Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Cen Zhi stared at Xiaobai Nuo and had already involuntarily taken out her phone, muttering to herself.

Bai Sheng caught a bit of it and only heard Cen Zhi’s murmuring: “How can he be this cute, how can he be this cute…”

Cen Zhi took several shots of Xiaobai Nuo from the front, side, and back, then looked at the little one tilting his head up. She reached out.

“Nono, come let Grandma hold you.”

The little raincoat completely covered the cub, making him waddle a bit like a little penguin. After getting closer, he stretched out his little hands for a hug.

His curly hair was slightly pressed down by the raincoat hood, with a few strands sticking up like that. Through the semi-transparent material of the raincoat, his messy hairstyle could be seen. Both of his little hands were too long in the sleeves to show, so he could only bend them near the cuffs, pinching Grandma’s clothes like that as he looked up at Cen Zhi.

Feeling the coolness outside, the comfortable cub asked cheerfully.

“Hugging like this? Grandma?”

Too adorable!

Cen Zhi planted a kiss on the little one’s forehead.

Xiaobai Nuo shyly burrowed deeper into Grandma’s embrace, leaving only half of his round cheek visible.

“Alright, let’s get ready to go.”

Cen Zhi let go and smiled at Xiaobai Nuo.

The little one hummed in acknowledgment and nodded.

Taking this opportunity, Cen Zhi sent the photos to Cen Liu.

At that moment, Cen Liu was still working at the company. After his injury healed, the workload needing his attention increased, keeping him from constantly dropping by Xiaobai Nuo’s place. He would have to go on a business trip later and should be able to return before Xiaobai Nuo’s birthday.

Cen Liu sighed as he looked at his packed schedule. He was used to celebrities visiting sets, but he wondered if his uncle could wait for a little cub to visit him.

Then he could send out a photo of Xiaobai Nuo’s back view and make everyone else jealous!

While Cen Liu was daydreaming, he received a message and pictures from his aunt.

Cen Zhi: Super cute, sleeves are so long his little hands can’t even come out, and he knows how to hug people.

Cen Liu: !

About a few seconds later, *thud*.

Outside Cen Liu’s office, the group that had been about to open the door paused, suspiciously confused as they looked toward the room.

They heard Cen Liu slam his head heavily onto the table, mumbling vaguely, “Nuo, Nuo, Nuo, Nuo…”

Everyone: ?

Had the boss finally gone crazy from overwork?

…

At the Bai family’s old residence, the rain was pleasant—not too cold, not too hot, with a perfect breeze.

So Bai Sheng simply let the little one walk a bit on the path in his raincoat.

Bai Liang’s car slowed down as it passed by the little cub.

Bai Liang caught a glimpse of the cub walking ahead on the roadside in the rain, skillfully stepping over small puddles, then being lifted by Bai Sheng to ‘fly’ over them.

A little *wow* sound came through the gap of the rolled-down car window.

Bai Liang smiled silently, tapping his fingers twice on the leather of the steering wheel.

That little one seemed to be in a pretty good mood right now.

Of course.

But this wasn’t the time to think about that.

After Xiaobai Nuo was out of sight, Bai Liang sped up, heading toward Sheng’ang University.

When he parked, his research assistant was already waiting at the spot.

“Professor Bai, here is the latest list of suitable candidates we’ve screened. The screening process was leaked, and some unqualified people called too, which I declined. The person responsible for the leak has been identified and excluded from the next phase of the experiment. Is there anything else you need?”

The assistant handed the documents to Bai Liang.

“Don’t worry about those people.”

Bai Liang replied offhandedly, taking the documents and casually flipping through them.

After all, he had seen this kind of situation too many times, especially with experimental drugs that had gone through several phases of animal trials—any hint of movement would attract countless onlookers.

His car wasn’t parked in the underground garage of Sheng’ang University, only in a covered parking spot. The rain drummed loudly on the plastic roof above, a somewhat relaxing white noise.

“Send me the electronic version later. Nothing else is needed—just proceed with the next phase of the experiment. Have them submit a work report for the past two days to me.”

Bai Liang closed the documents with a smile.

The assistant nodded in acknowledgment but looked slightly surprised at Bai Liang’s expression.

In truth, Bai Liang’s demeanor was largely the same as usual, but there was a subtle difference—one could sense that Bai Liang was in a good mood despite the bad weather.

That was rare.

“Did something good happen to you today?”

Perhaps because Bai Liang seemed unusually approachable at the moment, the assistant couldn’t help but ask, then thought for a moment.

“Was it that you successfully appeased that… oh, the child in your analogy, the one you’ve been referring to at home?”

Bai Liang: …

“Don’t ask questions unrelated to the experiment.”

What did that little one have to do with it?

He had only casually asked that question earlier.

Did they really think he was like Bai Jingyun, who surrendered at the sight of that cub?

Bai Liang usually smiled often, always looking graceful and refined, but anyone who had worked under him on projects knew he was capable of smiling while angry. His temper was not good—in fact, he was even harder to deal with than the other more openly temperamental heirs of the Bai family, making it impossible to predict when he might take offense.

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

The research assistant said quickly.

Bai Liang casually waved his hand.

He opened his umbrella and headed first towards the adjacent research building.

But it was only after walking a few steps that he suddenly spoke.

"Oh, hand me the research schedule for these days."

