I Became the Rich Family’s Stepfather and Couldn’t Stop Laughing - Chapter 26

Unlike the dull, suffocating stagnation he felt while watching the fireworks outside the manor, this time it was a powerful, violent pounding that felt as if it would burst through his chest. Yet, Huo Siyi clearly knew that the terrible memories of last night could not be blamed on Xi Ling.

It was he who had known the other was drunk but insisted on testing him; it was he who had actively grasped Xi Ling’s wrist and pulled him into his arms; it was he who had a severe case of hematophobia and lost control of his body…

His emotional deficiency allowed him to analyze events without mixing in personal feelings easily, but precisely because of this, the entire process, including the result he deduced left him feeling even more stifled and breathless.

Trapped by these complex emotions, Huo Siyi did not notice White’s abnormal behavior.

White’s mind whirred, and he immediately deduced that there had been a development regarding the person Huo Siyi had been searching for for years meaning, the male “Madam” whose personality had suddenly changed had undergone further shifts? He knew Huo Siyi had recently been conducting an investigation surrounding Xi Ling.

When he heard that Xi Ling had later used a carpet that had been stepped on by everyone all day to wipe Huo Siyi’s face, White, who usually maintained a calm countenance, nearly lost control of his facial expression.

“Ha—cough, cough, cough…”

At the very moment he was about to laugh out loud, White cleverly covered it with a cough.

Huo Siyi narrowed his eyes, his cold gaze piercing toward him. He only lowered his guard after realizing the other had merely choked on a cough, and he continued to speak about the aftermath of the event that had triggered such strong emotional fluctuations nearly causing him to lose control of his body due to his hematophobia.

He recounted how, after Xi Ling had left, he had relied on his agitated emotions to stay awake, recovered from his rigid state in half the time it usually took, and finally called Xiong Bin to take him to White’s place.

Huo Siyi finished his narrative coldly: “Do these have anything to do with my heart problems?” Despite their many years of cooperation and his deep trust in White, Huo Siyi could not help but question him.

Dr. White pursed his lips, still finding it too hilarious hahahahaha.

He pursed his lips again, finally suppressing the urge to laugh, and nodded with great professionalism: “Excluding the interference caused by your emotional deficiency, your symptoms perfectly match those of stress-induced cardiomyopathy.”

The most well-known trigger for this is extreme heartbreak or grief, which is why this condition has a more poignant name: Broken Heart Syndrome.

In reality, any sufficiently intense emotional stimulus can trigger stress-induced cardiomyopathy, sudden fear, extreme excitement, intense arguments, and so on.

Although Huo Siyi was unwilling to admit it, it was indeed the first time he had been “stabbed” in multiple sore spots at once, causing intense emotional fluctuation. The reality that he had brought this upon himself made it impossible to release these emotions, stimulating his adrenal glands to urgently release a large amount of catecholamines.

Coupled with the fact that Huo Siyi hadn’t slept for thirty consecutive hours and his heart was under extreme burden, it was no surprise that this induced stress-induced cardiomyopathy.

White prescribed some medication to relieve the stress-induced heart condition, though he noted that Huo Siyi’s situation had not yet reached the point where non-medical intervention was impossible.

He advised Huo Siyi to adjust his sleep schedule in the near future, allowing his body to get better rest and relaxation at night. If the pain intensified, it wouldn’t be too late to take the medication then.

Ten minutes later, White sent Huo Siyi away with a straight face, and only after confirming he was far away did he lean against the wall and burst into laughter.

Huo Siyi intended to follow medical advice, so he forced himself not to think about Xi Ling while working during the day, planning to wait until both his emotions and his body were more stable before talking to him.

He was not sure how much the other party knew about “Xi Ling,” but he had to make it clear that the body of “Xi Ling” could not be used recklessly.

However, things did not go as planned; an unexpected accident at a branch company required him to go and handle it personally.

Huo Siyi applied for a temporary flight route, and the plane took off smoothly.

