Chapter 117.2

Then, one by one, he started taking things out and lining them neatly on the table. “A simulated pulse signal instrument, an atomic clock model, an iris recognition device, a computer-simulated universe concept map, and—and! Ta-da! A simulated binary star system model!!”

The five teachers: “……”

The director team: “……”

The live comments: “……”

The kids: “Wow!!!”

[What even are these?!]

[I… I’ve literally never seen any of them……]

[Uh… yeah. As expected of a kid who lives with a smart housekeeper.]

[Simulated pulse signal… atomic clock model… uh, I already can’t remember the rest… Are kids’ toys all like this now?! Are we even living in the same era?! No—are we even in the same dimension?!]

[I swear I’m seeing a future science guy. He’s 100% gonna be a science guy, right?! The kind who gets obsessed with uncovering the secrets of the universe!]

Yan Xiaoxia launched into it with bright-eyed enthusiasm, rattling off one theory after another like it was nothing. The kids around him went from hyped, to curious, to slowly… blank. Behind them, the five guest teachers all wore the same totally stunned expression the whole time.

Jiang Zhihuo couldn’t stop laughing as he vigorously rubbed his son’s cheeks. “Hahaha! You completely confused the other kids.”

Yan Xiaoxia rubbed at his face where it’d been rubbed red, completely ignoring Daddy now. He burrowed straight into Yan Mu’s arms and declared, all righteous and serious, “I was sharing for real!”

Emma: “Sigh. I told you, they might not necessarily like your toys.”

Jiang Zhihuo and Yan Mu exchanged a look, then both cracked up.

The show kept rolling. After the mood went from cozy to confused, the first real conflict finally happened.

—The kid who’d brought the model accidentally knocked over the clear display box, and the completed build scattered all over the floor in an instant.

The kid froze for a few seconds. Then the moment it hit him that his model was now in pieces—”Waaah!”—he burst into loud sobs.

The guests were all young celebrities, and none of them had actually raised kids before. Yun Xiaoxu had watched Yan Xiaoxia a few times, so he at least had some experience. He immediately crouched down to soothe the kid, while the other guests hurried to pick up the scattered parts.

Yun Xiaoxu: “Don’t cry, don’t cry. We can put it back together.”

But the kid kept bawling, wiping his tears as he tried to talk. “But… my dad and I took so long to finish it. I-I didn’t bring the instruction booklet. I—I don’t know how to build it…”

The teachers were flustered, the live comments were tossing out ideas nonstop, when Yan Xiaoxia calmly pulled out another box and his phone from his backpack, and set them down in front of the model kid. “Small thing. It’s not hard to rebuild. Watch, okay?”

“Emma.” He gave the command. “Scan the model and generate the instructions.”

A mechanical female voice came from the phone. “Received.”

Two minutes later, the box projected a 3D assembly guide, so detailed it marked the exact spot for every single piece.

Staring at the translucent hologram, the kid stopped crying instantly… and even let out a little hiccup.

Everyone nearby—the teachers, the director team: “…holy crap.”

Jiang Zhihuo stared at Yan Xiaoxia. “Since when did you take Emma with you?!”

Snuggled in Yan Mu’s arms, Yan Xiaoxia shifted into an even comfier position. “Papa told me to bring it!”

The Emma Yan Xiaoxia shown on the program was a kids’ version. Back when it was made, it was because Yan Xiaoxia was too little to type, so everything had to be done through voice commands.

And the model that kid brought was a super popular set; there were already tons of guides and instruction files online. Once Emma got the command, she scanned the pieces, automatically went online to search, found the most suitable guide, and mapped out the assembly plan. Technically, it wasn’t hard to handle at all.

It was just that holographic projection tech still hadn’t really made it into regular households yet, so that final moment, using a hologram to show it all, instantly cranked the “wow” factor way up.

And sure enough, just like right now, the screen was basically flooded with “holy crap” and “666.”

With the kids’ version of Emma helping out, the teachers and the other little kids all worked together and finally rebuilt the model. Then the show rolled right into the next stage—the game segment.

The director team announced the first round’s mission.

“Treasure Hunt Hide-and-Seek.”

“Each guest will team up with one child. In the designated area, you’ll dodge the ‘ghost’ chasing you while also hunting down the ‘treasures’ hidden at the mission spots. You’ve got thirty minutes. The team that stays hidden the longest and finds the most ‘treasures’ wins!”

“During the game, the kids are allowed to bring their own props to help them evade pursuit.”

Each guest teacher paired up with a kid. Yun Xiaoxu didn’t hesitate for even a second; he scooped Yan Xiaoxia right up in a hug, shamelessly clinging on like he’d found the ultimate cheat code. “Xiaoxia, treasure hunt hide-and-seek! We used to play this all the time, right? Boss, carry me to victory!!”

