“You know he isn’t a dog too? He’s a person. A person! How can you just casually keep him at home?”
“I wasn’t casual about it.”
“…”
Fu Lin took a deep breath and decided not to keep arguing with his son over this.
The bodyguards did not dare make decisions on their own, but Fu Lin was different. He immediately turned around and called the police.
Fu Hui silently walked out of the room and saw Lan Xi still sitting on the coffee table, his eyes red and tears threatening to fall.
He went over first and pulled Lan Xi’s hand out of his mouth. “Don’t bite.”
When Fu Lin finished his call, this was the scene he saw.
Fu Lin laughed. “How old are you? You already want to be someone’s parent? He has parents of his own.”
Fu Hui argued, “He doesn’t.”
A strange creature with wings like this, if he had parents, then they would surely be equally strange creatures.
Would creatures like that be so easily discovered by humans?
Fu Hui even thought it was possible that this tiny thing had simply run out of a comic book.
Fu Lin could not help laughing. “He told you he doesn’t have parents?”
Naturally, Fu Lin did not believe him.
But by then, he was not particularly angry anymore either.
Fu Hui had always been an exceptionally well-behaved child. Unlike other children, he was not fond of making unreasonable demands of his parents. He loved studying, and aside from studying, he did not seem to have any particular hobbies.
Only now did he finally resemble other people’s children, using every possible method just so he could keep a cat, a dog, a rabbit, or something similar at home…
…although what Fu Hui wanted to keep was a person.
But no matter how you looked at it, Fu Lin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
This meant the upheaval in his parents’ marriage had not traumatized Fu Hui too deeply.
It also contradicted Old Master Fu’s criticism.
Where was his son cold? Where did he not act like a child?
The police arrived very quickly.
Lan Xi did not know who they were, but he was extremely sensitive to atmosphere. He sensed “danger” and immediately dove headfirst into Fu Hui’s arms.
Fu Hui’s injured arm suffered a second blow just like that.
“…”
Fu Hui’s expression twisted for a moment, but he stubbornly endured it without even hissing.
Fu Lin’s vision nearly went black. Naturally, he felt sorry for his son and reached out to take the child away.
But Fu Hui tightened his arm around Lan Xi instead, twisting his body to avoid Fu Lin’s hand.
Fu Hui thought for a moment, then said seriously, “He’s a little baby. He doesn’t understand anything.”
Fu Lin: “…”
Then he looked at the child again.
Face buried downward, butt sticking outward.
He looked as though even if the sky collapsed, he would refuse to come out.
Fu Hui lowered his head to look too.
Then he secretly pressed down the corner of his mouth, extremely pleased that once Lan Xi got frightened, he knew exactly where to hide.
One of the police officers stepped forward and cleared her throat. “Then asking like this should be fine. We even specially brought a female officer with us.”
But reality proved that it was not particularly fine.
They spent an entire hour there.
Lan Xi stayed hidden in Fu Hui’s arms and did not say a single word.
Fu Lin developed a headache. “Fu Hui, you can’t do this. You know he’s a little baby too. He should have parents. We need to find his parents…”
“He can’t explain it clearly,” Fu Hui replied calmly. “At first, he couldn’t even speak.”
“Mute?” Fu Lin asked in surprise.
“He’s not mute.” Fu Hui frowned. “He can say my name.”
Fu Hui paused, then added, “I taught him.”
Fu Lin suddenly realized something was wrong and began guessing. “Was he abused at home?”
The police officers’ expressions immediately turned serious too. They gave up trying to question Lan Xi directly.
“Take photographs first. Collect DNA and fingerprints. We’ll go back and search the database.”
Fu Lin lowered his head helplessly and asked his son, “Is that okay?”
“Okay.”
Fu Hui caught Lan Xi’s hand and pulled his thumb out.
Fu Lin looked down again and saw a plump little forearm like a section of lotus root.
The process of collecting biometric information ended quickly, and the police left first.
Fu Lin sighed. “Then we’ll temporarily let him stay at our house.”
