The Wrong “Uncle” He Fell For

If anyone in the room didn’t know who ‘Mo Li’ was, they would have been living under a rock.

Mr. and Mrs. Mo knew because Mo Li had saved Mo Xiangtian, and they had interacted with him online. Although Mo Xiangtian had always suspected that Mo Li might be related to them, since Wen Zhaoyan hadn’t said anything, he hadn’t connected Mo Li with Li Chaoci.

But they had always known about Mo Li’s existence—after all, he was very famous online. Some people even joked that he and Xixi were master and disciple.

Li Chaoci knew even more. After his guards had reported back to him, he had learned that someone named Mo Li was likely impersonating him. That was why he had gone online to probe who this Mo Li was.

But Alud had investigated and found nothing except that Mo Li’s login address was at the Mo family villa.

So after leaving the port that day, Li Chaoci had looked into why someone was investigating the Mo family. His findings showed that the Mermaid Association was also looking for Mo Li.

At that moment, Li Chaoci had to admit he was somewhat impressed by this Mo Li. All these powerful forces were searching for him, yet he remained mysterious, seemingly hidden at the Mo family villa but only using it as a decoy. While everyone tore the sanatorium planet apart, he stayed safely in the shadows, watching from a distance.

Now that Wen Zhaoyan had brought up Mo Li, Li Chaoci felt compelled to warn the Mo family. This Mo Li was not to be trusted.

Li Chaoci’s fox-like eyes darkened slightly, his voice carrying a chilling edge. “Whoever this Mo Li is, don’t trust him easily.”

But the moment he spoke against Mo Li, Wen Zhaoyan was the first to object. His brow furrowed, and his dark eyes swept toward Li Chaoci. “Mo Li has never harmed the Mo family.”

On the contrary, Mo Li had often helped them. Wen Zhaoyan was displeased with Li Chaoci’s suspicion of Mo Li.

Li Chaoci sneered. “Do you know his true identity? Do you know his real purpose? Do you even know where he is right now?”

Wen Zhaoyan’s eyes narrowed, layers of dark undercurrents swirling beneath his gaze.

If this had been before today, he could have confidently answered Li Chaoci that although he didn’t know everything about Mo Li’s identity and purpose, he knew the general outline.

But now, he realized he knew almost nothing about Mo Li.

Aside from a name.

He couldn’t find a single word to refute Li Chaoci.

Li Chaoci sneered again. “We know nothing about him. How can you be sure he means no harm to the Mo family?”

He paused, then added with a cold laugh, “And besides, he impersonated me to get close to the little brat and the Mo family. How can you be sure he has no ulterior motives?”

Wen Zhaoyan said with obvious displeasure, “He never claimed to be related to the Mo family. I was the one who assumed he was the little brat’s uncle because they look alike. Your suspicions are baseless.”

Li Chaoci shot back, “If he had no ulterior motives, why would he deliberately create a face so similar to the little brat’s? Isn’t that meant to lower your guard, to make you mistake him for me?”

Wen Zhaoyan replied, “How do you know he deliberately created that face? Perhaps that’s simply what he looks like.”

Li Chaoci said, “Tch. If two people look that similar, either he’s a genetic clone or he’s my sister’s illegitimate child. Which do you think is more likely?”

Wen Zhaoyan’s fondness for Mo Li was genuine, regardless of his identity. Hearing Li Chaoci slander him, a flash of murderous intent appeared in his dark eyes.

The two faced off against each other, the atmosphere growing tense, as if they might come to blows at any moment.

Mo Xiangtian, suddenly caught in the middle, grew anxious. “Don’t say things like that! I have no illegitimate child! I only have one son, my baby. Honey, you have to believe me!”

Seeing that Li Ruo trusted him, Mo Xiangtian breathed a sigh of relief, though his face still showed some annoyance. “What’s wrong with you two? Look at yourselves, full-grown adults, arguing in front of the baby. If you want to argue, do it outside. The baby is still small. What if you scare him? Even if you don’t scare him, what if you teach him bad habits?”

