MSFLC Ch22

The two childish idiots, one big, one small, ignored each other right up until dinner. After dinner, they were fine again.

Song Qinian personally coaxed them into it.

He was good at soothing people, upstairs, he soothed his husband; downstairs, he soothed the cub. Song Qinian really had a knack for it.

Lu Zhishi loved sweet talk the most. He’d been pouting with his lips stuck out, refusing to speak, but it didn’t take long before he was coaxed into grinning and giggling.

“Baba~”

“Baba’s here, our adorable little chubby can.” Song Qinian lifted him high, settled him on his shoulders, and carried him around the living room.

“You ate sooo many vegetables today, so amazing!”

Lu Zhishi lifted his chin proudly. “Mm!”

That’s right. He was the best. He’d eaten half a plate of greens today, huge progress.

Lu Ting’an sat on the sofa reading documents. Listening to his lover and child laugh, the corner of his lips lifted.

Time drifted by slowly. Everything was peaceful.

That night, Lu Ting’an bathed Lu Zhishi, because Song Qinian was admiring the lisianthus bouquets and seriously picking out vases for the flowers.

But Song Qinian didn’t forget the needle mark on his cub’s arm.

After Lu Zhishi came out of the bath, Song Qinian went into the bathroom, filled a small basin with cold water, carried it out, and placed it in front of the little one.

“Come here. Baba will compress it for you.”

On the first day after a blood draw, you use a cold towel, wrung out, to press the puncture site. The second day, you use a warm towel.

Today Lu Zhishi wore a light-brown teddy bear onesie, fluffy, with a round little pom-pom tail on the butt. It made him look even cuter.

He obediently sat cross-legged on the bed, lifting his sleeve on his own, revealing a chubby white arm with soft rolls like lotus root segments.

The puncture site was still bright red, just like in the morning. The bruising around it looked even worse.

The cold towel was a bit chilly. Lu Zhishi was still warm from his bath, so when the towel pressed down, he couldn’t help shrinking his arm back.

Song Qinian comforted him softly. “It’ll be okay soon.”

It didn’t get okay “soon”, they pressed it for nearly half an hour.

But the coolness actually felt nice, and the needle mark didn’t hurt as much anymore.

Afterward, Song Qinian held his arm and checked it carefully, then stood to pour out the water. Lu Zhishi flipped over, scooted backward, and kicked his short little legs to climb off the bed.

He landed safely on the thick, soft carpet and trotted to the lounge area, standing on tiptoe to reach the small vase he’d placed on the cabinet.

Song Qinian stepped out of the bathroom and nearly had his heart jump out of his chest. He rushed over, steadied the little body, and helped him take the vase down.

“Next time, don’t reach for high things like that. It’s easy to fall backward, and if something drops, it could hit you.”

Song Qinian rarely spoke this seriously. Holding the vase, Lu Zhishi nodded, flustered.

“You can call Baba or gege to help. Or you can move a little sofa over and stand on it. Either way is safer than tiptoeing.”

Lu Zhishi drooped his head, twisting his chubby hands together. Even his plump little steamed-bun feet rubbed anxiously against the carpet.

“Baba… I was wrong…” He knew it, he shouldn’t have been lazy and skipped moving the little sofa.

Seeing him admit it, Song Qinian patted his head. “Your gege used to do the same. Then he bumped his forehead into a huge lump, cried all night, and the lump took half a month to go down.”

Lu Zhishi’s expression shifted into sudden understanding.

So there was precedent. No wonder Baba got scared.

He shuffled forward and buried into Song Qinian’s arms, rubbing his cheek against his chest.
“Wrong, Baba~”

Song Qinian held him, pinched the little pom-pom tail on his onesie, and his tone softened. “Next time, remember to call Baba and gege.”

“Mmhmm~”

He patted the little butt and handed the vase back. “Alright. Go play.”

Lu Zhishi hugged his vase and trotted to the sofa, plopping down on the carpet.

He checked if his flowers were wilting. He counted, there were nine stems of lisianthus.

“Baba, gege come back when?”

