Chapter 92: Watching the Spectacle

Early the next morning, Catherine called, and Zhang Yu, still half asleep, answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“I’ll be at the foot of your building in fifteen minutes. Hurry up and get ready. We’re going to the range to practice shooting.”

Her voice over the phone was bright and pleasantly clear.

“Got it.” With a trace of excitement and anticipation in his heart, Zhang Yu sprang out of bed and dressed with brisk efficiency.

“Yangyang, wake up!”

He yanked the blanket off Yangyang with a sudden motion, then laughed at the sight of how he slept.

Yangyang was lying face-down on the bed, his little backside poked high in the air, his adorable round face pressed affectionately into the sheets.

He looked just like a sleeping little piglet.

“Up you get.” Zhang Yu gave him a push. “Your Catherine sister is here to pick us up.”

“Mmm...” Yangyang rolled over lazily. “I’m not awake yet. Let me sleep a little longer.”

“We don’t have time for sleep. Hurry up and brush your teeth and wash your face.”

Zhang Yu hauled the drowsy boy up at once and almost dragged him into the bathroom.

Two toothbrush cups, one large and one small, sat on the sink cabinet. The larger one looked plain enough; that was Zhang Yu’s. The smaller one was a pale yellow and printed with cartoon cats and mice; Yangyang had picked it out himself at the supermarket yesterday.

Picking up the smaller cup at random, Zhang Yu squeezed toothpaste onto the tiny children’s toothbrush.

Then, with one arm, he tucked Yangyang under his armpit and roughly shoved the brush into the boy’s mouth.

Up and down, left and right, he scrubbed away at Yangyang’s teeth until the child’s cheeks puffed out like he was making faces.

“Wubbr-rrr, ah-lah-lah-lah...” muffled, indistinct sounds came from Yangyang’s mouth.

Even forced to brush his teeth, his eyes stayed tightly shut, and he still snored through his nose as if he were asleep all the while. It was almost miraculous.

Ten minutes later, Zhang Yu and Yangyang, now washed and ready, arrived on time at the elevator lobby.

Perhaps because it was the morning rush hour, there were three young women waiting for the elevator as well.

The pair of a tall and a small one was especially eye-catching, and the women immediately noticed this unusual “father and son.”

“My goodness, that child is adorable!” said one young woman in sportswear, all bright-eyed and animated with youth the moment she saw Yangyang.

“Yes, so adorable,” said a young woman in an office suit, looking at Yangyang with obvious envy. “I’d love to have a child like that.”

The third, dressed stylishly in black stockings, turned to Zhang Yu and asked pleadingly, “May I touch him?”

“Of course.” Zhang Yu smiled and did not refuse.

With his permission granted, the woman in black stockings could not help but reach out and pinch Yangyang’s delicate little cheek.

“So this is what a child’s cheek feels like? It’s as smooth as jelly.” She sighed in blissful delight.

“I want to touch him too,” the one in sportswear chimed in, unwilling to fall behind.

“I want to as well.” The office lady’s words were brief but forceful.

Curious, they all stretched out their fingers to poke Yangyang’s little face, kneading it into all sorts of shapes.

And so, still half-asleep and even yawning now and then, Yangyang was surrounded and admired by the women.

In no time at all, he found himself dropped into a blooming garden of femininity, ringed by lively and charming young ladies; his tender little face became their plaything, leaving him somehow both pained and pleased.

“Is this your child?” After quite a while, the woman in black stockings finally remembered Zhang Yu’s existence. Her attention had been entirely on Yangyang.

“Ah... yes.” Zhang Yu nodded awkwardly.

Though he was deeply reluctant to admit it, there was no way to explain Yangyang’s origins otherwise.

“You having such an adorable child must mean you saved the galaxy in a past life.” The woman in black stockings smiled in envy.

Yangyang was simply too cute, too irresistible. Put him on the street and he would be the kind of boy who drew every girl’s eyes without trying.

“Why is he wearing that outfit from the gourd brothers? Is it cosplay?” asked the sportswear girl with interest, studying Yangyang’s clothes.

She thought Zhang Yu had dressed the child like this to make him look even cuter and did not read any deeper into it.

How could she have known that Yangyang had been wearing this outfit since the day he was born?

“Mm-hm, yes, the kid really likes the gourd brothers,” Zhang Yu said hurriedly, while cold sweat quietly gathered in his heart.

For the past two days, Zhang Yu had been so busy that he had completely failed to think about getting Yangyang any other clothes.

And so Yangyang was still in that gourd-brother outfit, never having changed.

Fortunately, there were all kinds of cosplay enthusiasts strolling around the streets these days in odd and peculiar clothes, and the public had long grown used to it.

Otherwise, a child dressed like this could easily have been mistaken for a madman or a fool.

Red vest, red shorts, and a huge red gourd perched on his head.

Judging by appearances alone, if someone said Yangyang was not one of the gourd brothers, Zhang Yu himself would not believe it.

But in truth, Zhang Yu was the only one who knew: Yangyang only looked like one of them. He was not.

His true form was a spirit-enlightened poria fungus, with no familial relation to gourds whatsoever.

The gourd on his head was a natal spiritual treasure born with him. It was absolutely no mere ornament.

Zhang Yu had personally seen that gourd spew forth a blazing pillar of red flame once, nearly setting his house on fire.

In Zhang Yu’s opinion, Yangyang’s background was far too formidable to meddle with.

