Chapter 145

Chapter 145

The 'little leaky-mouth' had his cheek poked and quickly puffed out his cheeks to swallow the milk candy in his mouth.

Then he turned to look at his grandmother with a serious look, still smelling of strawberry milk candy.

"Nono isn't eating candy right now."

He'd already swallowed it.

Cen Zhi crouched down and tweaked his cheek.

What a clever little guy.

Only then did the little cub cheer up again and head off for his post-dinner fun.

The next morning, Bai Sheng took Bai Nuo to the gathering spot.

At the kindergarten entrance, a car was already waiting.

Xiaobai Nuo was wearing a fake-layered sweatshirt today—beige checkered sleeves, and the dark brown top had a cat on it that looked just like Anu. Bai Sheng had carefully tied the hood's drawstrings so they'd never accidentally choke him, and secured the hood. After making sure it fit just right, he patted his head.

"Go have fun. Daddy'll pick you up tonight."

"Mm."

Xiaobai Nuo nodded eagerly. He'd already taken a few steps toward the teacher, backpack on, but when he looked back and saw his dad hadn't gotten up yet, he suddenly trotted back.

Bai Sheng looked over, confused: "What—"

Before he could finish, the little guy wrapped his arms around his dad's neck and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Nono will bring Daddy back the prettiest maple leaf."

Then he let go, waved goodbye to his dad, and ran off toward his friends.

Assistant Li stood behind Bai Sheng, watching with a blank expression.

His gaze went from Bai Sheng's back to Xiaobai Nuo, who was now holding hands with his little friend.

Li Zhilin: ...

"Boss?"

Aren't you crouching here a bit too long?

And quite a few parents nearby were peeking over, seemingly unable to believe their eyes.

Only when he was called did Bai Sheng snap back to reality, slowly straightening up.

Bai Sheng turned his head slightly, looking at Li Zhilin.

"Is everything set?"

"Yes, everything's set up, both in the open and behind the scenes, to keep the young master as safe as possible and handle any surprises."

"Good."

Bai Sheng nodded. Watching Xiaobai Nuo and Yu Chuyan board the kindergarten bus hand in hand, he paused for a moment, then murmured.

"Do they have to hold hands in kindergarten?"

Li Zhilin: ?

No need to be this nervous, right?

They're only five, after all.

Li Zhilin thought, then couldn't help glancing at the bus again.

One teacher per two kids—the kindergarten quickly finished counting heads.

As the bus started moving, the little guy by the window waved at them.

"Bye, Daddy! Bye, Uncle Li!"

Li Zhilin instinctively raised his hand and waved back.

Then he put his hand down.

Well, he guessed his boss's worry made sense.

Back in the car, Li Zhilin watched Bai Sheng touch the spot where Xiaobai Nuo had kissed him, then pull out his phone and open the livestream for Maple Leaf Mountain Ancient Town.

The stream hadn't started yet, but quite a few people were already posting comments.

Livestreaming a scenic spot was common, but livestreaming a bunch of little kids was not.

So before it even started, comments were already flying in.

'Canghua Kindergarten is one of the bigger private kindergartens in Ang City, right?'

'I heard there are quite a few alpha kids.'

'Oh, then they must be a handful.'

'Can the teachers handle it? Must be stressful, right? I heard they're also going to a fruit-picking garden.'

'I can already picture the chaos, hahaha.'

'Should be fine—doesn't Canghua do an autumn trip every year? It just happens to line up with the scenic spot's promo this year, total coincidence. They've got all the permits and plenty of teachers, so no worries about the kids.'

'Bro, type less—your comment just zoomed past, hahaha.'

'Hurry up and start the stream, let me see the cute kids! A bunch of little munchkins, just thinking about it is adorable. I want to watch while slacking off at work!'

'Then the boss must be loving this.'

Bai Sheng rested his cheek on his hand, staring at the screen.

Meanwhile, Bai Family members scattered across different places all pulled out their phones almost in unison.

Bai Family residence.

After finishing his exercises, the old man sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV to pull up the livestream. It hadn't started yet, but the old man was in no rush.

The screen was showing the promo video for Maple Leaf Mountain Ancient Town. The old man took his time brewing tea and sipped it slowly.

"Did you clear your schedule today just to watch the young master? Want me to get some tea and snacks ready?"

The assistant smiled and asked from the side.

Making time on purpose?

Bai Yan glanced over and cleared his throat.

"It just so happens I'm free today, so I figured I'd check in. After all, there were those incidents last time."

If he didn't keep an eye on things, what if something went wrong again?

…Right?

"You're right."

The assistant answered smoothly and went to get the old man's tea and snacks.

But once he was out the door, the assistant paused.

"Third Master?"

Bai Zhize, fresh from a workout with a towel slung over his shoulder, looked over.

It was already pretty cold for late October, but he was in a short-sleeved tee. He'd just finished working out, and sweat was dripping down his face. His usually gloomy face actually had some color in it now.

Spotting Bai Yan's assistant, Bai Zhize let out a "ha" and raised an eyebrow.

"The old man didn't go out? Didn't he head to the reservoir with his turtle-fishing crew to mess around with corn?"

The assistant's eyebrow twitched.

Aren't you scared of getting your ass kicked for saying that?

The assistant pretended he hadn't heard that and smiled as he said: "The young master's on a fall field trip today, and there's a livestream. The old man's watching it."

Bai Zhize mulled it over, squinting. His expression, which had been flat and a little mocking, suddenly darkened again.

