Li Cheng and Xiao Yiheng moved their family back to Huacheng when Little Lychee was three years old.
The couple was admitted to the capital’s universities when they were eighteen years old. They were quite young when they left. Thirteen years had passed in a flash, and when they returned to their hometown, they were married, and had become a family with a child.
Li Cheng kept his promise and returned to his hometown school after retiring to become a “regular” P.E. teacher.
Huacheng No. 1 High School, his and Xiao Yiheng’s alma mater, was the school he chose.
Coach Wu Xu retired at the start of the year due to his advanced age and failing health. He recommended Li Cheng to the school as the swimming coach of Huacheng No. 1 High School before retiring. Li Cheng, according to the principal of Huacheng No. 1 High School, would not agree. He was, after all, a world champion. With more than 20 gold medals to his name, he would wake up delighted every day if he could hire such a world-renowned champion to coach his school’s swimming squad.
Alternatively, fate could be described as mystical. When Li Cheng was a student, he found attending courses to be the most annoying thing and couldn’t wait to get out of there. He could never have imagined returning to school to coach thirteen years later even in his wildest dreams.
But what gave him the most trouble was that all of his students were exactly like him at the time. They were a group of daring and reckless young men. Every one of them was glib, inept, and considered lazing around as their main goal. After only three kilometers of swimming, they caused a commotion by weeping for their father and calling for their mother, as though Li Cheng was punishing them.
Every day, Li Cheng lost his temper and had to constantly brainwash himself: I’m an adult, I must be civilized; they are my students, not my little brothers. I can’t beat them up no matter how angry I am…
It was unfortunate that this produced minimal results. Every day when training ended and he left work, he was left fuming.
He expressed his displeasure to Xiao Yiheng: “What’s the deal with today’s students?! They have no concept of respecting the teacher! Even when I order them to swim a mere three kilometers, they try to fool me! When I was younger, in comparison to them─”
Xiao Yiheng filled in: “─you were more of a bastard.”
Li Cheng: “…”
This dialogue drew the attention of Little Lychee, who was snacking. He had reached the age where he could parrot. He mimicked whatever his parents said. He swung his chubby little hand and scolded in a milky voice, “Bastard, bastard, bad dad!”
Li Cheng had lost his face completely and was so enraged that he confiscated his son’s snacks and ate them all in front of his son.
On the one hand, he chuckled while chewing on the toddler’s teething ring, and on the other, he addressed his kid by his full name: “Xiao Lizhi, there will be no snacks for you this week…no, this month!”
When Little Lychee heard this, his eyes welled up with hot tears, and he wailed “Waa!” feeling wronged. While crying, he leapt off the sofa, staggered over to Xiao Yiheng, and gripped his leg like a koala, pleading with his Big Dad to assist him in obtaining justice.
“…ChengCheng, I take back the comment that you were a bastard when you were young,” Xiao Yiheng murmured helplessly, looking at his family’s civil conflict.
Li Cheng triumphantly lifted his chin.
“Obviously, you’re still quite a bastard,” remarked Xiao Yiheng.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Li Cheng: “…”
… …
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Little Lychee was a boy, and there weren’t as many clothing patterns for him as there were for girls. Li Cheng, however, was a flamboyant person at heart, and he was always looking for ways to dress up the cub. As a result, he could only begin with sunglasses.
Little Lychee possessed more than twenty pairs of sunglasses, including huge watermelons, little hearts, Mickey Mouse, and the kind that changed color indoors and out. The patterns were complex and wouldn’t be repeated in a month.
The little child chose the Sunflower-patterned sunglasses for himself that day. Bright yellow petals encircled the black lens. It goes without saying that the cub looked adorable in it.
Li Cheng read various parenting experience blogs on the Internet that said three-year-old children should be introduced to picture books and listen to their parents read stories. As a result, the three-person family went out to take the cub to the bookshop and let him choose the picture books he liked.
The bookstore was located on the busiest commercial thoroughfare in town. It was a day off, and there were large queues at the street-side snack shops. Every three steps, they were besieged with large squid appetizers, and every five steps, they were bombarded with some form of shaved ice.
A throng of small girls approached, each clutching a cup of milk tea.
Li Cheng, like Little Lychee in his arms, was too greedy to look away.
Xiao Yiheng spotted the greedy expression in the father-son duo’s eyes and took the initiative to pull out his wallet. “What would you like to drink? Find a cool spot to wait. I’ll go grab it for you.”
“I want to drink the newly introduced Zhizhi frozen Baileys,” Li Cheng said as he raised his hand.
Baileys Irish Cream is a whiskey that smells like cream and chocolate. This milk tea establishment had cleverly incorporated some alcohol into the milk tea to make it smoother and more mellow. The milk tea was also topped with a layer of thick cheese and cream foam. Li Cheng drooled just thinking about it.
Who would have guessed that Little Lychee would follow suit and raise his hand, “I, I also want to drink!”
Li Cheng: “Children cannot drink.”
Little Lychee pouted his lips, resembling a duck.
Li Cheng purposely teased him by stretching out two fingers to trap his lips, “Do you know what ‘Zhizhi’ is? Zhizhi is you, you are Zhizhi, and that milk tea shop captures children like you and turns you into milk tea!”
Little Lychee: “…”
Little Lychee: “… … ”
Little Lychee: “Waa waa waa─”
Li Cheng: “…No, no, sir, I was just teasing you!”
Xiao Yiheng quickly removed the child from his arms. Little Lychee reached out his arms and clutched his Big Dad’s neck in grievance, burying his head in his father’s neck. He was crying and hiccupping, his small body shriveled into a ball as his tears fell drop by drop on Xiao Yiheng’s shoulder.
