Chapter 58
He Renyuan had tasted many questionable liquid meals, but the ingredients in the divine realm were limited, usually a mix of two or three fruits, processed simply, barely passable as fruit tea. When hungry, anything was edible.
But it was different in the human world. Perhaps the environment affected the mindset. With food delivery readily available, unpalatable food seemed even more so.
When Bai Qingyu came out, He Renyuan picked up the remaining half bowl and took a sip.
Ginger masked the fishy smell, but the fishiness was still lurking, with a hint of sweetness from red dates.
His son’s filial piety was admirable, but it was best not to let his wife cook the fish he caught.
He Renyuan, “Your Tea Deity, what kind of soup is this?”
Bai Qingyu explained, “Pig liver, pig heart, sesame seeds, and red dates for blood replenishment, ginger to remove the fishy smell and dispel cold.”
“Don’t you always eat pig liver? And you have a cold, making it even worse.”
The mixture looked like Chinese medicine, with a faint taste, strong ginger flavor. So Bai Qingyu had noticed his slight cold.
He Renyuan held his breath and finished the soup in one gulp. He saw Cha Bao’s admiring gaze, as if he were a great father at this moment.
Bai Qingyu took out a mint and gave it to He Renyuan.
He Renyuan, like a magician, put the mint in his son’s mouth.
Bai Xiaocha quickly took it, his chubby cheeks hiding it. After the mint dissolved, only sweetness remained.
He Renyuan drank some glucose water to calm himself, “Let’s go out for a walk.”
Bai Xiaocha sat on the quilt on his left, Bai Qingyu on his right, pinning He Renyuan between them like weights.
Bai Qingyu put a warm towel on his face, “You’re weak, you can’t move, just sleep after washing your face.”
He Renyuan, “You and Cha Bao should go back to your room, colds are contagious.”
Bai Qingyu, “They’re not.”
He Renyuan paused. They had spent days and nights together in the divine realm, but in this world, this was the first time Bai Qingyu offered to stay.
He Renyuan was in a single ward with a double bed, big enough for three. Since it wasn’t contagious, he wouldn’t refuse.
He Renyuan called his assistant to add a children’s bed next to Bai Qingyu’s side.
Bai Qingyu frowned, “Isn’t this bed big enough?”
He Renyuan put his arm around his waist and whispered, “Haven’t you noticed we always squeeze Cha Bao?”
He hadn’t dared to think about it that night in Huangshan, he and Bai Qingyu cuddling, squeezing Cha Bao onto the pillow.
Bai Qingyu, who had slept with Cha Bao for over two years, didn’t notice this problem, “No, Xiao Cha and I have standard sleeping postures.” Tea trees weren’t animals, they didn’t move around.
He Renyuan asked his son for confirmation, “Is it crowded sleeping between Dad and Uncle?”
Bai Xiaocha nodded, “Baby has no space after rolling out!”
Bai Qingyu: “…”
The hospital brought a children’s bed and placed it next to Bai Qingyu’s side, with a soft mattress.
He Renyuan, “It’s like a baby crib in the maternity ward.”
He imagined his wife after giving birth, Cha Bao in the crib, Bai Qingyu in the bed, him as a new father, busy taking care of them.
He hadn’t participated in any of that. When he met Cha Bao, he was already a sensible child who played hide-and-seek with his dad’s employer.
So what was a little blood loss? If Bai Qingyu had given birth like a human, he would have been even weaker.
“What was Cha Bao like when he was born?”
Bai Qingyu, “A five-kilogram baby, very cute, sleeping and basking in the sun all day, never getting tanned.”
Bai Xiaocha, confused, “Dad, who’s the five-kilogram baby?”
Bai Qingyu, “You, Baby.”
Bai Xiaocha giggled, “It’s Baby!”
Bai Qingyu finished washing up, got into bed, and searched for “blood replenishment foods.” He only knew how to use divine power, not food, but combining “blood replenishment” with “balanced nutrition” was his expertise.
“I’ll read for a bit, you and Cha Bao sleep first.”
He Renyuan didn’t want to sleep. His wife had just remembered their past. If it weren’t for Cha Bao, they might have had a candlelit dinner, not liquid food.
It was a beautiful night, perfect for romance. He Renyuan pulled Bai Qingyu into his arms, wanting to flirt.
“Wife, what are you…”
He Renyuan’s gaze stopped when he saw Bai Qingyu’s search results. It was hard to flirt while facing pig feed.
He Renyuan let go of his wife, put Cha Bao on his lap, “Cha Bao, are you sleepy?”
Bai Xiaocha, “Baby will play for a while longer.”
Bai Qingyu glanced up. He noticed that Bai Xiaocha was quite energetic when he was near He Renyuan, perhaps there was a magnetic field between father and son.
He Renyuan, “If you’re not sleepy, Dad will tell you a story.”
He Renyuan took out a picture book of idiom stories. He had someone buy a bunch when Bai Qingyu left Cha Bao to supervise him.
Bai Xiaocha sat on He Renyuan’s lap, obediently not leaning against his chest. He Renyuan bent slightly, holding the book in front of Cha Bao, “The first story, Yu Gong Moves a Mountain.”
“There were two mountains blocking Grandpa Yu Gong’s door… in the end, the deities were moved and sent people to move the mountains.”
Bai Xiaocha seemed to understand.
He Renyuan, “Like a big bowl of soup, Grandpa drinks, then Dad, then Cha Bao. One day, we’ll finish it.”
