Chapter 133

Chapter 133

Little Bai Nuo rubbed his eyes hard, then turned his head to look back in the direction where he had just seen the bell pepper.

Sure enough, the bell pepper with the bow tied to it had disappeared.

Little Bai Nuo: ...!

Was it a dream or—

"What's wrong?"

Bai Jin noticed the little one looking a bit nervous, so he couldn't help but turn his head to ask.

He heard the little one squeak and hide behind him, saying, "Uncle, I think a bell pepper turned into a pepper spirit—peppers can fly!"

Bai Jin: What the—?

Bai Jin followed the direction Little Bai Nuo was looking.

It was far away, and that area was quiet now.

But if it was that direction, Bai Jin knew that Bai Wan was currently hiding somewhere over there.

Bai Jin glanced at Little Bai Nuo and mulled it over for a moment, wondering what Bai Wan was up to.

Using his experience with Little Bai Nuo, plus the little one's dislike of bell peppers,

Bai Jin quickly figured it out.

—This guy must have seen that Bai Sheng wasn't home and taken the opportunity to scare the little guy with a pepper!

That was a trick he'd already pulled himself.

With that thought, Bai Jin scooped up Little Bai Nuo in one arm and casually reached for the leopard cat Anu as well.

Anu, who had been sleeping soundly, instinctively blinked open its eyes when moved. Its big, round eyes quickly narrowed into slits when they hit the sunlight. It looked up and suddenly spotted Bai Jin. Startled, it jumped up in one leap, arching its back, puffing up its fur, and flattening its ears, hissing at the alpha.

"Anu?"

Little Bai Nuo leaned over to look.

Anu couldn't help itself—it was about to hiss at Little Bai Nuo too when it leaned over, but halfway through the hiss, it realized who it was, and the hiss abruptly turned into a meow. Then it raised its tail and came over to Little Bai Nuo, rubbing its tail against him, then looked up and hissed at Bai Jin again.

Bai Jin: ...

You really play favorites, huh, cat?

Bai Jin scoffed and pulled up his sleeves, but before he could grab the cat, the nimble Anu hopped back a few steps, then leaped onto the wall in a couple of bounds. It didn't leave, just stood there yowling down at him.

The little cub blinked in confusion for a moment: "Huh? Anu didn't meow like that before."

Of course not—it was a total sweet-talker cat!

Bai Jin looked from the cub to the cat, set the cub down, stepped back a couple of steps, and easily vaulted onto the wall with a running start, coming face-to-face with a startled Anu.

Think you're the only one who can jump walls?

Anu's eyes went wide, and it instantly bristled and jumped down, meowing the whole way as it scurried over to Little Bai Nuo, rubbing against him over and over.

What could a cat do wrong? It doesn't know any better!

So under his uncle's watchful eye, Little Bai Nuo switched sides. He reached out and wrapped his arms around Anu: "Uncle, Uncle, don't pick on Anu."

Anu: "Meow~"

Who's really the bully here?

Bai Jin perched on the wall, chuckling. He let the kid play with the cat and glanced at the attendant nearby.

"Aren't you going to check out the fairy-tale room your great-grandpa made for you? Go with this auntie over there."

"Young Master, this way please."

The servant beside him smiled and spoke.

The old master had plans that afternoon and had left right after lunch. At the Bai family villa, only the uncle-nephew duo Bai Jin and Bai Nuo remained, along with the father-son pair Bai Zhize and Bai Wan.

Bai Jin sat on the wall, staring off toward where Bai Wan was hiding.

It made sense he wasn't following Little Bai Nuo to see the room.

A fairy-tale room—that was clearly kid stuff. Even as a kid, he'd never cared much for that kind of thing.

Besides, even though Bai Jin scared Little Bai Nuo all the time, scaring was one thing, but he wouldn't let anyone else bully the kid.

"Then what are you gonna do, Uncle?"

Little Bai Nuo stood at the base of the wall, looking up at his uncle.

Bai Jin grinned in the sunlight.

"Uncle's gonna catch someone. I'll come find you in a bit."

