Another New Older Brother? - Chapter 14

This time, the child was truly hurt by Bai Wenjin’s actions. Little pearls slid down from the corners of his eyes, and because he didn’t want Bai Wenjin to see, he kept raising his arms to wipe his face.

Youyou covered his face, his heart aching intensely. He actually hated being a child a little bit; if he were an adult and Big Brother was being disobedient, he could spank Big Brother’s bottom—then Big Brother would surely listen!

Looking at the child’s flushed eyelids, Bai Wenjin felt an indescribable sensation in his chest.

“I’m not going anymore. I’ll rest at home.” He crouched halfway down, pulling the child in front of him and gently stroking Youyou’s head with a touch of guilt. “I’m sorry for making you worry.”

Youyou nodded vigorously, his watery eyes fixed on him, his features scrunched together as he sobbed, “Very worried! This much worry!”

The child then thought about how Big Brother had actually tried to go to work just now and got a little angry again. Learning from who-knows-where, he crossed his arms and turned his face to the side, letting out a heavy, “Hmph!”

“Are you angry?”

“Mmh!”

For the first time, Bai Wenjin felt at a loss, not knowing how to comfort him. Although he had two younger brothers, he had gone abroad to study early on and hadn’t spent much time with them.

He vaguely remembered that when they were young, Bai Wenli was the least worrisome—he treated everyone like air, and even when he was angry, he just sulked by himself until he got over it; he didn’t need coaxing. Wenjue, on the other hand, often threw tantrums, but a good scolding usually fixed that.

Bai Wenjin looked at the child’s puffed-out profile, feeling a bit troubled, and considered whether he should ask Auntie Li for help.

However, Youyou didn’t let his brother worry for long; the soft-hearted little fellow had already forgiven him. Big Brother is a patient, after all.

But just because he was reluctant to stay angry didn’t mean he wouldn’t give a warning. Youyou turned his face back, his expression stern as he solemnly cautioned Bai Wenjin: “Big Brother, next time you’re not good, Baby will scold you.”

“Baby is super fierce! Super fierce, this much fierce!”

Watching the child go “awoo awoo” while waving his little claws and trying his best to look menacing, Bai Wenjin rubbed his nose and said a bit sheepishly, “Understood.”

“Shall we go eat breakfast?”

Jiang Youyou looked suspiciously at the suit he was wearing. “Not eating food-food in those clothes.”

Bai Wenjin had no choice but to retreat to his room and change.

Only then was the child satisfied. He proactively took Big Brother’s hand and started Nagging: “Big Brother, eat food properly. You can’t be busy-busy all the time, or your body won’t get better.”

For such a tiny kid, he was quite the lecturer. It was clear he had been nagged plenty growing up to be this proficient at it.

Breakfast was already laid out on the table. In addition to a lavish spread, Auntie Li brought up two glasses of milk. One was a sippy cup placed in front of Jiang Youyou, and the other was a glass placed in front of Bai Wenjin.

Bai Wenjin raised an eyebrow, glancing at Auntie Li for an explanation. Auntie Li gave a helpless look and nodded toward Jiang Youyou.

“Baby specifically told the auntie in the kitchen to do this!” Youyou grinned.

Bai Wenjin understood. So this was the “important business” the child had been so mysterious about earlier.

Youyou picked up his sippy cup and made a cheers gesture toward Bai Wenjin. “Big Brother, drink milk. Then your body will be strong-strong like Baby’s.”

“Big Brother, drink it all up!”

Looking at the child’s expectant face and then at the glass of milk in front of him, Bai Wenjin remained silent for a few seconds. Then, he picked up the milk and started chugging—gulp, gulp, gulp.

“Ah! Baby hasn’t cheered with you yet!” Youyou shouted in a panic, hurriedly clutching his sippy cup and taking two massive gulps through the straw.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t be as fast as Big Brother.

How could he know what Bai Wenjin was thinking? A man nearly thirty years old being told by a toddler to drink his milk—where was his dignity? It was better to finish it in one go; out of sight, out of mind.

Three hundred milliliters of milk vanished in two large swallows.

Bai Wenjin put the glass down and realized the child was cupping his chin, eyes sparkling, laughing at him non-stop. Creeped out by the overly brilliant smile, Bai Wenjin discreetly took a tissue and wiped his lips.

Hmm? No milk mustache. What is the kid laughing at?

“Hehe, today’s milk is so yummy!” Jiang Youyou swayed his head and winked at Bai Wenjin. “Big Brother, what do you think?”

Bai Wenjin didn’t really want to answer that kind of question and simply tapped the table. “Eat breakfast.”

Youyou used a fork to pick up a golden-brown fried egg. He took a bite, and his eyes lit up.

“Wow, today’s eggy is so yummy!”

“Eat more if it’s good,” Bai Wenjin replied casually.

Jiang Youyou looked at his own plate, then at Bai Wenjin’s. He carried his plate over to Bai Wenjin’s side and carefully placed his egg onto his brother’s plate, giving it a nudge with a spoon. “Big Brother, eat the eggy.”

Bai Wenjin looked down at the fried egg with a bite missing, feeling a bit helpless. “You can just eat it yourself.”

“Baby’s is yummy. Big Brother, you eat it.”

