"Su Lang."
Lin Zhilan didn't know when she'd woken up. She was lying on her side, propping her head up with one hand, her gaze a little unfocused.
Her eyes landed on Su Li, who was in Su Lang’s arms, and she asked, confused, "Who are you holding?"
Su Lang could tell at a glance that she was drunk.
He put Su Li down on the bed, and Su Li scurried over to his mother. "Mommy, it's me, Li Bao."
Lin Zhilan opened her eyes and pinched his chubby little cheek. "I know now—you're the Loudspeaker Spirit."
Su Li patted his belly. "I'm the Naughty Naughty Spirit!"
"Naughty Naughty Spirit," Su Lang repeated, mimicking his son's baby talk. "You need to go to sleep now."
Su Li quickly burrowed into Lin Zhilan's blankets, closed his eyes with exaggerated effort, and said, "I'm asleep now."
Lin Zhilan looked down at the round little head in her arms.
When Su Li was quiet, he was deceptively cute.
The little guy was nestled in the bedding, his eyes tightly shut, his lashes fluttering slightly, casting a faint shadow on his lower eyelids.
His nose was small and round, and his cheeks were still soft and puffy with baby fat, like a little milk bean.
Both kids came from the same mother's belly, and Lin Zhilan could even see a hint of Linlin when she was little in his features.
Su Li was rarely this well-behaved, and Lin Zhilan's maternal heart swelled. She couldn’t help but plant a kiss on his cheek. "How can you be this adorable?"
Su Li couldn't keep up the pretense of sleeping anymore. He opened his eyes and rested his chin on his little hand. "Mommy is adorable too."
Mother and son were busy showering each other with affection, completely ignoring Su Lang, who had been running around like a servant for his son just moments ago.
Su Li was full of restless energy, and the moment Lin Zhilan went along with him, he was like a little puppy, wriggling and squirming all over her.
Lin Zhilan was lying at the very edge of the bed, half her body dangling off. On top of that, she was drunk and completely weak.
With him squirming like that, she slipped right off the edge of the bed and landed straight on the floor.
Lin Zhilan was completely stunned.
Su Li was stunned too, his eyes wide as saucers.
"Su Lang..." Lin Zhilan was almost in tears.
Su Lang rushed over in three big strides, bent down, wrapped one arm around Lin Zhilan's waist, and scooped her up with the other hand supporting her legs.
"Did you hurt yourself?"
Lin Zhilan wrapped her arms around his neck. A mix of drunkenness and embarrassment made her eyes look dewy and soft. "My butt hurts!"
Su Lang instinctively rubbed her bottom for her. Lin Zhilan smacked his hand away hard, her eyes both angry and amused. "You lecher!"
Su Lang let out a wry laugh, his Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and the tips of his ears turned red right down to the roots.
Su Li, not to be outdone, insisted on squeezing between his parents, protesting, "Daddy is a lecher!"
Lin Zhilan poked his forehead. "And you’re a little rascal, too!"
Su Li tilted his head back and grabbed her finger. "I'm a Great Egg!"
Su Lang took a deep breath, picked up this "egg" with one hand, and set him aside, then focused his attention entirely on comforting his wife.
When Lin Zhilan was drunk, her usual cool, aloof demeanor vanished. She leaned against Su Lang's shoulder, acting spoiled, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, mumbling incoherently into the hollow of his neck.
Su Lang's heart melted into a puddle of tenderness. He patted her back soothingly, catching this rare glimpse of her childlike side.
Since Mom and Dad weren't paying him any attention, Su Li simply found ways to make his own presence known.
After rolling around on the bed out of boredom for a while, he started doing somersaults.
His form was surprisingly perfect.
He’d stick his butt up first, plant his head on the bedsheet, give a kick with his legs, and flip right over.
The bed wasn’t that big, and after a few flips, Su Li kicked Lin Zhilan in the arm again.
It had taken her a while to calm down, and now she was furious again.
"Su Lang, control your son!"
Su Lang patted her back. "Alright, alright. Let me put you down first. Can you try to sleep now?"
Lin Zhilan looked out the window at the sky, then stared blankly at Su Lang. "Didn’t you take the kid out for a run today?"
Su Lang chuckled. His wife was too far gone in her drunken haze.
Ever since Su Li had learned to walk, he no longer needed evening walks.
Lin Zhilan pushed him gently. "Go on, take the kid out!"
Su Lang had no choice. He sat her down steadily on the bed, tucked her under the covers, and only then turned his attention to dealing with the little troublemaker.
"Su Li, it’s time for bed."
Su Li was lying on his stomach with his butt in the air, about to kick off...
When Su Lang grabbed his feet.
"Daddy!"
Su Lang: "Are you going to sleep or not?"
Su Li burst out laughing. "Daddy, that was fun!"
"..."
Earlier, before dinner, Su Lang had been lamenting how fast Jiang Chengzhou was growing up. Now he found himself worrying that Su Li was taking too long to grow.
The boy was still so full of energy—there was no way he was going to fall asleep.
Su Lang helped him put his clothes back on, tucked him under his arm, and headed outside.
Once they were in the yard, Su Lang set him down on the steps. "See? The sky is already this dark. If you don't want to sleep, what do you want to do?"
Su Li bounced on his tiptoes. "I want to fly."
Su Lang pressed his hand to his forehead, resigned, and picked Su Li back up. He grabbed the boy's soft, undeveloped "wings" and began spinning him in a steady, circular path—a fixed-axis periodic angular displacement motion—across the yard.
"Gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah..."
Anyone listening would have thought the family was keeping ducks.
The second-floor window pushed open. Jiang Chengzhou poked his head out, frowning as he looked down.
Seeing his uncle "spinning" Su Li around the yard, the corner of Jiang Chengzhou's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
In another room, Su Jue and Deng Jing’s minds were racing, neither of them able to sleep, either.
When they heard the laughter from the yard, they couldn't help but sit up.
Su Jue put on his jacket and shoes. "You stay put. I'll go out and take a look."
"No, I’ll come with you."
The father and son were still spinning in circles out in the yard. Deng Jing watched for a moment, then her lips curled into a small smile. "It’s like watching a movie at Xiao Lang's house every day—new drama every single time."
Su Jue smiled too. "If you like it, we can come back for winter and summer vacations from now on."
Su Jue could tell that both daughters loved the atmosphere here, and Deng Jing did too.
This time, he used the word "we," and Deng Jing was quiet for a moment before softly humming in agreement.
Su Li was still "flying."
After watching for a while, Deng Jing finally caught on. She tugged at Su Jue's sleeve. "Tell Xiao Lang to take a break. The poor kid's going to get dizzy."
Just as Su Jue was about to call out to Su Lang, Su Lang figured he'd had enough and came to a stop.
He put Su Li down.
The moment Su Li's feet touched the ground, his body couldn't help but tilt sideways as he stumbled a few steps.
Su Lang steadied him. "Had enough fun now?"
"Bleh..." Su Li dry-heaved, still stumbling, and quickly grabbed hold of Su Lang's thigh. "Daddy, let's play again."
Su Lang: "..."
He was starting to suspect his son was some kind of monster.
His mischievousness was practically unheard of!
"Enough. Now it's big brother’s turn." Su Lang raised an eyebrow and waved upstairs. "Chengzhou, come down."
The moment Jiang Chengzhou saw his uncle looking up, he quickly pulled his head back in, but he’d already been spotted.
He rested his chin on the windowsill and yawned. "What do you want?"
