The Cannon Fodder Dad of Three Villainous Cubs - Chapter 12.2

Ji Zhiqiu refused to buy into the tears. Folding his arms, he stared down at him with a cold, detached expression. “Do you realize that what you did just now is called spreading rumors? It’s incredibly hurtful. I merely used the exact same tactic back on you, and you already can’t handle it. Can you understand how I felt just now?”

Young children couldn’t comprehend grand moral lectures, but personal, firsthand experience would always leave an indelible impression. Ji Yanyan realized with absolute clarity the devastating psychological damage of a casually tossed-out rumor. Biting his lower lip firmly, he stared up at his father with wide eyes. “Daddy, I will never say that about you ever again. Can you please stop saying it about me too?”

“Just promising me isn’t enough. Will you act this way toward other people?”

Ji Yanyan’s mind was entirely consumed by the echo of Ji Zhiqiu’s recent public shout. He shook his head like a frenzied rattle. “I won’t.”

Only then did Ji Zhiqiu nod in thorough satisfaction.

Ji Yanyan wrapped his arms around his father’s leg, his eyes overflowing with desperate anticipation.

Knowing exactly what the boy wanted, Ji Zhiqiu fought back a massive surge of laughter and continued at the top of his lungs: “I misspoke just now! Little Ji Yanyan from Building 8, Unit 1, Apartment 1502 has never eaten poop!”

Hearing this public retraction, Ji Yanyan finally let out a massive sigh of relief.

The father and son duo successfully restored their peace treaty and turned to walk back hand-in-hand. But right at that moment, a faint, weak kitten meow drifted into their ears.

Brand-new physical hardware was truly magnificent; Ji Yanyan’s hearing was incredibly sharp. He stopped in his tracks instantly, darting his eyes wildly left and right, whereas Ji Zhiqiu had initially assumed the sound was merely a trick of the wind.

“Daddy, there’s a kitty here,” Ji Yanyan’s eyes lit up, his finger pointing directly up into the branches.

Ji Zhiqiu followed the line of sight upward, his brow instantly furrowing in deep anxiety.

It was a tiny stray kitten, barely the size of a human fist. It was currently huddled on a high branch, spinning around in frantic circles, terrified to make the jump down. Up there, it had no access to water or food, and there was no telling how long it had been trapped.

Ji Zhiqiu’s brow remained tightly knit. He truly couldn’t bring himself to pretend he hadn’t seen it and simply walk away.

Though Ji Yanyan was a handful of a child, he still possessed a soft, tender heart. Seeing the tiny kitten looking so utterly pitiful, he began to pace around the base of the tree in a frantic panic. Unfortunately, he was just a three-year-old toddler; even if he stretched up on the tips of his toes with everything he had, he didn’t even reach Ji Zhiqiu’s thigh.

“Daddy, please save him.” Ji Yanyan wrapped his arms around Ji Zhiqiu’s leg, looking up with large, watery eyes.

Ji Zhiqiu had already resolved to act. He pulled Ji Yanyan to the side. “Stand right here and be good. Do not run around blindly.”

Ji Yanyan nervously clutched the edge of his father’s shirt, asking in a small, hushed whisper, “Can Daddy really save the kitty?”

Ji Zhiqiu smiled and patted his cheek. “Just watch your old man.”

This physical body was rapidly approaching its thirties, but in his mind, he still viewed himself as exceptionally young. Climbing a tree was nothing to scoff at. Ji Zhiqiu wrapped his arms around the rough trunk, adjusted his angle, and launched his first attempt.

His technical memory hadn’t rusted, but his physical stamina was rapidly failing him. His hands and feet began to tremble uncontrollably, and beads of sweat erupted across the bridge of his nose.

Looking up at the branch that still remained a considerable distance away, Ji Zhiqiu refused to throw in the towel halfway. More importantly, he refused to let down Ji Yanyan, who was currently watching his back with fervent, reverent eyes. Gritting his teeth, he pushed further upward.

Summoning every last shred of residual strength, he kicked off hard with his feet and extended his arms. The branch drew closer and closer. Right at the split second he was about to miss it, his fingers curled tightly around the wood. Utilizing his forward momentum to hoist himself up, he finally managed to sit squarely atop a thick, sturdy branch.

He let out a long, ragged exhale. Catching his breath, he didn’t even bother to wipe away his sweat, immediately turning his eyes to assess the kitten’s condition.

The tiny kitten was remarkably perceptive. It blinked its large, watery eyes, staring at him with pure entreaty, even cooperating by nudging itself a little closer toward him.

However, the outer branches were far thinner and completely incapable of supporting an adult’s weight. Ji Zhiqiu adjusted his posture, rising into a half-standing crouch. Extending his arms as far as they would go, he took a daring step forward. Losing the solid support of the trunk, he had to rely entirely on core muscle control to maintain his balance, his legs shaking uncontrollably.

Fortunately, the execution went smoothly. He successfully scooped up the tiny kitten, slowly lowering his center of gravity until he was safely seated back in the fork of the tree.

Sensing that it was safe, the kitten’s cries grew noticeably stronger. It suddenly wriggled right out of Ji Zhiqiu’s grasp and leaped straight down.

This specific height posed absolutely no danger to a cat. The kitten tumbled into the roadside bushes, where a large adult cat was waiting beneath the cover of the leaves. Its coat pattern was practically identical to the kitten’s, its frantic meows overflowing with a sense of relief and anxiety that even humans could easily interpret.

Ji Zhiqiu completely set his mind at ease. The kitten’s mother had come to find it, meaning there shouldn’t be any further issues. The feline mother and daughter were successfully reunited.

