He perked up his little ears, only seriously listening to the adults talking.
Su Miao held it in for a long while, and finally only squeezed out one sentence: “You… you can see me?”
Li Ting: “I’m not blind.”
Su Miao: “……”
For a moment, Su Miao didn’t know how to refute him.
Li Ting’s constitution was special. Before, he simply couldn’t see any ghosts.
Even if ghosts crowded all around him, filling up the space beside him, he wouldn’t sense the slightest bit of it.
But now, strangely, he could actually see him.
The atmosphere inside the room inexplicably grew stiff.
The chubby little furball sitting on Su Miao’s instep couldn’t wait any longer and let out a “chirp,” urging them to snuggle together.
The two adults heard the chirp and lowered their eyes to look at him.
Qin Xun translated from the side: “Yuan Yuan said, he wants to see you two hug… and kiss.”
Li Ting: “?”
Su Miao: “?”
The faces of the two adults simultaneously changed.
The next second, Feng Yuan was scooped up into someone’s arms.
Li Ting looked at the familiar little furball, then thought of the name Su Miao and Qin Xun had been calling it by. At last, he understood why Feng Yuan wasn’t afraid at all the first time he followed him home.
So it turned out, before that, they had already met.
Feng Yuan had been shouting all along that he was a little phoenix…
That was actually true.
Li Ting didn’t have time to dwell on why the rumored little phoenix looked like a bald chicken. With one hand holding the heavy little furball, and the other gripping Su Miao’s wrist, he led the person out.
Li Ting had a car.
He didn’t even know how he managed to get into the residential complex, but in any case, he had smoothly parked the car inside.
He opened the car door and stuffed the little furball along with Qin Xun into the back seat.
Then, Su Miao was locked into the front passenger seat by him.
“If I really wanted to leave, you wouldn’t be able to lock me in.”
Su Miao looked at his own wrist and reminded him.
Li Ting started the car, eyes straight ahead, driving forward without glancing aside.
“Do you want to leave?”
Su Miao fell silent.
If he truly intended to go, he could vanish right where he stood. There was no need to say such a pointless sentence.
The car drove out of the residential complex.
Feng Yuan tilted his head toward Qin Xun and chirped, “Where’s my feathers?”
“They’ve all been picked up for you.”
Qin Xun set him down on his lap, rubbing his belly: “When we get back, I’ll put your feathers into a little box.”
“Chirp.”
No.
Feng Yuan patted him with his short, chubby little wings, signaling for him to take the feathers out.
He immediately started distributing them: “Chirp, chirp, chirp.”
These few are for Little Uncle, these few are for you, and these few are for Big Daddy.
Mm… if Little Aunt wants some too, then give Little Aunt a few more.
Feng Yuan’s feathers were genuine phoenix plumes.
This was truly precious!
After generously finishing his distribution, Feng Yuan even explained how they should be worn.
“Chirp.”
They can be put into little cloth pouches and carried on the body.
Qin Xun nodded and said softly, “Thank you, Yuan Yuan.”
The car sped all the way back, rushing to the entrance of Li Ting’s home.
Feng Yuan clawed at the car door, not really wanting to go back.
His pair of black-bean eyes stared at Little Uncle and Little Aunt, his little expression plainly showing that he wanted to watch the drama unfold.
When Li Sheng came over to carry him, he was unwilling to get down.
In the end, Li Sheng simply brought over his little schoolbag as well as Qin Xun’s schoolbag for him.
“Send them to school tomorrow morning.”
Li Sheng was still quite assured about Li Ting taking care of the kid.
Although Feng Yuan sometimes bumped and stumbled here and there, overall, the little one had been looked after very well.
The two little ones weren’t sent away.
Without a word, Li Ting brought them back into his own home again.
Back at home, Feng Yuan had homework to do.
Li Ting put him and Qin Xun into the study, then held onto Su Miao and returned to the bedroom next door.
“Bang—”
The sound of the door closing was loud.
One second, Feng Yuan was still slowly flipping through his homework book, and the next, he darted to the wall and stuck himself against it.
He was eavesdropping!
Qin Xun, who had been preparing to help him with homework, saw this scene. His small face showed a trace of helplessness.
“Yuan Yuan.”
“Shh.”
Feng Yuan lay against the wall, his dough-like cheeks pressed to it, his little ears listening intently.
Next door, Li Ting and Su Miao had really started talking.
Through the wall, Feng Yuan couldn’t hear very clearly.
Qin Xun walked over, pulling at his chubby little hand, not letting him keep listening.
