Chapter 17

The phone rang several times, but Huo Lin clenched the steering wheel and did not answer.

It wasn’t until Jian Ning leaned over and touched his star machine, muttering, “Guoguo! Ji Ji!” that he responded.

Huo Lin: “...”

What terrible compound words were those?

Huo Lin freed one hand and put it in his pocket, saying, “Don’t answer. Sit still and don’t move around.”

Jian Ning loved answering the phone. Whenever Zhan Xi’s star machine rang before, he crawled over to answer it. The people who called knew Jian Ning and didn’t hang up when they heard the little voice on the other end. Instead, they continued talking to Jian Ning.

As a result, Jian Ning became even more fond of answering the phone. He not only liked answering the phone but also had the illusion that anyone who called was looking for him!

When Jian Ning still wanted to touch the star machine, Huo Lin waited until the phone stopped ringing before giving it to him.

“I’ll put on a cartoon for you, and you can go to sleep after you finish watching it.”

There were still several hours left on the journey home, and Huo Lin wanted him to behave for a while. After all, the space in the car was smaller than outside, and it was not suitable for being rowdy.

With one hand, Huo Lin picked a cartoon and handed it to Jian Ning.

The phone rang again less than a minute after the cartoon began playing. Without thinking, it must have been the same person who called earlier.

Huo Lin sat in the driver’s seat and instructed Jian Ning, “Ningning, tap down.”

Jian Ning: “?”

Jian Ning’s little bun face tightened, and he looked serious. He knew that you couldn’t tap down when answering the phone; you had to tap up!

Jian Ning, who was very experienced in answering the phone, poked at the screen with his chubby hands. Not only did he answer the phone, but he also chose to answer the video request.

The video call was connected.

Jian Ning sat up straight, preparing to have a good phone call with the other person, and he was still hoping that it would be his dad on the other end.

The screen of the interstellar communication device flickered, showing a person.

The child sitting in the seat happily swinging his feet suddenly froze and faced the Emperor on the other end. The Emperor, who was much larger, looked back at him, and the child’s feet stopped swinging and his sweet smile disappeared.

He stared blankly at the unfamiliar Emperor, feeling a little lost, but he instinctively followed what his father had taught him and waved his hand to say hello, “He, hello.”

Ludwig: “?”

Ludwig scrutinized the little child, who answered the call. The child’s head was covered in messy hair, and his chubby face had a pair of particularly beautiful eyes. Even when he looked confused, he still looked cute.

Ludwig returned the greeting politely, “Hello.”

Jian Ning was still a bit confused. He didn’t know this uncle who called him. However, his father had told him that he should be polite to others, so the polite little child continued to chat with the person on the other end, “I’m Ningning, Ning Baby!”

He introduced his name and several of his favorite nicknames to the stranger on the phone, all at once, “Ning Baby!”

“Baby!”

“Darling!”

So many names, and they were all referring to him!

The child, being unfamiliar with the stranger, continued to share his name. He spoke so seriously that after a few seconds of silence, the person on the other end also introduced his name, “Ludwig.”

Jian Ning: “...”

Jian Ning opened his mouth, but was at a loss for words.

This name was too long, and the baby couldn’t remember it. But if he didn’t remember it, it would be impolite. The baby racked his brain and furrowed his brows for a while, and finally two words popped out: “Lu Lu!”

After saying these two words, he added, “Uncle! Uncle Lu Lu!”

This was the first time Ludwig was called this by someone. He felt that if he continued to talk to this baby, he would only become more silent.

So he asked the baby, “Where is Caesar? Please let him answer the phone.”

Jian Ning shook his head. He didn’t know who Caesar was.

Ludwig’s conversation with Jian Ning was heard loud and clear by Huo Lin, who was sitting in the driver’s seat. Not only did he hear it clearly, he was also thinking of countermeasures.

Father kept calling, and he must be extremely angry. He was originally planning to refuse the call and contact his father after returning to his room. This way, if his father scolded him on the phone, Ningning would not hear it.

But Ningning answered the phone in advance, which prematurely thwarted his plan.

Seeing his father looking for him, Huo Lin reached out his hand, intending to quietly hang up the phone.

But as soon as his hand touched the phone, his father’s voice rang out again: “Caesar, are you avoiding your mistakes?”

Huo Lin: “...”

With a stiff face, Huo Lin said, “Father, I will explain to you when I return. I am driving now.”

“Oh?”

Ludwig’s voice showed no emotion as he spoke, “So you’re driving the car I bought for you to dig up your mother’s graves and disturb your mother’s peace?”

Huo Lin retorted stubbornly, “I didn’t disturb Mother’s peace. Ningning and I went to keep her company. Mother liked having us around.”

“Caesar,” Ludwig raised his voice slightly, with a hint of intimidation. Although he couldn’t see his son on the screen, he knew Caesar was next to the curly-haired Ningning.

