Chapter 7: Private Stash
This Xenogenic’s behavior was bizarre, but Wen Xun also concluded that he couldn’t defeat it. So, when Yu An handed over the gold necklace, he picked the child up and ran away without looking back.
Yu An was suddenly hoisted into the air. He let out a small cry of surprise and hurriedly hugged Wen Xun’s neck. “Papa, what’s wrong?”
Wen Xun was running in a hurry. “There’s a bad guy. Let’s go home first.”
Hearing this, Yu An immediately nestled obediently in Wen Xun’s arms. The red mark on his forehead hadn’t disappeared yet. His eyes were wide and round as he looked around alertly. “Was it a bad guy who hit me just now?”
“Mhm.”
Yu An’s little mouth crumpled. “Bad guys are so mean!”
After they left, the depressed Ushatos floated to the surface, blowing bubbles. It shouted at Wen Xun’s back: [Hey, you human! Where are you taking our cub?!]
His name was Soland. He had only recently reached adulthood. His body size and abilities hadn’t reached the state of a fully matured adult. Because of this, there was no need to worry about his powerful strength causing harm to this world.
Soland had gone to find the cub at the place the Boss mentioned, but the cub wasn’t there at all. Soland had no choice but to search the world for him. He had finally found him and played with him for a while, only for that annoying human to carry the cub away again.
Soland was unhappy. According to his temperament, any creature that made him unhappy should be eaten in one bite. But the cub seemed to like that human very much. If he ate the human, the cub would likely be angry.
Soland rolled irritably in the sea. His wildly swinging tentacles randomly knocked out a passing orca. A humpback whale saw this and was overjoyed, taking advantage of Soland’s lack of attention to slap the orca with its tail a few more times.
Yu An was carried home in a panic by Wen Xun. Butler Ide was startled by their slightly disheveled appearance and took Yu An from Wen Xun’s arms. “Little Patriarch, did something happen?”
Wen Xun was out of breath. Running this whole way was an over-expenditure of exercise for him. His heart was beating rapidly, and he only gradually recovered after taking small sips of water.
He briefly explained what happened on the beach. Butler Ide’s expression turned solemn. “I will report this to the research base and have them strengthen patrols in the waters around Blue Moon Bay.”
Wen Xun thought for a moment. “Don’t mention the part about An-an. Just say I encountered the Xenogenic while walking on the beach.”
The Xenogenic had specifically thrown various treasures to Yu An. If the research base knew this, they would definitely focus their attention on little Yu An. Wen Xun didn’t want Yu An to receive attention from that group of people.
Yu An didn’t understand the conversation between Papa and Grandpa Ide. He sat on the sofa by himself, looking at his bare little feet. He lifted a foot. “My shoes are left behind…”
“It’s okay, we’ll get new ones.” Wen Xun waved his hand. “I remember there’s a pair of light yellow sneakers that are quite nice. You can wear those when you go out later.”
Yu An pursed his lips. “But… those are also new shoes.”
“There are many new shoes. An-an can give every pair of new shoes a chance.”
Is that so?
Yu An was stunned for a moment and stopped worrying about the shoes lost on the beach. At this time, Ide came over with a wet towel to wipe Yu An’s feet. He looked at Ide awkwardly, retracted his feet, and said bashfully, “Grandpa, I can wipe them myself.”
Ide smiled. “It’s okay. Grandpa likes helping our An-an wipe his little feet. See? Is there no sand left?”
Looking at his fair and tender feet once again, Yu An smiled shyly. “Thank you, Grandpa~”
Ide had been a butler for the Lin family for most of his life and had seen countless “bratty” children. But an obedient baby as shy and adorable as Yu An was too rare. Furthermore, he was the child Lin Huaichen and Wen Xun brought back.
The old butler’s impression of little Yu An was extremely high. After wiping his feet, he put soft slippers on him. Unable to resist amidst Yu An’s repeated thanks, he ruffled the little guy’s head.
“This is for Grandpa~” Yu An pulled a beautiful coral bracelet from his pocket and held it out to Butler Ide, his eyes sparkling. “I found it on the beach. It’s pretty. For Grandpa.”
Ide took the bracelet. Looking at this bracelet sent ashore by a Xenogenic, his heart was full of mixed emotions. “Thank you, An-an. Grandpa likes it very much.”
