The Sweetest Marriage Ch.187

Chapter 187 – Past Memories

When Cookie went downstairs, Sheng Jiaqi was sitting on the sofa, smoking. Cookie couldn’t remember how long it had been since Sheng Jiaqi last smoked, maybe it was when Little Biscuit was born, or perhaps even longer.

At that moment, Cookie’s thoughts were unclear. He walked up to Sheng Jiaqi, reached out, and took the cigarette that Sheng Jiaqi was about to put in his mouth, saying, “Dad, don’t smoke.”

Sheng Jiaqi didn’t argue with Cookie; he just looked at Cookie with a stern expression.

Although Cookie didn’t hear what Sheng Jiaqi wanted to ask, he knew what it was because no one had been smoking in the house for a long time. So Cookie couldn’t find an ashtray and had to hold the cigarette in his hand. The rising smoke made him cough. Sheng Jiaqi sighed, walked over to Cookie, took the cigarette back, but didn’t smoke it. He went to the bathroom, flushed the barely smoked cigarette down the toilet, and then returned to the living room.

“I didn’t know you still smoked, Dad,” Cookie said innocently, without questioning why Sheng Jiaqi was still smoking.

“Occasionally,” Sheng Jiaqi replied. It was indeed occasional. A pack of cigarettes could last him several months. When he faced work difficulties, he would take a few puffs to calm his nerves with nicotine’s taste, allowing him to regain his composure.

He didn’t smoke at home for two reasons. First, Little Biscuit was still young, and he didn’t want to expose him to secondhand smoke. Second, Cookie had some nasal allergies and couldn’t tolerate the smell of cigarettes.

Today, he was incredibly frustrated, and that’s why he couldn’t resist taking out a cigarette. However, Cookie caught him in the act.

“Well, smoke less,” Cookie continued to remind, his concern hidden in those few words.

Sheng Jiaqi nodded. “I know.”

After that, there was a long silence. Cookie looked at Sheng Jiaqi, and Sheng Jiaqi looked at Cookie. They wanted to speak but didn’t know where to begin.

“You…”

As if they had made an unspoken agreement, both father and son spoke at the same time, looking at each other, yet unsure of what to say. Cookie closed his eyes as if he had decided to go through with it.

“Dad, yes, Wei Hua is the person from back then, he’s the other dad of Little Biscuit.”

“So you’ve really decided to be with him?” Sheng Jiaqi furrowed his brows, not surprised by this answer. Little Biscuit resembled Wei Hua so much that Sheng Jiaqi wouldn’t believe there was no connection between them.

Cookie nodded firmly, saying, “Dad, I like him, I’ve liked him for a long time.”

“So where was he when you got pregnant with Little Biscuit? Where was he when you missed the biggest opportunity? Where was he when you were raising Little Biscuit on your own, enduring the strange looks from others?” There was no change in Sheng Jiaqi’s expression, but his anger was evident in his continuous questioning.

“Dad, he didn’t know!” Cookie replied to Sheng Jiaqi’s anger with a helpless compromise.

They say that the one who falls in love first has already lost, and when Cookie saw Wei Hua on the university campus, he had already lost the battle.

Cookie had never expected to fall in love at first sight with someone, let alone love someone so humbly, silently, without daring to let the other person know.

Back then, same-sex marriage laws hadn’t been passed yet, and in most people’s eyes, homosexuality was still considered an anomaly, a sickness.

So how could he dare to let Wei Hua know about the feelings that were considered impure at the time?

He carefully guarded this feeling in his heart, not letting Wei Hua find out, not letting anyone else find out, silently watching Wei Hua’s life from the shadows, like a voyeur.

He thought this life would continue until he heard that Wei Hua was going abroad, possibly never to return.

That day, Wei Hua’s roommate held a farewell party for him, and Wei Hua got drunk beyond measure. Cookie summoned all the courage he had in his life to confess his feelings to Wei Hua.

He pushed everyone away and followed Wei Hua to the bathroom.

But with someone as outstanding as Wei Hua, Cookie wasn’t the only one who had his eye on him, right?

So, Cookie soon discovered that Wei Hua had been dr*gged.

At that time, Cookie didn’t know where he got the courage, maybe because Wei Hua might never come back, and he wanted to leave himself with some memories. So, he didn’t take Wei Hua to the hospital but instead took him to a hotel upstairs.

One night of recklessness, and when Cookie woke up, all the courage from that night had disappeared. To avoid raising suspicions, he left a stack of cash and ran away.

