After the kindergarten incident, Lan Xi became more attached to Fu Hui than ever before, following him everywhere.
Even during dinner, he insisted on sitting half on Fu Hui’s lap.
Fu Lin rarely had the chance to eat dinner with them. Seeing this scene, he could not help asking, “Look at this. Does this seem proper to you?”
Fu Hui lowered his head and looked. “Looks like a picture.”
Elio’s Notes: In Chinese, Fu Lin asks 像话吗, meaning roughly “Does this seem proper?” Fu Hui deliberately answers 像画, “Looks like a picture.” The two phrases sound nearly identical.
When it came to eating, Lan Xi had plenty of energy. He buried his head in his food and ate with great concentration, without wasting a single word.
Watching him, Fu Lin almost wanted to say that this child was actually remarkably good at taking care of himself.
Exactly where was he weak and pitiful???
But at this point, Fu Lin could only try to look on the bright side of everything.
With two children at home, as long as they could feed themselves well, drink properly, and sleep properly, he would not have to worry too much while he was away.
Everything else was secondary.
“Full?” Fu Lin was the first to put down his chopsticks.
Fu Hui indicated for him to wait. “Lan Xi still has dessert after dinner.”
Fu Lin asked curiously, “Didn’t we agree before that he shouldn’t eat too much?”
“Mm. He says he gets hungry.” As Fu Hui spoke, he lifted one of Lan Xi’s wrists for Fu Lin to look at. “He hasn’t gained any weight lately.”
The moment he finished, Fu Lin found himself facing two pairs of expectant eyes at once.
The pair belonging to Lan Xi were round, watery, and unbearably beautiful.
Fu Lin: “…Fine.”
The family doctor was always on standby anyway.
Lan Xi happily received his after-dinner mango pomelo sago.
Naturally, Fu Lin did not have enough time to sit there and wait for him to finish. He stood and called Fu Hui. “Come to the study with me. I want to check how your schoolwork has been going lately.”
Fu Hui answered, “Mm,” and had only just stood up when Lan Xi hurriedly shoved two spoonfuls of mango pomelo sago into his mouth.
But his mouth was so small. How could he possibly finish the whole bowl at once?
Lan Xi panicked.
Holding the spoon in one hand, he wrapped the other arm around Fu Hui’s thigh. His little body swayed back and forth, as though the agony of choosing between the two might tear him in half.
Fu Hui looked down at him, then up at Fu Lin. “Dad, let’s bring him with us.”
“Then ask him whether he’s willing to give up the dessert in his hand.”
Before anyone could even ask Lan Xi, Fu Hui spoke first.
“Why make things difficult for a little baby?”
As he said it, Fu Hui casually picked up Lan Xi’s mango pomelo sago.
“Let’s go.”
Fu Lin: “…Don’t spill that on my carpet. It’ll attract bugs.”
Fu Hui: “Mm, mm, mm, mm.”
His tone was distinctly perfunctory.
Lan Xi became a pendant hanging from Fu Hui’s leg.
Every step Fu Hui took dragged him forward one step.
Fortunately, the residence had no stairs and had been built entirely on one floor.
Otherwise, climbing upstairs would have meant Fu Hui taking one step and Lan Xi’s butt bumping into one stair after another.
Inside the study, Fu Lin first looked through Fu Hui’s report card. Then he asked what books Fu Hui had been reading recently, whether there were any subjects he found especially difficult, and whether he needed another tutor.
Into the solemn rhythm of their questions and answers came the occasional clink of a spoon against a porcelain bowl.
To be fair, Lan Xi already ate very quietly.
He was still young, but even the way he ate was neat and pretty. He opened his mouth wide, took a large bite, swallowed cleanly, and never smeared sauce or liquid all over himself.
Even so, Fu Lin still felt the whole situation was absurd.
But once that absurd feeling faded, the overly serious atmosphere between father and son softened with it.
Listening to those small, ordinary clinking sounds somehow created a sense of warmth.
The residence had never had moments like this before.
Fu Lin looked at his son’s exceptionally handsome face, which resembled his ex-wife’s in several ways, and involuntarily wondered, If our home had felt like this before, would she still have been so disappointed and lonely?
By the time he had finished checking Fu Hui’s schoolwork, Lan Xi had finished his dessert too.
Fu Hui naturally took away the empty bowl and then, step by difficult step, dragged Lan Xi out with him.
The door closed, leaving the old father alone with his melancholy.
If Fu Hui was still rather pleased by how clingy Lan Xi had become at this point…
then by the time he needed to use the bathroom, he no longer felt quite the same way.
