Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Hasn't he been corrupted by those three little Alphas?!

Learning through osmosis, I swear!!

Bai Sheng couldn't help but straighten up. He thought, "This cub just said he missed Daddy most, and now he's already talking himself into it."

But after watching a bit longer, Bai Sheng leaned back against the door frame.

Actually, it wasn't so bad.

After all, Nono's little hands were clean, and aside from tossing the troublesome gloves aside, he was paying attention to everything else.

And Bai Sheng thought it over: even if the kid hadn't been so careful, he'd probably have been fine.

Bai Sheng was a little surprised himself. He'd probably gotten too into raising this cub, having forgotten what he used to be like for so long. Now, looking back, he realized he'd indulged this little one to an extent he'd never imagined before.

Yeah, Daddy can handle it.

Little Nono was being very serious.

As he kneaded the dough, some flour didn't stick to the milk and eggs, so when his little hands pressed down, it flew up and landed on his face. Confused, the little guy looked at his hands, glanced around instinctively, saw nothing wrong, then pressed his lips together and kept wrestling with the dough in the bowl.

By now, flour dusted the tip of his nose and cheeks.

Bai Sheng couldn't help but smirk, and neither could the other servants watching nearby.

The important thing was that the little one was meticulous where he could be—in that way, he was basically a carbon copy of Third Master.

"Add the butter... butter..."

After mixing everything together with effort, the little one went to get the softened butter the chef uncle had prepped, and then he worked it in.

But the little guy was still too weak; the mix wasn't very even to begin with, and adding butter made it even harder to knead.

Dou Dou chimed in beside him: "Is the dough ready for this step? If it's tough to knead, I'd recommend using a stand mixer or getting someone good at it to help. Here are some stand mixer recommendations—want me to go through them one by one?"

The kindergarten booklet mentioned that for this mixing step, you can ask a parent for help.

The cub, with both hands covered in dough, turned around and called for help: "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy—"

Your little one just sent you a request for assistance.

Bai Sheng suddenly felt that sensation. He cleared his throat.

He began to carefully wash his hands and roll up his sleeves.

"Daddy's got this."

Another perk of being a top-tier Alpha: raw strength.

With the little one's sparkling eyes and nonstop praise of "Daddy's so good," the dough came together quickly in Bai Sheng's hands.

Meanwhile, the Bai family members filtered back in one by one.

Bai Jin, who'd been hanging out at his own place, got bored with gaming and moved over to the main building.

Cen Zhi walked in first, with Bai Qian a bit behind.

Bai Jingyun came right after, still coming home regularly as always. Bai Liang, as always, stayed at Sheng'ang University and didn't return home. Bai Qi had an evening meeting and would only be back after dinner.

Only the old man had been sitting still on the sofa all along, but he couldn't help stealing glances toward the kitchen.

What's in the kitchen?

Cen Zhi was looking around for the cub, didn't see him, so she asked casually.

"Has Bai Sheng brought Nono over yet?"

"They're in the kitchen."

The old man coughed lightly.

"We haven't even had dinner yet, and he's already making snacks in the kitchen? Bai Sheng's spoiling him again, isn't he? Has he forgotten about the last time he got an upset stomach? Where is Bai Sheng anyway?"

Cen Zhi asked curiously as the rest of the Bai family turned to look.

The old man took a sip of tea and said flatly, "He's in the kitchen too. Says he's making bread."

Oh, so that's it. Bai Sheng is making bread in the kitchen...

Wait... what?

When the little one set the timer for the dough to rise according to the picture book, Bai Sheng turned around and saw a row of heads poking in from the doorway.

Bai Sheng can make bread?! Isn't he a disaster in the kitchen?!

Bai Sheng caught their meaning from their expressions. He let out a sarcastic "Ha."

"Well, look who can see now? Federal tech moves fast—cured you all in just a few hours?"

Cen Zhi: ...

The rest of the Bai family: ...

There was a lot wrong with this guy, but the worst was his mouth—sharp as a knife.

Meanwhile, Little Nono, whose face had been dusted a shade lighter with flour, had just gotten his little hands washed clean. He blinked and turned around to look at the adults behind him, his eyes turning into crescents.

"Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle, Little Uncle! Nono is making bread! Now we need to let it rise for forty minutes."

"Our baby is so awesome!"

Cen Zhi immediately responded with enthusiasm. She walked over and grabbed a tissue to wipe the little one's face.

"And this father of yours—can't even be bothered to wash your face."

"Huh?"

Little Nono squinted as she wiped his face, tilting his head a little to make it more comfortable for Grandma.

Then Grandma lifted him down from the chair.

Cen Zhi glanced at the stuff on the table and let out a sigh of admiration. Then she suddenly pulled out her phone and started snapping pictures.

She muttered to herself.

"I'll show this to Chu Meng—our baby kept everything so clean while making bread."

Seems like he got praised.

Xiaobai Nuo looked up at his grandmother and smiled happily.

"Alright, come eat."

The old master held back and didn't join the fun, calling out from outside.

As soon as dinner was over, the little one's alarm went off.

The little 'dinner buddy' who had been watching Grandpa chew carefully and eat well let out a little 'woo' sound and asked his dad to put him down on the floor.

The tiny little one ran pattering over to see how the dough had risen, then continued learning to punch it down and shape it, placing it in the bread loaf pan to wait for the second proofing.

The activity of punching down the dough was indeed fun; the little one had never risen dough before and watched curiously as the dough had grown much larger, then shrunk again when kneaded.

To this, the tiny little one seriously declared — it's magic!

The Bai family members watching couldn't help but laugh.

The dough needed a second proofing in the bread pan; this time it wouldn't take as long.

The little one closed the lid of the bread pan and heard the chef next to him say, "The evening temperature is a bit cool; the temperature suitable for fermentation is around 26 degrees Celsius, so the baked bread will be fluffy and soft."

"Does it need to be a little warmer?"

Xiaobai Nuo looked up and asked softly, the little one seemed to think for a moment.

"Yes."

The chef was about to suggest placing it in warm water or setting the oven to a low temperature for proofing.

But before he finished, the little one's eyes lit up.

"I know!"

Everyone watched as the little one, holding the box with the dough, got down from the small chair and ran pattering to the living room.

What do you know?

A group of people followed behind to see.

In the living room, Bai Yan and Bai Qian were discussing the latest mall situation, while the TV aired various news reports.

Bai Jin still had a low fever; he was curled up on a separate small sofa, playing his game console in a low mood.

The prolonged discomfort made Bai Jin especially irritable.

Just then, Bai Jin heard footsteps; he looked up and saw the little one standing in front of him, holding a metal bread pan.

Bai Jin: ?

"What are you doing?"

Bai Jin raised an eyebrow, reached out and pinched the little one's cheek, and asked.

"Uncle, help Nono."

The little one blinked his big eyes at Bai Jin.

"Help you...? Help you with what?"

Bai Jin hadn't come around yet.

After a moment, he looked down at the bread pan he was holding and fell into deep silence.

Ha... help you proof the dough?!

His low fever has this kind of use?!

You're a genius! Can't you use some technology?!

Hahaha! Bai Jin ground his molars, looking at the little one who had his hands together and stared at him. He didn't say the last sentence.

Too genius.

Between being a good baby and a bad baby, you chose to be a both-good-and-bad baby!!!

Cen Zhi laughed uproariously, Bai Sheng smiled and applauded, Bai Yan and Bai Qian gave him a look, Bai Jingyun seemed to hold back a laugh but failed, he chose to look away.

Bai Jin tried to protest in dissatisfaction, but the protest was ineffective, and he finally obediently held the bread pan in his arms.

In the end, after brushing with egg wash and baking for over half an hour, the bread was done.

Strictly following the tutorial, avoiding spontaneous ideas, and not using a cutting board that had been used for spicy ingredients like chili, garlic, ginger slices, the little one's bread turned out very successful.

Bai Qi came home just then, and she gathered with the other Bai family members around the little one's bread.

It was just normal small bread, but because it was made by a little cub, even the smell of the bread seemed sweeter than store-bought. Bai Sheng, as the dad, took a bread knife and carefully cut it with a ruler for precision.

These Bai family members had done things they'd never done before.

