Neither this time nor the last had Tang Can intended to fall asleep so early.
Especially after the humiliation of instantly falling asleep the previous night. Even though Tang Can had slept throughout the journey today and had plenty of energy, after returning to the room, eating dinner, and digesting for a while, he still hurried the child through washing up and into bed before eight o’clock.
His official explanation was that they had to assemble at four-thirty the next morning to enter the mountain, so he needed to guarantee the toddler a full eight hours of sleep. In reality, a large part of it was his determined attempt to resist the mysterious Sleep God possessing him.
He refused to believe he could start telling a story at eight and still fall asleep instantly. Tang Can thumped his chest with confidence, not only making a promise to the child but also subjecting himself to some aggressive self-hypnosis.
After getting the toddler into bed, he did not even lie all the way down. Propped against the headboard, he immediately slipped into award-winning kindergarten-teacher mode, gesturing animatedly and narrating with full dramatic expression.
The child resisted inwardly, but he could not read yet and therefore could not read the book himself. And he really wanted to know why little Carmela did not want to lay eggs, so he had no choice but to listen to Bad Dad tell him the story.
Thus, when he heard that Carmela refused to spend every day laying eggs because she wanted to seek out more interesting things in life, the little heart that had nearly clogged itself with frustration the previous night finally loosened considerably. Looking again at Bad Dad, who was smiling faintly beneath the warm yellow light as he told the story, the child found him pleasing to the eye for the first time in ages.
Although he had slept through most of the journey too, that had only made up for the sleep he had lost the night before. Under Tang Can’s soft, soothing voice, the toddler’s eyelids gradually drifted shut. He had not fallen asleep yet, but the atmosphere was certainly building toward it.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last. Tang Can’s voice became slow and soothing much faster than the child’s eyes could close.
Although little Huo Dengdeng’s brain was already growing foggy, he had learned from last night and keenly sensed that something was wrong. Half-dazed with sleep, he thought, Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t expecting anything anyway—not from Bad Dad, and not from little Carmela.
If he says he’ll tell the story and then falls asleep, so be it. I came prepared to fall asleep at any moment today too.
Still, just as he hovered between wakefulness and sleep, the child could not help being drawn into Carmela’s journey to see the sea—
“In the morning, when Carmela stood at the top of the dune, everything before her… astonished her… so much… she simply… couldn’t… believe…”
“Is this real?!” Tang Can’s drowsy voice suddenly shot upward, making the half-asleep child jerk his eyes open.
Then he discovered that the old geezer beside him had already dropped headfirst onto the pillow. Neck crooked, limbs splayed in every direction, he had powered down and fallen asleep on the spot as if someone had flipped a breaker.
That final shout before sleep was like one last flash of life—and also suspiciously like it had been designed specifically to wake him up.
The child’s face remained perfectly calm, but a gale of fury howled through his heart: Aaaaah! What did Carmela see in the end?!
After turning off the light and ending the performance, the child silently scooted to the very edge of the large bed. His little fists clenched again as he swore inwardly: I’ll never forgive Bad Dad for the rest of my life!
Stay away! As far away as possible! Don’t touch anything that belongs to Tang Can!
Actually, during the room-allocation game, the child had initially been confused when the staff put a nose clip on him. Only after hearing the twins cry and complain had he understood that other children could recognize the smell of their mothers and fathers, which was why the staff had blocked their noses.
At the time, he had felt nothing but disdain. Yet while listening to the story, there had been one brief moment when he almost leaned closer on his own to sniff.
Fortunately, he had come to his senses in time. He remembered that he and Bad Dad were not a normal father and son. Just as other fathers would never let their children tumble down the stairs, he did not need to know what the warm scent on his father smelled like either.
Night made it easy for thoughts to run wild, yet it also made the child exceptionally clearheaded. Only without candy, toys, and bedtime stories could the little black mushroom in his heart grow smoothly.
Perhaps it was the exhaustion of travel, or perhaps he had simply grown accustomed to being tricked. That night, not only did the child avoid another bout of insomnia, he slept exceptionally soundly.
Just after eight in the evening, father and son fell one after the other into sleep as deep as a baby’s.
Meanwhile, at Wen Tong’s lodging one and a half kilometers away, little Wen You suddenly broke down sobbing.
“Waaah! My toys!!!”
Mother and son were still wearing sunglasses. Wen Tong stood to one side with her arms folded and a cool expression, answering calmly, “You handed your toys over yourself.”
Wen You wiped at the tears spilling below his sunglasses. “I know, waaah! But why—why didn’t they give them back after I handed them over? Waaah!!!”