Although he was accustomed to handling official business on planes, Huo Siyi wasn’t stubborn enough to be reckless after White’s warning. Furthermore, having not slept for thirty hours previously, he had only taken a short nap at White’s place. He truly needed more sleep today to cope with the hard battle ahead.

However, just as he was preparing to rest, Secretary Dong stepped forward and handed him a tablet.

Secretary Dong was thinking of the boss’s latest instructions and asked tentatively: “Mr. Huo, there are two trending searches regarding Madam. Would you like me to handle them?”

Huo Siyi lowered his eyes, clearly seeing the enlarged, bold text:

#Xi Ling and Chu Xinnian’s Relationship Exposed#

#Xin You Ling Xi is real#

Huo Siyi’s gaze remained fixed on the two lines of text circled on the screen. A moment later, he reached out and pressed his hand against his left chest, his complexion turning so ugly it seemed as if an iceberg were about to erupt.

Secretary Dong had followed him for two years and had never seen such a terrifying expression. He secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva, thinking: Didn’t you request that any news related to Xi Ling be reported immediately?

In the past, Xi Ling was bizarre and an eyesore, and most people paid attention to him out of curiosity, eating melons while complaining about his “stench.”

But ever since Xi Ling crashed and burned, divorced, and stopped showing off his “affection” unilaterally, and started taking his stepson on a parenting variety show, netizens felt that the “melons” related to Xi Ling were much more delicious.

For example, during the New Year’s Eve livestream, even if they didn’t see his wealthy ex-husband taking revenge on him, staying in the livestream room to watch the interactions between father and son, and watching Xi Ling and Chu Xinnian cooking and chatting, was quite enjoyable.

Moreover, without the thunderous makeup and the phlegm-like “bubble voice,” Xi Ling had become incredibly pleasing to the eye, not to mention the beautiful little bun who had visibly become rounder. The daily “father-son kindness” routine between the big beauty and the little beauty was often hilarious.

Perhaps because there was nothing else to watch before the Spring Festival Gala, and because the topic of Huo Siyi “leaving with nothing” had been so explosive, everyone clicked into Xi Ling’s livestream room in unison. Even when Xi Ling and Chu Xinnian took the two children to the courtyard to set off fireworks after dark, the heat of the livestream room soared to over 100 million.

Even if 100 million in heat on a streaming platform didn’t equal 100 million viewers, it was still an unprecedentedly good result since the parenting show began eight seasons ago.

With the attention came controversy. First, because anything with Xi Ling’s name in it generated heat, related topics popped up on various platforms like bamboo shoots after the rain.

Xi Ling did indeed look much more normal now, but the bizarre and troublesome things he had done before were too numerous to mention, so every discussion ultimately turned into digging up his dark history and mocking him:

[Dying of laughter, Xi Ling even has fans now? Is there anything in the entertainment industry that can’t be whitewashed?]

[Even if Xi Ling performs like a flower in the livestream, I can’t forget the face of this ‘Zhu Ganglie’ (Pigsy) mocking others for being illiterate on the variety show.]

[Although Chu Xinnian, who was trampled on so crazily, chose to get along with Xi Ling, as a classmate of Xi Ling’s from K University, I have to say, my classmates and I have never seen Xi Ling in person. Don’t tell me he’s been mocking people for so long only to find out he bought his diploma…]

Then someone couldn’t help but post anonymously to speak up for Xi Ling, claiming to be a staff member who had contact with him:

[The Xi Ling now is the same in private as he is on screen—he is really very easy to get along with. Since he hasn’t done anything irreversible, why can’t everyone look at Xi Ling with new eyes?]

[At the very least, don’t use Xi Ling to grab attention and traffic while simultaneously mocking him… It’s reached the point where even non-fans feel pity.]

To prove their identity, the poster even attached a censored image: a chat screenshot of Xi Ling sending New Year red envelopes to a large group during the New Year’s celebration.

Each red envelope cover featured a different, adorable “Mian” bun. The profile picture Xi Ling used was a Q-version drawing of the father and son it matched the warm, sunny, and down-to-earth impression he gave during the livestream.

