The phone call connected, and Fu Shizhao’s little face was squeezed next to Fu Yu, his eyes fixed on the phone screen. He obediently greeted, “Good evening, Auntie.”

Shen Siwan’s smile deepened at the bottom of her eyes and replied, “Good evening, Zhao Zhao . How was your day at kindergarten today?” Instead of answering her question directly, Fu Shizhao snuggled into his foster father’s embrace.

“Zhao Zhao had a good day. He didn’t cry at all today,” Fu Yu smiled and answered for him. “Is everything going smoothly on your end, Madam?” Shen Siwan nodded, “Everything is fine. We can go back home once Mian Mian’s hearing aid is fixed.”

Fu Yu then sighed in relief, gently patting his son’s little head, and said with embarrassment, “Zhao Zhao really misses his brother. He kept insisting on making a video call to see his brother. Is Mian Mian resting? Can we chat with Mian Mian  for a while?”

If it weren’t for his own son’s insistence, he wouldn’t have made this video call. At most, he would have sent a message to check on the situation, like he did earlier today, estimating the time of the flight landing.

Although the time difference between the two places wasn’t significant, the foreign country was a bit ahead of their home country, Tang Mian probably hadn’t gone to bed yet.

Shen Siwan listened and glanced at her son, who was wearing a little skirt. When they were at home, she used to dress Mian Mian and Zhao Zhao  in all sorts of quirky clothes, so she wasn’t worried about them seeing Tang Mian’s current appearance.

Children are meant to “played with” after all. But it still required her own son’s consent.

She could tell that her son had developed a strong sense of gender identity, no longer as pliable as he used to be when she dressed him in skirts. He showed some resistance now.

However, even though she noticed this, she still put the little skirt on him. One reason was that she had already gone halfway through the process, so it didn’t make much sense to stop now. The second reason was that, despite his resistance, he had still agreed to it. He was growing up and had learned to “indulge” his mother, which made her very happy. She wanted to bask in his favor.

When he met Shen Siwan’s inquiring gaze, Tang Mian didn’t have a chance to react before he heard Fu Shizhao’s soft murmur again from the phone, “I really want my brother to come back soon.”

Tang Mian pursed her lips and tugged at his skirt unconsciously.

He misses me so much… Why didn’t he call me all day?

“Has my brother already gone to bed?” Fu Shizhao’s tiny voice sounded once more.

Tang Mian quickly extended his hand, not wanting to delay further. He was afraid that he might think he had fallen asleep and hung up the call.

Since Fu Shizhao had called on his own initiative, he reluctantly picked up the call. Let’s see what he wanted to talk about.

Seeing the situation, Shen Siwan handed her phone over to Tang Mian and then joined her husband, speaking softly to him, nibbling on his ear.

Tang Mian held the phone tightly, trying to fill the screen with his face, but a portion of his outfit was still visible, including the doll-like collar with embroidered strawberries and the two small “bunny ears” perched on his head.

After changing clothes and tying his hair, he had stayed in bed. When the video call rang, there was no mirror in the room, so he hadn’t had a chance to see his current appearance until now.

His first thought upon seeing himself was that he needed to get a haircut as soon as they returned. If he didn’t, Fu Shizhao might even start braiding his hair. He had inherited all the best traits from his parents – double eyelids, big eyes, and fair skin, mainly because he rarely went outside. In addition to that, he was still under four years old, and he hadn’t fully grown yet. Tying those “bunny ears” made him look like a real girl.

No wonder Dad suddenly said he wanted a daughter…

Tang Mian quickly removed the “bunny ears” one by one. He definitely didn’t want to be mistaken for a girl.

Tang Mian’s hair was soft and silky, and without the support of hair ties and flowery hairpins, it soon fell down smoothly.

Hair could be undone, but the little skirt wasn’t as easy to take off. Fortunately, the phone couldn’t show too many details, so he hoped… that Fu Shizhao wouldn’t notice too much.

Fu Yu, seeing what was happening, also handed his phone to his son and stepped out of the video frame, not wanting to interfere with the two children’s conversation.

Fu Shizhao naturally noticed what Tang Mian was wearing at the moment. Although he hadn’t seen the full picture, he could make a pretty good guess.

Quickly, Fu Shizhao discreetly took a few screenshots on his foster father’s phone, planning to secretly save them. His foster father wasn’t very proficient with smartphones, and he wouldn’t notice any signs of what he was doing with the phone.

So cute.

‘I really want to touch those ‘bunny ears.’’

Unfortunately, Tang Mian quickly removed them in front of him, so now not only could he not touch them, but he also couldn’t see them anymore.

In their previous life, when they were in high school, he had once tied “bunny ears” for Tang Mian when he fell asleep during a break between classes. At that time, Tang Mian had longer hair, not extremely long but long enough to be styled beautifully.

However, after graduating from high school, Tang Mian gave up on art, and when Fu Shizhao secretly visited his university, he found that Tang Mian had already cut his hair very short. It lost some of its softness and gained a touch of vigilance.

