Qi Du laughed. “Yeah, sweetheart. Daddy’s been so tired from work he’s almost dead. Your Qiqi doesn’t care about me at all. Come comfort Daddy.”
He was pretty good at tattling. Xu Yangxia glanced at 0617, who was standing nearby, looking both helpless and amused, then took the initiative to wrap his arms around Qi Du. “Daddy, pat me. Xiaxia will hug you and help you recharge too.”
The little male lead had been obedient and sensible since he was young. Now that his life and studies had stabilized, he had become much steadier too. Seeing his open arms, Qi Du was delighted and pulled him into his embrace as well.
Although 0617 always said the two of them were clingy and loved acting spoiled, he was actually very indulgent. His hand remained gently on them the whole time, extremely warm and doting.
Qi Du told the little male lead that he was planning to take a long vacation and that the three of them were going on a trip. Xu Yangxia’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Really, Daddy?! We can go out and have fun together?”
Qi Du smiled. “Yes, sweetheart. Is there anywhere you want to go? Qiqi and I can plan it together.”
Xu Yangxia asked eagerly, “Can we go anywhere? Can we bring brother along too?”
Qi Du smiled and nodded. “Anywhere is fine, but you have to listen to me and Qiqi’s arrangements. You’re still too young, so we won’t go anywhere dangerous.”
“Like exploring uninhabited areas or camping in dense forests and mine shafts… none of that. Got it?”
Xu Yangxia nodded furiously. “Mm-hmm, I know!”
“Then I want to go play in W Town. Miss Song went there before. It’s so quaint and beautiful, and she brought back a lot of photos. Can we go take a look too?”
Qi Du agreed at once. “Of course.”
“You can think it over properly. When your summer vacation starts, Daddy and Qiqi will take you there to have fun.”
“But you have to tell brother yourself. He should be about to move on to middle school soon, so I don’t know if he’ll have time.”
Xu Yangxia was already over the moon. He grabbed his backpack and was about to head upstairs to call Qi Lan. “It’s fine. If brother says no, I’ll just beg him~”
“We see each other at school every day anyway. I can pester him every single day!”
Seeing how energetic he was, Qi Du’s lips curved too. He reminded him loudly, “Pay attention in class, and don’t put all your focus on having fun. If your grades slip, Qiqi will be mad.”
Xu Yangxia: “Got it!”
『Target character happiness index +2, current value 44』
The little male lead was actually more self-disciplined than the average child. Even with such a happy trip to look forward to, he still kept himself under pretty good control and it didn’t affect his studies at all.
The environment really can change a person a lot. By being surrounded by excellent children, he had started to develop a sense of competition too.
Playing with good peers would definitely teach him a lot, and he’d be able to grasp the information in his social circle first.
By now, Xu Yangxia had already developed an independent way of thinking and would no longer be easily swayed by other people’s words. That was what Qi Du and 0617 found most comforting.
As for the other male lead, Cheng Huan, ever since he offended Qi Du, his family had not had a single good day and had been sliding downhill all these years.
0617 had been monitoring the other side’s movements. When he had free time, he would tell Qi Du about them. “The Cheng family probably can’t stir up any trouble now. They’re planning to go abroad.”
“What do you think?”
Qi Du snorted. “Heh… Does this punk really think he can just wait thirty years for his fortunes to turn around?”
“So what if he goes abroad? That doesn’t mean it’ll solve everything forever. Who knows whether he’ll even come back? We still need to keep an eye on him.”
0617 nodded. “I know. I’ll be careful with anything that might be bad for Little Treasure. Don’t worry.”
“Besides, in his original life trajectory, it wasn’t just Cheng Huan who showed up. There were other troublesome people too.”
“According to the original plot, there were also two other playmates, a male second lead and a female second lead. I found out those two brats have also come to X City.”
Qi Du: ???
“What the hell, does this never end?”
“Seriously? Was the original plot written by fake humans? Why does it keep targeting our Little Treasure?”
“And what the hell is that male second lead anyway?”
0617 recalled the setup of the original story and said with some difficulty, “It was originally a love quadrangle story. After they started school, Little Treasure gained two childhood sweethearts. The male second lead and female second lead both appeared during this period.”
“In the original story, Cheng Huan and Xu Yangxia were actually pretty close. But after the female second lead appeared, Cheng Huan’s occasional concern for Xu Yangxia disappeared too.”
“Because among the four of them, the female second lead was the only girl, so she naturally got all the boys’ attention. But you know Little Treasure is sensitive. In that kind of environment, the pressure on him would only grow deeper.”
“And that male second lead wasn’t any better either. He was one of those central-air-conditioner types, being nice to both the female second lead and Little Treasure. Sometimes he would even stand up for Xiaxia, but whenever it came to a critical moment, he never chose Xiaxia…”
Qi Du understood.
“Damn, that male second lead is really a piece of shit!”
“So he gives the little male lead hope first, then slaps him hard in the face?”
“Cheng Huan is such a rotten little brat. Xiaxia must have suffered a lot of grievance in his day-to-day life. Based on his earlier environment, he must have been helpless.”
“This male second lead would occasionally put on some charm, give the little male lead a bit of warmth, make Xu Yangxia full of hope and dependent on him, and then refuse to trust him at the critical moment. Isn’t that just smashing our Little Treasure’s heart to the ground and stomping on it?”
“I am seriously done with this! Which bastard is this male second lead? Find him, and I’ll cut him down tomorrow!”
0617 found it too funny to handle. He poured Qi Du a cup of tea and patted his back to help him calm down.
“Don’t be so hot-tempered. Isn’t that just the way the original plot goes?”
“In this life, with the two of us here, there’s no way Little Treasure will be bullied.”
“Look at how fierce you are. Do you look anything like the head of a family? Being so loud and unruly, aren’t you afraid outsiders will laugh at you?”
Qi Du glanced at him. “What outsiders? Isn’t it just my wife here?”
“Do I need to pretend in front of you too? Of course being myself is the most comfortable. I’m like this… if you don’t like it, just swallow it back.”
0617 glared at him. “How would I dare to dislike you?”
“You’re so powerful now. If you kick me out of the house later, won’t I starve out there?”
After saying that, he gave him a meaningful glance. But there was never much real blame in it, so when Qi Du saw it, he took it as flirtation.
He already thought 0617 was handsome and refined, with skin so fair and features so delicate they looked painted on. Even the slightest expression from him could make people’s hearts sway.
Qi Du smiled helplessly, pushed his cheek with the tip of his tongue, and clenched his back molars for quite a while, but he still felt that this kid 0617 had bad intentions and was deliberately teasing him.
So he simply stopped talking about serious matters. He dragged the man back into the room, and the two of them made a scene for the whole afternoon before going off to the study feeling refreshed.
When Qi Du got wild, he was like a dog… completely impossible to control. 0617 was both angry and frustrated, but in the end he still felt it was his own softness that had spoiled him.