Chapter 10

Using his proud composure, Ren Yuan He spoke calmly, “What about dinner?”

The household staff, who had been watching secretly from the sidelines, suddenly looked as if they had just awakened from a dream. Li Ru went to make tea, Li Yuan headed to the kitchen to bring over some rice noodles, and the socially anxious translator Jiang Mengmeng prepared the condiments.

They all assumed that this time, the young master would give in because of the green rice balls Bai Qingyu had made. After all, such a large green rice ball would be enough to fill him, making dinner unnecessary, which was why it hadn’t been served at the table.

With the meal served, Li Ru and Li Yuan watched the scene at the table nervously.

[Unexpectedly, the young master held back. Bai Qingyu has lost this round.]

[When couples quarrel, they eat separately.]

[Let’s see who gives in first.]

Bai Qingyu’s appetite wasn’t as good as the child’s, and his taste buds were fairly normal. Aware that the food he made was mediocre, the green rice ball was sized to Ren Yuan He’s usual portions — quite large. He could only manage half before he was full.

Bai Qingyu felt a bit frustrated. It seemed the main reason Ren Yuan He refused to raise chickens was because of his poor cooking skills, and the other’s picky palate.

There was half a green rice ball left, and wasting food was absolutely forbidden.

Bai Qingyu lifted his eyes and cast a dim glance at Ren Yuan He.

Ren Yuan He was busy pouring the egg, pea shoots, tofu skin, and other condiments from the small dish into the steaming rice noodle broth. As if intentionally diluting the aroma of the Longjing green rice ball, he emptied all the condiments at once, making the fragrance of the rice noodles even stronger.

After watching for a moment, Bai Qingyu pursed his lips, suddenly stood up, and hurried over to Ren Yuan He’s side. He placed the half-eaten green rice ball into an empty bowl beside Ren Yuan He.

He left immediately, disappearing from the first floor within seconds.

Ren Yuan He: “…”

Li Ru and Li Yuan exchanged glances, communicating their shock silently.

Ren Yuan He felt an annoying noise in his ears. He coldly stared at the suddenly appeared half green rice ball and raised an eyebrow. He had achieved a preliminary victory in his confrontation with the overbearing nanny.

Even if he refused all conditions, Bai Qingyu still had to present the green rice ball.

As a former lawyer, his well-honed negotiation skills still came into play.

Ren Yuan He picked up the green rice ball and took a bite of the fruit of victory. The taste was average, but it had a faint tea fragrance.

The butler quietly asked Jiang Mengmeng, “What are the two sisters saying?”

Jiang Mengmeng, equally shocked, accidentally muttered the translation aloud: “Eating a piece of green rice ball together, so loving.”

Butler: “Oh.”

…Hmm?

Ren Yuan He’s fingers froze. He suddenly realized that, in the eyes of others, he seemed to be receiving charity from Bai Qingyu.

Refusing the conditions meant only eating Bai Qingyu’s leftovers.

Eating what others discard—could this really be considered a victory?

Ren Yuan He was truly choked up.

*

“Baby, drink some water quickly, don’t choke,” Bai Qingyu said as he came upstairs and saw Tea Treasure still struggling with two green rice balls, quickly feeding him a sip.

“Daddy, I can’t eat anymore,” Bai Xiaocha burped softly.

Bai Qingyu effortlessly finished the little bit left by Bai Xiaocha. Thankfully, he had given half to Ren Yuan He, otherwise, neither of them could finish it.

He was truly clever, silently sending a signal of reconciliation so that neither he nor Ren Yuan He felt awkward.

Bai Qingyu pulled Tea Treasure onto his lap and rubbed his belly. “Baby, do you want to raise chickens?”

Having been in the city for a week, Bai Xiaocha hadn’t seen any clucking or crowing chickens. He pressed his palm to his head, thought for a moment, then excitedly slapped his forehead, “Yes! To collect eggs!”

