I Became the Rich Family’s Stepfather and Couldn’t Stop Laughing - Chapter 22

The night was deathly silent. Silence filled the manor that night.

Huo Xingmian had been passionately waving his little fists just a short while ago. Having stayed in the dark for a while, he had developed a certain amount of night vision, so he quickly noticed that Xi Ling was about to tumble down the slope.

However, he was just a tiny tot with absolutely no ability to save him. Just as he was anxiously rushing over, trying to contribute his 0.1% to the rescue effort, he first sensed his stepfather’s back collide with a dark wall. As he drew closer, he gradually realized that the “dark wall” was actually his own father.

The little child’s body stiffened first, and then he watched as his stepfather, after a chaotic flurry of arms flailing about in the dark, hit his mark with pinpoint accuracy…

Huo Xingmian was stunned, mouth agape. Father… will Father still be able to pee in the future?!

Xi Ling knew even better how heavy his hand had been. While cursing his luck in his heart How could I be so accurate?! he wondered if it was because he’d been calling him “Wei-zi” (a common, intimate-sounding name) every other sentence, making him too susceptible to jinxes. Xi Ling muttered to himself as he scrambled up.

“Are you okay, are you okay? Should I call Dr. White over right now??”

Because of Huo Siyi acting as a wall of flesh, Xi Ling hadn’t fallen in the slightest. He hovered around the man, trying to reach out and help him up.

A sharp, stabbing pain rapidly radiated from the inside out, instantly reaching his limbs and bones. Huo Siyi was trembling all over, holding himself steady purely through the strength of his iron will. Even so, when Xi Ling reached out to help, he found the distraction to wave him away, his whole being radiating a “Get away! Get away! Get away!” energy.

As a man himself, Xi Ling knew all too well how miserable this situation was.

Previously, a coworker of his had been hit dead-on in the target zone by a flying stone. The 1.88-meter-tall, tower-like tough guy had instantly collapsed to the ground, crying and wailing in pain, and had to lie in the dormitory for two days before barely being able to get out of bed. For a long time after, he could only walk with his feet pointed outward.

Xi Ling tried hard to recall the details of his “nut-grabbing” maneuver. He had been very flustered at the time; having finally grabbed onto a “handrail,” he naturally gripped it with all his might, and even used it to absorb the downward momentum… Hiss. Xi Ling’s empathy was working way too well right now; he started feeling the pain just thinking about it.

Xi Ling stood in place, anxious and unsure how to help. His guilt made his voice sound incredibly soft and particularly well-behaved: “Um, that… it should be pretty bad. Should I just call Dr. White over?”

“…No need.” Huo Siyi took a deep breath, feeling the pain finally subside to a level he could accept, and immediately stifled the potential spread of the incident in the bud.

Huo Siyi was in so much pain that he could still spare the energy to refuse. Xi Ling had no choice but to respect the wishes of the party involved and stood by as the man gradually recovered for a long while before the man attempted to take a step.

Huo Siyi had just lifted his leg when he stiffened. Xi Ling saw this and thought, I have experience with this! He immediately demonstrated the gait his coworker used after getting injured: “That… you can’t walk with your legs closed. If you walk like me, you definitely won’t bump into anything!”

As Xi Ling said this, he splayed his feet outward, opened his hips wide, and strode forward with long steps, walking with the wind at his feet, looking exactly like a confident gorilla: “Like this! It definitely won’t hurt!”

Huo Siyi looked away, regretting that he had actually believed the other’s nonsense and even watched it seriously for a few seconds. The cub, who was hiding in a dark corner, also reached out his little claws to cover his eyes.

Huo Siyi rejected the “gorilla gait.” After taking a few deep breaths and bearing through the pain, he walked slowly toward the main building.

Xi Ling scooped up the cub and followed behind, whispering to the kid in a breathy voice: “Man, thy name is stubbornness.”

Huo Siyi, who had excellent hearing: “…”

His pace faltered for an instant before returning to normal, his face deathly pale as he stepped onto the steps.

After entering the house, Xi Ling handed the cub to Nanny Bai and followed Huo Siyi all the way, only then discovering that the man had changed to the room next to his. Just as he was about to follow him in, Huo Siyi slammed the door shut.

Xi Ling braced the door and imitated the cub, giving him pitiful puppy eyes: “Do you need help with your injury treatment?”

Huo Siyi sat straight down on the sofa closest to the door, his frosted brows shooting out several icy needles: “Get out.”

Xi Ling immediately closed the door and left sneakily.