“Yeah. Mom didn’t expect that either… Take off your sunglasses so you can wipe your tears.” Wen Tong pulled out two tissues and handed them to the heartbroken toddler in front of her.
“I don’t wanna!”
Wen Tong was a little speechless. “You really are… Fine.”
Comments:
【Hahahaha, I knew he only didn’t cry before because he hadn’t processed it yet! But are those sunglasses rented or something? Mother and son won’t even take them off indoors?】
【I’m dying. Wen Tong is judging Youyou for wearing sunglasses. Ma’am, take yours off first.】
【??? They’re both wearing them until lights-out??? New viewer here—does Best Actress Wen always do this? Don’t tell me she secretly got double-eyelid surgery???】
【Yesterday they took them off only after turning off the lights too, but it definitely isn’t eyelid surgery. She was still in Hengdian shooting pickup scenes this morning. Even if we stretch our imagination to the limit, mother and son couldn’t have gotten surgery together…】
*
Summer dawn came early in Changyun Village, but when the alarm rang at four in the morning, the room was still pitch-black.
It was simply too early. Even the sun had not started work yet. Forget Tang Can—even the child struggled to get up.
Father and son were still sleeping with their heads buried. Dengdeng, dressed in slippery silk pajamas, wriggled inside the especially warm bedding like a drowsy little puppy, pressing his soft cheek against the warm fabric and rubbing, nuzzling, sniffing, and burrowing to his heart’s content.
Only when Tang Can wrapped an arm around him did the child realize that what he had been snuggling into was not the blankets at all. It was Bad Dad’s arms. His entire little body immediately went rigid—What’s going on?!
Before he could figure it out, Tang Can had already lowered his head and leaned close.
The man rested his forehead against the top of the child’s head and rubbed gently. “Dengdeng, did you get cold?” His slightly hoarse voice carried a faint nasal quality.
Seeing the toddler stare blankly at him and shake his head, Tang Can smiled and ruffled him again. “As long as you’re okay!~”
Although the child’s body was still somewhat stiff, he did not immediately push him away. Tang Can was extremely satisfied.
Unlike the usual way he carried the child as though serving as his mount, this time father and son were pressed tightly together. The soft, warm toddler fit completely into his arms like a little piece of sticky rice cake.
Getting cold had been worth it!
Although it was midsummer, Changyun Village’s terrain and altitude kept daytime highs only a little above twenty degrees Celsius, and the temperature difference between morning and night was even more pronounced near the mountains.
Tang Can had gone to sleep early. The temperature had felt just right then, but sometime after midnight the cold woke him.
When he opened his eyes and discovered an extra little sticky-rice dumpling in his arms, his heart immediately blossomed. It was far too rare for the child to voluntarily throw himself into his embrace, and Tang Can truly was too lazy to get up and find another blanket.
So he simply folded the blanket on the child’s side over double, letting Dengdeng lie in his arms beneath two layers while he himself shared half of the thick covering. Even so, Tang Can still caught a slight chill.
Tang Can sniffled and remembered the merciless reality of the previous night, when he had lasted only three minutes before instantly falling asleep again…
His breathing sank. The next second he suddenly perked up again. I examine myself three times a day, and I have done nothing wrong!
If anything was wrong, it was that his previous life had accustomed him to being psychologically manipulated by his bosses, so from the beginning he had set his standards for himself far too high. Did he really need to compete for the title of best father on the entire parenting show?
The original Tang Can had only been kicked out of the wealthy family and sent to prison because he had been an excessively vicious piece of human garbage. Tang Can merely needed to behave like a human being and that would already be enough.
Besides, the child’s biological father—the background character—would die this very year. At the moment, the entire Huo family was busy fighting among themselves. As long as Tang Can did not court disaster the way the original had, no one would bother with him at all.
Thinking this through, Tang Can relaxed even more. He sniffed, coughed lightly twice, and said, “Sorry, Dengdeng~ Daddy fell asleep again last night…”
Unexpectedly, he had barely started when the toddler in his arms shook his head like a little rattle. “It’s okay… Daddy, are you… sick?”
This was the first time the child had ever shown concern for him on his own initiative. Tang Can was overjoyed. Huh?
