“My little cub is really brave.” In full view of everyone, Chu Mingwan very rudely pressed up against the cub’s face and gave him a big kiss.
With so many people watching, Mumu could not help but shyly nuzzle into little dad’s neck. It took quite a while before he lifted his red little face and followed the staff off to film.
On Youyou’s side, Chu Xiayun did not need to do any psychological work at all. He directly abandoned dad and ran toward the pretty younger brother.
“I’m Youyou. You can call me Brother Youyou.” Youyou trotted over all the way, unable to resist taking the pretty younger brother’s hand. “What’s your name?”
“Mumu, my name is Mumu.” The little cub looked at Youyou with some confusion. Brother Youyou had clearly seemed fierce before, but now he was smiling at him so happily!
“Mumu younger brother.” Youyou called out without the slightest politeness. He consciously and stealthily moved close to Mumu’s side, and in a very small voice said, “Did that bad guy uncle secretly bully you? Tell brother, Mumu younger brother, and brother will have the police officer take him away.”
Mumu tilted his little head, his small face full of confusion. “Who is the bad uncle Brother Youyou is talking about?”
“It’s him, the person you call little dad.” The filming was about to begin, and Chu·Detective·Jiayou was somewhat anxious. He could not help lifting a hand and pointing at Chu Mingwan, whom even he was a little afraid of. “It’s Uncle Mingwan. Has he been bullying you all this time?”
“You can’t talk bad about my little dad!” After hearing Brother Youyou’s words clearly, Mumu immediately pouted unhappily. “Little dad is especially good to Mumu, Brother Youyou can’t let the police officer take little dad away.”
The bad old woman who had always bullied him before was taken away by the police officer. Although little dad had also been somewhat bad before, Mumu really liked the current little dad. At once, a bit of moisture appeared in those big black-and-white eyes.
When Youyou saw that Mumu younger brother was about to be made to cry by him, and was anxiously wondering what to do, he suddenly remembered how Chu Mingwan had coaxed Mumu younger brother before. So he blushed and pressed up to Mumu’s face, planting a kiss on him.
“mua!”
That kiss was really loud, and it instantly drew everyone’s attention over.
Mumu covered the spot where Brother Youyou had kissed him with his little hand. His watery big eyes were opened round and wide, like a frightened little rabbit.
“Don’t cry!” Youyou hurriedly comforted the tearful Mumu younger brother, even putting aside his original purpose completely. “I won’t say your little dad is bad in the future, and I won’t let the police officer take your little dad away anymore, okay!”
Youyou said those insincere words, while unable to help thinking to himself that the bad guy uncle’s methods were really getting more and more powerful. Mumu younger brother would definitely be very sad if he found out he had been tricked in the future!
Mumu was a very forgiving and adorable little cub. Seeing Brother Youyou looking so anxious, he pouted in grievance. “Brother Youyou has to keep his word.”
“Mm-mm, mm-mm.” Youyou nodded repeatedly, and in passing took Mumu younger brother’s chubby little hand. “Let’s go, we can go take photos together.”
Their own little cub had a shy personality, so from the moment Mumu was led away by the staff, Chu Mingwan had been keeping his attention on the two little fellows who were about to be photographed.
Clearly seeing Youyou kiss his own little cub on the face, Chu Mingwan immediately gritted his teeth and widened his eyes. What kind of male lead’s childhood would involve rubbing cheeks and kissing with a villain cub? What an annoying little brat!
Chu Xiayun and Chu Mingwan sat on the sofa, one on the left and one on the right. The atmosphere between them was originally rather cold and stiff, enough that the staff could not help muttering about it in their hearts.
The moment he looked up and saw his own son thick-skinnedly kissing Mumu on the face, Chu Xiayun instantly felt a strong wave of embarrassment. No wonder that ever since they had arrived at the filming studio, Youyou had not been as inseparable from him as before, his old father. So this brat had relapsed into his old face-obsessed habit again.
A debt owed by the son is paid by the father. No matter how awkward he felt, Chu Xiayun still turned his face away. “Sorry, Youyou just likes little Mumu too much. I hope you won’t mind too much.”
Chu Mingwan: “If I say I don’t mind, then I really don’t mind.”
Wuwuwu, his little cub had been kissed by another little boy. Would he, in the future, because he had a new playmate, stop liking little dad?
His nonsense really was quite nonsense. Chu Xiayun was somewhat surprised by Chu Mingwan’s response, and could not help but look more at the young man beside him.
Chu Mingwan, however, awkwardly turned his head, just in time to meet Chu Xiayun’s eyes. “That… I’m very sorry for the things I did before. In the future I won’t have any more ill intentions toward you or toward the Chu family. Although I’m not hoping for your forgiveness, I still have to apologize.”
The surprise in his eyes grew even stronger, and Chu Xiayun did not give Chu Mingwan’s words any response. Some things do not become useful just because you apologize, but the young man’s sincere attitude really did make Chu Xiayun feel much more comfortable.
“When you have time, you can also go back and take a look. Mom, she…” Thinking of his mother, whose mood had been somewhat low recently, Chu Xiayun’s eyes flashed with a trace of barely perceptible gloom. He did not want to forgive the things Chu Mingwan had done before, but he wanted his mother to live more comfortably even more.
“No need. My appearance is not pleasant for anyone in the Chu family. Mr. Chu should believe that time can heal everything. After all, you are the biological mother and son who are blood related, and as time passes, Mrs. Chu will naturally come out of her depressed state.” Chu Xiayun really is a gentle and kind person. No wonder that even after being hit again and again by the original host, there were still so many netizens supporting and liking him. A youthful smile appeared on Chu Mingwan’s face as he said sincerely, “Getting everything back on the right track is best. Just like Chu Mingwan… he has already received the retribution he deserved.”