Fu Hui answered, “Mm.”
But Lan Xi still showed no intention of leaving his arms.
Ten minutes passed.
Half an hour passed.
An hour…
Before it had even quite reached the one-hour mark, Fu Lin puzzledly asked his son, “Doesn’t your arm hurt?”
Fu Hui refused to answer.
At his age, dignity was more important than heaven itself, and his mouth was harder than stone.
Unable to get an answer, Fu Lin switched questions. “Fu Hui, when did you suddenly start liking… raising a child?”
Maybe this was some belated urge to play house?
Fu Lin calmly said, “If what you really like is the experience of personally taking care of a little kid, there are children around the right age in your uncles’ families…”
Only then did Fu Hui speak.
“He’s different.”
He has wings.
Fu Lin took another deep breath. “How is he different? Fine, he is a little unusual, but he isn’t the only pretty child in the world.”
Fu Hui’s displeasure grew stronger. “He’s different!”
Fu Lin stopped talking.
Fu Hui had always been easy to raise.
A rare bout of rebellion was hardly some enormous disaster… probably.
And Fu Lin had always preferred gentle guidance rather than force.
Taking care of a child was not easy. Fu Hui would learn that very quickly.
And once he did, he would soon get tired of it.
Maybe his arm will get tired within an hour.
Thinking that, Fu Lin left with peace of mind.
He had not been home for quite some time, so Fu Lin spent three full hours handling work in the study.
When he looked up again, it was already seven forty in the evening.
“Fu Hui, have you eaten dinner yet…”
Fu Lin’s voice abruptly stopped.
Three hours had passed.
His son was still sitting on the sofa in exactly the same position, awkwardly holding the child.
“Your arm…”
Doesn’t it hurt? Even if it doesn’t hurt, isn’t it tired?
Fu Lin never finished asking.
He had already noticed the fine beads of sweat covering his son’s forehead.
When his gaze moved lower, he could also see Fu Hui’s arm trembling faintly, yet it stubbornly remained wrapped around the purple-haired child’s back.
That was the only way to keep Lan Xi supported so he would not slide downward and make things even harder.
Fu Lin: “…”
He had underestimated just how stubborn an eight-year-old child could be.
In the end, Fu Lin had to announce that it was time to eat and forcibly pry Lan Xi out of Fu Hui’s arms.
The child immediately struggled with teeth and claws.
As though Fu Lin were some villain tearing the two of them apart.
Fu Lin put him beside the dining table.
Lan Xi immediately tried to run again.
Fu Hui followed with his legs numb and his hand tingling, then instructed the bodyguard, “Bring the food first.”
The bodyguard reacted quickly and put a piece of cake in front of Lan Xi.
Lan Xi instantly stopped moving as though someone had cast a freezing spell on him.
Fu Lin was both amused and confused. “Doesn’t he know this is where people eat?”
Fu Hui sat down beside Lan Xi. “Mm. He likes eating in the room.”
Fu Lin: “…”
“Doesn’t the smell of food lingering in your room bother you?”
“There’s a ventilation system.”
“…”
Faced with Fu Lin’s speechless expression, Fu Hui saw absolutely nothing wrong with this.
He had never allowed Lan Xi to eat on the bed.
Eating inside the room itself was fine.
Lan Xi was actually very well-behaved.
He waited for Fu Hui to tie a small square bib around him and arrange the utensils by his hand before he began eating.
Fu Lin tipped his head back and inhaled deeply.
Are you really not raising him like a cat or dog?
Dinner dishes arrived one after another.
Lan Xi abandoned his earlier hiding and pressed close to Fu Hui, eating and drinking with an obvious sense of security.
As Fu Lin watched, his brows slowly furrowed.
“Fu Hui…”
He thought of that chubby little wrist.
“Don’t you think he eats a little too much?”
“How is it too much?”
“Fu Hui, this isn’t how you raise a child.”
Fu Lin’s vision nearly went black.
