The Daily Lives of the Cute Creatures
Liu Chang'an was playing with Zhou Dongdong at home when he received a text message from Yan Qingcheng.
"I ran into Teacher Qin buying a stroller. She mentioned that she recommended a tutor for Zhu Juntang. You spoke up for me, thank you. I'll treat you to orange juice sometime... Haha, I always see you drinking orange juice."
Liu Chang'an nodded habitually, then realized that Yan Qingcheng wouldn't see his nod... But since he had already nodded, that was enough to acknowledge it, and there was no need to send a separate message in reply; she would surely understand.
Liu Chang'an smiled, realizing that the text message was actually a test... The hidden meaning was roughly: Teacher Qin is buying a stroller, does that have anything to do with you? Does Teacher Qin have a child? Do you know who the father of Teacher Qin's child is?
Liu Chang'an naturally ignored such probing, but Qin Yanan actually went to buy a stroller... Girl, when your stroller becomes a nostalgic item with a touch of the times, will your child even be able to be born?
Liu Chang'an wanted to send Qin Yanan a message, but thought it would be better to talk to her in person next time they met, so he only sent two words: "Jin'er".
"Elder brother."
Qin Yanan only replied with two words, as if she had called out to her from afar and responded.
"I want to play more!"
Lying on Liu Chang'an's hand, Zhou Dongdong waved her hands. What's so fun about a cell phone? Zhou Dongdong had been ignored for a minute.
Liu Chang'an put down his phone, reached out and twirled Zhou Dongdong on the back of his hand, then carried her around the living room (please do not imitate).
"I am a helicopter!"
Zhou Dongdong was overjoyed at getting her wish. She pressed her hands tightly against her pants, kicked her legs straight, and maintained the position of lying horizontally on the back of Liu Chang'an's hand so that she could spin around smoothly.
"Can't you think of a smarter game?" Liu Chang'an said, slowly fiddling with Zhou Dongdong, while looking down on the child's gaming ideas, which were always so boring and stupid.
"I can't think about smart things, thinking about too many things makes me really hungry!" Zhou Dongdong replied, her eyes widening uncertainly. "I think I'm a little hungry."
Liu Chang'an put her down. Zhou Dongdong stood on the floor, dizzy, staggered, spun around, tripped over her own legs, and fell to the ground. "Little airplane... Little airplane fell down."
Shangguan Dandan filmed a video from the side, then giggled after filming, sent it to Zhou Shuling, and after thinking for a moment, sent it to Qin Yanan.
"Did you eat too many hens in your coffin before, so your laughter sounds like a hens'?" Liu Chang'an looked at Shangguan Dandan. In many places, laughter is described as "clucking," but if you try to reproduce that laughter strictly according to the pronunciation, it sounds very strange... The problem is that Shangguan Dandan's laughter really is this strange pronunciation.
Her voice, however, had a youthful crispness and charm, which made it easy to overlook this oddity, though it still sounded like a little hen clucking.
"You insulted me?" Shangguan Dandan was not entirely sure of her anger, because Liu Chang'an's behavior had been acceptable recently. He neither tried to enslave Shangguan Dandan with chores nor stubbornly resisted the mother-son relationship and her affectionate caresses.
He suddenly started cursing again, which made Shangguan Dandan feel a little uncomfortable.
"No, I'm just having an objective discussion with you about this issue. I'm rationally saying that your smile resembles a hen's, not trying to associate you with the image of a hen or to belittle you," Liu Chang'an explained objectively.
"You should say my laughter is as melodious and clear as a nightingale's," Shangguan Dandan corrected.
"As melodious and clear as an oriole's song—that's a description straight out of a primary school student's essay." Liu Chang'an stopped arguing with her about it. "I'm going to get some barbecue. Raise your hand if you're going."
Zhou Dongdong immediately got up and raised her hand.
Shangguan Dandan raised both hands.
Liu Chang'an took the two kids out for barbecue, but they didn't go to their usual riverside barbecue restaurant. Instead, they ate something at the place where he and Bai Hui had bought late-night snacks that day.
As luck would have it, they ran into the two spirited young men whom Liu Chang'an had photographed and posted on his WeChat Moments that day. This time, they were snuggling together, their eyes exuding charm and affection.
They also saw Liu Chang'an and awkwardly separated.
Liu Chang'an nodded to them with satisfaction. He figured that their previous unruly behavior was probably due to suppressing their feelings for each other, which led to their rudeness and dissolute behavior. After Liu Chang'an's criticism and education, they finally realized their mistakes and reformed. Now they all looked like decent human beings.
It was a small favor, nothing to boast about, and Liu Chang'an calmly led the two children home.
