It was already late at night.
Feng Yuan, having just taken a short nap, was full of energy and looked very spirited.
He hugged Li Heng in a sticky, clinging way.
Seeing that Li Heng hadn’t said anything, he tilted his little head and thought seriously for a moment.
“Grandpa, is it because you didn’t buy a gift for my dad, so you feel embarrassed?”
Feng Yuan felt he understood Grandpa’s concern.
His beautiful eyes curved like crescent moons. In his soft, sweet voice, he said considerately, “Yuan Yuan has prepared a gift. Grandpa doesn’t need to.”
He hadn’t told Grandpa in advance about Dad’s birthday.
It was perfectly normal that Grandpa didn’t have a gift ready.
The little, thoughtful, chubby boy comforted Grandpa, making him feel no need to be embarrassed.
The grandfather and grandson stayed together. With Feng Yuan around, the atmosphere was actually quite pleasant.
Li An stepped aside, intending to make a little late-night snack for the two of them—one big, one small.
Before he even reached the kitchen, there was a noise outside the door.
For some reason, Li An’s eyelid twitched.
He strode over and opened the door.
The door opened.
Feng Qi, in his pajamas, came into view.
Feng Qi’s face carried a faint anger. His gaze passed over Li An, looking into the room.
“Where’s Yuan Yuan?”
“He’s inside. He’s playing happily with his grandpa.”
Li An explained quietly, “Sir means no harm to Yuan Yuan.”
Feng Yuan was Li Heng’s biological grandson. Although Li Heng had never been particularly affectionate toward children, he was responsible toward his own.
Feng Qi couldn’t be bothered to listen to Li An’s useless words.
He took a few steps inside and called toward the room, “Yuan Yuan!”
Li Sheng followed Feng Qi in.
His expression was heavy, clearly displeased with the old master’s sudden appearance tonight.
Li An, seeing the family gathering together, hesitated for a moment but eventually followed them in.
In the living room.
Feng Qi hadn’t even approached yet when he heard Feng Yuan’s giggles.
Feng Yuan was an active little boy. Except when sleeping or in class, he never stopped for a second.
Just now, he had tried to pull Li Heng up, but couldn’t manage it. His little body fell onto the sofa in an instant.
The sofa was soft.
Falling on it didn’t hurt. He just found it a bit fun.
So he deliberately grabbed Li Heng’s big hand and then purposely let go, tumbling down with a “plop”.
His giggles were full of pure joy.
Li Heng’s gaze fixed straight on him. On that usually stern, rarely smiling face, there seemed to be a slight softening.
“Grandpa, touch Yuan Yuan’s feet.”
Feng Yuan, sprawled on the sofa, stretched out his little chubby feet for Li Heng to touch.
Li Heng paused for a moment and reached out his hand.
Before he could even touch the little one’s feet, the little guy suddenly pulled them back.
Li Heng: “……”
Understood.
This was an invitation to play along.
Before coming, Feng Qi had imagined a whole bunch of scenarios.
In the scenes he imagined, his precious little boy was panicked and pitiful after being taken away.
Now, on the spot.
He looked at the little guy pressing his chubby feet right against the old master’s face and fell silent.
Earlier, he had heard Li Sheng speak to him himself—
The old master’s personality was rigid and dull.
He had never shown even a hint of warmth toward the children in the family.
Li Sheng, his own son, had never experienced a moment of fatherly kindness since he could remember.
Feng Qi thought of Li Sheng’s words, then looked at the old master—expressionless, yet cooperating, holding Feng Yuan’s little chubby feet and interacting with him.
He turned his head, his gaze complex, and looked at Li Sheng.
Li Sheng was stunned, too.
He stood in place, staring at the old master on the sofa. Only after a long moment did he regain his voice.
“Dad.”
The old master didn’t react much to Li Sheng’s “Dad”.
But Feng Yuan, lying on the sofa, caught it with his little ears.
He rolled up quickly, his tiny hands grabbing at the sofa. His flushed little face peeked out from behind it.
“Big Daddy!”
“Dad!”
