DLRC – Chapter 85 Enthusiastic Citizen Mr. Huo

The air suddenly went quiet for a long while—so long that Yu Hui couldn’t help but raise his head to look at her. And right then, he met his mother’s eyes dead-on. Her gaze… seemed to carry a bit of murderous intent.

Yu Hui shrank his head back and buried himself under the blanket. In a muffled voice, he said, “Mom, I’m going to sleep now. Don’t make any more noise.”

Yu Wei: “…”

With a nervous heart, Yu Hui nestled into his mother’s arms and actually fell asleep—not only that, he slept incredibly soundly and even started to snore lightly.

“You ungrateful little brat. You’re sleeping like a log while your mom is wide awake thanks to what you said!”

All the thoughts in her head had been completely derailed by this little rascal. She had planned to just skim through the comments section and then go to sleep, but now look what happened—not only was she unable to focus on the comments, she was even thinking about that man!

The more she thought about it, the more agitated she got. Her mind kept replaying the things Huo Mingwang had said to her—the tone of his voice, the way he’d leaned in close, deliberately closing the distance with a teasing ambiguity.

He had definitely done it on purpose!

Yu Wei felt she hadn’t realized it too late, thankfully. But if she kept thinking down this path, she knew for sure—there’d be no sleep for her tonight!

She had no choice but to open the comments section, hoping that reading some goofy netizen remarks would help distract her.

Sure enough, the silly netizens never let her down.

Trembling heart, trembling hands…

Her heart started pounding, the old mother’s emotions were all over the place.

【Aaaaaaah—Streamer, I’ll never talk bad about you again! Your son is your ultimate life-saving golden card!】

【Omg omg omg! Is that really Lil’ Fish Tail’s son? A direct hit to my delicate heart in the middle of the night!】

【Ahhh—I’m dead! The streamer’s son is the cutest kid on earth!】

【Who knows how many times I’ve rewatched this video—streamer, come on, let the baby sing another two songs for us sisters!】

【So cute, so cute! What’s the name of that song? I need to listen to it again!】

【Me too, what’s the title?】

【Too adorable!! But am I the only one who noticed what the streamer’s son said at the end? Was his name Huihui? Or Hui as in brilliance? Or maybe Grey?】

【Wait, isn’t that song super common? Who was the one asking for the name just now?】

【Hahaha, looks like I’m the only one still sane here—streamer’s kid just single-handedly made this song go viral!】

Shifting her gaze, Yu Wei checked the number of followers. In just two hours, it had jumped from 29,588 to 38,775.

And it still wasn’t stopping!

Yu Wei: “?”

Something about this felt off. The fans were too passionate. Her sweet son… had too much star power! He’d successfully attracted a massive wave of new followers for his dear ol’ mom. His fan-gathering skills were off the charts—five stars!

Looking at the crazed “Yu Hui stans,” Yu Wei didn’t even dare reply. She was afraid the comments would shift from “Your baby is so cute!” to “Streamer, start the livestream! We want to see your baby!”

Yu Wei broke into a cold sweat. She could only suppress her pounding heart and continue lurking, watching comments until she lost track of time. Only after reading the very last one did she blink her dry eyes and glance at the clock—midnight.

Damn!

She had 70,000 followers now!

Although she went to bed ridiculously late, Yu Wei still woke up successfully at 5 a.m. the next morning.

Outside, rain drizzled steadily. The sound was soothing, almost hypnotic, but the air temperature was noticeably chillier than the day before.

She reached out from the warm bed—freezing cold air instantly crept in through the blanket seams, making her shiver.

She instinctively reached for her phone. If she remembered correctly, the comments last night had hit 30,000. Upon checking—

They had exploded to over 90,000!

And the follower count? From 70,000 to… 160,000.

Then… it happened.

Her post had gotten so wildly popular that it got pushed to the community homepage, and the system had even automatically promoted it to the most prominent ad spot.

Yu Wei: ?!

She was doomed.

Who would’ve thought that a food livestreamer like her wouldn’t go viral for her recipes… or even for her nostalgic 80s “cloud travel” content, but would instead go viral thanks to her sweet son’s singing debut?

Now fully awake, Yu Wei kept refreshing the comments section. Even at this hour, comments were still steadily rising. Were people just naturally early risers… or did they simply not sleep at all last night?

