Li Heng watched him run out with his little short legs, and in time picked him up.
“Where are you running off to?”
“I’m going to find Dad!”
Being lifted, Feng Yuan kicked his legs in midair, trying to break free from Grandpa’s hold.
His eyes were red, tears like little golden beans rolling down, looking utterly pitiful.
The butler at the side saw this scene and wanted to step forward to comfort the young master. But seeing the little master’s pitiful yet stubborn expression, he still didn’t dare act rashly.
“I know you want to find Dad. Where do you plan to look? How will you find him?”
“At Grandpa Zhu’s house!”
Feng Yuan actually had a goal in mind. When he turned to run out, he had already thought of his destination.
But Li Heng asked him again, “Do you know where Grandpa Zhu lives?”
Feng Yuan: “…”
Feng Yuan sniffled and shook his head.
He didn’t know where Grandpa Zhu lived.
Everyone else at home had either gone out or was busy.
Li Heng looked at the little one in his hand. His eyes darkened slightly.
“I’ll take you.”
As he spoke, he pulled the little one he was carrying into his arms.
One big and one small had just returned. But before even sitting down, they went out the door once more.
Almost right after they left, Li Si, who had just finished her tasks, came out of her room.
“Where’s Yuan Yuan?”
Li Si had planned to rest a bit and bring Feng Yuan into her room to play.
The butler respectfully said, “Miss Si Si, Yuan Yuan has already left with Sir. They’ve been gone for about five minutes.”
Li Si: “…”
Li Si frowned. “Why is he always running outside?”
This little fellow’s schedule was actually packed full. Who on earth stuffed it for him?
Since Feng Yuan was already gone, Li Si couldn’t call him back anymore.
She stood there for a while, then turned and went back to her room.
At the same time.
In the car, Feng Yuan’s eyes were still red.
Li Heng wiped away his tears and coaxed him, keeping him on his lap.
“Grandpa, is Grandpa Zhu a bad person?”
Feng Yuan tilted his little face up and suddenly asked, “Will he hurt Yuan Yuan’s dad?”
Li Heng instinctively wanted to shake his head.
But he only shook once, then froze.
He had always thought he knew Brother Zhu well. Yet after so many years, he suddenly realized maybe he didn’t know Brother Zhu that well at all.
The Brother Zhu he saw now felt unfamiliar.
He couldn’t answer Feng Yuan’s question.
“Grandpa Yu is nice.”
Feng Yuan’s little head rested against Li Heng’s shoulder. In a muffled, buttery voice, he said, “Yuan Yuan doesn’t know if Grandpa Zhu is good or not.”
The two grandpas he’d met today. Grandpa Yu laughed a lot.
At mealtime, Grandpa Yu and Grandma Fang kept feeding him.
Feng Yuan’s small head, thinking of Grandpa Zhu, had drifted to Grandpa Yu.
And the Grandpa Yu he’d just thought of was, at that moment, on the phone to Yu Yi.
“You little brat. Get your ass back here right now.”
Yu Lian and Fang Fang had both been shaken up today. When Feng Yuan left, the couple had nearly lost it and wanted to wrest their grandson away from Li Heng.
After Li Heng left, Fang Fang was still searching on her phone —
“If there’s no blood relation, how can one obtain custody of someone else’s child?”
Fang Fang searched for a long time, then slumped against the sofa with a face full of melancholy.
Yu Lian glanced at his wife and immediately called Yu Yi.
When Yu Yi received the call, he felt baffled.
“Didn’t we just talk about this yesterday over the phone?”
Yu Yi was extremely frustrated. “We’ve got businesses laid out in the country, and I have to look after them. I definitely can’t come back in the short term.”
“Don’t give me that business talk.”
Yu Lian wasn’t buying it. “The business can be handled by professionals. Before, I never saw you care this much about business!”
Unlike Li Sheng, who had long had ambitions to expand his business empire, Yu Yi had always been the opposite.
Just two years ago, this guy was still carelessly saying that his life goal was to loaf around and wait for death.
After all, their family had money. As long as he stayed away from vice—gambling, drugs, women—and didn’t imitate other second-generation heirs by launching massive ventures, he could live without worries for the rest of his life.
Yu Yi’s salted-fish life goal had always been pretty clear.
But starting last year, he suddenly announced that he wanted to build a career.
The old couple thought he’d gone mad.
And the madness had lasted for a whole year. The kid still wasn’t done.
