The two dads zoomed in on the photo, staring intently at the small car.
“Is that Yuan Yuan’s?”
“Should be. His license plate is eight eights.”
Both dads recognized it as their son’s car, but they could hardly bear to acknowledge it.
When they had left home that morning, they had coincidentally passed a car parked by the roadside.
That car had a five-pointed star sticker on its body, with a few lines of text beneath the star:
“Military life, a lifetime of honor.”
“If war calls, I will answer.”
Both sides of the car, as well as the rear, were covered with such short phrases and five-pointed stars.
Feng Qi couldn’t help but chuckle a few times with Li Sheng when he saw it.
Both found the display somewhat amusing.
Serving in the military is admirable. But for a discharged soldier to so ostentatiously reminisce about military life felt rather odd.
Now, however…
Feng Qi felt he had laughed too soon that morning.
“Ahem.”
Li Sheng covered the smile at the corner of his lips with his fist. “Let’s hurry and pick up our little soldier Yuan Yuan.”
He replied to Little Deer: “It’s him.”
After sending the message, their car arrived near the police station.
As they approached, they braced themselves to find a tearful little one.
Unexpectedly, when they went to pick him up, they didn’t see him right away.
“Yuan Yuan is busy in the back.”
The police officer at the station, aware they were there for Feng Yuan, smiled at them with a friendly demeanor.
Seeing the officer’s attitude, the two dads felt slightly reassured.
“Follow me. I’ll take you to Yuan Yuan.”
“Alright.”
Led by the officer in front, the two dads walked a short distance through the station.
Until they reached the backyard.
And there, in the backyard.
Feng Yuan was enthusiastically collecting scrap.
“Qin Xun, has this cardboard been weighed? Ah, this bottle can be flattened before packing.”
The busy little Feng Yuan expertly placed the bottle on the ground, then stepped on it with his chubby foot, crushing it flat before placing it on the scale to weigh.
After weighing the scrap, he packed it into a fertilizer bag.
Since he wasn’t good at math, Qin Xun handled the weighing and calculations, while Feng Yuan focused diligently on packing the scrap.
The two little ones worked in perfect sync, with Feng Yuan bustling around like a spinning top.
The fertilizer bag he had placed in the cart was nearly full.
Sweat beaded on the little one’s forehead. His childish voice was filled with regret: “Qin Xun, we should have brought one more bag!”
This one bag simply wasn’t enough!
“Well, Yuan Yuan is quite busy right now. Would you like to wait for him?”
Feng Qi: “…”
Feng Qi closed his eyes, hardly believing what he was seeing.
He opened and closed them several times before finally walking over to Feng Yuan.
“Yuan Yuan, what are you doing? Stop working. It’s time to go home for lunch.”
“Dad!”
Feng Yuan spared a glance at his dad amid his busyness.
After that brief look, he immediately lowered his head and continued packing his scrap.
“Dad, be good and go inside where there’s air conditioning. Yuan Yuan still has work to do.”
The main hall of the police station had air conditioning, but the backyard didn’t, making it unbearably hot.
While busy with his task, Feng Yuan coaxed his dad to go enjoy the cool air.
Li Sheng, watching the little one act so grown-up, cleared his throat.
He recorded a video of the child collecting scrap and sent it to their group chat.
Putting away his phone, he came over and led Feng Qi away.
“Alright, let’s not disturb our son. We’ll wait for him in the main hall.”
The two of them were clearly a bit in the way here.
It was unclear how much time had passed.
Feng Yuan finally finished his business. Driving his little car loaded with scrap, he parked in front of his dad.
“Dad, Yuan Yuan is going to the scrapyard. You two head home first!”
“You two can go in the afternoon. Right now, we’re going to eat.”
Feng Qi didn’t let him fool around.
The day was still hot. The two little ones had flushed faces from the heat, their clothes damp with sweat.
If he let them drive around recklessly, Feng Qi worried they might get heatstroke.
Under Feng Qi’s firm command, Feng Yuan had no choice but to agree to go home.
He didn’t want to ride in the car, insisting on driving his own little car instead.
“Your little car is too slow. It’ll take two hours to get home. Be good. Let your big dad put your car in the trunk, and we’ll ride back together.”
“No.”
Feng Yuan wouldn’t listen. Before his dad could finish, he drove off with Qin Xun and the scrap, puttering away.
His little car was equipped with voice navigation, so no matter where he wanted to go, it could find the route.
Not long after.
Feng Yuan’s little car made its way onto the road, attracting the attention of several traffic police along the way.
One officer, concerned for him, wanted to stop him and contact his parents.
The little one pulled over, pointing a chubby hand at the car following behind him.
“Dad’s in the car!”
“Your dad is following you? Alright then, go ahead. Drive carefully, stay by the roadside, and use the sidewalk.”
