A Scheming Father and Son

"Everyone, please move along-" Pei Yang held the child as he dispersed the crowd. In his heavy clothes, he was so hot that fine beads of sweat covered his forehead. "There are plenty more attractions and activities up ahead. Adults and children, please don't gather here-"

The tears about to fall from Feng Chuxun's eyes were forcibly swallowed back when Pei Yang picked him up of his own accord. His little arms wrapped tightly around Pei Yang's neck, and he stayed obediently silent.

Once the scene was less chaotic, Pei Yang looked around for a while but couldn't find Feng Wanting. He had no idea where the man had gone to take his call.

What was Feng Wanting playing at... dumping a kid on him?

Pei Yang had no idea how to handle this. He licked his dry lips and asked, "Your name is... Feng Chuxun?"

"I don't like that name," Feng Chuxun said. "Just call me Xile."

"...Xi... le?" Pei Yang repeated, unable to resist reaching up to pinch Feng Chuxun's chubby cheek. "What they said just now... don't take it to heart."

"I won't!" Feng Chuxun happily pressed his cheek against Pei Yang's shoulder. "Now I have a mommy!"

"I..." Pei Yang felt conflicted, but looking into Feng Chuxun's earnest eyes, he simply couldn't bring himself to say, "I'm not your mommy."

After thinking for a while, he said, "How about I take you to get something to eat?"

Feng Chuxun nodded vigorously.

Yin Sufang had thought things through. Worried that children might get tired and bored while viewing the exhibition, he had personally arranged for a traditional pastry shop to set up there. Its quaint little stall fit naturally into the exhibition hall.

Pei Yang ordered an elegantly presented children's set at the counter. Once they were seated, Feng Chuxun eagerly picked up a piece of fragrant snow-skin mochi from the plate, but after examining it for ages, he still didn't take a bite.

Pei Yang asked him, "Why aren't you eating?"

Feng Chuxun furtively looked around, as though searching for something. Only after confirming it wasn't nearby did he whisper, "Daddy doesn't let me eat things like this."

"Hm?" Pei Yang blinked. "Why?"

"Because they're too cheap."

Pei Yang: "..."

Noticing the twitch at the corner of Pei Yang's mouth, Feng Chuxun hurriedly stuffed the mochi into his mouth. "But it's okay! He's not here right now. I'll eat everything!"

"Y-you, slow down." Pei Yang poured a glass of water and awkwardly patted Feng Chuxun's back. "Don't choke."

"Thank you, Mommy!"

"..." Pei Yang hesitated for a moment, then asked, "You can... tell I'm a man, right?"

"Of course! I've always known you're a man."

"Then why do you still... call me..." Pei Yang struggled to get the word out. "Mommy?"

"Isn't Daddy's other half Mommy?" Feng Chuxun asked with a smile. "Am I calling you the wrong thing?"

"I'm not..." Pei Yang's ears reddened, but he abruptly froze halfway through his sentence. "Feng Wanting... really is your daddy?"

How had he never heard that Feng Wanting had a son? Besides, hadn't that night at the hotel been Feng Wanting's first time?

If it had been his first time, where had this child come from? Had he sprung out of a crack in a rock?

"Yes," Feng Chuxun said as he chewed. "I've always called him that."

So that whole first-time thing had been a lie after all.

No wonder... how could a family like Feng Wanting's tolerate him remaining unmarried at thirty-two? It turned out he already had an heir.

Once he calmed down, Pei Yang studied Feng Chuxun's features again and did indeed notice that his nose and lips looked very much like Feng Wanting's.

Pei Yang propped his cheek on his hand, his mind beginning to wander.

Feng Chuxun was only in kindergarten, yet the contours of his face and his delicate features already made it clear he would grow up exceptionally handsome. He had undoubtedly inherited excellent genes from his parents, which meant his mother must have been quite a beauty.

From what those children had blurted out, Feng Chuxun's "mother" had never shown up. So what exactly had happened for a mother to abandon such an adorable child? Or... had there been circumstances beyond her control?