“If you don’t come back this week, your mom and I will personally come find you!”
It had been a long while since Yu Lian had seen him. In truth, he was worried, too.
Under the old man’s scolding voice, Yu Yi grumbled, “Got it, got it. Can’t I just go back? I’ll go back this week!”
He could tell the old couple really meant it this time. There was no room to wriggle out.
So he didn’t resist much and agreed right away.
The call ended.
He sighed heavily, face full of gloom.
“Baby, let’s talk… I need to go back home alone for a few days, can you—”
Before he even finished, a handsome, dark face appeared before his eyes.
Yu Yi: “…”
Yu Yi pouted. “I’m only going back for a few days. Can’t you just stay here and wait obediently for me?”
“No.”
“Why are you so clingy! Ever since I got together with you, I’ve practically turned into a conjoined twin! I’m telling you, if you keep this up—”
He didn’t finish this time either.
But this time, no one interrupted him.
Instead, Yu Yi saw his Baby—his tall, strapping Baby—with that handsome face, eyes turning red.
Yu Yi: “…”
Yu Yi: “Ahhh!”
Yu Yi, going crazy, pounced on his 1.9-meter-tall Baby and started rubbing that handsome face all over.
“You’re just here to torment me, aren’t you!”
Such a big guy, always tightening that handsome face and reddening his eyes at the drop of a hat. He looked so aggrieved it nearly broke Yu Yi’s heart.
Inside, Yu Yi felt like he was about to cough up blood.
But no matter how much he wanted to cough up blood, he still had to coax his big Baby with red eyes.
“I’ll take you, I’ll take you, alright? We’ll go back together. But you have to behave! You can’t let my parents see you.”
“If they see you, I’m afraid their hearts won’t be able to take it.”
Especially his mom, who had undergone heart bypass surgery more than ten years ago.
Yu Yi didn’t dare give her a shock.
After confirming that he would bring his clingy big Baby back with him, Yu Yi pulled out his phone, sat cross-legged on his Baby’s firm thighs, and started checking flights.
Both his family and the Li family owned private jets.
But Yu Yi didn’t like taking his family’s jet.
The people on board were all his family’s informants.
He felt like he had no privacy at all.
“Alright, tickets are booked, we’ll leave tomorrow.”
After finishing the booking, Yu Yi casually tossed his phone aside.
He seriously laid down the rules with the person in front of him.
“This trip back, our relationship cannot be discovered.”
“You also mustn’t appear in front of my family at the same time as me. Their eyes are sharp. They’ll notice.”
“Oh, right, if you get bored, I’ll sneak a kid over for you to play with. It’s Yuan Yuan, the one I told you about. Didn’t you even ask me for his photo before?”
“Perfect, I won’t even need to take pictures. You can see him for yourself then.”
Yu Yi’s mouth was a bit chatty.
As he rambled on and on, before he even finished, his mouth was sealed.
“Mm—right! There’s also one more, the most, most, most important thing!”
“After we go back, you’ll have to abstain for a few days!”
Under his family’s watchful eyes, he didn’t dare mess around.
Still plotting about sneaking Feng Yuan home, Yu Yi never imagined that the very reason he was heading home… was precisely because of that chubby little Yuan.
While some people were indulging in passion in broad daylight, a child, too, was yearning for his dad in broad daylight.
Under Feng Yuan’s eager gaze, the car finally arrived at Brother Zhu’s doorstep.
Brother Zhu’s residence was in a very secluded place.
He didn’t like going out, nor did he like being disturbed by visitors. So even Li Heng hadn’t come here very many times.
The driver stopped the car.
Li Heng carried Feng Yuan, stepped onto the stairs, and walked straight to the front door.
Bang, bang, bang.
After a few knocks, no one came to open the door.
Lì Heng tried calling Brother Zhu. The call went through, but no one picked up.
“Grandpa, Yuan Yuan can squeeze through.”
Feng Yuan glanced at the surrounding walls, wanting to see if there was a hole he could crawl through.
But Li Heng didn’t let him.
He stared at the tightly shut door. After a moment, as if remembering something, he walked over to the couplets on the right side of the door.
Couplets were pasted on both sides of the gate.
Holding the little one in one arm, Li Heng used his other hand to feel along the couplet.
After a few seconds, his hand paused.
“The key’s here.”
Li Heng had found the key to the front door.
