Chapter 13
Bai Qingyu, “It will grow up with casual care.”
Casual? Could it be raised casually?
He Renyuan stared at the tea sapling, lost in thought about raising a sapling.
The surrounding tea trees were too tall, blocking the sunlight. The new sapling was too close to them, would it affect its growth? The villa’s lights were too bright at night, would it disrupt its rhythm?
Why was he thinking about these questions?
A chubby sparrow flew from a large tea tree to the small tea tree. Bai Qingyu’s heart tightened. Cha Bao must hold back and not play with the sparrow.
He quickly stepped forward, waved the sparrow away, and pressed down a restless little branch.
Seeing that He Renyuan was also coming over, Bai Qingyu turned around with a calm expression, “Boss, your clothes are dirty, take them off and I’ll wash them for you.”
He Renyuan was a bit of a clean freak, but he wasn’t in a hurry to take a shower. Bai Qingyu seemed to have a secret he was hiding from him.
Bai Qingyu widened his eyes, “I applied homemade fermented fertilizer to the tea tree. You just rolled on the ground, don’t you mind?”
He Renyuan’s face turned ugly, as if he could smell the homemade fertilizer Bai Qingyu was talking about. He said incredulously, “Where did you get homemade fertilizer?”
Bai Qingyu, “I bought it online. Boss, since you don’t mind it getting on your clothes, let me raise chickens. You don’t have to step into the chicken coop, you won’t step on chicken manure, but you’ll have eggs to eat.”
He Renyuan clenched his fingers and said with restraint, “Your salary will be deducted for online shopping.”
He roughly took off his suit jacket and threw it into the trash can along with his tie, leaving only a thin shirt, his broad shoulders and narrow waist perfectly displayed.
Bai Qingyu watched He Renyuan enter the house, hurriedly picked up the little one from the hole, quickly went in through another door, and carried him to the third floor.
The little one was also dirty from being in the hole, he needed a bath.
Bai Xiaocha sat in the bathtub, his hair covered with soap bubbles, a head of white foam.
“Dad, a sparrow landed on my head.” Bai Xiaocha pointed to the top of his head, his fingers touching the bubbles.
“You did very well, Dad will take you to the zoo to see ostriches next time.”
Bai Xiaocha, “Dad, am I a very small baby?”
Bai Qingyu thought that Bai Xiaocha would remember what Uncle Boss had said. If He Renyuan said anything unpleasant today, he would never let Cha Bao see the bad Uncle Boss again.
“Yes, you are a little baby.”
Bai Xiaocha, “Dad, Uncle Boss is very, very tall.”
Bai Qingyu, “Yes, you will grow taller than him.” It was easy for a tea tree to grow taller than a human.
Bai Xiaocha, “Uncle Boss also has black hair.”
Bai Qingyu, “Black is also cool.”
Bai Qingyu wrapped the bathed child in a towel and placed him on the bed. At this time, there were footsteps at the door, followed by a knock.
He Renyuan, “Bai Qingyu.”
Bai Qingyu said loudly, “I’m taking a shower, what’s the matter?”
A faint “nothing” squeezed in through the crack of the door. Bai Qingyu and Bai Xiaocha both sat with their ears pricked up, until they heard He Renyuan’s footsteps fading away.
He Renyuan went downstairs and found the housekeeper in the meeting room. It was the end of the month, and he needed to check the monthly income and expenses with the accountant.
He Renyuan heard them talking about salary and said, “The advance payment doesn’t count, pay Bai Qingyu his salary as usual at the beginning of next month.”
The housekeeper was delighted. The young master finally knew how to retain talent. He smiled and said, “How much should we raise Bai Qingyu’s salary? We have to offer a competitive salary.”
“Raise?” He Renyuan sneered. Raise the salary of a housekeeper who irritated him every day? Wouldn’t that be encouraging his behavior?
The housekeeper’s expression was indescribable, “Then what’s the reason?”
