BXBX NOVEL Chapter 604 - Subtle Influence (2)
Chapter 604: Subtle Influence (2)
Ever since they returned from Su He’s house, Joy occasionally experienced his mind wandering all over the place. At first, Zhao Youlin did not notice anything was wrong. However, as time passed, Joy sometimes appeared to be in a daze while staring at Zhao Youlin. He wanted to say something, yet he could not bring himself to say it.
One day, Joy could no longer hold himself back. He tugged at Zhao Youlin’s arm and asked, “Mother, when are we going to pay a visit to Dudu?”
Zhao Youlin was stunned upon hearing Joy’s words. She exchanged glances with Mu Tingfeng before she squatted down and asked, “Joy, do you want to play with Dudu?”
Joy hesitated for a while before he gave a nod.
Zhao Youlin smiled. She then turned her head around and asked Mu Tingfeng to contact Su Qing. Zhao Youlin had Mu Tingfeng ask when Su Qing and Song Yi were available so that she could bring Joy to their home and pay a visit to Dudu.
Su Qing nearly started crying when she received Mu Tingfeng’s call. Her son had been acting as if he was under some sort of spell. Ever since the day Joy played with Dudu at the Su family’s villa, her son had been throwing tantrums at them daily.
She had taken the bulk of his tantrums. Perhaps it was because Su Qing was the “bad guy” who had separated him from Joy, and so, Dudu then harbored ill will toward her. For several days, the child immediately burst into tears whenever she drew herself slightly closer to him, and he cried even more when she hugged him.
Dudu was only a child less than one year of age. How could he be so petty over things like this? Wouldn’t he become worse when he grew older?
Due to consecutive days of temper tantrums, Su Qing felt as if she was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
As such, when Zhao Youlin and Mu Tingfeng took the initiative to bring Joy over to play with Dudu, Su Qing felt as if they were extending help to her when she needed it the most.
Su Qing could not be more happy than this. How could she possibly refuse them?
Su Qing immediately told them that they were free at any time, and Zhao Youlin could bring Joy over whenever she desired.
After Mu Tingfeng and Zhao Youlin noticed that Su Qing did not sound like she was inviting them over out of mere courtesy, they discussed for a while before deciding to take Joy to the Song family’s villa on that very weekend.
The moment Dudu saw Joy, he stuck to Joy like glue, as if Joy was his long-lost brother. When Su Qing saw this, she covered her face and could not bear to watch the sight any longer.
Zhao Youlin and Mu Tingfeng, on the other hand, were happy to see this. They reminded Joy to take good care of Dudu before they went their separate ways.
Su Qing was free. She grabbed Zhao Youlin and began to grumble up a storm, “Sob… I wonder where Dudu got this trait from. He is so young, but he is already causing his parents problems. He’ll get naughtier as he gets older!”
She cast an aggrieved glance at Joy, who was behaving like a small adult, while speaking out of sheer jealousy, “How come Joy is so well-behaved? He’s not at all like my little monkey.”
Zhao Youlin smiled and said in resignation, “If possible, I would rather that Joy be naughty like the other boys. Look at him. Despite acting like a small adult and looking cute, he doesn’t behave like a child. Sometimes, I’m concerned about Joy that he would grow up too quickly and become as stone-faced as his father.”
Su Qing was rendered speechless. She discreetly cast a glance at Mu Tingfeng’s unsmiling face before she gave another glance to the adorable Joy.
If it had not been for the fact that Mu Tingfeng and Joy resembled each other, she would not have believed that they were father and son.
Zhao Youlin cleverly brushed off this topic before they moved on to other topics.
As for the two men, upon seeing their wives and sons having so much fun with each other that they could not care less about them, they went upstairs into the study room. No one knew what they had chatted about. They only appeared once again by the time Zhao Youlin was preparing to go back with Joy.
“What have you chatted about with your cousin-in-law? It took you so long to come down.”
Mu Tingfeng creased his eyebrows, as if he was not quite satisfied with Zhao Youlin’s words. “It’s OUR cousin-in-law.”
Zhao Youlin reflected to herself. ‘This guy is so petty that he’ll even correct this tiny mistake…’
“Fine, fine, fine… He is our cousin-in-law. Could you please tell me why you’ve been chatting with our cousin-in-law for so long?”
Mu Tingfeng quietly stared at Zhao Youlin for some time before he blurted out, “It’s a secret.”
“What secret?”
“Secrets exclusive for men. Do you want to hear it?”
Zhao Youlin instinctively felt that the so-called secrets reserved for men were something dirty. As such, for the sake of her mind, it was best to turn a deaf ear to it.
When Mu Tingfeng saw Zhao Youlin shake her head, the corners of his lips curved upward. He tried to cover up the truth and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to hear what it is?”
When Zhao Youlin saw Mu Tingfeng’s cunning smile, she was convinced that what they had discussed was certainly offensive to her ears, so she quickly shook her head.
“Alright. You requested it.”
Zhao Youlin did not respond to him. She had faith in her own sixth sense.
Unfortunately, this time, a minor error had occurred with her sixth sense. Despite the fact that Mu Tingfeng’s eyes had a hint of cunning, if one looked carefully, one would notice a trace of bone-chilling coldness in his eyes as well.
Since the children were finally able to meet each other, as such, things became more difficult when the adults attempted to separate them again.
The moment Su Qing came close to her son, her son looked at her with his hackles raised. Joy, who was usually well-behaved, also gave her a resentful look.
Su Qing was guilt-ridden under the adorable and innocent children’s stares. For a moment, she suspected if she had done something so heinous that even the gods would not forgive her.
Su Qing drew in a deep breath and tried to reason with the children. “Dudu, Joy’s parents want to go home. Joy is going back with them. Could you please let him go now?”
It would have been better had Su Qing not said anything. The moment she did, Dudu became increasingly grief-stricken. He immediately assumed that Su Qing was about to take away Joy from him, as she had done the previous time. Originally, he held Joy with one hand, and now, he held him with both.
Even with both arms around Joy, Dudu still thought that it was not enough. He sat on the floor and wrapped his legs around Joy. He was determined not to let his mother take Joy away from him again like last time.
Su Qing did not know whether she wanted to laugh or cry when she saw her son acting like a bandit.
Zhao Youlin was amused by the child’s cute behavior. She squatted down and asked Joy, “Joy, we’re going back now. Do you want to stay and accompany Dudu, or do you want to go home with us?”
Right after Zhao Youlin spoke, the crowd focused their attention on the children. All of them had their ears open to hear Joy’s response.
Joy gave a look at Zhao Youlin before he cast another glance at the small child in his arms, who was staring at him with an expectant look in his eyes. He hesitated for some time before he asked warily, “Can I bring Dudu back home?”