Feng Yuan’s little milky voice was full of sincerity. As he spoke, he even wanted to climb onto Li Ting’s lap to sit.
Li Ting looked at this little snake in the cub’s hand and, without a change in expression, quietly retreated a little.
The voice on the phone was still sounding.
Feng Yuan perked up his little ears, wanting to continue listening to Big Daddy’s words. As for Little Uncle’s retreat, he didn’t have the time to think too much about it.
“Yuan Yuan, is Li Ting willing to live with you?”
After Li Sheng finished giving his important instructions, his deep voice sounded a bit more relaxed. Leaning back against the seat, he finally brought up Li Ting.
Feng Yuan was very satisfied with this Little Uncle, Li Ting.
He gave a heavy “Mm,” and with his little milky voice firm and decisive, replied: “Of course, he’s willing! Little Uncle likes Yuan Yuan.”
Li Ting: “?”
Nonsense!
Feeling that he absolutely did not like Feng Yuan, Li Ting kept a straight face and took two steps forward, wanting to take the phone.
But just as he took two steps, Feng Yuan curved his eyes into a smile, coiling his little black snake in his hand, and stretched out his arms for a hug.
Li Ting: “……”
Li Ting’s foot, which had just been lifted, was drawn back again.
Throughout this phone call, there wasn’t a single exchange between Li Sheng and Li Ting.
Li Sheng only spoke with his son.
After he finished speaking, he hung up the call and then instructed the driver: “Let’s go directly to Jia City.”
“Not picking up Young Master?”
The driver started the car, and before turning around, cautiously asked.
Li Sheng glanced at the quiet private villa not far away and said faintly: “No need.”
As the car drove away from the secluded villa area, Li Sheng closed his eyes and leaned against the seat, not knowing whether he was thinking of Feng Yuan in the villa or of Feng Qi, who had gone to Jia City with someone.
Jia City was right next door, not particularly far, just a three-hour drive away.
Tonight, there would be a lively banquet in Jia City.
Feng Qi, however, hadn’t said he would attend the banquet. He only said there was a filming.
In a studio in Jia City, a set of photos would be taken for twenty thousand yuan.
Twenty thousand yuan couldn’t even buy one of Li Sheng’s ties.
But twenty thousand yuan was enough for Feng Qi and Feng Yuan to cover a whole year’s living expenses in the alley.
Now that Feng Yuan had been taken in by Li Sheng, Feng Qi actually no longer needed to earn so much for living costs.
But he wanted to leave more inheritance for Feng Yuan. So when he heard about the twenty-thousand-yuan pay, he agreed without a second thought.
For this trip, he truly hadn’t thought too much about it.
Li Sheng, however, who received the news, was not so carefree.
With just a little inquiry, Li Sheng found out that right near Feng Qi’s photo shoot location was exactly where the evening banquet would be held.
And the person who had brought Feng Qi over for this job turned out to be a guest of this banquet.
Among the people attending this banquet, there were quite a few who were not of upright character.
After receiving this information, Li Sheng sat in his office for a moment.
Moments later, he informed his driver of a new itinerary.
Assistant Gao saw that he was about to leave and didn’t stop him, only offering a suggestion.
“Mr. Feng Qi’s looks are outstanding. It’s inevitable that there will be flies buzzing around him. President Li, if you want Mr. Feng Qi to have some peace, all that’s needed is to let people know that Mr. Feng Qi is not as simple and easy to bully as they might think.”
What Assistant Gao said—he knew that Li Sheng already understood it in his heart.
But he still went out of his way to point it out.
The relationship between Li Sheng and Feng Qi was not ordinary. Assistant Gao had seen that with his own eyes.
But apart from him, no one else knew of this relationship.
No one knew, which meant that in the eyes of outsiders, this beauty Feng Qi was simply someone with no background at all, a prey that could be plotted against and hunted as they pleased.
Assistant Gao didn’t want Feng Qi to be surrounded in such a situation, encircled by a pack of wolves. After his somewhat blunt reminder, Li Sheng lifted his eyes and glanced at him.
Li Sheng didn’t say much more. After just that glance, he calmly instructed him to postpone a few tasks.
The car sped forward smoothly.
Li Sheng neither read a book in the car nor closed his eyes to rest. Holding his phone, he was looking at his WeChat page.
Li Ting had just removed him from the blocklist on WeChat and, at the same time, sent him a message.
“Leaving your son with me, do you know what will happen?”
Li Sheng acted as though he hadn’t seen the message at all. His eyelids didn’t even twitch as he sent over a screenshot of a memo.
