Over time, the adults completely failed to notice his unusual weight.
After sharing her speculation, Ella's words drew everyone's attention to Zhan Xi. Clearly, they wanted to ask if he had noticed anything.
"Now that you mention it... it really does seem that way," Zhan Xi murmured. "Every time Ningning wakes up, he complains about being hungry and looks much thinner. I always thought it was because he hadn't eaten while sleeping and lost weight from hunger."
But now, it seemed that maybe not all of that weight loss was due to hunger.
This discovery left everyone in the room momentarily stunned. "Could Ningning's weight really be connected to his mental energy?" someone asked.
Ella wanted to conduct an experiment, but if they did, the little child would likely suffer another headache.
"I can't say for certain yet, but even without a definitive conclusion, I feel there must be some connection between the two," Ella said.
"Zhan Xi, pay more attention to his weight from now on. Don't keep pushing him to lose weight. He doesn't look particularly chubby, and his weight is mostly within the normal range for a child his age."
Ella had already mentioned this during her previous check-ups with the little child.
Their little chubby child was indeed heavy, like a small weight, but his weight was within the standard range for imperial children. It just didn't quite meet the weight standards of the imperial kindergarten.
The little child had a round face, with soft, pinchable cheeks. He had a knack for carrying his weight well—no double chin, no disproportionate body. From the outside, he just looked like an adorable little child.
With a small frame, his chubbiness was more noticeable, but the adults who affectionately called him "little chubby" didn't think he was unhealthy or overly heavy. Their little chubby child was, in fact, quite healthy.
"Father, you should talk to Principal Hardy. They’ll have a physical assessment at the start of the school term," Huo Lin reminded.
"Yes, I know."
Ella had finished her examination. Aside from being overly fatigued, the little child was fine. Though she wanted to stay longer to keep an eye on him, she had other matters to attend to and had to leave.
After Ella left, the adults gathered around the little child's bed.
Ludwig looked down at the little child for a moment before speaking. "From now on, feed him a bit more."
What they were most worried about was whether using his mental energy would cause any irreversible harm to the little child’s body. But from what they’ve seen over the past few times, aside from losing a little weight, there hasn’t been any substantial damage.
Since that’s the case, they’ll just have to make sure to feed the little child more in the future.
After patiently waiting, the little child, who had been sleeping in his crib, finally woke up after four days.
As soon as he woke up, even before opening his eyes, tears were already streaming down his face. Kicking his little legs, he whined in a tearful, babyish voice, “Hungry… Ningning’s tummy is hungry.”
Hearing the sound, Zhan Xi hurried in from outside. He quickly wiped his hands clean and rushed to the side of the crib.
“Ningning, Ningning, wake up. Open your eyes and look at Daddy.”
The little child, crying and calling out for food, rubbed his eyes and finally opened them.
As soon as he saw his dad in front of him, he started crying even harder. “Daddy, give Ningning food.”
Zhan Xi’s eyes lit up with joy when he saw the little child awake.
He bent down, picked up the little child, and held him in his arms, kissing him several times on the cheek. “Okay, Daddy will go make food for you right now. Ningning, do you want to come with Daddy to the kitchen, or do you want to sit in your crib for a little longer?”
The little child wrapped his arms around his dad’s neck and pressed his chubby face against him.
“Ningning wants to go with Daddy.”
“Alright, Daddy will hold our Ningning while cooking,” Zhan Xi said, carrying him into the kitchen.
But not long after they entered, Ling Qi kicked them out, asking bluntly, “Ningning needs to replenish his energy right now. Can the food you make actually help with that?”
Zhan Xi was speechless.
He looked down at the little child in his arms. The little child didn’t even need to think about choosing between his dad’s cooking and Uncle Ling Qi’s. Clinging to his dad’s neck, he said happily, “Daddy, carry Ningning to the yard to play!”
He wanted to eat the food Uncle Ling Qi would make.
Zhan Xi could tell the little child was disdainful of his cooking, so he pinched the little child’s bottom in mock annoyance. “Didn’t Daddy’s cooking make you all chubby and healthy before? Now you’re picky because you’ve had too much good food.”
As he spoke, he carried the little child out to the yard.
Sitting on his dad’s arm, the little child looked at the vegetables in the yard. They hadn’t been back for the New Year, but the vegetables they had planted were still alive.
The little child stared at the vegetables and suddenly asked, “Daddy, how did you bring Ningning back?”
“I went to bring you back.”
Zhan Xi looked at the little child who had just woken up, hesitating about how to tell him that he also had a father.
Although his biological father wouldn’t be coming over for now, Zhan Xi still planned to let his little child know.
While Zhan Xi was still pondering how to phrase it, the little child, with his soft, milky voice, asked again: “When you came to pick me up, did you see an uncle? He was kind of good-looking, but also a little scary.”
Zhan Xi: “…”
Zhan Xi: “I saw him.”
Zhan Xi’s mind stirred, wanting to know what the little child thought of his biological father: “Ningning, do you like this uncle?”
This question stumped the little child for a moment.
He thought for a while before describing his feelings: “When I saw him, I felt a little close to him.”
“I wanted to look at him more, but he made me do so much homework. He said I couldn’t go play until I finished it.”
The little child’s feelings toward this uncle were quite complicated.
He wanted to get closer to the uncle, but the uncle forced him to do homework. In the end, he even made the little child “voluntarily” do his homework.
Not only did the homework make the little child cry several times, but the uncle also didn’t know how to take care of him. Instead, he made the little child cook for him.
As the little child thought about the time he spent with the uncle, he remembered the scene of the uncle’s mental energy going out of control.
“When I saw his mental energy go out of control, I felt panicked here.”
The little child, sitting in his dad’s arms, pointed to his chest.
As the saying goes, a mother and child are connected at heart. If something happens to one, the other will feel a sense of panic or unease.
Zhan Xi looked at the little child, thinking that perhaps there was a similar connection between a biological father and son.
After understanding the little child’s feelings, Zhan Xi decided not to keep it from him any longer.
“Ningning, would you like to have one more person who loves and cares for you?”
“Yes!”
The little child nuzzled his chubby face against his dad, his sweet little voice saying, “The one who loves me the most is Daddy! Daddy, can you promise not to spank my bottom anymore?”
“No. Sit up straight. Daddy has something important to tell you.”
The little child: “…”
The little child was straightened up by his dad.
The father and son locked eyes. A few seconds later, Zhan Xi broke the news to his little child: “Ningning, you have another dad now.”
“The uncle who made you do homework—he’s your dad as well.”
