In the children’s department examination room of the hospital, Director Ge, whose hair was already graying, carefully examined Feng Yuan from head to toe.
“Not serious. A mild dislocation of the forearm. I’ve already set it back in place. There are also some small injuries on his chin and arm. I’ve disinfected them with povidone-iodine. Just leave them exposed like this, don’t cover them up.”
After saying this, Director Ge lifted Feng Yuan, who was sitting on the bed covered with a disposable blue sheet, and handed him over to Li Sheng.
Li Sheng received his son, thanked the doctor, and was about to leave.
The director called out to him again: “Li Ting is also in the hospital. Aren’t you going to see him?”
Li Sheng: “Next time.”
Though he said “next time,” his words were clearly perfunctory, carrying rejection.
Hearing this, Director Ge didn’t press further.
After hesitating a moment, his gaze fell on the beautiful child in Li Sheng’s arms. He asked another question: “Does the Li family know about this child?”
Li Sheng: “……”
Li Sheng lifted his eyes toward him, his expression cold. His words were both a reply and a warning: “The Li family will not know.”
He would not let the Li family know about Feng Yuan’s existence.
Director Ge choked slightly. Under Li Sheng’s steady gaze, after a long pause, he nodded helplessly: “Alright. I promise. Your family won’t hear about Feng Yuan from me.”
“Mm.”
Li Sheng responded faintly, then carried his son out of the examination room in a few steps.
Nestled in Li Sheng’s arms, Feng Yuan pressed his chubby little face against him, looking a bit puzzled: “Big Daddy, why can’t people know about Yuan Yuan?”
Big Daddy’s home had many people. Feng Yuan knew that.
Those people were also his relatives.
Feng Yuan couldn’t understand why Big Daddy had to keep it a secret.
He scrunched up his round little face, looking at Li Sheng. Even his soft, childish voice took on a serious tone: “Is Yuan Yuan not good?”
Li Sheng: “No.”
Perhaps it was the natural bond between father and son, but in Li Sheng’s eyes, the chubby little Yuan Yuan in his arms was the best child in the world.
There was no other child who could be more beautiful, more adorable than Feng Yuan.
And Feng Yuan, too. Even though he often muttered that Li Sheng was bad, whenever he truly saw him, he instinctively relied on him.
“Yuan Yuan, your grandparents’ house is not like a normal family.”
Li Sheng didn’t want to go into too much detail about the Li family’s situation.
He only summarized in a calm voice: “It’s a good thing that you don’t go back.”
Feng Yuan didn’t quite understand.
Putting on an air of thoughtfulness, he stiffened his little bun-like face. After a few seconds, as if half understanding, he declared, “Grandpa and Grandma’s house, not good! Then Yuan Yuan won’t go.”
The hospital was filled with the smell of disinfectant.
With his round eyes wide open, Feng Yuan looked all around the hospital.
He was looking for Li Ting’s ward.
“Daddy, are we going to see Little Uncle? Little Uncle is in the hospital.”
Although the relationship between Li Sheng and Li Ting didn’t seem very good, Feng Yuan still cared about Li Ting. He had always wanted to come see him again.
“Your Little Uncle doesn’t like being disturbed.”
Li Sheng said calmly, “It’s already noon now. Don’t you want to go eat?”
“I do!”
Distracted by Big Daddy’s change of topic, Feng Yuan puffed up his chubby belly and even patted it with his little hand: “Tummy’s flat!”
Holding him, Li Sheng quickened his steps: “We’ll go eat right now.”
There were many restaurants outside, offering all kinds of cuisines.
As Li Sheng was choosing a place, he asked casually, “Do kids like to eat the parent-child set meals?”
Feng Yuan had gone out for nice meals a few times with Officer Xiao Lin.
Shaking his little head, he explained to Li Sheng, “Yuan Yuan eats the children’s set meal. The parent-child set meal is for eating with Dad—”
At the mention of “Dad”, Feng Yuan’s words trailed off.
The next second.
He suddenly hugged Li Sheng’s neck tightly, his eyes sparkling as he looked at him. His tender, milky voice was soft and sweet: “Big Daddy, let’s go find Dad and eat together, okay?”
“Dad should eat, too!”
“Yuan Yuan begs you, please!”
Feng Yuan clung to Li Sheng’s neck, pleading with all his might.
He begged for quite a while before Li Sheng’s expression finally softened.
“Considering how pitiful you were this morning, I’ll grant you this request now.”
After speaking calmly, Li Sheng made a phone call right there.
He directly ordered an RV.
From the outside, the RV didn’t look like anything special, but once inside, the luxury was immediately clear.
The entire vehicle’s air conditioning was on, and stepping in brought a refreshing chill.
