The Domineering Cultivator Farmer

Chapter 11: Their Daughter Niuniu

Fang Yun had visited the Feng family with Feng Xiu’er before. Although Feng Zhenjia had only mentioned that the Fengs practiced endogamy within the village among those of the same surname—without saying anything offensive—he had always carried an air of superiority toward Fang Yun, who had neither money nor influence. This time, by presenting such a lavish gift, Fang Yun was partly hoping to make amends, but he certainly couldn’t deny that there was also an element of showing off. “This gift is far too valuable; we can’t possibly accept it. Please take it back,” Feng Zhenjia said, casting a complicated glance at Fang Yun. Was this really the same poor young man from back then? “How did you come by something so precious? Where did you get it? Tell us the truth,” Feng Xiu’er said, grabbing a handful of the soft flesh at Fang Yun’s waist. “Uncle and Aunt, I dug these up myself deep in the mountains—I didn’t spend a penny on them. Please just accept them,” Fang Yun hurriedly explained. “Ah,” Feng Zhenjia sighed and told Feng’s mother to put the items away. Although he was still dissatisfied with Fang Yun, his granddaughter was already five years old—he had no choice but to accept her. No matter how valuable the gifts from his son-in-law were, he could certainly afford them. “Where’s my daughter? Why isn’t she here?” Seeing that Feng Zhenjia had accepted the gift, Fang Yun was overjoyed—this meant they’d tacitly approved of his relationship with Xiu’er. He turned to ask Feng Xiu’er. “She’s taking a nap in her room,” Feng Xiu’er said, pointing to a small room upstairs. Fang Yun dashed up the stairs in a few strides, not even noticing Feng Xiu’er’s call from behind. He flung open the door and saw a chubby little girl lying on a pink cartoon-themed bed. The little girl had an adorable mushroom cut, and perhaps because it was so hot, her face was rosy—she looked absolutely adorable. “This is my daughter!” In that instant, Fang Yun felt himself mature. Suppressing his excitement, he stepped forward and gently stroked his daughter’s hair. “Wow!” Fang Yun stared wide-eyed as his daughter let out a loud cry and rolled around on the bed; even so, the little girl’s eyes remained closed. Fang Yun stared blankly at Feng Xiu’er, who had just walked in behind him, and pointed at his daughter—who was still rolling around—unable to speak. “This little one—she’s just like I used to be. She’ll be fine in a minute,” Feng Xiu’er said, her face flushing. It was true—Feng Xiu’er used to be just like that; whenever she was woken up before she was fully awake, she’d roll around all over the bed. A minute later, the little girl finally calmed down. Rubbing her eyes with her chubby little hands, she sat up. “Ah, you weird uncle!” The moment she opened her eyes and saw Fang Yun standing at the head of the bed, she let out a shriek. Fang Yun instantly felt as if thunder were rumbling over his head. “Niuniu, haven’t you been asking me all the time where your dad is? This is your dad. Go say hello to him.” Feng Xiu’er hurried forward, picked up her daughter, and turned to Fang Yun, saying, “This is our daughter. Her full name is Fang Qing, but everyone in the family calls her Niuniu.” Niuniu looked a little scared at the stranger in front of her who was calling himself “Daddy,” but she still called out softly, “Daddy.” Hearing her call him “Daddy” brought tears to Fang Yun’s eyes. He scooped Niuniu into his arms and gave her a big, wet kiss. “Waaah, Niuniu, no! Mommy!” This really stirred up a hornet’s nest—Niuniu burst into tears and reached out her little hand toward her mother. “Don’t cry, Niuniu. Daddy will show you a magic trick,” Fang Yun hurried to comfort her. Upon hearing the words “magic trick,” Niuniu stopped crying and looked at Fang Yun through her sobs. Fang Yun waved his right hand in the air, and a red fruit the size of a pinky finger appeared in his hand. “Wow, Daddy’s so amazing! Niuniu wants that red berry!” The little girl’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and her mouth watered. Not only Niuniu, but even Feng Xiu’er couldn’t help but swallow hard—the scent of the little red berry was simply too overpowering, seeping straight into their minds. The little red fruit was none other than a Zhu Fruit that Fang Yun had taken out of his ring. Unlike ordinary medicinal herbs, Zhu Fruits are extremely rare on Earth; even in Fang Yun’s