"Ultra~man~is~n't~real~"
Gu Wancheng: ...
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
Gu Wancheng sneered, pinched his cheeks with both hands, and kneaded them back and forth.
Chaochao: (งᵒ̌皿ᵒ̌)ง⁼³₌₃.
After a few seconds, he released his face and stood up, folding his arms. "No My Little Pony for you today."
"Why not!"
"Because I'm your dad. If you don't finish the homework your father assigned you today, you can forget about watching it tomorrow, too."
Chaochao could hardly believe it. "You're threatening me just because your embarrassment turned into anger?"
"What do you mean, my embarrassment turned into anger? Don't go using expressions you've only just learned. I'll pretend I didn't hear that this time, but don't do it again."
After a moment's thought, he added, "Be good and do your homework, or I'll tell your father."
With that, he made an encouraging gesture at him.
Watching Gu Wancheng walk farther and farther away, Chaochao was dumbstruck. He turned his head stiffly. "Grandpa Butler, he's threatening me!"
Butler Chen smiled faintly. "You'd better get to your homework, young master." There's nothing I can do. I can't help you either.
Chaochao stamped his foot, turned, and ran back to his room, leaving just one sentence behind.
"You're all picking on me!"
Back in his room, Gu Wancheng had nothing to do, so he simply lay on the bed and played on his phone.
Now this was the life!
Come to think of it, the original owner was an artist. Luckily, he had studied art too, or he would have given himself away in no time.
He opened the original owner's Weibo and tapped into his profile. His username was "Oranges Are Not Tangerines." Whoa, he even had over a hundred thousand followers.
He browsed the original owner's artwork. The style was vastly different from his own, but that was no big deal. He was a genius; he could handle any style.
Speaking of which, going on the parenting variety show had been his husband-in-name's parents' decision. They said it was to help them bond.
The show would start airing soon. Although he had enough money to pay the breach-of-contract penalty, that was no way to burn through money. He would just have to bite the bullet.
Noticing a private message, Gu Wancheng tapped on it.
[Artist Oranges, are you still taking commissions? (.•ω•.)ノ♡]
Gu Wancheng thought for a moment, then moved his fingers, deciding to accept the commission.
[I am೭(˵¯̴͒ꇴ¯̴͒˵)౨"]
[Great~ I'd like to commission a northern long-tailed tit with a bit of a Cthulhu-style touch. Can you draw that?]
[No problem, hon. Any specific requests?]
[Just go with whatever you like.]
[Okay, you only get one revision. Are you sure?]
[Yes.]
[Okay, I'll send you the first draft the day after tomorrow.]
[Okay, thank you!]
Having successfully landed a commission, Gu Wancheng threw off the covers and happily turned on his computer to start drawing.
Unlike Gu Wancheng, Chaochao, who had been successfully threatened, was wiping away tears while doing his homework in another room.
Sniffling, he muttered under his breath, "So mean. Everyone picks on me. All they know how to do is threaten people."
His brimming tears blurred his vision. Heartbroken, Chaochao began to fall apart. "Boohoo, why does something like homework have to exist in this world!"
Looking the bird up online, Gu Wancheng found that a northern long-tailed tit was an adorable little mochi ball. He just couldn't figure out how those tiny wings supported it in flight-or was it merely fluffy rather than fat?
After carefully considering how to draw it, he organized his thoughts and made a simple sketch.
Hmm, not bad. He wanted to keep drawing, but he also didn't really feel like moving.
Looking at the sketch he had just finished, Gu Wancheng saved it and decided to check on Chaochao's homework progress. It definitely wasn't because his procrastination was acting up again.
His phone rang. Gu Wancheng checked it and saw that the caller was saved as Mom. The original owner had no family, so it could only be his husband-in-name's mother, Wen Shuyu-his current mother-in-law.
In the original owner's memories, Wen Shuyu was a gentle, elegant woman. She hadn't looked down on his background; instead, she felt deeply for him because he was an orphan. When he first arrived at the Bo Family home, Wen Shuyu had worried that he wouldn't adjust, so she often kept him company and chatted with him, occasionally cooking nutritious meals for him herself.
With that in mind, Gu Wancheng answered the phone.
"Hello, Mom." Calling her Mom came very naturally to Gu Wancheng.
"Chengcheng, the parenting show starts airing the day after tomorrow. Are you two ready?" An elegant voice came through the phone.
"Butler Chen has prepared everything for us."
"That's good. Once you're on the show, if you're unhappy or anyone picks on either of you, just tell Mom. I'll deal with them."
Warmth filled Gu Wancheng's heart. "Don't worry, Mom. I'm not the timid type. I'll protect myself and Chaochao."
"I believe in you. Do you need us to make your identity public? That way, no one will be foolish enough to cross you."
"Not for now."
"All right. You and Chaochao have fun."
"Okay, Mom."
"Then I'll leave it there for now. Once the show starts airing, I'll watch you every day."
"Thank you, Mom. Bye, Mom."
"Bye, Chengcheng."
Putting down his phone, Gu Wancheng felt rather moved. She really was a wonderful person. Why did good people always meet bad ends? He thought of her ending in the book.
Because of the original owner's death and Chaochao's depression, she had felt it was all her fault. If not for her, nothing would have happened to either of them. She had spent every day in tears, her mental state growing worse and worse. He sighed.
They would all be fine. Things would never turn out as they had in the book.
On the show, he wouldn't compete with the protagonist for screen time. After all, neither he nor Chaochao needed it; they were only there to have fun. But if anyone was too blind to know better, he wasn't a pushover, and the Bo Family was no easy target either.
Shutting down his computer, Gu Wancheng got ready to check on Chaochao.
Knock, knock-
"Can I come in?" Gu Wancheng stood outside Chaochao's room, knocked on the door, and asked.
Chaochao reached up and wiped his tears. "Yes."
Hearing the slight sob in Chaochao's voice, Gu Wancheng panicked and hurriedly opened the door. He saw Chaochao sitting on a chair, sniffling with tears in his eyes.
He pulled out two tissues and helped wipe his tears. "What's wrong? Who upset you? You've cried yourself into a little blotchy-faced kitten."
"You picked on me!"
Gu Wancheng immediately denied it. "How did I pick on you?"
Chaochao picked up his homework and shoved it in front of Gu Wancheng's eyes. "You made me do homework! I don't know how to do it, and you still-you still want me to finish it today!"
Gu Wancheng blinked. "But I wasn't the one who assigned you this homework. Your father did."
Chaochao froze. That did seem true. His father was the real culprit, but something still seemed off.
Seeing Chaochao freeze, Gu Wancheng immediately struck while the iron was hot. "Your father has gone too far. You're still so little. How could he make you do so much homework? I'll teach you whatever you don't understand. Next time your father comes home, I'll have him cut back."
Chaochao nodded dazedly, his tears hovering on the verge of falling. He looked at Gu Wancheng, deeply touched, sniffled hard, and gave another firm nod.
Gu Wancheng breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, he had managed to soothe him.
He looked at Chaochao tenderly. Poor kid. He didn't even have a childhood. Who had to do this much homework at four? I was still playing in the mud when I was four.