The post’s intention was good, but it unexpectedly triggered a new round of shock why did Xi Ling’s profile picture and Chu Xinnian’s profile picture match?

Using a father-son photo wasn’t rare, nor was a Q-version drawing of one, but the art style for both of their profile pictures was the same; they looked as if they were produced by the same artist.

Netizens first checked the profile pictures revealed by the other two guest pairs on the show, confirming that only Chu Xinnian and Xi Ling had matching ones, and that it wasn’t a standard setup for the show.

Plus, on the day Mingming was sent to the hospital, someone happened to bump into the two of them. Helping a friend deliver an injured child was understandable, but why was it such a coincidence that Xi Ling was there?

The harmonious interaction between the two during the New Year’s Eve livestream was there for all to see. The image of the two handsome guys with the two beautiful babies was also very eye-catching. On such a day of family reunion, it was easy to get the feeling of a family of four, especially when they were setting off fireworks together on New Year’s Eve—every frame was like something out of an idol drama.

Many people went back to look at the eye contact between the two and accidentally discovered that when Chu Xinnian arrived, he brought the black down jacket that Xi Ling had worn before. Looking at their outfits, which looked like a couple’s outfit…

All these things led netizens to the conclusion that Xi Ling and Chu Xinnian were definitely having an affair!

Once the news came out, the entire internet was shocked. Some people who thought they were a good match started shipping “Xin You Ling Xi” in seconds, while others were frantically “eating the melon,” trying to peel the layers to analyze Xi Ling’s emotional trajectory.

The old and ugly wealthy ex-husband had already left with nothing, the mysterious “young wolf” had only been secretly filmed once so far, and Daji Entertainment had already gone down—no one knew if the two had broken it off cleanly or not, and yet, in just a few days, he was already using matching profile pictures with Chu Xinnian?

Huo Siyi felt his vision go dark, especially when his eyes landed on the two Q-version avatars that had been Photoshopped together. The discomfort in his heart intensified; the stuffiness and stagnation were mixed with his anger, making it difficult to distinguish.

The former “Xi Ling” had a clear prenuptial agreement. Even though the psychological expert explained it as a different personality, Huo Siyi still did not acknowledge that individual’s right to control this body, which was why he had used enormous interests to impose strict constraints.

He didn’t expect that before he had even had time to give a warning, the other party had already… the heart problem caused him dizziness and slight respiratory obstruction. Huo Siyi took a deep breath and said to Secretary Dong: “Bring me the medicine.”

In this situation, Secretary Dong didn’t dare to let go while supporting him; he immediately asked the flight attendant to get the medicine.

He felt as if he had broken through the true feelings hidden beneath his boss’s cold exterior. But because this sincerity truly shattered the fixed perception he had held for two years, his mind was racing and his heart was beating frantically.

A thousand words could be summed up in one sentence: The male Madam is truly amazing.

Xi Ling and the baby were still immersed in the excitement of having a puppy.

Little Huo Xingmian was so happy he didn’t want to take a nap at all, kept teasing the little puppy with dog toys.

Perhaps because the puppy had limited energy, and it was tired later, the baby was still encouraging the puppy with his little milky voice, over and over, to pounce on the toys.

Xi Ling found a beanbag, nestled in a corner, and watched the interaction between the little baby and the little puppy with a fatherly, gratified smile, occasionally taking photos and recording videos to capture the silly and cute moments.

It wasn’t until the second eight-week-old Husky was delivered that the baby briefly shifted his target.

When Huo Xingmian saw Xi Ling returning with a similar carrying bag, he was completely shocked, never having expected the possibility of a second one.

The little Beagle, who didn’t have a name yet, saw the baby had finally walked away, immediately fell over right where he was, and fell into a deep sleep with all four paws in the air.

Compared to the little Beagle who had been barking non-stop, this little Husky was much quieter.

Xi Ling suspected it was a pedigree issue, the little Beagle’s mother had won many awards, but the Husky’s parents were both dogs that had won dozens of championships; they looked more stable in temperament from an early age.

