"Forget it, forget it—being happy is what matters most…"
"Young Master, it's dangerous up there! Come down quickly!"
Xie Ning's commotion was too loud and quickly drew attention. A unfamiliar young servant looked up with an anxious expression.
If anything happened to the young master, they would certainly be punished.
Xie Ning looked around and shouted to the person below, "Hey, remember to keep it safe for me. I'll come find you in a few days."
With that, he prepared to climb down on his own.
But the servant standing below was startled by the scene and suddenly cried out in shock.
Just at that moment, one of Xie Ning's feet was already dangling in the air. Startled by the sudden sound, he missed his footing and fell backward.
"Young Master!"
Seeing this, the servant quickly reacted and rushed forward to catch him.
But he failed.
"Oww—"
Xie Ning landed hard on his bottom. Fortunately, the tree wasn't very tall, and the ground was soft dirt, which cushioned his fall.
He lay on the ground, grimacing as he rubbed his backside.
"Young Master, are you alright?" the servant said as he hurried over to help him up, his face full of panic and worry.
Hearing this, Xie Ning let out a soft "hiss." He propped himself up and looked down—both palms were scraped raw, blood seeping through mixed with the dirt on the ground.
He had now become a complete mess.
But Xie Ning didn't seem to mind at all. He was even laughing. "Hehe, I'm fine."
The servant let out a quiet breath of relief. At the same time, his peripheral vision caught sight of Butler Liu walking over. His expression immediately turned anxious, and he quickly helped Xie Ning to his feet before dropping to his knees with a thud beside him.
"It was this servant's failure to watch over the Young Master properly. Please punish me, Butler," the servant said, head bowed, awaiting judgment.
Butler Liu strode over quickly, ignored him, and pulled Xie Ning over to inspect him from head to toe.
With his sharp eyes, he naturally noticed the injuries on Xie Ning's hands.
Xie Ning's expression betrayed his guilt. He was always quick to admit his mistakes—but just as quick to repeat them.
So when he caught a glimpse of Butler Liu's expression from afar, he knew things were bad. He put on a pitiful, wounded look, gazing up at Butler Liu with watery eyes. "I fell from the tree by accident. I'm sorry. I won't climb anymore."
"There won't be a next time?" Butler Liu asked with exasperation.
Xie Ning immediately went along with it, shaking his head like a rattle-drum.
Butler Liu had actually seen what happened from a distance, but he was too far away to do anything about it. He was still shaken. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"
Xie Ning shook his head again.
Butler Liu let out a soft sigh before turning to look at the servant kneeling beside him.
It hadn't been his fault just now, yet he had taken the blame upon himself. It wasn't a major matter, but it wasn't trivial either—it showed that he had good character.
Xie Ning truly did need someone to attend to him closely. If a situation like today's arose again, at least there wouldn't be such a flustered scramble.
Butler Liu pondered this in his mind as he sized up the kneeling servant.
His features looked steady and composed. Butler Liu nodded inwardly and spoke, "What's your name? Which courtyard are you from?"
"This servant's name is Songshi. I do sweeping work," Songshi replied, head lowered, voice calm.
Butler Liu responded with satisfaction. "From now on, you'll serve the Young Master as his personal attendant."
Songshi looked up with a hint of surprise and delight. It took him a moment to react before he kowtowed in gratitude. "Yes, this one will do his utmost."
These past few days, everyone in the household knew that the master had brought back a child from outside. There was all sorts of gossip—some guessed it was the master's illegitimate son, others said he had adopted the boy as his godson.
But regardless of which it was, judging by Butler Liu's attitude, it was clear that the young master held a very high position in the household and was someone they could not afford to offend.
Being able to serve the young master would naturally make life much better in the days ahead, and there might even be a chance to earn the master's favor.
Songshi suppressed the joy in his heart, his expression betraying no change whatsoever.
…
Although it was only a minor scrape, Butler Liu still summoned the household physician.
Xie Ning obediently sat on the chair at this moment, spreading out both palms and letting the physician apply medicine to them.
Hearing him let out a soft hiss of breath, Butler Liu advised, "You mustn't do such dangerous things in the future. Fortunately, today it's only a minor scrape—once this fine medicine for wounds is applied, it should be better by tomorrow."
Butler Liu wanted to say something stern to forbid him from doing it again, but the words caught in his throat, and he couldn't bear it, so he comforted him instead.
"Grandpa Niu, can you not tell Father?" Xie Ning blinked his big, round eyes, trying to negotiate.
Hearing this, the corner of Butler Liu's mouth couldn't help but twitch upward slightly, but the words that came out were merciless. "No."
The next moment, Xie Ning immediately pursed his lips, tears welling up around his eyes.
Seeing this, Butler Liu wavered for a moment inside, but still hardened his heart and shook his head. "No."
That evening, the moment Shen Wang returned, someone reported the entire incident in full detail. After listening, Shen Wang didn't think much of it.
It was normal for a child of this age to enjoy going out to play. Keeping him cooped up at home all day would only stifle his nature.
"It just so happens I have the day off tomorrow," Shen Wang said.
The implication was that he could spend the whole day with Xie Ning tomorrow.
No one was happier to hear this news than Xie Ning. He almost immediately cheered, "Yay, yay! I want Father to play with me!"
"Quiet down. Let's have dinner first," Shen Wang said flatly.
Xie Ning was very obedient to him now, immediately sitting himself down on the chair.
The kitchen had prepared the ingredients in advance according to instructions, and not long after Shen Wang said this, dishes came flooding onto the dining table one after another.
