NOVEL WEB Thirty-Eight: My child, you can’t flash again?
Chapter Thirty-Eight: My child, you can’t flash again?
Even after the taxi disappeared at the end of the street, Cheng YuTang still didn’t move. Yang DongCheng couldn’t help but approach to try to persuade him, “Cheng Zong, come inside, it’s snowing heavily.”
Cheng YuTang followed him back into Ning Cheng Spring and Autumn, and at the foot of the porch, he paused, issuing the command, “Old Yang, send a few people to keep an eye on HongLe Garden. If Ji XiaoYu just stays in the dorm, if he goes out, no matter where he goes, inform me instantly.”
Better to be safe than sorry. The little thing had asked for three days off, so he would give him three days off. If Ji XiaoYu didn’t keep his word and snuck away, then don’t blame him for taking coercive measures. Even if he had to be tied up, then he would bring him back in ropes.
I’ve lived for more than 30 years. It hasn’t been easy to find someone to like, so I can’t just let him go.
Not to mention, the little thing obviously likes me too – I’m convinced of that.
“Yes, I’ll arrange it right away.”
Yang DongCheng agreed in a well-behaved manner, thinking secretly in his heart, I didn’t think there would be a day when my boss would get his just deserts. If he has fallen for the first time, he has fallen so deeply he can’t escape.
……
Returning to the dorm, Liang ShaoGang was watching TV in the living room and he greeted Ji XiaoYu when he came in the door, “Xiao Yu, you’re back. Hey, why is your expression so bad, are you sick?”
Ji XiaoYu gave a reluctant smile and rubbed his hands together, saying, “I’m not. It’s snowing, so I’m cold.”
Liang ShaoGang nodded. “Oh, yeah, they just said on the weather forecast that there’s a strong cold wave coming from the north. Today might have the heaviest snow in a decade.” As he spoke, he looked Ji XiaoYu over again, casually remarking, “Xiao Yu, are you wearing a new coat? It looks pretty good, but it’s a size too big.”
Ji XiaoYu choked on a breath and then immediately hid it, saying, “Yeah, I just felt cold and didn’t pay attention to the size when I put it on. Liang Ge, I’m a little tired, I’m going to go back and rest in my room, okay?”
“Go ahead.”
Liang ShaoGang watched him hurry into the room with his head down and was a bit puzzled. This kid was always in such good spirits. Even when he had to work overtime, he never complained. This was the first time he heard him say tired.
However, before Ji XiaoYu only had to do normal security work, but now he was the personal bodyguard and driver for Cheng Zong, so the intensity of his work must have increased a lot. So it was normal to be tired, right?
Ji XiaoYu went back to his room, knelt on the bed, and put the little white egg in front of him, muttering, “My child, Daddy found out who your other father is today, but Daddy isn’t happy. What about you, what do you think about it? Can you tell Daddy?”
The little white egg lay on bed, motionless.
He continued, frowning, “Daddy told him he’d take three days off and he agreed. Is Daddy too gutless? Should I quit and go far away from him? But then, Daddy won’t be able to make a lot of money and buy you the best milk powder, isn’t that bad?”
When he was on his way back here, he thought it over again. It was Cheng YuTang who was wrong. If he left him in violation of the original agreement, not being the bodyguard of that annoyance, the heavens wouldn’t punish him, right? Otherwise, the heavens were really blind. But if he walked away like this, he would be giving up his determination and dependability.
He had never been so overwhelmed in his life, but he couldn’t reveal it to anyone to try to find a solution. He could only talk bit by bit about it to his own little white egg.
The little white egg was still quiet without any movement, just like a normal egg.
Ji XiaoYu was a little anxious, touching the little white egg and saying, “My child, are you okay? Was it too cold? Don’t scare Daddy!”
The little white egg finally flickered slowly.
“Sweet baby, you’re okay,” Ji XiaoYu breathed a sigh of relief and then suddenly thought, “My child, why don’t you help Daddy think it over? If you want Daddy to quit and never talk to him again, then flash once. If you want Daddy to stay and continue to make money off being his bodyguard, then flash twice. Okay?”
Just as his voice fell silent, the little white egg lit up brightly, giving off a dazzling brilliance, and then it went dim.
Ji XiaoYu stared at it without blinking, inexplicably nervous. He couldn’t keep his mouth from nagging, “My child, you can’t flash again? Twice is flashing two times, do you know how many two is? You just flashed once, so one more flash will make two!”
After waiting for ten minutes, the little white egg still didn’t move. Ji XiaoYu’s heart sank a little bit and he said dejectedly, “Alright, you hate him too, don’t you? Daddy gets it. I’ll quit when I get back. I’ll never see him again……”
As he finished this sentence, he felt really, really tired, as if he had exhausted all the strength in his body, so he collapsed and buried his head in the quilt.
