Chapter 9: An Baochuan
“You liar!! Ultraman is not fake.”
The person in front of him was clearly in league with that big idiot, so he was not going to fall for it. Ultraman had to be real. Only a three-year-old would believe nonsense like that.
He watched Ultraman on TV every single day. The other person had to be jealous that he was wearing Ultraman clothes, that was why he was saying such things.
Looking at the little boy’s hurt expression, An Yi did not argue anymore. Instead, he softened his tone.
“If I say Ultraman is fake, do you get angry?”
The little boy snapped angrily, “What do you think?!”
An Yi said, “Same thing. If you call someone a big idiot, they get angry too.”
The little boy retorted, “So what? He is an idiot. He is an idiot!”
“You’re both big idiots and big liars!”
After exposing that Ultraman was fake, An Yi had not planned to say much more. After all, whose childhood did not include a few fictional idols? He had only wanted to reason with the little boy: if saying Ultraman was fake upset you, then calling someone stupid and hurting them was the same thing.
He wanted to tell the boy that some things simply should not be said, or he would suffer a lot for it later in life. But clearly the child had already been spoiled rotten at home. The moment things did not go his way, he would start hitting and shouting. There was no way to reason with him. Once he grew up, society was definitely going to beat him into shape sooner or later.
As for other people’s fate, the little frog expressed respect.
As long as you’re happy. Hey-lo.
An Yi held his ice cream and looked him in the eye. “I’m not lying to you. If you don’t believe me, ask the Ultraman on your shirt and see whether he talks back to you.”
The little boy let out a huff, wrinkling his nose at An Yi and displaying his dislike to the fullest.
“I’m going to make Ultraman come out right now and destroy you.”
Just wait. Once Ultraman came out, he would be finished.
The little boy lowered his head and said to the Ultraman on his shirt, “Tiga, come out and destroy this bad guy.”
For a moment, there was dead silence.
Ultraman responded with a polite smile.
The little boy froze for a few seconds. “Tiga!”
Ultraman remained silent.
H-how could this happen?!
The boy stared at the Ultraman on his shirt in disbelief.
An Yi looked at him and slowly shook his head. “Give it up. Even if you call Tiga a hundred times, he’s not coming out.”
The little boy asked, “Why?”
An Yi: Because that’s Zero. 🙂
An Yi did not answer him directly. He merely smiled at the little boy.
At that moment, silence spoke louder than words. Everything was contained in what was left unsaid.
The little boy’s mouth fell open. His eyes were dull, his whole face filled with disbelief.
Ultraman was fake?
Then what was real?!
Tell me, what in this world is real?!!
At that instant, the Ultraman shirt he was wearing suddenly did not feel special at all anymore.
At such a young age, he had already experienced the deception of the world. So the world was this fake. You could not even believe in light.
The little boy’s face turned red with anger. He stomped in place and reached out to grab An Yi, but An Yi stood up, his height returning to one meter eighty-two.
The little boy’s hand grabbed nothing but air.
An Yi: Perhaps this is what they call the carefree distance of the world.
If he could not do it himself, then he would bring out his dad.
The little boy shouted at him, “When my dad gets here, I’m going to make him teach you a lesson! He’ll beat your teeth all over the ground! Nobody can save you! My dad isn’t even afraid of police!”
An Yi: Oh ho!
In a law-governed society, what kind of outlaw was your dad?
The little boy ran over to the bodyguard nearby and told him to contact his father.
Huo Beixing had just lowered the hands covering his ears when he heard the little boy say he was going to hit An Yi. He immediately reached out and pulled An Yi behind him.
His tall body was like a mountain, blocking An Yi completely.
His brows were tightly furrowed. “Wife, someone wants to hit you?”
TV dramas had said it: once you were married, your wife was your person. If someone hit your wife, it was the same as slapping your face.
Seeing how tense he looked, An Yi patted him. “It’s fine. I have a weapon.”
Huo Beixing asked, “What weapon?”
An Yi raised his phone.
Not long after, a black luxury car stopped by the park. The driver got out and opened the door for the man inside. The man stepped down from the car. He was a little over 1.7 meters tall, looked around thirty, and since he had just gotten a call saying his son was being bullied, his face was full of anger.
The little boy spotted his father from afar and hurried over. “Dad!”
The man looked his son up and down and, seeing that he was not hurt, asked, “Xiaoyi, where’s the person who bullied you?”
The little boy pointed in Huo Beixing’s direction. “It’s them.”
The man’s gaze turned sharp as he followed the direction his son pointed.
He wanted to see exactly which little bastard had bullied his son.
Who would have thought that the person coming into view would be Huo Beixing, with a big sports bag on his back.
The man froze.
Huo Er!
If he was stupid now, why wasn’t he staying at home? What was he doing here?!
The man raised a hand and pointed vaguely. “Him?”
The little boy nodded. “It’s them!”
The man took a deep breath, his heart starting to pound. “How did they bully you?”
The little boy said, “I called him an idiot, and they said Ultraman is fake.”
It was like five thunderbolts crashing down on the man’s head.
“What did you say?!”
The little boy looked confused. “I said he’s an idiot.”
