Chapter 23 I am Dad’s Star
Even Zhou Xiangyang could find nothing to complain about in this arrangement.
He had seen the child, who was the same age as Xingxing, but taller than Xingxing. His whole body exuded a sense of exquisiteness, and even the small brooch on his chest looked shiny and expensive.
Before he knew about his background as the replacement of Xingxing, Zhou Xiangyang could only sigh that wealthy families knew how to raise children. But when he knew that the child had everything that should have belonged to Xingxing, it was difficult for Zhou Xiangyang to have any good feelings towards him.
Even if it's just a child.
Zhou Xiangyang felt that his heart had grown biased towards Xingxing, and he rejected almost any existence that would seize Xingxing's interests and feelings without asking for reasons.
He knows it, but he won't change, nor does he want to change.
At this moment at the dinner table, Zhou Xiangyang would never make any hypocritical or false exclamations, but just continued to ask calmly: "Have you found out about the matter of the star swap?"
During the entire serving process, the adults were nervously responding to all the questions and answers, but the children were unwilling to patiently listen to so much.
Little Zhou Chenxing grabbed Xingxing's sleeve and asked curiously in a low voice whether the dishes on the table were delicious, what were their names, and what did they taste like?
But he asked the wrong person.
Because the little zombie who had just come to this world from the apocalypse had never seen such a table full of dishes.
The Cheng family was very attentive. They did not reserve a particularly large, high-end-looking dining table. Instead, they booked a large round table in a private room, just like the ones found in ordinary people's homes. The table was gradually filled with exquisite dishes.
The two children looked at each unfamiliar dish curiously, and Qiuqiu squatted on Xingxing's shoulder to scan and match it. After scanning the name and characteristics of each dish, he told Xingxing, who then relayed it to Zhou Chenxing.
After Zhang Yayu, the oldest person at the table, took the lead in picking up a tempura shrimp and putting it into Xingxing's small bowl, the adults stopped their interrogative chat and the children had almost learned about all the dishes on the table.
The fried shrimps were crispy and delicious. Xingxing took a small bite tentatively, and the shrimps were crushed between his teeth with a crunching sound. Zhou Chenxing, who was standing next to him, watched with eager eyes, swallowing his saliva continuously, but did not cry and say that he wanted to eat too.
He knew that he was already a dead child, and dead children cannot dream and cannot eat delicious food.
But when he saw Brother Xingxing eating, he also felt so satisfied and happy!
Qiuqiu wrote codes of various flavors for himself and squatted on Xingxing's shoulder to chew them with him.
The dinner table is always the best choice for Chinese people to discuss things, but Zhou Xiangyang did not ask more questions. Instead, he looked at Xingxing and slowly recalled and told her what happened when Xingxing was a child.
The three little ones were originally eating their delicious food seriously, but Xingxing stopped first and tilted his head to look at his father, who had no food waste on his plate.
When the star moved, Zhou Chenxing and Qiuqiu also looked over curiously.
"Brother, what's the matter?"
"What's wrong, cub?"
The two childish questions brought Xingxing back to his senses. He looked down at his equally empty plate, then tilted his head to look at his mother's plate which was already piled with food waste. He pursed his lips, stood up on the stool, raised the small fork and tried hard to pick up a shrimp for himself.
"Does Xingxing like to eat shrimps?" Xu Meng supported the stool he was standing on and put a few more shrimps into his small bowl.
Xingxing nodded, then bent down to pick up a shrimp, and sat there peeling the shell clumsily.
In the doomsday, Xingxing had never been to a place with an ocean, nor had he eaten any aquatic creatures except fish. He just watched his mother peel the vegetables and learned slowly.
After peeling a shrimp, he looked at the bumpy shrimp meat in his hand, then looked at his father's empty bowl and plate. After thinking for a while, he imitated his mother's previous actions, dipped the shrimp meat in a little sauce, and then raised his little hand to feed it to his father's mouth.
