Little Pink Starfish

The little pink egg finally hatched, and the entire social circle sent congratulations. Everyone who had been close friends before asked when the one-month celebration would be held. The red envelopes were already prepared.

Facing everyone’s congratulations, Zhang Yushui looked down at his son calmly staring at him, and his headache got worse.

“What bad thing did you do again?”

In just half a month, Zhang Yushui felt that his patience had grown tremendously. He turned to the one chirping and lying on the shoulder of King Hui of Xiapi and said, “Don’t I look a few years older lately?”

King Hui of Xiapi glanced at Zhang Yushui with a faint smile. Facing this man’s serious gaze, he still praised, “Not older at all, instead you look more energetic.”

It was true. Ever since the little pink one hatched, Zhang Yushui had been cleaning up messes front and back or playing along. Although there were plenty of outrageous incidents in their daily life, nothing was life-threatening. And don’t be fooled by how fiercely he looked now, like he was about to beat his son—once the little pink one called him “daddy,” he willingly cleaned up the mess.

Like now.

The walls of the study were decorated with little pink’s artistic creations. He had rolled around in the inkstone, and relying on his wings, jumped up and down endlessly every day, full of energy. Zhang Yushui opened the door, took one look, then turned back. Seeing his son with his head down, probably knowing he did wrong, he comforted, “It’s okay, actually looks pretty good.”

“Daddy, there’s nothing fun at home, I want to go find Brother Xiao Fei and Little Jiang to play.” The little pink one flapped his wings. His once golden, tender feathers were now pitch black like a crow, but he didn’t feel it at all. He flapped up onto daddy’s head and rolled around a few times.

King Hui of Xiapi held back a laugh and asked his son, “Why do you call Xiao Fei ‘brother,’ but call Little Jiang by name?”

“I don’t know.” The little pink one snorted, tugging at a lock of daddy’s hair, pestering to go play at Xiao Fei’s house.

Zhang Yushui couldn’t handle this little ancestor anymore and quickly nodded, “I’ll call your little uncle. You be good—”

Before he even finished talking, the little pink one had already flown off flapping his wings. Zhang Yushui and King Hui of Xiapi were calm by now. At first, they were worried he’d get lost not knowing the way, but now they almost felt like it wouldn’t be so bad if he did get lost.

Of course, the two dads were just joking.

“Let’s do it. It’s summer break anyway, the kids being together makes them easier to look after.” Zhang Qiu had a clever plan. Would these super-dads really be okay letting the kid play alone? One sheep or three sheep, it’s all the same; he might even get a break.

The Zhang Yushui family of three went to Xi’an, also thinking it was a good time to throw a one-month party for little pink—mainly, they hadn’t seen everyone in a while, so it’d be good for everyone to chat.

After the plane landed, Li Shu came to pick them up. Zhang Yushui didn’t expect Zhang Qiu to ask what was wrong.

“Can’t get out of bed,” Li Shu said calmly.

Zhang Yushui felt the smugness in the tone. “These days, who doesn’t have some dog food? Ah Yan, give me a kiss.” He turned his head for a kiss from King Hui of Xiapi.

King Hui of Xiapi pushed him away expressionlessly. Zhang Yushui knew this guy didn’t like PDA.

At home, Zhang Qiu came down scratching his hair. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“You should sleep a little more.” After Li Shu said that, he asked, “Had breakfast?”

Zhang Qiu nodded, just ate. Then a golden blur flew at him.

“Yo, little pink is here.”

“Little uncle, where’s Brother Xiao Fei and Little Jiang?”

Zhang Qiu rubbed little pink’s head. The little guy had grown sturdier after just half a month. “Upstairs.” He had just spoken when little pink flew up already.

Zhang Yushui rubbed his temples. With his son’s attention diverted, he could finally relax.

During these two weeks, the three boys had a great time, sleeping in the same bed. Zhang Qiu had come to recognize little pink’s boundless energy. He flew around constantly. One night, the three kids even ran off in the middle of the night, and Zhang Qiu didn’t even notice—probably wrapped in Xiao Fei’s red mist. Li Shu definitely knew, though. When asked, Li Shu said, “Anyone who runs into them is the unlucky one, they won’t get into trouble. Besides, you were having a good time back then.”

Zhang Qiu: ……..

Upon returning and asking around, it turned out the three of them had gone to play in the cemetery—little pink’s idea. His pale face had dark shadows under the eyes, little fangs flashing sharply. Zhang Qiu thought, clearly same kind of baby fangs, but while Little Jiang looked like a kitten, little pink looked way cooler—like a wolf pup.

“My dad says this kid was born rebellious, always does the opposite,” Zhang Yushui also had a headache.

Zhang Qiu felt it deeply—never met such a sturdy troublemaker. But little pink’s chaos was never aimed at people—just self-entertaining destruction or aimed at ghosts.

Didn’t know what else to say.

“Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, you’ve worked hard.”

King Hui of Xiapi didn’t think it was hard or that little pink was naughty. A-Sui was even more of a menace when he was little. Actually, he thought the little guy was very sweet. Boys being a little wild was fine.

Before they knew it, it was little pink’s one-month celebration. They tidied up. Guests this time included Shuang Qi, Lu Fengshi, Xiao Lin and Lin Jiahe. Hei and Bai said they’d come too but wouldn’t stay overnight.

Zhang Qiu counted. “Our place can squeeze in one room—anyway, two of them are mini-sized. We still have five rooms. Second Brother and Sister-in-law take one, so we’re short one.”

