Chapter 10 Part 2

Once the water boiled, he poured the mixture in while stirring, finally lowering to a simmer. He kept stirring until the paste was visibly thick and stringy. In less than ten minutes, a basin of steaming hot paste was ready.

The haters in the danmaku had initially mocked him for putting on a show, accusing him of trying to build a “smart scholar” image. They also cursed the show for colluding with him, giving him a chance to show off. Sealing windows was one thing, but this whole soap-making tangent felt forced and stiff, they claimed… Then immediately, Ji Nuo finished making the paste. His purpose was clear, his movements skilled, without the slightest hint of showing off.

Because the tools were cleaned so well, the paste was white and glutinous, emitting a rich rice fragrance. Lu Aotian, who had watched the entire process, understood this was paste meant for sealing the walls.

But having been fed by Ji Nuo for two days, his inner glutton had been awakened. Not only could he not help swallowing, his little stomach even rumbled audibly. He suddenly had a sliver of understanding for those gluttons who even wanted to taste the Chinese medicine they were brewing.

Hearing this, Ji Nuo laughed: “Do you want to try some?”

Lu Aotian’s eyes instantly lit up: “This is edible?” On reflection, wasn’t it just a very thickly cooked glutinous rice flour paste? Absolutely edible!

Ji Nuo shook his head, smiling: “The water used wasn’t clean.”

The moment the words left his lips, the little lightbulbs in Lu Aotian’s eyes went out with a ‘shooop!’, making Ji Nuo’s fingers itch to touch him, though he forcefully resisted.

The house had rice, flour, grains, and oil, but no eggs, meat, or vegetables. Ji Nuo found the milk powder and asked the kid: “How about this? Uncle can make it extra thick for you?”

Lu Aotian’s stomach rumbled loudly while his brows furrowed in severe rejection: “I! Don’t drink milk!”

He detested anything with that sickening milky smell, extending his disgust to all dairy products. Let alone drink milk? He, Lu Aotian, would rather starve to death, die of thirst, than take a single sip!

Ji Nuo was actually a bit hungry too, thanks to the production team’s crafty arrangements.

They’d been in the car until late evening. Some food had been handed out in the car, but by then, either the kids were asleep and couldn’t eat, or the parents were also asleep. Hardly anyone ate much on the bus.

Upon arriving at Jade Mountain Town, the production team clearly intended the parents to fend for themselves. They’d even been quite thoughtful in allowing the children to bring milk powder and bottles, meaning they’d calculated the kids wouldn’t starve. The parents, however, would have to fend for themselves if they wanted to eat. Failing that, they could always take out high-interest loans from the show.

Smiling, Ji Nuo went to draw water from the well in the center of the courtyard, boiled it, and let it cool to a suitable temperature before filling a full bottle for the child.

On one hand, this would stave off hunger. On the other, considering the child’s severe calcium deficiency, which needed not just supplements but also dietary care, he’d deliberately chosen a high-calcium milk powder. It would be even better if this helped the little one develop a good habit of enjoying milk.

Ji Nuo was used to this kid’s contradictory tsundere nature. Last time, he refused fish, so Ji Nuo only cooked enough for himself. The result? Once out of the pan, the cub left him only a single small yellow croaker.

Ji Nuo carried the tray to go paste the walls. Lu Aotian was left alone with a large bottle of perfectly warm, fragrant milk. His little brows furrowed tightly.

Lu Aotian was a very picky eater. He detested all foods with “off” flavors, like scallions, ginger, garlic, coriander, celery, carrots, as well as fish that easily tasted fishy and lamb that easily tasted gamey. As for milk, it wasn’t the flavor itself he objected to.

In his previous life, he hadn’t drunk milk until the Lu Family took him back, whereupon he was mocked as a country bumpkin. For a long time afterward, the mere thought of it, or drinking milk again, would bring up a faint, milky smell others couldn’t detect.

But Ji Nuo’s cooking was too deceptively delicious. Even the fish soup the man stewed—he couldn’t taste a hint of fishiness. This was an experience even a previous-life Michelin three-star chef hadn’t given him.