Wen Zhaoyan pressed his lips together and fell silent.

Li Chaoci also chose to shut his mouth.

Seeing they wouldn’t make a sound, Mo Xiangtian spoke earnestly. “Honestly, I think His Highness the Crown Prince is right. Mr. Mo Li is a good person. I don’t think he has any bad intentions toward our family. He even saved my life. If he had bad intentions, why would he save me?”

Besides, he always felt an inexplicable closeness to Mo Li. He didn’t know why, but he was sure Mo Li meant no harm.

It must be because he and the baby looked so much alike.

After saying all this, he turned to his precious son. “Baby, don’t mind them. We should learn to see with our hearts… Baby?”

Mo Bai looked completely dazed. Staring in Wen Zhaoyan’s direction, his big eyes were filled with nothing but confusion and shock.

Wen Zhaoyan noticed something was off with the little brat and frowned. He was about to ask what was wrong when Mo Bai suddenly grabbed his head and rushed into the house.

He must have heard wrong!

Mo Bai thought in a daze.

Wen Zhaoyan couldn’t have been talking about… Mo Li, right?

Mo Li is my fake identity, isn’t it?

Wen Zhaoyan saw that Mo Li looked like him and assumed Mo Li was his uncle?

So, he was mistaken for his own uncle?

Wait, that wasn’t the most important thing.

The most important thing was…

The person Wen Zhaoyan likes… is also Mo Li??

Mo Bai’s scalp tightened. Wen Zhaoyan really liked him?

No way!

Mo Bai looked down at his small body.

Brother, this body of yours is at least three years away from the death penalty for the highest crime!

And this is the interstellar era, with a negative birth rate. Every child is the Empire’s baby. This would probably be even more serious than three years!

And on top of that, he had been encouraging Wen Zhaoyan, telling him his little uncle would definitely like him.

He had sworn that Wen Zhaoyan would definitely win over his little uncle.

Hadn’t all of that been referring to… himself?

Mo Bai: “…”

Mo Bai was mortified.

He had never expected it to turn out like this.

Now he wished he could go back in time and, bit by bit, eat back every word he had said.

Mo Xiangtian thought the little brat was scared. He quickly comforted him. “What’s wrong, baby? Don’t be scared!”

Mo Bai’s gaze was still fixed on Wen Zhaoyan. His milky voice carried a faint tremor. “You… you mean Mo Li…”

Wen Zhaoyan narrowed his eyes. “What do you know?”

Mo Bai’s heart tightened. His body moved faster than his reason, and he quickly shook his head like a rattle. “No! How could I? How could I know anything? I don’t even know who that is!”

Wen Zhaoyan said, “He sang in the singing competition.”

Mo Bai: “…Oh. If that’s what you mean, then I know. That’s the one who taught our Xixi to sing, right?”

Wen Zhaoyan said, “Yes.”

Mo Bai said decisively, “I only know him from the StarNet. We’re not close.”

Not close at all!

Hearing the little brat say this, Wen Zhaoyan also calmed down.

He realized that all the information about Mo Li had come from him, told to the little brat and the Mo couple. They had never met Mo Li, so they naturally didn’t know that the ‘little uncle’ he had mentioned was Mo Li, not Li Chaoci.

He had thought Mo Li was Li Chaoci, and the Mo family had also thought he was talking about Li Chaoci.

And so the misunderstanding was born.

And neither side had noticed anything wrong.

Wen Zhaoyan took a deep breath. His low voice betrayed no emotional fluctuations.

So, you’ve never spoken to him either?”

Mo Bai continued shaking his head like a rattle. “Absolutely not!”

Wen Zhaoyan didn’t think the little brat would lie to him. In his eyes, the little brat was barely over six years old. He wasn’t that complicated.

If the little brat said no, then it was probably no.