However, Xi Ling didn’t have a “tiger parent” psychology; a champion’s cub didn’t necessarily have to become a champion. It was interesting to see the collision between a Beagle and a Husky. Xi Ling planned to wait until the weather got warmer, the dogs grew a bit bigger, and the baby’s body became sturdier to let them run wild outdoors together.

The baby hugged the black-and-white Husky and his eyes turned red with emotion: “Dad… Dad…”

Although the baby was excited beyond measure, Xi Ling still had to be honest: “The Beagle is a New Year’s gift for you; the Husky is a gift for myself.”

Little Huo Xingmian’s moist, teary eyes suddenly paused, and an embarrassed expression immediately appeared. He loosened his little paws: “Sorry, doggy, returning to you.”

Xi Ling hugged the Husky and the baby into his arms: “We are a family, and you are also a little owner of the Husky.”

The baby’s dim black eyes lit up again, his little nose twitching as he wanted to cry again.

It wasn’t because he wasn’t strong, but because today’s stepfather was simply too good how could he have imagined that he would suddenly have two puppy companions!

Just like that, “Nai Bi” (Milk Beagle) stopped operating, and “Nai Ha” (Milk Husky) immediately took over.

Unlike the little Beagle who looked like a cartoon doll, the little Husky with its excellent pedigree looked like a little gentleman in a tuxedo from a young age “milk-cool and milk-cool.” If he hadn’t been afraid of scaring the dog that had just arrived home, Xi Ling would have loved to press it to the floor and kiss it all over.

Therefore, Xi Ling chose to press the baby onto the carpet to get his “baby-sniffing” fix. Taking advantage of the fact that the baby was especially touched today, he began to kiss the meaty cheeks on both sides of the baby’s face like a woodpecker.

The baby was tickled to the point where he couldn’t help but giggle, and two little personas appeared in his mind to fight.

The little black one stomped his feet in anger: The stinky stepfather is the worst, hahaha, so ticklish, I hate it!

The little white one was filled with emotion: Endure it, endure it for the sake of the two little doggies.

Xi Ling had no idea about the baby’s complex internal emotions; he felt great: Ah~ the little milk bun is the best!

After Xi Ling had his fill, he released the baby’s red cheeks and gathered the little Husky and the little Beagle together: “Now that everyone is here, it’s time to name the dogs. Let’s each pick one.”

Huo Xingmian rubbed his little white paws, struggling for a while, only to realize he didn’t know how to name dogs: “Dad names them.”

Xi Ling was inspired by what he had checked online about adult “Beagle Demon Kings.” Although the two little puppies were in their most beautiful state now, Xi Ling didn’t think this state would last:

“How about ‘Mei Qi’ (Beautiful Gas Tank)? Beagles basically become ‘gas tanks’ when they grow up. Little Huo Mianmian’s little ‘gas tank’ doggy… Since it’s a younger brother, I chose the characters ‘Mei Qi’. ‘Huo Mei Qi’ sounds good and is easy to call.”

The baby didn’t understand what a normal dog name was like, but today’s stepfather was the best in the world to him, so he clapped his little paws: “Yay! Mei Qi! Sounds so good!”

Xi Ling had chosen the name for the little Husky long ago. Based on its energetic, “demolition” attributes, he named it “Gong Tou” (Foreman).

Xi Gongtou—this was also Xi Ling’s highest ideal before he transmigrated: to be the biggest boss on a construction site.

Xi Ling was extremely satisfied with the two names he had chosen, which were filled with profound significance. The baby immediately supported him by shouting: “Mei-ki~! Gong-tou~!”

While shouting, he pounced on Gong Tou with all his might. Xi Ling took out his phone and continued to film the baby-dog interaction, accumulating nearly six hundred photos in one afternoon. It was simply too many; even if the phone could store them, he wouldn’t be able to look through them all even if he printed them out later.

Xi Ling carefully screened them and was left with 583 photos. He couldn’t bear to delete a single one after all, the baby and the dogs in the photos looked flawless, and every single one was a masterpiece.