Little Bai Nuo let out an "mm," still holding Dou Dou while Anu stayed close beside him as they walked. The little cub thought for a few seconds before answering.

He went with the auntie to see the room his great-grandpa had set up for him.

The mechanical lens of Dou Dou, which Little Bai Nuo was holding, rotated a couple of times.

Someone was clearly keeping an eye on Little Bai Nuo through Dou Dou, but it was done so discreetly that the little cub hadn't noticed.

...

Fei City, in a residential apartment complex.

The Bai family's properties spanned the whole country, even the whole world.

Bai Sheng leaned against the balcony door, head down, fiddling with his phone, checking on his little cub.

It should still be Little Bai Nuo's nap time right now. Kids this age usually napped for an hour to an hour and a half, and Little Bai Nuo usually slept a little over an hour.

But he was already up.

Bai Sheng frowned slightly, thinking to himself: if he plays too hard this afternoon, he'll be dozing off before bedtime tonight.

Behind him, Bai Liang stood a short distance away, smiling, casually flipping a few coins in his hand.

The Bai family wasn't in the habit of carrying coins.

Ever since Xiaobai Nuo joined the family, he's gotten into collecting all sorts of metal coins and stuffing them into his little piggy bank. The adults have picked up the habit too, instinctively saving any coins they find and scattering them around the house for the little guy to discover on his own.

"We've basically confirmed the target is operating in this area. He's a beta, and there's no way he smuggled a full gun into Z country, but we can't rule out that he made one himself. Even if he didn't, we still need to watch out for restricted knives. Of course, the good news is he's a beta, but the bad news is he's a tough one, and alpha pheromones won't easily sway or suppress him. We also need to watch for any accomplices."

Bai Liang said with a grin, glancing at Bai Sheng.

"Want to hear what the Federation suggests?"

Even though Bai Sheng had personally overseen everything—from hitting those foreign organizations to investigating the Saviors' people to tracking them down—with Li Zhilin sent over to verify things in person, a move this big naturally needed approval and sign-off from the relevant departments in Z country. Some of their people had even trailed them to Fei City, though they weren't with Bai Sheng's team.

The country gives omegas all kinds of preferential treatment, and likewise, they've got measures to keep strong, hot-headed top alphas in check. Basically, within reason, they let these alphas handle certain cases to blow off steam, which also helps keep society stable and harmonious.

"No need. Tell the Federation to stay out of it."

Bai Sheng said offhandedly, eyes still glued to his phone.

Bai Liang shrugged. "Alright, got it. That works too."

Bai Liang kept smiling, but his eyes dropped to hide the coldness underneath.

The thing was, he was seriously pissed. Everyone in the Bai family was sharp—he wasn't the only one who'd caught on; he was sure Bai Sheng saw it just as clearly.

The guy who'd been laying low and running scared had suddenly started hanging around Fei City instead of trying to get out of the country.

Besides being confident in his cover, there was another possibility—he was still watching Xiaobai Nuo and couldn't bring himself to leave.

No one in the Bai family could stomach that kind of blatant coveting.

Bai Sheng still didn't look up, saying nothing.

Coins clinked sharply as they collided mid-air. Bai Liang flicked his wrist, caught the coins in his palm, and pocketed them. He stepped in closer and saw what was on the screen.

Dou Dou had apparently been put down and was trotting along behind Xiaobai Nuo, who was staring wide-eyed at the dreamy setup of the room around him.

It was called a room, but it was really more like a big open space the old man had split into different zones—a corner for fairy tale books, a forest zone, a castle zone, an ocean zone... Each zone had its own little bed, themed 'scenery,' and toys.

It wasn't fully set up yet—plenty of decorations were left for Xiaobai Nuo to arrange himself. The old man had only put together a rough outline.

But Xiaobai Nuo was already over the moon, even trying to lug Anu onto the branch swing in the forest zone for a bit.

Bai Liang watched alongside Bai Sheng for a while before finally speaking to the guy who'd been staring at the kid for God knows how long.

"Didn't you say you'd video call him every day before you left? So why aren't you calling?"

