Under the gently swaying eaves bathed in soft moonlight, two adults stood side by side on the stone steps, murmuring in low voices that blended hazily into the night.
Not far away, two children who had just finished whispering their joint condemnation of the timid and detestable bully found their gazes inevitably drawn to those two figures—one cloaked in black, the other in white.
Yuan Yuxing squinted at them before turning to the “sister” beside him. He muttered softly, “This is weird. Why do I suddenly feel… kind of happy?”
The night was still a disorienting winter chill, the dense cold unchanged, and that leg-trembling pressure hadn’t fully dissipated. It lingered, invisible, in the surrounding air.
Yet inexplicably, those swept up in the same biting cold wave suddenly found this unseasonal winter day softening into something gentle and warm.
To borrow a line from an elementary school composition, it was as if “the air carried the scent of happiness.”
He Xi, a genuine elementary schooler, felt the same. She thought seriously for a moment, as if she’d found an explanation, and said brightly, “Me too! Maybe it’s because it feels like we’re all family.”
“Family?” Yuan Yuxing shook his head at once, correcting her with utmost seriousness. “No, no, no—it’s an uncle and a dad. No mom, so how can it be family?”
“You can still be family without a mom.”
He Xi didn’t mind the quibble. Her eyes shone with innocent satisfaction as she sighed softly, “If only I really had a family like this.”
“Dad,” “uncle,” “little brother”… Everyone treated her so well, better than real family.
The little girl’s childish voice brimmed with pure longing. The impostor little boy froze for a moment at her words, then dropped the correction. He pivoted smoothly instead. “Yeah, yeah! Two adults and two kids—head to that children’s park, and we might even snag a family discount on parent-child tickets!”
He Xi burst out laughing. “Right! My teacher mentioned it—amusement parks have parent-child tickets that save you money, don’t they?”
Her face lit with anticipation. The shorter “little brother” immediately raised his hand and patted her head with an air of old wisdom. “Yep! If there’s a chance, I’ll take you.”
“Really?!”
“Really!” The little boy thumped his chest, heedless of any “chance.” He swore boldly, “I’ll definitely take you. If I don’t, then… I’ll be Zhang Wei!”
The little girl blinked, not catching on. “What’s that got to do with Zhang Wei?”
“Oh, it’s nothing!” Yuan Yuxing cracked himself up with his own words and chuckled. “If I lie, I’ll be a little dog!”
The warm, soft moonlight bathed the beautiful courtyard. The brown-haired young man with laughter in his eyes finally turned and beckoned to the two children huddled together, giggling foolishly nearby.
He and the blue-eyed man beside him—who no longer seemed quite so terrifying—headed together toward the restaurant’s main entrance.
“Coming, coming!”
The two children chorused in unison, then bolted toward them with eager excitement.
At the same time, two other sets of footsteps approached from the side, carrying a starkly contrasting mood.
“What’s gotten into you today?” An elegant woman’s voice carried anger. “I warn you—don’t embarrass me!”
Slender fingers adorned with exquisite nail polish landed on the little boy’s collar from behind, fussing irritably with his clothes.
Zhang Yizhe, now changed into fresh attire, was dragged toward the restaurant by his mother. His steps dragged, his expression listless, filled with heartfelt dread.
“Mom, can I skip dinner? I’m not hungry…”
“No! This is a huge deal—they’ve all come with their families in tow. Even the ones abroad rushed back overnight. Everyone knows it’s crunch time. How can you be absent?”
Chang Baoqin scowled in complaint. “You think I’m hungry? A big kid like you wetting your pants—it’s so disgusting I can’t even eat!”
As the restaurant loomed closer, shrouded in the night shadows of the trees, that terrifying aura seemed to revive, descending upon him once more.
The little boy’s face drained of color in an instant. His turtle-slow steps halted completely. In panic, he cried, “Those two are really scary, Mom! Really! They’re definitely heading to the restaurant too. I don’t want to go!”
“…A doctor and a foreigner—what’s so scary about that?”
Chang Baoqin, who hadn’t witnessed them herself, dismissed his words entirely with a scornful look. “Besides, what do outsiders matter to you? Don’t lose sight of today’s priority—those two kids!”
Her manicured fingertip jabbed irritably at Zhang Yizhe’s forehead. She scolded sharply, “Those kids are so young, yet they pleased your grandpa at Go. And you? I had someone tutor you all day, and you learned squat!”
“I told you to pry those kids’ mouths open alone, and you came back with nothing! You couldn’t even handle an eight-year-old girl. What’s the point of you?!”
