Chapter 415
The Fang family's courage was hereditary. Gungun, meanwhile, ran up to Meng Ruqing, looked up at him, and then kept exclaiming: "Wow, wow, wow."
Meng Ruqing: "…"
Meng Ruqing was dumbfounded by his "wow"s.
Gungun said: "You're Pretty Uncle, right? You look so much like Gungun's father!"
Meng Ruqing carefully reached out — he had originally wanted to pat his head — but Gungun's head was covered in the little tufts Uncle Tang had tied for him on the road, like a hedgehog. Meng Ruqing didn't know where to start, and in the end could only gently touch his cheek. A little awkwardly, he asked softly, "So you're Gungun!"
"Ah! How do you know Gungun? Oh my, what's wrong with this grandma? Why does she keep trembling? Is she cold?"
Old Madam Qin's mouth trembled so much she couldn't speak.
Zhong Momo also looked scared silly.
Dandan finished peeing with a trickle, gave his little thing a shake, and said, "Break time's over, Brother can help Dandan put his pants on now."
Zhao Ger was always afraid the children would be cold, so after winter set in, he had them wear two pairs of pants. Every time Dandan finished peeing, his pants were just pulled up haphazardly. Last time, after he finished pooping and pulled his pants up by himself, he walked all twisted and awkward, as if his balls hurt. When Guaizai took off his pants to check, the inner pants hadn't been pulled up at all—the waistband was stuck at his knees. After that, whenever he peed, Guaizai would help him pull up his pants without being asked.
Uncle Tang was very happy to see Meng Ruqing, but seeing that Old Madam Qin was not well, he wanted to help Zhong Momo support her back inside. But Zhong Momo said: "Tang Ger, who is that?"
She pointed at Dandan. Uncle Tang said: "That's my family's Fourth Young Master. What's the matter?"
"Your family's Fourth Young Master?" Zhong Momo looked at Guaizai again. Who knew what she thought of, but she suddenly covered her mouth.
Meng Ruqing and Qin Hengxuan had no idea what was going on.
Back when Qin Hengxuan first saw Guaizai, the reason he felt he resembled Meng Ruqing was because he had seen a childhood portrait of Meng Ruqing. But Qin Hengxuan had been born beyond the border. At that time, Feng Momo had just married out, and Old General Qin was about to follow his father on campaign. Old Madam Qin, young and skilled in martial arts, was not afraid of the battlefield and went along too, bringing only Zhong Momo with her.
Life on campaign was hard and conditions were harsh — naturally there was no painter. It wasn't until Qin Hengxuan was four years old, when the Qin family had pacified the rebellion beyond the border and returned, that they came back. Not long after, Feng Momo was widowed. When Old Madam Qin learned of it, she decided to bring her back.
Two years old and four years old didn't seem like much difference, but young children change almost daily. Now the difference was even greater.
Qin Hengxuan only felt their reaction was extreme, as if they hadn't seen a child in eight hundred years.
Old Madam Qin found strength from somewhere. Without Qin Hengxuan's support, she rushed over to Dandan, dropped to one knee, grabbed his shoulders, and examined him carefully.
Dandan was very brave, not scared at all: "Grandma, what's wrong?"
Old Madam Qin's eyes were full of indescribable emotion. Her throat choked as she said: "Alike, truly alike."
Qin Hengxuan stepped forward. "Mother, like what?"
"Like you," Old Madam Qin said.
Qin Hengxuan: "…"
Qin Hengxuan looked at Dandan. Dandan happened to look up at him too, his dark eyes radiating a foolish light.
Qin Hengxuan choked a little.
The child was, admittedly, extremely cute. But he was short, a big lump — who knew if it was because his clothes were too thick — like a round ball. And judging by his face, he must be fat. Fat like that — how could he possibly look like him?
His face and body didn't have this much meat! If he had looked like this back then, when he knocked down and destroyed the Left Chancellor's courtyard wall and threw flirtatious glances until his eyes nearly went blind—Meng Ruqing probably wouldn't have developed feelings and secretly given his heart to him.
