Chapter 150

Chapter 150

Bai Wan hesitated for a moment before finally giving an answer: "...Okay?"

It didn't really matter anyway—his little dad had died when he was young, and he'd long gotten used to his old man's weirdness.

Bai Wan always respected his dad without understanding him, but he never said anything about it.

Because if he said anything, Bai Zhize might throw a fit.

But he figured,

Oh, so it was about that little kid.

But that didn't matter—what mattered was that it was time to eat, so why weren't they heading downstairs?

Bai Zhize, who'd been gearing up to give a whole lecture on how "feint to the east, attack to the west" had nothing to do with livestreaming: ...?

That's it? Just an "okay"?

Bai Zhize held back for a second, then couldn't help himself—he even tried agreeing with what Bai Wan had said earlier to get the conversation going.

"You're right. It's a virus."

Bai Wan, whose brain had already moved on: ?

Even though his mind was stuck on why dinner still wasn't ready, Bai Wan still answered on instinct.

"The viral strains going around in country Z right now fall into a few main types—which one did you wanna talk about? Or are you coming down with something? Lately, the flu virus..."

Bai Zhize went quiet for a couple seconds.

"Enough! I've got nothing to say to you. I'm going to my room—don't follow me!"

"...?" Why was he mad again?

Bai Wan looked at his dad, who was all riled up, dug through his limited memories, and tried to recall how his little dad used to deal with him.

Wasn't it mostly the silent treatment? Dad would sulk for a bit, then come bouncing back to throw another fit?

But the silent treatment didn't seem to be working right now.

It was time to eat—he needed to fix the root of the problem.

So Bai Wan thought about it seriously and asked, "Dad, did you catch a cold? And the fever's making you loopy?"

Otherwise, why would he head back to his room at dinnertime?

Bai Wan's blue eyes were full of plain, honest confusion.

Bai Zhize: ...

Only then did Bai Zhize snap out of it and quickly change direction.

"Don't say anything for now—let's go eat!"

Anyway, even if he couldn't help taking a curious peek at stuff about that little kid, that was all it was.

What happened to that little kid afterward, what his deal was—basically, it had nothing to do with them.

"Okay."

...

A few more days went by.

It was already early November, and the weather had gotten noticeably colder.

Ang City was never big on seasonal transitions—the heat would just suddenly turn to cold, catching everyone off guard.

The trees along the streets started shedding leaves like crazy. Orange-red sycamore leaves covered the roads, leading to another street lined with pale golden ginkgo trees. It hadn't rained in days, and the air was dry. The leaves on the ground crunched and rustled underfoot.

A little kid who'd never seen anything like this was super curious. Bai Nuo's new favorite thing lately was stomping through the piles of leaves along the streets—it felt like a massage for his brain.

Because of that, Bai Sheng had been picking him up from kindergarten and walking him along the roadside for a while now.

His backpack was already in the car. Little Bai Nuo was too short, so Bai Sheng had to grab his hood to keep him walking straight while also holding his hand.

It was obvious he'd gotten way more lively. When Bai Nuo spotted a pile of leaves, his eyes lit up. He cheered, turned back to tell his dad to hurry, then pattered over and jumped right in, sending leaves flying with a loud rustle. The dry, brittle bits carried a weird dusty smell.

Happy, the little guy looked up at his dad and smiled, eyes crinkling.

"Don't run so fast."

Bai Sheng held his hood, looking down at him.

"Mm-hmm, Daddy, Daddy—Teacher Xiaoxue said that in a few days, the kindergarten's gonna give us snacks to hand out to grown-ups on the street. We're supposed to ask them to write a blessing for the new year in our little notebooks. Later, everything's gonna be put together and shown on the big screen outside. Nono wants to get a really pretty notebook ready."

The swept-up leaf piles were behind them now. Bai Nuo walked along the road, stepping on stray dry leaves here and there, waving his little hand as he talked to Bai Sheng.

Bai Sheng knew about that.

It was the kindergarten's community service activity.

It was meant to build the kids' character and help them express themselves more confidently and naturally in the future.

Of course, he'd also made his own arrangements for it.

Bai Sheng didn't think that just because there was no visible movement at home, he could let his guard down.

But it was getting really annoying.