“Yuan Yuan copy that!”
The little one saluted and continued puttering away in his car.
After driving for an hour and a half, he finally made it home.
Behind him, Li Sheng parked the car at the entrance.
He had been the one driving on the way back.
As soon as he got out of the car, he scowled, ready to discipline his son.
To keep up with the little car, he had driven extremely slowly.
Along the way, he had endured countless honks and curses! Some impatient drivers even cut him off, flipping him off as they passed.
“Alright, alright, I know you had a rough time. Don’t take it out on our son.”
“He actually did a good deed today.”
While the two dads were waiting in the police station lobby, the officers had explained in detail what Feng Yuan had done.
It could be said that without Feng Yuan and Qin Xun, the victim would still be trapped.
Feng Qi soothed Li Sheng as they walked inside together.
Their car had to be parked outside, but Feng Yuan’s little car could be driven right into the house.
“Grandpa! Grandma!”
Feng Yuan drove his little car inside, proudly showing off his haul to his grandparents.
“Look! This is all the scrap Yuan Yuan collected!”
After parking his car, the little one took off his sandals and stood barefoot on a chair.
Tilting his head up proudly, he announced to his grandparents, “Yuan Yuan will collect lots and lots of scrap in the future. Yuan Yuan wants to be the Scrap King!”
Li Heng and Frida looked at the scrap he had brought back, showing no disdain for his scrap business.
“Hmm, Yuan Yuan is so hardworking and resilient. You’re sure to succeed.”
The little one had gotten a bit dirty from collecting scrap.
His grandparents didn’t mind the dirt, hugging him close and wiping the sweat from his face.
Feng Yuan chatted with his grandparents about his business, carrying himself with even more flair than his grandpa, who handled billion-dollar deals.
“Dad, Mom, have you had lunch yet?”
“Not yet. We’re not hungry. Let’s eat together now that you guys are back.”
It was already past mealtime.
The whole family was only now sitting down to eat. At the table, the little one was still sitting next to his grandparents.
“Grandpa, Grandma, don’t wait for Yuan Yuan next time. Yuan Yuan is so, so busy.”
Feng Yuan was afraid his grandparents would hurt their health by waiting for him on an empty stomach.
So, with a serious little face, he earnestly instructed his grandparents to eat on time.
Frida was amused by his earnest expression and couldn’t help but kiss his little cheek.
“Okay. Grandma will definitely listen to Yuan Yuan and eat well on time.”
The family of six had a lively meal together.
After eating, Feng Yuan didn’t take his usual nap.
He was in a hurry to sell the scrap he had collected.
The uncles and aunties at the scenic area were especially kind, letting him earn ten cents profit per jin of scrap!
Moreover, Feng Yuan had even established a long-term business relationship with the police station!
When the police station accumulated enough scrap, they would notify him to come collect it.
On his very first day of business, Feng Yuan had secured a deal and earned three yuan and twenty cents.
In total, he had collected over thirty jin of scrap from the police station.
Feng Yuan was quite satisfied with this profit.
But Qin Xun wasn’t satisfied.
“The profit margin is too low. We need to readjust our pricing.”
It must be said that Qin Xun had a much better business mind than Feng Yuan.
He quickly categorized the scrap and set different prices accordingly.
Their profit was no longer limited to just ten cents per jin.
They would now set profits based on the type of scrap.
“Yuan Yuan, I’ve sent you the new prices in a voice message. Listen to it carefully and memorize the prices.”
“If we collect according to the new prices, our profits will double.”
Feng Yuan’s beautiful, round eyes showed confusion.
He hadn’t understood much of what Qin Xun had just explained.
But he knew that whatever Qin Xun said must be correct.
So he nodded. Even if he didn’t understand, he would follow along.
And so, the two little ones’ scrap business began.
For several days in a row, the adults at home could hardly catch a glimpse of them.
The two would leave right after breakfast in the morning.
They’d be gone the entire morning.
At noon, they sometimes rushed back for lunch. But if they had gone too far, they wouldn’t return.
On the first couple of days, they didn’t come back for lunch. They reluctantly used half of their day’s earnings—a few yuan—to buy steamed buns and spicy strips.
The convenience store sold spicy strips for fifty cents a bag.
Feng Yuan took a bite of a steamed bun, then a bite of spicy strip, squatting by the roadside next to his little car filled with scrap.
His little car had long been dirtied by the scrap.
A dirty little car, dirty fertilizer bags, and a grubby little kid munching on a steamed bun.
Little Deer received another private message.
Not only had the sender bombarded him with private messages, but they had also left comments under his and Y’s videos.
AAA welfare Old Man Wang: “Isn’t this Yuan Yuan?! My friend took this and sent it to me. Has Y gone bankrupt? Can’t even afford to support his godson? Little Deer, aren’t you going to do something about it?”
