Traveling Through the Book and Becoming a Cub Among the Villains - Chapter 4
“Xiao Xi just arrived home today, and Shaoyan has not had dinner with Xi yet. It’s not appropriate for him to kneel in front of mother’s photo.” said gently.
“Even if my mother were here now, she definitely wouldn’t agree.”
Upon hearing him mention his wife, Mu Feng’s anger slightly subsided.
Mu Zheng added, “Shoayan, you too, don’t you know what you can and can’t say? Say less of this kind of thing in the future!” His tone was stern.
Mu Shaoyan, “….”
“Why are you still standing? Sit down!” Mu Zheng looked at him.
Mu Shaoyan, “….”
Mu Shaoyan had no choice but to sit down, feeling frustrated.
He secretly swore that he would never say something about someone’s mother again. Aren’t they forbidding him to say something about someone’s mother? Then he will say someone’s father! Either way, his father is not dead, so he is not worthy of respect!
Mu Feng, who is not worthy of respect, “….”
Mu Feng was angry when he saw his unruly youngest son. He shifted his gaze and happened to see Mu Shoating, who was just as troublesome!
When he thought of his second son, who hadn’t returned home yet, Mu Feng was so Angry that he almost had a stomachache.
He turned his head and looked at Mu Zheng. Fortunately, there was still a reliable person at home.
But the next second, he thought of Mu Zheng’s wife and her cheap son–whose father he didn’t know but was definitely not Mu Zheng’s.
Mu Feng felt that he might as well die now and directly go see his wife. If only there were one child in this family that would make him worry-free!
It’s not like he doesn’t have one. Mu Feng suddenly thought, doesn’t he have a new grandson?
Mu Feng looked at Ye Qingxi. Ye Qingxi was sitting on the chair, not saying a word, just sitting quietly, neither crying nor making a fuss.
What a good kid! Yet, dared to be late. He really deserves a beating!
“Let’s eat.” Mu Feng said.
He picked up a piece of fish and put it in Ye Qingxi’s bowl, and said in a softer tone, “You eat.”
Mu Shaoyan, “???”
No, his father could actually make such a gentle voice?
Is he still his father?
He had never heard such a tone of voice used to coax a child.
Mu Shaoyan secretly snorted in his heart, thinking that the old man was biased. When he was a child, he favored his oldest brother and second brother; later favored his sister, and now he directly favors his adopted grandson, who has no blood relationship with him. As for him, he doesn’t like him at all.
When thought of this, he didn’t want to eat anymore.
But if he put down his chopsticks at this time, not to mention his father, his brother would have to cut off his pocket money, thinking that he did not give face to the new child.
Therefore, Mu Shaoyan stuffed food into his mouth in frustration, occasionally glancing at Ye Qingxi, wanting to see what kind of magic this kid had that could make his iron-blooded father take such good care of him.
Ye Qingxi, “….”
Ye Qingxi naturally felt his gaze.
He raised his head, looked at Mu Shaoyan, and blinked innocently.
No wonder his dad likes it.
His father is so miserable. In name, he seems to have two grandsons now, but one was brought by his eldest sister-in-law when she got married and has nothing to do with their family at all.
The other is his friend’s, and they still have no blood relationship.
When you think about it, his father is having a hard time, too.
When Mu Shaoyan thought of this, he looked at Mu Feng with pity.
Mu Feng, “???”
“Why are you looking around when you’re not eating properly?!”
Mu Shaoyan, “….”
Well, it is unnecessary to feel sorry for him. Why not feel sorry for anyone, but his father? Does his father need him to feel sorry for him?
What a waste of emotion!
Mu Shaoyan lowered his head again and stuffed the rice into his mouth.
The meal was quite harmonious.
Ye Qingxi is smaller now, so his appetite has naturally become smaller, and he is full early.
He put down his chopsticks and heard a phone ringing.
Mu Shaoting picked it up, not knowing what she heard, and said in surprise, “Really? Okay, okay, I’ll be right over.”
After that, she hung up the phone and looked at Mu Feng, “Dad, my friend wants to talk to me about something, so I’ll leave first.”
Mu Feng, “….”
Mu Shaoting looked at Ye Qingxi again, “Eat slowly, aunt is leaving first. I’ll bring you a small cake next time we meet.”
Ye Qingxi could only nod politely, “Goodbye, aunt.”
Hearing that, picked up her bag and quickly left the dining room.
As soon as she moved, Mu Shaoyan couldn’t help but stand up as well.
“I have something to do too.”
“What do you have to do?!” Mu Feng asked, puzzled.
Mu Shaoyan, “???!!!”
See? Didn’t he say it? His dad liked him the least. When Mu Shaoting said she had something to do, their dad didn’t say a word. But when it was his turn, it was “What do you have to do?!”
“I have something important!” Mu Shaoyan said deliberately.
Mu Feng scoffed, “What important thing could you possibly have?”
