MSFLC Ch24

The small, chubby hand tightened slightly as Lu Zhishi slowly shifted his gaze to the side.

The little chubby kid was holding two lollipops, one in each hand, blinking his big, bright, clear, utterly clueless eyes—licking one, then the other.

Lu Zhishi opened his mouth, then closed it again, stunned.

No, buddy.

Are you a Tyrannosaurus or what?

Meeting those innocent, confused eyes, Lu Zhishi rubbed his face and sighed helplessly.

Fine, fine.

What was he doing arguing with a one-and-a-half-year-old when his soul age was eighteen anyway?

Maybe he’d been staring at the candy for too long.

The little chubby kid blinked, lifted his hand, and tried to stuff a lollipop into Lu Zhishi’s mouth, mumbling vaguely,

“Chi~ chi~”

“N-no, no—”

Lu Zhishi waved his hands quickly, politely refusing.

When the candy still wasn’t accepted, the little chubby kid frowned, looking confused. After hesitating, he put one of the lollipops aside, then dug around in the little pouch on his clothes.

Dig, dig, dig—

Out came one lollipop after another.

“Chi~”

Lu Zhishi stared at the pouch now stuffed full of candy and couldn’t help laughing.

This little chubby kid had stolen his lollipop, but then generously gave him a whole pile of others.

Honestly kind of adorable.

With his short, stubby fingers lacking coordination, Lu Zhishi couldn’t open the candy wrappers.
He could only look, not eat, so he turned his attention back to watching the gege play basketball.

During halftime, Lu Zhiyu and Chi Chen came back to drink water and rest.

They noticed Lu Zhishi had no lollipop, then looked at the little chubby kid next to him holding two.

Lu Zhiyu rubbed his little brother’s head.
“It’s fine. Let the kid eat. After the game, gege will take you to the supermarket to buy candy.”

Zhao Xiaoyun noticed too and, blushing, pinched his own little brother’s chubby cheek.
“Why did you steal the gege’s candy? You’re eating two by yourself? You greedy little chubby one!”

The kids burst out laughing while the chubby kid blinked in confusion.

Scratching his head awkwardly, Zhao Xiaoyun explained,

“He usually eats all my lollipops. He probably thought the one in little gege’s hand was his too.”

Lu Zhishi pulled out a handful of lollipops from his pouch and held them up.
“Eat~”

Lu Zhiyu knew immediately, those hadn’t been there before.
They were clearly stuffed in by Zhao Xiaoxing.

Lu Zhiyu waved it off.

“It’s fine. They’re just kids. And Xingxing already gave my little brother lots of lollipops.”

Chi Chen unwrapped one and handed it to Lu Zhishi.

Lu Zhishi licked it happily, eyes curving into a smile.

Since the two little kids hadn’t argued, Lu Zhiyu and Chi Chen returned to the court.

The rest area was left with just Lu Zhishi and Zhao Xiaoxing.

They ate candy while watching the game.

Every now and then, Lu Zhishi glanced at the real toddler beside him.

After another look, his gaze landed on Zhao Xiaoxing’s sticky, messy mouth.

Without thinking, Lu Zhishi pulled out a tissue and gently wiped it clean.

The little chubby kid naturally puckered his lips, clearly used to being cleaned up.

When Lu Zhishi finished, he grinned, showing a few tiny rice-sized teeth.

—Clumsy, chubby, and simple-minded.

That was Lu Zhishi’s first impression of Zhao Xiaoxing.

As the sun dipped low and evening approached, everyone headed home for dinner.

Zhao Xiaoyun carried his little brother away. The chubby kid wasn’t happy at all—frowning and babbling, refusing to go home, nearly trying to run after Lu Zhishi.

Lu Zhiyu tilted his head back, finished a bottle of water, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and sat down to rest.

Chi Chen sat on the other side, wiping sweat with a handkerchief.
Even fresh off the court, his face remained expressionless—only his breathing slightly uneven.

Lu Zhishi slid off the bench, grabbed his little hat, and ran around fanning them, toddling back and forth until Chi Chen finally picked him up and held him in his arms to stop him.

Once they’d rested enough, Lu Zhiyu packed up, put on his jacket, slung on his backpack, and handed Chi Chen his coat.

“Let’s go. We’ll buy things at the neighborhood supermarket, then head home.”

“Mm.”

Walking side by side, Chi Chen watched Lu Zhishi wobble ahead like a little penguin.

“They’re the same age?”

“Who—Zhao Xiaoyun’s brother?”

“Yeah.”

“Fat Xiaoxing and Chubby Zhishi are the same age.”

