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Marshal’s subordinate stood before him straight-backed, almost as if someone had shoved a stick up his ass and made lowering his head an impossible task.
“Speak.” The older man demanded, his expression serious.
“Young Master went on a date.” The soldier reported.
“With whom?” The older man asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. His posture was tense, almost like a cobra preparing to strike.
“With a man.” The subordinate answered.
“Did I ask you who it was? I asked who he went on a date with!” he shouted, slamming his hand against the surface of the coffee table.
The soldier jumped in fright before immediately saluting.
“I will find out at once, sir!” he exclaimed, then quickly rushed out of the room.
Da Shuai rubbed the bridge of his nose.
His ungrateful, ill-mannered, spiteful son.
He was already thirty years old, and only now, for the very first time, he was hearing that his boy had gone on a date with someone. And on top of that, he had to learn about it second-hand, from his own subordinate.
That boy would be sorely mistaken if he thought his father was going to let this go.
Da Shuai intended to find out everything about his son’s romantic conquest. He needed to investigate him, dig into his background, and make absolutely certain that he would never… never even think about hurting or abandoning his boy.
Yuan Hong was such an unhappy, poorly socialized, closed-off, and withdrawn person. Anyone who merely looked at him with pity and still agreed to go on a date with him had to be a saint. And Da Shuai intended to make sure that this date would turn into a wedding.
Who cared that it was a man?
A man was good. A man was very good. Much better than a monk’s robe…
+++
“What did you say?” Zhao Chengru exclaimed in shock when his assistant quietly delivered the latest news that had reached the household.
The young assistant of ZhaoShang was surprisingly loyal and excellent at keeping his mouth shut, but even he was unable to stop such information from reaching the family patriarch.
“He really went on a date? With whom?” the man pressed, feeling the weight that had sat heavily in his stomach for years slowly begin to lessen.
That unbearable son of his had finally shown at least a little bit of initiative…
For years, he had tried to persuade him to finally take a wife. He would have even accepted the daughter of a merchant from the eastern district, the girl Zhao ShaoShang liked discussing antiques with. He would have even accepted a courtesan or an opera singer.
But his foolish son dismissed the subject every single time, insisting that he did not want to get married yet.
Apparently, spring had finally arrived for him as well.
“It’s… Master Yuan. The new detective Young Master Shang worked with during the investigation.” The assistant said, slightly flustered.
The man slowly nodded.
“Yes, that makes sense…” he sighed, then slowly rubbed his chest, calming his own wildly beating heart. “It makes sense. Even Wan’er spoke in his favor, saying that ShangShang should be allowed to work as a police consultant… Something must be going on.”
With a satisfied smile, he looked at his assistant.
“Quickly, call Commissioner Huang and Section Chief Cao. I need to know everything about this young man. As soon as possible. Move, move! Now! This matter cannot wait!” he shouted, waving his assistant away.
The commotion caught Madam Zhao’s attention.
“What happened?” Tong MengLing asked curiously as she sat down beside her husband.
“ShangShang went on a date.” The happy man informed her.
“Thank heavens. Finally.” The woman replied happily, raising her hands toward the heavens.
She was glad that even God had finally taken her boy into consideration, even if it had taken much longer than it had for other young masters of their social standing.
As long as he finally found someone he wanted to spend his life with, everyone would be happy.
+++
Young Master Zhao once again followed Yuan Hong. This time, they were investigating a complicated murder case. A man had been hanged from a tree, but by retracing his steps and following the trail of clues from that night, they eventually arrived at a pleasure house, where an elderly woman told them, in a rather roundabout manner, about what had happened.
Yuan Hong seemed completely unaware of certain things that Zhao ShaoShang found rather adorable.
After all, they were both men, and they were both around thirty years old, but Yuan Hong seemed far more knowledgeable and experienced when it came to matters that had very little to do with ordinary, real life. Sometimes, he seemed almost completely disconnected from reality.
It fascinated Young Master Zhao.
When they left the brothel, Zhao ShaoShang was almost certain that, from the corner of his eye, he had spotted his father’s car parked a street away.
But he knew that was impossible.
If his father had ever appeared in an area like this, his mother would never let him hear the end of it. The man would either have to say goodbye to his family jewels or his life, and Zhao ShaoShang was almost certain that his father valued both equally highly.
So he simply turned away, ignoring the small distraction, and continued toward their next lead.
Yuan Hong was unsettled after realizing the darker side of working in a brothel.
As if that place had ever had any good sides.
But Zhao ShaoShang did not want to point that out to him just yet. Instead, they simply walked side by side, talking and distracting him from his thoughts until the tension completely disappeared from Yuan Hong’s shoulders.
+++
“Did you see?” Zhao ChengRu asked, pressing his nose against the window of the car where they had been sitting for quite some time, secretly watching their only son and his beloved.
“He looked so troubled when they came out, but all it took was a few words from ShangShang and he calmed down. Oh, this must be a truly deep feeling. We need to prepare. What do we need to prepare?” he asked, turning his gaze toward the woman who was also sitting with her face pressed against the car window.
“Did you check his family?” she replied without looking away from the glass, carefully following every step of the slowly departing pair. She only moved back once they disappeared around the corner, then patted the driver’s shoulder. He immediately started the engine.
“His mother is dead. I couldn’t find anything else. His father is Marshal Da Shuai. We don’t particularly like each other, but I’ll handle it.”
The woman adjusted herself in her seat before brushing her hair away from her face.
“That’s sad, but soon he will be part of our family, so I will become his mother. I will definitely take care of that boy. He looks terribly thin. Someone needs to properly look after his meals. It’s a good thing our ShangShang loves delicious food and was so stubborn about learning how to cook. It will definitely come in handy now.”
She spoke with a satisfied expression.
They continued following the pair for some time, stopping the car far enough away not to draw attention, but close enough to observe their interactions.
Both of them regretted that they could not get any closer to listen to what their boys were talking about.
But well… it was not a parent’s place to interfere.
+++
If Minister Zhao met Marshal Da one evening in a smoke-filled private room of a restaurant, if they exchanged cold glances and, despite their mutual dislike, shook hands before exchanging envelopes containing their sons’ birth dates, then no one outside their own families needed to know about it.
At least, not yet.
Of course, from that day onward, Minister Zhao began preparing a secure position for his future son-in-law, while Marshal Da devoted an extraordinary amount of attention to a certain young police consultant with an incredibly sharp mind and embarrassingly quick tongue.
Together, they joined forces to protect their sons and their shared future.
The funniest thing about all of this was simply that neither of them thought to ask either of the two people actually involved what they thought about it.