CH 88

Can’t outtalk him?

Xu Fan couldn’t outtalk him?

Xu Zhao definitely couldn’t believe this. If Xu Fan and Da Zhuang said that they were number two in talking, then nobody would dare claim to be number one. His family’s Xu Fan was being too modest today. Way too modest.

The corner’s of Xu Zhao’s mouth twitched as he asked, “Have you talked to him yet?”

Xu Fan answered truthfully, “N-not yet.”

Xu Zhao didn’t know if he should laugh or cry as he asked, “Exactly. You haven’t even talked to him yet and you already say you can’t outtalk him. This won’t do.”

Xu Fan insisted, “H-he’s an adult.”

Xu Zhao gently said, “Adults can also be reasoned with.”

“T-then…” Xu Fan couldn’t speak out.

Xu Zhao said, “Don’t be afraid. Go talk to him. Tell him you want to look in the mirror. We paid for the hotel room, so we can look in the mirror. Tell him you also want to look in the mirror.”

Xu Fan stared at Xu Zhao for a moment before saying, “Daddy, you help me tell him.”

Xu Zhao sternly said, “You have to handle your own matters.”

“I-I’m scared,” Xu Fan said the truth.

“Scared of what?”

“Scared of Second Grandpa Cui.”

“Why are you scared of him?”

“H-h-h-he doesn’t smile. H-he will hit my butt.”

“As expected, most children would be afraid of people like Cui Dingchen. Since Xu Zhao had always been there, Xu Fan acted as if he wasn’t scared of anything.

Xu Zhao persuaded Xu Fan and said, “He won’t.”

Xu Fan said, “He will.”

“He won’t. It’s not like you did anything wrong. He won’t hit your butt. Go try and see. Daddy believes in you.”

Xu Zhao tried to encourage Xu Fan again.

Xu Fan glanced toward the bathroom.

Xu Zhao patted Xu Fan’s small meaty hand and said, “Go on. You are a brave man. Daddy believes in you. I believe that nothing can defeat you.”

Xu Fan’s watery eyes stared at Xu Zhao.

Xu Zhao encouraged Xu Fan and said, “Good luck.”

Xu Fan was finally encouraged as he wobbled to the bathroom door. He looked at Xu Zhao again, then turned to look at Cui Dingchen. His small meaty hand held the door frame as he called, “Second Grandpa Cui.”

Cui Dingchen turned his head to look at Xu Fan.

Xu Fan whispered, “I want to look in the mirror.”

Cui Dingchen had already shaved his mustache. He had also heard Xu Zhao and Xu Fan’s mutterings. He said, “You can look.”

Xu Fan said, “You can’t block me from looking. I’m a baby. I-I’ll cry. I cry very loudly. And not easily coaxed.”

“It’s that amazing?”

“Mn.”

“Fine. I won’t block you.”

Xu Fan half believed him as he walked up to the vanity set. His small meaty hands dripped the vanity set and stood on his tiptoes to look at himself in the mirror. He didn’t even notice the once bare tile floor now had an extra two non-slip mats as he stared at himself in the mirror and giggled.

Little dude!

Cui Dingchen didn’t pay attention to Xu Fan and started brushing his teeth and washing up before walking out of the bathroom. He saw that Xu Zhao was still organizing his things.

“You’re still organizing?” Cui Dingchen asked.

“It’s done.” Xu Zhao raised his head to look at Cui Dingchen. Seeing Cui Dingchen wear the dark pajamas, he became muddleheaded as he just stared. The clothes made him look a lot more gentle. He looked really good. He looked good wearing anything. Xu Zhao felt he couldn’t even compare. So he changed the topic, “Youngest uncle, where’s my family’s Xu Fan?”

“He’s staring in the mirror in the bathroom.”

“He’s still looking?”

“Mn.”

Xu Zhao sweated a lot, so he collected his clothes and headed to the bathroom. Just as he entered the bathroom, he saw Xu Fan standing on his tiptoes to reach out to Cui Dingchen’s razor that was on the vanity set.

“Xu Fan, what are you doing?”

Xu Fan twisted his head and giggled as he said, “Daddy, I also want to save my stache.” It was supposed to be a “mustache.”

Xu Zhao said, “Stop dreaming. You don’t even have a mustache.”

Xu Fan looked in the mirror and said, “I will have one when I grow up.”

“Mn, come here to take a bathroom.”

“No bath. It’s cold.”

“There’s air conditioning. It won’t be cold.”

“No bath.”

