Chapter 123

Chapter 123

Bai Sheng reached out to take the cup from Xiaobai Nuo's hands, set it aside, and then looked at the little one lying in his arms, whose mind was completely taken over by the bitter taste.

Uncle Xu Chuan's bad?

Fine, whatever, he could live with that.

Bai Sheng shrugged it off mentally.

As for whether Xu Chuan could accept it, that wasn't his problem.

Bai Sheng unwrapped a piece of candy and lowered his head to pop it into the little guy's mouth.

Xiaobai Nuo pressed his cheek against his father's chest, his soft, pale cheek puffing out a little from the candy. His big eyes blinked, and the candy slid around his mouth as the little lump in his cheek traveled from left to right.

The little guy, whose senses had been wrecked by the bitterness, was trying to reboot his taste buds.

Finally, the bitter taste faded and his sanity came back. Xiaobai Nuo held the candy in his mouth and looked up at his father.

After meeting his dad's eyes, he dropped his head again, looking a little embarrassed.

Then, as if the bitterness had completely drained him, he said in a soft, wobbly voice, "Uncle Xu Chuan, not bad. Daddy, don't tell Uncle Xu Chuan."

Just now, Nono misspoke—the medicine was too bitter. The medicine was the bad one.

Bai Sheng smiled.

"Daddy won't tell him, okay?"

The little guy, candy still in his mouth, perked right back up.

"Mm."

He even reached out his tiny hand and did his best to shove the little cup as far away as he could.

"Daddy, Nono doesn't have to drink it anymore after tomorrow, right?"

"Mm, the treatment's done."

Bai Sheng answered, then caught Aunt Feng's eye as she came to pick up the cup.

Aunt Feng smiled, watching Xiaobai Nuo stubbornly push that little cup as far away from himself as possible.

Once the little guy was satisfied with how far he'd pushed the cup, he looked up and saw Grandma Feng.

Still holding the candy in his mouth, Xiaobai Nuo instinctively pulled his little hands back and burrowed into his dad's arms, feeling shy and embarrassed.

After all, he'd bragged before about how brave and strong he was.

"Actually, actually, Nono isn't that scared of taking medicine."

The little guy, who'd just been twisted into a grimace of pain by the bitter taste, spoke in a tiny voice.

Then Bai Nuo, pressed against his dad's chest, felt Bai Sheng's chest rumble a little.

The little guy looked up and met his dad's calm, unreadable expression.

As if the laugh he'd just heard was all in his head.

Xiaobai Nuo tucked his head back down.

Don't laugh at Nono!

It was early September, the new semester, and kindergarten was starting.

Even though Xiaobai Nuo had tried his best to reassure his dad, Bai Sheng had, of course, prepared for every possibility.

He'd beefed up both visible and undercover security, and for the first few days, Bai Sheng couldn't even focus at work.

He left work early every day to pick up Xiaobai Nuo and take him home.

The weather in Ang City was still hot in September, with no letup even by mid-September. Summer cicadas were buzzing up a storm, and Xiaobai Nuo usually didn't dare get too close to those kinds of trees.

Tomorrow was the idiom contest.

Even though it was a city-wide event in Ang City for kids under elementary school age, it was mostly for fun, with group rounds and individual rounds.

It was held about every two years, and one event could cover all the kindergarten-aged kids. It was also seen as the first step in the Z Federation's talent-scouting pipeline.

Of course, there were also "little geniuses" who sometimes did this contest twice before elementary school—once when they first started kindergarten, and again right before first grade.

Very few actually placed.

After all, even for a kids' idiom contest, the material was pretty extensive. For kindergarteners, being able to look at a picture and talk about it coherently was already pretty impressive.

Of course, Yu Chuyan and the Xie twins had never done it.

When they first started kindergarten, they were at their most curious, eager to explore everything. Without parents hovering over them, they were all hyped about everything, deep in discovery mode. They weren't that into books, and their parents didn't push them, so they were just left to do their thing.

Now that the kids were two years older and had gotten competitive, they'd made plans to read picture books and study idioms together every day—which was adorable.

Tomorrow morning, the parents would bring them straight to the Ang City Education Bureau's activity center for the whole day. Since the kindergarten confirmed the kids didn't need teachers to go with them, they got let out half a day early.

The kids had gone through tons of idiom picture books, and since they'd only just started school together again, the families decided to plant the strawberry seedlings Xiaobai Nuo had mentioned before—a nice way to unwind.

