Chapter 12: Penniless Papa
When Yu An said he would raise Soland, he meant it. He busted himself by asking the butler for a spare fish tank, filled it with water, and placed Soland inside. “Is this water okay?”
Soland wasn’t a real octopus; he could live without water. Watching the little guy run around busy for him, Soland felt warm even in the cold water.
Their Ushatos race had actually produced an angel cub. Soland was deeply moved. His gaze toward Yu An contained even more doting. He sank to the bottom of the tank and blew bubbles. [Itâs okay.]
Yu An was relieved. “Then I’ll go find food for you.”
Without giving Soland a chance to stop him, he ran to the garden to find the uncle in charge of the koi pond and asked him how to raise a little octopus.
The uncle gave Yu An a bag of ornamental fish feed and some dried shrimp. He said uncertainly, “I haven’t raised an octopus either, but their diet should be similar to carnivorous marine fish. They should be able to eat these.”
Yu An carried the two bags and thanked the uncle, rushing back as fast as he could for fear that Soland might starve to death without food.
It was seven in the morning. Lin Huaichen was fully dressed and ready to go out. As soon as he pushed open his door, he saw little Yu An from the next room running back with great energy. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. “An-an, why are you up so early today?”
Yu An stopped, equally confused. “Papa, why are you still at home?”
Every time he woke up, Lin Huaichen had already left for work. He never saw him in the morning.
“So our little treasure woke up very early today.” Lin Huaichen picked him up and gave him a morning kiss, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “What did you do to get so sweaty?”
Yu An held up the food for Soland. “Iâm raising a little octopus. This is food for it. Papa, let me go quickly; my little octopus is going to starve to death.”
Where did an octopus come from?
Lin Huaichen was confused and followed Yu An to his room. Looking at the baby-palm-sized octopus in the tank, his dark brows furrowed slightly. This octopus gave him a very strange feeling.
Yu An scattered the fish feed and dried shrimp on the water surface. Seeing the little octopus didn’t come to eat, he tapped the side of the tank. “Eat-eat, or you’ll be hungry.”
Soland had tensed his body since Lin Huaichen entered the room. He could sense the strength of this manâa power that shouldn’t exist in this fragile world.
If there were many such existences, then the space of this world shouldn’t be so ragged and broken. Soland thought to himself; it seemed this world was more dangerous than he imagined, at least for a defenseless cub.
Soland was even more determined to stay by Yu Anâs side.
Facing Lin Huaichenâs scrutinizing gaze, Soland silently hid behind a small stone, pretending to be an ordinary little octopus.
“An-an, where did you find this octopus?” Lin Huaichen suddenly turned to ask Yu An.
Yu An pointed to the succulents outside the window. “There. It was sleeping there this morning. So cute; I want to raise it.”
Lin Huaichen nodded slightly, stroking Yu Anâs head. His gaze lingered on Soland. He didn’t sense any Xenogenic aura from this octopus, but its appearance was very strange.
He had never seen an octopus that climbed windows.
Yu An couldn’t sense the undercurrents between his Papa and Soland. He grew anxious when the little octopus didn’t eat and held a dried shrimp to its mouth. “Eat~”
Soland hesitated, truly unable to bear disappointing Yu An. He slowly extended a tentacle to coil around the shrimp and ate it leisurely.
“An-an, let’s go eat breakfast too.” Lin Huaichen glanced at the little octopus and poured a thick layer of fish feed into the tank. “Let it eat on its own. Itâs so good; Iâm sure it will finish all this feed.”
Though he had doubts, Lin Huaichen didn’t act rashly. This octopus appeared very submissive toward Yu An and showed no hostility, and Yu An liked it very much.
Without concrete evidence, Lin Huaichen didn’t plan to do anything to the octopus. It would be bad to leave a psychological shadow on the child.
But messing with it a bit should be fine, right? Lin Huaichenâs lips curled up slightly.
Yu An didn’t know the appetite of a little octopus, but he believed Lin Huaichenâs words implicitly. He leaned over the tank and instructed Soland, “Be good and eat-eat. I’ll come see you after I finish breakfast.”
Soland really wanted to tell Yu An that he didn’t eat these things, but Lin Huaichen was watching like a hawk. It would be bad if he noticed the cubâs abnormality.
Soland could only shut his mouth and say nothing, swallowing the fish feed in large gulps while cursing every relative of Lin Huaichen in his heart.
Auntie Liu had prepared breakfast. Seeing Lin Huaichen bringing Yu An downstairs was a surprise for her as well. Her gaze was worried. “Did little An-an not sleep well? You’re up so early today.”
Usually, Yu An was a heavy sleeper and didn’t wake up until near nine.
Yu An shook his head, his two dimples appearing. “No, I slept super well.”
He even dreamed of eating strawberry cake.
Yu An asked expectantly, “Papa, can I eat a piece of strawberry cake today?”
Lin Huaichen sat him down at the dining table. “Sure. Iâll bring a piece when I get off work this afternoon. Do you only want strawberry? Do you want to try other flavors?”
Yu An shook his head with great focus. “No, only strawberry cake.”
After breakfast, Yu An ran to his room, took a hundred-yuan bill from his piggy bank, and ran to give it to Lin Huaichen. “Buy cake. Here’s money-money.”
Lin Huaichen saw his “private stash” once again. For a moment, his heart was a mess of mixed emotions. Conscience and morality were in an ultimate tug-of-war. Finally, he didn’t take Yu Anâs money. “Papa has money. No need for An-anâs money.”
Yu Anâs gaze was suspicious. “Really?”
