Chapter 40
He Renyuan entered the water and was immediately hit with the lingering tea scent from Bai Qingyu.
He steadied himself, pushed aside distracting thoughts, refused to look at Bai Qingyu, supported Cha Bao’s chest and belly with one hand, and guided his arms and legs with the other, demonstrating the proper swimming strokes.
“This is the breaststroke, swimming like a frog. Cha Bao, have you seen how frogs jump?”
Bai Qingyu, arms crossed, floated in the water, circling He Renyuan 360 degrees as he taught, and answered for his son, “Yes.”
He Renyuan, “How do baby frogs kick their legs… yes, again.”
Bai Qingyu circled from another angle, “But baby frogs are tadpoles.”
Cha Bao couldn’t help himself and forgot his movements, “Tadpoles have tails, Baby doesn’t have a tail, I can’t swim.”
He Renyuan closed his eyes. A certain tea deity who couldn’t teach a child how to swim was arguing and swimming around him like a siren, his long, soft hair sometimes entwining his arm, sometimes brushing against his back. There were moments when he felt it was Bai Qingyu’s fingers teasing him, seducing him… How could any man endure this?
“Professional instruction in progress, unrelated personnel please leave the pool.” He Renyuan issued an ultimatum.
Bai Qingyu, “How can I know if Cha Bao is naturally gifted or if you taught him if I don’t watch?”
He Renyuan couldn’t stand it anymore. He let go of Cha Bao, saw that he was floating well and wouldn’t sink, turned around, grabbed Bai Qingyu’s arm, pulled him closer, and twisted it behind his back. The two sank into the water as if tied together. The moment the water covered their noses and mouths, He Renyuan fiercely kissed those infuriatingly tempting lips.
The tea deity was like a floating board in the water. With a slight struggle, he brought He Renyuan up with him.
He Renyuan hugged the floating board tightly, as if wanting to meld into it. He let go the moment they surfaced and saw a breathtakingly beautiful face emerging from the water. He tasted the world’s most authentic Mother Tree Da Hong Pao, unique and limited. Those mother trees in Wuyi Mountain were protected, only this unguarded tea deity could be pressed underwater and tasted again and again!
Bai Qingyu’s face flushed, coughing twice, his eyes watering. It was his first time choking on water.
He Renyuan, “Shall we go ashore? Otherwise, I’ll have to give you mouth-to-mouth if you drown.”
Bai Qingyu glared at him, “This is man-made drowning!”
He Renyuan, “One more time.”
Bai Qingyu immediately scrambled ashore. The water was so dangerous, his heart pounding, his legs still wobbly after reaching the shore.
He sat by the pool, his legs dangling in the water. He Renyuan glanced at him, and he immediately retracted his legs, as if even the water was He Renyuan’s accomplice.
He Renyuan, “Cha Bao, don’t be like Dad, you’ll drown if you don’t learn to swim properly.”
Bai Qingyu snorted. Nonsense. He watched He Renyuan teach, his fierceness gone, surprisingly patient with Cha Bao. As he watched, he forgot He Renyuan’s offense and even empathized with Cha Bao’s situation.
He clutched his heart. What was going on? Why did he feel like He Renyuan had taught him this way before?
He couldn’t be soft-hearted, He Renyuan’s mouth would kiss people, it was terrifying.
But… Bai Qingyu remembered He Renyuan being scolded on the beach for him, his lips pursed, not saying a word. The arrogant, extravagant young master took all the blame for him.
He wasn’t that bad, it was his own fault for provoking He Renyuan.
Kissing wasn’t unbearable either, it tasted better than Cha Bao’s jelly…
He was lost in thought. When he focused on the pool again, Cha Bao had learned to dog paddle.
“Baby, you’re amazing! Quickly swim to Dad!”
Bai Xiaocha kicked hard, swimming towards his dad.
He Renyuan, like a silent orca, quietly guarded him.
