Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Xiaobai Nuo's mouth was pinched shut, and he blinked, letting out a couple of muffled sounds.

But in the end, after a moment of silence, the monitoring AI automatically ended the conversation, awaiting the next voice wake-up.

That weird, subtle, polite yet kinda stupid loop finally ended.

Doctor Xu Chuan was also charmed, unable to help turning his head and barely holding back his laughter.

“Next time, if you don’t have any questions, don’t talk to it. It’ll turn off by itself in a bit.”

Bai Sheng let go and shifted the little one higher in his arm.

They looked really close.

The little boy whispered softly, “Okay, Dad.”

Xiaobai Nuo licked his lips.

Xu Chuan followed Bai Sheng onto the top floor of the Bai Group.

The place had been busy since early morning, with contracts, orders, and R&D decisions being made.

“Boss.”

“Good morning, boss.”

“The leftover matters from yesterday have been handled. President Qiao wants to talk about further cooperation to break into the overseas market.”

Bai Sheng stepped out of the elevator with Xiaobai Nuo in his arms, and voices rang out one after another.

At the same time, curious glances couldn’t help but drift toward the little child.

The Xie family company was coming today to discuss cooperation, and Li Zhilin, also known as Assistant Li, was busy with the arrangements, so he hadn’t come up with Bai Sheng.

Bai Sheng responded casually, glanced at the time, and untied the strap from his wrist.

It turned out to be a small transparent water bottle with a straw, meant to hang around the neck, with cute prints on it.

The water inside was almost finished. It looked totally out of place on Bai Sheng.

But Bai Sheng’s aura was too strong, and with the kid in his arms drawing everyone’s attention, no one immediately noticed.

Bai Sheng held out the water bottle. “Tao Fei, get some warm water.”

“Yes, boss.”

The woman who responded was an alpha. She’d also been staring at the little one in Bai Sheng’s arms, but the kid was hugging his dad’s neck and only peeking out a tiny bit because of all the strangers.

Yet even that tiny peek was enough to melt hearts.

Where had the boss found such an adorable kid?! And he just called the boss “Dad”? Boss, how did you secretly have such a cute kid? Where did you order him? Give us a link!

The break room was right there. Bai Sheng just didn’t want to put the kid down, so he randomly picked someone.

The warm little water bottle was filled and returned in less than half a minute.

This time, Xiaobai Nuo finally straightened up and reached out his small hand.

With soft black curls, big black eyes, and a porcelain-white face, he was stunningly cute and adorable.

The female alpha assistant, who was usually a bit dense, froze too—that cute look was practically a one-shot kill for any alpha.

Especially when he said in a soft, sweet voice, “Thank you, Auntie.”

Then he took a big sip from the cup, narrowing his eyes in satisfaction.

By the time Bai Sheng had carried Bai Nuo into the office,

Tao Fei was still standing there in a daze.

“Wow, he really is the young master.”

“Looks a lot like the boss, but it’s strange—the boss is handsome in a sharp, harsh way, but on the young master, it becomes so soft and cute?”

“Did anyone record that? I want to hear ‘Auntie’ again!”

“We uncles want to be acknowledged too.”

They kept working, just as efficient, but whispered among themselves until someone noticed Tao Fei still spacing out.

“Tao?”

Tao Fei looked down at her hands, snapped out of it, and dramatically joked with a coworker: “I touched it! I touched it! So soft! The cup was small, the hand was small, everything was small, so cute! I’m never washing my hands again! This is a blessing! This is what I deserve for getting up early for work!”

Well, she had completely lost it.

Inside the office,

Since Xu Chuan was there, Bai Sheng only handled some less important documents.

Over on the other side, Xu Chuan was examining the little kid.

The young child had such a good temperament. After only a few minutes on the floor with Xu Chuan, he was already calling him “Uncle Xu Chuan” sweetly.

He lifted his arm when asked, raised his head when told, and cooperated perfectly.

This left Xu Chuan a bit thrown off, since he had expected Bai Sheng’s kid to be a little demon king.

His suspicion grew even stronger.

Is this really an Alpha cub? This subtle intuition, probably sharpened by dealing with so many patients, was kicking in.

He even dared to guess more boldly—even though he had Bai’s genes, maybe Bai Nuo wasn’t an Alpha at all? Could he be a Beta? Or an Omega?

