Chapter 3 p1
Bai Xiaocha ate half of the bread, the rest should be for his dad, but the bread was so delicious. He held up the packaging box and tried to lick the bread cream on the lid.
His tongue touched it, his eyelashes and cheeks also touched it, like snowflakes falling on his face, fluttering up and down with his eyelashes.
Bai Qingyu looked at his son and suddenly realized that what might have fallen was also disposable plastic lunch boxes.
He didn’t like disposable plastic products either. He brought two sets of wooden bowls and chopsticks to the city.
Bai Qingyu finished weaving the basket, lined it with a soft little blanket, put Bai Xiaocha in it, and carried it to the balcony to let him bask in the natural light.
Bai Xiaocha immediately closed his eyes, “Dad, eat bread.”
The warm sunlight shone on the tea deity cub’s face. Bai Xiaocha flexibly turned over to bask his back.
Bai Qingyu put away the half box of bread on the ground and put it in the refrigerator. Bai Xiaocha liked it, so he would save it for him.
Then, he found the cleaning tools and started dusting and mopping room by room.
This floor was huge, bigger than the supermarket in their hometown. Bai Qingyu mopped the entire floor and sweat beaded on his nose.
While resting, Bai Qingyu thought of the auntie on the train and called her to tell her that he had found a job with room and board, but he was living under someone else’s roof and it was inconvenient to accept her toys.
The auntie was also very happy to hear that he had found a job and said, “Then I’ll send you some that don’t take up space.”
Bai Qingyu, “Thank you, sister.”
At twelve o’clock, the phone in the room rang. The housekeeper informed Bai Qingyu to come down for lunch.
Bai Qingyu went down alone. He had watched too many TV dramas and thought that servants had a special place to eat. He found everyone sitting around the main table.
Housekeeper Qi introduced them to each other, “This is Bai Qingyu, he will be responsible for the third floor and the garden. Li Ru and Li Yuan are sisters, responsible for the hygiene of the first and second floors. Auntie Liu is responsible for cooking. Lao Li is responsible for guarding the gate. There are also special people who maintain the swimming pool on the fourth floor, but they don’t live here.”
Li Ru and Li Yuan were a pair of tall and strong sisters. Opposite them was a young girl, thin and quiet.
The housekeeper pointed to the girl, “This is the interpreter. Li Ru and Li Yuan became mute due to medication misuse when they were young. I haven’t learned sign language yet and can’t understand their gestures. So the young master’s aunt, the person who introduced you, assigned me a sign language interpreter.”
In fact, the girl who did the translation was a bit lame and socially anxious, also a difficult-to-employ person that He Ying had placed here, creating a position where there was none. In addition, the gatekeeper Lao Li was a stutterer. Some of them were here temporarily, and they would be transferred when more suitable positions became available.
Bai Qingyu was in awe. He had only seen sign language interpreters on the news channel. Only very capable people were assigned interpreters.
As expected of a wealthy family, even the housekeeper had a translator.
Qi Yun said, “Now that you’re here, we’re family. We help each other and live well. Ahem, Qingyu has a child with him. Young Master He doesn’t like children, so don’t mention it in front of him.”
Everyone understood the housekeeper’s hint and nodded.
Bai Qingyu felt their kindness and also the responsibility on his shoulders. For both emotional and practical reasons, he should work hard.
“Young Master He isn’t coming home today, you can take your child to the garden to play. Why didn’t you bring him down for lunch? Can he eat by himself?”
Bai Qingyu, “Yes.”
Auntie Liu, who was in charge of cooking, said, “Don’t leave the child alone on the third floor, go and bring him down.”
Bai Qingyu bowed, “Thank you, everyone.”
He turned and went upstairs, carried Bai Xiaocha down in the basket, and let him eat directly in the basket so that food wouldn’t fall on the floor.
Bai Qingyu held Bai Xiaocha’s wooden bowl and scooped a spoonful of each dish on the table that didn’t have thorns, bones, or was hard to chew, regardless of whether it was sweet or salty. He stirred it. The TV commercials said that mixed feeding was healthier.
Everyone watched Bai Qingyu mix the food into a pig slop, wanting to say something but stopping. The mute sisters couldn’t speak and anxiously clenched their fingers, looking even more anxious than the others.
[This… this is someone else’s child after all, it’s not good to be too critical… but…]
Bai Qingyu placed a bowl of mixed nutritious food on a small stool in front of Bai Xiaocha.
“Thank you, Dad.” Bai Xiaocha held the spoon and happily dug a big spoonful, which contained lychee meat, savory fish, and sweet corn soup.
The taste was rich and varied. Bai Xiaocha stuffed his cheeks full. He also used the spoon to scrape the rice grains from the corner of his mouth and licked it clean.
Everyone, “…” They found the reason why Bai Qingyu was poor but the baby was chubby and white. He was a terrifying food-eating baby.
