Chapter 3

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Having eaten half of the bread, Bai Xiaochai knew the rest should be for his father. But the bread was so delicious that he cupped the packaging and eagerly licked the cream off the lid. His tongue brushed his eyelashes and cheeks, like snowflakes falling softly on his face, fluttering up and down with his blinking lashes.

Bai Qingyu watched his son and suddenly realized perhaps the disposable plastic lunchbox had fallen too. He disliked disposable plastics as well and had brought two sets of wooden bowls and chopsticks into the city.

Bai Qingyu carefully arranged a basket, laid a soft little blanket inside, placed Bai Xiaochai within it, and carried him out to the balcony to bask in the natural sunlight.

Bai Xiaochai immediately closed his eyes. “Daddy, eat bread.”

The warm sunlight gently shone on the little tea god’s face. Bai Xiaochai wriggled nimbly to expose his back to the sun.

Bai Qingyu tidied up the half-full bread box from the floor and put it in the fridge. Since Bai Xiaochai liked it, he decided to save it for him.

Then, he found cleaning tools and started dusting and mopping room by room.

This floor was large—bigger than the supermarket in their hometown. After cleaning the entire floor, Bai Qingyu’s nose was sweating.

During a break, he thought of the elder sister he had met on the train and called her. He told her he had found a job with food and lodging provided, but since he was staying under someone else’s roof, it was inconvenient to accept her toys.

The elder sister was glad to hear he had a job. “Then I’ll send you some; they don’t take up much space.”

“Thank you, sister,” Bai Qingyu replied.

At noon, the phone in the room rang. The butler informed Bai Qingyu it was time for lunch.

Bai Qingyu went down alone. Having watched too many dramas, he had assumed the servants had their own dining area, but he found everyone gathered around the main table.

Butler Qi introduced everyone: “This is Bai Qingyu. He’ll be responsible for the third floor and the garden. Li Ruli and Li Ruyuan are sisters, in charge of cleaning the first and second floors. Sister Liu cooks. Old Li guards the main gate. There is also a dedicated caretaker for the fourth-floor swimming pool, who doesn’t live here.”

Li Ruli and Li Ruyuan were tall, sturdy sisters. Opposite them sat a young, slender, quiet girl.

The butler pointed at the girl: “She’s the sign language interpreter. Li Ruli and Li Ruyuan became mute as children due to medication misuse. I haven’t learned sign language yet, so I can’t understand their gestures. The young master’s aunt—she’s the one who introduced you—arranged for me to have an interpreter.”

In truth, the interpreter girl was somewhat lame and socially anxious, a struggling job seeker introduced by He Ying. Without a post, they created one for her. Also, Old Li at the gate stuttered. Many of them were temporary, awaiting better placements.

Bai Qingyu was impressed; he’d only seen sign language interpreters on news channels, reserved for the truly skilled.

Indeed, this was a wealthy household—even the butler had an interpreter.

Qi Yun said, “Once you’re here, you’re family. Everyone helps each other to live well. Ahem, Qingyu has a child with him. Young Master He doesn’t like children, so don’t mention him around that topic.”

Everyone nodded in understanding at the butler’s hint.

Bai Qingyu felt their kindness and the weight of responsibility. Both emotionally and rationally, he must work hard.

“Today the young master won’t be home. You can take the child to play in the garden. Why didn’t you bring him down for lunch? Can he eat by himself?”

“He can,” Bai Qingyu said.

Cook Liu said, “Don’t leave the child alone on the third floor. Go carry him down quickly.”

Bai Qingyu bowed. “Thank you, everyone.”

He turned and went upstairs, bringing Bai Xiaochai and the basket down. The child sat in the basket eating, so crumbs wouldn’t fall to the floor.

Bai Qingyu held his son’s wooden bowl and carefully scooped a spoonful each of dishes without bones or thorns, mixing sweet and savory. The TV ads claimed mixed feeding was healthier.

Everyone watched in silence as Bai Qingyu mashed the food into a porridge-like mush. The mute sisters bit their lips, gripping their fingers anxiously, more distressed than others.

[This... this is their child after all. It’s awkward to criticize... but…]

Bai Qingyu placed the mixed, nutritious bowl on the small stool in front of Bai Xiaochai.

“Thank you, Daddy,” the child said, gripping the spoon happily. He scooped a big mouthful filled with lychee flesh, savory fish, and sweet corn chowder.

The complex flavors made his cheeks puff out. He even used the spoon to scrape the food from the corners of his mouth, licking it clean.

Everyone was speechless. Bai Qingyu was poor, but his baby was plump and rosy because he was a voracious eater.

This was such a rough way to raise a child.

Bai Qingyu asked puzzled, “Why aren’t you eating?”