"I don't look great right now. I'll call him later."

Bai Sheng kept watching, not controlling Dou Dou, just purely checking out what his kid was doing.

Seeing that Xiaobai Nuo seemed to be having a blast even without his dad there, Bai Sheng yawned.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?"

Bai Liang looked over, puzzled.

It can't be that bad, right? You've only been away from Ang City a few days—no reason to be so worked up you can't sleep.

"Just not used to it."

Bai Sheng said casually.

"Not used to what?"

Bai Liang still didn't get it. Which made sense, honestly—he'd only started coming back regularly lately, so he didn't know much about how Bai Sheng and his kid usually were together.

So he had zero defense against Bai Sheng's sudden curveball.

"He's gotta sleep curled up against my chest at night. Now that little sticky candy's gone, I don't even know how to lie down anymore."

Bai Sheng looked up at Bai Liang, saying it offhandedly, gesturing at his chest.

"You know, he's super cute when he's asleep, and he's so tiny. I gotta keep checking on him every now and then so I don't accidentally squish him."

Bai Liang: ...

Not like he wanted to hear any of that.

Bai Sheng straightened up, the screen in his hand still showing the live feed of Xiaobai Nuo.

"If there's no sign of accomplices, take him out ASAP. See what data he's still got on him."

As long as they found one crack, they could pull the thread and keep digging. Even if this organization was super careful, Bai Sheng would wipe them all out—not to mention, he wanted more detailed data to know exactly what this little guy had been through, so he could figure out how to make it right.

"I'm gonna go take a nap. When I wake up, I'll call Nuo Nuo."

Bai Sheng said, heading back inside.

Hearing the word "nap," Bai Liang instinctively glanced at the sky. "...Watch your sleep schedule. Don't go teaching Nuo Nuo bad habits."

Bai Sheng waved a hand dismissively and went inside. It wasn't time to make a move yet.

He planned to rest a bit before video calling Xiaobai Nuo, since he didn't look too great today. If the kid saw him like this, he'd pull that pitiful face again.

It's not like Dad was gonna leave or die...

But whatever, it was the sweet kind of trouble.

Meanwhile, Bai Jin had already made it to the spot, coming face to face with Bai Wan.

In terms of raw physicality and pheromone strength, Bai Wan couldn't match Bai Jin, who'd just turned eighteen.

But overseas was a whole different ballgame—danger was everywhere. Bai Wan, barely past twenty, had brought a ton of foreign gangs to heel, which took real skill and his own bag of tricks. In real combat experience, he was way ahead of Bai Jin, having taken several bullets himself, including some that nearly killed him. So going up against Bai Jin, he wasn't at a disadvantage.

So when Bai Jin reached out to pat his shoulder, Bai Wan had already sidestepped and made his move, his moss-scented pheromones flaring out. The usually mild scent turned sharp in an instant, clashing with the harsh, boozy orange-liquor smell.

Bai Jin sidestepped just as easily, not all that surprised. He just raised an eyebrow, locking eyes with Bai Wan.

The eighteen-year-old had a cocky edge to him, chin up, arms crossed.

The guy across from him was calmer, more composed, his face giving nothing away—just those clear blue eyes fixed on Bai Jin, silently asking what the hell.

He seemed to have no idea why Bai Jin would attack.

Bai Jin let out a scoffing laugh, sizing Bai Wan up: "What are you doing lurking around here? Something up?"

That was their first exchange.

Bai Wan thought for a moment, then answered in fluent foreign language, all business: "I'm analyzing and planning my next move. I don't think my actions are hostile, and my odds of pulling off an attack here are basically zero. You can relax."

“Oh?”

Bai Jin’s tone rose slightly, like he didn’t buy it at all.

And why was this guy talking like a robot?

“Running analysis on what to do next? What are you planning? What’s in your pocket?”

There really were people this nasty—knowing exactly what the kid hated and coming over just to mess with him?

Bai Jin had already made up his mind, standing there without moving, but his pheromones were radiating aggression. He stood with his back to the light, his face in shadow, tilting his head a little and squinting.