Unlike Tang Can, who could already see through the childish pronunciation to the boy’s real nature, the all-night crowd and the early-rising squad in the livestream were instantly intoxicated by the toddler’s milky little morning voice:
【Aaaaah! Dengdeng’s just-woke-up baby voice is so, so, so soft and adorable!!!】
【Possessing Tang Can’s body is now an urgent priority!】
【Emergency assembly for the child-stealing army (1/n)】
Tang Can seized the opening and immediately launched a sugar-coated offensive. “Yeah. The blanket was too thin last night, so Daddy got a little chilled and caught a cold. Don’t worry, Dengdeng. Daddy’s an adult, so I’ll recover quickly. As long as you’re okay, that’s what matters.”
The child said nothing more, but he truly did not struggle out of Tang Can’s embrace either. That was enough to say plenty.
Unfortunately, no matter how much Tang Can wanted to keep cuddling the toddler until the end of time, father and son had to get up immediately. They were supposed to assemble and depart at four-thirty.
Still, Tang Can’s situation was already the easiest. The meeting point was right outside the guesthouse where they were staying, and neither father nor son needed much grooming. At most, they had to wash their faces, brush their teeth, and add sunscreen.
Tang Can’s skin was neither dry nor oily, and he normally had no habit of using skincare products, so he directly used the children’s sunscreen meant for Dengdeng. Following the instructions, he first put on a simple layer of baby cream as a base.
The livestream viewers were speechless:
【Fine, fine. At least he used moisturizer and sunscreen today. Monumental progress. [thumbs-up][dog-head]】
【Holy crap, that baby cream looks insanely good. Begging online for the brand name they blurred out!】
【Wait, does anyone actually think it’s the baby cream? Tang Can and Dengdeng looked exactly like this yesterday when they didn’t put anything on.】
【And people still say Tang Can’s face is all plastic surgery. Hilarious. He’s this bare-faced and there isn’t even a trace. I’d believe minor cosmetic procedures at most.】
【Just looking at Dengdeng’s little face should tell you Tang Can didn’t get plastic surgery. But I can only agree with half of the previous comment. Would someone who goes on a show using cheap baby cream really spend money on cosmetic procedures?】
The comments were still discussing their faces when father and son had already charged off to eat breakfast.
Not only was the meeting point downstairs from Tang Can, breakfast was right beside it as well.
Knowing they were heading into the mountains, the guesthouse owner had gotten up especially early to prepare everything: soy milk, milk, steamed buns, fried dough sticks, and even the local specialty of savory tofu pudding.
The steamed-bun filling was made from a mushroom none of the production crew had ever eaten before, locally called chicken-of-the-woods and also known as sulfur shelf. Though it was a mushroom, it tasted even more fragrant than chicken, with a smooth, tender texture and distinctive aroma. It was a common wild fungus in Changyun Mountain.
In addition to chicken-of-the-woods, there was a cold salad made with cauliflower mushroom. It looked and felt like an upgraded version of snow fungus, but tasted even more fragrant, crisp, and tender.
When Tang Can learned that this kind of wild mountain fungus sold for several hundred yuan per half-kilogram, he was baffled by the production team’s unprecedented generosity and ate even more ferociously. Father and son competed with each other in a synchronized whirlwind of inhalation.
The other guests arrived later. Most only managed to shovel down a few bites before they had to leave. Cen Jiaojiao’s family, who lived farthest away and arrived last, did not even have time to sit down. They could only grab several buns to eat on the road.
Just as Tang Can and Dengdeng were still savoring the silky texture of the cauliflower mushroom, the production team finally revealed the dagger hidden behind the smile. “People say those who live by the sea eat from the sea, and those who live by the mountains eat from the mountains. Changyun Mountain is rich in natural produce. There are many wild crops like cauliflower mushroom. Today, while the children enter the mountain and compete for luxury accommodations, the parents must also work hard gathering food to earn the money for their meals!”
In short, after breakfast, the production team released the adult and child guests into the wild. What they would eat for their remaining two meals depended entirely on what the parents could dig up in the mountains.
The twins, busy gnawing on buns, had no attention to spare for this cruel reality. Little Wen You still had his sunglasses on, arms folded in his cool-guy pose, indifferent to the world.
The newly rebooted Gu Beisheng had completely shed last night’s dejected expression. Head high and chest out, he wore the immovable air of a true powerhouse—mere gathering? His stepfather did not even need to lift a finger. He could handle everything himself!
Only little Dengdeng frowned slightly. He hesitated before looking up at Tang Can, who was covering his mouth and coughing. The peace that good food had brought him began to ripple again.
Bad Dad was useless to begin with, and now he had even caught a cold because of him…
Fortunately, he had eaten enough that morning. His round little belly should be able to last two days without a problem.
With that thought, the child clenched both little fists and encouraged himself inwardly: It’s okay! I can handle it!
