi finds out about this, I won’t be able to save you.”

“We’ve registered our marriage.”

Just as Duan’s father was about to continue scolding, he heard Duan Yizhou’s words, his expression froze, evidently still not recovered from the unbelievable news, “You, you registered your marriage?”

Duan Yizhou decided to come clean with his father here. He nodded seriously, “Yes, we registered three months ago. We’re legally married.”

“Why?” Duan’s father expressed his incomprehension.

Duan Yizhou said, “Love at first sight, mutual affection, decided to spend our lives together.”

Duan’s father expressed doubt, “He agreed to marry you? You didn’t force him, did you?”

“Dad, have a little faith in me. Just because I’ve never been in a relationship doesn’t mean I can’t be in one.” Duan Yizhou thought about the difficulty of dealing with Luo Panzhi, whether it was registering the marriage with Luo Songran or the matter of the child, it was all very difficult, “As for Luo Panzhi, I’ll explain it to him personally.”

Duan’s father found it troublesome. He leaned back in his chair, looking troubled, “Oh, my son, you really… You don’t know, RanRan is Luo Panzhi’s little treasure.”

“He’s also my little treasure.” Duan Yizhou said, “Dad, don’t worry, I can handle it.”

“Do you two really love each other?”

“Yeah.”

“So, how many months is my grandson?”

“Almost three months.”

“Have you been taking good care of RanRan?”

“Yes, I’m responsible for all his meals.”

“Tigers don’t eat their wives. Do you even know how to cook?”

“I specifically learned, and I also learned cooking from Luo Panzhi.”

Duan’s father still looked troubled, he couldn’t believe he was looking at Duan Yizhou, “Not only are you outstanding in scientific research, but you’re also outstanding in love affairs. You even got RanRan pregnant. He’s an A-class beta, and you still managed to get him pregnant. I don’t know how Luo Panzhi will deal with you now, Yizhou, your old man isn’t young anymore, I can’t handle this shock.”

Duan Yizhou was silent for a moment, then he came up with a bold idea, “Dad, why don’t I go to the Luo family and become a son-in-law?”

Duan’s father, “… Have some dignity!”

Just then, there was an urgent knock on the door of the chairman’s office, and Jiang Yi’s voice sounded anxious, “President Duan, urgent matter.”

Duan Yizhou hadn’t heard Jiang Yi sound so urgent before, “Come in.”

Jiang Yi immediately pushed open the door of the chairman’s office, saw Duan’s father nodding, then walked to Duan Yizhou’s side and whispered, “It’s about the little treasure. He’s here at the company.”

Duan Yizhou was somewhat surprised, “He’s here?”

Jiang Yi nodded, then looked somewhat worried, “He should be here to give President Duan flowers. When he came, he was carrying a big bouquet of flowers, but he’s completely drenched.”

Duan Yizhou’s face suddenly darkened. Why would he come over in such heavy rain when he promised to stay obediently at home? He immediately headed outside.

Then he thought his father was still here, so he turned back to his father and said, “Dad, my sweetheart is here. I’ll go see him first and come back to talk to you later.”

After that, he quickly left the chairman’s office.

Duan’s father was speechless. Before anything even happened, a marriage alliance wasn’t very likely, yet they were already calling each other sweethearts. Just thinking about possibly angering the Galaxy Group because of this made his scalp tingle.

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