The other guest teachers laughed and teased, “What’s that supposed to mean, Teacher Yun? Getting a kid to help you out?”

Yun Xiaoxu: “Don’t freak out later, okay? You’re gonna regret judging people by their age!”

Yan Xiaoxia patted his chest, full of confidence. “With me here, Teacher Yun is definitely gonna win!”

During the card draw, Yan Xiaoxia pulled the “Ghost” identity. Uncle and nephew glanced at each other and shared the same little smile.

The game officially kicked off. The “Ghost” had to stay put, while the other teams got two minutes to run and hide. The camera jumped between different guests and kids—one team even found a “top-secret” hiding spot the crew had designed. The guest basically shoved the kid inside, then turned to the camera and gave a big thumbs-up, confident as anything. “We’ve got this one in the bag!”

Meanwhile, while everyone inside was panicking and hunting for hiding places, the two “Ghosts” waiting outside were completely chilling. Yun Xiaoxu went to the staff and asked for two bananas, peeled them, and handed one to Yan Xiaoxia. One each. Yan Xiaoxia was happily chewing away when he casually reached into his bag again and pulled out a flashlight.

Yun Xiaoxu clapped to get the camera crew’s attention. “Alright, everyone—eyes up. We’re breaking this game in five minutes. The most hardcore anti-meta move in history!” Then he pointed at the air like he was talking to the editor directly. “Gonna have to trouble post-production to add ‘HIGH-ENERGY WARNING AHEAD’ right here later.”

The camera cut over to the other teams. The moment the kids heard the “Ghost” had started moving, they all hugged their “self-defense” props tight—little stools, inflatable spiked clubs, that kind of stuff.

Then the camera cut back to Yan Xiaoxia.

The screen froze.

HIGH—ENERGY—WARNING—AHEAD—

Click. Yan Xiaoxia switched on the flashlight.

And then—light went straight through the wall.

In the blink of an eye, everything inside the room got projected out in holograms: all the furniture, all the obstacles, every treasure drop point… even where the kids were hiding. A full 360-degree rotating display, no dead angles, nothing missed.

Yun Xiaoxu: “Found you! Hold on! I’m gonna drag every single one of them out, one by one!”

A game that was supposed to last thirty minutes… ended in six.

Two minutes for the kids to hide.

Two minutes for Yun Xiaoxu to pick them off one at a time.

Two minutes to sweep up every last “treasure” the crew had hidden.

The production team: “……”

Then the camera cut again—back to the behind-the-scenes moment where the director was chatting with Yan Xiaoxia, while Yun Xiaoxu was in the middle of going in to “catch” people.

“What is that?”

“This?” Yan Xiaoxia shook the flashlight-shaped piece of black tech in his hand. “This is a kids’ version terahertz-wave detector. My first uncle gave it to me for my birthday last year. High frequency, short wavelength, so it can go through walls and scan what’s inside a house. Back when we played hide-and-seek, Papa and Daddy would always confiscate my backpack first!”

The production team: “……”

Live comments: [……]

[What the heck—birthday present is black tech??]

[Diagnosis complete: we are definitely not living in the same world!]

[I can already see it— a new science star is rising!]

[Holy crap, what even is a kids’ terahertz-wave detector? I didn’t even catch the words—I had to rewind just to read the subtitles. He… forget it. I’m not even gonna comment. Let me just leave another holy crap…]

[That’s way too OP—this kid’s starting line in life is straight-up not the same as ours.]

[The director team must be totally brain-dead stunned, hahahahaha, this is actually unreal!]

In the first round, Yun Xiaoxu and Yan Xiaoxia absolutely swept. The other guests, who’d all had their hiding spots exposed, had no clue how those two pulled it off. They asked Yun Xiaoxu, but both of them clammed up and refused to spill a word. So everyone turned, still looking blank, to the director team instead. The director’s forehead was basically stamped with “I’m done,” and he summed it up in four words. “They’re using cheats.”

Round two was archery.

The guests’ scores would decide what supplies and perks their kids could claim.

Yun Xiaoxu was up last. While the other teachers were taking their shots, he was off to the side plotting strategy with Yan Xiaoxia like they were planning a heist. And Yan Xiaoxia even pinned a badge right onto his chest.

One of the other guests finished shooting, turned back, and leaned in. “What’s that?”

Yan Xiaoxia lifted his chin, chest out like a tiny commander. “A lucky badge!”

[Just hearing that name, and you know it’s another piece of black tech.]

[Kinda curious.]

[Curious +1!]