Mu Shaoyan, “……”
He was so mad he didn’t even want to speak. He turned and walked straight out of the dining room.
“Stop hanging around with those good-for-nothing friends of yours!” Mu Feng shouted.
Mu Shaoyan ignored him completely and slammed the villa door shut with a bang.
Ye Qingxi, “….”
Ye Qingxi secretly glanced at the old villain beside him and saw that his face was indeed not very good.
“One by one…” Mu Feng couldn’t eat anymore.
He threw down his chopsticks, stood up, took two steps, turned around, and was about to say “come here” to Mu Zheng, but he accidentally saw Ye Qingxi.
Mu Feng, “….”
Really, he was so angry that he forgot about his grandson, whom he had just adopted not long ago.
“Have you finished eating, Xiao Xi?” Mu Feng quickly turned and walked to Ye Qingxi.
Ye Qingxi nodded, “I’m done eating.”
Mu Feng looked at the smile on his face and breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the child didn’t seem to be affected at all.
“Then I’ll take you back to your room.”
Ye Qingxi shook his head and jumped off the chair, “I’ll go back by myself.”
“Okay.”
Mu Feng didn’t think that going back to the room was something a child couldn’t accomplish alone, and that he had to accompany him.
However, after hearing what Ye Qingxi said, Mu Zheng stood up and walked in front of him.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Mu Zheng, and I will be your uncle from now on.”
He took out a box and said, “This is a meeting gift for you. A present.”
Ye Qingxi was a little surprised.
He never thought that someone would give him a gift.
He lowered his head, and Mu Zheng opened the box, revealing a crystal-clear .
This was an experience Ye Qingxi had never had in his past life.
No one had ever given him such a jade pendant, let alone at such a young age.
However, he seemed to remember that he had once wanted a like this.
When was that?
Ye Qingxi carefully recalled for a moment and finally remembered.
He was very young at that time, about six or seven years old. He saw his desk mate wearing a jade pendant and thought it was beautiful, so he wanted one too.
So he told his parents after he got home, but his parents were busy contacting the crew and dressing themselves up, so they didn’t care.
“What does a kid need this for?” His mother laughed. “When you make more money after filming another movie, buy one for me first, okay? I don’t want a jade pendant. I like jade bracelets.”
Ye Qingxi naturally nodded in agreement.
He thought that he should buy it for his mother first, and then she could buy it for him.
Later, after he finished filming, his mother did have a jade bracelet on her hand, which was moist and looked very beautiful.
“This bracelet is really expensive, worth hundreds of thousands. It must be that our Xiao Xi is really capable. Other children of this age are still spending money, but our Xiao Xi can earn money to buy me gifts.”
“Xiao Xi is so amazing!”
“I wish my son could be like Xiao Xi.”
“Sister Hua, can you send our Miao Miao to act as well?”
People were surrounding Ye’s mother.
Ye Qingxi felt somewhat proud and happy when listening to their praises.
After the people left, he asked his mother, “Mom, when will you buy me a jade pendant?”
“What jade pendant?” His mother was a little confused.
“It’s the one my desk mate wears, the Guanyin one.”
His mother smiled and said, “What are you doing with this? You are not a girl. Why are you so vain?”
Ye Qingxi was speechless for a moment.
His mother touched his head and said, “Be good, don’t be so conceited. Look, your mother doesn’t even have a jade pendant, and you still want to wear one. Aren’t you ashamed?”
After hearing her say that, Ye Qingxi felt too embarrassed to ask for more.
But he was confused. His desk mate wasn’t a girl, so how could she wear it?
“Why are you wearing this? Are you vain?” Ye Qingxi asked his desk mate.
“Of course not.” My desk mate looked at his jade Guanyin and said, “My mother bought it for me, so I wear it.”
“Then why did your mother buy this for you?”
“It is said that Guanyin Bodhisattva can protect me,” said the classmate, holding the jade pendant.
Ye Qingxi looked at his jade pendant, and he still liked it very much and thought it was beautiful.
Moreover, he also wanted the blessing of Guanyin Bodhisattva.
So, Ye Qingxi spent one dollar to buy a jade pendant at a roadside stall in front of the school. It was naturally fake. It was not made of glass but plastic. The workmanship was also very rough, and the gel was very obvious in some places.
Ye Qingxi felt that it was not as pretty as the one his desk mate wore, but at least he had it.
He put the plastic Guanyin pendant in a box in the drawer. Whenever he remembered it, he would take it out to look at it and secretly wear it around his neck. But when he didn’t want his mother to find out and think he was conceited, he would put the pendant back.
Later, Ye Qingxi grew up slowly, had more money, and saw more beautiful jade products. Naturally, he gradually forgot about the plastic pendant and his previous expectations.
Until now, when he was reborn as a 5-year-old Ye Qingxi and unexpectedly received a jade pendant from his uncle, who was not related to him by blood, that past seemed to be activated and returned to his mind again. That distant memory, long buried, suddenly felt reawakened, like something had stirred it back to life.
