Chapter 54: Fifty-Four: We have a son.

Ji XiaoYu could hardly believe his eyes. His heart ached and twisted. He didn’t dare to move forward, pressing a hand to his heart as he cried, “I-is this m-my Xiao DengPao?”

He had only incubated Xiao DengPao for eight and a half months, but it was only a month and a half short of ten. In front of him, this little guy was a little smaller than an average chick, but looked very spirited. Was this really hatched from his own little white egg?

The little guy in the stone hole had yellowish fluffy feathers and the top of his head and his wings were dotted with a few small spots like maroon flowers. After hearing Ji XiaoYu speak, he stepped out of the hole on his thin claws. He tripped over a small stone after a few steps and his little body twisted, about to fall down.

Cheng YuTang held out his hands in time. He tried to restrain his swelling emotions and, holding his breath, gently held the chick in his hands, lifting it up from the ground.

The chick seemed a little scared, shivering and shaking uncontrollably.

Cheng YuTang gently stroked his little head with his thumb and his voice shook, “Xiao DengPao, hello, I-I’m your other daddy.”

The chick blinked his eyes, who knew if he understood or if the scent just made him feel at ease. He stood on Cheng YuTang’s hand, lowered his little head, and his little beak pecked gently at his palm, “Cheep.”

The famously unemotional president, who hadn’t wept since he cried for who knew what reason at the precocious age of seven, suddenly burst into tears.

“Child, my child!” Ji XiaoYu was so anxious he could die. He didn’t dare to reach out to grab him, just staring from off to the side.

Cheng YuTang smiled and held the chick before him. Ji XiaoYu shivered and took him, bringing him up to his own eyes, as if he were holding a ticking time bomb.

The chick tilted his little head, his two eyes meeting the four eyes swollen with tears opposite him.

Ji XiaoYu waited for a while and didn’t hear anything. He urged him eagerly, “My child, I am your daddy, eh? The daddy who laid you. You better greet me!”

The little chick seemed to be struggling with something. He shook his little bottom and struggled to stamp his tiny claws. After a while, he cried out softly, “Cheeep-”

Right after, a blob of muddy filth fell from behind his little bottom, hitting Ji XiaoYu’s palm with a “plop”.

Ji XiaoYu: “……”

Cheng YuTang: “……”

Jiang WuYa who had secretly snuck around and was peeping from the side: “Pft-hahaha!”

Ji XiaoYu was ashamed, annoyed, and sad, his lips flattening out. He was about to cry again.

When my son arrived in my own hand, he took a poop. Did this indicate disdain for me? Or just showing that he was feeling displeasure over his poor care and me losing him?

Cheng YuTang scolded the unscrupulous crow detective with a stern glare, then turned back and softly comforted his extremely wronged little lover, “Baby, don’t be sad, this shows that our son is very healthy. And he’s close to you and he likes you, so he pooped in your hand. See if he’ll do the same if you’re replaced with Inspector Jiang.”

Inspector Jiang flashed to two meters away in an instant, “No, no, this honor is for you, the husband and wife, to enjoy!”

As if in response to what his other father said, the chick stretched up his little head and pecked the tip of Ji XiaoYu’s nose, which was red from crying, “Cheep.”

Ji XiaoYu was instantly happy, with tears in his eyes and a smile on his lips. He rubbed his hand clean of his son’s poop on the grass. Then he pressed his lips to the chick’s head and imitated his son’s call, saying, “Cheep!”

Today his mood had gone up and down like a rollercoaster ride, the ups and downs were extreme highs and lows. It needed to slow down. If he hadn’t had a special physique, with enough strength, he probably wouldn’t have been able to support himself.

In Cheng YuTang’s heart, there was a surge of heat and an unspeakable, extreme happiness. He tilted his head and kissed Ji XiaoYu’s wet cheek, holding the father and son in his arms.

So good, their family of three had finally been reunited.

