Shen Feng saw that Xiao Long had been crying for his mother all day, and felt a pang of sympathy. Although not his biological son, he had watched him grow. Shen Feng had to find a way to comfort Xiao Long. Previously, there hadn't been a good solution because Xiao Long was too familiar with his mother. They had been together day and night, so deceiving him wasn't easy.
It was Shen Feng who thought of Lin Yue. Lin Yue was an ability user who could manipulate sound waves, causing them to change. Mimicking someone's voice was a simple matter for him. So, Shen Feng had Lin Yue stand outside the door, while Chu Chaoyan played the role of Xiao Long's mother. The goal was to gradually help Xiao Long accept his mother's absence.
Lin Yue was also the head of the intelligence team. In the process of collecting intelligence, being able to mimic sounds made the work much easier.
This was the first time he had come to help with Shen Feng's personal matters. Lin Yue had no objections and calmly said, "It's nothing, City Lord. If you need help coaxing children in the future, just ask me. However, it's best to give me advance notice, otherwise, I might be out investigating various leads."
Shen Feng suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, what did you do with Zhan Jinsu before? I haven't heard much about her."
Earlier, in Ye Ren Mountain, besides the three who escaped and were protected, the Yuzhou side had also captured one person: Zhan Jinsu. Zhan Jinsu was quite clever; seeing the situation was unfavorable, she surrendered immediately and even saved Lin Yue's life. Shen Feng then let Lin Yue handle Zhan Jinsu, as Lin Yue had the biggest grievances with her.
In response to Shen Feng's current inquiry, Lin Yue replied with a wry smile, "I've locked her up. Because she kept trying to escape and was never honest, I chained her up. She can only watch TV at home, but she can't go out."
Shen Feng nodded and said, "Try to be a little nicer to her. She's a woman from a prominent family, and if I remember correctly, she's only seventeen. At that age, she's still a high school student."
Lin Yue replied earnestly, "I'm also a high school student. I haven't even graduated high school yet."
"Come on, I've known for a long time that you're a top student in Yuzhou. Your knowledge reserve is stronger than that of a university student. It's pointless for you to pretend to be an ordinary high school student now."
After finishing his conversation with Lin Yue, Shen Feng saw him off from the Fengshen Palace. Chu Chaoyan also returned to her room. Shen Feng continued to hold Xiao Long as he slept. This poor child had lost both his parents. Although Shen Feng was his godfather, he could only bear the responsibility of a father.
Du Xinshi had thought she would give Shen Feng a son, but she didn't know that the child born was actually a daughter. She was currently receiving care in the hospital. After a period of observation, she would be sent to Fengshen Palace to be cared for by Chu Chaoyan. Chu Chaoyan would also need to find a wet nurse to look after the child during this time.
As they slept, Xiao Long snuggled close to Shen Feng, seeming to feel secure sleeping next to an adult.
The next morning, when Shen Feng woke up, he checked on Xiao Long. He reached out and touched the child's forehead, immediately sensing something was wrong. A child's body temperature was higher than an adult's, which is why there's a saying about "three fires on a baby's backside." But now, Shen Feng felt Xiao Long's forehead was burning hot.
"This is bad, he has a fever. We need to take him to the hospital," Shen Feng realized the gravity of the situation and immediately took Xiao Long to the hospital, hoping the doctors could treat him.
However, after examining Du Fansheng's body, the pediatricians instantly noticed something was amiss. The child's entire body was heating up, including internally. This didn't seem like a cold, but rather like he was evolving.
The doctors couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Shen, did you give the young master any evolution potions?"
Shen Feng felt wronged upon hearing this and quickly said, "How could I possibly do that? He's just a child. While I won't mistreat him, I wouldn't give a three-year-old evolution potions, would I? I have common sense. If a child were treated like that, how could their body withstand the physical exertion of evolution?"
"Are you sure? But the child's condition clearly indicates he's evolving. What did he eat that he shouldn't have?" The doctor still believed their judgment was correct. It was likely that he had eaten something he shouldn't have. Fengshen Palace had all sorts of good things, and children liked to put anything they saw into their mouths. Therefore, it was highly probable that he had taken something he shouldn't have.
Shen Feng was reminded by this statement and quickly searched himself. To his astonishment, he exclaimed, "Oh no, my evolution crystal is missing! Could this little guy have eaten it?"
Shen Feng remembered that yesterday, while watching the news, he had found the evolution crystal brought back from the sea and casually put it in his pocket. Then he went home to eat and coax the child to sleep. The evolution crystal in his pocket fell out at this time, and then...
When Shen Feng realized everything made sense, he panicked. This was an evolution crystal that could only be found inside a giant sea beast, and now a three-year-old child had eaten it. Could he handle it?
"Is this the evolution crystal they've been showing on the news lately? City Lord, how could you give this to a child? This is something that can cultivate a seventh-tier ability user. Such a precious item, shouldn't it be preserved?" The doctors couldn't help but question Shen Feng after hearing him say this.
