Chapter 29

He stared, eyes huge. He thought he must have misheard.
Someone actually wanted to take him home?
Clutching anxiously at the back of his neck, he stammered, “Xiao… Xiao Qi is sick. I’m… I’m sick. Can… can I really go?”
Pinching his cheek, the handsome man said, “Of course. No matter what’s wrong, we’ll make sure you get treatment. Right, Jun?”
Xiao Qi looked up at the other man. His expression was complicated, but after a pause, he still nodded firmly. “That’s right. Don’t be afraid.”
Joy burst in his chest. Turning to Director Mama with his shoulders squared, he thought proudly, See? Someone finally wants me. You don’t have to worry about me anymore.
Wiping furtive tears from the corners of her eyes, Director Xia said to them, “I’ll take Xiao Qi to change his clothes. You can start on the adoption paperwork?”
“Of course,” they agreed.
Back in the dorm, Director Xia helped him into a new outfit, then wiped his face with a damp cloth. “Xiao Qi, once you go with your new dads, you have to behave, be grateful, and not be greedy. Love them. Be filial. And don’t come back here, all right?”
“But I’ll miss you,” he said, tilting his head.
She put his cloth doll into his arms. “Then let this keep you company. Pretend it’s me by your side, all right?”
He owned very little—just a few old clothes, a battered rag doll, and one patched cloth sack made from his bedsheet, tied up as a little bundle on his back.
“Taking everything with you means you won’t have to come back,” she told him. “It’s a lucky sign.” But Xiao Qi had already decided that when he grew up, he would come back to see her anyway.
The two new uncles took his hands and led him into their car.
As the familiar scenery rolled away outside the window, disappearing piece by piece, tears finally spilled down his cheeks.
The blue‑eyed uncle gathered him into his arms. “Don’t be afraid. From now on, we’ll be your dads. We’ll treat you well,” he said gently.
The new home was so big, so clean.
His shoes were filthy. His socks had holes.
He didn’t even dare step off the entry mat.
But both uncles were so kind. They coaxed him gently, bathed him, and dressed him in brand‑new clothes and shoes that fit perfectly.
He’d never worn anything so nice. He stood in front of the mirror admiring himself for a long, long time, wanting to show Director Mama. As if reading his mind, New Dad snapped a photo and sent it to her.
Here, he was no longer “Xiao Qi.”
He had a real name now: Zuo Nian. Nian as in “year after year.”
“Later, we’ll take you to meet a big brother,” New Dad said. “He’s also a very adorable child. I’m sure you’ll become good friends.”
Zuo Nian’s heart twisted with nerves.
At the orphanage, all the boys had been scary. They hit him and pushed him around. He was afraid this new “brother” would be the same.
At the brother’s house, two impeccably dressed men greeted him with warm smiles. They asked his name and called him “Nian‑nian” with easy affection.
Then one of them went to the stairs and called, “Sui‑sui, Godfather’s here! Come down!”
A few minutes later, a boy in overalls, a white shirt, and a little bowtie came trotting downstairs.
He was probably the prettiest boy Zuo Nian had ever seen—
Fair and delicate, like a little prince from a storybook.
After greeting the adults, the boy’s gaze landed on him. His eyes lit up. “A little sister! It’s a little sister!” he cried.
One of the men pinched his brow. “Duan Baisui, have you gone so crazy you can’t tell boys from girls? He’s obviously a little brother.”
New Dad laughed. “Come now, Yan‑ge. Are you really not going to give Sui‑sui a sister?”
The man called Yan‑ge lifted his chin arrogantly. “No. I won’t put my wife through that again.”
While the adults chattered, the big brother came over and gently pinched Zuo Nian’s cheek.
His touch was light, nothing like the rough grabs of the kids at the orphanage.
“She’s a little sister,” he insisted.
He liked him from the very first moment.
He dragged him off to the playroom, let him play with cars and dolls, and pushed the entire fruit platter the nanny had brought in over to him.
“Eat,” he said.
Zuo Nian didn’t dare be greedy.
Back at the orphanage, he was never allowed to eat all the snacks himself. Everything had to be shared. An apple had to be cut into eight slices—one for each child.
He picked the smallest slice and popped it into his mouth, then didn’t touch the plate again.
“You don’t like these?” the brother asked.
“I do,” he said quickly. “But… we have to share. Lots of people have to eat. I can’t eat everything.”
The brother tilted his head. “But I am sharing. I’m giving them to you. You can eat. It’s all right. Eat them all. It’d be a waste otherwise.”