“We are,” the butler said, sipping soup to calm his nerves, sneaking glances at Bai Xiaochai, who kept gobbling the mixed food, occasionally choking and pushing the mush with the spoon, spilling half a spoonful of broth.

What an easy child to care for, so different from the precious young master.

After eating, Bai Qingyu planned to tidy the garden in the afternoon.

Bai Xiaochai insisted on helping pull weeds, but he couldn’t distinguish artificial turf from weeds and lacked the strength, so he could only poke at roots with his fingers.

Not only a hindrance, but he also followed closely at his father’s heels, adding to the chaos.

“Could you please stay a meter away from me?”

“Okay,” Bai Xiaochai agreed, quietly scooting his bottom away.

Bai Qingyu felt a bit soft-hearted. Being in unfamiliar territory, Bai Xiaochai relied on him especially. But if too close, Bai Qingyu feared the weeding tools might hurt him.

The butler watched Bai Qingyu working, silently judging his character. He worked diligently, spoke little, and was honest. He Ying had great judgment in people; otherwise, he wouldn’t dare place him in his nephew’s home.

Clearing his throat, the butler suggested, “Buy a baby chair. Otherwise, you can’t stop him from following you—”

Before he finished, Bai Qingyu had dug a forty-centimeter-deep hole and placed the little one inside.

“Play here.”

The earth, to the tea god child, felt like a mother’s embrace, providing a sense of security. Bai Xiaochai sat quietly in the hole, playing by poking the soil walls with his toes. The sand trickled down his feet, tickling him, making him laugh aloud.

Bai Qingyu turned to the butler. “Uncle Qi, what did you say just now?”

“Buy a high chair to secure the baby,” the butler replied.

“No, a hole will do. If he’s too restless, pile some dirt over him,” Bai Qingyu said.

The butler looked at the happy child in the hole and fell silent.

[A mud-loving baby, so unlike the young master.]

After three days at the He residence, Bai Qingyu grew accustomed. When working upstairs, he let the little one follow; in the garden, he let Bai Xiaochai stay in his hole. They had free meals daily, and Bai Xiaochai had gained a little weight.

The butler repeatedly suggested paying Bai Qingyu’s salary early to buy toys for Bai Xiaochai, but Bai Qingyu said playing with mud was enough; the money should be saved to send to Bai Xiaochai’s grandfather.

The butler showed a disapproving look. What if the child ate dirt?

Seeing the butler frown, Bai Xiaochai knew his father was troubled and said seriously, “Uncle Butler, the baby doesn’t need toys. The baby just wants to play in the mud.”

Such a heartbreaking statement.

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The butler felt even more sympathy but said nothing more. He could help for a while by buying toys, but the child’s quality of life ultimately depended on his father’s financial strength—uneven and unstable, easily leading to crooked growth.

“Alright, Tea Baby is the best.”

From the kitchen, a discarded wooden spatula became a digging tool. Bai Xiaochai pouted and excitedly shouted, “Daddy, there’s a little bug!”

A small insect crawled onto the child’s dirty toes and bit his delicate skin. Perhaps it had never bitten such thin “armor” before; it hung around the instep and bit again.

Bai Xiaochai reacted sluggishly. “Daddy, the bug bit me.”

Bai Qingyu hurried over, scooped his son up, and patted the mud off his feet. “If you see bugs, you must shoo them away immediately, understand?”

Bai Xiaochai’s eyes welled with tears. “If it doesn’t bite me, I won’t shoo it away.”

Bai Qingyu said, “If you don’t shoo it away, it will want to bite you.”

He carried his son to wash his feet. The dirty coal-like clumps were rinsed clean, revealing two swollen bumps on the instep.

“Daddy, it itches.”

“I’ll take you to buy medicine.” Bai Qingyu carried his son out of the villa for the first time, walking several hundred meters to a pharmacy.

The clerk was polite and courteous. After examining Bai Xiaochai’s feet, she pulled out a small ointment box. “Twenty-eight yuan.”

Bai Qingyu hesitated. Such a tiny ointment cost twenty-eight yuan. Ashamed, he said, “Sorry, I won’t buy it.”

Bai Xiaochai peeked out from behind his father’s back. “Sorry, sister, we don’t want it.”

The clerk said, “That’s okay. Our rent is expensive here, so prices are high. You can go about a kilometer down the road to another pharmacy.”

Bai Qingyu carried his son out but didn’t turn left toward the other pharmacy. Instead, he found a corner, plucked a hair resembling a tea leaf, squeezed out its juice, and applied it to Bai Xiaochai’s foot.

The swelling slowly subsided under Bai Qingyu’s fingertips.

Bai Xiaochai said, “Mmm!”