After a while, he felt something gently touching his fingertips. At first, he thought it was some kind of bug that had crawled up on the bed, so he was a little annoyed inside. What kind of bug is so bold, daring to be so impudent before this pheasant spirit!
He looked up and saw it wasn’t a bug, but the little white egg, pressing against his hand. He couldn’t help but be surprised, “My child, what’s wrong?”
Then, as if the little white egg were a low-powered light bulb, it flashed very faintly. If Ji XiaoYu hadn’t been staring at it intently, he might have missed it.
He excitedly grabbed the little white egg and asked him in a barrage, “My child, that’s the second time you flashed, right? You actually want Daddy to stay with him? You don’t hate him that much, right?”
The little white egg was motionless again, laying still like death in his palm. Ji XiaoYu said with a little guilt, “Baby is tired, hmm? It’s okay, it’s okay, Daddy won’t ask. Anyway, what you mean, Daddy understands. Just wait for Daddy to rest for three days and then I’ll go back to work to earn money to buy you milk powder. Rest assured!”
It wasn’t that he was so shameless as to want to stay, but that his child had asked him to stay. As a good daddy who always put his child’s interests first, he could only reluctantly agree.
However, he was only staying to earn money by working, definitely not to talk to a certain someone about that damn love affair! He would separate his work and personal life, like a very principled, mighty spiritual beast!
For the next three days, Ji XiaoYu ate and slept in the dormitory, incubating the egg at ease, and didn’t go anywhere. He couldn’t be bothered to run to HongSheng, in case he accidentally ran into a certain someone by mistake. Although he had decided to stay, for the time being, he didn’t want to see that guy. And it had been really cold these past days, so it didn’t make much sense to go out, so he was just called for delivery for three meals a day.
There was only one advantage to calling for delivery, which was that it was convenient to save him from the trouble of having to do it himself. Everything else was a disadvantage. For example, food delivery was always late because of procrastination. The agreement was to have it delivered in half an hour, but would be ten minutes late. The efficiency was much worse than when he used to deliver.
For another example, it was expensive but not delicious. It was a little more tasty than the HongSheng canteen big main dishes, but it was like pig food compared to the dishes made by a certain someone.
However, right now was a special period. If he were picky, he’d have nothing to eat.
On the evening of the third day, Liang ShaoGang came back from a shift and saw Ji XiaoYu sitting on the couch watching TV. Although he knew that he had recently taken a vacation, he still thought it was a bit strange, “Xiao Yu, you haven’t gone out for a few days, why don’t you go out to get some air during the holiday today?”
Ji XiaoYu froze when he heard the words, “What day is it? What holiday?”
“Christmas Eve, tomorrow is Christmas. Here, this is the Christmas apple that the security department gave to everyone. I brought it back for you.” As he said this, Liang ShaoGang pulled a very beautiful thing wrapped in colored paper from his bag and handed it to him. “Today, although it isn’t a weekend, the streets are still very lively. A lot of shopping malls are holding celebrations…… You can barely walk because of the sea of people…… Xiao Yu, what are you so stunned over? How come you’re like a block of wood?”
Ji XiaoYu snapped out of it and, pretending to be afraid of the cold, shrank back a bit, “I still don’t want to join in that excitement. Today, the temperature is lower due to the snow than yesterday. I’ll definitely freeze to death if I go outside. Liang Ge, you’re not going out to play around either.”
He has never celebrated Christmas Eve before. His first experience last year was such a bad experience. For others, perhaps the day represented happiness and peace, but for him, it meant humiliation and discomfort. How could he possibly go out to celebrate?
“I never participate in this kind of foreign holiday, not to mention that I have the early shift tomorrow, so I don’t have that kind of energy.” Liang ShaoGang waved his hand, “Xiao Yu, I’m going to go to rest first.”
“Okay, Liang Ge, good night.”
Remembering what happened last year, Ji XiaoYu was in a bad mood again and he couldn’t watch the TV. He was just a bit hungry, but thinking about those unsatisfactory delivery meals, he had no appetite.
Just as he was bored enough to look through the delivery menu, the doorbell suddenly rang.
He went over and opened the door. Outside was a young man wearing a cotton duijin jacket, carrying a large food box. He enthusiastically said, “Mister Ji XiaoYu, good evening, I’m a delivery agent for Ning Cheng Spring and Autumn. Today is Christmas Eve and our restaurant has developed a number of new dishes. We are giving the diamond super lifetime VIP guests an opportunity to try them free of charge, if you please.”
Wow, so amazing! Ji XiaoYu’s eyes lit up and he thanked him while taking the box.
