Last Love chapter 95

Xu Jiale’s actions left Fu Xiaoyu momentarily stunned.

After hesitating for a while, Fu Xiaoyu ultimately didn’t say anything. Instead, he quietly consumed all the prawns that Xu Jiale had previously peeled.

Fu Xiaoyu ate slowly, taking small bites, unsure if it was about maintaining face or a fear of eating too much.

Xu Jiale continued chatting as usual, his hands not idle. Seeing Fu Xiaoyu finishing, he naturally continued peeling one shrimp after another. In no time, a small mountain of shrimp piled up on the plate.

However, Fu Xiaoyu soon put down his chopsticks and stopped eating. He turned his head, sipped his wine with restraint, and didn’t join the conversation. He wore a milky-white sweater with only a gray gradient pattern around his neck, resembling a ragdoll cat.

Xu Jiale glanced at him, too lazy to inquire further.

He hadn’t intended to take care of Fu Xiaoyu. He only thought that peeling shrimp with an injured hand might be painful for Fu Xiaoyu, so he did it on his behalf. Now that Fu Xiaoyu wasn’t eating anymore, he simply stopped peeling and focused on his own meal.

The conversation continued to revolve around pregnancy and parenting. Xu Jiale, while eating shrimp, asked, “Wen Ke, have you two registered your marriage? Actually, the timing of the wedding isn’t that crucial. You can prepare for it after you give birth and regain your figure.”

The table suddenly fell silent. Han Jiangque didn’t speak, and Wen Ke also felt a bit awkward.

The somewhat ambiguous and murky territory between the two suddenly got stepped on, and for a moment, neither of them knew how to respond.

However, Xu Jiale was highly sensitive. As soon as he sensed a change in the atmosphere, he quickly realized that something was wrong. He pushed his glasses and looked at Han Jiangque, saying, “Han Jiangque, after asking for so long, it turns out your role as a dad isn’t official yet?”

Although his tone was playful, the words carried a hint of probing.

Wen Ke immediately smiled, tapped his cup against Xu Jiale’s, and said, “Aren’t we both just rookie dads? There’s so much to learn.”

He quickly eased the tension from the previous awkwardness, maintaining his usual gentle tone.

Seeing Wen Ke’s response, Xu Jiale’s gaze couldn’t help but reveal some complexity, but he immediately raised his cup in cooperation with Wen Ke, gulping down the remaining red wine without saying much.

“…” Han Jiangque remained silent, holding his chopsticks. His lips opened slightly for a moment, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.

After the meal, Fu Xiaoyu took Han Jiangque to the room, saying there was something to discuss.

Wen Ke and Xu Jiale sat together, pulling two chairs to the balcony behind the sliding door. They watched the snow outside through the glass.

Sega’s real estate was built on the mountainside, so looking in that direction, they could faintly see the fireworks in the city center occasionally blooming in the night sky.

Every New Year in City B, there would be fireworks—red, gold, and green colors reflecting each other in the night sky, transforming into different shapes before dispersing into scattered lights, like a galaxy.

Wen Ke remembered that when he was young in that northern small town, the night sky was always adorned with stars. He used to pull the old curtains at night, lying on the bed, gazing at the sky.

Back then, he could understand the meaning of “twinkle, twinkle, little star” just by looking up.

But later, in the noisy and lively City B, he rarely saw stars again.

“Xu Jiale, is it difficult to see stars in big cities?”

Wen Ke suddenly asked.

“Yeah, because of light pollution.”

“Right…” Wen Ke repeated softly, then sighed, saying, “Fortunately, we still have fireworks to watch.”

After saying this, for some reason, he felt a bit down himself.

Perhaps this was the mentality of adults. The starry sky they used to see in their youth no longer existed, but he wouldn’t feel so sad about it anymore—

Compared to every small achievement in a busy life, this was such an insignificant matter.

It was the sudden realization of his “indifference” that made him suddenly feel melancholic.

During this period, he had been walking fast, and sometimes it was hard for him to realize his changes.

Last night, after Han Jiangque was intimate with him, he lay warmly in bed.

The Alpha held him, coquettishly asking if they should lie together and read “The Smiling, Proud Wanderer” like they used to.

