Chapter 111
Wen Xingxue, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of Xing Nuo, looked up.
“You lost something?”
Xing Nuo nodded vigorously, his lips pursed, his expression serious.
“Did you steal the children’s things?”
Wen Xingxue, having just returned from a dungeon, his face still showing signs of weariness, looked at Xing Nuo, amused by his serious demeanor.
“No, I just arrived.”
He glanced at the shadowy figure lurking in the locker and smiled, a sinister glint in his eyes.
“Xing Nuo, do you want to help your friends find their missing things?”
Xing Nuo nodded, clutching his water bottle, his eyes wary.
“I do. But I not ‘fraid of you!”
He puffed out his chest and struck a pose, yelling “Hiya!”
“I vewy stwong! Defeated many monsters!”
The coldness in Wen Xingxue’s eyes melted away, replaced by a growing warmth, and he smiled.
“You are indeed stronger than me.”
He stood up and took Xing Nuo’s small, soft hand.
Xing Nuo, feeling a gentle breeze against his hand, looked down, confused.
Wen Xingxue led him to the lockers and said:
“Open the one on the left.”
Xing Nuo, not understanding, but trusting the monster’s strangely reassuring voice, obediently opened the locker.
Inside were the children’s backpacks, their stickers gone.
Wen Xingxue stood beside him and continued:
“There’s a small black dot inside. Press it and answer its question.”
A nascent Rule monster, not even fully formed, probably banished from the horror world by stronger monsters, reduced to scaring children in the human world.
But Wen Xingxue, looking at the shadowy figure, frowned thoughtfully.
Even weak Rule monsters can cross dimensions and enter the human world now?
How bad has the monster invasion become?
As Wen Xingxue pondered this, Xing Nuo, his head tilted, hesitated, not pressing the black dot.
He looked up, gesturing towards the locker.
“Big Brother, you p-wess it.”
Wen Xingxue chuckled, his voice hoarse but laced with amusement.
“Clever. Not pressing it yourself, making me do it?”
And whenever he needed something, he would switch from calling him “monster” to “Big Brother.”
Wen Xingxue, finding this endearing, ruffled Xing Nuo’s hair, his expression surprisingly gentle.
“Fine, I’ll help you find their things. What will you give me in return?”
Xing Nuo thought for a moment, then looked up.
“Big Brother, if you need…I can buwn papew money for you.”
Wen Xingxue: “…”
“I’m not dead yet.”
Xing Nuo’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Not dead? Then why I can’t see you?”
First, he thought the Big Brother was a monster, and now he thought he was a ghost.
Wen Xingxue sighed, rubbing his forehead.
“I’m in another world, Xing Nuo. Do you remember what I told you before?”
The monster had said many things, but the one that stuck with Xing Nuo the most was:
“Xing Nuo, I’m your dad.”
Xing Nuo shook his head vigorously, his face serious.
“I have Daddy.”
Wen Xingxue said:
“Can’t you have two daddies?”
This stumped Xing Nuo.
He scratched his cheek, his mouth open slightly, unsure how to answer.
“But…but other children…only have one daddy.”
Wen Xingxue leaned against the wall, flicking Xing Nuo’s curls, his tone nonchalant.
“Other children’s families aren’t your concern.”
Xing Nuo didn’t understand.
But Wen Xingxue didn’t elaborate. He reached out, grabbed the shadowy figure, and ripped it in half.
The monster, which had been hiding in the locker, trying to scare the children to gain energy, was easily destroyed.
Xing Nuo only saw a puff of black smoke and heard a faint cry, then the missing items appeared beside the locker.
At the front of the classroom.
Little Fatty, using his size to his advantage, was interrogating the other children, pretending to be a detective.
The other children, unable to resist him, could only protest weakly:
“I didn’t steal it! My ball is missing too!”
Little Fatty, wearing a pair of oversized glasses that looked comical on his chubby face, snorted.
“If not you, then who?”
He turned and saw Xing Nuo standing in the corner, mumbling to himself, and banged his hand on the table.