The next morning, the temperature plummeted. Liu Chang'an woke up from his bed and could hear the wind howling outside the window.
He was a little reluctant to get up; listening to the howling wind from a warm bed on a winter morning was actually a very pleasant thing.
A drafty house is a different story.
Liu Chang'an lay in bed and took out his phone. He didn't want to get up in the morning, so playing with his phone made him feel even more comfortable. He looked at the message An Nuan had left him and then searched for the recent weather around West Lake.
This cold front has made the entire south a bit colder.
Surprisingly, despite the weather, Zhu Juntang came to visit very early in the morning, while Liu Chang'an was still in bed.
Zhu Juntang went straight to his bedroom.
"What are you doing?" Liu Chang'an lay in bed, only his head peeking out as he looked at Zhu Juntang.
"This seems to be my first time in your bedroom," Zhu Juntang said casually, glancing around. "The three shower rooms I use regularly are all bigger than your bedroom."
It's just a shower room, not a bathroom. It's simply a place with a showerhead installed, considered part of a bathroom. Sometimes, it might have seats made of various materials for resting, or equipment to create a rain shower atmosphere, making the space quite large.
"Oh, I know you live in a mansion. Do you want me to look envious to match your choice?" Liu Chang'an asked for his opinion.
"It's not even a luxury mansion... It's not even 5,000 square meters on a single floor, so what kind of luxury mansion is that?" Zhu Juntang said dismissively.
"Should we prepare an 800-square-meter bed for you? When you get up, you can roll onto the conveyor belt first, and then be transported to the bedside?" Liu Chang'an suggested.
Seeing that Zhu Juntang actually looked like she was considering the feasibility, Liu Chang'an quickly asked, "What are you doing here so early in the morning?"
Liu Chang'an knew that Zhu Juntang didn't really feel the warmth of her bed in winter... She only felt this way when the room temperature was much lower than the temperature of her bed, and Zhu Juntang's bedroom temperature was naturally automatically adjustable or even constant.
Therefore, wealthy people don't linger in bed much during winter, unless they're lazy.
"I'm going to pull off your blanket!" Zhu Juntang snapped out of her daze, suddenly shouted, and grabbed Liu Chang'an's cup, trying to lift it up.
Fortunately, Liu Chang'an reacted quickly and grabbed a corner of the blanket, preventing her from completely pulling it off.
But the warm air inside the blankets eventually escaped, and a cold draft crept in, instantly destroying any sense of comfort. Liu Chang'an glared at Zhu Juntang and pulled the blankets down hard.
Zhu Juntang, being born in the Year of the Sheep, didn't realize that she had almost achieved her goal and could let go. She still refused to let go, and Liu Chang'an pulled her down onto his bed.
Zhu Juntang collapsed heavily beside Liu Chang'an, letting out a startled cry with her eyes wide open.
Liu Chang'an turned his head and met her gaze with a blank expression.
Zhu Juntang's large eyes darted around beneath her trembling eyelashes, her cheeks suddenly flushing slightly. She quickly scrambled to her feet and knelt on the bed. "This is the first time I've ever lain on a bed with a creature that's practically a man. I'm starting to feel a little impure."
"What do you mean by 'a creature that can be considered a man'?" Liu Chang'an waved his hand and sat up. "Don't worry, you've always been pure. No one would defile a sheep."
"Come on, I know there are brothels that cater to prostitutes!" Zhu Juntang said smugly.
"What are you so smug about? Do you think you'll definitely become the top performer if you go?" Liu Chang'an couldn't understand her smugness.
"You're the top one! If you were a gigolo, you'd definitely be the top one! Braised duck, salted duck!" Zhu Juntang retorted angrily, her pride merely a display of her extensive knowledge.
Liu Chang'an poked Zhu Juntang's forehead with his finger. Zhu Juntang opened his arms and waved them twice, shouting, "I've been acupunctured!" before collapsing onto Liu Chang'an's pillow.
Zhu Juntang is a germaphobe, but she doesn't mind her grandfather's presence, so she even kicked her feet to indicate that she was struggling, "I need to circulate my internal energy to open my acupoints."
"I still miss the way you looked when I first met you." Liu Chang'an really wanted to kick her off the stage.
Many girls seem like aloof goddesses when you don't know them well, but once you get to know them, you find out they're just silly little animals.
Just then, the door was pushed open, and Zhou Shuling stood in the doorway, staring in disbelief at Zhu Juntang lying on Liu Chang'an's bed.
"I... I came to help close the door." Zhou Shuling realized what was happening, hurriedly closed the door, and ran away.
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