Jiang Youyou stared at him without blinking, a silent urge in his gaze.

After two seconds of silence, Bai Wenjin had no choice but to pick up the egg Youyou had bitten into. With great reluctance, he took a tiny bite from the part that hadn’t been touched.

Standing nearby, Auntie Li shook her head inwardly. In all these years, the Eldest Young Master has probably never eaten something someone else had bitten into. She had heard from Uncle Tian that the Eldest Young Master wouldn’t touch food that someone else’s chopsticks had even brushed against.

Bai Wenjin swallowed the egg without even chewing. Having finished the task, he put the golden egg back on Youyou’s plate. “It’s very good, but I don’t really like eggs. You eat it.”

Youyou’s eyes widened as he looked at his brother skeptically. He clearly didn’t believe that Big Brother could dislike something so delicious.

“The doctor said to eat light things. I’ll eat the buns and porridge.” Fearing that Youyou would try to return the egg again, Bai Wenjin quickly picked up the millet porridge beside him and took a large gulp.

Fine, Big Brother was drinking porridge; that counted as eating. Jiang Youyou, being simple-minded, didn’t think further and obediently finished the egg on his plate.

Bai Wenjin breathed a secret sigh of relief.

However, it seemed Jiang Youyou had become addicted to “selling” food. One moment he was giving Bai Wenjin a custard bun shaped like a pig’s head; the next, he was offering a little cake shaped like a walnut. If Bai Wenjin didn’t eat it, Youyou would just stare with his big, innocent eyes until Bai Wenjin—already full, felt extremely frustrated. But, thinking it wouldn’t be good to reject the child and dampen his enthusiasm, he could only keep “shoveling” the food down.

By the end of the meal, Jiang Youyou had spent so much time busying himself that he hadn’t eaten much, whereas Bai Wenjin was stuffed and let out a burp.

Youyou couldn’t have been happier. He very thoughtfully gave his Big Brother a thumbs-up. “Big Brother is awesome! Eat lots and lots to grow big and strong!”

“Big Brother must keep it up tomorrow and be a ‘good Big Brother’!”

Bai Wenjin’s expression was strange. Why did the child’s words sound so much like someone coaxing a toddler? He glanced at Auntie Li, who was struggling not to laugh. Bai Wenjin thought expressionlessly: It seems I wasn’t wrong.

Because he hadn’t slept well at the hospital the night before, Youyou was feeling drowsy after the meal. The child was small, but he was clever; fearing his brother would sneak off to work, he clung to Bai Wenjin’s arm and acted spoiled. “Big Brother, stay with Baby for sleep-sleep.”

Everyone could sense that Youyou’s reliance on Bai Wenjin was growing by the day; he loved whining and acting clingy in front of him more and more. And Bai Wenjin’s tolerance for Youyou was also reaching new heights.

For instance, right now, Bai Wenjin who never took morning naps, didn’t hesitate. He asked the little one, “Do you want to sleep on the sofa or go back to bed?”

“Sofa!”

Youyou ran to the sofa, grabbed a bolster, and placed it against the armrest. Then he grabbed the neatly folded blanket from the small sofa and hugged it in his arms.

He directed Bai Wenjin to lean against the armrest and, like a “filial son,” tucked the bolster in for him first and patted it down before kicking off his shoes and resting his head on his brother’s lap.

Following the boy’s request, Bai Wenjin shook out the small blanket and covered only Youyou’s belly.

In this position, Youyou only had to look up to see Big Brother’s handsome face. He started out giggling, but soon grew quiet, lying in his arms and staring blankly at Bai Wenjin.

“Big Brother, you’re so handsome.”

Youyou, the little beauty fanatic, looked at his brother with eyes that were practically glowing. “Cheng Chengcheng says her big brother is handsome every day, but Big Brother is ten thousand times handsomer than Cheng Chengcheng’s brother!”

Bai Wenjin didn’t care much for his own appearance, but being praised by the child put him in a good mood. His voice carried a smile as he asked casually, “Who is Cheng Chengcheng?”

“Baby’s good friend at kindergarten!”

As soon as Bai Wenjin heard the word “kindergarten,” he knew trouble was coming.

Sure enough, Youyou’s next sentence was: “Big Brother, Baby wants to go to kindergarten.”

“I know. Sleep first.”

Youyou pursed his lips, clearly dissatisfied with the answer. But seeing Big Brother’s slightly pale face, he didn’t make a sound.

Ever since the first time he held the child and accidentally made him cry by patting too hard, Bai Wenjin had specifically watched videos to learn how to hold a child properly. He ran his fingers through the child’s soft, curly hair like a comb, moving with a gentle, rhythmic motion.

As if it were a magical technique, the child—who had just been wide-eyed, let out a yawn and fell asleep the next second.

Bai Wenjin held the sleeping Youyou and adjusted his posture so the child could sleep more comfortably.

Auntie Li and the other servants had already left. The living room was peaceful, filled only with the faint sound of pages turning and the drifting white clouds outside the window. Listening to the child’s regular breathing, Bai Wenjin also felt a trace of drowsiness.

He put the book aside and was just about to close his eyes for a rest when a short, disbelieving gasp came from the direction of the main door.

Bai Wenjue stood at the entrance with a blank expression, staring at the pair, large and small, completely dumbstruck.