To prevent Shifu from getting angry and worked up, Lian Qing sensibly snatched the phone from his shidi’s hand and dialed a number.

The call was quickly answered on the other side, and immediately, Shifu’s furious voice, comparable to a roaring horse, echoed through the phone, “Xiao San’er!”

“Here!” Lian Sang, the little monk, instantly stood up straight, puffing out his chest and earnestly responding.

Lian Qing hurriedly spoke in a gentle tone to the phone, “Shifu, calm down, calm down! Don’t get angry, Shifu…”

“Calm down? How can I calm down? Every one of you, how come none of you can spare me some worry?!”

Lia Qing placed the phone on the bedside table and then grabbed his little junior apprentice, pressing the little guy onto his lap.

“Shifu, don’t be angry. I’ll discipline Xiao San’er in your place!”

As he spoke, he smacked his shid’s buttocks with a loud “slap,” causing the sound to reverberate. The cameraman nearby and countless netizens watching on the live streaming platform all shivered.

“Oh no, the little monk is really getting beaten!”

“Why do I feel like the little monk has a big butt…”

“The sound was so loud, it must have been a strong hit. What if the child gets hurt?!”

“What should I do? My beloved got hit by the little cutie. Which side should I take?”

“Until just now, I was feeling sorry for the little monk, but now, I only feel sorry for the little junior apprentice qwq.”

“The little guy is probably about to cry. Lianqing, how can you bring yourself to do that…”

“Even if it’s to calm down Shifu’s anger, it shouldn’t be like this. Little Lian Sang is still so young…”

Lian Sang, who was pitied and sympathized with by countless netizens, took three seconds to react after the slap, then let out a tragic scream, completely devoid of sincerity.

Shifu, who witnessed all of this in the video, rolled his eyes without any sign of pity and said with a huff, “Stop putting on a show for me. Thunder may be loud, but it’s just a drizzle. Do you think I don’t know that he had something padded on his butt?!”

Fine, their trickery was exposed. Lianqing chuckled guiltily, pulled down Xiaosan’er’s pants, and pulled out a neatly folded handkerchief from inside. He had discreetly stuffed it in while taking advantage of the chaos, just to make the little guy cooperate with him in this act of trickery.

Although it wasn’t successful, it was still effective. Seeing that Shifu had clearly calmed down, both Lianqing and Xiaolian Sang put on appeasing smiles, looking particularly timid.

Clearly, the two little monks had pulled off such tricks many times before.

The cameraman glanced at the barrage and noticed that the foolish netizens who had just been expressing sympathy for little Xiaolian Sang were now almost all laughing with “hahaha…” There was no sense of self-awareness about being proven wrong.

Shifu sighed at Lianqing and said, “You always protect him. You used this trick when this kid splashed ink on my face last time. Do you really think your Shifu is clueless?”

Lian Qing chuckled, and what Shifu said was about a previous incident on the mountain. One morning, the little one mischievously dipped a brush in ink and playfully marked Shifu’s face while he was asleep. Shifu was unaware and happened to go down the mountain that day with ink stains all over his face.

At that time, Lian Qing found it amusing and wanted to see more, intending to remind Shifu before he went down the mountain. But Shifu didn’t mention it before leaving, so Lian Qing didn’t have a chance to remind him. So, when Shifu returned in anger, Lianqing, as an accomplice, had to take the little one in advance, giving him a few not too heavy slaps and verbally reprimanding him.

Back then, Lian Qing also stuffed something into the little one’s pants to make it appear like he was hitting harder than he actually was.

No matter how mature and sensible the Xiao San’er was, he was still just a child and couldn’t help but be mischievous. However…

Lianqing asked in confusion, “Shifu, I remember that you seemed genuinely concerned that time, not like you had discovered it.”

Shifu replied, “He was crying so insincerely, not shedding a single tear. Can I not see through it?!”

Lianqing looked at Lian Lang, who was grabbing his clothes awkwardly, and said, “Then next time, I’ll shed a few tears…”

“Next time?” Shifu glared at him.