“Yuan Yuan, be good and finish your homework. Once you’re done, I’ll play video games with you.”
Feng Yuan: “!”
Feng Yuan: “You brought the game console!”
Qin Xun: “Mm, I did. You can play after you finish your homework.”
“Okay!”
Under the temptation of his favorite game console, Feng Yuan decisively chose to sit back down at the desk.
He reopened his homework book. After writing for only a short while, his chubby little face turned bitter and resentful.
Meanwhile, in the next room, the two adults didn’t look any better.
Li Ting was questioning Su Miao.
“From beginning to end, have you been lying to me?”
Su Miao tugged at the corner of his lips, admitting to his initial deliberate approach and the deception.
Back then, he had approached Li Ting with the guise of a pure little white flower.
But Li Ting wasn’t any kind of good person either.
He was after Li Ting’s money, while Li Ting indulged in his feigned innocence, indulged in his deliberate seduction.
The two of them quickly ended up tangled together.
But that bastard Li Ting also made things very clear—
He said Su Miao was not his destined one.
When Su Miao heard those words back then, his delicate little face instantly fell into sorrow.
His eyes reddened, his posture pitiful.
Li Ting looked at him, Adam’s apple rolling, as if he wanted to say something, but Su Miao’s approaching kiss sealed his lips shut.
After that day.
On the surface, Su Miao seemed fragile and pitiful, not wanting to be abandoned by Li Ting. But the moment he turned around, he joined forces with Li Ting’s mortal enemy. Not only did he set Li Ting up, but he also swept away all of Li Ting’s family fortune.
He didn’t just take Li Ting’s fortune. When Li Ting came looking for him, he went and died cleanly, just like that.
Su Miao had been ill from the start, a hereditary sickness in his family.
He wasn’t the only one with the illness. His younger brother had it, too.
He had deceived Li Ting in many ways. But about his background, he hadn’t lied to him—
A father who died early, a mother who remarried, a younger brother stricken with illness, and a self left broken.
“Why did you have to do this?”
For two years, the one thing Li Ting had never figured out was: “You knew perfectly well that if you needed money, I would give it to you.”
“So why did you have to set me up like that?!”
Li Ting wasn’t a stingy man. He might have looked like someone who loved to play around, but in truth, he only ever had Su Miao.
Facing his anger, Su Miao’s eyes didn’t dodge or waver.
“If I hadn’t set you up like that, when you grew tired of me, wouldn’t you have just forgotten me completely?”
“When that time came, you and your destined partner would be all lovey-dovey together, and me, Su Miao… what would I be worth?”
Su Miao wasn’t a little white flower. He was a little black flower.
Through deception and through death, he made sure Li Ting could never forget him for the rest of his life.
Hearing him say these words with his own ears, Li Ting only felt his head buzzing, blank, and ringing.
“Su Miao.”
Li Ting looked at Su Miao, who had laid everything bare. His eyes are dark, as if he wished he could strangle him: “These words, you had to wait until after you died to say them to me.”
Su Miao didn’t make a sound.
When he was alive, he had been obedient and well-behaved in front of Li Ting.
Now that he was dead, he no longer had any scruples.
The bedroom suddenly quieted down.
Su Miao’s gaze shifted toward the door behind Li Ting.
Sensing his look, Li Ting’s expression hardened. The next second, he slammed him onto the bed.
“Don’t even think about running!”
“Now that you’ve fallen into my hands this time, don’t think you’ll ever escape again!”
Su Miao: “Alright then.”
He patted the back of Li Ting’s hand: “Stop tugging at me, I’m not leaving.”
Su Miao’s slack, careless attitude didn’t make Li Ting lower his guard in the slightest.
The two adults stayed in the bedroom, not coming out.
After lying there for a while, Su Miao couldn’t hold back and asked, “Li Ting, aren’t you going to tutor little fat Yuan with his homework?”
Li Ting: “……”
Li Ting: “No.”
He really didn’t want to have to take blood-pressure meds again today.
In the study, without Li Ting’s tutoring, Feng Yuan was clutching his pen, his chubby face looking terribly grave.
“Brother, do I really have to go to this kindergarten?”
“Yes, you do.”
Qin Xun knew he didn’t like studying. But the path of learning was one every child had to go through.
Feng Yuan hadn’t even learned to recognize many characters yet.
He didn’t want Feng Yuan to grow up illiterate.
“Yuan Yuan, stuck again? Can’t write it? I’ll teach you.”
As Qin Xun spoke, he stood behind Feng Yuan, wrapped his own hand around the little chubby hand, and personally guided him, stroke by stroke, across the paper.