Guaizai, having listened for a while, stared at Qin Hengxuan for quite a moment, then looked at Dandan, his gaze traveling between the two: "Grandma, not alike."
But Old Madam Qin said: "Your Handsome Grandpa looked exactly like this when he was little. Exactly the same."
Qin Hengxuan furrowed his brow: "Mother, you don't mean…"
"Impossible." Old Madam Qin seemed to know what he was going to say, and became agitated: "I'm not senile, and I haven't gone crazy wanting a grandson."
"Young Master, it's true, they're alike," Zhong Momo said.
"Ah!" Guaizai scratched his head, utterly puzzled. "Grandma Feng said they looked alike before too. Now two grandmas are also saying they look alike. But my father said Dandan looks like a little piglet. Handsome Grandpa should look like a person. One looks like a pig, one looks like a person — how can they be the same? I don't get it."
Qin Hengxuan could barely stand, staggering two steps back.
His mother said they looked alike.
His wet nurse said they looked alike.
Even Feng Momo said they looked alike.
One person could be said to be seeing things, but three people couldn't all be seeing things!
But how could it be…
Qin Hengxuan's mind went blank, his ears ringing. He looked at Guaizai, then at Dandan, and finally turned back to look at Meng Ruqing. That phrase "exactly the same" reverberated in his mind again and again, growing louder and louder until it was like thunder.
Could there be such coincidences again and again in this world?
Guaizai, Dandan, Fang Zichen…
His mind was in chaos, but his thoughts seemed to be strung together in order.
He seemed to have thought of something. He squatted down in front of Guaizai. This thought excited him so much his brain couldn't think properly. He stammered, unable to form a complete sentence: "Guaizai."
His eyes were bloodshot, his expression off, as if he were desperately restraining something. Meng Ruqing also stumbled over.
Guaizai was completely confused: "Handsome Grandpa, what's wrong with you all?"
"Guaizai," Qin Hengxuan let out a heavy breath, seeking confirmation: "You tell Grandpa—is Fang Zichen really your father?"
Guaizai nodded: "Yes!"
"But didn't he come from overseas?" This was what Qin Hengxuan couldn't figure out most: "When he came, weren't you already three years old? Before that, you and your daddy had always lived in Xiaohe Village. He—wasn't he your stepfather?"
It was precisely because of this, plus the age mismatch, that the Qin family hadn't investigated Fang Zichen, and had shifted their attention elsewhere—Guaizai's biological father.
But no matter how they investigated, they found nothing.
It was as if Zhao Ger had gotten pregnant out of thin air.
The Qin family's shadow guards had reported back that Zhao Ger had given birth prematurely. They had secretly investigated several families close to Zhao Ger. From Uncle Liu, they found out that Zhao Ger's pregnancy should have been around the sixth month. But during that time, Ma Wen was away on business. Therefore, the child in Zhao Ger's belly was absolutely not the Ma family's.
Then whose was it?
Guaizai resembled Meng Ruqing so much. Could his biological father be…
But they couldn't find out. Not a single clue.
At the time, Qin Hengxuan had simply assumed that Fang Zichen and Guaizai were a stepfather and stepson with no blood relation. Both resembled Meng Ruqing, so he hadn't thought much of it, just chalked it up to a coincidence.
But what if the two were biological father and son?
Fang Zichen resembled Meng Ruqing, and his eldest son resembled him too—like father, like son, nothing strange about that. But now his other son resembled him—that was strange.
He and Zhao Ger were completely innocent.
Guaizai shook his head: "No no, he's Guaizai's biological father, not stepfather. Handsome Grandpa don't talk nonsense, or Guaizai won't pay attention to you anymore."
Qin Hengxuan said again: "But he came from overseas."
"Coming from overseas doesn't change that he's Guaizai's father!" Guaizai said: "Father came and then went back, that's all."
"Came and went back, came and went back…"
Qin Hengxuan murmured, repeating it. After a long while, he suddenly covered his face and laughed, almost uncontrollably.
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