Chapter 2: What Bad Intentions Could He Possibly Have?
Gu Qinian was hidden in the pile of plush toys by the nanny?!
Worried, Gu Tang crawled over. Aiming at the teddy bear’s tail, he grabbed it firmly and pulled hard.
“Heiya—!”
He was going to yank Gu Qinian out like pulling up a little carrot!
However—
One pull, and it didn’t budge. His vision suddenly blurred, and the huge recoil made him roll backward two and a half times.
Gu Tang sat dizzily on the floor mat, little stars filling his eyes.
What just happened?
[Friendly reminder: The host is currently only a tiny bean-sized toddler with poor health who can barely stand steady. Please act within your capabilities.]
“???”
Where was the “friendly” part?
And where was your basic politeness?!
Gu Tang couldn’t be bothered to deal with the system. He refused to believe this nonsense—could a few stuffed toys really defeat him?
So he pushed himself up on his short little legs and charged toward the pile of plush toys again—
Two minutes later.
The plush toys were scattered everywhere, and Gu Tang was panting heavily.
Lying in front of him was the little carrot—no, the little kid—Gu Qinian, who had just been rescued.
No matter how powerful Big Boss Gu would become more than twenty years later, right now he was only a baby wearing a little bear onesie.
What did Big Boss Gu look like as a child?
Gu Tang was incredibly curious. Before he had even caught his breath, he stretched out his short little hand and nudged Gu Qinian—
Tsk, worthy of the male lead!
Even as a toddler, his features were already extremely delicate, like something carved from jade. His skin was very fair, snow-white, and his lips looked like little red plum petals fallen onto snow.
Little Gu Qinian was sleeping deeply. Even such a big commotion hadn’t woken him. His dense eyelashes, like raven feathers, rested quietly on his eyelids.
Gu Tang suddenly thought of Snow White.
Babies wore pants anyway, so you couldn’t tell their gender easily—especially when they were as pretty as Young Master Gu.
Gu Tang liked beautiful people. In his previous life, he had spent his days lying in a hospital bed with nothing to do, often drawing all kinds of beautiful faces. Now the more he looked at little Young Master Gu, the more he liked him, and he couldn’t help reaching out to touch the other’s small cheek.
Hehe, so soft…
Just as he was happily touching, Gu Qinian suddenly opened his eyes. Gu Tang was caught off guard and met a pair of pitch-black pupils—
His mischievous finger froze. “Ya?” Awake?!
Gu Qinian had actually been conscious for a while.
It was just that his body felt somewhat numb and he temporarily couldn’t move much.
He had just experienced something as unbelievable as death and rebirth. For an ordinary person, it would probably take a long time to confirm whether they were dreaming. But Gu Qinian had only been slightly surprised for a moment before quickly regaining his composure.
—A car accident had caused him to be reborn back into infancy.
At this moment, he was still in the Gu residence. He had not been abducted by the nanny, had not been abandoned in the snow, and had not ended up drifting into a cruel orphanage where he would suffer endless bullying…
Thinking about everything that would follow, Gu Qinian’s gaze darkened.
Gu Tang, seeing that the young master had woken up, was delighted. He scooted over excitedly to greet him.
“Ya!” Hello there!
“….” Gu Qinian coldly examined the toddler in front of him.
This was probably the fake child the nanny Wang Sue planned to use to replace him.
No wonder this toddler could gain the Gu family’s trust. He did indeed have some ability to charm people.
His body was small, easily arousing people’s protective instincts. His amber eyes were big and round, filled with an innocent purity that seemed unaware of the world. His cheeks were round too… toddlers, as long as everything about them was round, looked cute.
Like a soft and sticky little milk dumpling.
But it was exactly this seemingly harmless milk dumpling who had taken his identity. While he himself would wander through misery and hardship, this fake would enjoy a life of luxury in the Gu family.
Thinking of this, Gu Qinian narrowed his eyes, releasing a dangerous aura.
Unfortunately, Gu Tang didn’t pick up on it at all.
If the future Big Boss Gu could scare the soul out of him with just a glare, right now little Gu Qinian’s murderous gaze felt like nothing more than a tickle.
A baby in a little bear onesie—how much killing power could that possibly have?
He simply never thought in that direction.
Gu Tang couldn’t understand the meaning of the young master’s gaze, so he scratched his head in confusion. Unfortunately, his arms were too short to reach, so he could only symbolically scratch his ear instead.
What was going on?
Was the big boss already this aloof even as a child?
Not to brag, but children usually liked him a lot. Back when he was hospitalized, kids from the pediatric ward loved coming to play with him. He even wondered whether those little carrot-heads had cried after he passed away.
A kid as difficult as this young master was the first he had ever encountered. Since waking up, the boy hadn’t given him even a single smile.
