Chapter 3: “Baobao Likes This One, Baobao Doesn’t Want to Change It.”

Dongri picked up the Little Penguin doll.

For him, this was undoubtedly not a cloth and cotton doll that could be easily replaced and discarded, but rather a vital and essential pillar of his heart.

Although he had forgotten where he had picked it up, when he first found it, the Little Penguin doll was clean and beautiful, looking as good as new.

It was only after wandering around with him, experiencing all kinds of wind and rain, mud and soil, that it had become the tattered mess it was today.

Dongri even felt guilty towards the Little Penguin.

He always felt that he was very sorry for the Little Penguin, that he hadn’t taken good care of it.

Even though the Little Penguin had done so much for him.

Coming to his side when he was so lonely and scared, and then silently accompanying him.

Not blaming or complaining at all for being messed up like this; always loyal and never abandoning him. 

And without even needing food, he left all the hard-earned food from that time for himself.

It was simply the first ray of light that the little divine beast had encountered in the human world.

How helpless and lonely he was back then.

He had no memories, didn’t know where his home as a little divine beast was, and didn’t dare to rashly enter the human world, as if he had been abandoned by the whole world, eking out a living in the narrow cracks.

Only the Little Penguin was with him.

Only when he rested his head on the Little Penguin’s soft body every day did he feel a little sense of security, and only then did he feel less lonely.

So after he had “Papa and Daddy” and a “new home,” the first thing he did was to share the blessings with the Little Penguin.

He often placed the Little Penguin in the sunniest spot in the house, letting it enjoy the sunshine to its heart’s content.

Sometimes, he would even offer desserts and snacks to the Little Penguin first, and then eat them after the Little Penguin had eaten.

He also knew that the Little Penguin had become tattered, and many places had been damaged by him, so he could no longer mess with it casually.

So he tried not to hug the Little Penguin when he was at home.

It was just that he couldn’t help it when he came outside; he didn’t feel safe without hugging the Little Penguin, so he had to bring it with him.

Hearing Papa say that he wanted to replace his beloved Little Penguin, Dongri felt very unhappy.

Unhappy and sad.

Thinking about the ups and downs he had experienced with the Little Penguin, tears were already welling up in his eyes.

Unfortunately, Dong Mian didn’t turn his head, so he didn’t see the little guy’s slightly red eyes.

“But this Little Penguin is really too old,” Dong Mian said in a negotiating tone. “How about this: if there’s an identical Little Penguin, we’ll change it for a new one, okay?”

“…No!”

Asked again, Dongri still chose to refuse quite firmly.

Although he didn’t understand the specific meaning of “old,” the little guy could sense the tone and emotions, and his intuition told him that it wasn’t a good word; he didn’t like adults using this tone to describe the Little Penguin.

So he denied it forcefully: “…He’s not, no, he’s not!”

“He is, like this!”

“He’s great… You can’t say he’s not good!”

When he said the last sentence, his childish tone was already tinged with crying, probably because he imagined the scene of being forced to separate from the Little Penguin, and he immediately felt very sad.

Dong Mian stopped on the spot, not expecting the little guy to react so strongly, and hurriedly coaxed, “Okay, okay, then we won’t change the Little Penguin. If Baobao likes this one, then we’ll continue to use this one; we won’t change it.”

Adults naturally couldn’t know the importance of the Little Penguin, because Dongri had never told them.

And judging from the current situation, their parent-child relationship wasn’t good enough for Dongri to open up and tell them.

But after hearing the adult state they wouldn’t change it, Dongri ceased imagining the separation scene and held back the sadness that threatened to make him cry.

“…Okay.”

The little guy nodded, his attitude very serious throughout.

“… Baobao likes this one, Baobao doesn’t want to change it.”

He didn’t know how intimate and loving the term “Baobao” was; he only knew that Dong Mian called him that, so he could call himself that too.

So Dong Mian, who had just been feeling guilty and nervous a moment ago, was instantly charmed by this self-proclaimed “Baobao.”

How could he call himself “Baobao?”

Especially with such a childish and cute voice, it was simply cuteness overload, cuteness to the point of being illegal!

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the target shopping mall.

The car smoothly entered the underground parking lot.

Before getting out of the car, Dong Mian’s emotions had calmed down, and he could communicate with Yin Tian through telepathy again.

Dong Mian: [You go help Riri get out of the car, be gentle with him, and don’t scare him again.]

Fortunately, Yin Tian didn’t talk nonsense, and this time he responded cooperatively: [Got it.]

Then he opened the door and got out of the car, walking to the back seat to open the door for the little guy.

Yin Tian’s attitude towards this weak and thin human cub was not as friendly and patient as Dong Mian’s.

In the eyes of an ancient demon, this little guy wasn’t even enough to be a snack, and eating him would be a waste of energy.

The only reason he chose to endure was to improve his favorability in Dong Mian’s eyes.

Having been imprisoned in the Celestial Court for three thousand years, if he hadn’t seen Dong Mian’s face when he woke up, he would have set fire to the entire Celestial Court again.

After all, the failure three thousand years ago was a shameful disgrace for Yin Tian.