“It’s all men, we can squeeze in. Worst case, Xiao Fei stays with us. Little Jiang and Xiao Fei squeeze with you for a few nights—” Zhang Yushui hadn’t finished when Li Shu refused. In the end, there was no compromise. If necessary, they’d get a hotel.

Those from the north arrived first. Zhang Qiu arranged rooms. Xiao Hua came too, now a first-grader, looking delicate and likable. He was Little Jiang’s brother. In return, Little Jiang took Xiao Hua to his room and let him choose his favorite toys.

With an unimpressed look, he coldly said, “Childish.”

Zhang Qiu thought, wasn’t it just yesterday you acted cute for a toy train? Remembering little pink with a cool face still acting pitiful and chirpy, Zhang Qiu wanted to laugh.

“Qi Xi has an important gig. He’ll be back the day after tomorrow,” Hua Ting explained.

Zhang Qiu checked the time. “Perfect. Kai Ming and the others are also flying in that day.” The two southern couples could meet up.

Then the next day, Zhang Qiu got a call from Qi Xi, as smug as ever, making him want to reach through the phone and hit him.

“Qiu Qiu, your big bro has arrived. Come pick me up.”

“Call a cab.” Zhang Qiu was busy eating fruit when he heard the other say, “I’m too pretty. Without a private ride, I’m scared someone will covet me.”

Everyone around burst out laughing. They’d heard Qi Xi’s voice before, but couldn’t match the image of a man built like a bull with the word “covet.” Zhang Qiu casually fired back while changing to go out, “No one’s seen your bull form.”

“Bull what! I’m a Xiezhi!”

Zhang Qiu could imagine Qi Xi jumping in anger. Li Shu didn’t trust him to drive, so he went along.

“Hurry up. I’m grabbing a coffee with my Xiao Rong Rong. Got a lot of stuff this time, bring a big car.”

At the airport, Zhang Qiu finally saw what “a lot” meant. This wasn’t a lot—it was insane!

“Qixi, are you moving? One, two, three, four—seven suitcases!” Zhang Qiu doubted there was enough room for guests.

Wrapped up tight for summer, Qi Xi wore sunglasses and giggled. “So smart. Big bro bought a house next door to you, now we can play together! These are just some of my clothes—and Xiao Rong Rong’s too.”

Next to him, Qi Zhirong coldly held one small suitcase. “Mine.”

“I dress up to seduce you, Xiao Rong Rong, you’re so naughty!” Qi Xi shamelessly grinned.

Zhang Qiu and Li Shu exchanged looks. Room problem solved, but with this guy next door, life was about to get fun. No wonder the house next door had been full of moving activity lately—it was Qi Xi.

With more room, Qi Xi hosted guests. Qi Zhirong looked cold and distant, but thinking about it, every time Qi Xi stirred trouble, Qi Zhirong never stopped him—always quietly supporting from the back. Like this time, buying the house, decorating, furnishing—it was all Qi Zhirong managing remotely. Qi Xi just acted, toured, occasionally reviewed designs.

Yue Qin, Cang Kai Ming, Xiao Lin, and Lin Jiahe stayed at Qi Xi’s place when they arrived.

Qi Xi put hands on hips and surveyed. Pointing at the greenery between their yards, he said, “Let’s tear this down, merge the yards, maybe build a mini amusement park…”

Before he finished, Little Jiang’s eyes sparkled, but Zhang Qiu noticed little pink didn’t overreact. He obviously liked it too but kept a cool face and mumbled, “Childish,” like he was so above it.

That kind of tsundere act was actually very cute.

Qi Xi was a man of action. He got people to tear down the greenery that same day. The yards merged and suddenly felt wide. The next day, Zhang Qiu was still asleep when the sounds of clanking woke him up—workers were in the yard. Little Jiang jumped out of bed barefoot and ran down, but someone beat him—golden wings flapping, little pink landed at the window first.

“Boring.”
Little pink said coolly.
Little Jiang leaned on the window, softly said, “It’s actually really fun.”

By the time little pink’s one-month celebration came, the swings, rocking horses, and slides were all installed. Super dads Zhang Yushui and King Hui of Xiapi even decorated with pink balloons and ribbons. It looked very princessy—didn’t match little pink’s cool style at all.

“Big brother is so pretty!” Bell’s eyes sparkled.

Pei Qing hugged Bell’s waist and said, “When baby Qinglong is born, big brother will take you to the amusement park.”

“Okay.” Bell obediently said, but his eyes still longingly watched the slide.

Little pink with golden wings walked over, arrogantly said, “If you wanna play, then just play. Scaredy cat.”

“You brat, watch your mouth.” Nearby, Zhang Yushui scolded. “You can’t talk to Uncle Bell like that.”

Little pink snorted, flapped his wings and circled around Bell. Pei Qing squinted, smiling. “Little guy, I’m gonna spank you later, don’t go crying ‘daddy’ on me.”

“Who’s scared of you!” Little pink flew at Pei Qing’s head, dodged his hand, and accidentally bumped into Bell.

Bell’s face suddenly changed. He fell back, holding his belly, face pale. “Big brother, it hurts… Baby Qinglong—”

Bang—

Little pink hit the ground, just in time to see Uncle Bell’s pants shift. With a thud, a green egg rolled out from Bell’s pant leg.

A green egg. Really pretty.

Little pink licked his little fangs.