Bai Sheng narrowed his eyes, thinking.

He really needed to take care of that organization as soon as possible.

He had to find a way—at the very least, get it done before Bai Nuo started elementary school.

By then, the little guy would be a bit older. For a normal kid—ABO or not—that was the age when they started wanting independence and their own identity. If he was watched too closely, the kid would probably throw tantrums.

Running away from home wasn't rare either.

After all, you couldn't underestimate these kids—especially alpha cubs, who often started physical training pretty young.

Every now and then, the news would show some rebellious little alpha cub who refused to listen, climbing out of their apartment from a few floors up, only to get taken to the police station by a passerby.

Although Bai Sheng didn't think his own kid was the rebellious type, he still felt it was better to avoid what could be avoided—by the time the kid reached elementary school, he couldn't keep up this kind of overly 'watchful' supervision.

He answered absently, when he suddenly felt something and looked back.

Behind him was the usual crowd—parents picking up their kids, a kid throwing a tantrum on the ground because their parent wouldn't buy them something, and another kid shrieking as they dove into a leaf pile, making their parent stomp off in frustration.

All in all, business as usual.

That's what Bai Sheng thought as he held his kid's hat.

Finally, Bai Sheng turned back around.

He saw little Bai Nuo sniffing the air over and over.

"What's up?"

"Daddy, Nono smells roasted sweet potatoes! And corn too!"

His eyes lit up.

"Can Nono have some roasted sweet potato and roasted corn? And we can get extra for Grandma and everyone! Oh, and the kiwis Nono brought back are soft now—Nono wants to give them to Great-Grandpa. Do you think Great-Grandpa would eat roasted sweet potato?"

The little kid was, as always, obsessed with food.

Lately, he'd been obsessed with the roasted sweet potatoes that had just come into season.

Especially the kind that sizzled with oil on the outside and, when torn open, had a sweet, gooey center—those were his absolute favorite.

Roasted corn was a second choice—he didn't love it as much as the sweet potatoes.

"Okay, but don't eat too much—we're heading home for dinner soon."

Bai Sheng ultimately didn't dwell on that brief, strange feeling behind him, and led Bai Nuo toward the roasted sweet potato stand.

After the father and son disappeared around the corner, about ten minutes later, a figure slowly stepped out from another corner.

Bai Ye's outfit today was a bit more low-key.

With the temperature dropping and the flu going around, more people were wearing masks anyway. He wore a black jacket, a mask, and the hood pulled up—he looked like a regular office worker.

Bai Ye's dark eyes quietly watched the direction Bai Sheng had taken Bai Nuo, but he only looked for a few seconds before turning and walking back.

Bai Ye had been in Z country for a few days already.

But Bai Sheng was watching too closely—he hadn't even gotten a chance to see his face.

Now he's being careful?

Bai Ye narrowed his eyes, sneering.

Actually, he'd probably already gotten a look at him now. He'd go back, sort through all that messy intel for the research institute, meet with those useless people there, and the one behind the institute—the bastard trying to use top-tier genes to make drugs that could change the world.

They deserved to die.

They should've died a long time ago.

Given the pain they'd put him through, dying ten thousand times wouldn't be enough.

Bai Ye walked on quietly, leaves crunching beneath his feet.

He stared ahead—yeah, it should've been like this all along.

Let that little waste have it easy.

Just grow up quietly in the trash heap.

That little waste didn't need to worry about anything—just grow up a little useless, a little dumb.

The Saviors...

Bai Ye thought about that name.

He suddenly stopped, let out a cold laugh, crouched down, and picked up a leaf with his gloved prosthetic hand.

He smoothly raised the prosthetic, moving it just like a real hand.

He looked at the dark orange-red plane tree leaf, holding it gently, the glove making a faint rustling sound against it.

—Only Z country planted these trees in such large numbers along the streets, piled them into heaps, and had people stomping through them as winter approached.

Everywhere smelled of leaves and dust, and the vendor calls grated on his ears.

Z country, just as annoying as ever.

This was a truly terrible world.

And he was a truly terrible adult.

Bai Ye kept walking with the leaf, and finally, he lowered his head, not caring about the dust, and pressed the leaf to his lips.

So the point of a terrible adult's existence was to drag those people down to hell with him.

