Chapter 54
This was the first time Tang Rong had ever been held by his father.
His view was suddenly much higher, yet the arms holding him were strong and steady, giving him an especially strong sense of security.
Tang Rong instinctively reached out and lightly wrapped his small arms around his father’s neck, giving his body a firm point of support.
“Dad, why did you come? Is your health a little better now?” Tang Rong’s eyes were still slightly red, but his voice was full of unconcealed delight.
Tang Zheng’en leaned in and gently touched his cheek to Tang Rong’s little face. “Mm, a little better. This is virtual space, so it’s fine.”
Once Big Brother came back, they were planning to tell Tang Rong everything, so meeting him in virtual space ahead of time was also a good thing.
Hearing that he was doing better, Tang Rong’s eyes curved happily.
“Dad, why is there a flower on your head?” Tang Rong suddenly lifted a hand and gently tugged at the flower on top of Tang Zheng’en’s head, only to discover that it wouldn’t come off. It seemed as though it had really grown out of his head.
Tang Zheng’en gave a light cough. Supporting Tang Rong with one arm, he raised the other hand, snapped off the flower from his head, and handed it to Tang Rong. A few seconds later, another flower grew out from the exact same place.
Tang Rong clutched the little flower and widened his eyes in amazement.
The system explained: [This isn’t the real world. Everything here is just simulated. As long as you can imagine it, even having your whole head covered in flowers is possible.]
That was indeed exactly what the system said.
Tang Zheng’en had connected to the kindergarten’s virtual world through a holographic pod he hadn’t used in ages.
The moment the butler received a call from the kindergarten teacher, he immediately informed them of what had happened.
Originally, the butler had been the one handling Tang Rong’s everyday care, and he had also planned to go himself this time for the “calling the parents” situation. But Tang Zheng’en had stopped him and decided to go personally instead.
In the real world, they had always been too afraid to meet Tang Rong. If they still hid away in the virtual world too, it would really become indefensible.
And Tang Zheng’en wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Grandfather Tang Yinsheng, the only one actually lying in the hospital, had also grown restless and nearly had the bodyguards send a virtual pod directly to his hospital room.
Remembering why Grandpa had ended up hospitalized in the first place, Tang Zheng’en naturally stopped him.
He had only just recovered enough. They absolutely couldn’t let him run into that old bastard Yun Fangqian again and get so angry that he ended up collapsing once more.
Tang Hu and Tang Qiu had also wanted to go, but Tang Hu had only recently resumed livestreaming, and Tang Zheng’en didn’t want him showing up in a situation like this and having it affect his state of mind. Tang Qiu, on the other hand, might get so angry at the sight of Yun Fangqian that she’d lose the ability to speak, so Tang Zheng’en blocked her too.
He alone was enough to handle a matter like this.
As for the flower on his head…
He had come in a hurry. Before entering the virtual pod, he was still wearing his anti-bite muzzle, so he hadn’t had time to adjust his appearance settings before entering virtual space. In the end, he had simply chosen one of the saved looks in the pod.
That saved look was actually one he had specially created long ago when his wife was still alive, purely to amuse her—this somewhat ridiculous flower on his head included.
He hadn’t expected he would still be using it many years later.
It was enough to stir up all kinds of feelings.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on old memories.
Carrying Tang Rong, Tang Zheng’en swept his gaze around and greeted Bai Tu’s grandmother. “Teacher Bai.”
Bai Tu’s grandmother’s spouse had married into her family, so the children all took her surname. Naturally, Bai Tu did as well.
Bai Tu’s grandmother greeted him in return.
Tang Zheng’en directly treated Yun Fangqian as though he were thin air. He gave a nod to the chief butler at his side but didn’t bother greeting Yun Fangqian at all.
When his wife had still been alive, Tang Zheng’en had still given this father-in-law some face for her sake. At the very least, he would keep up some superficial politeness. But now that his wife was gone, there was no need for that anymore. The only reason he wasn’t openly wearing a dark expression was because Xiao Rong was here, and he didn’t want to frighten him.
Tang Zheng’en said, “Everyone’s here, then. We can play the surveillance footage now.”
But Bai Tu’s grandmother suddenly spoke up. “Let the teacher take the children back to the classroom first. We’ll handle this ourselves. Once we have a result, they can be brought back.”
Hearing that, Bai Tu lowered his head and blinked quickly.
He had secretly asked his grandmother to say that. He didn’t want Xiao Rong to see that violent side of him again in the surveillance footage and get frightened by him a second time.
