ASFTB 25: This Must Be Your New Lover!

On the narrow path through the village, the evening breeze brushed against the hem of their clothes.

Jian Chengxi held the child’s hand. Along the roadside, the firefly trees gave off a faint glow, and Li Lingfeng finally saw the child’s face clearly by that light. In his past life, when he had returned, the child had already been almost unrecognizable—her clothes tattered, her body covered in wounds large and small, her face sallow and thin, even her eyes carrying a feral glare.

But the little girl standing before him now was completely different.

Li Sui­sui wore a clean cotton dress, her hair tied up into little braids, even wrapped with a pretty ribbon that Jian Chengxi had carefully knotted. Her cheeks carried a healthy flush, and those eyes no longer held the feral glare and guarded sharpness of a child abandoned and tormented as in his past life. Instead, they were clear and untainted, brimming with the innocence of youth.

Li Lingfeng’s gaze lingered on the child. Confronted with this girl so utterly different from the one in his memory, the general, who had never once faltered before countless enemies on the battlefield, found himself strangely dazed under the curious eyes of a little girl.

This is…

His child.

A healthy, well-loved little girl.

Under the night sky, the child leaned against Jian Chengxi with quiet dependence, their shadows stretched long together on the ground. This was the scene Li Lingfeng had imagined countless times in his past life. His triumphant return, met by his wife and child. Yet now, it unfolded before his eyes only after his heart had already turned to ash.

Jian Chengxi gently patted Li Suisui’s head, his voice soft and tender. “Did you hear that? General Li is amazing, he can even catch dogs!”

Li Suisui clutched at Jian Chengxi’s sleeve, her voice barely above a whisper as she asked, “He is… Father?”

Jian Chengxi nodded, taking a deep breath before deciding the child needed to understand. “Yes, Suisui, this is your Father.”

He thought her hesitation was out of fear.

Crouching down, Jian Chengxi gathered Li Suisui into his arms to give her a sense of safety, his tone gentle as he encouraged, “Suisui, will you say hello to your Father?”

Li Suisui’s gaze fell on Li Lingfeng, a flicker of hesitation in her eyes.

Afraid Li Lingfeng might misunderstand him and eager to prolong his own life, Jian Chengxi quickly tried to explain himself. “General Li, please don’t mind. The child just hasn’t had time to react to suddenly meeting you. I’ve been teaching her well, really. She’s just a little shy, but actually, she’s very sweet, hehe…”

The moment his words trailed off—

The usually quiet Li Suisui lifted her little head and asked Jian Chengxi, “Didn’t Daddy say… Father was dead?”

“…”

The air froze in sudden silence.

At those words, Jian Chengxi’s back stiffened at once, feeling a blade’s edge pressing coldly against him.

Li Lingfeng’s gaze settled on him, the man’s eyes dark and fathomless as he spoke slowly. “Is this what you usually tell her?”

A bead of cold sweat slid down.

Jian Chengxi hurried to explain, “This is all a misunderstanding…”

Just as he was about to continue, a dog’s bark rang out from not far away, cutting him off. Jian Chengxi suddenly snapped back to his senses and exclaimed, “Oh no, Xiao Chen is still inside the house!”

With that, he bolted toward home.

But after only a few steps, he ran back again.

Li Lingfeng raised a brow at him. “What is it?”

Jian Chengxi’s figure looked rather frail. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, his delicate features appearing all the more refined under the glow of the firefly trees. Right now, however, he wore a sheepish smile, his whole demeanor carrying a natural, timid sort of charm—almost endearingly cowardly. Casting a quick glance at Li Lingfeng, he muttered in a low voice, “I… I’m afraid of dogs too…”

“…”

Beneath the great treehouse stretched a spacious vegetable garden, where A-Hu, his face swollen like a pig’s head, was leaning on the dog’s power to bully others.

At the doorway, the howling dog, about the size of a husky, was a black mutt whose barking was loud enough, though it only managed two barks before falling silent. Each time that happened, A-Hu would stride over and give the dog a kick, forcing it to resume its furious cries at the treehouse. “Woof! Woof! Awooo! Woof! Woof!”

From the second-floor window, Li Chen sat gazing down at A-Hu from above.

A-Hu’s face was still swollen, and he jabbed a finger at his nose in fury. “Li Chen, you little cripple, how dare you scheme against me! You did it on purpose, didn’t you? You deliberately shared your family’s fruit with other classmates at school but refused to give me any, then set up traps in your garden just to get me hurt, isn’t that it! You bastard, you’re rotten to the core! You’re just getting back at me for pushing you during that basketball game, aren’t you?!”

The burly A-Hu shouted in panic and anger, while Li Chen, sitting by the second-floor window, remained calm and expressionless.