The memo recorded Feng Yuan’s little daily matters.
From “don’t give him spicy food when eating”, “don’t give him a whole ice cream”, to “be careful not to bend his arm when changing clothes”, and even “he must be bathed before going to bed”…
Li Ting only looked at it for two seconds before his face darkened. He furiously typed out a reply.
“Li Sheng, when we were kids, you ordered me around like a servant. Now that we’re grown, you still want me to be a servant for your son? Dream on! I’m telling you, I will definitely make him cry.”
Li Sheng: “Yuan Yuan doesn’t know how to control himself when eating. You don’t need to ask if he’s full, just touch his stomach.”
Li Ting: “?”
Li Sheng: “Before bed, Yuan Yuan likes to listen to storybooks. Search for these few books and read them to him.”
Li Ting: “Get lost.”
Li Sheng: “[Image] This is a children’s bathing gadget. Buy one, it’s useful.”
Li Ting: “Get lost, far away.”
After cursing that last sentence, Li Ting didn’t give even a second and directly blocked Li Sheng again.
When Li Sheng saw he’d been blocked, he did not react.
He was still looking at WeChat, but not because he was waiting for Li Ting’s messages.
A moment later.
A new WeChat user, using Feng Yuan’s photo as the profile picture and with the nickname “Yuan Yuan’s Dad”, sent Li Sheng a message.
Yuan Yuan’s Dad: “You’re really coming here on a business trip?”
Li Sheng: “Mm.”
Yuan Yuan’s Dad: “That’s just right. Once I finish work, I’ll get paid. I’ll come find you and pay you back the money for the phone.”
Li Sheng: “No need.”
Yuan Yuan’s Dad: “Take it. Last time you bought clothes for me, I didn’t give you money for that either.”
Li Sheng: “Last time, it was Yuan Yuan’s thought.”
Yuan Yuan’s Dad: “Then this time with the phone, too?”
Li Sheng paused for a moment and didn’t reply immediately.
He didn’t respond, but on the other side, a few more messages came through.
Yuan Yuan’s Dad: “Not saying more, I need to get busy.”
Yuan Yuan’s Dad: “I’ll contact you after work is done.”
Yuan Yuan’s Dad: “Your younger brother is helping take care of Yuan Yuan today. Don’t forget to say thank you.”
After these few messages were sent, the chat box instantly quieted down.
Li Sheng looked at the messages for a long while, then typed out a message.
But in the next second, he clicked “recall” and re-edited it into a single word: “Okay.”
Both fathers had gone to the neighboring city, and the one left behind in the home city, Feng Yuan, neither cried nor made a fuss, nor did he call for Dad.
At that moment, under Li Ting’s unwavering gaze, he was putting the little black snake—after playing with it for half the day—back into its box.
“Hei Hei is sleepy. Let Hei Hei go to sleep.”
Feng Yuan’s little chubby hands weren’t very careful. When he grabbed and coiled the snake, the strength in his movements didn’t seem light at all.
Yet the little black snake he was holding didn’t bite him.
The little black snake rubbed against him gently, looking very affectionate with him.
Li Ting frowned as he watched: “Did Li Sheng teach you to play with snakes?”
Feng Yuan shook his head, his milky voice soft and sticky as he denied: “Nope. Big Daddy doesn’t have any pets at home. He only raised Yuan Yuan.”
Li Ting didn’t believe it.
Facing his suspicious gaze, Feng Yuan tilted his head, thought for a few seconds, then grinned with a wide little smile: “Little Uncle, Yuan Yuan is a little phoenix. No animal dares to bite Yuan Yuan.”
The phoenix was an ancient divine beast, a symbol of auspiciousness, with a bloodline born innately powerful.
Although Feng Yuan was still just a little phoenix who hadn’t grown up yet, he still carried some of the power of that bloodline. Suppressing little animals without spiritual wisdom was no problem at all.
Li Ting’s frown deepened even more.
What little phoenix?
Kids these days. The things they mutter are all nonsense.
After Feng Yuan put the snake away, he went to seek a hug from Li Ting.
Li Ting: “No hugging. Go wash your hands.”
Feng Yuan: “……”
Feng Yuan: “Okay then.”
Feng Yuan loved picking up junk. His daddy always made him wash his hands.
So, towards this request to wash hands, Feng Yuan didn’t resist.
He washed his little hands clean and even washed his own little face. This time, when he dove headfirst onto Li Ting’s lap, Li Ting didn’t avoid him.
“Little Uncle.”