But that was fine.
He still had his ultimate child-entertaining secret weapon!
Gu Tang flashed the young master a carefree smile. Suddenly, smack, he covered his face with both tiny hands.
“Ah ya!”
Can’t see anything!
Gu Qinian froze for a moment. “?”
Two seconds later, the fair little hands flipped outward, pretending to be pig ears. Gu Tang wrinkled his small delicate nose.
“Oink oink!”
The little pig has come out again!
This kind of peekaboo game was the absolute favorite of children under two years old.
Gu Tang confidently stared at the young master, the small hands beside his ears occasionally flapping to tease him.
Gu Qinian: “……”
This toddler didn’t look very intelligent.
Then again.
A kid this small—what bad intentions could he possibly have?
The young master had zero interest in childish games. His expression remained cold as frost. His eyes were pitch black, the pupils large, with very little reflected light inside. When he stared at someone, it was like looking into two bottomless black pools.
The two toddlers stared at each other.
The longer Gu Tang looked, the more worried he became.
Something seemed a little wrong…
He had already used his ultimate baby-entertaining trick, yet the male lead toddler still hadn’t shown even the slightest reaction.
Normal kids weren’t like this!
Could it be that the evil nanny, in order to keep the young master quiet, had fed him something crazy?!
Gu Tang had spent years in hospitals and heard many medical cases. Those kinds of sleeping medications were basically not suitable for infants. If the dosage was wrong, it could easily turn a child into a little fool.
According to the plot, after enduring bullying in childhood, Gu Qinian would rise all the way to the top under the halo of the male lead.
But if he became a little idiot, that halo wouldn’t matter anymore!
If the male lead couldn’t rise up, when would he, the cannon-fodder fake young master, ever complete the plot missions?
The more Gu Tang thought about it, the more panicked he became. He almost wanted to grab Gu Qinian by the shoulders and shake him.
You’re the male lead.
Please, please at least be a kid with normal intelligence!
Seeing that Gu Qinian was about to close his eyes again, Gu Tang hardened his heart.
No matter whether he had been drugged or not, little Gu Qinian couldn’t be allowed to fall asleep again. The more he slept, the stupider he might become.
There was only one option left—stimulus therapy…
Gu Tang slowly looked at the only exposed part of the young master’s body, that tender white little face, and licked his two newly grown baby teeth.
“Ah ah!”
Be good, I’ll be gentle.
Noticing that the milk dumpling’s expression kept changing, Gu Qinian vaguely felt that something was a little off.
The milk dumpling suddenly gave him a shy smile, then opened his mouth. Before he could react—
“Ah-woo!”
A bite landed straight on him.
Gu Qinian: “?!!!”
[Ding—]
The notification sound rang again inside his head.
Gu Tang had just bitten the kid and was startled. “What now?”
Surely it couldn’t be another “friendly reminder.”
[Congratulations, host! You have successfully completed the beginner mission: “Ruthlessly bully the young male lead and leave him with an indelible scar!” Reward: +20 life points! Loading additional reward: “Human Infant Language System.” Please enjoy using it!]
The system also sounded quite pleased, its electronic tone even becoming more lively.
A working system loved efficient partners the most.
Although the way the host completed the mission was not what it had imagined, since the central system had already made its judgment, a small clock-in system like it naturally had no objections.
As long as the host finished the task, it could get off work!
Watching the “+20” slowly float up on his life bar, Gu Tang also slowly typed out a “?” in his mind.
He hadn’t bullied the kid…
Nor had he left any scar on the male lead… wait!
Gu Tang lowered his head and looked at the neat circle of tiny teeth marks he had bitten into Gu Qinian’s cheek. He suddenly felt very guilty.
He reached out and touched it.
Ah… indeed, it wouldn’t wipe off.
“Sorry…” Gu Tang could speak now, so he immediately apologized to the victim.
First time biting someone.
He had bitten a little too hard.
He would be careful next time.
This bite mark wouldn’t stay forever, right…
But finishing the mission really felt so good, hahahaha!
If touching a cheek counted as ruthless bullying, and biting a little tooth mark counted as an indelible scar—
Then by this logic, the plot missions weren’t that difficult after all!
Gu Tang suddenly felt full of hope for the future.
He felt like he could do it again!
Unfortunately, the joys and sorrows of toddlers were not the same.
While Gu Tang was happily celebrating, Gu Qinian’s face had already darkened like the bottom of a pot.
Young Master Gu had been inexplicably bitten by this toddler. He had no way to resist and nowhere to complain. After biting him, the other party even took advantage of the fact that he couldn’t move, casually touching and poking him, occasionally letting out a few silly giggles…
If there was truly any scar, it was probably in Young Master Gu’s heart.
