I Became the Rich Family’s Stepfather and Couldn’t Stop Laughing - Chapter 11

The cub clenched his tiny fists and charged toward Xi Ling, shouting a war cry in his heart: Ya ahhhhhh!

He exerted almost all his strength, but his plastic-like little body was not even in the same league as an adult man; it was nothing more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Seeing the cub straining himself until his little face turned beet-red, Xi Ling nearly burst out laughing. He forcefully suppressed his amusement and cooperated by tumbling to the side, acting very dramatically: “Ay! Ya! It hurts!” while secretly keeping an eye on the little ball’s next reaction.

Huo Xingmian, having achieved a phased victory, was naturally overjoyed; the little lightbulb in his eyes lit up in a flash.

But his “muddy revenge plan” didn’t end there. He flicked his short legs, straddled Xi Ling’s chest, scooped up a lump of mud from the ground with both hands, and smeared it right onto Xi Ling’s face.

Compared to the cub, who was wearing full protective gear, Xi Ling relied on his height advantage and crushed him; he didn’t need goggles or a transparent mask at all.

And precisely because of this, he was hit squarely by the revenge-seeking little mud cub.

Just as Xi Ling was struggling to hold back his laughter, splat the world went dark.

The barrage immediately applauded:

[Hahahahahaha, Mianmian, well done!]

[Deserved! That’ll teach you to bully our little cub!]

[Charge, cub! Bury him in mud!]

Xi Ling could feel it now this cub really hated him. He had actually scooped up such a huge lump of mud with those two little paws.

The mud descended from the sky, instantly plastering his entire face. Not only was he plunged into darkness, but breathing became difficult. He tilted his head to fling the mud off, managed to open his eyes, and was just about to retaliate.

He saw that the cub he had been pinning down firmly had just been slapped in the face by the mud he’d flung. A large lump of mud plastered the cub’s goggles, and he, too, had temporarily lost his sight. He immediately stretched out his little black hands to wipe the mud away.

Xi Ling grabbed the cub’s hands and dragged him directly into the mud pit to roll around.

Huo Xingmian’s vision was blocked, and losing autonomy over his body, he couldn’t help but exclaim: “You! You, what are you doing?!”

Xi Ling deliberately let out a sinister, weird laugh: “Abusing a cub!”

Before the words were out, he hugged the cub and splashed countless mud blossoms in the pit. By the time Xi Ling was done rolling, the big and small pair had become two mud loaches thrashing in the mire.

When Xi Ling sat up, the only thing that could be seen on his entire body was a mouthful of giggling white teeth.

He wiped his eyes first, opened them to find that the ceiling of the mud house was splashed with mud, then looked at the mud-cub beside him who had completely blended into the mud pond, and laughed so hard his abs were about to pop out.

“…Hahahahahaha cough cough cough!!!”

This time, facing Xi Ling’s mockery, Huo Xingmian, who seemed to have turned into a “little waste cub” from exhaustion, didn’t move an inch.

Xi Ling laughed until he was tired. He first took off the cub’s goggles to let him see the masterpiece they had left on the ceiling, then helped the cub up from the mud pond.

Unexpectedly, the mud-cub, who had been too tired to react, suddenly spat out a mouthful of muddy water after sitting upright, hitting Xi Ling right in the face.

Xi Ling was caught off guard, and Huo Xingmian finally achieved his ambush, immediately baring his little yellow teeth and laughing: “Da-Da! Stupid! Hahahahaha cough cough cough!”

Xi Ling blinked several times before managing to open his eyes. Looking at the dirty cub with a mouthful of mud soup, he was both angry and amused: “I really surrender to you, you little ‘old six’ (sneaky person)!”

After saying that, he scooped the cub up and went to the side to get water so the cub could rinse his mouth quickly.

Huo Xingmian’s move was also an impromptu whim. He regretted swallowing the mud water, but fortunately, successfully spraying Xi Ling meant the mud wasn’t eaten in vain.

The cub took the mineral water and rinsed earnestly. Xi Ling muttered on the side: “Why are you eating mud? Is it delicious?”

Watching the cub furrow his little brows, he continued: “You little fool, if you want to pay me back, just tell Dad!”

The cub spat out the last mouthful of water and pfft pfft-ed twice. He didn’t think much of it, but since he had finished his revenge, he had to go back to being a “good cub,” so he cooperated with a soft, milky voice.

“Da-Da, will, let, me…”

However, before the cub could finish, Xi Ling immediately grinned: “Dad was just saying that; of course, I won’t actually go easy on you! Hahahahahaha!”

Huo Xingmian: … The fist… has hardened!

After rolling in the mud, the father and son each had a simple wash. Xi Ling changed the cub into new goggles, and the two started building a castle with mud of different hardness.

Holding the little military artillery props provided by the shop, the two built their own city walls and began a face-off.