“Turn your face away.”
Lan Xi blinked at him, looking as though he had no idea what those words meant.
Fu Hui had no choice but to physically turn his head to the left.
But obviously, that did nothing.
Lan Xi could simply turn it back himself.
Fu Hui ended up completely exposed to Lan Xi’s gaze.
At his age, he still possessed a very strong sense of embarrassment…
Lan Xi stammered, “You… bathe me…”
Fu Hui came back to himself.
Right.
He was always taking Lan Xi’s clothes off to bathe him too.
Fine. That made them even.
Once one boundary had been surrendered, every other boundary seemed to vanish along with it.
The two children bathed together, then crawled beneath the blankets together.
Lan Xi wrapped himself tightly around Fu Hui, finger against finger, palm against palm, leg against leg…
But even that did not seem enough to make Lan Xi feel secure.
Lan Xi tugged Fu Hui’s collar, signaling for him to lower his head.
Fu Hui did not understand why, but he obeyed.
The little succubus was satisfied.
Now he could reach.
Lan Xi pressed his chubby cheek against Fu Hui’s face.
Comfortable at last, Lan Xi fell asleep.
Fu Hui, however, entered a fierce internal struggle.
Should I force him to go to kindergarten after all?
Would it really matter if he stayed an idiot and illiterate? The Fu family could afford to support him.
But then Lan Xi might never learn how to write Fu Hui’s name.
He might even butcher “Fu Hui” into something like “Cun Hui.”
Elio’s Notes: Fu Hui imagines Lan Xi miswriting his name 傅回 as 寸回 by leaving off the 亻 radical from 傅. The resulting first character is 寸 (cun), hence “Cun Hui.”
And Lan Xi was far too bored at home.
Aside from watching television, he either played with bugs or ate things.
Tiny Fu Hui found himself burdened with enormous worries.
Like an adult, he thought about it until his head hurt, and eventually fell asleep still worrying.
The next day, Fu Lin had already left.
Fu Hui called him and suggested simply hiring teachers to come to the house and teaching both him and Lan Xi at home.
Naturally, Fu Lin refused.
“Humans are social animals. You can’t stay inside the house forever.”
Fu Hui thought there was nothing particularly wrong with that.
Before he could say so, Fu Lin seemed to read his mind and immediately changed tactics.
“You’re still young now, so the whole family is supporting both of you. But when you grow up, if you never enter society, how are you going to earn money to support Lan Xi?”
“…Fine.”
After ending the call, Fu Hui came up with a new plan.
He took Lan Xi outside and got into the car with him.
Lan Xi had already developed a psychological shadow around going out.
He grabbed the car door and refused to let anyone close it, looking as though anyone who dared shut the door could crush his hand along with it.
“We’re going together,” Fu Hui said beside his ear.
Lan Xi gritted his teeth and refused to loosen his grip.
Even the bodyguard could not resist saying, “How is someone this tiny stronger than an ox?”
“I’m not taking you out to abandon you,” Fu Hui said again.
Lan Xi refused to listen.
Tears had already begun gathering in his eyes.
Fu Hui thought for a moment and pointed outside the door.
“If I wanted to abandon you, why would I need a car to take you somewhere? I could just throw you outside the front gate.”
Lan Xi: ???
Lan Xi was stunned.
So abandoning a demon was that easy!
Fu Hui continued persuading him.
“All I’d have to do is close the gate and you wouldn’t be able to get back inside. And if I told everyone not to pick you up, nobody would dare bring you back.”
“So…”
Therefore, I’m obviously not taking you somewhere just to throw you away.
Fu Hui had not even finished explaining when Lan Xi yanked his hand back at lightning speed and gave the enormous front gate a frightened glance.
The bodyguard finally managed to close the car door.
The driver immediately started the engine.
The front gate opened, and the car drove outside.
Lan Xi now hooked one hand firmly around the car door while the other clung tightly to two of Fu Hui’s fingers.
Only after the car had gone very far away did he finally relax.
Excellent.
Lan Xi’s psychological shadow had now transferred from going outside to the front gate itself.
Fu Hui frowned and seriously reflected on whether he had gone too far.
While reflecting, he switched on the car television and found Tom and Jerry for Lan Xi.
Lan Xi’s attention was immediately stolen away.
Before long, he was sitting on Fu Hui’s lap, giggling.
Unfortunately, Fu Hui’s leg was going numb.
He quietly shifted it a little…
Lan Xi immediately became alert and tore his gaze away from the screen to stare at him.
Even Fu Hui’s legendary stubbornness could not survive this.
