Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume #1)

75 It Certainly Was the Smile!

Being asked such a question ... Who would believe that Qiu Ling wasn't tempted once again? His fingers found their way into that black hair in front of him while his gaze stayed trained on those doe eyes.
"Mn. How do you like your appearance?"
Jing Yi tilted his head. Like? "It's a lot like mommy's!" He looked at the mirror again and smiled. Unfortunately, that goofy smile seemed more like Mister Zhong's. The boy became depressed.
Ah, too cute! Qiu Ling's fingers stopped their movement but he couldn't convince himself to take them back. "You really look a lot like your mother."
Jing Yi's mood lifted instantly, making Qiu Ling sigh. It seemed in this life he would never be able to catch up to the affection his beloved held for his mother. Well, it was fortunate she liked him. Just imagining what would happen if she was like the Heavenly Emperor ...
Qiu Ling shook his head and got back to the topic at hand. "Anyway, now you see that you also have to do with the dragons. So don't worry about them. If they see you, they'll definitely get along with you. They might even help you!"
"Mn!" Jing Yi didn't understand what his grandfather was talking about but he was content that he looked so much like his mother. It was just ... He shouldn't smile so much. It made him look wrong. The smile that had just spread withered again.
Qiu Ling lifted his brows in surprise. "What happened, little boy? Come on, tell grandfather who made you unhappy. I'm going to beat them up!" Nobody was allowed to rob his beloved of his smile! Ah, Jing He's serene smile ... How he missed it! Wasn't that what he had fallen in love with that fateful night?
Qiu Ling reminisced about that first encounter with Jing He. Well, it did have something to do with that smile. Though, he couldn't say with a clear conscience that it had nothing to do with the gentle look in those dark eyes that seemed to melt his heart or how the blue robe he wore that night highlighted his smooth skin.
Of course, it couldn't have been because of that inky black hair that shimmered like silk in the glow of the lamps. In fact, he didn't remember it as clearly as the rest. What was there to remember?
How it had been secured in that blue crown on top of Jing He's head, the parts at the front swept up and describing a graceful arc at the side of his head? How it had cascaded down Jing He's back right down to his hips? How it had hugged his shoulders when he shifted in his seat? Or how one of those satiny strands had brazenly clung to his sleeve when he stood up and went over to his father? He certainly hadn't been jealous when the Heavenly Emperor took it upon himself to put it back into place!
Why should he? It wasn't like his future father-in-law would have used the opportunity to slide his fingers through the rest of Jing He's hair under the guise of bringing order to that already perfect arrangement.
Definitely not! Most certainly all of that had been because of Jing He's beautiful smile!
Definitely, most definitely ... To calm his poor heart that had just remembered something dark about his past, Qiu Ling patted Jing Yi's head again.
"You ... should smile more often." And do something for your hair. Why had he never asked Jing He what he was doing with his hair to get it that smooth? Wasn't he the one who suffered now? His beloved should have told him before he went onto his trial!
Ah, he felt like taking a short trip to the Nine Heavens. Maybe his mother-in-law knew about it?
"But it doesn't look like mommy's!" Jing Yi's complaint pulled Qiu Ling out of his thoughts.
Thankfully, he had a counter for this problem. "Well ... Think about it like this: Your mother married your father because she loved him, right? So looking a bit like your father is good. Your mother will like you even more!"
Jing Yi's eyes widened and lit up. Mommy will like me even more if I look like father? Why didn't anybody tell me sooner?! At once, a beautiful smile blossomed on his face. He couldn't wait to test this out! "I'll go see mommy now, grandfather!" He pulled out of Qiu Ling's embrace without another word and darted away into the room again. Never mind the tiger, he had to see if his mother would really like him more if he smiled!
Qiu Ling whose arms were empty all of a sudden stared at his own hands. Ah? How come this was the outcome of his ingenious plan on how to set up their future together? Did his beloved even remember what he had told him about the dragons? No, no, that wasn't important! When his beloved met him in the future and saw his real appearance, would he even care?! It seemed he really was destined to be number two forever. What to do? His beloved was going to be taken away by a mortal woman ...
While Qiu Ling was submitting to self-pity, Jing Yi stood before his mother, looking up and smiling cutely.
Madam Zhong smiled back at him and rubbed his head intimately. "You look so cute when you smile!"
Jing Yi's smile grew even more pronounced. Grandfather was right! Mommy really liked him even better when he looked more like his father!
Had Qiu Ling known his beloved would be this happy about it he might not have said anything in the first place. Now, he had somehow become the person to further the affection between mother and child. Where was the person furthering the affection between himself and his beloved? Well, he could only hope that this 'good advice' of his would accomplish that job for him.
Meanwhile, the boy's expression fell. Between looking like his mother and gaining more of his mother's affection through looking like his father Jing Yi preferred the latter. Why couldn't he look a bit more like his father?!
Jing Yi who had just been thankful to his father for gifting him a bit of his appearance now looked at him with resentment. Why couldn't his father have let him look more like him? He probably wanted to have his mother's love all for himself, wasn't that right?!
Thankfully, Mister Zhong wasn't that good at reading his son's expression. He laughed and came over, also tussling his son's hair. "You should smile like that when we open the teahouse. I bet we'd get lots of customers like that."
Madam Zhong laughed too. "I'm afraid those won't be the customers your cousin was thinking about." She could very well imagine how that would turn out. But as long as the teahouse was doing good, Zhong Gang would probably not care so much. And women had a lot of power. If they liked the teahouse and talked to their husbands, brothers or fathers about it, wouldn't those talented scholars still come in the end? "Your father is right. When we're at the teahouse, try smiling at the customers. They'll like it."
Jing Yi obediently nodded. If his mommy said so, he would definitely do it!
Seeing him like that Zhong Gang sighed in relief. His daughter wasn't doing too good at getting to know Jing Yi but considering what a lovely child it was there would be other chances in the future. For now, he should really concentrate on his business.
"Right, Ah Lei, Ru Chun, how about we go to the teahouse to have a look now? If the two of you don't mind, I'd like to open it up soon so getting familiar with it already would be beneficial."
"Oh, sure." Mister Zhong turned to his wife and scratched his head. He could hardly believe that they would really take care of a teahouse soon. Well, he would do his best. Maybe things would turn out better than he imagined right now.