Chapter 33: Chapter 33 “Lost a Tooth, Speech Leaks Wind.”…

Chapter 33

"Lost a tooth, talks with a lisp now..."

Sitting in Chi Chen's seat, Lu Zhishi pulled out two bottles of milk from his pant pockets. "For my brothers."

"You're being suspiciously nice—either up to no good or wanting something. So, what do you want for lunch?"

Lu Zhiyu took out a straw, poked it into the milk, and put it in Lu Zhishi's mouth. Lu Zhishi instinctively took a sip.

Then, looking up, he gave a sweet smile. "Spicy tofu!"

Lu Zhiyu corrected him, "You mean Mapo tofu, right?"

"Yes, yes, Mapo tofu!" Lu Zhishi had tried it once before and it blew his mind.

"Not allowed." Chi Chen didn't even look up, his clean, slender fingers resting on the edge of the book as he slowly turned a page.

Lu Zhishi immediately turned to Chi Chen, his voice tinged with sadness. "Brother Xiao Chen, I really want to eat it."

"No, you can't. If you get a stomachache, I'll be the one who gets in trouble."

Lu Zhiyu firmly objected.

"And where did you even try Mapo tofu?"

Lu Zhishi dodged the question, changing the subject. "Let's not tell Dad."

"Hmph." Lu Zhiyu snorted coldly.

Did he really think they wouldn't find out just because they didn't tell Dad? How naive, Fat Cheese. If the dads found out, they'd get a double whammy as soon as they got home.

"Fine." Lu Zhishi rubbed his belly. "Then can we go eat the stinky tofu at the food street?"

"I also want to buy hot strips. I have money." Lu Zhishi fished out some coins from his pocket.

These coins were from Grandpa Lu.

Originally, Lu Zhishi had some pocket money, but until his dad caught him and Zhao Xiaoxing sneaking off after school to buy snacks, it was confiscated.

"Why don't you just say you want to taste Dad's feather duster?" Lu Zhiyu grumbled, pinching his chubby cheek.

You little foodie, always wandering off to the food street.

Eating was one thing—Song Qinian would turn a blind eye and pretend not to notice.

But this little rascal loved really spicy food, and every time he ate them, his stomach would hurt. In less than a month since starting elementary school, he’d already been to the hospital three times.

"If you can convince Dad, then you can go," Lu Zhiyu said.

At the thought of Song Qinian, Lu Zhishi quickly shook his head. "No, no."

Chi Chen placed the opened bottle of milk in his hand. "What do you want for lunch?"

Just as Lu Zhishi was about to speak, Chi Chen added calmly, "Something light."

Lu Zhishi changed his answer mid-sentence. "Steamed perch, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and steamed egg custard."

"Mm."

Chi Chen took out his phone from his backpack and texted the lunch lady to place the order.

Lu Zhishi leaned on the desk, nursing his milk slowly, making one last attempt. "We could go secretly."

Chi Chen kept his eyes on his phone, not looking up. "Not allowed."

Lu Zhiyu also snorted coldly. "If you dare sneak off to the food street with Zhao Xiaoxing, I’ll tell Dad as soon as we get home."

Seeing that it was almost time, Lu Zhiyu picked up the chubby kid and carried him downstairs.

"Brother, you snitch!" Lu Zhishi grumbled.

"Your brother is also an I'll-whoop-you expert. Want to test that?" Lu Zhiyu said with a fake smile.

Back in the classroom, Lu Zhishi sighed, propping his chin in his hands. "Brother won’t let me."

"Which brother won’t let you?" His seatmate, Zhao Xiaoxing, leaned in and asked as soon as he returned.

"Both brothers."

"Poor Fat Cheese." Zhao Xiaoxing sighed too, cradling his chubby cheeks sadly. "Poor Pang Xiaoxing."

"My brother won’t let me go either, but he sneaks off himself."

"Can’t we go secretly? We could sneak through that doggy door," he suggested.

There was a doggy door at the back of the school, left behind from who knows when. It was well hidden, and some of the older kids liked to crawl through it to buy snacks.