Xu Zhao didn’t force Xu Fan to take a bath and said instead, “You’ll be even more handsome after bathing.”

Xu Fan immediately replied, “Okay.”

Xu Zhao closed the bathroom door and bathed with Xu Fan. After wearing the thermal underwear and sweater, Xu Zhao carried Xu Fan to the bed beside Cui Dingchen’s and had Xu Fan lay inside the quilt. Afterward, he asked Cui Dingchen, “Youngest uncle, do you have any clothes you need washed? I’m going to wash mine now, so I can also help you wash yours?”

Cui Dingchen pointed to the front door, “It’s already washed.”

Xu Zhao glanced at the front door and saw underwear hanging on the hanger. In fact, the clothes that he meant didn’t include his underwear. Having Cui Dingchen point it out like this, he felt a bit uncomfortable. Xu Zhao glanced at Cui Dingchen without a smile on his face as he said, “Then I’m going to wash my clothes now.”

“Mn.” Cui Dingchen nodded.

“Um—”

“I’ll help you watch Xu Fan.”

“Mn, thank you, Youngest uncle.”

“You’re welcome.”

Xu Zhao went to wash his clothes.

Cui Dingchen turned his head to look at Xu Fan, who was laying on the other bed. The little guy had just finished washing up. His small face was pale and clean under the light. And since he wasn’t wrapped up like a ball in his clothes, he looked even more meaty.

Sensing Cui Dingchen’s gaze, Xu Fan couldn’t help but turn his head to Cui Dingchen.

Cui Dingchen continued looking at Xu Fan.

Xu Fan tilted his small face to one side and continued to look at Cui as he asked, “I want to rub fragrance.”

Cui Dingchen asked, “Then what?”

Xu Fan said, “I will smell good.”

“Oh.”

“My Daddy rubs it on for me.”

“Oh.”

“You rub fragrance with your eyes closed.”

“…”

“I-i-if you rub it into your eyes, it will hurt and cry.”

“…”

What a chatterbox.

Cui Dingchen couldn’t help but pick up the book on the bedside table and began reading under the light, ignoring Xu Fan. Xu Fan’s small mouth immediately stopped. He looked left and right and felt very bored. As he was about to call out Daddy, he heard Cui Dingchen say, “Watch TV.”

Xu Fan quickly replied, “Okay!”

Cui Dingchen stood from the bed and turned on the TV. Perhaps it was too late, but all the TV stations were currently resting. There was only one channel paying as he asked, “Do you want to watch this?”

“Watch this.”

“Then you should watch.”

Cui Dingchen reclined on the bed again and read the book.

Xu Fan sat on the bed watching TV.

After Xu Zhao finished washing the clothes and came out, he saw two people, one watching TV and the other reading a book. Neither was paying attention to the other. It was very harmonious.

However, as soon as Xu Zhao came out, it wasn’t harmonious anymore. Cui Dingchen placed the book down. He wanted to say something to Xu Zhao, but was interrupted by Xu Fan, “Daddy, I’m hungry.”

Cui Dingchen: “…”

“Hungry?” Xu Zhao asked.

“Mn, I want to eat deep-fried doughcake.

“You can’t. How about we drink half a bottle of milk?”

“Sure,” Xu Fan happily said.

This tone that imitated an adult’s.

Xu Zhao pinched Xu Fan’s small cheeks.

Xu Fan giggled.

Xu Zhao also just happened to bring milk powder and a bottle. He filled half a bottle of milk for Xu Fan and told Xu Fan to hold the bottle while drinking. Xu Fan’s mouth was finally blocked and the room was peacefully quiet. Cui Dingchen opened his mouth to say, “Xu Fan is still drinking milk?”

Xu Zhao answered, “He didn’t drink it in the past and only started recently.” They didn’t have money to drink milk in the past. In the beginning, he had only drunk rice paste. Moreover, there wasn’t much rice paste either, so he was only small and skinny at that time.

“Why is he drinking milk now?” Cui Dingchen curiously asked.

Xu Zhao answered, “Because he’s not very tall. Of those around the same age as him in the village, only he and Da Zhuang are short. I heard people from the village say that you can grow taller by drinking milk, so I thought we’d give it a try.”

Cui Dingchen thought for a moment before asking, “Are people in your family short?”

Xu Zhao answered, “No.”

“What about his big daddy?” He meant Xu Fan’s other Daddy.

“A lot taller than me,” Xu Zhao immediately answered.