Half an hour later, after absorbing a substantial amount of nutritional knowledge, Fu Hui had to admit that raising Lan Xi like this really might not work.
He could accidentally raise him to death.
But Fu Hui had only just established Lan Xi’s first sense of trust and dependence on him.
He put down his chopsticks and looked up at Fu Lin.
“Then Dad, you be the bad guy who stops him.”
Fu Lin: “…”
In the end, Fu Lin cooperated with his son.
Naturally, Lan Xi became even more attached to Fu Hui.
Fu Lin was helpless and speechless.
All they could do now was wait for news from the police.
And just like that, an entire week passed.
The police finally called and apologized. “We’ve tried every possible method, but we couldn’t locate his parents or any other relatives. It’s as though he appeared out of thin air.”
Fu Lin had also replayed the garden surveillance footage countless times.
Lan Xi’s origins became an unsolved mystery.
And because the flowers in the garden had blocked the view at the time, nobody except Fu Hui had even discovered that Lan Xi had wings.
Fu Lin tried to discuss it with Fu Hui.
“Not knowing where he came from is ultimately a little dangerous.”
Fu Hui said, “He’s still a little baby.”
“…”
“Can’t our family afford to raise him?”
“…Of course we can.”
“I’m alone at home, Dad.”
Fu Lin instantly thought of his “ex-wife,” who had already moved away.
Loneliness was something Fu Lin could not solve for him.
During all the days Fu Lin spent busy elsewhere, perhaps having this child beside Fu Hui might actually be a good thing.
Fu Lin was not certain.
But it was a gamble he could afford to make.
Lan Xi remained at the Fu residence.
The biometric information they had collected could not help him “find family,” but it was eventually used to arrange legitimate identification documents for him.
By October, Old Master Fu’s condition improved.
The gloom hanging over the Fu family gradually dispersed, and Fu Hui resumed attending school normally.
“Young Master, we’re going to be late,” the bodyguard could not resist urging him.
Fu Hui was still crouched in front of Lan Xi.
“If anything happens, call me.”
“Mm-ah.”
“Have you memorized my phone number?”
“Mm-ah.”
“Recite it.”
“…”
“You didn’t memorize it at all, did you?”
The bodyguard could not resist interrupting. “Didn’t you already set one-touch dialing for him on his watch?”
“What if the watch malfunctions?”
The bodyguard froze. “It wouldn’t just happen to malfunction today, would it?”
Fu Hui’s tone was cold. “That’s why we need drills in advance.”
The bodyguard had nothing to say.
“Lan Xi, recite it once,” Fu Hui urged.
Lan Xi scrunched up his face and slowly began.
“One, three, nine…”
He stumbled through it twice before finally getting the whole number right.
Fu Hui asked again, “Do you know the name of my school?”
“…”
“If you ever accidentally wander outside, tell the driver the school’s name and have them bring you to find me.”
“…”
Under Fu Hui’s tireless questioning, Lan Xi eventually managed to give the correct answer again.
“Do you remember what things at home you’re not allowed to touch?”
The bodyguard standing nearby felt his vision darken again and again.
There’s more?
“Don’t stick your fingers into electrical sockets. Don’t bite charging cables. Don’t put ornamental plants in your mouth. Chew tangyuan carefully before swallowing…”
Fu Hui reached that point and reconsidered.
“Forget it. Don’t eat tangyuan at all.”
Lan Xi glared at him.
Fu Hui said coolly, “I thought your ears were plugged. So you can hear after all.”
Lan Xi held it in for ages before squeezing out one sentence.
“Go already.”
Fu Hui straightened and looked down at him. “Aren’t you afraid the police will come take you away?”
Lan Xi blinked and refused to answer that question.
Instead, he said, “Go quickly. Come back quickly.”
That logic successfully persuaded Fu Hui.
Young Master Fu finally set off for school.
As the saying went, injuries to muscles and bones took a hundred days to heal.
Elio’s Notes: “Injuries to muscles and bones take a hundred days” (伤筋动骨一百天) is a traditional Chinese saying about how slowly fractures and similar injuries heal. The “hundred days” is proverbial, not a literal medical timetable.
