◎System Uncle Disappeared (Part 2)◎
Has it changed?
Yes, it has.
But the people haven’t.
"Nothing’s changed," Le Qing murmured, gazing at the kites streaking across the sky, their edges gilded by the fading sunlight. "Nothing’s changed."
She had buried her five-year-old self here—in this place where she first dared to hope for the future. And now, she would set out from here again, toward a future filled with people.
As she emptied the clay jar and shattered it against the ground, Le Yang’s amused voice suddenly called from behind her: "Le Qing."
"Hmm?" Le Qing instinctively reached out to stop her, worried she might step on the broken shards.
But before she could, cold fingers wrapped around her hand.
Le Qing froze, turning to meet a pair of eyes—bright, shimmering with laughter, no longer vacant like before. Now, they glistened with unshed tears, reflecting her own image clearly.
"Jie," Le Qing waved a hand in front of her sister’s face. "How…?"
This time, Le Yang didn’t fumble blindly. Instead, her fingers traced Le Qing’s features with certainty. After a long pause, she finally spoke: "This is how it should be."
In her heart, her doll-like little sister had always been meant to grow up like this—still pure, untouched by the world.
"But you said it wasn’t enough yet?" Le Qing stammered, suddenly flustered. "Why so sudden?"
Unbeknownst to her, their second uncle, Jiang Heling, had already rushed back from the northwest after the incident and brought the two children back to the Jiang Mansion, where he was now looking after them.
According to the video editor, the kids had been posting short clips frequently lately. Drawing from his years of observing internet trends, Jiang Heling decided to impart his wisdom.
"Just because something is interesting doesn’t guarantee high engagement," he lectured while pouring money into boosting their visibility. "What you need is repeat viewers—people who keep coming back. How? By hooking their curiosity and leaving them wanting more."
The two little ones sat obediently, hands tucked behind their backs like they were in kindergarten. They didn’t quite understand, but it sounded impressive.
"Hook!" Little Le Jia raised his hand. "Like fishing?"
"Exactly." Jiang Heling opened their video account and started a livestream. "Do you know how many hearts some people get in a single broadcast?"
The kids shook their heads.
But within moments, their followers flooded the chat.
[Look what I caught!]
[Is that the playroom bigger than my entire apartment?]
[First time seeing someone build an amusement park at home. Smiling through the pain :)]
[What’s going on? A lesson? Where are the pretty aunt and mom? Who’s this?]
Feeling the "achievement points" for their mother’s eyes rapidly climbing in his little brain, Little Le Jia excitedly announced, "Second Grandpa, we got a lot!"
"This is just the beginning," Jiang Heling declared, flexing his financial power in the livestream. Within five minutes, he catapulted them to the top of the rankings, drawing even more viewers. "Now we’re really getting started."
Hah. Jiang Suizhi? Jiang Hechang?
None of them could match him in the world of social media.
With too much time on his hands over the years, he’d practically lived on short-video platforms.
And this was just the basics—real influencers had teams manipulating data behind the scenes. But for the kids, having fun was enough. No need for fake metrics.
Still, he wasn’t entirely sure what netizens loved about toddler content.
Jiang Heling stroked his chin. "Now, think—what do people want to see? What are they curious about?"
Little Le Jia and An'an exchanged glances.
How would they know what strangers wanted?
But they knew what they wanted.
Little Le Jia answered seriously, "We wanna know when Uncle will kiss Auntie."
After spying with System Uncle and Mom so many times, they still hadn’t seen it happen.
It was agonizing.
Jiang Heling: "..."
What nonsense had that brat been filling their heads with?
Before he could scold them, the chat exploded.
[We wanna know too!]
[Can you livestream the kiss when it happens?]
[Wait, they haven’t kissed yet? After how smooth he was that day, I thought they were already together!]
"Not happening," Jiang Heling scoffed. "That boy doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body."
None of their men knew how to keep a wife.
The two kids leaned toward the screen, their limited literacy making the scrolling comments indecipherable.
But after Jiang Heling translated, Little Le Jia eagerly volunteered, "I can tell stories! Let me tell you everyone’s story!"
Admittedly, Jiang Heling was curious about how Jiang Suizhi even functioned in a relationship. Plus, turning this into a serialized drama was a surefire way to keep viewers hooked!
So while Le Qing and Jiang Suizhi were still on their way back, oblivious to their impending exposure, Little Le Jia was already dramatically reenacting the "Wife in Danger, Return Immediately" scene at the Jiang Mansion.
