Cultivation Daddy-Chapter 122 - 121: Confessions

"You better stop this nonsense right now. Zhao Yun is my friend and he’s a boy." Li Cheng said, gritting his teeth.

He didn’t expect Li Zhang to exaggerate like this just to attract everyone’s attention towards him. He even tried giving Li Zhang a cold look, but the other party pretended not to see it and continued describing the situation vividly.

"I know what I saw." Li Zhang was not convinced by Li Cheng’s intention to stop him.

"Third brother made a friend today? Then the two of them must really be compatible." Li Jingsheng said seriously.

Li Jain also nodded. Li Cheng’s coldness is different from Li Yujian’s indifference. Li Yujian had this deadly pressure around him that made others not dare to approach him casually. Meanwhile, Li Cheng just shut everyone out.

Li Zhang was responding to Li Jingsheng’s comment about Li Cheng and his new friend being compatible.

"You might think so, I did at first." He shook his head: "They have nothing in common. That person is not cold and serious. He is clingy, active and talks a lot."

"Really?" Li Jingxuan asked suspiciously with raised eyebrows.

Li Zhang shrugged: "I know right? Since when has he been into personalities like that? He wouldn’t let me say a few words without getting annoyed. But for that so-called friend, he has all the patience in the world." He felt a bit jealous .

It was like he could already see the future. Once his brothers had their own families, would they drift farther apart? By then, what’s gonna happen?

No, he was determined to put a stop to it!

Li Cheng clenched his fists: "This is absurd!" He muttered under his breath and dragged the absorbed Li Zhang to the side: "Would it kill you if you don’t talk so much?!"

"What? I’m not lying. Don’t think I didn’t see how you blushed whenever that Zhao Yun smiled at you." Li Zhang said, feigning innocence.

"Blushed? You’re delusional." Li Cheng snapped, but his voice faltered, a hint of doubt flashing across his eyes. He could feel his cheeks warming up at the memory of Zhao Yun’s bright smile.

"There it is again." Li Zhang grinned: "Come on, admit it! She’s your girlfriend. You never behave like this with anyone else!"

"Zhao Yun is a boy!" Li Cheng said between grit teeth.

"Whatever," Li Zhang shrugged nonchalantly.

Li Cheng sighed: "What do you want?"

"Do my homework for the next two weeks and I will stop talking."

Li Cheng rolled his eyes: "You can’t be serious!" He said, crossing his arms.

Li Zhang smirk: "Just think about it as a deal. I help you keep your secret,, you help me not fail my classes. Fair trade, don’t you think?"

Li Cheng opened his mouth to protest but then hesitated: "Fine, but just so you know. I would be the one getting smarter, not you."

Li Zhang waves his hand dismissively: "Who cares about being smart? Can you eat it? Besides, I’d rather be not smart, it invites less trouble."

"You’re impossible!" Li Cheng shot him a helpless glare.

"Thank you." Li Zhang replied, winking.

"It’s not a compliment."

"Whatever."

After they were done with their deal, the two returned to the rest that were still looking at them with interesting expressions.

"You guys should go wash up. It’s getting late for school." Li Jain said as he looked at the time.

"Yes, Dad."

The children answered and ran inside.

"I can’t believe Dad forgives us that easily. We were just scaring ourselves thinking we were going to get punished." Li Jingxuan said happily, while walking backwards on the stairs and facing his siblings.

"Yea, I was worried sick." Li Juanxin breathed a sigh of relief.

"We were let out of the hook easily this tim, but might not be the same next time." Li Jingsheng said with a slight frown: "We should be more careful. We shouldn’t give him another reason to worry."

"That’s right." Li Zhang said seriously: "Now that the secret realm matters has cleared out, we should be on our best behavior and not go back in. Right Cheng?" He said looking at Li Cheng.

Li Cheng hesitated: "I don’t know, I promise Zhao Yun that I’ll go see him later today. And he’s waiting for me. I can’t go back on my words."

"So that means, you’ll still enter the secret realm?" Li Jingxuan asked blankly as if his soul was about to leave his body.