Cookie knew he had the kind of body that could get pregnant, as his uncle had had a child. That reckless night, Wei Hua didn’t use protection, and Cookie didn’t remind him.

In hindsight, Cookie was holding on to a sense of luck, after all, he knew that men could get pregnant, but the odds were very low.

However, fate played a trick on Cookie, and in the second month of Wei Hua’s departure, Cookie found out that he was pregnant.

Along with the medical report, Cookie received an acceptance letter from a well-known military academy in China. This was the acceptance letter Cookie had dreamed of day and night. He had missed the opportunity during the college entrance exam, but now he had a second chance, albeit at the most inconvenient time, while he was pregnant.

When Sheng Jiaqi found out, he didn’t say much; he simply let Cookie make a choice.

After a day of hesitation, Cookie tore up the acceptance letter.

You see, with Cookie’s background in the Sheng family and his incredible computer skills, once he entered the military academy, his future would have been limitless.

Sheng Jiaqi respected Cookie’s choice. He only said, “Don’t regret it,” and then he started arranging everything for Cookie from start to finish. Sheng Jiaqi never asked about Cookie’s other dad, and he never asked about Cookie’s future plans.

He supported Cookie’s decisions from behind, allowing Cookie to do what he wanted to do. Sheng Jiaqi’s broad shoulders held up a world for Cookie during that time.

Even the entire Sheng family never questioned the decision of the sudden arrival of Little Biscuit and Cookie’s choice not to attend the military academy.

In the eyes of the older generation in the Sheng family, the younger generation had to walk their own paths. The elders had the right to give advice but not the right to interfere. With the strong support of the Sheng family, Cookie, as a single dad, continued to live with resilience and optimism, even if he had to endure the curious looks of others.

To this day, Cookie still wonders if the optimistic and cheerful personality of Little Biscuit today is not only inherited from Wei Hua but also greatly influenced by the environment of the Sheng family.

If someone were to ask Cookie now if he regrets the decision he made back then, he would shake his head without hesitation. Although he regrets not being able to attend the military academy and later not being able to enlist due to taking care of Little Biscuit, Cookie has no regrets about his own decisions.

When he met Wei Hua again, Cookie was shocked. When he realized that Wei Hua didn’t recognize him, Cookie’s feelings were complex, and he didn’t even know how to describe his emotions.

Was he angry with Wei Hua?

That night, he had initiated it, so how could he be angry with Wei Hua? He didn’t have that right.

He just didn’t know how to face Wei Hua, which is why he acted that way, hoping Wei Hua would stay away from him a bit.

Several years have passed, and Cookie’s feelings for Wei Hua haven’t changed, but he also doesn’t want to disturb Wei Hua’s life. They each go their separate ways, and the absurdity of the past is allowed to drift away with the wind.

However, Cookie could never have imagined that Wei Hua would develop feelings for him and pursue him so intensely.

Cookie admitted that he was timid, especially in front of Wei Hua.

He worried that Wei Hua would remember the absurdity of that one night and look down on him, no longer liking him. So he avoided, he dared not to engage with Wei Hua.

However, when it comes to emotions, if they could be controlled, they wouldn’t be called emotions.

When something similar to what happened several years ago appeared in front of him and Wei Hua again, he couldn’t help but sink into it.

The only difference was that this time Wei Hua knew who he was with and what they were doing.

Emotions are uncontrollable, so when Cookie found out that Wei Hua had waited outside the apartment complex all night to get his answer, he agreed. He agreed to be with Wei Hua.

This dream he had harbored for years, in his timidity and Wei Hua’s relentless pursuit, became a reality.

This piece of past memories had been sealed in Cookie’s heart, and he had never shared it with anyone. Today, however, he revealed it all in front of Sheng Jiaqi.

After listening, Sheng Jiaqi frowned and said firmly, “I don’t care! I don’t care about the reasons back then. It’s a fact that Wei Hua began to cause trouble and eventually abandoned you. If he wants to be with you, he must pass through me. I want him to know that my son and my grandson are not so easily won over!”

Upon hearing Sheng Jiaqi’s words, Cookie understood that Sheng Jiaqi had already accepted Wei Hua in his heart. He was just reluctant to part with his son, so he wanted to test Wei Hua and put him through some trials.

“Dad, thank you,” Cookie said sincerely as he looked at Sheng Jiaqi.

Because of Sheng Jiaqi, he was able to grow up strong and carefree, able to do what he wanted to do without any worries. No matter what difficulties arose, Sheng Jiaqi would always solve them for him and wholeheartedly support him.

Thanks to this father, his life became increasingly better.

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