Chapter 3

“It’s only a monitor.” Bai Sheng picked up the little one and turned him this way and that, examining him thoroughly. Only after confirming that he had not injured himself did Bai Sheng reach down and lift the intellectually challenged machine that had begun circling his feet after losing track of the cub. “I’m on the other side of the monitor. I can use it to speak to you.”
Bai Nuo buried his small head in his father’s chest. From Bai Sheng’s angle, only the child’s fluffy crown was visible.
After hearing Bai Sheng’s explanation, the little one—who had learned to treat every rustle of grass as a threat in the apocalyptic world—finally turned his head from Bai Sheng’s embrace and looked at the mobile monitor dangling from Bai Sheng’s hand, its wheels still spinning uselessly in the air.
Little Bai Nuo remained sprawled against Bai Sheng’s chest, watching it nervously.
For an alpha, his temperament was rather too soft. He was also easily startled.
And—
Bai Sheng was not entirely certain. Was this acting spoiled?
Although Bai Sheng could not remember whether he had resembled this little thing as a child, he knew one thing: he had never thrown himself into an adult’s arms like this to seek comfort.
The little thing was soft, tiny, and comfortable to hold, but this would not do.
While considering his plans and child-rearing programme, Bai Sheng casually pressed the monitor’s power button.
The red light immediately went dark, and the monitor became unresponsive.
Before Bai Sheng could react further, the cub in his arms exclaimed instinctively in his milky voice, “Dad is amazing! You made the light go out at once!”
Bai Sheng had been about to put the child down and tell him that he could not seek cuddles whenever he pleased. The words lodged in his throat.
He coughed softly.
He had only switched off a monitor. What was so impressive about that?
Bai Sheng had received countless compliments since childhood. Who would become pleased by such strange praise?
He adjusted the cub in his arms and instructed him quietly, “In future, don’t climb over the bed rail whenever you please… Forget it. What good will telling you do?”
Bai Sheng’s voice was low. A thoughtful look crossed his handsome features as he decided to have the bed rail raised later.
Behind him, the servants who had also received the notification finally arrived.
They should have come earlier and remained near the cub’s room. However, Bai Sheng had stayed at the ancestral estate instead of going to the company that day. He disliked being disturbed and had been watching from the second-floor study, so the servants had not remained upstairs and arrived slightly late.
Now the servants familiar with Bai Sheng stared at him in confusion. The young master had clearly climbed over the bed rail, yet why did Third Young Master Bai… appear to be smiling?
The servants working for the Bai family knew something about its circumstances and understood how distant its blood ties were.
Could it be that members of the Bai family looked coldly amused whenever a cub fell?!
By rights, they should not interfere so much… but the young master truly was such an adorable little thing.
They should not meddle in their employers’ private affairs… but the young master truly was such an adorable little thing.
One of the maids looked at little Bai Nuo’s explosively adorable face and twisted her hands repeatedly in her clothes.
The cub had already noticed the strangers. He hid in his father’s arms, revealing only half his little head over Bai Sheng’s shoulder as he looked at them.
The servants: …This is far too adorable!
Perhaps they should quietly find ways to make the young master’s life a little better after all.
By then, Bai Sheng had settled the cub securely in his arms and checked the time.
“Third Young Master, dinner is ready.”
“Mm. Take him to eat.”
Bai Sheng answered and prepared to put the little one down.
Bai Sheng never ate at regular times. He still had work to do and had left the study only because the child’s climb over the bed rail had startled him.
The servants were accustomed to this. They took two steps forward and were about to acknowledge the instruction when the child’s milky voice sounded.
“Has Dad already eaten?”
“No, but Dad isn’t hungry right now.”
Little Bai Nuo did not understand.
Food had been difficult to find in the apocalyptic world. Not only had all kinds of living creatures mutated, even the water was polluted. During the years he lived alone, he had rarely eaten until he was full.
The child’s happiness was also very simple.
To him, eating until one was full was the most important and happiest thing in the world.
Dad, however, did not seem to feel the same.
Gathering his courage, the cub reached out and touched the space between Bai Sheng’s brows.
They had only met that day.
Perhaps because they were truly related by blood, however, the child felt a natural closeness to Bai Sheng.
The cub wrapped his arms around Bai Sheng’s neck and refused to let himself be put down. “Dad has to eat properly. Eating is the most important thing! NuoNuo likes eating.”
There was actually someone who did not like to eat?
The cub could not understand!
Bai Sheng now had a piece of sticky candy clinging to him.
Naturally, with the physical strength of a top alpha—indeed, even as an ordinary person—he could have pulled this tiny child away with a little force.
Bai Sheng did not move. He supported the child’s body, still rather inexperienced at holding a cub, and met the stubborn, round eyes before him.
The little one’s face remained pale and weak. It looked plump, but that was only baby fat. His body was thin and small, entirely unlike that of a four-year-old.
His stomach was already rumbling, yet he continued clinging to Bai Sheng’s neck and refused to release him.
Was he still acting spoiled?
Bai Sheng wondered. Once again, however, he confirmed that he truly did not dislike it.