"Wait." An'an suddenly frowned at an unfamiliar term.
Since no one in their family had a "wife," she asked, "Gege, what’s a wife?"
Little Le Jia tilted his head. "The grandma in your head? But Auntie isn’t a grandma… Maybe it means Auntie lives in Uncle’s head!"
[Honestly, that’s not wrong.]
[Not just his head—his heart too!]
"Hold on." Jiang Heling cracked sunflower seeds. "If you don’t know what ‘wife’ means, why were you using it on the phone?"
Little Le Jia fiddled with his fingers. "Another uncle said it."
[And then? Then what? Show us how the CEO deals with love rivals!]
"Then?" Little Le Jia scrunched his nose. "We left first. Uncle stayed behind and didn’t come back for ages. Auntie went to get him."
He and An'an exchanged mischievous grins.
"When the elevator opened—WOW!" Little Le Jia gestured wildly. "Uncle and Auntie were squished together, heads touching, like they were kissing!"
"Nuh-uh," An'an corrected. "Uncle said, ‘It’s not impossible.’ They didn’t kiss yet."
[HAHAHAHA CEO Jiang, do you know your nephews have exposed all your secrets?]
[LOL, never thought I’d ship a couple through kids’ commentary.]
"Aiyo…" Little Sister Treasure propped her chin on her hands and sighed. "Uncle can’t kiss Auntie. He doesn’t even have a mouth."
He always made his little sister speak for him.
Jiang Heling nodded. "Agreed. Who’d even like your uncle?"
"Not necessarily," Little Le Jia still stood on his uncle's side. "If it's really, really like, then it's okay."
"Alright then." Jiang Heling put down the sunflower seeds and grabbed a box of chocolates from the snack shelf, dividing them evenly into three portions in front of himself and the kids. "Let's make a bet. If he succeeds, my and Little Sister Treasure’s chocolates are yours. If he fails, I’ll buy you any chocolate you want in the future—without Mom and Auntie knowing."
Mom and Auntie strictly controlled their daily snack intake, especially chocolates.
Little Sister Treasure couldn’t quite grasp the math and just stared blankly at her brother.
But Little Le Jia thought hard for a while. "But these chocolates are already ours."
Why should they have to share with Second Grandpa?!
Great-Grandpa and Grandpa also secretly bought them lots of snacks.
Jiang Heling flicked his forehead. "Just like your dad, huh? So, do you agree or not?"
Even so, Little Le Jia decided he had to show his full support for his uncle. He believed the great hero could do anything. "Deal!"
"Second Grandpa is definitely going to lose!" He jumped up and made a cheering gesture. "Uncle will definitely kiss Auntie!"
Just then, Le Qing walked in.
Seeing Second Uncle sitting with the kids and the live-streaming phone in front of them, Le Qing steadied herself and calmly closed the door. "I’ll go back first."
Let them fend for themselves—they could walk to kindergarten!
Meanwhile, Jiang Suizhi reopened the door behind her and raised an eyebrow. "What’s the bet?"
"Uncle!" The two kids immediately bounced up. "Uncle’s back!"
Jiang Heling hurriedly tried to hide the chocolates, afraid he’d be banished back to the northwest the moment he returned.
But Jiang Suizhi had already noticed.
Pleased by Jiang Yan’s kid’s words for once, he smirked. "Count me in?"
Little Le Jia blinked. "Count you in for what?"
Jiang Suizhi pulled out the sealed cookies from his pocket—the ones Le Qing had packed yesterday that the kids had refused to eat, so he’d taken them all. He always carried some with him.
"If I succeed," Jiang Suizhi dropped the cookies into Little Le Jia’s hood, "the cookies are yours. If I fail, Auntie is mine."
"???"
Little Le Jia yanked his hood over his head, and the cookies tumbled down his forehead.
"Uncle, you can’t bite the hand that feeds you!" The only idiom he’d learned from Uncle Lin came in handy again. "I was the one supporting you!"
"Second Grandpa," Little Sister Treasure counted on her fingers but still couldn’t figure it out. "An'an thinks… this isn’t right."
"Of course it’s not right," Jiang Heling scoffed. "Some people take everything they can get."
What did a single man know? Jiang Suizhi ignored him and turned to the person hiding behind the door with a charming smile. "Auntie wouldn’t let me lose, right?"