The cast had already been removed from Fu Hui’s arm, but it was still fixed in a brace.
Naturally, that attracted plenty of attention.
Not many people knew Fu Hui’s exact family background.
At this age, he was also right in the phase of acting cool and disdaining friendships with other people, so he normally interacted very little with his classmates.
Now everyone kept glancing at him.
Even then, nobody intended to strike up a conversation until Fu Hui took a tablet out of his schoolbag.
“Teachers don’t let us bring phones or tablets. Why can you bring one?” someone leaned over and asked.
“Because I need it for something.”
What?
Several fluffy little heads crowded closer curiously.
Fu Hui lit up the screen, tapped several times, and very quickly brought up the surveillance feeds from home.
He skimmed through the little square windows and precisely selected one.
The image expanded to fill the entire screen.
Onscreen, Lan Xi was playing with…
Bugs?
Where did he catch those???
“What are you looking at?” someone leaned even closer.
Fu Hui instinctively covered the tablet screen. “Nothing.”
Throughout the entire school day, Fu Hui took the tablet out every so often to check it.
When he returned home that evening, the very first thing he did was confiscate all the insects Lan Xi had caught.
“They’re dirty. You could have an allergic reaction.”
Fu Hui patiently reasoned with him.
Lan Xi looked up, listening in hazy confusion.
He had absolutely no idea what an “allergy” was.
Fu Hui had no choice but to change tactics.
“Aren’t you afraid they’ll secretly crawl into the blankets at night and bite you?”
Lan Xi answered in a childish but resounding voice, “Not afraid.”
Fu Hui: “…”
He could only say, “I’m afraid.”
Lan Xi hesitated for quite a while.
Only then did he release two crickets, two katydids, one mantis, one dragonfly, and one ladybug…
Several days passed this way.
Fu Hui gradually discovered that Lan Xi did not seem to miss him all that much while he was away from home.
Meanwhile, because Fu Hui was extraordinarily stingy and refused to let anyone else so much as glance at his tablet,
his classmates reported him.
The teacher called Fu Lin.
“You said he wasn’t supposed to receive special treatment. Look at this…”
After working nonstop for many days, Fu Lin finally returned home and took Fu Hui’s tablet.
“You bring this to school every single day just to watch this?”
Fu Lin was stunned.
Fu Hui saw no problem with it.
He was not watching every second.
“He’s at home. I’m worried.”
“What is there to worry about? There are bodyguards and nannies at home.”
Fu Hui refused to answer.
Fu Lin rubbed his temples. “You could just bring a phone. Why carry around such a huge tablet? Is a smaller screen not enough for you?”
“Mm.”
“…”
Fu Lin felt something about the entire situation was not quite right, but he could not pinpoint what.
After thinking it over and over, he finally decided the problem was this:
Lan Xi needed to go to school.
“Find him a kindergarten,” Fu Lin decided immediately.
Fu Hui opened his mouth, then stopped.
Fu Lin looked at his son. “He’s a person, not your pet. You can’t keep him illiterate forever.”
Fu Hui thought about it and finally said, “He might be scared at kindergarten.”
Lan Xi had only just finished exploring every corner of the Fu residence and becoming familiar with it.
Fu Lin said irritably, “Then what do you suggest? Build him a vacuum-sealed environment, put him inside it, install a camera over his head, and then watch him through surveillance no matter where you go?”
Fu Hui fell silent.
“…Fine.”
Fu Lin came home so rarely that he had not spent much time around Lan Xi.
He only thought the child was exceptionally beautiful and had a somewhat dazed air, as though he were disconnected from the outside world.
Considering his son’s feelings too, Fu Lin eventually arranged for Lan Xi to attend the kindergarten attached to Fu Hui’s school.
His subordinates worked quickly.
They skipped whatever interview process would normally have been required, and Lan Xi could start school the very next day.
That morning, Fu Hui woke first.