Chi Chen quietly watched the little chubby kid ahead.

Kids the same age… maybe someday they’d go to school together.

The moment they entered the supermarket, Lu Zhishi looked like a mouse entering a grain store, eyes shining, dragging Lu Zhiyu and Chi Chen around, drooling with excitement.

So many snacks! So many snacks! Love them!

Chips—buy!

Seaweed—buy!

Jelly—buy!

Soda—buy!

Spicy strips—buy!

Spicy strips were not allowed.

Lu Zhiyu put them back and carried away the protesting, grumbling Chubby Zhishi.
“If you want to try Dad’s feather duster, go ahead and buy it.”

Even he didn’t dare buy spicy strips, and this little chubby kid thought he could?

Forget dinner tonight.

He’d be eating bamboo-board fried meat instead.

 

The moment he picked up the chicken drumsticks hanging on the rack near the checkout counter, Lu Zhishi immediately puffed up, tugging Chi Chen away from the snack section.

Silently, Chi Chen put the soda back, replaced it with three bottles of strawberry milk, and placed them into the cart.

The doctor had said that kids shouldn’t drink too much soda—it wasn’t good for their bodies.

By the time they finished shopping, Lu Zhishi was only allowed one bottle of strawberry milk.

All the other snacks were off-limits.

Lu Zhishi and Chi Chen split the groceries evenly.

Lu Zhishi hugged his precious bottle of strawberry milk, tilting his head up to look at Chi Chen and Lu Zhiyu, his big eyes glowing brightly.

“Eh?”

“Lu Zhiyu-gege, didn’t you say you’d take me to the supermarket to buy yummy food?”

Lu Zhiyu didn’t answer.
He calmly shifted his gaze away and stood quietly by the side, holding a large bag of snacks.

Lu Zhishi followed his line of sight—

flowers, plants, grass, anything except those clean, innocent big eyes staring at him.

“So small, and you still want snacks to eat…”
Lu Zhiyu finally explained, sounding helpless.

“And Uncle Xiao Li is around. If he sees me buying snacks for you, when we get home he’ll tell Dad and Baba—and then gege will get his feather duster confiscated.”

The Uncle Xiao Li he mentioned was Lu Zhishi’s personal bodyguard.

Normally, he stayed nearby but out of sight.

However, no matter what happened, he never let Lu Zhishi out of his line of vision.

As long as Uncle Xiao Li knew—

it was the same as Dad and Baba knowing.

Chi Chen nodded faintly.
“When you grow up, you can buy it yourself.”

After taking a couple of sips of strawberry milk, Lu Zhishi held Chi Chen’s hand and went home.
Alright, alright—he’d eat it later.

Facing the sunset, accompanied by a warm breeze, the two older boys and the little one slowly walked home together.

The moment they got home, all the snacks they’d bought were confiscated and locked inside the snack cabinet.

“Your last physical checkup didn’t even pass. You’re not allowed to eat that many snacks.”

“I didn’t eat a lot—just a little bit. A tiny bit.”
Lu Zhiyu pinched his fingers together and gestured at Song Qinian, insisting it was really only a little.

Song Qinian remained unmoved and snorted.
“A little bit? More like a billion little bits. Snacks keep disappearing from the cabinet—what, did a mouse eat them?”

Lu Zhiyu blinked.
“It could really be.”

Lu Ting’an, who was reading documents in the living room, couldn’t help laughing out loud.
Lu Zhishi also burst into laughter and toppled over on the sofa, delighted beyond measure.

Song Qinian laughed in disbelief.
“Is that mouse named Lu Zhiyu?”

“No,” came the childish reply.

“It’s called Lu Zhishi.”

The laughter stopped instantly.

The chubby little one who’d been sprawled on the sofa flipped over and sat up, staring at them in total shock and disbelief.

Huh?
Wait—why is the blame falling from the sky?!

Amused and annoyed, Song Qinian picked up the troublesome kid and carried him into the living room.

“Your little brother doesn’t even have all his teeth yet. How could he eat snacks?”

Lu Zhiyu, dangling in the air, answered honestly.
“He doesn’t eat them. He transports them. He carries snacks to Xiao Chen’s house five or six times every day.”

“…That actually makes sense.”

Song Qinian rubbed his chin. Thinking about it, there really was a short, round little chubby kid hugging snacks and toddling off to the Chi house every day.

“So it really was you, Lu Zhishi.”

Great.

What used to be one person’s guilty conscience had now become two.

After glancing around and locking onto his target, Lu Zhishi wriggled his little bottom and crawled over, diving straight into Lu Ting’an’s arms.