“No more, no more! I won’t dare next time!” The little one quickly waved his hands.

Seeing that Shifu had calmed down, Lianqing quickly turned to Lian Lang and said before Shifu could speak, “Xiao San’er’er, Shixiong has always wanted to ask, do you remember why you only put ink on Shifu’s face? I remember you only targeted Shifu and not Shixiong.”

The little one nodded his head, “I remember.”

He pointed at Lianqing’s forehead and said, “Shixiong has them, so no need to put ink on him.”

Lianqing had a puzzled expression, “Has what?”

“Pimples,” the little one said, “Shixiong has acne, but Shifu doesn’t.”

It was a somewhat vague statement, but it made Lianqing’s eyes turn slightly red. At that time, his junior disciple’s way of speaking wasn’t as clear and his ability to express himself wasn’t as good as it is now. So when he asked the little one for the reason back then, the little one rambled on, and he didn’t understand a word, as did Shifu.

He never expected that after all this time, the little one would still remember. And the reason was “acne.”

Lianqing pursed his lips, looked at Shifu, and his voice choked slightly, “Shifu, I remember now. Before that day, I had pimples on my face. He was curious, so I told him that it was a symbol of youth and adolescence…”

So, the naive little one wanted Shifu to have acne too and become young again.

But he didn’t know that when a person gets old, they simply get old, and there’s no way to become young again.

The little one innocently looked at Shifu’s slightly reddened eyes on the phone screen and then glanced at Shixiong, who had similarly reddened eyes, and asked in confusion, “Shifu, Shixiong, are you crying?”

Lianqing gently kissed him and said, “We’re just a bit touched.” You have brought us so much emotion.

The little one, with a half-understanding expression, gently touched Shixiong’s face and said in a childish voice, “Don’t cry, be good.” Then he turned to Shifu and said, “Shifu, you be good too, no crying.”

Lianqing and Shifu coincidentally chuckled.

The cameraman, as well as many viewers watching the live stream, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

[I’m actually laughing and crying at the same time…]

“Missing my mom, she doesn’t have acne anymore.”

“I laughed like a fool on the subway, then laughed and cried…”

“What kind of people are they? How can they be so heartwarming!”

“The older one is afraid of worrying Shifu and hides his injuries. The younger one is innocent and wants to make Shifu young again…”

“Whether it’s Shifu, Lian Qqing, or the little monk, they are all precious!”

“Shifu must have saved the universe in his previous life to have such adorable disciples. It’s so heartwarming!”

After this heartwarming interaction, Shifu’s tone suddenly changed, and he said sternly, “Turn around, let me see your injury.”

Lian Qing, who thought he had fooled his Shifu, said in a small voice, “…”

So, all his efforts of using his junior disciple as a shield and bringing up the past were in vain. Shifu, indeed, was still sharp-minded and had a good memory.

Lian Qing felt guilty and helpless. He slowly turned his back, allowing Shifu to get a clear view of his back.

Shifu’s tone was strict yet filled with concern, “Why is it so severe?”

Lian Qing silently turned back and answered softly, “There was an accident during filming. It looked worse than it actually is, but it’s not serious. It’s almost healed now.”

Shifu’s voice suddenly rose, “It takes at least ten days for such an injury to recover like this, so you’ve been filming with this injury for the past few days?!”

“No, no, I haven’t filmed after getting injured. I only came out today to record a travel variety show. It’s a relaxed program, just eating, drinking, and having fun, really.”

“But weren’t you on the set in the video the night before yesterday?”

“That was a lie.” Lian Qing confessed, “I was afraid that you would worry, so I specifically asked my eldest brother to find a background board from the set. During these days when we did video calls, the background behind me wasn’t the real film studio but the background board.”

Shifu fell silent for a while before saying, “That’s why I wondered why your complexion has been pale recently, and you always lied to me, saying it was just makeup. You always chose the same corner for the video, and the background was almost identical…”

Lian Qing gave a guilty smile, playfully suppressed his voice, and sweetly said, “Shifu, I was wrong. I won’t dare next time.”