However, he wasn’t the type to be irresponsible. He looked up Dr. White’s contact information and dialed it, starting a phone consultation that began with “I have a friend.”

Fifteen minutes later, Xi Ling dug a bag of ice cubes from the freezer, put them into the cub’s strawberry-patterned ice pack, and returned to Huo Siyi’s door.

“Knock, knock, knock—”

Xi Ling knocked obediently and immediately added: “I’m here to deliver an ice pack!”

After waiting for a while with no response from inside, Xi Ling nodded. Brother Wei must be allowing me to pass.

He pushed the door open softly and found Huo Siyi still sitting on the sofa, eyes tightly shut.

His profile still looked incredibly handsome. His face seemed a bit paler than usual, but there was no sign at all that he had just suffered a major life “setback.” Xi Ling gave a mental thumbs-up—as expected of Brother Wei.

“The doctor says it’s best to apply a cold compress.” Xi Ling reached out to place the ice pack on the sofa armrest. Seeing Huo Siyi didn’t move, he moved it to his side. Seeing Huo Siyi still didn’t respond, he moved it to his lap. Just as he was about to place it directly on him, Huo Siyi finally moved.

Opening his eyes to meet Xi Ling’s dark, clear pupils, Huo Siyi first brushed Xi Ling’s hand away. His cold-white palm rested on the ice pack, not using it right away, but his tone was much better when he spoke again, rising from the daily temperature of -100 to -30 degrees: “Get out.”

Xi Ling nodded obediently: “I’ll go right away, but the doctor said it’s best to open it and take a look. If there is redness, swelling, or even a purplish-blue color, it might be a ruptured white membrane, which is a ‘penis fracture’ and requires surgical treatment.”

Having said that, he glanced meaningfully at the affected area before immediately reverting to his weak, pitiful, and innocent puppy eyes.

Huo Siyi’s expression softened subtly for a fleeting moment, but the next moment, his face turned even darker: “The doctor said that?”

“Yes! Dr. White said so!” Xi Ling nodded like a chick pecking at rice, giving Huo Siyi a look of “I’ll handle things so you can rest easy”: “He won’t know; I told him it was a friend who accidentally fell.”

Men, they all care about these things. He understood, he could see that just from the fact that Huo Siyi was almost dying of pain but still unwilling to see a doctor.

However, Xi Ling overlooked the fact that after he transmigrated, he’d lost his good reputation where would he even have a “friend” anymore?

Thinking that a third person might know about this, Huo Siyi felt the fire in his heart flare even higher. His face darkened again and again, and the temperature dropped to -100 degrees again: “Get out!”

Xi Ling pursed his lips, feeling aggrieved: “Okay, okay, then just call me whenever you need anything. I’m sorry… I really didn’t think you’d suddenly appear there…”

Xi Ling’s voice grew lower and lower until the door closed and he disappeared completely.

After Xi Ling came out, he felt much more at ease.

Dr. White had said that if the situation were serious enough to require surgery, the patient wouldn’t be able to stay calm and endure it. Huo Siyi was probably like his former coworker it hurt a lot, but there was no actual physical damage.

After exhaling in relief, Xi Ling looked at his hand, then looked at his hand again, gestured, and couldn’t help but envy him in his heart: Hmm… as expected of Brother Wei…

It’s so big!

Unlike his appreciation for Huo Siyi’s fingers, wrists, Adam’s apple, and the like, this thought just flitted through Xi Ling’s mind because it was too exotic.

Walking a few steps out of the corridor, he was met with another little cub peeking around the corner.

The indoor heating was very high, but the cub was still wearing thick outer pants and a jacket; his little cheeks were flushed red from the heat.

If it weren’t for the cub specifically requesting it, Nanny Bai would have definitely taken it off the child immediately. Xi Ling met the cub’s weak, pitiful, and helpless little expression and couldn’t understand what the cub wanted any better.

He scooped the cub into his arms and asked knowingly: “Why haven’t you taken your jacket off? Look how hot our baby is.” As he said this, he made a move to help him take it off.

Huo Xingmian was desperate to go back out and play with the fireworks. Thinking he had hinted clearly enough, his mouth collapsed into a pathetic, teary look: “Mianmian, is hot.”

“Father, is smelly. Mianmian shouldn’t, also want to, go out and play.”

Xi Ling held back a laugh and nodded: “That’s right, Mianmian is a good baby for thinking that way.”

The words were barely out before the cub’s big eyes were filled with: I was just joking, how could you take it seriously!