Back then, when Brother Zhu was still young, if he wasn’t traveling, he spent his days holed up at home playing video games.
He was so lazy at home that he wouldn’t even bother cooking.
And not only did he refuse to cook, he wouldn’t even hire a housekeeper.
He was starving, so he called Li Heng, asking him to bring food over.
The second time Li Heng came, Brother Zhu pointed at the doorway and said, “I always leave my keys at the door. Next time you come, don’t knock and don’t call me. Just take the key and open the door directly.”
Back then, Brother Zhu sometimes hid the key under the doormat at the door, sometimes put it in the small flowerpot by the entrance, and sometimes tucked it inside the couplets.
Li Heng felt around for the key and smoothly opened the door.
The door opened.
Feng Yuan’s mouth hung open in shock. “It really opens!”
He had thought the key wouldn’t work!
Seeing that they could go in, Feng Yuan didn’t want Grandpa to carry him anymore.
He twisted his little body, insisting on getting down to the ground.
As soon as he touched the floor, he sniffled, wanting to catch his dad’s scent.
“Dad has been here.”
Feng Yuan smelled his dad here.
His eyes lit up. He dashed forward on his short little legs.
His legs were so short that even when he ran, Li Heng could keep up with him.
“Here, here too. Dad’s scent is here!”
Feng Yuan sniffed around everywhere. He didn’t look like a majestic little phoenix at all, but more like a puppy searching for food.
The big one and the little one went from the main gate, crossed the courtyard, and entered the house inside.
There was no one in the house.
Feng Yuan’s two dads weren’t there, Brother Zhu wasn’t there, and there was no sign of Gu Diao either.
Feng Yuan searched all around. In the end, he only found a pool of blood.
“It’s Dad’s blood.”
The moment he saw the blood, Feng Yuan was completely stunned.
He plopped down onto the ground, his chubby little hands trembling as he reached out to touch the blood.
Although Dad sometimes coughed up blood, the blood Dad spat out was different from the blood on the ground.
This blood was thicker, the true blood of a phoenix.
“Dad is hurt.”
Feng Yuan touched the blood, and golden teardrops pattered down one after another.
“Grandpa, Yuan Yuan is so scared!”
The little one tilted up his face and burst into tears, crying until his little face was all messed up.
Li Heng’s heart twisted painfully because of that pool of blood.
Forcing down the emotions in his chest, he gathered Feng Yuan into his arms.
“Yuan Yuan, don’t be afraid. Your dad will be fine.”
Li Heng’s comfort, without Feng Qi in sight, seemed to hold no weight at all.
Feng Yuan lay in his arms, both heartbroken and frightened.
Just as Feng Yuan was crying, his smartwatch suddenly rang.
When he saw the caller, his sobs paused.
The next second, he hiccupped.
“It’s Dad.”
Feng Yuan rubbed his eyes in disbelief. After confirming it was really his dad calling, he poked at the screen with his chubby finger and answered.
“Dad!”
The moment the call connected, Feng Yuan burst into tears again. “Where are you? Yuan Yuan wants to find you.”
“Yuan Yuan, be good. Don’t cry.”
Feng Qi’s voice came through the phone, sounding a little weak. “Dad’s fine. Dad is with your big dad. We’re busy. I didn’t hear your call just now.”
“Yuan Yuan, you’re the bravest, right? Dad wants to give you a mission.”
Feng Yuan: “!”
The instant Feng Yuan heard the word mission, his little face lit up with excitement. “Dad, tell me!”
Feng Qi cleared his throat and said, “Dad wants you to practice the Phoenix Seal more. When Dad catches Gu Diao, I might need to ask Yuan Yuan to do the sealing.”
The Phoenix Seal that Feng Qi spoke of was the seal used by phoenixes to suppress vicious beasts.
But this little phoenix, Feng Yuan, hadn’t even started learning it yet.
“How to learn the Phoenix Seal, Dad wrote it in a book. The book is in the bedroom, on the nightstand. Yuan Yuan, go find it yourself, okay?”
“Okay!”
Hearing Dad’s voice and being given a mission to do, Feng Yuan swept away the gloom from before, his whole little self suddenly full of spirit again.
After Feng Qi finished speaking with him, he let Li Sheng also say a few words to Feng Yuan.
The two dads took turns coaxing him. Feng Yuan even kissed his dads through the phone before hanging up.
Once the call ended, Feng Yuan didn’t cry anymore.
