CH 9

Jian Ning was not a generous baby. Previously, when someone deliberately teased him and asked for his bottle, he held onto it tightly and was unwilling to let go.

But now, looking at Zhan Xi’s weak complexion, Jian Ning suppressed the growling in his stomach and urged Zhan Xi to take his bottle back.

“Baby?”

Zhan Xi’s pale face had bright eyes, which stared intensely at the baby sitting on the bed. His voice trembled involuntarily as he asked, “What did you just call me?”

“Ah!”

Jian Ning held the bottle filled with milk, and his chubby arms were like lotus roots. He leaned forward, poking the nipple into Zhan Xi’s mouth while continuing to call him, “Daddy!”

Perhaps he had cried several times early in the morning, and Jian Ning’s childish voice sounded a bit hoarse. He was completely focused on poking the bottle, and his big black eyes, like black grapes, were fixed on Zhan Xi’s thin lips. He was so absorbed that he didn’t notice that Zhan Xi’s hands on the bed had clenched into fists.

“Daddy, ah!”

Jian Ning slightly opened his mouth, demonstrating how to open his mouth to Zhan Xi.

Zhan Xi’s lips trembled, and then he opened his mouth, allowing the obedient little baby to feed him the nipple. He pretended to swallow a few times, but in fact, he didn’t drink any of it.

The powdered milk was very precious. He had bought these few cans of powdered milk on the black market at a price several times higher than the market price. Now, the three cans of powdered milk left in the house wouldn’t last long.

“Okay, daddy is full.”

Zhan Xi replaced the nipple and let Jian Ning continue to drink.

Jian Ning still held the bottle, feeling a bit uneasy. He freed one chubby hand and wanted to touch Zhan Xi’s belly.

Usually, after he finished drinking his milk, Zhan Xi would come over and touch his little belly. If his stomach was bulging, Zhan Xi would kiss him and praise him for being great.

“Be good. You don’t need to touch my belly. I’m not hungry.”

Zhan Xi stopped the chubby little hand of the baby reaching out, leaned over and comforted the baby by kissing its soft and plump little face and said, “Call me daddy again.”

Jian Ning looked up with a steamed bun-like face, blinked his eyes, and obediently said, “Daddy!”

Zhan Xi listened several times before finally stopping. He watched the baby start drinking milk, and the sound of the soft “daddy” still echoed in his mind. He had taught this word for a long time and had imagined many scenes of the baby saying this word. He just didn’t expect that he would actually hear it, and as a grown man, he even teared up.

It was too embarrassing.

Zhan Xi tilted his head slightly and took a deep breath to adjust his state.

A few minutes later.

Zhan Xi, who had adjusted, looked at Jian Ning who was still drinking milk.

Jian Ning had been hungry all morning and was already anxious. He held the milk bottle and drank a whole bottle without stopping.

“My tummy!”

After throwing away the empty bottle, Jian Ning consciously spread his small body and let Zhan Xi touch his round belly.

Zhan Xi leaned over and touched the soft and tender little belly with his callused large hand. It was a bit bumpy and itchy. After a few touches, he made the baby laugh out loud by tickling him.

“Okay, your tummy is full now.”

Zhan Xi finished checking and didn’t want to sleep anymore. The word “daddy” had energized him, and even if he continued to kill enemies now, he could do it for another two hours.

“Baby, would you like to read a picture book with me?”

Zhan Xi took out a picture book, but before he could turn the pages, he saw the young baby who had just been giggling now yawning.

“Daddy, sleepy.”

Jian Ning, who was drowsy, called out to his father. He had cried a lot in the morning and had eaten a lot now. With a full belly and his father by his side, he felt at ease, rubbed his eyes, and wanted to sleep.

Zhan Xi hesitated for a moment when he saw this, but eventually got into bed and slept with him for a while.

After staying up most of the night, Zhan Xi felt exhausted as soon as he lay down on the bed. He carefully hugged the young baby and rested his head against the baby’s head, closing his eyes and falling asleep.

It was unclear how much time had passed.

Jian Ning woke up, still feeling groggy. He kicked his chubby little foot and heard a muffled grunt of pain in his ear.

Jian Ning: “?”

Jian Ning opened his eyes in confusion and saw Zhan Xi with his eyes closed but furrowing his brow.

He looked down at his chubby little foot, thinking he had kicked Zhan Xi and made him hurt.

Feeling guilty, Jian Ning withdrew his foot and surprisingly didn’t continue with his tantrum. He rubbed Zhan Xi’s handsome face and obediently watched him sleep with his eyes open.

