The little child had put in a great deal of effort to translate the letter, but in the end, he was so furious that he was practically fuming. Clutching the letter, he was just about to collapse onto the bed in anger when footsteps sounded at the door.
The little child didn’t move, thinking it was Daddy.
But then the door opened, and a pleasant voice spoke up: "Ningning, why are you lying in bed already? Is it time for sleep?"
The little child froze.
With an awkward flip, he sat up, tilting his head to look at the person who had entered.
A few seconds later, the little child’s eyes lit up. He stretched out his arms and chirped in his adorable, childish voice: "Uncle!"
Seeing how happy the little child was, An Nuo couldn’t help but smile as well. He sat down and hugged the little guy he hadn’t seen in a while. "Uncle came to see you."
The little child was overjoyed to see his uncle.
He clung to his uncle and insisted on getting kisses on both his chubby little cheeks, one on the left and one on the right.
Looking at his soft, dumpling-like face, An Nuo leaned in and kissed him twice.
The uncle and nephew lingered in the room for a while, with the little child’s sweet, flattering chatter coming non-stop, as if he had an endless supply: "Uncle, did you miss me?"
"Uncle, how long are you staying with me?"
"I miss you so much, Uncle!"
Holding onto his uncle, it didn’t take long for the little child to have his uncle smiling with delight.
Zhan Xi, listening to the little child’s occasional giggles coming from the room, also wore a gentle expression. After finishing the chores in the yard, he went to find Ling Qi: "An Nuo is here, so make a bit more food today."
"Alright, got it."
After delivering the message, Zhan Xi stayed behind. He helped Ling Qi in the kitchen—while he couldn’t cook, he could at least chop ingredients, tend to the fire, or keep an eye on it.
Seeing him still there, Ling Qi tossed him a bundle of scallions: "Trim these scallions."
While the kitchen was busy preparing food, laughter and chatter continued in the room—though, to be precise, it was mainly the little child who laughed like a goofy, happy child.
He shared many things with his uncle—like how he had scored really well on his tests, how his teacher had given him little red flowers, and how he had been praised several times.
After hearing all this, the little child even received extra praise from his uncle.
Just as the pair was having a delightful time, An Nuo caught a glimpse of the letter the little child had tossed on the bed. The ancient Earth characters written on it made his eyelids twitch.
"Ningning, where did this come from?"
"Daddy said it was given to Ningning by Ningning's birth father."
When mentioning his birth father, the little one’s face fell: "Uncle, can Ningning not want his birth father anymore? Daddy doesn’t love Ningning."
Daddy said that Daddy would confess his love in the letter, that he would say he loves Ningning and misses him.
But after reading the letter, Daddy didn’t say he loves Ningning.
Hearing him talk about his father, An Nuo, who had been smiling slightly, visibly grew somber. "If you don't want him, then don't. I think Zhan Xi is quite good."
Our Ningning can make do with just one daddy.
Hearing his uncle actually agree with him, the little one felt a pang of sadness. "Uncle, Daddy said that Daddy and Mommy had Ningning together."
An Nuo: "..."
An Nuo corrected him: "It was your mom who gave birth to you. Your dad couldn’t have done that."
As the two chatted, An Nuo took the letter and quickly read through it. His expression grew complicated.
"Making a little one like you go find him a wife—he really has no shame."
An Nuo wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with the little child’s birth father. Thinking about that scoundrel and then about his own younger sister made him seethe with frustration. "Ningning, what did you and your birth father do when you were together?"
The little child leaned against his uncle and mumbled in his childish voice, "Daddy made Ningning do homework. If I didn’t finish, I couldn’t go out."
And there was also cooking and washing clothes.
Now, there was an extra task—helping him find his wife.
An Nuo gently pinched the little child’s cheek. For once, he grudgingly approved of the birth father making him do homework. He said softly, "That part, at least, wasn’t bad."
Seeing that the little one was still thinking about his birth father, An Nuo steadied himself and refocused.
Looking at the contents of the letter, he had a question to ask. "Ningning, was it your birth father who told you that your mom is still around?"
"No, it wasn’t."
The little child’s chubby face looked somewhat bewildered. "Ningning doesn’t know where Mommy is."
A very long time ago, he had asked his dad, "Where is Mommy?" and "Does Ningning really have a mommy?"
But his dad couldn't answer questions about Mommy.
Zhan Xi had never met Ningning's parents. When he found Ningning, he didn't even know his background. Under those circumstances, he couldn't tell Ningning much either.
"Uncle, the wife Daddy told Ningning to find is Ningning's mommy."
"Hmm."