The little one, praised with 'good job' with every bite, had bright eyes, and was using a small spatula to spread jam on the bread his dad had cut.

On this, Bai Jin, who couldn't get in and could only sit aside grumbling, tried to express that he had made a great contribution!

Bai Qi had also heard about Bai Jin's 'great achievement' of proofing the dough. Now hearing Bai Jin's muttering, she turned back to glance at him and bluntly said, "You have a great contribution; you're basically a fully developed 'oven'."

Bai Jin: ...

Bai Jin: ....

Bai Jin propped himself up to express his dissatisfaction.

But over there, the little one had already gotten up, holding a warm piece of jam-covered bread in his hands, and handed it to Bai Jin.

"Uncle, look, the bread is so soft. Uncle is not feeling well, Nono brought it for you. Here you go."

Bai Jin's movement of propping himself up stopped, and he finally settled back into the sofa. He took the bread the little one handed over, took a big bite, and couldn't be bothered with anything else.

He just thought: Hmph, can anyone else do that?

Even the low mood caused by his low fever headache eased a bit, and he felt less annoyed with others, including Yu An, who kept listing evidence in his phone, expressing that he had no idea his complaining about Bai Jin having such a cute little nephew had leaked his whereabouts and caused him so much trouble.

The next day at kindergarten.

The bread was very successful. The four little ones sat together on small stools, listening to Xiaobai Nuo talk about what to pay attention to when making bread.

"So if we want to add filling, do we add it during the second proofing?"

Xie Yue propped his chin on his hand and asked curiously.

For these mischievous little A-kids, especially Xie Yue, there was no way they'd have the patience to read through the teacher's picture tutorial. There were too many other fun things in the world to catch their interest.

"Mm-hmm."

Xiaobai Nuo nodded. In front of him were some origami papers.

Beside him, Yu Chuyan had a book in front of him and was also listening from the side. Seeing that it was about time, he reached out, pushed Xiaobai Nuo's water cup closer to him, then picked up his own cup, signaling it was time to drink.

Xiaobai Nuo watched Brother Xiao Yan start chugging, and also picked up his own cup to drink.

Xie Yue, on the other hand, became interested.

"Hey, bread is sweet, and gummy candy is also sweet. Wouldn't it be good to put gummy candy inside as filling?"

Xiaobai Nuo set down his cup and tilted his head: "Would it be good? Nono likes gummy candies."

"I like meat," Xie Qing leaned back in his chair, also thinking. "How about putting some meat filling inside?"

"Oh, oh! What about adding some wasabi? Dad loves wasabi! I'll sneak a tube of wasabi from the mini-fridge at home!"

Xie Yue turned his head again, his eyes full of eagerness. Before Xie Qing could even agree with his idea, he spoke again.

"And didn't we hear about a dish called 'Ants Climbing a Tree' last time? Could we add some ant—mmph!"

Actually, Xie Yue realized it halfway through and was about to stop, but Xie Qing, quick on the draw, covered his mouth.

Xie Yue struggled for a few seconds, then shoved Xie Qing's hand away, and panted, protesting: "I already stopped in the middle! Why did you still cover me!"

"Because you never learn." Xie Qing let go, stepped back a few paces, and blocked his brother's rush.

Xiaobai Nuo was very afraid of bugs. Talking about them casually was one thing, but bringing ants as a filling was too reckless. Xie Qing nodded, thinking that as the older brother, he should keep him in line.

He also patted his chest and said seriously, "I'm the big brother, so I'm in charge of you."

"Xie Qing! I'm not calling you big brother! For all we know, someone was wrong back then—maybe I'm actually the older brother!"

Xie Qing started pretending to roll up his sleeves—because he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt.

And then these two, who fought all day, ended up wrestling together again.

Before Xiaobai Nuo could even react, the two Xie brothers were rolling around, locked in a scuffle.

They seemed quite energetic.

Honestly.

Having played with them for so long, Xiaobai Nuo had gotten a bit used to it.

At first he was lost and tried to mediate, but later learned to sit side by side with Brother Xiao Yan and watch them finish fighting.

