It took only one bite to finish the snack, but changing clothes and taking a bath took half an hour.
Still, considering that Lan Xi would bring snacks home from kindergarten, Fu Hui eagerly stayed home for one more day.
The next day, Lan Xi brought him back a wife cake. Naturally, there was only half of it.
This time, he had not forgotten to say that he had saved it especially for Fu Hui.
As usual, the two of them ate dinner together. Fu Hui went back to reading, while Lan Xi disappeared somewhere. Quite a while later, he came back carrying a coffee cup.
Steam rose from the cup.
Fu Hui took one look and sprang to his feet. “How could you let him carry that?”
The bodyguard immediately explained, “He wouldn’t let us take it from him.”
Lan Xi had something to say about that too. Frowning, he ordered Fu Hui, “Sit back down.”
After saying that, he walked up to Fu Hui and set down the coffee cup. His voice was still soft and childish, but he spoke with tremendous force. “Especially for Fu Hui.”
Fu Hui lowered his head and looked.
Naturally, it was not hot coffee inside, only hot water, and fortunately the cup was only half full. Lan Xi was clever enough to know that holding the cup by the bottom would not burn his hands.
Seeing Fu Hui stay still, Lan Xi asked in confusion, “Not thirsty?”
“I’m thirsty, but it’s hot.” Fu Hui tested the side of the cup and had no desire to end up in the hospital again.
He immediately added, “Thank you, Lan Xi,” and gave him a hug.
Only then did Lan Xi smile.
The bodyguard beside them was quite perceptive and promptly handed over a bottle of mineral water. “Add some of this and it won’t be hot anymore.”
Fu Hui reached out to take it, only for Lan Xi to smack his hand away.
Lan Xi braced the bottle against his little belly, gripped the cap with his slender fingers, twisted it open with a burst of strength, and personally poured the water into Fu Hui’s coffee cup.
“Especially for Fu Hui,” Lan Xi repeated.
And that seemed to be only the beginning.
When Fu Hui bathed, Lan Xi waited outside the door to hand him his towel. That was especially for Fu Hui.
When Fu Hui slept, Lan Xi lay beside him. That was also special companionship just for Fu Hui.
At breakfast, Lan Xi pointed at the banana French toast on the table. Well, of course Lan Xi had not specially made that. But he had specially peeled the banana.
Besides that, when they went out, Lan Xi enthusiastically carried Fu Hui’s schoolbag for him. Naturally, that was “especially” for him too.
Having learned a few new words, Lan Xi became obsessed with using them over and over.
Naturally, the word “amazing” was no exception.
When Fu Hui got out of the car in a single step, Lan Xi said, “Amazing.”
When Fu Hui turned around to carry Lan Xi down, struggling to half drag, half lift him out, Lan Xi also said, “Amazing.”
When Fu Hui went to school, Lan Xi said, “Fu Hui has class for so long. Fu Hui is amazing.”
Fu Hui knew that this might simply be a little child showing off the new words he had learned.
Even so, it felt as though he had drunk several huge bowls of sugar water.
The sweetness left him a little dizzy.
Fu Lin still had little time to come home, but he made time to call and tell Fu Hui that he had already dealt with the kindergarten surveillance footage.
In other words, there would be no evidence left behind for anyone else to discover.
It was also his indirect way of telling Fu Hui that he could stop worrying completely.
“Thank you, Dad.” Fu Hui quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He hung up, looked up, and saw Lan Xi running toward him.
Something occurred to Fu Hui, and he called Fu Lin back.
“What is it? Is there something else you need to tell me?” Fu Lin answered quickly. “The weather’s been changing a lot lately. Did you catch another cold?”
Fu Hui said nothing. He quietly turned on the speaker, then said to Lan Xi, “Dad took care of everything. No one will find out that Lan Xi is different. He’ll protect us forever.”
Lan Xi blinked, then obediently delivered exactly what Fu Hui had been hoping for. “Wow, Dad is amazing.”
He did not know Fu Lin’s name, so in his confusion he simply copied Fu Hui and called him “Dad” too.
Fu Lin froze and wanted to keep listening to how the two children talked about him at home.
But Fu Hui had already taken Lan Xi by the hand and walked away. “Mm-hm, let’s go…”
Go where?
Fu Lin never managed to hear what came next.
The call stayed connected. Fu Lin listened to half a minute of silence from the other end before finally setting down the receiver.
What Fu Hui had said to Lan Xi was, “Let’s go make a present for Dad.”
Lan Xi had barely stepped out the door before he asked in confusion, “Why?”
Fortunately, Fu Lin had not heard those three syllables.
Fu Hui explained, “Because he’s very good to me and to Lan Xi, so we should give him a present in return.”
After spending time at kindergarten, Lan Xi had at least developed the concept of gifts.
But Lan Xi was troubled. He silently wondered, Do I have to bring him a snack too? Lan Xi did not want to save half for him.
