In the following days...
Ling Qi would be at Mans’ place during the daytime. There
were a couple of times when he couldn’t come back to cook and ended up letting
the little child have lunch made by his father.
“Daddy, what is Uncle Ling Qi busy with?”
Ningning sat at the dining table, eating the rice cooked by
his father, but his appetite was noticeably not as good as before. Biting his
spoon, he asked unclearly, “Ningning is taking an exam, and other kids’ parents
give them eggs and fried dough sticks.”
It was a custom on Ancient Earth: give the child one fried
dough stick and two eggs, and the child would score 100 points.
Ningning also wanted to score 100 points.
Ever since Zhan Xi arrived on White Mist Star, he had already
realized his level of culinary skills. He knew how to make eggs and fried dough
sticks, but he felt that his own cooking definitely wouldn’t be as delicious as
Ling Qi’s.
“Alright, I got it. Today when Uncle Ling Qi comes back, I’ll
let him know and have him make eggs and fried dough sticks for you. Finish this
meal first.”
Zhan Xi said casually, his expression seemingly unconcerned,
as he asked, “Ningning, how is the food Daddy made today?”
When Ling Qi cooked, Zhan Xi would often watch beside him.
In theory, Zhang Xi should have made progress by now.
Caught off guard by this question, the child nervously bit
down on his spoon. His round, bright eyes blinked and, in the end, he leaned
over and kissed his father with a smack, saying, “Ningning loves Daddy!”
Zhan Xi: “...”
Oh, got it.
Seeing that his father didn’t ask any further, the child also
breathed a sigh of relief.
He finished his meal in big bites and then hurriedly grabbed
his little shovel and went to the vegetable garden in the yard with Fatty to
look for worms.
There were chicks being sold on the street, and the child
really wanted to raise one.
Dad said that the little chicks needed to eat worms. If you
wanted to raise them, you have to be responsible for feeding the chicks and
cleaning their droppings.
For the cute and fluffy little chicks, the child was not
afraid of cleaning the droppings and would try hard to find worms for them to
eat!
Zhan Xi was tidying up the dining table, occasionally
glancing into the yard.
With the habit of the child putting down the bowl and
immediately going to play, no matter how many fried dough sticks and eggs he
ate, he wouldn’t score 100 points. Zhan Xi watched him for a while and even
went to urge him to study.
But the child, who was engrossed in catching insects,
completely ignored his father’s urging.
Seeing this, Zhan Xi decided not to bother him.
After all, when it came to the exam, it wouldn’t be him who
would cry at the result.
On the day before the exam, Ling Qi and Zhan Xi discussed
what they would have for breakfast the next day. After finishing their
conversation about breakfast, they fell silent for a moment.
Zhan Xi eventually broke the silence and asked, “Ling Qi, do
you still not trust me?”
These past few days, Ling Qi had been going out every day,
and Zhan Xi didn’t mind that.
What he cared about was that something had clearly happened
to Ling Qi these days, and it definitely wasn’t something light.
But Ling Qi didn’t tell him a single word.
Zhan Xi’s question made Ling Qi’s expression change slightly.
He coldly raised his eyes and asked back, “You really want to know what I’ve
been doing? Wasn’t it you who told me a few days ago that you would respect my
privacy?”
Zhan Xi: “...”
Zhan Xi was almost choked.
He couldn’t even come up with a response. Just a few days
ago, he had comforted Ling Qi that he wouldn’t inquire about or investigate his
affairs. And now, after just a few days, he was about to take it back.
The conversation between the two was not pleasant.
They remained in a tense atmosphere, not knowing what they
were both holding back.
The child sitting on the bed seemed to suddenly become
oblivious this time. He didn’t pay attention to his dad and Uncle Ling Qi, nor
did he sense the atmosphere between them.
His little hand gripped his sock on his foot, and his chubby
face looked a bit dazed.
After a while...
The little child finally looked up and said to Zhan Xi,
“Daddy, I have an exam tomorrow.”
Zhan Xi pinched his chubby face, his tone softened. “Hmm,
Daddy knows. Didn’t you tell Daddy that you’ll improve this time?”
The little child: “...”
The little child’s chubby face was in a dilemma.
Oh dear.
The little child spoke too soon!
As the exam was approaching, the little child started to feel
anxious. He felt that there were still many things he didn’t know. When the
exam came tomorrow, he might not be able to make progress.
Zhan Xi glanced at the time and didn’t let the little child
stay up any longer. “Ningning, go to sleep. Wake up a bit earlier tomorrow for
the exam.”
Under his father’s forced persuasion to sleep, the little
child had no choice but to close his eyes.
However, in the silence of the night, after all the sounds in
the room had ceased, the little child, who had his eyes closed, suddenly rubbed
his eyes and sat up.