Because one arm still could not exert much strength, he could only half carry, half drag Lan Xi into the bathroom.
Then the two of them ate a lavish breakfast together.
As usual, Lan Xi swung his short little legs, slid down from the chair, then used his astonishing strength to hug Fu Hui’s schoolbag and prepare to send him off.
But today, Fu Hui lifted another miniature backpack.
It was Tiffany blue and extraordinarily eye-catching.
That way, when Fu Hui came to pick Lan Xi up after school, he would be able to spot him immediately.
“Let’s go,” Fu Hui said.
Lan Xi let out a soft yawn. “Mm-ah.”
Then he raised a hand in a “bye-bye” gesture.
But today he only got halfway through it before the bodyguard scooped him up and stuffed him into the car.
Lan Xi instantly woke up.
???
Fu Hui met those round, staring eyes and thought he was unbearably cute.
But Fu Hui did not say so.
He simply could not resist reaching out to pinch Lan Xi’s cheek.
“You’re going to school today too. You’ll learn pinyin and how to recognize characters. Then you’ll be able to write my name.”
As he spoke, Fu Hui actually became a little enthusiastic about it.
His father’s decision was quite wise.
Lan Xi really did need to go to school.
Lan Xi: ?
What is school?
What is pinyin?
What does recognizing characters mean?
Why do I have to write Fu Hui’s name?
Lan Xi had no idea where they were taking him.
Naturally, he could not develop any real resistance toward it yet.
He was only confused.
Extremely confused.
The driver first brought them to the kindergarten.
The bodyguard carried Lan Xi out of the car.
Then Fu Hui held Lan Xi’s schoolbag in one hand and personally escorted him inside.
The principal and teachers were already waiting.
The moment they saw Lan Xi, they were completely stunned by his appearance.
They immediately crouched down and greeted Lan Xi in especially soft voices.
Lan Xi was wary.
He closed his mouth and did not say a word.
At first, Fu Hui was a little displeased.
But after thinking about it,
Of course they think Lan Xi is cute.
Anyone who doesn’t think Lan Xi is cute must be blind.
He thought perhaps he did not need to worry about Lan Xi being treated badly here after all.
“Go on. Be good and attend class. I’ll come pick you up later.”
Fu Hui patted Lan Xi’s head.
This time, Lan Xi understood.
Go on.
Go where?
Does he not want this succubus anymore?
At that moment, the teacher reached out toward Lan Xi.
Lan Xi was startled.
He shot straight onto Fu Hui’s body and clung tightly, nearly giving Fu Hui a second injury.
Fu Hui instinctively caught him under the butt.
Fu Hui thought,
His butt is chubby too.
Lan Xi began crying.
Succubi were creatures that cared deeply about beauty.
That seemed to be an instinct they were born with.
He did not open his mouth and howl like the other children who did not want to attend school.
He only silently shed tears.
Plop.
One tear.
Plop.
Two.
Three, four, five, six…
They fell like a broken string of beads straight into Fu Hui’s collar.
Fu Hui’s expression changed slightly.
He immediately supported Lan Xi’s face and pulled him outward so he could properly see what he looked like.
His eyelashes were soaked through from crying.
His jewel-like eyes were completely drenched.
He had cried so hard that his face had turned pink.
Something seemed to twist violently inside Fu Hui’s chest, making it difficult even to breathe.
Of course, the bodyguard beside them quickly noticed something else.
Lan Xi was gripping Fu Hui’s collar far too tightly and was almost strangling their Young Master to death.
The bodyguard hurriedly tried to pry Lan Xi’s fingers loose.
Lan Xi cried even harder.
He looked at Fu Hui with an expression of absolute heartbreak.
Once again, Lan Xi finally could not bear to leave him.
Fu Hui tightened his grip on the backpack strap.
“Then maybe… he doesn’t have to go today?”
The bodyguard heard those words and felt his entire sky go dark, though perhaps it had never really been bright in the first place.
Still, he stubbornly tried to persuade him.