Grandpa Deng’s house always had eggs to pick, and although the butler Grandpa was kind, there were no eggs to collect here.

“Well, baby, you clapped too loudly,” Bai Qingyu rubbed his forehead. Bai Xiaocha’s words strengthened his resolve to find another household for a nanny position.

Here, Uncles Qi, Sister Liu, the mute sisters, and the translator were all good, and the living conditions were excellent. The employer’s… employer’s aunt was also very kind.

Bai Qingyu felt a bit reluctant but couldn’t let Bai Xiaocha keep hiding. You can dodge once, but not forever. Ren Yuan He would find out sooner or later, and the longer it took, the angrier he’d be.

The employer’s temper was already bad; if he got angrier, it would harm his health.

This place was originally a transitional stage provided by He Ying for the unemployed. Now that Bai Qingyu was experienced as a nanny, he could rely on his skills to find the next family. Before Ren Yuan He noticed, he would vacate the position.

“When the boss uncle goes to sleep, I’ll take you to the garden to play,” Bai Qingyu said, lying on the bed with Bai Xiaocha. “The boss has been home too much lately.”

Bai Xiaocha: “Okay!”

Ten minutes later, big and small were both fast asleep, neither thinking about the garden.

Collecting mugwort today had been exhausting!

…

Ren Yuan He had transplanted many decades-old tea trees in the garden and forbade the gardener from pruning them, letting them grow wild and free. Perhaps too freely, some were half-dead.

The previous gardener had asked if pruning should be tried, but Ren Yuan He refused.

He always felt he couldn’t interfere. He didn’t want rows of tea trees uniform in height and shape, harvested by machines. Tea trees should grow on rocky mountainsides, slender and upright.

One morning, passing through the garden, Ren Yuan He noticed the tea trees had grown into his ideal form, full of beautiful vitality.

“Is it because spring has arrived?”

Or was it because the gardener had changed?

Ren Yuan He frowned as he watched Bai Qingyu busy in the garden early in the morning. He was not stingy—if the work was good, pay should increase.

As long as the pay was sufficient, it was Bai Qingyu’s “duty.” He must not let Bai Qingyu discover how much he cared for the tea trees, lest it become another weakness.

These tea trees had been dug up from the spot where he had fallen off the cliff. Something important must have happened around them; they were crucial evidence that needed to be preserved.

Ren Yuan He observed Bai Qingyu’s movements, comparing his techniques to those of the previous gardener.

Bai Qingyu noticed the boss’s gaze and sat up. “Are you supervising the work?”

Ren Yuan He: “Do I have that kind of time?”

Bai Qingyu: “But I want to talk to you about post-harvest care of tea trees.”

These trees were somewhat old colleagues; over-harvesting affected their vitality. Since he was about to quit, he wanted to care for his colleagues one last time.

Ren Yuan He patiently said, “Go ahead.”

While the young master and Bai Qingyu were mutually entangled in conversation, Tea Treasure on the third floor was left alone.

So…

Sister Liu quietly went upstairs, carrying a bottle of milk, softly calling, “Tea Treasure, it’s me, Grandma Liu.”

Tea Treasure, sunbathing on the balcony, turned over. His tea-colored eyes, illuminated by sunlight, appeared even clearer.

—Grandma Liu is here, Grandma Liu gives milk.

Grandma Liu covered her heart, feeling as if she had seen the sun’s child. “Baby, just sit still. Here, drink your milk.”

Grandma Liu twisted open the bottle cap; she had even bought a replacement nipple that could be screwed onto the bottle.

“Thank you, Grandma,” Bai Xiaocha skillfully used the nipple and straw, though in Grandma’s eyes, at this age, he should still be using a nipple.

Since Bai Qingyu had arranged Ren Yuan He’s menu without objection, Sister Liu began to doubt her own indifferent cooking philosophy.

Actually, she should be braver and ask the young master’s preferences, learn and refine dishes based on what he liked. The young master was actually very nice; she had been somewhat lazy.

