Chapter 15: Chapter 15 What Color Sack Do You Like?

Chapter 15 What Color Sack Would You Like?

When Lu Zhishi woke up that morning, seeing Lu Tingan, he was still in a daze, staring blankly with wide, sleepy eyes.

Lu Tingan changed his diaper, then picked him up and held him close, leaning down to kiss his cheek. "Doesn't baby remember Daddy?"

The little one in his arms suddenly teared up, pouting and reaching out to touch Lu Tingan’s face, as if still processing. "Wah..."

Lu Tingan carried the chubby baby around the room, gently swaying him and patting his back, softly coaxing:

"Baby, don’t cry, Daddy’s here..."

Lu Zhishi buried his face in Lu Tingan’s shoulder and cried hard, tears streaming down. Unable to speak yet, he could only whimper and hum to express his longing and sorrow.

He hadn’t meant to cry, but the moment he saw Lu Tingan, the tears just started flowing uncontrollably.

The room door gently pushed open, and Lu Zhiyu entered, standing quietly to the side, looking up at Lu Tingan, waiting for him to comfort his younger brother.

Lu Zhiyu’s eyes were red, his eyelashes wet and clumped together, and his nose tip was slightly pink—clearly, he too had just had a good cry.

Lu Tingan went over, bent down, and picked him up, holding both children in his arms as he walked around the room, soothing them.

Lu Zhiyu pursed his lips, tears welling up again. He turned his head to rest on his father’s shoulder, secretly wiping his eyes, holding back his sobs.

Lu Tingan’s heart ached, his own eyes reddening.

Song Qinian walked in to see the three crying, leaning against the doorframe with a light chuckle. "I told you they inherited their crying from you, but you wouldn’t believe me."

Lu Tingan let out a rueful laugh. "These two are exactly like you when you were little."

Song Qinian’s smile widened as he walked over, gathering them all into his embrace and kissing each forehead. "Alright, alright, they take after me, they’re all mine."

Thanks to his interruption, Lu Tingan’s mood brightened a little.

The two little ones gradually stopped crying, though their eyelashes were still beaded with tears, making them look pitiful yet adorable, evoking both laughter and tenderness.

Lu Tingan fed the children breakfast. Having just returned, both little ones clung to him like tiny shadows, following him everywhere.

Lu Zhiyu excitedly held his hand, leading him to see the Spring Festival couplets, window decorations, and lanterns he had put up.

"Daddy, look! This is the lantern I hung, and the one next to it was hung by little brother."

"Big Daddy lifted us high onto his shoulders, and we hung them up just like that~"

"Daddy, Daddy, these are the snacks I bought—there’s even the tomato flavor you like~"

"I finished all my homework, finished it in just three days. Let me show you~"

Lu Tingan ate the snack he was offered and carefully reviewed the homework, praising with a gentle smile, "Your homework is very well done. Daddy didn’t find any mistakes. Our Zhiyu is such a smart baby."

Lu Zhiyu puffed out his chest, his face a mix of pride and shyness. "I’ll keep working hard next time too, and Daddy can check it again when you come back."

Lu Tingan hugged him, leaning down to kiss his little head, and softly said, "Then Daddy will look forward to it."

After checking Lu Zhiyu’s homework, Lu Tingan picked up Tubby, who was giggling nearby, weighed him in his arms, and gently pinched his bottom and legs.

After his inspection, Lu Tingan chuckled lightly. "You’ve gained weight, and gotten chubbier too."

Lu Zhishi giggled, also proudly puffing out his chest. "Aww~"

Hearing the laughter and joy from the living room, Song Qinian, who was cooking in the kitchen, smiled, his downcast eyes brimming with warmth.

Light snow drifted gently, covering the ground in a silver blanket. The house was filled with laughter and warmth as the New Year approached.

...

On New Year’s Eve, Lu Zhishi was still curled up in bed taking an afternoon nap when his Daddy Lu Tingan dug him out and took him for a bath.

"Mmm..."

Lu Zhishi opened one eye halfway, glancing around, and suddenly met his brother’s sleepy gaze.

"Ha~" The little sleepyhead instantly woke up, giggling happily. He had thought he was the only one being dragged out.

Lu Zhiyu was amused by him, his eyes curving into smiles.

The two brothers sat facing each other in the bathtub, giggling uncontrollably at one another.

Lu Tingan smiled, gently washing their hair and scrubbing them clean.

From start to finish, the bathroom was filled with the sound of their adorable laughter.

Dressed in bright red, festive jackets, Lu Tingan put on their socks and shoes, then fluffy little hats, turning them into two little lucky dolls.

Lu Zhiyu was fine—though bundled up roundly, he still stood cool and handsome like a little young master.

Lu Zhishi, however, couldn’t quite manage it. With so many layers, he looked even rounder, like a plump, white tangyuan wearing a red jacket.

Now sitting on the bed, he slowly and uncontrollably began to tilt over into the blankets, unable to get up.

"Ah, aww..."

Lu Zhishi waved his chubby hands urgently. Someone dig him out! Daddy! Brother!

Lu Zhiyu climbed onto the bed laughing, picking up his round, rolling brother. "Such a cute chubby tangyuan."

Lu Zhishi let out a breath, tightly gripping his brother’s clothes to keep himself from tipping over again.

After Lu Tingan finished his shower and changed, he packed the things they were taking to the Lu family home and went out of the room to call Song Qinian for his bath.

"I’ll take care of the rest. You go shower."

"Alright, let me just set these gifts down first."