“If he doesn’t go today, what about tomorrow? Tomorrow he definitely still won’t want to attend.”
The bodyguard pointed toward the other children.
“They’re all crying.”
The teacher looked at Lan Xi’s little face and felt terribly sorry for him too, but professional ethics won out.
She quickly said, “Exactly. At times like this, parents really have to harden their hearts. Children have to learn separation.”
Fu Hui frowned. “Why does he need to learn separation?”
The teacher stumbled over her answer.
“Because… because it’s one of the most important lessons in life. Every child will eventually have to experience it.”
“He won’t separate from me.”
Fu Hui tightened his grip on Lan Xi’s hand.
I found him.
Lan Xi doesn’t have a mom or dad.
Then of course he belongs to me.
The teacher fell silent.
She suddenly felt that trying to reason with an older child was not particularly useful either.
An older child was still a child.
She looked helplessly toward the person standing nearby.
“I’m the bodyguard,” the bodyguard introduced himself.
Meaning he could not make decisions.
“Then their parents…”
“Are very busy. Extremely busy.”
The situation reached a stalemate.
Lan Xi was still crying.
His crying made Fu Hui extremely uncomfortable.
So Fu Hui made the decision.
“He won’t go today. We’ll talk about tomorrow tomorrow.”
Fu Hui brought Lan Xi to the primary-school section with him.
Letting Lan Xi accompany him at school would be just like back at home, when Lan Xi accompanied him during lessons.
Fu Hui thought that sounded quite good.
He pressed his lips together, the corners curving upward ever so slightly.
At eight in the morning, Fu Hui stepped into the classroom.
Lan Xi’s head of purple hair instantly caused an uproar.
“Fu Hui, is that your little brother?”
“He looks like a doll!”
“I want to touch his hair.”
“I want to touch his eyes.”
So annoying.
Don’t these people have dolls at home?
Fu Hui thought darkly.
So annoying.
No. Lan Xi really should go to kindergarten.
Just then, the teacher for first period walked inside.
One student who had failed to touch Lan Xi’s hair angrily shouted, “Teacher, I’m reporting Fu Hui! Today he didn’t bring his tablet. He brought his little brother instead!”
The teacher’s face turned green.
I can see that.
Such an eye-catching…
beautiful child.
And so Fu Lin received yet another call from the school.
After thinking it through, Fu Lin personally came to pick them up.
He collected Fu Hui and Lan Xi, then brought them to the entrance of the kindergarten.
It was nearly dismissal time.
Parents had all arrived to collect their children.
The little children came skipping happily out through the gates with tiny backpacks on their shoulders, flying into their parents’ arms like young swallows returning to the nest.
Fu Lin said, “Look. Children adapt very quickly. They cry in the morning and they’re happy by afternoon.”
Fu Hui argued, “Does being happy in the afternoon mean the sadness from the morning didn’t happen? Lan Xi cried so hard his hair got messy.”
Fu Lin: So?
Fu Hui summarized, “He cried terribly.”
Then he backed his argument with the expert knowledge he had learned.
“If nobody comforts him and he cries too hard, he could suffocate, convulse, or go into shock.”
Fu Lin turned his head and looked at Lan Xi.
Lan Xi blinked lightly.
Pink cheeks, rosy complexion, brimming with vitality.
Going into shock might be a little difficult looking like that.
Fu Hui added, “Psychology also says that babies who are left alone to cry grow up lacking a sense of security.”
After saying that, he reached out and stroked Lan Xi’s little face.
Lan Xi immediately leaned into his hand and stayed there.
Obedient beyond belief.
Fu Lin was so angry he actually laughed.
“Fine, Fu Hui. Then tell me what you’re going to do. Keep him at home illiterate for the rest of his life?”
After saying that, Fu Lin could not resist adding, “Looking at the way you are now, when you grow up, you probably shouldn’t raise children of your own either. You’d spoil them beyond all reason!”
Fu Hui said without the slightest concern,
“Raising Lan Xi is enough.”
Fu Lin: “…”
Only a child could say something like that.