Zhao Ger struggled to hold back a laugh. "You're not angry?"
"Not angry." Fang Zichen pinched his chin, looking down at him: "The depth of love, the intensity of affection—I can understand. Who told a certain someone to love me to the point of life and death!"
Zhao Ger looked at him, his eyes brimming with laughter: "What if I locked you up for a lifetime?"
Fang Zichen said in surprise: "Are you serious? Playing around a bit to spice things up is fine, but locking me up for life? Wouldn't that mean I'm in prison? Go open the door first, I really need to pee! I've been holding it all morning."
Zhao Ger explained: "But... I didn't lock this door!"
"Stop joking, I'm really in a hurry. Even if you want to play, you should consider my urgent needs." Fang Zichen said anxiously: "I really can't hold it much longer."
"Really, it wasn't me who locked it." Zhao Ger said again.
Fang Zichen was extremely suspicious, his face full of disbelief. This family only had the three of them. If it wasn't Zhao Ger, could it be himself? Their son was even more impossible: "Really?"
Zhao Ger felt extremely wronged: "Really. When I left this morning, I only closed the door."
Back at the medical hall, while watching over Fang Zichen and looking at his increasingly defined and handsome features, he really had had that thought.
He could earn money now. He was no longer the Zhao Ger who toiled for half a month and barely earned three copper coins.
He had the ability to support himself and his child.
He had originally encouraged Fang Zichen to pursue an official career because he still held onto the hope of him returning home. But when Fang Zichen actually left, that profound sense of loss and despair made him realize the truth: what he truly wanted, from the very beginning, had never been about going home—it had only ever been Fang Zichen himself.
Returning home... was no longer important.
In this world, anyone could leave him, except for Fang Zichen and his son. They could not, should not, and were not allowed to.
But he also knew that if he really did such a thing, his relationship with Fang Zichen would also come to an end.
Fang Zichen was unrestrained and loved freedom. Moreover, such an outstanding person shouldn't be trapped by him. He should have a broader sky.
He himself had been imprisoned before. He knew that taste and helplessness better than anyone.
He couldn't bear to let Fang Zichen walk the path he had walked.
"Then..." Who was it?
The whole family only had three people. If it wasn't him and it wasn't Zhao Ger, then it could only be...
Fang Zichen and Zhao Ger looked at each other, then simultaneously turned to look at Guaizai. The target suspect was squatting innocently in the vegetable patch, pulling weeds, completely unaware.
Zhao Ger went to the edge of the vegetable patch and called him over: "Guaizai, did you lock this door?"
Guaizai's big eyes darted around, his gaze evasive. He still held a bunch of weeds in his little hand. At the last moment, he was still denying it: "Guaizai not know what Daddy saying."
Zhao Ger patted his bottom once: "Telling lies will get you eaten by a big monster. Tell the truth, was it you?"
Guaizai covered his bottom with both hands. Frightened by the threat, he now became honest: "Guaizai did it! Guaizai locked the door!"
Zhao Ger: "Where's the key?"
"Throw in the stinky place!" Guaizai said.
Fang Zichen: "..."
The culprit wasn't Zhao Ger, but really his son?
Fang Zichen's eyes widened: "Threw it where?"
"He said he threw it in the latrine pit," Zhao Ger translated.
"...Then what do we do?" Fang Zichen was speechless. The lingering stench from fishing out his son last time had made him lose his appetite for several days. The memory was still vivid.
This old house had previously housed a whole family. The latrine pit was dug deep and large.
If his son fell in, being bigger, he could still be fished out.
But a key?
He'd be sifting through filth for nothing!
He'd be fishing for shit.
Zhao Ger comforted him: "Wait, I'll go look. Maybe it hasn't sunk yet."
Fang Zichen's hope was ignited: "Right, right, right, go quickly."
After a short while, Zhao Ger returned with a dejected face: "Husband, I didn't see it."
Fang Zichen: "..."
In the end, they had to break it.
Guaizai stood obediently to the side, his big eyes blinking, not worried at all.
Zhao Ger didn't go to cook. He got a bun from the kitchen and sat in the yard, holding the little dog in his arms. He nibbled on the bun while watching Zhao Ger, like watching a play, with a rather detached and unworldly air.
This lock was one he bought from He Xiaodong's family. Fang Zichen had previously used copper coins like little red flowers; when Guaizai behaved well, he would always reward him with one or two coins.
Guaizai had saved this money.
He wasn't lacking for snacks, the house always had candy. But Fang Zichen said eating too much would make worms grow in his teeth. After the worms finished eating the teeth, they would bite his gums. After finishing the gums, they would go for the tongue, and then the person would die. This scared Guaizai thoroughly. No matter how much he liked or craved it, he wouldn't throw a tantrum to eat it. He only ate it if Zhao Ger or Fang Zichen gave it to him.
So the money was never spent and had been saved up. By now, he had over thirty coins.
He carried his silver to Liu Dali's house to ask if their family had a lock. Liu's father said they didn't, but He Xiaodong's family probably did.
He Xiaodong's grandfather used to be a hawker.
These hawkers always carried their loads and traveled from village to village, often selling miscellaneous goods.
It was back-breaking labor. He Xiaodong's grandfather had gotten old in recent years, his health not what it used to be, so he no longer did this work.
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