Husband, Hungry, Eat! Chapter 123

Chapter 123

Qi Cheng and his group were staying in Switzerland. Transportation wasn't very convenient, but they had a car and a driver at home, and even with the language barrier, they had interpreters with them. They were living in a massive villa estate. 

After the long flight, Fanfan was inevitably a bit restless and uncomfortable. At times like this, he didn't want anyone else—he just wanted to lie in his daddy's arms, cheek pressed against his daddy's chest, making soft, milky little sounds without actually crying. But somehow, because he was so quiet about it, it made people's hearts ache even more.

Qi Cheng stroked his little goose's cheek. It felt like since his husband wasn't around, he had to step up and be a man, becoming his little goose's pillar of support. He kissed his little goose's forehead and soothed him, saying, "Let's go out and have some fun. Once we get there, Daddy will take you on a little ride, and we can look at the flowers, okay?"

"Dad~" Fanfan replied in his soft, sticky little voice.

Qi Cheng gently patted his little goose's back, and little by little, he lulled him to sleep.

Thankfully, they were in first class, so the environment was comfortable. But no matter how comfortable it was, flying for over ten hours was always exhausting. Their moods shifted from excitement to boredom, then to sleeping, and then to waking up to play offline games or watch videos.

Fanfan was very well-behaved. After sleeping in his daddy's arms, he woke up full of energy again, so Lu Yang took him over and watched a cartoon with him.

"Xiao Lu is really patient. If he gets married and has kids someday, he'll definitely be a great dad," Zhuzhu said admiringly.

With Lu Yang's good looks, his income now, and how sharp and hardworking he was, his future was limitless. The only pity was that Lu Yang just wasn't into her that way. Sometimes during shoots, Lu Yang would be so cool and suave that Zhuzhu's heart would race, and she'd scream "So handsome!" and joke around flirtatiously. But strangely enough, there was no romantic spark between them.

Such a shame!!!

Zhuzhu really felt a twinge of regret. Otherwise, it would have been so easy—he was right there, practically within reach.

Maybe he was just too good-looking, and she felt like she didn't measure up standing next to him.

"I'm not getting married," Lu Yang said casually while watching the cartoon with Fanfan.

Zhuzhu: !!!

Xiao Lu is someone who doesn't want to get married—wait, that term sounds really familiar. Have I heard it somewhere before?

But she couldn't remember, so she let it go.

After fifteen hours of flying, they finally arrived. Switzerland was a small country. In July, the famous cities would be blazing hot, with the midday sun scorching, but here the temperature was pleasant—almost like spring.

They got off the plane, took a car, and arrived at the arranged house.

Zhuzhu: "I—" She barely bit back a swear word, remembering that little Fanfan was around.

"Is this where we're staying?" She couldn't tell if this was a castle or not.

Lao Ke and the assistant had pretty much the same expression.

"If you're not used to it, you can stay at a hotel instead—" Qi Cheng didn't even finish before being cut off.

"No need, I love it here! Boss, you're way too good to us. Coming to work at your studio was the best decision ever," Zhuzhu said excitedly.

Everything was already arranged here. Everyone got settled in, and those who needed rest did so. Uncle Quan couldn't sleep, so he wandered around, checking out the kitchen and inspecting the fridge. Auntie Zheng called home to let her family know she was safe.

Fanfan, meanwhile, clung to his daddy's leg.

"Come on, let's go for a walk, Daddy and Fanfan," Qi Cheng said. He couldn't sleep either—he'd been sitting too long and needed to stretch. The estate sat near the foot of the mountains, surrounded by greenery with stunning natural scenery. Looking up into the distance, he could see layers of mountains with snow still capping their peaks.

Qi Cheng originally wanted to carry his little goose, but as he reached out—he saw his little goose's eager little face. As the biological dad, Qi Cheng could only grit his teeth and go for it. "Come here, Daddy's big little goose. Today I'll carry you, and no dropping any golden tears, okay?"

"Pfft~" Fanfan nestled in his daddy's arms, first protesting that he didn't cry, then acting all cute, pressing his chubby cheek against his daddy's cheek, resting his chin on his daddy's shoulder, and breaking into a smile.

Qi Cheng gave his little goose a little bounce and said, "Daddy's going to tell you something. We're going to be out here for a while, and we'll see Big Daddy soon. During this time, it's just the two of us relying on each other, and neither of us is allowed to cry."

"You're the one who wants to cry," Lu Yang chimed in from the side.

Qi Cheng: …

Why you gotta do that?!

"You're single, you wouldn't get it," Qi Cheng shot back.

Lu Yang just shrugged noncommittally. The place was huge and the scenery was beautiful. The two of them strolled along the path, with bodyguards following behind. Less than ten minutes in, Qi Cheng said to his little goose, "How about walking a bit on your own? Look, there are little bugs—aren't they cute?"

Fanfan immediately wrapped his chubby little arms tighter around his daddy's neck!

Qi Cheng coughed.

"I'll hold him for a bit," Lu Yang said, having tagged along precisely because he knew this would happen. "Want Uncle Xiao Lu to carry you?"

Fanfan looked at his daddy, then at Uncle Xiao Lu. He didn't really want to leave his daddy's arms, but Uncle Xiao Lu was so good-looking! So after hesitating for three seconds, he decisively stretched out his arms and launched himself into Uncle Xiao Lu's embrace.

Qi Cheng: "… You're not really any bigger than me." He was just being stubborn.

Lu Yang didn't respond—he couldn't be bothered to trade barbs.