He Renyuan said, “The previous advance payment was a settling-in allowance.”
Good companies would give employees a settling-in allowance. It was reasonable.
The housekeeper, “…” He had never heard of giving a live-in housekeeper a settling-in allowance. Making up excuses, couldn’t he just raise the salary honestly?
He Renyuan instructed the accountant, “Increase the holiday bonus by two thousand from now on.”
An increase of two thousand, it must be a raise for everyone. The accountant smiled, “Yes, should we make up for Qingming Festival?”
He Renyuan, “Yes.”
The housekeeper felt complicated. Young master, you had many excuses, but the person was going to resign.
Because Bai Qingyu was going to move with his child, he couldn’t let He Renyuan see him leave, so the housekeeper agreed to help Bai Qingyu keep it a secret.
He Renyuan talked about salary for a while before getting to the point, “Two people are needed for tea picking, no one is allowed to climb the ladder alone.”
He had gone upstairs to find Bai Qingyu just now to say this, but Bai Qingyu was taking a shower… he suddenly couldn’t say it in person.
The housekeeper was puzzled at first, then suddenly realized, “Okay, I’ll keep an eye on it.”
He Renyuan frowned, “Someone has to hold the ladder, or you pick the tea, and he holds the ladder.”
Climbing a ladder required experience. Housekeeper Qi had probably climbed more ladders than Bai Qingyu had climbed stairs.
He Renyuan remembered the image of Bai Qingyu swaying on the ladder, “He’s afraid of heights, it would be troublesome if he got injured on the job.”
Bai Qingyu was so poor, he probably lived in a single-story house in the countryside and had never been to the second floor.
Housekeeper Qi smiled, “Okay.”
After He Renyuan left, Bai Qingyu continued to go out to pick tea. This time, the housekeeper wouldn’t let him climb the ladder.
Bai Qingyu, “Why?”
Bai Xiaocha, “Why?”
The housekeeper, “It’s the young master’s order.”
Bai Qingyu muttered, “He actually looks down on the tea deity’s abilities.”
The newly picked tea leaves were first sun-dried, then cooled, fermented, and stir-fried. Bai Qingyu estimated that he could make a batch of Maocha for He Renyuan before he left.
On Thursday, Bai Qingyu spent some time in the He family’s tea-frying room, studying how to use the various tools.
He had seen villagers stir-fry tea countless times, witnessing how tea-frying equipment became increasingly intelligent and automated with technological development. He Renyuan’s equipment here was quite primitive.
Bai Qingyu poured the tea leaves into the pot and stir-fried them continuously with his bare hands. The palms of his hands were slightly stung by the hot tea leaves, but it wasn’t unbearable. It was his first time stir-frying tea, and everything was novel.
The temperature by the stove was high, and his temples were covered in sweat. Bai Qingyu didn’t mind, but Bai Xiaocha’s face was obviously red from the heat.
“Cha Bao, go out and play.”
Bai Xiaocha, “I’ll help Dad.”
Bai Qingyu, “What can you help with?”
Bai Xiaocha rubbed his chubby little hands, “Dad, I’m not afraid of being burned.”
Bai Qingyu pinched the little one’s palm, “Does it hurt? The skin on your palms is too tender.”
Bai Xiaocha withdrew his hand, rubbed his feet on the floor, and two small light bulbs lit up in his clear tea-colored eyes. He had a whimsical idea, “Dad, I can use my feet.”
He always ran barefoot in the countryside. Grandpa Deng would hold him and say, “Is the skin on your feet thick? Be careful of the stones.”
Bai Qingyu, “…” Baby, you’re not afraid of burning your feet, but your Uncle Boss is afraid of burning his mouth.
“You should still go and play.”
The housekeeper pushed the door open and came in, “The chairman sent a watermelon platter, do you want to eat?”
Eating watermelon wasn’t elegant, the young master definitely wouldn’t eat it.