After all, Xu Chuan noticed that the little one had a surprisingly strong impact on alphas.

But an Omega? Xu Chuan didn’t dare go there.

Because omegas were super rare, especially little omega kids. Every one of them would receive special care, and families who had an omega baby even got special perks.

Of course, the Bai family had never needed those.

Not to mention that the Bai family only had top-tier alphas. If a little omega were born, by the time he grew up, his pheromone levels would probably break national records, right?

But everything was still unknown, and Xu Chuan didn’t dare make hasty guesses.

After all, ABO personalities certainly have differences, but due to varying levels of pheromones, rigidly categorizing by personality would just be stereotyping.

The true secondary gender development does not occur until after the age of eighteen, when all aspects mature and stabilize.

Before actual differentiation, determining the secondary gender is not straightforward; it requires blood collection and step-by-step analysis to confirm during early childhood. The equipment and instruments involved are large and complex, typically managed directly by the state through a census process after birth, with all data filed in archives to prevent crimes against minors.

Private hospitals also possess the equipment, and given the Bai Group's resources, the Bai family's private hospitals boast even more advanced equipment, but every use must be reported to the higher-ups.

However, Little Bai Nuo's case was different. The Bai family's application got approved in seconds, and while the national authorities were running their own assessment, their equipment would be quicker, so Xu Chuan showed up the next day, and that's why Bai Nuo's secondary gender wasn't determined in that lab.

As for why Little Bai Nuo wasn't taken straight to the hospital?

Bai Sheng had seen that research lab—it was oppressive and gloomy, almost like a haunted house converted from a hospital.

Although Little Bai Nuo didn’t show much emotion about the research institute, the top alpha’s keen instincts made him try to avoid taking the little one to a hospital.

Having taken every precaution already, Xu Chuan didn’t bring much professional equipment, but when he took out the blood collection needle and sterilization kit, Bai Sheng only heard a clatter.

He looked up and saw the startled little cub knocking over the water cup he had been holding, then stumbling backward and almost tripping over a monitoring drone he couldn't dodge in time. But the little one moved quickly, steadying himself after just a brief wobble and retreating swiftly.

“What’s wrong?”

Bai Sheng instinctively reached out.

Little Bai Nuo instinctively flinched back, but upon seeing Bai Sheng’s outstretched hand, he stumbled into his arms.

“Daddy.”

The little one’s soft voice trembled with panic, and his parent scooped him up.

Over there, Xu Chuan, who had only made a tentative move and hadn’t even unwrapped the packaging, exchanged a helpless look with Bai Sheng.

Bai Sheng's brows furrowed darkly.

The slight little body in his arms was trembling.

This wasn't just a kid's normal fear of shots.

It felt more like he had experienced something far more terrifying, leaving the whole cub completely panicked.

The relief he'd felt earlier, thinking this little one had a good nature and hadn’t faced too many bad things evaporated.

Bai Sheng pressed his lips together tightly.

He looked down at the little one in his arms.

Little Bai Nuo was afraid of needles.

He was extremely afraid of needles.

It wasn’t the pain of the injection itself, but the sight of unknown drugs being injected into his body, the fear of their unknown effects and consequences. Those injections always made him drowsy, and as he slept, the people around him disappeared, leaving only Nono by himself.

Even a mature adult fears the unknown, let alone a child just a few years old.

The little one pouted, tears spilling over, and kept burrowing into Bai Sheng’s arms, his little voice trembling.

“Daddy, needles—Nono doesn't like needles. No needles, okay? Nono will be good.”

Bai Sheng almost instinctively agreed.

But Xu Chuan, over there, widened his eyes and couldn’t help but cough lightly.

Bai Sheng: ...

Almost carried away by the cub's feelings, Bai Sheng reined in his casual demeanor, held the little one fully in his arms and said seriously.

“We need to do a blood test. Daddy promises, just this one. Nono closes his eyes and counts to five, and it’ll be over. When you open your eyes, Daddy will still be here, okay?”

His voice was surprisingly gentle.

Little Bai Nuo could hear it and feel it.

The cub looked up at Bai Sheng, his big eyes red-rimmed, still obedient. He sniffled and spoke softly, as if very aggrieved but afraid to say it loudly: “Nono is scared.”

But before, Nono never said it, and no one ever listened to Nono.

