Chapter 90: A Family of Four (Part 2/2)
On the first day of the New Year, the two children woke up early and knocked on the door of the master bedroom, trying to be the first to pay their New Year’s respects to their fathers.
Of course, the door could not be opened.
“They seem to be still sleeping. Let’s go down first,” Xu Shichen said.
The family of four had made a lot of dumplings and sweet rice balls together, which saved a lot of trouble for making breakfast.
Zong Mo, not in a hurry, slept until he woke up naturally. He got up and went downstairs to the kitchen. Before he even entered, he heard the sound of rushing water. He was slightly startled and saw a steaming steamer on the stove. He rushed forward to turn off the fire and look for the source of the water sound.
The little brat, who was over four years old, was standing on a small stool, struggling to stretch his arms to wash his hands, his two little legs trembling.
Zong Mo was scared out of his wits. He quickly lifted Xu Shichen off the stool and said anxiously, “What are you guys doing in the kitchen? Did you get burned?”
Xu Shichen said obediently, “No. My hands got dirty. I’m washing them.”
Zong Mo carefully checked the child’s delicate arms and hands. Only after confirming that there were no injuries did he feel relieved. He then reprimanded, “Children are not allowed in the kitchen. Do you know that?”
“We didn’t touch the kitchen knife or scissors,” Xu Shichen said. “Yao Yao and I put the dumplings we made yesterday in the steamer, wanting to make breakfast for you. I was just following your example, putting water in the steamer, and then turning on the fire.”
Only then did Zong Mo go to check the steamer and found that the pot full of dumplings had been steamed by the four-year-old child. They were crystal clear and fragrant.
Zong Mo: …
But what needed to be taught, still had to be taught!
He pulled the two little brats to the dining room and sat down to talk face to face.
But Xu Shichen spoke first, “Mo Mo’s dad, is the scar on your arm a burn?”
It was autumn when the two children had arrived at the house. A male and a female nanny were responsible for their baths. Zong Mo would only roll up his sleeves when he was cooking or washing their faces. He hadn’t expected that they had also noticed this.
Although the child was considerate and warm-hearted, Zong Mo still had to harden his heart and teach them a lesson. He said seriously, “Mm, I got it when I was a child. That’s why Dad…”
Wait.
What dad?
Zong Mo’s eyes widened in surprise, “What did you call me?”
“Mo Mo’s dad,” Xu Shichen said clearly again.
Xu Shiyao, whose baby teeth had not yet fully grown, also followed suit and called out, “Mo Mo’s dad.”
Zong Mo: ?
Zong Mo, who was being called “dad” for the first time in two lifetimes, was completely at a loss, not knowing what to say, and just stood there in a daze, waiting for Ruan Chi to come to his rescue.
Ruan Chi came to the dining room. The two children immediately went up to him. The older brother called out first, “Chi Chi’s dad.”
Xu Shiyao then said, “Dad, my brother and I made breakfast for you to eat.”
Ruan Chi accepted it calmly and even asked, “Did you call Mo Mo ‘dad’?”
The two children said in unison, “We did!”
And then they each received a thick red envelope for the first day of the New Year.
The two children were too young and had no concept of money. They just treated it as a precious gift they had received and ran upstairs together, carefully putting the red envelopes in the cabinet.
A few days later, Zong Mo was called “dad” in a milky voice until his face was beaming with spring. He couldn’t help but hum a little tune while he was cooking.
The two children particularly liked to gather around and watch when he was cooking. Sometimes they would help, and sometimes they would call out “dad” a few times to cheer him on.
Considering that the two-and-a-half-year-old little girl had as much trouble going up and down the stairs as Zong Qiu Qiu, Zong Mo patted Xu Shichen and instructed, “Go and call Chi Chi’s dad down for dinner.”
Now that there was a free little errand runner in the house, there was naturally not much need to make phone calls.
Xu Shiyao curiously leaned against the table, swinging her little legs and asking, “Mo Mo, what are we having for dinner today?”
“We’re having crab roe xiaolongbao and seafood congee,” Zong Mo said without looking up. After half a day, he finally realized something was wrong, “What did you call me?”