Meeting Tang Mian’s gaze on the phone screen, Fu Shizhao didn’t continue reminiscing. His eyes turned into small crescents, and he obediently said, “Good evening, big brother.”

Tang Mian had a stern face, replying, “Good evening.”

Fu Shizhao keenly sensed that Tang Mian seemed to have some minor emotions. Was it because of the little skirt he was wearing, or because of… him? Or perhaps it was both?

Regardless of the reason, Fu Shizhao continued his cute efforts, saying, “Big brother, I miss you so much.” His young master had a soft spot for him, and a little bit of cajoling was all it took to cheer him up.

He wasn’t lying; he genuinely missed Tang Mian. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble to convince his foster father to make this video call.

Directly using his phone watch to call Tang Mian when he didn’t want to pick up would feel intrusive. He didn’t want to bother Tang Mian or risk having the call disconnected.

Calling through his foster father made a difference. If Tang Mian didn’t want to answer, he wouldn’t see him. Besides, the phone watch wasn’t as convenient as a regular phone with a larger screen to see Tang Mian properly.

Tang Mian was momentarily taken aback by Fu Shizhao’s straightforward approach.

Seeing Tang Mian’s expression soften, Fu Shizhao continued with renewed enthusiasm.

He picked up a small bottle from the side and showed it to Tang Mian on the screen, saying, “Today, I finished my milk like a good boy.”

“Today, I ranked last in the game; it was so hard. If my big brother were here, he would definitely have come first.”

“At lunchtime today, I napped well and didn’t cry. The teacher rewarded me with a pack of cookies.”

“I didn’t eat the cookies; I saved them to share with my big brother when he comes back.”

“After dinner, I finished my homework and didn’t watch cartoons. I’m saving them to watch with my big brother.”

On the phone screen, Tang Mian’s expression slowly brightened, and he softly replied, “I’ll be back soon.” Fu Shizhao finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that he had finally managed to make Tang Mian happy.

Seizing the opportunity with Tang Mian’s improved mood, Fu Shizhao continued, “Can I call you on the smartwatch when I miss you tomorrow?”

Having to wait until the evening to see Tang Mian for just a short while was too hard for him.

Tang Mian hesitated for a moment, feeling like he was about to catch something. He quickly asked, “Why not?”

Fu Shizhao explained, “Dad said there’s a time difference between the two places, and I’m afraid of disturbing you during your checkups.”

Indeed, his foster father had mentioned the time difference between the two locations in the morning, but it wasn’t to stop him from calling Tang Mian. He probably just didn’t want him to disturb Tang Mian during his nap.

Tang Mian blinked.

So, the reason Fu Shizhao hadn’t called him all day wasn’t because he didn’t want to or didn’t miss him; it was because he was afraid of disturbing him.

Tang Mian’s heart felt incredibly full.

“It’s okay. You can call me whenever you want. I’m done with the check-ups ; it won’t disturb me.”

“Okay.”

They chatted for a while longer before ending the video call.

At this point, Tang Mian’s mood had completely skyrocketed to its maximum value.

With Shen Siwan’s assistance, Tang Mian changed out of the little skirt and into loose pajamas, then obediently climbed into bed.

With his improved mood, it seemed like his leg injury wasn’t as painful as before.

Just then, Tang Mian’s smartwatch suddenly rang.

All three of them immediately looked at the watch on his wrist. It was Fu Shizhao.

Tang Mian quickly pressed the answer button.

Fu Shizhao’s playful voice came from the other end, “Missed you.”

It had only been a few minutes since they hung up the previous call.

He really was quite clingy.

Shen Siwan couldn’t help but smile and said, “Mian Mian, you can chat with Zhao Zhao while you go to sleep.” After all, she and her husband usually stayed up late, so they wouldn’t be disturbed.

Tang Mian replied with a soft, “Hmm.”

In this second chance at life, Tang Mian never expected that the first person he’d have such a long and frequent phone calls with would be Fu Shizhao.

It seemed like they were going to have a few days of regular phone calls.

–

Finally, Tang Mian received his repaired hearing aid and boarded the plane back to his home country.

When they arrived at the domestic airport, it was still school hours at the kindergarten. Thinking about how much Fu Shizhao had missed him in the past few days, Tang Mian volunteered to go directly to the kindergarten. He suggested that he would return home with Fu Shizhao after school.

Shen Siwan and Tang Minghuai naturally went along with his decision.

With excitement, Tang Mian arrived at his familiar classroom, only to find that there was no one inside. He wandered around the kindergarten for a bit until he finally spotted a group of familiar children in the play area.

Among them was Fu Shizhao.

However, he saw Fu Shizhao suddenly hug the boy, Mu Zichen, standing beside him and ask, “Big brother, do you like the gift?”

Tang Mian stood in place, completely stunned.

–

Oh shit- what just happened? what is this sudden turn of events?

(?y??)? Ohohoho…..

Mian Mian in a dress: ?

1. ¹Hi, Translator here, I hope ya’ll post good reviews for our cuties on Novel Updates.??

• 1
  Hi, Translator here, I hope ya’ll post good reviews for our cuties on Novel Updates.??