Ling Qi was left speechless by Zhan Xi’s response and continued to ask, “Even if the investment fails, you won’t return the principal to him?”
Zhan Xi shamelessly replied, “The principal was also lost in the investment. Making money through investments always carries risks. I’m educating him that there are gains and losses on the road to earning.”
Ling Qi: “...”
Glancing at him, Ling Qi remarked, “Then get ready to see him cry.”
Both father and son were scheming against each other—one aiming to trick the child into giving red envelopes, the other wanting to ask his father for more.
Before Lunar New Year had even begun, they were both plotting.
Meanwhile, at the little child’s meeting with Wagner, after a while of sulking, Savi eased up, saying, “After the New Year, I’ll come get you all. We have many elders here, and you can receive a lot of red envelopes, but my elders are a bit serious.”
Describing them as “serious” was actually putting it mildly.
His elders weren’t just serious; they were a bit strict.
The little child and Wagner perked up their ears, focusing mainly on “many red envelopes.” They certainly didn’t hear clearly whether the elders were strict or not.
“Savi, come celebrate the New Year with us first, then after here, we’ll go to your place, and finally to Wagner’s house, and also Uncle Lulu’s house.”
The children planned out their New Year visits clearly, determined to collect as many red envelopes as possible.
“Okay.”
Savi thought the order was fine. They discussed a few details before ending the meeting.
Before closing the meeting, Savi told the little child, “Ningning, next time we video call, make sure to let Lele answer.”
He initiated the video calls, and each time Ningning answered. However, Ningning himself didn’t think about what they could actually discuss during these video calls.
“Okay! Got it.”
In exchange for receiving red envelopes, the little child agreed to Savi’s request.
After the call with Savi, the little child went to check on Lele, who was still sleeping. Lele had been crying a lot these days, looking quite exhausted.
“Ah.”
The little child rubbed his head, feeling a bit of a headache. “It’s so difficult.”
Reuniting Lele with his mom was not an easy task.
The little child sat next to Lele for a while, during which his star device beeped a few times—his brother was calling.
After several unanswered calls, Huo Lin sent a message.
“Ningning, still angry?”
“You’re really ignoring me?”
“I got injured during training today.”
The first two messages made the little child snort coldly, unmoved. But the third message made him unable to keep quiet.
He furrowed his brow, staring at the message, his chubby face becoming increasingly serious.
He knew his brother had training, and the content of the training could be dangerous. Therefore, this message didn’t seem like a lie to the little child.
After wrestling with his thoughts for several minutes,
The little child still responded to his brother with a video call. When the call connected, the little child, with a serious chubby face, was very stern: “Let me see where you’re injured.”
Huo Lin was prepared, exposing the wound on his arm for him to see.
The little child looked at the bloodstains seeping through the gauze, his eyes widening. “You’re bleeding!”
Huo Lin “Hmm”ed and explained in his usual tone, “I lost focus during training and accidentally hurt myself, but it’s not very painful.”
The little child didn’t believe it wasn’t very painful. He remembered accidentally scratching himself before and finding it very painful.
His brother’s arm looked much worse than the scratch he had.
“Why did you lose focus during training?”
The little child’s furrowed brows hadn’t relaxed; he was a bit angry: “Losing focus is bad. If Ningning loses focus in class, he’ll fail the exams.”
After being spanked by Dad, the little child was forced to accept that failing exams wasn’t Grandpa Confucius’ fault but his own for losing focus in class.
Listening to the little child’s lecture, Huo Lin’s face remained unchanged, but he felt very relieved inside.
He looked at the chubby little child on the screen and said calmly, “I was thinking of you during training and that you were still angry, so I lost focus.”
The little child: “...”
The little child was momentarily stunned.
The pot thrown over from his brother’s side hit him unaware.
“Don’t worry about Ningning.”
The little child cautioned, “Don’t think during training!”
Thrown off by his brother, the little child couldn’t stay mad. If the screen did not separate them, he would have hugged his brother.
“Ningning is not mad at you.”
Looking at his brother’s arm, the little one’s eyes teared up, “Let Dr. Gene give you medicine. Dr. Gene is really good.”
“Okay.”
Having successfully comforted the little child, Huo Lin now listened to the little child’s various instructions. His typically cold expression softened considerably.
“Brother, after Ningning celebrates the New Year, Ningning will come back to find you.”
“Okay, brother will wait for you.”
“Brother, Ningning wishes you a Happy New Year. Will you give Ningning a red envelope?”
“I will.”
“And Wagner and Savi, they also want to wish you a Happy New Year.” After caring about his brother, the little child brought up the most important red envelope issue.
Huo Lin: “...”
Huo Lin observed the little children’s expression and estimated that these children were up to something together.
He nodded. “Let them come to wish me.”
His allowance was enough to give red envelopes to these few.
The little child coaxed another New Year red envelope, feeling much better.
He held the star device and talked with his brother for quite a while about the trivial matters of daily life. If someone else had been speaking, Huo Lin might not have been interested.
But when spoken by the little child, he found it very interesting.
Eating, sleeping, and going out for a walk were interesting.
No matter what the little child did, he found it interesting.
The video continued for a while, and the little child reluctantly waved goodbye to his brother. “Brother, if you’re injured, don’t train anymore. Rest well!”
“Ningning is almost home. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay.”
Huo Lin also waved goodbye to the little child.
The spaceship landed on the barren planet.
Zhan Xi opened the door and saw a crowd outside. “Hey, everyone’s quite enthusiastic! Boss, you’re here too.”
Zhan Xi looked at the people from the barren planet who came to greet them, smiling. He opened his arms, ready to hug Zhan Rao.
But Zhan Rao avoided him directly, “Where’s Ningning?”
Others also asked, “Is Ningning still sleeping? Has he woken up? Sitting on the spaceship for so long must be exhausting.”
Zhan Xi: “...”
Zhan Xi’s smile froze on his face.
He looked at everyone looking into the spaceship, and suddenly realized that their warmth wasn’t for him.
“Uncle!!!”
Just as Zhan Xi was about to express his dissatisfaction to Zhan Rao, a kid rushed out of the spaceship. The little child’s childish voice seemed to carry a sticky sweetness, and he threw himself at Zhan Rao, exclaiming, “I missed you so much!”
Zhan Rao, seeing the little child rushing over, finally showed some expression on his face.
He picked up the little child and lifted him onto his neck.
The little child hugged his head, sticking to him affectionately. “Uncle, did you miss Ningning?”
Zhan Rao, with a reserved personality, not good at expressing emotions, succinctly replied, “Missed.”
Upon hearing this, the little child squinted contentedly and smiled.
After holding the little child for a while, others who wanted to snatch the little child soon surrounded Zhan Rao.
It had been several months since they last saw the little child, and everyone on the barren planet missed him dearly.
The little child didn’t feel awkward in front of the adults at all; he sweetly called out to them and even let the adults pinch and kiss his chubby face.
Zhan Xi felt a bit annoyed watching this. “Ling Qi, don’t you find them overly affectionate?”