It was quite bizarre. Obviously, both Xiao Yiheng and Li Cheng had a “shed no tears” disposition, but they gave birth to this small tear jar. It was certain that whenever he came upon a little trifle, it would thunder and pour. It was a huge pain in the neck.
Xiao Yiheng looked helplessly at Li Cheng while caressing the child’s back to reassure him, “What are you teasing him for? The child is already timid.”
“If you don’t have children for fun, what are they for?” Li Cheng refused to admit his mistake.
Despite his words, Li Cheng went out to buy chocolate milk, ice cream, and a pink Peppa Pig balloon, which coaxed the golden lychee from tears to laughter.
Hey! Raising a child was truly troublesome.
This small guy’s sobs resembled the sky falling and the earth rending, while his smiles were like the dazzling sunshine. He was really an annoying cub.
… …
The three-person family arrived at the bookstore. They headed immediately to the top floor’s children’s area, where there were picture books ideal for children of all ages to read. Several comfortable cushions were arranged between the bookcases. Many parents took their children to try out picture books and read them the stories in the picture books in an engaging manner.
You must purchase a picture book that your child enjoys.
Three-year-old children are unable to read, so picture books with vibrant colors and kid-friendly storylines captivated them. Li Cheng chose several children’s picture books recommended on the Internet and showed them to Little Lychee for trial reading.
Little Lychee, strangely, was uninterested in the picture books. He merely looked at the book’s pages for a few seconds before shifting his gaze elsewhere.
Li Cheng was perplexed: “Is it because I don’t have the talent for telling stories?” He changed books and handed it to Xiao Yiheng, motioning for him to read to the child.
As a result, Xiao Yiheng was likewise confronted with Waterloo.
Li Cheng tried numerous children’s books in a row, but Little Lychee only flipped a few pages and quickly flung them aside.
It seemed weird to Xiao Yiheng as well. “Lychee, don’t you like listening to stories?” he inquired of the cub.
“I like it,” said Little Lychee, shaking his head.
“Then why don’t you listen to Dad read a book?”
The child was baffled by this inquiry. Little Lychee blinked, his face a little worried, “Uh…um…because…”
“Because of what?”
“Ugly.”
“Ugly?” Li Cheng was taken aback and questioned, “Do you think the artwork in this book is ugly?”
The picture books were intended for children to look at. They were, of course, exaggerated and colorful. Li Cheng felt they were lovely, therefore he couldn’t understand why Little Lychee thought they were ugly.
Little Lychee’s answer was unexpected. “Dad’s paintings are the most beautiful to look at in the world.” He clasped Xiao Yiheng’s large hand as he stated this.
Only then did the pair realize what was going on.
Perhaps it was because Li Cheng liked to stay in Xiao Yiheng’s studio during his pregnancy. Little Lychee had an unique fondness for Xiao Yiheng’s atelier since he could walk. He didn’t make any noise, simply sat alongside Xiao Yiheng and stared intently at his Big Dad’s painting.
He grew up surrounded by the smell of paint, and his two-year-old birthday present was a set of crayons. He scribbled on white paper with the crayons. He was occasionally mischievous and even painted on the walls.
His paintings lacked a distinct style. They were more like preschoolers investigating the surroundings through the use of colors.
He had already established a rudimentary concept of painting, beauty, and ugliness before Li Cheng and Xiao Yiheng realized it. Xiao Yiheng’s paintings were the best in the world in his small world, and no picture book could compete with them.
Little Lychee glanced at Xiao Yiheng with naïve innocence and admiration in his eyes. The two fathers’ hearts were softened.
For many years, Xiao Yiheng had dedicated himself to art and had received numerous accolades. His paintings were greatly sought after, and their value had climbed to the point where overseas collectors fought for them. Numerous people acclaimed him as a “genius,” praised him for his “awe-inspiring attitude,” and lavished money on his paintings.
But none of those flattering phrases could compare to Little Lychee’s admiring remark.
“Dad’s paintings are the best,” Little Lychee had said.
Dad’s Little Lychee was the cutest as well.
Xiao Yiheng lifted the cub in one hand and held Li Cheng in the other, turned, and proceeded towards the bookstore’s exit.
“Huh???” Li Cheng was perplexed. “Why are you leaving so abruptly? Do you not wish to choose a picture book for the child?”
“I don’t want to.” Xiao Yiheng’s lips slightly curved up. “Since he thinks Dad’s paintings are the best, shouldn’t Dad paint for him?”
I want to lock ’em up uwu
Little Lychee is so cute 😭☀️🧡☀️☀️🧡☀️🧡☀️🧡☀️🧡☀️🧡☀️🧡☀️🧡☀️🧡☀️🧡☀️
Aww my heart it’s melting!!! ❤
This is soo cuteeee!
WAAAH CUTIIEE!!1
I know what will happen next but me still eggzoited!
Awww I’m crying, it’s too cute for my heart 😭
Me in this chapter 😂😂😂🤦🥰🥰🥰🥰💖💖💖💓💓
Little Lychee so cute!!!! Li Cheng and Xiao Yiheng best dads!!!!! THIS FAMILY IS SO ADORABLE! 🥺🧡
Awwww 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
The way I am tearing up! 😭😭🥰🥰🥺🥺❤️ My heart is so warm.
Dad will make children’s book 😱
So cute!!! 😍
Thanks for the chapter <3
Cuuuuuuuutttteeeeeee (๑ >᎑<) ~♡ omg!