The feeling was strange.
Alphas were highly aggressive. They did not merely reject the pheromones of other alphas; they also possessed powerful desires for exclusivity and strong ambition. They pursued distinction and uniqueness, which easily manifested as competitiveness and, at certain moments, a heavily oppressive presence. Most of the time, however, they restrained those emotions.
This was the first time Bai Sheng had experienced this particular feeling.
In the little one’s eyes, Bai Sheng was special. He was a father the child could depend upon and approach, the support that allowed this frail little body to remain here.
The little one cared deeply about him.
How strange. Had he reached such a conclusion about one of his siblings, Bai Sheng would probably have assumed they were deliberately trying to disgust him.
But coming to that conclusion about this child…
He felt only a little…
Soft-hearted?
Before he realised it, he had carried the child downstairs, temporarily set his work aside, and taken him to dinner.
Sitting at the table and watching the obedient little one beside him swing his short legs, Bai Sheng thought he must have lost his mind.
Perhaps because no one had expected him to come down and eat, the table held only mild, healthy dishes intended for a child.
Green vegetable congee, prawns with Chinese cabbage, lightly stir-fried broccoli, carrot-and-tofu steamed egg custard…
Perhaps the kitchen feared the child might dislike certain foods, because it had prepared a selection of nearly everything suitable for a young child.
Bai Nuo had never seen such a sight. His large eyes widened, moving from dish to dish.
What was this? What was that? Could something truly smell this good?!
Food!
Could NuoNuo eat all of these?
The cub could not help looking at Bai Sheng. In the past, food had been a rare and crucial resource. When eating with others, one could not think only of oneself.
“What is it?”
Bai Sheng was serving vegetable congee into a bowl when he noticed the child’s gaze.
“Do you need someone to feed you?”
Wasn’t a four-year-old child who still needed feeding rather spoiled?
…Then again, those little arms did seem too short to reach.
Before little Bai Nuo could respond, Bai Sheng had already scooped up a spoonful of congee and held it to his lips.
Bai Nuo opened his mouth instinctively.
The congee was warm, at precisely the right temperature to swallow. Its fresh, faintly sweet flavour stimulated the cub’s taste buds.
After the first mouthful, the child’s eyes lit up. His body leaned forward involuntarily, and he nearly fell from the chair.
Bai Sheng put down the bowl and caught him, frowning.
“Didn’t I tell you to prepare everything? Is there no high chair?”
“There is, Third Young Master. Some items only just arrived in the storeroom and haven’t been set up. I’ll bring it immediately.”
“…Forget it.”
Bai Sheng looked at the cub, then at the bowl in his hand, and waved casually. It was only one meal. By the time the chair was arranged, the food might be cold. He lifted the little one onto his lap. Although he was unaccustomed to holding a cub while eating, Bai Sheng picked up the bowl again and spoke indifferently.
“Eat.”
Little Bai Nuo sat sideways on Bai Sheng’s lap and clutched his father’s clothes. He tilted his head and looked at Bai Sheng’s face.
In the apocalypse, a child as young as him was a burden.
No one had ever treated NuoNuo so well.
Dad was clearly so good. Why did the story call Dad a villain? Why did it say Dad would die in the end?
The child pursed his lips. His eyes stung slightly.
He did not cry, however, because the food smelled too wonderful. It was truly too fragrant and too delicious.
Bai Sheng fed him one mouthful after another.
For once, Bai Sheng did not know whether to laugh or sigh. The child had not even swallowed what was in his mouth before his eyes began yearning for the next spoonful. He looked close to tears from the pleasure of eating.
“Were you really that hungry?”
Bai Sheng also heard servants whispering in the corridor behind him as they made notes.
“The young master doesn’t appear to be a picky eater. He eats everything.”
That was certainly true. Even Bai Sheng had foods he disliked, but the little one did not.
He genuinely ate anything and seemed exceptionally easy to raise.
Bai Sheng peeled a prawn and placed the meat in the cub’s mouth.
The little one chewed diligently, his cheeks puffed out. Only after swallowing did he speak brightly, his eyes shining.
“NuoNuo has never seen these before. They’re so delicious, Dad.”
Then he raised his head, sounding thoroughly content as he lifted the spoon he had not needed to use.
“Dad, you eat too.”
NuoNuo had said so all along! Eating truly was the best thing in the entire world!
…He had never eaten these before?
Bai Sheng, who had just been thinking how easy the child would be to raise, paused. Previously, he had focused only on the cub’s physical records. The account of his past in the laboratory was extremely vague, and Bai Sheng had not investigated deeply.
Now the relaxed smile in his brows and at the corners of his lips faded slightly. Lowering his gaze, he discovered that the cub was even staring at the discarded prawn shell. Had an adult not peeled it for him, he would probably have believed the shell was also meant to be swallowed.
Author’s Note:
Cub: Dad, you’re amazing! [Adoration]
Dad: How is this amazing? [Struggling to suppress the corners of his mouth]
The servants: …The cub fell, and Third Young Master is smiling?! The Bai family isn’t even pretending anymore?!
Some wonderful misunderstandings.