Custody

#A story about a rich uncle fighting a poor, powerless uncle for custody of a kid, only to end up falling for him himself#

After his older brother dies unexpectedly, Li Mingshen takes care of the funeral arrangements and accidentally discovers that his brother had a five-year-old son. The boy was born to his ex-wife after their divorce and is now being raised by his maternal uncle.

His mother keeps crying and pleading, so Li Mingshen has no choice but to try to get custody of the child. With the company keeping him busy, he has no time to handle it in person, so he sends a lawyer to negotiate with the boy's uncle. Surely money can settle the matter.

Soon, the lawyer returns in disgrace. The other man rejected him outright, threw him out, and left him with a parting remark.

Li Mingshen asks, “What did he say?”

The lawyer hesitates. “He said... if you dare show up, he'll break your legs.”

Li Mingshen laughs it off, but privately looks down on the man, assuming he's a crude lout.

Only later, when he goes there himself and meets Liang Muqiu, does he realize they've met before, more than once.

He hides his identity and deliberately gets close to him, doing the most dishonorable thing he's ever done.

*

One day in the little courtyard of Liang Muqiu's guesthouse, the two sit facing each other beneath a pear tree, drinking tea.

A light flickers in Liang Muqiu's eyes as he says that when two people meet, it must be fate.

Li Mingshen's hand pauses as he drinks. He slowly lowers his cup without answering right away, seeming to mull over the meaning of those words. After a moment, he says, “Do you think our meeting was fate?”

Liang Muqiu answers without hesitation. “I think so.”

But Li Mingshen wonders if Liang Muqiu would still believe their meeting was fate if he knew why Li Mingshen had come here.

He looks up at Liang Muqiu and says slowly in a low voice, “Have you ever heard that anything that seems like a coincidence was actually deliberate?”

*

Liang Muqiu has a tiny mole on the tip of his nose. Li Mingshen caught a glimpse of it years ago and never forgot it.

Former interior designer, current guesthouse owner, gentle uncle bottom

Long-planned pursuit, constantly testing the limits of being found out, domineering CEO uncle top

[Bonus scene]

“Dongdong, who do you want to live with, Uncle or Uncle?”

Little Liang Chen'an blinks. “Grown-ups have to choose, but kids get both!”

*

Theme: There's always a ray of sunshine shining down on you.