On the way.
The little child looked at his dad in front of the tricycle, his voice filled with regret: “Ah, Uncle was supposed to come with Ningning.”
If Auntie hadn’t been there, Uncle could have accompanied Ningning now.
Zhan Xi drove the tricycle and also expressed regret: “If An Nuo went with you, I could have picked up some scrap.”
Father and son both had their regrets, but in the end, Zhan Xi brought the little child here.
In the world of children, adults wouldn’t squeeze in.
The birthday child this time came from a wealthy family. In this class of wealthy children, there was a bit of pride, and they looked down on other children a bit.
But ever since Ningning arrived in their class, he outperformed this proud child.
The wealthy child couldn’t eat as much as Ningning, his popularity couldn’t match Ningning’s, and even the color of his mecha was not as good as Ningning’s. Most importantly, he couldn’t win a fight against Ningning.
After the two little children got to know each other, Tom, the wealthy child, also made friends with Ningning.
However, compared to Wagner, the friendship between these two little children occasionally felt a bit artificial.
“Ningning, you’re here!”
Tom, the wealthy child, happily ran over when he saw the little child brought by Zhan Xi. He waved his hand and greeted the little child.
There were already quite a few children at the scene. Before coming in, Ningning used the small mirror he carried with him to tidy up his golden mask.
As the birthday party’s main character, Tom was dressed in a little suit today, looking like a little prince.
Ningning stood tall and felt he looked great today!
He approached Tom and showed him the cake and sweets that Uncle Ling Qi had made: “Uncle Ling Qi made these. They’re very good!”
“Let’s eat later. Ningning, we should go and play games now.”
“Sure, let’s play games.”
No young child would dislike playing with toys, so after putting down the gifts he brought with him, the little child followed Tom and walked away.
Zhan Xi didn’t keep up.
It wasn’t his first time at such an event, so he was familiar with the surroundings.
In the play area for the younglings, there were professional bodyguards watching over them. These bodyguards were hidden around the children, so as not to disturb their play and to ensure their safety.
“Mr. Zhan, I’ll take you to the adjacent restaurant.”
After the children went off to play hand in hand, Zhan Xi was also led to the adjacent area.
The adjacent area was where the adults gathered, but the topics they discussed had nothing to do with Zhan Xi.
They talked about red wine, collections, art, or business.
Zhan Xi sat there, listening to these unfamiliar topics, and he didn’t even get a chance to speak.
Occasionally, some well-meaning parents would divert their attention to him: “Mr. Zhan’s child is so lively. Why is Mr. Zhan himself so unsociable? Is our conversation too boring for him? It seems Mr. Zhan is not interested.”
Zhan Xi mostly ignored such well-meaning mentions. If he didn’t pay attention, the people who brought it up usually lost interest and didn’t say much more.
Although the experience of such gatherings wasn’t to his liking, he revealed very little to his child.
The adults’ world was different from the pure world of the children, and Zhan Xi only hoped that his child could have fun at these gatherings.
As for the affairs of the adults, the children didn’t need to worry about them.
In the children’s banquet area...
A group of children wore masks and compared whose mask looked the best.
“Ningning has the best mask!”
One child pointed at Ningning’s golden mask and said seriously, “This one is made of gold, and gold is precious and looks great!”
Tom watched as Ningning actually brought his aunt’s mask with him, and he couldn’t help but envy him. “Ningning, your aunt really likes you. My mom bought me a gold piece of jewelry, and she won’t let me play with it.”
Gold, a value-adding item from the ancient Earth era, had become increasingly expensive in this interstellar age due to its rarity.
Tom added with a sigh, “Last time, I lost her golden hairpin, and she even spanked me.”
Among the envious gazes of many children, Ningning seemed to be floating on air.
He touched the ill-fitting gold mask on his face and said proudly, in a childish voice, “My aunt really likes me! I didn’t want to wear this, but he insisted on putting it on me.”
When the little child was being praised, under a wooden rack not far away, a pair of eyes stared fixedly at this group of children, their thoughts unclear.
“Ningning, can I touch your mask?”
“You can’t. If you touch it—”
“I’ll give you two pieces of chocolate.” The little child who wanted to touch the mask took out two exquisite pieces of chocolate from his pocket.
Ningning hesitated as he looked at the chocolate. After a few seconds, he removed the mask and said, “Here, be careful when you touch it.”
“Okay!”
“Ningning, don’t worry about it getting damaged. My dad said gold is very hard, and we can’t damage it.”
Other children chimed in, “Right, gold won’t fade, and it won’t break either; it’s tough.”
The children were studying the golden mask, while not far away, someone concealed in the shadows was observing the children.
A group of chattering children, noisy and unrelenting.
Not many people wanted to do the job of monitoring these children, but he had infiltrated and taken on this task.
The identities of these imperial children were mostly precious, and there were only two places to get close to them:
One, school.
Two, at home.
Imperial schools, especially military ones, were extremely difficult to enter. Compared to schools, it was easier to get in here.
The person who quietly observed and studied in the shadows neither approached the children nor did anything to them.
He just quietly watched the children, his green eyes shining in the darkness.
Among the group of children, the one who had just touched the mask, perhaps with a little too much force, accidentally bent it a bit.
“Ningning, yes, I’m sorry.”
The child who accidentally bent the mask apologized to Ningning with a hint of awkwardness, “I bent the corner of the mask.”
The child who had just claimed the mask was not easily damaged heard this and furrowed his brow. “Gold won’t be bent; you must have seen it wrong.”
The chubby child was also afraid of damaging his aunt’s mask, so he reached out to take the mask.
The child next to him was quicker to snatch the mask, saying, “I want to look at it first!”
In the midst of the children’s dispute, one of the children lowered his head to look at his own hand.
He was a bit puzzled. “Why did my hand change color?”
As he said this, the other children also looked at their hands. One of the children, with a changed hand color, quickly shifted his gaze to the mask.
A few minutes later.
The mask that the little child had brought was snatched away by the others, revealing that the gold plating on the surface was fake. “This isn’t real gold. Ningning, is your aunt not rich?”
The little child looked at the faded gold mask, his face turning red.
Clutching the mask, he stubbornly replied, “My aunt is rich! He’s the king of the 11th planet, and he’s definitely rich.”
The little child had heard from his older brother that kings were always wealthy.
However, when he mentioned his uncle being the king, the children in front of him raised their eyebrows, “Ningning, the king of the 11th planet is quite stingy!”
Ningning: “...”
The little child held back his tears. He knew his aunt was a bit stingy, but he didn’t know he was this stingy!