Hadn’t Dad and Uncle said that before while chatting? How had he forgotten?
Besides, weren’t idiots meant to be bullied? Why was he so shocked? Adults really were so unstable.
Just then, An Yi turned and saw the father and son. Huo Beixing noticed An Yi turn and looked over too, meeting the man’s eyes head-on.
That single glance made the man’s heart and liver tremble.
He had wanted to see which bastard had bullied his son, but now his face turned ugly. Looking down at his son, he thought:
You little bastard.
What a wonderfully filial son you are.
It was true that the news of Huo Beixing becoming stupid had spread through their circles, and quite a few people had taken pleasure in mocking the former playboy. Before Huo Beixing became foolish, he did everything according to his mood, so naturally he had made plenty of enemies. But even among his rivals, not one dared openly say outside that Huo Beixing had become stupid. Those who laughed at him only dared gossip behind his back, and even then, after speaking, they would still feel a bit scared, afraid that walls might have ears.
But now things were different.
It was not a case of walls having ears.
It was a household thief being hard to guard against.
For a moment, the man felt his blood pressure rise. Looking at the son he usually doted on, he suddenly had the urge to hang him up and beat him with a slipper.
Of all people to offend, why did it have to be someone who absolutely could not be offended?
If he truly angered the Huo family, they would be finished.
Now that Huo Beixing had seen him, if he went home and tattled, then this man’s business in the capital might as well pack up and disappear.
The man’s calves trembled from fear. Carrying his son, he hurried over.
The little boy, seeing his father charging over with him in his arms, looked smug.
You’re done for now!
Who would have thought that in the next second, the man blurted out, “I’m sorry!”
Little boy: ???
Even An Yi froze for a second. He had not expected the little boy’s parent to be so reasonable. It was rather different from what he had imagined.
He had assumed the man would be an extremely indulgent father, but what he saw now was the complete opposite.
The man set the little boy down and said sternly, “Apologize!”
The little boy was unwilling. In the end, only after getting smacked on the butt did he obediently apologize. It was the first time his father had ever hit him, and tears welled up in his eyes.
“I’m sorry. You’re not an idiot.”
The moment Huo Beixing heard that, a smile appeared on his face right away. “It’s okay.”
Seeing that he was forgiven, the man bent over and apologized again. After that, he did not dare keep appearing in front of them and simply scooped up his son and ran off.
An Yi had not expected things to go so smoothly. He lowered his head, about to take a bite of his ice cream, only for his mouth to close on nothing.
Looking down, he found only a wooden stick in his hand.
An Yi: ???
Where’s my ice cream?!
Huo Beixing spoke from beside him. “Wife, your strawberry flavor wasn’t as good as my pineapple one.”
An Yi: …
Then why did you eat it!!!
Huo Beixing wanted to hand An Yi the half of his pineapple ice cream he had left. “Wife, here, you eat.”
Property divided equally.
As he spoke, he held the ice cream to An Yi’s mouth. “It’s really sweet.”
Looking at the pineapple ice cream in front of him, An Yi shook his head. “No need. You eat it.”
Huo Beixing said, “Wife, you’re so good to me.”
An Yi smiled.
Silly child. The little frog doesn’t like pineapple.
Back in the mountains, there had been many fruits An Yi had never eaten. The fruits he ate most were apples and bananas, and even those he only bought when they were nearly spoiled so he could get a cheap taste of sweetness. After coming to the city, An Yi tried pineapple once and felt that it made his tongue hurt, so he did not like it much.
After Huo Beixing finished the ice cream, the two of them walked the dogs home.
What they did not know was that camera flashes had been following them from not far away the entire time.
—
The next day, the entertainment headlines were completely dominated by Huo Beixing.
“Young tycoon finds new love, takes little boyfriend to the park, feeds him ice cream.”
In the photo, An Yi’s face had been mosaic-blurred by the newspaper office. It was covered up tightly, leaving only his mouth visible.
“Damn! What’s going on, President Huo changed people again?!”
“So who’s this little star this time? What tier?”
“Did this newspaper take money or something? Why did they mosaic him?”
“The CP I shipped is officially BE. President Huo is way too fickle. I hate this so much, but nobody in the entertainment industry can replace his face and his whole vibe.”
“How is there no face at all? I wanted to see what he looked like!”
“I’m betting five bucks. I say they won’t even last a month!”
“Think carefully, upstairs. That’s a huge amount of money.”
“I’m betting ten. Half a month.”
“What if President Huo has actually decided to settle down? Before, whenever he had rumors, the other party was never censored. This time we don’t even know what he looks like.”
“I think so too. When has my President Huo ever fed anyone? And his eyes really looked so gentle. I’m really into the whole playboy reforms and settles down trope.”
“You’re overthinking it. President Huo will never settle down. That’s just your own fantasy. In less than three months, there’ll definitely be another one.”
At that moment, An Yi was still hovering half-asleep, half-awake, being carried downstairs over Huo Beixing’s shoulder on the way to breakfast.
Butler Zhong kept up with the trends. Every morning when he got up, he checked gossip news. This habit had been developed entirely because Huo Beixing had been such a mess before.