Then he watched as Bai Wan pulled out a green pepper tied with a bow, with an almost innocent look on his face.

“Because multiple studies show that soft, warm cats can effectively ease anxiety, I wanted to formally ask Bai Nuo how to get along with that pet leopard cat of his. This is the gift I picked out—the best variety on this farm, and the best-looking one.”

He knew that in China, gift-giving was all about sincerity.

See, his intentions were good, weren’t they... wait?

Bai Jin stared at the premium green pepper, a question mark practically hanging over his head.

What the hell?

You’re telling me that’s a gift for the little guy?

Are you for real?

Have you lost your mind?

What kind of psycho would carefully pick out a green pepper as a gift and tie a bow on it?

Bai Jin stared at the pepper for a long moment, then let out a laugh out of nowhere.

Nice.

Finally, it was his turn to say it.

Bai Wan could feel the aggression in Bai Jin’s pheromones fading, the overly strong, spicy wine scent fading back into something sour and fresh.

Bai Wan ran the analysis—did his gift work?

After all, overseas, he mostly gave people bullets, not gifts. This was a first for him.

The young man holding a green pepper looked pretty straightforward.

Bai Jin had already shoved his hands back into his pockets, tilted his head that way, and slipped back into his usual smile. When he smiled, there was a mischievous glint, his sharp canines just barely showing.

“Your idea... is certainly unique.”

With that, Bai Jin turned and walked toward the house.

“Let’s go then. If you want to get close to Nono, you can’t do it without someone watching.”

Something felt off.

Bai Wan thought as he watched Bai Jin.

It was definitely weird—why did he look so eager?

But since Bai Sheng wasn’t around for once, and Bai Wan had found out from Grandpa early this morning that the little guy was coming, he still followed.

Inside the house, in the big room, little Xiaobai Nuo was busy—darting here and there, back and forth.

He’d play on the indoor hammock swing, then hop into the soft treasure chest bed, then poke his head out.

The servants at the other residence, who rarely got to see Xiaobai Nuo, watched with doting smiles.

After circling around, Xiaobai Nuo rearranged some of the room’s decorations, picked up Dou Dou to take a look, and seeing that Dad still hadn’t moved, grabbed his sketchbook and crayons, lay down on the floor, and started drawing.

The Little Mermaid storybook was still spread open in front of his sketchbook.

Before long, the little one heard noises outside, grabbed his sketchbook, and headed out.

“Little uncle, little uncle!”

He was excited to share this fairy tale world with his uncle.

But as soon as he stepped out, he saw Bai Wan standing next to his uncle.

The tiny little one looked up, blinked for a few seconds, then said, “Cousin, good afternoon.”

He still remembered him and obediently said hello.

Bai Wan’s expression stiffened for a moment. He tried to soften his tone, making sure his Mandarin didn’t sound accented because of his pitch.

“Good afternoon. It’s cloudy today, temperature is moderate, but in three to four hours it’ll be evening and the temperature will drop. Based on visual analysis, your current clothing is a bit thin—you’ll need to add a layer.”

Bai Wan felt the green pepper in his pocket, looking for the right moment to give it to the little dumpling, and also to discuss how to approach Anu.

He glanced at Anu, who was poking his head out from the doorway to observe, feeling his emotions gradually ease. Sure enough, those research papers were right—cats, those fluffy little creatures, really do effectively relieve anxiety.

They made his irritation and tension melt away.

He needed more data to draw conclusions.

Whoa.

Xiaobai Nuo listened to all that, looked up at his cousin, then turned to look at Dou Dou behind him.

He picked Dou Dou up.

“Same! Dou Dou says the same thing. Cousin, are you a human version of Dou Dou?”

Bai Wan: ...?

Bai Jin burst out laughing next to him.

No wonder Bai Wan seemed oddly familiar to him—whether it was his tone or his way of thinking.

Dou Dou in human form.

Haha, brilliant!

Bai Wan hesitated, looking at the round little surveillance device Xiaobai Nuo was holding up. He crouched down, tilting his head.

