Chapter 132: I Choose You, Adopted Son Number Three! (Seeking subscriptions, seeking monthly votes!)

"Come on, old man, what kind of trauma did you suffer? Why on earth are you so obsessed with making me your adoptive son?"

Placing the dumplings brought over by the waitress onto the table, Yang Kuan grinned and picked up his chopsticks.

Looking at Yang Kuan's pained expression, Li Shixin chuckled, took a napkin to wipe the chopsticks Yang Kuan handed him, and said, "Xiao Kuan, you know not just anyone can be my adoptive son, right? Right now, my career is just starting out, so my standards for an adoptive son aren't that high. If you wait another couple of years, even if you begged me to be your godfather, I might not even agree! It's just like starting a business, you see? Follow the old man now, and later on, when my net worth skyrockets, what you'll be holding in your hands are founder's shares..."

"Stop right there!" Yang Kuan huffed a laugh.

You call this a career just starting out?

What career?

The career of adopting sons?

Founder's shares...

You certainly have plenty of crooked logic, old man!

Seeing Yang Kuan peel a clove of garlic on his own and start eating with gusto, Li Shixin shook his head.

I bestow my heart upon the bright moon, but the bright moon shines upon a ditch.

There is a road to heaven which you refuse to take, yet you insist on walking right into my porcelain trap.

Yang Kuan, Oh Yang Kuan, your parents gave you a good name...

Yet you insist on walking down such a narrow path yourself!

Watching Yang Kuan hungrily shoveling big mouthfuls of dumplings into his mouth, Li Shixin narrowed his eyes.

He swept a brief glance over the environment of the dumpling restaurant and the corners of his mouth curled up.

As Yang Kuan ate, he heard a sudden clatter. Looking up, he frowned.

Seeing Li Shixin's hand trembling as he bent down to pick up a fallen pair of chopsticks from the floor, Yang Kuan hurriedly called out, "Hey! Why are you still picking those up off the floor? I'll just get you a new pair!"

With that, he grabbed a fresh pair of chopsticks and handed them over.

Li Shixin took the chopsticks with a blank expression, his hands trembling as he struggled in vain to tear open the wrapper of the disposable chopsticks.

"What is wrong with you?"

Seeing Li Shixin suddenly acting so befuddled, Yang Kuan let out an exclamation.

"Young man, he is getting up there in age, you should speak to him nicely, you know?"

There were quite a few people in the dumpling restaurant, and an elderly woman nearby, upon hearing Yang Kuan's outburst, smiled and offered a piece of advice.

"No, well—!" Yang Kuan smiled and shook his head, took the chopsticks from Li Shixin's hand, and tore open the wrapper for him again. "Hold them properly this time! Old man, I happen to know about that copyright incident involving ten thousand yuan earlier, so I advise you not to pull this act on me."

Handing the chopsticks to Li Shixin, Yang Kuan lowered his voice but heightened his tone.

Looking at the playfulness and triumph in the young man's eyes, Li Shixin chuckled inwardly.

Not bad, young man?

You saw right through the old man's routine at a glance?

Facing Yang Kuan's provocative gaze, he raised an eyebrow.

This was precisely why he was so determined to take Yang Kuan as his adoptive son—he was the final loose end from the ten thousand yuan copyright controversy.

This trouble had to be rooted out once and for all!

You're not escaping the role of adoptive son today, my boy!

Li Shixin gave a cold internal chuckle, and then...

"I don't want chopsticks! I want a spoon! Get me a spoon!"

A muffled, indistinct roar echoed throughout the dumpling restaurant.

"What the heck! Who's your son?!" Yang Kuan finally snapped, slamming his palm down on the table with a loud bang, leaping to his feet and pointing at Li Shixin. "Old man, that's quite enough! Don't push me to fall out with you!"

This sudden outburst immediately drew the gazes of everyone in the dumpling restaurant toward them.

Facing Yang Kuan's finger, which was practically poking into his eyes, Li Shixin froze.

Then, he lowered his head.

Plop,

Plop...

Under the gaze of all the diners, murky tears of age fell like broken threads into the plate of dumplings.

And that wasn't all; after shedding a few lumpy tears, he simply sat down flat on the floor!

His two legs pedaled back and forth on the ground just like a three-year-old child's, and he began to wail.

"What the—"

Seeing Li Shixin turn into this state without any warning, Yang Kuan felt a chill run straight down his spine!

A dozen hostile gazes pierced into him like needles—making every hair on his body stand on end!

"What kind of act are you putting on now?" He hurriedly stepped forward and tugged at Li Shixin's sleeve.

Yet, to his surprise, Li Shixin—who had completely transformed into a toddler—shoved his hand away violently. "Go away! You yelled at me! Get out of here right now!"

Looking around the dumpling restaurant, seeing even the chef who was boiling the dumplings glaring at him with locked brows, Yang Kuan felt his scalp tingle with dread!

Now, looking at Li Shixin—who was up to god knows what, but definitely harboring some malicious scheme—Yang Kuan clicked his tongue. Without another word, he picked up his down jacket from the side and stood up, heading straight for the exit.

I can't afford to mess with this, I really can't.

This old man is way too bizarre; the best of the thirty-six stratagems is to leave. I'll just make a run for it, alright?

Just as he was thinking this, the waitress who had been serving dishes by the door stepped directly into his path.

"Little brother, it's not that this big sister is meddling, but your dad's mind clearly isn't right. For you to just walk out and leave the old man here, what kind of behavior is that?"

Facing the waitress's furious expression, Yang Kuan slapped his own forehead in exasperation, pulled a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket, and shoved it into the waitress's hand.