“But, but,” the cub added eagerly, “Daddy, you promised, doggy, fireworks, what about those?”

Xi Ling frowned thoughtfully: “We can only set them off together at Chinese New Year…”

Huo Xingmian had been faking his teary look, but hearing this, tears actually welled up in his eyes. Xi Ling immediately changed his tune: “That’s absolutely out of the question! We’ll set them off! We must set them off tonight!”

After saying that, he hugged the cub’s chubby face and gave it a mwah: “Daddy will go set them off with Mianmian. First the doggy ones, then the kitty ones, and then the little chickies… er, little hens.”

Huo Xingmian’s eyes widened immediately, confirming excitedly: “Really?”

“Really, really!” After being together for so long, even when teasing the child, Xi Ling couldn’t bear to let him be sad. His beautiful, clever little cub deserved to be happy and satisfied every day!

The cub was sweating from the heat indoors. After Xi Ling wiped him clean and put his floppy-eared bunny fur hat back on, they went out after opening the door to let him adjust for a while.

Given that the cub’s nature was to be “all talk and no action,” this time Xi Ling held the cub’s little paws to light the fuse together.

After lighting it, he held the cub and took three steps back. The cub stared nervously with wide eyes and covered his ears. After waiting three seconds for the fuse to burn out, with a zzzt sound, a flame shot out from the dog’s butt, and the cardboard puppy continued to “poop” for half a minute as the flame burned.

Huo Xingmian: “…” He let go of his ears.

Even knowing that this style was a gentle firework suitable for children, Xi Ling was silent, his mind filled only with: Stop pooping, I’m scared.

“Do you want to see the kitty ones?”

The cub pouted: “…The little chickies, are they, also like this?”

Xi Ling corrected him somewhat sensitively: “Little hens should be laying eggs.”

Seeing the cub nod, Xi Ling lit the fuse. With a whoosh, the balloon behind the hen was filled with air, completing the “egg-laying” process.

Xi Ling cleared his throat: “Better than the puppy, but not by much.”

The cub nodded gloomily as well.

Seeing the cub’s immense disappointment, he couldn’t entirely blame the kid-friendly fireworks for being so underwhelming; after all, safety came first. It was just that he shouldn’t have started with the Golden Gatling, which raised the child’s expectations too high.

Although it wasn’t very appropriate for them to go out and play so crazily right after hurting Huo Siyi, Xi Ling couldn’t bear to see the cub disappointed. Besides, Huo Siyi was cold-hearted; he wouldn’t pay attention to these things, right?

Xi Ling waved his hand: “Daddy will set off some adult ones for you!”

After saying that, he went straight to the stars of this test-fire: several relatively large electronic-ignition fireworks.

Xi Ling called over the technician in charge of the large fireworks to help arrange the lineup. Over a dozen large fireworks were placed in a long row, each connected to an electronic igniter for a wave of test-firing.

Xi Ling held the cub and found a perfect viewing spot. Seeing the technician give an “OK” gesture, Xi Ling lifted the cub up: “Mianmian, come tell the uncle to light the fire!”

Huo Xingmian was lifted high by Xi Ling. He was already very excited, his eyes sparkling like little stars. Hearing this, he covered his little mouth in surprise, and after meeting Xi Ling’s encouraging smile, he shouted at the firework area in his little milky voice: “Light! The! Fire!”

The moment he shouted, the technician pressed the ignition button. Whoosh—from the middle to both sides, countless streaks of light shot up from the ground.

The light beams on both sides extinguished naturally as they rose to high altitudes, while a continuous stream of new light beams rose from below to replenish them.

The middle beam was the brightest and completely different not only did it fly the highest, but when it reached its peak, it didn’t extinguish gradually. Instead, it exploded with a thunderous “bang” into a massive mass of firelight.

Xi Ling held the cub, both of them with their mouths hanging wide open.

The cub was stunned by this brilliant moment. While Xi Ling hadn’t set them off himself, he had seen many displays set off by others; this was his first time encountering fireworks that started with a “big bang.”

The force of the explosion was luckily high in the sky; if it had been any closer to the ground, it could easily have hurt someone. Xi Ling couldn’t help but sigh that expensive things really did have their reasons for being expensive.

Little did they know that the paparazzi outside the manor were cursing out loud because their drone had been blown to pieces.

Even though they had managed to shoot some things, they never expected that their newly purchased, expensive machine would be completely destroyed.

Five minutes earlier, Huo Siyi, whose pain had completely dissipated under the ice compress, walked slowly to the floor-to-ceiling window.

