Another New Older Brother? - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: “Mhm, I Am Very Cute.”

From the moment he was born, Youyou had lived with his parents in a 120-square-meter apartment provided by the research institute. To tiny Youyou, that apartment was already a vast space. So, even though Old Tian told him his new room was very big and beautiful, Youyou still couldn’t imagine just how big “very big” actually was.

The suite the Bai family prepared for him was over seventy square meters. The walls were painted in his favorite pale blue, and a custom-made large bed with safety rails stood against the wall. The bed was covered in a four-piece set printed with white kittens, and a white cat plushie taller than him lay upon it.

The room was filled with cat elements he loved. Aside from the lifelike plushies, even the ceiling light was shaped like a cat’s head. Whenever he looked up, he could see that little white cat on the ceiling; it was beautiful.

“Lizi, change the Little Master’s clothes,” Old Tian instructed the maid standing nearby.

The woman named Lizi picked up a soft set of small clothes and knelt down in front of the child. “Little Master, shall we go change your clothes?”

Jiang Youyou’s clothes weren’t actually dirty, just a bit wrinkled. Seeing the little white cat outfit in Lizi’s hands, he couldn’t help but reach out a tiny finger to stroke it gently.

“So pretty.”

Noticing Lizi’s gaze, he pulled his hand back shyly and offered her a smile. “Thank you, Auntie.”

Lizi briskly helped Youyou change into the new outfit. Once finished, she prepared to put the old clothes in the hamper, but Youyou had already bent down, picked them up from the floor, and hugged them to his chest. “Baby will frow them in the washing machine ‘m-self.”

Lizi looked at the child, who was barely half her height, in surprise and praised, “The Little Master is so capable.”

Youyou puffed out his chest and said proudly, “Baby frows them ‘m-self at home, too.”

Having changed, Youyou couldn’t wait to run out of the room. He lightly tugged on Old Tian’s sleeve. “Uncle Tian, take a picture of me.”

Youyou pointed to the kitten on his chest, his voice crisp. “Baby wants to show Mama the new clothes and the kitty.”

Old Tian understood his meaning, pulled out his phone, and took over a dozen photos of him in various poses.

“Little Master, take a look and see if these are okay.”

The child looked at the different versions of himself on the screen, his eyes widening in wonder. “Uncle Tian, how did you make the baby look so handsome?”

Old Tian was the vice president of the B-City Amateur Photographers Association and had heard a basketful of flattery over the years, but none of those words were as heartwarming as this one sentence from the child. He couldn’t help but laugh heartily. “It’s because the Little Master is born cute.”

Youyou nodded. “Mhm, I am very cute.”

The teachers at Little Flower Kindergarten and many other Aunties said so, too.

Old Tian couldn’t help but smile.

After the photos, Lizi saw how much Youyou liked the room and asked if he wanted a tour. Youyou retracted his curious gaze and shook his head. “Baby has to wait for Mama’s call.”

He sat on the bed, placed his phone-watch on the head of the cat pillow, tilted his little face up, and watched the cat light on the ceiling.

There was a cat light at his home, too. It wasn’t as pretty as this one, but he liked it very, very much because they had bought it together when he went out to play with Mama and Papa.

He missed Mama and Papa.

The child pulled the duvet over his head, wrapping himself up completely, and gave a small sniffle.

This morning, Mama told him that she had to accompany Papa on a “business trip” for a while, so she had to send him to stay at Uncle’s house.

He had never met Uncle; why did he have to go live there?

He had decided to throw a tantrum, rolling around on the floor. Usually, as long as he rolled from one side of the living room to the other, Mama would come and hug him. But today, he rolled for a long, long time until he was dizzy and even faked crying twice, but Mama still wouldn’t let him go with them.

His Mama was the best Mama in the world. However, Mama was sometimes very strict. When eating lollipops, he would want two, but if Mama said no, even if Papa spoke up for him, he could only have one.

So, since Mama strictly required him to come to Uncle’s house, he had no choice but to come.

But he still missed Mama and Papa.

Youyou pouted aggrievedly. Why hasn’t Mama’s call come yet? Baby misses Mama to death.

During the long wait, the phone finally rang.

The child lying on the bed bounced up instantly, eagerly poking his head to look at the screen, asking repeatedly, “Uncle Tian, is it Mama? Is it Mama’s call?”

Old Tian placed the phone in his hands.

Jiang Youyou held the phone, which was somewhat large and heavy for him, with both hands, sat cross-legged, and propped up his arms.

On the camera, Bai Xi’s exquisite face looked a bit haggard, but she immediately revealed a gentle smile upon seeing him: “Baby.”

Holding the phone, Jiang Youyou saw that Mama’s face looked different than usual and heard her voice sounding a bit strange. Tears flooded out instantly.

“Mama,” he called out with a pout, then found himself unable to speak, only weeping silently.

Bai Xi’s eyes grew red as well. “What’s wrong, Baby? Are you unhappy at Uncle’s house?”

Seeing Mama cry, Jiang Youyou quickly wiped his tears away. “Baby only cried ’cause I’m too happy. Uncle is very good to Baby.”

“Mama, did you see Superman Papa?” As he spoke, he pressed his entire face against the screen, which made him feel a little closer to her.