After about two hours, Zhan Xi suddenly woke up. The first thing he did was check the diaper pad on the bed, which was clean and dry.

“Daddy!”

Although the diaper pad was clean, the little baby had been holding it in for too long. When he saw Zhan Xi wake up, he immediately opened his arms and wanted a hug.

Zhan Xi rested for two hours, and his body recovered a bit. He hurriedly carried the baby to the bathroom.

Soon after, Jian Ning, who had solved his problem, sat in a walker and played with old toys with Zhan Xi.

After playing for a while, someone knocked on the door.

Zhan Xi got up to open it and saw Zhan Rao holding a bag.

“Here, I just got this medicine. Remember to take it on time,” Zhan Rao said. He didn’t talk much, but this time he was a little more talkative. “I heard you applied for the guard job at the stone barrier. It’s a dangerous job. Have you thought it through?”

The stone barrier was established at the gap in the barren star. It was a must-pass place for invaders’ attacks. Legend had it that the stone barrier was set up by the Emperor Louis III himself to resist the annoying Zerg.

Nowadays, many years had passed, and the stone barrier was no longer as strong as before.

For the sake of safety, the people who lived on the barren star had to take turns guarding this stone barrier. The land around the stone barrier had been contaminated by too much Zerg blood, making it stinky and unpleasant.

Guarding the barrier in the past was not an easy task.

“I have thought it through,” Zhan Xi said with a smile. “Recently, the Zergs have been rushing towards the stone barrier like crazy. Even if it’s not for work, I should go and take a look.”

“Boss, don’t worry about me. You and the brothers can rest assured and go outside. I’ll take care of things at home,” Zhan Xi added.

He was their leader and boss. He led his men to make money, and the money they earned was partially shared with the people who did the work, and the rest was all invested in the defense of the barren star.

This barren planet, seen as backward, savage, dangerous by outsiders, was their home.

Zhan Rao looked at Zhan Xi, who was smiling, and then looked at the little baby behind him, babbling and talking to his toys.

After a while, he lowered his voice and said to Zhan Xi, “I just went to see the stone barrier, and it won’t hold for much longer. Once the barrier completely collapses, we... will have to consider leaving.”

Zhan Xi’s smile disappeared completely as Zhan Rao spoke.

The two of them stared at each other in silence.

They both knew what leaving meant.

They had no household registration, and most of them were still wanted criminals. This meant that they were unable to legally enter any city. They could only find remote places that could accommodate them, but such places were extremely difficult to find. Even if they were lucky enough to find one, the issue of survival in the early stages would be a great test.

If it were in the past, Zhan Xi had no attachments, no fear, and he considered himself to have a worthless life, so there was nothing to lose.

But now... it was different.

He had a precious little baby to take care of.

“Prepare yourself in advance. If it really comes to that, you’ll have a lot of things to bring with you when you take Ningning away.” Zhan Rao finished speaking and didn’t continue to chat with him.

The two of them stood at the door, and it wasn’t convenient to talk about such topics.

Moreover, the baby inside the house was holding a toy and looking at Zhan Xi’s back for a long time.

Zhan Rao turned and left, while Zhan Xi carried the medicine back to the room.

He put the medicine on the table and continued to play with Jian Ning, with very simple mecha toys. The two of them were having fun despite the size difference.

They played until the afternoon.

Zhan Xi had to go to work, and he needed someone to look after Jian Ning.

Before he came back in the morning, he had already talked to everyone. When he worked during the day, he would let Jian Ning log into the holographic learning machine and be looked after by the teacher.

But there are also people who have free time, who occasionally come and check on the baby, like feeding them milk powder and taking them to the bathroom.

This request was agreed upon by everyone.

But as luck would have it, the only person who had free time today was Ling Qi, who was the arch-nemesis of Zhan Xi.

Ling Qi leaned against the door and watched Zhan Xi feeding the baby with supplemental food, teasing him, “I didn’t expect you to have such a virtuous side.”

Zhan Xi: “...”

Zhan Xi put down the bowl of egg custard he was feeding and covered the baby’s ears. He turned around, his eyes threatening, “Don’t make me hit you.”

Ling Qi raised his eyebrows, showing no fear of his threat.

Although Zhan Xi had a grudge against Ling Qi, he knew that Ling Qi wouldn’t do anything to harm the baby.

“Ningning is very well-behaved. You don’t have to keep watching him. Just call him out every two hours to feed him.”