“I’m changing position.”
He pulled his legs out from beneath Lan Xi, then sat with them on either side so Lan Xi could sit between them.
Lan Xi pouted.
After thinking about it, he reluctantly accepted the arrangement.
Fortunately, the drive was not especially long.
They soon reached the kindergarten.
The principal and teacher came out to greet them again.
They looked at the pair of “brothers” with some concern, worried that Lan Xi would start crying again.
But Lan Xi did not cry.
His purple eyes darted around as though he were thinking about something.
Fu Hui held Lan Xi’s schoolbag in one hand and Lan Xi’s hand in the other and walked straight inside.
“I’ll attend with him today.”
The principal and teacher froze.
“Th-this probably isn’t appropriate…”
“What part isn’t appropriate?” Fu Hui asked sincerely.
“Um… parents normally don’t accompany children inside.”
“I’m not his parent.”
“…”
That was difficult to argue with.
“But don’t you have school yourself?”
“I took leave.”
“But what if he can’t adjust in one day?”
“Then I’ll stay for several days.”
“Young man, what about your own studies?”
“I’m smart. I learn quickly.”
“…”
Fu Hui could reduce Fu Lin to silence at home.
Now he had reduced the kindergarten teachers to silence outside too.
With absolutely nothing left to say, the teacher could only bring them into the classroom.
Lan Xi was delighted.
He held tightly to Fu Hui’s hand and finally felt comfortable enough to look around at this strange new environment.
The brightly colored murals caught his attention.
Then the oddly shaped slides, seesaws, and other play equipment caught his attention too.
Gradually, instead of clutching Fu Hui’s fingers, he began holding onto the hem of Fu Hui’s clothes.
Eventually, they were seated.
The chairs in the kindergarten’s youngest class were far too small for Fu Hui.
He had no choice but to fold his legs awkwardly.
Lan Xi stared at Fu Hui’s legs.
Then he looked at the other little brats around them who were still wailing and crying.
Fu Hui’s legs are long!!!
Lan Xi absolutely loved them.
They were his favorite thing to hug.
“Children…” The teacher clapped her hands, signaling the beginning of class.
Lan Xi was not a child of the Fu family, so when Fu Lin’s secretary arranged his class, they had prioritized a cheerful, low-pressure environment.
What exactly did they do all day?
For arts and recreation, there was drawing, singing, and playing with clay.
For physical activities, there was digging in sand, rocking chairs, and slides.
There was also fruit between classes, snacks, yogurt, and baby milkshakes.
Fu Hui thought this was rather different from the kindergarten he remembered…
Lan Xi did not care.
To him, this place had clearly become a second Heaven.
He blended in almost immediately.
One demon ate two plates and declared that he wanted to come back tomorrow.
If someone had told him earlier there would be such plentiful snacks after class, Lan Xi probably would have come willingly from the start…
Fu Hui finally relaxed.
But at the same time, he felt a tiny sense of loss.
He was still too young to know what that feeling was called.
He merely suppressed the faint discomfort in his heart and thought, At this rate, when is Lan Xi ever going to learn how to write my name? Maybe I should teach him myself.
By then, they had reached the final class of the day.
The teacher divided everyone into groups to play a little game.
An extremely stupid little game.
Fu Hui turned his face away.
“Teacher, teacher! I want to play with Little Sister!”
“Me too! Me too!”
“You’re not allowed!”
“Teacher, he’s hogging the purple-haired little sister!”
What purple-haired little sister?
Fu Hui turned his head back.
Lan Xi was sitting on a small chair in the middle of the activity area like a tiny prince.
A crowd of little brats had surrounded him, each scrambling to play with him.
This kindergarten is annoying.
One particularly sloppy boy with a runny nose had already put his hand on Lan Xi’s knee.
This kindergarten is extremely annoying.
Fu Hui walked over, picked the boy up, and said coldly, “He’s not a little sister.”
The boy burst into loud tears and tried to wipe his runny nose on Fu Hui.
Lan Xi saw this and immediately became furious.
He moved even faster than Fu Hui.
Sliding straight off the little chair, he kicked the boy so hard the child went flying.
The teacher was stunned.
She felt as though her teaching license had just slammed on the accelerator and sped off into the distance.
Fu Hui reacted quickly.
He immediately scooped Lan Xi into his arms.
“He didn’t do it on purpose. Mm… his foot slipped.”
He paused.
“Mm… we’ll compensate you.”
And so Fu Lin received yet another phone call from the school.
He listened to the explanation and nearly sprayed out the tea in his mouth.
“He hit someone at kindergarten?”