Yu An then gave the pearl necklace to Auntie Liu to thank her for the delicious breakfast she made. Auntie Liu was startled by the precious gift and repeatedly refused. “I can’t take this. This is too valuable.”
“It’s not expensive. I found it on the beach.”
Auntie Liu was stunned. “Found it?”
You could find a strung pearl necklace on a beach? Auntie Liu looked as if she were questioning life, but unable to win against Yu An’s kindness, she could only accept the necklace with embarrassment.
Yu An distributed the found items to the people he liked. There was still a portion left, all of which he gave to Wen Xun. Wen Xun looked at the jewelry filling the table and fell silent for a moment. “No wonder you were so heavy when I carried you…”
His arms were still sore now.
Yu An pursed his lips and smiled bashfully. “They’re pretty. Shiny and sparkly. I like them.”
So he couldn’t help but stuff them in his pockets and carry them back in his arms.
Wen Xun hadn’t expected Yu An to like these things. He directly took Yu An to the jewelry vault on the third floor. Lin Huaichen also had a hobby of collecting gems and had specifically used an entire room to display his collection.
Countless types of jewelry were displayed on the exhibition stands, with mini-lights illuminating these radiant treasures. Yu An took one look and was nearly blinded by the light emitted by the gems. He marveled, “So many sparkles~”
Wen Xun washed the gems Yu An found and placed them in the display case. “Do you like them? When Lin Huaichen dies, all these things will be yours.”
Yu An let out a “Wow.” “When Papa Lin comes back, I have to say thank you to him.”
Wen Xun: “No need. This is legal inheritance.”
A certain Lin Patriarch, who had just returned home and was ready to be intimate with his wife and child, heard this conversation. His expression turned blank.
Lin Huaichen opened his mouth and interrupted this father-son pair who were chatting so happily. “Uh… actually, you don’t have to wait for me to die. I can give them to our baby An-an right now.”
So please don’t look forward to me kicking the bucket, the Lin Patriarch thought, feeling immense pressure.
Wen Xun was very satisfied with Lin Huaichen’s sensible attitude. He walked over and kissed him. “You’re a good father.”
Lin Huaichen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Thank you for the affirmation, baby.”
Yu An had acquired Lin Huaichen’s jewelry collection room. The countless sparkling jewels simply bedazzled the little guy’s eyes. One moment he was touching a diamond necklace, the next he was stroking an emerald. His sense of happiness was off the charts.
That night, Yu An dreamed that he was surrounded by mountains of sparkling stones. A happy smile appeared on his exquisite face, and he would occasionally rub against his pillow in joy.
Under the dim light of the bedside lamp, a shadow silently slipped to Yu An’s bedside. Soland stood upright, looking at the little ball on the bed.
A micro-robot in the shape of a blue bird had been following him. Soland irritably swung a tentacle, smashing the robot to pieces. But soon, the fragments turned into smaller blue birds, surrounding Soland once again.
Soland was beyond annoyed but decided to ignore them, focusing all his attention on Yu An.
He cautiously touched Yu An’s cheek with a tentacle, lightly brushing the red mark on his forehead. He apologized heartbreakingly: [Cub, I’m sorry.]
Yu An was sleeping soundly. Disturbed, he instinctively burrowed into his quilt and whimpered dissatisfactorily, sounding like a kitten that hadn’t been weaned yet.
So cute. Soland’s lake-blue eyes widened slightly. He wanted to take the cub back!
Soland wanted to carry Yu An away, but he had no idea how to hold a child. His tentacles kept hurting Yu An. Yu An’s elegant eyebrows furrowed deeply as he instinctively pushed away the tentacles disturbing his sleep.
But the tentacle persisted in pestering him. Yu An was furious, murmuring a few words, “Bad guy… hate…”
Soland was shocked. What did the cub just say? Hate… he was hated by the cub?! Soland felt as if he had been struck by lightning. His tentacles all stood on end as he ran around the small room in a panic.
What now?
What could he do to make the cub not hate him?
Soland was so anxious he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t dare to touch Yu An rashly again. He sheepishly climbed out the window to leave, casting a lingering look at Yu An before he went.
— Cub, wait for me. Once I learn how to hold a baby, I’ll come back to hug you!