As Cha Bao approached, Bai Qingyu reached out, hooked his arm, and pulled him out of the water, “You’re so good.”
Splash, water droplets fell. He Renyuan emerged from the water, pushed off the side, and sat next to Bai Qingyu.
Bai Qingyu’s long hair dripped onto the ground. He Renyuan picked up a strand, sniffed it, a strong tea scent. Every part of Bai Qingyu was tempting.
The tea deity seemed to have processed the kiss, his feet pointed as he let Bai Xiaocha sit on his ankles, lifting him up and down, making Cha Bao laugh, more fun than any amusement park ride.
An ordinary person would be out of breath after a few repetitions of this, but the tea deity’s stamina was unquestionable, his breathing wasn’t even as heavy as He Renyuan’s.
He Renyuan had to shift his attention to Cha Bao.
“You’re my employee now, attending the Shu He kindergarten is a legitimate benefit. Cha Bao has also been there for a trial, he adapted well.”
Bai Qingyu let go of Cha Bao, patted his butt, and encouraged him to swim to the other side, saying faintly, “There’s an alpaca at your kindergarten that wants to eat his hair.”
He Renyuan: “…”
This was what it meant to shoot oneself in the foot. He thought Cha Bao had a connection with small animals and wanted to arrange more herbivores…
“I guarantee there won’t be any more animals at the kindergarten.”
Bai Qingyu, “Then how do we tell Cha Bao that he’s transferring schools?”
After eating at a place for a while, there were feelings attached. Bai Qingyu wanted to preserve these feelings that Cha Bao might not be able to express yet.
He Renyuan, “The cafeteria is being renovated, we’re changing locations for meals.”
Bai Qingyu, “That’s a good reason!”
Monday morning, Bai Xiaocha came down for breakfast. Although he went to school late, he had to eat breakfast early, so he could digest it and eat more later.
Bai Qingyu placed a duck egg in front of He Renyuan and two small pheasant eggs in front of Cha Bao.
Cha Bao, “What about Dad?”
Bai Qingyu took out a chicken egg, “Dad eats chicken eggs.”
Cha Bao’s eyes crinkled, “Everyone has their own eggs!”
The family of three tapped their eggshells on the table, peeled them, and put them in their porridge bowls.
After finishing a bowl of porridge, He Renyuan announced regretfully, “Cha Bao, your kindergarten cafeteria is being demolished.”
Bai Xiaocha spat out the pig’s trotter he was chewing on, fully demonstrating his concern, “Demolished?”
He Renyuan, “Yes, because the cafeteria is too old, it’s going to collapse.”
Bai Xiaocha looked like the sky was falling, “Baby is going to collapse.”
He Renyuan, “It’s okay, Uncle will arrange for you to eat at a new kindergarten, the one Uncle took you to last time, there won’t be any more alpacas.”
The dimmed light in Bai Xiaocha’s eyes lit up again, “The food at Uncle’s cafeteria is also delicious.”
He Renyuan, “It’s settled, you’ll go to the new kindergarten today.”
Bai Xiaocha, “But I haven’t said goodbye to Principal Uncle and Teacher Zhou.”
Bai Qingyu had already guessed his son’s reaction, “Dad will take you to say goodbye to the teacher.”
He Renyuan, “I’ll go with you.”
Bai Xiaocha, “Then I want to give something to the teacher.”
He filled both his backpacks with snacks, “This one is for the teacher, this one is for my friends.”
At the kindergarten gate.
“Principal Uncle, how come you’re on two wheels now?” One child’s question led to a series of questions.
The principal sadly pulled out his father’s old Phoenix bicycle. He was hurt by the children’s innocent words as soon as he arrived at the gate, like being surrounded by a group of little reporters.
“Bicycles are environmentally friendly, I’ll ride a bicycle from now on.”
“Grandpa Deng also has this bike!” Bai Xiaocha was excited to see the familiar bicycle, like reuniting with an old friend.
