The child who loved eating rice had put away his spoon, which was enough to show that the situation was very serious.
The culprit responsible for all of this, Ludwig, sat in his seat and received the stares of everyone around him.
Even Wagner, who was eating with them, looked up at him with condemning eyes.
Pressure suddenly fell on Ludwig. He looked at the chubby child in his son’s arms, complaining about something. He stood up and walked to Huo Lin’s side.
Huo Lin looked down at the sad little child in his arms, then at his father and whispered, “Father, Ningning would not have thrown a tantrum for no reason. He doesn’t want you to go out. Can you please stay home?”
Ludwig’s gaze fell on the child’s back facing him, and a hint of darkness flashed in his golden eyes.
He reached out and touched the child’s head.
The little child in his brother’s arms turned his head and looked at Ludwig with tears in his beautiful, round, black gem-like eyes. His voice trembled with a bit of a crying tone as he asked Ludwig, “Uncle, you won’t go, right?”
Ludwig did not respond.
Seeing this, Ai Wei explained to Huo Lin on behalf of Ludwig, “Xiao Lin, as you should know, your father’s itinerary has already been set and cannot be changed at will. The army is waiting for your father now. What reason can he use to cancel his trip when he arrives?”
Ai Wei’s words were heard by Huo Lin, of course.
But not only Huo Lin could hear them.
Seeing Ludwig not speaking, the tearful little child suddenly leaned over and pressed his forehead against Ludwig’s, saying, “It hurts, Uncle, please don’t go.”
This morning, the tender sprout had sensed a wave of Ludwig’s mental power, but that wave disappeared in an instant. Even Ludwig himself didn’t have time to notice it.
Now, the little child refused to let Ludwig go on a long journey, and this was the reason.
Ludwig saw him leaning over and hugged him, saying, “Ningning, be a good boy. My head doesn’t hurt and my body is fine.”
“I will bring a gift back for you this time when I go out.”
The little child who always loved receiving gifts shook his head like a tambourine this time. He hugged Ludwig’s neck with his chubby little hands, using all his strength as if he were nursing.
Seeing the stalemate, Ai Wei could only signal Ludwig with her eyes.
Ludwig understood and carried the child back to his seat, putting him on his lap and feeding him, saying, “Okay, let’s finish our meal first.”
Huo Lin also moved the child’s plate in front of his father, asking him to feed the child more.
Not long after, the child’s belly was finally full. Ludwig touched his soft belly and stopped fooling around with him after feeding him.
He returned the full child to Huo Lin and then pretended to go to the study.
The young child didn’t understand the tricks of adults or the traps of language, so he naively let his guard down. Before leaving, the little child kissed Ludwig’s right cheek.
Not satisfied with just one kiss, he also made Huo Lin kiss his father.
The father and son, who had never been particularly affectionate with each other, looked at each other with complexity in their eyes.
Finally, Huo Lin reluctantly kissed his father’s cold face.
They left the palace.
Jian Ning sat in the car driven by Auben, following his brother and Wagner to school.
On the way, Jian Ning persuaded her brother to make a video call to his father, but he didn’t answer.
“Your dad may be busy and didn’t hear the sound. We’ll call him together when we go back at noon,” said Huo Lin, comforting the young child on his lap and not letting him worry.
After Huo Lin got off at the elementary school gate, Wagner sat next to Jian Ning and they talked about homework.
Wagner glanced at her and asked, “Have you finished your homework? The teacher said it can’t be done randomly.”
Having had a history of writing messy homework, Jian Ning confidently replied, “I’ve finished it! My brother checked it!”
Any homework that didn’t meet the standards was required to be rewritten by his brother. Although Wagner looked like a troublemaker, surprisingly, he obeyed the rules of the kindergarten and did his homework well in class.
Not only did he do his homework well, but he also ranked first in the combat and mecha classes.
He was number one.
Jian Ning was the last one.
For some reason, when the young child wore the mecha suit, he would stumble and fall after a few steps. It seemed that he was not accustomed to the mecha suit on his body.
Besides the mecha class, in the combat class, he would forget the rules and continuously break them until he lost.
One of the popular courses in the Empire was mecha maintenance. However, since kindergarten was full of young children, they couldn’t touch this course yet.
Mecha maintenance required a lot of small parts, and if the children accidentally swallowed them, the consequences would be unimaginable.
As for mecha, which was also a bit dangerous, parents were eager to let their young children have early exposure to it.
Two children entered the school gate. After greeting the security guard one by one, they held hands and walked towards the Green Grass class together.
“Wagner, when is your dad coming to see you?”
Jian Ning held Wagner’s hand and asked him, “Do you miss your dad a lot?”
Wagner didn’t say anything.
Unlike the Iron-blooded Prince who had never been close to his father since he was young, Wagner still loved to be close to his father in his heart.
It’s just that his father was always too strict and didn’t like to hug him.
Seeing him not responding, Jian Ning scratched his palm and said in a soft voice, “I heard you call out for your dad in your sleep. If you miss your dad, you can call him and tell him.”
Wagner listened to Jian Ning’s suggestion for a while and then said dejectedly, “My dad’s phone is not reachable.”
He tried many times but couldn’t get through.
Although he couldn’t reach his father by phone, he did receive messages from him. His father said he was busy with something, but Wagner didn’t know what it was.
