Chapter 149

Chapter 149

The bullet comments were instantly flooded with messages like "Who the hell is raising this little sweet pea?!" and "Why ain't I the dad this little sweet pea's talking about?"

But Xiaobai Nuo couldn't see any of that. He followed Teacher Xiaoxue to get his painting framed, then hugged it close, grabbed his little bag, and carefully tucked the painting inside.

After a while, the other kids were mostly done too.

The ones who weren't done yet also got little frames and leftover paint supplies to take home and finish up.

Canghua Kindergarten already had high tuition fees to begin with. The yearly activity and fall trip fees were already baked into that. Where the fall trip would go and what activities came next basically depended on the budget—and the yearly budget was always pretty generous—enough to cover the kids' activities, the cost of booking out the whole area, and the souvenirs they'd bring home.

Of course, Maple Leaf Mountain Ancient Town was a hot spot in Ang City, so booking out a whole area for an entire day didn't come cheap. That's why they went with a co-promotion deal with the scenic area—it gave the kids a better trip and let them bring back cooler souvenirs.

It was already time to eat. Everyone had washed up.

Little meal trays were laid out, loaded with food, plus dainty soup bowls of mountain radish pork rib soup. Since it was for the kids, the flavor was on the mild side, but the mountain radish's natural sweetness made the rib soup light and tasty.

Next to that were big plates of rice and staples like red bean buns for the kids to pick from.

After a whole morning of playing—strolling through the old town, digging in the dirt, and doing crafts—all the kids' stomachs were growling.

After grabbing their food, the teachers led them to find seats and dig in.

The kindergarten kept track of what each kid disliked or was allergic to, so Xiaobai Nuo's bowl had no green peppers.

Xiaobai Nuo, who loved his food, sat in front of his tray and completely tuned out the world. He was shoveling spoonful after spoonful into his mouth.

Each spoonful had a bit of veggie, a bit of meat, and some broth drizzled on top, then went in as one big bite, ending with him squinting his eyes in pure bliss.

He ate so well that Teacher Xiaoxue had noticed way back during their first group lunch—kids sitting near him would end up eating more too.

It was like watching a mukbang. You'd get hungry just from watching him eat.

And after finishing, the little guy would wipe his mouth, tidy up, and if he ran into the chef, he'd look up all starry-eyed and say the food was amazing.

No sooner had he said that than Teacher Xiaoxue started calling him over.

The half hour after meals was also prime supervision time for the teachers. Basically, they'd rest for half an hour, do something low-key, and then it was nap time.

Kids are naturally hyper—if you don't keep an eye on them, they'll go run around right after eating, which is bad for their tummies.

And at this point, the livestream would go quiet for a bit, not coming back until after the kids woke up from their naps and regrouped in the afternoon.

As the screen went dark and switched to the promo video for Maple Leaf Mountain Ancient Town, the bullet comment crowd still hadn't left. They were chatting about all kinds of stuff—and of course, a lot of them were talking about Xiaobai Nuo.

"This little sweet pea eats so good! I was eating while watching and got totally stuffed."

"Hahaha, did y'all catch that little scene after the sweet pea left? The head chef just stood there after answering, clutching his chest—a big burly dude looking like he was about to start lactating, hahaha, I'm dead."

"I saw it too. The tour guide next to him looked grossed out and told him to knock it off. Then this gruff voice just said 'get lost'—his face changed faster than flipping a page, hahaha."

"There's actually someone out there raising a kid like this. I can't handle it, I'm so jealous. When is a kid like this gonna be mine to raise?"

"Add me to that list."

...

And off-screen, after lunch, Bai Sheng had already split from Xie Yu, who was ready to curse out the entire world. He sat in the car, his fingers unconsciously tapping away on the dark phone screen.

Bai Sheng's lips curled up at the corner.

Show Daddy the fall over there?

Daddy's already seen it, hasn't he.

Li Zhilin glanced at his clearly "over the moon" boss in the rearview mirror.

Li Zhilin looked away without a word.

Thinking about it, it made sense—if it were him, he'd be over the moon too.

Li Zhilin—whose company group chat tag was "Nono's Awesome Uncle Li"—thought exactly that.