Still hesitant, he watched as the brother grabbed strawberries and grapes and, one after another, stuffed them into his mouth. “Eat more,” he said seriously. “You need to get chubby. Chubby girls are cute.”
It was a pity he wasn’t a girl.
Life in his new home was easy to get used to.
Dad, Godfather, and Brother all treated him so well. They clearly adored him, and he adored everything about them and this place in return.
But when things are too good, the world always seems to find a way to spoil them.
Fatty Dad’s father didn’t like him.
Grandpa always kept a stern face. He never smiled at him and was constantly fighting with Fatty Dad because of him.
Zuo Nian was scared of him.
He wanted to win Grandpa over, but Grandpa wouldn’t even let him come close.
Once his paperwork had gone through, he was enrolled in kindergarten—at the same school as his brother.
He was in the middle class, and his brother was in the top class.
Brother came to check on him often, making sure no one bullied him.
Zuo Nian loved Brother. He was the first kid his own age who’d played with him, given him fruit, and never hit or mocked him.
To show his gratitude, Zuo Nian saved the little cookies and candies from snack time every day and gave them all to Brother.
Brother would wave them in front of a pair of twin boys in his class. “This is my younger brother,” he’d say proudly. “I have a younger brother too. He’s very good and always saves me treats. Your younger sister just beats you up.”
The boy would look at Zuo Nian with open envy. “I’ll trade my sister for him.”
Zuo Nian’s eyes flew up to Duan Baisui’s face, heart in his throat.
If they traded him away, he wouldn’t be able to play with Brother anymore.
He’d have to go be someone else’s little brother.
He didn’t want that.
He only wanted Sui‑sui Gege.
Fortunately, Duan Baisui had only snorted and hooked an arm around his shoulders. “No trades. Zuo Nian and I are number one in the world.”
Number one in the world.
So that was what Brother thought of him.
Overflowing with joy, Zuo Nian reported the news to Dad that night—and to A‑Beibei.
He promised himself that he and Brother would always be number one in the world together.
But happiness never lasted long.
One day, the grandfather who’d never warmed to him suddenly came to pick him up from school.
Classes weren’t over yet, but Grandpa said something had come up and he needed to leave early.
He hadn’t gotten that day’s cookies yet. He wouldn’t have anything to save for Brother.
Zuo Nian’s shoulders drooped. He could only hope Brother wouldn’t be upset.
In the backseat, he spotted a packed suitcase.
A strange unease settled over him as he realized they weren’t taking the usual route home.
Eyes wide, he asked, “Grandpa, where are we going?”
“Back where you came from,” Grandpa said coldly.
Tears spilled from his eyes at once.
He didn’t know what he’d done wrong this time.
Was it because he still couldn’t count properly?
Or because he’d messed up writing his numbers the night before?
He would work hard.
He’d learn.
Looking at him in the rearview mirror, Grandpa said, “Don’t blame me. Your condition doesn’t meet my standards for a grandson. When you grow up, you won’t be any help to our family. You’ll only be a burden to Zuo Jun. With your situation, it’ll be almost impossible to find a good match. Zuo Jun would never send you into a bad family. That means he’d have to support you for the rest of his life. You are… a worthless Omega. I don’t know if you can understand me. But this is simply the fate you were born with.”
Zuo Nian understood.
He understood perfectly.
Once again, he’d been discarded.
He was still the same useless, unwanted boy.
Wiping his tears away, he forced himself to stop crying.
Grandpa was right—he couldn’t be a burden to Dad.
All the love that Dad and Brother had given him was more than he deserved. There was no way he could ever repay it.
He only regretted that he hadn’t gotten to say a proper goodbye.
Pressing his hands to the glass, he tried to memorize the route.
When he grew up, he told himself, he’d take the bus and follow the roads back. By then he’d know how to count and write numbers.
Maybe he’d be a little more useful.
Before they reached the orphanage, the car jerked to a stop.
Pretty Dad had caught up and was yanking the door open, pulling him out of the back seat. “I’m sorry, baby,” Ason said, voice shaking.
Reaching up to touch his face, Zuo Nian didn’t understand why he was apologizing. He only knew his father looked furious and desperately sad.
“I told you, this boy has to go back,” Grandpa said, stepping out of the car.
Usually so gentle and polite, Ason shouted, “He’s my son. I’ll raise him myself. I don’t need you telling me what to do.”
Zuo Nian felt him trembling with anger.
“Try that again, and I’ll call the police,” Ason hissed. “And I mean it.”
