The children’s gathering lasted a full two hours.
During these two hours, the adults either took their afternoon naps or attended to personal matters.
Li Sheng and Chi Shui caught up on some sleep and handled their respective tasks.
After finishing everything, Li Sheng looked at Chi Shui and asked, “Shall we go check on the children?”
He hadn’t seen his son for a while and, for some reason, felt inexplicably uneasy.
Chi Shui, however, remained calm.
He hummed in agreement, showing no concern for his well-behaved Rong Rong.
His Rong Rong wasn’t like that little troublemaker Feng Yuan.
Even when playing alone, his Rong Rong wouldn’t give the adults any reason to worry.
The two adults went to find their child together.
Since the afternoon live stream was about to begin, other parents, along with the director and the camera crew, also came to look for the children.
The adults knew where the children were.
They walked together in a group, chatting idly along the way.
“Brother Li, has Yuan Yuan’s younger brother been picked up?”
“Yes. His father has already taken him home.”
Li Sheng answered calmly.
After holding his son, Yu Ye didn’t linger long and immediately took him home.
His family had a crowd of people waiting to see You You.
Especially Chi Rong.
Chi Rong was particularly worried about his son.
On the way back, Yu Ye video-called Chi Rong so he could get a good look at You You.
Although the video call wasn’t as clear as seeing him in person, Chi Rong could confirm one thing—
His You You and Ze Ze really looked identical!
“Yu Ye, hurry back.”
Just seeing You You through the video wasn’t enough for Chi Rong.
He was holding Ze Ze in his arms, but he hadn’t had the chance to hold You You yet.
Chi Rong’s urging made Yu Ye raise an eyebrow.
“If you want me back faster, why not have You You carry me on his back?”
Chi Rong: “…”
Chi Rong rolled his eyes and hung up the phone.
His You You was still a tiny little dragon cub. He couldn’t carry such a heavy father.
Time passed slowly.
Yu Ye had already brought You You home, while Feng Yuan, still in the village, was no longer in the open space at the back of the village.
He had wandered off somewhere with a few other children.
Several fathers and the director searched for them. But they couldn’t find them after looking everywhere.
The director, unable to see the children, turned pale.
“Could they be lost?!”
The director stammered, “Are… are there child traffickers here?!”
“They won’t be kidnapped by traffickers.”
At this critical moment, Li Sheng stepped in to reassure the director: “Yuan Yuan has taken anti-kidnapping lessons.”
Feng Yuan had always been highly vigilant against child traffickers.
It was nearly impossible for traffickers to kidnap him.
If anything, he was more likely to kidnap the traffickers.
“Let’s keep looking. They might be hiding.”
With that, Li Sheng continued the search.
Li Sheng was not Feng Qi.
Feng Qi could detect his son’s scent and quickly locate him.
Li Sheng had no choice but to search the hard way.
After some time.
Even the staff managing the live stream began to panic.
The comments in the live stream chat were growing increasingly intense from the fans.
Since the broadcast time was fixed, the live stream had started even though there were no children in sight.
The live stream, now active, showed only the adults searching for the children, with no sign of the little ones.
How could the fans not be frantic?
“I can’t believe it. It’s only been two hours, and the kids are already lost.”
“What is the production crew even doing? Don’t they know how to protect the children properly?”
“There are human traffickers in rural areas. The director should call the police right away!”
The fans in the live stream didn’t leave just because they couldn’t see the kids. On the contrary, the number of viewers in the live stream kept increasing.
Many people had joined specifically to help find the missing children.
They were closely watching the live stream, unable to leave without knowing the kids were safe.
After searching for a full two hours, a child’s cry suddenly came from a field near the cemetery.
“It’s Yuan Yuan.”
“And Rong Rong.”
For some reason, Yuan Yuan and Rong Rong started crying at the same time.
As soon as they began crying, the adults followed the sound and found them in the field.
The field was planted with crops. Since the children were so small, they were completely hidden as they lay there.
Yao Yao, Qingqing, and Xiao Putao were sprawled out in the field, fast asleep.
Yuan Yuan and Rong Rong were also lying in the field. But both had their eyes closed as they cried.
It looked as though they were having nightmares.
Li Sheng and Chi Shui immediately picked up their own children.
After lifting them, they gently woke them up.
When Yuan Yuan opened his eyes, his little head was still a bit dizzy.
From the moment he fell asleep, he had been dreaming of being bullied by ghosts.
The ghosts in his dream were so powerful!
They weren’t afraid of him at all.
Yuan Yuan couldn’t even manage to spit out a little flame.