As for his third uncle?

Bai Ye had no idea what was going on with Bai Zhize.

He'd never been able to figure out Bai Zhize. Bai Zhize had been close to his father for a while, but then they'd had a falling out. After that fallout—after the accident that destroyed his arm and damaged his gland—he hadn't spoken to Bai Zhize or Bai Wan since.

Were they on his side?

No, Bai Ye wasn't sure.

The only thing Bai Ye was sure of was—he could only rely on himself.

This was near the kindergarten, and he could hear adults and kids talking about the social practice plans.

Two weeks from now, late November, huh?

Bai Ye put the leaf in his pocket.

His face blank, he thought.

Did that count as seeing him?

Yes or no?

Then let that date be the cutoff.

In two weeks, he'd leave Z country again.

This year, next year?

He wasn't sure either.

In any case—

Just die already.

Damn the Saviors.

Bai Nuo finished his sweet potato and corn, and as expected, ate much less at dinner.

The little one had already handed out the gifts he'd brought back from the autumn trip to the whole family.

At this point, all that was left were the kiwis that needed to be set aside to ripen together.

He hadn't brought back that many kiwis, after all—being so small, he couldn't carry much.

But giving one to each person was still possible.

Outside, the sky had already darkened, and the streetlights in the old Bai family estate were already glowing. With the little one now needing to head home after dinner, the estate had recently been renovated, making the already bright lighting even brighter.

Ginkgo trees lined the roads on both sides in the estate. In past years, the fallen leaves were always swept clean. But this year, probably because of little Bai Nuo's presence and his recent love of stomping on leaf piles, quite a few leaves were left along the roads. Anyway, the dry weather meant they wouldn't rot, and they could be cleaned up either before or after the next rain or snow.

Little Bai Nuo still had to go to great-grandpa's place later. He carried his little bucket of kiwis, passing them out one by one to the Bai family members.

Cen Liu had one reserved too, though it would have to be given to him tomorrow.

The little one looked at the few that were left in the bucket and decided to bring them along to great-grandpa's house later.

The little one had just finished dinner and couldn't run around just yet. Bai Sheng watched the time, planning to wait until he had rested a bit before taking him over to great-grandpa's place.

Another argument started up outside.

Little Bai Nuo stuck his head out to look.

It was Bai Liang and Bai Qi, who could never see eye to eye.

Whenever the two of them came together, it was like some strange chemical reaction; they always had to be at each other's throats.

Little Bai Nuo didn't quite understand. He only remembered Grandma saying that Auntie and Second Uncle used to get along well when they were young. But later, Second Uncle stopped talking to everyone, and Grandma had to deal with his cold attitude too.

Cen Zhi said this with a somewhat wistful smile, reaching out to pat Bai Nuo's head as he listened to the story.

—Grandma didn't know how to explain it either.

—Because Grandma had also lost a very important older brother, and had never stopped grieving.

Cen Zhi's expression was slightly dazed, as if she'd pondered this a thousand times. If she'd handled things more maturely and rationally back then, would these two kids in the family not have ended up like this?

Cen Zhi really didn't know.

Because she was still young back then—in the prime of her life, focused on her career.

She'd never seen any chance for them to make up, and even she hadn't known how to talk to Bai Qian before.

Until this little one came along.

At least Bai Qian had changed in some wonderful ways, hadn't he?

Cen Zhi had smiled and patted the little one's head at the time.

…

At that moment, little Bai Nuo poked his head out and watched Second Uncle and Auntie argue. Finally, Auntie turned and left, and Second Uncle fell silent, still standing there with a smile but not looking in that direction.

Bai Qi's expression shifted awkwardly for a moment as she passed little Bai Nuo.

She crouched down, trying to sound gentler.

"What's wrong? Did that startle you?"

The little guy shook his head.

"Nono, it's time to go. You can head to the door—the car is about to arrive."

Cen Zhi called out from inside.

Little Bai Nuo turned to look inside, made a little "mm" sound, and then simply followed behind Auntie toward the door, still carrying his little bucket.

There were still a few kiwis and little maple leaf trinkets in the bucket.

"Is Auntie feeling sad?"

From Bai Qi's perspective, the little fluffy kid looked up and asked.

