The little child immediately pulled a sad face.
He could call others fat, but didn’t like being called fat himself.
The double-standard little child sulked, but Wagner remained oblivious and continued, “Lele doesn’t look much fatter, but Ningning, you’ve gained a lot of weight. Hmm, your face is also whiter.”
The “chubby and white” little child pushed Wagner away, refusing to hug him.
With a darkened face, he unhappily said, “I am not fat!”
It was just that the cold weather had made his weight swell a bit. Once it warmed up, he would slim down!
The little child who hated being called fat almost ended his friendship with Wagner on the spot.
Fortunately, Savi arrived just in time. Savi’s appearance diverted their attention.
Over the passing of the year, the children had all become a bit chubbier and fairer.
But not Savi.
Compared to before the New Year, Savi seemed to have slimmed down a bit. The baby fat on his face was less noticeable than that of the other children, making him look slightly thinner but more energetic.
“Brother Savi!”
Lele had kept in touch with Savi over the winter break, so he was quite familiar with him.
Savi patted Lele’s head, took his hand, and softly said, “You look much healthier.”
Previously, Lele had exuded a frail aura, looking like a child that was hard to raise. But now, Lele’s face was rosy, clearly much healthier.
After looking at Lele, Savi glanced at Ningning, who had gained some weight over the New Year.
He pondered: Uncle Zhan Xi really knows how to take care of children.
With all the children gathered, Wagner decisively led them to find his dad. “Let’s go, we’re going to wish Dad a happy New Year!”
The little children said they were going to pay New Year’s greetings, but from their demeanor, it was clear they were like little bandits about to loot.
Before long, Marshal Twain, who was about to leave, was hugged by the children around his leg.
“Uncle Twain, Happy New Year!”
The little child sat on Twain’s foot, looking up with a chubby, happy face, wishing Twain a happy New Year. He sweetly recited all the blessings he had learned for the elders: “Ningning wishes Uncle Twain good health, prosperity as vast as the East Sea, longevity as enduring as the South Mountain, many children, and a life of happiness!”
The little child bundled all the idioms he had learned for the New Year into one and said them to Uncle Twain.
Twain almost couldn’t keep a straight face listening to his idioms.
“Uncle Twain, let me tell you again!”
Seeing that Uncle Twain still hadn’t given out the red envelopes, the little child blinked and decided to recite the idioms again.
Twain: “...”
Twain really didn’t want to hear it a second time.
He took out several red envelopes from his pocket and handed them out one by one.
“In the new year, you all need to be obedient, listen well, and study hard...learn more about culture.”
The last sentence, Marshal Twain specifically said while looking at the little child.
Unfortunately, the little child was busy opening the red envelope and didn’t meet his gaze at all.
Seeing this, Twain didn’t disturb the little ones counting their red envelopes.
There were many things to do after the New Year. He hugged each of the children, and after hugging the little child, he felt much more at ease.
He originally thought that his Wagner was the heaviest, but compared to Ningning, Wagner’s weight was nothing.
Since that’s the case, he didn’t need to force Wagner to lose weight quickly anymore.
“You guys go play, uncle still has things to do.”
“Okay! Goodbye, Uncle!”
After receiving the red envelopes from Uncle Twain, Wagner led the children to visit a few ministers’ houses.
That night.
The children piled the red envelopes on the bed, forming a big pile.
“We are so rich!”
The little child looked at so many red envelopes, feeling extremely proud.
Savi and Wagner also thought the number of red envelopes they received this time was quite good.
“Ningning, after we collect all the red envelopes, our parents will definitely come to take them.”
Wagner, also sitting on the bed, stretched his foot and nudged the little child. “My dad said he would save all my red envelopes, but when I want to spend money, I still have to ask him for it.”
Savi, this little cool child, couldn’t escape the fate of having his red envelopes confiscated by his parents.
Lele, who used to be kept in a small room by her mom, had no experience in receiving red envelopes, so naturally, he didn’t have the same worries as the other children.
The children looked at their red envelopes and didn’t want to be tricked by their parents.