“I really asked a ton of times!” Zhang Yizhe defended hurriedly. “Her lips were sealed tight! She wouldn’t say anything useful—just that they came to play Go at the house.”
“Play Go?” Chang Baoqin sneered. “Play the kind that got us all kicked out?”
She hadn’t expected the old man, at his age, to pull such a stunt.
But the old man surely hadn’t anticipated his bickering children uniting against a common threat.
First, they’d band together in shared outrage to oust the interloper—then settle scores among themselves.
These two kids were still too young, after all. Surrounded by watchful adults, they’d be easy to deal with.
So thinking, Chang Baoqin glanced toward the restaurant. The others were probably already there, while she’d wasted time tending to her inexplicably incontinent son.
Anxiety pricked at her. She quickened her pace.
“Come on, move it!” she urged her dawdling son. “Don’t make me discipline you, Zhang Yizhe!”
Zhang Yizhe had no choice but to trudge forward unwillingly. The warmly lit restaurant drew nearer, its details sharpening in view. In his peripheral vision, he suddenly spotted several familiar figures.
His expression froze. He ducked hastily behind his mother and whispered urgently, “Mom, look—it’s them!”
Meanwhile, the sharp-eared little girl caught the commotion from behind. She tugged at her brother’s sleeve.
Yu Bai was still focused on his conversation with Xie Wufang, oblivious to others.
The keenly perceptive latter, true to his words, treated the strangers as nonexistent—not even bothering to glance back.
In the serene night, the elegantly dressed mother and son crossed gazes with the slim, petite sister and brother across the chill air. All four figures paused mid-step for a heartbeat.
The clever sister and quick-witted brother exchanged a look, instantly reading a shared, unspoken understanding in each other’s eyes.
Then, to Chang Baoqin and Zhang Yizhe’s astonishment, the two children dashed straight toward the two young men.
The little girl reached the youth in the snow-white coat and called up to him brightly, “Uncle!”
The little boy scampered to the man in the pure black suit, head bowed in a mix of fear and awe. “D-Dad… Daddy!”
The clear voices carried through the air, instantly triggering a massive earthquake in two pairs of pupils.
…What did he call him?
Daddy?!
The stylishly dressed beauty gasped, her eyes locked unblinkingly on those “outsiders” she’d dismissed at first.
The youth dubbed “uncle” soon looked down at the sound, affectionately ruffling the little girl’s hair. A hint of amusement softened the peculiar clash of aloof elegance in his features.
But the man called “daddy” ignored the little boy at his side entirely. His mixed-race profile remained profoundly stern and cold. Even silent, he exuded an awe-inspiring presence, like a born superior.
In that moment, Chang Baoqin—struck as if by a hammer—finally believed her son. Her heart filled with disorientation and instinctive fear.
Yu Bai up ahead remained oblivious. He helplessly ruffled He Xi’s hair again, desperately trying to recall sad memories for better emotional control.
He’d only just finished smiling.
…Don’t call them uncle and daddy anymore—you’ll make him laugh again!
He still had serious business to handle!
The pair entered the elegantly appointed restaurant side by side, the two children trailing obediently one on each side. The scene was strikingly harmonious and eye-catching.
With the mix of footfalls light and heavy, the room’s warm amber lights suddenly bathed them, drawing every gaze in the place.
Zhang Yunjiang, in an exceptionally good mood that day, looked up at the arrivals and froze. He broke off mid-sentence, and the lively chatter in the room cut off abruptly.
“Oh! You’re feeling better?”
The old man rose hastily, abandoning the cluster of children around him. He hurried toward the black-haired, blue-eyed young man, his tone brimming with delight and concern. “I thought you’d need more rest, so I didn’t have Little Doctor Yu fetch you. How are you now? Fever gone?”
Yu Bai smiled and answered for Xie Wufang. “The fever’s broken, and his body’s mostly recovered. Just his energy might still be a bit low.”
His gaze calmly swept over the group of strangers he had briefly met before, and he said casually, “Oh, right—it’s not a cold, so it won’t spread to anyone.”
“What do I care about contagion?” Zhang Yunjiang waved it off immediately. “Little Doctor Yu is incredible. He cured the patient in just one afternoon!”
“I was just regretting that you couldn’t join us for this dinner,” the old man said, looking at the Go instructor who had enriched his life over the past two days. His expression grew even happier. “It doesn’t feel complete without you! And if you feel off anywhere, just say the word—you can step away anytime.”
With every sentence the old man uttered, the expressions of the scheming family members in the room grew a shade more uneasy.
The contrast stood out all the more: the old man’s warm enthusiasm against the other man’s cool detachment.
The old man went on and on, but the poised young man merely dipped his head in a slight nod, without adding a single extra word.