Bai Qi hesitated.

Sad?

No, she didn't feel that emotion.

"No, no, Auntie's not sad."

Her face stayed cold as always, her long hair tied high at the back of her head, swaying with her movements, looking clean and sharp.

The little one followed Auntie to the door.

He didn't say anything, with only the sound of Dou Dou's wheelchair wheels rolling behind him.

They walked outside, where it was very bright, so Bai Nuo wasn't worried about Auntie being in the dark.

But the little one thought for a moment before speaking up.

"Nono learned how to make little lamps."

"Huh?"

Bai Qi was about to say goodbye to the little one when she heard this and turned to look at him again.

"But they're not very good yet."

The little one's eyes crinkled into a smile.

"Auntie, just wait a bit longer for Nono, okay? Nono will definitely make a really pretty one for Auntie later."

It was like little flowers were blooming all around him.

And she said happily, "Auntie, this world is so much fun. When you connect one thing and another, it lights up, and there are all sorts of wonderful things."

So it turns out that when people aren't busy just surviving, they can actually create such an amazing world.

Bai Qi: ...

"Yeah, you're right."

Xiaobai Nuo studied his auntie's expression.

Finally, he stood on his tiptoes to tug on her finger.

"Auntie, auntie, come with Nuo Nuo."

"Where are we going? Aren't you supposed to be going to great-grandpa's house?"

"Mm-hmm, but it's just right here."

The little cub nodded eagerly as he spoke.

The little munchkin pulled Bai Qi over to the side of the road, into a pile of golden ginkgo leaves, and the tiny cub hopped right in.

Bai Qi: ?

"Auntie, auntie, come on."

He even waved Bai Qi over.

"The leaves this season are so fun to stomp on. Whenever you step on them, everything just flies away—your head goes blank, and all you see is the leaves."

Bai Qi knew the little guy had been really into stomping leaves lately. She froze for a moment, opened her mouth, and finally managed to say.

"...Auntie's not a little kid anymore."

"Huh?"

The little cub looked confused.

"But who said only kids can stomp leaves and adults can't, right?"

Nuo Nuo didn't get it.

Why do adults have to trap themselves with all these rules?

"If auntie keeps telling herself she's an adult and can't do this or that, isn't that exhausting?"

He said in his little kid voice, nodding along.

"Auntie must be really tired."

Bai Qi: ...

She shot back instinctively, "Auntie is not."

Xiaobai Nuo blinked up at his auntie.

Over there, Bai Sheng had already stepped out and was calling for him.

The cub looked at his dad, then at his auntie, tilting his little head up.

"Okay, auntie's not tired. And stomping leaves being fun—Nuo Nuo only told auntie that. Nuo Nuo's going to go see great-grandpa now."

"...Okay."

Bai Qi answered, watching Bai Nuo grab his little bucket and run to his dad.

Behind him, Dou Dou was still stuck in the leaf pile, yelling "save me," until Xiaobai Nuo turned back, scooped him up, and ran away.

Bai Sheng didn't even look their way.

Bai Qi thought.

Well, of course.

Now that he's living so comfortably and his temper's improved, he naturally doesn't care about anyone else.

Bai Qi looked away too and walked along the road toward her place.

When the surroundings went completely quiet—so quiet it was a little creepy—Bai Qi paused.

She turned her head and looked at the leaf pile next to her.

A moment later, the soft crunch of dry leaves being stepped on drifted faintly down the path.

"What's this... how is this supposed to be relaxing?"

Bai Qi murmured under her breath, squinting and letting out a soft chuckle.

At the Bai family villa, the paths were also brightly lit.

Anu had already eaten his fill and gone back to his cat room to run around like crazy.

After Xiaobai Nuo gave the kiwis to great-grandpa, he went to the fairy-tale room for a while.

It was past seven now, and the sky outside had long gone completely dark, but tonight the stars hung low, looking especially beautiful.

The old man was in a rare good mood and read a fairy-tale book with Xiaobai Nuo for a bit.

Bai Sheng sat down behind Xiaobai Nuo.

He watched every move the cub made, occasionally glancing at his phone, looking a bit lazy.

For Bai Sheng, aside from that organization overseas, life had become too peaceful—something the him of the past couldn't even imagine.