The four kids were each carrying a few seedling trays, heading toward the little greenhouse that had been set up at the Bai family estate, near Bai Sheng's place.

Ang City was up north, where it got cold, so strawberries didn't usually overwinter outside—there were dedicated strawberry farms for that.

The kids all looked pumped, chattering away.

The parents trailed behind, watching.

Bai Sheng stood next to Xie Yu, with Yu Chen off to the side. Yu Chen was crouched on the ground, checking out the strawberry-specific soil and base fertilizer Old Master Bai had sent over.

"Still haven't found the people behind it? You haven't gotten them either?"

Xie Yu glanced at his own kid, then at Xiaobai Nuo, once again wondering how Bai Sheng ended up with such a sweet pea of a kid, before turning to the stone-faced Bai Sheng and asking.

Not that Xie Yu's question was out of line.

It was mainly because Bai Sheng had a temper—rarely did anyone push him this far without consequences.

"They're all overseas. The cops can't get anything out of them. That trafficking ring didn't have a dedicated channel to the other side either, and since the whole thing made a big splash, those people would never show up at the agreed meeting spot now."

Bai Sheng smiled thinly.

Xie Yu listened, caught that smile on Bai Sheng's face, and couldn't help rubbing his arm—it gave him the creeps, seriously sinister.

He genuinely felt like Bai Sheng was about to blow.

And they hadn't even found them yet, right? So why the hell was he smiling like that?

"Well, of course."

Bai Sheng quickly answered Xie Yu's question.

"Anyone who's shown up here leaves traces, plain and simple. The ones who bolted overseas can't be grabbed right now, but the ones who haven't gotten out of the country yet? They're not going anywhere."

Xie Yu shot Bai Sheng a surprised look, about to ask more, when Bai Sheng glanced back at him.

Catching the look in Bai Sheng's eyes, Xie Yu shut his mouth.

No, he wasn't imagining it.

Bai Sheng had genuinely lost it.

Why the hell did those people have to go and mess with Bai Sheng of all people?

After all, as the biggest, most powerful family in the country, Ang City was practically wall-to-wall Bai family properties—total home turf.

And Bai Sheng was the cream of the crop in his generation of the Bai family.

Xie Yu turned to look at Bai Nuo, who was mixing the nutrient soil with a little trowel alongside his brothers.

The kids were "legally" playing in the dirt—his two boys had already gotten mud all over themselves and were planning to make a mud mask for their older/younger brother, copying the sheet mask Shi Lin had been using lately.

It was honestly painful to watch.

Xie Yu's mouth opened and closed a couple of times, but in the end, he just looked at little Bai Nuo.

If he had to picture those people snatching this kid away for a "deal"—

Xie Yu thought again—Bai San, good for you for blowing up.

Bai Liang and Bai Qi showed up right then, walking in one after the other, each radiating obvious disdain for the other.

The two of them had spent the least time at the old estate out of everyone.

But from late August to mid-September, Bai Qi thought Bai Liang had lost his damn mind. Aside from the occasional overtime and handling the fallout from those incidents, he was actually making an effort to get home on time, and on his days off, he'd even spend a whole day just chilling at home.

It was freaking weird.

So weird that Bai Qi couldn't help but swing by more often during her own less busy stretch to see what was going on.

And that's how this whole situation came to be.

Turns out, the two of them fighting on sight was just because they didn't see each other often enough.

During this stretch, they ran into each other a lot. They still couldn't stand each other, but mostly they just ignored one another.

Now they'd stopped by to check on little Bai Nuo after school, before lunch.

Bai Liang smiled and said hi to Xie Yu.

Xie Yu, who didn't really know anyone else in the Bai family, responded on autopilot, then couldn't help glancing at Bai Sheng—guess your family does have a decent heir after all.

Bai Sheng didn't even acknowledge him.

Bai Qi kept quiet, watching the little ones mess around.

Just then, little Bai Nuo looked up and spotted his second uncle and aunt. The "tussle" between the Xie brothers nearby had splashed onto him a little—there was dirt on his face, and he was holding up his little trowel.

The grubby little kid pattered over.

"Second uncle, auntie."

After politely saying hi, the little one looked at his dad.

"Dad, Brother Xiao Yan said we can plant lemon trees too. Should we plant one for Uncle?"

That way, Uncle could have a ton of lemons in the future.

All three Bai family members turned to look.

Bai Liang seemed to pause for a beat, then clapped his hands with a smile: "Ah, that's a great idea."

