The little toys were all dressed in matching goose-yellow uniforms. Even though their shapes were wildly different, Tao Fangyi used double-sided tape to help get them dressed, making sure every single toy had clothes on.
Tao Fangyi also lined them up in order. In total, there were fourteen little toys.
This was Sophia’s first time truly stepping into the human world. Tao Fangyi had warned her to stick right against the edge of the sidewalk so she wouldn’t get stepped on.
The whole group of kid toys chattered excitedly the entire way. They even started singing on their own.
Sophia thought the nursery rhymes these toys were listening to were incredibly tacky. She showed off the songs her creator used to listen to, and immediately after, the pile of kid toys started singing the nursery rhymes her creator had once sung.
In short, they were extremely noisy.
And also…
“Teacher Suo! Teacher Suo! There’s a puddle over here!” A little sand hammer was bouncing around next to a small puddle. “Can I stomp in the puddle?”
“No! And my name isn’t Suo!” Sophia was somewhat annoyed, but she still ran over to the little sand hammer because she had already figured out these child toys’ tricks.
Just as she expected, right after she refused, the little sand hammer pretended to trip and prepared to dive straight into the puddle.
Sophia stopped him in time and tossed the little sand hammer back into the group.
After finishing this series of actions, she glared furiously at Morning Star. “Why didn’t you stop them?!”
Then Sophia noticed that the entire lower half of Morning Star’s body was covered in dirty water.
Morning Star’s eyes darted left and right, pretending to be very busy.
She’d almost forgotten. Morning Star was just a fantasy of a first-grader. He couldn’t control himself at all.
Sophia clenched her fists. She felt like her sanity was about to snap.
But after the emotions had been piling up for so long, a brand-new idea suddenly popped into Sophia’s head.
Sophia clapped her hands. “Everyone can play in the water~ You can play with mud and water too.”
She was going to make these toys return to Tao Fangyi completely filthy, so that Tao Fangyi could share in her misery.
Sophia let out a “Hehehe” evil laugh. She could already picture that wicked dinosaur’s breakdown.
On the way to the elementary school, she was determined to make this whole bunch of toys as grimy as possible.
Three hours later, Sophia brought the pack of filthy toys back to the Toy Room.
Tao Fangyi opened the barrier and carefully wiped down the rattle drum.
The rattle drum was still excitedly sharing everything he had seen and heard with Tao Fangyi. “And then when the bell rang for the end of class, so, so many humans came running out of the classrooms!”
“Haha, is that so.” Tao Fangyi asked with a smile as he wiped, “Then did you count exactly how many people ran out?”
The rattle drum said excitedly, “Ten! Definitely ten!”
A jigsaw puzzle piece that hadn’t been wiped yet interrupted, “A hundred! There were a hundred of them!”
Tao Fangyi: “Whoa!!”
The little sand hammer asked Tao Fangyi, “Have you ever seen that many people before?”
“I probably have.” Tao Fangyi took the uniform off the rattle drum and cleaned it with a spell.
“Teacher Suo was super nice. She let me stomp in little puddles! She even let us roll around in the sand! We also went to play on the outdoor something at the school.” Another puzzle piece said, “But when class ended a thousand people came running toward us.” The numbers had inflated again.
“So did you see your little master?” Tao Fangyi asked.
All the little toys answered in unison, “We saw him!!!”
“He has lots of friends, and they were laughing the whole time! So happy!”
“They even used toys to battle each other, but the toy they brought along was dead!”
They chattered noisily about everything they had witnessed, while nearby Sophia was on the verge of a breakdown. The breaking point for her was that Tao Fangyi was not breaking down at all.
Tao Fangyi’s first reaction upon seeing these dirty toys was that this trip had actually made them pretty happy.
These toys rambled on with Tao Fangyi for who knows how long about nonsense, but Tao Fangyi listened to every single bit of it and responded to absolutely everything.
How on earth did he manage that?
Blazing Flame was also very excited, but he didn’t crowd around Tao Fangyi chatting. He just silently hugged his knees, sitting right beside Tao Fangyi, one hand still holding onto the hem of Tao Fangyi’s clothes.
Morning Star stood the farthest away, looking a bit bashful and fidgety, but he also seemed to be hoping that Tao Fangyi would wipe him down. He had things he wanted to talk about too.
Sophia gritted her teeth, and then she heard a “crack.”
Had she broken a tooth?
Sophia covered her cheek, then immediately heard another series of “crack crack crack.”
She finally realized that the sound wasn’t coming from her. Sophia looked towards the source and saw that Wang was gnashing his teeth.