They looked at each other and finally decided to save the money themselves.
“Save it in the bank! Don’t let Dad keep it!”
The little children, with serious chubby faces, suggested, “My dad’s money is saved, so we should save ours too.”
By saving their money, they could withdraw it themselves when they needed it.
“Yes! We will save it ourselves!”
The children agreed unanimously, even bumping their chubby little fists together in agreement.
That night, the four little children all slept in Wagner’s big bed.
Before going to sleep, one little child was worried when his dad hadn’t called him yet.
The worried little child furrowed his brows and called his dad.
The phone rang several times before it was answered.
Hearing the call finally connect, the little child sniffled and asked, “Dad, why didn’t you call me?”
Zhan Xi: “...”
Leaning against the headboard, Zhan Xi remained expressionless. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to call; he was afraid that after the call, he wouldn’t be able to resist taking a spaceship to spank the child.
When the little child saw his dad wasn’t speaking, his mind started to wander.
“Dad, are you sick? I’m so worried about you.”
Imagining that his dad was too sick to call him, the little child’s eyes turned red with sadness: “I miss you so much, Dad. Do you miss—”
“Where’s your backpack, Ningning?”
One question from his dad made the tears in the little child’s eyes disappear in an instant.
The little child who had been thinking about his dad now clutched his star device and was at a loss for words.
Zhan Xi continued to ask, “The little dinosaur backpack, the one with your winter homework in it, the backpack I told you to bring with you.”
The little child: “...”
The little child stammered, “B-backpack, I don’t know.”
“Daddy, I’m so, so sleepy.”
The little child, both guilty and afraid, clumsily changed the subject. “Wagner is calling me to sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow, Daddy.”
“Daddy, goodnight!”
After saying goodnight, the little child hung up the star device with a snap.
He patted his chest after hanging up, looking frightened. “That scared me.”
He clearly left his backpack in the bushes before he left. It was hard to find!
Did Daddy ask about his backpack because he found it?
The little child was too anxious to sleep. Wagner, who overheard his call, was puzzled. “Ningning, didn’t you bury your backpack? It seems your dad found it.”
Whether it’s the Federal Kindergarten or the Empire Kindergarten, teachers always assign lots and lots of homework for winter break.
Although Wagner had good grades, he also hated doing winter homework.
This time, it was Wagner’s idea for the little child to hide his backpack, preferably bury it, so that if the backpack was lost, he wouldn’t have to do the homework inside.
The little child had left in a hurry and hadn’t had time to dig a hole and bury the backpack.
“I threw the backpack into the bushes.”
The little child frowned, looking worried. “If Daddy sees the backpack, he’ll definitely spank me.”
He had already been spanked several times this New Year.
Not wanting to get spanked again, the little child looked at his star device and decided not to call Daddy tomorrow.
“Never mind. Let’s just get our red envelopes first. Wagner, let’s go to the Sixth Planet tomorrow!”
“Okay!”
The little children had already turned into little bandits in the Federation, having collected all the red envelopes. Next, they were going to the Sixth Planet to continue collecting red envelopes!
At this moment, on the Sixth Planet.
Raphael’s eyelid twitched, feeling a bit of a bad premonition.
Before he could think further, An Nuo spoke up from behind, “Raphael, I don’t want to soak anymore.”
Raphael withdrew his thoughts and carried An Nuo out of the hot spring.
He used a soft silk towel to dry An Nuo off and then wrapped him in pajamas. “Don’t rush to sleep. I made something; eat it before you go to bed.”
“I don’t want to eat.”
“Just a couple of bites.”
Raphael skillfully coaxed him, “It’s a nourishing soup. Eating a bit more will be good for your health.”
An Nuo’s health had already improved significantly when he lived with Zhan Xi on the White Mist Star. After he returned, Raphael followed Zhan Xi’s example, gradually making An Nuo’s living environment less sterile. However, apart from that, An Nuo still enjoyed the best in food, clothing, and living conditions.
Raphael had been carefully taking care of him for so many years that it had become a habit.
Soon, the soup was brought over.