Grandpa Deng would also tie a basket to the back seat, and Bai Xiaocha would lie inside, looking at the blue sky, as he rode around the village.
Bai Qingyu also looked nostalgic at the bicycle.
The principal said nervously, “You, you also like this bike?”
So why did Bai Qingyu only dislike the Audi? He could just return the Audi directly.
Bai Qingyu shook his head, “Cha Bao wants to say goodbye to you.”
“Goodbye, teacher…”
“Goodbye, Principal Uncle.”
Bai Xiaocha said goodbye to everyone, gave them farewell chocolates, and finally went back to the principal, “Uncle, your bike is so nice, can I sit on it?”
The principal nodded. Cha Bao had never praised his Audi, and he suddenly felt at peace with the old bicycle.
Bai Xiaocha climbed onto the back seat. The back seat was spacious, unlike modern bicycles with narrow metal frames.
He Renyuan held the handlebars.
Bai Xiaocha, “Uncle, can you ride it?”
He Renyuan could only bite the bullet, swing his leg over the bar, and ride around the kindergarten. This kind of bicycle required a certain height to use the foot brake.
Cha Bao lay on the back seat like a small rice cake, clinging tightly. If a concerned citizen saw this, he would be scolded again.
He Renyuan used all his stability skills. Even if a bowl of water was placed on the back seat, it wouldn’t spill.
Bai Qingyu, seeing Cha Bao’s appearance, knew that the little one missed his grandpa from the countryside. Although there were many grandpas in the city, Old Man Deng was the one who had accompanied him the longest.
He hugged Cha Bao and whispered, “Baby, we’ll go home and see Grandpa this weekend.”
Bai Xiaocha, “Okay—”
Bai Xiaocha left the remaining chocolates for the teacher. Bai Qingyu helped explain, “You can give them to the parents, let them decide whether to give them to the children. Cha Bao and I will be going now.”
The principal watched Cha Bao get in the car and chased after them with the bicycle, “Cha Bao, Cha Bao…”
He was the most well-behaved child he had ever received, the baby he had watched eat dozens of meals.
One couldn’t always avoid getting wet while walking by the river. He had become Cha Bao’s career fan, single-mindedly thinking about managing Cha Bao’s account.
If he wasn’t greedy, Cha Bao could still lead everyone in eating at his kindergarten. There could still be some happy times before his kindergarten went bankrupt.
He Renyuan only started the car after Bai Qingyu fastened his seatbelt, “You should also take a look at the new kindergarten.”
Bai Qingyu was a little worried. All the employees at He Renyuan’s company were university graduates. Would there be a lot of pressure on Cha Bao studying with their children?
When they got out of the car, Bai Qingyu noticed that Bai Xiaocha was carrying the jelly backpack, which only contained a few spoons, no pens, no books. His goal for kindergarten was very clear.
Bai Qingyu suggested, “Baby, do you want to change backpacks?”
They were all He Renyuan’s employees, they would meet during pick-up and drop-off. The tea deity suddenly also cared about face. No wonder humans liked face-saving projects.
Bai Xiaocha liked the jelly backpack very much, “No, Dad.”
Bai Qingyu, “Okay.”
He really shouldn’t have used a transparent box to hold Cha Bao’s spoons, now he couldn’t pretend it was a pencil case.
Bai Qingyu glanced at the elegant He Renyuan and asked expectantly, “Young master, do you have any books in your car? Quickly give Cha Bao one to pretend.”
He Renyuan was slightly embarrassed, “No.”
Bai Qingyu frowned, “You don’t like reading either?”
He Renyuan: “…” As if he was responsible for Cha Bao’s poor academic genes, he wanted to reason with him… but he didn’t want to argue anymore.
He turned his head, pinched Bai Qingyu’s chin, and kissed him.
“Yes. I don’t like reading.”
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A forced kiss is just the beginning.