It was equipped for cooking. The large refrigerator was stocked full of all kinds of ingredients.
The moment Feng Yuan got inside, he started playing.
He crawled and clambered everywhere, having the time of his life.
The driver parked the RV outside the film set.
Li Sheng glanced at Feng Yuan, who was wrapped up in a quilt on the big bed, but he didn’t go over to play with him.
Instead, he rolled up his sleeves, revealing a strong, well-built forearm, and began working busily at the kitchen counter.
Soon.
The aroma of food filled the RV. The driver went into the film set to invite Feng Qi over.
As for Feng Yuan, he quickly scrambled down from the bed, bare feet padding over to cling to Li Sheng’s leg.
“Big Daddy.”
Feng Yuan wrapped his two little hands around Li Sheng’s leg. Tilting up his soft, bun-like face, he asked, “Can Yuan Yuan have just one bite first?”
Li Sheng lowered his gaze, looking at that little face on the verge of drooling, and reached out to pinch it.
After that, he handed over a drumstick.
“Eat.”
Li Sheng had cooked braised chicken drumsticks, cola chicken wings, spicy stir-fried beef, a plate of stir-fried greens, and spinach egg-drop soup.
He was very skilled at cooking; when the dishes were finished, the kitchen counter was still spotless, without a trace of mess.
Feng Yuan held the big drumstick, eating until his little mouth was shiny with grease.
By the time Feng Qi arrived, Feng Yuan’s drumstick had only a few bites left.
He handed the nearly finished drumstick back to Li Sheng, then waddled on his short legs straight toward his dad for a hug.
Feng Qi: “Wait.”
With his slender, elegant fingers, Feng Qi pressed against his son’s forehead, stopping him from coming any closer.
“Go wash up before hugging Dad.”
The clothes Feng Qi wore were provided by the crew—branded, expensive.
But Feng Yuan’s little hands, little face, and even his clothes were all greasy.
Feng Qi couldn’t allow the little one to hug him like that.
Rejected by Dad, Feng Yuan didn’t feel wronged. He simply turned his small body and let Li Sheng wash him clean.
Li Sheng still held half a chicken drumstick in his hand.
He frowned and asked, “Not eating the drumstick anymore?”
Feng Yuan: “No more!”
Blinking his eyes, his little face beamed with a sweet smile: “Giving it to Big Daddy to eat!”
Li Sheng: “……”
Li Sheng didn’t really want to eat it.
But the little one was staring at him, wearing the look of a dutiful child being filial.
After a few seconds of silence, he ate the remaining meat in just a few bites.
The kitchen counter was a bit high.
Li Sheng propped Feng Yuan up in one arm, turned on the faucet, and rinsed him off.
Seeing this, Feng Qi walked over in a few quick steps: “You hold him, I’ll wash him.”
“Mm.”
Li Sheng held his son while Feng Qi took some hand soap, worked up bubbles, and washed Feng Yuan’s little hands, then cleaned his face as well.
As for the clothes, they couldn’t be washed, so they could only be wiped down.
With both adults working together—washing and wiping—Feng Yuan finally became a bit cleaner.
As he wished, he was then carried into his dad’s arms.
Feng Qi held him while sitting at the dining table, his gaze already noticing the spots on Feng Yuan’s chin and arm where iodine had been applied.
However, he didn’t rush to ask.
The three of them sat together for lunch, with Feng Yuan placed in his own chair to eat by himself.
“In the bag I brought for him, there’s a bib.”
Feng Qi took a sip of spinach soup and said to Li Sheng, “He tends to get messy when eating. Next time, you can put it on him at meals.”
Hearing this, Li Sheng lifted his eyes to glance at him: “You put it in the bag? I didn’t see it. Look for it tonight when you get back.”
Feng Qi: “?”
Feng Qi: “I’m not going back to your place tonight. You’re the one staying with Yuan Yuan tonight.”
He had already told Li Sheng before: he was only sending Feng Yuan over; he himself wouldn’t stay there.
Li Sheng listened to this without saying anything.
From the corner of his eye, he glanced at Feng Yuan.
As expected, the little one, who had been happily munching on his cola chicken wing, suddenly froze.
His small hand still clutched the drumstick, his bun-like face slowly lifted as he looked toward Feng Qi.
“Dad, you’re not living with Yuan Yuan?”
Feng Qi: “……”
Feng Qi’s eyelids twitched. His tone faltered for a moment, but he still said: “That’s right. Dad will be pretty busy during this period. So for now, Yuan Yuan will stay with Big Daddy—”
The rest of Feng Qi’s words hadn’t even been spoken.
From his chair, Feng Yuan, with his chubby little face stern, had already jumped down.
