Chapter 82: The Son Everyone Else Wishes They Had

Now, searching the name "Yu Zhile," one can already find an encyclopedia entry about him online.

At this moment, Old Liu was staring at the biographical introduction, unable to calm himself for a long time!

Yu Zhile, pen name: Zi Fei Yu.

One of the best-selling novelists in contemporary publishing?
A superstar author hailed as the godfather of pure romance?
Within just five years of writing, he shot up to fourth place on the Writers' Rich List?
Already worth over a hundred million?
At the peak of his career, he abruptly stopped publishing and laid down his pen?
Then he began composing music?
After he stopped updating his novels, the new songs he released one after another achieved astonishing success?
Reading further, Old Liu felt that his old heart could hardly take it!

He had thought that Old Yu's son must have been taken in by some celebrity, after all, the boy was so handsome—exactly the type those wealthy ladies liked.

Turns out he was wrong again!

Old Yu’s son was even more impressive than his daughter-in-law!

He made over a hundred million in just five years of work? Landed on some rich list!

Suddenly, Old Liu felt exhausted and dispirited...

Why were both Old Yu’s son and daughter-in-law so outstanding, while his own son and daughter-in-law...

Forget it, no use talking about it!

The more he said, the more it hurt!

In the past, his son was envied by everyone—a state enterprise job, an annual salary in the hundreds of thousands—something to be jealous of!

But now, compared to Old Yu's son, he felt like stringing his own son up for a beating just to vent his frustration!

How could two sons be so different?
How could two daughters-in-law be so different?

At this moment, Old Liu was deeply depressed.

...

The next morning, Yu Zhile and his wife took their daughter and drove home.

Taking advantage of the fact he had nothing urgent to do besides helping his wife care for the baby, Yu Zhile found time to write down some of the fable stories he remembered vividly from his childhood.

He also wrote down a few children’s songs and poems, intending to compile them into a book for publication, to see how children’s literature would perform in the market.

A week later.

Yu Zhile submitted all these prepared children’s works to his editor, Zhang Xue.

When Zhang Xue saw the sheer number of works submitted, she began to doubt her own eyes.

In just one week, Master Zi Fei Yu had created so many children’s literature pieces?

Children's songs, poems, fables...

Adding them to his earlier submissions, there were exactly fifteen works in all!

That meant he had written two works a day?

Even though these were children’s literature, they couldn’t have just been tossed off carelessly!

As expected, Zi Fei Yu was a genius creator!

Whether it was novels, music, or now children’s literature, as long as Zi Fei Yu put his heart into it, he would amaze everyone!

Zhang Xue grew excited. Although she felt that nearly half of the fifteen pieces were fairly ordinary, there were a few that she had extremely high hopes for!

For instance, "Little Bunny Be Good," "The Wolf Is Coming," and "The Little Horse Crosses the River"—all three were rich with educational meaning!

She even thought that these three might eventually be included in kindergarten and elementary school textbooks!

“Master, you’ve submitted quite a lot of works. The publication of the book and the production of accompanying animations will take at least a month or two at best!”

Seeing Zhang Xue’s message, Yu Zhile replied, “Quality first! There’s no rush for time. As for the animation, let me see the character designs when you’re ready. If they’re not up to standard or don’t satisfy me, then they must be redesigned.”

“Understood, you can rest assured! I’ll prepare the contracts and get back to you shortly!”

Zhang Xue hurried off to work. These days, Yu Zhile was essentially impossible to persuade back to novel writing, but his foray into children’s literature was something the publishing house could look forward to.

After all, the children’s literature market was far from sluggish, especially with the booming business of animation and educational video spin-offs—currently the most profitable segment.

Their publishing house no longer relied solely on traditional print sales; otherwise, most publishers would have gone bankrupt by now.

An hour later, Zhang Xue sent over the finalized contracts. Yu Zhile reviewed them, printed, and signed, then arranged for courier pickup and sent them off.

In the bedroom, Qin Haiyu was sitting on the bed, teaching the baby to walk. When Yu Zhile came back, he patted the baby's little bottom and said, "Silly little thing, you've been able to stand for days now, but you still haven't learned to lift your feet and walk!"

Qin Haiyu patted her husband's hand and, mimicking a child's voice, protested, "She’s only nine and a half months old! Isn’t it normal that she can’t walk yet? Baby, talk back to silly Daddy!"

The baby squatted and stood up happily, pouting and trying to say, "Dada, Dada~"

Qin Haiyu was instantly delighted. "Honey! The baby can say Daddy now!"

“Hahahaha!”

Yu Zhile sat down and smothered the little one with kisses. Qin Haiyu grabbed a tissue to wipe the drool off the baby's mouth and scolded playfully, "Honey, control yourself! You've made her drool all over!"

Yu Zhile stood holding the baby, encouraging, "Come on, say Daddy, Daddy!"

“Dada, Dada~”

Though the pronunciation wasn’t perfectly clear, the little one was really starting to recognize people and call out “Mama” and “Dada.”

Watching her husband, as happy as a child himself, Qin Haiyu asked, "Honey, when will your children’s works be published?"

Yu Zhile replied, "At the earliest, a month. The editor said they’ll try to get them out before the end of winter break, so with the new semester’s start, sales might be even better."

Qin Haiyu coaxed the baby to toddle toward her with a rattle and said, "That’s two months away! By then, the baby will almost be a year old! Time really flies—she’s almost a year already!"

Yu Zhile held the baby, who hadn’t yet learned to take steps, only knew how to lean forward, giggling, trying to grab the rattle in her mother's hand.

If Yu Zhile let go, she would tumble to the floor immediately.

At dusk, Qin Haiyu was in the kitchen cooking while Yu Zhile minded the child in the living room.

His wife’s phone chimed twice. Yu Zhile, holding the baby, went to check and called out, "Honey, Cai Lanlan is looking for you!"

"What does she want?" Qin Haiyu’s voice floated out from the kitchen.

Yu Zhile said, "She says she wants to play ‘Nocturne’ at her piano recital in a couple of days and wants to ask my permission."

Qin Haiyu asked, "And do you agree?"

Yu Zhile replied, "Whatever my dear wife decides, I’ll go with! If you agree, I agree. If you don’t, then I don’t either!"

Qin Haiyu laughed, "Oh, it’s just a small thing. Of course, let her play it!"

"Alright!"

Yu Zhile typed out his reply to Cai Lanlan, who then invited them both to her piano recital.

Yu Zhile declined, saying he was busy, so Cai Lanlan suggested they get together for a meal sometime.

Such sudden friendliness—he suspected there might be a hidden agenda in that invitation!

He casually replied with a “no problem” emoji, and Cai Lanlan didn’t respond further.

Three days later.

After Cai Lanlan’s grand piano recital, Yu Zhile and his "Nocturne" once again became a sensation.

Perhaps thanks to Cai Lanlan, "Nocturne" suddenly became wildly popular abroad!