Two hours went by.

The kids had woken up from their naps on the beds in the rooms the scenic area had set up. One by one, they sat up, rubbing their eyes and getting dressed, ready to head out soon.

At this point, the little ones were still half-asleep, their voices soft and low—a bunch of tiny voices chattering away, all warm and wholesome.

The teachers stood nearby watching the kids get dressed, only stepping in to correct or help when someone messed up.

Xiaobai Nuo yawned as he sat up. He'd been too excited earlier to fall asleep when he should've, and once he finally dozed off, it wasn't long before it was time to get up.

Xiaobai Nuo rubbed his eyes and started getting dressed slowly.

He was like a device that hadn't booted up yet—totally out of it, big eyes all misty, curly hair a total mess.

Yu Chuyan was already dressed. He stood by Xiaobai Nuo's bed, waving a hand in front of the little guy's face and leaning in to check.

The little cub turned his head, still dazed.

He locked eyes with his Brother Xiao Yan and let out a soft, confused "Hm?"

Yu Chuyan: !

So cute.

Yu Chuyan couldn't help it—he reached out and poked the little guy's cheek.

Xiaobai Nuo was like a little sound toy—poke him and he'd go "mm," poke him again and he'd go "mm" again.

Teacher Xiaoxue, standing nearby, couldn't help but look over and join in on squishing Xiaobai Nuo.

Until the little guy was thoroughly poked awake. After a few seconds of processing, he asked, "What's wrong? Brother, Teacher."

"N-nothing."

Teacher Xiaoxue, who couldn't keep her hands to herself, reluctantly withdrew her hand, barely able to suppress her auntie smile. No matter how many times she saw it, she found him absolutely adorable.

"Get dressed and get up. Teacher will wait for you nearby."

"Okay."

The little cub nodded.

He continued getting dressed. Yu Chuyan had already been staring in awe, his small hands propped on the edge of the bed, watching Xiaobai Nuo finish tidying his clothes before the little one leaned over to meet his gaze.

"Brother?"

They were so close, and his face looked so soft and round.

Yu Chuyan couldn't help but lean in a little closer, nuzzling up against Xiaobai Nuo.

Hmm?

The little one blinked, then smiled and snuggled back.

He knew! Grandma said showing affection meant kissing and rubbing cheeks, and then Grandma would lean in and kiss Nono many, many times.

The Two Little Ones huddled together adorably, Yu Chuyan's small hands gripping the sheets of Xiaobai Nuo's bed, clenching slightly, the Little Cool Guy's ears turning bright red.

In the background, Xie Qing and Xie Yue weren't bickering for once, both craning their necks to watch like they were watching a show.

The scene was too heartwarming. Teacher Xiaoxue chuckled, standing next to Teacher Xingxing.

Because these four kids were the closest, Teacher Xiaoxue and Teacher Xingxing usually stuck together too, and they got along quite well.

Teacher Xiaoxue: "That's just too cute."

Teacher Xingxing: "Yeah, too cute. Let me take them home for a few days."

Teacher Xiaoxue: ?

Teacher Xiaoxue turned to lock eyes with Teacher Xingxing.

A few seconds later, she turned back, as if composing herself, then turned around again with a deadpan expression: "Scram."

"Haha, did you just flip a switch in real time?"

...

After the kids gathered back up, the livestream started up again.

The maple leaves they'd picked earlier had been dried, machine-laminated, and handed back to the little ones—they could make keychains with their favorite charms and the leaf decorations.

That was easy—they could whip up several colorful strings in no time.

The school bus was due in an hour and a half, and the final stop was the kiwifruit-picking garden.

The kiwifruit were ripe now, grown on trellises in the greenhouse. Under the T-shaped trellises hung plump, round, yellow-green kiwifruit—it was peak harvest season, and the air smelled strongly of kiwifruit.

The kids lined up to grab their little red buckets.

The orchard owner beamed at the kids.

"This whole section is pretty much ripe, and we've already taken off the bags. We've also built raised platforms, so the kids can duck under and pick. Teachers can walk along the ridges and pick from there. You won't have much room to move around inside."