The look of grievance on Xi Ling’s face when he left… had appeared repeatedly in his mind for no reason…

Now that his reason was returning, he knew that such accidental matters couldn’t be entirely blamed on Xi Ling, especially after seeing the guilt and confusion in the other person’s eyes…

Even if he showed greed this morning…

Although Xi Ling had gripped and then squeezed it, but… but how could a normal person be so crazily lust-driven to such an extent?

The guilt in Xi Ling’s eyes before he left didn’t look fake. Perhaps it was because this look was so similar to his little childhood sweetheart’s look when he was acting well-behaved and admitting his faults that it made him lose his ability to judge…

In the end, Huo Siyi attributed it to an unintentional act.

Huo Siyi narrowed his long eyes, gazing at the silent black night outside the window. His mood was rarely agitated.

He had already asked Xiong Bin to continue investigating Xi Ling’s background and had also asked psychological experts to analyze Xi Ling’s changes in the video data frame by frame, but there were no results yet…

His emotional deficit prevented him from accurately judging the emotions of normal people; his work and life didn’t require these, either.

But thinking of the lively Xi Ling he’d seen not long ago, rolling on the ground and laughing wantonly while setting off fireworks, Huo Siyi still remembered the first time he perceived the emotion of anticipation many years ago.

It was a Lantern Festival. Little Feather really wanted to see the firework show held in the city. The driver drove them there, and Little Feather said it was the first time he had seen fireworks flying into the sky, it was also the most beautiful scene he had ever seen.

Little Feather also said that later he would study hard, earn a lot of money, and buy a lot of fireworks to set them off by hand with him…

Huo Siyi looked at the crescent moon on the horizon. A faint, gentle light glided through his eyes, and his heart became soft.

He remembered again the regret and grievance when Xi Ling left, and that Xi Ling had said he could summon him at any time if he had anything to do…

So the other person was now huddled in the room next door, feeling guilty and unable to sleep?

A fleeting trace of intolerance suddenly rose in the bottom of Huo Siyi’s heart. However, before this abnormal emotion could dissipate, with a thunderous “bang,” a mass of fireworks exploded before his eyes.

Following that, colorful, magnificent, and ever-changing fireworks filled the entire night sky, beautiful enough to dazzle and mesmerize.

Huo Siyi moved his gaze down to the courtyard, only to see the young man who was supposed to be feeling guilty and unable to sleep in the room next door jumping and shouting with excitement, looking even more excited and happy than the child beside him.

Huo Siyi: “…”

Heh!

Although the large fireworks were beautiful, a whole row of them would be gone in minutes.

Afterward, Xi Ling hugged the cub and set them off one after another for twenty minutes, trying out all the ones that could fly into the sky. The father and son weren’t satisfied even after all that excitement.

Xi Ling waved his hand again and booked large fireworks that could be set off continuously for half an hour, and also ordered some of the small ones that had performed well.

Upon hearing that they could be customized with words and pictures if booked two months in advance, Xi Ling sighed regretfully he would definitely have to arrange that for next year!

After communicating with the technician from the fireworks factory, Xi Ling hugged the cub and walked happily into the main building while humming a little tune.

As soon as he entered, a panicked-looking Li Jie took the cub from him: “Madame, Sir is looking for you.”

Xi Ling didn’t understand why, saying, “Ha?” “Why is he suddenly looking for me?”

He’d been so cold and ruthless when he drove him away. Could it be that he had some unspoken difficulties now that required him to provide “support”?

Seeing that Xi Ling was completely oblivious, Li Jie was worried sick. After handing the cub over to Nanny Bai, she followed him to the elevator entrance and couldn’t help but advise: “You took the young master to set off fireworks…”

Before she could finish, the elevator door had already closed.

It would have been fine if she hadn’t reminded him; now that she had, Xi Ling was even more confused, did it have something to do with the fireworks he’d set off?

Ding. the elevator door opened again. Xi Ling walked a few steps to Huo Siyi’s door and knocked three times.

He still wondered, Fireworks are so beautiful, could it be that someone doesn’t like fireworks? That’s impossible.

The door was pulled open. Huo Siyi’s face was dark, as dark as it could possibly be. His whole body radiated an extreme chill of minus two hundred degrees, even surpassing the look when he’d been “nut-grabbed and tree-trunk-pulled.”

Xi Ling’s little heart jumped was he angry because the fireworks went bang, bang, bang…

Could it be…

Was Brother Wei a Year Beast in his previous life?