After their walk, Lu Yang carried Fanfan the whole time. Qi Cheng silently kept his mouth shut. Someone like him — your typical salted fish homebody — really couldn't compare to someone like Lu Yang, who'd been a schoolyard fighter and hauled cargo for a living, building real muscle strength through life experience.

They'd arranged for interpreters, rested for two days, and then the studio got to work on the shoot.

Qi Cheng didn't go along. They were in a foreign country, and lately Fanfan had been sleeping with him at night. He felt insecure and extremely dependent on his daddy. If Qi Cheng left, Auntie Zheng and Uncle Quan wouldn't be able to calm him down—Fanfan would be scared.

There was a seven-hour time difference from back home, but they still called every day according to Qi Cheng's local time, which kind of gave him the illusion that there wasn't much difference at all.

One night, Fanfan lay in his daddy's arms while Qi Cheng held the iPad and zoomed in on his husband's face on the screen.

"Big Daddy!" Fanfan's eyes were round and bright.

Qi Cheng had the exact same expression. "Husband!"

Bai Zongyin smiled on the other end. The moment he saw his big one and little one, all his stress melted away, leaving only happiness.

Their nightly video calls before bed never involved serious matters—just chatting about what they ate that day, the little car they bought for Fanfan, and how Fanfan got so scared by a bug that he clung to his daddy's leg and tried to climb up him.

"…He almost pulled my pants down," Qi Cheng laughed, telling his husband about their son's heroic feat.

Fanfan covered his ears with his tiny hands, his round eyes wide and his soft little face all squishy, wearing an innocent expression that said, "Fanfan doesn't know anything~" and "Fanfan didn't do it~"

"Hahahahaha look at him pretending!"

Bai Zongyin smiled and said, "It wasn't Fanfan's fault. The little bug scared Fanfan, right?"

It couldn't be Chengcheng's fault, and it couldn't be their son's fault, so it had to be the bug's problem.

Fanfan nodded his little head.

Yes!

Qi Cheng thought, You've got your ears covered—how can you even hear—wait, looking closely, his chubby little fingers weren't even touching his ears properly. What a little goofball.

About half a month passed like this. The studio traveled through several countries, with people posting photos in the group chat every day. One day, Qi Cheng spotted a very familiar profile.

"Is that Liu Sinian?"

Zhuzhu: Yeah, Mr. Liu came over three days ago. I think he's attending an art exhibition here.

Qi Cheng: Oh, what a coincidence.

He didn't pay it much more attention and went back to talking about the shoot. During this time, Qi Cheng had actually been keeping an eye on domestic news. About a week earlier, they had started building up buzz for the AI launch event.

Qi Cheng was really nervous.

He finally confirmed the date—it was the day after tomorrow. He watched the whole thing live online, loving to read the bullet comments and comment sections.

—Artificial intelligence? Hasn't that been around forever? What's the difference?

—Such a big hype, and I looked it up—it's a new company.

—Called Zongcheng? That's so cheesy.

Qi Cheng: !!!

It's not cheesy at all! Zongcheng is the best!

And then he jumped in to fight back in the comments.

Outsiders saw the spectacle, but insiders saw the substance. Some tech enthusiasts might not have known exactly what level of "artificial intelligence" this company had reached, but seeing the guests in the front row at today's launch told them this was no small deal.

They were all top domestic tech pioneers.

Qi Cheng left a message of encouragement for his husband: Go go go, you're the best.

Bai Zongyin fighting! Zongcheng fighting!

He ignored the mockers, waiting for his husband to shut them up with actual results. Qi Cheng camped out in the livestream. The launch started right on time. At the scheduled moment, the lights dimmed, and a 3D holographic projection of an electronic dog appeared across the entire stage.

It looked almost real.

Qi Cheng: !!!

Silly Goose!

That's my big goose right there!

—A projection? That's it?

—It's a little more 3D and lifelike, but what does that have to do with AI?

—Can you guys stop spamming? The launch hasn't even been a minute—how would you know already?

Someone finally spoke up in frustration. Qi Cheng silently gave that person a like.

Silly Goose went on stage, speaking in a childlike voice.

"Hello everyone, my name is Silly Goose, and I'm the eldest in the family."

"Now let's welcome my Big Daddy, Mr. Bai Zongyin."

!!!!

Qi Cheng spammed the screen for his husband: Husband's the most handsome, husband's coming out!

After posting, he suddenly realized he'd typed "husband." But looking at the flood of bullet comments, it was probably fine, right? So he blended in with the crowd.

Bai Zongyin wore a dress shirt, suit pants, and leather shoes, with his sleeves rolled up to reveal part of his forearms. He was tall, and on camera, he looked far too handsome to be the CEO of a tech company.

He held a cane in his hand but walked at a steady pace, almost like someone without any mobility issues, as he made his way to the center of the stage.

Qi Cheng swooned: So handsome. How is my husband this handsome?

Then he remembered—this handsome husband was his! Instantly, he puffed up with pride. Glancing at the bullet comments, they'd all turned into: "Is this the boss? Not a celebrity?", "I'm calling my girlfriends over to see this", "This guy's way too good-looking", "I need this company's CEO info in three minutes", and so on.

"You don't get to have him!" Qi Cheng shot back.

Then he spent the entire time staring at his husband, completely dazed and not catching a single word of what was being said. At first, Qi Cheng actually tried to listen, thinking he understood, but once his husband got into the technical jargon, Qi Cheng was lost.

At least his husband's face was nice to look at!