Though intellectually he knew making formula wasn’t cooking, and the milk Ji Nuo made was fundamentally just ordinary milk, staring at the big bottle, his mouth just couldn’t stop salivating.

After five minutes of frozen indecision, the live stream viewers saw the milk-refusing Ao’ao cub, with a look of disgust, unscrew the nipple-top cap, lift the bottle, and start chugging.

Even as he drank, he inwardly grumbled. Damn it all, how did this new henchman manage to make even mixing milk taste better than anyone else? It wasn’t his fault his willpower was weak. Besides, this weak little toddler body couldn’t handle going hungry.

He gulped down half the bottle in one go. A tiny “white mustache” clung to his lip. Although situated in the war-torn kitchen, the sight of the child holding the bottle and drinking with a face full of pure satisfaction could easily be edited into a milk powder commercial!

The “mom fan” levels in the danmaku instantly went off the charts:

[God, oh God, the cub is going to cute me to death!]

[Hahahaha, LOL, Ao Jingze, is that you? Screenshot for meme → Ah, delicious.jpg]

(T/N:This is a play on the famous Wang Jingze “True Fragrance” (真香) meme, adapted to Ao’ao’s name.)

[I only tuned in to see Ji Nuo’s miserable state before going back to Feifei’s live room… I literally can’t leave! Aaaah, Ao’ao little baby, mwah mwah mwah mwah!!!]

Lu Aotian naturally had no idea he was being firmly associated with a string of words he couldn’t tolerate: “moe”, “cute”, “milky cool,” and so on.

After drinking half the bottle, his little belly was somewhat full. He discovered that without twisting the nipple-top shut, the cap wouldn’t close properly. He had to very disdainfully twist the nipple with its attached soft tube back on.

Holding the milk bottle, now reeking of that “milky” scent deliciously, he went to find Ji Nuo. Though his henchman was doing manual labor, he couldn’t rest easy without supervising. After all, they’d both be staying here tonight.

Ji Nuo had been doing chores since he was small. Not only was he strong, but he was also particularly efficient. During the time Lu Aotian spent drinking his milk, Ji Nuo had already covered the most severely drafty bedroom window, inside and out, with plastic sheeting, ensuring not a single gust of wind could penetrate.

Then he used newspapers to paste over the cracks in the walls. The door was set aside for now. Ji Nuo then started tidying the bedding on the bed.

As he’d guessed, the sheets and quilt in the cabinet were like the food supplies—specially prepared by the production team. They looked very worn but were actually usable. He suspected they were rarely-used bedding pulled from the bottom of some villager’s chest, smelling of long storage.

The bitter hardships of his previous life’s childhood were too distant a memory for Lu Aotian. Seeing his henchman’s deft efficiency, he stopped worrying. After all, he was the majestic Long Aotian. Even when a dragon was stranded in shallow waters, his role was to give orders.

Little friend Lu Aotian pinched his nose and moved his small stool further away, hugging the warm milk bottle and occasionally taking a sip.

By the time Ji Nuo finished pasting the walls, it was almost nine o’clock. Given the limited conditions, he just made do with laying out the sheets and blankets as they were. Fortunately, fearing the mountain cold, he’d brought two thick coats—perfect for spreading out a clean little bed for Ao’ao.

Ji Nuo had finally made the bedroom livable. Lu Aotian had also polished off the 300 milliliters of milk in the big bottle.

Father and son returned to the kitchen to boil water and wash their faces and brush their teeth. Ji Nuo patted his little belly: “Full?”

Lu Aotian, who had recently rejected milk, his expression shifting, reached out to block his little frog-belly from being touched. He grunted indignantly: “Barely. Don’t make it a habit.”

Ji Nuo’s pale lips pressed together again and again until a faint hint of rosy pink tinged them, finally managing to suppress his laughter. He gently agreed: “Alright. Tomorrow, Uncle definitely won’t let Ao’ao go hungry.”

A dust-covered incandescent bulb hung above their heads. The dim yellow light reflected in Ji Nuo’s eyes like specks of starlight. Lu Aotian blinked his similar peach blossom eyes, stunned for a moment before turning his back and muttering quietly: “You’d better.”

