“Feng Yuan!”
Feng Qi also caught sight of that small figure.
He abruptly stood up and strode after the little one.
Everyone around was out searching for Feng Yuan. There was no way the child could run far.
When Feng Qi came chasing over, the other adults, seeing him, immediately blocked Feng Yuan’s path.
Feng Yuan was such a tiny thing. It was easy to catch up to him.
What’s more, the little one was running so anxiously that after just a few steps, he tripped and fell to the ground.
By the time Feng Qi reached him, the child was sitting on the dirt, tilting his grimy little face speckled with mosquito bites upward as he pitifully called out, “Dad.”
At that word “Dad”, all the emotions Feng Qi had been forcefully suppressing in his chest suddenly erupted.
He knelt in front of Feng Yuan, raised his palm, and gave two firm swats to the child’s backside.
“Who taught you to stew yourself!”
“You even wrote a will and dared to sneak out in the middle of the night!”
“You’re just a little kid, and you already have no fear of death!”
As he struck, he scolded between each word.
Feng Yuan didn’t know if his bottom hurt more or if it was because he saw his Dad crying. But as he lifted his small face, he suddenly burst into loud sobs.
When Feng Qi heard him crying, even his own voice began to tremble.
“You’re scared when I spank you, but when you boiled water to stew yourself, how come you weren’t afraid then?!”
Feng Qi was clearly scolding his son, yet his own tears were falling even more than Feng Yuan’s.
Feng Yuan didn’t try to run even as his bottom was being hit. He just cried and wailed.
“Yuan Yuan is scared.”
The little one hiccuped through his sobs, his soft childish voice trembling: “Yuan Yuan didn’t want to be stewed… but if Dad doesn’t eat Yuan Yuan, Dad won’t get better.”
“If Dad dies, Yuan Yuan won’t be able to live either.”
Without his Dad, Feng Yuan felt he couldn’t survive even a single day.
Hearing those words, Feng Qi’s raised hand began to shake. Finally, he couldn’t bring it down again.
He pulled Feng Yuan into his arms, holding him tightly, and began to cry aloud.
“Yuan Yuan, without you, Dad couldn’t live either.”
Father and son clung to each other tightly. When Li Sheng, who had followed behind Feng Qi, saw both his wife and child crying, he immediately tried to comfort them both at once.
He first picked Feng Yuan up and carefully checked his body.
Feng Yuan had boiled a huge pot of water all by himself.
At their home, boiling water that hot would never even be allowed within Feng Yuan’s reach.
Every year, the news reports cases of children being scalded.
That was why their family had always been very careful about such things.
On Feng Yuan’s chubby little hand was a red mark, but thankfully no obvious blister.
The worst injuries on his body were actually the mosquito bites.
In the middle of the night, the mosquitoes in a place like this were all venomous ones.
Feng Yuan’s skin was tender. Just one bite from those mosquitoes would immediately swell into a big bump.
Some mosquitoes even bit in clusters, so several swollen bumps joined together in a row, forming a sight that was truly shocking to look at.
Li Sheng looked at those red marks and mosquito bites. His heart ached terribly.
“Let’s go home. Big Dad will put medicine on you when we get back.”
As he spoke, Li Sheng lifted his son with one arm and helped Feng Qi to his feet with the other.
The three of them huddled close together. Feng Yuan was still staring at his pot.
Following his son’s gaze, Li Sheng also saw that pot.
“Yuan Yuan.”
He called his son’s name. His usually deep, magnetic voice was now completely ruined.
Just earlier, when he and Feng Qi were out searching for their child, he had shouted his son’s name nonstop for two whole hours.
His throat had long since gone dry and hoarse, yet he hadn’t stopped calling even once.
If his son had been gone, then forget about his throat…
If something happened to him, both his and Feng Qi’s lives would be lost along with it.
“Big Dad, Yuan Yuan—”
Before Feng Yuan could finish his sentence, Li Sheng spoke first, his voice calm and steady:
“Yuan Yuan, you must remember one thing.”
“If anything ever happens to you, your Dad and I, both of us, would die, too.”
“You are our life.”
Li Sheng’s words stunned Feng Yuan into silence.
Feng Yuan opened his mouth, but the words he wanted to say were swallowed back down.
After all the chaos in the middle of the night, everyone was utterly exhausted, body and mind alike.
Looking at the little one who had nearly scared them half to death, they had the urge to spank him again. But when they saw that pitiful little face, they couldn’t bring themselves to do it.
“Let’s go home.”
Countless words and emotions in their hearts finally condensed into just those simple words.
Feng Yuan was carried in his Big Dad’s arms as they made their way back.
All the adults followed close behind, their eyes fixed on him, hardly daring to blink.
That feeling of losing something precious and then finding it again, none of them had yet recovered from it.
On the way back, Feng Yuan kept reaching out his little hands to scratch at his mosquito bites.