Of course, it was the same for the old man too.

"Didn't you already give me a maple leaf ornament last time? Why did you bring more?"

The old man let out a subtle cough, looking at Xiaobai Nuo with a hint of reserve.

What, did he realize great-grandpa is extra special now?

And there were several kiwis as well.

Bai Yan remembered that after the autumn outing, Xiaobai Nuo had said basically everyone could get one each.

The little cub was just contentedly closing the fairy-tale book when he heard this, looked over, and blinked as he thought for a moment.

"These are the extras. Nuo Nuo thought I could give them to Third Great-Uncle and to Uncle."

He wiggled his sock-clad little feet, his eyes crinkling into a smile.

The old man almost lost his cool for a second.

He could get giving some to Bai Wan, but to Bai Zhize, that little punk?

Forget handing them over nice and easy—call him here, hold 'em in our hands, and smack 'em right in his face.

The old man thought, remembering how that father-son duo had cleaned out his garden of green peppers, tomatoes, and all sorts of vegetables.

What a pain. A real pain.

That tomato variety of his only grew one fruit per plant! And that little bastard still went and wrecked them.

But he couldn't say any of that in front of little Bai Nuo. Bai Yan looked up, glanced at Bai Sheng, saw he had no reaction to the kid's decision, and let out a sigh—man, they spoil that kid too much, don't they?

But Bai Yan picked up his phone anyway and said.

"Great-grandpa will have your uncle come grab them."

As for Bai Zhize, forget it—let him keep brooding in his room. Speaking of which, that guy's actually put on some weight since he got back to the country.

About ten minutes or so later.

Bai Wan was supposed to come alone, but in the end, both father and son showed up at the old man's place.

Bai Zhize, as usual, had his brows furrowed, radiating that gloomy "don't mess with me" energy.

Bai Wan walked in front of Bai Zhize and pushed the door open: "Grandpa, what's up..."

Before he could finish, Bai Wan froze, staring at little Bai Nuo, who was sitting with his back to him and turned around when he heard the voice.

At this time... why's he here?

"Uncle."

Bai Nuo got up from the little chair, grabbed his small bucket, and ran over.

That's when little Bai Nuo finally got a good look at Bai Zhize, who'd followed in through the door.

The little guy paused for a second, like he was debating whether to say hi.

But the polite little kid let his manners win out.

It's fine—Nono's smart, so a little deduction is no big deal.

"Third grand-uncle."

"Dad, what's up? Don't try dragging Bai Wan into your fish-feeding thing. If you wanna mess with a corn cob, just do it yourself..."

Bai Zhize, who'd only gotten halfway through his sentence when he walked in, paused at the sound of Bai Nuo's voice, blinked, looked over, and spoke right away.

"What are you doing here?"

That was just Bai Zhize—his tone came off pretty blunt.

The second the words left his mouth, he paused a bit and softened his tone.

"You haven't gone home yet? Isn't today a school day?"

Bai Zhize glanced at the kiwis in the kid's bucket.

He figured it out—the kid had come to bring kiwis to the old man.

Bai Zhize had watched the livestream, so of course he knew the kid had brought back kiwis and some maple-leaf decorations.

But like he'd said before, that had nothing to do with them, right?

"These are the kiwis Nono picked."

Little Bai Nuo held the bucket up high.

"Yeah, I know. What about it?"

Bai Zhize looked down at him from his height.

Was this little kid actually expecting praise from him?

"These are for third grand-uncle and uncle."

The little guy paused for a second after hearing that, then spoke.

"Huh?"

Bai Zhize really hadn't seen that coming.

"Why are you giving these to me?"

"Because we're all Bais..."

Little Bai Nuo pointed at himself, then at Bai Zhize and Bai Wan.

"Because Nono thinks, if everyone gets some but third grand-uncle and uncle don't, that's not fair. If it were Nono, Nono would be sad."

Bai Zhize couldn't wrap his head around this little human's thinking—first off, nobody's hurting for a single kiwi, and second...

He watched Bai Nuo hand the little bucket to Bai Wan, smiling with crinkled eyes, his whole face and eyes saying—

So third grand-uncle and uncle really did know.

That's why he'd saved some just for them, so nobody would feel left out.

How sweet.