The three-year-old child’s face was as calm as still water. As night fell, he sat quietly in the darkness with his head lowered, sharp features and a lean jawline etched by the shadows. From his perch above, the boy looked down at A-Hu as though watching a farcical play.

A-Hu, his swollen face like a pig’s head, stomped on the spot and shouted, “I knew I was right, didn’t I? You little bastard, did I guess it right?”

Li Chen took in every bit of his powerless, furious outburst. Though insulted, the boy showed no anger. Instead, the corners of his lips curled into a smile. He parted them, a reckless, arrogant challenge flashing across his face, silently mouthing the words. “So what?”

“You!!!” A-Hu was so enraged he nearly lost his mind. He charged forward and slapped the door. “Wangcai, ram the door for me! You little bastard, get out here! My dad was right after all, your whole family is rotten. Your father was nothing but a cheap slut, that’s why he raised you and Li Sui­sui into two little bastards. You cripple, how dare you plot against me! Don’t you know my cousin’s coming back from the army? You don’t have a father, but I do. When my dad talks to my cousin, he’s an officer, you’re done for. Once he’s back, I’ll make sure—”

Bang!

Just as A-Hu was hammering madly on the door, a deafening blast went off right beside his ear.

It was the black dog’s wretched howl.

When A-Hu turned his head, he saw the dog’s leg nailed to the door by a knife. The blade had pinned the animal in place just as it was about to ram the door, and under the night sky it still gleamed with a chilling light. Because of the force, the knife quivered faintly, its cold glint reflected in A-Hu’s wide, terror-stricken eyes. Just a little off and if that knife hadn’t struck the door, but his skull instead…

Creak.

It was the sound of the courtyard gate opening.

A-Hu hadn’t even turned around yet, but cold sweat had already broken out across his back. Slowly, he twisted his body and saw a man stepping into the courtyard under the moonlight.

It was a tall, imposing figure clad in silver armor, his military boots crunching against the gravel with each resolute step. Moonlight spilled across his shoulders, highlighting a face both handsome and severe. Li Lingfeng’s sharp brows and deep, chiseled features radiated a solemn majesty. The hard line of his jaw and the icy gleam of his armor carried a natural, crushing authority. He hadn’t spoken a word, yet the murderous aura honed from years on the battlefield pressed down with such force that it was enough to make one freeze.

Li Lingfeng stopped in front of A-Hu, his voice low and edged with a chilling menace. “You were saying who’s finished?”

A-Hu stared dumbstruck at the man before him. In front of Li Lingfeng, he couldn’t even string together a full sentence. His eyes flicked desperately toward his dog.

“Wangcai…” A-Hu forced out with the last of his strength, “Help…”

The black dog that had just moments ago been charging at the door now lay to the side. Though the knife wound hadn’t killed it and for a beast, such an injury wasn’t fatal and would heal with time, Wangcai was still only a clever animal. Its body crouched low to the ground, letting out a faint whimper, then, without the slightest hesitation, even dragging its injured leg, it backed away several steps away from A-Hu!

A-Hu’s eyes went wide. “Wangcai!”

Wangcai acted as if deaf, dragging its injured leg to retreat even farther away.

Despair flooded A-Hu’s heart. He turned his face and met Li Lingfeng’s gaze. Those eyes were cold as ice, regarding him as though he were nothing more than a corpse. Terror made him shiver uncontrollably, his swollen, pig-like features scrunched together as he asked in a half-sobbing voice, “Wh-who are you?”

Li Lingfeng set one long leg upon the step, his towering figure like an immovable mountain looming above. Looking down at him, his voice carried a cutting chill, “Who were you cursing just now?”

The stench of battlefield bloodshed still clung to him.

The words of one long accustomed to command carried the weight of orders no one dared defy.

A-Hu had never encountered such a man before. Trembling, he stammered out, “I—I was cursing Li Chen.”

From the railing, Jian Chengxi stepped in, catching sight of the once unbearably arrogant A-Hu now shaking like a sieve. Li Lingfeng stood in the darkness, the cold moonlight washing over him, casting his face in a sharp and shadowed profile. He spoke, his voice deep, steady, and commanding. “Do you know who Li Chen is?”

A-Hu quickly shook his head.

Li Lingfeng spoke. “He is my son.”

It was like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

A-Hu froze, his eyes widening in shock.

“The cripple you spoke of is my son. And his father—” Li Lingfeng’s voice rose, cold and cutting, “—is my wife.” He lifted his gaze, eyes sharp as blades as they fell on A-Hu. “Who gave you the courage to act so brazenly in my home?”

For all his swagger, A-Hu was still just a boy barely into his teens. Confronted with such a scene, his mind went blank. He had cursed only out of habit, emboldened by years of bullying a family he thought easy to trample. Yet faced with Li Lingfeng, a killing god in the flesh, A-Hu’s body failed him. Warm urine soaked through his trousers, spreading quickly, as terror short-circuited his very thoughts.

