As Zhan Xi finished speaking, the little child’s eyes widened in shock.
He looked at Zhan Xi, his baby voice stammering, “B-but… Ningning already has a daddy.”
Zhan Xi’s eyes softened with a smile at those words. He kissed the child’s cheek. “That’s right, I’m Ningning’s daddy. But Ningning has another daddy too—the one who, together with your mommy, brought you into this world. Then I found you and raised you.”
The little chubby face stared blankly, utterly confused.
Seeing this, Zhan Xi patiently kept explaining, breaking it down bit by bit.
After what felt like forever, the little child finally seemed to grasp the idea. Relieved, Zhan Xi said, “Your other father brought you some gifts. Want to see? Oh, and I made a deal with him—if your schoolwork starts slipping, I’ll send you to him.”
Mid-sentence, he noticed tears welling up in the little child’s eyes.
Startled, Zhan Xi paused. “What’s wrong? Don’t want to see him? That’s not an option. He is your daddy, after all, and I can tell he cares about you.”
The words only made the child burst into loud sobs.
“Don’t send Ningning away to do homework!”
He wouldn’t mind playing with this new uncle—no, daddy—but homework? Absolutely not.
Zhan Xi remained firm. “No way around homework. Your other father specifically said he’d supervise your studies.”
Honestly, this was the one thing Zhan Xi appreciated about the biological father—the man was scarily efficient at tutoring.
“Come on, what’s so bad about studying with your other father? He’ll even cook and do laundry for you…”
At the mention of cooking and laundry, the little child’s crying hitched mid-wail. He was about to protest—he had been the one cooking and washing clothes back in the cave!—but before he could, Zhan Xi distracted him.
“Let’s go see what gifts he brought you.”
The promise of presents worked like magic. Sniffling, the little child swallowed his tears and let himself be carried off to inspect the loot.
Zhan Xi had already stashed the valuables—the ones worth money—under the bed. They were for later; for now, his own income could still cover the little child’s school expenses.
Soon, they found a small, unlocked box—clearly meant for the child, with no restrictions on Zhan Xi.
“Your other father left this just for you. There’s even a letter inside. Let’s see what it says.”
Zhan Xi had the little child open the box himself. Encouraged by his dad, the little child sniffled and opened it.
The box was opened.
Inside, the little child saw a few pairs of underpants. The stitching was a bit rough, but just by touching the fabric, it was clear the material was high-quality.
Zhan Xi picked up the small underpants and said approvingly, "After your bath tonight, you’ll wear these."
Seeing the underpants, the little child’s heart finally warmed up a little.
He touched the small underpants, happy. "Daddy, give one to Brother!"
Zhan Xi smiled. "Okay, we’ll send your brother a pair."
The little child looked at his dad and continued distributing them. "And one for Daddy too!"
Zhan Xi: "..."
Zhan Xi glanced at the child-sized underpants, his smile stiffening. "Baby, Daddy can’t fit into these."
Hearing this, the little child’s face instantly fell. Such soft, comfy underpants—and Daddy couldn’t even wear them.
Besides the underpants, there were also some fruits inside. Under the fruits were stacks of workbooks, and on top of the workbooks was a letter.
The little child searched through the box several times but found that aside from the workbooks, there was nothing else.
Seeing his son’s expression darken, Zhan Xi quickly comforted him. "Read the letter your dad wrote you. Maybe he wrote lots of nice things for you in there."
Coaxed by his father, the little child’s furrowed brow relaxed slightly. "Will he say he likes me in the letter?"
Zhan Xi thought for a moment. "Probably. I can tell he really cares about you."
He spent a good while convincing the little child how much his other dad adored him—so much that the child eventually believed it.
"Okay, then I’ll see what he wrote."
The little child opened the envelope and took out the letter. His eyes sparkled; this was the first time anyone had ever written him a letter.
"Daddy, you can look too."
Noticing his dad had turned his face away to give him privacy, the little child generously invited him to read it together.
Curious about what the letter said, Zhan Xi leaned in.
Father and son lowered their heads to read—and the next second, both of them were stunned.
"Ningning doesn’t know this character."
The letter was written in ancient Earth script, and the little child stared at it in confusion: "Daddy, can you read it to Ningning?"
The dad, who was even less educated than his child, looked at the letter and had no choice but to admit the truth: "Baby, Daddy doesn’t know it either."
The little child: "..."
But the little child wasn’t discouraged. He cheered himself up: "It’s okay, Ningning can learn this foreign language!"
"Ningning is four years old now—a big kid!"
A four-year-old baby could definitely understand this letter.
The confident little child took the letter, determined to study it carefully.
Zhan Xi thought this was a great learning opportunity. With this letter, the little child could learn more characters.
Not bad at all.
The little child’s birth father was doing a pretty good job too.
The two of them didn’t stay there much longer before Ling Qi called them from the main room: "Zhan Xi, Ningning, come eat."
"Coming."
Ling Qi’s cooking was delicious and nutritious. He had even made soup: "Ningning, the pork rib soup I made for you will take a little longer. You can have it in about two hours. I’ll cook some noodles in the soup for you then—perfect for a late-night snack."
"Mhm! Uncle Ling Qi is the best!"
The little child clutched the golden bowl Uncle Lu Lu had given him, eating eagerly. Even though he could happily feed himself, Zhan Xi and Ling Qi still took turns sneaking him bites.
After the meal, the little child put down his bowl, satisfied.
He was so happy his eyes crinkled shut: "It’s so good to be home."
At home, he didn’t have to cook or wash two people’s clothes—adult clothes were so hard to wash!
The blissful little child, after having his mouth and face wiped clean by his dad, leaned in to kiss both Daddy and Uncle Ling Qi: "Daddy, Uncle Ling Qi, Ningning loves you so much."
Zhan Xi’s eyes softened with a smile: "Daddy loves you too."
After dinner, Zhan Xi washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen while Ling Qi took the little child for a short walk to help with digestion. As they strolled around the yard, Ling Qi asked: "Did your dad talk to you about things?"
The little child nodded: "He did. Daddy said Ningning has another dad too."
Ling Qi, seeing that Zhan Xi had already spoken, let out a slight sigh of relief. "We haven’t told the royal palace about you having a father yet. Your dad and I think it’s better to wait until your father comes out before visiting the palace and informing them. How does that sound?"
"Okay!"