Hugging Li Ting’s leg, Feng Yuan tilted up his pretty little face still dripping with water droplets, and with his soft, milky voice pleaded: “Yuan Yuan is hungry. Give Yuan Yuan a bowl of rice to eat.”
Li Ting: “……”
Li Ting glanced at the time. Indeed, it was mealtime.
Thinking of Li Sheng’s memo, he lowered his eyes and asked: “Yuan Yuan, do you want to eat food I cook?”
Feng Yuan: “Ah?”
Feng Yuan thought about it. Since his own Big Daddy’s cooking was so delicious, Big Daddy’s younger brother’s cooking should be okay, too.
He nodded, ignoring Big Daddy’s phone reminder. With a good temper, he agreed: “Okay! Little Uncle, make Yuan Yuan some Cola chicken wings. Yuan Yuan loves chicken wings.”
Li Ting: “Alright.”
Having only cooked a few times ever since he was young, Li Ting carried the little cub who trusted him completely. The uncle and nephew entered the kitchen together.
Half an hour later.
“Boom——”
A loud explosion blasted through the kitchen. Thick smoke, as if a gate had been opened, filled the kitchen scattered with broken porcelain shards, then drifted out from the kitchen, like it was chasing after the panic-stricken pair, one big and one small, who rushed out.
Feng Yuan’s little face was blackened from the blast. His already slightly curly hair now had a natural perm.
Li Ting, holding him, wasn’t in much better shape.
The big one and the little one, both with blackened faces, looked at each other. Their heads were still buzzing.
No one knew how much time had passed.
Feng Yuan’s dazed little face finally regained some strength, and he came back to his senses.
With eyes brimming with tears, he looked at Li Ting, his little milky voice dragged with a sob: “Yuan Yuan is scared.”
Li Ting held him, his own face darkened with soot. He forcefully tried to make up an excuse: “My kitchen was definitely tampered with.”
“When I find out who did it, I won’t let them off!”
As he spoke, Li Ting carried Feng Yuan into the bathroom.
The showerhead above was turned on.
Inside the bathroom, Feng Yuan looked in the mirror. After looking, for the first time, he didn’t resist taking a bath.
Before bathing, Li Ting made a phone call, asking someone to deliver food and also to bring a few sets of clothes.
He checked Feng Yuan’s current clothing size and told them to buy accordingly.
Li Ting brought Feng Yuan into the bathroom, originally intending for him to wash properly by himself.
But after observing for a few seconds, Li Ting realized—
This little fellow only washed his own face and chubby little hands, at most giving his small arms a quick rub.
As for the rest, he didn’t touch them at all.
“Yuan Yuan, wash more thoroughly.”
“Thoroughly!”
Feng Yuan raised his little hands for him to see. Those two little hands were indeed white, tender, and very clean.
Li Ting fell silent for a moment, then crouched down to personally scrub his body.
“Since you’re covered in soot from the blast, I’ll wash you this once.”
Li Ting worked up some foam, scrubbing the chubby little body under his hands.
Just looking at him in clothes, one couldn’t tell how plump Feng Yuan really was.
Now that his clothes were off, Li Ting finally realized how much baby fat this little fellow was hiding.
So much dough-like flesh. No wonder holding him felt both heavy and soft.
By the time the big one and the little one had both finished bathing, changed clothes, and sat at the dining table, it was already one-thirty in the afternoon.
Feng Yuan was so hungry he’d gone limp.
Once the food arrived, he didn’t even want to be fed. Clutching the spoon in his own hand, he started eating mouthful after mouthful.
Li Ting normally didn’t have much of an appetite.
But watching the chubby cub eat so heartily, he too actually felt a bit of an appetite as he kept watching.
After the meal, Feng Yuan wanted to take a nap.
He had really worn himself out today. His little body needed to recharge.
Li Ting took him to choose a room, planning to let him sleep on his own.
But Feng Yuan, sleeping in a strange house for the first time, clung tightly to Li Ting and wouldn’t let go.
“Yuan Yuan doesn’t want to sleep alone. Yuan Yuan wants to sleep with Little Uncle!”
Under Feng Yuan’s strong insistence, Li Ting frowned and reluctantly agreed: “Just so happens I want to rest, too. I’ll allow you to sleep on my bed for a while.”
As Li Ting spoke, he returned to his own bedroom.
The big one and the little one lay down on the soft and comfortable bed. Feng Yuan sprawled out with his little hands and feet, and very soon fell asleep.
He was utterly exhausted, so his sleep was deep and heavy.