Of course, not all comments were positive. Although no one with poor taste dared say her son wasn’t cute, there were some subtle remarks accusing her of using her child to chase views.

But she didn’t even need to lift a finger—because the silly netizens had already gone on the attack on her behalf!

Yu Wei couldn’t stop grinning at the comments section, until she saw multiple messages saying:

【Where’s the streamer?? Where’d she go? Has she vanished? Start the stream already! I wanna send baby gifts!】

Clearing her throat, Yu Wei finally put her phone down and got out of bed to start preparing breakfast for her and her son.

After washing up, she went to the balcony to stretch and loosen up after a night of sleep. It was only when she stepped out that she realized—

It had started pouring outside.

If she remembered correctly, it wasn’t raining this heavily when she had just woken up. How did it suddenly become like this… In this kind of weather, forget about riding a bicycle to school—just walking there would be a real struggle.

Feeling the wind on the balcony again, though not as strong as yesterday, it was still enough to make her scalp tingle. Don’t even mention walking with an umbrella in this wind—Yu Wei had already seen several people’s umbrellas get blown right out of their hands.

“Sigh!”

With rain this heavy, even going out to buy groceries was inconvenient.

If it were in the future, none of this would be a problem! You could just drive out from the underground garage, and the mall would have indoor parking. From start to finish, you wouldn’t have to worry about being blown by the wind or drenched by the rain.

But now… such thoughts were unrealistic.

That morning, she had prepared whole wheat bread, cabbage and pork buns, fried eggs, two glasses of pure milk, and even cracked a few walnuts.

A nutritious and well-balanced breakfast—not bad at all.

Halfway through making breakfast, she went into the room to wake up her son.

As the winter temperatures dropped quickly, the little guy had been clinging to bed more often lately. Perhaps it was also because of going to kindergarten—he wasn’t as eager to get up as he used to be.

It was already 7:30 a.m. by the time Yu Hui was woken by Yu Wei, but he still didn’t want to get up. He lay on his little pillow, pouting his rosy lips and rubbing his face against the pillow, acting spoiled.

“Mama… I don’t wanna get up…”

“Even if you don’t want to, you have to. Otherwise, breakfast will get cold.”

“Mmm…” Yu Hui didn’t open his eyes, his voice muffled and a bit hoarse from just waking up: “Then Mama, kiss me… kiss me and I’ll get up…”

Yu Wei couldn’t help but laugh. “You little rascal, now you’ve learned to act cute.”

She slipped her hand into the warm blanket. The little heater had already been placed by the bed and turned to full power—there was no way he’d feel cold getting up to change.

“Kiss you for what?” she asked, pinching her son’s smooth little cheek.

Yu Hui opened one eye and saw his mother’s indulgent smile. Feeling satisfied, he said in his soft, sleepy voice, “Mama, if you kiss me, I’ll get up.”

“Alright, alright.” Yu Wei gave in, leaned down, and gave the little rascal a big smooch on his chubby cheek. The little guy immediately raised his hand to cover his mouth and giggled.

Yu Wei gave his butt a pat. “Look at how happy you are. Hurry up and get up!”

“I’m up…” Yu Hui stretched lazily under the covers. The little guy was a tiny ball rolling from one end of the bed to the other.

“Mama… I’m still a little sleepy. I wanna go back to sleep…”

“Don’t want fried eggs anymore?”

“I do… I wanna eat the eggs first, then sleep some more…” The blanket was the most comfortable place in the world!

Oh wait—no! Mama’s blanket was the most comfortable place in the world!

Even though Yu Hui kept whining and acting spoiled, in the end, he still had to get up, get dressed, and wash up under his mom’s “iron rule.” It took him fifteen minutes to finish breakfast, and by the time everything was packed up, it was almost eight o’clock.

Yu Wei took her son to the house next door—Song Xia’s home. The family was halfway through breakfast. It was Shu Le who opened the door and jumped excitedly when she saw Yu Wei.

“Mama! Auntie Yu Wei is here!”

“Huh? Yu Wei’s here?” Song Xia put down her bowl and chopsticks and looked outside. “I was wondering who was knocking so early in the morning.”

Yu Wei stood at the door, smiling. Song Xia quickly invited her in to sit.