Le Qing, her face burning red after realizing why the kids’ livestream had suddenly blown up, snapped, "Go turn off the stream."
Le Yang’s eyes had healed.
But she felt like she might need to quit the internet.
Ever since taking care of the kids, she’d been humiliated more and more.
This time, she’d been publicly embarrassed on the trending list. From now on, she swore she’d never appear in the kids’ videos again.
Everything was Jiang Suizhi’s fault—and he had the nerve to egg it on.
[Don’t turn it off! No! Let me see if the person behind the door agrees!]
Jiang Suizhi’s finger hovered over the "end stream" button as he raised an eyebrow. "Not refusing means agreeing. Those cookies are as good as yours."
With that, he abruptly ended the livestream.
Leaving the audience staring blankly at their screens.
[Damn it! What kind of rogue logic is that?!]
[Fine, you’ve got my attention. I’ll follow—just make sure to notify me next time!]
Plenty of people rushed to the video’s comment section.
[Kid, next time you catch Uncle and Auntie kissing, make sure to record it!]
[Ugh, when will this comment section support voice messages? My kid can’t even read yet!]
[Wait, besides Auntie and Uncle, where’s Dad? We’ve got Mom but no Dad!]
[I want to ship the parents’ love story too!]
While the internet buzzed with excitement, the Jiang Mansion was no less lively.
Upon hearing that Le Yang’s eyes had suddenly recovered, the elders didn’t overthink it. They had considered taking her for a checkup once life settled down.
They didn’t fully understand the cause of her blindness, assuming it was psychological—like selective mutism—and that resolving her emotional burdens had helped heal her.
If not for his son’s warning glare, Jiang Hechang would’ve dug out the leftover party lights from storage to celebrate.
So unromantic.
That brat used up all his emotional intelligence on Le Qing.
Jiang Hechang glanced at Le Qing, who kept her head down, and then at his youngest son glued to her side.
He swallowed his complaints.
Looking at it another way—if he really managed to win her over, then Le Qing would be his child too.
As for Le Yang… He sighed inwardly as he watched the girl holding the children.
Meanwhile, Little Le Jia, nestled in his mother’s arms, suddenly realized the progress bar System Uncle had given him was full—and hadn’t updated further.
"Uncle!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Did you see? Mom’s eyes are better now!"
From now on, he’d livestream every day and tell everyone about Uncle and Auntie’s story. That way, more people would love their family—and System Uncle could come back!
But after calling out several times, the uncle who’d recently been chatting with him daily—who’d said he loved Mom—didn’t respond.
Little Le Jia froze. "System Uncle?"
Each call went unanswered.
It was time for Uncle to tally his achievement points. Why wasn’t he saying anything?
Panic surged in Little Le Jia as he grabbed his mother’s hand. "Mom, Uncle is gone!"
Le Yang’s smile faltered.
Le Qing and Jiang Suizhi both turned to look.
"What’s gone?" Jiang Suizhi asked.
"Uncle." Little Le Jia pointed to his head. "Uncle didn’t talk to me today."
Uncle had taught him to be a polite child who never ignored others.
So Uncle wouldn’t ignore him without reason.
He must be gone.
Le Qing instinctively checked Le Yang’s reaction.
The worst-case scenario they’d all silently prepared for—the one Le Yang herself had warned about—was unfolding now.
But Le Yang only spaced out for a few seconds before suddenly looking at her daughter.
"An'an," she said softly, meeting Little Sister Treasure’s eyes. "Look at Mom."
She fought to keep the fear out of her voice. "Can you see what Mom’s thinking right now?"
Little Sister Treasure didn’t quite understand but obediently stared into her mother’s eyes.
One second passed. Two.
Puzzled, she said, "Mom isn’t thinking about anything."
In the blink of an eye, Le Qing also stood up and walked over to Little Sister Treasure, gently turning her shoulders to face him: "What about Auntie? Can you see what Auntie is thinking?"
Little Sister Treasure shook her head blankly.
Whether it was Auntie or Mommy, she couldn’t seem to hear the words in their hearts anymore.
The ability to read minds had never been a blessing for Little Sister Treasure. Ever since she became aware of it, she had been afraid to look into people’s eyes—terrified, even.
But to ensure she and her brother could grow up safely, she often forced herself to try.
Her brother always called her silly, saying she didn’t like talking to outsiders. The truth was, she hated looking into strangers’ eyes. There were too many things and emotions in adults’ gazes that she couldn’t understand.