Medicine costs money; divine power does not, though overuse causes weakness.

No matter—just a small bump, no risk of weakness.

Besides, twenty yuan was more important; with that, he could make a bottle of medicinal wine lasting decades.

Continuing on, after fifteen minutes, Bai Qingyu found a shop selling Chinese herbs.

He bought alcohol, borneol, coptis, rhubarb, and honeysuckle—heat-clearing and detoxifying herbs infused in alcohol, specifically for insect bites, enough to last Bai Xiaochai into adulthood.

After such a long walk, Bai Qingyu’s lips were dry. Just as he was thinking of returning, he spotted a free water fountain.

Truly a big city! Bai Qingyu scanned the code to get water. The fountain, shaped like a statue holding a teapot, poured a thin stream of water. Bai Xiaochai stood beneath, mouth open wide, but missed the water, which splashed onto his eyebrows, prompting him to close his eyes quickly.

“Daddy, one more time.”

“All right.”

The two lingered over the free water, unaware that a Maybach was driving down the street.

*

The driver glimpsed He Renyuan’s cold, unapproachable expression in the rearview mirror, then saw the father and son happily drinking water. He thought the boss’s money couldn’t buy happiness.

The man in the back seat was handsome, with aquiline nose, deep-set eyes, sharp brows, and jet-black hair. A faint scowl always shadowed his brow. His broad shoulders, narrow waist, and muscular frame beneath his suit only intensified an aura of intimidating power.

“Chen Shu, have you been driving for me three years now?” He Renyuan suddenly asked coldly.

Chen Shu’s neck stiffened. This was a bad start to a conversation… Was the next sentence “Don’t come tomorrow”?

He forgot to roll down the window when passing the greenery that looked like tea bushes. Young Master He liked watching new buds.

Chen Shu softly responded and skillfully opened the window, letting spring air flow in, turning the car into an open space.

The wind fluttered He Renyuan’s forehead hair, revealing a faint scar about an inch long.

He Renyuan said no more, his gaze fixed outside.

*

Just as Bai Qingyu was about to return to work, he received a call from the butler.

The butler nervously asked, “Qingyu, where are you?”

“Outside buying things.”

“Mr. He is coming back. Don’t come back now to avoid meeting him. You haven’t taken Xiaochai to a playground, right? Today you have a day off. Play outside.”

“If you don’t want the playground, the library’s fine. There’s a children’s picture book section. Take subway line 3; it’s just five stops.”

Bai Qingyu nodded, realizing the butler couldn’t see him. “Okay, I won’t come back.”

“Butler: “I’ll notify you when Young Master He leaves.”

The sky was gray and overcast. Spring rains fell; the tips of the willows grew greener. The breeze was gentle, not cold. Bai Xiaochai lifted his little face; his soft hair fluttered in the wind.

Bai Qingyu sensed the humidity in the air and hurried to find a place to shelter from the rain for a long time.

Looking up, a subway station entrance appeared within a hundred meters. Bai Qingyu carried Bai Xiaochai inside.

At the subway entrance, a middle-aged vendor was packing up toys. As rain neared, parents took their children home, and few kids remained on the street. The vendor was about to ride away on his bike when he suddenly spotted a man and a child approaching.

The shrewd man pulled out a helium balloon shaped like a large rooster and pushed it toward the child’s hand—if the child caught and held it, the parent had to pay.

“Little friend—”

Bai Xiaochai recalled the milk bottle on the train and happily rubbed his face. “Uncle, is it free?”

The man was speechless.

“Fifteen yuan each.”

Bai Xiaochai hid his hand in the gap between his father’s chest and arm. “Uncle, my daddy has no money.”

The man had never seen such a clever child. Amused and vexed, afraid that one more look would soften his heart and give the balloon away for free, he quickly rode off.

“Such a cute little one. Here’s a cup for you.” A young man carrying a string of large plastic belly cups approached.

Bai Xiaochai didn’t give up. “Brother, is it free?”

The young man smiled broadly. “Yes, if you help me download an app. It’s legit. Download it from the app store.”

Hmm?

Bai Qingyu and Bai Xiaochai stopped and looked. Since he had brought Bai Xiaochai out, they indeed needed a cup for water. “I don’t have much data.”

The young man said, “I’ll give you a hotspot.”

Three minutes later, after a flurry of swift operations, Bai Qingyu’s phone had a new short-video app and an order placed for a cup costing one cent.

“This cup is yours now.”

“Wow!” Bai Xiaochai exclaimed, unaware of the transaction.

Seeing Bai Qingyu’s number was new to the network, even more excited than Columbus discovering America, the young man said, “I’ll give you another cup if you download one more app.”