But they were responsible about it—they specifically had a small door and a lock installed to prevent kids below fifth grade from crawling through.

Lu Zhishi: "Forget it. If we get caught, we’ll really get a double trouble."

At noon, they went to the little house next to the school for lunch. After eating, they had to nap before returning to class.

Summer afternoons were perfect for napping, especially with the cool breeze blowing through the window. It was easy to sleep through the whole afternoon sprawled across the desk.

Lu Zhishi fought to stay awake and even woke up Zhao Xiaoxing next to him, telling him to pay attention in class.

Zhao Xiaoxing pouted, about to cry.

Lu Zhishi clamped a hand over his mouth, then pulled out a cool, sweet mung bean drink from his backpack, whispered reassuringly. "Be good and pay attention in class. I’ll take you to buy cotton candy this afternoon."

"Really?" Zhao Xiaoxing’s eyes lit up as he chewed on the straw.

"What’s really? Let me hear it too?" A gentle, warm voice sounded from behind—a familiar one.

Lu Zhishi quickly covered Zhao Xiaoxing’s mouth, but it was too late.

"We’re going to buy cotton candy this afternoon~" Zhao Xiaoxing said in a baby voice.

Lu Zhishi closed his eyes, then turned around and gave their homeroom teacher a sheepish grin.

"Teacher Chu..."

Chu Manyue tapped them lightly on the head. "Not paying attention in class? Remember to copy today’s poem twice and hand it to me before school ends."

Lu Zhishi: "Okay, teacher! I’ll make sure to get it done!"

As Chu Manyue walked to the other side of the classroom, Zhao Xiaoxing pouted as he drank the mung bean drink. Then, he whispered: "Six Cheese~"

Lu Zhishi was busy copying notes. "What?"

"Don't wanna copy. It's annoying." Zhao Xiaoxing didn't like Chinese class; he preferred foreign language class.

"No, you have to study hard and make progress every day." Lu Zhishi grabbed a pen and shoved it into his hand. "Hurry up and take notes, pay attention in class."

Zhao Xiaoxing grumbled and reluctantly ducked his head down to write.

He was just complaining and being a bit spoiled. He was willing to study when told, but he loved to act spoiled and needed someone to coax him.

Zhao Xiaoxing was the real spoiled one.

There were only two classes in the afternoon, and the last one was gym class.

During their free time, Lu Zhishi and Zhao Xiaoxing returned to the classroom since they still had to copy the classical poem.

Besides them, a few other little kids were also grumbling and scribbling away, their mouths yammering nonstop.

"Six Cheese, are you guys going to buy cotton candy?"

"Take me with you! I have money!"

"Chubby Xing, Six Cheese, I want some too! I don't have money, but I'll trade you my gold bracelet."

Lu Zhishi kept writing without stopping his chatter. "Not sure yet, don't know if my brothers will agree."

"Do your parents let you eat it?" Zhao Xiaoxing was the same, writing while chattering away.

Kids around this age were mostly losing their baby teeth, and eating too much sugar would cause cavities.

"Aw, my dad won't let me."

"My mom won't either."

The little kids chattered nonstop, but their hands never stopped moving. They finished writing before class ended and turned it in to Teacher Chu.

Lu Zhishi and Zhao Xiaoxing were the last to turn theirs in. After submitting, they went out, and Lu Zhiyu was waiting outside the classroom.

"Brother, buy cotton candy!" Lu Zhishi tugged on his sleeve.

Lu Zhiyu ignored him, held his hand, and handed the small backpack to Chi Chen to carry.

Lu Zhishi turned to look at Chi Chen. "Brother Xiao Chen, let's go buy cotton candy~"

"We have some at home." Chi Chen carried his small backpack and walked beside him, dismissed flatly.

Lu Zhishi wrinkled his nose. "The ones at home don't taste the same."

"What taste?" Lu Zhiyu lightly tapped his head. "The taste of a whooping?"

Zhao Xiaoxing also whined to his brother. "Brother, let's go!"