A while later:

“Hey, haven’t you all had enough? This side of things hasn’t been finished yet,” Jiang WuYa, with a grass blade in his mouth, said out of boredom.

Ji XiaoYu instinctively put his son on his head. His hair was very fluffy and soft, just like silky thatched nest. As soon as the chick entered in, he happily fluttered his two little wings and grabbed a few strands of hair with his little claws. Knowing his place, he sat inside, so that even if Ji XiaoYu walked back and forth, he wouldn’t fall easily.

Cheng YuTang pulled out a handkerchief, wiping Ji XiaoYu’s tear-stained face clean, and then took his hand out of the grass, sincerely saying, “Detective Jiang, thank you for helping us find our child. This one named Cheng is very grateful. We ask Detective Jiang to please help us keep this secret in the future.”

In a bad mood, Jiang WuYa said, “I don’t need your gratitude. Cheng Zong, please pay the compensation due to this detective as soon as possible.”

Cheng YuTang nodded slightly, “You can rest assured of this. You’ll receive it tomorrow.”

Jiang WuYa smiled so widely he revealed his back row of molars. After a moment, he hesitated a bit. He said bitterly, “I’ve been solving cases as Detective Jiang for decades, but I didn’t expect to be played by you two today. I thought it really was a lost diamond, but it turned out to actually be a male’s egg. If I knew earlier……”

“If you knew, then what?” Ji XiaoYu entered into battle mode instantly, clenching his fists and cracking his knuckles, giving off a murderous aura.

Jiang WuYa replied coolly, seeing at a glance he needed to act pragmatically, “Nothing bad, of course, I would have solved the case as soon as possible and given it back to you properly. My reputation as Detective Jiang is renowned, how could I do something like theft? Once born, twice cooked. If you lose any more valuable things in the future, just come to me, I’ll give you 20% off!”

Although this little pheasant was naive, his fighting power was unequivocal, much more powerful than that swindling fox spirit. Cheng YuTang was the richest man in Ning City, with incalculable wealth and power. They were a pair that couldn’t be underestimated. Not even as a last resort, he didn’t want to be in a feud with this pair of husbands.

Besides, I’m already powerful enough. I don’t need to eat some male’s eggs to improve my cultivation. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’d damn myself by being too showy. It wouldn’t be worth it to be blown into slag by a lightning tribulation. Right now, I’m just the right level.

Ji XiaoYu loosened his fists, snorting, “That’s more like it.”

Cheng YuTang gave a slight smile, “Detective Jiang WuYa is really high-spirited, it’s admirable.”

“Thanks, you’re flattering me!” Jiang WuYa pretended to be polite. “Oh yeah. What are you going to do with this fox spirit? Do you want to take care of him yourselves?”

The fox spirit was still caught in the hunting net, wrapped too tightly to move, nor could he change to human form. He could only look at the three men with terrified eyes, crying and pleading, “I beg you to let me go, I promise to never cause harm again.”

Ji XiaoYu naturally wouldn’t believe a word this fox spirit said, but he had never killed a spiritual beast. He hesitated for a moment, then looked at Cheng YuTang.

“He killed Han QingShi and did many evil things. He should be handed over to the police in accordance with the law.” Cheng YuTang was also a bit hesitant. “But he’s a spiritual beast, not an ordinary human……”

If he was handed over to the police, it will inevitably cause a lot of unnecessary trouble, so that path wouldn’t work. This wicked fox spirit indeed deserved death, but he didn’t want to have blood on his or Ji XiaoYu’s hands. After all, finding his son was a joyous event.

Jiang WuYa snapped his finger and interrupted, “Then leave him to me. I have an old account to settle with this damn fox spirit. He had the bad luck to fall into my hands today, I won’t let him die too easily. Just now your chick son gave me some inspiration. Come on, come on, you step aside, Detective Jiang is going to use another big move!”

Ji XiaoYu immediately and warily pulled Cheng YuTang away with the chick and quickly got in the car. Cheng YuTang started the sports car and pressed a foot on the gas to zoom down the hillside.