“Mo Mo~”
Zong Mo: …
“You should call me Mo Mo’s dad.”
“Mo Mo is Mo Mo!”
Of course, Zong Mo doted on the two children, but doting was not the same as spoiling.
He could accept the children calling him “uncle” and liked them calling him “dad.” Although calling him by his name directly was also fine, the two children would have to interact with other adults in the future. If they developed this habit, it would only seem impolite.
Zong Mo first put down the matter at hand, washed his hands clean, and came over to hold the little girl’s shoulders, saying seriously, “You can’t call your dad by his name directly, understand?”
“Mo Mo is Mo Mo…”
“You should call me Mo Mo’s dad. You’re a child. You can’t call your dad by his name.”
The little girl mumbled, “Two dads, I don’t know…”
The little smarty-pants, who was pretending to be confused, rushed over to Ruan Chi the moment he came over and called out loudly, “Dad!”
Zong Mo: ?
Ruan Chi pulled Xu Shiyao over, looked at the squatting Zong Mo, and asked, “What are you guys doing?”
Xu Shiyao even complained first, “Dad! Mo Mo is bullying me, wuwuwu…”
Zong Mo: …
Ruan Chi didn’t even squat down. He looked down at the little girl from a high position and corrected in a deep voice, “You should call him Mo Mo’s dad.”
Xu Shiyao obediently lifted her little head, “Dad is Dad, Mo Mo is also Dad. It’s so strange…”
Zong Mo couldn’t figure out her logic. Ruan Chi, on the other hand, was too lazy to think about it and ordered again without any accommodation, “Call him Mo Mo’s dad.”
But Xu Shiyao, as if she had suffered a great grievance, burst into tears and mumbled, “Wuwuwu, I don’t know…”
Zong Mo helplessly pulled Xu Shiyao over, patted the little bun on her head, and comforted her, “Don’t cry, don’t cry. Dad knows you didn’t do it on purpose.”
But the little child cried even louder.
With such a big commotion, Xu Shichen was finally attracted over. He coolly pulled his sister in front of him and said with a straight face, “Don’t you dare cry.”
Zong Mo: …
It was hard not to suspect that this kid was his CEO Ruan’s illegitimate son who had been left outside.
Xu Shiyao habitually obeyed her brother’s words, barely managed to stop crying, and sniffled.
The older brother pinched his sister’s cheeks, forcing her to open her mouth. After looking at it, he said to the two fathers, “Her teeth haven’t fully grown yet, so she has a lisp. The retroflex sound ‘chi’ is too difficult for her.”
Xu Shiyao was clueless and stared blankly at her brother.
Xu Shichen instructed, “You say ‘Chi Chi’s dad’.”
The little girl immediately cooperated, “Ci Ci’s dad…”
Zong Mo: ?
Xu Shichen continued to Zong Mo, “So that’s why she calls Chi Chi’s dad ‘dad,’ but she thinks it’s strange to call both of you ‘dad,’ so she just calls you Mo Mo.”
Zong Mo: …?
He had never dreamed that he would lose to Ruan Chi in the matter of being a father, and it was because his name was not easy to pronounce.
Zong Mo and Ruan Chi did not announce the existence of the two children to the outside world, but it was no secret among their friends in the circle.
When Xu Shichen was five and Xu Shiyao was three, Tu Bu took the initiative to come to them and ask if they were willing to participate in a parenting variety show as a family of four.
Zong Mo: …
How should he put it? It was hard not to suspect that Tu Bu, like him, had also transmigrated. The variety shows he made were more innovative than the last, but they all had a precedent of being a hit in the original world.
Of course, he and Ruan Chi didn’t mind being on a variety show, but these past few years, they had mainly been focusing on filming.
And in the past one or two years, as they got older, they hoped to spend more time on their lives and didn’t even film much. Since they had adopted the two children more than half a year ago, they had almost completely disappeared from the spotlight.
There had been a few marriage and romance variety shows that had approached them before, but they didn’t want to make their private lives public, so they had rejected them one by one.
This parenting variety show was not an observation variety show filmed at home, but a leisure variety show where several families went on vacation together. But participating in this variety show meant exposing the two children to the public.