He had already learned from Grandpa Butler that although the family was very rich, all the money was with Papa Wen. Papa Lin was a penniless broke person, even poorer than him.
Lin Huaichen was provoked by his gaze. “Of course! I am the head of the household. How could I possibly not have money?! This is an insult to my absolute status!”
Hearing it was that serious, Yu An immediately stopped insulting his dad and put away his hundred yuan.
Before leaving, Lin Huaichen sneakily avoided Yu An and slipped back into the master bedroom. He cautiously hugged Wen Xun and shook him. “Baby~”
“Baby, you haven’t given me my pocket money for today.”
“An-an wants to eat strawberry cake today…”
Wen Xunâs morning grumpiness was quite severe. He pulled the quilt over his head to hide. “The bank card is in the drawer. Take it yourself; don’t bother me.”
After getting permission, Lin Huaichen light-footedly opened the drawer. It was filled with bank cards tossed inside randomly. He took the one with the least amount of money, then dug Wen Xun out from the quilt to kiss him on the lips. “I’m going to work. Goodbye, baby.”
Wen Xun looked at Lin Huaichen coldly, his eyes still sleepy. Once he was finished with his kissing, Wen Xun couldn’t help but pick up a pillow and hit him.
Having taken his revenge, Wen Xun hugged the pillow, pulled over Lin Huaichenâs pillow to use, and went back to sleep, leaving him with only the back of his head.
Lin Huaichen was nearly killed by his cuteness. “By the way, An-an is raising a little octopus today. That octopus looks a bit strange to me; pay more attention to it.”
Wen Xun only found some patience when talking about serious business. His voice was sleepy. “Understood.”
Lin Huaichen had a cheap smile on his face as he patted his precious sonâs head, got into his expensive car, and finally went to work.
Yu An knelt on the sofa, resting his head on the back as he watched Lin Huaichenâs car disappear from sight. He turned to ask Grandpa Butler, worried, “Does Papa really have money to buy me a cake?”
Butler Ideâs eyes had long seen through everything. “Don’t worry. The Patriarch still has enough to buy you a cake.”
How could the Patriarch of the Lin family truly be penniless? It was merely the “flirting” of a young couple. But children didn’t need to know about such “filthy” adult matters.
Yu An looked forward to the cake in the afternoon. Currently idle, he watched cartoons in the living room. Soland crawled out of the fish tank, up his arm, and onto his shoulder, scanning the area like a ruler of all he surveyed.
Yu An turned his head to look at him worriedly. “Do you really not need to stay in the water? Won’t you be short on water?”
Soland: [No. Iâm a special octopus. I can live without water.]
What a joke. If he stayed in the tank all day, how was he supposed to look after the child?
Yu An was relieved and happily watched cartoons with Soland. However, his interest in cartoons wasn’t high. After watching for a bit, he turned off the TV and ran to the collection room to look at the sparkling gems and pearls.
This was Yu Anâs greatest hobby latelyâtaking the jewelry from the display cases and changing their positions, either moving them to a different spot or grouping similar colors together.
Soland saw some of the underwater treasures he had thrown to Yu An. Seeing him wipe them with adoration, he asked: [Cub, do you like these things very much?]
Yu An nodded, holding an emerald up against the light. The crystal-clear gem was radiant and brilliant, flashing with a bright glow. “I like them. I like them super much.”
Instantly, Soland had another goal: find shiny stones for the cub to play with.
Yu An would often stay in the collection room for a long time. After Wen Xun woke up and finished breakfast, he came to find the child, naturally noticing the little octopus on the boy’s shoulder.
He studied Soland with confusion, his brow furrowing bit by bit. What species was this? A product of drinking nuclear-contaminated wastewater?
“Papa!” Yu An lunged into Wen Xunâs arms, pushing the little octopus in front of Wen Xunâs face. “Look! This is the little octopus Iâm raising.”
Wen Xun looked closely at the little octopus, inexplicably thinking of the octopus tentacle that threw jewelry that day. And the octopus’s eyes… were actually the same color as An-anâs.
In just a few seconds, countless guesses flashed through Wen Xunâs mind. He didn’t show it on his face, lowering his long lashes as he patted Yu Anâs head. “Mhm. An-an is very kind-hearted.”
Soland also recognized Wen Xun and silently hid inside Yu Anâs small hat. Wen Xun saw Solandâs reaction clearly, his gaze dark, but out of sight, out of mind, he ignored him.
Yu An was Wen Xunâs little follower, following him into the study. Wen Xun taught Yu An how to write by holding his hand. Halfway through, he suddenly asked, “Does An-an want to go to kindergarten?”
Yu An had learned what kindergarten was like from cartoons. He was hesitant, looking up at Wen Xun before burying his head in his chest. “…I don’t want to leave you and Papa Lin.”
“Then we won’t go.” Wen Xun decided. “I can teach you at home. What do you want to learn? Calculus, Geophysics, Applied Chemistry, New Molecular Materials… I can teach you all of them.”
“My friend is a doctor. If you want to study medicine, thatâs fine; I can let him teach you.”
“I have another friend who researches Artificial Intelligence. If you want to go into that, I can have him teach you.”
“I have another friend…”
Wen Xun listed all the friends he knew, covering every field. As long as Yu An nodded, he could pull the people over to look after the child.
He was full of anticipation. “So, which one do you want to learn?”
Yu An was dazed. He didn’t understand a single thing Wen Xun mentioned. After thinking it over, he held up the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division exercise book for toddlers on the desk. “I want to learn this.”
Wen Xun: “…”
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