Jiang WuYa whistled and, in a flash, a large swarm of crows flew out of the forest. They grabbed the beast with their claws and flapped their wings, dragged the fox to the sky above the FengLai Ridge. Then, over the sound of a mournful howl, they pecked at the fox with their sharp beaks.

Cheng YuTang and Ji XiaoYu were far away. They could only see a cloud of blood explode into existence a few hundred meters up in the sky and could only hear faintly screams reverberating creepily over the mountain endlessly.

Although the fox spirit deserved it, Ji XiaoYu had never feared anything in the heavens or on earth before, but, when he heard the scream, he got goosebumps and quickly pulled down the shivering chick from his head and gathered him in the palm of his hands as he soothed, “That’s a bad guy being punished. Daddy is here, so don’t be afraid, baby.”

Following that, he started to hum “Chicken Run”.

The chick shook for a while before calming down. Eventually, he nestled into his palm, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

Ji XiaoYu held the chick up and looked at him from both sides; he couldn’t look at him enough. He couldn’t keep from muttering happily, “I have a son, heh heh, I finally have a son!”

Cheng YuTang lifted a hand and rubbed the hair on his head and corrected him as he pampered, “It’s ‘we’ have a son.”

“The child will call me Daddy in the future, what should you be called? Mama?” Ji XiaoYu said whimsically, his eyes flashing with a bright sheen of cleverness.

Cheng YuTang smiled and pinched his nose, “You laid him and you incubated him. You should be called Mama.”

“No! Anyway, I’m Daddy!” Ji XiaoYu’s face immediately went red, because that name was too shameful, too weird. He was 100% male!

Cheng YuTang didn’t tease him. He followed up benevolently, saying, “Okay, then you will be called Daddy and I can be called Father.”

That’s not bad, Ji XiaoYu approved. Then he suddenly furrowed his brow, saying with a worried expression, “My child’s father, our son was only in his shell for eight and a half months, isn’t this too early? Is there any place on his body that didn’t develop properly?”

“It’s not too early. You stayed in bed for last month, didn’t you incubate day and night? Maybe that accelerated Xiao DengPao’s growth.” His child’s father was extraordinarily certain as he said, “Your son could cry out as soon as he hatched. He could recognize people and poop. He also knew to look for a hole to avoid danger. I think he’s smarter and more capable than the average newborn human baby. It’s up to you, what do you think?”

When Ji XiaoYu heard this, he became elated and nodded hard. “That’s right, the son I gave birth to will follow in my footsteps! He’ll be as smart as I was when I was a kid and as strong!”

He giggled to himself for a moment and then suddenly remembered something. He looked up and asked, “I think your words have become more and more capable of bewitching someone. Honestly, when did you learn how to enchant like the fox spirit? Just now, I got really, really mad!”

Cheng YuTang put on an innocent expression, “I’m not a fox spirit, what learning to enchant? I just learned a little hypnotism in my spare time once. I was afraid that a huge fight would hurt Xiao DengPao, so when the fox spirit started to use his enchantment, I hypnotized him. I didn’t expect it to actually have any effect.”

“Oh, so that’s it,” Ji XiaoYu suddenly realized. But when he thought that the situation at that time, he was still a little uncomfortable. He muttered, “Nine out of ten sentences by that fox spirit were lies, but I could tell, he really did like you. Otherwise, I’m afraid that it wouldn’t have been so easy for him to be hypnotized by you.”

Cheng YuTang smiled and said with a sigh, “Little fool, so what? Didn’t you say that he was an unscrupulous, bad spiritual beast? Even if he wasn’t, I’m not interested in his type. And I don’t even know how many people in the world like me like that. Do I have to tend to all of their emotions?”

“No! Not even a bit is allowed! You’re mine!” Ji XiaoYu immediately said fiercely, “I don’t care, you’ve already had an egg with me, you’re my man!”

Cheng YuTang’s lips curved up. “I’m yours, I’m all yours. I’ll be yours for the rest of my life.”