He wrinkled his nose and pushed his lips into a deep pout.
“Come on.”
Fu Hui spread a sheet of drawing paper in front of Lan Xi, then lined up the colored crayons in a neat row.
He thought it would be difficult for Lan Xi to participate in anything complicated, so the simpler the better.
The colors of the crayons immediately caught Lan Xi’s eye. He pointed at them. “Fu Hui bought.”
“Right.” Fu Hui had bought them for Lan Xi at the stationery shop while they were waiting for the kindergarten to open.
“Let’s draw.” Fu Hui prepared to teach him.
Lan Xi raised his hand to announce, “Lan Xi learned.”
Fu Hui had not expected kindergarten to actually do useful things sometimes. He quickly asked, “What did you learn?”
Lan Xi pulled out a crayon. First he drew a red sun, then a black mountain, then red waves rising and falling across the ground. Finally he added a brown mushroom with a row of multicolored “π” shapes flying beside it.
Lan Xi shook the paper and looked at Fu Hui expectantly.
Fu Hui studied it carefully.
Mm. The sun can be red sometimes. Mountains look black from far away too. But… the red waves on the ground, the brown mushroom, and that row of multicolored “π” shapes? Fu Hui truly could not understand those.
But Fu Hui was already prepared to say, “It looks nice.”
At that moment, Lan Xi happily patted the paper, making soft puff-puff sounds, and proudly announced, “Lan Xi’s home.”
Fu Hui’s mood changed instantly.
He stared in shock. “Lan Xi’s home?”
“Mm-ah.”
Lan Xi pointed at the mushroom. “Lan Xi lives here.”
Fu Hui’s breath caught.
Lan Xi pointed at the row of “π” shapes again. “Demons fly in the sky.”
Fu Hui barely found his voice again. Pointing at the red waves, he asked, “The sea?”
Lan Xi shook his head. “On the ground.”
Fu Hui could hardly imagine what kind of terrible world it was, or how pitiful Lan Xi’s life there must have been.
But seeing how proud Lan Xi looked, Fu Hui swallowed everything he wanted to say and simply pulled him into a silent hug.
Leaning against him, Lan Xi made a puzzled little “Mm?”
Fu Hui held him for a full two minutes before letting go. It must be because my drawing was so amazing, right?
Lan Xi rubbed against Fu Hui’s shoulder and played with the decorative zipper there, tugging it back and forth several times.
“All right.” Fu Hui let out a breath and released him. “Now let’s draw something else.”
Lan Xi still sounded puzzled. “Mm?”
“Draw this home.” Fu Hui pointed beneath their feet. “And draw me, Lan Xi, and Dad.”
Lan Xi seemed to have used up most of his enthusiasm just now. He lazily rolled a crayon between his fingers.
Fu Hui pressed his lips together. “Lan Xi is so amazing. You can draw this too, right?”
Lan Xi tightened his grip on the crayon and slapped it down on the paper. “I can!”
But Lan Xi really was not very good at drawing people.
He drew three vertical lines on the paper to represent three people.
The bodyguards became tiny black dots.
Fu Hui taught him, “You need to draw a heart here.”
Lan Xi no longer wanted to draw and tossed the crayon aside.
Fu Hui picked it up and added a heart above the little figure labeled “Lan Xi.”
Lan Xi looked at him. As if refusing to be outdone, he picked up the crayon too and drew a heart above the little “Fu Hui.”
Fu Hui tapped the little “Fu Lin.” “What about here?”
Lan Xi puffed out his cheeks and drew one there too.
But after thinking about it, he went back and drew another heart over Fu Hui’s head. Showing favoritism seemed to be something the little succubus had been born knowing how to do.
Fu Hui could not resist pinching Lan Xi’s cheek. “Let’s take Dad some lunch.”
Lan Xi asked again, “Why?”
“You’ve never been there. I’ll take you.”
Lan Xi brightened. “Mm-hm. Fu Hui, hurry.”
Little Fu Hui had thought quite a lot about this.
He wanted to plant the idea that Lan Xi was a member of their family deep in his father’s mind and let it influence him every single day.
That way, Dad would no longer be keeping Lan Xi only because of Fu Hui. Dad would like Lan Xi too and protect him together with Fu Hui from the bottom of his heart.
Human feelings were not unreliable. Quite the opposite. Even at such a young age, Fu Hui believed feelings were something very strong. If they shattered, it was only because storms had arrived before they had been nurtured enough to become sturdy.
That day, Fu Lin, who was buried in work, received the lunch his son had sent over along with the picture Lan Xi had drawn.
“I’m so envious. Your son is so sensible and thoughtful.”
“When did you have a second child? That little one is incredibly pretty.”
“If only I could be like you, successful in my career and blessed with a happy family…”
…
Comments like these poured toward Fu Lin without end.
Fu Lin was extremely busy and had not been able to see Fu Hui and Lan Xi when they came. Precisely because he had not seen them, hearing all of this afterward left him feeling even more complicated.