The reason he was captured and imprisoned by the Celestial Court at the time wasn’t because the Celestial Court’s combat power was so strong, but because he had lived for too long, so long that he had forgotten that his inevitable dormancy period as an ancient divine creature was about to arrive—which would be the weakest period of his power.

Before the battle was even halfway over, Yin Tian’s strength suddenly began to weaken, and he ultimately surrendered unwillingly but helplessly, becoming a prisoner of the Celestial Court.

The dormancy period of an ancient demon was extremely long, lasting at least two thousand years, with no apparent upper limit.

Yin Tian had hibernated several times, each time sleeping for at least eight thousand years.

So when the Celestial Court released him, it was equivalent to forcibly waking him up from his slumber—the consequences of sleep deprivation were terrifying—if the person who woke him up weren’t Dong Mian, the Celestial Court would probably have been plunged into a bloodbath again.

But the person who woke him up happened to be Dong Mian.

A fair-skinned and aloofly beautiful little immortal, with a faint woody fragrance on his body, his eyes gentle and clear, although his words were very impolite.

“Demon, if you don’t want to die, then be obedient.”

“…”

To control him, the Celestial Court placed forty-one shackles on him.

Although the actual effect was zero, he could remove them all with a wave of his hand.

But to make Dong Mian believe that they were useful, he endured them, pretending that he was unable to break free.

He had genuine feelings for Dong Mian, but there was also a lot of playfulness.

Who told the little immortal to look down on him so much?

The more unattainable something was, the more people wanted to conquer it.

Curiosity, interest, and competitiveness ultimately led Yin Tian to suppress his rebellious nature and agree to the Celestial Court’s absurd request.

He wanted to see how long it would take him to win over the little immortal in front of him.

Therefore, he didn’t object to the adoption of the child at first, leaving it all to Dong Mian to decide.

But when Dong Mian focused most of his attention on the child, even temporarily putting aside the search for the small demon, Yin Tian felt a little unhappy—after all, he was by Dong Mian’s side for this purpose, and if Dong Mian didn’t need him, then what was the point of his existence?

The key was that this child was very timid and not close to him, and no matter how he disguised himself or coaxed him, the progress of their relationship wouldn’t move forward.

So annoying.

Nothing but annoying.

Even without this little guy, their plan could continue, and there would be one less thing to distract the little immortal.

He would swallow this little guy one day.

But now—

Standing in front of the back seat door, Yin Tian pressed his face and squeezed out a textbook-standard fake smile.

Then he opened the car door, using his most gentle voice, and said to the little cub, “Baobao, we’re here, come on, let Daddy carry you out.”

“…”

But all that responded to him was silence.

A long silence.

Dongri looked not just dazed, but completely frightened, and it took several seconds for him to react—then he hugged the Little Penguin even tighter, and shrank back, wishing that the seat belt could tie him even tighter.

Silence spoke louder than words.

The little guy’s reaction had already answered: No, please don’t carry me, you better stay away from me.

But Yin Tian couldn’t feel the little guy’s fear. Seeing that he didn’t react, the smile on his face widened even more, revealing his white teeth.

“What’s wrong, Baobao? Get out of the car quickly, Daddy will carry you.”

“…”

Even more terrifying.

Yin Tian would never imagine how scary he looked in the little guy’s eyes at this moment.

He was full of a ghostly aura, as if he were going to eat children, and even the rare smile on his face looked like the cunning joy before eating a child.

It was also the term “Baobao.”

When Dong Mian called him that, Dongri would feel warm and soft in his heart, feeling loved and cared for by Dong Mian.

But when Yin Tian called him that, his first reaction was to deny it and disclaim any association.

If his human language system hadn’t been underdeveloped, he would probably have said it very bluntly: Don’t call me Baobao, I’m not your Baobao.

But he couldn’t express himself and couldn’t accurately describe how complex his feelings were at this moment.

Daddy’s smile is too scary, too terrifying…

Daddy is also blocking the car door like a mountain, even more terrifying and scary…

He really doesn’t dare to let such a Daddy carry him out, he’s so scared…

But Daddy is usually very nice to him.

Shouldn’t he be afraid of Daddy? He shouldn’t feel this way…

He should agree, right…

He has to be an obedient child so that adults will like him. What if he makes Daddy angry? What if Daddy throws him away…

Rational thinking and instinctive sincerity were pulling back and forth in his heart, and he really didn’t want to choose either way.

The time that silence flowed through became longer and longer, and the atmosphere seemed to become colder and colder, so cold that even the little cub noticed a few subtle moments of awkwardness.

What to do.

What to do, what to do.

Although his body betrayed his true feelings, choosing to compromise with reality, the little guy slowly and hesitantly unbuckled his seatbelt. However, as he thought about being carried out by Yin Tian, his heart was still gradually anxious in silence, and tears began to well up, on the verge of tears.

At the critical moment, Dong Mian pushed Yin Tian away and stretched out his hands towards Dongri: “Okay, okay, I’ll carry you, Baobao, don’t be afraid.”

The little guy seemed to see a savior and immediately rushed into Dong Mian’s arms.

After being held firmly, he also completely buried his head and face in Dong Mian’s arms, for fear of being seen by Yin Tian.

The way he acted, it seemed that if Yin Tian looked at him more, he would be taking advantage of him, and he would immediately call the police.