[Seriously, what could be even more high-energy than a kids’ terahertz-wave detector?]

Yun Xiaoxu stepped onto the field and glanced back at Yan Xiaoxia for a signal. And sure enough, Yan Xiaoxia pulled out his kids’ phone again and shouted, “Emma, I want a perfect ten!”

Emma: “Received. Calculating now.”

Ten seconds later, the badge on Yun Xiaoxu’s chest projected out a line.

Emma’s prompt came through. “Based on the shooter’s height, weight, body fat percentage, distance, and estimated wind direction, the optimal shooting force has been calculated. Please draw the bow along the red line, and minimize any distance deviation as much as possible.”

The red line marked the bow’s draw arc and the predicted trajectory. Yun Xiaoxu adjusted himself according to the guide, drew back the string, and—shot!

The arrow sank into the target, the tail end trembling up and down.

Bullseye on the first try—ten rings!!!

From the moment Emma showed up, the whole set had basically been dead silent. The only thing breaking it was Yun Xiaoxu hoisting Yan Xiaoxia up and yelling, “Your daddy’s program is way too OP!! I knew playing games with you meant I’ll never go hungry!!”

The director team: “……”

Watching the episode at home, Jiang Zhihuo blinked. “Since when did Emma have this function?”

Yan Xiaoxia: “Papa made it!”

Jiang Zhihuo immediately turned to Yan Mu.

“It was me.” Yan Mu had just cut up a fruit platter; he handed a piece to Jiang Zhihuo and another to Yan Xiaoxia as he answered. “I checked the director team and planning team’s info. They’ve filmed three similar kids’ variety shows before. Archery, shooting, running, jumping. Those are all standard events.”

Jiang Zhihuo got it right away. “So you basically stuffed the guests’ data, the local wind direction, and all that game-related data into the system… just to give Xiaoxia a straight-up cheat?”

Yan Mu: “Mhm.”

Jiang Zhihuo gave him a thumbs-up, ducking his head as he laughed to himself. “Mhm, no—Yan-ge is still the most insane.”

Yan Mu didn’t even change his expression. Dead serious, he said, “Xiaoxia can’t lose.”

Yan Xiaoxia snorted out a little laugh, then climbed down from the sofa on his own and scooted over to Jiang Zhihuo’s side, nudging him to the right again and again until his two dads were leaning together. Only then did he flop back onto the couch, looking completely satisfied.

After one whole day of games, the production team was basically numb.

Every round, Yan Xiaoxia would casually dig something out of his bag, some piece of black tech nobody had ever heard of, nobody had ever seen, and win like it was nothing. In the end, he took the grand prize for the day: a snack gift bundle. At sunset, he shared it with his new friends. The guest teachers and kids sat in a circle, all cheerful and cozy.

[I’m lying flat and staring at the sky.]

[I don’t even know what to say anymore.]

[I thought I was watching a kids’ variety show… turns out I tuned into the black-tech channel.]

[Can someone calculate the psychological damage area for the other guests and kids?]

[So are kids all this high-energy now? I thought those kid variety shows from a few years ago—where the kids were speaking English—were already unreal. Today just reset my imagination.]

[Seriously, what kind of family raises a kid like this, treating all kinds of black tech like toys?]

The comments were still going crazy when, on-screen, the sky slowly darkened. Then someone called out, “School’s out! Your moms and dads are here to pick you up!”

The kids instantly dropped their snacks and took off, sprinting straight for the kindergarten gate.

The camera cut again. The parents stepped into frame, each one tall, long-legged, dressed sharp and formal. But the production team wanted to save the reveal for the next episode, so they didn’t show anyone’s faces.

The last pair to appear were two men, dress shirts, suit pants, long legs for days. Today’s MVP, Yan Xiaoxia, eyes curving into happy crescents, bolted toward them and shouted, “Papa! Daddy!”

And that was where episode one ended.

[AHHHH what is this?! Tilt the camera up just a little more!! Who are they?!]

[TWO! MEN!]

[With that height, that build, and all the high-tech stuff Yan Xiaoxia pulled out… don’t tell me it’s that couple I’m thinking of??]

[Which couple are you talking about?!]

[The AI-and-data-analyst couple??]

[I can’t guess at all! Am I just not following the news enough? Can you just say their names!!]

[If it’s really them, that’s honestly too high-energy!]

The comments kept speculating like crazy, but the show team didn’t give anything away. If people wanted to know who the parents really were, they’d have to wait for the next episode.

No matter how impatient everyone got… There was nothing to do but wait.

Because Yan Xiaoxia went absolutely god-mode on the show, once this episode of Cute Kids Kindergarten aired, it blew up into a huge discussion online. The heat shot up like crazy, and that night it hit seven or eight trending topics in one go. Out of all of them, #BlackTechKid sat at number one for basically half the night.

