Chapter 38
In the master bedroom, Wen Xun sat on the bed, getting angrier the more he thought about it. Unable to let it go, he called Ruoyi. When the call connected, Ruoyi didn’t hear his voice for a long while, but she didn’t find it strange.
“Who made you mad? I’ll go kill him for you,” Ruoyi chirped, her tone full of expectation. “Is it Lin Huaichen?”
Wen Xun lay back on the bed, grabbing Lin Huaichen’s pillow and squeezing it to vent his frustration. He gave Ruoyi a brief summary of what had happened. “…He’s too annoying. I don’t even want to respect my elders anymore.”
“Then don’t,” Ruoyi suggested enthusiastically. “Next time you see him, just slap him. That old thing is past his prime; he can’t beat you.”
Wen Xun: “…Forget it.”
Resorting to physical violence against an old man with one foot in the grave was something Wen Xun truly couldn’t bring himself to do.
Since the direct approach was a no-go, Ruoyi began brainstorming other ways. “If all else fails, I’ll take control of the Base over here in Country A. Then, at the next joint meeting, I’ll put pressure on your side. You stay out of it and just force those old fogies to relinquish their power.”
Country A was a place where money was absolute. Wealth could solve any problem, and Ruoyi’s family happened to be the wealthiest of them all. If she truly wanted to vie for power, no one would be her match.
Wen Xun pondered for a moment. Those old men prided themselves on their seniority and refused to retire from the front lines. Perhaps it was indeed time to use external force to push them.
Wen Xun readily agreed. “Fine.”
With the problem settled, Wen Xun’s mood improved significantly. He suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark shadow flashing past the window, but when he opened it, there was nothing unusual.
Claude had gone to the Fu residence in the middle of the night. After being busy all night, he only returned when the sky began to pale. Soland’s body was pitifully weak for Claude; merely killing a few Xenogenics had left him exhausted.
He let out a yawn and curled up on Yu An’s soft pillow. Retracting every small tentacle until he resembled a little grey ball, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Monday was sprawled on the carpet, sleeping soundly, with Little White nestled against its furry belly. No one noticed that Claude had sneaked out.
At seven o’clock, the alarm rang punctually. Yu An crawled out of bed in a daze and turned it off. With his hair a messy nest and his eyes glazed, he struggled to “reboot” his brain.
Aside from him, Claude and Monday were still sleeping peacefully. Only Little White exited sleep mode, flapping its wings to land on Yu An’s shoulder, full of energy.
“Good morning, Little Master! Today’s high is 31°C and the low is 25°C. Since you’re heading out, you should wear a jacket to avoid catching a cold.”
“Okay, thank you, Little White~”
Little White performed a gentlemanly bow with one wing, its tone cheerful. “It is Little White’s honor to serve the Little Master.”
Yu An changed out of his pajamas and, after completing his preparations, went downstairs for breakfast. Lin Huaichen and Wen Xun were already seated in the dining room. Yu An gave them each a hug and said good morning.
Wen Xun was in a fantastic mood this morning. He poured a glass of warm milk for Yu An. “We’ll walk you to school after you finish eating.”
Yu An nodded while eating. Noticing the obvious smile on Wen Xun’s face, he asked curiously, “Is Papa very happy today?”
“Yes, extremely happy,” Wen Xun smiled. “The Xenogenics that the old man of the Fu family was keeping all died. Even those A-rank Arbiters he trained died mysteriously. It’s absolutely gratifying.”
Lin Huaichen gave a helpless smile. “Baby, don’t make your schadenfreude so obvious, or people will suspect you were the one behind it.”
At this, Wen Xun froze. He pulled out his phone and dialed Ruoyi’s number. As soon as she picked up, he asked, “Was the Fu family matter your doing? That was fast.”
Ruoyi choked. “Uh… I’m still playing games.”
Wen Xun: “…It seems to be 2:00 AM where you are.”
“You know that and you still called me?! That’s public nuisance, okay?”
“Heh.”
Ruoyi immediately backed down. “…Don’t tell Mom. I’ll get on your request tomorrow.”
Yu An was eating a soup dumpling when his bulging cheek was suddenly poked. He looked at Wen Xun blankly and, after struggling to swallow his food, spoke slowly. “Papa?”
Wen Xun hung up the phone and glanced at Ling Xingcheng, who was eating voraciously. “Stay at the villa this week instead of the dorms. You’ll live with your Brother Xingcheng.”
Yu An was a bit reluctant. “I want to stay in the dorms with Brother Yunshu.”
“You don’t want to live with me?” Ling Xingcheng’s confident expression shifted as if he’d been struck by lightning. His eyes widened. “I can cook and do chores! If you live with me, you won’t even have to wash your own clothes. Isn’t that better than that Fu Yunshu? What’s going on in that little head of yours?!”
Ling Xingcheng tapped Yu An’s head twice, looking like a disappointed elder whose “life-hack” of a roommate was being rejected in favor of the hardships of dorm life.
Yu An looked dazed. “…But, but the villa has an Auntie to take care of me.”