Wang had thought that having the barrier opened and being taken care of was his own exclusive treatment, but now this pile of low-grade toddler toys from who-knows-what shady manufacturer was getting the same treatment as him?!
This was unacceptable!
Right at that moment Blade Spirit chimed in from the side, “And here I thought it was a privilege unique to you. Turns out Tao Fangyi is just a nice guy.”
Wang: “You and I are gonna go down together, you believe me?”
Blade Spirit quietly walked away.
Finally, Tao Fangyi picked up Morning Star.
“He had so much fun with his friends, but his friends will never love him the way we do.” Morning Star said, “They have their own thoughts, their own paths to walk.”
“That’s because they’re not toys. They’re masters of other toys.” Tao Fangyi pointed to the other toys, “You’re not always completely satisfied with your own companions either, right?”
“But if he stays with his friends, he’ll get hurt.” Morning Star was still worried.
Today he had quietly asked Sophia.
Sophia had said that their master really wasn’t that good-looking.
Sophia hadn’t directly said he was ugly, because her creator still had a little bit of affection for his young cousin.
Morning Star didn’t agree with what Tao Fangyi was saying, but Blazing Flame thought Tao Fangyi was exactly right.
A powerful adult like Tao Fangyi surely understood everything.
“After all, we’re toys created by the master when he was younger.” Morning Star sighed.
“Young toys have their own thoughts too, you know.” Tao Fangyi rubbed Blazing Flame’s head.
Blazing Flame smiled and made a sound of agreement.
After cleaning every single toy, Tao Fangyi told them to go rest. They could only keep their master company properly if they were well-rested.
Once he had coaxed the toys away, he asked Sophia if she still wanted to give a speech tonight.
Sophia suspected that Tao Fangyi was only doing all this to stop the toys and fantasy creatures from rebelling.
But Sophia no longer had the energy to fight against Tao Fangyi. “No, I’m tired.”
“I still have to work tomorrow. I need to rest.” Sophia remembered that Tao Fangyi had said this group of kid toys still had to go out.
“Not tomorrow, tomorrow’s the weekend.” Tao Fangyi said, “You can give your speech tomorrow, I can clap for you.”
Sophia: …
Oh. Tao Fangyi wasn’t trying to stop her at all. He just unilaterally didn’t take her speech seriously.
Sophia kind of wanted to cry.
But she would never have imagined that what would happen the very next day would make her want to cry even more.
Or rather, make her Older Cousin’s fantasy creatures want to cry even more.
Older Male Cousin and Older Female Cousin had come again. This time Older Male Cousin’s beloved was here too, and Older Female Cousin had also brought her fiancé.
And inside their little Toy Room, a miniature human had sprouted up.
“Uncle.” This child, just over a year old, still couldn’t speak very clearly. She grabbed a toy and waved it around vigorously.
The impact on the fantasy creatures was enormous.
This child had come to play before, but back then they hadn’t realized that she was their creator’s child.
“Children are the most detestable kind of living thing!” One fantasy creature said, “They’re like black holes, desperately trying to suck away all the affection from the people around them. Our creator has completely lost his mind! How could he have a child?!”
“And this child’s face is also…” Another fantasy creature started to say before suddenly pausing and then changing his words. “Actually, our creator’s kid is a little better-looking than Liu Xuanyong.”
“I was thinking the same.”
“Hey!!” Blazing Flame called out quietly. He was inside Older Cousin’s box and could hear these fantasy creatures discussing.
“Even though I don’t want to be that harsh on Liu Xuanyong, our master’s daughter has really big eyes, and eyelashes so long.” At least this annoying kid was reasonably cute-looking.
Wang overheard their conversation and couldn’t help but interrupt, “But she has a flat nose bridge, and nostrils that point up.”
“That’s just because kids’ noses haven’t developed yet!” The fantasy creature retorted.
This time he spoke a little too loudly, and Liu Xuanyong noticed.
Liu Xuanyong turned his head to glance in the direction of Older Cousin’s box. The fantasy creature immediately shut his mouth.
“Uncle?” The little girl tilted her head.
“It’s nothing.” Liu Xuanyong turned his head back. “Uncle’s house has been a bit weird lately.” He was being jumped and terrorized by an evil ghost every single night, but his mom and dad absolutely refused to believe him.
Because he slept incredibly soundly every day, was hard to wake up in the morning, and didn’t show any abnormal behavior at all.
His parents suspected he was just having nightmares.
Liu Xuanyong was actually very angry. He was disappointed that his parents were ignoring him. He felt that if his parents continued like this, he would turn into a kid who couldn’t smile anymore.