Bai Sheng couldn’t take it anymore. He stood up—the Bai family's third young master was ready to kick the doctor out.

Xu Chuan, who was nearly shooed away: ???

“But Nono believes in Daddy.” Because Daddy was the first person to treat Nono so well.

The little one ultimately saved Xu Chuan.

Bai Sheng grabbed his suit jacket and covered the little one with it as the kid was about to burrow into his shirt. His dark eyes locked onto Xu Chuan.

Xu Chuan felt like the back of his head was being stared through. He swiftly and precisely disinfected, collected the blood, and packed the sample before breathing a sigh of relief. Then he stood up and looked at the parent holding the cotton ball for the cub, hesitating as if he had more to say.

But to his dismay, the cub who had been calling him "uncle" just moments earlier was now reluctant to let him get close.

He still softly called “uncle,” but only one eye peeped out from his father’s clothes. He was scared, but he knew Xu Chuan wasn’t a bad person, and the little one was trying hard to push through it.

But there was no need to make a child like that do that. No one had the heart to trouble a kid like this.

Xu Chuan felt the same.

Xu Chuan let out a sigh.

He decided to leave early to avoid putting too much pressure on the little one.

But before leaving, he couldn't help reminding Bai Sheng, because he kept hearing the boss refer to the cub as an “alpha cub” as if he really hoped his child would be an alpha.

“Boss, what if it’s not an alpha?” What if you've actually hit the jackpot and you've got a cute little omega instead?

“Huh?”

Bai Sheng, who had never interacted with omegas except for his own biological mother (who he barely spent time with), didn’t understand what Xu Chuan meant.

His first thought was that Xu Chuan, judging from experience, thought his cub wouldn’t be a top alpha.

Hah, underestimating the Bai family genes, wasn’t he?

...But looking at the cub hiding in his clothes, Bai Sheng hesitated for a moment, then quickly convinced himself.

Even if not a top alpha, he could still raise a regular alpha cub. Besides, the pheromone level wouldn’t stabilize until adulthood.

This guy's thinking was so set in stone that he never even considered the Bai genes could produce a beta or omega.

He thought—wasn't it just a stronger alpha or a weaker one? With him around, who could possibly bully his cub?

So he simply held the little one tighter, wrapping the cub snugly, and replied casually, “What does it matter? No matter what, isn’t he still my own dear child?”

After receiving the response, Xu Chuan looked at the third young master of the Bai family, who had changed so much in just two days. He nodded, satisfied that he had made his point and that he couldn't produce any other evidence, and that saying too much would backfire, so he quickly left.

The room fell silent again. The little one had obviously heard what Bai Sheng had just said.

Xiaobai Nuo pouted, facing Bai Sheng on his lap, his little arms wrapped around Bai Sheng's waist, nestled against his chest, with Bai Sheng's suit jacket draped over his back.

Bai Sheng didn't speak, just kept stroking the cub's back, over and over, the newbie dad awkwardly comforting the cub, following Aunt Feng's earlier advice.

Bai Sheng really wanted to tell his little cub that he could tell him anything—whether he was upset, didn't want something, or anything else—and that he wanted him to speak up about everything.

But he had just drawn blood from the little one, who had already shown he was uncomfortable. Although it was a necessary procedure, Bai Sheng still felt that now was not the time to tell Xiaobai Nuo such things.

The next moment, he heard the cub softly call out, "Dad."

"Hm?"

Bai Sheng looked down. From beneath his suit jacket, he saw what he believed to be the brightest eyes in the world. Those eyes looked up at him, full of trust and dependence, and then said softly, "Nono was a little scared, but Dad called Nono. Nono likes it when Dad calls him that."

Not 'Bai Nuo,' but 'Nono'—such a term of endearment. Nono loves it.

Bai Sheng's eyes widened slightly as the 'suit little ghost' said softly and earnestly, "Nono is good. Can Dad always call me that from now on?"

Author's Note:

Xu Chuan: Boss, you know, right? It might not be an Alpha. (Implication: You might have hit the jackpot.)

Bai Sheng: "Got it. What Alpha cub can't I raise? No one would dare bully my cub anyway."

Xu Chuan: Feels that the boss got the hint, satisfied.

Bai Sheng: Completely missed it.

Bai Corp employees: Such an adorable cub. Is there a link to buy one? [crying]