“It’s the latest model of smart surveillance assistant, ID code xxxxxx. I’ve studied and analyzed its database sources before, and I have different opinions on its user habit evolution plan—”

Seeing Xiaobai Nuo’s “Dou Dou eyes” again, Bai Wan, who had pulled up the little monitor’s info from his memory, slammed on the brakes.

“They should be different.”

He said somewhat stiffly, with a hint of sulkiness.

He seemed unable to quite understand why the little dumpling would compare him to this little monitor.

Nono blinked and quickly spoke up: “I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

Because his young uncle was there, the little one didn’t seem as reserved. He simply slipped over to stand in front of his uncle, pressing his back against his uncle’s leg, cheek squished against the little monitor. The soft flesh of his cheeks was gently squished, making him look adorably small and squishy. He looked up at his cousin uncle, who was still a head taller even crouched down, then nuzzled affectionately against Dou Dou the cat.

“His name is Dou Dou, one of Nono’s most special friends. Nono really likes Dou Dou. Nono just thinks that Uncle is like Dou Dou—knows so much.”

And he always asks Nono if there’s anything else Nono wants to learn.

Bai Wan was clearly startled.

His blue eyes stared at the little one in front of him, blinking rapidly and rhythmically. That rhythmic, habitual blinking gave him an uncanny, almost inhuman quality.

Bai Wan slowly tilted his head, sniffing like a large, curious dog. Although he couldn’t catch any scent from Nono, he could faintly catch the orange wine scent from the alpha before him—relaxed yet tinged with wariness.

But he still felt his emotions oddly settle. So this sense of calm really didn’t come from the kid, did it?

Bai Wan said, sounding unsure.

“Thank you?”

That should be a compliment, right?

That seems like the right way to respond.

Bai Wan thought, then couldn’t help glancing toward the cat Anu, who was peeking from the doorway.

Bai Wan had been trailing Anu for days. He had tried every method, but in the end, could only secretly follow Anu around. But this top-tier alpha cat, Anu, just couldn’t be shaken off. By now, Anu had developed an instinctive reaction to Bai Wan. Without even waiting for him to approach, the cat would stand at the door, arch its back, flatten its ears, hiss, and slap the floor in one fluid motion.

Despite being hissed at by Anu, Bai Wan showed no expression. He thought about how powerful these furry little creatures were at calming people down. Just getting a bit closer had such a noticeable effect. So coming specifically to find this little dumpling was indeed the right decision.

Bai Wan began to reach into his pocket.

He even adjusted the shape of the bow inside, so he could present that beautiful green pepper in the best way possible.

“Based on my observations over the past few days, aside from Grandpa having the natural advantage of being the owner, you’re the one who gets along best with that cat. This is my sincere gift—specially picked this morning. I hope you’ll share your tips for getting along with the cat. In return, I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Feel free to ask me any questions.”

Bai Jin looked down at the little one leaning against him, raising an eyebrow as he watched the scene unfold.

But seriously.

What exactly is this guy’s thought process?

He really does feel like Dou Dou.

And with his skills, plus those blue eyes, he seems like the type who’d be great at wrecking the place.

Nono didn’t quite understand. He turned around to look at Anu.

“Getting along with Anu? It’s just that Nono likes Anu, and Anu likes Nono. Give Anu tasty food, brush its fur, play together with yarn balls…”

Then Nono turned back and saw the premium green pepper Bai Wan had pulled out, along with the particularly pretty bow tied to its stem.

The pepper was thick-fleshed, carrying that distinct peppery aroma. This variety even had a faint hint of sweetness, combining the best traits of all pepper types.

But the little one, who disliked any kind of green pepper, froze for two seconds, his voice cutting off abruptly.

Nono: …

Nono: ……

The little one turned away, closed his eyes, then turned back and opened them. As if confirming something, or as if his heart had completely given up, he slowly turned around.

He pleaded: “Uncle, uncle, uncle…”

His hands full with Dou Dou and his drawing book, the little one tried to leap onto his uncle.

—Ahhh! Uncle, the green pepper from earlier has come to life—I’m not imagining it!