An Nuo sipped the soup slowly and occasionally chatted with Raphael.
As they talked, An Nuo suddenly remembered, “Oh right, Ningning is coming to visit for the New Year.”
Raphael was already prepared for this. “I know. I’ve prepared a red envelope for him.”
There were also a few small gold pieces, symbolizing safety and good fortune.
Raphael still remembered how little Ningning adorably asked him for gold.
Before giving the gold this time, he intended to tease the little child a bit.
Seeing his expression, An Nuo knew he wanted to tease Ningning, “Raphael, Ningning is still young. Don’t always mess with him.”
Raphael didn’t want to mess with the chubby little child, but he was just too amusing.
“Ahem, I don’t always mess with him.”
Raphael fed An Nuo another spoonful of soup. “He’s the one who likes to play with me.”
An Nuo was too lazy to expose his lie.
They continued their conversation intermittently. Suddenly remembering something, An Nuo added, “This time Ningning is bringing friends over for the New Year visit. Did you prepare enough red envelopes?”
Raphael: “?”
Raphael: “How many friends is he bringing?”
An Nuo calculated: “Three.”
Raphael: “...”
Alright, this time the red envelopes would have to be super-sized.
No matter how stingy the adults were, they couldn’t avoid giving New Year’s red envelopes.
The couple on the Sixth Planet continued their conversation. While in the Federation, the little child put down his star device and started to lie down to sleep.
He closed his eyes but couldn’t fall asleep, so he asked Savi, “Savi, why don’t you call your parents?”
Earlier, they had almost gotten into trouble in the nest, and it seemed like Savi’s parents didn’t come to pick him up.
Normally, when they played together, Savi rarely called his parents.
Hearing the little child’s question, Savi was silent for a moment before replying, “My parents don’t like to call me. They don’t like clingy children; they prefer independent ones.”
In their tribe, they believed in the survival of the fittest.
So even when Savi was out, as long as his parents knew he was safe, they wouldn’t care much about anything else.
The little child sighed after hearing Savi’s words.
Parents who don’t call their children seem a bit indifferent, which would make the children feel sad.
Unlike his father, who cared so much about him. Not only would he call him, but he would also spank him.
Thinking about his dad’s voice on the phone, the little child touched his butt, rolled around in bed for a while, and then fell asleep.
Alas.
If only dad would just call and not spank him.
That night, the little child didn’t sleep very well; he had several bad dreams. When he woke up the next day, he was somewhat dazed.
“Ningning.”
Wagner, who never stayed in bed, woke up earlier than Ningning. He pushed Ningning to wake him up: “Wake up, we’re all awake!”
Seeing him sit up, Wagner immediately threw clothes in front of him: “Hurry up and put them on so we can go eat.”
The little child sat up and shook his head. For some reason, he felt that the dreams last night were quite bad.
Even worse than dreaming about his dad spanking him.
“Do you have nightmares, Wagner?” the little child asked slowly while getting dressed.
Wagner thought for a moment and honestly replied, “Yes, I used to dream that my dad died.”
The little child was speechless.
After a moment, the little child said, “Your nightmares are scarier than mine.”
Wagner’s room had heating, so even though the little children wore thin pajamas, they didn’t feel cold while sleeping.
The little child got dressed after coming out of the warm bed. After finishing, he noticed several red knit hats on the bedside table, each adorned with a fluffy white pom-pom, which were particularly cute.
“Ningning, my dad bought these,” Wagner said as he handed over a hat. “One for each of us!”
“Okay!”
The little child put on the knit hat, pulled the strings underneath, and looked at his reflection with two small round cheeks showing.
“This hat is really nice,” the little child said, clearly fond of it.
Wagner originally thought the hat was a bit childish, but seeing Ningning wearing it, he obediently put his on too.
After breakfast, the children politely said goodbye to Uncle Twain and boarded the spaceship to the Sixth Planet.
Watching the children leave, Twain thought it was quite lively for them to play together.
Wagner was also about to start school. Before school began, they could play wildly, but once school started, they would have to focus on their studies.