The terror from the dream and the dizziness in his head made Yuan Yuan’s little face flush red, tears welling in his eyes. He looked utterly pitiful.
Li Sheng’s heart ached as he gently patted the back of Yuan Yuan’s hand, patiently comforting him, “Don’t be scared, don’t be scared. Big Dad’s here.”
Yuan Yuan stretched out his little arms and hugged his big dad tightly.
With all the children found, the director breathed a sigh of relief.
The accompanying doctor checked the children’s health.
The little ones were all fine. They had just had too much rice wine and felt sleepy.
After their nap, the children were all awake and alert.
They were full of energy, except for Yuan Yuan and Rong Rong, who seemed a bit listless.
The two children hadn’t had a moment of peaceful sleep since yesterday.
Their little bodies were almost at their limit.
Even though they were feeling a bit unwell now, their desire to keep playing overpowered their physical discomfort.
After clinging to his big dad for a while, Feng Yuan asked to be put down.
He took An Cheng’s hand and called him “Dad”.
“Dad, will you make a swing for Yuan Yuan?”
“Of course.”
An Cheng had promised Yuan Yuan earlier that he would make him a swing after finishing work in the afternoon.
Now that the afternoon had passed, Yuan Yuan blinked his big, round, grape-like eyes, wondering if he would still get to play on the swing.
An Cheng pinched his cheek, then took out the net and rope he had borrowed from the villagers and tied them between two trees to make a swing.
The swing looked simple, but the children loved it.
As An Cheng pushed them on the swing, he shared stories from his own childhood.
“Back when we played on swings, we didn’t have a net in the middle like this.”
“We used ropes to make swings back then.”
The children played on the swing just for fun, while the adults turned it into a competition.
The director, quick to adapt, immediately added a swing contest.
The adults were competing to see who could swing the highest, with the winner receiving a small reward.
“Dad, go for it!”
“Dad! Be brave!”
“Dad, be careful!”
The little ones clapped their hands, cheering their dads on.
Just as An Cheng was about to come down, Feng Yuan ran up to him, wanting to talk.
But before An Cheng had steadied himself, Feng Yuan was kicked flying by him.
Watching his son get kicked away, Li Sheng’s expression shifted.
Luckily, the ground was already padded.
Feng Yuan, after being kicked, picked himself up.
Once on his feet, his little voice murmured, “Dad, you’re really strong.”
Li Sheng: “…”
Li Sheng quickly stepped forward, picked up his son, and turned him over and over, checking him thoroughly.
Feng Yuan’s little body was quite resilient.
He was completely fine.
With adults and kids gathered together, the laughter never stopped.
By dinnertime, the adults’ cooking was another chaotic scene.
While the adults cooked, the kids played in the yard.
During the games, Yao Yao was clearly going easy on Feng Yuan.
The other kids quickly noticed this.
“Yao Yao, you can’t do that!”
“You could have caught Yuan Yuan just now, but you let him go on purpose!”
“Yeah, Yao Yao, you’re way too biased.”
Yao Yao’s fondness for Feng Yuan was obvious to all the kids.
They unanimously criticized Yao Yao for favoring Feng Yuan.
The kids scolded Yao Yao seriously.
Meanwhile, the live stream and various platform fan groups were going wild over it.
The little pairing of Yao Yao and Yuan Yuan had the adults completely smitten.
Qin Xun, who had been watching Feng Yuan’s live stream, also came across these fan materials.
He saw many edited videos.
In the clips, Feng Yuan and Yao Yao appeared very close.
Yao Yao held Feng Yuan’s little hand and said bluntly, “Yuan Yuan, I only came here because you’re here.”
“Yuan Yuan, I really like you.”
This “I really like you” was intentionally edited. The original line was, “I really like playing with you”.
These fan videos had tens of thousands of likes, showing just how popular they were.
After silently watching these videos, Qin Xun got up and went to find Li Heng.
“Grandpa, can I go visit the set?”
Li Heng: “What?”
Li Heng: “Whose set are you visiting?”
After asking, it dawned on him: “Xiao Xun, do you miss Yuan Yuan?”
Qin Xun nodded.
Seeing him nod, Li Heng nodded as well.
“Alright then. You can go.”
Li Heng said, “I’ll have your uncle take you.”
“Uncle is busy. I can go by myself.”
“He’s not busy. Let him accompany you.”
Li Heng knew Qin Xun was a mature child. But in his eyes, no matter how mature, Qin Xun was still just a kid.
If he was going on a long trip, an adult from the family had to accompany him.
“It’s too late today. You two can take a flight tomorrow morning.”
“Okay.”
