His dedication to his career had caused him to neglect his family. For an ordinary man, this might be an excuse to avoid responsibility, but for Zhou Tingzhi, it was understandable. Even though Zhou Tingzhi had never attended a single parent-teacher conference, Zhou Nian had never felt the lack of a father’s presence. When teachers mentioned his father, their voices were always gentle, and his classmates were incredibly envious. 

Zhou Nian had always been proud of Zhou Tingzhi. 

But the events of the past two or three days completely overturned Zhou Nian’s perception. He found the Zhou Tingzhi before him both familiar and strange. 

Li Lequan was just as shocked as Zhou Nian, but he didn’t feel the same emotional impact. He maintained his role as the enthusiastic supporter, saying, “I never imagined Uncle Zhou would play this. My dad doesn’t even know what King is.” 

“That’s nothing,” Tao Xin said before Zhou Tingzhi could react, boasting proudly and with a sense of shared glory. “Your Uncle Zhou was amazing at playing Command & Conquer when he was young. He was practically invincible.” 

Tao Xin’s tone was as if she had witnessed it firsthand, making it sound a bit unreal. Whether Zhou Tingzhi was truly invincible at Command & Conquer remained to be seen, but it was certain that Zhou Tingzhi had talked about his youth with his girlfriend. 

Oh my god, they’re already this close, isn’t this true love?! 

Li Lequan was secretly shocked, and glancing at the unusually silent Zhou Nian, felt that he had no choice but to accept this young stepmother. 

Li Lequan was genuinely looking out for Zhou Nian, not wanting him and Tao Xin to clash too badly. If their conflict caused Tao Xin and Zhou Tingzhi to break up and created a rift between father and son, it would be a huge loss. 

With this in mind, Li Lequan worked even harder to play his role as the enthusiastic supporter. “Invincible? Really?” He questioned while setting his bait. “Has Uncle Zhou played Overcooked? Xiao Nian and I played one level for two hours and still couldn’t get three stars. It’s incredibly difficult! You can’t make a single mistake!” 

Zhou Tingzhi saw Zhou Nian’s low spirits and was happy to take the bait. He smiled and said, “I haven’t played, but I can try it with you guys.” 

Zhou Nian was hesitant, wanting to throw a tantrum, but couldn’t resist the three of them being united in their opinion, so he had to submit to the majority. 

Tao Xin was the first to take off her shoes and settle into the living room sofa, waiting to watch the fun. Zhou Tingzhi sat beside her, handing her another controller. “You try too.” 

Since Zhou Tingzhi hadn’t played, he needed to familiarize himself with the rules. Tao Xin took the controller and said excitedly, “Let me see how difficult it really is.” 

The game was very easy to learn; it only took a few minutes to master the controls. However, getting a high score was truly difficult. It required both players to think clearly, cooperate closely, and save time to the maximum extent. 

Tao Xin found it quite interesting. She controlled the blue character, busily working in the kitchen, chopping vegetables and serving dishes. She did a lot of work, but when she looked at the score, it was barely above one star. 

“Huh? Why? I didn’t make any mistakes.” 

“It’s my fault.” Zhou Tingzhi said softly. “I shouldn’t have carried the pot; I could have just used the plate to serve the food.” 

After his self-reflection, Tao Xin also realized that she had a few seconds of free time when she could have washed the plates. “Okay, I understand. That proves that the plates are important in this game; we need to keep an eye on them.” 

After analyzing the reasons for their failure, they started again. Tao Xin really wanted to get three stars, so she was very nervous, muttering continuously, “Chop vegetables, chop vegetables, serve dishes, serve dishes, plates, plates, no more vegetables, no more vegetables…” 

When Zhou Tingzhi was highly focused, he spoke very little. From beginning to end, he only said one sentence: “Chop the vegetables first, I’ll wash the dishes.” 

Li Lequan watched their score climb higher and higher. With thirty seconds left until the end of the game, they were close to three stars. He couldn’t help but poke Zhou Nian next to him, whispering, “Wow, this is only the fourth round. Is your dad a robot? He really didn’t carry the pot once.” 

Zhou Nian’s face was tight, his expression cold, making Li Lequan suspect he had a father complex. 

“Yay! Three stars!” Tao Xin waved the controller, full of pride. “See? It’s not that difficult.” 

Not difficult? Li Lequan immediately skipped ahead several levels. 

Two minutes later, Tao Xin readily handed the controller to Zhou Nian. “Your turn. I don’t like playing such childish games.” 

Zhou Tingzhi was right to treat Zhou Nian as an eight-year-old. Although he was still sulking, he took the controller from Zhou Tingzhi, behaving exactly like a child wanting to get closer to his father. 

No wonder Zhou Tingzhi couldn’t bear to tell him the truth. Anyone would feel bad about it. 

Tao Xin thought this, her gaze falling on Zhou Tingzhi. He was listening to Zhou Nian and Li Lequan explain the key points to winning, looking serious and focused, not like he was playing a game, but like he was watching two subordinates report on their work. 