“Baba~”

Song Qinian still confiscated the snacks anyway.
“Even if your brother carried away half of them, the other half was still eaten by you.”

“Lu Zhiyu, your checkup didn’t pass. No snacks for you for now.”

“…Okay, Dad. Then when can I eat them?”

Lu Zhiyu slumped onto the sofa, gulping down the only thing that hadn’t been confiscated—his strawberry milk—his voice full of despair.

“When you pass next month’s checkup, you can eat a little,” Song Qinian said as he washed his hands and brought the dishes out.

“Alright, come eat dinner.”

With the snacks confiscated, Lu Zhiyu took his little brother to the Chi house after dinner.
Surely Chi Chen’s snacks wouldn’t be confiscated too, right?

“My Dad confiscated them. I’m not allowed to eat any.”

Chi Chen’s tone was calm and indifferent. He wasn’t really a snack person anyway.

Lu Zhiyu: “?”

Lu Zhiyu: “I’m banned because I failed my checkup. Why are you banned?”

Chi Chen replied flatly.
“Dad said I’ve gotten thinner lately, and it’s because I eat snacks.”

…Couldn’t it possibly be because he’d grown taller?

Lu Zhiyu let out a long sigh.

Looks like there were no snacks to eat at Chi Chen’s house either.

Chi Chen lifted Lu Zhishi onto a chair and placed a picture book into his hands.
Then he turned to Lu Zhiyu.

“Did you do your homework today?”

“…Why do you ask me that every single day?”

“Because I’m your desk mate. If you don’t do your homework, I get dragged out to stand in the hallway too.”

“Alright, alright, I surrender. I’ll go get my notebook.”

Lu Zhiyu went home to fetch his homework.

After Chi Chen finished the last question, he climbed down from his chair and took out a small basket from the cabinet.

Inside were sewing tools and pieces of fabric.

Lu Zhishi peeked curiously.
The colors and fabric looked a lot like his pillow.

Chi Chen sat on the carpet with a tablet in front of him, lowering his head and sewing stitch by stitch.

It looked kind of like his… probably.

Lu Zhishi leaned closer to inspect it carefully.

Lu Zhiyu came back quickly, opened his notebook, and started writing—eyes on the page, mouth still chatting.

“You’re making a pillow for my brother?”

“Mhm.”

“What shape this time?”

“A cloud.”

“Clouds are nice. Make it bigger—my brother tosses a lot in his sleep.”

Chi Chen grabbed a cushion and tossed it at his head.
“You’re noisy. Write.”

Lu Zhiyu dodged instinctively, pen still moving as he kept talking.
“Don’t believe me? Ask my brother.”

Lu Zhishi looked up, reached out with his chubby hand, and gently pinched his gege’s nonstop mouth shut.

“Gege, no talk~”

Stop talking, gege.

Chubby Zhishi has pride too.

The room finally fell quiet.

Lu Ting’an swapped their ice cream for two smaller ones.
“Only a little. You can’t eat more.”

The two short little kids held their shrinked-down ice creams, looking up at Lu Ting’an with pleading eyes. Lu Zhishi looked pitiful and asked,
“Baba, really can’t?”

“Even if you beg, still no.”

“Okay then…”

The two chubby little ones were carried to the living room. Hugging their tiny ice creams, they huddled together to watch TV, scooping one small spoonful at a time.

Lu Ting’an went upstairs to the study to grab some documents, then sat on the sofa on the other side, put on his glasses, and lowered his head to work.

Lu Zhishi sneaked a glance—then quickly turned his head back like nothing happened.

Beside him, Zhao Xiaoxing copied him. His round little head turned to look at Lu Ting’an… then turned back. Look again… then back again…

Lu Zhishi immediately grabbed his head and forced it back around.

Zhao Chubby Xing, don’t be so obvious!!

Lu Ting’an: “What are you two planning to do now?”

Lu Zhishi shook his head guiltily.
“Nope, nope—nothing!”

Zhao Xiaoxing nodded along.
“Mhm mhm.”

“Don’t even think about sneaking more ice cream. If your Dad comes back and catches you stealing, he really will smack the little chubby ones.”

Lu Ting’an said it lightly, in the most casual tone possible—while saying something terrifying for kids.

Zhao Xiaoxing’s round little body shivered. He reached over and tugged Lu Zhishi’s shirt.

Lu Zhishi patted his soft back to silently comfort him, then nodded obediently at Lu Ting’an.
“Won’t eat, won’t eat, Baba.”

After the ice cream, it was nap time. Lu Zhishi brought Zhao Xiaoxing upstairs for a nap.