“Ningning.”
Wagner suddenly said, “Can you go with me to see my dad next time he comes back?”
Wagner remembered that last time Ningning was there, his father hugged him.
“Sure.”
Jian Ning readily agreed to Wagner’s request, and they arrived at the door of the Green Grass class as they spoke. The children in the class had already arrived, and they were chatting inside.
“Ningning!”
Former second chubby child Roy waved his hand and greeted Jian Ning, “You’re here! Didn’t you go home yesterday?”
Jian Ning walked over and put down his backpack, feeling a little puzzled. “How did you know I wasn’t at home?”
Roy grinned and explained, “My mom and I went to your bun shop to find you, and my mom bought a lot of buns from your shop!”
Jian Ning: “!!!”
Jian Ning found it unbelievable that his father’s buns sold out so quickly!
Roy proudly puffed out his chest and took credit for it, “Ningning, I recommended your buns to my mom! She said your buns can help with weight loss.”
The idea of weight-loss buns was very tempting for Roy’s father and mother, who had always struggled with being overweight.
When they found the bun shop today, the number of buns they wanted to buy shocked Zhan Xi, who was about to close up shop. Zhan Xi was initially hesitant, thinking they were joking, but Roy’s mom gave him a deposit on the spot.
Zhan Xi looked at all the money and felt like his bun-selling business was finally taking off!
Jian Ning looked at Roy, who was still taking credit, but there was little joy on his chubby face. He was worried that if Roy’s mom stopped wanting to buy the buns, he would have to keep eating them.
The atmosphere in the small class was lively and noisy.
After the teacher came in, he announced that she would be giving out new mechas that could be taken home and used for training.
When the children heard the news, those who loved mechas cheered, even Wagner stood on a stool and said he could practice with other classmates after school.
The children who had been beaten by him wearing a mecha before looked at him, but none of them responded to his words.
For Jian Ning, life in the kindergarten sometimes seemed fast and sometimes seemed slow.
It was now lunchtime.
Zhan Xi came to pick him up and also took Wagner with him.
When they passed by the elementary school and saw that the gate was still closed, Zhan Xi thought for a few seconds and didn’t ask Huo Lin to have lunch with them.
The food in the palace was much better than the food at his home.
Zhan Xi bought some parts and assembled an antique-style tricycle.
The tricycle looked simple and rough, but it had a canvas canopy and the seats inside were cushioned and comfortable to sit on.
“Dad.”
Ningning, who followed his father back, stuck his little head out and asked his driving father, “Did you sell all the steamed buns?”
“Yes, I did.”
As soon as he mentioned this, Zhan Xi was overjoyed: “Baby, Dad had good luck early this morning. Not only did I sell the buns, but I also collected some scrap on the street and sold it at three times the price at the recycling station! Dad also bought you a small cake on the way back!”
The little child in the tricycle tried to digest what Zhan Xi said. He might not have understood much, but he liked it when his father talked to him about anything.
“Dad, great job!”
The little child who half understood clapped his hands for his father.
Zhan Xi smiled and announced another piece of good news: “Your Uncle Ling Qi is also on his way to see you. He said he will come and make buns for you to eat!”
When he heard that it was Uncle Ling Qi’s buns, the little one’s eyes lit up: “Uncle Ling Qi’s buns! Uncle Ling Qi’s buns!”
He wanted to eat the buns made by Uncle Ling Qi.
The three of them strolled slowly back home.
After they arrived, Zhan Xi gave each little child some water before preparing their meal. While they were eating, Zhan Xi also turned on the TV and watched the Empire’s midday news.
“The world is really chaotic.”
As he watched the news reports of Zergs plagued in many places, Zhan Xi frowned.
There was not only their Empire in the entire galaxy but also other countries. Even their Empire had been committed to detecting and observing civilizations in strange dimensions.
In short, the danger from external forces has never been quelled.
Fortunately, they have the most powerful emperor in the empire. As long as the emperor’s towering figure had not fallen, all the people in the empire would not worry or be afraid.
They trusted their emperor.
A child who was placed on a chair to eat, wrinkled his little eyebrows at first when taking a few bites, but soon adapted and continued to eat heartily.
While eating, the child saw on the news the emperor in military uniform holding a long knife with a chubby little duck hanging from it, looking expressionless at the camera.
The voice-over introduced him. The child looked at the emperor, then at the spaceship behind him, and suddenly realized something.
***
Meanwhile, the emperor who departed two hours earlier than the news broadcast had already arrived at his destination—Ouyun Star.
On Ouyun Star, the emperor’s legion spaceship was hovering in the air. The emperor was speaking with General Mans on another battlefield.
“We have not found any trace of the king worm here. I have already recovered most of the empire’s territories that were raided by the worm tribe. Your Majesty, are you really not coming here?”
Ludwig looked at the silver-haired general on the screen and replied coldly, “No, my target is Ouyun Star.”
Besides slaughtering Ouyun Star clean, he also wanted to find out which Zerg on Ouyun Star arranged the spacecraft that carried Ningning.
Their conversation was brief, and the call soon ended. After hanging up, Ludwig clenched his long knife and strode out of the spaceship.
***
Meanwhile, the child who had been deceived was so angry that his voice was about to break: “I will never talk to Uncle Lulu again!”
***
The author has something to say:
Ningning: I’m so angry!