Hmm?

"Okay."

The assistant nodded, sensibly not asking anything else.

Meanwhile, Bai Liang walked into the building, closed his umbrella, and was still thinking.

After all, the fish needed to stay with him for a few days; it was his place, so he couldn't just ignore it entirely.

It was only natural to take some time to do the necessary work with that little guy.

Bai Liang looked ahead and thought this with certainty.

The most important thing for him now was still, without a doubt, work.

The rain outside was still falling, and the sky had completely darkened.

Inside the special ward of the hospital, Bai Qian was sitting on the sofa.

He was a regular here, unlike Bai Jingyun, who was a temporary occupant with his own floor. Due to that major gastrointestinal surgery, his physical condition was somewhat weaker than an average top-level Alpha. This time, because of excessive emotional fluctuations—and although he had been eating properly—the frequency of his stomach pain had increased significantly, as Xiaobai Nuo had witnessed last time.

This large check-up had revealed some new issues; he needed medication adjustment and observation until the medication and treatment plan were finalized before he could be discharged.

But even the doctor was a bit surprised.

If Bai Qian hadn't been eating properly during this period—chewing thoroughly, resting after meals as the doctor advised, and only moving around after rest—he might have come to the hospital even earlier.

But in that case, it wouldn't have been because issues were found in the check-up; it would have been because he couldn't hold on any longer and had to be hospitalized.

So the approach was different. As it was now, he just needed a good adjustment, without much intervention, and it wouldn't affect his normal work.

However, as Bai Qian grew older, the effect of pheromones on his body changed, so he still needed to pay more attention to rest than before.

Thinking of the promise he made to the little guy, Bai Qian ultimately decided to resignedly stay in the hospital for a few days.

He was also looking into the little schemes Bai Zhize had been pulling these past few years.

Bai Qian didn't have a good relationship with either of his two younger brothers, especially the second one who had passed away unexpectedly.

So after he took power, he didn't really care about Bai Zhize's comings and goings.

When Bai Zhize slunk off abroad, he just had people keep an eye on him to avoid any unexpected issues.

But ordinarily, he couldn't be bothered to intervene.

After all, he was his younger brother; he knew his eldest brother's bottom line, and only resorted to small tricks in secret. Generally harmless, so he was even more reluctant to go abroad to deal with him.

But now—

It had nothing to do with Bai Zhize interfering in the competition for the next generation of Bai family heirs.

Bai Qian just felt that this guy had been getting more and more outrageous in recent years and needed to be reined in.

"No one's at the villa? The car left the villa?"

Bai Qian leaned back in his chair, wearing Bluetooth earphones, slightly closing his eyes, and said coldly.

In the end, he decided it would be safer to keep Bai Zhize under his nose.

"Bai Zhize always runs at the slightest sign of trouble. Take some men to trail him; don't wait. Corner him, and he'll understand on his own."

The Bai family members were no fools. If Bai Zhize found himself cornered, he would understand that his actions had angered Bai Qian. If he wasn't willing to come back, then next time Bai Qian would personally bring him back.

As for his overseas assets?

Having already retreated after a crushing defeat in the last competition, and being constrained and monitored everywhere, Bai Zhize knew very well that he had lost any chance of going head-to-head with his eldest brother decades ago.

Bai Qian ended the communication, took off his Bluetooth earphones, stood up, and sat back on the bed.

He switched on the light. Outside, the sky was overcast, the wind rustling the leaves with a swish, which instead made the surroundings seem exceptionally quiet.

But that was fine; such moments let you think more clearly.

Bai Qian picked up a book from the nearby table and flipped through a couple of pages.

These dense professional books were not hard for the Bai family members to understand.

While looking at these books, Bai Qian couldn't help but think of Xiaobai Nuo lying on the carpet in the main building every day reading.

All kinds of picture books, fairy tales, and children's popular science books, always deeply engrossed.

Filling the entire main building with traces of the little cub.

It had been almost two days since he last saw him, he realized.

Bai Qian turned the pages expressionlessly.

For once, he found it hard to concentrate.

When behind him, the door was pushed open with a faint creak.

Usually, at this time, the only person who ever came in without knocking was Cen Zhi.

Bai Qian turned to look.

"It's raining outside, didn't I text you saying you didn't have to come..."

He cut himself off abruptly.

As the door opened, Cen Zhi and Bai Sheng were standing slightly behind, and Xiaobai Nuo was standing in front of them at the doorway.

His raincoat had of course been put away, but he was a little wet from the rain; his little curls, usually fluffy and soft, were damp and drooping.

He made eye contact with his grandfather, and his little baby voice rang out: "Grandpa."

Bai Qian—who had originally thought he could stay for two days, slip back unnoticed, avoid being discovered by the little guy, and even be praised as a good grandpa by him—was left speechless.

Bai Qian looked at Cen Zhi in disbelief.

Cen Zhi could clearly see the emotion of "betrayal" on that cold face.

Cen Zhi couldn't help but laugh.

Xiaobai Nuo had already walked to the bedside: "Grandpa, Nono has come to see you."

Even though he already knew the answer, Bai Qian found himself asking anyway.

"How did you know..."

The little guy blinked, paused, glanced at Grandma, then turned around, his face flushed as he covered for her.

He said to Grandpa, very seriously.

"Because Nono knows magic, so he knew right away."