Old Man Wang attached a photo of Feng Yuan squatting by the roadside while eating a steamed bun.
His dirty little face and the way he was devouring the steamed bun made countless netizens’ hearts ache.
“Oh my god. How can Yuan Yuan be so pitiful?!!”
“I’m seriously done. Some parents just don’t deserve to be parents!”
“Haha. Looking at Y’s previous posts of Yuan Yuan, I thought he really doted on the little one. Now it seems he was just riding on Yuan Yuan’s popularity.”
“I can’t stand this anymore. Has no one reported this to the police?”
“Um… I think Yuan Yuan actually went to the police station.”
Soon, photos of Yuan Yuan entering and leaving the police station surfaced in the comments.
Once these photos were posted online, the targets of the cyberbullying expanded beyond Yuan Yuan’s family to include the police station.
“Yuan Yuan probably went to the police to complain. Unfortunately, the police aren’t doing anything.”
“My heart is breaking. Irresponsible parents and useless police. Our Yuan Yuan is still so young. What is he supposed to do?”
“[Angry][Angry][Angry] Does anyone actually know where Yuan Yuan’s parents are?”
“Y, stop pretending to be dead! You haven’t updated in days. Are you feeling guilty or what?”
“Y, there have been posts online claiming you’re just pretending to be a rich second-generation. Could that be true?”
Overnight, Y, Little Deer, the police station, and both of Feng Yuan’s dads became targets of online harassment.
The internet these days is already filled with toxicity.
Seeing Feng Yuan, such a tiny child, captured in such pitiable scenes truly tugged at people’s heartstrings.
Meanwhile, the little one at the center of the storm remained completely unaware.
His smartwatch couldn’t browse videos, so he had no access to much of the content on video platforms.
Besides, he’d been busy with his own affairs and hadn’t borrowed any of the adults’ phones or tablets to play with for several days.
“Qin Xun, look! Yuan Yuan brought a lunchbox today!”
Since the little one often didn’t come home for lunch, the adults at home worried about him. So, when he left in the morning, they packed him a thermal lunchbox filled with food.
That way, whenever he got hungry during his busy schedule, he could eat.
Besides the lunchbox, Feng Yuan’s small backpack was stuffed with other essentials:
Two sets of spare clothes.
One water bottle.
One ledger.
One wallet.
Three face masks.
One apple.
And some small packs of biscuits and snacks.
All in all, Feng Yuan’s little backpack was quite spacious.
Their “business” was now running steadily.
Qin Xun and Feng Yuan sat together, eating from the lunchbox.
While eating, Qin Xun glanced at their sign and suggested an improvement.
“We should write our phone numbers on the sign.”
“That way, if anyone has scrap to sell, they can contact us directly.”
“Yeah! You’re right!”
The two little ones were bustling about outside, fully occupied.
Meanwhile, the adults were being torn apart online, over and over again.
Little Deer, watching the cyberbullying unfold, wanted to tell Li Sheng about it but didn’t know how to bring it up.
He nudged Tao Zhi beside him.
“Tao Zhi, everyone online is cursing out Yuan Yuan’s dad and his godfather now.”
“How should I tell them?”
The comments online were just too vicious.
If Yuan Yuan’s family saw them, Little Deer couldn’t bear the thought.
Hearing Little Deer’s question, Tao Zhi turned his head and looked at him.
“If you don’t know how to say it, then don’t.”
Tao Zhi’s answer was straightforward and blunt.
Realizing he couldn’t rely on Tao Zhi for help, Little Deer sighed in frustration.
While Little Deer was still agonizing over how to break the news, Yu Yi finally received the news first.
Yu Yi had returned to the country by now.
He was investigating which areas were experiencing significant rises in water levels.
Wherever there was a surge in water, there might be traces of Wu Jin.
Yu Yi wanted to go find Wu Jin.
He didn’t want to just sit around waiting.
Yu Yi had bought a lot of equipment, fully prepared and just waiting to set off.
Right then, his friend called.
“Yu Yi, is Yuan Yuan still your godson?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
Yu Yi had been busy lately and hadn’t had the chance to visit Feng Yuan yet.
Hearing his tone, his friend knew he hadn’t seen the online buzz yet.
“Ah, I don’t know how to say this. You should just check online.”
“The netizens in your comment section are practically holding your seventh-day memorial ceremony.”
Yu Yi: “???”
Yu Yi: “What the hell?”
Baffled, Yu Yi finally went online.
As soon as he logged into his account, he saw his notifications had blown up to 99+.
For some reason, seeing the little red dot indicating new comments, his eyelid twitched violently.
Half an hour later.
Yu Yi’s anxious heart finally sank.
His friend was right. Netizens were indeed holding a memorial for him.
The “deceased” Yu Yi immediately called Li Sheng.