ring, there were only two. Fang Yun had eaten one himself and had been too reluctant to eat the remaining one—until he saw Niuniu, at which point he decided to take it out. The Zhu Fruit’s restorative properties are a hundred times stronger than those of ginseng, yet it isn’t as overpowering. Instead, it nourishes the body subtly and gently. Most importantly, the Zhu Fruit can randomly unlock a latent potential within a person—in Fang Yun’s case, it unlocked his aptitude for cultivation. Niuniu snatched the Zhu Fruit from Fang Yun’s hand and shoved it into her mouth; before she even had a chance to bite down, it had already dissolved into juice and flowed into her stomach. “Is Niuniu okay?” Since it was something she’d never seen before, Feng Xiu’er was still a little worried. “Don’t worry. From now on, it’ll be hard for Niuniu to even get sick,” Fang Yun said, looking fondly at Niuniu in his arms. “Daddy’s so nice!” Fang Yun chuckled—this little girl was so easily won over by a single fruit. “Daddy, will you buy Niuniu a big Meiyangyang?” The little girl’s face was full of anticipation. “Niuniu, you shouldn’t talk like that,” Feng Xiuer sighed inwardly. She wasn’t sure who her precious daughter took after—she was as sly as a fox, yet sometimes adorably clueless. “Oh,” Niuniu said, lowering her head in disappointment. “But Le Le’s dad next door bought one for her.” “All right, all right, Daddy will buy it for you. Let’s go get it right now, okay?” At that moment, even if Niuniu had asked for the stars in the sky, Fang Yun would have done everything in his power to pluck them down for her. Feng Xiuer rolled her eyes at Fang Yun without saying a word; she understood exactly how he was feeling at that moment. After saying goodbye to Feng’s mother, Fang Yun led Feng Xiu’er and Niuniu out the door. “LeLe, this is Niu Niu’s dad.” “YaYa, this is Niu Niu’s dad.” All the way there, Niu Niu was overjoyed, holding one hand of her dad and the other of her mom, introducing him to everyone she saw. As people pointed and whispered, Fang Yun could only grit his teeth and pretend not to notice. As soon as they entered the Xinhua Du supermarket on the edge of the residential complex, Niuniu dashed straight to the gift section. “Daddy, I want this,” Niuniu said, running over with Xiyangyang in one arm and Meiyangyang in the other, looking at Fang Yun with pleading eyes. “No way. You said you’d only buy one Meiyangyang,” Feng Xiuer said, giving her a stern look. “Oh,” Niuniu said, lowering her little head and tapping her heels with her toes. She muttered under her breath, tapping her two index fingers together, “LeLe has so many of them.” “Okay, okay, okay—we’ll buy them all. Whatever you want, Daddy will buy it for you.” Seeing how incredibly cute Niuniu looked, Fang Yun was overcome with paternal love. “Don’t spoil her too much—this little girl is already mischievous enough at home.” As the Feng family’s only grandchild, the whole family treated her as if she were a precious treasure, afraid to let her out of their sight. “Hehehe,” Fang Yun just gave a silly grin. “Oh, long live Dad!” Hearing Fang Yun’s reply, Niuniu was over the moon. She took Fang Yun by the hand and dragged him from store to store, up and down the street, buying a huge pile of clothes and toys. Eventually, even Feng Xiu’er joined in on the shopping spree. “Phew,” Fang Yun exhaled deeply, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “It seems women are naturally passionate about shopping, regardless of age.” Watching the mother and daughter ahead of him, who were still full of energy, Fang Yun felt his legs go weak. “Uncle and Aunt,” Fang Yun said during dinner, “I plan to take Niuniu back this afternoon to meet my parents.” Although they still harbored some resentment toward Fang Yun, the Feng family went out of their way to prepare a proper meal and drinks; after all, this was Fang Yun’s first visit as their son-in-law, and they couldn’t afford to be rude. “Mm-hmm,” Feng Zhenjia merely gave a soft nod, but Mrs. Feng was quite attentive. “It’s only right. It’s been so many years, and my in-laws still haven’t met their daughter-in-law or granddaughter. You should definitely take her back to introduce her to them. Xiu’er, go to your father’s study later and bring some cigarettes and liquor—you can’t show up empty-handed on your first visit.” “Got it, Mom.” After dinner and a bit of small talk, Fang Yun drove Feng Xiu’er and Niuniu home.