DTTM 25

Chapter 25: Daddy Doesn’t Like My Eyes

“Little rabbit, where are you?”

I pretended to wander around the room. Aunt Chun, who was in charge of taking care of Zong Yinzhuo, stood by a cabinet in the corner and kept winking at me. I put my index finger to my lips to signal her to be quiet, and then stood in front of the cabinet.

This was a side cabinet about half the height of a person. I tapped the top of the cabinet back and forth with my fingertips, trying to create a tense and exciting atmosphere. Then I squatted down, waited for a moment, and suddenly pulled open the cabinet door.

“The giant monster has found you!”

Zong Yinzhuo was originally hiding in the closet with his mouth covered. As soon as the closet door opened, he screamed and tried to run away, but I caught him.

“Where are you going to run off to?” I tickled him.

“Hahaha, it tickles so much…” He laughed as he tried to escape, and soon his face turned red from laughing.

Regardless of why this kid suddenly changed his attitude and started getting close to me, it was not a bad thing for me. It was just hide-and-seek; I often played with Wei Jiarui at home. Now it was just a different kid, no difference. Perfect, I could also use the game as an excuse to explore this mansion a bit.

That is……

“Xiao Mitang, are you hot? Do you want some water and rest for a bit?” Lance subtly pushed me aside and used the back of his hand to test the temperature of Zong Yinzhuo’s cheek.

This Lance really was a bit baffling.

To put it bluntly, we were just playing along with Zong Yinzhuo, the emphasis being on the words “playing along.”

We played along however Zong Yinzhuo wanted. Therefore, when the two of us adults were “it,” we both assumed the other didn’t need to hide.

When it wasn’t my turn, I usually sat down, drank some tea, and rested for a while. But when it was my turn to be “it,” Lance didn’t do that.

He followed me wherever I went. Whenever I interacted with Zong Yinzhuo, he couldn’t wait to interrupt. He kept a close eye on me, as if I were some kind of wolf in sheep’s clothing, ready to disembowel Zong Yinzhuo at the slightest opportunity.

“No, it’s my turn to find you! I’ll count to one hundred, and you’d better hide!”

Zong Yinzhuo was having so much fun that he had no intention of resting. He broke free from Lance’s grasp, ran to the wall, turned his back, covered his eyes, and loudly counted, “1, 2, 3…”

I ignored Lance, stood up and walked outside. A moment later, the other person followed me.

I walked faster and faster, and he followed closer and closer. I opened a door on the side of the corridor, slipped inside, and quickly glanced at the room layout, it was a very tidy and clean guest bedroom, fully furnished, and with an ensuite bathroom.

Soon, Lance also arrived.

“What a coincidence, we’ve run into each other again?” I opened the wardrobe and glanced inside. There were no clothes, but there were a few metal triangular hangers.

“I think it would be better if the two of us were together.” Lance looked around the room and pretended to look for a place to hide.

“There are only so many places to hide here. How about I hide in the cabinet and you hide in the bathroom?” I offered.

Lance glanced at the cramped wardrobe, then at the bathroom door, finally nodded, and walked towards the bathroom.

I tapped the metal clothes hanger repeatedly, and as soon as he entered the bathroom, I quickly went over and hung the hanger upside down on the L-shaped lever door handle.

“What are you doing?! Open the door, you bastard! Hey!”

He heard a noise and tried to open the door, but as soon as he turned the doorknob from the inside, the outside handle would vertically jam the clothes hanger, which in turn jammed the door, preventing it from opening normally.

I interlaced my fingers, raised them above my head, stretched, and left the room, leaving behind the still-cursing Lance.

To be absolutely sure, I even used the same trick on the bedroom door handle.

As I turned a corner, I suddenly saw Aunt Chun’s figure not far away. I quickly retreated and hid behind a thick curtain.

“Aunt Chun, they’re not here either! Where did they go? I can’t find them anywhere…” Zong Yinzhuo’s voice gradually approached.

I deliberately moved my foot to let Aunt Chun notice my presence.

“Young Master…” Aunt Chun lowered her voice, probably giving Zong Yinzhuo directions.

The surroundings fell silent for a moment, and then the curtains in front of me were suddenly pulled open, revealing Zong Yinzhuo, who appeared before me like a little tiger baring its teeth and claws.

“Found you!”

I laughed and picked him up from the ground, then took him on a human airplane ride, doing all sorts of exciting things: “How are you so good? Did you cheat? Tell Uncle, okay?”

“I didn’t…” he squealed and laughed, wrapping his arms tightly around me, “I… I found you all by myself!”

Children are amazing. He was so scared of me when we first met, but now, after just a few games of hide-and-seek, he completely trusted me and was no longer wary of me.

After a while of fussing, I carried him to find Lance, not really to find him, of course.

“Daddy said he’s taking me to Xuanpu to see Princess Mama in a few days. Do you know Princess Mama?”

“Princess Mama has many small animals, including ducklings, chicks, and rabbits…”

“My dad is the best dad in the world!”

Zong Yinzhuo was like a chattering little bird, talking non-stop the whole way. I didn’t need to ask him to say anything; he just said everything he could and couldn’t say on his own.

Without warning, a soft, warm little hand gently touched the tail of my left eyebrow. I was startled and looked at Zong Yinzhuo.

What’s wrong?

He touched my eye patch, his high-pitched voice dropping to a low crease: “Daddy said your eye was damaged by a bad guy…”

“…”

I think I know why he suddenly stopped being afraid of me.

“Did Daddy say who the bad guy is?” I asked.

Zong Yinzhuo shook his head. He rubbed his lower eyelid with his fingers, and said, “No. Daddy also said that a bad guy ruined my eyes too. That bad guy is so mean, he ruined all our eyes.”