To be honest, although many years had passed, Zhou Tingzhi’s physique had become much stronger, but his facial features hadn’t changed much. He hadn’t developed a double chin or gained weight, only shedding his youthful naiveté and gaining a more stable aura of someone in a high position. 

“Is that right?” 

“Yes, yes, my god, Uncle Zhou, you’re too strong! How do you make your hands completely obey your brain?!” 

Li Lequan sat cross-legged on the carpet, his mouth agape in shock. 

Tao Xin could empathize. When she first saw Zhou Tingzhi play this game, she had also marveled at how a person could be like a computer, following a set of instructions perfectly. 

But this was a cooperative game after all, requiring two people to cooperate seamlessly to achieve a high score. Zhou Nian and Li Lequan were used to playing together, and they weren’t quite used to changing partners, making frequent mistakes. Every mistake meant restarting, and the child was quite serious and proud, and after several attempts, his face turned red. 

Zhou Tingzhi probably sensed his embarrassment and said calmly, “It’s okay, no need to restart. I’ve recorded it. We’ll watch the replay and review it after this round.” 

Zhou Nian hummed, his face saying, “Success or death.” 

While Zhou Nian and Li Lequan were watching the replay on the TV, Zhou Tingzhi turned his head to Tao Xin, who was alone on the sofa. “Bored?” 

“Not at all.” Tao Xin swung her feet, comfortably eating a grape, then holding another one and asking him, “Do you want one?” 

Zhou Tingzhi glanced at the two who were analyzing the reasons and summarizing their experience, took the grape from Tao Xin’s hand and put it in his mouth, then turned his head, trying to act as if nothing had happened. 

Tao Xin retracted her finger, which seemed to have been sucked on, suddenly feeling a little ashamed, as if she were having a secret affair right under their noses. 

Hmm…quite exciting. 

“Whose phone keeps ringing?” 

“Tao Xin, your phone.” 

Tao Xin came to her senses, pulled out her phone from under the pillow, and answered the video call. A somewhat rough voice greeted her from the other end, “Miss Tao, good evening. How are you today?” 

Tao Xin replied with a smile, “Well-fed, well-rested, and in a good mood.” 

The man chuckled, “I hope I’m not disturbing you? Xiaoman tagged you in the group chat, and you haven’t replied.” 

The burly man on the video was Tao Xin’s personal security guard, whose main job was to prevent her from being threatened. Tao Xin knew his concerns, so she turned the camera to show the backs of the three people. “I’m watching them play a game.” 

Zhou Tingzhi was a prominent figure, so the security guard wasn’t worried that he would do anything illegal to Tao Xin. He made the video call according to regulations, and seeing that there was no problem, he said goodbye to Tao Xin. 

Tao Xin hung up the video call and casually clicked into the “2020 Tao Xin Assistance Group” chat. Although it was off-duty time, the group members, who were idle all day, were still very active. 

[Security Guard Zhao: Miss Tao has answered the video call, her condition is good, everything is okay] 

[Observer Xiaoman: What is Miss Tao doing?] 

[Security Guard Zhao: Playing games with three handsome guys in a big mansion] 

[Observer Xiaoman: 😏😏😏] 

[Tao Xin: ?] 

[Tao Xin: Let me correct that, I’m watching my boyfriend coax his eighteen-year-old son and his son’s classmate to play a game] 

[Recorder Panpan: Is the son difficult to handle?] 

[Tao Xin: He’s difficult, but treating him as an eight-year-old is acceptable] 

[Team Leader Chen Ping: Don’t blur the age, have the correct understanding] 

[Tao Xin: I know, I’ve positioned myself as a young, beautiful, little stepmother] 

[Team Leader Chen Ping: 👍] 

[Observer Xiaoman: 👍] 

Tao Xin laughed. She knew that these staff members knew she didn’t have many friends in 2020, and they were afraid that she would have worries and no one to confide in, so they would chat and joke with her in the group from time to time. Perhaps this was part of their job, but Tao Xin did feel warmth from these strangers in a strange era, and she truly appreciated it. 

After chatting in the group for a while, she looked up and saw that the three of them had reached two stars. Although they were still some distance from three stars, Zhou Nian, who had been sullen, finally had a happy expression on his face. No wonder Zhou Tingzhi said he was easy to coax; after playing a game, he had forgotten all about the stepmother issue. 

Later that evening, Li Lequan received a call from home. He didn’t know what it was about, but they urged him to go home. Upon learning that Li Lequan was at Zhou Nian’s house, they said they would send someone to pick him up and deliver a gift they had brought back for Zhou Nian from abroad. This kind of deliberate act of showing consideration, which might seem contrived to ordinary people, was commonplace for Li Lequan’s family, and even Zhou Nian was used to it. 

In a short while, a car stopped at the gate. Li Lequan looked out from the living room window, recognized his uncle’s car, quickly put on his shoes, and said goodbye to the father and son. 

Since they had brought a gift, Zhou Tingzhi, as the elder, naturally had to see Li Lequan off, so he also put on his shoes and went out. 

Tao Xin, who had been lazily lounging on the sofa, saw the person getting out of the car and suddenly sat up straight.