But Bai Sheng crouched down: "No need for that."

Bai Liang, still smiling, couldn't help but glance at Bai Sheng.

Huh? That doesn't seem right.

What's up with San'er today? Being so nice to the eldest?

Little Bai Nuo blinked in confusion too, looking like a curious little kid going "why?"

Then Bai Sheng went on: "Your uncle already has some planted in his yard."

The little one's face lit up with sudden realization, like that made perfect sense.

Then he grabbed his little trowel and went back to planting strawberries.

Bai Liang: ...

Bai Qi: ...

Bai Qi asked bluntly: "Does Big Brother have lemon trees in his yard?"

She'd never heard anything about that.

Bai Sheng glanced up lazily: "How would I know?"

It's not like he ever went over to Bai Jingyun's place anyway.

Bai Qi: ...

Bai Liang burst out laughing.

Just keep piling it on for the eldest, one layer at a time.

Now this kid had such a fixed impression of Bai Jingyun that Bai Jingyun himself would instinctively pick lemon flavor whenever he had to choose.

In a few more years, he'd really turn into a lemon spirit.

Though he was already pretty lemony as it was.

Xie Yu, who hadn't managed to jump into the conversation, looked at the Bai family. He hadn't fully followed, but he could tell it wasn't anything warm or pleasant. He mulled it over and couldn't help glancing at Yu Chen again.

Yu Chen approached his studies with rigorous seriousness.

He took photos of and cataloged all kinds of nutrient soil and fertilizer, then looked up and met Xie Yu's gaze.

"Uncle Xie, do you think strawberries are easy to grow?"

Xie Yu: ... "Not easy."

He'd forgotten this was the guy who killed whatever he planted, focused on growing flowers, plants, and vegetables. That explained it—he was usually so busy, yet the second strawberries were mentioned, he showed up, and once he arrived, he couldn't wait to start researching soil and fertilizer.

So there's not a single normal person around here, huh?

Don't even think about it. You'll kill them.

Yu Chen sighed in disappointment, then stubbornly looked up again after a moment: "What if I just keep it alive, and it doesn't bear fruit?"

Like growing flowers that never bloom and then stubbornly claiming you're just into houseplants?

Xie Yu: ... "You can give it a try."

"Then I'll try when I get back."

Satisfied with the answer, Yu Chen stood up, confident he'd gotten the Bai family's secret strawberry-growing formula.

But as he stood, he swayed slightly, and Xie Yu steadied him.

Xie Yu raised an eyebrow.

"What? Too busy lately, even more run-down than your Uncle Xie?"

"I've been doing okay recently, not too busy. You've helped me a lot too, Uncle Xie. Probably just a touch of low blood sugar."

Yu Chen said casually, glancing toward Yu Chuyan.

His younger brother, after hearing that Xiaobai Nuo had almost been taken away, had practically run to the Bai family and latched onto Little Rice Cake.

Of course, he'd also been training harder lately.

Yu Chen didn't know whether his brother's intense enthusiasm was good or bad—mainly because he still felt a bit intimidated facing Bai Sheng.

"So your old man's out of the hospital?"

"Yeah, he's doing pretty well, though Yu Chuang caused a few incidents."

But bringing that up made Yu Chen want to laugh.

"The Zhang family has been in chaos lately, and news of an illegitimate daughter came out. All their industrial investments went south, and they had no choice but to sell off their stake in the Yu family's company. I came out way ahead."

Yu Chen said, glancing at Bai Sheng, who was still lounging over there.

He really owed the Bai family big time.

Yu Chen thought, and reflecting on the recent chaos, he felt a lot more at ease.

Sure enough, it wasn't that the rosy images in his memory had faded too fast—it was that they might have been laced with lies all along.

Meanwhile, the Four Little Ones had already planted the strawberry seedlings in small flower pots. They set the pots down, had the gardener help label the dates, and planned to harvest them at the end of the year.

Xiaobai Nuo was standing beside Yu Chuyan, telling him about them.

"Great-grandpa said this variety is super sweet, this one is a bit tart, and this one—this one will be very fragrant, but we won't know if they're tasty until they're fully grown."

Little Cool Guy held Xiaobai Nuo's hand, nodding seriously, taking it all in.

Two of the little ones were covered in dust—and the other two? They were filthy.

Xie Qing and Xie Yue next to them already had faces full of mud.