That meant the so-called ‘mistaken belief that he liked Mo Li, telling Mo Li about his unrequited love, Mo Li knowing and, because he had feelings for him, being prepared to accept him’—that also didn’t exist.

The little brat had never spoken to Mo Li, so how could he have told Mo Li about the misunderstanding?

Yet he had truly believed that Mo Li had feelings for him and had decided…

Seeing the low pressure surrounding Wen Zhaoyan, Mo Bai asked quietly, “Are you… okay?”

Wen Zhaoyan glanced expressionlessly at the little brat but didn’t speak.

Seeing Wen Zhaoyan’s dark expression, Mo Bai wasn’t foolish enough to ask something like, ‘So the person you like isn’t actually Uncle Li Chaoci, but the fake uncle Mo Li?’

He pretended to be calm and turned to Li Chaoci. “Little uncle, have you also met… Mo Li?”

That was what confused him.

From their conversation just now, his little uncle seemed familiar with him.

But Mo Bai was certain he had never met his little uncle before.

The port visit was the first time.

So how did his little uncle know so much?

Li Chaoci didn’t hide anything from Mo Bai. When he looked at him, his fox-like eyes grew noticeably gentler. “I met him online once. This Mo Li is too mysterious. We don’t know his purpose or his background. It’s best to keep some distance.”

He tapped the little brat’s forehead and snorted lightly. “Especially you, understand?”

Li Chaoci hadn’t forgotten that the little mermaid Xixi had a good relationship with Mo Li. And the little brat was Xixi’s crazy fan. What if Mo Li wanted to use Xixi to get close to the Mo family?

Mo Bai said, “You’re that Li?”

He had met only two people online: Xixi, on his own initiative, and that Li.

If his little uncle said he had met him online once, then it must have been that Li, the one who had disconnected him.

Li Chaoci wasn’t surprised by Mo Bai’s question. He rubbed the little brat’s head. “That little mermaid told you?”

Mo Bai pouted. He couldn’t very well say he was the one.

He really hadn’t expected that he and his little uncle had already met online.

If he had known back then that Li was his little uncle, Wen Zhaoyan probably wouldn’t have misunderstood, right?

Mo Bai glanced at Wen Zhaoyan from the corner of his eye.

Hmm?

Where had Wen Zhaoyan gone?

Mo Bai turned his head and realized Wen Zhaoyan had left at some point.

He paused for a moment, then let out a small sigh of relief.

Probably for the best.

Otherwise… how awkward!

Especially with his little uncle there.

Not only would Wen Zhaoyan feel awkward, but he would too.

But after Wen Zhaoyan left, Li Chaoci didn’t want to stay alone with the Mo couple either. He left as well.

After they left, Mo Bai’s awkwardness faded.

But he felt he had a big problem on his hands.

The headache now was how to explain things to Wen Zhaoyan.

If he said he was Mo Li, he would inevitably have to explain why he was sometimes a child and sometimes an adult.

If he didn’t say anything and just used his Mo Li identity to reject Wen Zhaoyan, and told him that he wanted to focus on his career and not think about romance…

But then again, even if he wanted to date, he couldn’t.

Just as Mo Bai was agonizing over this, his terminal buzzed.

He looked down and saw a private message on StarBlog from—Wen Zhaoyan.

Speak of the devil!

The calm Mo Bai had just regained was immediately disrupted. He slowly opened Wen Zhaoyan’s message, afraid he would see something terrifying like ‘I like you.’

But when he opened it, there was only one line.

[Wen Zhaoyan: Mo Li.]

And that was it.

Mo Bai stared at Wen Zhaoyan’s avatar and then at the two words he had sent. He didn’t know how to reply.

Maybe… he just wouldn’t reply?

Wasn’t that how it worked?

If enough time passed and they didn’t contact each other, feelings would fade!

They had only known each other for a short time. Wen Zhaoyan’s spiritual sea was almost fully healed. It was better if they didn’t see each other again.