“If he cries, you can put on an animated cartoon for him or give him a bottle of sweet water to drink.”

After Zhan Xi explained everything, he hesitated for a moment and said, “By the way, he has been bullied by other children inside. I reported this issue to the teacher, but the teacher hasn’t given me a definite answer yet.”

“In case the teacher calls, can you answer the phone for me? Just tell her I’m busy and I’ll call her back later.”

“Okay, got it.”

After Zhan Xi finished all the instructions he could think of, he went to the bathroom to change his medication. When he was changing his medication, Ling Qi helped him with his back. Ling Qi was petty and remembered his grudges. When he applied the medicine to Zhan Xi’s back, he applied it with such force that it was painful.

After everything was taken care of, Zhan Xi left for work, while Ling Qi stayed behind to watch over the baby who had just logged into his learning device.

Upon entering, Jian Ning followed Guoguo’s instructions and tapped his virtual bracelet on his wrist twice.

After tapping, it took less than five minutes.

Huo Lin, dressed in a small military uniform, stood in front of Jian Ning.

“Guoguo!”

Jian Ning opened his small hands, letting Huo Lin pick him up.

Huo Lin had just finished training in the palace and hadn’t even changed his clothes yet.

He held the affectionate baby in his arms and took him to study. The courses here were not useful for him, but they were helpful for a baby who couldn’t even speak a sentence.

Learn a new vocabulary word and reward a new toy.

Learn a short sentence and reward a new toy plus a pat on the head.

Huo Lin’s reward mechanism thoroughly stimulated the baby’s learning enthusiasm. The baby, who didn’t like to speak before, could now seriously say three consecutive words: “My Guoguo!”

“My daddy!”

The baby didn’t speak many words, but magically used his limited vocabulary to say sweet compliments.

The little prince didn’t seem to react to the compliments, but every time he heard them, the most expensive item in the mall that day would end up in Jian Ning’s small backpack.

Unknowingly, Jian Ning had become the richest baby here!

Huo Lin noticed that Jian Ning logged in too frequently and personally went to find the teacher. He found out that Jian Ning’s parents worked during the day, so they let the baby stay here to learn or play.

From the teacher’s description and the baby’s reaction to good things, Huo Lin sensitively deduced that the baby’s family situation might not be very good.

However, this didn’t make sense. This learning device was available in limited quantities, and the children who could use it usually came from wealthy families. There were no poor children who could use it.

Huo Lin was doubtful in his heart, but he didn’t show it on his face.

He continued to teach the baby and gave him the most expensive and latest toys with his pocket money.

Huo Lin spent money like water, but he didn’t know that in the palace study, the Emperor, with a cold and resolute expression, was holding his bill and raising an eyebrow slightly.

“A two-year-old recognizes words through pictures.”

“A cartoon version of counting and drawing.”

“Number cards from 1 to 10.”

One after another, the list of children’s items caught the Emperor’s eye and he showed a hint of interest.

On the other side,

The parent of the same baby, Zhan Xi, came in with a big apple and a smile on his face, saying, “Baby, Daddy’s back.”

Hearing his father’s voice, the baby sitting in the learning walker hurriedly opened his arms and said, “Daddy! Pick up!”

Zhan Xi bent down, picked up the child, and kissed him twice.

The big and the small were hugging and kissing each other warmly. Ling Qi, who came to show Zhan Xi the child’s medical report, frowned as he looked at Zhan Xi’s left arm. He had seen clearly that Zhan Xi’s arm had trembled when he was holding Jian Ning.

In addition to the strange left arm, he also smelled the medicine used to treat wounds on Zhan Xi’s body.

Zhan Xi’s frequent injuries had already indicated that the barren star might not last long.

“You, you go back and rest. I also have to take Ningning to wash up and go to sleep.”

“Okay.”

Zhan Xi watched Ling Qi leave, closed the door, held the young child in one hand, and his homemade swimming ring in the other, and went to the bathroom to give the child a bath.

“Baby, when Daddy has more money in the future, I will buy you a new swimming ring.”

Zhan Xi squatted in front of the basin. Due to his height, squatting in the small bathroom always seemed cramped. He lowered his head and looked at the child with the blue swimming ring around his neck, feeling that the swimming ring looked a bit shabby.

“If only we had more money,” he thought to himself.

This way, his baby could live a better life and play with better toys.

***

The author has something to say:

Dad Zhan Xi: wants to raise the child with wealth!

Little Prince: has already started raising him with wealth.