Not long after Soland left, Yu An’s door was pushed open. Lin Huaichen, wearing loose pajamas, walked in. His dark brows were slightly furrowed as he checked on Yu An. He only let out a sigh of relief once he was sure the boy was safe and sound.
He had suddenly sensed a trace of a magnetic field fluctuation and worried that the Xenogenic from Blue Moon Bay had found its way here. After searching around, he only found a small crack in the window.
Lin Huaichen stood by Yu An’s bed for a while after closing the window. He reached out to touch the gradually fading red mark on the boy’s forehead, took out some ointment, and applied it to the little guy. Then he turned and left, gently closing the door.
The next day, the red mark on Yu An’s forehead had become nearly invisible. Following his usual routine, he stayed in the art studio with Wen Xun in the morning and looked at his favorite sparkling treasure stones in the collection room in the afternoon.
Suddenly, Yu An noticed the red cloth beneath a piece of Hetian jade was slightly bulging. He curiously lifted the cloth, only to find a stack of cash inside, including various denominations.
Yu An sat on the floor and counted for a long time before figuring out there was a total of three thousand yuan.
But why was there money here?
Could Papa and the others have accidentally left it there? Yu An decided this was very likely. Papa must be very anxious after losing his money. Yu An immediately gripped the cash and ran to find Lin Huaichen and Wen Xun.
At this time, Lin Huaichen and Wen Xun were sitting on the sofa chatting. Wen Xun was leaning bonelessly in Lin Huaichen’s arms, asking lazily, “What did that group of people at the Base say?”
Lin Huaichen used a comb to brush Wen Xun’s hair, skillfully using a hair tie to bundle his long black hair together. “The detection officers found an unknown mental magnetic field outside the Earth. The current script has changed from an ‘Apocalyptic Mutation’ genre to an ‘Alien Invasion’ sci-fi genre.”
Wen Xun: “…”
What is even happening?
He rubbed the space between his eyebrows. “So what do those organisms want to do?”
“Who knows?” Lin Huaichen shrugged. “But the spatial layer outside the Earth has inexplicably strengthened a lot. I wonder if it’s because of them.”
Wen Xun fell into deep thought. The mutation had occurred roughly fifty years ago. At that time, the Earth’s space had become fragile due to an unknown magnetic field, and other creatures had mutated. Monsters from other dimensions had even treated Earth as a slaughterhouse.
Because of this, the United Base was established, giving rise to Ability Users to counter the threat. Now that space was repairing itself, would this era of mutation come to an end?
Thinking of humanity’s future, Lin Huaichen and Wen Xun’s expressions were solemn. Hearing footsteps on the stairs, both looked up to see little Yu An running toward them in a hurry.
Lin Huaichen immediately switched to his “doting father” expression. “An-an, slow down. Falling hurts.”
Yu An was panting after just that short run, but he knew serious business came first. He held up the money in his hand. “Papa, you left your money in the sparkly room.”
Lin Huaichen looked at the familiar stack of cash. his expression froze. He instinctively sat up straight, staring fixedly at Yu An and Wen Xun as he broke into a cold sweat for himself.
“It’s not mine. I’ve never put money in there.” Wen Xun shook his head. Suddenly thinking of something, he looked gloomily at Lin Huaichen beside him. “This money… is yours?”
Lin Huaichen opened his mouth. Seeing Wen Xun’s gaze become more and more dangerous, he steeled himself and squeezed out a bitter smile. “This… this isn’t mine either. Baby, how could I possibly hide a private stash? I don’t know where this money came from.”
Lin Huaichen’s heart was bleeding as he spoke. How could he have forgotten to take the money out?! Three years of savings!
After getting married, the Lin Patriarch had strictly adhered to the “virtue of men,” proactively handing over all his bank cards and deposits. He had resolutely decided not to keep a single penny for himself. But gradually, the Lin Patriarch realized this wouldn’t work.
Every time he wanted to give his precious wife a surprise, he had to apply for funds from Wen Xun in advance. Was it even a surprise at that point?!
Thus, Lin Huaichen began his journey of saving money through frugality. Just as his grand saving plan was nearing completion, who knew that the entire nest of cash would be cleared out by little Yu An? The Lin Patriarch wanted to cry but had no tears.
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