Zong Mo didn’t really want the children to be exposed to this circle too early, but he was willing to respect their opinions.
“On TV? Really?” Xu Shiyao’s eyes lit up after hearing his introduction, and she was so excited she almost jumped three feet high.
This little girl was actually a lively, active, optimistic, and cheerful person. It was just that she had temporarily closed herself off because of her parents’ death. Fortunately, she had now opened her heart and had become the biggest source of joy in the family.
“Yes. If you’re on TV, uncles and aunties from all over the country can see you, and many uncles and aunties will like you,” Zong Mo explained seriously.
“But after you’re on TV, you’ll be a little star. As a star, everyone will have higher expectations of you. You need to be beautiful at all times, and you can’t throw a tantrum casually. Otherwise, everyone won’t like you anymore, and might even hate you.”
Xu Shiyao still nodded firmly, “Mo Mo’s dad, I will behave well. I want to be on TV. I want to be a big star like you and Chi Chi’s dad.”
The little girl’s enthusiasm made Zong Mo stunned. He had no choice but to go and ask her brother.
Xu Shichen, on the other hand, was not as lively as his sister. When they first met, he already had a maturity and calmness that was beyond his age. Especially after watching Ruan Chi handle his work from time to time, he seemed even more like a little adult.
What Xu Shichen was concerned about was, “Then are the four of us going together?”
“No,” Zong Mo said regretfully. “You have to live with a singing and dancing big brother for three days first. Chi Chi’s dad and I will only go over on the fourth day.”
The other families were all participating in the show together as a family, but the program team had a special arrangement for their family. It was both to give the newly promoted top idol star a chance to perform, and also to have Zong Mo and Ruan Chi make a grand entrance as mysterious guests.
And on Ruan Chi’s side, he had just heard him say one sentence and had nodded in agreement. He was extremely willing, and even a little impatient, to send the two little cubs out of the house.
Zong Mo: …
Although he also wanted to have a world of two…
“These two children are not as fragile as you think,” Ruan Chi said. “Worry less, otherwise you’ll get old fast.”
Zong Mo was not convinced, “I’m still young!”
Even if he got old, Ruan Chi would be even older than him!
Ruan Chi just smiled, “Hmm~ I can feel it.”
Xu Shichen and Xu Shiyao appeared on the parenting variety show together and formed a temporary family with a top idol. Their background was clearly not simple, and the show did not announce who the two children’s parents were, which further aroused the netizens’ curiosity.
The male celebrities with the surname Xu were immediately dug up, but unfortunately, none of them met the criteria. The netizens then went on to dig up the female celebrities with the surname Xu and those who looked similar to the children, reasonably suspecting that the two children were the illegitimate children of some mysterious rich man.
Of course, Zong Mo also saw these rumors, but he thought that it would soon be his and Ruan Chi’s turn to appear, and the rumors would be self-defeating then.
This variety show still used a live stream format. On the third day, Zong Mo and Ruan Chi arrived near the recording location in advance and watched the live stream at the hotel.
The few children happened to be gathered together, chatting.
One child asked, “Yao Yao, when are your parents coming?”
“I don’t have a mother now,” Xu Shiyao said truthfully.
The child who had asked the question was already seven years old, at an age where he was beginning to understand things. He comforted her, “Yao Yao, don’t be sad. I can lend you my mother.”
But Xu Shiyao shook her head and refused, “No need. I still have a dad. Having a dad is enough. My dad is very, very good, and he’s also very handsome.”
Because of Xu Shiyao’s words, the other children also curiously gathered around, surrounding the two siblings.
“Then when is your dad coming?”
“How good is he?”
Xu Shichen didn’t know if he could answer these questions and simply chose to keep his mouth shut.
But Xu Shiyao didn’t have so many scruples and boasted loudly, “Dad is very gentle and cares about us very much. He tucks us in every night before we go to sleep, plays games with us, and also makes us a lot of delicious food!”
Such a stay-at-home good father was naturally one in a million.
The few children listened with rapt attention, and even the bullet comments began to scroll with envy.