She waved her hand and continued standing with her son—not at the door, but inside the living room, not far from the dining table. It was quite warm inside.

“Sister Song, I just came to ask—since it’s raining so heavily today, how do you plan to get your two kids to school?”

Only after speaking did Yu Wei notice that a man in a black cotton-padded jacket with a short buzz cut was sitting next to Song Xia. He was eating intently and hadn’t even looked up when Yu Wei entered.

Probably Song Xia’s often-absent husband.

“Oh, you mean going to school? Yeah, it looks like it’s pouring today,” she said, glancing toward the balcony. “Oh wow, it really is heavy!”

“Exactly. I don’t even know how I’m supposed to send my son to kindergarten.”

Yu Hui held his mom’s hand, his little head slowly turning as he looked around Auntie Song’s house.

Though it was the same size as the one he and Mama lived in, it had way more stuff. It looked really crowded—not nearly as spacious as their home!

Song Xia nodded in agreement. “Yeah, this rain really is too heavy. But there’s no helping it. No matter how hard it rains, we still have to send the girls to school.” Both of Song Xia’s daughters were already in second grade, so they had dealt with rainy days before. No matter how bad the weather was, school couldn’t be skipped.

She looked at the little guy next to Yu Wei and smiled, her eyes crinkling: “My girls have to go to school, so we’ll have to walk with umbrellas. But your son’s just in kindergarten. It’s not a big deal whether he goes or not. With rain this heavy, just let him stay home!”

Yu Wei chuckled lightly. “It’s not that I want to go, and my son doesn’t want to go either, but we should at least inform the teacher and ask for leave, right?”

These days weren’t like the future—there were no mobile phones, and communication was inconvenient. If you were going to walk all the way to ask for leave, you might as well just take the kid to school directly.

“It’s really not a big deal. Your teacher will understand with all this rain. You can explain things next time you go.”

Shu Le held a big steamed bun and looked at her mom. “Mama, I don’t want to go to school either!”

Song Xia gave her an amused side glance. “What are you talking about, child! You’re not like little Yu Hui—you’re already a second grader. How can you skip school?”

Then she turned to look at Zhang Jianguo. “Alright, you two hurry up and eat. After you’re done, your dad will take you to school.”

Zhang Jianguo continued eating. He didn’t react much upon hearing that—he just glanced up at Yu Wei and then quietly went back to drinking his porridge.

Yu Wei was still mulling over the feasibility of Song Xia’s idea. After Zhang Jianguo finished eating, he put down his chopsticks and said, “Are you two done? If so, let’s head to school.”

Song Xia hadn’t finished her meal yet, but she set down her chopsticks and went to the room to get the kids’ schoolbags. “You two hurry up and eat. I’ve put your bags here.”

“Okay! I’m done!” Shu Le dropped her chopsticks with a clatter and turned to look at her father. “Daddy, you’re taking us to school today! That’s awesome!”

Zhang Jianguo looked amusedly at his daughter. Once Shu Ya had also finished eating, he led the two girls downstairs.

Before they left, Song Xia said anxiously, “Be careful on the road. Watch over Shu Le and don’t let her run around. Behave, understand, Shu Le?”

“I got it! I’ll behave!” With rain like this, of course she would behave.

Zhang Jianguo didn’t say much to Song Xia—just responded simply, then took the umbrella and went downstairs with the girls. Each of them carried their own umbrella.

Song Xia stood at the door watching the three figures disappear around the stairwell corner, a smile in her eyes.

“My husband has been really busy lately. He’s so tired he doesn’t even feel like talking anymore.” After explaining, Song Xia smiled and asked, “So you’re not taking your kid to kindergarten today? I don’t think the teacher will mind.”

“Mhm, sounds good. I’ll just spend the day at home with my son then.”

“You’re not opening the shop today?”

Yu Wei smiled. “Nope. The rain’s so heavy, I don’t feel like it.”

Plus, it was cold—there wouldn’t be much business anyway, so she figured she’d just forget it for today.

“That’s fine! As long as you’re happy!”

Yu Wei said goodbye to Song Xia and returned home, planning to relax and enjoy a quiet day with her son.

But she had barely closed the door and settled into the chair when someone knocked.

Yu Wei thought it was Song Xia and quickly went to open the door.