"Big sister, this is for the meal money. You don't need to give me any change, okay?"

"You jerk!"

Just as Yang Kuan turned slightly to slip away, the stout, broad-shouldered waitress grabbed him by the collar and yanked him right back like he was a little chick!

"You think this old lady cares about your hundred measly bucks for food?! You dump an old man here and just walk off. Never mind what our shop would do, this old man clearly has mental issues, what is he supposed to do? Is this how a son behaves?!"

"No, big sister! I am seriously not his son!" Facing the contemptuous gazes of the entire room, Yang Kuan slapped his thigh, pulled his ID card out of his pocket, and slapped it into the waitress's palm. "Big sister, take a good look, this is my ID card, see!"

He emphasized his tone heavily, then walked back to Li Shixin's side and made a motion to check his pockets.

"He is not my son!" Seeing this, Li Shixin immediately let out a muffled shout.

"See that?" Yang Kuan gave a huff of laughter and turned back to look at the waitress.

"My son's name is Yang Kuan. He is not my son!"

Swish!

Yang Kuan felt two streams of pure fury erupting from the waitress's eyes!

Just at that moment, Li Shixin scrambled up from the floor. Disregarding the dust on his clothes, he scurried straight over to a table of customers. Without minding that the dumplings on the table were still steaming hot, he grabbed them with his bare hands and frantically stuffed them one by one into his pockets.

"Hey! Old man, those are scorching hot! What on earth are you doing?!"

"I... I want to bring dumplings back for my son to eat. My, my son Kuan Kuan... he, he loves these the most."

The table of diners dropped their jaws in shock.

Watching the old man—tears still staining his cheeks, his eyes hazy and expression vacant—frantically grabbing boiling hot dumplings from the plate and stuffing them into his pockets, while his withered, twig-like hands were burned bright red by the freshly cooked dumplings without him even realizing it...

They clenched their teeth.

"You little scumbag. Your father is in this condition, and he's still thinking about what you love to eat. You..."

At that table, a hulking brute well over one hundred and ninety centimeters tall and weighing over two hundred pounds, built like a grizzly bear, slowly stood up.

Squinting his eyes to hold back his tears, he walked over to Yang Kuan, grabbed him by the collar, and hoisted him up!

"Get on your knees! Apologize to your father!"

Sensing that if he dared to utter a single word of dissent, he probably wouldn't leave this dumpling restaurant horizontally, Yang Kuan's legs went weak, and he dropped straight to his knees in front of Li Shixin with a heavy thud.

"D-d-dad..."

Looking at Yang Kuan kneeling before him like a startled quail, Li Shixin's brows twitched imperceptibly.

His eyes slowly regained their clarity.

After lingering for some dozen seconds, he looked at Yang Kuan kneeling in front of him and blinked in confusion. "Son, what are you kneeling on the ground for?"

You motherfucker, didn't you just act this whole thing out, you asshole!

Feeling the hard floor bruising his kneecaps, Yang Kuan felt like crying without tears.

...

Half an hour later, outside the dumpling restaurant.

"Hiccup..."

Having eaten his fill, Li Shixin let out a long, echoing burp, and looked with a smiling chuckle at Yang Kuan, who was standing beside him with a gloomy expression.

"How is it? It's been quite a few years since you last called someone Dad, hasn't it?"

"Nonsense! I sweep my parents' graves every single year!" Yang Kuan, who had ultimately been played for a fool, let out a cold snort.

"Hehe." Watching this fellow's thoroughly depressed expression, Li Shixin shook his head. "You already acknowledged me as your dad, so why still wear such an unhappy face?"

"That's because you trapped me into it, alright!" Yang Kuan raged, but the moment he shouted, he shrank his neck back and checked his surroundings to make sure nobody was nearby.

Figuring he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, he lowered his voice and said, "Old man, don't pull that stuff with me. Although I, Yang Kuan, am no unyielding hero, I would never acknowledge a swindler as my father! Besides, don't you think your methods are utterly despicable? Using people's sympathy to achieve your own goals—do you find that glorious?!"

Facing Yang Kuan's righteous indignation, Li Shixin let out a light exhale.

In the world of adults, there is no right or wrong, only gains and losses, my foolish boy.

Faced with Yang Kuan's furious glare, Li Shixin spat out a breath. "Kuan'er, do you remember your godfather saying he'd give you a public service announcement idea for free?"

"You have the nerve to bring that up! Earlier you said you'd give me the idea if I called you godfather. Where's the idea? You old swindler!"

Li Shixin raised an eyebrow. "An Alzheimer's patient whose intelligence has regressed to that of a child, yet who still remembers his son loves dumplings and stuffs them into his pockets. Is that idea not enough?"

"There. The ad title can just be called *Dumplings*, and the theme will continue the style of *Only You*: *He forgot many things, but he never forgot to love you*. How's that?"

Biu!

The moment Li Shixin's words fell, the scenes from the dumpling restaurant just moments ago flooded back into Yang Kuan's mind all at once!

"Godfather, tell me a bit more about it! I still need to sort out the details!"

"Ahem." Seeing Yang Kuan's excitement, Li Shixin couldn't help but chuckle, lifting his chin to gaze forty-five degrees up at the sky. "My legs are a bit sore."

"Come, come, there's a chair right over here, sit down and talk!"

"Oh right, Kuan'er, your godfather hasn't booked a hotel for tonight since coming to Shanghai."

"Tch! What hotel are you talking about? Since you're here with me, you're naturally staying at my place!"

Looking at the unnatural, foolish grin on Yang Kuan's face, Li Shixin was deeply gratified.

"Good boy. When there's a chance, I'll introduce your two adoptive older brothers to you."