Li Sheng held his small hand firmly, not allowing him to scratch.
“If you keep scratching, it’ll start bleeding.”
Li Sheng said this as he called Peter over. Peter was among the group of people with them.
Peter brought the medical kit.
Inside, he had an ointment specifically for treating insect and mosquito bites.
“Apply this frequently. It’ll stop the itching and pain.”
“The ingredients are all safe, specially made for children.”
Peter handed the medicine to Li Sheng.
Li Sheng took it and began applying it to Feng Yuan right there in the car.
Once the green ointment was spread on, the mosquito bites finally stopped itching.
Feng Yuan sat obediently on his Big Dad’s lap, his chubby little feet resting against his Dad’s body.
Both of his Dads sat close on either side of him. Neither could bear to be even a little apart from him.
In another car, Li Heng had brought along the chicken that Feng Yuan had tried to stew.
That slightly larger vehicle was just enough to fit their whole family plus Qin Xun.
The Yu family members were in another car.
“Dad, that chicken… is it even edible?”
Tonight, Li Wei had been so shocked that she almost fell ill. When she first saw that pot, she almost fainted. It was only because Li Ting caught her in time that she didn’t.
But now that she knew it wasn’t Yuan Yuan being stewed in the pot, but just a hen, she felt much better.
She wiped her face clean with a wet wipe and then began studying the stewed chicken.
The little one had spent several days poring over recipes.
He had compared many different ones. Sure enough, he’d actually managed to stew the chicken properly.
The chicken was rich and fragrant, its aroma enough to stir anyone’s appetite.
Li Heng cast her a sidelong glance and said coolly, “If you want to eat chicken, wait until we get home and have someone make it for you.”
The chicken that Feng Yuan had worked so hard to cook would be dealt with tomorrow.
On the way back, everyone’s mood was completely different from when they had come.
When they were on their way here, everyone had been in despair, on the verge of collapse.
Almost every single one of them had been drowning in regret.
None of them had realized that something was wrong with the little one’s actions these past few days.
The deeper their despair had been on the way here, the greater their relief and joy were now as they returned.
“Dad, this time we really got lucky. It was a narrow escape.”
Li Wei’s emotions had swung from one extreme to the other. The intense surge of it all left her unusually talkative now.
She asked Li Heng whether he’d wanted to spank the child earlier.
Li Heng didn’t answer.
He neither admitted nor denied it.
Li Wei leaned back against her seat and laughed. “I really want to hit him and kiss him at the same time.”
The car sped along the road and soon arrived home.
When they got back, Feng Yuan was clearly feeling guilty.
When he had left, he’d been prepared never to come back again.
He hadn’t expected that in less than half a day, he’d be home once more.
“Big Dad.”
The little one’s guilty conscience made his soft, childish voice sound timid as he asked, “A-are you… Are you still going to spank Yuan Yuan?”
His Dad had already spanked him earlier, but Big Dad hadn’t yet.
Li Sheng looked at his small face, his gaze shifting slightly.
“Big Dad wants to spank you.”
Feng Yuan: “…”
Feng Yuan reached back and touched his little bottom, ready to stick it out for Big Dad to hit.
But Li Sheng didn’t do it.
“I’m too tired right now. I have no strength left to spank you. I’ll save it for later.”
After saying that, Li Sheng carried him into the bathroom inside the bedroom.
The little one had been running outside for half the night. His clothes and body were both filthy.
Li Sheng bathed him, while Feng Qi stood nearby, watching and lending a hand now and then.
In the bathtub, the child sat soaking in the water without playing with any toys.
His small body stayed still, obediently letting Big Dad wash him.
Li Sheng put a yellow children’s shampoo cap on his head, then began washing his hair as well.
The cap, shaped like a little yellow morning glory, looked adorably bright on him.
Feng Qi watched his son intently, his gaze soft and focused.
Feng Yuan looked back at his dad, too.
“Dad.”
With his chubby, wet little hand, Feng Yuan suddenly grabbed his Dad’s hand.
He pressed that big hand against his own cheek.
“Don’t die, okay?”
Feng Qi didn’t hesitate for even a second. He nodded.
“Okay.”
He said softly, “Dad won’t die.”
After everything that had happened tonight, Feng Qi’s will to live was stronger than ever before.
Because he now understood clearly. If he died, then his little Yuan Yuan would surely not live on either.
This child, who looked so delicate and cried so easily, who feared pain and feared death…
He loved his dad too much.
His love for his Dad had overcome his fear of dying.
“Yuan Yuan,” Feng Qi said softly, “Dad will find a way to live. But from now on, you must never do anything to hurt yourself again.”
“Can you promise Dad that?”
Feng Yuan’s childish voice rang out loud and clear: “I can!”
His eyes sparkled brightly as he held out his little finger. “Dad, pinky promise!”
