At noon, he could buy Ling Qi a separate meal—this way, nothing would go to waste.
As Zhan Xi efficiently packed up the pot’s leftovers, Ling Qi frowned again.
As the two of them chatted, An Nuo, sitting nearby, couldn’t help feeling like a third wheel.
He tapped the table, reminding them, "Have you two forgotten I’m still here?"
Ling Qi looked at him and handed over a steamed bun. "Have some together."
An Nuo had already eaten, so he declined.
After breakfast, the two of them headed to the scrap yard, taking An Nuo along with them.
"Our recycling plant is doing pretty well. Even though we're in the scrap business, we keep the place clean. You and Ling Qi can stay in the office—it won't be dirty."
Zhan Xi hadn’t planned on having An Nuo do any physical work at the recycling plant. But it would be nice to have him keep Ling Qi company in the office, helping with bookkeeping and such.
An Nuo had been living on Baiwuxing for over two weeks now.
During these two weeks, Zhan Xi, Ling Qi, and the little one had learned quite a bit about the child’s father from An Nuo’s stories.
The child's father was named Li Zhi, a man from Ancient Earth. An Nuo never explicitly stated his status, but from the way he spoke, it was clear he was someone of considerable standing.
An Nuo’s younger sister, An Zhu, was exceptionally beautiful, with a delicate, almost cool elegance about her. Yet, in truth, she was soft-hearted and delightfully kind-natured.
Having grown up within the royal court, she had never truly encountered malice or evil.
When she first met Li Zhi, no one knew exactly what transpired between them, but An Zhu soon began following Li Zhi around like a little shadow.
Li Zhi had a foul temper, prone to scowling, and was the type who seemed unapproachable at first glance.
At first, he tried to send An Zhu away. But when she actually turned to leave, she hadn’t taken more than a few steps before he, wearing that same dark scowl, pulled her back.
He wouldn’t let her go.
Their relationship was complicated and fraught with tension. After learning about the two of them, An Nuo never gave Li Zhi a friendly look.
The royal family’s treasure had been swept away by some scoundrel—who wouldn’t be furious?
Later on, the "scoundrel’s" temper did soften. His devotion to An Zhu was beyond question. Whenever she faced danger outside, he would exact terrifying revenge on anyone who harmed her.
But his kindness was reserved solely for An Zhu. Toward everyone else, he remained as hard and unyielding as ever.
An Nuo had never quite warmed up to this brother-in-law of his.
Listening to these stories of the little one’s father, Zhan Xi and Ling Qi exchanged a silent glance.
After hearing An Nuo’s account, they felt that when they had last met the child’s father, he had been unusually patient with them.
While the adults were talking, the little one was also eavesdropping intently.
When his uncle spoke about his mother, he used many, many beautiful words.
Hearing all this, the little one waited until nightfall to secretly ask his uncle, "Uncle, did Mommy love me?"
"She did."
An Nuo held the little child's chubby hand and whispered to him softly, "Your mother loves you very much. When she gave birth to you, it wasn’t easy at all."
"You were a precious treasure your mother struggled so hard to bring into this world."
Memories of the past were something An Nuo had never dared to dwell on too deeply.
He was afraid that if he thought about them too much, his heart would ache.
But now, with the little child by his side, those memories didn’t seem to hurt as much. He recalled some vague memories from the past and shared them with the little one.
"Back when you were born, you used to cry all the time. You weren’t hungry, and there was nothing wrong with you, but you just couldn’t stop crying, as if overwhelmed with sadness."
"It wasn’t until someone found a red stone from somewhere—no one knows where—that as soon as your little hand clutched it, your tears stopped."
As soon as An Nuo mentioned the red stone, the little child lowered his head and pulled out the red stone necklace from around his neck.
"Uncle, look!"
"Uncle noticed it a long time ago."
An Nuo looked at the necklace around the little child’s neck and smiled. "I heard this kind of stone first appeared on ancient Earth, and back then, it was very expensive."
"Later, it became much more affordable."
An Nuo put it gently, but "affordable" really meant cheap—so cheap that even people in the countryside didn’t bother wearing it anymore.
But the little child treasured it dearly. After showing it to his uncle, he tucked it back inside his pajamas.
The two of them continued their quiet conversation. An Nuo shared stories about people in the royal family and reminisced about their past lives.
