He Stayed When He Didn’t Have To

Xie Yaoyao got his wish and became the Sea King.

That evening, the program team finally acted human and didn’t make the guests cook for themselves.
The director had several grills set up right on the beach, with all the ingredients and seasonings prepared.

A bonfire blazed, reflecting off the sea and the moonlight.

I’ll handle it.
Tang He’an noticed Ning Shixue’s complexion still wasn’t great and told him to go rest.

The original host would have refused out of pride, but Ning Shixue never tortured himself.
He agreed readily.
Thanks, Brother Tang.

Xie Yaoyao, barefoot, ran wild along the shore with Jiang Yu and the others, his face flushed pink.

Every so often, he’d run over to Ning Shixue.
He’d purse his little lips into a trumpet shape and pounce onto Ning Shixue’s back, trying to startle him.

Then Ning Shixue would wordlessly feed him a skewer of meat.
Startled forgotten, he’d lean crookedly in Ning Shixue’s arms, head down, gnawing at his food.

I want this one.
Xie Yaoyao, practically drooling, pointed at the fragrant, crispy grilled fish.

Ning Shixue held him close but remained unmoved.

Xie Yaoyao had finally learned his lesson.
Enduring the humiliation, he said,
Baba, I want eat fish fish.

Only then did Ning Shixue pick out a piece for him, carefully removing the bones before feeding it to him.
He even feigned surprise.
Oh, so I’m your dad?
I had no idea.

“…”

Xie Yaoyao whimpered, resentful but not daring to speak.

–

At 8:30 PM, the guests walked together to the train station.

Xie Yaoyao suddenly tightened his grip on Ning Shixue’s hand.

What?
Ning Shixue asked.

Xie Yaoyao raised his chubby little hand, pointing at the night sky.
His voice was soft and sweet.
I tell you oh, that is the Big Dipper.
You see it, you won’t get lost.

Ning Shixue froze.

He hadn’t expected Xie Yaoyao to still remember that he’d casually lied about not knowing the way.

The director nearby was also surprised.
You recognize that?

Even adults might not be able to pick it out in the night sky.
At best, they’d recognize a star chart in an encyclopedia.

Xie Yaoyao couldn’t articulate the reason.
His face flushed red with effort.
Finally, he said softly,
Because I am Xie Yaoxing!

Fair enough.
Impossible to refute.

He Miaomiao and the others widened their eyes.
The Sea God, Jiang Yu, was temporarily abandoned as they all crowded around Xie Yaoyao.

Yaoyao didi, what other stars are in the sky?
He Miaomiao took his little hand and asked.

Tang Haohao also clamored after him.
Is there Sirius?!

Of course have!
Xie Yaoyao, now inflated with confidence.
Sirius is a white dwarf!
It’s one of the brightest stars you can see with your naked eye!

As he spoke, his little head spun.

Sirius was way more powerful than the Sea King, wasn’t it?

And so, Xie Yaoyao, hands on his chubby waist, declared in his milky voice,
I am Sirius!

Wow! You’re so amazing!

I can also be star?!

Me too!

The little ones praised him in waves.

Even Ji Xiao, lying in Ji Qing’s arms, couldn’t help but blink his big eyes a few times.

Well, stars were just too cool.

Ning Shixue didn’t have the heart to remind him that the Sirius from the movie died in the end.
He raised his hand, unconsciously rubbing the obsidian earring on his right earlobe.
It glinted in the night, a faint, starlike shimmer.

The moonlight overhead was exceptionally bright.

Ning Shixue remembered the night he died.
Humanity had fallen into an eternal polar night.
The whole world was dead silent, everywhere the stench of rotting corpses and the smell of blood.

He lay on the ground, his heart and lungs torn apart, his chest gaping open, half his body soaked in blood.
Looking up, the sky was filled with countless stars, and a crescent moon.

–

Returning that night, Ning Shixue’s sickly body finally gave out completely.
He woke in the middle of the night, stomach pain so intense his whole body trembled.
Xie Yaoyao was terrified, tears welling in his eyes.
Still in his baby pajamas, he ran to find He Lin.

Because Jiejie Miaomiao was the nicest to him.

He Lin quickly threw on a coat and rushed over.
Together with the director, he took Ning Shixue to the village clinic.
After taking medicine and lying down for an IV drip, Ning Shixue’s brow finally relaxed.

Ning Shixue carried a faint scent of medicine, set against skin paler than snow and ice, almost dizzying.

Xie Yaoyao was exhausted.
He curled up beside him, arms around his neck, and fell asleep.

Ning Shixue slept straight through until noon the next day.
The fever finally broke, his stomach no longer hurt.
His eyelashes fluttered as he struggled to open his eyes.
There was Xie Yaoyao, squatting at the foot of the bed, playing with his little airplane, making ‘vroom vroom’ sounds all by himself.

Xie Yaoyao,
Ning Shixue called out, his voice hoarse.

Xie Yaoyao tilted his head, as if he hadn’t recognized who was calling him.
He dazedly lifted his little foot, blinked a few times, then crawled over to Ning Shixue.
Bad Bad!

You’re the bad one,
Ning Shixue said, the corners of his eyes flushed a beautiful red from fever.
Even sick, he wouldn’t give in to the little one.

Xie Yaoyao huffed as he picked up his little bottle and shoved it towards Ning Shixue’s mouth.
Drink water.