Because their preparation time was the same, Xi Ling, relying on being an adult, built his wall three times higher and much thicker than the cub’s. With identical military equipment and combat power, the cub was undoubtedly wiped out thoroughly.

Xi Ling laughed until he was leaning back and forth, clapping his hands. The cub’s soft, cute little eyes gradually changed flavor; he could barely keep up the act anymore.

The barrage was speechless:

[Xi Ling is so bad, bullying my cub, damn it! Why isn’t the person bullying the cub me!]

[It’s my first time seeing an adult play like this with a child… How can Xi Ling be like this? It’s too much… not! Well done! Hahahahahaha, you have to crush them, you have to beat them down. There are no father and son on the battlefield, not even at three years old!]

[Is this staged? The cub is three, Xi Ling is three and a half, no more than that →_→]

[Newbie face-fans, beg Xi Ling to go take a bath quickly. This hairstyle looks like a homeless Lion King. Can you not ruin your own face ahhhhhh!]

[Hahaha, I think Xi Ling is actually quite good like this. Who can refuse a funny guy?]

[+1 The new persona is not bad. If Xi Ling had been like this from the beginning, he might have exploded in popularity long ago. It’s a pity he has a trunk full of black history now; no matter how he pretends, it’s all in vain…]

Although both father and son wore protective gear, even the strongest gear couldn’t handle Xi Ling’s way of playing mud had been poured into both their gear, so Xi Ling carried the cub straight to the shower.

When taking off the clothes, the cub was still a bit uncomfortable. Before, Nanny Tian said she wanted to train his independence and always made him wash himself.

At first, he couldn’t wash clean and often had slippery foam residue on his body, which Nanny Tian pretended not to see. To be more comfortable, Huo Xingmian gradually learned to wash himself cleaner… Now, he was used to bathing himself.

Xi Ling didn’t notice the cub’s little thoughts at all, directly putting the child under the showerhead and adjusting the water temperature: “Dad is going to wash the mud off now; Mianmian, close your eyes tightly.”

It wasn’t until the hot water was clear that Xi Ling turned off the water and let the cub look back: “Mianmian, come and see how much mud was washed off you. Is it dirty?”

Huo Xingmian blinked: “…Dirty.”

Xi Ling raised an eyebrow triumphantly: “This is nothing. Come, Dad will show you one—at least three times more than this!”

As he said this, he walked to another showerhead and whoosh—rolling mud poured down from the top of Xi Ling’s head.

Huo Xingmian had six thoughts about this: …

Two minutes later, Xi Ling turned off the shower, squatted down to hug the cub’s little shoulders, raised his hand, and said to the cub in the tone of “watching me conquer the world”: “Look, isn’t the mud soup washed off my body a lot?”

Huo Xingmian: …

What is there to compare about this!

Xi Ling was completely hyped up, pulled the cub up, and continued scrubbing. When the cub said he could wash himself, he refused point-blank and took two little ducks from the shelf, stuffing one into each of the cub’s little paws.

“Look at this mud in your neck folds; it’s too dirty, you can’t wash it clean yourself… Lower your head, right, eyes closed tight, it’s time to wash the foam~”

Huo Xingmian lowered his head, feeling the hot water pouring down and taking away the foam on his head, while hugging the two little yellow ducks Xi Ling gave him.

When squeezed gently, the little duck made a quack-quack sound, a bit like the sound of the stepfather’s crazy laughing.

After listening to the other’s quacking laughter too much, hearing the little duck’s call felt inexplicably infused with a happy atmosphere.

Bathing, drying, and changing clothes were quite a physical drain not to mention Xi Ling still had to take care of the cub. The cub had also played until he was exhausted and felt very tired after being washed.

The father and son walked out of the shower room and yawned twice together.

Xi Ling rubbed his eyes, intending to persevere for a while longer; after all, at the Cat Customs Museum, they could just find two cats to keep them company while they napped, and they could both rest for a bit.

The exhausted cub, held in Xi Ling’s arms, saw the dazzling array of fresh gadgets in the toy city and couldn’t help but whisper: “What’s that?” Remote-controlled airplane!

“What about this?” Building a cool big rocket is really cool!

“Umm… looks like mud, but it’s not dirty…” Talking about clay.

Everything in the toy city, in Huo Xingmian’s eyes, carried unparalleled attraction. He wanted to own them all.

However, even though he hinted all around, and the barrage understood, it still didn’t prompt his stepfather to wave his hand and buy out the whole store.

[Ahhhh, EE (E-Jie, big sister fan) is about to be melted by Mianmian’s little milk voice, wuuuu, it’s so cute!]

[Look at how greedy the child is; he’s already at the toy city, why doesn’t Xi Ling buy-buy-buy for him?]