Looking into those deep brown eyes, I realized that Zong Yanlei might be personifying the disease, attributing Zong Yinzhuo’s physical injuries to an unseen “bad guy” in order to explain his difference to the child.

Now, my “difference” was also attributed by Zong Yanlei to “the actions of a bad guy.” Faced with this common “enemy,” Zong Yinzhuo felt that we were in the same boat and quickly developed a sense of closeness, which made sense.

“Uncle, I have a secret to tell you.” He leaned close to my ear and said in a very low voice, “I know Daddy doesn’t like my eyes. Every time he sees my eyes, he looks like this…” He straightened up and pulled down the corners of his eyes with his little hands, “…so sad.”

Zong Yanlei himself suffered from a genetic disease, so naturally he didn’t want any other children to suffer the same fate. Therefore, although the child wasn’t his, he clearly raised him with great care.

“He doesn’t dislike your eyes, he just… feels sorry for you. Do you know what it means to feel sorry for someone?”

Zong Yinzhuo flapped his thick, silver eyelashes, pressed his hands together against his chest, and tilted his head: “Does it hurt your heart?”

I gently flicked his nose: “It’s because he loves you so much that he can’t bear to see you get hurt in the slightest.”

Before I knew it, I was carrying him back to the same reception room we had started in. The male servant guarding the door saw us return and quickly opened the door for us.

“Since you love playing hide-and-seek so much, next time I’ll bring an older brother to play with you. You two will definitely get along well…”

Footsteps and voices stopped simultaneously. Inside the reception room, sunlight streamed in warmly through the entire wall of transparent glass. Zong Yanlei’s tall figure stood before the coffee table, holding the bouquet of flowers I had brought him. He gently lowered his head to smell them, his smile almost blending into the sunlight.

“Daddy!”

Zong Yinzhuo twisted his body, trying to get down, but as soon as I put him down, he rushed over and pounced on Zong Yanlei.

“Daddy, you’re finally awake.” He looked up and reached out his hands to Zong Yanlei quite naturally.

Upon seeing him, Zong Yanlei’s smile deepened: “Good morning, Xiao Mitang…” he said, bending down to pick up Zong Yinzhuo from the ground.

“Did you greet the guests properly today?” He was still holding the flowers I had given him, and as he spoke, he looked at me.

“Yes!” Zong Yinzhuo answered loudly and confidently, “I greeted them properly, and I even… I invited Uncle and Lance to play hide-and-seek together!”

Upon hearing Lance’s name, Zong Yanlei frowned slightly and looked behind me.

“Where’s Lance?” He walked closer to me.

I shrugged, about to distance myself from the situation and say I didn’t know, when a panicked voice came from the corridor.

“Mr. Lance, please calm down… Please calm down, this might be a misunderstanding!”

Before he could finish speaking, Lance stormed in aggressively.

“You despicable wretch!” He locked his gaze on me, grabbed my collar, and raised his fist to punch me.

“Stop!”

It seemed that Lance hadn’t seen Zong Yanlei, because he paused upon hearing his voice. I seized this fleeting opportunity, grabbed his arm, and twisted his hand behind his back.

Lance let out a painful groan and tried to struggle, but I shoved him against the wall.

“You-you let me go!”

“Don’t get so angry. What did I do to you?” I pinned him down from behind to stop him from moving.

On the other side, Zong Yanlei handed the frightened Zong Yinzhuo to Aunt Chun, who took him away from the reception room. Then he picked up the fallen bouquet from the floor and put it back on the coffee table.

“Do you know what you’re doing, Lance? During the race, you attacked another navigator from another team without provocation. I can file a complaint with the referee committee and request a suspension.” Zong Yanlei raised his hand, signaling me to release Lance.

I loosened my grip, took a few steps back, and hid behind Zong Yanlei.

Lance turned around, clutching his shoulder. The fierce look on his face was gone, replaced by a pitiful expression.

“Mr. Zong, this lowly commoner is far too dangerous. We absolutely cannot let him stay with Xiao… young master. Haven’t you seen those videos online of him beating people? He’s a complete violent maniac; he’ll definitely cause you trouble…”

“He deserved it.”

Lance was taken aback, staring at Zong Yanlei in astonishment: “W-what?”

“The person who got beaten deserved it,” Zong Yanlei said coolly. “And if we’re talking about ‘violence,’ perhaps what you just did in front of my child is what qualifies as violence?”

“I……”

“If the doctor hadn’t told me to avoid strenuous exercise during this period, your ribs would probably all be broken. You should thank my doctor properly.” After saying that, Zong Yanlei raised his long arm and pointed directly at the door. “Now, get out and disappear from my sight immediately.”

From my angle, I can’t see Zong Yanlei’s expression, but judging from Lance’s cowering reaction, it must be terrifying.

“If you continue to harass me, I don’t mind uploading those recordings of you offering yourself to me and pestering me relentlessly to the internet.”

Lance’s face drained of all color: “You…you recorded it?”

“Get lost.” Zong Yanlei didn’t answer him.

Lance bit his lip, having no other choice, and could only slowly walk out with a embarrassed expression.

I waved to him and mouthed “goodbye”.

He saw it, glared at me resentfully, and quickened his pace to leave.

As I watched his figure disappear through the door, I felt curious.

“You really recorded it?”

“Why did you provoke him for no reason?”

My voice almost overlapped with Zong Yanlei’s.

His brow furrowed slightly, his eyes were filled with impatience, and every feature, even his breathing, seemed strained. I recognized that expression; he was enduring pain.

My gaze slowly moved down to his injured lower left abdomen: “Young Master, did you aggravate your wound?”