The gardener, seeing them about to smear nutrient soil on each other's faces, was startled and quickly brought them some clean red clay.

They didn't even look like kids anymore.

And Xie Yue, hearing the conversation between the two little ones nearby, thought for a moment, then suddenly flopped down and slapped his hands on the ground in a kowtow.

This startled Xie Qing, who had been focused on smearing mud on his younger brother's face. He looked down at Xie Yue in confusion: "What are you doing?"

Xiaobai Nuo also looked over with a blank look.

Yu Chuyan?

He was looking at the strawberries he and Xiaobai Nuo had planted, not paying attention to Xie Yue.

"Grandpa said that bowing to the fruit makes it sweeter."

Xie Yue said without lifting his head, speaking seriously.

So!

"Strawberry, get sweeter!"

Xie Qing: ...

Xie Yu in the distance: ...

No, that was just the old man messing with you kids!

Xie Qing hauled Xie Yue up and shoved him aside.

Xie Yu then looked at Xie Qing. Okay, at least the oldest seemed somewhat normal.

Xie Qing: "That won't work. Grandpa said you have to be sincere, you have to do it like me."

He flopped down too, slapping his little hands down loudly, about to kowtow to the strawberry.

Xie Yu: ...

Xie Yu felt everyone's eyes on him, like needles in his back!

There's seriously nothing wrong with how I'm raising my kids...

Dad! What have you been teaching them?!

Xie Yu, who had kept his cool through all the mud, stepped forward, scooped up both kids with one hand each, and with a dry laugh, shook the mud off them as he walked away.

"Ha, ha, the strawberries are all planted, so we won't bother you anymore... Dinner? No, no, we can't stay for dinner. I still have to take them to their grandparents' place. See you at the get-together tomorrow."

Seeing this, Yu Chen also stepped forward to pull back his brother, who was clearly itching to try it too.

He really does look like the kind of guy who'd bow down just to make the strawberries he planted with Little Rice Cake come out a little sweeter.

The little guys agreed to meet up again before tomorrow's idiom competition. After seeing the older brothers off, it was just about dinner time.

Bai Sheng checked the time and figured it was about time to get Xiaobai Nuo cleaned up and then have dinner.

Meanwhile, by the roadside, the dusty little grubby bundle came running back after watching the car carrying the older brothers drive off into the distance.

"Daddy, Daddy!"

The little cub immediately latched onto Bai Sheng's leg and looked up at him.

"What's wrong?"

Bai Sheng bent down and scooped the little guy up.

"Plant strawberries."

The little cub, still covered in dust, said to his dad.

"Didn't you already plant them?"

Bai Sheng asked reflexively.

Didn't he already finish planting them with his little buddy, and they were just waiting to harvest them after the new year?

Xiaobai Nuo blinked and shook his head like it was obvious.

"Nope, not yet. Haven't planted them with Daddy yet."

The little cub wrapped his arms around his dad's neck and smiled: "I promised I'd plant them with Daddy. Nuo Nuo saved some."

No matter who else this little cub forgot, he'd never forget Bai Sheng.

Bai Sheng paused mid-step, then turned around and carried the cub back to the strawberry shed.

Sure enough, some of the plug seedlings Xiaobai Nuo had been holding earlier were still left unplanted.

The tension that had been hanging in Bai Sheng's eyes softened for a moment.

Bai Sheng looked down and met his cub's gaze.

The little cub smiled soft and sweet, baby fat still intact, his chubby cheeks looking like they'd be fun to pinch.

And honestly, they did feel nice to pinch.

So Bai Sheng couldn't wrap his head around it.

—Faced with something so soft and gentle, what were those people thinking to make him sad, make him cry, make him hurt?

Every time he thought about it,

Bai Sheng's anger came roaring up like boiling water.

Hide? A game of 'hide-and-seek' across the whole of Z country—he didn't actually think he was hiding that well, did he?

Bai Liang and Bai Qi followed him in as well.

But they turned down Xiaobai Nuo's invitation to plant strawberries, not wanting to intrude too much on the father-son bonding time between Bai Sheng and his cub.

Mainly, they weren't like Bai Jin, that guy who loved stirring up trouble and courting death. They weren't dense enough to miss Bai Sheng's current volatile mood.

All the gentleness was clearly reserved for his cub. If anyone else accidentally stepped on a landmine, something bad would probably go down.

Bai Liang adjusted his glasses and thought it over seriously.

He really didn't want to get 'disciplined' by his younger brother in the activity room.