Zhao Xiaoyun shook his head. "No."

"I want to eat it!"

Zhao Xiaoyun: "Do you want a spanking?"

As they bantered and joked, they reached the school gate, where Song Qinian was already waiting.

Lu Tingan had also come but waited in the car.

"Dad, let's go buy cotton candy~" Lu Zhishi ran over and clung to his leg.

Song Qinian bent down to pick him up and smoothed down his curly hair.

"We still have plenty of cotton candy at home."

Song Qinian didn’t want him eating too much—it wasn’t good for his teeth, and the little one was still losing teeth.

"The cotton candy grandpa makes is better!"

Lu Zhishi loved the cotton candy grandpa at the end of the snack street. The freshly made cotton candy was light, sweet and melts in your mouth, with pretty colors.

"Dad, dad!"

Song Qinian shot a helpless glance into the car and gave Lu Zhishi a look.

Lu Zhishi understood instantly, wriggled to get down from Song Qinian, then climbed into the car to hug Lu Tingan’s arm, nuzzling against him.

"Dad~ I want to eat cotton candy~"

Lu Tingan shifted his gaze from his phone. "Didn't your teeth hurt last time?"

Lu Zhishi raised his hand in promise. "I’ll brush my teeth properly when we get back!"

That's our clingy boy for you.

Ten minutes later, Lu Zhishi grabbed Zhao Xiaoxing and was about to make a break for the food street when Chi Chen snagged him by the collar.

"It’s crowded, don’t run."

Chi Chen and Lu Zhiyu followed slowly behind them, while Zhao Xiaoyun trailed after them reluctantly.

Even though their dads only agreed to buy cotton candy, passing by all kinds of stalls and shops made Lu Zhishi unable to resist, his mouth watering.

Smelling the aroma from the grilled squid stall, Zhao Xiaoxing was practically drooling.

"Six Cheese, I want to eat it!"

Better not to look. Lu Zhishi quickly pulled him away. "You don’t want to."

Zhao Xiaoxing said, confused, "But I do."

Lu Zhishi wiped his own mouth, deadpan. "No, you don’t want to at all."

Zhao Xiaoxing was pretty bummed. He did want to, he really did!

With all the stops and starts, Lu Zhishi struggled to tug Zhao Xiaoxing along to the cotton candy stall at the end of the street.

"Grandpa, five cotton candies, peach flavor~"

Lu Zhishi raised his hand high. "My big brother's paying!"

"Okay, right away." The silver-haired old man smiled kindly, his movements quick and practiced. In less than twenty minutes, he was done.

Lu Zhishi held a pink cotton candy bigger than his face and took a huge bite—sweet, fluffy perfection.

"So good!"

Zhao Xiaoxing was licking so eagerly he couldn't even speak, "Mhm! Mhm!"

Lu Zhiyu had paid for the cotton candy, holding one in his hand while holding his little brother's hand with the other.

"Xiao Chen, quickly wipe the cotton candy off his nose."

Chi Chen looked down and saw a pink smudge on his round, upturned little nose.

He took out a handkerchief, bent down to wipe his nose and face, checked elsewhere, and only put the handkerchief away when he was sure there were none left.

Zhao Xiaoyun also bent down to check on his own little brother—good, the chubby little face was clean.

"Fat Cheese, you're only focused on eating, watch where you're going."

Zhao Xiaoyun held his hand, walking and stopping, stumbling around—the little one only had eyes for his cotton candy.

"Mhmm mhmm..."

The little rascal agreed verbally but still didn't watch his steps, just followed his brother blindly.

Then again, the cotton candy was bigger than his face—how could he see with it blocking the way?

Lu Zhishi was a bit better, taking a bite and chewing for a while, but his short legs made him walk slowly.

He didn't hold his cotton candy properly either. Chi Chen walked beside him, and his pants ended up stained with pink smudges.

Feeling guilty, Lu Zhishi looked up and met Chi Chen's calm gaze, then grinned.