And yet Zhang Yunjiang didn’t seem bothered in the least, as if he were utterly used to it.
What was this guy’s deal, anyway?
“Come on, come on—take your seats!” Zhang Yunjiang ushered Yu Bai and Xie Wufang to the table. He didn’t forget to set spots for the two children, either. “How about you two right here?”
“Okay!” He Xi flashed him a sweet smile. “Thank you, Grandpa.”
Grandpa Zhang was Grandpa Zhang, after all—tacking on the family name just felt clunky.
The little boy at her side shot Zhang Yunjiang an approving glance right away. He cleared his throat, threw caution to the wind, and echoed her perfectly: “Grandpa, I want an Ice Cola!”
Called “Grandpa” like that, Zhang Yunjiang’s smile took on an even warmer, grandfatherly glow. He patted the children’s heads fondly. “All right, all right—Ice Cola it is!”
Little Doctor Yu, who had been seated in the place of honor to the old man’s right, chuckled at the exchange. “Ice-cold drinks in this freezing weather?”
The black-haired man beside him cast a faint glance his way.
In an instant, the little boy who had demanded the cola started chattering his teeth. He went from bold to meek in a second and mumbled, “Ah, y-yeah, you’re right. I won’t have the iced one. No, I won’t!”
Zhang Yunjiang’s laughter deepened the wrinkles around his eyes. He jumped to the boy’s defense. “Just a sip or two—it’ll be fine! You can have some hot milk afterward, okay?”
Little Doctor Yu let himself be persuaded right along with the boy. “In that case, I’ll start with an Ice Cola too.”
In just those few exchanges, they seemed like three perfect generations of a happy family.
The others, thoroughly sidelined from this cozy scene, exchanged bewildered looks. They all sized up the young man who was clearly no ordinary fellow—and who had the little boy eating out of his hand. A chilling suspicion bubbled up in their minds.
Why was the old man so solicitous toward him? Why say the gathering wasn’t complete without him?
And ever since these two had walked in, Zhang Yunjiang hadn’t spared so much as an extra glance for his own children and grandchildren. He hadn’t even noticed Chang Baoqin and her son trailing in behind them to take their seats at the table.
Oh, right.
Come to think of it, why did those two look so ghastly?
Chang Baoqin’s husband was already seated. As his wife and son approached, looking utterly shell-shocked, he leaned in and hissed under his breath, “What’s going on with you two? Put on a happy face—Dad’s watching!”
His wife murmured something in his ear. At once, the middle-aged man’s forced smile crumbled, shock flooding his eyes.
Someone across the table spotted the couple’s strange behavior. They immediately hunched over their phone, thumbs flying as they fired off a message to ask what was up.
And so the shock spread like a plague from one person to the next around the restaurant.
Yu Bai noticed the shifting expressions among the group, but he was utterly puzzled.
He hadn’t even done anything yet. Why did they all look on the verge of a heart attack, staring at Xie Wufang beside him—some openly, some on the sly?
It wasn’t until the two children seated next to Xie Wufang sneaked him a triumphant V-sign that enlightenment dawned on Yu Bai.
No wonder they had called out to them like that earlier.
Clever kids.
Yu Bai flashed a discreet thumbs-up in return. He leaned toward the man beside him and whispered, “They’ve pegged you as the biggest threat—that’s why they’re acting like this.”
His voice brimmed with buoyant amusement, and Xie Wufang could hear it plainly. He asked softly, “Is this the right way?”
Yu Bai thought to himself that He, of course, couldn’t grasp the tangled web of human greed and intrigue. He probably didn’t even understand why their arrival had put the old man’s other children on high alert, like facing deadly foes.
But that was fine. Xie Wufang didn’t need to understand any of it. He just needed to be himself.
“Absolutely right—spot on,” Yu Bai said with a nod, utterly sincere. “Like I said, I’m glad you’re here.”
He spoke offhandedly, but the sharp-featured man at his side quietly surveyed the onlookers and their varied expressions. A faint smile touched his lips—noble, gentle.
The harsh winter night seemed to thaw in an instant. Yu Bai cradled his glass of crisp, chilling Ice Cola, yet it felt like warm, soothing hot milk sliding down his throat. His spirits lifted, as if transported back to a radiant summer day.
The silver-haired old man and the wide-eyed child beside him felt it too. To them, the night had never seemed so beautiful.
The family members, on the other hand—those given a glance by the enigmatic stranger—felt the polar opposite. Each one plunged into an icy chill.
That calm smile, coming after the imperious glance, sent shivers down their spines.
What an arrogant bastard!
…But he was terrifying, no doubt about it!