For now, he would still explain that the other child had been entrusted to him by a friend and was not his second child.
But when he turned to look at the drawing, he could not help smiling.
Secretary Li added, “Young Master said you absolutely have to get it framed.”
“Frame it!”
For Fu Lin, whose marriage had failed but who could not let outsiders know, the “happy family” he could feel at the moment was genuinely comforting.
And so the drawing was framed and hung on the wall.
Whenever Fu Lin grew tired from work, all he had to do was look up and he could see it.
The weather cooled rapidly, and winter arrived.
One after another, Lan Xi learned words such as “reward” and “seriously” at kindergarten.
He brought Fu Hui an eraser from kindergarten and called it a “reward.” When he found a pretty maple leaf by the roadside and gave it to Fu Hui, that was a “reward” too.
The word “especially” was retired.
Fu Hui felt just a little disappointed and could not resist asking, “Do you know what a reward is?”
Lan Xi lifted his face proudly. “I know.”
He explained, “In the morning, Fu Hui washes my face, there’s a reward. At night, Fu Hui feeds me, there’s a reward.”
This was meant to prove that he was not using words at random. There was cause and effect. He was very particular about these things.
Lan Xi eventually grew tired of saying “amazing” too and stopped using it.
That only made the sincerity of his earlier praise for Fu Lin seem even greater.
Lan Xi, of course, knew nothing about that.
Sometimes Lan Xi would suddenly lie beside Fu Hui’s pillow, reach up to hold Fu Hui’s face, and tell him, “Look at me seriously.”
When he spoke, he would emphasize it too. “Listen seriously when I talk.”
In the morning, when Fu Hui washed his face and could not resist pinching him, Lan Xi would open his eyes and say in his childish voice, “Fu Hui, wash seriously.”
Besides that.
Lan Xi had learned a few other catchphrases.
He would nap with his head on Fu Hui’s lap, then wake up, hug Fu Hui’s thigh, and immediately announce, “Baby, I love you.”
Fu Hui: ?
Fu Hui said, “Lan Xi is the baby. I’m not.”
Lan Xi could not tell the difference.
“Why, though?” Sometimes he put heavy emphasis on the final “though,” which only made him sound even cuter.
“Because I’m four years older than Lan Xi.” Fu Hui held up his fingers to show the number.
“Why does being four years older mean you’re not a baby?”
“…”
Fu Hui was still thinking about how to explain when Lan Xi began presenting his own logic. “Teacher says there are only grown-ups and babies. If you’re not a grown-up, then you’re a baby.”
Fu Hui found himself completely unable to argue with that.
Lan Xi was delighted by how correct he was, and from then on became addicted to this new catchphrase too.
At every opportunity, he told Fu Hui, “Baby, I love you.”
Fu Hui had a little trouble accepting the “baby” part, but Lan Xi was so cute that his heart still raced.
Young Master Fu, who had previously managed at most a “thank you” plus a hug and a cheek pinch, was now being forced to reply, “I love you too.”
Fu Hui thought that Lan Xi would learn more and more words, and his catchphrases would change one after another. He needed to cherish the Lan Xi who was currently obsessed with saying “I love you.”
In November, Jing City had its first snowfall.
While away on a business trip, Fu Lin bought Fu Hui a scarf and gloves and bought Lan Xi a set as well. Fu Lin had begun taking the initiative to buy things for Lan Xi.
Taking the children’s tastes into account, Fu Lin bought tiger-head and lion-head hats for Fu Hui, and little-bear and little-deer hats for Lan Xi.
But Lan Xi did not like the bear ears, and he did not like the deer antlers either.
“Ugly.” Covering his head, he plunged straight into the snow.
Fu Hui chased after him furiously, carrying the coat and hat.
“Lan Xi! You’ll get sick like this!”
Lan Xi turned a deaf ear.
How could a succubus get sick?
Succubi don’t get sick!
The little deer’s antlers were far too ugly. They were not nearly as pretty as a succubus’s horns. Lan Xi had seen the horns of his older brothers and sisters, and every one of them was beautiful.
But when would Lan Xi’s own horns finally grow out?
Lan Xi reached back to feel his back again. And when would Lan Xi’s wings finally grow big?
The succubus let out a soft sigh.
Fu Hui caught up and scooped him into his arms. Lan Xi absolutely refused to wear the hat, giggling as he grabbed Fu Hui’s cuff, and the two children toppled together into the thick snow.
Icy snow covered Lan Xi’s hands.
Even at only four years old, causing trouble was a demon’s natural talent. Lan Xi burrowed around in the snow until he wriggled his way inside Fu Hui’s coat, then slipped his hands into Fu Hui’s sleeve and pressed them tightly against his forearm.
Lan Xi showed a glimpse of his tiny teeth and laughed. “Fu Hui is Lan Xi’s hat!”