Chapter 91: Nightmare

"Did he really leave?" Yangyang stared blankly as Chang Yu walked out of the living room and into the bedroom, unable to believe his own eyes.

That cheapskate really left him lying on the cold, hard floor and just walked away? He truly planned to let him spend the night on the floor?

Heartless!

"Chang Yu, I really misjudged you!" Yangyang sat up abruptly from the floor, furious and shouting.

"I only wanted you to set up cable TV for me, not buy the whole TV station! Must you be so stingy? Tell me, am I still your real child?"

"No," came Chang Yu’s voice from behind the door.

"You were picked out of a dumpster, dug up from a cesspit, a freebie from topping up my phone, anything but born from me."

"That’s really hurtful!" Yangyang pouted and stood up from the floor.

He had no intention of lying there any longer. Since Chang Yu had returned to his room, there was no reason to keep up the act.

It was time to change tactics.

"Chang Yu, Chang Yu," Yangyang ran from the living room into the bedroom, pestering like a little demon.

"I want to watch TV, please let me watch TV~" He pushed hard at Chang Yu, who was wrapped in the quilt, pleading with a soft and sultry tone.

"I've told you so many times already, no!" Chang Yu felt completely drained, not wanting to say another word.

"Look, every other family has cable TV, their kids can watch all the cartoons they like." Yangyang tried to reason and appeal emotionally.

"Why can other children enjoy a happy childhood, but not ours?"

"When they grow up, they can proudly tell people, 'My childhood was fulfilling, because we had cable TV at home.'"

"But when it comes to me, I have nothing to say. My childhood had no Pleasant Goat, no Bald Strong, not even Armor Warriors."

While saying this, Yangyang wore a pitiful expression, glancing slyly at Chang Yu from the corner of his eye.

Chang Yu buried his head in his phone and said nothing at all, as if he hadn’t heard a word.

Seeing this, Yangyang suddenly realized—Chang Yu was moved by his words!

He wasn’t even arguing back anymore.

Yangyang deliberately paused to observe Chang Yu’s reaction.

When he saw Chang Yu still ignoring him, Yangyang continued,

"I noticed you seem quite interested in that pretty woman, Katerina. Are you thinking of pursuing her?"

"I'm warning you, don't get any funny ideas about her!" The moment Yangyang mentioned Katerina, Chang Yu sat up abruptly.

He had just been ignoring Yangyang, but now he was suddenly agitated.

"The day you did the checkup in the RV, I saw everything you did to that girl, Charlene." Chang Yu said angrily.

"You used your child’s identity as cover to grope her, utterly shameless."

"You must be mistaken," Yangyang denied flatly. "I’m still a child, what bad intentions could I have?"

Chang Yu clearly didn’t believe Yangyang’s nonsense, since Yangyang’s sneaky moves that day were all too targeted.

"Katerina is the one I’ve chosen. Don’t even think about taking advantage of her, not even a little." Chang Yu warned.

"If I find out you have any designs on her, I’ll fight you to the bitter end and lock you back in the little black room in the valley."

"Look how nervous you are." Yangyang stretched lazily. "I never said I wanted to woo her, so why the rush?"

"Relax, I’m not interested in Katerina. To be precise, I’m not interested in foreign women."

"Besides, she’s the kind who drinks herbal infusions every day. Being with her wouldn’t make me feel safe."

"Compared to her, I prefer someone like Charlene—attractive, well-built, gentle and graceful."

"Hmm..." Chang Yu stroked the stubble on his chin, lost in thought.

Katerina had an obsessive passion for health, while Yangyang was a thousand-year-old poria mushroom...

Indeed, being with her would offer Yangyang little sense of safety.

Chang Yu glanced at Yangyang. "I’ll trust you this once, but don’t harass Katerina."

"Don’t worry," Yangyang patted his chest in assurance. "It’s a promise between men!"

"So... about the cable TV?"

"We’ll talk about it later when there’s time!"

.......

That night, Chang Yu had a strange dream.

He was running with all his might across endless grasslands.

Behind him, a brilliantly colored cheetah chased him relentlessly.

Its yellow fur was dotted with black spots, its eyes gleamed fiercely, and it occasionally roared with its mouth wide open.

Chang Yu was chased from the far east to the far west, then from the far south to the far north.