…

After the first episode aired, Yan Xiaoxia’s popularity at his own kindergarten skyrocketed, too. That weekend, on the way to his maternal grandparents’ place, he was kicking his little feet up and down in excitement. “Papa, Daddy! I’ve got wives now!”

Yan Mu was driving. Jiang Zhihuo turned around in his seat and asked, “Who is it? Xiao Hua, Xiao Li, Xiao Xing, or Xiao Mei?”

Yan Xiaoxia flashed a super secretive grin. “Hehe! All of them!!”

Yan Mu: “Four wives? They’ll get jealous. How are you planning to arrange that, Xiaoxia?”

“They already arranged it themselves while I was at kindergarten!” Yan Xiaoxia said, all proud. “They’ll take turns being my wife—one per day. Monday is Xiao Hua, Tuesday is Xiao Li, Wednesday is Xiao Xing, Thursday is Xiao Mei. And Friday, Saturday, Sunday are for me to stay with Dad and Daddy… and also enjoy the happiness of being single!”

Kids these days in kindergarten really had endless tricks up their sleeves.

Jiang Zhihuo and Yan Mu looked at each other and couldn’t hold back their laughter.

Yan Xiaoxia was smug and happy the whole way, even saying he was going to introduce his four “wives” to Grandpa and Grandma later.

Every two to three weeks, Jiang Zhihuo and Yan Mu would bring Yan Xiaoxia over to Father Yun and Mother Yun’s place for the weekend. The two professors had retired the year before last, and now they were living that full retirement life, traveling around, fishing, dancing. And once in a while, when Jiang Zhihuo and Yan Mu were really too busy, the professors could also help watch their little grandson.

When they arrived, the two professors already had dinner ready. Yun Xiaoxu was off running to another schedule and couldn’t make it back, so they could only video call. Yan Xiaoxia immediately started showing off again on the call—his four “wives” and all—then even turned around and roasted his own little uncle.

“Hahahaha, Uncle, you’ve never even had a girlfriend! You don’t even get to experience how happy it is to have a wife!”

Yun Xiaoxu was so mad he practically exploded. “Just wait! Next episode, I’m definitely gonna teach you a lesson!!”

Dinner was loud and lively the whole way through.

Over the weekend, the two professors took Yan Xiaoxia out to have fun. Meanwhile, the miserable president and the data analyst didn’t get weekends at all. They still had to go back and work overtime.

And before you knew it, it was time to film again. This time, Yan Mu got pulled into overtime halfway through and had to head back to the studio early. Jiang Zhihuo stayed with Yan Xiaoxia through the rest of the recording, then drove them home.

Emma led Yan Xiaoxia off for a bath, while Jiang Zhihuo sat by the floor-to-ceiling window in a video meeting.

He didn’t turn on the air conditioning.

A hazy evening breeze drifted in through the open glass doors, carrying that May-only locust blossom scent, soft against his cheeks.

The night was perfect, the moonlight just right, stars lying quietly in that half-bright, half-dark sky.

Everything around him was so still that it felt like he could hear the wind brushing over the garden grass.

When Jiang Zhihuo finally ended the call, the whole day had drained him. He’d only meant to close his eyes for a minute, but the breeze was too comfortable. Not long after, he fell asleep.

Fifteen minutes later, Yan Mu opened the front door. He found Jiang Zhihuo asleep on the sofa. Yan Xiaoxia went patter-patter down from upstairs with a blanket, carefully tucked it over Jiang Zhihuo, then climbed onto the sofa as quietly as he could.

Hearing the door, Yan Xiaoxia looked back. He lifted a finger to his lips, pointed at Jiang Zhihuo, and whispered a reminder, “Daddy fell asleep. Papa, you have to be quiet!”

After saying that, he didn’t stop, he kept moving, lifted the blanket, and wriggled underneath it himself, squeezing in close against Daddy with that fresh shower-gel scent still clinging to him.

Yan Mu smiled. He quietly closed the door, walked over, and gently ruffled Yan Xiaoxia’s hair.

“Good night,” Yan Mu whispered.

“Good night, Papa.” Yan Xiaoxia even covered his own eyes on purpose.

Then Yan Mu bent down and pressed a kiss right to the center of Jiang Zhihuo’s forehead.

“Good night, Xiao Zhou.”

—The end.

shae has something to say:

The story has come to an end. Thank you so much, everyone, for reading and giving all your support from the beginning. I really love this story, including the way the characters develop and improved themseleves gradually from one chapter to another.

I’ll be picking up another project soon, which is about ABO, too. Please stay tuned^^