Still, he ought to get Yangyang a few sets of ordinary clothes.

He could not keep letting the child swagger through the streets in such outlandish attire, could he?

To have worn the same outfit since birth was pitiable just to think about.

During the morning rush, elevators were hard to come by. They waited a while before one finally reached their floor.

Everyone filed in, and Zhang Yu silently pressed the button for the first floor.

“Little brother, sister has to go to work now.” When the elevator doors opened again, the woman in black stockings bent down to say goodbye to Yangyang. “Before we part, I’ll give you a gift.”

“What gift?” Yangyang truly was Yangyang; at the mere mention of a gift, his eyes lit up at once.

“A sister’s kiss.”

She smiled, then gave him a loud kiss on the cheek before turning away with elegant ease.

Zhang Yu stood frozen, staring at the scene before him, and instantly felt sour.

That was a real big kiss...

For some reason, he felt a little envious of the little brat.

“Then I’ll give the little brother a gift too.” The girl in sportswear followed suit and kissed Yangyang on the other cheek.

“I want one too.”

Since both left and right cheeks had already been claimed, the office lady bent down and planted a kiss on Yangyang’s forehead.

And so... when Zhang Yu finally brought Yangyang to Catherine, the boy’s face was adorned with three huge lipstick marks.

The three marks were arranged left, right, and center, forming a neat triangle. It looked rather festive.

“What’s going on?” Catherine asked Zhang Yu after glancing at Yangyang, who was smiling so brazenly that it almost looked sinful.

Zhang Yu sounded a little depressed. “He got kissed by three girls when he went out. He’s still delighted about it.”

A smile also flickered at the corner of Catherine’s mouth. “Hard to tell, really. He’s so young, yet he’s quite the charmer.”

“It was clearly those women taking advantage of me! How come, when you all say it, I’m the one who comes off as the one taking advantage?” Yangyang lifted his little face high, looking shamelessly pleased with himself.

“They thought I was young, didn’t know any better, and was handsome too, so they kept kissing me. They were just awful!”

“All right, all right. Whatever you say.” Black lines practically covered Zhang Yu’s forehead; he felt that Yangyang was getting a bit too full of himself.

“Since everyone’s here, let’s get in the car.” Catherine pointed to the black sedan parked behind her. “Didn’t I borrow your car yesterday? I drove it back for you today.”

“Oh, right. Have you eaten breakfast yet?” she asked after Zhang Yu and Yangyang got in.

“No!” Zhang Yu and Yangyang answered in unison.

“I brought you some food.” Catherine took two large bags of breakfast from a stall from the passenger seat and handed them to the pair in the back.

Zhang Yu accepted them without the slightest politeness, gave one bag to Yangyang, and the two of them began eating heartily in their seats.

“Did you notice the paper bags beside you?” she asked.

Zhang Yu glanced to the side. Two shopping bags containing clothes were there, and the brand tags had not yet been removed. They looked newly bought.

“Yes,” he replied.

“I bought Yangyang two sets of children’s clothes. They’re both new,” Catherine said seriously.

It was as if a pillow had been handed to him just when he was drowsy. Zhang Yu had just been thinking of taking Yangyang out to buy clothes, and yet before they had even gone to the mall, the clothes had arrived on their own.

“How could I let you spend the money? I’ll transfer you whatever it cost.” He felt somewhat embarrassed.

“It’s fine. They’re a gift for Yangyang, not from your wallet.” Catherine hurriedly waved him off.

“In that case, we’ll accept them.” Zhang Yu did not refuse further. He patted Yangyang’s little head. “Quick, thank Catherine.”

“Thannnks, Catherine sisster.” Yangyang was chewing on a steamed bun, and his speech came out a bit muffled, which only made him more adorable.

Catherine was a very thoughtful girl, and she had bought Yangyang two outfits.

One was a white shirt with blue denim overalls and black leather shoes; the other, a black T-shirt with plaid casual trousers and white sneakers.

Both outfits looked refined and stylish, and the colors and cuts were chosen especially well.

Since the clothes were right there beside them, how could he not try them on?

So Zhang Yu immediately had Yangyang change in the back seat.

Sometimes you do not know until you try, and when you do, it is a shock.

The two outfits Catherine had bought fit perfectly, a discovery that astonished Zhang Yu.

Unless Catherine had carefully memorized Yangyang’s height and build, there was no way she could have bought clothes that fit him so exactly.

Clearly, she had gone to great lengths to choose them.

“They fit perfectly. You were very thoughtful,” Zhang Yu said gratefully, looking at Catherine.

Through the rearview mirror, Catherine could see Yangyang in his tiny white shirt and overalls, looking like a little gentleman.

Clothed in his new attire, Yangyang’s temperament changed entirely. From the rustic little “country boy” he had been before, he leaped at once into a modern, “progressive child.”

When serious, he had just a touch of the refined air of a scholar; when mischievous, there was a faint roguishness about him, proud and untamed.

Though Yangyang did not outwardly show much of the emotion of “I am very happy” or “I am very satisfied,” Zhang Yu still saw a glimmer of delight in his eyes and a fleeting look of contentment.

He could be one hundred percent certain that Yangyang was in a very good mood.

That made sense. Who would not like receiving gifts from others?

Wasn’t everyone always saying “No, no,” while secretly shouting, “I want it, I want it” in their hearts?

By then the elevator came, and the crowd had already dispersed.