Even though the little child was of royal blood, the royal family was gone, and he would never be able to return to the life he was meant to have.
There was a hint of regret in An Nuo’s voice, but the little child felt none of it.
The little child snuggled closer to his uncle and said in his soft, milky voice, "Uncle, things are really good just the way they are now."
Now, there were many people who loved the little child, and the little child loved many people too. Just living like this made him feel content and happy.
Every time An Nuo stayed at Zhan Xi’s place, his physical health would improve—whether it was his stamina getting better or his weight increasing slightly.
Whether it was stamina or weight, Raphael was pleased with the results.
But even though he was satisfied, he couldn’t help feeling a bit sour about it. "An Nuo, why is it that no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to fatten you up?"
The meals Zhan Xi and Ling Qi prepared for An Nuo didn’t look particularly special, yet somehow, whenever An Nuo stayed with them, he would gain weight.
Raphael was utterly bewildered.
An Nuo gazed at the scale, a hint of complexity in his eyes: "I think I don’t need to be too chubby."
Any baby looks adorable when chubby, but among adults, few remain good-looking when they put on weight.
An Nuo wasn't just a looks-obsessed person—he was also obsessed with his own appearance.
Even though his uncle visited often, every time the moment came for him to leave, and the little one on White Mist Star saw his aunt being taken away, tears would well up in his eyes as he begged to go with his uncle.
After witnessing the touching farewell scene between uncle and nephew several times, the aunt finally couldn’t take it anymore. She said to the chubby little one, "If you want to come with your uncle, fine. The private tutor we hired for you at the palace is still waiting. Once you arrive, I’ll hire tutors for all your other subjects too."
The little one, who wanted to leave with his uncle, was hoping to escape both kindergarten and studies.
With that one remark from his aunt, the little one stifled his tears and never again threw a tantrum about going with his uncle.
He waved his chubby little hand tearfully and bid his uncle farewell: "Uncle, come play with me again next time! Just don’t bring Auntie!"
"Alright, I’ll come see you again."
An Nuo, seeing how reluctant the little one was to let him go, almost decided to stay longer.
Fortunately, Raphael was beside him, pulling him close and reining in his thoughts in time: "Next time you want to visit, pick a time when I’m not busy. I’ll come stay with you for a couple of days."
Apart from getting to reunite with his uncle frequently, the little one also got together with Lele a few times.
Lele’s mother had been taken to the empire for treatment by Ai Wei, and the younglings pooled their money to rent a place on White Mist Star for Lele and his mom.
Though they had a place, Lele and his mother didn’t spend much time there. They were often taken away by Savi.
With Lele’s matters settled, the little one felt a lot more at ease.
He went about his daily routine—attending school, having his meals recorded by his brother, doing homework, carrying a bag to collect recyclables, taking a bath, and then going to bed.
Life went on uneventfully, and in the blink of an eye, time slipped away.
Every now and then, the little one would still feel intimidated by his father. Though his father didn’t wake often, whether he was awake or not, he never said he loved his child.
He would only say, "Ningning, focus on your studies."
And: "Go out more often, see if you can run into your mother."
For the last words his dad had said to him, the little child now spent twice as much time collecting scraps along the roadside.
He’d been picking up junk for over half a year, but he still hadn’t managed to "find" a mom.
What he had found were the grandpas and grandmas who often took walks along the street. They’d grown familiar with him, and whenever they saw him they would slip him a few pieces of candy. After handing over the sweets, they would smile and coax him: "Ningning, pick for just a little while longer, then remember to go home. Otherwise, your dad will come looking for you again."
"I know, Granny!"
With candy in his mouth, which he cherished too much to bite into, the little one held his bag, politely said goodbye to each granny, and then continued on his way.
He had already spent all the money from his red envelopes from last year. This time, there was something very expensive he wanted to buy, but he had no red envelope money left.
To save up for it, the little one didn’t spend a single cent of his scrap-collecting earnings on candy—he saved it all.
His dad had hidden the candy jar and wouldn’t let him have any sweets.
Getting candy had become really difficult for the little child now.
"Ouch—"
After coming home from collecting scraps and scarfing down five pieces of candy in one go, the chubby-cheeked little kid rubbed his plump face, feeling a slight ache in his teeth.
But it was no big deal—it definitely wouldn’t stop him from going for another bowl of midnight snack!