"Dad, ah~" He opened his mouth slightly, as if he was coaxing a child.
Zhou Xiangyang opened his mouth subconsciously, but before he could see what the shrimp looked like, the little guy stuffed it into his mouth.
The shrimp meat is chewy and tender. Dipping it in sauce will only enhance the flavor without covering up the sweetness of the shrimp meat itself.
Zhou Xiangyang chewed the fresh shrimps he had never eaten before and looked at his son with an especially gentle gaze.
Like Xingxing, he has lived for more than 20 years and has never eaten shrimp.
First, he was very poor.
Second, he didn't have another hand to help him peel the shrimp.
This city is not a coastal city, and fresh shrimps are very expensive. Zhou Xiangyang even bought frozen shrimps from the supermarket only once. During that Chinese New Year, the father and son ate a small plate of shrimps fried with broccoli.
He didn't think it was delicious at the time, but he remembered it vividly because it was expensive.
It was not until today that he realized that the taste of fresh shrimps and frozen shrimps is really different.
The quick-frozen shrimps were completely different from the shrimps that Xingxing peeled and fed him personally.
He never thought that the little guy was a careful child before, but recently... Xingxing has changed a lot recently. He is not as lively as before. Although his ability to cause trouble has increased sharply, he is so well-behaved that he can't bear to say anything harsh to him.
Just based on the accusatory hug given by Xingxing during the previous fierce incident, and now based on the shrimp being peeled and passed into his mouth, Zhou Xiangyang felt so guilty that he would cry whenever he thought about it in the middle of the night.
This star is so warm that you won’t want to let go if you hold it in your hands.
"Xingxing eats it by himself." Zhou Xiangyang saw the child lowered his head and started to peel shrimps again, and couldn't help but want to stop him.
But just as he said this, he realized that he had three more envious gazes on him.
Zhou Xiangyang: “…”
The words he wanted to stop were suddenly swallowed back. Zhou Xiangyang straightened his back, stopped chatting, and waited patiently for the child to peel the shrimp in his hand until it was full of pits and bumps. Then, when Xingxing raised his little hand and handed it to him again, he happily ate it with a smile on his face.
He would not give in blindly and would return the stars completely to the Cheng family.
Because Xingxing has always been determined to choose him as his father, Zhou Xiangyang doesn't want to disappoint the child he raised.
The Cheng family members all look nice, but you can never know a person’s heart by just looking at his appearance. If possible, Zhou Xiangyang certainly hopes that Xingxing will not forget him, and he will work hard to make himself better, at least to provide Xingxing with a small house that truly belongs to him in the future.
This is Zhou Xiangyang's deep-seated ambition, which he would never tell anyone, but he had already been working hard for it before the Cheng family found the star.
"Thank you, brother~" Zhou Chenxing lay beside Xingxing's hand, watching him peel the shrimps slowly, then looked at his father whose eyes and brows were filled with happiness, and suddenly he held his little face and looked at Xingxing in admiration.
Ever since my brother came into this body, my dad's smiles and tears have become much more frequent every day.
"Brother, can I be your father in the future?" Little Zhou Chenxing couldn't help but let his imaginative childish thoughts run wild.
Star:"……"
Qiuqiu: “…”
The two kids were shocked and silent.
Then, when Qiuqiu heard what Xingxing told him, he exploded on the spot.
Blocking Qiuqiu's furious voice output, Xingxing gently poked Zhou Chenxing's cheek with her oily fingers and gently refused: "No."
"But, but I also want my brother to feed me delicious food. I am very obedient. Even if my brother feeds me bitter medicine, I can drink it obediently!"
Therefore, Sunflower's father actually received more than just three envious glances.
But five paths.
All the talking creatures in this room secretly envied him.
Of course, this also includes balls.
Xingxing took back his hand and successfully fed Sunflower Dad once more before saying to Zhou Chenxing: "Then you just be good, let's save a lot of human love together, and in the future you will be fed delicious food by many people."