He held Grandpa’s hand and started searching around Brother Zhu’s house again.
Brother Zhu himself carried no scent on him at all.
But inside this house, there was indeed the scent of Gu Diao.
Feng Yuan went straight to the bedroom where Gu Diao’s smell was the strongest.
In the bedroom, there was a big bed with a pair of pillows on it.
The wardrobe was filled with clothes. It was obvious that those clothes belonged to two people.
“Grandpa Zhu is living together with Gu Diao.”
Feng Yuan’s chubby little face turned serious as he voiced his discovery.
He pointed at the traces of daily life in the bedroom. Those traces clearly showed that two people had been living here.
Feng Yuan was full of energy rummaging around.
He dug through chests and cabinets, pawing everywhere, wanting to find more of Gu Diao’s things.
While searching, he accidentally knocked down a wooden box.
The wooden box fell to the floor, and its lid popped open.
Feng Yuan saw a stack of photos inside.
All of them were group photos.
Feng Yuan held the photos, his little face blank with shock. He pointed at them and called out, “Grandpa.”
Li Heng: “?”
Li Heng: “What?”
Li Heng leaned over and took the photos from Feng Yuan’s hands.
The next second, he too froze on the spot.
Those photos—every single one—were of him and Brother Zhu.
In the photos, Brother Zhu went from young to old.
But in the photos, he himself still looked young.
Something was wrong.
“This isn’t right. That’s not me.”
Li Heng had taken photos with Brother Zhu and with Yu Lian before.
But the photos he was holding now were ones he had never taken.
The version of him in those photos, the one who seemed never to grow old, wasn’t him.
Feng Yuan was confused, too.
He could recognize Grandpa only because in Grandpa’s bedroom, there was a wedding photo of Grandpa and Grandma.
That wedding photo was taken when they were young. Feng Yuan had looked at it many times.
While Feng Yuan was still muddled, Li Heng had already gathered up the photos.
He put them back into the box and didn’t touch them again.
He thought he probably understood now what accident Li Sheng and Feng Qi had run into after coming here.
The two children must have seen the younger version of himself.
And that “self” was the Gu Diao they were supposed to kill.
Gu Diao was a vicious beast. He had looked up the records.
All man-eating beasts had the ability to confuse and bewitch people’s hearts.
This Gu Diao had taken on his appearance, and being born to deceive…
Li Heng worried that Feng Qi might not be able to deal with it.
Since they couldn’t find Gu Diao in the house, Li Heng and Feng Yuan didn’t linger there any longer.
They left the place.
After leaving, Feng Yuan sat in the car, his chubby little face troubled. “If only Yuan Yuan and Dad had some helpers.”
Just like back on Huasheng Street, where he had many little underlings.
The little underlings would tell him where there was the most junk and which scrap collector had raised their prices again.
With their help, he managed to sell for a lot more money.
And from the money he made, he could also take some out to help his little underlings in emergencies.
In short, being a boss with underlings was much better than fighting alone.
Right now, Feng Yuan very much wants to continue being a boss.
While Feng Yuan was thinking about being a boss, Li Heng was thinking about Brother Zhu and Gu Diao.
After seeing those photos, Li Heng had already realized many things.
His eyelids twitched. He couldn’t shake the unease in his heart.
“Yuan Yuan, how about I take you somewhere?”
Feng Yuan: “Ah?”
Feng Yuan blinked. “Where to?”
He still wanted to go home and get the book to learn the Phoenix Seal.
“To your Grandma’s place.”
Gu Diao and Brother Zhu’s whereabouts were unknown. Li Heng still believed that Brother Zhu would never harbor ill intent toward him or toward Frida.
But he did not trust that Gu Diao.
He needed to make sure Frida was still safe and well before he could feel at ease.
Since Frida didn’t want to see him, he would at least send Feng Yuan over.
Soon after, Feng Yuan, having gone home to grab his little backpack and also taken the book from his dad’s bedroom, was once again seated in the car, being sent to the mountain villa where his grandma was recuperating.
He had only stayed at home for a short while.
Li Si, who had just taken a stroll through the beast garden before coming over, saw the car carrying him off into the distance. Her fists clenched tight.
“What on earth is Yuan Yuan doing today?”
Clenching her fists, Li Si ground his teeth. “He’s still so little. Can’t they let him have a bit less to worry about?”
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152
I’m betting that Grandpa Zhu has feelings for Grandpa Li, and The monster took advantage of that