He cautiously approached and looked at his father and Uncle Ling
Qi.
Upon discovering that both adults were sleeping with their
eyes closed, the little child secretly grabbed a flashlight and slipped into
the blanket.
Inside the blanket, he had hidden his books!
The little child held the flashlight in one hand and flipped
through the Chinese book with the other. There were new characters to be tested
in the Chinese book, and he hadn’t memorized all of them yet!
The sound of flipping pages echoed within the blanket as the
little child earnestly studied the book, vividly embodying the meaning of
“last-minute cramming.”
The light from the flashlight seeped through the blanket, and
soon Zhan Xi opened his eyes.
Not only Zhan Xi woke up, but Ling Qi also woke up as well.
The two adults looked at each other, and in the end, they
decisively lifted the cover of the little child’s bed.
As the blanket was lifted, the little child inside hadn’t
even reacted yet and was caught red-handed.
Zhan Xi looked at the caught child with a complicated
expression.
“Ningning, what are you doing?” Zhan Xi looked at his chubby
child wrapped in a small blanket, holding a flashlight in his chubby hands. He
didn’t know what to say. “Shining a flashlight in bed in the middle of the
night. Are you trying to blind yourself?”
He confiscated the child’s flashlight and took away his
Chinese textbook. “You have an exam tomorrow. It’s useless to cram at this
hour.”
“Listen to me, go to sleep now.”
Zhan Xi took away the child’s belongings and then turned his
head to look at Ling Qi.
Ling Qi understood and lifted the motionless child like a
wooden chicken. “Ningning, you need to sleep well now. When you wake up
refreshed tomorrow, you’ll do well on your exam.”
The comforting words from Dad and Uncle Ling Qi didn’t
comfort the little child at all.
The child frowned with a pouty face, his eyes still fixed on
the confiscated Chinese textbook. “I haven’t learned the new words yet. The
teacher said we will have a test.”
Ling Qi: “...”
Ling Qi held him in his arms and lay down, saying, “Don’t
worry. The more nervous you are, the more the teacher will test you on the
words you don’t know. If you’re not nervous, the teacher will test you on the
words you do know.”
Under the gentle persuasion of Uncle Ling Qi, the little
child, who wasn’t good at staying up late anyway, couldn’t keep his eyes open
for long.
After a few more minutes, his eyelids started to fight each
other.
A few more minutes passed, and the little child snuggled
against Ling Qi’s chest, already sleeping soundly and even snoring softly.
Zhan Xi looked at the little child who had been restless in
the middle of the night and couldn’t help but find it amusing. “Usually so
careless in class, but now that the exams are approaching, he realizes the
urgency.”
The young child sought last-minute help from superstition.
The next day, after eating two portions of eggs and fried dough sticks, he
patted his little belly and happily went to school.
“Dad, I’ll work hard to get a perfect score for you!”
“Okay, Dad will be waiting for good news from you.”
Zhan Xi sent the child off for the exam, and when he returned
home, Ling Qi was no longer there.
Meanwhile...
Ling Qi had already arrived at Mans’ place, listening to Mans
saying, “You don’t need to come here anymore. I need to go out for a bit.”
Mans wasn’t a person with idle tasks. He couldn’t stay at
home every day.
When Ling Qi heard that he was leaving, his expression froze
for a moment. “Where are you going?”
“On official duty.”
Mans replied calmly. After finishing his sentence, he added,
“Don’t worry, I will give you an explanation about your mother’s matter.”
“Okay.”
Compared to Cole, Ling Qi felt that Mans’ words were more
trustworthy.
After leaving Mans’ place, Ling Qi felt relieved at the
thought that he didn’t have to come here for the next few days.
***
Days passed by one after another.
In the kindergarten, the young child took all the subjects in
the exams. Under the arrangement of Teacher Rick, the child’s mecha exam used
the usual scores as a temporary substitute.
On the same day when the child finished all the exams and
received the results, in the palace, Ludwig had also arranged for Caesar to go
to the Sixth Planet.
Caesar was going with Ningning, accompanied by Caesar’s
security team and someone who could ensure their safety—
Mans.
“Mans has used up his accumulated vacation days over the
years and is going on vacation to the Sixth Planet.”
Ludwig spoke to his son in front of him, “Perfect, he can
accompany you and Ningning on this trip.”
With Mans present, this journey to the Sixth Planet
undoubtedly had an additional layer of security.
“Caesar, the Sixth Planet is not a place that will warmly
receive guests. When you go with Ningning, try to keep a low profile.”
After giving instructions, Ludwig emphasized, “Especially
Ningning, take good care of him and don’t let him cause any trouble.”
“I understand, Father.”
Ludwig’s arrangement for his son didn’t cause much trouble
for the frugal King of the Sixth Planet.