Little Zhou Chenxing pouted in grievance.
That's not what he meant.
He wanted his brother to feed him, not anyone else.
But the child was well aware of how difficult this task was, so he whined and shrank under the dining table, sulking.
"...Baby, will you be like this too?" Qiuqiu couldn't help but imagine that Xingxing, who had the same face as Zhou Chenxing, was also squatting under the table and sulking like this. It was so cute! !
Then the next second it was pinched by the child's greasy fingers.
"Ball, bad."
-
At the end of the meal, Xingxing sat on a stool holding a glass of warm milk, feeling dazed and sleepy, but the Cheng family and Zhou Xiangyang, after an inadvertent glance at each other, all perked up again.
"Xiaoyang." Zhang Yayu spoke first kindly, "We already know each other. You have done a great favor to my Cheng family. No matter how we repay you, it is not too much. I also treat you as my own junior. If you hesitate and hide some words, it will make us all worry and feel uncomfortable."
She paused, giving Zhou Xiangyang time to accept the silence, and then continued: "So we might as well take advantage of today to make things clear about the stars."
Zhou Xiangyang's fingers subconsciously clenched his trouser legs. His face was tense and he nodded silently under the gazes of the Cheng family.
A small hand suddenly reached out from the side and gently poked the back of his hand where veins were bulging.
So Zhou Xiangyang's anxiety and panic were simply pierced by the little boy.
He looked at the little boy beside him who was holding a cup of milk and had a circle of white beard around his mouth. Suddenly, he drew more courage from Xingxing's lively and well-behaved expression.
After retracting his gaze, he took a deep breath and took the initiative to speak up to make his position clear and fight for it:
"You're right. I have the same idea as you. Let's take advantage of today to sort out the matter concerning the stars."
"I think you have discussed it before you came here. Now I will tell you my thoughts."
Zhou Xiangyang sat upright on the stool, and said in a deep voice to the Cheng family, especially the old man who was obviously in charge: "You can take Xingxing back. Xingxing will go to kindergarten soon. I won't hinder his studies, but I hope that I can see Xingxing every weekend. If not, a video call will also be fine."
"Besides that, I'm not too sure about your social status and circles, but I hope you can protect Xingxing from being excluded or bullied by people in the same circle. He has never been exposed to those things. I don't want Xingxing to be hurt by the malice of others."
"I don't need your gratitude. I just want you to be kind to Xingxing. He has suffered a lot with me. I have to go to work before dawn every day. He eats cold breakfast. His stomach is a bit weak and he can't eat too much raw and cold food. And when he is sick, it is very troublesome. He can't swallow the bitter medicine and vomits after taking it..."
Zhou Xiangyang talked about many things to pay attention to when raising Xingxing, from the big things like Xingxing's poor health and easy illness to the small things like Xingxing's dislike of eating onions, ginger and garlic. He talked about it for a long time before he stopped talking in the silence of the room. He was stunned for a moment, and his aura gradually dropped. Finally, he smiled bitterly and said, "Forget it, I'm too nagging. You don't have to remember it. If you are not sure in the future, just call me directly."
His straight back relaxed little by little, and the young man's tall body seemed as if the energy had been drained away, but he still held on stubbornly, looking at the three people persistently, wanting to see their attitudes with his own eyes and hear their answers.
However, the person who broke the silence was the child who was sitting obediently on the stool drinking milk.
Xingxing held the milk cup in both hands and placed it steadily on the table, then stepped on a stool to easily cross the distance and threw herself into the arms of Sunflower Dad.
They didn't drink any wine at the dinner table, and there was still a warm and familiar scent in Sunflower's father's arms.
"Dad." Xingxing turned his back to everyone else and stared at Zhou Xiangyang's dim and dazed eyes.
Zhou Xiangyang wanted to avoid her guiltily, but Xingxing once again held his face seriously with her little hands and forced him to look at her.
“I am Daddy’s star.”
