“Yes… He suddenly became interested in Mingming’s food. I always keep their formula separate. Last time you said he couldn’t have this kind.” Dad Su spoke on the phone with a serious expression, though his gaze remained on the children’s room not far away. “He drank some and had no adverse reaction. Does that mean Little Li can eat Mingming’s food now too? He spoke yesterday, and he responds when I ask him things. Does this mean his condition is improving…?”
“A list of Mingming’s foods? Give me a moment. I’ll take pictures and send them to you.”
“The formula from Old Goat’s family. All the little ones like it… It should probably be fine.”
Su Li sat nearby and watched his father on the phone, apparently discussing his diet with someone else. He had just tried circulating spiritual power and discovered that the energy absorbed through the formula could easily be converted for his own use. In other words, given his current physical condition, this method suited him far better.
Dad Su returned after finishing the call. He appeared to have confirmed the food issue with the doctor and quickly replaced the formula in Su Li’s bottle with the same kind his younger brother drank, preparing a fresh bottle for him.
The demon doctor had said that as long as there were no other adverse reactions, they could try giving Su Li food intended for demon children and slowly use it to improve his health. The doctor would also visit that afternoon to examine him and told Dad Su to pay close attention to the child’s condition. Dad Su prepared the formula, let it cool to the right temperature, and only then carefully brought it to Baby’s mouth.
The moment the bottle came near, Su Li recognized the familiar scent. He took one swallow and confirmed that it was the same special formula he had tasted earlier. Only then did he grip the bottle himself and slowly drink.
Before long, under Dad Su’s attentive gaze, Su Li finished the entire bottle.
Afterward, he stared at the empty bottle for a while. It was far too small. He had finished it in only a few swallows.
Dad Su asked carefully, “Baby, do you want more?”
He could have more? Su Li paused, then nodded under Dad Su’s eager gaze.
—
This was the scene Su Yu saw when he woke up.
“He can eat it now?” Su Yu was equally astonished when he heard about the change. He knew exactly what Su Li’s condition had been like over the past two years. “Does this mean he’s starting to get better?”
“We still need the doctor to examine him before we know for sure. Don’t tell your mother yet. We’ll surprise her when she comes back.” Dad Su shook the bottle, tested the temperature, and then handed it to Su Li, who was sitting in a rocking chair.
Su Yu had not really believed it at first. Only after seeing Su Li actively accept the bottle from Dad Su and drink from it did he finally become convinced. His younger brother’s health had always been extremely poor. Su Yu still remembered that shortly after Su Li was born, he vomited after drinking milk and developed a high fever. Later, the doctor advised against giving him formula intended for demon children, so the entire family had become extremely cautious about his diet.
After that, every meal had been fed to him personally by his parents. Su Li simply let other people feed him. If he liked something, he swallowed it. If he disliked it, he spat it out. He had never actively taken a bottle like this.
Now Su Li could not only speak, but also eat food intended for demon children. All those outsiders constantly saying his little brother had been born disabled were talking nonsense. His brother was simply developing more slowly than usual!
Su Li ate slowly. By the time he had converted all the spiritual power he absorbed into energy he could use, he finally noticed the excited expressions on the father and son beside him. They acted as though finishing a bottle of formula were some extraordinary achievement.
“That’s two bottles. You can’t have more.” Dad Su reluctantly took the bottle back.
Su Yu glanced toward the room. “Little Ming drinks three large bottles every time. Isn’t this blatant favoritism?”
“He can have more after the doctor checks him this afternoon and says everything is fine.” Dad Su had barely finished speaking when a loud wail erupted from the children’s room. He rubbed between his brows. “Mingming is awake. Go see to him.”
Su Yu pointed at himself. “Me?”
The previous night, he had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to investigate and had spent hours questioning all the lesser demons nearby. They had failed to catch the vicious demon who supposedly wanted to abduct a child, and before Su Yu had even properly recovered from the lost sleep, he was being sent off to babysit again.
“What’s wrong with asking you to look after your brother?” Dad Su’s expression remained calm. He carefully wiped Su Li’s mouth with a tissue, then casually tossed the prepared bottle on the other side to Su Yu. “Let Dad check Baby. Did anything get on you…”
Su Li looked at Dad Su with a complicated expression, then watched his older brother walk into the children’s room.
“Still hungry?” Dad Su asked.
Su Li hesitated and then shook his head.
Seeing him respond, Dad Su’s face immediately brightened. He continued, “Does Baby hurt here?”
He carefully touched Su Li’s forehead.
“Doesn’t hurt,” Su Li replied.
Dad Su beamed and could not resist teasing the child into saying a few more words.
By the latter half of the exchange, Su Li simply listened as Dad Su repeatedly asked certain questions. The actual content did not seem important at all. What Dad Su cared about was whether Su Li responded to him.
They went back and forth like this until Dad Su’s voice suddenly stopped. Su Li looked up in confusion.
Dad Su came back to himself. Looking into the child’s clear, natural eyes, his heart softened again. “What’s wrong, Baby?”
Su Li withdrew his gaze, but the corner of his eye shifted toward the large floor-to-ceiling window diagonally ahead. He had noticed that his father seemed to have been looking in that direction just now, as though something were there.
—
The doctor came to the house that afternoon.
A demon doctor looked little different from a human one. Those who lived among humans had long since learned the full human medical routine. When making house calls, they wore white shirts, suit trousers, and white coats, looking proper and professional. The doctor the Su family had hired was rumored to possess the bloodline of the ancient divine beast known as the Omniscient White Beast. He had once worked as an assistant under countless famous physicians and now appeared to be a man over fifty.
The doctor’s surname was Bai. His full name was Bai Huamei, and he was currently Su Li’s attending physician.
“Baby, don’t be afraid. Just let the doctor take a look.”
Dad Su held Su Li in his arms and quietly soothed the child.
This was Su Li’s first time undergoing an examination by a so-called “doctor” while fully conscious. When Doctor Bai pressed his fingers against Su Li’s spiritual acupoints, Su Li initially assumed a cultivator was diagnosing him. Yet his relatives were ordinary humans, so why would they bring in a cultivator to treat him?
He quickly pushed the strange thought aside. This body truly was not in good condition by the standards of this world, and judging from his family’s attitude, having doctors visit the house seemed to be completely routine.
Doctor Bai asked kindly, “Does your tummy hurt?”
Su Li tilted his head slightly and glanced at Dad Su, seeing both expectation and worry in the man’s gaze. When the child did not answer, Dad Su hurriedly explained, “He drank two bottles of milk. He didn’t get sleepy at noon either. He’s been very energetic.”