“Gege and Xiao Chen-gege will be back the afternoon after tomorrow. Just sleep two more big sleeps and little sleeps, and you’ll see both of them.”

Song Qinian came over too and sat beside the fluffy teddy-bear cub, lowering his head to tidy his own bouquet.

Lu Zhishi’s eyes lit up, then his little brows knitted.

The afternoon after tomorrow… would the flowers still be fresh then? If they weren’t fresh, how could he give them away?

He scooted his butt around to face Song Qinian head-on, big eyes blinking hard.

Song Qinian didn’t even need to look up to feel that intense stare. He chuckled. “Need Baba to help with something?”

Struggling to express himself with his not-yet-upgraded toddler language, Lu Zhishi lifted his hands and gestured too.

“Flower-flower… keep… fresh…”

When he got anxious, his baby voice pitched up, soft and sweet.

Song Qinian listened patiently and understood.

“You want to keep the flowers fresh, right?”

Lu Zhishi nodded hard. “Mm! Baba awesome!”

“Okay. Tomorrow morning after Baba wakes up, I’ll help you. Deal?”

Lu Zhishi agreed immediately. It was late, time for sleep.

When they finished talking, Lu Ting’an called, “Come listen to a story.”

Story first. Then sleep.

Lu Zhishi trotted over, grabbed the bedsheet, and hooked his chubby foot up onto the mattress. Song Qinian laughed and gave him a push from behind.

He crawled to his spot, pulled the blanket over himself, and listened quietly to the bedtime story.

Soon, his eyelids grew heavy. He blinked sleepily, and before long, he slipped into dreams.

Hopefully this time there wouldn’t be any white coats.

***

No one knew what magical method Super-Dad Song used, but the lisianthus in all three vases stayed bright and fresh.

Two days later, Lu Zhiyu and Chi Chen returned from their spring outing. Lu Zhishi immediately hugged his little vase and went straight to the Chi house.

“X-Xiao Chen gege~”

Carrying the vase up the steps was hard work. When he saw Chi Chen come out, his eyes lit up.

Chi Chen had already seen the chubby little one running over from the window. He hurried down, picked him up, and took the vase from his arms.

He bent down to straighten Lu Zhishi’s messy clothes, and casually patted his round belly. “Did you eat?”

Lu Zhishi shook his head obediently. “No~”

It was still early. Their family didn’t eat dinner yet.

Chi Chen led him inside, washed his hands, and went to the kitchen to bring out a bowl of steamed egg custard.

It had been a while since he’d seen Chi Chen. Lu Zhishi missed him and followed behind like a tiny tail, calling in a milky voice, “Gege~”

Chi Chen sighed, stopped, held his hand, and led him out, placing him into a dining chair. Then he sat beside him and spoon-fed him.

Lu Zhishi opened wide and took a huge bite, cheeks puffed as he chewed, his baby fat trembling.

Chi Chen lowered his lashes, watching the little can wiggle his feet while eating. “The flowers are for me?”

Lu Zhishi nodded, speaking with his mouth full. “For gege~”

“Why give me flowers?”

The egg custard was warm and silky. Lu Zhishi squinted happily, legs swinging.

“Gege has… Xiao Chen gege doesn’t~”

Chi Chen’s eyes softened. He scooped another spoonful, a quiet smile in his gaze.

Because he didn’t have flowers… so he came to bring him some?

Definitely a cub.

Chi Chen pinched his cheek fat, finished feeding him, then held his hand and brought him upstairs to the room.

The moment Lu Zhishi entered, he kicked off his shoes skillfully, toddled over to his little sofa, and curled into it comfortably.

Chi Chen fetched his backpack, unzipped it, and took out a small box.

Lu Zhishi leaned forward curiously.

The box opened, inside was a round, chubby conch shell. The surface had a faint pink sheen, delicate and pretty.

Chi Chen put the whole box into Lu Zhishi’s arms. “For you.”

Lu Zhishi hugged it and looked up, touched. Chi Chen went on a spring outing and still brought him a gift.

“Gege awesome!”

Chi Chen: “Mm.”

His expression stayed calm, never mentioning how he’d squatted by the beach searching for a conch for a whole week.