In the quiet box, the child's soft but firm voice was clearly heard by everyone: "Sunflower Daddy can't lose Star, and Star won't lose Sunflower Daddy."
"Xingxing can call her grandma, mom, or dad Cheng, but she wants to be with dad Sunflower."
Star looked straight into Sunflower's father's bewildered eyes, and said fiercely with a stern face: "You can't give the star to others. You picked up the star first. They came late, so they have to queue up."
After scolding her father, Xingxing stepped on his strong thigh and turned to look at the Cheng family.
Then, he called them over one by one.
"Grandma~"
"Mom~"
"Dad Cheng."
Originally, the Cheng family should have been extremely excited to be called like this by their own child, but looking at the little guy's puffy and soft cheeks, inexplicably, they all understood why they were called like this so easily.
Because Xingxing is protecting his sunflower dad.
The child was showing weakness in this way and silently protecting Zhou Xiangyang. He used himself as a shield in front of Zhou Xiangyang, supporting his body and blocking damage for him.
"..." Xu Meng looked at the immature but determined Xingxing, her eyes were sore. Without Xingxing saying anything, the mother had already taken several steps back.
She endured the pain in her heart and whispered to Xingxing who was looking at them warily, "Xingxing, don't be afraid. Mommy won't hurt you and your father Zhou. If you want to follow your father Zhou forever...it's okay. Xingxing, don't be afraid. You don't have to choose between your father Zhou and us."
Xu Meng raised her hand and tentatively touched the child's soft cheek. Xingxing did not dodge, which made her feel relieved. There were still tears in her eyes, but she smiled gently.
"Mom can move, and we can also move for you and Dad Zhou. We will live very close to each other in the future. You are our only baby. We will all raise you and love you together, and grow up with you. No one needs to make a choice, okay?"
"...Really?" Xingxing asked her in a low voice.
Xu Meng nodded firmly: "Of course it's true, Mom won't lie to Xingxing."
After she finished speaking, Zhang Yayu said to Xingxing lovingly, "Don't worry, Xingxing. Grandma and your father Cheng think so too. We are already grown-up people, and adults will not bully children. So Xingxing doesn't need to be embarrassed or make a choice. The four of us adults can always come up with the best solution together."
A perfect solution where both parties make concessions and compromises willingly, just to make Xingxing happy and comfortable.
While Xu Meng's mother was talking, Qiuqiu was secretly staring at Xiangri's father.
Judging from the plot experience of many novels that it searched and browsed in the data of human entertainment products, at this time, Sunflower's father should have the firm and proud character that cannot be moved by poverty, coldly rejected the many benefits promised by the Cheng family, such as "moving", and then said: "I raise Xingxing because I love him. This is not something you can buy out with money! Don't use benefits to insult my feelings!"
While Qiuqiu was sharing with Xingxing the experience he had gained after reading the article, he was excitedly waiting for Sunflower's father to speak.
Star:"……"
He looked at Qiuqiu, who was so excited that his whole body was glowing, pursed his lips, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Soon, Qiuqiu got the answer from Sunflower’s father.
"good."
Qiuqiu: “?!”
Zhou Xiangyang nodded, hugged Xingxing tightly, and said to the Cheng family: "If you all think this method is okay, I have no objection. Being able to take care of Xingxing all the time is a hundred times better than the ending I originally imagined."
Qiuqiu: “???!!”
Sunflower daddy! Why don't you follow the novel's routine? ? !
Qiuqiu was completely confused.
There was a sparkling smile in Xingxing's eyes. She stepped on her father's hips and gave a well-behaved and harmless smile to the elders who were also relieved.
As Sunflower Dad's favorite child, Xingxing certainly couldn't tell Grandma Mom and Dad Cheng and expose Sunflower Dad's mental activities to them.
It can’t be said that Sunflower’s father secretly breathed a sigh of relief and cheered loudly after hearing what his mother said.
It cannot be said that Sunflower's father retreated to advance just to allow the Cheng family to come up with a better and more pertinent solution.