What he didn’t know was that the Fear Value collected on Tao Fangyi’s side had never once gone off the charts. Liu Xuanyong was simply an irredeemable optimist through and through.
“Just look at him.” Blazing Flame pressed both hands against the toy box and whispered, “He doesn’t mind sharing. Do you know how many kids can’t do that?”
“Like you’ve seen so many kids.” The fantasy creature dismissed him with disdain.
“I haven’t, but the Commander-in-Chief told me.” Blazing Flame whispered.
Tao Fangyi had seen many children. Tao Fangyi said that Liu Xuanyong was definitely among the top ten happiest kids he had ever met.
“My creator is very cute.” Blazing Flame said, “Even though his face might not be that pretty, he’s optimistic and kind. He treats others well, and he treats himself well.”
“Still in love with him? He’s already abandoned you.” The fantasy creature clicked his tongue.
Blazing Flame lowered his head.
In fact, these past few days he had been constantly thinking about the words of Morning Star and Sophia.
He wanted Liu Xuanyong to be happy, but it seemed like joy faded with adulthood, while worries multiplied.
The troubles at three years old were so much fewer than the troubles at six.
But Blazing Flame also didn’t agree with Morning Star’s thinking. Why exactly was that?
Blazing Flame couldn’t figure it out.
Once the two children had run off to eat, Tao Fangyi, who had been hiding inside a toy box, secretly climbed out. He ran to where Blazing Flame was, opened the lid of Older Cousin’s box, and jumped in.
“What will happen to your story later on?” Tao Fangyi asked Blazing Flame.
“What do you mean what will happen?” Blazing Flame didn’t understand.
Tao Fangyi pulled out his phone. It turned out he had been watching the cartoon starring Blazing Flame the whole time.
In the cartoon, Blazing Flame was a robot representing justice.
In the final episode, the heroes faced an unprecedented crisis. Blazing Flame was damaged. On the verge of life and death, all his comrades temporarily loaned him their energy sources.
Blazing Flame defeated the monster.
“But humanity hasn’t accepted robots yet, right? I searched, and this cartoon doesn’t have a next season.” But Tao Fangyi really wanted to know the follow-up plot.
Blazing Flame thought for a moment, then answered according to his own understanding. “Humans accepted us, and then we all lived happily together.”
Wang, who was eavesdropping: “… He has no idea, does he. He was created by his master, not by that cartoon’s scriptwriter.”
“Is that so?” Tao Fangyi didn’t get it.
Blazing Flame stared at Tao Fangyi’s phone for a while. “Can I watch that cartoon?”
Wang: “He doesn’t even know the specific plot of that cartoon, I bet.”
“Sure.” Tao Fangyi handed his phone to Blazing Flame.
“After I finish watching, can I play games on your phone?” Blazing Flame asked.
“You can.” Tao Fangyi pushed the phone into Blazing Flame’s hands, then climbed out of the toy box.
Tao Fangyi still had some puzzles, but Blazing Flame couldn’t give him answers, so he could only discuss with Wang and Blade Spirit.
Blade Spirit wanted to come closer, but Wang shooed him away again.
Now Tao Fangyi could only talk to Wang.
“If the toys from your childhood wanted to trap you in a world with nothing but happiness, would you be willing?” Tao Fangyi asked Wang.
Wang instinctively answered that he would be willing.
His answer was within Tao Fangyi’s expectations.
But Wang quickly rejected his own view. “No, no, no, I wouldn’t accept it.”
“Why?” Tao Fangyi asked.
“My happiness has honestly never changed since I was little.” Wang was perfectly happy being a benevolent slaughterer, but if he had been trapped by his toys as a child, how would he have ever met Tao Fangyi?
That was what Wang thought, so he directly said it. “Then what about you? I wouldn’t meet you, and then would you just randomly pick up some new kid off the ground? And then would you do everything you’ve done for me all over again with him?!”
“Just thinking about it a little makes me want to crush that person to death!” Wang couldn’t accept that possibility.
“Ah… oh.” Tao Fangyi suddenly felt a bit flustered.
“What’s with that reaction? Aren’t you happy?” Wang looked at Tao Fangyi, only to see Tao Fangyi’s two stubby little forelimbs twisting together, rubbing nonstop.
Wang: “… Are you embarrassed?”
Tao Fangyi nodded awkwardly, then lowered his head, trying to cover his giant T-Rex head with his little claws, but he couldn’t do it at all.
Wang had been so willing at first to immerse himself in that happy world, but Wang would rather give up all that happiness just to meet him.