Wen Zhaoyan was smart. He would surely understand.

After making up his mind, Mo Bai deleted the private message and prepared to close his terminal.

Just then, perhaps not seeing a reply from Mo Bai, Wen Zhaoyan sent another message.

[Wen Zhaoyan: Is your name Mo Li?]

Mo Bai: “…”

Mo Bai felt guilty.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally replied.

[Mo: No.]

[Wen Zhaoyan: Can you tell me your real name?]

Mo Bai: “…”

Mo Bai didn’t dare reply. He continued pretending not to have seen it.

At first, Wen Zhaoyan thought nothing of the delay. Mo Li hadn’t always replied promptly. Sometimes it took several days.

He had too many questions now and planned to ask them in person when Mo Li came.

But he waited seven days.

Mo Li never replied. Not only that, but the every-few-days soak in the ‘energy liquid’ was also cancelled.

Mo Li had cancelled it unilaterally. Even if Wen Zhaoyan were slow, he could understand: Mo Li probably didn’t want to talk to him.

When he realized this, Wen Zhaoyan’s visible low pressure made the entire estate feel cold.

For several days, the atmosphere inside and outside the estate was freezing.

Everyone could feel that His Highness the Crown Prince was in a bad mood. No one dared to provoke him.

The butler and the guards longed for the little brat next door to come play in the pool, to add a bit of warmth to the cold estate.

But for some reason, even the little brat, who had come to the pool every day, hadn’t appeared for several days.

The butler sensed something was wrong and sought out Kai.

Kai said, “Isn’t His Highness the Crown Prince’s spiritual sea much better?”

Dr. Silan examined His Highness regularly. Kai had been paying close attention to the data.

The butler was worried. “His Highness is much better, but for some reason, he’s in a bad mood.”

He wondered if something had happened on the capital planet.

But Kai had been busy too.

Ever since His Highness’s condition improved, the marriage arrangements his family had been pushing could no longer be delayed. He had been on several dates recently, and his head was spinning.

He hadn’t wanted to go, but with His Highness’s improvement needing to remain secret, he followed his family’s arrangements to divert attention. This way, fewer people would focus on the estate.

So he couldn’t help the old butler with his concerns. As long as Wen Zhaoyan’s physical and mental conditions were good, no one else could interfere.

Kai said, “Perhaps you could ask His Highness yourself.”

The butler didn’t dare!

At a loss, the butler led all the estate’s guards in burning incense and praying every night, begging the Wish-Granting God to make His Highness the Crown Prince happy again.

But this Wish-Granting God, who had always granted whatever was wished for, suddenly stopped working…

Mo Bai: ‘I dare not appear!’

He had heard the old butler and the others’ wishes.

Normally, he would have blown a few breaths of good luck their way and made their wishes come true. It would also increase his faith power.

Gods and believers always supported each other.

But!

This time was different!

What were their wishes about?

Wen Zhaoyan!

And what was Wen Zhaoyan’s problem?

He wanted to date him!

Mo Bai hugged himself. He was still a child!

It would be at least another ten years before he grew up.

Wen Zhaoyan’s spiritual sea was almost healed. He was handsome, accomplished, and outstanding. Someone like him wouldn’t lack admirers.

How could he wait over ten years for a child to grow up?

And even when he did grow up, he would need to focus on collecting faith.

Mo Bai touched the faith collector hanging around his neck.

When he had fallen asleep back then, Earth had already been severely damaged. Apart from the high priests left behind, the other minor gods had left Earth on arks.

The arks floating in the universe had encountered many dangers. Many gods had disappeared in their slumber.

He should have disappeared too. Somehow, he had woken up in the interstellar era.

He had no idea what had happened to the other gods, whether they had all come back to life or disappeared, leaving only him. He would only know when his faith collector was full and he became a high priest.

So Mo Bai’s mind was only on how to gain more faith, more believers. He didn’t want to think about other things.

But that brought a new problem.

