In other words, the unusual link between Ningning's mental energy consumption and his chubby body might have something to do with his biological father.
However, more important than the biological father is Zhan Xi.
Without Zhan Xi's hard work raising the little one, the child wouldn't have grown so chubby.
"Zhan Xi, with my sister gone, as her older brother, I should, in principle, take on the responsibility of raising Ningning," An Nuo said seriously, looking at Zhan Xi.
But these serious words made Zhan Xi's heart skip a beat.
In fact, Zhan Xi’s heart wasn’t just skipping a beat—his eyelid twitched as well. Between the biological father and now the biological uncle, why was everyone trying to take his little one away?
Fortunately, An Nuo had more to say: "But after staying with you, I still think that when it comes to raising a child, you are the most suitable.
"If Ningning were given to me to raise, he definitely wouldn't be this chubby."
An Nuo spoke sincerely: "When I first saw Ningning eat, to be honest, I was extremely worried, afraid he might overeat."
Such a tiny little child, holding such a large bowl, and able to finish several bowls in one go—
Just watching made An Nuo anxious.
Hearing An Nuo's heartfelt confession, Zhan Xi also reflected. It was true that his little one's eating habits could easily scare people. Perhaps from now on, they should avoid having outsiders around when the child was eating?
But that wouldn’t work either.
His little one now ate at the kindergarten, where communal meals were served, and all the children had to sit together.
Zhan Xi's mind wandered for a few seconds. By the time he snapped back to attention, An Nuo had just finished thanking him: "Later, when Ningning has little children of his own, Zhan Xi, I hope you'll be the one to raise them too."
Hearing this, Zhan Xi was instantly so delighted his eyes nearly disappeared into his smile. He replied happily, "Of course! No matter how many Ningning has, I'll raise them all."
The adults had been talking about babies for quite a while. In the end, regarding the connection between a baby's weight and spiritual power, An Nuo said he would look through some materials or think it over carefully to see if there had been any other chubby little ones in the royal family's history.
The night grew deeper.
The little one, freshly washed and smelling sweet, sat on his small bed waiting for his uncle.
When his uncle had finished his bath, the little one patted the big bed beside his small one and called out warmly, "Uncle, come sleep! Ningning can tell you a story!"
An Nuo didn't let him tell a story. Once in bed, he just kept squeezing his little nephew's chubby bits.
The little one lay there, submitting to the squeezing.
He even lifted his pajama top, saying in his milky-soft voice, "Uncle, you can squeeze Ningning's tummy. Ningning's tummy is super soft and squishy."
The little one was soft and squishy all over.
Before, whenever An Nuo saw all this chubbiness, he only thought it made him look adorable and cuddly. Now, it was different.
As he squeezed the plump little arms and tummy, he thought to himself that all this chub was actually a safety guarantee for his little nephew.
So good.
An Nuo couldn't resist squeezing his little nephew's chubby bits. Meanwhile, Zhan Xi and Ling Qi were pondering something: "If we fatten An Nuo up a bit too, would it also be beneficial for him?"
Plumpness could sustain the consumption of spiritual power—maybe it wasn't just effective for chubby little ones.
Ling Qi didn't know much about the chubby little one's biological father. He wasn't sure if the little one had inherited some special gene from him, making him exceptionally gifted.
Since he wasn't sure, he decided not to attribute this to the father.
He wanted to try it with An Nuo too.
Ling Qi nudged Zhan Xi, his tone somewhat serious: "This time when An Nuo visits, let's try to feed him a few extra pounds. See if he shows any changes like Ningning after gaining weight."
"Alright."
Zhan Xi readily agreed: "Our house has great feng shui. Everyone who comes here ends up getting plump."
As the night was long, the two of them finished talking and exchanged a glance.
The next second.
The light was switched to night-light mode, dimming the room.
However, Ling Qi soon felt it wasn't quite working out. He interrupted, "No, I still have to cook tomorrow morning. With An Nuo here, I can't possibly let you do the cooking."
"Not tonight."
Zhan Xi: "..."
Zhan Xi's mouth twitched, and he reached over again: "Whether you think I can or not, I'm still doing it. What's wrong with my cooking? Didn't my cooking feed Ningning until he was fair and chubby?"
If An Nuo ate a few meals of his cooking, he might even gain weight faster. After all, An Nuo and the little chubby kid were uncle and nephew; perhaps this uncle-nephew pair could both get plump on his cooking.
In the next room.
The uncle and nephew were also being clingy. An Nuo stroked the small bed the little one was lying on and said softly, "I've slept on this stone before too."