Bai Xiaochai eagerly agreed, “Daddy wants one too.”

The young man smiled, hung another belly cup around Bai Xiaochai’s neck, and performed more operations, adding a red shopping app to Bai Qingyu’s phone.

Just as he was about to suggest more, raindrops began to fall heavily. Bai Qingyu quickly put away his phone. “No more. I have to catch the subway.”

Bai Qingyu had planned to go to the library, but Bai Xiaochai was captivated by the subway, a large-scale toy.

This station was not crowded, and they could linger without blocking traffic. It offered rain shelter and toys and was close to home. Bai Qingyu sat holding his little one on a bench, watching trains come and go every few minutes.

A free big toy, with a minimum fare of two yuan, that could be played with until 11:30 p.m.

“Whoosh!” Bai Xiaochai puffed his cheeks, imitating the subway’s underground wind.

“Another one, Daddy!”

Bai Qingyu suddenly realized a problem: if it rained often, taking Bai Xiaochai out wouldn’t be convenient.

The tea god child could get wet, but too much rain or flooding was bad.

Bai Qingyu opened the newly downloaded app, searched for fully rainproof baby strollers.

Only transparent rain covers for strollers were available, costing over twenty yuan; the stroller itself was sold separately.

Strollers cost at least a hundred yuan!

Bai Qingyu’s pockets were tight. Just as he was about to close the app, a subway cleaner passed by pushing a garbage cart.

His gaze was drawn to the plastic trash bin with a lid on top and wheels below.

Huh? Wasn’t that an upgraded rainproof rolling basket, like his baby carrier?

He immediately changed the search to outdoor trash bins and ordered a green eco-friendly model. New users paid only sixty-six yuan to bring home a 120-liter large-capacity bin.

Bai Qingyu carefully filled in his address and waited for delivery.

Outside, rain probably fell heavily. Incoming passengers carried dripping umbrellas, leaving wet footprints on the ground.

Bai Qingyu suddenly remembered the diapers drying on the balcony. Could they have been rained on?

Never mind, Bai Xiaochai had many diapers; he’d wash and dry them again tomorrow.

The He Residence.

Before He Renyuan stepped inside, a sudden gust blew a piece of white fabric toward his face.

Ever since he was ambushed three years ago, he was especially wary of unknown objects. He raised his hand to block it and caught a rectangular cloth before it could cover his face.

“What is this?” He Renyuan’s face darkened.

The butler instantly broke into a sweat. “This is... this...”

It seemed to be Bai Xiaochai’s diaper!

Disaster. The young master had a cleanliness obsession. How could Bai Qingyu dry diapers on the balcony? Just toss them in the dryer.

“This...” The butler thought fast. “These are cleaning rags. The new nanny likes to wash and hang them on the balcony. I said disinfect and dry them, but he said the sun sterilizes better.”

Rags were better than diapers, at least.

He Renyuan flung the cloth away. “Was this introduced by the aunt again?”

“Yes.”

Though He Ying introduced some struggling workers, she rarely troubled He Renyuan. This was the first time—and with a rag thrown in his face. He felt his patience had reached its limit. “This can’t happen again.”

“Yes, yes. Will you stay home tonight?”

He Renyuan grunted and strode inside. In the hall, he paused and swept his gaze sharply over every corner.

The house was as he left it last time, but he sensed something different.

He pressed his hand to his forehead, touching the uneven scar, and closed his eyes. “Make some tea.”

The butler fetched tea leaves, worried about how Bai Qingyu would return tonight. If left outside, Bai Qingyu’s frugality might lead him to sleep in an underground passage.

*

“Daddy, I’m sleepy.” Bai Xiaochai had watched hundreds of subway trains that day, too many to count. Without human food to sustain him, a tea god cub at this age easily gets drowsy.

“Sleep, Daddy’s holding you.” Bai Qingyu placed him on his lap, resting his head on his own arm, gently patting his back.

A subway train stopped. Several laughing girls stepped out, each carrying a paper bag, apparently returning from a night market with hot, fragrant snacks. The scent of roasted chestnuts wafted over.

Bai Xiaochai shyly rubbed Bai Qingyu’s elbow. “Daddy, I’m not sleepy anymore.”

Bai Qingyu smiled. “Daddy will take you to buy some.”

It was already ten at night. Bai Qingyu scanned the code to exit. Near the subway entrance, a stall sold grilled sausages for five yuan each.

Outside the subway was a bank with three slightly wet steps. Bai Qingyu found a dry spot, sat down holding his son, and glanced at the 24-hour self-service hall, which seemed suitable for overnight stays.

Bai Xiaochai nibbled a piece of sausage, cheeks puffed, and asked with concern, “Daddy, no free dinner tonight?”