He'd almost forgotten about the damn livestream.

"The old man's actually watching a livestream?"

He muttered under his breath, then couldn't be bothered with the assistant and headed back to his place.

The assistant was used to Bai Zhize's mood swings. He glanced at the old man inside, then at Bai Zhize stalking off.

The assistant let out a sigh.

He had to admit—even if the sky fell, the Bai family's mouths would hold it up.

Bai Zhize headed back to his place, about to shower and grab something to eat. He peeked at breakfast first, and that's when he saw Bai Wan sitting at the table.

Bai Wan sat ramrod straight, his phone on a stand nearby, blue eyes glued to the screen. Then he heard something, looked up, and met Bai Zhize's eyes.

Bai Zhize: ?

"What are you doing?"

Bai Wan paused for a second, then reached out and flipped his phone face-down on the table.

Then he shoved a soup dumpling into his mouth.

Chewing with a blank face.

—Nothing.

Bai Zhize eyed Bai Wan's phone suspiciously. He reached out, flipped it over, and glanced at the screen.

Then he looked back at Bai Wan.

"What is this?"

Bai Wan: "...A livestream."

Bai Wan hesitated, then quickly added.

"Based on my analysis, observing Bai Nuo's every move helps me conduct further assessment."

It might also help me figure out what that weird feeling is when I'm around this kid.

Bai Zhize was about to blow his top when Bai Wan looked up and asked, "Dad, you wanna watch too?"

Bai Zhize: ?

Bai Zhize slowly sat back down.

"A livestream? Not interested."

No way he'd watch that. Never in a million years.

Bai Zhize snorted, tossed the towel aside, and decided to eat before showering.

Ten minutes later, the Maple Mountain Ancient Town guide's voice came through Bai Wan's phone.

—"Hello? Can you hear me? Hey, everyone, this is Maple Mountain Ancient Town. I'm your guide today, Little Zhang. Today we've got a special group of little guests—the kids from Canghua Kindergarten."

The guide was going on about Canghua Kindergarten and Maple Mountain Ancient Town.

But the camera had already swung over to the little kids.

High-pitched little voices came through.

The kids were piling off the bus one by one, little sprouts paired up two by two with a teacher, looking around the meeting spot curiously.

Since this wasn't a show or anything, there were no special requirements for the kids.

Bai Zhize was still eating. His chewing slowed a bit, and he couldn't help glancing over.

He wasn't watching, but he wasn't leaving either.

...

Over here, they'd arrived. Little Bai Nuo and Yu Chuyan hopped off the bus holding hands.

The Xie twins followed behind them, yawning. This time they hadn't fought—who knows what they'd been up to last night, but they'd conked out as soon as they got on the bus and only just woke up when they arrived. They trailed behind Little Bai Nuo and Yu Chuyan, rubbing their eyes.

Teacher Xiaoxue and Teacher Xingxing flanked the four kids, keeping an eye on them and handing out bright yellow little hats.

Little Bai Nuo put his hat on, looked around curiously, and his big eyes lit up. His eyes reflected the distant red maple forest, swaying in the wind, tucked between the ancient town's rooftops and spreading up the low hillsides in layers of color.

Little Bai Nuo had never seen anything like it, and he stood there, a little dazed.

Meanwhile, the live stream comments were gradually picking up.

"Honestly, the scenery is really beautiful, but aren't there any other tourists in this scenic area today?"

"They must've reserved part of the place in advance. After all, it's a private kindergarten, and with so many kids, especially in a mountainous area, being around too many people would be too risky, right?"

"So many little rugrats!"

"Haha, I saw one trying to make a run for it, but the teacher yanked him right back."

"I can already tell—at this age they're cute, but anyone who's dealt with them knows the struggle. My little hellion at home..."

The camera moved in closer on the kids.

The teachers had a lot to set up today, so they got up early, and both looked a bit worn out.

But they'd expected this and pulled thermoses of strong tea out of their backpacks.

Teacher Xiaoxue was watching her two kids, took a sip, and frowned at the bitterness.

She looked up and caught Teacher Xingxing's eye—he was squinting too—and couldn't help but laugh, joking, "When we were kids, we'd copy the adults drinking this strong tea and then couldn't sleep at night. Now it's like, if you can take the bitter, you'll never run out of bitter."

In the adult world, it's all tea or coffee.

But thinking about getting to watch such adorable kids every day, it wasn't so bad. Even if they could be a handful sometimes, they were still little angels.

Teacher Xiaoxue was thinking that when the 'little angel' blinked and looked over, tilting his cute little face, lost in thought.

Xiaobai Nuo was indeed thinking. He heard what the teacher said and didn't get it: why do adults always drink stuff that's so bitter?

But then he dug into his pocket, pulled out some gummy candy, and held it up.

"Teacher Xiaoxue, Teacher Xingxing, don't drink the bitter stuff. Eat some candy instead. Then you'll never run out of candy, right?"

In a little kid's simple logic.

If you can take the bitter, you'll never run out of bitter?

So if Nuo gives the teachers candy, will they never run out of candy from now on?

Having an endless supply of candy is a very happy thing for a little kid.

The live stream crew passing by paused for a second.

The comments about everyone's little terrors at home seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

A few seconds later, a string of question marks appeared.

"Which kid? Can't see him, he's too short!"

"How can you say a little kid is short?"

"Weren't we talking about the little terrors at home?? Where did this little sweet pea come from?"

"I'm with you, where did this little sweet pea come from?!"