There was even…
[Wait a minute, this persona seems a little familiar…]
[Yao Yao’s dad is making a grand entrance. Even if he’s not a current top star, he should at least be a household name, right? How many can fit this standard?]
Zong Mo directly ignored the bullet comments and silently continued to observe the two little babies.
Xu Shiyao paused for a moment and continued, “Dad bought us a lot of toys and will take us out to play. But he is also very strict with us. My brother said he is doing it for our own good, hoping we can become useful people.”
The children’s questions were naive but hit the mark, “Huh, then how many dads do you have?”
Xu Shiyao confidently made a “peace” sign and said with a big grin, “Two!”
Xu Shichen: …
Xu Shiyao’s words did not cause much of a stir among the children, but the netizens who were watching the show instantly exploded.
[Holy shit, I knew it!!!]
[But why is their surname Xu? Has my CP gotten divorced? (pinches philtrum)]
[The two dads Yao Yao mentioned are obviously Mo Mo and CEO Ruan! If they got divorced and then had a child, it shouldn’t be this big, right?]
[Yao Yao and Chen Chen are very cute, but they don’t look much like them?]
[Ah… they’re adopted, right?]
The next day, Zong Mo and Ruan Chi appeared on the show, confirming the netizens’ speculations.
With the traditional Chinese mindset, Zong Mo had thought that adopting children with no blood relationship would attract a lot of questions, but he hadn’t expected the online comments to be unusually harmonious.
His orphan identity was brought up again. The passersby and fans were all moved to tears, and rainbow farts were blown all over the sky, such as praising him for being a little angel who had been rained on himself but still wanted to hold an umbrella for others, and so on.
Zong Mo: …It wasn’t that exaggerated!
Anyway, his CEO Ruan had more money than he knew what to do with. He could even raise a few more. Unfortunately, their energy was limited and not enough to be divided among more children.
And some netizens who were stretching their arms too far were worrying about Ruan Chi’s family property inheritance problem.
Ruan Chi rarely posted on Weibo. He didn’t respond directly but just posted a few pictures of share transfer agreements.
The key content was all censored, but the company name, the number of shares, and the recipient’s name were all displayed.
Zong Mo: …Wait.
When did this happen?
Did Ruan Chi really give him half of his property?
And when did he sign it?
Zong Mo waited for Ruan Chi to come back and asked him seriously what was going on.
“I didn’t give you half, probably a third,” Ruan Chi said. “Because you only have the right to make decisions if you have a 51% stake. It would be inconvenient if it’s lower than that. For example, Yueyin, I have a 70% stake, so I can only give you nineteen first.”
Zong Mo: …
Behind this seemingly ordinary number of shares was probably an astronomical figure.
More importantly—
Zong Mo was puzzled, “How is my signature on this transfer agreement? Did you forge it?”
“You signed it yourself,” Ruan Chi said faintly. “The last time you signed a filming contract, I had you sign it along with it.”
Zong Mo: …
Although fans had reminded him not to sign contracts casually, he found it tiring to read contracts, and he also trusted Ruan Chi. So every time Ruan Chi brought him a document, he would just glance at it and sign.
“If what you had me sign was some kind of slave contract, then I wouldn’t have known I had sold myself?”
Ruan Chi held back a laugh, “I hadn’t thought of that. You’ve just reminded me.”
Zong Mo: ?
After the parenting variety show ended, besides the live stream, there was also a recorded version. Zong Mo was very curious about what the family of four looked like on the show, so he dragged Ruan Chi to watch the show from beginning to end and took a lot of screenshots.
Only after watching the recorded version of the show did he know that besides the children, a few of the parents had also asked about the two children’s parents.
For example, asking “do you have your father’s surname or your mother’s surname,” “who gave you your name,” and so on.
Of course, the two children could not give an answer.
Zong Mo’s heart was a little complicated. One night before going to bed, he went to tuck the two children in.
It was already past the children’s bedtime, but Xu Shichen suddenly opened his eyes and asked, “Mo Mo’s dad, why didn’t you and Chi Chi’s dad change our names?”
Zong Mo gave his reason, “Your names were given by your parents. Don’t you like them?”