Even though Yuzhou's news had been blocked, they had learned a lot of information from the outside world. Therefore, the doctors also knew the importance of the evolution crystal. Such a precious crystal being eaten by a child as a snack was simply outrageous. Did they know what a waste of resources that was?
But Shen Feng could no longer bother with these trivial matters. He said earnestly, "Save him quickly! The crystal is no longer important. The child is the most important. Crystals can be obtained anytime if one wants them, but if something happens to the child, it will be a lifelong regret."
Compared to the precious evolution crystal, Shen Feng clearly cared more about Xiao Long's safety. However, Xiao Long had ingested twenty doses of ability potion in one go. Under such circumstances, he didn't know if the child could hold on.
The doctors were also in a difficult position, as they had never encountered such a situation. They could only say to Shen Feng, "City Lord, I will do my best. However, for the time being, the young master should be hospitalized here. You can visit him every day. Staying in the hospital is the most appropriate course of action right now."
Shen Feng was helpless. He never expected such a thing to happen. In retrospect, this was his own negligence. If he had kept the evolution crystal in a safe place, Xiao Long wouldn't have eaten it. Now that both of Du Xinshi's children were hospitalized, Shen Feng felt like he wasn't a qualified father.
Shen Feng didn't feel too much pressure currently, as he was already a sixth-tier ability user. Most people in the world were below third-tier ability users. Even if someone was stronger than Shen Feng, their strength was limited, and there were no missions that could crush him. Therefore, Shen Feng wasn't in urgent need of becoming a seventh-tier ability user. He was only worried that after consuming such a thing, Xiao Long wouldn't be able to handle it in the future.
Shen Feng also understood the principle of "the body cannot absorb excessive nourishment." Xiao Long was just a child. Eating twenty doses of ability potion at once, how could a child digest it?
However, in the following period, Xiao Long did not have any accidents. Apart from his body constantly being hot, there were no other changes. But there was also no sign of him waking up. Generally, it only took a week to become an ability user, but more than ten days had passed, and Xiao Long still hadn't woken up. He was also becoming thinner.
Chang Jianyi also visited the hospital a few times, urging the doctors to do their best to treat Xiao Long. After all, she was Xiao Long's godmother, and it wouldn't be right not to inquire about the child's condition now that he was in trouble.
One day, Shen Feng was distractedly handling documents in his office, with no mood to seriously deal with the current issues. Du Xinshi being frozen was already a difficult blow for Shen Feng. With Xiao Long falling ill shortly after, Shen Feng's mood worsened further.
But someone at the front desk immediately called: "City Lord, someone wants to see you. They are an ability user."
Shen Feng said coldly into the phone, "I'm busy. I don't have time to see them. If there's anything, write a letter."
Then, a clear and pleasant female voice came from the other end of the phone: "Shen Feng, how can you be so heartless? You were reluctant to part when we last met, so why are you so heartless now?"
Hearing this voice, Shen Feng immediately realized it was Li Keyi's voice. She had been in Yanjing before, but now Li Keyi had come all the way from Yanjing. This made Shen Feng very confused. Wasn't she part of the research institute? How did she have the opportunity to find him?
"It's you. Then you can come up," Shen Feng said calmly. Although he didn't know why Li Keyi was looking for him, they were friends, and he couldn't pretend not to see her.
Li Keyi then went to Shen Feng's office, and this scene caught the attention of Chang Jianyi, who was in the adjacent office. Li Keyi had appeared in Yuzhou before, and there seemed to be some ambiguous relationship between her and Shen Feng. Now that the headquarters and Yuzhou had blocked trade and information channels, Li Keyi was a formal government official. Her appearance at this time was clearly not a good sign.
"Chaoyan, go and listen to what they are discussing," Chang Jianyi instructed Chu Chaoyan beside her. Chang Jianyi was too embarrassed to return to Shen Feng's office to handle official business, and she didn't know what Shen Feng was talking about with another woman. Therefore, she hoped Chu Chaoyan could investigate the situation.
But Chu Chaoyan quickly shook her head and said seriously, "No, I'm not going. Shen Feng has been in a bad mood these past few days, sighing even in his sleep. Xiao Long still hasn't woken up. If I go eavesdropping now and Shen Feng finds out, I'll be blamed too."
Chang Jianyi thought carefully and had to give up. Eavesdropping was not an option, but she could find out what they were doing by bringing them tea. So, Chang Jianyi immediately instructed the staff of the City Lord's Mansion: "Be smart when delivering tea. See what the two people in the room are talking about, and also observe their postures."
The tea lady followed instructions, knocked, and entered Shen Feng's office. She then saw the two sitting on opposite sides of the tea table, talking. Nothing else happened.
In response, the tea lady grumbled in her heart, "The Deputy City Lord is really too jealous of others. What else could these two be doing? Having an office romance?"
After receiving the reply, Chang Jianyi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's good that nothing happened. If they discuss anything important, Shen Feng will discuss it with me later."