This was really rough parenting.
Bai Qingyu was puzzled, “Why aren’t you eating?”
“We are, we are.” The housekeeper took a sip of soup to calm down, his gaze involuntarily turning to Bai Xiaocha. The child was in the process of continuous eating. When he choked, he used the spoon to press down on the mixed food and skim out half a spoonful of soup.
Such an easy-to-feed baby, unlike their picky young master.
After eating, Bai Qingyu was going to tidy up the garden in the afternoon.
Bai Xiaocha insisted on helping Bai Qingyu pull weeds, but he couldn’t tell the difference between artificial turf and weeds, and his hands weren’t strong enough. He could only use his fingers to dig out the roots.
Not only was he a hindrance, but he also had to follow his father’s every step.
“Can you stay one meter away from me?”
“Okay,” Bai Xiaocha agreed, secretly lifting his butt and moving.
Bai Qingyu felt a little soft-hearted. They were in an unfamiliar place, so Bai Xiaocha was particularly dependent on him. But if he got too close, Bai Qingyu was afraid his weeding tools would hurt him.
The housekeeper watched Bai Qingyu work, assessing his character in his mind. He was diligent, honest, and didn’t talk much. He Ying had a good eye for people, otherwise she wouldn’t dare to place him in her nephew’s home.
He cleared his throat and suggested, “Buy a baby chair, otherwise you can’t stop him from following you—”
Before the housekeeper could finish, he saw Bai Qingyu dig a 40-centimeter deep hole and put the little one in it.
“Play here.”
To the tea deity, the earth was like a mother’s embrace, providing a sense of security. Bai Xiaocha stayed inside, quieted down, and used his toes to dig at the soil on the wall. The sand rustled down onto his feet, tickling him and making him giggle.
Bai Qingyu turned his head, “Uncle Qi, what did you say just now?”
The housekeeper, “I said buy a high chair to secure the baby.”
Bai Qingyu, “No need, just dig a hole. If he’s still restless, just add a couple more shovels of soil.”
The housekeeper looked at the little one who was very happy in the hole and closed his mouth.
[A baby who likes to play with mud, again unlike the young master.]
After living in the He family for three days, Bai Qingyu became more and more accustomed to it. When he worked upstairs, he let Tea Xiao Bao follow him. When he worked in the garden, he let Bai Xiaocha stay in the hole. They had three free meals a day, and Bai Xiaocha had gained a little weight.
The housekeeper repeatedly suggested giving Bai Xiaocha some money in advance to buy toys, but Bai Qingyu said playing with mud was enough, and the money should be saved and sent to Bai Xiaocha’s grandfather.
The housekeeper showed a disapproving look. What if he ate a mouthful of mud?
Bai Xiaocha saw Housekeeper Grandpa frowning and knew that Dad had something he couldn’t handle again. He said seriously, “Housekeeper Grandpa, Baby doesn’t need toys. Baby just needs to play with mud.”
Such a heartbreaking statement.
The housekeeper felt even more pity after hearing it, but didn’t say much. He could help for a while, buy toys for Bai Xiaocha, but the child’s standard of living ultimately depended on his father’s financial ability. Fluctuating between good and bad could easily lead the child astray.
“Alright, Cha Bao is the best.”
A wooden spatula was discarded from the kitchen. Bai Xiaocha stuck his butt up and dug in the hole, shouting excitedly, “Dad, there are little bugs.”
A small insect crawled onto Bai Xiaocha’s dirty toe and bit into the tender skin. Maybe the insect had never bitten through such thin “armor” before. It wandered on the back of his foot and bit again.
Bai Xiaocha reacted a beat later, “Dad, a bug bit me.”
Bai Qingyu hurried over and picked up his son, patting the dirt off his feet, “If you see a bug, you have to chase it away immediately, understand?”
Bai Xiaocha said tearfully, “If it doesn’t bite me, I won’t chase it away.”
Bai Qingyu, “If you don’t chase it away, it will want to bite you.”
Bai Qingyu held him and washed his feet, turning the two dusty coal balls into two white buns, with two small swollen bumps on the back of his foot.
“Dad, it itches.”
“I’ll take you to buy medicine.” Bai Qingyu carried his son on his back and left the villa for the first time. He walked a few hundred meters and found a pharmacy.
The staff was polite and courteous. After looking at Bai Xiaocha’s foot, she took out a tube of ointment, “Twenty-eight yuan.”
Bai Qingyu paused. Such a small tube of ointment for twenty-eight yuan, so expensive. He said ashamed, “Sorry, I don’t want it.”
Bai Xiaocha poked his head out from behind his father, “Sorry, sister, we don’t want it.”
The staff said, “It’s okay, our rent here is expensive, so the prices are higher. You can go another kilometer to another pharmacy.”
