But perhaps because the child was still too young, he actually believed Shen Zhiyue's nonsense and nodded slightly, whispering, "I understand."
"How about we start over and introduce ourselves?" Shen Zhiyue held out his hand with a friendly smile. "Hello, I'm Shen Zhiyue. And you?"
The child pursed his lips and slowly extended his small hand, gently shaking Shen Zhiyue's hand. "Jiang Xingliu."
Shen Zhiyue smiled. "Hmm... Which Jiang Xingliu?"
The child seriously traced the characters in the air with his finger. "The 'Xing' with the three-point water radical, and the 'Liu' with the three-point water radical."
Shen Zhiyue patted his head exaggeratedly. "Wow, you're so smart already knowing your name at four!"
Jiang Xingliu lowered his eyes, feeling lightheaded, his ears turning red.
Shen Zhiyue had never praised him like this before.
"Here, ahh— open your mouth and try the noodles I made, alright?" Shen Zhiyue held the chopsticks in front of him.
Jiang Xingliu, having been hungry for too long, couldn't resist the aroma of the noodles and obediently opened his mouth to take in the noodles.
He ate quickly but neatly, looking like a well-mannered little boy.
Soon, the bowl of noodles was gone. Shen Zhiyue put the bowl down and went to the living room to find some wet wipes to clean Jiang Xingliu's mouth.
When he returned, he saw the child finishing the remaining broth in the bowl.
As soon as Jiang Xingliu noticed Shen Zhiyue, he quickly put the bowl down and licked the corner of his mouth.
After a moment of silence, he buried his head in shame, his ears burning red. "I'm sorry, you can scold me."
"Why would I scold you?" Shen Zhiyue gently wiped the broth from the corner of his mouth. "It must be because I cooked it so well, huh?"
Jiang Xingliu nodded slightly, feeling ashamed.
"That's a compliment to me. I should be happy, so why would I blame you? Are you still hungry?"
The child glanced at the empty bowl and nodded slightly again.
"Sadly, we don't have much else at home right now. Tomorrow, I'll take you out to eat something delicious, okay?"
Jiang Xingliu still wasn't used to being called 'sweetie' and hesitated for a moment before stammering, "Aren't you hungry too?"
Shen Zhiyue playfully tugged his earlobe and said softly, "I'm not hungry."
Jiang Xingliu pursed his lips, feeling a warmth welling up in his heart.
Shen Zhiyue had left the only good food in the house for him.
Was he really changing?
"Alright, you should go to sleep now. Once you're asleep, you won't feel hungry, and tomorrow will come quickly." Shen Zhiyue carried him to the bedroom.
When Jiang Xingliu was placed on the bed, he still felt shy. "This is your bed."
Shen Zhiyue had noticed earlier that this was the only room with a bed that was ready to sleep in. All the other rooms were cold and dusty.
"It's totally fine. You sleep here. It's not embarrassing for a little kid to share a bed with an adult." Shen Zhiyue patted his head and tucked him in.
Jiang Xingliu didn't say anything.
Shen Zhiyue wanted to tease him: "By the way, you don't wet the bed, do you? Should I put a diaper on you, just in case?"
Jiang Xingliu's whole face instantly turned beet red: "I would never wet the bed!"
Shen Zhiyue laughed, his eyes so gentle under the warm light they seemed to glisten with affection.
Jiang Xingliu buried his head under the blanket, cautiously peeking out at him from under the covers.
After straightening the blankets, Shen Zhiyue casually grabbed a comfy-looking cotton shirt from the nearby wardrobe and turned to walk out.
He began to clean the house.
From the kitchen to the living room, after tidying up the frequently used areas, the entire villa looked like it had been completely refreshed.
While he was at it, he also explored every nook and cranny of the villa.
After everything was cleaned up, Shen Zhiyue wiped the sweat from his forehead, stood in the living room, and let out a long sigh: "At long last, it's done."
He looked up at the clock in the living room; two hours had passed, and it was now midnight.
He took the cotton shirt he had prepared earlier and walked into the bathroom.
Just as he finished showering and sat down on the living room sofa, his optical brain started ringing.
It took him five minutes of fumbling to find the answer button.
Six calls had already come through.
It was only on the seventh call that Shen Zhiyue answered.
The optical brain erupted with ear-piercing screams, blaring music, and raucous laughter.
"Hey Young Master Jiang, your wife must be getting cozy with some pretty boy right now. It took you so long to answer the call; that pretty boy must be quite enduring, huh?"
The wild laughter on the other end nearly deafened him.