Chapter 35: Telling Bedtime Stories

In the bathroom, what Chen Liyang had said truly stirred up small waves in his heart.

That Chen Liyang would say such things to Wanning was something he hadn’t anticipated.

But only time would reveal a person’s true character; a momentary change didn’t mean a lifetime of change.

If he could treat them like this day after day for years, then there might be some credibility to it.

For now, he didn’t want his younger brothers to completely drop their guard around Chen Liyang just because of these superficial appearances.

Whenever Chen Liyang passed his test, it wouldn’t be too late to let them change their attitude toward him.

Meanwhile, after finishing bathing Wanning, Chen Liyang carried her into his own room, worried she might disturb the two oldest boys while they were doing their homework.

He intended to let her sleep with him tonight; the bed in his room had more than enough space for a little girl.

“Wanning, your brothers are doing their homework. How about sleeping with Daddy tonight?”

Zhou Wanning didn’t say anything, as if she hadn’t heard him at all.

Chen Liyang gave a faint smile. “If you don’t say anything, Daddy will take that as a yes.”

With that, he carried Wanning into his room.

Setting Wanning down on the bed, Chen Liyang turned on the electric fan, setting it to maximum speed.

Whether it was an old mindset ingrained in his bones or not, no matter how hot it was, the belly still needed to be covered.

Chen Liyang found a clean shirt and draped it over Zhou Wanning’s stomach. “Wanning, stay lying down like a good girl. Daddy’s going to take a shower, and I’ll tell you a bedtime story in a bit.”

His voice was gentle, and he stroked her forehead as he spoke.

Wanning looked at him, her gaze focused and serious, as though she understood, yet also as though she didn’t.

Then Chen Liyang turned and left the room. He showered quickly.

From stepping in to coming out took less than five minutes. He threw Wanning’s old clothes, along with his own, straight into the trash bin.

There was no point in keeping these clothes anymore. If it weren’t dark outside, he would have thrown them directly into the outdoor trash cans.

Returning to the room, he expected Wanning to be asleep, but to his surprise, her eyes were wide open, staring at the light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

Next to the bulb, mosquitoes were flying around.

Chen Liyang dried his hair with a towel, and once it stopped dripping, he climbed onto the bed as well.

He could feel Zhou Wanning’s body stiffen for a brief moment, but she quickly relaxed again.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet, Wanning? Are you waiting for Daddy to tell you a bedtime story?” Chen Liyang’s voice was exceedingly gentle.

Seeing that Wanning didn’t answer, Chen Liyang recalled a few fairy tales he had heard and began to tell them in a slow, soothing tone.

“Once upon a time, there was a beautiful queen who gave birth to a little princess. The little princess was as white as snow…”

After all, this was the world inside a novel. Although the author had modeled it after modern society,

it wasn’t fully fleshed out, and fairy tales like this had never existed in this world.

Just as Chen Liyang was absorbed in telling the story, Zhou Chengbei, who had come out to use the bathroom, overheard Chen Liyang telling a story to his little sister.

He had never heard anything like it before. It instantly captivated him, and forgetting all about going to the bathroom, he walked over to the bedroom door and listened quietly.

The fairy tale wasn’t long, finishing in about ten minutes, but Zhou Chengbei was left wanting more.

To him, a story like this was utterly novel.

In the past, Mom had also told him bedtime stories, but hers were nowhere near as vivid and interesting as the ones Chen Liyang told.

“Wanning, aren’t you sleepy yet?” Chen Liyang felt his throat going dry, yet Wanning’s eyes were still open wide and round.

Helpless, he had no choice but to start telling the story of the Three Little Pigs.

In their room, Zhou Chengxi noticed that his younger brother hadn’t returned from the bathroom after a long time. Thinking something might have happened, he walked out of the room to see what was going on.

As soon as he left the room, he saw Zhou Chengbei standing at the door of Chen Liyang’s room, his ear pressed against the crack, eavesdropping.

He had no idea what his brother was listening to, and Zhou Chengbei didn’t even hear him when he called his name.

Curious, he crept over quietly.

Through the gap in the door, he saw Chen Liyang gently patting his sister’s belly while telling a story he had never heard before.

He showed complete, gentle patience, without the slightest hint of annoyance throughout.

Sensing someone behind him, Zhou Chengbei turned his head. Seeing it was his third brother, he immediately made a shushing gesture, terrified he would disturb the story.

Although Zhou Chengxi found the story novel, he was already past the age of enjoying bedtime stories.

Once he confirmed his younger brother and sister were fine, he immediately went back to the room to do his homework.

Through Chen Liyang’s unflagging efforts, Zhou Wanning was finally coaxed to sleep.

By this time, his lips were so dry that white foam was forming at the corners of his mouth.

Taking care of kids really was no easy task.

Seeing that his sister had fallen asleep and there were no more stories to hear, Zhou Chengbei finally returned to the room to continue his homework.

“So you finally decided to come back?” Zhou Chengxi remarked sarcastically when he saw Zhou Chengbei.

But Zhou Chengbei didn’t seem to catch the sarcasm. His eyes sparkled with excitement as he said, “Third Brother, the stories he told were so interesting! I wonder where he heard them. I’ve never heard anything like them before.”

“They’re just a few short stories. Look how excited you are. He’s an adult, so he’s seen way more of the world than us. It’s completely normal for him to tell stories you’ve never heard,” Zhou Chengxi said dismissively.

But Zhou Chengbei immediately shook his head in disagreement. “No, Mom was an adult too. Why did she never tell me stories like these before?”

These words left Zhou Chengxi momentarily speechless, so he quietly went back to doing his homework.

Zhou Chengbei had a great memory and remembered every single word of the short stories Chen Liyang had told.

He couldn’t concentrate on his homework at all, his mind completely filled with the stories.

Without realizing it, he began writing the stories down in his notebook, substituting pinyin whenever he came across a character he didn’t know how to write.

By the time Zhou Chengxi finished his homework and took a shower, Zhou Chengbei had finished recording all the stories.

Late at night, Chen Liyang was half-asleep when he felt something staring at him.

Opening his eyes, he saw a figure sitting on his bed right in front of him, scaring him so badly his scalp felt like it was about to burst.

He hurriedly switched on the light, and he only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Wanning’s face.

“Wanning, why are you sitting on the bed instead of sleeping?” There was no scolding in his voice, only concern in every word.

Zhou Wanning said nothing, merely looking down at her pants. Following her gaze, Chen Liyang saw that they were wet. It wasn’t hard to guess that she had wet her pants.

Fortunately, it was hot summer and she was sleeping on a bamboo mat, or he would have had to change the entire sheet and mattress.

Shaking off some of his drowsiness, Chen Liyang went to the older boys’ room, found a clean set of clothes for Wanning, and changed her out of the wet ones.

Although he moved as quietly as possible, lighting his way with his phone’s flashlight, he still woke Zhou Chengdong from his sleep.

“What are you doing?” Zhou Chengdong asked in a low whisper, careful not to wake the second oldest sleeping beside him.