Xu Shichen said, “But you are our current fathers.”
Zong Mo was slightly stunned.
“You are not our biological fathers. If we don’t have your surname, everyone won’t believe you are our fathers,” Xu Shichen said seriously and in a low voice.
“You are both fathers… then Yao Yao will have your surname, and I’ll have Chi Chi’s dad’s surname. Okay?”
Zong Mo smiled, “You are siblings. Wouldn’t it be better to have the same surname?”
“Yao Yao and I both like you very much, and we also like Chi Chi’s dad very much.”
Zong Mo lovingly patted the little boy’s head and asked a little strangely, “Why is it that my sister has my surname?”
“Because she said she likes you more,” Xu Shichen said, his mouth pouting almost imperceptibly. “So I gave it to her.”
The general meaning was that he also liked Zong Mo more.
Zong Mo couldn’t help but feel a little proud. He relayed the two children’s wish to change their surnames to Ruan Chi, but Ruan Chi said nonchalantly, “They can all have your surname.”
Zong Mo: …
With the matter of Zong Qiu Qiu in mind, he strongly suspected that Ruan Chi was trying to be a hands-off boss and make him a single parent!
Even though Ruan Chi often walked the dog and played with him later, he had still taken Zong Qiu Qiu through the painful first few months alone!
Zong Mo directly stated his suspicion. Ruan Chi said helplessly, “What are you thinking? I didn’t mind when you didn’t want to change their surnames before. Would I be unhappy if they had your surname?”
Zong Mo thought seriously. He had found out that he was not interested in girls when he was in his teens. He had never experienced the warmth of a family and had no parental demands, so he had no idea of carrying on the family line.
Although he had always liked children very much, because he had been poor before, he had never even had the thought of adopting a child.
After much thought, he finally decided to respect the two children’s wishes. The two children had no blood relationship with them anyway. It would be more like a family of four if they changed their surnames.
Zong Mo smiled and said, “Then let’s change it to Zong Shiyao and Ruan Shichen. It sounds quite nice.”
Xu Shiyao—now Zong Shiyao—was hiding behind her brother, tugging at the corner of his clothes. Hearing her father call her new name, she couldn’t help but move closer, and as a result, she squeezed her brother in front into the crack of the door.
Ruan Shichen: …
Zong Shiyao was not in a hurry and walked into the two fathers’ room with a big grin, calling out sweetly, “Mo Mo’s dad, Chi Chi’s dad~”
Zong Mo asked in confusion, “Why aren’t you guys asleep yet?”
He then thought that the two children had probably not been sleeping because of the name change and had been eavesdropping at the door. His expression softened. Just as he was about to call them over, the two children had already walked to the side of the bed and looked up at him.
Ruan Shichen, with two red ear tips, finally mustered the courage to say, “Mo Mo’s dad, can we sleep with you?”
As he spoke, he lowered his head. This was really too impolite, but he…
Zong Mo and Ruan Chi had a rare rest today. The bedding had also been changed yesterday and was still very clean. He had always treated the two children as adults, letting them make their own choices and giving them full respect.
But he had forgotten that the two children were only five and three, an age where they needed company.
Zong Mo said in a gentle voice, “Sure, come on up.”
Ruan Shichen looked at Ruan Chi again and asked again, “Chi Chi’s dad, is it okay?”
Ruan Chi: “It is.”
Ruan Shichen happily climbed onto the bed. Zong Shiyao was too small and had to be lifted up by Zong Mo.
The two children slept in the middle of the big bed, with a father on each side, full of a sense of security.
Ruan Shichen blinked his eyes and made a request in a milky voice, “Mo Mo’s dad, can you call my name?”
“Chen Chen?” Zong Mo called out first, then guessed his meaning and smiled as he patted his hair, “Ruan Shichen.”
Zong Shiyao did not speak but just looked over with a hopeful look.
Zong Mo changed a small head to pat, “Yao Yao, Zong Shiyao.”
The two pairs of big eyes that were fighting to stay open were still open, and their gazes all changed direction at the same time.
Zong Mo followed them and looked at Ruan Chi opposite him with a smile.
-THE END-
