Chapter 152

Chapter 152

Bai Jin, holding the cub: ...

No way, he didn't believe it!

But before he even got a chance to prove it, Cen Zhi had already walked up beside him, peering at little Bai Nuo.

The cub, who had been snuggling into his uncle's arms, looked up and saw Grandma reaching out a small hand.

"Grandma."

'Hot water bottle' Jin was on the job for only a few seconds before retiring in glory.

Bai Jin: ...

Cen Zhi, having taken little Bai Nuo away, let out a gleeful, mocking laugh.

Bai Jin: ...!!

Bai Jin couldn't handle it.

Even at breakfast, Bai Jin tried to prove how much he and the cub adored each other.

At this, the little cub, who had already snapped out of his morning daze, was like: ?

Bai Nuo was holding a soft, warm red bean bun and nibbling away at it in tiny bites. When his uncle's face suddenly got shoved right in front of him, he jumped and instinctively shoved the half-eaten bun in his hand into Bai Jin's mouth.

Bai Jin: ...

Bai Nuo: ...

Bai Jin instinctively chewed and swallowed the food in his mouth.

And little Bai Nuo looked at the food that had vanished from his hands, then at his uncle's rapid chewing and swallowing.

He paused for a second.

The food disappeared at Uncle's again!

Uncle had eaten in just a few seconds what had taken him forever to nibble down halfway.

Bai Sheng, who had already sat back down next to the little cub: ...

Bai Sheng first reached out and placed a new red bean bun into little Bai Nuo's hands, watching his cub hastily stuff the bun into his mouth.

Then Bai Sheng got up and grabbed Bai Jin by the collar.

Not gonna eat properly, huh?

Then don't eat.

Bai Jin: ?

After a good, sweaty morning workout with his third brother, Bai Jin stormed out of the house, grumbling and cursing.

But this guy still wouldn't let it go. Even when he came home in the afternoon, he was still hung up on it.

The cub had long since put these things out of his mind, happily playing with his building blocks at the moment.

Hearing his uncle come in, the cub turned his head.

"Uncle, you're back."

Bai Nuo had been busy today too—feeding the fish, tending the strawberry patch, and heading over to Great-Grandpa's to play with Anu for a bit. It was already three or four in the afternoon, just a few hours until dinner time, and only now did he feel like sitting here and playing with his toys for a while.

Hearing the sound, the cub didn't go to greet him at the door or anything, just swinging his little feet back and forth, holding a building block, still building his little castle.

He'd felt cold this morning and told his dad, so Bai Sheng had made a point of adding more clothes for him, and his little socks had been changed to warm, fuzzy ones.

The cub now looked like a little puffball.

Dou Dou was keeping an eye on him from the side, with servants working in the distance, glancing over at little Bai Nuo every now and then.

No one else from the Bai family was around watching the cub play.

That gave the little one plenty of room to make his own fun.

Bai Jin looked around, then seized the chance to sneak over. He kicked off his slippers, took a couple of steps and sat down cross-legged in front of little Bai Nuo, rested his chin on one hand, and reached out with the other to squeeze the cub's little foot.

The soles of the feet are sensitive and ticklish. Bai Nuo pulled his little foot away, still holding the building block, he spoke up.

"Uncle, what are you doing?"

Don't squeeze Nono's feet.

"The temperature hasn't dropped that low yet, has it? Are you really that cold?"

Bai Jin couldn't quite believe it.

"Aren't you supposed to go out for your social practice activity later? Are you gonna go out all bundled up like a ball?"

Bai Jin pictured the cub going out all bundled up like a ball.

If he accidentally fell, he probably wouldn't get hurt, but he'd most likely be unable to get back up.

Bai Jin wasn't wearing much today. He had just gotten back from working out outside. Even though he'd already showered, his body was still radiating warmth, and his hair was a little damp, hanging over his forehead.

Little Bai Nuo wrinkled his nose, carefully picked a spot and angle on his castle blocks, then placed the block on top.

"Nono just feels cold today. He'll get used to it eventually."

The little guy said this looking pretty pleased with himself.

He puffed out his chest and raised his chin.

"Nono's been through colder times before and it was fine."

The cub tried to show how tough he was, waving his hands around as he spoke.

"Just this little bit of warmth is all I need."

After saying this, the little cub thought it over for a moment.

So, has Nono gotten spoiled?

But when it's cold, being all warm and cozy really is nice.

Dad also said that if he felt uncomfortable, whether cold or hot, he should speak up. So this should be a good thing, right?

Bai Jin paused at that.

For a second, he seemed unsure how to keep the conversation going.

When it's cold out, is this much warmth really enough?

Where did he even get that idea?

Bai Jin's fingers curled slightly, and his face darkened for a split second.

Forget it, let him wrap up like a burrito. A burrito's fine too.

He didn't really want to think about that stuff.

At least not until he actually tracked down that organization.

He'd figured that if his third brother found the organization first, he'd skip the action—like last time, he'd just stay home and babysit.

But now...

Bai Jin figured some things were worth getting involved in.

He just knew that if he didn't, he'd kick himself every time he remembered it.

Bai Jin let out a quiet breath, glancing at the little foot Xiaobai Nuo hadn't pulled back.

Bai Jin was so used to teasing Bai Nuo that he instinctively reached out to pinch the kid's other foot.