Just imagine how big his psychological shadow was!
Gu Qinian glared fiercely at Gu Tang. Still not satisfied, he held it in for a long time before finally uttering the first word after his rebirth.
“…Get lost.”
The moment he spoke, it came out as a slightly deeper baby voice.
Hearing his own voice, Young Master Gu immediately pressed his lips together tightly, and both of his ears turned red.
Gu Tang, however, was delighted.
“Eh?! You can talk!”
Talking was good.
If he could communicate, then he definitely wasn’t a little fool.
Gu Qinian would rather die than hear himself make that embarrassing baby voice again. All the anger he had endured in his previous life combined wasn’t as infuriating as this moment.
The toddler in front of him looked obedient and cute, apologizing in a milky voice, yet the next moment he was grinning foolishly and trying to make him talk again—clearly giving off the attitude of “I know I was wrong, but I’ll still dare to do it again.”
Originally he thought children were innocent, but now it seemed this brat had been bad since childhood!
What milk dumpling.
More like a poisonous bun!
At that moment, the nursery door was pushed open again.
Gu Tang and Gu Qinian fell silent at the same time with perfect tacit understanding, both turning their heads toward the newcomer.
The nanny Wang Sue had seen that Second Young Master Gu Lin had finally returned to his room. Only then did she sneak in to switch the children.
But the moment she entered, she saw the plush toys scattered everywhere. The little young master she had hidden beneath the toys had already crawled out.
“Damn it! Who told you to come out?!”
Wang Sue rushed over and viciously raised her hand toward little Gu Qinian.
In the past, no matter how annoyed she felt, she wouldn’t dare strike the precious young master of the Gu family too hard, afraid of leaving any mark on this little ancestor.
But after today’s plan succeeded, Young Master Gu would become her son. Forget a casual slap or scolding—later on he would even have to earn money to support her in old age!
Gu Qinian knew the nanny’s intentions very well. His eyes dimmed.
His body couldn’t move, and he had been reborn as a toddler. There was simply no way to resist.
Everything was merely going to repeat itself again…
“Don’t!”
A soft, milky voice interrupted Gu Qinian’s thoughts.
He saw that “poison bun” suddenly pounce forward, using his tiny body to block between himself and the nanny’s raised hand.
For a brief moment, Gu Qinian felt a hint of worry.
After all, that slap would probably send the little bun flying.
Fortunately, Wang Sue stopped her hand in time.
The reason she had no suspicion toward Gu Tang at all was because she knew better than anyone how weak this child’s body was. It was impossible for him to have dragged Young Master Gu out from beneath that pile of plush toys.
If it weren’t already difficult enough just to keep him alive, she wouldn’t have risked swapping the children in the first place.
But since she was going to switch them, of course she needed him alive.
She was also afraid that her slap might seriously hurt Gu Tang.
Seeing the nanny stop, Gu Tang sighed in relief and simply flopped onto Gu Qinian, whining softly.
“Don’t hit… it hurts… cry cry…”
He didn’t want to speak in those nauseating reduplicated baby words either.
But that so-called Human Infant Language System seemed to be loading a little slowly…
Gu Qinian’s eyelashes trembled lightly.
The little toddler in his arms had a soft body. When the child pounced onto him, he also brought with him a rich milky scent.
Warm, gentle, with a faint sweetness…
He had never smelled anything like it in his previous life.
Gu Qinian frowned slightly, his expression complicated, as if he were thinking about something.
“Alright, alright. No crying. If you keep crying, the monster will come and take you away.”
Wang Sue’s goal was to swap the children. Even though she knew the little brat’s cry was weak like a mosquito buzzing, she still didn’t want any unnecessary trouble. While threatening Gu Tang not to cry, she reached out to pick up the young master.
Gu Qinian struggled hard.
Perhaps that bite from the milk dumpling earlier had worked. His sensation was gradually returning, and his arms could finally move.
But even so, there was still a huge gap between that and resisting an adult.
Gu Qinian exhaled slowly.
Almost despairing, he waited for the fate of his previous life to repeat itself.
Just then, the toddler lying on top of him suddenly straightened up.
The milk dumpling blinked, looked at the nanny, then turned to glance at him. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth wide—
“!” Gu Qinian instantly sensed danger and, with great experience, hurriedly covered his face.
However, what followed was completely different from what he expected.
The next second, an extremely penetrating infant cry exploded through the nursery like a sonic bomb detonating in place.
Gu Tang: “Waaaa———”
Gu Qinian, who hadn’t had time to cover his ears: “……”
Author’s Note:
Gu Qinian: I have experience. I cover my face.
Tang Tang: Surprise? Unexpected? Yep, just messing with you~