Feng Yuan’s homework was entirely thanks to Qin Xun.
The patience Qin Xun showed with Feng Yuan was terrifyingly good.
No matter how clueless Feng Yuan was while doing homework, he never showed the slightest hint of impatience.
And once the homework was finished, Qin Xun would always praise him.
“Yuan Yuan is amazing. You did your homework so well.”
Having finished his homework, Feng Yuan’s little face, once furrowed, now bloomed into smiles.
He puckered his mouth and gave Qin Xun two smacking kisses on the cheek.
That was to thank Qin Xun for his help!
Other than the adults in Feng Yuan’s family, Qin Xun was the only one who could receive such grateful kisses.
“Qin Xun, the game console.”
The little one jumped down from the chair, eagerly stretching out his small hands to ask for the game console.
Qin Xun took it out for him, setting the rule: “We’ll only play for half an hour, then no more, alright?”
“It’s already too late. We still have to bathe and go to sleep.”
Feng Yuan answered with an “mm, mm,” but seeing how he didn’t even lift his head, Qin Xun knew he was just brushing him off.
They had gone out for a while that evening. Now that they were back and homework was finished, it was already very late.
Skilled from habit, Qin Xun first gathered the books and homework on the desk, packed them neatly into the little schoolbag.
Then, he led Feng Yuan to the room next door.
“Uncle, it’s time for Yuan Yuan to take a bath.”
“Got it. I’ll go run the water for him.”
Before Qin Xun’s footsteps reached the doorway, Li Ting had already released Su Miao.
He bound one of Su Miao’s hands to the headboard, then covered him with clothes.
Feng Yuan lowered his little head, fingers clattering away as he played his game.
Li Ting went to run the bathwater.
Feng Yuan plopped himself down on the bed. Seeing Su Miao lying there, he even got distracted enough to greet him.
“Little Auntie, are you sleeping here today too?”
While still gaming, he didn’t forget to tattletale: “Little Uncle sleeps really badly, you have to be careful, okay?”
Li Ting liked to sleep hugging people. Feng Yuan didn’t sleep with him anymore and instead slept in his own little bed.
“Yuan Yuan, come in.”
While Feng Yuan was still gaming and chatting away, Li Ting had already finished running the bath and called him from the bathroom.
Feng Yuan dawdled, not going over.
“Little Uncle, Yuan Yuan hasn’t finished his game yet.”
The game on his console was an online mini-game.
Feng Yuan even had teammates waiting for him in the game!
When it came to studying, he was hopeless, but when it came to figuring out games, he actually had quite the talent.
His chubby little hands swiped across the console, unwilling to let go for even a second.
Li Ting had already noticed his gaming addiction for some time.
“Feng Yuan, put the game down and come take a bath.”
Calling him out by full name didn’t work on Feng Yuan, but Qin Xun sharply sensed the danger in the air.
“Yuan Yuan.”
Qin Xun lowered his voice and said to him, “Don’t play for now, go bathe first.”
Feng Yuan didn’t listen.
Lying behind him, Su Miao glanced at the little one playing games and also tried to persuade him: “Little Fat Yuan, go bathe first. I’ll play your game for you.”
But Feng Yuan acted as if he hadn’t heard.
Seeing Li Ting about to come out, Qin Xun’s eyelid twitched. He directly snatched away Feng Yuan’s console and, before the boy could protest, shoved a piece of chocolate into his mouth.
Feng Yuan: “……”
Feng Yuan loved chocolate.
He licked his lips. Trading chocolate for his game console was something he could barely accept.
“Little Auntie, help me play for a bit, okay? Don’t just go AFK.”
“Don’t worry.”
Su Miao took the console from him and started playing in his stead.
This simple little game really was addictive once you got into it.
Su Miao could play it single-handedly and still couldn’t put it down.
Meanwhile, in the bathroom.
Feng Yuan, wearing a shower cap, was holding a little fishing rod in his chubby hand, fishing.
His bathtub was filled with a bunch of toy fish.
The fishing rod he held had a small magnet on the line, just enough to catch onto the magnets in the toy fishes.
This kind of toy, other kids could already play with when they were one year old.
But Feng Yuan was three now, and was only just starting to play with it.
He sat in the bathtub playing with his toys, while Li Ting squatted beside him, scrubbing his chubby little body.
Qin Xun was also helping out on the side.
Usually, during bath time, Li Ting would chat with Feng Yuan.
But today his mood wasn’t very good, so he didn’t say much while bathing him.
Soon after.