He Wangzhong carved flowers on the watermelon, carving it into a shape that looked like it had been gnawed by a dog… well… luckily Cha Bao didn’t mind.
The housekeeper rubbed Cha Bao’s head with relief. Besides you, who else was qualified to be the chairman’s grandson?
In the blink of an eye, it was Friday. Bai Qingyu made a batch of Maocha, not much, it would be finished soon, and there was no need for refined preservation. Bai Qingyu packed it in a sealed bag and put it in the tea cabinet.
He started packing his luggage.
The housekeeper sighed, as if the fun of work was gone.
Bai Qingyu, “Uncle Qi, just say that I have something urgent to attend to back in my hometown, and I can’t leave. I won’t be coming back.”
The housekeeper, “Okay, have you found a new job?”
Bai Qingyu felt that resigning from his housekeeper job here to be a housekeeper somewhere else sounded like a betrayal. Facing the housekeeper’s kindhearted attempt to keep him, he said guiltily, “It’s a fellow villager, he’s made a fortune and asked me to go over and help.”
The housekeeper, “Have you verified it? Your fellow villager isn’t in Southeast Asia, is he?”
“He’s in Nancheng.” Bai Qingyu took out the salary envelope the housekeeper gave him last time. Bai Xiaocha hadn’t gone to kindergarten, he hadn’t spent a penny. He hadn’t worked for three months, and his probation period ended today, he shouldn’t take the money.
The housekeeper, “No need to return it, this is the settling-in allowance given by the young master, to support you in settling down in Nancheng. Everyone who comes here gets it.”
Bai Qingyu, “Settling-in allowance? Isn’t it room and board?”
The housekeeper smiled. The young master’s excuse couldn’t even fool Bai Qingyu.
“Consider it a meeting red envelope from us elders to Xiao Cha. It’s a Nancheng custom. When a child visits a house for the first time, no matter who it is, they should be given a red envelope. The young master didn’t know, so I gave it on his behalf, for good luck, to receive children’s fortune.” The housekeeper made up a story seriously.
Bai Qingyu, “There’s such a custom.” Alright, then he would return the red envelope when Young Master He had children.
While they were talking, He Renyuan suddenly came home, his face ashen. He grabbed Bai Qingyu’s arm, pulled him to the garden, and pointed at the newly planted tea sapling, “This is not the original one.”
Bai Qingyu, “Uh…” This replanted one was really bought online.
He Renyuan had been busy recently, coming home late at night, and hadn’t looked closely at the garden. He came back for lunch today, thinking of taking a look, but it had clearly been replaced.
The original sapling had a small, round crown, and was missing a batch of leaves, looking clumsy and pitiful. He Renyuan had even planned to witness its growth day by day.
Looking at this one in front of him, the branches were messy, the leaves were wilting, utterly ordinary.
Bai Qingyu, “You said it was too small, so I returned it and asked the seller to send a bigger one.”
He Renyuan sneered, “I haven’t seen you so obedient before.”
Bai Qingyu, “…”
He Renyuan, “The returned sapling is still on its way, right? Give me the tracking number, I’ll intercept it.”
Hiss… These were procedures that Bai Qingyu had never heard of, but he had also become smarter recently, “The seller said it would wilt on the way back, so they directly sent a new one. I gave the original one away.”
He Renyuan, “Who allowed you to give it away?”
Bai Qingyu, “Every inch of land is worth its weight in gold here, there’s not even enough space to grow loofah, let alone a tea tree that will grow branches and leaves in the future?”
He Renyuan was choked, “Who did you give it to?”
Bai Qingyu broke free from his grip and said, “Don’t worry, young master, the tea sapling will be very happy in its new home, with chickens, ducks, and sunshine—”
Hearing this comparison, He Renyuan felt very uncomfortable and gritted his teeth, “The countryside?”
Bai Qingyu, “Yes, I asked a fellow villager who was going back to the countryside to take it back for my uncle to plant. My uncle has lived at the foot of Wuyi Mountain all his life and has planted countless tea trees.”