They were fighting over him again.
It broke Zuo Nian’s heart.
Using his sleeve to wipe away Ason’s tears, he said, “Dad, don’t cry. Nian‑nian… it’s okay if Nian‑nian goes. Please don’t fight because of me.”
Hugging him tight, Ason said, “No one is sending you away. Believe me.”
This time, the car went to the Duan family home instead.
Because Fatty Dad was going to be away on business for a month, Ason didn’t feel comfortable leaving Zuo Nian alone. So he brought him to stay with his godparents.
Xu Godfather held him in his arms, soothing him gently. When Brother got home from school and heard what had happened, his face went dark.
After dinner, they retreated to the playroom.
“You’re such a dummy,” Brother said, scowling. “You should’ve come to find me. I would’ve protected you. I wouldn’t have let him take you away. If the teacher hadn’t called, you’d have been kidnapped!”
Thinking of what Grandpa had said in the car, Zuo Nian said miserably, “Nian‑nian should have gone. I shouldn’t be a burden to Dad. I’m a useless Omega. No one will ever want me when I grow up…” The words stuck in his throat and burst out in sobs.
He almost never cried.
But today, the sadness was too much.
He didn’t blame Grandpa.
He blamed himself.
Why couldn’t he be a little smarter? A little healthier?
If he were, Grandpa would like him. There wouldn’t be fights because of him. When he grew up, he would be able to help Dad instead of dragging him down.
But he was just… a fool.
“Boys are tofu, not jelly. We bleed, we don’t cry. Stop it. If they don’t want you, I do,” Duan Baisui said solemnly. “I have lots of pocket money. I can feed you. I can feed you for life. When you grow up, we can get married.”
“Married?” Zuo Nian sniffled.
“Mm‑hm. Like my Daddy and Papa. We’ll live in the same house, watch TV together, take baths together, and sleep in the same bed.”
“Really?” His tears slowed.
If that were true, then he’d still have a home.
He wouldn’t be sent away again.
“Of course.” Puffing out his chest, Duan Baisui said, “Wait here.”
He dug through his mountains of toys until he unearthed a Barbie doll.
Sliding the ring off the doll’s hand, he slipped it onto Zuo Nian’s finger. “This is our token,” he said. “Since you’re wearing my ring, you’re my Omega. No one can take you away.”
No one can take you away. You’re my Omega.
Those two sentences had stayed with Zuo Nian for many, many years.
Even when his “world number one” brother grew colder as the years passed—not just to him, but to everything except his studies.
He stopped playing with toys. Stopped liking amusement parks. Even their annual Christmas date fell by the wayside.
And yet, as long as Zuo Nian sought him out, he still answered. Still walked him home.
That had been enough for Zuo Nian to believe he was special.
To keep pace with him, he’d studied harder than ever, begged his dads to hire tutors, and barely scraped into the same middle school.
There, he’d realized just how popular Duan Baisui was.
Even more popular than he’d been in kindergarten and primary school.
Zuo Nian didn’t want him getting too close to anyone else.
All he could do was be more attentive than everyone else—making him lunchboxes, bringing him water, holding an umbrella over his head when it rained, waiting to walk home together after school.
He knew he was different.
After all, Duan Baisui had told him they were “number one in the world.”
He’d said they would get married.
By middle school, Zuo Nian knew exactly what marriage meant.
He dreamed of it.
He dreamed of growing up, becoming stronger, better, good enough that Duan Baisui would fulfill that promise sooner.
He’d made up his mind: junior high, senior high, university—he would chase him all the way.
He could do it.
But plans never keep up with reality.
After junior high, Duan Baisui had chosen to attend high school abroad.
That was something Zuo Nian had never seen coming.
If he went overseas, there was no way Zuo Nian could follow.
His English was terrible. Zuo Jun and Ason would never let him live alone in a foreign country. His condition was… special.
He’d watched Duan Baisui light up over his acceptance letter and had been happy for him.
His brother was chasing his dreams. He deserved support.
So he’d made a doll to “protect” him.
On the day he left, Zuo Nian went with Dad to the airport to see him off.
He’d walked away without so much as a proper goodbye.
Looking back now, it was obvious:
He’d felt relieved to finally shake off his little shadow.
So relieved that he’d stayed away for nearly eight years.
The marriage?
Only he had been looking forward to it.
The coldness hadn’t come from “growing up and being shy.”
It had come from genuine indifference.
All those years, Duan Baisui had simply been avoiding him.
That was why he’d gone so far away and stayed gone so long.