Ever since this little chubby kid started coming over a lot—and staying the whole day—the house had added two extra guest rooms: one for Zhao Xiaoyun and one for Zhao Xiaoxing.

Back in his own kids’ room, Lu Zhishi kicked off his shoes like a pro, climbed into the crib, flipped the blanket open, and burrowed into bed.

He hugged his big fat bunny plush, lay on the big cloud-shaped pillow Chi Chen had newly made for him, closed his eyes, and fell fast asleep.

A City’s summers were hot. Since the kids were still small, the AC wasn’t turned on—only the house’s constant-temperature system, kept at a comfortable level.

Lu Zhishi liked covering his belly with a thin blanket while sleeping. Before long he got too warm, so half-asleep, he kicked it away with one foot and immediately felt cooler.

Then he slowly realized something felt off.

Still drowsy, Lu Zhishi cracked his eyes open, reached around, grabbed a corner of the blanket, and covered his belly button.

Now he could relax.

Other than Lu Ting’an coming in at some point to tuck him in properly, Lu Zhishi slept all the way into the afternoon.

At 4:30, the sound-asleep Lu Zhishi was woken by his Dad and told to water the vegetables in the yard.

Standing outside with the cool breeze blowing, sleepy Lu Zhishi held a tiny watering can. Beside him was an equally sleepy Zhao Xiaoxing.

Lu Zhishi: “…Really?”
He was so, so sleepy—he wanted to crawl back into bed.

Lu Ting’an crouched down to straighten his clothes and said gently,
“If you sleep too much, you won’t be able to fall asleep at night.”

If he napped too long in the day and didn’t do something, he’d be hyper at night and refuse to sleep until super late.

“Okay…”

Bringing his little buddy along, Lu Zhishi squatted in the small vegetable patch and worked hard watering his big cabbage.

Then he couldn’t resist going back inside to fetch two tiny shovels, loosening the soil and pulling weeds.

And—bonus—he caught a big, fat green caterpillar.

“Baba, look!!”

Lu Zhishi ran back into the villa excitedly to show Lu Ting’an, who was working on the little balcony on the first floor.

Lu Ting’an: “……”

Lu Ting’an kept a perfectly calm face, grabbed the kid’s wrist, and gently moved the fat caterpillar away.

“Chubby Zhishi, you… put it away for now. When your Dad gets home, let him look.”

“Okay~”

Realizing Dad didn’t like fat caterpillars with no fur, Lu Zhishi sighed, went to get a box, put the caterpillar inside, and decided to wait for Song Qinian to come home and show him.

Watching Chubby Zhishi run off, Lu Ting’an quietly exhaled in relief—

—and the moment he turned around, he met a pair of big, shiny eyes.

And… in those hands…

…a huge, white, fat caterpillar.

Zhao Xiaoxing blinked, then held it up proudly for Lu Ting’an to see.
“Uncle, look~”

“…Thank you, Xiaoxing. Uncle won’t look.”

Lu Ting’an refused the enthusiastic little kid and guided him inside to get a box from Lu Zhishi to store the big white caterpillar.

Looks like the little garden really had too many bugs.

Lu Ting’an called someone to come handle pest control, and also to add some nutrients to Lu Zhishi’s cabbage.

***

In the afternoon, Song Qinian came home carrying bags and bags. He set down the bouquet, put the groceries into the kitchen, then came out after washing his hands.

His obedient little kid was standing at the doorway with hands behind his back, smiling sweetly.

“What is it—waiting for Dad?”

“Dad, look!!”
Lu Zhishi pulled out the small box he’d been hiding and held it up in front of Song Qinian, staring at him with bright expectation.

—Dad, you understand me, right?

When Song Qinian saw the big green caterpillar inside chewing away on a leaf…

His expression completely collapsed.

“…Please don’t do this, Chubby Zhishi.”

Lu Zhishi looked down at it. Honestly… it was pretty cute. When he was younger in his previous life, he’d always wanted to raise one.

“Then… gege~”

“Your gege might not like it either…”

“What about Chen-gege?”

“Gege will like it even less. If he sees it, he’ll cry.”

Song Qinian tried his hardest to talk him out of the idea—and after dinner, somehow produced a pocket watch out of nowhere and waved it back and forth in front of Lu Zhishi.

Hypnosis:
“You’ve forgotten the caterpillar… you’ve forgotten…”

Lu Zhishi: “…Dad.”

Still unwilling to part with the caterpillar, Lu Zhishi took photos and videos, planning to show both his geges when they got back. Then he handed the box over to Song Qinian.

The caterpillar was confiscated.

Lu Zhishi was sad for about two seconds.