But asking the young master directly was still too terrifying, like consulting an expensive lawyer after committing a crime — she dared not even step into the law firm.

However, now there was a baby who looked just like the young master.

What pressure was there in talking to Tea Treasure?

Sister Liu pretended she was facing a miniature Ren Yuan He and stood with her hands by her sides. “Young master, do you prefer Su-style or Cantonese mooncakes?”

Bai Xiaocha tilted his head: “Hmm?”

“Daddy likes salted egg yolk mooncakes,” Bai Xiaocha said. Daddy would make salted duck eggs himself.

Sister Liu: “Oh, Young Master He likes salted egg yolk mooncakes, I mean, Bai Qingyu likes salted egg yolk mooncakes.”

Sister Liu: “Young Master He, do you prefer sweet and sour fish or spicy fish?”

Bai Xiaocha: “Oh?”

Sweet and sour fish.

Sister Liu: “Young master, do you eat tofu pudding sweet or savory?”

Bai Xiaocha: “Sweet first!”

Sister Liu felt like she was practicing English at a conversation corner and had met a responsive partner for every sentence. She played the role well and was very satisfied, feeling her awe of the young master diminish by thirty percent.

She picked up Bai Xiaocha and kissed him. “After you finish drinking, continue sunbathing.”

After a while, the sign language translator Jiang Mengmeng tiptoed upstairs.

Who would have thought, after working in a wealthy family for so long, she had never once made eye contact with the boss. Afraid that even a glance would reveal something unnecessary and cost her the job.

“Tea Treasure, it’s Auntie.”

Just as Bai Xiaocha was lying down, he got up again, seeing Auntie with a lollipop.

“Tea Treasure, let’s play a game: one, two, three, freeze! The frozen person can’t laugh. If you win, Auntie will give you a lollipop.”

Bai Xiaocha nodded seriously. Because of the chubby cheeks, when he pursed his lips, a slight downward curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“One, two, three, freeze.”

Bai Xiaocha sat still. The young tea deity’s gaze was naturally clear, innocent of worldly matters, with a touch of nobility.

Like Young Master He, he looked at people but seemed not to be looking.

At one and a half years old, he already could imitate his boss with eerie accuracy.

Jiang Mengmeng sat opposite Tea Treasure, staring directly into the young boss’s eyes. Courage +1 +1 +1…

…

Father and son had no idea what these people were up to. Bai Qingyu only knew that Sister Liu and the others frequently went upstairs to feed and play with Bai Xiaocha. People were truly kind.

Bai Qingyu had the idea to resign and mentioned it to the butler at noon the next day.

Tea Treasure sat beside, digging into eight-treasure rice. The butler watched with eyes full of affection, then suddenly asked in disbelief, “You want to resign? Is it because the salary is too low? I can increase it by five thousand.”

Five thousand yuan, including room and board, was the wage set by He Ying—a poverty alleviation standard, not an unlimited handout.

Bai Qingyu: “No, that’s too much.” He didn’t do more work than Sister Liu and the others, and being paid twice as much would disrupt everyone’s psychological balance.

Butler: “It’s not too much, everyone is paid this much. You get five thousand, Tea Treasure gets five thousand. Together, that’s ten thousand.”

Bai Xiaocha raised his head. “Butler Grandpa, I also get five thousand? Is it free?”

Five thousand was a difficult concept, but when someone asked him to take something, Bai Xiaocha only cared if it was free.

Bai Qingyu smiled, gently ruffling his head. “Not free. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, except what Daddy gives you.”

Bai Xiaocha: “Oh.”

Butler: “Not taken for nothing. How can Tea Treasure not count as working? Everyone feels better when they see him.”

He had seen more than once that the household staff practiced talking to the young master by treating Tea Treasure as his stand-in.

Stand-ins get paid, too, but the butler didn’t want to say in front of the biological father that his son looked like the young master. Any father hearing that wouldn’t be happy.