Transmigrated into a wealthy family's stepmother, I raised the villain into a sweet child.

"Xiao Xi? Xiao Xi?"

Jinxi vaguely heard someone calling her name. She opened her eyes and saw only a dimly lit room. After a moment of focusing, her eyes finally focused on Zhou Linxu's face beside her.

She hummed in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Zhou Linxu breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to the side, pulled out a tissue, and wiped the fine sweat from Jinxi's forehead: "Did you have a dream? You slept very restlessly."

Zhou Linxu sensed her unnatural body temperature. He turned on the light and saw that Jinxi's expression was alternating between smiling and frowning, as if she was having a dream.

He called out several times before he finally woke the person up.

Jinxi sat up, rubbed her eyes, and, still relatively clear-headed, replied, "...Nothing, what time is it?"

She glanced at the time; it was just past three in the morning.

Jinxi turned her head and glanced at Zanzan beside her. Zanzan was asleep, somehow already on the pillow.

The little one lay sprawled out, fast asleep, seemingly undisturbed by any noise.

She breathed a sigh of relief, reached out, and straightened Zan Zan's sleeping position. Zan Zan hummed and whimpered twice, opened his big eyes for a moment, saw that it was Jin Xi, and immediately fell asleep again.

Such a perfunctory opening of the eyes.

Jinxi parted the hair on his forehead with her fingertips and looked at him. The sleeping Zanzan was quiet and well-behaved, showing no trace of the sinister villain.

Thankfully, she came.

Zhou Linxu noticed that Jin Xi was staring intently at Zan Zan. He leaned forward, wrapped one arm around her waist, rested his chin on her shoulder, took a deep breath, and then asked in a low voice, "Were you dreaming about Zan Zan?"

Jinxi hummed in agreement: "I dreamt that he was being bullied."

How can the restrictions imposed by Heaven not be considered bullying for Zan Zan?

No matter how he grows up, Zan Zan is still just a little kid.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Linxu lowered his gaze to look at the sleeping Zan Zan.

Zan Zan is now chubby and healthy, with a carefree and clever personality; he's practically a reincarnation of a glutinous rice ball.

No one who meets him would dislike such a smart and well-behaved child.

Zhou Linxu still had a soft spot for Zan Zan. Although this brat didn't seem to have much "affection" for his father, Zhou Linxu always felt that his child was the best child in the world.

Zhou Linxu said softly, "No one will bully him. We will protect him, won't we?"

Jinxi remembered what Jinyi had said about the butterfly effect.

Yes, Zan Zan's future has changed; he's now very, very far removed from the script of that sinister villain.

Zhou Linxu hugged her tighter: "Alright, don't think too much, go to sleep, it's late."

Jinxi yawned, nodded, and lay down with Zhou Linxu. She reached out and pulled Zanzan closer to her, hugging him tightly.

As if sensing something, Zan Zan turned over and buried her small body in Jin Xidu's arms, looking like she was sleeping soundly.

Zhou Linxu also turned to the side and hugged Jinxi and Zanzan. He placed a light kiss on the back of Jinxi's ear: "Sleep, I'm here."

With warmth surrounding her, Jinxi's heart gradually calmed down.

Of all things under heaven, sleeping is the most important.

Jinxi closed her eyes, kissed Zanzan's forehead again, and then fell asleep peacefully.

*

Time flies, and it's Saturday.

At Zhou Yanqian's invitation, Zhengzheng came over early in the morning with his swimsuit and swimming trunks.

Zhou Yanqian had just finished breakfast, and his stomach was still bloated. Zhengzheng urged, "Zanzan, hurry up and take me to see the pearls!"

He'd been studying it for a whole week! Finally, he was going to see the moving pearl.

Zhou Yanqian said lazily, "You can go down and see for yourself."

Zhengzheng said, "Hey Zanzan, don't be so lazy! Hurry up, I know Pearl, but Pearl doesn't know me!"

Zhou Yanqian, unable to bear the noise any longer, had no choice but to take Zhengzheng downstairs to see the beautiful pearls.

Pearl is now twice as big as when we first brought her home, and she's full of energy. She can turn this room upside down several times over, even though she's just a kitten.

As soon as Pearl saw Zan Zan, she meowed and rubbed against him.