"Brother Xiao Chen, I'll wash your clothes for you when we get back~"

Lu Zhiyu overheard and teased him, "You wash for Brother Xiao Chen? More like Brother Xiao Chen washing your clothes, right, Fat Cheese?"

When Lu Zhishi was little, he went to the Chi family every day to play, dirtying piles of clothes, all of which were taken by Chi Chen to be washed.

Even if it was just putting them in the washing machine or having someone else wash them, it still counted as Chi Chen washing his clothes.

Lu Zhiyu: "Fat Cheese, at such a young age, don't go making empty promises to your Brother Xiao Chen."

"No way~" Lu Zhishi retorted.

Distracted by talking, by the time they got back to the car, he had only taken a few bites of his cotton candy.

"Dad, here, try some!" Lu Zhishi excitedly offered it to Lu Tingan, wanting him to taste it.

"It's so delicious, sweet peach flavor!"

Lu Tingan couldn't refuse his enthusiasm and took a bite, keeping a straight face: "Mhmm, tasty."

Maybe it was his age, but he couldn't handle such sweet things anymore.

Song Qinian also took a bite—it was indeed too sweet.

By the time they got home, three cotton candies were still unfinished.

Chi Chen didn't really like overly sweet things, his taste buds taking after Bai Yansheng, so he gave his cotton candy to Chi Yuehang.

"Dad, this is for you."

Chi Yuehang was quite touched. When the child was little, he used to be very clingy, but now that he's grown up, he's not as attached anymore—the old father felt a bit sad.

Now, receiving a cotton candy from his son, Chi Yuehang was especially happy.

"Though, why is there a bite missing from this cotton candy?" Chi Yuehang asked his lover curiously.

"Probably Fat Cheese took a bite."

Bai Yansheng smiled slightly, "Is that so."

...

"Achoo—" Lu Zhishi suddenly sneezed twice, rubbing his nose. Who was talking about him?

"Lu Zhishi, go check on your cabbage, it's starting to wilt."

Song Qinian called out to Fat Cheese.

"Dad, you go!"

Lu Zhishi was busy munching on his cotton candy, curled up on the sofa and not wanting to move.

Song Qinian laughed, "Hurry up, or I'll dig up your cabbage and make soup with it."

"No, no—" Lu Zhishi quickly placed his cotton candy in a vase on the table and rushed outside.

Remembering something, he ran back inside, grabbed his little shovel and watering can, then ran out again.

"Dad, you're mean! Don't dig up my cabbage!"

Song Qinian patted his little head: "Remember to water and weed tomorrow, or I'll still dig up your cabbage."

Lu Zhishi turned around, took a deep breath, and shouted into the house: "Dad! Big Dad said he's going to dig up all my cabbage!!"

Song Qinian immediately covered his mouth, coaxing softly: "Don't shout, don't shout, I won't dig it up."

"Song Qinian, why are you bullying the child again?" Lu Tingan came out, giving him a disapproving look.

Song Qinian quickly went over, bending down to appease him: "No way, he's lying, I wasn't going to dig up his cabbage..."

Lu Tingan ignored him and turned to go back inside.

Song Qinian followed, sounding aggrieved: "Brother, you've changed, you're playing favorites..."

Lu Zhishi leaned sideways to peek inside, seeing his two dads sticking close together—it didn't look like they were arguing.

Then again, in all his years, he'd never seen them fight.

Turning back, Lu Zhishi crouched down, waving his little shovel to weed his cabbage patch.

Ever since they found that big white worm, Song Qinian had someone come weekly to do bug control in his little vegetable garden.

Since then, Lu Zhishi hadn't seen a single bug.

After weeding, it was time to water. Lu Zhishi added some plant food to his watering can and leisurely sprinkled water over his little cabbages.

Finished, he stood by the edge of the garden, satisfied as he looked at the fresh, plump cabbages.

"Fat Cheese, dig up one cabbage to take home for soup—your dad wants to eat it."

Song Qinian popped his head out.

Upon hearing that his dad wanted to eat, Lu Zhishi immediately harvested the largest cabbage and brought it home.

"Dad, is this enough? There's more if you need it."

