"Why would she scold me?" Fang Zichen looked at him curiously. "My mom actually praised me. She said people who extort others are scum and told me next time, I should hit them even harder."
Zhao Ger: "..."
He Xi: "..."
"Uh... so your family must be really wealthy, huh?"
Fang Zichen gave him a look like he was an idiot: "If my family wasn’t loaded, do you think my mom would’ve said that?"
He Xi: "..."
His father had guessed right, before ending up in the village, Fang Zichen really had been the young master of a wealthy family.
Hexi chatted with Fang Zichen for a while before leaving.
He had many family matters to attend to, unlike Fang Zichen, who was unburdened and free.
When Fang Zichen and the others returned, they noticed two people standing outside the yard.
One big, one small.
Fang Zichen recognized them immediately, it was the one who had pleaded for Zhao Ger that morning.
When Zhao Ger saw Zhou Ger, the tension in his body, which had been stiff around Fang Zichen, unconsciously eased. Facing Fang Zichen always made him feel uneasy, somewhat nervous, somewhat awkward, and even inexplicably inferior—yet he couldn’t help but let his gaze follow him, paying attention to his every word and action.
This was something he had never experienced before.
Zhao Ger jogged over: "Zhou Zhou, why are you here? Liuliu’s here too!"
Liuliu looked up and called out, "Uncle Zhao!"
"I brought you some food," Zhou Ger handed over a basket. "Freshly picked from the fields. I..."
Fang Zichen, holding Guaizai’s hand, approached. Zhou Ger pressed his lips together and fell silent.
Zhao Ger lowered his head, fiddling with the hem of his clothes. After a moment, he introduced to Fang Zichen: "Husband, this is Zhou Ger, my good friend."
Fang Zichen: "..."
The sudden address of "husband" left Fang Zichen stunned.
His steps halted, and his mind seemed to hit a sudden pause button—dazed, a little bashful, and filled with an absurd sense of unreality.
Zhao Ger had spoken so much to him today, but this was the first time he had called him "husband."
Originally, Fang Zichen had thought of helping Zhao Ger out, taking him home not as a fulang but as a brother. But... Zhao Ger clearly didn’t see it that way.
He wasn’t prepared for this.
"You..."
Their eyes met. After more than ten seconds, Fang Zichen was the first to look away.
He had wanted to say, "Don’t call me husband," but when faced with Zhao Ger’s clear, bright eyes - eyes that couldn’t hide his nervousness. He suddenly found himself unable to speak.
In the eyes of outsiders, Zhao Ger was his fulang. The address wasn’t wrong. If he were to say outright in front of Zhou Ger, "I’m not your husband, don’t call me that," Zhao Ger would be put in an awkward position.
"Husband?" Zhao Ger called him again.
His voice was soft.
Fang Zichen remained silent, and everyone present stared at him.
Even hearing it a second time, under everyone’s burning gazes, Fang Zichen felt his ears grow hot.
Damn it...
This was really messed up.
"Go ahead and talk," Fang Zichen said, his voice low and unreadable. "I’ll go inside first."
Once he left, Zhou Ger let out a sigh of relief.
Fang Zichen’s looks were strikingly handsome, almost flamboyant. Logically, someone like him should be a pleasant sight, but when Fang Zichen wasn’t smiling, his gaze carried a domineering, invasive pressure that made unfamiliar people feel uneasy deep down.
A single day wasn’t enough to judge, but Zhou Ger couldn’t help asking, "Is he good to you?"
"Yeah," Zhao Ger said. "He gave us food, didn’t scold me or Guaizai, and earlier, he even caught a frog for Guaizai." As he spoke, the corners of his lips curled into a faint smile. Zhou Ger was momentarily stunned, his heart aching. It felt like he hadn’t seen Zhao Ger smile in a very, very long time.
Guaizai was cupping his hands together. Zhou Ger noticed now, Liuliu walked up to Guaizai. "Is there a frog inside?"
"Yeah," Guaizai opened a small gap to show him.
A plump green frog sat in his palm, its mouth opening and closing as it croaked twice.
Liuliu’s eyes widened. "Daddy, it really is a frog!"
Fang Zichen lay on the bed. Soon, noises came from outside.
The yard wasn’t big. He heard Zhao Ger instruct Guaizai to play with Liuliu in the yard and not to wander off. Then, beneath the window outside the room, bursts of exclamations arose.
At first, Fang Zichen paid no mind, but as he listened, something felt off.
Guaizai and Liuliu were at that age where their intelligence was... questionable. They squatted by the wall, watching a frog with its legs tied as it lay motionless in a crevice. Guaizai tugged the string, making it move—one tug, one movement. The two children acted as if they’d never seen such a thing, utterly fascinated.
"Wow, it can move..."
"It has two eyes!"
"Yeah! And two legs."
"Guaizai, look, it can even jump..."
Fang Zichen’s lips twitched. Unable to resist, he leaned out the window and asked, "Have you two never seen a frog before?"
"Father," Guaizai stood up and shook his head. "Never seen one."
Unlike Guaizai, who was shy around strangers, Liuliu nodded in agreement. "Me neither."
Fang Zichen: "..."
Are you two really village kids?
Fang Zichen looked at Liuliu, raising a brow as he asked knowingly, "What’s your name?"
"Liuliu."
Hearing Fang Zichen’s voice, Zhao Ger came to the kitchen doorway, his gaze settling on him.
Fang Zichen leaned halfway out the window, grinning mischievously in his usual irreverent manner. "Your name’s Liuliu, so do you have a little brother at home called Dada?"
[Liuliu and Dada (溜溜和哒哒) are the paired names featured in the opening line of a well-known Chinese children’s rhyme]
Zhao Ger: "..."
"No little brother," Liuliu shook his head.
Fang Zichen chuckled, taking the grass string from Guaizai and lifting the frog. Dangling in midair, the frog kicked its legs frantically. Fang Zichen said, "Come on, take a good look. Count how many legs it has."
Guaizai and Liuliu leaned in closer. No matter how they looked or counted, it only had two legs.
"Uncle," Liuliu said, "Froggie has two legs."
"Then what are these?" Fang Zichen pointed at the noticeably smaller front limbs. "Aren’t these legs?"
Guaizai shook his head. "Father, these are froggie’s hands!"
Fang Zichen: "..."
"Who told you these are its hands?"
Guaizai didn’t answer.
No one had told him, he just instinctively thought so.
Humans have two hands and two feet. Froggie must be the same.
Fang Zichen rubbed his forehead. When he glanced up, he caught Zhao Ger suppressing a faint smile - so subtle it was barely noticeable, but Fang Zichen was sure he was laughing. Immediately, he said, "You still have the nerve to laugh? Look at your son! Hurry up and do some damage control!"
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