His small body stood firmly in front of Feng Qi, puffed up with anger.
“Yuan Yuan is going to make a fuss!”
That milky little voice was like a signal!
And the moment the signal was given, Feng Yuan flopped down on the floor, spreading out his hands and feet.
He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, his expression resolute: “If Dad won’t live with Yuan Yuan, then Yuan Yuan will never get up again!”
As he said this, he even threw his chicken wing down with a plop: “Yuan Yuan doesn’t want to eat either!”
Feng Qi: “……”
Feng Qi looked at his son lying on the floor making a scene, his head beginning to ache.
He turned his head toward Li Sheng beside him.
According to all the wealthy-family dramas he had heard of, someone with Li Sheng’s background, after finding out he had a child, should only want the child, not the child’s mother, right?
So why was it that when he saw Feng Yuan clinging to him, Li Sheng did not react at all?
“Li Sheng.”
Unable to hold back, Feng Qi called his name in a low voice.
Li Sheng, who was calmly eating as though he hadn’t even noticed the child lying on the floor, answered faintly: “I can’t coax him.”
Feng Qi was honestly at his wits’ end with him.
With Li Sheng completely ignoring the situation, Feng Qi had no choice but to coax his son.
He coaxed for a long time, but Feng Yuan stubbornly refused to give in.
This little one could be really obstinate at times.
Seeing that all his words were useless, Feng Qi could only turn his gaze back toward Li Sheng.
“Li Sheng, at your place… leave a room for me.”
Li Sheng: “Alright.”
Li Sheng answered without the slightest hesitation.
His reply came so quickly that, for a moment, it made Feng Qi suspicious.
But right after, Li Sheng added, “If you’re there at night, you can help bathe him. When I bathe him, he scratches me and leaves a lot of marks.”
Feng Qi: “……”
Got it.
This was clearly about letting him move in to share the work of looking after Yuan Yuan.
“When Yuan Yuan was a little over one year old, he nearly drowned. That’s why he’s afraid of water.”
Feng Qi casually explained the reason behind Feng Yuan’s fear of water.
After he finished explaining, he reached out, intending to pick Feng Yuan up.
But before his hand even touched the little one, Li Sheng came over, scooped him up, and set him back on the chair.
“Your clothes.”
After setting the little one down, Li Sheng casually reminded Feng Qi behind him.
The grease on Feng Yuan’s little clothes, hands, and face could easily dirty Feng Qi’s clothes.
This bit of attentiveness took Feng Qi by surprise.
The meal went on.
Having gotten his dad’s promise that they would live together, Feng Yuan’s gloomy little face quickly brightened up again.
Happily, he even ate an extra bowl of rice.
When lunch was over, the two of them cleaned Feng Yuan up properly.
“What time do you start work?”
While searching for clean clothes to change Feng Yuan into, Li Sheng asked Feng Qi.
Feng Qi replied: “Two-thirty.”
Li Sheng glanced at the time. It was still not yet one o’clock.
“There’s a bed in the RV. You and Yuan Yuan should take a nap before you leave.”
The RV Li Sheng had arranged was fully equipped. The bed inside was a custom-made, large one, its comfort no less than the one in Yu Yi’s room.
Feng Qi looked at the bed and couldn’t resist the temptation.
His health wasn’t good. After a whole morning of work and snatching moments to track down the evil spirits’ presence, his body was already quite exhausted.
He really did need to rest now.
Feng Yuan, already changed into fresh clothes, had climbed onto the bed.
“Dad, come on!”
His little chubby hands slapped the bed hard, inviting Dad to lie down and sleep.
Li Sheng didn’t go over. He had opened his laptop and seemed to be browsing something at the desk.
Feng Qi moved toward the bed, lowering his head to glance at the expensive, easily wrinkled clothes he was wearing.
Just as he was looking, Li Sheng’s voice came over.
“In the bag on the little table by the bed, those are your clothes.”
Feng Qi froze for a moment.
When he opened the bag, he found that the sizes of the clothes inside seemed to match what he wore.
Though his build was on the thinner side, he was still 1.8 meters tall, so his clothing size wasn’t small.
But compared with Li Sheng, who stood at 1.89 meters, with solid, streamlined muscles, their sizes still differed by two numbers.
“There are pajamas inside.”
Li Sheng was tapping at the keyboard. Nobody knew what he was typing. When he spoke, he didn’t even glance at Feng Qi: “Yuan Yuan wants to see you in new clothes. You can try them on and see if they fit.”
Holding the clothes, Feng Qi fixed his stunning, soul-catching eyes on Li Sheng for a long moment.
Li Sheng, meanwhile, continued tapping at the keyboard.
