Chapter 80

Chapter 80

The Wen Residence

While the live stream was ongoing, as Bao Tingyuan carried Wen Cishu on his back, Zhu Qianya discreetly observed her husband Wen Minghui’s reaction.

Wen Minghui leaned forward to pick up a cup from the coffee table, lifting the lid and making a show of checking it. "Ah, there’s no water left. I’ll go refill it."

Just as he stood up, the housekeeper came by just then to pour water for him.

Zhu Qianya held back a laugh.

The screen split into two views—one showing the cave group, and the other featuring the car group.

In the leisurely-moving tour cart, Bao Yiming was playing with Rong Rong and Xiao Qi.

Wen Minghui casually deflected, pointing at the screen and saying to his wife, "Look at this angle. Yi Ming looks exactly like our Cishu."

At that moment, Bao Yiming looked up into the camera, revealing amber-colored eyes.

Zhu Qianya chuckled, playfully disagreeing. "Not at all. Our Cishu has dark eyes."

Wen Minghui glanced at the other screen.

The cave scene was still going. After crossing the chilly stream, Wen Cishu had wanted to walk on his own, but Bao Tingyuan refused, continuing to carry him instead.

The traditionalist Wen Minghui sighed heavily. "Hmph!"

Zhu Qianya teased, amused. "You old stick-in-the-mud, why the long face?" She clicked the remote to enable live chat. "Let’s see what the netizens are saying."

The chat was already spamming the screen.

A single line—"Daddy’s the best! Don’t let Mommy walk, just carry him the whole way!"—was repeated endlessly.

Wen Minghui shook his head, holding his teacup. "I don’t speak English. I’m a hometown guy."

Zhu Qianya said, "No worries. I’m in a good mood today—I’ll be your personal translator, free of charge."

"Hard pass!"

Wen Minghui tapped the teacup lid to stop her. "Hide the chat. They’re blocking my view of our son and grandson."

Zhu Qianya laughed, needling him. "Aren’t you going to watch Tingyuan?"

"Tingyuan has Li Yun to watch over him."

Wen Minghui sipped his tea, then suddenly snatched up his phone. "I’ll call Li Yun for a spot check."

Zhu Qianya turned off the comments, keeping her eyes on the screen while listening in. "Put it on speaker."

Wen Minghui muttered but hit speaker, just as the call connected.

"Li Yun, what are you up to?"

Li Yun replied, "I’m watching the show. Have you seen it? Yi Ming and the others are having a great time on the island today."

Naturally, Wen Minghui wanted to share his thoughts, wrapping up with, "Tingyuan, raised in France, is quite... affectionate out in the open."

Zhu Qianya doubled over laughing—he’d really strained for that one.

Li Yun chuckled and backed his son up: "Of course. Cishu has health issues, so Tingyuan ought to take extra care of him. It lets you and Qianya rest easy too, right?"

Zhu Qianya: "I have full confidence in Tingyuan."

Wen Minghui was speechless—apparently, he was the only stick-in-the-mud in the whole family.

-

[LIVE]

Led by the guide, the four of them finally reached the cave exit.

As light streamed in, everyone felt a shared sense of revelation.

Rong Rong's dad turned his head and asked curiously, "Ming Zai's dad, when you were learning Chinese, did you study our ancient texts too?"

Zhou Xu laughed: "You’re not talking about *Peach Blossom Spring*, are you?"

"Exactly! Teacher Zhou thought of it too?" Rong Rong's dad stopped walking, bending over with laughter. "Talk about coincidence!"

"Huh? What kind of weird groupthink is this? I was just thinking—"

"Me too! And I didn’t even try—it came to me out of nowhere!"

Bao Tingyuan said, "The Chinese I learned was mainly for daily conversation."

Zhou Xu: "Your Chinese is near-perfect, almost no accent. Ancient texts are too difficult—we only memorized them as kids for exams."

Rong Rong's dad asked, "So did you attend Chinese classes at a French school from childhood?"

Bao Tingyuan: "No, I started learning just eleven years ago with a private tutor."

Rong Rong's dad did a double take: "Eleven years and you can speak like this?!"

Zhou Xu even stopped and turned to look at Bao Tingyuan.

"Now I see where Ming Zai gets his language talent—turns out his dad is even more impressive."

"Eleven years? So you only started learning Chinese after meeting mommy, then moved to China and married her?"

"Dad, with that kind of drive, you’d succeed at anything! That's next-level."

Zhou Xu couldn’t help sighing: "Language talent really is genetic. I’m already worrying about how hard Xiao Qi’s English proficiency exams will be."

Rong Rong's dad said, "Yeah, even kindergartens and primary schools test parents now. Before my interview, I was drilling English Q&As at home with Zhu Wei."

Zhou Xu pretended to short-circuit: "That strict?"

Rong Rong's dad asked, "Is Xiao Qi about to start preschool? Have you found one?"

Zhou Xu nodded: "Found one. There’s an interview, but no mention of English Q&As."

"You should double-check—some might have it."

Rong Rong's dad couldn’t hold back a smug "better you than me" look.

A few steps behind them.

Wen Cishu studied Bao Tingyuan’s face with shining eyes.

He wondered—had Tingyuan hardly said a word during their arranged meeting because he worried his Chinese would fail him? Or that he’d say the wrong thing?

At this thought, he couldn't help but chuckle, tightening his arms and whispering, "When we get home, I'll teach you *The Peach Blossom Spring*. You'll understand then."

