Late at night, the little child faintly heard some noise from the next room. His door was soundproof, so the noise from the other room was not very clear.
The little child hesitated for a moment after hearing the noise, wondering whether to check it out.
But when it came to choosing between seeing what Dad and Uncle Ling Qi were doing or playing his game, the little child wavered for a few seconds and then chose the latter.
The next day.
The little child slept until the sun was high in the sky and showed no signs of waking up. Not only was he not awake, but his dad from the next room also didn’t come to wake him up.
Without his dad to wake him, the little child slept comfortably until the afternoon.
At around two in the afternoon.
Although he hadn’t slept enough, the little child’s stomach was empty.
He gently pushed Lele, but seeing Lele was still asleep, he climbed out of bed in his pajamas to find something to eat.
“Dad!”
The little child stood at his dad’s bedroom door, pounding on the door with his chubby little fists: “I’m hungry!”
The door was locked from the inside, so the little child couldn’t push it open and could only pound on it with his chubby fists.
After pounding the door several times, Zhan Xi, with messy hair, finally came out to open the door.
The little child looked at his dad, who had red eyes and a chapped lip, and asked blankly, “Dad, why are you still not awake?”
After asking, the little child felt a bit guilty, thinking it might have been because he poured too much wine for his dad the night before.
Zhan Xi rubbed his temples, looked at the little child who was only wearing pajamas, and said hoarsely, “Go back and get dressed. I’ll make you something to eat.”
The little child, who had said he wasn’t picky the day before, hesitated when he heard his dad was going to cook: “Can’t Uncle Ling Qi cook?”
“He’s not feeling well. Don’t bother him. I’ll make you something to eat.”
The little child looked at his dad and reluctantly nodded. “Okay.”
First, eat the meal Dad makes, then wait for Uncle Ling Qi to wake up, and he can eat what Uncle Ling Qi cooks.
The food Zhan Xi made was as healthy and unappetizing as usual; even Lele’s appetite had noticeably decreased. However, the little child ate as much as usual, not letting himself go hungry.
Dad made lunch, and Dad made dinner.
All three meals the next day were also made by Dad!
After eating the meals prepared by his father for two days, the little child was visibly exhausted. He ate his father’s food during the day and stayed up late playing games at night. His fatigue was obvious.
Zhan Xi had been feeling irritable these past two days. Noticing his child’s lack of energy, he paid extra attention.
So, on the night before the New Year, Zhan Xi launched a surprise attack, catching his child red-handed playing games under the covers.
The little child was in the middle of a game with Savi when he looked up and saw his father. The sight was so shocking that he dropped his Star Device onto the bed with a thud.
“Dad.”
“I was wondering why you’ve been looking more and more tired these days. I thought it was because of my cooking, but it turns out you’ve been staying up all night!”
Zhan Xi had already set a rule that his child must go to bed by 10:30 PM. It was now 11:52 PM, and the little child had just started a new game.
Zhan Xi was so angry his head was buzzing. He picked up his child, clearly intending to discipline him.
Earlier that day, Zhan Xi had a conversation with Marshal Twain, who had caught Wagner red-handed and shared with Zhan Xi how to disable the children’s mode on the phone.
After hearing Twain, Zhan Xi realized in hindsight why his child had offered to pour him wine on the day of the Little New Year*. (T/N: Okay, I may have made a mistake with the ‘New Year’s eve’ term for the past chapters. Apparently it’s Little New Year which marks the start of the Lunar New Year. Sorry. ><)
With Twain’s reminder and his own suspicions, tonight’s surprise inspection was anything but unexpected.
Seeing his father’s expression, the little child knew he was in trouble. He flailed in his father’s grip, kicking his short legs in the air.
“Dad, give me a few more minutes!”
His childish voice was urgent as he kicked his short legs.
Zhan Xi looked at his child, wanting to see what he would do next. He shook the chubby kid and sneered, “Even if you wait a few more minutes, you’re still getting punished!”
The little chubby guy had stopped growing taller and instead started getting more clever!
To play on his Star Device secretly, he even dared to get his father drunk.
Kicking his legs vigorously, the little child managed to escape from Zhan Xi’s grasp.
Wearing only his warm yellow pajamas, the child escaped from his father’s hands and, in an effort to avoid punishment, crawled right under the bed.
Zhan Xi’s face darkened. “Ningning, come out here!”
The little chubby boy covered his ears, refusing to listen, refusing to come out.
Although the space under the bed was kept clean by Zhan Xi, there was no mat underneath, making it easy for the little child to catch a cold while lying on the floor like that.
Zhan Xi was exasperated but had no choice but to coax the little child out first.
“Come out, Daddy’s not angry anymore.”
“You’re lying!”
The little child covered his ears, lying steadily under the bed. His baby voice was not the least bit flustered: “Daddy wants to trick me out and spank me.”
Zhan Xi: “...”
Zhan Xi changed his tone, speaking gently, “Daddy’s not lying, Daddy’s really not angry anymore.”
The two of them were at a standoff like this for quite a while. Just as Zhan Xi was about to move the bed, the clock on the wall chimed.
The clock struck twelve, signaling the arrival of the last day of the year.
The little boy’s eyes lit up at the sound of the clock.
He had been lying under the bed, waiting for this sound!
“Daddy.”
The little child crawled out from under the bed quickly. He sat on the floor, looked at his dad, and laughed triumphantly, “It’s New Year’s! You can’t spank me now!”
T/N: Sorry for the very late update. Kind of swamped with work and stuff. ><