That’s more like it! Ji XiaoYu thought that sounded very good. Then he thought it over a bit and felt a little uneasy inside. “You’re not going to hypnotize me one day, right?”

Cheng YuTang put his finger on his chin and said in a serious tone, “It’s a possibility, if one day you stop loving me.”

Ji XiaoYu rushed to reply, “How could I not love you……Uh!” He only realized what he had said when he saw a smile on the man’s face. He blushed up to his ears in a flash and almost bit his tongue.

Cheng YuTang looked at his expression of shyness and annoyance. He couldn’t keep from smiling, then he leaned over and kissed the corner of his mouth. He said magnanimously and firmly, “Baby, I love you.”

Ji XiaoYu’s heart beat like a drum and he got shy for a long moment. Finally, as the turbulent feelings were about to overflow his heart, he sneaked up to peck him on the lips, “Cheng Zong, I-I love you too!”

The man became a little disgruntled, “You’re still calling me Cheng Zong?”

Ji XiaoYu rolled his eyes and suddenly he started playing around, “Uncle Cheng!”

Cheng YuTang: “……”

He didn’t speak, he just looked at him silently.

Ji XiaoYu couldn’t withstand the pressure and finally called out softly, “YuTang.”

Cheng YuTang’s eyes went dark. He reached out to hold the back of his head and kissed him warmly.

Jiang WuYa who was about to poke his head out to say hello from the SUV passing by: “……”

These two guys have a child, is there still a need to cuddle together and nibble on each other anytime, anywhere? Can’t you be considerate of other people’s moods a bit?!

At this moment, Detective Jiang really wanted to summon his crow descendants again, to earnestly raise a noisy complaint on behalf of all the single dogs out there.

Forget it, forget it, I’ve heard that disturbing people in love is the same as asking to be kicked by a donkey. Anyway, everything that should be done has been done. So I’ll just avoid this for my own sake.

If he didn’t get paid tomorrow, he’d drop in and kick their building down!

The two men in the sports car were all tangled up, kissing. The car was filled with ambiguous wet sounds and gasps making the hearts of both men race. And then the phone in Cheng YuTang’s pocket rang suddenly.

Cheng YuTang wanted to ignore it, sucking those soft, tender, sweet lips, unwilling to let go, but, a moment later, he was pushed away mercilessly by the man in his arms.

“Pick up the phone quick or the baby’s going to be woken up.” Ji XiaoYu, with the chick held in his hand, complained as he blushed, with a silver thread spilling from the corner of his mouth. Then he yawned.

The night had been so stimulating, so his nerves had been tense the whole time and he had only slept for an hour in the middle. Now that he was relaxing, he felt a little sleepy.

Cheng YuTang had no choice but to take out his phone and answer Yang YiPeng’s call, “I’m with XiaoYu, it’s okay now. Liu WeiRen stole something important from me and fled to FengLai Ridge. He seems to have been attacked by some kind of animal just now. Come over and look. That man was harboring evil intentions and has a poor character, so you know how to deal with him, right? …..Alright, I’m taking the day off today, you tell the company that unless there’s something important, I shouldn’t be disturbed.”

When he finished the call, he turned around to look and found that Ji XiaoYu had fallen asleep with his head tilted. The chick in the palm of his hand was sleeping very deeply too, his little body fluctuating slightly with each breath.

The sun was rising, freely splashing splendid brightness onto the world, FengLai Ridge was shining with golden light, as if a bright phoenix was soaring overhead.

(t/n: the feng in FengLai Ridge means phoenix)

Cheng YuTang’s heart went tender. As he hummed “Chicken Run”, he started to drive the sports car towards the morning sun.

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Footnotes:

1. Once born, twice cooked (一回生，二回熟): idiom, two meanings: strangers at the first meeting, friends at the second (the meaning here); if something is difficult the first time, it’s easy the second (meaning in a later chapter)

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time for the happy family of three to thrive~~~ first up, naming the chick!!