The “immediate answer” made Cui Dingchen’s expression stiff. He couldn’t help but glance at Xu Fan, who was drinking the milk. He sounded a bit sullen as he said, “Then he won’t be short. He’s just a late bloomer.”

Xu Zhao said with a smile, “I hope that’s the case. I heard Auntie Cui say that you were also a late bloomer, Youngest uncle.”

“Mn. I was always at the back of the line in elementary school.”

“Youngest uncle, were your parents also tall?”

“Mn. Neither of them are short. My mom is a meter seven.”

“That’s very tall for a woman.” Xu Zhao curiously asked, “Then when did you start growing taller?”

Cui Dingchen’s mouth carried a smile as he answered, “Middle school.”

“Youngest uncle, you probably never thought you’d grow this tall, right?”

“Am I that tall?” Cui Dingchen asked.

“Yes, you’re very tall,” Xu Zhao said with a smile.

Cui Dingchen asked back, “Do you like tall people?”

Xu Fan said, “Of course. I hope Xu Fan will be as tall as Youngest uncle in the future.”

These words were very nice to hear, and Cui Dingchen’s heart was very happy as he said, “There’s no rush. He’s already this tall at three years old. He’s on track.”

“That’s right. I saw a three year old on the train who was even shorter than him by a bit.”

“So do you feel better now?”

Xu Zhao suddenly felt like a student meeting with a teacher and asked, “It’s a bit mean, isn’t it?”

Cui Dingchen deeply smiled and said, “It’s not. It’s a normal thought.”

Hearing this, Xu Zhao gave a soft smile then lowered his head to look at Xu, who was in his embrace. Xu Fan fell asleep with a pacifier in his small mouth. The milk in the bottle was cleanly drunk. He looked very cute.

Xu Zhao reached out and pulled the bottle out of Xu Fan’s mouth. He then put the bottle at the head of the bed and hugged Xu Fan. He covered them with a blanket. When he looked up at Cui Dingchen, his face was filled with exhaustion. “Youngest uncle, it’s late. We should sleep early.”

“Mn, you should sleep.”

“Goodnight.”

“Night.”

As soon as Cui Dingchen’s voice fell, Xu Zhao fell asleep.

Cui Dingchen didn’t sleep and got up from the bed to turn off the TV. He turned off the bathroom lights, then the bedroom right. The only exposed light was the small bedside lamp. He then lay on his side, staring at Xu Zhao. He watched him without any scruples. The more he looked, the more handsome he thought he (XZ) was, and the more he missed him. That was right. Missed. They were so close, yet he still missed him. Seeing him hug Xu Fan, he couldn’t help but want to pull Xu Fan out and hug Xu Zhao to sleep himself.

However, he couldn’t.

What could he do? Xu Zhao was dense and slow. He placed Xu Fan at a more important position than him. If he accidentally touched on the point of “Xu Fan,” he would immediately be sent away by Xu Zhao. While still laying on his side, he couldn’t help but look at Xu Fan, who had the same little face as Xu Zhao. In fact, he was very cute. However, it was only 1% of Xu Zhao’s cuteness. Cui Dingchen’s gaze moved to Xu Zhao’s face. He quickly watched him and his heart settled.

This was the first time he had peace of mind while staying at a hotel in a foreign land. Therefore, Cui Dingchen’s sleep quality that night was very good. The next morning, just after dawn, Cui Dingchen woke up full of spirit and saw Xu Zhao and Xu Fan on the bed beside him.

The father and son were both well-behaved and slept face to face. It was very cute. Cui Dingchen first went to the bathroom and used the toilet before washing up. After he returned, the father and son still hadn’t woken up yet. Xu Fan’s meaty little feet had stretched out of the blanket.

This small foot was really plump.

Cui Dingchen walked up and pushed Xu Fan’s meaty little feet back inside the blanket before poking Xu Fan’s small meaty face. He then touched his finger to Xu Zhao’s face. His heart instantly wavered, his actions paused, as his gaze fixed onto Xu Zhao.

Xu Zhao was very handsome. He was very, very attractive. He was the type of man who became even more handsome the more you saw them. He was tidy, refined, and even had a healing aura. People couldn’t help but get closer to him.

This was especially so for Cui Dingchen. Xu Zhao seemed to have some kind of great attraction, attracting him from the very beginning. After this long, this attraction had only become stronger to the point that he had lost a bit of control over himself. He couldn’t help but reach out and touch Xu Zhao’s handsome face.

Before he could touch him, Xu Zhao suddenly woke up.