Meeting Liu Li A light grey horse cart with two st.u.r.dy brown horses pulling it slowly traversed the quiet road. An Junyue, wearing a light green scholarly robe, idly leaned against the cart"s door. He didn"t grasp onto the reins at all, allowing the horses to trot on their own.
He retied his messy, wind-blown hair to the back and leisurely read a history book that he bought in the previous town.
An Junyue didn"t want anyone disturbing him so he, without any hesitation, chose to buy this horse cart. The exterior of it was simple enough but the interior was extremely comfortable. An Junyue designed it as a mini bedroom. He had slept in there for the past few days and when he needed to restock his food supply, he headed for the nearest city. As for the remainder of his time, he went wherever the horses led him.
“Being by myself is the best.”
An Junyue revealed a hint of smile, mesmerizing anyone who happened to get a glimpse.
He still couldn"t get used to the hustle and bustle of society and its people. He disliked their greed and warped desires. Moreover, he could not understand man"s concept of love and hate.
Suddenly, a child"s cry rang from afar, breaking his concentration. An Junyue looked towards the forest where the sound resonated.
“I"d better go take a look.”
If it was an adult, he wouldn"t have cared but judging by the sound of this child"s cry, he was very young. If it was an abandoned infant, then…. His Shibo had once rescued him so he could not just pa.s.s by and do nothing.
After securing his horse cart, he searched for the distressed child.
“What do you want?!!”
Liu Li glared at the crying toddler, crawling on the ground not far from him. The toddler was a little over a year old and still didn"t know how to walk. He continued to sob as he crawled towards Liu Li. His face was very adorable and plump, but his big eyes had turned red. Snot and tears mixed together. His blue cotton clothes were smeared with gra.s.s and dirt. There were even some purple-black stains. He struggled to reach Liu Li but without any energy left, he cried even louder.
Liu Li impatiently stomped his feet. How could he have softened his heart for a moment and rescued this little monster?!!
When this little monster had awoken, all he did was cry and cry. Without speaking a word, tears and snot dripped all over Liu Li and he even pulled on his hair. In a fit of rage, he dumped the child on the ground. It wasn"t that Liu Li didn"t pity him. No matter what methods Liu Li used to try to comfort him, they were all futile. He was a fox demon, not a nanny. Besides, he had never even taken care of a baby fox before so how was he supposed to take care of a human child?!
Liu Li"s large, seductive eyes smoldered. What should he do with him?
“Waaaah…. waaah…. Mama…. hic…. Mama.”
“I"m not your mama!!!”
“He"s not your child?”
A gentle and crisp male"s voice suddenly interrupted from behind him. Liu Li turned around and hollered back.
“I"m a man so how can I be his mother?!!”
An Junyue calmly observed the bewitching man in red before him. He was about the same age and extremely attractive, even sensual, with a small oval-shaped face, large captivating eyes, a well-carved nose, bright cherry lips, and black, knee-length hair dancing in the wind.
If these features belonged to a female, then surely, that female would be a one of a kind beauty. If they were on a man, then it would be a bit unfortunate. Nevertheless, An Junyue wasn"t very interested in his appearance. His focus was on the poor child.
Bypa.s.sing Liu Li, An Junyue walked up to the child and picked him up, not caring whether dirt got all over him or not. He took out a handkerchief and cleaned the toddler"s face and arms. After noticing that he had stopped crying, An Junyue pondered and then positioned his index finger by the toddler"s mouth. He sucked on it, creating little bubbles of saliva. An Junyue looked up and faintly smiled at Liu Li.
“He"s just hungry.”
Surprised, Liu Li stared at the man before him. He had completely disregarded his appearance as if it wasn"t anything special. This gentle man with an aura of a fine jade actually ignored his fox spirit"s natural seduction!
“My horse cart is just nearby. Let"s bring him over to get some food, alright?"
An Junyue asked Liu Li politely because the toddler had cried again after realizing that his finger wasn"t edible. He couldn"t a.s.sume anything since he didn"t know what was the relationship between this toddler and the man.
“Fine, as long as you make him stop crying.”
Liu Li quickly agreed after hearing the toddler cry again. His head was about to explode.
Without further ado, An Junyue led them away.
After retrieving some snacks and then mixing them with water until they turned into paste, An Junyue delicately fed the child. He had finally quieted down but after taking several bites, he refused to eat. Instead, he wriggled a bit, reached his hands outward, and called for Liu Li.
Liu Li sat in the cart and with An Junyue"s handkerchief, he busily wiped away the stains on his clothes. Hearing his plea, he ignored him.
The child pouted his lips and cried loudly again, as if he wasn"t going to stop until he got what he wanted.
“Waaaah…. Mama…. Mama…. waaaah!”
“I"M NOT YOUR MAMA!”
Liu Li angrily gripped the handkerchief. Seeing the suspicion in An Junyue"s eyes, he exasperatedly explained.
“I pa.s.sed by a pile of corpses in the mountains and saw that he was still alive so I pulled him out. I don"t know who he is. Those people probably got ma.s.sacred by the mountain bandits since they didn"t have any valuable belongings on them. I only decided to rescue him because he smiled at me.”
An Junyue nodded and asked no more. He was not interested in this child"s background.
“You should still carry him.”
An Junyue placed the stubborn toddler in his arms and Liu Li helplessly gave in. With his mission achieved, the toddler grabbed his hair, started laughing, and then looked at his bowl that laid in An Junyue"s hands.
“He wants you to feed him. Quite clever.”
An Junyue put the spoon in his free hand and Liu Li unwillingly fed the child. Indeed, he obediently ate and gurgled the word “mama” at the same time. An Junyue gently smiled as he held the bowl steady, occasionally wiping the toddler"s mouth.
He liked this child a lot. Meeting him was fate. If he wasn"t this person"s child, then why not adopt him?
As An Junyue contemplated, Liu Li suddenly widened his eyes and threw the spoon back into the bowl. He raised the toddler up high and looked at the warm liquid stain on his red robe. Liu Li thrusted the toddler back into the arms of a stunned An Junyue.
“d.a.m.n little monster!”
An Junyue carefully received the child. He looked at Liu Li pulling apart his robe and then looked again at the child"s wet pants. At that moment, he fell into a daze.
The toddler nestled in his arms comfortably, unafraid, and even giggled.
“Papa… hehe… Papa.”
Liu Li, shocked, exchanged glances with An Junyue and then looked down at the happy toddler, not knowing how to respond next.
Not understanding the thoughts and emotions running through the adults, he continued to giggle joyfully.
“Papa…. Mama….”