“Mr. Huo?”

Standing outside was the tall man from yesterday afternoon—the “enthusiastic citizen Mr. Huo” who had brought them home.

“Uncle Huo!” Yu Hui heard his mom’s voice and instantly knew who it was. He jumped down from the chair and ran to the door, excited.

Like a little whirlwind, he whooshed to the front and stood between the two adults.

“Uncle Huo, you’re here again! So early today! And you even came to my house!”

Usually, Uncle Huo only came to the store. This was the first time he’d come to their home—it felt like something had changed between them.

The little guy’s instincts were as sharp as ever. Yu Wei smiled and gently pulled Yu Hui back behind her. She looked at Huo Mingwang and asked, “Mr. Huo, what brings you here?”

“It’s raining heavily today, and I have to take Aiying to school,” he answered seriously. His deep eyes stared intently at Yu Wei. His lips curved in a small, relaxed smile—so small only Yu Wei, who was close enough, could notice it.

“Oh, so you…” But if he was taking Aiying to school, why was he at her house? Aiying wasn’t here.

Yu Hui was curious too. “Uncle Huo, Sister Yingying isn’t here. Why’d you come to our house?”

“To pick you up,” Huo Mingwang replied casually. Then he bent down, expertly scooped the little guy into his arms, and asked, “Have you had breakfast?”

“Of course! I was going to play at home with Mommy today!”

“Mhm.” Huo Mingwang looked down at Yu Hui with a gentle smile. The kid was warm, just like him—unlike his mom.

Her body temperature was always lower than his, especially in winter. She always had to curl up like a cat at night to fall asleep.

Thinking of that, the look in his eyes toward Yu Hui became even softer.

Yu Wei had no idea what the man was thinking. She only felt like things were developing beyond her control. Just as she was trying to figure it out, the man spoke again.

He asked Yu Hui, “What did you eat this morning? Did your mom make it?”

Yu Hui lit up at the mention of food and immediately answered obediently, “I had fried eggs made by Mommy! Fried eggs are my favorite! Mommy makes them for me every day!”

He was full of pride. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Huo Mingwang. “And I also had meat buns, bread, and pure milk!”

Huo Mingwang nodded, and Yu Hui asked, “Uncle Huo, have you ever had pure milk?”

“No, is it good?” he asked.

“Not…” Yu Hui glanced at Yu Wei, who was watching him with an unreadable expression. He couldn’t tell if she was happy or annoyed, so he went with a neutral answer. “It’s okay, I guess. But drinking milk makes you grow taller, so I drink it every day. I’ve been drinking it for a long time now! Mommy says I’ve grown a lot taller! And if I keep drinking it, I’ll be taller than you someday!”

Huo Mingwang chuckled. Yu Hui grinned and asked, “Uncle Huo, have you eaten yet?”

Still holding Yu Hui at the door, the man glanced at the dining table inside. On it was a small plate with a plump white steamed bun and some other miscellaneous food items.

He then looked at Yu Wei and replied, “No, I haven’t.”

Yu Hui lit up, turned to his mom, and shouted, “Mommy! Uncle Huo hasn’t eaten yet!”

Yu Wei looked helplessly at her overly excited son. She turned to Huo Mingwang at the door and offered politely, “We made extra breakfast this morning. Would you like some?”

As she said this, she suddenly remembered something from yesterday. She gave him a polite smile. “By the way, you left in a hurry yesterday. I meant to give you a bag of cookies but didn’t get the chance.”

“Cookies?” he asked.

Yu Wei replied, “To thank you for saving my son yesterday. I wanted to give you some as a small token.”

“Thank you for saving me yesterday, Uncle Huo!” Yu Hui immediately echoed, his eyes full of anticipation. “So Uncle Huo… do you want to try some of Mommy’s breakfast?”

Hearing that, Huo Mingwang felt even more pleased with the little boy. He didn’t answer directly, but in the next second, he simply walked into the living room with Yu Hui, holding his little hand—acting completely at ease.

“Thanks. I’m actually a bit hungry.”

Yu Hui ran ahead into the kitchen to grab him a bowl and chopsticks. “Here you go, Uncle Huo! We have lots of bowls!”

Yu Wei: “……”

Sweetie, what exactly are you trying to do here?!