However, Wen Ke wanted to check the progress of the last love project app before going to sleep. So, he naturally said, “We’ve read it so many times before, memorized the plot. Let’s not read it for now.”

So, Han Jiangque didn’t insist.

It was such a small matter, but for some reason, it suddenly stuck in his mind. Now, thinking back, he felt a strange regret.

When Han Jiangque moved to Sega, he brought the complete set of four books of “The Smiling, Proud Wanderer” with him. It had been ten years, and perhaps it was still his favorite book.

Wen Ke remembered high school when they used to lean against each other and read “The Smiling, Proud Wanderer” together. When he finished reading a whole page, Han Jiangque would still be slowly reading the fifth line. He would quietly wait, gazing at the beautiful profile of the young Alpha while waiting.

Han Jiangque had a poor memory. Often, the next day, he would suddenly have doubts about the plot and repeatedly ask him:

“Wen Ke, is Tian Boguang considered a bad person?”

“Wen Ke, who is Mo Daxian? What are the three ‘Dings’ of Hengshan? “

“Wen Ke, does Little Junior Sister really not like Linghu Chong?”

The last question was always Han Jiangque’s favorite. Throughout “The Smiling, Proud Wanderer,” it was the thing he cared about the most, as if it was something he never understood.

At that time, Wen Ke never felt impatient.

He helped Han Jiangque remember the complex relationships between characters and pondered over strange questions repeatedly. In that story’s world, every mountain and every river seemed familiar to him.

The things Han Jiangque forgot, he helped him find over and over again.

But now, he could casually tell Han Jiangque that he had memorized it all and didn’t want to read it anymore.

In that moment, Wen Ke vaguely recalled a line he had read somewhere:

“The Jianghu is not as it was when I arrived, nor am I the same as when I arrived.”

Nor am I the same as when I arrived.

…

Both of them had some concerns, so they were quiet. Wen Ke held a thermos cup with his hand, listening to the faint hustle and bustle outside. After a while, he whispered, “Xu Jiale, don’t worry too much about me.”

Xu Jiale also looked at the sky and spoke after a while, “But Wen Ke, I really don’t understand—why aren’t you two getting married? Just now, when we talked about it during dinner, he fell silent. He doesn’t bring it up, and you don’t either?”

“I know…”

Wen Ke said, “Before, we vaguely discussed it, and I wanted to meet his family too, but he changed the topic. I could feel that he was somewhat avoiding this matter, more or less.”

“To be honest, I think this isn’t a normal state for an Alpha.”

Xu Jiale directly stated without reservation.

“I know you’re worried from my perspective.”

Wen Ke paused here, eventually looking at the sky and saying, “But Xu Jiale, I… I also didn’t let him mark me. We had a quarrel about this recently; he wanted to mark me officially, but I refused.”

Xu Jiale took a deep breath, sat upright, opened his mouth but eventually held back the words.

“I don’t know how to tell you, but sometimes, I can’t help but think that I haven’t given him everything, so if he wants to have reservations about me, it’s entirely reasonable.”

Wen Ke murmured.

“Are you saying…”

Xu Jiale spoke in a deep voice, “You think Han Jiangque intentionally avoids discussing marriage as a kind of retaliation for you refusing to let him mark you?”

“It’s not retaliation.”

Wen Ke shook his head, “Han Jiangque wouldn’t think that way. But he might…”

“He might be a little upset with me.”

He didn’t know how to say it and could only sigh lightly.

Of course, he had mentioned wanting to meet Han Jiangque’s family, but such requests were always diverted. It was quite hurtful, but due to the marking issue, he really couldn’t straightforwardly demand from Han Jiangque because he hadn’t given Han Jiangque the commitment he wanted.

He had been pregnant for several months, his belly was so big, yet he hadn’t even met his Alpha’s family. Just thinking about it made him feel bitter, but it was difficult to bring up with anyone.

“I just want…”

Wen Ke lowered his head and said very quietly, “I want to do my best to be good to him. Apart from marking, I’ve given him everything. When he gradually feels at ease and trusts me, he… he can bring it up with me. So, I won’t force him, and please don’t bring up this matter again, Xu Jiale, okay?”