Seeing both of his daddies had arrived, Feng Yuan was overjoyed.
He stretched out his little chubby hands, wanting a hug.
Li Sheng walked over and touched his forehead. It was a bit sweaty.
The little guy had played so wildly that not only was his face flushed, but there was also a bit of sweat on his forehead.
His hair, originally just slightly wavy, was now messy.
Li Sheng wiped off his sweat and then brought him some water to drink.
In the living room, for a moment, apart from Feng Yuan’s voice, the adults didn’t speak.
Feng Yuan had worked up a sweat and needed to hydrate.
He held the cup himself and gulped down a whole cup of water.
As he chugged it, Feng Qi’s gaze finally met the old master’s.
The latter’s gaze calmly assessed Feng Qi.
After a long moment, he spoke: “I hear today is your birthday.”
Feng Qi: “Mm.”
Feng Qi still didn’t have much goodwill toward the old master who had taken Yuan Yuan away.
Li Heng didn’t pay attention to his cold expression and simply glanced at Li An.
The next moment.
Li An turned and came back carrying a box.
The box was simple and elegant in design, giving off a faint, subtle, pleasant scent.
“Sir, for you.”
Li An held the box out in front of Li Heng.
Li Heng didn’t take it, speaking in a calm voice: “Give it to him.”
Li An: “……”
Li An was a little surprised.
Still, he obediently handed the box to Feng Qi.
Feng Yuan, who was drinking water, saw the box, and his little voice rang out.
“Wow, it’s a birthday gift from Grandpa!”
Feng Yuan didn’t want to be held by Li Sheng anymore.
He wriggled his little body, trying to free himself from Li Sheng’s arms.
Li Sheng frowned: “You’re not wearing your shoes.”
Earlier, while he was sleeping, his little shoes had been taken off.
Now, he was barefoot.
Li An, quick to notice, brought the little shoes over in time and put them on Feng Yuan’s feet.
Once his shoes were on, Feng Yuan was set down.
He dashed over to Feng Qi and, unable to contain his excitement, hugged Feng Qi’s legs.
Seeing this, Feng Qi crouched down.
“Dad, look, look what Grandpa got for you.”
Feng Qi hadn’t originally intended to accept the gift.
But Feng Yuan looked so curious, eager to see it.
Feng Qi furrowed his brows slightly, hesitated for a few seconds, and then opened the box.
He recognized the wood of the box.
It was Miguzhi wood.
Even the wood alone was already quite valuable.
The contents of the box also made his eyes light up.
Inside, lying on a satin cloth, was a beautiful, gleaming ornament.
To most people, it would seem like just a decorative piece.
But Feng Qi recognized it at a glance. It was a scale.
This scale came from a species of fish that had long been extinct.
Moreover, the scale could be used medicinally for him.
“This gift is too much.”
Feng Qi’s eyes flickered as he reached out to close the box.
He lifted his gaze and looked at the old master. “I can’t accept it.”
The old master’s eyes seemed to pierce straight into one’s heart.
He said calmly, “If you like it, keep it. This thing just sits here with me unused anyway.”
Feng Qi still hesitated.
Li Sheng stepped beside him and said quietly, “Keep it. He doesn’t need it.”
Feng Qi touched the box. After a moment, he nodded.
With this scale, his ailing body could recover at least a little.
“Thank you.”
One thing at a time. Although Feng Qi was annoyed that the old master had taken Feng Yuan away, the old master had given him something medicinal, so he ought to at least say thank you.
It was already very late.
Feng Yuan couldn’t make another surprise entrance, but he found his little school bag and successfully gave the prepared gift to Dad.
“Dad, there’s more!”
Feng Yuan had both dads sit down and, completely unabashed, stood in the empty space in front of the sofa. Using his smartwatch, he played some music.
“Dad, next is the dance Yuan Yuan prepared for you!”
Feng Yuan announced his own performance.
Then, moving to the rhythm of the music, his chubby little body began to wiggle and twist.
Before he even started, Li Sheng, quick and alert, took out his phone and began recording.
