"I was just asking an honest question."
Li Tianming sighed and asked back, ["Did Old Zhang and the others put you up to asking this?"]
"I called you for my own reasons, do I need to report to Principal Zhang and the rest?"
["Forget it, it's not that important. I told Little Fei that his parents went on a business trip, and that he should behave and listen to me."]
"And he believes what you say?"
["He does. I was the one who picked him up from the police station. He believes the police uncle wouldn't hurt him, so I must be a good person."]
Qin Siyang gave a quiet "mm."
Perhaps before the apocalypse, the police station was indeed worthy of trust.
Now, it was hard to say.
But in the eyes of a seven-year-old child, the world was still simply good or bad.
You couldn't expect him to start learning about the complexity of human hearts right now.
Police are good, thieves are bad, that was a concept a child could accept.
"Old Li, so you plan to just keep being his Uncle Li like this?"
["We'll take it one step at a time. Maybe someday there'll be a way to restore his memory. I'm also contacting old friends, and I've asked Principal Zhao to help too. Anyway, I probably won't be going back to the lab for a while."]
["I owe Little Fei too much. I just want to spend more time with him, to make up for past mistakes."]
Qin Siyang's words cut like a sharp sword, "With your current strength, can you really protect him until he grows up?"
["What do you mean by that?"]
"You've abandoned research, abandoned progress. If one day Guo Jiuxiao comes after you again, what then? Take your son to die with you?"
"The last time at Starfield Ranch, have you already forgotten? You didn't learn your lesson, and you want to throw yourself into danger again?"
Li Tianming let out a long sigh, ["To tell the truth, I might die, but Little Fei shouldn't be in danger."]
["Guo Jiuxiao, though his character is a bit poor, objectively speaking, he's not some demon. Hu Yunsheng, Ma Shi, Ren Changyu, they aren't fools. How could they follow someone utterly insane down the same path?"]
["If I die, the grudges between us end there. He definitely won't make trouble for anyone else."]
Qin Siyang sneered, "Definitely? What proof do you have? You trust Guo Jiuxiao's character that much? Aren't you afraid he'll cut the weeds and pull up the roots?"
["If he wanted to cut the weeds and pull up the roots, the first to die wouldn't be Little Fei, who hasn't even awakened his sequence and doesn't remember I'm his father, it should be you and Old Zhang."]
At this point, Li Tianming's voice carried a hint of guilt, ["But I believe, with the two of you together, you can definitely beat him."]
"Well, I really should thank you for your trust."
Hearing this, Qin Siyang's brows furrowed tightly.
Li Tianming was actually pinning his future and his son's safety entirely on trusting Guo Jiuxiao's humanity.
Perhaps what he said wasn't completely wrong, Guo Jiuxiao probably did have his moments of human light.
But as an opponent, as an enemy, Qin Siyang couldn't accept such illusory judgment.
He stubbornly believed, a life must be grasped in one's own hands.
That was why he insisted on being born and risking death outside the safe zone, unwilling to forever be just a trader leveraging others' power.
Now, Li Tianming's words were no longer those of the man he once knew, whose spine stood firm in the wind and sand, unyielding even after countless setbacks.
Zhang Kuang was right: his spirit had been scattered, all because of Li Pengfei's amnesia.
Like a dog that had lost its home.
This move of Guo Jiuxiao's had struck at Li Tianming's absolute weak point, clutching right at his fatal spot.
Qin Siyang pressed further, "Then what about Dean Chen? How do you plan to deal with my mistress, Dean Chen?"
Li Pengfei's sudden return had put Chen Fenghe in an awkward position.
Li Tianming's way of resolving it was not to drag Chen Fenghe down, while Qin Siyang was calling precisely for this matter.
Clearly, Li Tianming hadn't expected Qin Siyang to bring this up. After fumbling out a few vague words, he finally said slowly, ["Little Qin, Fenghe's matter is my private affair."]
"Dean Chen saved my life and has always treated me well. I've always called her Mistress. Of course I care about her."
["Why do you have to press me so hard?"]
"Old Li, are you senile? The one pressing you is Guo Jiuxiao. What does that have to do with me?"
Pressed repeatedly by Qin Siyang, Li Tianming's guilty conscience left him unable to keep dodging. He sighed again.
["I'm already old, and now I've got a son with memory loss. I can't drag Fenghe's remaining years down with me anymore. As for her help, I'll give her some compensation…"]
"With what? God-hunting tools, or sequence potions?"
"In any case, there will be compensation."
"She hasn't married all these years. Do you think that's the kind of compensation Dean Chen wants? You don't know what she's really thinking?"
["Then you tell me, what should I do? Abandon my son and enjoy romance for myself?"]
Li Tianming's voice trembled slightly, ["Little Qin, sometimes I really envy your way of cutting the knot with one stroke. Carefree, bold, and spirited."]
["But the reason you can cut ties cleanly is because you, an orphan, have never been a son. You, single, have never been a husband, never been a father. You don't know what it feels like when bitterness and sweetness are all mixed together."]
["You only know Fenghe, and want to speak up for her, I understand that. But I also hope you can know, right now the most important thing to me is helping my son regain his memory."]
["So I hope you can try to stand in my shoes, and understand me."]
When Li Tianming said this, his tone was humble and helpless.
Sincere, sorrowful, and full of resignation.
Qin Siyang sighed. Thinking of all his past with Old Li, he couldn't bring himself to keep being harsh.
He only asked lightly, "What if Dean Chen doesn't mind the three of you living together?"
Li Tianming gave a bitter smile, ["Even if Fenghe didn't mind, I wouldn't agree. To have her take care of me and Ye Hongqing's son? That'd make me scum, wouldn't it?"]
"Now that makes me curious."
Qin Siyang kept pressing, "When you first got together with Dean Chen, didn't you ever think that one day you'd bring your son back? Didn't you think, once Ye Hongqing was dead and you had Li Pengfei by your side, what would you do?"
["…I did talk about this with Fenghe. She said as long as Ye Hongqing was dead, she could raise Little Fei as her own son."]
"Well then, that's settled."
Qin Siyang slapped his thigh, "You're already his Uncle Li. Together with Aunt Chen, what difference does it make? He might even be glad to have another aunt who treats him well."
["What you said is unpleasant, but it does make sense."]
"Honest words are hard to hear."
["But that's just a temporary measure. What about when Little Fei regains his memory later?"]
"By the time he regains his memory, he should be grown up. If he can accept a stepmother, then everyone's happy. If he can't, it only means you didn't raise him well. Whatever problems exist between you father and son, they can't be blamed on Dean Chen."
["…"]
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