The danmaku’s tone shifted again and again. Seeing this point, many couldn’t help but sigh:

[God, I’m wavering. Who can resist a gentle, beautiful person? /Starry Eyes.jpg]

[I thought Ji Nuo always had big shots around him? But this skillful way of working seems like someone used to hardship…]

[He’s well-prepared this time since he latched onto the Best Actor. The show giving him this broken house must have been planned in advance.]

[Can you let normal people just watch the kid show in peace? This and that, that and this—I just like watching this down-to-earth father-son interaction. Keep arguing and I’ll rebel and become a Ji Nuo fan out of spite!]

After washing up, and to avoid direct skin contact with the bedding causing allergies, Ji Nuo also changed into long sleeves.

The production team lowered the bedroom’s live broadcast lens, fixing the angle level with the bed. This way, it could capture the father-son interaction at night, plus a sliver of them lying on their sides, without easily causing any wardrobe malfunctions.

The pair, one big, one small, lay down. Ji Nuo first wrapped his clean coat around the child, then pulled the quilt over him.

Lu Aotian’s little face immediately wrinkled, but he wasn’t truly a four-year-old child. He knew this was the best solution his henchman could offer given the circumstances. So he stayed silent, just turning his head into Ji Nuo’s thick coat. It smelled faintly of soap, quite pleasant.

Ji Nuo was used to it and didn’t mind the smell. He got up to seal the door from the inside. Clicking off the light, the room fell into total darkness.

Because Lu Aotian could seamlessly switch between an old-soul maturity beyond his years and an unexpectedly fussy, delicate nature, this was the first time Ji Nuo had slept with him. There was no choice; the only bed in the whole house was this one.

A cameraperson had been following them the entire journey, so Ji Nuo hadn’t looked at his phone the whole time.

He knew the preview episode had aired but wasn’t the slightest bit interested in the online reaction. After setting his alarm, he remembered the text from the gold-medal male nurse that he still hadn’t replied to.

Opening WeChat, the chat thread with Han Cheng, which he’d pinned after the man’s last contact, still showed only the man’s indifferent “Mm” after Ji Nuo’s self-introduction.

Next to Han Cheng was “e”, also pinned. But this one was because he was afraid of forgetting, a reminder that he still had this “e” awaiting a reply. The other party still hadn’t responded today.

Ji Nuo calculated the time, deciding to contact customer service if there was no reply by the full seven days.

Before turning off the screen, he glanced at the account marked “Han Cheng”. Recalling his performance today, his brow furrowed slightly. Had he done too much? But he certainly couldn’t let the child suffer just for his own goals.

After pondering for a while, he realized there was no way around the major premise of taking care of the kid. So he went with the flow and added “Raise the Cub Well” right before “Lie Low as Foil” and “Straight Man, Dame”.

Just as he was thinking this, a soft little body suddenly snuggled into his side, carrying that unique milky scent of a young child. Ji Nuo’s brow instantly smoothed.

He carefully adjusted their positions, eventually successfully gathering the sleeping Ao’ao cub into his arms. His long fingers threaded through the child’s soft hair, gently and tenderly stroking.

Probably due to a lack of parental care from a young age, Ji Nuo had always deeply longed for a home of his own. He was destined to never be a happy child, but he wanted to become a father who could make a child happy.

Later, realizing he might not be so straight, this wish was adjusted to “a foster father who makes a child happy.” Unexpectedly, fate loved to toy with him like this.

But now, Ji Nuo had completely come to terms with it. Before he left, being able to briefly have such an adorable and unique cub as little friend Ao’ao was already satisfying enough.

He leaned his head close, breathing in the faint, sweet milky scent of the child, and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, before the alarm rang, Ji Nuo was jolted awake by the cub in his arms roaring:

“Who gave you permishun to hug me?!”

“Why is the bed wet?!!”

As soon as he finished shouting, Lu Aotian’s face turned green. Not only because he’d leaked his childish little voice, but because he quickly realized a wet bed… could seemingly only have one cause.