But…
Braised fish, steamed fish, fish soup with water shield…
At a glance, half of the dishes on the table were made with fish, and they had even thoughtfully used different cooking methods.
Shen Wang silently set down his chopsticks and wordlessly looked at Butler Liu beside him.
Butler Liu smiled slightly and explained, "This fish is very precious—it can't survive more than a quarter of an hour out of water. Besides, these were all personally caught by the young master."
Hearing this, Xie Ning thought it was a compliment and flashed a smug smile. "That's right, that's right! I caught them all!"
Impressive, right?
After saying this, Xie Ning even raised an eyebrow, his face written with "Praise me now."
Shen Wang was silent for a moment, unable to withstand his gaze, and conceded, nodding in response. "Mm, impressive."
"Hehe, this is nothing!" Xie Ning, considering himself not an arrogant child, immediately became modest again. "Father, if you like it, Ningbao will go catch more for you next time."
Hearing this, Shen Wang coughed twice. "…No need."
Time flew by, and before they knew it, the next day had arrived.
Xie Ning slept lightly and woke before dawn, but he didn't rush to get up. Instead, he propped his chin on his pillow and stared intently at Shen Wang's sleeping face.
Out of sheer boredom, he began counting how many eyelashes Shen Wang had, and as he counted, he kept inching closer and closer until he was nearly pressed right up against him.
The warm breath from Xie Ning's breathing landed on Shen Wang's cheek. "Ah… I counted wrong again."
With that, Xie Ning huffily burrowed back under the covers.
After barely a few seconds of stillness, he started squirming around again, scooting his whole body toward Shen Wang, and then slowly, like an octopus, he latched onto him with both arms and legs, clinging on for dear life.
Only by pressing this close did he feel at ease.
His dad had never intended to hide it from him. Xie Ning knew he was different from other children—others had one father and one mother, but he had two fathers.
He had asked his dad where he came from.
His dad had stroked his head and told him in a gentle voice that he had been born from his dad himself.
Although Xie Ning didn't quite understand what "born" meant, in any case, he learned that he had another father far away in the capital.
In the past, he always begged his dad to bring him to the capital, but his dad always refused. Even when he obediently finished his homework, his dad still wouldn't agree. At home, his father was rarely even mentioned.
Only occasionally, when Xie Ning brought home a mess of homework and handed it to Xie Qingci for checking, would his dad look utterly incredulous and mutter to himself, "I'm this smart and beautiful, and he's brilliant in both wit and talent too—how could…?"
Then his dad would stare at Xie Ning with a serious expression, looking him over from left to right, and finally take a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "Forget it, forget it. Happiness is what matters most."
Xie Ning's little brain wasn't the sharpest, but he understood that his dad was praising his father as a clever person.
Over time, Xie Ning's imagination and expectations of his father grew bigger and bigger.
So when the people and things that had only existed in his imagination were now replaced by real, tangible experiences, Xie Ning felt like he was bubbling over with joy.
His dad loved him very much, and his father loved him very much too, so he was the happiest child in the whole world.
Meanwhile, Shen Wang, who had long since woken up, lay stiffly in bed, letting Xie Ning cling to him. He could faintly sense Xie Ning's emotions at that moment.
So, he quietly curved the corners of his mouth into a slight smile.
Shen Wang had always been diligent. Even on his days off, he would handle official business at home—sleeping in was something that could never happen with him.
But now, lying in bed like this, he suddenly felt that it really was quite a nice experience.
The two of them didn't get to lie there for long before they were forced to get up.
Because Lang Xuan had come over again. When Shen Wang heard his footsteps, he slowly closed his eyes.
After a moment of silence, he still pulled Xie Ning up to get out of bed with him.
So when Lang Xuan came in, the scene he saw was the two of them, one big and one small, side by side washing their faces. He found it somewhat curious. "You're only just getting up now?"
After saying this, he even began to doubt himself, turning his head to glance at the time outside, his face full of shock.
Shen Wang couldn't be bothered to deal with him. "What are you here for?"
Unexpectedly, Lang Xuan let out a dismissive snort and walked toward Xie Ning. "Who said I came to see you? Don't be so full of yourself. I came today specifically to see Ningbao."
Upon hearing his name, Xie Ning turned around and greeted sweetly, "Handsome Uncle~"
Lang Xuan accepted this new title in just a second, and he was thoroughly pleased by it.
So he bent down to stand in front of Xie Ning and asked, "Would you like to go out and play with Uncle today?"
Xie Ning turned to glance at Shen Wang first, and seeing that he had no reaction—not even a single look in their direction—he said, "No, Father is home today, so I have to stay home too." Xie Ning blinked his eyes as he spoke.
Hearing this, Lang Xuan only then realized that today was a rest day.
Still, a flicker of doubt crossed his mind—in the past, even on rest days, Shen Wang was always weighed down by official duties. It was unusual for him to have leisure time today.
But that thought lingered in his mind for only a moment before being replaced by something else.
"But there are foreign merchants here today putting on a circus performance—it's so lively! What a pity, what a pity…"
Even as he said this with feigned regret, Lang Xuan kept one eye open, observing Xie Ning's reaction.
Sure enough, just as he expected, Xie Ning was immediately captivated by these words, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.
What? What?
He'd never seen that in Jizhou before—it must be so much fun!
Then he turned that expression toward Shen Wang, blinking his eyes frantically, afraid that he might miss the anticipation in them.
"…Go."