Lu Zhishi snuggled up to his dear dad, his soft, milky voice sweet and tender.

"It's enough." Lu Tingan gently touched his little face, a faint smile curling at the corners of his lips.

Lu Zhishi went back to the garden to inspect, harvested a ripe cabbage, and took it to the Chi family for soup.

Declining the uncles' dinner invitation, Lu Zhishi ran back home and dashed into the kitchen.

"Dad, I don't have many cabbages left. I need to plant new ones."

Song Qinian laughed in exasperation.

What a filial son—he works during the day and has to come back after work to plant cabbages for him.

"Alright, alright, I'll plant them tomorrow after work."

After stating his request, Lu Zhishi happily ran out and brought in a small stool.

"Dad, I'll wash the vegetables for you!"

Song Qinian picked him up and set him down outside the kitchen. "Go take a bath, you little dirtball."

Lu Zhishi looked down at himself. "I'm not dirty, I'm very clean."

Song Qinian: "Hah."

Song Qinian: "Go take a bath. You're not allowed to snuggle with your dad until you're clean."

Lu Zhishi pouted and ran upstairs to take a bath.

After dinner that evening, he was back to nibbling on his cotton candy.

"Fat Cheese, how come you haven't finished it yet?" Lu Zhiyu asked.

Lu Zhishi said, "Brother, I went to weed and water the cabbages this afternoon."

"Weren’t you eating it after your bath?"

"I haven’t finished it. The cotton candy is too big."

Lu Zhiyu had been waiting for this: "Give me half, and I’ll help you eat it."

Lu Zhishi widened his eyes.

I never thought you were that kind of brother!

Lu Zhiyu rubbed his nose. "If you don’t finish it soon, when it’s time for bed, Dad will throw the cotton candy away."

That’s true.

Lu Zhishi thought for a moment and gave him the half he hadn’t eaten yet.

The two brothers sat together, slowly finishing the cotton candy.

"Brother, let’s go eat stinky tofu next time. It's super delicious."

"No way. If we eat stinky tofu, we’ll get a spanking when we come back."

"Let’s go secretly. I really want to eat it, and I know you want to too, brother," Lu Zhishi said confidently.

Lu Zhiyu: "..." No, I don’t.

He led the little chatterbox, who was still blabbering, to brush his teeth. "Hurry up and brush your teeth, then go to sleep. You have class tomorrow."

"Okay," Lu Zhishi sighed.

Lu Zhiyu asked him, "Can you manage on your own?"

"Yes!"

Lu Zhiyu watched for a while before returning to his own room to wash up.

Lu Zhishi brushed his teeth while sighing. Why is it so hard to eat stinky tofu? It’s so delicious.

The more he thought about it, the more he craved it. He brushed on autopilot, lost in thought.

As he brushed, there was a "clink" sound, as if something had fallen.

Lu Zhishi looked down.

Oh my god! Why is there blood!

He spat out the foam from his mouth, and it was mixed with blood.

Lu Zhishi searched around the sink and actually found a front tooth.

After hurriedly rinsing his mouth, he held the tooth and ran out to knock on the door.

"Dad! Dad! My tooth fell out!"

The bedroom door was tightly shut. Lu Zhishi knocked for a while before it opened. Song Qinian’s pajamas were disheveled, clearly thrown on in a rush to answer the door.

"What’s going on?"

Lu Zhishi held up the tooth for him to see, a bit upset. "My tooth fell out. I didn’t do anything..."

Song Qinian found it amusing; he thought something serious had happened.

He carried him inside. Lu Tingan, fully dressed, sat on the edge of the bed watching them.

He waved for Lu Zhishi to come over. Lu Zhishi ran to him, nestled into his arms, and showed him the tooth.

"Dad..."

Lu Tingan took the little tooth, examined it, placed it on the nearby table, and asked Song Qinian to bring the flashlight.

"Open your mouth, let Dad take a look."

Lu Zhishi leaned on his knee, tilted his head back, and opened his mouth: "Ah~"

The flashlight circled around his teeth. Only one front tooth had fallen out; the others were fine.