Feng Qi curved his lips slightly: “Thanks, these should fit.”
There was a bathroom in the RV.
But Feng Qi didn’t go there. He simply took off his shirt right by the bed.
His movements as he changed clothes were unhurried, as if he wasn’t afraid Li Sheng might turn his head to look.
And just as he expected, Li Sheng never turned around.
Once Feng Qi finished changing and lay down on the bed, Feng Yuan immediately clung to his dad, his little face full of happiness as he nestled in to nap together.
At the desk, Li Sheng, hearing the sounds from the bed, finally lit up the computer screen that had gone dark for some time.
The screen displayed a document written entirely in English.
Li Sheng’s Adam’s apple moved; it took him quite a while to steady his heartbeat again.
This nap was a good one for Feng Qi.
When he woke up, he found his son, cheeks flushed from sleep, nestled in his arms, while the RV carried the faint fragrance of tea.
Everything around him was quiet. The atmosphere was so pleasant that it made one sink into it.
Feng Qi closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
Relying on sheer willpower, he pushed himself up from the bed.
Not far away, Li Sheng was still at the desk, like a statue.
Feng Qi didn’t call out to him; he simply changed his clothes on his own.
“Yuan Yuan is still sleeping. When he wakes up, make sure to give him some water.”
“Mm.”
“And also, the reason Yuan Yuan can take human form is most likely because of you. His uncle Bai Ze once said that with his father’s aura present, the defect in his transformation can be mended. Try to spend more time with him.”
“Mm.”
“Once that flaw in his transformation is fixed, maybe his other defects might slowly improve too.”
This last line from Feng Qi was more of a casual murmur.
Li Sheng’s hearing was sharp, and he caught it clearly: “What other defects does he have?”
Feng Qi smiled lightly, his tone carrying no sense that his son’s other shortcomings were anything terrible.
“He’s a little phoenix. By rights, he should be able to breathe fire.”
“Phoenix fire can burn away evil spirits.”
“But right now, he’s still too young, and besides, I’m not dead yet. There’s no need for such a little one to exorcise evil.”
Feng Qi’s only expectation for Feng Yuan had always been just one.
To be safe and sound.
He hoped his little phoenix could always live safely and peacefully.
The two of them chatted about Feng Yuan for a bit, but not for long. Soon after, Feng Qi left the RV and went to the film crew.
As he got out of the vehicle, he even spotted a familiar face within the crew.
Smiling, he offered a greeting.
The other person looked at him, then at the RV behind him, their expression a little strange: “Feng Qi, didn’t you say you were very poor?”
Feng Qi nodded, readily admitting: “I am very poor.”
The other pointed at the RV behind him: “Poor, yet you still have an RV worth over a million?”
Feng Qi: “……”
Feng Qi: “How much?”
He knew Li Sheng was wealthy, but he still found himself constantly shocked by just how wealthy he actually was.
After Feng Qi’s explanation, the familiar crew worker reluctantly accepted that the RV wasn’t his, but belonged to a newly acquainted friend.
And he wasn’t particularly close with the RV’s owner.
Time slowly passed.
The scorching sun gradually drew back its fiery heat.
Li Sheng spent the afternoon with Feng Yuan without any further incidents.
That evening, Feng Qi also moved into Li Sheng’s home.
With Feng Qi living there, Feng Yuan naturally didn’t sleep with Li Sheng anymore. He clung tightly to his dad, insisting on sleeping with him.
Under the same roof, with the three of them together, who knew what the two adults were thinking.
In any case, Feng Yuan was overjoyed.
By day, he followed Big Daddy; by night, he nestled close to Dad.
But only a few days into such a life, his joy disappeared.
Although Li Sheng’s office was big, Feng Yuan had already explored every nook and cranny.
He didn’t want to stay in the office keeping Big Daddy company at work anymore.
“I want to play with Qin Xun.”
Early that morning, unwilling to get in the car, Feng Yuan dug out his fertilizer sack. With his chubby little face full of determination, he informed Li Sheng: “Big Daddy, you’re already an adult, you have to go to work by yourself!”
He couldn’t keep delaying his own business just because of Big Daddy.
These past few days, in the neighborhood and even on the road when going out, he had discovered lots of junk he could collect!
Looking at his son, who was so eager to pick up trash, Li Sheng’s lips twitched for once.
Father and son standoff lasted quite a while.
In the end, it was Feng Yuan who won. He watched as Li Sheng’s car drove off into the distance, then, with his short little legs, he happily trotted off to find Qin Xun to go scavenging together.
Right now, all he was thinking about was collecting as much junk as possible.
But what he didn’t expect was that his little uncle, who was rushing in his direction, would completely ruin his scavenging plans!