Pastry crumbs covered the corners of Feng Chuxun's mouth, but he was completely oblivious. He chewed and chewed with puffed cheeks, his cheeks bobbing as he occasionally glanced at Pei Yang, as though afraid he might disappear.

Pei Yang's heart softened, and he smiled without realizing it. He reached out and gently wiped the corner of Feng Chuxun's mouth with his sleeve, then asked, "Why do you think I'm your mommy?"

"Because hardly anyone ever goes into that house of Daddy's." Feng Chuxun counted them off on his fingers. "Apart from Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Tian, Uncle Wei, and Secretary Wu, there's only you."

Pei Yang's heart skipped a beat.

"But none of them could be dating Feng Wanting." Feng Chuxun leisurely swung his short legs, which didn't reach the floor, and continued, "Besides... didn't I say earlier? I saw you run out of a room in my house, and Feng Wanting came out after you without any clothes on."

Pei Yang: "..."

Feng Chuxun secretly delighted in this. "You two must have slept together the night before last! There are so many bedrooms and beds at home. Even when Uncle Wei stays over, he doesn't sleep in the same room as Daddy. Only Daddy and Mommy sleep together."

"..."

All right. Perfect logic, clear delivery. There was practically nothing he could say to question or refute it.

When Pei Yang said nothing, Feng Chuxun lowered his head and took small bites of his pastry, asking pitifully, "Do you not like me calling you Mommy?"

"..." Pei Yang parted his lips, not knowing how to answer.

"If you don't like it..." Feng Chuxun said sadly, "I won't call you that anymore."

Pei Yang hurriedly said, "It's not that I don't like it..."

Feng Chuxun's eyes lit up.

"It's just..."

Feng Chuxun's eyes immediately dimmed.

...Was this kid a little actor or what?

Forget it. He was his boss's son, so he might as well humor him. Even if he agreed now, who knew whether they would ever see each other again?

"Call me that if you want," Pei Yang conceded.

"Really?!" Feng Chuxun was so excited that he nearly fell off the bench. "I really have a mommy now?"

Startled, Pei Yang pulled Feng Chuxun close to his side. He nodded helplessly and lightly brushed the tip of the boy's nose with his index finger. "Be good. Don't wriggle around."

...Hopefully Feng Wanting and Feng Chuxun's mother had parted amicably and would never have anything to do with each other again. Otherwise... the things he had done with Feng Wanting would feel pretty sordid.

Ding-

While Feng Chuxun was happily eating away, Pei Yang's phone chimed.

He opened it and saw a message from "Feng Wanting," who had been sitting idle in his contacts. It was just a brief question: [Where are you?]

Ha. So you do still use WeChat. So the owner of this account is actually alive. Would it kill you to accept a payment, then?!

Pei Yang angrily typed: [The pastry stall. Just past the screen.]

"It's Daddy." Feng Chuxun leaned his little head toward Pei Yang's phone screen. He couldn't understand what the two were saying, but he lifted his chin as an idea struck him. "Mommy, why don't we add each other on WeChat too?"

"Huh?" Pei Yang vaguely remembered still playing in the mud when he was five. "You have WeChat?"

Feng Chuxun nodded and pushed up the sleeve of his denim jacket, revealing a children's smartwatch strapped to his wrist that looked anything but cheap. After a few taps, he showed Pei Yang his WeChat QR code.

Pei Yang: "..." Was he going to get tangled up in this for good?

With a stiff smile, Pei Yang added Feng Chuxun on WeChat.

"Ah! Daddy's coming over!" Feng Chuxun suddenly said urgently. "I have to eat faster."

He stuffed all the pastries on the plate into his mouth at once, packing his cheeks until his little face looked like a hamster hoarding food.

Pei Yang was still wondering how Feng Chuxun knew that Feng Wanting was coming toward them when the smartwatch on Feng Chuxun's wrist gave him a clue.

Children's smartwatches generally had precise location tracking.

With location tracking available, Feng Wanting had still gone to all that trouble to find his WeChat and ask where he was?

"...A scheming father and son," Pei Yang remarked under his breath.

Speak of the devil. Almost as soon as the words left Pei Yang's mouth, a familiar voice sounded behind him. "Xile."