"Mm." Bao Tingyuan turned to look at him, his green eyes sweeping over his lively, joyful expression, his voice deep and serious. "Thank you in advance, Prof. Wen."

"You're welcome—"

Wen Cishu suddenly remembered something and abruptly buried his raised head back into Bao Tingyuan's neck, giving it a sharp nip.

—*Why use such a serious tone for such cheeky words?! Outrageous!*

"These two husbands are so sickeningly sweet."

"Why teach *The Peach Blossom Spring*? Our great, cultured China has plenty of classic literature better suited for mommy to teach daddy—like *The Plum in the Golden Vase*!"

"*The Mirror of Flowers* or *Flying Flowers and Romantic Dreams* would work too!①"

-

The two groups of guests reunited under the enormous, canopy-like banyan tree on the island.

Bao Yiming bounded over and threw himself into his little daddy's arms. "Little Daddy, I missed you so much~"

Wen Cishu scritched the kid’s head and responded warmly, "Me too~~"

In just half an hour, the father and son had turned it into a full-blown reunion drama.

Nearby, Xiao Qi, held by his dad, flailed his little paws and made grabbing motions in the air. "Uncle~ Xiao Qi missed you too~~~"

Wen Cishu quickly reached out to squeeze the pudgy fingers.

Zhou Xu tilted his boy’s face up to face him. "Hey, Daddy's right here!"

Xiao Qi let out an "aww" and face-planted into his dad’s shoulder, blinking his smiling eyes at his uncle.

At that moment, Bao Tingyuan twisted open a water bottle and handed it to Wen Cishu.

Bao Yiming hurriedly took it, holding it up with both hands to his little daddy's lips. "Little Daddy, this is the water I prepared for you. Sip it slow, ’kay?"

Wen Cishu shot Bao Tingyuan a smirk and quickly accepted it. "Thank you, baby."

"Haha, bold-faced credit snatching?"

"Gotta admit, Ming Zai is next-level adorable when he turns on the charm."

"Daddy: This kid’s *overdoing* the filial piety!"

After completing the island adventure, all the guests boarded a sightseeing cruise ship heading to the next destination—Monkey Island.

Hearing this, Wen Cishu glanced subtly at the little monkey sitting diagonally in front and snickered under his breath.

Once seated, Bao Yiming fidgeted for a solid two minutes before huddling toward his buddy and whispering,

"Xingxing, gege wants to sit by Little Daddy for a bit. I'll sit with you later, okay?"

Xingxing, holding the mango-flavored ice cream his brother had bought him, nodded.

Bao Yiming stood up and wormed his way between his two dads.

Cuddling up to his little daddy, he asked eagerly, "Little Daddy, can you tell me about the cave? Was it fun?"

Bao Tingyuan had no choice but to scooch over, making enough room for his youngest son.

Wen Cishu hugged his son and began talking about the cave.

"There wasn't anything particularly special. The guide said bats would stay overnight in the evening, but when we went in, there was nothing—just maybe a slight musty odor. Why don’t you ask your dad?"

Bao Yiming turned around and asked innocently, "Dad, what else was in the cave?"

Bao Tingyuan's deep gaze shifted from the distant sea to his son's face, speaking earnestly, "And silence."

Bao Yiming: Whoa!!!

Wen Cishu: Huh??

"This is definitely Dad's payback! Who told Ming Zai to crash the couple's alone time?"

"And stealing that bottle of water—Dad must’ve filed that away for later."

Bao Yiming let out a loud "hmph," immediately turning to lean against his little daddy’s shoulder, pouting, "Little Daddy, Dad thinks I’m noisy, waa..."

Wen Cishu hugged him. "Of course not, it’s just windier out here by the sea, while the cave was sheltered."

He poked Bao Tingyuan’s arm with a finger, shooting him a look.

Bao Tingyuan grabbed his hand, reaching around in front of their little son.

The two dads’ hands clasped right in front of Bao Yiming, as if forming an extra "safety barrier" out of thin air.

Bao Yiming: -_-

"This is really too much! Force-feeding me their PDA!"

"Every time I see Dad’s stone-cold expression making moves like this, I laugh till I cry."

"Dad unexpectedly has this savage sense of humor."

Wen Cishu switched arms to pull the kid closer against his shoulder. "With both daddies protecting you, don’t you feel super safe?"

Bao Yiming swung his feet, glancing at Dad from the corner of his eye. "I think Dad wants to toss me into the sea to feed the sharks."

Bao Tingyuan gently rubbed Wen Cishu’s fingertips with his thumb, patiently correcting his son, "There are no sharks in this area."

Bao Yiming mumbled, "Then he’d throw me in and make me swim home myself. Anyway, he just doesn’t like me anymore~ waa~ Little Daddy..."

He lifted his head, the corners of his eyes drooping, shining with crocodile tears.

Wen Cishu planted a kiss on his head. "Of course Dad likes you."

He tugged at Bao Tingyuan’s hand. "Hurry up and say something to our son."

Seeing the little one’s drama escalating, Bao Tingyuan asked directly, "Do you still want me to swim with you later?"

"Yes!"

Bao Yiming perked up immediately, sitting up straight between them, kicking his skinny legs, hands planted on both dads' arms. He looked up at Little Daddy and said, "Wow, Little Daddy, sitting like this feels really secure!"

Wen Cishu felt like facepalming. Did he get this from me? he thought.