[Yeah, the cub’s eyes are almost stuck to the Lego, and Xi Ling is turning a blind eye? Sure enough, the previous “kindness” to the cub was all an act. The details reveal the true heart…]

Huo Xingmian had never tried asking someone for something directly; that was an impossibility back with Nanny Tian.

So, when his hints to Xi Ling failed, he could only stomp his feet in his heart. Damn, the stepfather was so energetic when he was bullying me with the onesies, why not wave his hand in the toy city? Could the stinky stepfather be doing it on purpose?!

Xi Ling drew circles in his heart, while drooling over all kinds of toys he passed.

The cameraman also noticed the sudden change in the child’s rich expressions, his eyes filled with longing for toys. Along the way out of the toy city, he focused on filming the cub and Xi Ling’s determined, fast-paced steps.

Although variety shows couldn’t rely on editing to create high-octane points, it was very easy to use information gaps to stir up some rhythm.

Just like now, even though the production team had discovered the anomaly in Xi Ling’s eyes from the moment he walked out of the mud house not only were they as red as a rabbit’s, but they were also blinking constantly due to discomfort they didn’t give a single shot of them, instead focusing the lens on the cub staring longingly at the toys.

And the barrage was like a wind turbine with extremely high sensitivity; it could spin as long as there was a little wind. This situation naturally led to another round of cursing.

It wasn’t until Xi Ling put the cub in the safety seat and buckled the buckle that the cub faced his face properly, discovering that his stepfather had become a red-eyed rabbit.

“Da-Da! You! Eyes, so, so red!” Only then did the live broadcast lens turn toward Xi Ling’s face, following the cub’s surprise.

Exquisite features, smooth contours the originally bright and agile black eyes were now terrifyingly red due to conjunctival congestion.

[Damn! What’s wrong with Xi Ling’s eyes? It looks so serious!]

[Was it infected when playing in the mud earlier? Can this continue to be recorded? Hurry up and go to the hospital to check it out.]

[I thought Xi Ling was intentionally ignoring the child just now, turns out his eyes are injured.]

[Not arguing, but isn’t saying it’s an “injury” a bit over? I also often get conjunctival congestion when exercising; there’s no need to make a big deal out of it…]

[The one in front, you know again? Are you Hua Tuo reincarnated that you can keyboard-diagnose through the screen? What if it’s an eye infection, can you take responsibility, or can you live-stream an apology?]

[+1 Go to the hospital first; as long as he doesn’t abuse the cub, other black history isn’t that serious.]

Xi Ling sat in the driver’s seat, first patting the cub’s fluffy hair to soothe him, before calling over the production crew to explain the situation.

In fact, they had spent enough time playing in the mud house. His eyes were uncomfortable now, and he couldn’t continue recording, so he negotiated with the program team to cancel the subsequent Cat Customs Museum visit. The person in charge who had followed them naturally agreed, but also suggested wanting to follow them to the hospital.

After negotiating, Xi Ling followed the navigation to the nearest hospital. He was quickly diagnosed with acute conjunctivitis, prescribed some antibacterial eye drops, and advised to practice eye hygiene.

Xi Ling felt much better after the eye drops, adapted to the eye discomfort, and returned to his giggling, “nothing-happened” self.

On the way home, he would have the cub compare who was redder him or the traffic light and mutter to the rearview mirror: “So acute conjunctivitis is just pinkeye… Can’t deny, it’s a bit cool, hehe.”

The cub, who had clearly become lively in the mud house, had become quiet again on the way back.

Xi Ling glanced down at the cub during a red light. Seeing the child looking drowsy, he thought the cub was tired and out of power.

Xi Ling thoughtfully turned down the volume of Good Luck in the car by a few notches.

Huo Xingmian, who was feeling depressed, naturally sensed Xi Ling’s move, and his mood became even more complicated.

The live stream ended, and the discussion on Weibo about related topics surged.

Especially under the entry regarding the reversal of the “Xi Ling abuses the cub” truth, the square refreshed extremely fast. However, it didn’t hit the trending search even during the evening traffic peak.

However, the gossiping crowds who followed the live broadcast didn’t pay attention to this. After all, the first few seasons of Cubs Are Coming were ridiculously unpopular. Although it had exploded briefly a few days ago because of the “scandal-ridden” artist, “unpopular” was the well-known background color of Cubs Are Coming Season 8, and it was reasonable that the subsequent heat wouldn’t rise.

Ooo… Xi!

Even without trending searches, the viewers in the live stream had a small-scale discussion on various major social networking platforms:

[If there’s indeed no child abuse, the other black history can only be said to be his poor character. If he wants to be a new person and manage his new persona well, I’m willing to give Xi Ling a chance for the sake of his face.]

[To be honest, with the Huo family’s wealth, I still suspect it was collusion to make the old nanny take the fall.]