Li An went straight for the camera.
Both adults were fully focused on filming.
The remaining two adults watched without taking their eyes off him.
Feng Yuan’s wiggly little dance went straight to the adults’ hearts.
When the complete dance was finished, Li An was the first to clap.
Li Sheng and Li Heng also applauded.
Feng Qi opened his arms wide and pulled the little guy into his embrace.
“Thank you, my treasure.”
Feng Qi lowered his head and kissed the little treasure in his arms, his eyes full of warmth.
The gifts were all given, and the dance was over.
Feng Qi didn’t let the little guy stay up any longer.
“Li Sheng, Yuan Yuan should go to bed.”
Feng Qi called out to Li Sheng. After doing so, he didn’t look at the old master’s expression.
Li Sheng glanced at the time and spoke to Li Heng, “Dad, Yuan Yuan is still little. He can’t stay up late.”
“I’ll take Yuan Yuan to bed first with Feng Qi. Do you want to come back to my place?”
Li Sheng’s last sentence was really just a casual question.
He hadn’t expected the old master to agree.
When he heard the old master respond with a simple “Mm”, Li Sheng turned his head and deliberately looked at him.
The old master had risen, clearly ready to follow him over.
Li Sheng: “……”
Li Sheng didn’t say anything, just glanced at Feng Qi.
Feng Qi sat on the sofa, letting Feng Yuan sit on his lap while placing the box into Feng Yuan’s little school bag.
Feng Yuan knew the adults were about to take him to bed.
He didn’t want to sleep yet.
“Dad, Yuan Yuan’s not sleepy.”
“Once I play some English for you, you’ll be sleepy.”
Feng Qi said this, handing the little school bag to Li Sheng, and prepared to carry Feng Yuan himself.
Feng Yuan looked at Grandpa, wanting him to hold him.
He was still curious and fascinated by the grandfather he was meeting for the first time.
Feng Qi pressed down on his little chubby hand, reaching out: “Dad will carry you. Don’t tire out Grandpa.”
Although Feng Qi felt the old master didn’t seem old, he was fully aware of his age, and he knew how heavy his little one was.
Just as Feng Yuan reluctantly started to withdraw his hand, Li Heng, behind him, grasped the little hand.
Li Heng’s face showed no expression.
He said calmly, “Give him to me.”
Feng Qi: “……”
Feng Qi: “Alright, then.”
Feng Qi handed over the chubby little one in his arms, reminding him, “He’s heavy.”
Hearing Dad say he was heavy, Feng Yuan wanted to protest a little.
He sucked in his belly as hard as he could, holding his breath, and said, “Not heavy! Yuan Yuan is… skinny.”
Feng Qi glanced at the little rolls of flesh on him and didn’t feel like arguing about it.
Soon after.
Li Sheng drove, taking both the big and the little one back home.
On the way, Feng Yuan fell asleep.
It seemed that children could easily doze off in the car.
The little boy, who had been saying he wasn’t sleepy, soon started rubbing his eyes after the car began moving.
Rubbing and rubbing, he buried his little face in Li Heng’s arms and closed his eyes.
Once Feng Yuan fell asleep, the car immediately grew quiet.
Li Sheng and his biological dad didn’t have much to say either.
There was a vacant room in the villa.
After they got home, Li Sheng had Li Heng stay in the empty room.
He carried Feng Yuan onto the big bed where he and Feng Qi slept.
Regarding Feng Yuan being taken away tonight, Feng Qi didn’t discuss it with Li Heng in the middle of the night.
Everything returned to quiet.
Li Sheng and Feng Qi got into bed. Feng Qi took the box from Feng Yuan’s little school bag and placed it on the bedside table.
“Li Sheng, when you make soup tomorrow, can you help me cook this?”
Feng Qi lay down, leaning against the pillow at the head of the bed, feeling much more relaxed.
Feng Yuan, beside him, twisted his chubby little body into a complicated sleeping position.
Li Sheng’s big hand couldn’t resist and gave the little boy’s raised bottom a poke.
He glanced at the bedside table and asked, “Cook this?”
