CHAPTER 369: EPISODE 34.9 REFLECTIONS OVER ICE CREAM

The grueling dinner with Shen Zhaohui finally ended, much to Bai Tingfeng’s relief.

If he had to describe the experience, he would say it felt like taking a brisk walk through a storm. One moment, Shen Zhaohui hurled a gust of attitude, and the next, Shen Yuan countered with an even stronger one.

It was safe to say the Shen family had a generational issue with attitude.

And there was Bai Tingfeng, stuck in the middle, performing emotional gymnastics just to keep the night civil.

That was why, the moment they arrived home, he collapsed onto their bed without saying a word.

Feeling a bit guilty, Shen Yuan hovered nearby. "Hey, want some ice cream?"

Bai Tingfeng grunted a tired "yes." He had already eaten more than enough during dinner, but comfort food was comfort food.

Right now, a cold, sweet bite sounded perfect to cool his overheated head after that exhausting evening.

Seeing his husband’s sorry state, Shen Yuan’s lashes fluttered slightly. He had meant to tease him, but the sight of Bai Tingfeng looking so worn out tugged at his heart instead.

Quietly, he slipped out of the bedroom and made his way to the kitchen to get some ice cream.

However, halfway down the hall, he heard something moving inside the kitchen.

"What was that?" Shen Yuan whispered, tiptoeing closer.

Then he sprang forward. "Aha! Caught you!" he shouted, startling the culprit.

The thief yelped and dropped the cup of ice cream onto the floor.

"Daddy!" Yanyan squeaked, eyes wide.

A laugh rumbled in Shen Yuan’s throat. The boy could not have denied it even if he tried. The chocolate smudge on the corner of his mouth said everything.

"Seems like you really are our son," Shen Yuan said, amused. "Your Papa and I were about to eat ice cream. Would you like to join us?"

There was no need to scold him for sneaking sweets. After all, Shen Yuan did promise earlier that Yanyan could have ice cream tonight as compensation for not going to the fast-food restaurant as planned.

Yanyan’s eyes brightened at the offer. However, it dimmed almost instantly when he looked down at the poor ice cream cup he just opened. "I want to, Daddy. But my ice cream..."

Shen Yuan followed his gaze, and his upper lip twitched seeing the ice cream dripping on the floor. "Don’t worry about that. Just take a new one."

Shen Yuan then summoned one of his foxfire beasts. "Go and clean that up."

"Ki?" The flaming little fox tilted its head. It conjured a little flame at the tip of its tail.

"Hey, not that. I wouldn’t summon you if I meant cleaning that up using fire. I could do it very easily. What I meant is you..."

Shen Yuan teasingly mimed licking the floor, a mischievous grin curling on his lips.

"Ki!" The foxfire beast violently shook its head, horrified. It doesn’t want to! It is super unhygienic!

But to the little fox’s dismay, Shen Yuan just left with the ice cream and his little son tucked in his arms, giggling.

Back in their bedroom, Shen Yuan placed Yanyan down beside his father and opened the tub of ice cream. Unlike the pint cup that Yanyan sneakily opened, Shen Yuan took a one-gallon tub of ice cream for their family.

He passed around the spoons to his husband and son.

"Just spoon? No cup?" Bai Tingfeng sat up as he took the spoon from his omega husband. He looked haggard and handsome at the same time.

"Come on," Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. "You want me to go out of my way to wash a bowl or cup after this? Let’s just scoop this ice cream as a family. It’s not like we are harboring communicable diseases to be so careful around each other."

Bai Tingfeng and Yanyan looked at each other. And slowly a smile bloomed on their faces. Okay! That seemed to be a very intimate way of enjoying ice cream!

"Fine, let’s empty this tub before it gets late," Bai Tingfeng said.

The family of three enjoyed the strawberry ice cream in silence for a few minutes. All of them sighed in delight as they enjoyed the sweetness and coolness of it. It felt like the three of them silently agreed to reset together after the long, eventful day.

"Oh, I am sorry for being a big b—" Shen Yuan started after a while. However, realizing that the word he was about to use was not child-friendly, he quickly censored it. "— baddie over dinner. I let my temper consume me. Sorry if I didn’t make it as comfortable as it should be."

Almost immediately, Yanyan shook his head like a fan. "No, Daddy! The dinner is good! I enjoyed it!"

"Really? But then, why is your appetite tonight smaller than usual? You only finished one plate of rice when you always eat two?"

Caught for his lie, Yanyan’s lip tugged downwards, "It’s just... Grandpa Shen is a little too intense. I don’t want him to reprimand me for eating a lot..."

"Why did he ever reprimand you for your eating habits?"

Yanyan tugged his lips downwards, "Before. He said gaining too much weight is not healthy and it’s not a good look."