Mo Bai had always been on the sanatorium planet. He had no chance to meet anyone else.

On the sanatorium planet, the only people who burned incense and worshipped the Wish-Granting God were a handful: his loyal worshippers, Mo Xiangtian and Xixi, and the butler and guards from the neighboring estate.

The butler and guards prayed for Wen Zhaoyan. But when it came to Wen Zhaoyan, Mo Bai couldn’t grant their wishes…

How could you expect someone to give you faith if you couldn’t grant their wishes?

That was impossible.

So Mo Bai found that aside from the butler and guards, his father and Xixi provided very little faith power.

Those who had been soothed by his chanting of The Great Compassion Mantra and other scriptures did give him a lot of faith, but it wasn’t pure. Only the faith from believers who came to him through wishes was the purest.

How to expand his believers beyond the sanatorium planet was a real problem!

–

Although his wishes hadn’t come true, the butler remembered borrowing quite a few incense sticks from Mo Xiangtian earlier. So when the new batch he had ordered arrived, he delivered some to Mo Xiangtian.

Mo Xiangtian had just come home from work. Seeing the butler personally delivering them, he said, “You shouldn’t have, Uncle Li.”

The butler smiled. “It’s only right. Last time, when the old Marshal wanted some, I didn’t have enough and had to borrow from you. How could I not return them?”

The old butler was so polite that Mo Xiangtian had no choice but to accept. As he did, he asked, “How did it go? Did the wish we made together come true?”

The butler sighed. “It came true last time.”

Every time they had wished for the data from Dr. Silan’s next examination of Wen Zhaoyan’s spiritual sea to improve.

And every time, it had come true.

Mo Xiangtian said, “It’s good that it came true. Didn’t I tell you it works?”

He lowered his voice slightly. “Last time, I wished for my wife to find my brother-in-law, remember? The very next day, the siblings met. It was incredibly effective!”

The butler sighed again. “But a few days ago, for some reason, our wishes stopped coming true.”

“Stopped?” Mo Xiangtian was confused, but he quickly calmed down. “But either way, we still have to take action ourselves. Burning incense like this is just a sustenance, a comfort. If it works, we’re grateful. If it doesn’t, we don’t dwell on it—we just keep trying.”

The butler nodded. “Master Mo is right.”

“So don’t worry, Uncle Li. From what I can see, His Highness the Crown Prince looks well. I’m sure he’ll recover soon.”

Mo Xiangtian didn’t know that Wen Zhaoyan’s spiritual sea was almost cured—only those close to him knew. He thought the butler was still worried about that.

The butler naturally didn’t say anything more. After chatting a bit longer, he returned to the estate.

On his way back, he received a call from the old Marshal, who asked about His Highness regularly. The butler was used to it.

He reported everything that had happened recently, including Wen Zhaoyan’s bad mood.

The butler was very worried. “His Highness’s spiritual sea has only recently improved. Now he’s upset for some reason. I’m afraid it might worsen again.”

The old Marshal was calmer. “Probably had a fight with that Mo Li.”

The butler widened his eyes. “…What?”

A fight with Mo Li?

The old Marshal remembered the last time he had called Wen Zhaoyan and heard him dryly practicing how to apologize.

Now it seemed the apology hadn’t worked.

The old Marshal told the butler not to worry. Wen Zhaoyan would handle it himself. Then he hung up.

But after hanging up, the old Marshal didn’t go to rest.

On the capital planet, it was night, the stars bright.

The old Marshal sat in his study, a wall of bookshelves behind him, filled with books.

Most interstellar people no longer cared for paper books, but the old Marshal loved them.

Before joining the military, he had wanted to be a historian of ancient Earth. Circumstances had forced him to the front lines.

But he never gave up his hobby. In his spare time, he studied ancient Earth history.

Wen Zhaoyan might think he was old and superstitious for asking the butler for incense and a burner.

But the old Marshal, familiar with ancient Earth history, knew it was just a cultural practice.