He couldn’t escape the cheetah’s pursuit.

His face was filled with panic, gasping violently, feeling like his lungs were about to burst.

"Why do you keep chasing me?" Chang Yu shouted desperately.

The cheetah grinned and, to his surprise, spoke: "I want cough syrup~"

"I don’t have any cough syrup!" Chang Yu was utterly distraught.

"Did you bring Dali? Dali will do!" The cheetah’s face twisted into a perverse, lascivious smile.

"What’s Dali?" Chang Yu kept running, chatting awkwardly with the cheetah.

"You don’t know Dali?" The cheetah exclaimed, "Dali works wonders!"

"Can’t go a day without it?" Chang Yu’s expression grew hazy, tinged with confusion.

"Exactly, that’s the one!" The cheetah was ecstatic.

"Sorry, I don’t have that either," Chang Yu replied miserably.

"Then you’re done for—prepare to be eaten!" The cheetah’s sinister gaze swept over Chang Yu’s backside, calculating the best place to bite.

Just as Chang Yu was trapped with nowhere to run, a shout came from the horizon: "Chang Yu, I’m coming to save you!"

The voice was familiar—clear, childish, with a hint of mischief.

Chang Yu felt he had heard it before, but couldn’t recall whose voice it was.

Looking up, he saw a gigantic, yam-like object falling from the sky.

Its landing point was right where Chang Yu and the cheetah were.

"It looks like a medicinal herb," Chang Yu thought. He wasn’t Katerina, who could identify hundreds of herbs at a glance.

The yam-like object crashed straight onto the cheetah, pinning it to the ground.

And incidentally... rolled Chang Yu into its crushing path as well.

He only felt something dark and heavy smother his face, and then his body was involuntarily pressed to the ground.

With a "crack," Chang Yu clearly heard his old back snap under the weight.

Before his consciousness faded into darkness, he finally remembered why the voice sounded so familiar.

Wasn't that Yangyang’s voice?

Chang Yu suddenly opened his eyes, gasping for breath, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

Perhaps because of the nightmare, Chang Yu felt unbearably heavy, as if a thousand-pound stone weighed on him.

He glanced out the window; through the gap in the curtains, he saw only deep darkness.

"Phew, it’s still night," Chang Yu relaxed, closing his eyes to try to sleep again.

Suddenly, something nagged at him. He opened his eyes again, uneasy, and looked beside him.

The space next to him was empty, only a flat quilt.

Unconvinced, Chang Yu reached out to touch it—inside it was empty, not a trace of warmth, only coldness.

On the large double bed, Chang Yu lay alone. The realization woke him instantly.

"In the dead of night, where did Yangyang go?"

A flood of ominous guesses surged through Chang Yu’s mind.

Perhaps Yangyang sneaked out to play and was abducted.

Or Yangyang stole his money and ran away from home.

Maybe Yangyang offended some criminals and was forced to flee.

Or perhaps Yangyang caused trouble and, afraid of being caught by the police, slipped away quietly in the night.

None of these ideas were good.

Chang Yu couldn’t be blamed; he genuinely believed Yangyang was capable of any of these things.

"Yangyang!" Chang Yu cried out in terror.

He hurried to dress, grabbed his phone, and prepared to search for the missing Yangyang in that dark, windy night.

He was ready to call the police, even to ask for help from the bureau if necessary.

But before Chang Yu could act, a sleepy voice murmured from under the quilt:

"In the middle of the night, why are you yelling? Can’t a person get some sleep?"

The voice was clear, childish, with a hint of mischief.

It was unmistakably Yangyang’s.

Chang Yu hurriedly lifted the quilt, and saw Yangyang sprawled on his chest like a sloth bear, fast asleep.

Drool trickled from the corner of his mouth, soaking a large patch of Chang Yu’s pajamas.

"So he was here all along!" Chang Yu sighed in relief, then smiled wryly.

"No wonder I felt so heavy, as if a stone weighed on me—it was him sleeping on top of me."

Looking at Yangyang’s adorable, mischievous sleeping posture, Chang Yu admitted his heart was instantly melted.

He gently moved Yangyang off his chest, laid him on the other side of the bed, and tucked him in.

Chang Yu felt like an old father raising a child alone, worrying endlessly for his little one.

Even at night, he couldn’t sleep peacefully.

(The chapter ends)