Mainly because Canghua Kindergarten had paid well, and the livestream was doing great. The scenic area's management was thrilled to see reservation numbers climbing, so they'd specially set up this area to make sure the kids had a blast picking. But with the raised platforms, adults would feel a bit cramped inside.

Still, the kiwifruit were spaced wide enough that there was no risk of a kid falling and the adults outside not being able to reach them in time.

The fruit in the picking area was medium-soft—not ripe enough to spoil right away, but not ready to eat yet either.

The kids used small plastic scissors that could easily snip the kiwifruit stems.

After picking for a bit, Bai Nuo had already filled a whole little bucket—enough for the whole family to share.

The Four Little Ones were the first to crawl out and locked eyes with the kiwifruit orchard's owner.

The owner was a beta in his fifties. He'd dressed up a bit more than usual for the kids' visit, but his thick finger joints showed he was used to hard field labor.

He'd watched the livestream that morning, and seeing the 'Sweet Pea' from it right in front of him, he broke into a wide grin.

"Hey little one, having fun?"

Xiaobai Nuo had been staring at the kiwifruit in his little bucket, the fruity smell almost making his mouth water. Hearing the voice, he looked up at the grandpa, hesitated, then pointed at himself.

Is he talking to me?

"That's right, I'm talking to you."

The owner said with a smile.

"It's fun!"

The little guy nodded.

"Grandpa, can I eat these right now?"

Because Xiaobai Nuo remembered the kiwifruit slices at home were pretty firm and still sweet.

But there are all kinds of varieties in Z country, and these here clearly needed to soften to get sweeter.

As for right now? Ha, they were sour!

The owner's eyes twinkled, and a mischievous idea hit him.

He smiled and picked one from the vine.

"If you want to eat it, you can—though it won't taste as good as if you waited a few days. Want to try it? As they say, practice makes perfect!"

The owner chuckled, quickly slicing a kiwifruit and placing it on a small wooden board beside him.

He handed it to Yu Chuyan, who was closest to him.

Yu Chuyan looked down at it, then gave the grandpa owner a suspicious look, but after a moment's thought, he took a piece and bit into it. Yu Chuyan paused for a second, then passed the board to Xie Qing next to him.

Xie Qing: ?

Xie Qing studied Yu Chuyan's face, then took a piece and bit into the middle like it was a watermelon slice, and silently handed it to Xie Yue beside him.

Xie Yue reached out and even handed a piece to Xiaobai Nuo.

Yu Chuyan instinctively wanted to say something, but it was too late—Bai Nuo had already popped it into his mouth.

Bai Nuo paused, looked up at the grandpa owner, who was already getting ready to laugh, thought for a few seconds, then handed the kiwifruit back with a serious little face.

Owner: ?

Huh? This one's not sour?

The owner, who'd been fooled by sourness many times, looked at the little one's innocent face and chose to trust him.

Puzzled, the owner took a piece and popped it into his mouth.

The moment it hit his tongue, he watched Xiaobai Nuo lose it—his little face scrunching up like the kiwifruit had punched him, features twisting all over.

But he didn't need to look at anyone else—the intense sourness hit him too. The owner froze for a second, then squinted hard, overwhelmed by the sourness.

Yu Chuyan, Xie Qing, and Xie Yue couldn't hold it in either, bouncing around with their half-eaten fruit in hand.

"So sour, so sour!"

"Ugh!"

"Ptooey! Ptooey!"

The two teachers nearby, once they figured out what was going on, were laughing so hard they could barely stand up straight.

The live chat comments were losing it too.

'Hahaha, I was wondering why they all just froze, hahaha.'

'The big bad guy finally gets taken down by the little bad guys—did these kids seriously hold back the sourness just to get the Principal to eat it?? I can't, hahaha, Sweet Pea is so energetic and mischievous too—what am I supposed to do, he's even cuter now.'

'They almost got caught—when those two little troublemakers were handing it to Sweet Pea, Little Cool Guy tried to stop them but couldn't.'

'Of course he couldn't stop it—Sweet Pea was already drooling while squeezing past them, dying to eat it, and shoved it straight in his mouth the second he got it. Little Cool Guy was probably still stunned by the sourness at that point, right? Hahaha.'