Xi Ling’s addiction to showing off his baby flared up again. He clicked on Weibo, only to discover that he and Chu Xinnian were being linked together, and he was instantly shocked enough to break into a cold sweat.

Yu Yi Xi—

Little Mingming’s other father was a truly ruthless character, the kind who could deal a heavy blow to Chu Xinnian and his son. Although the “dog-blood” drama between the two hadn’t officially started, Xi Ling was also afraid of being suddenly encased in cement.

Even if his intention to make friends with Chu Xinnian was purely kind and not mixed with a hint of evil, the “hatred-sea-love-heaven” type of literature between two fathers of a protagonist never explained things clearly. As a small cannon fodder caught in the middle, he might die without even a chance to defend himself.

Xi Ling immediately clarified: [My friendship with Chu Xinnian is pure. The matching profile picture was simply bought because it looked cute. That day at the hospital was because I borrowed a now out-of-print bedtime storybook from Chu Xinnian…]

Xi Ling responded to every item analyzed on the trending searches with extreme seriousness and even posted a photo of that somewhat yellowed Classic of Mountains and Seas. Chu Xinnian soon came online to repost it, stating that he currently only wanted to work hard and take good care of his child.

The comment section was naturally a massive scene of broken hearts. The “Xin You Ling Xi” CP group, which had just formed and grown, was immediately smashed to pieces by the parties involved.

Just as the CP fans were trying to find ways to make up for the two’s public clarification, Xi Ling had already quickly entered the next phase “diarrhea-style” updates.

He posted 33 Weibo posts in one breath, 32 of which were stuffed with 18 cute photos each.

The CP fans left with broken hearts, while the baby’s “mom fans” and “dad fans” swarmed in with the force of a landslide:

[Ah ah ah ah ah, heavens, heavens, did you go out to play or raise puppies? This mom fan is about to be fainted by the cuteness of the milk dogs and the milk baby!!!]

[What kind of cosmic-level cute baby is my baby? The dogs are so cute too! Although I heard Huskies and Beagles are… hm…]

[The fleshy little face, the big round black eyes, the milky little voice—aw! I’m gone! If only Mianmian were my son, woo-woo!]

…

Xi Ling picked one comment asking about the dogs to reply to simply: [The Beagle is the New Year’s gift Mianmian chose; the Husky is for me. From now on, we are a family of four~ (Cheers) (Big laugh)]

The comment section expressed that both Xi Ling and the baby were very brave and that they should post more photos of the baby and the dogs in the future after all, Huskies and Beagles were both better to watch others raise.

Little did they know, Xi Ling was also looking forward to the happy interaction between the baby and the dogs. Before logging out, he didn’t forget to pin the clarification Weibo to the top to prevent the “melon eaters” from being scattered by his ocean of photos.

Seeing that his and Chu Xinnian’s responses were on the trending search list, Xi Ling felt more at ease.

Just as he was preparing to continue “sniffing” the dogs and the baby, he received a call from the show’s staff.

Because the next episode would not only be recorded outside of Yunjing City, but all four groups of guests would also officially meet, there were many details that needed to be finalized in advance.

Baby is Here mainly focused on daily filming in Yunjing City, but to avoid a lack of freshness for viewers, it would also intersperse special episodes like mountain trips or island tours.

Because they had guaranteed Xi Ling during the signing that the “pit-father” low-priced shopping tours had been replaced by top-tier luxury travel, the production team certainly couldn’t let go of the classic mountain village trip that generated the most contrast, so the staff communicated in advance mainly for this.

“Don’t worry, the location we’ve chosen for this recording is a new rural area that Z Province is strongly promoting. The environment is excellent…”

For Xi Ling, he could have fun wherever he went, as long as they didn’t make him eat moldy group meals like in the original text, sleep in broken houses with drafts everywhere, or let the children get hurt due to poor safety measures.

After Xi Ling agreed in a very communicative manner, the staff finished talking about work and brought up private topics. It turned out that this staff member who had been responsible for contacting Xi Ling’s group and handling some interviews was the one who had spoken up for him on the anonymous forum.