After answering, An Nuo fell silent.
He had almost thought, just moments ago, that the meaning in that man's letter confirmed his sister was still alive. Now it seemed he had been too idealistic.
Ningning, who originally didn't want to help his bad dad find a wife, suddenly became serious after belatedly understanding the relationship: "Ningning wants to find Mommy."
Just like finding Uncle, Ningning wanted to find Mommy too.
But finding Uncle was a stroke of luck—how could Ningning find Mommy?
The little one, who had looked so solemn just a second ago, immediately drooped again: "Uncle, Ningning is still just a four-year-old little kid."
He was still small. He couldn't even go out without a grown-up. How could he possibly go looking for Mommy?
An Nuo: "..."
An Nuo looked at the disheartened little one, picked him up, and walked around with him: "Good boy, don’t think too much. Finding Mommy… there’s no hurry."
After all, his sister might not even be alive.
An Nuo had long accepted the reality that the royal family had fallen. That he and Ningning were still alive was already a miracle.
Thinking this, An Nuo kissed the little one’s chubby cheek and soothed him: "Don’t listen to your dad's orders. He’s just used to bossing people around—he'll even boss around his own child."
If that man wanted a wife, he should go find one himself.
With his uncle comforting him, the little one’s mood couldn’t stay down for long.
A while later.
Ling Qi finished cooking and called out to them: "An Nuo, Ningning, come eat. I stewed some meat."
The little one and his uncle had quite similar tastes. The food Ningning loved, An Nuo mostly enjoyed too. Hearing the call, uncle and nephew headed out together.
Having not seen each other since the New Year, Ling Qi looked at An Nuo and smiled: "You look much healthier than before."
When An Nuo first arrived, he was frail and pale, like a delicate porcelain doll—it seemed he might shatter at the slightest touch.
But the An Nuo now had a rosy complexion, and his face was so stunning that just a few extra glances could make one's heart skip a beat.
Ling Qi still loved admiring beauty.
He looked at An Nuo, then at the chubby little one An Nuo was holding by the hand, and said, "Ningning's eyes really do resemble yours. If he grows up to look even a little like you, that'd be great."
If he could take after An Nuo even a bit, their little child might just be able to coast through life on looks alone.
Hearing Ling Qi’s words, An Nuo smiled gently. "My eyes are somewhat similar to my sister’s. Whether Ningning ends up looking like me or like his mother in the future, either is fine."
As long as he didn't resemble that man, and inherited the royal family’s looks, Ningning was sure to grow up very handsome.
The chubby little one, holding his uncle’s hand, looked up at him and chirped sweetly, "Ningning looks like uncle—pretty!"
The little child had never seen his mother. At four years old, in his memory, the most beautiful person was unquestionably his uncle, who ranked first without a doubt.
"Alright, let's all stop chatting and come eat. You can talk while having dinner."
"Ningning coming~"
With An Nuo at the table, the atmosphere naturally grew even livelier.
Though not a big talker, An Nuo never left any topic neglected or anyone feeling left out. His voice was pleasant, and his words were charming.
Originally, Zhan Xi and Ling Qi had been talking with the little one, but gradually, they ended up chatting more and more with An Nuo instead.
As for the little child, he glanced at his dad, and seeing that the adults weren’t paying him any attention, he sneakily helped himself to an extra bowl of rice.
After the meal.
The little child went off on his own to play, while An Nuo stayed behind with Zhan Xi and Ling Qi to discuss Ningning’s recent health checkup. There were some test results from Ella, along with certain speculations, that they hadn’t yet clarified with An Nuo.
Now that An Nuo was here, they could finally bring it up face to face.
"The relationship between weight and mental energy..."
An Nuo found this speculation rather unbelievable: "How could there be any connection between the two? I’ve never heard of such a theory in the royal family."
Though taken aback, after reviewing Ella’s multiple sets of test data, An Nuo fell into silence.
After a long while...
An Nuo looked at the examination results, his brow furrowed. He spoke slowly, "Zhan Xi, I've never heard of a connection between weight and mental energy consumption. But the reason I haven't heard of it might not be because the two are unrelated; it might be because—
Our royal family has never had a chubby little one like Ningning."
Zhan Xi: "..."
Ling Qi: "..."
The two adults looked at each other, unsure whether this statement was a compliment or not.
An Nuo continued, "Ningning's father's identity is somewhat special. In the past, when our royal family married, the royal genes would overpower the partner's genes. So, the offspring born into the royal family all inherited the royal family's unique mental energy and physique.
"Ningning's father—his genes might not have been completely overpowered."
