The Whole Family Are Villains, I’m the Group Pet 209

Chapter 209:

If – Child-Rearing Arc: Previous Life’s Zaizai 2

Xing Nuo had a long, vivid dream that night.

In his dream, encouraged by the orphanage director and his friends, he was adopted by the couple.

He lived happily with his new parents for two or three years.

They were kind to him, and he even went to kindergarten, starting a new life.

But then, his new mom became pregnant.

His life took a turn for the worse. The dream lost its color, and he watched, a detached observer, as his small self stood in a corner, being punished.

Behind a closed door, his adoptive parents’ voices:

“We shouldn’t have adopted him.”

“Who knew I could actually get pregnant? Two children are too much. We don’t even have enough bedrooms.”

“He’ll have to give up his room. Our own child is more important. I’ll figure out a way to send him back to the orphanage.”

Xing Nuo stood there, small and alone, understanding.

They didn’t want him anymore.

He woke up, his chest heavy, his eyes, usually bright and sparkling, now dull as he stared at the ceiling.

A caregiver came to help the children get dressed.

Xing Nuo sighed softly and sat up, obedient and quiet as he changed out of his faded pajamas and joined the other children for breakfast.

The orphanage was a quiet place, the children rarely crying, their meals eaten in silence.

Xing Nuo, not very adept with chopsticks, carefully scooped his soup with a spoon.

An older girl, seeing him manage, ruffled his hair, pleased.

“Xing Nuo is getting so good at eating by himself.”

Xing Nuo nodded, smiling, his eyes crinkling.

“Yes. Vewy good.”

He heard the director’s footsteps and looked up as she entered, her face beaming, and announced:

“A company sponsored a field trip! We’re going to the zoo!”

The children cheered, their excitement bubbling over.

Xing Nuo’s eyes also lit up, and before he could even think about what to bring, an older girl said:

“Bring your water bottle and backpack! I’ve been there before!”

Xing Nuo eagerly followed her, watching her pack, and also stuffed his small backpack with his own things,

packing double of everything, just in case.

The backpack, a donation from a previous charity event, was bright red with a large heart and a small tag with his name and the orphanage’s name.

Xing Nuo didn’t mind its ugliness and, with the older girl’s help, put it on.

The heavy backpack made him stumble and fall, his short legs kicking in the air as the other children laughed. The older girl helped him up.

“Xing Nuo, your bag is too heavy. Don’t pack so much.”

Xing Nuo nodded slowly, tilting his head.

“What to pack?”

The girl, charmed by his cuteness, pinched his cheek and helped him remove a few unnecessary items, lightening his load.

The children, their backpacks on, boarded the bus, heading to the zoo.

It was Xing Nuo’s first field trip. The director had said he had been too sick and frail to go anywhere when he was younger.

He sat by the window, his legs dangling, his face pressed against the glass, watching the scenery.

A boy next to him, who had been to the zoo before, said excitedly:

“We’ll be there soon! The zoo has elephants! Big, long noses! Xing Nuo, have you seen an elephant before?”

Xing Nuo turned and shook his head.

“No.”

He hadn’t seen many things.

Hearing the boy describe how big elephants were, how they could easily crush him with a single foot, Xing Nuo shivered and hugged his backpack.

It’s okay.

Zaizai will be nice to elephant…ask it not to step on him.

Filled with a mixture of excitement and apprehension, Xing Nuo and the other children followed the volunteer into the zoo.

The moment they entered, the neat line dissolved.

Xing Nuo, being small, had been at the front of the line, but now, he found himself at the back, his heavy backpack slowing him down.

He ran, trying to catch up.

The volunteer, waving her little red flag, led them to the giraffe enclosure and started explaining their characteristics.

Xing Nuo, having fallen behind, reached the enclosure just as a giraffe lowered its head, its long neck reaching towards him.

Xing Nuo: !!!

He screamed, his backpack slipping off his shoulders, his little legs kicking frantically as he dangled from the giraffe’s mouth, his face wet with the giraffe’s saliva.

“Help! Help Zaizai!”

The nearby tourists, seeing this, chuckled and quickly pulled him away from the giraffe.

“That giraffe is bullying the little boy!”

“So funny! Maybe it’s attracted to his blond hair?”

Xing Nuo’s heart pounded, and before he could even thank his rescuers, a kind-hearted woman handed him to a man with golden hair and sunglasses.

“Can’t you keep an eye on your child? He almost got eaten by a giraffe!”

The woman, glaring at the man, placed Xing Nuo in his arms.

“Hold him properly! He’s so small, he can’t even walk!”

Xing Nuo and the blond man were both stunned.

The man took off his sunglasses, revealing his light-colored eyes, clear and cool like a deep pool.

He looked down at the small child in his arms, his brow furrowed.

“Who are you?”

Xing Nuo, seeing the other children and the volunteer leaving, his eyes wide with panic, his little legs kicking, his words jumbled, cried out:

“Go! They gone!”

He pointed in the direction they had disappeared, then, looking at the man, whose hair was the same unusual golden color as his own, his mouth turned down, and tears streamed down his face.

“They…left Zaizai…”

The blond man, also stunned, seeing the child’s sudden tears, the large teardrops landing on his hand, quickly put him down.

“Don’t cry.”

He wasn’t good with children and didn’t even have a tissue.

A nearby woman, seeing this, sighed and handed him one.

“Clearly, you don’t take your child out often. Probably leave everything to his mother. Look at you, panicking.”

The blond man, speechless, crouched down and wiped Xing Nuo’s tears.

Xing Nuo, his vision blurry, sniffled, then rubbed his eyes with his hand.

“No cwy…Zaizai find…find Gwandma.”

He didn’t want to go to the zoo anymore. He wanted to go back to the orphanage.

The blond man, Shen Wen, looking at the small child, his speech slurred, his head barely reaching his knee, frowned.

“What’s your name? Are you lost?”

Xing Nuo took a deep breath, his face flushed from crying, and after a moment, said:

“I Xing Nuo. I find…find Gwandma.”

Shen Wen, seeing the child trembling, his eyes filled with tears, the other people staring at them curiously, picked him up and sat down on a nearby bench.

“Don’t worry. I’ll help you find her.”

He looked at the child’s soft, curly, golden hair and understood why he had been mistaken for his son.

Natural blond hair was rare.

Even Shen Wen was surprised. He compared his own long, golden hair to the child’s.

The child’s hair was a lighter shade, almost flaxen, softer and fluffier.

Shen Wen’s hair was pure gold, inherited from his ancestors, a dominant gene, along with his light-colored eyes.

Xing Nuo, seeing the man’s hair, also golden, stopped rubbing his eyes and stared at him, his own eyes wide with confusion.

Why his hair same color as Zaizai’s?