Chapter 43

Zhan Xi was usually busy. Whenever he was, he would hand over the camera to Ningning to play with. He even taught Ningning how to take photos. After learning how to take photos, Ningning became obsessed with taking pictures of the vegetables in the small garden.

Ningning enjoyed taking pictures of the vegetables, but he didn’t take many photos of himself.

Facing so many cameras, Ningning’s chubby face stiffened in fear, and he couldn’t move his legs. He held his brother’s hand tightly, his voice trembling, “Brother, Ningning can’t walk.”

Huo Lin, upon hearing this, without hesitation, lifted him up.

After Huo Lin lifted Ningning, he buried his little face in his brother’s arms and hid himself tightly.

Huo Lin held him steady, his face expressionless, just as cold as before.

Soon enough, the two entered the hall.

As soon as they entered, a beautiful woman with long wavy hair walked towards them. When the woman saw Huo Lin, a warm smile appeared on her face.

“Hey, Caesar, it’s nice to see you here.”

Huo Lin looked up at the woman and politely greeted her, “Hello, Auntie Ella.”

Ella smiled and reminded him, “Darling, just call me Ella. No need to add ‘auntie’; it makes me sound old.”

Huo Lin: “...”

Huo Lin had no choice but to change his words. “Ella.”

Ella was satisfied with this title.

Her gaze shifted from Huo Lin’s face to the child in his arms, and her smile became even brighter when she saw the baby facing away from her.

“Caesar, it seems you’ve brought a shy little treasure with you.”

“Can I hold him? I love his beautiful curly hair.”

Jian Ning’s hair was soft and had cute little curls. Perhaps because of his handsome face, the curly hairstyle looked even more adorable.

As Ella spoke, she gently touched the back of the curly hair.

Jian Ning, burying his face in his older brother’s embrace, extended his little arms and held onto him tightly.

Although he had bravely expressed earlier that he could be photographed casually, the flashing lights still made the young child uncomfortable.

Even after being touched by Ella, Jian Ning remained motionless.

Huo Lin lowered his voice and whispered softly in the child’s ear, “Ella is my aunt. Do you remember the learning device you used? Aunt Ella developed it.”

The mention of the learning device brought back a sense of familiarity for the young child.

He revealed his hidden little face and looked at Ella. Upon seeing her, the child, who had a preference for beauty, was a little stunned. “Aunt Ella, you look so beautiful.”

His Royal Highness, the elegant Prince, was undoubtedly a charming person. The woman who could capture his attention and make him willingly enter into marriage would naturally be exceptional.

Ella was a charming beauty before she married into the royal family.

Initially, the relationship between the two was just a passing encounter. But who would have thought that they would become entangled to the point where they couldn’t be separated?

The beauty-loving child looked at Ella’s outstretched hand, inviting him for a hug, and without hesitation, he leaned forward and said, “Hug!”

Huo Lin: “...”

Huo Lin looked at the child, who showed no signs of social anxiety, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

Ella lifted the adorable young child in her arms, and if it weren’t for her lipstick, she would have given him a kiss.

“What is your name?”

“Ningning.”

As the young child answered with his name, Ella raised an eyebrow and glanced at Huo Lin.

Clearly, she knew that the young prince used to carry a child with the same name in his learning device. Considering their ages and the timing, it matched perfectly with the child in her arms.

Ella teased Huo Lin, saying, “Our Caesar is truly a persevering person.”

A child who persevered in pampering another child for two years.

The adults organized the banquet, and Huo Lin’s attendance was merely to add some prestige to the event as the Imperial Crown Prince. After exchanging greetings with the people they passed by, Huo Lin asked Ella for the little child.

“I want to feed him something.”

Huo Lin spoke and, as if remembering something, asked, “Aunt Ella, I heard that you are an expert in child nurturing. Could you help me see if Ningning’s current weight will affect his health?”

Ella: “?”

Ella weighed the child in her arms. It was a bit heavy, but visually, he didn’t look chubby at all.

She truly liked children. Whether it was about learning or product development, it was mostly related to children. Upon hearing this request, her eyes lit up with a smile.

“Come, I have a child examination device here. I’ll take this little darling for a check-up.”

Huo Lin nodded and followed her upstairs.

The products developed by Aunt Ella were all useful but very expensive. Now he could avail himself of one without charge, and Ningning had gained a fortune.

A few minutes later.

The little child was placed on the device and underwent the examination in a dazed state.

During the examination, Ella jokingly said to Huo Lin, “Caesar, relax. You don’t have to be too nervous. Compared to the other children at the Imperial Military Kindergarten, Ningning may appear chubby, but you should know that the weight requirements for children in the Imperial Kindergarten are unique.”

“Perhaps you should take a look at the children in other kindergartens.”

Ella felt that Huo Lin’s anxiety was completely unnecessary. She adjusted the device and carefully conducted a detailed examination of the little child.

“Come and take a look. This instrument of mine is definitely the most advanced child examination device in the entire empire. If you like it, I can give you an 80% discount.”

“How much is the discounted price?”

“Oh, it’s 120 million star coins.”

Huo Lin: “...”

Although Huo Lin had a lot of pocket money, he couldn’t muster the courage to spend hundreds of millions.

He glanced at the instrument and said with a strained face, “When you see my father, you can introduce this to him.”

Ella chuckled.

Who was Ludwig? Even if she introduced it, the other party wouldn’t buy it for an unrelated child.

While the little child was still being examined, Ella continued talking to Huo Lin about her own instrument. To obtain more accurate examination results, a small amount of blood needed to be drawn, which posed a big problem for the little child who was afraid of pain.

In the end, Huo Lin could only cover the little one’s eyes and hand the other’s finger over to Ella.