'Hahahaha, serves them right.'

'Ahhh, only half an hour left? I don't want it to end!!'

The day trip really did fly by.

The school bus was already waiting, and the park staff helped load everything up. After a quick goodbye, the Canghua Kindergarten bus pulled out of Maple Leaf Mountain Scenic Area.

The livestream officially ended too—even though it had only been a few hours, some photos and clips had been saved.

The bus pulled up to the school gate a little after the usual dinner time.

They'd handed out snacks to the kids along the way, but since eating dinner there would mean getting back too late, and driving in the dark isn't as safe as in daylight, the kindergarten decided to bring the kids back first. They could snack on the bus to tide them over.

Bai Sheng was already waiting at the school gate.

Xiaobai Nuo had managed to get himself completely dusty and grubby over the course of the day.

The second he got his stuff, he turned, spotted his dad, and—tiny as he was—dragged his little bag stuffed with all kinds of gifts all the way over to him.

"Daddy, Daddy!"

It looked like he was saying: Daddy, I'm back after 'messing around' and picking up trash—the image was way too familiar, especially since the little guy had once said he'd pick up trash to support him.

The dad who usually eyed everyone like a potential kidnapper suddenly felt like he was being kept... and where the heck did you get this much strength all of a sudden? He just shuffled and dragged his way right up to him.

Bai Sheng couldn't help the corner of his mouth twitching into a chuckle. Under the curious looks of the people around him, he reached out and scooped up his kid, who cheered and hugged him tight.

Li Zhilin casually grabbed the bundle Xiaobai Nuo had been dragging.

In the background, Xie Yu was hauling away his two little troublemakers, while Li Zhilin wiped his own kid's face clean.

Xiaobai Nuo buried his little head into his dad's chest, snuggling close.

Not far away, Yu Chen—finally free to come pick up his little brother—watched Yu Chuyan walking all wobbly.

Yu Chen had been in a meeting at the company with their old man all day, so he hadn't caught the livestream, but he'd had someone record the whole thing so he and his grandfather could watch it later.

So Yu Chen had no idea what had happened, and he couldn't help but look down and ask.

"What's up? You're this happy about something."

Yu Chuyan looked up at his brother and said, "Brother, Little Rice Cake pressed his face against mine."

Nono snuggled me, Nono pressed his face against mine—rounding up, that's basically Nono kissing me!

"I got to snuggle with Little Rice Cake too."

Yu Chen, who had been smiling: ...What?

Wait a second!

Yu Chen clamped his hand over his little brother's mouth, instinctively glancing toward Bai Sheng.

What are you saying?

What big thing did you pull off while I wasn't around?!

"Nobody caught that on camera, right?"

Yu Chen had already imagined Bai Sheng flying into a rage, cutting off their cooperation on one end and warning his sponsors on the other... okay, maybe he was overthinking it, but the Bai family's reputation as the big bad wolf from the past was just too deeply ingrained in his mind.

Yu Chuyan, his mouth covered by his brother, blinked, struggled free, and huffed.

"No, it was when we woke up and snuggled."

Okay, okay, that's fine then.

"Can I snuggle with Little Rice Cake normally too?"

Little Cool Guy looked up at his brother, voicing his wish.

"...Let your brother live a few more years." Pretty sure your wish is to get your brother killed.

Yu Chen finally couldn't take it anymore and reached out to pinch his little brother's chubby cheeks.

Meanwhile, at a connecting airport in another country.

Bai Ye had just gotten off the plane not long ago—one more connecting flight and he'd be heading to Z country.

He grabbed a cup of coffee and found a quiet corner of the airport.

He lowered his gaze and looked carefully.

A day had passed, and that livestream had indeed already ended.

Bai Ye hadn't paid attention to it until now, when a notification from a Z-country app popped up with related content. His fingers moved, and he tapped on it.

Inside were photos and clips of various kids.

Since it was a tourism promo livestream, it didn't focus too much on any one kid—mostly group shots, along with various moments of the little ones making fools of themselves.

But it was actually a bit surprising.