Beside him, Li Ting’s quality of sleep also seemed to improve.
Two even and steady breaths sounded softly. In the house shrouded with ghostly aura, this scene appeared especially warm.
While Li Ting and Feng Yuan were sleeping, the old man who had spoken to Feng Yuan on the phone, no, Old Master Li, summoned someone.
“Li An, go see if there’s a child by Li Ting’s side.”
Thinking of that little milky voice on the phone, Old Master Li’s gaze sank: “If there is a child, make sure the child stays away from Li Ting in time.”
“Yes.”
Li An received the order and immediately departed, setting off on the journey back to the country.
Time passed little by little.
The sleeping Feng Yuan was pulled into Li Ting’s arms.
Li Ting’s strength was far too heavy. He was holding Feng Yuan so tightly that Feng Yuan could hardly breathe.
Feng Yuan’s little face flushed red from suffocation. Eyes still shut, he instinctively struggled to break free.
After struggling for quite a while, he finally managed to roll out of Li Ting’s arms.
Not sleeping well, Feng Yuan groggily opened his eyes, sat up, and sat there for a few seconds.
A few seconds later, he toppled back down and continued sleeping.
This time, he chose a spot a little farther away from Li Ting.
He hadn’t slept long.
Just as Feng Yuan sank into sweet dreams again, Li Ting’s large hand reached over to grope for him.
Li Ting still wanted to pull him into his arms.
But Feng Yuan, unwilling to be hugged so closely, rolled to the right with his eyes still closed.
Once wasn’t enough. For safety’s sake, he rolled a few more times.
After the last roll, there was only a “thud” sound, as the small figure at the edge of the big bed landed directly on the floor.
Li Ting’s floor wasn’t like Li Sheng’s, fully carpeted.
His wooden floor had nothing on it.
Feng Yuan, who had rolled off, hit his head on the wood and immediately started crying.
He cried terribly loudly.
Li Ting, deep in sleep, was startled awake and instinctively looked down at the floor.
On the floor, the little cub lay with his chubby little hands covering his head, still not sitting up.
He was lying there crying.
Li Ting’s heart tightened as he picked up the little cub from the floor: “What happened? Such a big bed, and you still rolled off?”
Feng Yuan was crying too hard to speak.
The spot his little hands were covering was clearly swollen.
Li Ting looked at the bump, said nothing, and immediately took the crying little cub—crying like a sprinkler—to the hospital.
At the pediatric department, Director Ge, upon seeing the crying Feng Yuan, sighed deeply.
A couple of days ago, Li Sheng had just taken Feng Yuan to treat scratches from other children. Today, Li Ting had brought Feng Yuan to treat a bump from hitting his head.
These two Li brothers taking care of the little cub really made one anxious for him.
“Li Ting.”
After skillfully treating Feng Yuan’s swollen bump, Director Ge hesitated for a few seconds but still offered a suggestion: “Yuan Yuan is three years old. When school starts, you should send him to school.”
Sending him to school might be a bit safer than staying at home.
Li Ting understood the meaning behind Doctor Ge’s words. Holding the little cub who was already exhausted from crying, his eyebrows and eyes were full of defiance.
“This was an accident.”
Li Ting, stirred, felt a surge of fighting spirit: “He’s just a child. If I, Li Ting, want to take care of him, there’s nothing I can’t handle.”
Doctor Ge: “……”
For some reason, hearing Li Ting’s bold declaration didn’t make Director Ge feel reassured. Instead, he had an even worse premonition.
And it wasn’t just him. Feng Yuan, sitting on his lap, was also so frightened. He hiccuped while holding back his tears.
“Little Uncle.”
Feng Yuan stifled his crying. He pressed his swollen forehead, tears welling up as he looked at Li Ting, who was supposed to take good care of him. His milky voice trembled as he spoke: “Don’t take care of Yuan Yuan anymore. Let Yuan Yuan take care of you.”
He had been brought around by Little Uncle, got hurt in the blast, went hungry, finally managed a nap in the afternoon, and still banged his head badly enough to end up in the hospital.
If this continued, Feng Yuan felt—
He might never see both of his fathers again.
“You don’t trust me?”
Hearing Feng Yuan’s words, Li Ting’s expression darkened further.
He picked up the little cub and, without giving him a chance to respond, declared firmly: “From now on, watch closely. I’ll take care of you, and it’ll be much better than how Li Sheng takes care of you!”
Feng Yuan: “……”
Feng Yuan didn’t believe it.
Obrigada pela tradução 😘💓