Lu Zhishi loved it so much he couldn’t put it down. He wanted to go home right now and ask his “all-powerful” Big Baba to make a protective casing, then he’d wear the shell on his belt!

Seeing he liked it, Chi Chen finally relaxed his grip and turned to put away the backpack.

Lu Zhishi clutched the box, eyes sparkling, slid off the sofa with little kicks.

“Gege… go, go home~”

Chi Chen paused. Leaving already?

With a neutral face, he held Lu Zhishi’s hand downstairs, carried him down the steps, and stood at the door watching the little one run home hugging his box.

Using the small step stool to get inside, Lu Zhishi dashed into the living room, calling loudly, “Baba, come quick!”

All-powerful Big Baba, where are you?

Song Qinian thought something happened and rushed out of the kitchen.

He tore off his apron, put down the spatula, and hurried to the living room. “What is it?”

Lu Zhishi ran over and held up the box for him to see.

“Baba… need… case…”

His toddler language hadn’t upgraded yet, so he picked the simplest words.

Song Qinian squatted and hugged him, then looked at the pretty conch.

“Xiao Chen-gege gave you this?”

“Mmhmm!” Lu Zhishi nodded hard. “Pretty!!”

“It is pretty.” Song Qinian smiled and lifted him. “You want a protective case? To keep the little conch safe?”

“Y-yes~” Lu Zhishi covered his mouth, too excited, he’d almost tripped over his words.

“Alright. Baba will finish cooking, then we’ll have someone deliver a case, okay?”

Lu Zhishi hugged his neck and rubbed his face against his, saying sweetly, “Okay! Baba amazing!”

In Lu Zhishi and Lu Zhiyu’s hearts, Song Qinian and Lu Ting’an were basically all-powerful.

After cuddling Baba for a bit, Lu Zhishi kicked his feet to climb down and immediately tried to head out again.

“Leaving again? Remember to come back for dinner.” Song Qinian watched him go from the door.

“Okay~” The chubby cub ran toward the Chi house on short legs, his baby voice floating back from afar.

Song Qinian could only shake his head helplessly and return to cooking.

Lu Zhiyu came downstairs after unpacking and searched the living room for his adorable little brother, no sign of him.

A fuzzy head peeked out from the kitchen. “Dad, where’s little brother?”

“He went to find Xiao Chen.”

Song Qinian fed him a slice of apple. “Are you going too?”

Lu Zhiyu chewed, hugged Song Qinian’s leg, and walked out, voice muffled. “Mmhmm. I’ll be back before dinner.”

So Song Qinian watched another cub run off to the Chi house.

Only Chi Chen was home. Bai Yansheng wouldn’t get off work until night, and Chi Yueheng had gone to deliver dinner to him.

When Lu Zhiyu entered, he thought Chi Chen would be playing with his brother.

Instead, Chi Chen was doing homework.

And his brother sat quietly on the sofa with a picture book, not making any noise at all.

When Lu Zhiyu saw what homework Chi Chen was writing, his expression stiffened, and he immediately pivoted like he was about to leave.

“Did you do your homework?” Chi Chen asked without looking up.

Lu Zhiyu scratched his cheek. “…Not yet.”

Chi Chen shifted aside and made room. Lu Zhiyu slumped into the seat and pulled out a brand-new workbook to write seven spring-outing diary entries.

As he wrote, Lu Zhiyu thought:
I came here to play with Chi Chen and my little brother… so why am I doing homework now?

Lu Zhishi peeked quietly, hugging his picture book and giggling softly.

Lu Zhiyu chatted while writing. “Zhao Xiaoyun asked us to play basketball tomorrow. Are you going?”

Chi Chen didn’t look up, pen moving steadily, voice calm as always. “No.”

Lu Zhiyu pouted and wrote faster, mouth still running. “Why not? You don’t have anything tomorrow.”

Chi Chen: “I’ll sweat.”

Lu Zhiyu let out a long sigh. “Fine, fine…”

He hadn’t even finished sighing when a tiny, short, chubby hand politely tugged at the hem of his sweater.