Chapter 32: A Natural Scholar

In truth, according to the book, although the original host and she had registered their marriage and lived together for half a year, they had never actually consummated it.

That was the primary reason why the original host believed she had tricked him into marriage.

So he couldn’t help but wonder: did she already have someone else in her heart?

After all, they weren’t major characters in the book, so many details had been left unwritten.

Everything would have to wait until Zhou Yuru returned. But as a married man for now, cheating was something he couldn’t bring himself to do.

Since he had promised to take the kids out to buy clothes that evening, Chen Liyang hadn’t bought any groceries for dinner, intending to just grab a bite while they were out.

When he got home, the kids were already back, and Wanning had been picked up as well.

The moment Chen Liyang stepped into the courtyard, four pairs of eyes locked onto him.

Seeing them staring silently at him, he gave a gentle smile. “Why are you all looking at me like that? Don’t you recognize me?”

Zhou Chengbei was the first to speak up. “You dyed your hair black?”

“Yeah. The yellow looked too immature. Now when I go to your school in the future, you won’t have to worry about me embarrassing you.” Chen Liyang spoke candidly, his eyes sincere.

“So… you left the school without saying goodbye just because you were afraid of embarrassing me?” Zhou Chengdong blurted out.

Chen Liyang nodded. “I know how I dressed before didn’t look like much of a father. Kids your age care a lot about saving face.

“If your classmates had seen me like that, who knows how much they would’ve mocked you!”

Zhou Chengdong hadn’t expected that he had left just to spare his pride. He had assumed Chen Liyang simply didn’t want his classmates knowing he was his child.

Still, he had to admit that Chen Liyang looked much more pleasant and approachable with black hair.

“Big Brother, why did he go to school today?” Zhou Chengxi didn’t know what had happened with the eldest.

He was in the elementary school section, which was separated from the middle school section by a massive sports field.

Unless he had a reason, he usually didn’t go over to the middle school section to look for his two older brothers.

And Chen Liyang was even less likely to show up; since Zhou Chengxi had started school, Chen Liyang hadn’t stepped foot on campus once.

He had thought that Chen Liyang would never set foot inside a school building for their sakes in his entire life.

Who could have guessed that from the day he decided to change, he seemed completely reborn, transformed from head to toe?

The only things that remained unchanged were his height and his physical appearance.

“Something came up, so the teacher called for a parent.” As for what actually happened, Zhou Chengdong didn’t go into detail.

At the mention of calling a parent, Chen Liyang spoke up. “If Aunt Zhao’s son next door hadn’t been in the same class as our eldest, the teacher wouldn’t have even been able to reach me. Who knows how much grief and unfairness he would have suffered then?

“Now, all of you go open your backpacks and write down my phone number. That way, if anything comes up in the future, you can get in touch with us right away.”

“With the way you change numbers twice a month, what’s the point of us writing it down?” Zhou Chengxi asked mockingly.

Chen Liyang then remembered that the original host constantly offended people and changed his number frequently out of fear that they would hunt him down.

He immediately promised them, “Starting today, my phone will be turned on twenty-four hours a day, and I won’t change my number ever again.

“Once our financial situation improves a bit, I’ll buy you all smartwatch phones so it’ll be even easier for us to stay in touch.”

Oddly enough, hearing such out-of-character words tumble from his mouth didn’t feel unnatural to the kids.

Still, words were just words, and Zhou Chengxi refused to acknowledge his status. “Even if something happens to us at school, we don’t need you meddling. There’s no point in writing down your number.”

Before his words had even fully settled, Chen Liyang walked into the living room, grabbed the third child’s backpack, and wrote his phone number directly on the first page of the Chinese textbook.

“What are you doing? Who gave you permission to touch my stuff?” Zhou Chengxi shouted, red-faced with anger.

Chen Liyang gave a gentle smile. “If you won’t write it down, I’ll just have to do it myself. And don’t you dare cover it with white-out, or I’ll write my number across every single page of this textbook.”

With that, he put the book and ballpoint pen back into the backpack with satisfaction.

In his mind, he made a mental note that when school started in September, he definitely had to buy them new backpacks.

The tips of Zhou Chengxi’s ears flushed slightly red. “Childish!” But he didn’t say anything about whiting it out.

Knowing the boy was just being contrary, Chen Liyang paid it no further mind and turned to the other three. “What about you three? Do you want me to write it for you, or will you do it yourselves?”

Seeing that Chen Liyang meant business, the three of them had no choice but to open their bags and pull out paper and pens.

Chen Liyang quite enjoyed seeing them compromise because of his words, beaming as he recited his phone number.

Noticing that the eldest and second eldest were writing while only the fourth child remained still, he asked why he wasn’t writing.

The fourth child’s response filled him with envy. “I’ve already memorized it. There’s no need to waste ink.”

He knew the fourth child was destined to become a computer genius in the future, but he hadn’t realized the boy’s memory was this good. Chen Liyang had him recite it back to him.

Perfect. Not a single digit wrong.

This kid was truly a natural scholar!

“Not bad, not bad! Such a good memory, just as expected of my son! Tonight, Dad will take you to KFC.” Chen Liyang patted Zhou Chengbei on the head and praised him with a laugh.

Children this young loved nothing more than praise from adults.

Sure enough, Zhou Chengbei’s small face flushed. This was the very first time Chen Liyang had ever praised him, let alone offered a reward!

At school, he had always kept his performance mediocre, hoping that one day he wouldn’t have to go to school anymore and wouldn’t have to face his classmates’ strange looks.

At this moment, for the very first time, the urge to study hard took root in his mind.

Seeing that dusk was approaching, Chen Liyang made a grand wave of his hand. “Come on! Dad’s taking you out for new clothes and KFC!”

When Chen Liyang had mentioned buying them clothes at noon, they had thought he was just coaxing them. They hadn’t expected he actually intended to take them.

Chen Liyang was a man of his word. Besides, these kids’ clothes truly needed replacing.

Especially the eldest, who was growing fast. His ankle-length pants looked like cropped capris, and his shirt was practically a crop top, making him look completely mismatched.

If he had to go to school dressed like that, he would probably be too embarrassed to even raise his head.

Chen Liyang’s leg injury still hadn’t fully healed, but walking didn’t hurt as much as it had yesterday.

He carried Wanning straight out of the house, the four boys trailing right behind him like little guardians.

Once they grew up a bit more, they would definitely provide an overwhelming sense of security.

Over the past few days, Chen Liyang taking his stepchildren out so frequently had become a major topic of neighborhood gossip.

Everyone was curious about what had gotten into him.

But Chen Liyang had no intention of clearing up their confusion. Idle gossip was an inevitable part of life, so why bother giving it any thought?

Worried they might be hungry, Chen Liyang planned to take them to KFC first before buying clothes.

Since there were so many of them, Chen Liyang ordered two Family Buckets right away, intending to let them eat to their hearts’ content.