[Didn’t they say Xi Ling is getting a divorce? Otherwise, he wouldn’t be unable to pay the breach of contract fee and be forced to go on a parenting show. Under these circumstances, could the Huo family still do this for him?]

[Whatever, anyway I’ll follow it. I have no feelings for Xi Ling, I just like children. My cub is just too cute, prprpr~]

[+1 Started off thinking he was a dull cub, but then he was forced by Xi Ling and his vitality exploded. So interesting, hahahaha!]

[u1s1 (Truthfully) it’s too magical. Who would have thought Xi Ling was the tycoon sprinkling money with a cub at Global? And his bare face is truly super stunning. I dug out Xi Ling’s old photos and compared them, and it felt magical…]

As soon as this was said, it immediately attracted countless people to echo it, including Xu Jiajia, who had been following the live broadcast for two days.

She had originally been a true-love fan of another guest, Chu Xinnian. Because Xi Ling had publicly dissed Chu Xinnian earlier, Xu Jiajia and all the “Nian” fans hated him to death. Coupled with Xi Ling’s frequent black history, it was purely a case of “ugly people doing weird things,” and Xu Jiajia’s disgust for him had long reached its peak.

But… after encountering the real person at Global, and then looking at the “divine face” in the pilot episode…

Xu Jiajia knew better than anyone that Xi Ling didn’t owe his looks to special effects makeup or filters as the barrage said. The exquisite brows and eyes she saw with her own eyes were even more agile and beautiful than the lens presented whoever sees him gets hooked.

Xu Jiajia said “no” with her mouth while sitting in the screening room watching Chu Xinnian’s live broadcast on full screen, but she still couldn’t help but hang out in Xi Ling’s live broadcast room with a small alt account, following from the pilot episode to Xi Ling walking out of the hospital… even at night, when she closed her eyes, there were images of Xi Ling in black clothing and a supercar looking cool.

The clip of Xi Ling taking the cub to the police station played in her brain on a loop, the more she thought about it, the more hyped she became. In the end, Xu Jiajia helplessly grabbed her phone, thinking of watching something to divert her attention.

However, she still underestimated the power of big data.

Even if she only screamed “Xi Ling is so handsome!” “Long legs kill me!!” “Buttoning is against the rules!!!” hundreds of times while watching the live broadcast alone, and didn’t dare to share it with other fan buddies after all, all the “Rice Cake” fans were at odds with Xi Ling her secretly watching Xi Ling was already a heinous crime.

But when she opened “Little Broken Station” (Bilibili), Xu Jiajia was plastered with fresh clips of Xi Ling, and one of the editors was an acquaintance, “Old 9,” whom she knew in the Xi Ling anti-fan group!

Good for you, Old 9, you are truly amazing!

Xu Jiajia instantly forgot the guilt of betraying the “Rice Cakes,” her heart and eyes filled with anger at the rebellion of her comrade, Old 9.

Xu Jiajia frowned, clenched her fists, staring at the cover of the video where Xi Ling’s jade-white fingers were buttoning up, and the waistline that was so narrow it was criminal…

Within a second, she clicked on the newest edited work of the other party: 【Old 9】 Xi Ling Parenting Show | Agent Dad Assassin | High Energy | On-Beat

She was going to look at Old 9’s betrayal level with a critical eye! She would review it a hundred times first!

At the same time, a little figure in Ultraman pajamas climbed up from the bed.

Deep in the night, the servants of the manor were also asleep. The Ultraman-cub dragged the quilt and sheets and slid carefully off the bed.

Even in the nursery, the height of the doorknob was far beyond Huo Xingmian’s height. He could only stretch his short legs and short arms and jump hard.

Fortunately, he was very careful and didn’t make too much noise. The Ultraman-cub successfully entered Xi Ling’s room and again plucked an Ultraman from the side of the bed as a stepping stone.

He wasn’t worried about his stepfather; he just felt, after thinking about it for a very, very long time, that the other’s eye injury must have been ruined by him spitting mud water on him.

Coincidentally, he couldn’t sleep, so he wanted to come and take a look. Mm, that’s right, that’s exactly how it is.

Huo Xingmian thought to himself, while trying not to make any sound to wake Xi Ling. Once is chance, twice is habit, and soon he successfully climbed onto the bed.

The tiny Ultraman-cub sat next to Xi Ling and first leaned in to listen to Xi Ling’s breathing—it was very steady.

He extended his little claws and rested them on Xi Ling’s forehead. Mm, warm?

Huo Xingmian mimicked the movements Xi Ling made when he had a fever, but he didn’t really know how to judge, so he moved his little claws down, down, and down again…

Ugh, he still couldn’t figure it out, but what was certain was that his stepfather’s arms were very warm.

The Ultraman-cub failed to detect traces of the “fever monster.” After warming his little claws in Xi Ling’s arms for a long time, the Ultraman-cub decided to drill into the quilt for further lurking and waiting!