Ling Xingcheng froze. Before a professional housekeeper, he seemed to have no advantage. After a moment of thought, he found another selling point. “I can protect you.”
Yu An thought to himself that Soland and Little White could protect him too.
However, since Ling Xingcheng’s expression was so pathetic—like a red-haired dog that nobody wanted—he didn’t have the heart to say it out loud.
Lin Huaichen watched Ling Xingcheng’s misfortune for a moment before speaking up jovially, “An-an, just stay with your brother for a few days. Look at him, he’s about to cry, hahahaha!”
Ling Xingcheng glared at him. “I am not crying!”
His protest was met only with Lin Huaichen’s ruthless laughter. However, to stay near Yu An and find a chance for revenge against Joshua, Ling Xingcheng had to swallow his pride.
Before Yu An left for school, he went upstairs to retrieve the still-sleeping Claude and Monday, tucking them into his backpack. He then got into the car and sat next to Ling Xingcheng.
Lin Huaichen dropped Ling Xingcheng off at the villa first, giving him a key, before taking Yu An to school. On the way, he asked a few questions about Joshua.
When Joshua was mentioned, Wen Xun’s gaze dimmed. “An-an, is he… here to take you home?”
Yu An was a little Xenogenic, but he had parents too. In fact, Wen Xun and Lin Huaichen had wondered long ago what they would do if Yu An’s biological family came for him.
Every time they thought about it, a thick sense of reluctance filled their hearts. Yu An was the precious baby they had brought back from that tin shack and nurtured with every ounce of care. They loved him as if he were their own flesh and blood.
But if Yu An’s kin came searching, no matter how reluctant they were, Wen Xun and Lin Huaichen couldn’t stop them—because Yu An didn’t belong only to them.
Yu An saw the sadness in Wen Xun’s eyes. His heart twinged, and he lunged into his arms, shaking his head. “No, my home is with Papa. Brother Joshua isn’t trying to take me away…”
“Brother Joshua and Brother Soland are my clansmen. They said I don’t have a father or mother, so they’ll come to fetch me and take care of me…”
“Soland? That octopus who freeloads and sleeps all day?” Lin Huaichen asked in disbelief. “Are you really the same species?”
So, was Yu An also a little Xenogenic that looked like a cross between an octopus and a jellyfish?
Yu An pulled Claude out of his pocket. Monday wagged its tail and nipped at one of Claude’s tentacles, wanting him to play.
Unfortunately, Claude only cracked an eye open to spare it a glance before ruthlessly retracting his tentacle, giving the reckless puppy a smack for good measure.
Monday ran back into Yu An’s pocket, pouting and refusing to be snubbed further.
Facing his fathers’ questioning gazes, Yu An didn’t know how to explain. He twisted a tentacle around his finger and whispered uncertainly, “I think so…”
This was all information Yu An had gathered from listening to his clansmen chat.
Yu An simply told his fathers everything he knew, pointing at the blue sky outside the window. “My brothers said we come from there. It’s just that this world is too fragile, so they couldn’t all come to get me. They want me to grow up a bit more before taking me back.”
“Wait…” Lin Huaichen connected the dots to something else. “Those unknown lifeforms surrounding Earth right now… those are your clansmen, An-an?”
The Base had long since detected that group of powerful, unknown entities. Originally, they were worried about an invasion, but years had passed in peace, and the spatial rifts around the perimeter were even being continuously repaired and strengthened.
Consequently, the Base had stopped worrying about them.
Yu An was equally clueless. “That’s what my brothers said. I don’t really know.”
Lin Huaichen knit his dark brows. Since Yu An’s species lived in outer space, why did this little cub appear on Earth? And according to their investigation, the grandmother who raised Yu An was just an ordinary human.
All the mysteries intertwined like a tangled ball of yarn, making it impossible to find the starting thread. Yu An’s origins were becoming increasingly blurred and confusing.
Little Yu An knew nothing of the adults’ dilemmas. His only concern was what would be served at the school cafeteria today. After getting out of the car, he said goodbye to his fathers and happily walked through the school gates.
Watching his small silhouette, Wen Xun and Lin Huaichen didn’t look away for a long time.
“It will be fine,” Lin Huaichen said, putting an arm around Wen Xun’s shoulder, whether to comfort him or himself. “We will protect An-an.”
Returning to school after a break always left the students particularly excited and restless. Before Yu An even reached the classroom, he heard several familiar voices shouting.
He leaned down to instruct Monday, who was visiting the classroom for the first time. “You can’t bark during class, or the teacher will take you away.”
Monday poked its little head out. [Mhm! Monday definitely won’t bark!]
Yu An patted its head as a reward and walked quietly into the classroom. Sitting quickly at his desk, his slightly racing heart slowed down. He was still not used to rowdy settings.
Uncharacteristically, Wan Cen—who was usually quite talkative—was slumped over his desk in silence. Li Wang, who sat in front of him, was the same. They looked like they had pulled an all-nighter and were completely drained.