“Mm, the thing in the box can be used medicinally. If I drink it, it’ll help nourish my body.”
“Alright.”
The moment he heard it could help nourish the body, Li Sheng immediately gave up on the little boy’s bottom.
He took the box over and examined its contents. “Will this work if you just drink it once? I can help you find more.”
“Besides this, do you need anything else?”
“Not really.”
Feng Qi hadn’t planned to say more, but seeing Li Sheng staring at him, he added a few words: “The medicine I need… is hard to find.”
It wasn’t that it was impossible to find something to nourish his body. Some things simply didn’t exist anywhere.
“Tell me, I’ll find it.”
Li Sheng wasn’t discouraged by his words. Instead, he continued asking which medicines he needed.
Feng Qi listed them all one by one.
Li Sheng carefully wrote them down.
It was already very late at night.
After finishing the discussion about the medicines, Li Sheng lowered his eyes, looking at Feng Qi’s tired face.
He raised his hands and lifted Feng Qi into his arms.
“Sleep now. We’ll deal with everything else tomorrow.”
Li Sheng was skilled at holding someone in his arms. He only held the bigger one, completely leaving no hands free to hold his son, who was still sleeping with his little bottom raised.
The room was completely quiet.
Feng Qi lazily leaned against Li Sheng’s chest, growing more comfortable with his increasingly familiar closeness, showing no resistance at all.
The next day.
The whole family, except for Li Heng and Li An, didn’t wake up early.
Li An prepared all the meals, serving himself and Li Heng first, leaving the rest in the pot.
It wasn’t until after nine that Li Sheng got up.
Li Sheng’s biological clock was normally very regular. But holding Feng Qi in his arms, he simply couldn’t bring himself to get up.
He was awake, yet could spend a long time just looking at Feng Qi on the bed.
While Feng Qi was still asleep, he gently kissed his face again and again.
Afterward, he sat up, ready to get out of bed.
A puzzled little voice suddenly rang from the corner of the room: “Big Daddy, why are you only kissing Dad and not Yuan Yuan?”
Li Sheng: “……”
He looked past Feng Qi’s body and saw the little guy lying by the wall, his chubby little feet resting against it, eyes wide and round.
“How did you wake up?”
Li Sheng waved him over: “Come quietly. Don’t wake your dad.”
Feng Yuan pushed off the wall with his little feet and came over.
Li Sheng picked him up and kissed his chubby little face. “Alright, I’ll help you get dressed, then we’ll go eat.”
“Mm!”
At home, Feng Yuan was a lazy little one. He didn’t like dressing or putting on his shoes himself.
Li Sheng opened the wardrobe and held out the clothes for him to choose.
In the end, Feng Yuan picked a light green shirt with little flowers and matching shorts.
That floral shirt looked really stylish on him.
After putting on his floral shirt, Feng Yuan even had Big Daddy fetch his green floral sunglasses.
With the shirt and sunglasses on, Feng Yuan ran out before his sandals were even properly fastened.
“Grandpa! Grandpa!”
He didn’t call out near Dad. Only after running out of the bedroom did he start shouting for Grandpa.
Li Heng, still at home, followed the sound and saw a cool little guy.
Feng Yuan’s little legs carried him incredibly fast.
Just as he was about to reach Grandpa, grinning, ready to ask if he looked good, his sandal, not properly fastened, slipped off.
The next moment.
Feng Yuan fell forward, face-first.
Just as he closed his eyes in fright, a large hand caught him steadily.
“Be more careful.”
Li Heng lifted the little guy who had almost fallen and then picked up his sandal.
As he held it out, Feng Yuan instinctively extended his chubby little foot.
Originally planning only to pick up the shoe and not to put it on, Li Heng paused for a few seconds as he looked at the tender little foot being offered. He grasped the soft little foot.
This time, he fastened the straps on the sandal properly.
“Grandpa, do I look pretty in this outfit?”
Feng Yuan stood in place and twirled around for Grandpa.
While playing outside, he had learned a word: pretty!
A stranger had called him a little pretty kid.