He looked at He Renyuan’s expression, his tone unconsciously becoming soothing, his voice gentle, “Wuyi Mountain has good water and good soil, much better than planting in a big city, isn’t it? My uncle is even better at taking care of tea trees than I am. When you have time, you can go and have a look.”
He wasn’t lying at all. Old Man Deng’s cooking was much better than his.
Although He Renyuan didn’t admit that there was a better place than his home, tea trees were tea trees, and people were people. Perhaps Bai Qingyu was right.
“I can’t trust you easily, I need proof.”
Proof?
Bai Qingyu thought for a moment. He did have a photo, it was of him and Bai Xiaocha in their true forms on the mountain, taken by Old Man Deng.
He flipped through his photo album and held it up to He Renyuan, “Look, it’s planted, it looks very lively, right?”
He Renyuan looked down and immediately recognized the small tea sapling, nestled against a large tea tree…
“Wait!”
But Bai Qingyu had already put his phone back in his pocket.
He Renyuan, “Let me see again.” The large one also looked familiar.
Bai Qingyu, “You’ve already seen it.”
He Renyuan was driven mad by the uncooperative housekeeper.
A photo caused He Renyuan to lose sleep.
He Renyuan took a sip of cold tea, unsure whether the insomnia was caused by the photo or by Bai Qingyu.
Why did it seem more like the latter?
He Renyuan simply got out of bed, went to the study, opened the blank schedule, and picked up a pen.
“Too numerous to record.”
Late at night, the sounds from upstairs became clear.
Bai Qingyu wasn’t asleep yet?
A thought flashed through his mind. He Renyuan left the study and quietly went upstairs. He couldn’t say what he wanted to do, but there was no doubt that Bai Qingyu was hiding something from him.
When he was a lawyer, he could tell at a glance whether the client was telling the truth or hiding part of the facts.
Bai Qingyu was undoubtedly an uncooperative client.
Upstairs.
Bai Qingyu was leaving tomorrow morning and was still quietly packing in the middle of the night. He wanted to restore the third floor to its original state, so that He Renyuan wouldn’t find fault.
The third floor was Bai Xiaocha’s activity area. There were more or less traces of activity in other rooms. For example, when Auntie Liu and Mengmeng came up, they would randomly refresh the feeding location depending on where Bai Xiaocha was.
There were also bread crumbs dropped by Bai Xiaocha in other bedrooms.
“Baby, stay in the living room, don’t come in.”
Bai Qingyu was mopping the floor. If Bai Xiaocha came in, he would leave a trail of small footprints, clearly belonging to a human cub.
“Okay, Dad.” Bai Xiaocha sat on the living room floor, breaking off pieces of bread to eat.
Grandpa Housekeeper gave him a lot of bread today. After eating it, he would become a big baby.
When He Renyuan went upstairs, he saw a scene that was completely impossible – a little boy eating bread in his house.
It was so absurd that He Renyuan even suspected that he was sleepwalking.
He pinched himself, looked up at the ceiling, did he fall from the sky?
Bai Xiaocha was happily eating bread when he felt someone behind him. He turned around and saw—
Uncle Boss?
Oh? Was he caught playing hide-and-seek by Boss Cat?
The big one and the small one looked at each other, both stunned. The frozen scene lasted for sixty seconds.
He Renyuan asked as kindly as possible, “Little friend, are you—”
Bai Xiaocha, “Uncle Boss—”
In a flash, Bai Qingyu rushed out, carried Bai Xiaocha into the room, closed the door, and then came out.
“Sorry, I have a child.”
“You’ve been married?” He Renyuan’s voice was stiff, grasping the key point and asking instinctively as a lawyer.
Bai Qingyu, “…Yes.”
He Renyuan froze in place, an unspeakable sense of betrayal welling up inside him. He suspected that the ceiling was leaking, but never suspected that it was Bai Qingyu’s child!
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