Seeing Yu An staring at them, a classmate explained, “I heard from my mom that they did something bad yesterday and ended up at the police station. They probably got scolded by their parents and couldn’t sleep, hahahaha.”
In a child’s eyes, being scolded by parents was the ultimate disaster. That classmate even told Yu An solemnly, “My mom said kids who go to the police station are bad kids. If Wan Cen bullies you, you can tell me and I…”
He paused, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “I can help you tell the teacher. I don’t know how to fight, but I’m a good kid.”
Yu An knew Wan Cen and Li Wang were sleepy because they had eaten the Reversal Fruit.
When he first started eating them, he would usually fall asleep in the hammock in the Botanical Garden immediately after, only waking up when it was time for his father to finish work.
“They are good kids too,” Yu An said slowly, defending Wan Cen and Li Wang. “They only went to the police for help because they were lost, not because they did something bad.”
After the Base erased survivors’ memories, they would hand them over to a cooperative police station, which would then notify the families. Yu An had been through the process, so he knew it perfectly.
The classmate realized he had wrongly accused them and lowered his head in embarrassment. “…Sorry, I misunderstood.”
Yu An gave him a shy smile and said no more. Once the classmate left, he exhaled a sigh of relief and pulled Claude out to give him a squeeze. The gummy-like texture was very stress-relieving.
The bell rang, and all the students returned to their seats to sit quietly. Wan Cen also raised his head, looking around with sleepy eyes. When his gaze landed on Yu An, he froze and stared straight at him.
Yu An’s heart tightened. Did he still remember last night?
“W-what is it?”
Wan Cen slowly shook his head, studying Yu An’s delicate face. “…I just feel like I’ve forgotten something very important, and it has to do with you.”
If he was referring to grabbing Yu An’s hand and begging to be his disciple, then yes, it did have something to do with him.
Yu An feigned composure. “It probably wasn’t that important, or you wouldn’t have forgotten it.”
After thinking it over, Wan Cen felt Yu An made sense and stopped obsessing over it.
Soon, the math teacher walked in with books. Morning was naturally a time for drowsiness, and the teacher’s droning voice combined with dry formulas was the perfect lullaby.
Because Yu An had stayed up late the night before, he began to doze off as well. He rested his chin on his arm, struggling to keep his eyes open. When the teacher wasn’t looking, he popped a candy into his mouth; the sweetness helped dispel the sleepiness.
Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure darting past the window in his peripheral vision, followed closely by several boys. It was class time—why were students running around outside?
Yu An wanted to lean out to see clearly, but a piece of chalk fell from the sky and hit him right on the forehead.
Yu An clutched his head and met the teacher’s gaze on the podium. The teacher intentionally raised her volume. “Pay attention in class! Everyone, perk up! Stop looking around and staring into space. Look at the blackboard!”
Yu An immediately became an obedient student, sitting up straight and focusing on the board. However, the person who had run past had piqued his curiosity, leaving his heart in agony as he waited for the bell.
Monday hopped out and nuzzled Yu An’s hand. The thoughtful puppy was always ready to step up when its master needed it. [Don’t worry, Little Master! I’ll help you!]
With that, it scrambled up the window and jumped out, chasing after those students.
Finally, the class ended. Yu An waited for the teacher to leave and then rushed out. Following Monday’s position, he rounded a corner to head downstairs, only to collide head-on with a tall man at the turn.
The impact left Yu An dizzy, with stars dancing before his eyes. The next second, a pair of hands gripped his armpits and lifted him up.
“What’s the rush? Little student, which class are you in?”
Yu An took a few seconds to recover. Opening his eyes, he saw a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses looking at him with a smile. He had a naturally scholarly aura but lacked any sense of coldness; his smile made him feel like an old friend one hadn’t seen in a long time.
“I’m in Grade Two, Class One.” With his feet dangling in the air, Yu An struggled uncomfortably. He looked at the man with round eyes and pleaded softly, “Uncle, can you put me down?”
“Ahem.”
Teacher Yao, standing behind the man, gave two fake coughs to get Yu An’s attention. He introduced, “This is our Principal, Principal Xu. This is a new student in my class, so he doesn’t recognize you yet. Please excuse him.”
Principal Xu gave a light chuckle, his first impression of Yu An being very good. “It’s fine. He’s a cute little fellow. Just don’t run so fast next time; you’ll hurt yourself if you fall.”
Since no one else spoke, Yu An realized after a moment that the second half of the sentence was directed at him. He nodded quickly, a trace of panic in his soft voice. “Yes, Principal. I understand, Principal.”
Principal Xu couldn’t resist ruffling his small head. “Don’t be nervous. Alright, go play.”
Yu An brushed past Principal Xu and, sensing the magnetic field fluctuations from him, stopped to look back. This Principal was also an Esper, and his rank seemed to be quite high.
“So it’s him…” Little White stood on Yu An’s shoulder, watching Principal Xu’s receding back. “The heir of the Xu family. To think he actually returned to the country to be a school principal.”
Yu An was curious. “You know our Principal?”
Little White scanned its database and replied succinctly: “I do. He’s a simp.”
Yu An: “…Ah?”
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