“Won’t dare? What else do you not dare to do? You dare hide such a big matter from your Shifu!” Shifu was very angry, “Is it that in the future, when you fall in love and get married, your Shifu will be the last one to know?”

Lian Qing: “…”

He felt guilty but didn’t dare to speak.

Fortunately, Shifu was still angry and hadn’t noticed his strange behavior, so he was unaware that his words had come true. With an unpleasant tone, Shifu said, “No, I’m booking a flight to your place right now. I’ll personally keep an eye on you!”

“Don’t, Shifu,” Lianqing quickly stopped him.

“What’s wrong? As your Shifu, am I not allowed to come and take care of you?”

Lian Qing waved his hand, “No, Shifu. It’s just that you don’t have a passport!”

Shifu said, “…Seems like I don’t.”

Lian Qing continued explaining, “To obtain that document, we have to go to our place of household registration, and it takes several days to get it. Shifu, by the time you get your passport, I might have already returned. It’s better for you to come and see us after I go back.”

Shifu hesitated. The argument made sense, but he was unwilling to do nothing and just wait for his injured disciple to return.

The old man couldn’t help but complain, “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have let you leave the mountain. It didn’t broaden your horizons, but instead, you ended up getting injured…”

“Shifu, it’s really nothing. Boys will inevitably get some bumps and bruises. Besides, this injury doesn’t hurt anymore, it’s almost healed…”

“Don’t lie to me. This injury will definitely leave a scar. You can’t get it wet, you know? And there are dietary restrictions…”

The old man rambled on, and Lian Qing answered seriously. Until the end, when the old man couldn’t think of anything else to say, he reluctantly said, “From now on, you’re not allowed to hide anything from your Shifu!”

“Yes, Shifu,” Lian Qing nodded repeatedly.

“And you, Xiaosan, you’re not allowed to help your Shixiong hide anything!”

The mentioned Xiao San hesitated, “Yes, Shifu.”

“Alright, get some rest. It must be early morning on your side,” Shifu said and ended the video call first.

Looking at the dark screen of his phone, Lian Qing and Xiao San glanced at each other, both sighing with relief.

“That scared me!” Xiao San patted his chest.

Lian Qing nodded with lingering fear, rarely finding resonance with his junior disciple.

The cameraman looked at the two of them and then at the barrage of comments in the live chat, unable to help but laugh.

[What kind of post-disaster survival scene is this? Hahaha…]

[Am I the only one who noticed the background board? LOL~]

[So, during Lian Qing’s hospital stay, he fooled Shifu with the background board provided by Yu Boss?!]

[Ahahaha, what a ridiculous situation…]

[Why did I have to watch such a ridiculous live stream early in the morning? Now I can’t focus on work, ying~]

…

The cameraman looked at the time and was about to leave the room when suddenly the door rang.

After Lian Qing called out, “Please come in,” the door opened. It was Cai Jingfeng who walked in. When he saw the cameraman present, he hesitated, unsure whether to come in or leave.

At this moment, Lian Qing had already noticed him and asked with a smile, “Caitou, why did you come so late?”

Cai Jingfeng quickly regained his usual smile and said, “I came to see if there’s anything I can help you with.”

Lian Qing nodded, “Since you’re here, why don’t you help me wipe my back and apply some medicine?”

“Sure.” Cai Jingfeng walked in and took the towel from his hand. When he saw Lian Qing’s back, a hint of pain flashed in his eyes, and he couldn’t help but say, “Why is it so serious?”

“It’s not too bad. It’s almost healed,” Lian Qing shrugged indifferently.

At this moment, Xiao San’er approached and asked, “Shixiong, if Big Brother helps you with your back, what should I do?” He was supposed to help his Shixiong wipe his back.

Lian Qing handed him the phone and said, “Good boy, go play by yourself.”

Xiao San replied, “…Oh.”

He must tell Yu-ge that his Shixiong has found a good friend and doesn’t need him, his Shidi, anymore!