Ye Qingxi looked at the jade Guanyin in the box, then raised his head and looked at Mu Zheng.
“Thank you,” he said. “But I can’t accept it.”
He wasn’t truly Ye Qingxi.
And Mu Zheng, he was giving this to the young child who should’ve been Ye Qingxi.
Mu Zheng wasn’t giving it to him, and he had no right to accept it.
Mu Zheng hadn’t expected that response. He thought Ye Qingxi would happily accept the gift.
He withdrew the box from his hand and picked up the jade pendant inside.
This Guanyin pendant had been prepared in advance, Mu Zheng had already had a black cord strung through it, ready for the child to wear.
Mu Zheng lifted his hand and gently fastened the pendant around Ye Qingxi’s neck.
“You’re still young,” he said. “Wearing this Guanyin will protect you, keep you safe and healthy as you grow up. Your grandfather would be happy to see you wearing it too.”
“Once it’s given to you, it’s yours.”
Ye Qingxi paused for a moment, stunned. He looked down at the jade Guanyin around his neck. The craftsmanship was exquisite, its green glow translucent and pure, like the heart of a god, forever clear and radiant.
And then, Ye Qingxi suddenly found it a little funny.
It all felt… like fate.
His mother had never given him a jade pendant like this. He had bought a fake one himself.
So, he hadn’t grown up safe or healthy.
He had died at 18, on the very day he was supposed to become an adult.
He hadn’t even had a single bite of birthday cake.
Not safe.
Not healthy.
Everything… was already written by the heavens.
For a moment, Ye Qingxi didn’t know what to say. It was as if, all of a sudden, he didn’t want to say anything at all.
People who are not loved are born to die.
However, Mu Zheng didn’t need him to say anything.
Ye Qingxi is only 5-years-old, but in Mu Zheng’s opinion, his short 5 years are quite difficult.
His father died in the line of duty shortly after he was born, his mother abandoned him and remarried when he was 2 years old, and now, his grandfather is also leaving him.
He is 5-years-old, not 5 months, let alone 5 days old. He can already remember things and has his own thoughts.
It is not easy for a child of this age to integrate into a new big family all alone.
So Mu Zheng hoped that the gods would protect him and help him grow up healthy and safe. That was also why he took the initiative to show his goodwill, hoping that his actions would make Ye Qingxi feel good about this family and be willing to get close to this family, where he would be entrusting the rest of his life, instead of being afraid.
He silently took out another box, opened it, took out the smartwatch inside, then took Ye Qingxi’s hand and put it on his wrist.
“This is for you as well. My phone number is saved in it. If you need anything, you can call me anytime.”
Ye Qingxi’s negative emotions that had just arisen were interrupted by his action. He shook his wrist and looked at the smartwatch on his wrist.
Don’t say it, as soon as he put this thing on, he instantly felt like a real child.
“Save my number for him as well.” Mu Feng said.
“I’ve saved it.” Mu Zheng looked up at him, “Yours, mine, and Shaowu’s are all saved.”
Hearing this, Mu Feng snorted in disdain, “His father is nowhere to be found all day long. What’s the point of saving his phone number? It’s better to save an extra one for you.”
Mu Zheng, “….”
However, it is indeed possible to save an extra number for him, so Mu Zheng saved his work number again and said, “Call the number with ‘A’ first, and if it doesn’t work, then call the number without ‘A’.”
Upon hearing this, Ye Qingxi lowered his head and attempted to operate his smartwatch, only to realize that Mu Zheng had only added the initial letter ‘A’ to his personal number, so his personal number was displayed at the top of the contact list, visible at a glance.
He really was a responsible uncle.
To show this much care for a child he’d just met and had no real connection with…
No wonder, in the end, he went to such extremes to take revenge for his younger siblings.
No wonder, at the story’s conclusion, he chose to divorce his wife to avoid dragging her down, and single-handedly took care of his disfigured, mentally broken younger brother.
Ye Qingxi looked at his handsome features and those cold eyes that hid a trace of gentleness and silently sighed in his heart.
In this world, those without morals or a sense of responsibility often live the happiest.
But those with too much of both… tend to suffer the most.
He needed to find a way to stop his “cheap grandfather”, A man in his 60s starring in a blood-soaked tragedy.
Because once he died, that grandfather wouldn’t feel pain. His father, driven mad, wouldn’t even understand pain.
Only his uncle, the one who was still alive, would feel it, truly and deeply.
That is… Ye Qingxi glanced at the old but strong man, who looked intimidating without even getting angry, and who could climb the stairs faster than himself.
It seemed like he could kill his old man Mu with one punch. This was really difficult!
Author’s Note:
Xiao Xi (Benboerba face): Me? Stop him?
Storyteller CloudyPastels's Words
If there are any mistakes, please don’t hesitate to let me know! This is not my first language, but I am actively studying! Will try to keep it every 5 days!