“What are you looking at in the early morning?”
The next day, when Ling Jingxuan opened his eyes, he saw the two buns lying on the bed looking at him without even blinking, unconsciously with a smile spreading at the corners of their mouth. Ling Jingxuan brushed his restless long hair aside lazily, stretched out his fingers to tap on the two little buns’ forehead. Seeing that they were both all right, the left worries in his heart now completely vanished.
“Daddy, you wake up? Yesterday you have been sleeping, we were both very worried. Grandma said you are just too exhausted, asking us not to disturb you. And we behave ourselves. We even help feed the piglets and the little chickens. They are all docile, and…and…”
Seeing that he woke up, the small bun crawled onto him and directly held him, again showing his chatterbox talent, nagging on and on, a long list of things. On hand holding him, Ling Jingxuan tried to sit up with the support of the other, with undisguised doting in the eyes. Ling Wen on the side seemed to be wanting to say something, but since Ling Wu was still going on, as his elder brother, he only waited for him to finish.
“You little weasel, those piglets belong to us. What do you mean by saying help feed them? I thought I said when we bought the poultry that you are responsible to take care of them.”
When he finished speaking, Ling Jingxuan pinched his nose and pretended to look angry.
“Is that so?”
Ling Wu tilted his head, long and dense eyelashes like two small brushes were blinking.
“You…”
Ling jingxuan failed to hold it and laughed out. This kiddo! He is more and more good at acting cute and playing dumb…but…
“Now grandma got a little baby in her belly, you should help daddy take care of her. Don’t let her do some rough work. Daddy is responsible for feeding the piglets, and you take care of the little chickens, all right?”
Withdrawing that smile, Ling Jingxuan said to them seriously. The kid in his mother’s belly is the hope of their whole family. He didn’t want anything happens to her. Those chores, he shoulder all. Besides, although he swore to raise the two little buns into the superrich second generation, he also didn’t hope they even couldn’t distinguish one kind of grain from another, or tell corn from turnips. Within their abilities, he would let them do some handicraft work, to build up their physique and personalities.
“Hmm, but daddy, why is the baby in grandma’s belly?”
“Well…”
The small bun’s question is always so innocent and sharp. Ling Jingxuan felt stuck in his head. He really didn’t know how to explain. At least he couldn’t say “Your grandpa ‘sent’ the baby in”, right?
“You kiddos, where do you get so many questions? Come on, put on your clothes. We’ll go out for running.”
Having no alternative, Ling Jingxuan could only dodge it acting as their daddy. There were so many things he wanted to teach them, but not this one…Spare him! At least ten years later!
“Oh!”
Knowing that it was impossible to get the answer from his daddy, Ling Wu nodded as he pouted, then really turned around and went to put on his clothes. Ling Jingxuan helplessly shook his head, seeing that he still picked up those patched old clothes, he couldn’t help asking, “Didn’t I buy new clothes for you? Why you never wear them?”
“But these clothes are not broken. I want to save the news clothes for school. Daddy, Tiewa said he would go to the same school with us, is that true?”
Turning around, the small bun was awkwardly tying the belt of his robes. Others only wore new clothes for the Chinese New Year, while he could have new clothes for school. Daddy really loves him!
“Yeah, Tiewa is going to the same school with you. But we’ll only know after I go to town and inquire about it. As for when to wear those new clothes, you decide. But remember, we no longer need to worry about food or clothes, so don’t maltreat yourselves.”
Nodding, Ling Jingxuan did not request too much on clothing. It’s a good thing that the kids are sensible. Anyway, it was only a few days’ thing about them going to school.
“Hmm? Ge, why don’t you wear your new clothes?”
The small bun cleverly agreed, but as he looked back and saw that his elder brother was sitting on the bed staring at daddy, he couldn’t help asking so.
After he said that, Ling Jingxuan also found that his big bun seemed to be strangely silent today, a little unlike the usual him.
“Xiaowen, anything on your mind?”
Once it was about the kids, Ling Jingxuan’s smartness instantly crashed down. He stretched out a hand and habitually pressed on his wrist, and only felt eased after making sure his pulse was normal.
“Daddy, in the afternoon the day before…did something happen to us?”
Looking at his daddy and then his younger brother, Ling Wen asked tentatively, frowning. He remembered that after sending Tiewa home, they came back. But he couldn’t remember how. Yesterday he asked his grandma, but his grandma only wiped her tears there. He didn’t want grandma to feel so sad, so he stopped asking her, and that question remained till now.
Hearing that, Ling Jingxuan’s flashed some surprising color, then he immediately wore a smile and touched his face. “It’s true that something happened, but already solved. Xiaowen, you only need to know that daddy will always protect you. Don’t think too much. Those nasty things, you’d better not know.”
In fact, he could tell them that nothing had happened, but he didn’t do it that way. Since the first day he had transmigrated here, he didn’t mean to hide anything from the two buns. How others acted as a father, he had no idea. Even if he knew, he couldn’t learn it. What he wanted was not just be their father, but their friend. And friends shouldn’t hide anything from each other. If it hadn’t been that that thing was too gross and nasty which was not good for their mental health, he wouldn’t have hidden it, but instead, he would tell them even the details.
“Hmm, I trust daddy, but daddy…can you not sleep so long in the future? I’m scared…”
At the end of his sentence, Ling Wen’s voice could barely be heard, two little hands rubbing hard. Heaven knows how worried he was when he saw that his daddy slept for the whole day yesterday, only afraid that he might go back to that ‘fool’ daddy. He liked his present daddy. He didn’t want him to disappear again.
With Ling Jingxuan’s shrewdness, how can he not see his fear in the heart?
“Don’t be afraid,” Ling Jingxuan said. “Daddy was just tired yesterday. No big deal. I promise you. I will never be like that again.”
So many things had happened recently that he nearly forgot that he had only transmigrated here for a few days. The little buns were growing and changing day by day, seemingly more and more lively and lovely. In fact, his heart was still very fragile and frightened, and those hellish days were not far away from them yet.
“Hmm.”
Trying to resist the urge to cry, Ling Wen buried his head in his dad’s arms and nodded sulkily, believing whatever his daddy said.
“Well, uncle Wang is going to deliver the goods to us today, and the waiters of the restaurant will also come pick the fish. Get up already!”
After a while, Ling Jingxuan cast away the seriousness and patted their heads with a smile. The past is the past. Their new life had just begun, and their days would get better and better.
“Hmm!”
On hearing they could earn money, the two buns nodded happily, and started to bustle about those things. A new day had begun!
After the father and two sons got dressed up, they started to be busy with their own thing, running, and cooking, and other stuff. When Ling Jingpeng came, Ling Jingxuan had already finished breakfast and decocted the herbs for Ling Jinghan, and was about to pull his handcart to Yuehua Ditch to catch fish. One thing needed to be mentioned. Today at the table, they got one more mouth, which belonged to Yan Shengrui who got accepted under the support of his two sleepy sons. Judging from her silly smile at Ling Jingxuan early in the morning, you could tell he was in a pretty good mood.