Xu Yangxia still hadn’t fully come back to his senses from what had just happened, and he subconsciously wanted to avoid it. “But… but I don’t like him.”
The little male lead felt pretty aggrieved. Qi Lan reached out and patted his head. “Little Uncle will get rid of him. Then you won’t be able to see him at school anymore. Don’t be afraid.”
Xu Yangxia looked at Qi Du again. “Really, Daddy?”
Qi Du nodded. “Of course. Your dad won’t let anyone bully you.”
“If you really don’t want to go to school, you can stay home and rest for two days.”
Only then did Xu Yangxia relax a little.
He had really been frightened by Cheng Huan today. In front of so many children, Cheng Huan said that his parents were dead, that he was an orphan now, and even that he was the child bride of his family. Xu Yangxia had no idea how he was supposed to go to school now.
Of course, Qi Du and 0617 could also tell that Little Treasure was in a bad mood. Seeing how resistant he was, they didn’t force him. After safely taking Xu Yangxia home, they even bought him candy and ice cream to cheer him up.
That night, Qi Lan stayed with the little male lead for a while, and the two children slept together.
When Qi Du and 0617 finished up and went to check on them, they sighed. “Kids the same age really do play better together. Little Treasure is so clingy with his brother.”
0617 nodded. “It’s a good thing Qi Lan is here. Otherwise, with that little thug Cheng Huan causing trouble, who knows what would have happened today.”
After Qi Du pulled the blankets up over the two children, he left the room. “I already warned the Cheng family. They came over in the middle of the night and took Cheng Huan back. I won’t let their family keep living so comfortably. That so-called male lead should learn to suffer a little too.”
0617 saw the serious look on his face and tried to comfort him. “Don’t get too angry. I’m afraid that sour face of yours will scare Little Treasure again.”
“I’ll think of a way to dig up some dirt on the Cheng family and make sure Little Treasure and he never have to cross paths again.”
Qi Du said, “You don’t need to handle this. I’ve already had people take care of it. That kid has been spoiled rotten by his family and has run wild. He’s only a bratty kid for now, but in the future he’ll be the very model of arrogance and rudeness.”
“He humiliated Little Treasure so badly today. I’ve got to get even with him somehow.”
Their wedding date was getting closer and closer, and Xu Yangxia still seemed a little timid. The sweet, cheerful little one they had painstakingly brought back around had been shaken by Cheng Huan’s arrival and regressed a bit. Qi Du and 0617 patiently took care of him for a long time before he finally forgot about that unpleasant episode.
He had just become a little clingier. When Qi Lan went to school during the day, he would watch him with longing eyes. Once the car drove away, he would throw himself into 0617’s arms.
A child without a sense of security would act like that. 0617 hadn’t expected it to turn out this way either. The happiness points Qi Lan had just helped raise had dropped by two points again.
That night, when the two of them were talking in their minds, they were still trying to think of a solution. 0617 sighed. 『Isn’t your method of being a dad not working very well?』
Qi Du: ???
“Stop questioning that. The little male lead is still so young. Think about it… if I had chosen to become the main gong and redeem him, who would he have in his life to support him besides another man?”
“Growing up in that family, he can’t even become himself.”
“Even if Cheng Huan gets better, do you think Cheng Huan’s parents would be any good? The environment is still wrong. But with us, at least everything around him is right.”
0617 couldn’t refute that, but the mission objective kept taking hits, and he was getting anxious.
Qi Du knew he was fully focused on the mission, so he reached out and patted the back of his hand. “0617, you’re the parent now. I think you should lead by example too.”
“Don’t focus all your attention on Little Treasure. You should set an example and start becoming your own person.”
“You spend all day circling around him and don’t have any life plan of your own. Think about it carefully… if this keeps up, won’t the two of you both turn into greenhouse flowers?”
0617 finally realized what he meant. 『You mean I should go do something with my life?』
Qi Du smiled at him. “Mm-hmm. The wife of the Qi family’s family head can’t just be a pretty but useless vase, can he?”
“What did you do in your previous life?”
『Elementary school teacher.』
Qi Du froze, then his smile grew even wider. He turned his head and stared hard at 0617 beside him. “You were really a teacher?”
“I thought you had that scholarly, gentle air about you. You’re especially likable.”
They had already gotten their marriage certificate, so naturally they moved into the same room. Otherwise, Xu Yangxia would keep asking questions.
Because the bed was big enough, the two of them had used separate blankets before so they wouldn’t disturb each other. But now that they were sleeping together in the same room, they weren’t far apart. If Qi Du leaned in a little closer, he could count the fine eyelashes on 0617’s eyes.
0617 didn’t understand what was so surprising about it. “Is it strange to be a teacher?”
“Don’t let my easygoing appearance fool you. I’m actually very strict.”
Qi Du laughed. “I don’t believe it. You look soft-hearted and easy to bully.”
“Why don’t you think about what you want to do in this life? Now that you have this opportunity, try something boldly. I’ll back you up.”
0617 actually thought about it seriously. “The college student identity I made up seems to have been studying marketing, but I don’t know anything about it, and I’m not very interested either.”
Qi Du said gently, “Then you can choose a subject you’re interested in and study further. You’re still young.”
“Otherwise, you can come be my assistant. We’ll split the money fifty-fifty.”
0617: …
“We’re talking about Little Treasure here. How did you end up trying to lure me over to your side?”
“Alright, I get what you mean. Let’s sleep.”
Actually, Qi Du’s suggestion was quite sincere, and 0617 was considering it too. After all, he wasn’t really some full-time house husband. If he had the ability, of course he should live a wonderful life.
If he himself wasn’t outstanding, how could the child become outstanding?
But before all that, he and Qi Du still had to hold the wedding first.
The Qi family held a very high status in X City and had a wide network of connections. During this period, 0617 had also become familiar to people in the social circle. Even though he had no identity and no background, Qi Du genuinely liked him.
On top of that, 0617 had a naturally good temperament and was very refined in how he dealt with people. Although he hadn’t received the kind of upbringing a big family clan would provide, he still did quite well.
Standing beside Qi Du, they made an especially well-matched pair.
During this time, Qi Du had also taken Xu Yangxia to meet some people. But he was a little shy, looking adorably dazed and cute, though somewhat afraid of strangers and not very talkative.
Every time he saw Qi Lan standing there so composed, graceful, and polite, he felt especially envious. He would lie in Qi Du’s arms and whisper, “Daddy, brother is so amazing~”
Qi Du patted his head. “If you want to, you can be just as amazing as him too~”
“Does Little Treasure envy his brother?”
Xu Yangxia nodded.
“Then what do you envy him for? Brother has what you have too, so if he can show his excellence, you can too.”