Feng Yuan was finished with his bath and carried out wrapped in a towel.
He was placed on the little bed to be rubbed down with lotion.
Li Ting finished applying it and had just turned to leave when a puzzled little childish voice piped up: “Aren’t you going to kiss Yuan Yuan?”
Fresh from his bath, the little one was fragrant and soft. After bathing him, the adults all loved to kiss his little face, little hands, little belly, and chubby little feet.
But today Li Ting hadn’t followed the usual routine, which left Feng Yuan a bit confused.
Just as Li Ting was about to step aside, his footsteps paused, and he came back.
He lowered his head to look at the soft little one.
The next second, he kissed the little one’s chubby face, chubby hands, chubby belly, and chubby feet.
Playing his game, Su Miao cast him a sideways glance.
After glancing, he clicked his tongue and exposed him: “And to think, someone once told me he got annoyed just looking at kids.”
Even said he’d never raise a child in this lifetime.
But now, looking at a certain someone, he seemed to be enjoying raising a kid quite a lot.
Li Ting lifted his eyes, looked at the speaking Su Miao. Since there was a child present, he didn’t argue with him.
Night grew deeper.
The big ones and little ones were all washed up, the two little ones sleeping in the small bed, the adults in the big bed.
Feng Yuan didn’t get to play the game console before bed either.
Instead, Qin Xun borrowed Li Ting’s phone, searched for math counting songs and English nursery rhymes.
The nursery rhymes Qin Xun had found hadn’t even all played through once before Feng Yuan was already fast asleep, breathing softly.
Seeing him asleep, Qin Xun also followed and drifted off.
The two little ones slept soundly.
The adults, however, didn’t sleep as well as they did.
Su Miao lay on the bed, the wrist that had been tied now loosened.
He was locked in Li Ting’s arms, unable to move at all.
“Li Ting, I’m dead.”
In the darkness, Su Miao’s voice sounded softly: “This time, for the two of us, it really is impossible.”
Su Miao wasn’t someone who believed in fate.
That was why, before, he had stubbornly refused to believe in the Li family’s talk of predestined partners.
But now, after being dead for two years, he was slowly coming to terms with it.
He didn’t want to keep trapping Li Ting anymore.
Li Ting couldn’t see ghosts. This time, he could see him. Maybe it was just a blind cat running into a dead mouse.
Maybe tomorrow, when they woke up, Li Ting would return to the way he was before.
The two of them really had no future.
As Su Miao spoke words of farewell, Li Ting expressionlessly locked him in his arms, his embrace tightening again and again.
With such heavy force, if it were Feng Yuan in his arms, Feng Yuan would already be angry by now.
But Su Miao didn’t get angry.
He only let out a sigh, making Li Ting face reality.
“You don’t need to think about me anymore. Your days are still long. Live well from now on.”
That night, Su Miao said many things. Again and again, it was all more or less the same meaning.
Li Ting listened quietly, not responding with a single word.
Until Su Miao buried his face in his chest, making no more sound and no more movement, as if he had fallen asleep.
Only then did Li Ting let out a sentence: “Even if you die, you must stay by my side.”
He, Li Ting, was not someone you could provoke whenever you wanted and then throw away whenever you pleased!
Once entangled with him, Li Ting, even in death and even as a ghost, there would be no escaping him.
The entanglements of adults, little Feng Yuan could not understand.
Feng Yuan only knew that his Dad’s birthday was coming. He had saved up his money for a long time. Now, it was finally going to be useful.
Feng Qi’s birthday was on Saturday.
On Friday, Feng Yuan still had to go to kindergarten. To buy a gift for his Dad, he took his money with him when he went to school in the morning.
He planned that after school, he would buy the gift before going home.
This way, when midnight passed, he could give the gift to his Dad!
Thinking about celebrating his Dad’s birthday, Feng Yuan became more and more delighted.
Not only delighted. Every little while, he had to take out his money and look at it.
He had a total of eighty-seven yuan and five mao!
Touching the money, Feng Yuan’s chubby little face curved into a smile, his eyes squinting with joy.
Beside him, Xu Jiale couldn’t help but poke his arm and whispered, “Yuan Yuan, don’t keep touching your money, it’s very dangerous.”
“What’s dangerous about it?”
Feng Yuan tilted his small face, asking in confusion.
Xu Jiale leaned closer and gossiped softly: “That classmate Pan Yong from the big class, all his pocket money got taken away by his family. Now, he’s asking us kids from the small class for pocket money.”
“He’s really fierce. He’s the kindergarten bully, you know.”
Feng Yuan: “?”