“Xing Nuo! Was it you?!”
Xing Nuo, startled, was about to speak to the monster when Little Fatty called his name.
He quickly shook his head, moving aside.
“Things…beside locker!”
The other children rushed over, grabbing their belongings.
“They’re here!”
“Xing Nuo, you’re so amazing! You found them!”
Yiyi, hugging her scarf, relieved, thanked Xing Nuo.
“Thank you, Xing Nuo! You’re much better than Little Fatty!”
Little Fatty, taking off his glasses, his hands on his hips, declared:
“Xing Nuo must have used my detective skills to find them!”
Qingqing scoffed and, ignoring him, crowded around Xing Nuo.
“Xing Nuo, how did you find them? I saw you in the corner, talking to someone…”
Xing Nuo looked at them, puzzled. Couldn’t they hear the monster?
Wen Xingxue, seeing Xing Nuo surrounded by the other children, smiled.
“Don’t tell anyone about me. I’ll visit you again in a few days.”
Xing Nuo wanted to say something, but with the other children watching, he just nodded.
Teacher Xiao Song and the principal arrived, their faces filled with confusion, seeing the missing items.
“That’s strange. We searched everywhere. How did they suddenly reappear?”
Qingqing, bouncing excitedly, said:
“Xing Nuo is the most careful in our class! He must have searched really hard!”
Teacher Xiao Song was still puzzled, but perhaps she had overlooked something, her head having been a bit dizzy that morning.
“Alright, since you’ve found your things, put them away in your lockers.”
Xing Nuo, holding his snowflake, looked at it for a long time, then went to find Teacher Xiao Song.
“Teacher Xiao Song.”
Teacher Xiao Song crouched down, her eyes warm and gentle.
“What is it, Xing Nuo?”
Xing Nuo looked up, thought for a moment, and asked:
“Teacher Xiao Song, can a child have two daddies?”
Teacher Xiao Song, not understanding why he would ask such a question, but then, thinking of the gentle, blond-haired Shen Wen, had a suspicion—
Could it be that Xing Nuo’s dad is…gay?
Being an open-minded and accepting teacher, she didn’t dismiss the possibility and, patting Xing Nuo’s head, said gently:
“Not all families are made up of a mommy and a daddy. As long as there is love, having two daddies can also be a happy family, right?”
Xing Nuo, deep in thought, hummed and returned to his seat, staring at his snowflake.
He knew other children had a mommy and a daddy.
But he had never felt like he was missing anything, because Shen Wen’s love was more than enough, always making him feel loved and secure.
Having grown up surrounded by love, Xing Nuo was also generous with his own affection.
He rested his chin on his hand, looking at the snowflake, and sighed softly.
He took out another piece of paper and, before lunch, quickly made another, slightly less perfect, snowflake.
He put the slightly crumpled snowflake in his desk and went to get his lunch from Teacher Xiao Song.
After school.
It started to rain.
The soft patter of rain against the windows, the air cool and misty.
The children looked out the window, chattering.
“It’s raining! Will Mommy forget to pick me up?”
“Waaah, Daddy better not forget me!”
Children always had their worries, acutely aware that a parent’s love was often divided.
But Xing Nuo wasn’t worried at all. He looked at the rain, thinking about splashing in puddles with his little rain boots, if Daddy brought them.
Shen Wen, knowing Xing Nuo well, arrived with an umbrella and a pair of blue rain boots.
Xing Nuo quickly changed into his boots and put on his yellow duck raincoat, then ran outside, splashing in the puddles as he went.
“Daddy!”
Before he even reached Shen Wen, he was already jumping and splashing.
Shen Wen, wearing a beige trench coat, smiled, but his voice was firm.
“Don’t splash near me. You’ll get mud all over yourself.”
Xing Nuo, slightly subdued, stopped jumping and walked over to his dad, holding his hand, whispering about a surprise he had for him at home.
Shen Wen, holding the little one’s slightly damp hand, smiled and nodded.