He even sent a message in advance to inform the King of the
Sixth Planet that his child was just going shopping and didn’t need to stay in
the palace or receive any special treatment.
This message received a response from the King of the Sixth
Planet.
The other party expressed respect for their arrangements and
stated that if Caesar encountered any trouble on the Sixth Planet, he could
communicate with him at any time.
Maintaining this level of polite conversation between the
leaders of the two nations was considered satisfactory.
After giving all the instructions, Ludwig informed his son,
“Departure time is at six o’clock. Zhan Xi has already packed Ningning’s
things. Once Ningning returns from school, you can set off.”
“You have three days to do what you need to do. Caesar, I
hope you make good use of this time.”
“Father, I will make good use of it.”
Huo Lin stayed in the study, listening to his father’s words,
and then he browsed through several books about the Sixth Planet.
The Sixth Planet had highly advanced intelligent technology
and machinery, but the relationships between people were very cold.
There had been specialized studies on the Sixth Planet in the
International Star News. After two years of observation and research, the
scholars conducting the research believed that the people of the Sixth Planet
were too reliant on intelligent technology, resulting in limited social interactions
with others. And with reduced social interactions, emotional communication was
also diminished.
As a result, they naturally became “indifferent.”
After reviewing the information about the Sixth Planet, Huo
Lin then looked at the ruler of the Sixth Planet.
Good looks.
Very stingy.
These were the only two keywords, and these two keywords
didn’t seem to go well together.
Thinking about what his father said, he and Ningning didn’t
need to go to the palace, so there’s no need to look at this information.
He put the information down, stayed in the study for a while,
and then got up and returned to his own bedroom.
He was going to take Ningning out, and whether it was a
psychological illusion or not, he always felt that he didn’t bring enough
things.
In the evening.
Zhan Xi carried a backpack with one hand and held the little
child’s hand as they entered the palace.
The little child’s luggage had already been sent in advance.
This time, Zhan Xi was here to send off the little child.
“What happened to Ningning?”
Seeing the little child being led in, Ai Wei asked with
confusion, “Why do I see redness around his eyes? Did he get into a fight at
kindergarten?”
“No.”
Zhan Xi explained with a slight helplessness, “The grades
came out.”
They all knew that the little child had an exam a few days
ago. The little child even boasted that he would score 100 points!
However, today when the results came out, it revealed the true
nature of the little child, who hadn’t studied seriously but instead resorted
to last-minute cramming, resulting in even worse scores than the previous time.
The little child thought about what he had said before and
looked at the test paper with many red crosses. He felt both sad and
embarrassed.
When his dad came to pick him up, he clutched the test paper
and was too upset to say anything.
Soon, Huo Lin and Ludwig also saw the test paper. The father
and son stared at the little child’s grades in silence.
After a long pause, Huo Lin finally calmed down and said,
“It’s okay, there’s still one final exam. Let’s study hard this time, and you
will definitely do well in the final exam.”
The little child sniffed and tightened his chubby little
fist, promising his brother, “Brother, if I don’t improve next time, you can
punish me by not giving me meat for a whole week!”
For the little child who loved eating meat and needed it
every day, this kind of punishment was simply too harsh!
The protected little child clung to his brother’s leg, asking
his brother to carry him away.
The embarrassed little child didn’t want to see the adults
right now!
Seeing this scene, Huo Lin carried him onto the spaceship.
The spaceship flew all the way towards the direction of the
Sixth Planet.
General Mans, who had a different departure time from them,
was not on their spaceship at the moment. They would meet up with General Mans
when they arrived at the Sixth Planet.
As the spaceship flew, the King inside the palace on the
Sixth Planet suddenly felt a pang for no reason.
He furrowed his brow and pressed in the direction of his
heart.
He didn’t know what was happening, but he suddenly felt a
hint of unease and an ominous premonition.
His intuition had always been accurate, but he couldn’t
figure out what caused this ominous premonition, no matter how much he thought
about it.
If he couldn’t figure it out, all he could do was wait.
Meanwhile, on the spaceship heading over, the little child
sat on a chair. Even though they were on the spaceship, he still had to listen
to his brother explaining the test paper to him.
“Ningning, pay attention in class. You can rest once we
arrive at our destination.”
Huo Lin said that the young child could study easily, but in
reality, he was pushing the child to study hard. He found a blackboard on the
spaceship and personally became the little child’s teacher.
The little child bit the end of his pen and looked at the
test paper for a while before muttering, “I wish I could be illiterate.”
Being illiterate meant he didn’t have to study.
***
The author has something to say:
Ningning: I want to slack off QAQ!
Thanks for the update!! 😂😂
ReplyDeleteLmao 😂 and now I'm curious/anxious/excited/wondering why the king felt that way 👀
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chapter! 🛐💖👀