“That’s fine,” Tang Zheng’en agreed. It just so happened that he also didn’t want Tang Rong hearing the conversation that would follow.
This matter had long since gone beyond the level of a conflict between children.
The butler had already reported every detail of Tang Rong’s previous trip to the Yun family. This Yun Qi wasn’t bullying Xiao Rong for the first time. Even though none of it had worked out in his favor, the malice was real. And that malice didn’t come from Yun Qi alone, but also from the Yun family behind him.
Now that the matter had also dragged in the Bai family and the imperial family, if the Yun family wasn’t taught a proper lesson while they had the chance, would they really go on thinking they could walk sideways through the world?
Tang Zheng’en gently set Tang Rong back down on the ground, plucked off the newly grown flower from his own head, and handed it to him. Then he patted his soft little head with his broad palm.
“Leave the rest to Dad. Dad won’t let anyone bully Xiao Rong.”
Tang Rong clutched the two little flowers and nodded hard.
Tang Zheng’en’s gaze then shifted to Shen Muhan, who was standing nearby, and he said to Tang Rong, “Go on, then. Go back first with Big Brother Xiao Han and Xiao Tu.”
There was still a faint dark tear mark soaking into Shen Muhan’s collar.
Although Tang Zheng’en was privately sour over the idea of his little cabbage being “stolen,” he couldn’t deny that the little crown prince truly treated Xiao Rong very well. He felt safe entrusting Xiao Rong to him.
Of course, not that kind of “entrusting.”
Seeing the situation, Tangyuan led the three little children away. Once they stepped out of the principal’s office, they were directly transported back to the kindergarten classroom.
The other three children in the class had also already returned and were being watched over by an unfamiliar teacher.
It turned out that Qi Fu had happened to be driving his hover car nearby when the commotion broke out at the sandpit. The disturbance there had been loud, and it drew him over. When he saw the teacher leading Tang Rong and the others away, he immediately drove off in the hover car to find Luo Yue and Luo Xing, who were playing shuttlecock, and told them what had happened.
The moment the twins heard that they had been bullied by a child from another class, they dropped the shuttlecock at once and hurried back in a rush.
The teacher supervising the playground had no choice but to follow them back to their classroom and help watch over them.
The moment the three of them saw that Tang Rong and the others had finally come back, they started chattering and asking question after question.
Qi Fu said, “Which class was the one bullying you? What’s his name? My dad donated lots and lots of money to the school. I’ll have him talk to the principal when I get home and make that guy drop out.”
Luo Yue said, “This virtual space was made by a company under my family. I’ll also ask my dad and mom to talk to the principal when I get home.”
Luo Xing nodded along with her sister.
Tangyuan: “…”
She trembled silently and didn’t dare speak.
Tang Rong smiled and shook his head. Since his father had suddenly appeared, his mood had already improved a great deal. “It’s okay. Xiao Tu already bullied him back for me. With just one push, he sent that bad kid flying really far.”
Tang Rong raised his hand and copied Bai Tu’s motion from earlier, making a pushing gesture in the air.
Qi Fu let out a whoa. “That bad kid looked pretty tall. He should be in the big class, right? Xiao Tu is actually that strong?”
Even though Qi Fu hadn’t witnessed the whole thing, he had still caught a look at Yun Qi’s face.
Shen Muhan had originally assumed both Tang Rong and Bai Tu had been bullied by that Yun-whatever-his-name-was. He had never expected that Bai Tu, who had been crying so hard, would actually be strong enough to send the kid flying that far with his bare hands. You really couldn’t judge a person by appearances.
Bai Tu lowered his gaze shyly and gripped his pants a little tighter with nervous hands.
“Yeah, super amazing,” Tang Rong said.
Bai Tu looked up at him in shock.
Super amazing… him?
Xiao Rong wasn’t frightened by his violence at all? He even thought he was super amazing?
A fresh sheen of tears rose in Bai Tu’s eyes again, so moved he could barely stand it. This time, though, he didn’t let the tears fall, only blinked quickly.
Wuwuwu, Xiao Rong is so good.
“So amazing? Let’s arm wrestle, then.” Qi Fu ate a lot, had a big appetite, and naturally, because he was sturdier than children his age, he also had more strength. His favorite activity was arm wrestling with other people.
Now that he had heard Bai Tu was strong, his competitive spirit rose again at once.
“What’s arm wrestling?” Tang Rong had never done it before.
Qi Fu walked over to a table and beckoned Bai Tu over.