Ning Shixue propped himself up against the pillow, unscrewed the little bottle cap, and took a few sips.
Milk powder had been soaked in it a few nights ago, and the water still carried a faint, sweet milky taste.

Why didn’t you go out with the director uncle?
Ning Shixue asked him.

Xie Yaoyao had planned to go, but then thought it was too pitiful for someone sick to have no one to take care of them.
When his mother was sick in the hospital, he stayed by her side every day too.

He might be a bratty child, but he had a special tenderness for people who were ill.
Ning Shixue had him completely figured out.

Ning Shixue almost smiled.

No amount of good looks or bone structure could withstand illness.
The original host had often thrown hysterical tantrums, carrying an unsettling, gloomy aura.
But Ning Shixue was different.

That face was cold, vivid, alluring.
The sicker he got, the more his beauty seemed to radiate from within.
Even the pale, delicate collarbones beneath his hospital gown were strikingly captivating.

[Help, jealousy is making me ugly.
Why does that surnamed Xie get a wife like this?]

[Xie Hanzhou really doesn’t know how to appreciate things.
I remember before, Ning Shixue lay on his bed on set, and he coldly threw him out again.
He’s really not it, is he???
Fans don’t come at me, it’s just a reasonable guess.
Hands clasped.jpg]

[Wifey, I’m a little lamb.
Can you give me grass? lewd.jpg]

[Too cruel, too cruel.
How can you treat a sick person like that!
Might as well include me!!!]

The other guests went off to do tasks, but the director had left several cameras in the sickroom.

After lunch, Xie Yaoyao clamored to watch TV.
He lay on top of the television, looking pitiful.
Television, my Big Daddy inside!

The nurse was laughing uncontrollably.
Your Big Daddy is that amazing?

Then she asked Ning Shixue.
Seeing no objection, she turned on the TV for Xie Yaoyao.
It happened to be a channel replaying He Lin’s film from years ago, Snow Ridge.

Snow Ridge was a suspense film.
The male protagonist was sixteen when he first appeared, climbing a snowy mountain with several classmates.
Unexpectedly, everyone except him died in an avalanche.

But he always suspected it was premeditated murder.

So he enrolled in the police academy, spending nearly thirty years investigating the truth.

Xie Yaoyao was already asleep, but Ning Shixue didn’t change the channel, unsure what he wanted to watch anyway.

Vast snowfields.
The boy’s face was pale, his pupils pitch black.
He buried the frozen corpses before him with his own hands, then walked towards the abyss without looking back.

Ning Shixue watched the entire film with the little one in his arms.

Xie Yaoyao woke groggily.
It was already evening.
He had even forgotten he wanted to find Big Daddy.

Then the director’s team suddenly announced a task: tonight, every child could call their parents.

This was mainly because Tang Haohao had cried so hard the previous night, insisting on going home with his mom.
The director had to appease him.

Ning Shixue picked up some more medicine, then took Xie Yaoyao’s hand and headed back to their lodgings.
Xie Yaoyao’s long eyelashes drooped, his profile fair and soft like a little bun.
He stared at the children’s smartwatch on his wrist but never called Xie Zhaozhou.

Why aren’t you calling?
Ning Shixue asked, half his face buried in his scarf, one eyebrow raised.

Xie Yaoyao pouted and finally lowered his wrist.
Big Daddy, earn money, raise baby.

Ning Shixue squeezed the chubby flesh of his palm and didn’t ask further.

When they got back, all the other little ones except Ji Xiao had already made their calls and were chasing each other around the yard.
The rainwater from the ground hadn’t dried yet; puddles were everywhere.

Ning Shixue assumed Xie Yaoyao was the type of kid who’d immediately run to stomp in puddles at the first sight.

Because what child didn’t love splashing in puddles?

But Xie Yaoyao didn’t go.

Instead, he held Ning Shixue’s fingers timidly.

Aren’t you going to stomp?
Ning Shixue asked.

Grandma say, baby cannot step water,
Xie Yaoyao said hesitantly.

Ning Shixue looked around.

What you looking for?
Xie Yaoyao’s chubby face was full of confusion.

Ning Shixue said with absolute conviction,
‘Your grandma.’

…Why you so dumb,
Xie Yaoyao said, puffing up angrily.
How my grandma be here?

Ning Shixue’s eyes curved.
Exactly.
She’s not here.
Why do you care what she says?

[??? Is he corrupting a child?]

[Corrupting what?
I think he has a point.
It’s just stomping in puddles.
Why can’t they?]

Xie Yaoyao seemed convinced.
He pattered a few steps towards a small puddle.

He tentatively stuck out a little foot.
But Ning Shixue suddenly stomped hard right behind him, splashing water all over his little raincoat and bright yellow rain boots.

Xie Yaoyao immediately launched himself like a little milk dumpling, furiously splashing water at Ning Shixue.

Ning Shixue didn’t hold back either, splashing even more vigorously than him.

He Lin and the others were dumbstruck.

[I don’t even know who’s the dad anymore.]

[What’s wrong with that!
A twenty-something baby wants to stomp in puddles too!!!]

Xie Yaoyao propped his chubby cheeks in his hands and sighed, unnoticed by Ning Shixue.

This bad stepdad was way too childish.
But if he wasn’t humored, he’d cry.
No choice but to play along.