He had already crossed into the book and replaced the original host, so the real original host should already be gone, right? Chu Mingwan thought sneakily to himself.
There was certainly no way to completely break the ice with Chu Xiayun for the time being. Being able to maintain the current state where they did not interfere with each other was already very satisfying to Chu Mingwan. He stared fixedly at the two little fellows who were filming.
Youyou truly lived up to being the little male lead who had followed his dad to cameo in many productions since childhood. That relaxed posture and skilled technique made Chu Mingwan want to give him a thumbs-up when he saw it.
Perhaps because he had almost made the pretty younger brother cry earlier, Youyou took special care of Mumu during the shoot. As long as the photographer had no special request, he would keep holding Mumu younger brother’s hand and comforting the younger brother, who looked somewhat nervous.
Mumu was still a little afraid of that pitch-black camera, but Brother Youyou beside him kept comforting him. By the time the shoot ended, the little cub’s gaze toward Youyou had completely changed.
“Brother Youyou, you’re amazing!” Even though they were both little children, Brother Youyou was not afraid of that pitch-black camera at all, and was much more amazing than him.
Being praised by the pretty younger brother, Youyou instantly puffed up. He patted his little chest. “Of course. I’ve also filmed many TV dramas with dad before!”
“Wow, so amazing!” Mumu’s eyes were practically about to be filled with bright starlight.
“Mumu, don’t worry. As long as you acknowledge me as your big brother, I’ll take you along to film too in the future.” Youyou raised a hand and patted his little chest hard. He looked just like a heroic figure from a wuxia drama, full of grand spirit.
Mumu widened his mouth in surprise. “Brother Youyou, you’re as amazing as Pig Hero.”
The atmosphere instantly shifted from a wuxia costume drama to a little-kid cartoon. Youyou felt his rank rapidly drop, and it was nowhere near his heroic bearing. But who told Mumu younger brother to be so good-looking? Good-looking people are more reasonable when they speak. “Mm, I’ll be even more amazing than Pig Hero in the future.”
Mumu: Wow, Brother Youyou seems even more amazing now (°ο°)
Everyone heard the two children’s babyish voices clearly, and all of them could not help turning away in amusement. To preserve little Youyou’s great image in Mumu younger brother’s heart, they were very considerate and did not laugh out loud.
After filming the promotional clip, Chu Mingwan deliberately sidled up to Zhang Bai. “That… Assistant Zhang, the photos the production team took definitely won’t all be released. Before they’re cut down, could I trouble you to send me a copy of the remaining photos?”
The little young master who used to hold his chin high at everyone he met did not give up on himself after being disowned by the Chu family. Instead, he became even more like a normal person. Zhang Bai somehow felt that the director’s plan to use Chu Mingwan as the show’s publicity point might come to nothing, but he was rather interested in seeing whether Chu Mingwan was really putting on an act.
“No problem. Once the photos are organized, I’ll send them to your WeChat.” Zhang Bai smiled slightly, looking very easy to talk to.
As soon as Mumu finished taking photos, he immediately abandoned his Brother Youyou and ran quickly to little dad’s side. After getting a big hug from little dad, he gave a shy yet satisfied smile.
Chu Mingwan reached out and held the adorable cub’s hand, and casually patted Zhang Bai on the shoulder like a good buddy. “Thanks, bro. Some other day when I have time, I’ll treat Assistant Zhang to a meal.”
After finishing today’s task, classmate Chu Jiayou still had to go back to class. He followed beside dad, unable to help glancing back at Mumu younger brother a couple of times. When he saw Mumu younger brother waving at him, he immediately smiled happily. “Mumu younger brother, I’m going back to school for class. We’ll see each other next time.”
“Goodbye, Brother Youyou.” Mumu, pressed close to little dad’s leg, also happily reached out his little hand and waved at Youyou.
After saying goodbye to Mumu younger brother, Youyou still, while Mumu younger brother could not see him, mustered the courage to glare fiercely at Chu Mingwan before finally feeling relieved and following dad out of the building.
Chu Mingwan, however, did not hurry to leave. After saying goodbye to Luo Yiyun, he stretched out an arm and scooped the cub beside him into his arms. “Does Mumu want to go to the mall to play games?”
Mumu wrapped his little arms around little dad’s neck, his eyes bright and sparkling. “Yes, I want to play games with little dad.”
“Okay!” Chu Mingwan sent a message over to Uncle Li, then turned around and carried the little cub straight toward the mall entrance.
On the first floor of the mall there was a small children’s amusement park. Seeing a pile of ocean balls, Chu Mingwan instantly turned into starry eyes too. “How about that one? Let’s go play that together, dear cub.”
Because today was a workday, there were not many children out playing, and for shy Mumu, that was completely no pressure. “Okay.”
The father and son held hands and quickly rushed toward the ocean ball area, then plop, plunged into a pile of ocean balls.
Yaodong Tower belongs to the highest-end shopping mall in all of H City, and it would not slap its own face, so Chu Mingwan did not need to worry at all about the hygiene of the ocean balls. He carried Mumu up to the crocodile slide, and the father and son went “wow” together, then slid down from the top into the large pile of ocean balls.
It was the first time Mumu had laughed happily outside, and Chu Mingwan could not help taking an ocean ball and gently tossing it at the little cub.
Mumu also learned from little dad’s example, hugged an ocean ball, and threw it back in retaliation.
【Author’s note】
Yesterday I put it in the draft box, I seem to have forgotten to set the time (╥﹏╥)