Ella skillfully and accurately drew blood, and the little child cried loudly, as expected.

Huo Lin lowered his head and wiped away the tears from the child’s eyes while applying pressure to the finger from which blood was just drawn, preventing it from bleeding further.

Ella observed him frantically comforting the little child, but her expression remained calm.

As she sent the blood sample for analysis and returned to Huo Lin, she shared the preliminary examination results, saying, “There are no issues with his weight. He’s a healthy, chubby little kid. If you don’t want him to be labeled as overweight, you can consider changing his kindergaten.”

Ella’s suggestion was met with Huo Lin’s refusal, “Ningning is already accustomed to his current kindergarten. He doesn’t need to transfer.”

Ella shrugged and didn’t argue about the matter.

She poked the plump cheeks and arms of the little child and couldn’t help but adore him. “Caesar, when you have time, you can bring Ningning to my house as an exclusive guest. I’ll prepare delicious snacks for you.”

Huo Lin responded with a perfunctory “Mm,” but it sounded somewhat insincere.

Time passed slowly.

Feeling aggrieved that he couldn’t eat due to being pricked with needles, the teary-eyed little child looked at his chubby hands.

He raised his hand towards Huo Lin’s mouth and in a childish voice with a hint of crying, he said, “Brother, pain.”

Huo Lin lowered his head, holding the child’s hand, and blew on it.

Ella glanced at the time and smiled, saying, “It will still take another hour for the procedure to finish. You two can go and play downstairs.”

Upon hearing this, Huo Lin immediately picked up the aggrieved child and went downstairs to find some food to console him.

There was plenty of delicious food at today’s banquet, which was the reason why Huo Lin brought the little child along.

The main purpose for the adults attending the banquet was socializing, while the children’s needs were relatively simple.

They only needed to eat.

Enticed by the array of tempting food, the child’s mouth began to water. His teary eyes from earlier were now filled with delight.

“Brother, it’s so tasty!”

Huo Lin put him down and let him stand by his side. He said, “Point to whichever one you want to eat, and I’ll get it for you.”

The child pointed randomly, almost overwhelming Huo Lin’s plate.

The food was kept warm in insulated containers and remained fresh when served. There were main courses, snacks, and even ice cream for dessert.

The child sat on a sofa, looking at the abundant food and the leftovers.

He was so blissful that he felt like fainting.

“Brother, next time bring me again,” the child, with a mouthful of food that his brother fed him, mumbled in his childish voice while still clutching two pieces of pastry in his chubby hands.

Huo Lin’s daily life was never lacking in all kinds of banquets.

But he rarely attended them, as these banquets were synonymous with boredom for him.

Watching the little child in front of him eating heartily, Huo Lin fed him some milk and said, “Hmm, I’ll bring you next time.”

After promising, he thought for a moment and continued, “If I don’t have time, I’ll let my father take you.”

He had been busy with his studies lately, and his time may become increasingly tight.

The little child happily wagged his short legs and nodded his head.

Given Huo Lin’s status, there were many people who wanted to talk to him. But due to the large number of strangers who came, even the little child, who wasn’t originally afraid of socializing, choked several times.

Seeing the little child’s face turning red from choking, Huo Lin’s expression turned cold, and he immediately took the little child to a corner.

His aloof attitude finally made people realize that he was very averse to socializing at the moment.

In the latter half of the banquet, Ludwig briefly appeared, pushing the whole event to its climax.

Huo Lin didn’t care about his father’s appearance and just focused on taking care of Ningning.

After a while, the little child slumped on the sofa and touched his own belly. He bit the milk straw and called out to his brother, “Brother, my tummy’s round.”

Huo Lin was afraid that he might have indigestion, so he came over to rub his belly and reminded him, “Don’t drink anymore after you’re full. You just had a lot of juice.”

The little child felt a bit itchy from the belly rub and laughed out loud while holding the milk bottle.

Huo Lin couldn’t take away his milk bottle, so he had to let him finish the last bottle of milk.

No one disturbed them, and the two children stayed in the corner, feeling very good.

As the banquet was about to end, Huo Lin still hadn’t seen Aunt Ella, so he was a bit puzzled and took the little child to see her.

Ella saw the two of them, and for a brief moment, there seemed to be a trace of something unusual in her eyes.

Huo Lin straightforwardly asked, “Aunt Ella, has Ningning’s test results come out? It’s getting late now, and I want to take him back.”

Ella paused for a moment before smiling and replied, “There was a problem with the blood analysis equipment. It’ll probably take another day for the results. You two can go back first, and I’ll let you know once the results are out.”

Huo Lin furrowed his brow but still nodded.

On the way back.

Huo Lin took the little child straight to the palace. Perhaps because he was full and tired, the little one fell asleep in the car.

The next day was the weekend and also the day of the little child’s sports event.

Early in the morning, Huo Lin received a call from Zhan Xi.

Zhan Xi and Ling Qi planned to bring the child to the kindergarten. The kindergarten had a rule that all the parents of the children must be present today.

“Ningning slept with my father last night, and I’m going to pick him up now.”

“Okay.”

Just as Huo Lin was about to go and wake up the little child, in another bedroom, the child had already woken up.

Although he was awake, his eyes remained tightly shut, and his small body stiffened like a stick, not moving at all.

“Ludwig.”

Having tidied herself up after sitting up, Ai Wei looked at the two figures still in bed who hadn’t gotten up yet and felt something was off, saying, “Ningning can be lazy, but why aren’t you getting up either?”

Ludwig: “...”

Ludwig felt the strangeness of the bedsheets and the stiffened little stick-like figure of the little child. He let out a sigh.

***

The author has something to say:

Ningning: QAQ

 

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