Qin Xun had said it meant a beautiful little one.
Seeing Feng Yuan still spinning and starting to get dizzy, Li Heng’s large hand gently held his little shoulders, stopping him before he got too dizzy.
“Pretty.”
Li Heng replied.
Feng Yuan, having received praise, was in an excellent mood.
Feng Qi hadn’t gotten up yet. After breakfast, Feng Yuan stayed with Li Heng while Li Sheng went back to the room to accompany Feng Qi.
Feng Yuan played with Li Heng.
Before returning to the room, Li Sheng had concisely conveyed his stance to Li Heng—
“You can stay here and play with Yuan Yuan, that’s fine.”
“But taking Yuan Yuan away? That’s not allowed.”
He wouldn’t allow Feng Yuan to attend the Li family training.
Feng Yuan had secretly overheard that he wasn’t allowed to go to the training.
Unlike with Big Daddy, he didn’t resist the training his Grandpa talked about.
Just then, Qin Xun came over to play with him.
Feng Yuan glanced at Grandpa sitting in the yard, sipping tea, and whispered to Qin Xun, “Qin Xun, do you think Grandpa’s house is scarier than kindergarten?”
Qin Xun: “……”
Qin Xun: “Kindergarten is scary?”
Feng Yuan nodded emphatically: “Scary! Very scary.”
Last time, at the kindergarten gate, he had overheard a parent say that if kids didn’t go to school, when they grew up, they’d have to go pick up scraps.
Feng Yuan had been so envious at the time.
He loved picking up scraps.
He didn’t like going to school.
Unfortunately, his dad didn’t give him the option of skipping school to go pick up scraps.
“Yuan Yuan, kindergarten only lasts three years.”
Qin Xun patted Feng Yuan’s little head to encourage him: “You have to hang in there. I’ll be with you.”
Feng Yuan blinked: “Only three years?”
Qin Xun: “Yes.”
Feng Yuan grinned, finally feeling a bit of hope in his heart.
The two little ones chattered away when, suddenly, Feng Yuan’s smartwatch rang.
It was a call from Li Ting.
Li Ting asked right away, “Yuan Yuan, are you at home?”
Feng Yuan: “Yes!”
He was still waiting for Dad to wake up.
Big Daddy had ordered a cake—a very, very large chocolate cake—and Feng Yuan was eager for it.
But Li Ting’s voice on the watch sounded a little off.
“I’m coming to pick you up now. There’s something I need your help with.”
Feng Yuan, curious: “What is it?”
Li Ting: “I can’t see Su Miao anymore.”
Feng Yuan: “!”
Feng Yuan suddenly sprang up from the steps: “Did Little Auntie run away?”
Li Ting’s voice was low and hoarse as he replied, “I don’t know.”
“I don’t know if he left, or if… I just can’t see him anymore.”
Feng Yuan grew anxious.
Like a little grown-up, he tried to comfort Li Ting: “Little Uncle, don’t cry, okay? Yuan Yuan will come see you right away.”
After soothing his little uncle, he quickly hung up and ran over to Li Heng.
“Grandpa, don’t rush about bringing Yuan Yuan home, okay?”
After speaking to Li Heng, Feng Yuan dashed back to the bedroom.
In the bedroom.
When Feng Yuan opened the door, he saw Big Daddy kissing Dad again!
“Big Daddy, you’re sneaking kisses from Dad again!”
The little kisser stood with hands on his hips, accusing Big Daddy, the kissing troublemaker.
After making his complaint, he leaned in himself and nibbled on Dad’s cheek.
After that, the big and little kissers stood facing each other.
The little kisser was nearly overwhelmed: “Big Daddy, Yuan Yuan has to go see Little Uncle! You eat the cake later, wait for Yuan Yuan!”
After leaving a message for Li Sheng as well, Feng Yuan took Qin Xun’s hand and ran to the door, waiting for his little uncle to come and pick him up.
![The Strongest Auxiliary[Holographic]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/The-Strongest-Auxiliary.jpg "The Strongest Auxiliary[Holographic]")