He wasn’t as cautious as Little Deer.
So as soon as the call connected, he launched into a tirade against Li Sheng.
“What is Yuan Yuan doing right now? Do you even know?!”
“Are you planning to abandon him?”
“If you don’t want him, just give him to me. My parents have been dreaming of taking Yuan Yuan in.”
“I can’t believe you! What have you been doing all day?!”
Yu Yi’s outburst was partly fueled by pent-up emotions.
After his rant, Li Sheng’s voice turned cold.
“Stop being hysterical.”
“Wu Jin hasn’t been gone for long, and you’re already acting like a bitter widow.”
Both of them were sharp-tongued, as if they wouldn’t be satisfied until they’d verbally skewered each other.
Feng Qi, who was nearby, couldn’t stand listening to their argument anymore.
He took the phone and answered it himself.
“Yu Yi, what’s going on? Yuan Yuan just returned to the country. He said he needed a few days to adjust before starting kindergarten.”
“He’ll be going to kindergarten this Monday.”
“Why are you bringing him up? Did something happen to him?”
Hearing Feng Qi’s voice, Yu Yi calmed down.
“Oh, it’s nothing serious. You should just check online when you have time.”
“The netizens have already sent us off to the afterlife.”
After saying this, Yu Yi hung up, planning to visit them in person later.
After the call ended, Li Sheng and Feng Qi went online.
Both of them had been busy lately.
Feng Qi had resumed work and had discovered a suspicious figure in the entertainment industry who seemed to be a nine-tailed fox spirit.
In folklore, nine-tailed foxes are often depicted as romantic beings.
But according to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, fox spirits are actually malevolent creatures.
Feng Qi didn’t take this lightly and had been trying to gather more information.
He was busy, and so was Li Sheng.
Despite their busy schedules, they hadn’t neglected their child.
In fact, they very much wanted to be involved.
To ensure their son’s safety while he collected scrap, Li Sheng had even followed the little one’s toy car for an entire day.
However, his son caught him and angrily used his own toy car to block Li Sheng’s Maybach.
After stopping the Maybach, the little guy furiously kicked the luxury car several times with his chubby feet.
“Don’t follow Yuan Yuan!”
“Yuan Yuan is busy! No time to play with Big Dad!”
“Big Dad! Don’t you have your own things to do?!”
Li Sheng was sternly lectured by his furious son.
The next day.
Li Sheng finally stopped following him.
He wasn’t allowed to follow his son himself, so he thought of sending a few bodyguards as usual.
But he hadn’t expected that Feng Yuan, having undergone training at the base, was no longer the same little chubby Yuan from before.
Even if someone was following him, he could still notice.
At first, Feng Yuan thought they were bad people. But after luring his pursuers into a narrow alley, he realized they were actually his own people.
The little guy clasped his chubby hands behind his back and asked the bodyguards he had caught, “How much does my big dad pay you per day?”
The bodyguards were honest and replied, “3,000 a day.”
Feng Yuan: “…”
Feng Yuan had worked himself to exhaustion all day and still couldn’t earn 30.
Now, the bodyguards following him were making 3,000 a day.
The little guy was so angry he could no longer keep his chubby hands behind his back.
He clutched his chest, his chubby face filled with distress.
“How can Big Dad be so wasteful!”
With such a spendthrift big dad, how would Yuan ever be able to afford to support him in his old age when he grew up?
Feng Yuan didn’t want bodyguards.
His strong protest made Li Sheng frown.
Li Sheng had originally planned to hire even more expensive bodyguards to ensure they wouldn’t be detected while tailing him.
But with just a glance, Feng Yuan knew exactly what his big dad was thinking.
The little guy put his chubby hands on his hips and made his big dad swear not to hire any bodyguards.
And the content of the oath was also set by Feng Yuan himself.
“If Big Dad goes back on his word and secretly hires bodyguards, then let Yuan Yuan get two points on every exam from now on!”
Li Sheng: “…”
Under the terrifying threat of his son scoring two points, Li Sheng was forced to withdraw the bodyguards.
Although he withdrew the bodyguards, he made an agreement with his son: the smartwatch must never be taken off.
Moreover, the location tracking system in the smartwatch absolutely could not be turned off.
With the father and son reaching an agreement, Feng Yuan was finally able to continue scavenging freely.
At the moment, Li Sheng and Feng Qi were online, reading about their own deaths…
They were both silent.
After a long while, Li Sheng finally asked, “Is Yuan Yuan not coming back at noon today?”
“No. He won’t be back until evening.”
“Alright, we’ll talk when he gets back.”
Moonlit: I have been wondering. Just how big is Yuan Yuan’s toy car? If it can fit in the trunk, it shouldn’t be that big, right? So, how did the shop owner sister fit in? Or is poverty limiting my imagination? (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152