The next morning, he went out to water the garden—looked down—and there was another big, fat green caterpillar on one of the cabbages.

“Hi~”

Fat bug, we meet again!

He diligently watered, fertilized, loosened soil, and weeded. By the time he was done, the sun was already high in the sky.

He glanced at the big fat caterpillar again. It had pulled a cabbage leaf over itself like a little sunshade.

Lu Zhishi carried his shovel and watering can back inside.

***

Zhao Xiaoxing arrived late today, his chubby face full of sadness. He sat quietly next to Lu Zhishi, holding his round cheeks in his hands.

Lu Zhishi patted him.
“What’s wrong?”

Zhao Xiaoxing gestured pitifully, babbling in a way that wasn’t very clear, but Lu Zhishi still understood.

Chubby Xing’s big white bug had also been confiscated—and because it had scared his mom so badly she cried, his dad had spanked him too.

The two little kids sighed together.

Fine. No more bugs. They’d play something else.

So Lu Zhishi ran to the storage room, got changed into his little fisherman outfit, then dragged the half-dazed Zhao Xiaoxing along and dressed him in one too.

With his tiny bucket and little fishing rod, Lu Zhishi lifted his chin and called to Zhao Xiaoxing,
“Let’s go~”

Lu Ting’an heard the commotion and came out from the kitchen—only to see two little troublemakers shouldering fishing rods and marching toward the door. He froze.

“You two are not going fishing.”

Lu Zhishi turned around, wide-eyed, his tiny voice full of confusion.
“Huh?”

“And you think you can go by yourselves?” Lu Ting’an laughed in disbelief. “Just the two of you?”

Lu Zhishi scratched his head.
“We have uncle.”

He’d noticed a long time ago: not only did Lu Zhiyu have private security, Lu Zhishi did too.

And besides him, Zhao Xiaoxing had one as well.

Two bodyguard uncles—totally enough.

Lu Ting’an shook his head.
“Still no.”

He opened the door and pointed toward the upper right.
“Look over there. What do you see?”

Lu Zhishi looked up.

Blue sky. Bright sun.

But unfortunately, on the right side, a huge mass of dark clouds was charging straight toward them like an army.

Lu Zhishi: “……”
He’d never seen clouds this aggressive.

He was absolutely sure: if he and Zhao Xiaoxing went out, they’d be soaked into two drowned little chicks.

So the fishing plan died.

Lu Zhishi changed back into his bear pajamas and stayed inside to play boring educational blocks with Zhao Xiaoxing.

Just like Lu Ting’an said—earlier it had been clear skies, and now it was thick clouds and strong wind.

Lu Ting’an stood at the floor-to-ceiling window, checked outside, then used the remote to close all the windows and called Song Qinian.

“The rain is heavy. Don’t come home at lunch. Stay at the company and don’t run around.”

“…”

“Mhm. And make sure you eat lunch.”

“…”

Lu Ting’an glanced at the two kids at the window, lowered his voice, and added,
“…I love you too. Come home early for dinner.”

He hung up, reminded the kids a couple of things, then went back into the kitchen to cook lunch.

***

Two round heads were pressed against the glass, eyes wide, staring outside. Dark clouds covered everything, and the sky had already dimmed, but it still hadn’t started raining.

“Will it rain?”

“It will~”

They were still whispering about it when the phone on the living room table suddenly rang.

Lu Zhishi ran over and looked at the caller ID—

Xiao Xi.

Oh! His Uncle Xixi!

He answered manually. The phone beeped, and a gentle, handsome face appeared on the screen.

Lu Zhishi shouted excitedly,
“Uncle!”

On the other end, Ye Xi froze for a second—then smiled.

“So it’s our Chubby Zhishi! Long time no see, baby. Have you gotten taller lately?”

“I have~”

Lu Zhishi even held the phone farther away so Uncle could “see” him better.

Even though Ye Xi could only see a chubby little face, he still laughed.
“When you’re free in summer vacation, come visit Uncle. Let Great-Auntie and Great-Uncle see how tall you and your gege have gotten. Your big uncle and little uncle miss you too.”

Lu Zhishi’s eyes lit up. He’d never been to S City before. He nodded hard and beamed.
“Okay~ Uncle~”

After chatting a while, Ye Xi asked,
“Is your Dad home? Uncle needs to talk to your Dad.”

“He is~”

Lu Zhishi carried the phone and trotted into the kitchen, running to Lu Ting’an’s leg and tugging his clothes.

“It’s… Uncle!”

“Okay, Dad will wash his hands.”

Lu Ting’an turned off the fire, washed and dried his hands, then took the phone. “Xiao Xi.”