In an instant, Shen Yuan’s temper flared again."See? This is exactly why I don’t like him! I know he’s supposed to be my father, but his stiff, overbearing way of parenting makes him impossible to like. He acts as if every word that leaves his mouth is absolute truth—as if everyone should just accept it like gospel!"

Bai Tingfeng calmly scooped a spoonful of ice cream and brought it to Shen Yuan’s lips.

"I understand how you feel, Yuan. And you must have wanted him to change for the better," he said gently. Shen Yuan leaned forward to accept the ice cream. "But you can’t change someone just by opposing them. Change only happens when that person wants it, and it takes patience and steady effort from you. If you’re not ready to go through that, then your only choice is to accept it. Accept that your ’father’ simply has that kind of attitude."

Shen Yuan rolled his eyes at the deliberate way his husband emphasized the word father.

That was the downside of living someone else’s life after taking over their body. He had to carry all the baggage that came with it.

He didn’t bother replying to Bai Tingfeng’s words. Instead, he turned toward his son.

"You heard things from your grandfather about ranking people based on whether they are rich or not, right?"

Yanyan nodded, his mouth still full of ice cream.

"Yanyan, listen to Daddy for a bit, okay? What your Grandpa Shen said isn’t right. When you go to school, don’t think someone’s better or worse just because of their family or money. What really matters is how kind and hardworking a person is. Some of your classmates might live differently from us, and that’s okay! That is natural. We got to accept that." Shen Yuan gently told his son.

He lightly touched Yanyan’s cheek with his clean finger before continuing, "I don’t ever want to hear that my little fox bullied anyone, alright? We don’t do that. We’re not like Grandpa Shen. We absolutely wouldn’t want to be like him." He tapped Yanyan’s nose gently. "You’re lucky, you know. You still have so much time to grow up and become someone even better. Let’s both try to be good people, hmm? Better than Grandpa Shen."

Shen Yuan smiled when Yanyan nodded so earnestly. The little boy’s eyes sparkled—not just with understanding, but with the excitement of someone who suddenly remembered something important.

"Daddy, I will never bully my classmates!" Yanyan said proudly. "All of them are good kids! Did you know that during the activity where we needed to introduce ourselves and tell what our dreams were, a lot of people said they wanted to be a powerful awakener like Papa? Then, some said they wanted to work in the Hunter Association and be like you, Daddy!"

"Really?!" Shen Yuan’s face lit up, pleasantly surprised.

On the side, Bai Tingfeng breathed a sigh of relief that their conversation had finally veered away from Shen Zhaohui. He respected his father-in-law, and he is happy that his reaction to pregnancy was good, but he was a really stressful fellow.

Would he be a bad son-in-law if he was happy they only had to meet him rarely?

"Yes, Daddy!" The conversation outside Bai Tingfeng’s mind continued. This time, Shen Yuan is thoroughly immersed in the tales of the little boy about his first day of school.

"Then, how about you? What did you say to your class about what your dream is?" Shen Yuan asked, unwittingly pulling the attention of Bai Tingfeng.

Yanyan ate another scoop of ice cream, then hummed in delight. "Hmmm. I said I want to do whatever I love to do once I grow up."

The boy smiled timidly. "I don’t have a clear idea of what I really want to do once I am an adult. Being a hunter sounds cool. I like to be seen as cool. However, I also want to be a hero like Daddy."

"Son," Bai Tingfeng said softly. "It’s okay if you don’t have everything figured out yet. You’re still young. School is meant to be enjoyed. Leave things like that to the future; they’ll make sense when the time comes."

"Right." Shen Yuan agreed. "You know what? This is fun. Why don’t you tell us more about school?"

And so, Shen Yuan and Bai Tingfeng listened religiously to the adventures of the little boy. Sometimes, Shen Yuan will interrupt with a nugget of wisdom that Yanyan enjoys listening to.

"Our class adviser, Teacher Chen, set our seating arrangements according to our heights! Thanks to that, Xiaolun and I are seatmates. I would say that we got a very good seat since we are seated in front of the classroom, where we could easily see the writing on the board and hear the words of our teacher."

"Hmmm. I doubt that. Average students would consider the back of the classroom as the best seat in class."

Yanyan blinked his curious eyes. "Really? Why?"

"Yuan, don’t give our son ideas," Bai Tingfeng shook his head, making Shen Yuan laugh.

"This is just an FYI! I am not teaching our son to be a naughty student," The celestial fox spirit then answered his son. "It’s because being seated in the back helps them stealthily eat snacks behind their teacher’s back. That’s a bad behavior never do that"

Yanyan laughingly nodded.

"But in hindsight, school life would be more enjoyable—" Suddenly, Shen Yuan’s phone rang. It was Chairman Mao.