That was until she met Auntie. Every time she saw her, she could feel how important she was through Auntie’s thoughts, and she could sense Auntie’s love.
So An'an loved looking into Auntie’s eyes. Under her influence, she also learned to bravely meet the gazes of Uncle and Grandpa.
She grew to love looking at everyone.
But the love from her family wasn’t just something she could see—she could feel it too. So whether she could read minds or not didn’t matter to her. In fact, she was almost relieved.
"An'an, can’t you see anymore?" she asked softly.
Le Yang, however, had a bold suspicion. She suppressed the slight tremble in her voice: "It’s okay. From now on, Mommy will be your eyes."
"An'an isn’t sad," Little Le An'an murmured, hesitating as if she wanted to say more but felt guilty. Finally, she turned a solemn gaze toward Uncle.
"Uncle, An'an can’t see anymore," she said, grabbing his hand. "I can’t be your voice anymore!"
Jiang Suizhi: "..."
Little Sister Treasure spoke with grave earnestness: "From now on, Uncle will have to learn to say ‘I like Auntie’ on his own."
Le Qing: "..."
Well, it was good she couldn’t see anymore.
At least she wouldn’t keep spouting nonsense with Jiang Suizhi.
"Weren’t we talking about Uncle?" Little Le Jia tugged at his mother’s sleeve. "What’s wrong with Sister’s eyes?"
Le Yang patted his head gently. "That wasn’t Uncle," she said, her lips curving into a smile. "That was Daddy. He’s been protecting you all along."
Daddy?
The two little ones’ eyes widened like saucers.
Daddy was supposed to be a person—how could he be System Uncle?!
No, Daddy was someone as close as Mommy. Daddy wouldn’t just disappear!
Little Le Jia still couldn’t quite grasp it. "Who is Daddy?"
"That one," Jiang Suizhi pointed at the enormous, still-lighted memorial photo hanging on the wall.
Originally, it was supposed to be taken down along with the other decorations, but Jiang Suizhi later thought Jiang Yan might secretly enjoy seeing it, so he mercifully left it up.
Even now, every night, that memorial photo emitted a dazzling, multicolored glow.
"That’s..." Little Le An'an blinked. She remembered this man—Auntie and Uncle had taken her and her brother to his grave once.
Her brother had even said An'an looked a lot like him.
"Uncle’s older brother," Little Le An'an murmured, touching her face before covering her head.
Her brain was about to short-circuit. This was too much to process.
"But Uncle’s brother is sleeping in the graveyard, isn’t he?"
The little ones didn’t yet fully understand death. After all, no one around them had ever died, and no one had ever explained it to them.
"No, he didn’t tell you?" Le Yang said slowly. "He’s different from other people."
"He did!" Little Le Jia exclaimed excitedly. "He told us lots of times!"
Le Qing was stunned. Had their bond reached such a level that they could anticipate each other’s thoughts and actions?
Jiang Suizhi caught her expression and smirked.
What was so impressive about that? Just typical couple antics.
Leaning close to Le Qing’s ear, he whispered, "We’ll have that too."
Le Qing paused. "Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself?"
Already planning your own progress, huh?
"The kids just bet a few chocolates," Jiang Suizhi chuckled. "I bet a person. I don’t want to lose."
Seeing his confident demeanor, Le Qing couldn’t resist retorting, "Gamblers never end well."
"True," Jiang Suizhi admitted. "But it all depends on the dealer’s call."
"Uncle," An'an tugged at his sleeve disapprovingly as he leaned toward Auntie again. "Mommy’s talking about Daddy. It’s important. Uncle can’t just think about kissing."
That was Uncle’s brother, after all!
An'an would never ignore her brother just for kisses.
Le Qing couldn’t help but laugh behind her hand.
"Don’t worry," Jiang Suizhi clicked his tongue. "Your dad’s like a stubborn sticker. As long as your mom’s here, he’ll definitely come back."
At first, there had been some worry.
But now that Le Yang’s eyes had healed, Little Sister Treasure had lost her mind-reading ability.
The children’s skills weren’t innate gifts—they were the ways their parents had protected them.
So if her brother could no longer interact with Jiang Yan, it meant Jiang Yan was already waiting somewhere, biding his time until the day he could reappear before them.
"Yes," Le Yang nodded, her voice firm. "He didn’t disappear. He’ll come back."
