My Two Dads

“Xiao Ye,” Yang Han turned her head towards Liu Zuo Ye while hugging a small golden retriever, “Have you ever raised a dog before?”

She was leaning on top of the railing while using a dog’s tail plant to tease a large dog. When she heard Yang Han call her name, she replied, “Yeah, we had a lot of street dogs we took in back at home. We got them to guard our house.”

Yang Han scratched the chin of that golden retriever and asked nervously, “What do they usually eat, besides dog food…do they eat vegetables?”

Liu Zuo Ye laughed a little, “Field dogs are easy to raise. The people didn’t put too much thought into what they feed their dogs. Hm…” She reached out to scratch the chin of that golden retriever and said, “If it’s this one, it’ll probably have to eat finer food. I don’t think it’ll like vegetables though.”

Yang Han blinked a few times and said a little concernedly, “What do I do if I cant raise it well…”

“It’ll be alright. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just go ask the pet store.” Liu Zuo Ye said, “Your Highness will always find a way.”

“Ah,” Yang Han puffed up her cheeks and said, “You called me princess again. I don’t like it.”

Liu Zuo Ye poked her puffed up cheek. The air within leaked out with a ‘pft’ sound.

“…” Yang Han said, “Ah, you!”

Xu Jia was looking at these two for a long time at the side. She somehow had a feeling of desolation, but couldn’t quite put her finger down on it, so she just hugged the large dog in her arms tighter.

Han Shi Yu walked over and asked, “Found one you like?”

Yang Han handed him the puppy in her hands and said, “This one!”

Han Shi Yu took it and kneaded its fleshy paws. Then, with a fortune teller’s tone, he said. “Oh, not a bad bone structure.”

The little golden retriever wagged its tail and perked up to lick his chin.

The person in charge came over, took one look at this one and said, “This one…its mother died when she gave birth. It has a brother too…” He looked over to the corner and his eyes fell on a small thing with a hanging head. “Over there.”

The golden retriever over there had a fur coating that looked darker than this one. It sat there obediently with a tilted head, looking over at the puppy in Han Shi Yu’s arms with its two black eyes that shone with envy.

Yang Han’s heartstrings were tugged on for a moment. She bit down on her lower lip and looked at Han Shi Yu.

Han Shi Yu: “Dad.”

Han Shi Yu: “Oh? There must be something you need from me.”

Yang Han pointed at the one in the corner and said, “Can we…adopt both of them.”

The house gained two new puppies.

Han Shi Yu was generous and got these two a set of luxury home equipment.

But on the way home, Yang Han did not breathe a sigh of relief. Life was constantly telling her, little girl, it’s too early to be happy.

While Yang Han sent Liu Zuo Ye and Xu Jia back, she passed the two puppies to Han Shi Yu to look after. And this guy took advantage of the time to name them.

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The more obedient one was called Big Pup, the more active one was called Pup the Second.

What was even worse, that two golden retrievers who weren’t familiar with the way of the world yet, natural accepted their names. They even responded positively when Han Shi Yu called them. No matter what Yang Han did, they wouldn’t respond. Only hearing ‘Big Pup’ and ‘Pup the Second’ that they’d circle around Han Shi Yu.

Yang Han squatted on the spot and watched the two puppies whose names had gotten tainted by Han Shi Yu’s hands. Yet, they still rubbed against Han Shi Yu’s legs asking for sausages. She felt so angry that she puffed up her cheeks.

Han Shi Yu took it another step further, picking up the two pups and shook his head towards him to brag.

The blister on Yang Han’s hands had long since disappeared, so there was no longer any substantial means to get back at him. Yang Han could only pitifully contact Yang Mo on a video call.

Yang Mo had only just accepted the call when Yang Han shouted in his face, “Dad—”

Yang Mo: “?”

Yang Han pointed to the back where Han Shi Yu was playing around with the pups in the living room under the magnificent calligraphy.

The more Yang Han thought about it, the angrier she became. She mumbled incoherently, “You’re obviously such a nice person, dad! Why did you fall for someone like him! What’s so great about this guy that’s worth getting married to? Exactly what was the reason.”

Yang Mo: “……”

The more she complained, the more she missed Yang Mo on the other side of the screen. She wailed, “When are you coming back…”

“There’s still a month left till you return home.” Alan still insisted on meeting Yang Mo once every few days. He said, “Can’t you take the initiative to start the conversation for once?”

Yang Mo no longer dared to talk to him.

There actually had a lot to talk about and what they had common the most was programming. Alan did not follow him around all day long to ask personal questions either, only occasionally when his curiosity peaked. He would casually mention it at the end of every conversation but always manage to hit the bullseye.

Alan: “Say…”

Yang Mo cut him off, “Shut up.”

Alan: “What’s wrong? I haven’t said anything yet…” He was about to talk about a serious topic for once too. “Do you love your daughter?”

Yang Mo stared at him suspiciously, making sure it wasn’t a trap before saying, “Yeah.”

He let out a laugh before saying, “Do you celebrate Father’s Day at home?”

Yang Mo’s fingers hovered over the keyboard and remembered something.

When Yang Han was in junior high school and Father’s Day came up, she made a wooden carved work for them. It was carved personally by the little Yang Han herself and it looked like a small, pretty bell.

Since it took a long time to make, it wasn’t possible to carve an identical one to give out fairly. So to balance things out, Yang Han gifted it to Han Shi Yu while Yang Mo received a hug and a ‘Dad, Happy Father’s Day’.

Yang Mo told himself that a child’s feelings were the utmost sincere. What mattered was the feelings, not the actual gift. But he couldn’t help but feel down for a few days after that.

One third of the reason behind his depressed mood was because the man with the surname Han intentionally and unintentionally flaunted in front of him…or even if he wasn’t flaunting, Yang Mo’s heart was amplifying everything on his own.

At that time, he and Han Shi Yu engaged in a three-day-long open battle.

Now that he thought back to it, there was only an unbearable sense of shame and he still couldn’t understand what he was thinking at that time.

Yang Mo answered, “Occasionally, we do…”

Alan set aside his iced drink and said, “You know, Starry, there was an expert study that showed for 80% of families of three, both parents have had conflicts over the question of ‘who does the child love more’. They would fight for the child’s favour, even in hidden and unnoticeable ways.”

Yang Mo looked up at him and frowned, “Where did you get the data from and what are the conditions for judging?”

Alan said, “Of course, that expert is me…”

Without giving Yang Mo an opportunity to reply sarcastically, he continued, “…So according to my intuition and past experience, the two of you must have done that too.”

Yang Mo: “Did not.”

Alan threw a curve ball instead, “Then compared to your husband, who do you think your daughter love more?”

Yang Mo blurted out almost like he didn’t need to think about it. “Me.”

Alan stretched out his hands with an expression like he had long since saw this coming. “See, you were thinking this way after all…” Who knew where he learned this tactic from, but he crossed his arms on top of his knee before reaching one hand out politely, “…so does your husband1.”

“You thought too deeply into it.” Yang Mo’s voice behind the typing sounds became noticeably heavier. He sneered before replying to the ‘expert’ sitting across from him, “He should have the self-awareness and know better.”

Footnotes

This is said in English