Song Qinian carried large and small bags of New Year’s gifts to the underground garage and loaded them into the car before returning to the room to shower.

Once everything was packed, and the doors, windows, water, and electricity were all shut off, the couple carried the children back to the Lu family home for the New Year’s Eve dinner.

The Song and Lu families celebrated New Year’s Eve together. Last year, they had the dinner at the Song family home, and this year it was the Lu family’s turn.

After a lively New Year’s Eve dinner with the family, the children didn’t need to stay up late. Before Lu Zhishi and Lu Zhiyu went to sleep, they received New Year’s gifts from the grandparents.

"Happy New Year, our dear grandchildren."

The Lu grandparents gave small gold plaques engraved with wishes for peace and happiness. The rest seemed to be some assets, which were taken by Lu Tingan and Song Qinian.

The Song grandparents gave small jade pendants that felt warm to the touch—likely warm jade—and were clearly of excellent quality. The elderly couple also gave company shares and some assets, which, of course, were also taken by the fathers.

Although they had already witnessed their grandparents’ generosity during their hundred-day celebration, receiving gifts again left Lu Zhishi utterly astonished.

Looking at Lu Zhiyu next to him, he was laughing happily but unsurprised, clearly used to it by now—obviously, their grandparents had given these things many times before.

Once again amazed by his family's wealth, Lu Zhishi fell asleep holding the small gold medal and jade pendant.

On New Year's Eve, right at midnight, Lu Tingan posted a Weibo post—just a single selfie with a simple caption.

"Photo": A new year, let's be happy together.

Fans and netizens who had stayed up to celebrate the New Year flooded the comments section, leaving comments below—

"Happy New Year!!"

"Happy New Year! What did you have for the New Year's Eve dinner?"

"Brother Lu, Happy New Year!! May everything go better than expected in the new year, and may you be happy!!"

"Babe, you're still so handsome!! Love you love you, like a mouse loves rice!!"

"Husband husband husband husband husband!! It's my husband!!"

"Why didn’t your Chubby Fish and Fat Cheese make an appearance?"

Lu Tingan took a photo of the two kids from behind, not showing their faces, and replied to the fans' comments.

The fans instantly responded: "Brother Lu, ask them what color sack they like."

Lu Tingan read the comments and let out a sudden chuckle.

A lively celebration of the New Year, family reunion, and all things going well.

...

After waking up and having New Year's breakfast, Lu Zhishi felt the two small red envelopes in his pocket—given by his dads. He couldn’t open them, but they felt like two cards.

Song Qinian said: "They're both black cards. Buy whatever you want, just don’t do anything bad."

"Aww?" Lu Zhishi couldn’t open his own, so he leaned over to look at Lu Zhiyu’s—his was open.

When he saw the card, Lu Zhishi’s eyes lit up. It was the first time he’d seen a bank card with black diamonds—so beautiful: "Wow!"

Lu Zhiyu was also getting a black card for the first time; before, it had always been gold medals, gold locks, and jade pendants. His eyes lit up, clearly just as delighted:

"Thanks, Dad."

Song Qinian and Lu Tingan didn’t take their New Year's money, letting them keep it themselves.

There were two little treasure chests at home, specifically for the two children to store their New Year's money. Lu Zhiyu’s previous New Year's money was all there, and now Lu Zhishi’s small treasure box would be used too.

On the first day of the New Year, they went out to pay New Year's visits.

Many of the elderly from prominent families in City A lived in this villa area, mainly because it was close, making it convenient to visit and chat on normal days.

The younger generation didn’t live in this area much; most lived in the villa area where Song Qinian and Chi Yuehang resided, and they had come over for the New Year.

Given the Song and Lu families' status, aside from the Chi family and a few other close ones, there weren’t many important families they had to visit for New Year’s greetings.

Lu's parents stayed home to receive guests who came to wish them a Happy New Year, while the Song parents returned to their own home to entertain relatives. Song Qinian and Lu Tingan took the two children and New Year gifts to visit a few close prominent families.

The closest was the Chi family, and the four of them stayed there the longest.

The Chi grandparents and Bai grandparents were very kind, holding Lu Zhishi and feeding him milk cakes, and they also gave him a good amount of New Year’s money. Chi Yuehang and Bai Yansheng gave him a gold lock and gold bracelet.

Chi Chen looked at his chubby little appearance, and a slight smile appeared on his expressionless face. He went upstairs to his room and brought down a small pillow.

"New Year’s gift."

Lu Zhishi was thrilled by the gift, lifting his chubby face to look at him movedly—Brother Xiao Chen is so nice!!

Chi Chen touched the baby fat on his cheek, his clear, cool voice carrying a soft tone: "Happy New Year."

Lu Zhishi looked up and gave him a sweet smile: "Eee!"

Brother Xiao Chen, Happy New Year!!

Lu Zhishi really liked this small pillow—it was fragrant, soft, comfortable to hold, and even more comfortable to rest on.

Lu Zhiyu looked at his brother’s pillow, then at the limited-edition Rubik’s Cube he had given to Chi Chen, and finally at the "Sea of Questions Tactics: Elementary School Edition" in his own hand.

Lu Zhiyu: "..." What a scary New Year’s gift.

Of course, Chi Chen was teasing him. Under the workbook was a limited-edition robot model. Lu Zhiyu didn’t find out until he got home and was so happy he called Chi Chen again, sending several photos of himself with the robot model.

Chi Chen was annoyed with him and sent him two sets of the enhanced version of "Sea of Questions Tactics" the next day.