Li Cheng gave a light nod and Li Jingxuan almost fell off the stairs.

"Are you insane?" Li Jingsheng gasped, tucking his chin to his chest: "What if Dad finds out? Or worse, what if something happens to you there?"

Li Cheng shrugged, trying to feign indifference, but he felt like he had to see Zhao Yun again: "It’s not like I’m going to act reckless," he insisted: "Besides, I’m just going to say goodbye."

"Is this another Alluring Yin physique? This same thing happened when Xuanxuan met Shen Yang back then." Li Zhang pulled his hair in frustration.

"Take Yangyang out of this, it has nothing to do with him." Li Jingxuan said and walked back down the stairs, followed by Jingsheng and Juanxin.

"What are you guys doing?" Li Cheng asked puzzlingly

"Isn’t it obvious? We’re going to give ourselves in and receive our punishment. It’s better than worrying about it later." Li Jingsheng respond

"Also, after this, every man would be responsible for his own cross." Li Jingxuan added kindly.

"Come on, don’t make it sound like I’m going to sneak away. I will ask for Dad’s permission first." Li Cheng called after them.

"Good luck with that. But I’m with them on this." Li Zhang scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Li Jain was surprised to see three heads poking out the door. ’Didn’t they just go in to get ready?’ He thought

"What’s wrong?" Li Jain asked

"Dad, we have something to tell you." Li Jingxuan started in a small voice

"Well, it’s more like a confession." Li Juanxin corrected.

"If you know so much, why don’t you be the one to tell him?!" Li Jingxuan shot him a deadly glare.

"Well, you see... We, hu, might have done something we shouldn’t have..." Li Jingsheng said cautiously, he glanced at his siblings, who were hanging on his every word like a lifeline.

"What did you do wrong?" Li Jain asked.

"We were just trying to be good siblings, and um, you know, being kids. But we promise to be better!" Li Jingxuan added, his explanation made less sense than Jingsheng did.

Li Jain raised an eyebrow, he was growing more skeptical: "What exactly did you all do?" He asked again.

"Speak properly!" Li Juanxin tapped him on the back.

"Oh yeah? You were there as well, why don’t you explain instead?" Li Jingxuan huffed, pushing Juanxin to the front.

"Alright, fine." Li Juanxin took a deep breath, gathering his words: "Well, you see, Daddy, it’s about the secret realm again." He started, his eyes darting between his father’s face and his siblings.

"We might have... Um, well went in without permission."

"Correction, not all of us went in." Li Jingxuan said on the side trying to clarify.

"What Xuan and Xin are trying to say is that they voted for me to go in." Li Zhang added

"We were just worried about brother Cheng. We know you were worried about him as well and had your reasons, but we still went against your order. We are very sorry about that." Li Jingsheng interjected.

"Yes, very very sorry." The others nodded and admitted their mistakes.

"So what do you guys think I should do?" Li Jain asked with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

The siblings exchanged anxious glances.

"Well um, maybe a stern lecture, or chores?" Li Jingxuan suggested

"You can ground us for a month." Li Juanxin suggested

But Li Zhang shook his head: "That’s a bit too extreme." He then gives his own suggestions: "How about some lashes? Twenty or fifty to get it over with."

"Are you insane?" Li Jingxuan was speechless: "And you said being grounded was extreme."

Li Zhang shrugged nonchalantly: "I’m just offering options."

"Well, so are we. If you don’t have anything better to say, just wait on the side." Li Jingsheng snorted.

"What about this, I’ll think about what punishment to give you all later. Why don’t you wash up and go to school first?" Li Jain said.

The children weren’t pleased with that answer but they had no other choice. As they went back into the house dejectedly, Li Jain called after them.

"I have a surprise for you guys. You’re going to love it when you get back from school."

"Look, Daddy has forgiven us. I knew he wouldn’t be angry for too long." Li Juanxin said excitedly.

Li Jingxuan gave him a light tap on the head: "He just said we’ll talk about the punishment later, and now he’s saying again that he has a surprise for us. What do you think, genius?"

"Oh," Li Juanxin lowered his head and followed them.