Zhengzheng: "Wow—"

Zhou Yanqian glanced at him: "What's so good about it?"

Zhengzheng eagerly stretched out her little hand: "Zanzan, hurry up and let Pearl rub against me too!"

Zhou Yanqian sighed, reached out, grabbed the back of Pearl's neck, and turned it around.

Before Pearl could react, she saw a chubby little hand in front of her and rubbed her head against it.

It rubbed against me while meowing.

Zhengzheng felt completely melted by the cuteness: "The pearl is warm, and it's so tiny."

"That's how all small animals are." Zhou Yanqian was used to it by now: "When Daju and Dali were little, they were also warm and tiny."

The oranges and lychees were initially smaller than his father's palm, but now his father calls them gas cylinders.

Zhou Yanqian thought the nickname was unpleasant, but the size of Daju and Dali... was indeed a bit much.

He was indignant, but it was the truth, which really troubled Zhou Yanqian.

Jinxi has recently started preparing low-fat meals for Daju and Dali, and has even forbidden them from secretly feeding them canned food.

These past two days, Daju and Dali have been whining and whining whenever they see him, looking aggrieved.

Zhou Yanqian felt as if his heart was being torn apart; this was even more painful than having to eat two less bites.

"Zan Zan? Zan Zan?" Zheng Zheng called out to him, "What are you thinking about? You're not even talking to me."

Zhou Yanqian said, "You wouldn't understand if I thought of another problem."

There's not much to say to people who don't have dogs or cats!

Zhengzheng tilted her head: "You go first, I'm a very smart kid too."

Zhou Yanqian said, "Daju and Dali are on a diet. They're eating very little right now. Can you get them to eat more and still lose weight?"

Zhengzheng's expression turned serious for a moment. He raised his other hand, first touching Zhou Yanqian's forehead, and then touching his own.

He asked in confusion, "Zanzan, you don't have a fever, so why are you talking nonsense?"

Zhou Yanqian scoffed twice. He knew it; there was nothing he could say to this person who was just messing around with cats and dogs!

Zhou Yanqian took the pearl back from under his hands: "I won't let you touch the pearl anymore."

Zhengzheng exclaimed, "Zanzan, why are you in such a hurry? I've only been touching it for a little while!"

Zhou Yanqian snorted, picked up Pearl, and placed her in her big cat bed. Pearl meowed twice, crawled around in her familiar cat bed a couple of times, then nestled inside, closed her eyes, and purred softly.

Zhengzheng squatted down beside her, turned on the camera function of the little genius camera, and started snapping pictures of the pearl.

While taking pictures, she said, "Zan Zan, I also want my dad to buy a house here, so I can come to your house every day to play with you, Da Ju, Da Li, and Zhen Zhu."

"You seem quite comfortable at my place." Zhou Yanqian said speechlessly, "Are you still going to the water park?"

"Yes, yes, I'm going." Zhengzheng finally stood up, walked over and took Zanzan's little hand: "Zanzan, let me tell you, my grandma bought me a new toy. Why don't you come to my house to play tomorrow? I'll have the driver pick you up..."

Jinxi had only been changing clothes for a short while when she realized she hadn't seen the two children. Just as she was about to look for them, she heard their incessant chatter coming from the basement.

She walked to the top of the stairs and looked down. The two little sticky rice balls were holding hands, looking like the most perfect couple in the world.

Jinxi gave a gentle smile. Oh dear, they were just having a private chat with a close friend.

She watched quietly for a while, then finally went to sit on the sofa and waited for them.

Zhou Linxu also came downstairs after changing his clothes.

He sat down next to Jinxi, looking around: "Where's Xiaobao?"

Jinxi gestured towards the stairs with her chin: "They're playing downstairs with Zhengzheng, holding hands, so cute."

Zhou Linxu chuckled softly. He casually grasped Jinxi's wrist and then slipped his hand between her fingers.

He said, "Aren't we 'endearingly old' now?"

Jinxi looked down.

With a complicated expression, he said, "We're both almost sixty years old combined, so let's stop acting cute, shall we?"

That's a strange and eerie way of putting it.

Zhou Lin's Preface: ...

Zhou Linxu: Hmph.