Bai Qingyu took screenshots and notes, “This story tells us that big things still rely on deities.”
Bai Xiaocha, “It still relies on Dad!”
He Renyuan: “…” What did online parenting guides say about one parent educating and the other undermining? Did it involve spanking?
Bai Xiaocha, applying what he learned, suggested to Boss Dad, “Boss Dad, ask Deity Dad to pour out the soup.”
This way, Grandpa didn’t have to drink, Dad didn’t have to drink, and Baby didn’t have to drink!
The word “pour out” sounded cruel coming from Cha Bao.
He Renyuan, “I don’t dare.”
The tea deity said no wishes, only moving him with sincerity.
Cha Bao could move the top ten filial sons of China, He Renyuan couldn’t move the tea deity.
Bai Qingyu planned tomorrow’s three meals and went to bed satisfied. He faced Cha Bao, gently patting the little one’s quilt. He Renyuan hugged him from behind, the family of three lined up like a Wi-Fi signal, full bars of happiness.
The next day, He Renyuan reached out and touched nothing. His wife and child were gone, and the sound of a blender came from outside.
“…”
Blood loss did affect his alertness. He had never slept so soundly, not even noticing his bedmate getting up.
How did Bai Qingyu even bring the blender here?
The tea deity’s favorite appliance was now the blender, it could chop and cook.
He just had to wash the ingredients, throw them in, select the chopping function, then add seasonings, blend, add water, and cook.
The ingredients were pre-washed, he didn’t even have to clean them.
Light breakfast. Bai Qingyu put lotus seeds, peanuts, red dates, black rice, and black beans into the blender and made mixed soy milk.
Bai Xiaocha ate a meat bun and drank soy milk with a straw, “Delicious, Dad.”
Even He Renyuan in the room smelled the normal food. He was touched, had he moved on from the self-harm incident? His wife was really kind and forgiving.
He Renyuan sat across from Cha Bao and tentatively picked up a meat bun. Seeing his wife didn’t object, he was moved to tears.
He took a bite, and Bai Qingyu placed a bowl of soy milk in front of him.
Bai Qingyu, with a cold face, cut open two fish oil capsules and dripped them into the soy milk.
That fishy smell…
He Renyuan, “Thank you, but I can swallow them whole.”
Bai Qingyu, “The fish oil capsules are too big, swallowing them whole will strain your wound.”
He Renyuan whispered, “Cha Bao, help Dad.”
Bai Xiaocha, unaware of the seriousness, dutifully put the straw into his dad’s bowl and took a big sip.
Hmm?
Dad said he couldn’t spit it out.
Bai Xiaocha pinched the straw, his face serious, as if he were a big shot cutting off an important oil pipeline, preventing the soy milk from flowing back to his dad’s bowl.
Cha Bao swallowed the unpleasant soy milk, put the straw down, picked up his own bowl, and chugged it down.
He finished his soy milk in one gulp, took a bite of the meat bun, and then touched his belly, signaling to Boss Dad that he was full.
“Baby can’t eat anymore.”
He Renyuan hurriedly rubbed his belly, “It’s okay, Dad will drink it himself.”
After breakfast, Bai Xiaocha took out a notebook from his jelly backpack. The kindergarten teacher had assigned homework.
“Dad, can you help me?”
He Renyuan opened the kindergarten WeChat group and saw the assignment. It was to develop the children’s hand-eye coordination. They had to cut out pictures of fruits, flowers, leaves, and animals, and glue them onto a background, creating a 3D picture.
“Of course.”
The eight o’clock sunlight shone into the ward, illuminating a corner of the bed.
Bai Xiaocha was sleeping soundly in the light. He Renyuan diligently did his son’s homework.
Half an hour later, Bai Xiaocha woke up, saw the finished homework, and mumbled, “Thank you, Uncle.”
Oh, not Uncle, it was Dad now.
He said again, “Thank you, Dad.”
He Renyuan, “You’re welcome, do Dad a favor.”
Bai Xiaocha, “Okay.”
He Renyuan called He Wangzhong and said to Cha Bao, “Ask Grandpa if he can deliver food to the hospital.”
Bai Xiaocha repeated, “Grandpa, can you deliver food to the hospital?”
He Wangzhong rarely refused Cha Bao, “Sorry, Cha Bao, Grandpa’s hand hurts today, I can’t cook.”
Bai Xiaocha said, “Then Grandpa, rest well and eat more.”
He Renyuan’s plan failed, so he tried another tactic, “Dad won a free hamburger coupon, two free hamburgers, Cha Bao, do you want a beef burger or a chicken burger?”
Free hamburgers, they would expire if not eaten, Bai Qingyu wouldn’t mind, right? He couldn’t eat liquid food after a full meal.
Bai Xiaocha, “Dad, the delivery man can’t come in.”
He Renyuan: “…” Bai Qingyu really controlled everything!
He Renyuan messaged Zhu Yiqing, “I’m hospitalized, come visit, my son is also here, remember to bring snacks.”
Zhu Yiqing replied, “Hospitalized? What happened? I’m abroad, I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Before He Renyuan could think of another visitor, Bai Qingyu came in with a bowl of something.
Bai Xiaocha sniffed the air and climbed out of bed, “Dad, Baby needs to pee.”
He Renyuan: “…” This was what it meant to have no filial son by a sick man’s bedside.
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