Feng Qi extended his own finger and hooked it around his son’s chubby one.
“Pinky promise.”
As father and son made their promise, Li Sheng leaned in, too.
His hands were still covered in soap bubbles, but he reached out to join their pinky link as well.
The three of them, father, father, and son, hooked their pinkies together, smiles spreading across all their faces.
The terrifying night finally came to an end after Feng Yuan’s bath.
Because outside, the sky had already begun to brighten.
Here, dawn always came early.
After Li Sheng blow-dried Feng Yuan’s hair, he carried him onto the big bed, then drew the curtains closed and told him to shut his eyes and sleep.
He also brought Qin Xun into the room.
The little one couldn’t sleep alone yet. He still needed Qin Xun there with him.
He knew that sneaking out tonight must have scared Qin Xun, too.
That was why he’d asked to have Qin Xun come over as well.
The two little ones lay down together. The one who had caused all the commotion, exhausted Feng Yuan, was the first to drift off to sleep.
Qin Xun held Feng Yuan close, his eyes wide open, refusing to close them.
Feng Qi sat beside him and gently comforted him, saying, “Go ahead and sleep. From now on, nothing like this will ever happen to Yuan Yuan again.”
With Feng Qi’s reassurance, Qin Xun’s tense little body finally began to relax.
He closed his eyes. After a while, he too fell asleep.
Both of the little ones were asleep, but Li Sheng and Feng Qi were still awake.
Neither of them could sleep.
Knowing that the other adults outside were still worried about Feng Yuan, Feng Qi and Li Sheng went out together for a moment.
They let everyone come in to take a look at Feng Yuan.
The sleeping little one had rosy cheeks, his chubby hands and feet curled up, looking just like a tiny gas canister.
The adults stood by the bedside, watching this little “gas canister”. Slowly, their hearts began to ease at last.
“This little rascal. Every single day, he comes up with something new,” Li Ting said softly.
“In the future,” he added in a low voice, “we’ll need to keep a closer eye on his whereabouts every few days.”
None of them ever wanted to go through something like this a second time.
Yu Yi looked at the sleeping child and murmured, “If you ask me, that chubby little Yuan ought to get a spanking from each of us, just so he remembers this lesson properly.”
Though his words sounded harsh, the look in his eyes as he gazed at the boy was anything but it was clear he couldn’t bear to hit him.
The adults stood by the bedside for a long while before finally, reluctantly, leaving.
“All right, let’s let them sleep.”
Yu Yi didn’t linger any longer. He turned to Li Sheng and said, “Don’t go to the base today. None of them rested last night. If they train during the day too, those little bodies won’t be able to take it.”
“Mm, I know,” Li Sheng replied.
When he’d put the little one to bed, he’d already used his phone to request leave from the base’s coach.
One by one, the adults dispersed.
Li Sheng arranged for the Yu family to stay there for the night. There were plenty of empty rooms, more than enough to accommodate them.
They’d all been through so much that night. They deserved a proper rest.
Yu Yi didn’t refuse.
He found a guest room and went there together with Wu Jin.
Yu Lian and Fang Fang didn’t stay over.
They had rushed out in such a hurry that they were still wearing their pajamas.
Yu Yi didn’t mind such things, but that couple did.
“We’ll just go back and rest. Once we’re rested, we’ll come back in the afternoon,” they said.
Yu Lian and Fang Fang had already decided to come back here for dinner.
Some people left, some stayed.
Before long, the house returned to quiet. In the middle of the day, everyone in the family chose to catch up on sleep.
Yu Yi, who had gone to a guest room, also lay down on the bed after taking a shower.
He lay there, lost in thought, unsure what exactly was on his mind.
After spacing out for a while, he sat up and picked up his phone.
His phone was buzzing with activity.
The video Yu Yi had posted yesterday afternoon had been reuploaded by a bunch of marketing accounts.
Some of those accounts had simply reposted it, while others had even tagged him.
One of the accounts had re-edited and polished the video before uploading it. It had gone viral.
Thanks to that viral post, his follower count had jumped again.
“Ding! Check-in! Here to see little Yuan Yuan!”
“Blogger, can you post more of your daily life with little Yuanyuan?”
“I just finished watching the video, hahaha. I noticed this little Yuan Yuan is so cheeky! Could he actually be a troublemaker kid?”
Yu Yi happened to see the comment calling him a “troublemaker kid”.
He raised an eyebrow.
A few minutes later, he uploaded a new video.
In the new video, there was still only little Feng Yuan’s tiny back in view.
Yu Yi captioned the video:
“Children’s love is always pure, sincere, and full of warmth. My Yuan Yuan is the bravest little one in the world.”
In the comments section of this video, Yu Yi posted the very first comment:
“Our Yuan Yuan is definitely not a troublemaker kid!”
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152