The gum where the tooth had fallen out was bleeding. Lu Tingan took some cotton to dab it and stop the bleeding.

Song Qinian also watched from the side. After Lu Tingan finished examining, he took the flashlight.

After washing his hands, Lu Tingan checked and gently wiggled Lu Zhishi's teeth to see if there were any other loose ones.

When he touched another front tooth, whether it was due to too much force or something else, that one came out too.

It happened so suddenly that Lu Zhishi didn't have time to react. It didn’t hurt, but he was just stunned.

Lu Tingan was also taken aback and instinctively looked up at Song Qinian before tucking a cotton ball into Lu Zhishi’s mouth.

Song Qinian looked at the tooth in his hand and then at his stunned son: "Fat Cheese, let Daddy explain..."

Lu Zhishi pouted, tears welling in his eyes: "Now I look even worse..."

"Who’s ugly?" Lu Zhiyu, who came over after hearing the commotion, asked.

Lu Zhishi pointed at himself: "Me..."

Lu Zhiyu saw the tooth in his father’s hand. "It’s just a lost tooth, completely normal. All kids go through this when they lose baby teeth."

"I lost two, my front teeth," Lu Zhishi sniffled, running to the floor mirror, removing the cotton, and grinning to look at his teeth.

After looking, he stuffed the cotton back in.

He’s vain about his looks, and now with both front teeth gone, he just can’t feel handsome anymore.

"It’s okay, it’s okay, they’ll grow back soon," Lu Zhiyu comforted him.

Lu Zhishi didn’t believe it—when Lu Zhiyu lost his teeth, it took ages for them to grow back.

The next day at school, the little guy was unusually quiet, seeming to have suddenly grown up and matured.

Chi Chen was puzzled and whispered to him, "What’s wrong?"

Lu Zhishi shook his head, "Nothin’..."

Lu Zhishi: "?" (He was surprised to hear his own lisp.)

Lu Zhishi fell silent again, hugging his backpack without smiling or speaking.

Lu Zhiyu leaned close to Chi Chen’s ear and whispered, "He lost two front teeth, so his words come out fuzzy now."

Chi Chen pursed his lips, a flicker of amusement in his eyes, though his expression remained neutral.

He patted the dejected kid's head in front of him and whispered comfortingly, "They’ll grow back in a few days."

Lu Zhishi nodded, "Mhmm~"

Song Qinian felt bad seeing him like this and decided to take him to the dentist after school, worried his teeth might grow in crooked.

"Don’t lick the empty spot when your teeth are growing in, or they’ll come in crooked and look even funnier."

He shouldn’t have said it—the moment he did, Lu Zhishi instinctively licked the empty gum.

He quickly pulled his tongue back, "I knoww."

With his constant lisp, Lu Zhishi became quiet and reserved, turning into a cool, quiet type—somewhat like Chi Chen.

A real cool customer.

Except his round, soft baby face wasn’t cool at all.

"Six Cheese, what's going on with you today?" Zhao Xiaoxing came over and asked him.

His friend wasn’t talking or smiling today, and Zhao Xiaoxing was both curious and worried.

Lu Zhishi left and right, seeing no one paying attention, said in a hushed voice, "I lost my teeth..."

"Huh?" Zhao Xiaoxing’s eyes widened, and he also whispered, "Which teeth?"

"Front teeth..." Lu Zhishi grinned to show him but closed his mouth immediately after.

Zhao Xiaoxing felt at his own teeth, puzzled. "How come I haven’t lost any?"

"Don't say that," Lu Zhishi quickly pinched his mouth shut, afraid he’d jinx himself and lose his teeth the next day too.

Sure enough, speak of the devil.

The next day was the weekend, and Zhao Xiaoxing came running over to their house early in the morning, holding his newly lost tooth.

"Six Cheese! Six Cheese! I lost one too!"

Lu Zhishi, still half-asleep, mumbled, "How'd it come out?"

Zhao Xiaoxing puffed out his chest and said proudly.