Creak.

The sound of the main gate opening echoed.

Li Chen stood at the doorway, and under the moonlight, his face and features bore an uncanny resemblance to Li Lingfeng. The boy calmly regarded the man who had appeared in his family’s courtyard.

Li Lingfeng turned to look at him and asked, “He pushed you before?”

Li Chen nodded.

Li Lingfeng stood still as the cold wind swept into the courtyard, tugging at the cloak draped over his armor. A man hardened by countless battles gazed at his son, not blaming him for holding grudges, nor for setting little traps to retaliate. Instead, he simply called his name in a low voice. “Li Chen.”

The mature and steady tone rang especially clear in the night.

Li Chen lifted his head to look at him.

On Li Lingfeng’s stern, unyielding face, his dark eyes gleamed with ruthless resolve. He said, “Push him back.”

!!

Not far away, Jian Chengxi was stunned.

Most parents would tell their child not to fight, but Li Lingfeng did the opposite. He was unyielding, unreasonable, and utterly domineering.

Jian Chengxi wanted to say that Li Chen was still so young, and with his injured leg, how could he possibly push someone six years older and far stronger like A-Hu? Yet before the words left his mouth, he saw the look in Li Chen’s eyes slowly harden into resolve.

The young boy took a step forward. He walked slowly, each movement difficult because of his crippled leg, yet he refused any offer of help.

Li Chen walked slowly up to A-Hu. Facing someone a full head taller than him, the small, frail boy’s eyes burned with a ferocity he had never shown before. Suddenly, he threw his arms wide—knowing a simple shove wouldn’t topple A-Hu, he hurled his entire body forward instead!

The impact was so forceful that, carried by momentum, he fell with A-Hu, crashing down together.

Dust billowed up in the courtyard.

A-Hu, sprawled on the ground, was dazed. He had never been so humiliated before, toppled by the cripple he had always despised. The more he thought about it, the more furious he became, until at last he broke down, wailing aloud!

Li Chen, lying on the ground as well, only watched the scene with calm eyes.

Then—

He actually let out a soft laugh, the corners of his lips curling upward.

Even though he had fallen to the ground, for the first time he felt a rush of exhilaration, straighter in spirit than if he had stood tall. He had toppled his enemy with his own strength.

…

A-Hu staggered up, still crying, and bolted toward the outside, dragging Wangcai along with him. “Bully! Li Chen, you’re only picking on me because you’ve got a father to back you up! I’m telling my father on you!”

Crying and shouting, he ran off into the distance.

At the gate, only the four of them remained.

Jian Chengxi froze, not expecting things to turn out this way but he had no time to dwell on it. He rushed forward, helping his son up as he asked in a flustered voice, “Are you alright, Xiao Chen?”

Li Chen shook his head.

Jian Chengxi’s heart ached as he looked at the boy’s injured leg. He had cared for it so carefully for so long, what if this fall had made it worse? Anger welled up in him, and he turned his face aside, glaring at Li Lingfeng. Just as he was about to scold him for letting the child run wild, Grandma Li from outside came in.

Grandma Li came over, trembling as she asked, “Did A-Hu and the dog leave?”

Jian Chengxi quickly responded, “Grandma? Where were you just now?”

After all, he had left the child in her care.

Leaning on her cane, Grandma Li said, “A-Hu came storming in with that dog. How could an old woman like me possibly fight off a beast like that? So I just took Li Chen and hid inside the house.”

Jian Chengxi let out a breath of relief and smiled. “You made the right choice, thank you.”

Grandma Li nodded. Her age had left her sight and hearing poor, and when she turned her head to glance at Li Lingfeng, a flicker of hesitation crossed her eyes. Pointing toward him, she asked, “Xiao Xi, this is…?”

Jian Chengxi hesitated for a moment before answering, “Ah, he’s… he’s my…”

Grandma Li let out a relieved sigh first. She patted Jian Chengxi’s shoulder and said, “So you finally listened to my advice, gave up on that ex-husband of yours, and decided to remarry? This must be your new lover, right? Not bad, not bad at all, he looks far better than Wang Zhe. I told you, you would definitely find someone better.”

“…”

The courtyard fell into a brief silence.

Li Lingfeng lifted his gaze toward Jian Chengxi, those cold, razor-sharp eyes cutting like blades. Standing beneath the moonlight, the corners of his lips curled into a dangerous smile. Just two simple words, yet they carried a murderous edge. “Lover?”

He hadn’t said anything more, but it was as if invisible blades pressed against Jian Chengxi’s back, making his skin prickle with cold.

“Uh…” The momentum Jian Chengxi had just gathered to scold him vanished instantly. His eyes darted about, a sheepish smile creeping onto his face as he muttered softly, “If I said… this was all a misunderstanding, would you believe me?”