Bai Liang thought for a second, glanced down at his phone, then looked back at Bai Sheng.

"Cen Liu will be here in a bit."

Hearing the name of the 'human trafficker,' Bai Sheng instinctively glanced up, then dropped his gaze.

His hands were stained with dirt too. After writing out the date tag, he looked at the cub's face, then reached out and smudged Xiaobai Nuo's cheek.

Dirtying his own cub a bit more, trying to ward off the 'human trafficker.'

Xiaobai Nuo now had two streaks of dust on his face and tilted his head in confusion.

Then he pulled his little handkerchief out of his pocket and looked up at his dad.

The cub, now even dirtier thanks to his dad, had bright, sparkling eyes and said to his dad.

"Daddy, wipe your hands."

Bai Sheng paused for a moment, but soon enough, the king of self-worth held out his hand and enjoyed his cub's 'service' without a shred of guilt.

Bai Qi: ...

Bai Liang: ...

Do you have even an ounce of conscience?

Clearly, Bai Sheng didn't.

After wiping his dad's hands and then his own, the cub turned to check out the row of strawberry seedlings.

And he was still super happy.

"Daddy, Nuo Nuo's gonna have tons and tons of sweet strawberries."

Now Nuo Nuo has a home here, his own room, picture books, toys, little fish, Anu, sweet strawberries... and a family.

Wishes he didn't even dare to make were coming true one after another.

Xiaobai Nuo squatted on the ground, propping his face up with his hands, squeezing out a little bit of soft cheek, waiting for the gardener uncle to water the seedlings for the first time. He said softly, "This is really nice."

His voice was so soft, so full of happiness. Bai Sheng's eyes flickered, he lowered his gaze, and swallowed back what he wanted to say.

Then Bai Sheng pulled over the tag and took a look, using his equally sharp memory to recall this strawberry variety.

"Didn't you say there were sweet-and-sour ones?"

Hmm?

Xiaobai Nuo looked over.

The little cub mulled it over for a few seconds.

The little one suddenly flopped down under the gaze of his father, second uncle, and aunt, his little head dropping too, two small hands reaching forward, in a milky, soft voice.

"It's okay, Nono bye-bye."

Big brother just said that saying bye-bye makes it sweet.

He was utterly sincere.

"Strawberry, turn sweet!"

Then the little guy thought it over.

"Daddy, is Nono doing a full kowtow?"

Not quite.

The clueless little one had already squished into a little Nuo pancake.

Bai Sheng: ...

Bai Liang: ...

Bai Qi: ...

Don't imitate everything!!

Bai Sheng scooped up his little one, patting his dusty, grubby little bundle.

Bai Liang made a very soft clicking sound over there.

Bai Qi automatically glanced over.

Then she watched Bai Liang set that little Nuo pancake as his phone's wallpaper.

Bai Qi: ...

Bai Qi was deeply shaken. She took two steps back, her eyes darting as she stared at Bai Liang.

As if sensing Bai Qi's stare, Bai Liang put away his phone and met her eyes.

"What's the big deal?"

He even sounded a bit amused and resigned.

"Is there a single normal person in the Bai family?"

You're not normal either, so quit staring.

Bai Qi let out a cold laugh, slowly and deliberately fixing her hair, chin lifted, with a sarcastic edge.

"Don't lump me in with you just because you're not normal."

Bai Qi thought she was perfectly normal.

Her relationship with this little one was a perfectly normal aunt-and-nephew deal, her gifts won on both quantity and quality, her care was spot-on—by any standard, she was a qualified aunt, clearly Bai Liang was the only weird one.

Of course, this impression wasn't entirely unrelated to Bai Qi always finding Bai Liang insufferable.

"I'm heading home first."

Bai Qi felt she couldn't stick around any longer—Bai Liang had finally fried his brain with his experiments, and she needed to get out and get back among normal people.

And what was Bai Liang even on about?

Of course there were still plenty of normal people here.

Just as Bai Qi was thinking this, she saw a figure come flying in through the doorway.

"Nono Nono Nono Nono Nono Nono Nono!!! Your cousin's here! Did you miss your cousin tons?! Cousin's been so busy lately, so many annoying people out there, I need Little Nuo Nuo to heal me, quick quick quick, let cousin hug you, or a kiss works too! Cousin's not picky!"

Bai Qi watched Cen Liu sprint past her with a 'fierce expression'.

Bai Qi: ...

There are still normal people in this world... aren't there?