Huo Lin pursed his lips and fell silent.

Despite his anger, Ludwig’s face remained expressionless.

Jian Ning, still holding the communicator, carefully observed the scene before he grumbled, “Stop scolding, Uncle. Grr!”

Uncle was scolding his little prince!

Ludwig looked at the unhappy baby and said lightly, “I’m not scolding you.”

The baby puffed up his cheeks and continued to lecture him in his incomprehensible babble.

After the baby finished his speech, he stopped and looked seriously at Ludwig as if waiting for him to respond.

Ludwig, who had not understood a word of what the baby said, responded with a perfunctory “Mm-hmm.”

A few minutes later, the video call ended. Jian Ning held onto the communicator and waited for her father’s call.

He waited a long time but didn’t receive his call. Eventually, his head tilted to the side, and he fell asleep.

Huo Lin continued to drive.

As they reached the last stretch of road, the waiting chief of the guards spotted them.

The chief of the guards watched as his car returned and got up to greet him.

“Auben, put everything from the car back in my room.” Huo Lin parked the car and held the little baby in his arms.

The baby, who had slept all the way, had just woken up.

He looked dazed and confused, and Huo Lin knew not to provoke him at this time because he was in a bad mood. When they were in the coffin, he had caused trouble several times just because of his bad mood.

Although Huo Lin was wary of his bad mood, he still accidentally provoked him.

The reason was that when he was going up the stairs; he tripped over.

After tripping, before Huo Lin could say anything to calm him down, the little baby in his arms accidentally knocked over the bottle hanging around his neck.

Huo Lin: “...”

Huo Lin held him and couldn’t get up to pick up the bottle.

Just as he stood on the stairs contemplating how to pick up the bottle while holding the baby, General Mans, who had not been seen for two days, walked over.

General Mans had his silver long hair tied up with a red string hanging behind him. His hair tie was loose, and his long hair was falling on both sides.

“Awake?”

General Mans looked at the curly-haired baby in a white cloak with scrutiny. The way the baby opened his eyes was as cute as he had imagined.

He bent down to pick up the bottle and handed it to the curly-haired baby.

Huo Lin wanted to stop him but couldn’t.

Jian Ning, who hadn’t finished his morning temper, looked at the bottle that was handed back to him and reached out his chubby little hand to grab it. Then the next second, he accidentally dropped it.

General Mans: “...”

The last person who had a temper in front of him had already been buried under three feet of grass.

His faint golden eyes narrowed slightly, and the dangerous aura emanating from his body made even the young prince wary.

“General Mans, he’s in a bad mood right now, so it’s best not to approach him.” After reminding him, Huo Lin spoke on behalf of his child, “He’s usually very well-behaved. He’s only like this when he just woke up.”

Usually, after venting his morning frustration, the young child would come and apologize for his behavior.

Huo Lin’s explanation did not improve General Mans’s expression. General Mans lifted his hand and poked the child’s cheek, as if not believing it.

The child dodged a little as General Mans’s hand reached out. Now he’s a little more awake.

But he couldn’t dodge it.

After being poked several times in a row, he wasn’t throwing a morning tantrum this time, but was simply getting angry.

“No!” He spoke clearly, his little face scowling, looking at General Mans and saying, “No.”

The child’s resistance was futile against Mans’ large hand.

After poking the child’s face and his mood slightly improving, Mans stopped. He casually asked Huo Lin, “Your Royal Highness, how did you wake him up?”

“I just slept with him for a while, and he woke up.”

Huo Lin was warned by Zhan Xi not to tell others too much about Ningning’s situation.

General Mans heard his perfunctory answer and didn’t ask any more.

Following the young child’s gaze, Mans spotted the bottle that had just been thrown away. The child also noticed his gaze and cried out to him.

He had just been pouting and unhappy, but now he was acting cute and asking for the bottle.

This young child was quite good at manipulating people.

“General Mans, could you pass me the bottle?” Huo Lin asked Mans, holding the child and unable to bend down to pick it up.

Mans picked up the baby bottle again and handed it to him.

After taking the baby bottle, Huo Ling politely said thank you, “Ningning and I will go upstairs first. If there is anything, you can find me later.”

Mans responded with an “um” and said in agreement, “Then I’ll come back later to discuss with you about the return trip and how to deal with those star thieves.”

The last sentence made the little prince’s heart skip a beat.

He lowered his head to look at the little baby in his arms, realizing clearly that this was a baby living in the lair of star thieves. Sending those star thieves to jail would be like making the baby an orphan.

“Guoguo.”

Jian Ning, holding the baby bottle tightly, leaned in and rubbed his face against his, his voice full of anticipation: “Baby, want to see Daddy!”

Guoguo said that when the baby returned, he could see his dad!

Huo Lin struggled for a moment but ultimately chose the latter between principle and the baby: “Okay, let’s go find your Daddy now.”

***

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