Seeing Tang Rong looking at them expectantly, Bai Tu hesitated, then walked over and sat opposite Qi Fu.
He knew the method and rules of arm wrestling. When he was little, his family had often compared strength with him, and arm wrestling was something he knew inside out.
Tangyuan watched quietly from the side and didn’t interrupt them. After what had just happened, helping them take their minds off things was also a good idea.
Once seated, the two children clasped hands.
“I’ll count down—three, two, one.”
“Three, two, one…”
The moment Qi Fu finished speaking, he began to exert force.
He pushed harder and harder, using all his strength.
But the clasped hands on the table didn’t move at all, as if frozen in place.
Bai Tu’s hand might as well have been welded to the tabletop—he couldn’t budge it in the slightest. Yet Bai Tu’s face remained completely calm, with an innocent hint of nervousness.
He was only nervous that he might hurt the child across from him.
He didn’t dare exert force to push back. He only dared hold his hand and wrist absolutely still.
Qi Fu had already used up every bit of strength he had, but the result still didn’t change at all.
Finally, he surrendered. “I give up. Xiao Tu, you’re way too amazing! You were hiding your strength all this time!”
Bai Tu’s face flushed red at the praise. If he were in little lop-eared rabbit form, the fur on his body would probably already have turned pink.
Why… why did everyone think he was amazing?
Obviously having this much strength was violent…
Before, there had been children who gave him nicknames like “Violent Rabbit” and said people should stay away from him. He had cried sadly for a long time over that.
Because he was strong and could easily hurt the people around him, he didn’t really have any friends. But he did have a whole family that loved him very much. Every member of the rabbit family was especially wonderful. Family was better than friends.
And now, maybe, for the first time, he really had friends outside of his family too.
From the side, Tang Rong—who had been watching—suddenly spoke up. “I want to try too.”
Bai Tu gave a little jolt, and his back straightened even more.
Seeing that, Qi Fu immediately gave up his seat to Tang Rong.
Tang Rong handed the two little flowers he was holding over to Shen Muhan, then copied the way Qi Fu had done it and clasped hands with Bai Tu, pushing in the direction he was supposed to.
Tang Rong quickly ended up breathing hard from the effort, and yet their hands on the table still hadn’t moved at all. But then suddenly, with a crack, a hole appeared in the tabletop under Bai Tu’s elbow.
Because he had been too nervous and too afraid of hurting Tang Rong, Bai Tu had no choice but to use even more force to keep his hand and arm in an absolutely fixed position. That, in turn, meant a huge amount of force was being transferred into the point of contact with the table.
The poor, fragile tabletop couldn’t withstand it and broke on the spot.
Fortunately, they were in virtual space. It could be repaired instantly, and a stronger material could be swapped in as well.
Tang Rong already knew there was no way he could beat Bai Tu anyway. He only wanted to experience it for himself. Seeing the table break, he promptly admitted defeat, already thinking that when he got home, he should try arm wrestling with the little snow leopard instead.
Luo Yue and Luo Xing didn’t have much strength and weren’t interested in arm wrestling, so they just stayed on the side as part of the cheering section.
“I want to try,” Shen Muhan suddenly said, out of nowhere, while still holding Tang Rong’s little flowers.
A few seconds later, Shen Muhan sat opposite Bai Tu and clasped hands with him.
Perhaps because Shen Muhan’s fierce and intimidating image had been burned in too deeply, Bai Tu grew even more nervous, and the little lop-eared rabbit in his heart started crying.
But very soon, Bai Tu relaxed.
He discovered that Shen Muhan could actually move his hand!
In fact, if he wasn’t careful, Shen Muhan might even pin him flat to the table and win.
Bai Tu’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. He finally dared to try using his full strength too, and suddenly felt that exhilarating thrill of meeting a worthy opponent.
Luckily, the tabletop had already been replaced with stronger material, or it really might not have been able to survive this match.
In the end, Shen Muhan still won.
After all, his talent was stronger than Bai Tu’s, and in order to release the powerful spiritual energy in his body, he trained often. He was very good at using his strength.
Seeing Tang Rong holding the little flowers and staring at him with a face full of shock and admiration, Shen Muhan’s expression didn’t show much, but the little snow leopard inside him was already proudly lifting its head high.
Bai Tu really had used all his strength. His eyes had turned red from the effort, yet a happy smile still hung on his face.
He had actually met another child with strength just like his!
No—someone even stronger than him!
He hereby declared—from now on, he would be the underling of both Xiao Rong and Xiao Han!
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