This time, the little guy was ready. He scrambled up in one go, still clutching a block, refusing to let his uncle pinch him.

But as he backed up, he stepped on the bag of blocks, and his little foot slipped right through the handle. The kid kept staring at his uncle, shaking his foot on instinct—the bag rattled loudly. He kept backing up and shaking, but it wouldn't come off, and the bag clattered with every step.

Xiaobai Nuo looked down, confused, staring at the bag like it was a puzzle, about to crouch and untangle it.

Bai Jin was already cracking up.

"Come here, come here, let Uncle untie you. Careful, don't get yourself all tangled up."

With this family's habit of blaming everything on him, if the kid got tangled up, it'd totally be his fault. He needed to avoid that problem.

But as he stood up, still shaking with laughter, his leg bumped the kid's block castle.

A loud crash followed, and the laughter died instantly.

The kid: ...

Bai Jin: ...

The kid, still holding a block, looked at the block, then the bag on his foot, then his uncle, and finally at the fallen castle.

His little curls drooped, and his eyes were starting to get red.

The sound wasn't that loud, but everyone home in the Bai family heard it.

Cen Zhi hurried downstairs: "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

Bai Qian followed right behind, also looking at the kid.

About ten seconds later, Bai Sheng showed up at the door.

Bai Jin: ... Oh crap. Now it really was his fault!

So everyone home in the Bai family saw the poor, pitiful kid stuck in the bag, and "hot water bottle" Jin, who'd knocked over the castle and was now frantically fixing it, looking pretty "smug" about it.

Bai Jin was quickly stacking blocks from memory on the base.

—Damn hands, move it!

Don't make this kid cry on me!

It was obvious who was in the wrong.

Bai Jin, who gamed too much, felt like he could hear system notifications.

"Cen Zhi has joined the summoning area, standing by."

"Bai Qian has joined the summoning area, standing by."

"Bai Sheng has joined the summoning area, standing by."

...

Bai Jin: ...

Bai Jin: .............

Fine, fine, he gave up. Wasn't it just a group beatdown?

It wasn't like he hadn't dealt with this before!

But against everyone's expectations.

The kid, who'd untangled himself, didn't tattle. Instead, he pursed his lips, turned around, and ran out with little pattering feet.

"What the?"

Bai Jin was still trying to stack the blocks, having been so flustered he'd forgotten to apologize. He instinctively reached out, watching the kid run off.

He let out an "ah" and turned to Cen Zhi, looking helpless.

"He's not gonna ignore me, is he?"

Cen Zhi: ...

"What did you do to set him off this time?"

Cen Zhi was half annoyed, half amused.

Bai Jin finally rebuilt the kid's block castle: "This time it was a real accident. Damn, I forgot to apologize."

"No swearing in front of Nono."

Cen Zhi said as she walked out.

"Bai Sheng went after him? Let me go see what they're doing."

As the kid ran off with his little pattering steps, he tugged at his dad.

And dragged his dad along with him.

A moment later, Cen Zhi saw little Nuo having Bai Sheng cut lemons in the kitchen.

Cen Zhi: ...?

Why cut lemons?

Soon, Cen Zhi understood.

This kid had already learned to get his own revenge.

Bai Nuo held a piece of lemon his father had cut in each hand, and padded back again.

When he ran back to Bai Jin's side, Bai Jin was about to speak, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the little one 'fiercely' stuffed a big piece of lemon into it.

Bai Jin: !

Bai Jin's face instantly scrunched up from the sourness.

"You're getting back at me?!"

The little kid scrunched up his nose at his uncle.

"Who told you to pinch Nono's feet and knock over Nono's castle, uncle?"

The worst punishment Nono could think of was feeding his uncle a lemon.

How is even the punishment this cute?

But man, it was sour.

Bai Jin's whole face scrunched up from the lemon, and he thought that the lemon his eldest brother had eaten before couldn't have been this sour.

Just as he was thinking that, and right on cue, speak of the devil.

Bai Jingyun pushed the door open and walked in. He saw Bai Sheng standing outside looking like he was enjoying the show, then glanced at Cen Zhi, who was doubled over laughing, and basically figured out that something involving little Nuo had happened.

He walked in, looking confused, and asked.

"What's going on?"

The little one was about to shove a second piece of lemon into his uncle's mouth when he heard his eldest uncle's voice. He froze for a moment, looked at his uncle, then at his eldest uncle.

"Uncle, welcome home."

The little guy thought for a moment, then asked another question.

"Uncle, would you like some lemon?"

To the little one.

It was punishment for his uncle, but a reward for his eldest uncle.

Bai Jingyun: ...

The little kid, all tiny arms and legs, held up a piece of lemon and asked softly.

Bai Jingyun glanced at Bai Jin, who had a funny, sour expression on his face.

Ignoring Bai Jin's shocked look, he crouched down. He now looked at lemons with a blank expression, and could even tell which lemon had the strongest aroma and which was the sourest.

Bai Jingyun took the lemon piece that little Nuo offered with a blank expression.

"This one's not as sour as the last one."

Bai Jingyun even added a comment: "Hah, easy."

Bai Jin: ...

You've leveled up to this already?

Are you even a normal person anymore???

You're the Lemon Immortal.