Like an elder going to a temple to pray for a protective charm or a love charm for their child—it was a blessing and a hope from the elder.

The old Marshal stood up and walked to the incense burner. He took out some incense sticks and two candles.

This was different from ancient Earth, where such customs weren’t observed. He couldn’t pray for a protective charm for Wen Zhaoyan’s love life. But he could still hold this hope quietly in his heart.

“I hope this child has everything go his way,” the old Marshal murmured as he gently inserted the incense into the burner, silently making a wish for his grandson.

At the same time.

On the sanatorium planet.

Mo Bai, who was teaching the two little mermaids, Little Blue and Little Green, to cultivate, suddenly felt a faint connection from a very distant place.

Someone had made a wish!

From another planet!

Mo Bai’s eyes lit up. He had been worrying about not being able to leave the sanatorium planet. Talk about a godsend!

But the wish was too far away. His spirit couldn’t fly there.

If they had a golden statue of him, he could possess it, but they didn’t.

Mo Bai thought for a moment. Feeling the divine power within his body, he realized that since he couldn’t go there, he would have to visit in their dreams.

Following the faint connection, he caught the person’s weak wish and entered their dream as they slept.

Then, he saw an old man.

Mo Bai felt the old man looked familiar. But perhaps all kind, elderly faces looked similar.

Knowing Mo Li’s face was too famous, Mo Bai used his divine power to disguise his appearance in the old man’s dream.

Mo Bai greeted the old man warmly. “Hello, I’m here to grant your wish.”

The old man didn’t know he was dreaming, and dreams were rarely logical. So when a person suddenly appeared in his dream, saying they were here to grant his wish, he didn’t find it strange.

He was confused for a moment, then seemed to remember something and said with sudden realization, “Oh, right. I think I do have some wishes.”

Mo Bai waved his hand, marked the incense the old man had lit, and began frantically inhaling the smoke.

It was rare for someone from another planet to make a wish!

He had to give him the bestpossible service, so he would advertise for him!

Then he wouldn’t have to worry about faith power anymore!

Even if Wen Zhaoyan and the butler stopped believing, it wouldn’t matter!

Mo Bai smiled kindly. “Tell me, sir. As long as it’s nothing evil, I can make your wish come true.”

The old man said, “I don’t have any evil intentions. I have a grandson. He has someone he likes, and they seem to have had a fight recently. Sigh, couples argue and make up, and they’ll end up together eventually. I just hope his love life goes a little more smoothly. That child has had too hard a life.”

Mo Bai waved his hand grandly. “That’s easy. Don’t worry. Leave it to me.”

Matchmaking was actually harder.

But the old man said they were already a couple, with mutual feelings. There was no forcing anything.

This kind of wish was easy. Blow a little extra good luck on the old man, and it would take care of itself.

The old man said, “Thank you so much.”

Mo Bai said, “You’re welcome. It’s my job.”

Saying this, he patted the old man’s hand and smiled. “Good luck to you!”

The old man said, “That’s it? Won’t you get the wrong person?”

Mo Bai said, “If you’re worried about that, you can tell me his name. I can pray for him specifically.”

The old man said, “Oh, my grandson’s name is Wen Zhaoyan. Don’t get it wrong.”

Mo Bai: “…?”

Mo Bai said, “Who did you say???”

The old man, thinking he hadn’t heard clearly, repeated, “My grandson, Wen Zhaoyan.”

Mo Bai: “…”

Mo Bai put his hands to his throat.

The old man was startled. “Young man, what are you doing?”

Mo Bai said, “I just inhaled your incense. Wait a moment. Let me try to cough it up. I’ll give it back to you.”

The old man: “???”

Mo Bai said, “I can’t help you with this wish.”

Why was Wen Zhaoyan everywhere!

Mo Bai tried to cough it out.

He coughed and coughed, but after a long time, he realized.

Oh no.

He couldn’t cough it up.

And he had already given the old man good luck!