With Li Heng’s approval, Qin Xun returned to his room and continued watching the live stream.
By then, the stream had moved on to the dinner segment.
Feng Yuan had gotten tipsy from drinking rice wine at noon and still wanted more.
Li Sheng naturally wouldn’t let him have any.
If Feng Yuan had led the kids in drinking under Feng Qi’s watch, his bottom would have been sore by now.
It was only because Li Sheng, as his big dad, couldn’t bear to hit his son.
So he only refused his son’s request and said nothing else.
Feng Yuan was rejected, his chubby little face full of disappointment.
“Ah, no rice wine, then give us some juice.”
Feng Yuan successfully got the juice.
After getting the juice, he asked for a few cups and poured the juice into them.
“Come on, let’s make a toast!”
Big Brother Feng Yuan boldly raised his cup again and drank juice with the kids.
A few little ones managed to drink juice with the swagger of gangsters.
After clinking cups with each of the children, Feng Yuan went to clink cups with the adults.
He even clinked cups with his big dad.
As the big and small cups touched, a surge of pride welled up in Feng Yuan’s little chest.
He felt so mature at that moment!
“Big Dad, after drinking this cup, can we be good brothers?”
Feng Yuan held his cup and asked his big dad with audacious boldness.
Li Sheng glanced at him sideways: “What do you think?”
Feng Yuan grinned, his little dimples showing: “I think it works!”
“From now on, we’re good brothers!”
“You call me brother, and I’ll call you big dad!”
As he spoke, Feng Yuan freed one chubby little hand and patted Li Sheng’s shoulder with a series of soft pats.
His act of treating his own big dad as a brother stunned everyone around them.
Li Sheng’s handsome face darkened slightly.
“Yuan Yuan, that’s enough.”
Li Sheng warned him: “Don’t push your luck.”
If the little guy kept this up, he was afraid he might not be able to resist following Feng Qi’s example.
Feng Yuan felt incredibly proud making his big dad call him brother.
Instead of holding back, he escalated by redefining their generational roles with his big dad.
Li Sheng restrained himself again and again.
Finally, before the livestream ended that day, Feng Yuan received two smacks on his little bottom.
His “big brother” arrogance was completely extinguished by those two spanks.
“Big Dad is mean!”
Feng Yuan felt terribly wronged after being spanked: “Big Dad hit Yuan Yuan, too!”
Wasn’t it enough to have one dad who spanks Yuan Yuan?
How could there be another dad who spanks Yuan Yuan, too!
Feng Yuan was so upset he practically wanted to trade dads.
Taking care of children is exhausting work. Besides the parents being tired, the other staff present were also quite worn out.
By the time the livestream ended, the staff hurried off to rest.
Li Sheng grabbed Feng Yuan, who was about to go back with An Cheng to sleep.
He glanced at Chi Shui, who understood and came over holding Rong Rong.
The two families decided to sleep together that night.
Their two families staying together was photographed by someone.
Whether it was staff or someone else, after taking photos of them staying together, they immediately posted it online to complain.
“So strange. Both families clearly have their own houses, so why do they have to sleep together at night?”
This anonymous complaint post was shared by many marketing accounts.
Some marketing accounts love to chase clout. After sharing this complaint, they deliberately reposted previously leaked photos of Feng Qi and Bo Han.
Feng Qi and Bo Han were in a misleading photo that made it look like they were kissing.
Although that photo had already been clarified, the marketing accounts didn’t share the clarification.
When these two sets of posts were placed together, it made people eager for gossip.
Li Sheng was completely unaware of the rumors online about him and Chi Shui.
He and Chi Shui ran bathwater together, washed Feng Yuan and Rong Rong until they were spotless, and then put them to bed.
The two little ones continued playing on the bed.
The adults were in the bathroom, not in a hurry to leave.
They exchanged a few brief words.
Li Sheng: “Let’s observe again tonight.”
Chi Shui: “Mm.”
The two were not exactly harmonious friends.
For them to speak so calmly was actually quite rare.
After their conversation, the two fathers took turns bathing and prepared to rest.
“Yuan Yuan, time for bed.”
“Rong Rong, come here.”
Feng Yuan slept on his own, rolling around on the bed until he dozed off.
Rong Rong was clingy when sleeping and needed to be held.
Feng Yuan, who had been rolling on the bed, saw Rong Rong being held by his big dad. He stretched out his chubby little arms, wanting to be held to sleep, too.
Li Sheng had no objections to holding such a plump little guy.
Soon, with the comforting embraces of their big dads, both children closed their eyes and fell asleep.