It is even more unacceptable to say that after Sunflower's father had made a calculation in his mind, he decisively chose to accept the conditions that the Cheng family had proactively proposed after taking a step back.
Zhou Xiangyang is not greedy for the Cheng family's money and power, but if he relies on himself alone, with his disabled body and lack of education, the gap between him and Xingxing and his social status will only get bigger.
Zhou Xiangyang didn't want his son to come to his house in the future. When they sat at the dinner table, the father and son could only look at each other awkwardly with no topic to talk about.
He wanted to be better, and tried hard to keep up with the growth of the stars, leaving a clear mark in the stars' lives that would not fade too soon.
Therefore, he did not feel too much psychological burden about the benefits given by the Cheng family.
Zhou Xiangyang, who grew up in an orphanage, knew the true meaning of survival from an early age: if you want to become better and stronger, you have to abandon your so-called dignity and face, fight and grab, and find ways to get better resources, so that you can live better and longer than others.
What's more, the Cheng family did not insult his personality and self-esteem, nor did they act in a condescending manner and give him alms.
Thanks to Xingxing's protection, Zhou Xiangyang was able to be on the same level as the Cheng family and negotiate terms in a dignified manner.
Zhou Xiangyang was grateful to the Cheng family, but he knew better that it was Xingxing who showed weakness and dragged him, who was in a weak position, to an equal position with the Cheng family.
It was the stars that used their small bodies to stand in front of him and fill in the gaps in all aspects for him, which allowed him to sit here upright. What reason did he have to throw away such a benefit?
Therefore, with the cooperation of both parties, today's "family dinner", although with some twists and turns, can be considered to have ended smoothly.
Since they had already decided to raise Xingxing together as neighbors, Zhou Xiangyang had no regrets. After leaving the restaurant, he stuffed Xingxing into the back seat of the car as usual, and then told the Cheng family that he could take Xingxing back to the Cheng family to stay for two days.
He himself just happened to take advantage of this time to go home and pack up the few belongings of his father and son that were full of memories, as well as some other things that needed to be dealt with.
The Cheng family was naturally overjoyed. Xu Meng hugged Xingxing, kissed the child's cheek, and nodded with a faint smile: "Tell us when you are done packing. Someone will come to accompany you to complete the settlement procedures at the new address. You don't have to worry about moving. In addition, I will let Xingxing call you every night before going to bed."
Probably before the actual meeting today, no one on either side had expected such a harmonious ending.
But since they are all willing to give in, this result does not seem surprising.
Xingxing was held in her mother's arms, her fingers still clenched on her father's hand. Before her father left, she softly reminded him: "Dad, you must take the photo, the money that Xingxing hid, the toy car, and..."
There were obviously not many things in that small house, but after hearing what Xingxing said, I had the illusion that all of them were treasures he had hidden.
But Xingxing was just relaying what little Zhou Chenxing said.
"Thank you, brother~" After his father nodded, little Zhou Chenxing shut up contentedly, and looked at his father, his biological grandmother, and his parents with nostalgia. His almost transparent soul became increasingly empty and clean.
All the obsessions, big or small, in his heart have been smoothed out one by one by the stars.
Perhaps before long, his soul will only be able to follow Xingxing around like a small pendant, and will no longer have the memories of "Zhou Chenxing", but he will accompany Xingxing and feel the happiness and warmth of being loved.
When the moment comes when Xingxing leaves this world in the future, little Zhou Chenxing will also take these fruitful gains with him and go to reincarnation happily and without any worries.
-
This is not the first time Xingxing has come to the Cheng family.
The last time he sent Cheng Qian'an, who had lost his memory, back to the Cheng family, he was standing in the car at the door, curiously looking at the Cheng family.
But this time it was different. He was held by his grandmother and actually entered this big and unfamiliar home amidst the curious gazes of many people.
"Xingxing, this will be your home from now on."
"Welcome home."
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