"Father." he called out with a sob.
Fang Zichen put his hands on his knees, squatting slightly: "What's wrong? Are you too full?"
"Guaizai's head hurts!" Guaizai said.
Fang Zichen: "..."
Hurt your head.
Why didn't you say it hurt when there was food to eat?
Now that you've finished eating, you remember it hurts.
But comfort was still necessary.
Although Fang Zichen kind of felt like laughing right now.
He said: "It's okay, it'll be better soon."
Aunt Liu also said: "Our Guaizai is so good, he doesn't even cry despite being in so much pain."
Upon hearing this, Guaizai was immediately affected.
The tears in his eyes instantly retracted.
"Can't cry!" He said boastfully: "Guaizai is a brave man! Brave men are not afraid of pain. I don't feel any pain at all now."
Fang Zichen almost laughed out loud.
"..." Zhao Ger was somewhat speechless, he had been so heartbroken for nothing.
Zhou Ger borrowed a small saw and sawed slowly for a while. Once there was a cut, Fang Zichen, impatient with the slowness, grabbed the small bar and exerted force. With a crack, the bar broke.
He paused for a moment.
Was it that easy to break?
If he had known, why bother borrowing a saw?
He had really made his son suffer for nothing.
By the time they left the Liu family, the sun had already set.
Fang Zichen carried Guaizai. Guaizai touched his own head, then stared at Fang Zichen.
The meaning in his eyes was clear.
He was now covered in sweat on his forehead. Fang Zichen sighed and kissed his head.
"Does it still hurt?"
"Doesn't hurt anymore." Guaizai smiled.
Zhao Ger pinched his little cheek and turned to Fang Zichen: "You just spoil him. Next time he asks you to kiss his feet, will you do it or not?"
The path was still visible. After leaving the Liu family, Zhao Ger wanted Guaizai to walk by himself, but Fang Zichen insisted on carrying him, saying his son had suffered and needed to be held to warm his injured little heart.
But boys shouldn't be so delicate!
He had told Fang Zichen a few times before not to spoil the child so much, but Fang Zichen argued with him.
"Am I spoiling him? No! And, if you don't want me to spoil him, do you want me to abuse him? That won't do. If I'm not good to him, I'm afraid he'll bury me alive when I'm old."
This statement left Zhao Ger speechless.
This time, Fang Zichen didn't reply. Instead, he asked Guaizai: "Guaizai, do you love Father?"
Guaizai blinked: "Love! Guaizai loves Father and Daddy the most."
"Then when Father is old and wants to eat meat, will Guaizai buy it for Father?"
"Will!" Guaizai said, then pouted: "But Guaizai doesn't have that much money."
Meat is very expensive.
He had gone to buy it with Daddy before, just a little bit cost many, many copper coins.
He only had nine copper coins now.
What to do?
If I can't afford meat, Father will starve to death.
"It's okay," Fang Zichen raised his eyebrows, full of confidence in Guaizai, and asked again: "Then if Father can't eat or move, what should Guaizai do?"
"I will care for Father faithfully and tirelessly, staying loyal through thick and thin, feeding Father, attending to all Father's needs with unwavering devotion," Fang Zichen thought Guaizai would definitely say something like this.
After all, when he bought steamed buns for Guaizai before, Guaizai had said something similar.
He was even younger then but already had such high ideological awareness. Now, a few months older, and with his careful teaching and leading by example, Guaizai must be even better.
As long as Guaizai said that, it would prove he was filial, which would prove that spoiling him hadn't ruined him.
Hmph.
Let's see what Zhao Ger has to complain about now.
Zhao Ger also knew his intention. Both looked at Guaizai.
Guaizai’s small face scrunched into a serious frown, his pink, glossy lips—shiny and smooth like jelly—puckered in thought.
Fang Zichen’s heart swelled with affection. He planted two loving kisses on his son’s cheek, his chest brimming with paternal pride and certainty. He was fully prepared for a heartwarming declaration of lifelong filial devotion.
Instead, Guaizai looked up with bright, excited eyes and announced loudly: "Then Guaizai gets to attend the funeral banquet!"
Fang Zichen: "..."
Zhao Ger: "..."
Zhao Ger looked at Fang Zichen's deeply struck, seemingly shattered expression and laughed unkindly.
The old father's heart shattered into pieces.
Fang Zichen's ears kept echoing those words...
Attend the funeral banquet~
Attend the funeral banquet~
He felt his sincere affection had been misplaced.
Unfilial son! Unfilial son!
Fang Zichen could barely walk.
Zhao Ger laughed and asked: "Do you know what attending a funeral banquet means?"
"Know!" Guaizai, still holding onto Fang Zichen's neck, said: "Grandpa He's daddy, couldn't eat food, so Grandpa He attended the banquet."
His words were fragmented, but Zhao Ger understood.
He was talking about He Daleng's family affair.
Two months ago, He Daleng's family had just held a funeral. That day, because he needed to go help and bringing a child was inconvenient—children and the elderly shouldn't attend village funerals as their yang energy (vital energy) wasn't as strong as young adults', making them prone to attracting unclean things—he had sent Guaizai to the Liu family for Aunt and Uncle Liu to look after.
Guaizai asked Aunt Liu where his Daddy and Father had gone. Aunt Liu told him they had gone to attend a funeral banquet.
"What's attending a funeral banquet?" Guaizai asked.
Aunt Liu, thinking the child was young and wouldn't understand, fibbed: "Attending a funeral banquet is when an old person in the family can't eat anymore, can't move anymore, so relatives and friends come to the house to eat. That's called attending a funeral banquet."
Guaizai remembered these words firmly.
Fang Zichen took a deep breath.
This wasn't the first time.
But before, Guaizai had still talked about serving him, handling his waste, feeding him, bathing him. Now... that stage was skipped entirely, jumping straight to the funeral banquet-attending stage.
Sigh...
His teaching by example and instruction hadn't been thorough enough!
It was all his fault, busy earning money, he had forgotten about the child's education.
He would go back and read him "Discussions Around the Winter Fire" tonight.
[围炉夜话 (Wéi Lú Yè Huà): Discussions Around the Winter Fire, a classic Chinese moral-educational text from the Qing Dynasty, written by Wang Yongbin, which uses conversational prose to impart Confucian values like virtue, humility, filial piety, and practical life wisdom.]
He was in a hurry to go back, but Zhao Ger was slow and still laughing.
Dammit!
Fang Zichen warned: "I told you, when I'm angry, don't smirk and laugh. You laugh, I'll laugh, and that makes me look like I have no dignity."
Zhao Ger still couldn't help it: "If I'm not allowed to laugh, do you want me to cry?"
Fang Zichen choked, then suddenly licked his somewhat thin lips: "Actually, yes."
He moved closer: "The way you cry beneath me is especially endearing. I really like it."
Zhao Ger: "..."
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