As they slept, the two big dads kept a close watch on their little faces.
After about ten minutes or so.
Both children’s little eyebrows furrowed, and their expressions turned uneasy again.
After Feng Yuan was found by his big dad that afternoon, he told him—
He had bad dreams every time he slept.
He had wanted to cry. In the dream, he was chased so relentlessly.
He didn’t even have the chance to cry.
It was only at the very end, when he found a moment to catch his breath, that he finally managed to sob.
“It’s starting again.”
Li Sheng observed his son’s sleeping face and said, “He’s having nightmares again.”
Chi Shui looked at his son’s pale, frightened face in his sleep and felt a pang in his heart.
He picked up his son and paced back and forth, soothing him.
“Did you call Feng Qi?”
“I told him about it. He contacted Bai Ze, and Bai Ze reached out to Qiong Qi.”
“Qiong Qi is catching a Dream Eater to bring over.”
Dream Eaters are little furry creatures that can enter dreams. These furry beings are a type of spirit.
But because Dream Eaters can enter dreams and sense human emotions, and the more advanced ones can even read minds, these little creatures, despite their abilities, lack self-defense skills. As a result, their numbers have always been small.
After all, there are too many people in the world who don’t want their secrets exposed.
Qiong Qi mentioned that he could catch two Dream Eaters.
One for each of the children.
“When will the Dream Eaters arrive?”
“Probably within the next couple of days.”
The two fathers appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly, they were growing anxious.
Their little ones hadn’t slept well for two days.
The children were still so young. If they continued to sleep poorly, it would undoubtedly be very dangerous.
These two little ones were the treasures of the adults.
If anything happened to them, all the adults would go mad.
“Li Sheng.”
Chi Shui looked up, his gaze fixed intently on Li Sheng, and asked, “Could it be him?”
The one they were searching for. The great demon who had slipped through the net.
Li Sheng’s heart grew heavy: “I don’t know. But we can’t rule out the possibility.”
The forces of that great demon had been largely eradicated.
In the process, Feng Qi had nearly exhausted his divine energy.
The phoenix’s purifying power comes from this divine energy.
This energy can usually regenerate continuously. But Feng Qi’s body is not in a condition to do so.
The regeneration of his primordial energy is too slow.
Now, Feng Qi and Li Sheng share only one goal—
To capture and eliminate that demon before Feng Qi’s power is completely depleted.
That demon holds Qin Xun’s parents in his grasp.
Several times, he managed to escape by using Qin Xun’s parents as leverage.
He used Qin Xun’s parents as leverage, forcing Feng Qi to back down on several occasions.
But he never told Qin Xun about this.
Feng Qi knew that the rational course of action would be to sacrifice Qin Xun’s parents, eliminate the great demon, and secure peace for the world hereafter.
But Qin Xun was like his own child.
Feng Qi still wanted to do everything he could to protect Qin Xun’s parents for the child’s sake.
In their sleep, Feng Yuan and Rong Rong, their little faces growing increasingly terrified, were awakened by their big dads.
After being roused, the two little ones received comfort from their big dads and were coaxed back to sleep.
Yet, being coaxed back to sleep was futile.
As soon as the two little ones closed their eyes to sleep, they would quickly fall into nightmares.
And their nightmares had escalated.
At first, they only dreamed of being chased and frightened by numerous ghosts.
Gradually, their nightmares began to include family members.
Both little ones dreamed of their family members being killed.
For the two children, the terror this evoked was beyond words.
The two fathers stayed up all night with the little ones, but there was nothing they could do.
By the next morning.
As the rooster crowed outside, Feng Yuan’s slightly weary little face seemed to perk up a bit.
He rubbed his eyes, his small, milky voice a little hoarse.
“Big Dad, Yuan Yuan doesn’t want to sleep anymore. Yuan Yuan wants to go out and play.”
Playing outside was better than enduring more nightmares.
Li Sheng and Chi Shui dressed the two little ones and let them go out to play.
They seemed to be in decent spirits while playing.
Except Feng Yuan kept yawning.
Seeing him yawn, Yao Yao asked considerately, “Yuan Yuan, are you very sleepy?”
Feng Yuan nodded. “Yeah, sleepy.”
Yao Yao handed him a small toy. It was a prize An Cheng had won for taking first place yesterday.
An Cheng had given the toy to Yao Yao. Now, Yao Yao was giving it to Feng Yuan.
“Hold it. We slept really well holding it.”
“I tried it yesterday.”
Before Yao Yao could hand over the toy, a familiar little figure appeared before Feng Yuan.
“Yuan Yuan, come here.”
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152