If she had just spoken nicely, she wouldn’t have told Xi Ling, but she hadn’t expected the profile picture issue to cause such a huge stir, so she took the initiative to apologize to Xi Ling.

Xi Ling felt that this matter was a mixture of good and bad; although it had caused a huge fuss, it also eradicated potential hidden dangers in advance. After all, the matching profile pictures were just a fuse; without this, it was hard to say when it might have been suddenly detonated.

Moreover, the profile picture was indeed something he had bought because he liked it. Judging from the result of the proper clarification, the pros clearly outweighed the cons.

Xi Ling thanked the other party for her kind protection, but also indicated that he no longer cared about the comments on the internet. After all, a celebrity needs to maintain an image, but a rich ordinary person has absolutely no need to. After the show ends, he will exit the circle beautifully; who would bother with these things?

On the other side, Huo Siyi, having taken the relief medication, had recovered quite a bit. Of course, even the heart discomfort did not affect the high-speed operation of Huo Siyi’s brain.

However, whenever he thought of the various love details analyzed in the trending searches about the relationship, the discomfort in Huo Siyi’s heart would strengthen. At the same time, his brain, which needed rest, developed a slight dizziness, making him mistakenly think he was about to have an attack.

Back then, after confirming the change in Xi Ling, he had deeply considered this problem. He could satisfy any material needs of the “Xi Ling” whom he loathed to the extreme, but he could not allow the other party to commit crimes while Little Feather was unaware.

He had also long expected that the other party, failing to gain further harvest from him, might use Xi Ling’s body to do some dirty things that could very likely destroy his Little Feather, so he simply tightened the financial constraints to the maximum.

But what he hadn’t expected was that, as soon as he confirmed the change to a new personality, the other party had already established a new relationship. If this were a decision made by Little Feather himself, he would certainly respect it and offer his most sincere blessings. But even if the new personality had certain similarities to the Little Feather in his memory…

Huo Siyi sat in the sofa chair with a extremely ugly expression, deep in thought. Secretary Dong beside him felt as if he were about to catch a cold from being “frozen.” When he saw the trending search about the clarification of the two, he immediately handed the tablet to his boss:

“Mr. Huo! It’s clarified!”

“Madam has posted on Weibo!!”

Huo Siyi narrowed his long eyes, his gaze cold and stern, his voice gloomy: “What?”

After reading the clarification Weibo that Xi Ling had written seriously, Huo Siyi instantly stopped feeling dizzy, his chest stopped feeling stuffy, and his heart was beating more vigorously than anyone else’s.

Huo Siyi let out a sigh of relief, assuming he looked normal as he asked Secretary Dong for Xi Ling’s WeChat ID.

His original plan was to have a detailed talk with Xi Ling after returning to Yunjing City, but to prevent any accidents from truly happening, he felt it necessary to clarify the strict agreement he had once had with the No. 2 personality with the other party first.

Secretary Dong had followed Huo Siyi almost every day. Although he hadn’t reached the level of a trusted aide, he was the first person to perceive the emotional changes between the two through his own imagination.

He was particularly adept at sensitively sensing the other party’s emotions from Huo Siyi’s tone. Thinking back to Huo Siyi’s arbitrary and domineering style at work, even a trending search of uncertain authenticity had angered his boss to the point of collapse…

Secretary Dong’s mind raced. After recommending Xi Ling’s WeChat to Huo Siyi, he immediately added: “Madam will contact me on WeChat if he has anything that needs to be solved.”

“Captain Xiong, Dr. White, and Driver Li… also contact Madam this way; after all, WeChat is very convenient to use.” Secretary Dong explained with a dry laugh.

Huo Siyi lowered his eyes and clicked on Xi Ling’s account, his long eyes narrowing, his tone unclear: “You all have it?”

Secretary Dong responded loudly: “Yes, we all have it!” That’s right! Although he contacted Xi Ling the most frequently, it was just for work needs. In essence, he was no different from anyone else!

Secretary Dong had just wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and let out a sigh of relief without leaving a trace.

Huo Siyi’s cold gaze swept over: “Heh…”