He didn’t want to celebrate the holiday, but there was no need to punish his own stomach. Free delivered food wasn’t freeloading!
He went into the dining room and opened the cartons one by one. He found that they were all dishes he hadn’t had the last time he went to Ning Cheng Spring and Autumn. After tasting them, he was both surprised and delighted. The taste of these dishes seemed to be more delicious than the ones last time. The chef in their kitchen was really amazing!
Although there were four dishes and a soup, because the amount was relatively small, Ji XiaoYu swept it all away unceremoniously.
Feels good to have a full stomach. Although I have to go to work tomorrow and will face a certain someone again, this little master isn’t afraid!
The next day, Ji XiaoYu got up early and traveled to the villa community via two busses. When he arrived, it was just before 8am.
He straightened his clothes and rang the doorbell with a serious expression on his face.
In the kitchen, Cheng YuTang was absent-mindedly making breakfast. When he heard the doorbell ringing, he couldn’t help but frown. At this time, the home cleaning service wouldn’t come. Who’d come to bother him this early in the morning?
He wanted to ignore it, but they rang the doorbell again in perseverance.
Cheng Zong turned around, still annoyed, dropping the kitchen utensils in his hand and entering the living room wearing a calm expression. He opened the door and a certain little guy he’d been longing for for three days popped into his line of sight and said to him in a rigid, indifferent tone, “Cheng Zong, good morning, I’m picking you up for work.”
Although the weather was still gloomy and cold today and there was snow on the roadside that still hadn’t completely melted, he instantly saw an illusion of spring blossoms and bright sunshine.
Ji XiaoYu wasn’t wearing the coat that he gave him that day. He only wore a thin cotton jacket and his face was so white it was almost transparent. Cheng YuTang grasped his hand without thinking and pulled him in the door, “Why are you wearing so little again, aren’t you cold?”
“Thank you, Cheng Zong, for always being concerned. I’m not cold.” Ji XiaoYu didn’t hesitate to break his hand free, saying in a serious tone, “Cheng Zong, when can we leave, if you please?”
The little thing’s hand really wasn’t cold, so Cheng YuTang was relieved.
Although Ji XiaoYu’s attitude was tough and not friendly at all, Cheng YuTang was still delighted. He really didn’t think that after three days, the little thing would actually take the initiative to come to his door. He had planned to wait to catch the guy in HongLe Garden himself. His lips raised in a slight smile and he said, “It’s still early, wait a little, I haven’t had breakfast yet – you didn’t eat, right?”
“I’ll wait to eat at the company.” Ji XiaoYu twisted his face away, “Please hurry up, Cheng Zong. Be at work at nine o’clock, don’t be late.”
Daring to rush the boss to work, my little bodyguard really isn’t an average person. Cheng YuTang chuckled to himself, “Okay, I’ll try to be as fast as I can.”
He had originally planned to take a few slices of toast and have a cup of coffee along the way, but now that the little bodyguard was here, he certainly couldn’t be so sloppy.
Cheng Zong’s spirit was strong. In less than 20 minutes, he had a tableful of breakfast, with ham and cheese sandwiches, sautéed corn cakes, steamed tofu with shrimp, pumpkin oatmeal, and a salad and fruit platter.
Smelling the scent from the kitchen, Ji XiaoYu felt greedy to death, but he could only sit in the living room while swallowing down his saliva with a hungry stomach. As a person who was poor and ate fastidiously, he thought, eating so much, are you not afraid you’ll die?!
As if he heard his voice, Cheng YuTang sat at the table and ate slowly for a while before opening his mouth to say to him, “Friend XiaoYu, I accidentally made too much, you can come and have some food.”
Ji XiaoYu hurriedly turned away his gaze and firmly refused, “No, thank you, Cheng Zong, you eat it yourself.”
“That’s okay, but I never eat leftovers, so if I can’t eat it, it’ll be wasted,” Cheng YuTang said helplessly, picking up a barely-touched plate of shrimp tofu to pour its contents into the trash.
What the?! How can this be! Ji XiaoYu instantly bounced off the sofa and said sadly, “Cheng Zong, don’t you know it’s shameful to waste food?!”
With an audacious tone, Cheng Zong said, “Yes, I know, but there’s no way I can finish it, I don’t want my stomach to burst.”
Ji XiaoYu walked into the kitchen wearing a bitter expression, forget it, I’ll suffer in the role of trash can!
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Footnotes:
1. Christmas apple (平安果): literally peace/safety fruit; an apple given on Christmas Eve that has been carved into a pattern, such as characters saying Christmas Peace or images of Santa Claus, a Christmas tree, etc.
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the little white egg is the best egg!!