An Nuo wasn't clear about the origins of the Phoenix Stone, but sleeping more on this stone was beneficial for their royal family.
The little one grabbed his uncle's hand and said sweetly, "Uncle, Ningning's little bed is for you!"
An Nuo chuckled: "Uncle can't fit in such a small bed."
The little one thought for a moment and came up with an idea: "Find Uncle Lu Lu, make a big bed!"
An Nuo: "..."
An Nuo looked at the little one who kept wanting to ask Uncle Lu Lu for things and couldn't help but teach him: "Ningning, Uncle Lu Lu is Caesar's father. It's reasonable for Caesar to ask his father for things, but you can't always ask Uncle Lu Lu for things, understand?"
The little one frowned slightly.
He tightened his grip on his uncle's finger: "Uncle Lu Lu loves Ningning. Uncle Lu Lu said Ningning can have anything."
Hearing this, An Nuo continued to teach him: "We're not blood-related to Uncle Lu Lu. It's normal to ask for and give things among family, but between non-family, asking for too much isn't good."
The little chilld listened to his uncle's words and thought for a long while.
Hearing him fall silent, An Nuo thought he was feeling down. Just as An Nuo was about to comfort him, the little one who hadn't spoken suddenly spoke up again.
"Ningning gave lots of gifts."
The little one counted up his contributions: "Ningning gave Uncle Lu Lu leg massages, kissed his cheeks, and even kept him company while he worked."
The little one listed a whole bunch of things he had done with Uncle Lu Lu.
Upon hearing that Ludwig would even hold the chubby little child while he worked, An Nuo was stunned.
He knew Ludwig valued this little chubby kid, but he had thought this regard was solely because the child had once saved Ludwig's life—simply a way of repaying a debt.
But now, it seemed maybe that wasn't the whole story.
An emperor like Ludwig, feeding the kid, holding him while working, giving him baths and changing his clothes, even letting him sleep in the imperial bedroom...
This was no ordinary repayment.
Ludwig was treasuring their little child as if he were his own child.
"Alright, Uncle won't say anything more about you and Uncle Lu Lu," An Nuo soothed, giving the little child a kiss on the forehead. "You can interact with Uncle Lu Lu however you like."
"Mhm!"
That night, with his uncle's company, the little child slept soundly and sweetly.
The next day.
The little child started dragging his feet about going to school: "If Ningning leaves, what will Uncle do? Ningning should stay home to keep Uncle company!"
Hearing this, Zhan Xi picked him up without a second thought.
"Off to school."
Even in front of An Nuo, Zhan Xi didn't spare the little child's dignity: "You were good for just two days, and now you're getting restless again? Do you need Daddy to take you over to your dad's place?"
The little child: "..."
The little child silently shouldered his backpack and climbed into the basket of the three-wheeled cart.
Zhan Xi smiled at An Nuo: "Just relax at home; I'll take him to school. If Ling Qi wakes up, let him know for me—the food is all warming in the pot."
"Okay, got it."
After their exchange, Zhan Xi started up the three-wheeler and puttered off into the distance.
Behind her, An Nuo watched the little car disappear from sight before turning back, intending to check whether Ling Qi had woken up.
Soon after.
Zhan Xi smoothly dropped the little child off at school. On his way back, his mood was rather cheerful.
It seemed that using the child’s biological father as a banner worked quite well—the little one really listened when it came to his dad.
But Zhan Xi couldn’t mimic the biological father’s methods. If he locked the little child up to do homework, the kid would probably spend the whole day thinking about how to escape.
With the biological father as leverage, Zhan Xi felt quite confident about the child’s future kindergarten life.
Back at home.
Ling Qi had just woken up, and An Nuo was sitting beside him. The two of them seemed deep in conversation about something.
Noticing this, Zhan Xi walked over. "Ling Qi, don’t eat what’s in the pot. I bought you breakfast on my way back—you can have this instead."
An Nuo glanced at the breakfast Zhan Xi had brought back, then thought about the meal he and the little child had eaten earlier—the one Zhan Xi had prepared.
His mood suddenly soured a little.
Zhan Xi, completely unaware, was busy arranging the breakfast for Ling Qi. "Eat up, it’s still warm. I asked them to give me the ones fresh out of the oven, so it wouldn’t get cold on the way back."
Ling Qi looked at the large spread of food on the table and frowned.
"There’s still food in the pot. Why did you buy more from outside?"
Although the food in the pot wasn’t exactly delicious, he could still eat it.
Zhan Xi finished setting out the breakfast he had bought and went to pack up the leftovers from the pot. "I’ll take these with me and have them for lunch. They’ll do just fine for me."