Occasionally, when they really couldn't decide a winner, Yu Chuyan would step in. Of course, Yu Chuyan would just beat them both up, since neither of them could defeat him.

As for how to make the Xie twins call you big brother, Yu Chuyan said it was simple: just be able to beat them both at once, and that's enough.

Xiaobai Nuo watched for a while, then lowered his head to continue folding paper.

In terms of memory, spatial imagination, and hands-on ability, Xiaobai Nuo was truly outstanding. He had even advanced in origami—no longer limited to a single sheet of paper, he now combined many sheets to make complex designs.

By the time the Xie twins, neither willing to concede to the other, were separated by Teacher Xingxing's shrill voice, they sat there sulking on opposite sides of the table, turning away from each other.

The little one had finished his origami too.

Xie Yue was muttering over there, "You covered my mouth, I'm not calling you brother." Xie Qing sat there stone-faced, gripping his water cup in irritation, thinking, "I don't care if you call me brother, but, actually, I am the big brother—"

Just then, he heard Xiaobai Nuo's voice.

"Brother Xiao Qing."

"Hmm?"

Xie Qing turned his head, and blurted out.

"Even though he mentioned something you're afraid of, it's not Little Brother Nuo Nuo's fault, okay?"

He didn't need to be comforted.

After all, they always fought like this.

Then he saw the little one holding a small round flower ball, made with different colored papers for leaves and flowers—the one Xie Qing had said was pretty earlier.

"A flower ball!"

Xie Qing's eyes widened and lit up: "Wow!"

This was a pain to fold; Xie Qing didn't have the patience to do it. He spent all day fighting with his brother, pulling pranks, and having fun, rarely having the patience to sit still.

"Is this for me?"

"Mm-hmm."

The little one nodded.

"Nono folded it."

"Even though I said you didn't need to."

Yu Chuyan pulled out a small 3D snowflake origami from beside him, slightly lifting his chin.

"But as long as Little Brother Nuo Nuo is happy."

Xie Yue on the other side also leaned over.

He saw Xiaobai Nuo turn and hand him the little origami sword he'd wanted: "Brother Xiao Yue has one too!"

Xie Yue's eyes also lit up instantly. He huddled with his brother, holding the little sword and showing it off: "Wow!"

"Stop with the 'wow'."

Yu Chuyan took Xiaobai Nuo's hand.

"Come on, time to learn! I've been reading these books, and later I'm going to tell stories to Little Brother Nuo Nuo."

You can't just receive gifts without giving something back.

The Xie twins crowded around too.

Teacher Xingxing in the distance had a look of "I’m saved!" which made Teacher Xiaoxue chuckle.

"The next class is painting, right? I'll go prepare the materials, and you go hand out snacks. After the painting class, parents should be coming to pick up the kids," she said as she walked out, asking her colleague Teacher Xiaoxue to watch the Xie Family Twins, and couldn't help sighing, "Little omegas are just little angels."

Not far away, a few kids clustered around Xia Huan, all staring in that direction.

Earlier, they had been saying Liu Du from the next class was the smartest kid.

Now, one by one, they looked at Xiaobai Nuo over there, especially at the origami he had made.

"He can fold so many things! Bai Nuo’s the smartest, right?"

"He taught me how to fold stars before. During a game, I almost fell, and he tried to catch me—but he’s so weak he couldn’t even budge me, haha."

"But they always play together."

"Yeah, because their parents know each other. I heard they also play together outside of kindergarten."

"Oh? That's great."

Xia Huan also looked over, staring at the little one’s origami, then glanced at the other three kids and snorted.

"It’s just playing together. In the next painting class—I’m actually good at that. We’ll draw together. They’re terrible at it."

This was Xia Huan’s one claim to fame!

The teacher over there finished distributing snacks, and after a while, called the kids to the painting room.

Today, unusually, they weren’t given pre-drawn outlines to color in; instead, they could pick a picture from a drawing book and copy it.

Xiaobai Nuo flipped through the kids’ drawing book, finally settling on a picture of a tiny tree with a small mushroom growing on it. He blinked, made his choice, and started drawing.

Halfway through the class, Xiaobai Nuo noticed that Brother Xiao Yan next to him had stopped drawing.

The little one looked over curiously.