Before Huo Beixing became foolish, he appeared in entertainment news more often than in financial news—practically once every two months, and every time the person beside him was different.
There was one good thing about reading this sort of thing, though.
It built character.
The more you looked every day, the healthier your mindset became.
After Huo Beixing became foolish, he had not made entertainment headlines very often anymore, but Butler Zhong had already formed the habit, so he still had to open his phone and take a look every day. At least his mood was not as heavy as it used to be.
Sure enough, looking at other people’s gossip was much more relaxing than looking at your own family’s.
The moment he opened the app, the three characters Huo Beixing leapt right into view.
Butler Zhong: !!!
What was going on?!
Had young master still not learned to behave, even after becoming foolish?
Or had Huo Beixing secretly gone on some date before becoming foolish, and only now had it been dug up?
Butler Zhong hurriedly clicked into the trending topic. When he saw the photo of Huo Beixing feeding someone, his heart rate shot up. But once he noticed the other person’s teeth, he let out a breath of relief.
He pulled out the photo he always kept in his pocket and compared the two.
So it was Young Master An Yi.
Who would have thought that in just a few short days, the two of them had already gotten along this well?
He then headed toward the dining room, planning to take a look at them.
Who would have thought that the moment he walked in, he saw the two of them fighting so fiercely in the dining room that it was practically chaos.
“I told you, you were the one who ate the chocolate.”
“No! I just said I put it here. I didn’t eat it. Wife, you ate it!”
“Then what’s smeared on your mouth, huh?! Shit?!”
Butler Zhong: …
Only after breakfast was over did that farce finally end.
Just as An Yi was about to head upstairs, Butler Zhong stepped forward and stopped him.
Looking at him, An Yi asked, “Uncle Zhong, is something wrong?”
Butler Zhong said, “Young Master An Yi, the old residence just called. They said there’s a family dinner tonight and hope you can accompany young master there.”
An Yi froze for a few seconds after hearing that. “The Huo family?”
Butler Zhong nodded. “Yes.”
An Yi nodded in agreement. “Alright, I understand. I’ll get ready and go with Huo Beixing tonight.”
An Yi went up to the third floor and entered the study. Butler Zhong had specially had it tidied up for him so he could use it for work.
Before, An Shaofeng had told An Yi that the Huo family was an extremely traditional family that valued appearances greatly. Not only had they inherited the good things, they had also inherited the bad dregs.
An Yi: !
He wasn’t going there only to find out he wasn’t even allowed to sit at the table and eat, was he?
An Yi had never attended a family dinner before. The banquets he had gone to in the past had all been with An Shaofeng leading him around, so personally speaking, he had zero experience.
Just then, Chen Lin called. She doted on her son, and she called him almost once every two days. While talking to her, An Yi casually mentioned that he had to attend the Huo family dinner.
As far as socializing went, Chen Lin was not especially skilled either, and she did not really deal much with the Huo family in daily life. So she turned and called An Shaofeng over.
Chen Lin: “Teach him properly.”
This child had grown up in the mountains. His mind was simple and pure. As long as others did not make trouble for him, he held a bit of goodwill toward everyone. He had never once seen the backstabbing, scheming, and intrigue of upper-class circles.
After hearing about it, An Shaofeng began explaining the Huo family’s interpersonal relationships to An Yi, while also teaching him how to deal with them.
The summary was simple:
Say nice things.
After all, he still had to spend two years of married life with Huo Beixing.
The Huo family, although not exactly pleased that Huo Beixing had married a man, would not say much as long as An Yi treated Huo Beixing well. After all, it was all based on the birth chart calculated by the fortune-teller.
So for this dinner, all he had to do was act as if he deeply liked and loved Huo Beixing.
Once the Huo family saw that attitude, they naturally would not make things difficult for him.
In short:
Play the part of a love-brained fool, completely devoted to Huo Beixing.
An Shaofeng said, “An Yi, remember this. A smart person can make their position clear with just one sentence.”
An Yi indicated that he understood, automatically sorting himself into the team of the smartest people.
At the little mountain school, the little frog came first in every exam.
Although An Shaofeng was a bargain-bin father, some of the things he said did make sense.
That evening, An Yi and Huo Beixing rode together to the Huo family residence. By the time they arrived, someone was already waiting at the gate. An Yi had assumed it would be a servant, but it turned out to be Huo Beixing’s elder brother, Huo Zhanlin.
Standing beside him was a sullen-faced teenage boy of about seventeen or eighteen—Huo Beixing’s cousin.
As the current head of the Huo family, Huo Zhanlin had absolutely no need to wait outside for anyone. But he wanted to see for himself exactly what kind of character the man who had married Huo Beixing possessed. Otherwise, he would not be able to feel at ease.
An Yi got out of the car together with Huo Beixing.
Huo Zhanlin stepped forward. “Hello, I’m Huo Zhanlin.”
An Yi replied, “Hello, I’m An Yi.”
He also did not forget An Shaofeng’s instructions: a smart person could make their stance clear with one sentence.
An Yi smiled confidently.
“I know how to dig wild vegetables.”
Author’s Note:
An Baochuan, a professional wild vegetable digger for 23 years.