Bai Ye felt like he could barely remember anymore.

Yet as he casually scrolled through, he could still spot that familiar little kid at a glance.

He finished watching one clip, then tapped the next—but it hadn't started playing yet.

The watch on his right bionic arm vibrated lightly, pulling up a message.

That research facility always communicated this way—it was a secure channel they'd been secretly building for years.

"Heard you're almost in Z country. Better be careful—pull back right away if anything feels off. As for the test subject, we still need more help from you, Mr. Bai. How many days are you planning to stay? Or can you bring the test subject back quickly? —R"

Bai Ye's face visibly darkened a notch.

"The Bai family isn't as easy to handle as you think. Plan for anywhere from a few months to a year or two. Of course, I need to see some sincerity from you. When I get back, I want to meet K and have him swear to me personally that the Bai family's downfall is guaranteed. —Ye"

"The Bai family will fall as you wish, but as for K? I'll need to check on that. You know things are a bit messy on our end, but we've got time to spare. Wishing you a smooth trip—I've sent you your third uncle's contact info. It might come in handy—your call on whether to use it. —R"

Inside a laboratory abroad.

R tossed the communicator aside with a sneer.

"A cripple..."

"But you've got no choice but to rely on him."

"True enough. I'd better let K know."

R pressed his temples.

"Have those bastards in the Bai family let their guard down yet?"

"The bounty on our organization in the black market has gotten ridiculously high. Even our old partners are joking, asking where we're hiding now. What do you think?"

"Damn it!"

R stood up.

"But can Bai Ye be trusted? And those failures from the Bai family's last generation—you sure they can amount to anything?"

"Of course. You have no idea how much Bai Ye hates the Bai family. Do you know how he left the research lab? Hah, back then his gland wasn't fully destroyed yet. To sabotage the lab, he went out to the Bai family... and caused huge losses. His gland got completely wrecked in the process. The organization decided he was too dangerous and tossed him out to be watched. What do you think—how deep does that hatred run that he's still holding onto it to this day? As for the Bai family's last generation, they've already torn each other apart—you really expecting them to be all buddy-buddy? Don't kid yourself."

R said venomously.

"Hearing that, yeah, fair enough. Well, hope we get what we want."

Back to Bai Ye's side.

After replying to R and reading his message, Bai Ye wiped all the info clean, deleted everything, and went back to his phone.

He happened to tap on a video.

In the video, that little cub was holding up a maple leaf drawing, beaming brightly and saying—he wanted to show it to Daddy.

It felt so warm and happy.

Bai Ye's fingertips unconsciously tapped the screen twice, pausing the video.

His eyes shifted slightly, landing on the word "Daddy" in the subtitles.

He paused for a long moment, let out a cold snort, and closed the page without looking again.

Little waste—having a great time among that bunch of wastes in the Bai family, huh.

Meanwhile, at the Bai family's separate residence. After autumn came, winter would soon follow, and daylight grew shorter—by this hour, it was already dim.

Bai Zhize was rarely this late, coming out of his room after mealtime.

His expression looked grim, with a hint of something dark—clearly lost in thought.

Bai Zhize wasn't watching where he was going and nearly ran into Bai Wan coming up the stairs. Bai Wan had come to check why he hadn't come down to eat, and when he saw him approaching, just stood there.

Bai Zhize, caught off guard, walked straight into Bai Wan. Startled out of his wits, he stumbled back, his lower back hitting the small decorative table in the hallway behind him. The flower vase on the table was about to fall, and he was losing his balance, about to topple over—but in the next second, Bai Zhize reacted fast, catching the vase and steadying himself. He looked up, speaking through gritted teeth, all aristocratic elegance gone, like a man in a flustered rage.

"What? You're trying to pull a 'feint east, strike west' trick on me too?"

Bai Wan, who had no idea why his old man was so worked up today: ...?

That sounded familiar—no, really familiar.

Bai Wan: searching memory... loading...

Bai Zhize, suddenly realizing what he'd just said: !

He started jumping around, furious.

"Stop! Don't you dare read into it!!! I just said it casually!"

It had nothing to do with "Feint East, Strike Nuo" at all!