He saw Yu Chuyan staring at his own picture, then suddenly reach out and rip the paper to shreds.

Okay, that piece of garbage is gone now.

Yu Chuyan, putting on a cool-kid expression, thought seriously.

Then he turned and saw Xiaobai Nuo’s stunned little face.

In an instant, redness crept from his neck to his ears.

This was the one thing Yu Chuyan was bad at.

The Xie Family Twins beside him leaned in. Both their faces were already smeared with marker ink, and their sudden looming was a bit startling. Yu Chuyan shoved them away crossly, "Don’t look!"

Then Yu Chuyan flipped to a new page and said, "I’ll redraw it."

Xiaobai Nuo blinked and scooted closer.

"Mm-hmm, Nono will draw with Brother Xiao Yan."

Yu Chuyan couldn't help touching his earlobe. He glanced at Bai Nuo again, thinking: Little Brother Nono looks all sparkly, like he’s glowing.

At the other table, Xia Huan gripped his pencil, leaned over to peer this way for a while, then pouted and kept drawing.

At pickup time, parents collected their kids who’d been playing wild in kindergarten all day.

Xia Huan was at the back. After leaving the kindergarten, he was scooped up.

He reached up and hugged his dad’s neck, looking confused. "Dad, you have time today?"

"Yeah, I’m taking you and Mom out tonight. Why’s your face so dirty? Didn’t the teacher wash it off?"

Xia Huan’s dad, Xia Fan, was a pretty well-known up-and-comer in Ang City. But the Xia family had gotten rich before the Xies. During the last Bai family feud, they backed the wrong horse—teaming up with Bai Qian’s brother and even going after Bai Qian. Once Bai Qian took over, they took a huge hit and only stabilized after a corporate restructuring. He was usually swamped.

Xia Huan watched the four little ones getting picked up in the distance and puffed out his cheeks.

With his little hands on his hips, he was carried to the car, muttering, "Dad, why aren’t you buddy-buddy with the Bai family?"

Xia Fan: 'What?'

"What? Why would I wanna dredge up that bad blood with the Bai family? That Bai guy your grandpa worked with is still abroad with zero news."

"Dad, you gotta step up your game."

In the kid’s head, if they were tight with Bai Nuo’s parents, they could all play together more often.

The little Alpha kid, flipping the script, muttered in a tone of 'why can’t my dad be more like steel.'

Xia Fan: '...'

Xia Fan promptly smacked his son on the head.

"Hoping your dad becomes a dragon?"

"You’ve got ideas, huh."

"You little rascal!"

Meanwhile, Bai Sheng—who never missed a pickup, rain or shine—had already carried the little one to the car.

He listened to the little one’s daily rundown of what happened in kindergarten.

He gestured, showing his dad the marker stains on his hands: "Markers don’t come off skin easy, Dad."

Bai Sheng hummed.

"That’s right."

He heard Xie Yu’s sharp yell.

The teacher even came over all flustered to apologize, saying that in a moment of distraction, the two little ones had grabbed markers and started drawing on each other’s faces.

Xie Yu, knowing his own kid’s mischief, also hauled his kid away.

"And today, Nono’s drawing!"

The little one said, trying to reach out and squirm out of his car seat to grab his little bag.

Bai Sheng smoothly blocked him.

Bai Sheng pulled the drawing out of the little one’s bag.

He was a little surprised, because kids’ drawings are usually all sunshine and cheer.

His child drew a small tree, with patches of clouds in the sky, and a little red mushroom under the tree.

Seeing this mushroom, Bai Sheng remembered a recent science video the little one had watched, which said that little mushrooms easily burst their caps when exposed to the sun.

Sure enough, the little one spoke in a cute baby voice.

"It's hot, so Nono drew this to give the little mushroom some shade from the sun."

"It's beautifully drawn. Let's show it to Grandma when we get home. The little mushroom looks so cool and comfortable, even Dad wants to hide from the sun."

Bai Sheng has now become quite good at soothing the little one.

The little one blinked beside him, holding the drawing, and met his father's eyes.

"If Dad ever wants to be a little mushroom and hide from the sun, then Nono will be Dad's little tree."