Ji Yanyan, however, completely failed to process this resolution. Seeing the tiny kitten vanish into the foliage, he desperately wanted to chase after it, but remembering Ji Zhiqiu’s strict command, he could only stand rooted to the spot like a stiff little statue.

“Daddy, hurry up and come down! Let’s go find the kitty!” He eagerly extended his small hands, wanting Ji Zhiqiu to hold them.

While Ji Yanyan constantly clashed with his father at home, out in public, his attachment to the man was absolute. His entire sense of security was anchored in Ji Zhiqiu; if his father wasn’t holding his hand, he didn’t dare chase after the cats alone.

Ji Zhiqiu’s legs were still trembling, and his entire body was so exhausted it felt completely numb; he truly couldn’t move a muscle. “Don’t worry, the cat mommy is here. She will take perfect care of her baby, just like I take care of you.”

Staring down at Ji Yanyan’s anxious little face, recollections of the absolute chaos the boy had put him through over the past few days suddenly swirled through his mind. He felt a distinct lack of psychological balance.

He had been tormented so miserably by this brat; he had to collect a little bit of interest no matter what.

Ji Zhiqiu folded his arms, adopting an arrogant, self-satisfied expression. “I saved the tiny kitten. Why aren’t you praising me?”

Mirroring Ji Zhiqiu’s usual demeanor, Ji Yanyan wracked his tiny brain to brainstorm compliments: “Daddy is super handsome! Who is the most amazing daddy in the entire world? Turns out it’s my daddy!”

By the time Ji Yanyan’s lips were completely dry from talking, having run entirely out of vocabulary words, Ji Zhiqiu’s stance finally softened a fraction. “Alright then. Now say: ‘King Mimi, please descend from the tree.'”

Ji Yanyan didn’t understand the phrase, tilting his head in complete bewilderment: “Mimi Big Wolf?”

Ji Zhiqiu corrected him: “It’s King Mimi (Mimi Dawang).”

“Mimi Big Woof.”

“King Mimi! Second tone!”

Ji Yanyan dragged out his vowels, putting immense physical effort into his pronunciation: “King Mimi, please descend from the tree.”

Ji Zhiqiu’s vanity was immensely satisfied. Only then did he nod. “Now spin your body around. You are absolutely forbidden from looking.”

Ji Yanyan covered his eyes tightly with his hands, announcing in a sweet, milky voice, “I’m ready!”

Ensuring that Ji Yanyan was strictly obeying the rules, Ji Zhiqiu prepared to make his descent.

His posture while saving the cat just now had been incredibly cinematic and handsome, but the devastating cost was that it had completely drained every ounce of his physical energy. To ensure he didn’t suffer a humiliating face-plant, he had no choice but to opt for the most pathetic method of descent possible: letting his denim jeans scrape repeatedly against the bark as he slid downward centimeter by centimeter.

His legs were shaking violently. With immense difficulty, he managed to lower himself halfway—only to realize that his attempt to cut corners had backfired catastrophically. He had managed to wedge himself firmly right into the narrow fork of the branches.

Oh, fantastic. I’m stuck.

……

When school dismissal arrived, Ji Zishen bid farewell to his friends and began walking home, his mind heavily weighed down by complex thoughts.

In his memory, Ji Zhiqiu had always been a foolish, incompetent man—someone incredibly easy to manipulate who required very little vigilance. That tragic, self-sacrificing father routine from earlier had initially managed to bluff him, but after leaving the house and cooling down, Ji Zishen gradually began to spot the inconsistencies.

In the past, Ji Zhiqiu had always been unreservedly biased toward his biological son, treating Ji Zishen like an unwanted tagalong. Why on earth would the man suddenly treat him so wonderfully yesterday, showering him with gifts and slicing fruit for him?

The more Ji Zishen analyzed it, the more wrong it felt. As he neared the apartment complex, a sudden realization struck him like a thunderbolt.

His initial suspicions had been entirely correct! Ji Zhiqiu’s abrupt transformation was undoubtedly a front for some malicious scheme. The man was absolutely not as useless as he appeared on the surface!

Realizing that Ji Zhiqiu was acting one way to his face while plotting another behind his back, scheming against him in the shadows, a profound sense of existential crisis surged within Ji Zishen.

His footsteps slowed down instinctively, his mind entirely consumed by thoughts of how to retaliate against Ji Zhiqiu. Before he knew it, he had walked back into the neighborhood. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, a familiar figure caught his attention.

Ji Yanyan was currently standing right beneath the massive tree, his back turned to him, looking utterly solitary.

Ji Zishen’s brow furrowed tightly. Based on his understanding of Ji Zhiqiu, the man cherished his biological son above all else and would absolutely never allow the toddler to wander outside completely unattended.

Guided by his thoughts, Ji Zishen scanned the surrounding area, searching for any standing, walking adult. He found none. Instead, hidden amidst the dense green leaves, there was a massive, hoisted-up rear end.

A rear end?

Ji Zishen’s brow furrowed even deeper, and he instinctively focused his gaze upward.

The person currently wedged squarely into the fork of the tree branches was, undeniably, Ji Zhiqiu. He was currently maintaining a thoroughly distorted, agonizing posture, his hands desperately clawing at the trunk while his bottom was hoisted high in the air. Summoning every ounce of strength he possessed, he tried to wrench himself free, only to lose his balance entirely and tilt forward, jamming himself even more securely into the wood.

Ji Zishen: “……”

The intense thoughts that had just been flashing through his mind moments ago completely overthrew themselves: Ji Zhiqiu acts one way to my face while plotting another behind my back… he isn’t as useless as he appears…

He had been completely wrong. Ji Zhiqiu truly was just that incredibly foolish and entirely useless.