Bai Xi cast a quick glance out the car window. The pitch-black night was like a thick, airtight cloth; she couldn’t see the road ahead.

She retracted her gaze, two dimples appearing at the corners of her mouth, her eyes as soft as water. “Soon. Almost there.”

“Oh. Mama, did you eat your rice-rice?”

“Not yet. Has Baby eaten?”

“No.” Youyou didn’t care at all about his rumbling stomach, reminding Bai Xi like a little adult: “Mama, you have to give your tummy rice-rice. If you don’t eat rice-rice, your tummy will throw a temper tantrum.”

Bai Xi sniffled. Seeing her son’s less-than-happy appearance, her heart shriveled with pain. She knew the Bai family wasn’t exactly a sanctuary, but there truly were no other relatives left.

Seeing Mama sad again, Youyou grew frantic. Like presenting a treasure, he pulled his clothes in front of the camera: “Mama, don’t cry. Look! A big cat-cat head, white.”

A child of this age has no real concept of big or small. In reality, the cat embroidery on his shirt was less than 5cm in diameter—very small. Although Youyou tried his best to pull the fabric as wide as possible, Bai Xi couldn’t see it very clearly through the lens.

“It’s beautiful. When Mama and Papa…” Bai Xi paused, trying hard not to let her voice tremble. “When I see a beautiful cat doll here, I’ll buy it and send it to Baby. Does Baby want one?”

“Don’t want cat-cat. Want Mama.” Youyou shook his head gloomily, his eyes brimming with tears. He held it back for a long time, but eventually couldn’t resist, his voice choking: “Mama, can you just send ‘m-self over here?”

“Baby…”

In the quiet car cabin.

Long after the call ended, Bai Xi still couldn’t calm down. She held her phone, staring blankly ahead with glassy eyes, as tears slid silently from the corners of her eyes down her pale cheeks.

“Wipe.”

“Thank you.” Bai Xi snapped back to reality, taking the tissue handed over by the short-haired woman, her gaze passing over the other’s pine-green sleeve cuffs.

The car drove steadily through the night, the low beams casting two pale shadows on the asphalt road. After emerging from a quiet tunnel, the light in the distance gradually became clear. Through the thin mist, several bungalows surrounded by fences were vaguely visible.

The short-haired woman spoke softly to remind her: “We’re almost there. Once you go in, you won’t be able to come out. If you regret it now, we can still take you back.”

“Your child is still very small and needs his mother by his side.”

“No.” Bai Xi lifted her head, staring at the night outside that was too thick to dissolve. Her voice trembled, but her gaze was firm. “Compared to my healthy and carefree son, my husband, whose fate is unknown, needs me more right now.”

The short-haired woman looked at her resolute profile and sighed inwardly.

Deathly silence returned to the car.

The vast mountains were shrouded in mist, and at some point, a drizzling rain began to fall.

Raindrops pattered against the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, leaving winding water trails.

Bai Lihui stood by the window. The reflection on the glass made his features look distorted, but Wen Jue’s angry eyes were exceptionally bright.

Wen Jue held his hands in fists, his chest heaving violently as he glared fixedly at Bai Lihui’s back. “Aunt went abroad to study three years ago and there wasn’t even news of her dating. Tell the truth! Is that kid Jiang You really your illegitimate son! Didn’t someone show up two years ago…”

“Wen Jue.” Bai Wenjin barked, stopping him from continuing.

The unspoken words stuck in his throat, and Wen Jue turned his face away aggrievedly, his eyes blazing with fury.

“Regardless of whether you are willing or not, Jiang You will be living in this house for the next few years. This is not up for negotiation.”

“Furthermore, I have two things to tell you.”

“First, Jiang You is undoubtedly the child of your Aunt Bai Xi. Bai Xi’s husband, Jiang Qingyuan, met with an accident and will be in treatment for three years. Regardless of whether Jiang Qingyuan recovers, she will take the child back in three years.”

“What kind of treatment requires fostering a child at someone else’s house?” Wen Jue sneered, clearly not believing it.

“First of all, Bai Xi is your Aunt, not a stranger. Secondly, Jiang Qingyuan is a man who works for the country. He is in a closed treatment at a secret research facility; it is a place that is easy to enter but difficult to leave. For the sake of the child’s growth, Bai Xi could only leave Jiang You with the Bai family.”

“Second. I received my physical exam report the day before yesterday. There are some small issues. I am going to Country A for treatment. I won’t have the energy to look after this child for a while. You two must take good care of him during this time.”

Screech— the sound of a chair being pulled back across the floor rang out abruptly.

Wen Jue gritted his teeth, his face looking frighteningly pale. “To make us accept that child, you’d even go as far as making up an excuse to curse yourself?”

“You can ask Dr. Tang to check my medical reports.” Bai Lihui’s expression remained indifferent.

Wen Jue gave a cold laugh. “You pay Dr. Tang’s salary. Whatever you want us to see is exactly what he’ll have there!”

“Whoever wants to take care of him can do it!”

Bam! The door was kicked open violently.

Bai Lihui retracted his gaze from the swinging door, tiredly rubbing his forehead. “That blunder from two years ago made Wen Jue misunderstand that I had an illegitimate son outside and feel that I betrayed your mother… Wenjin, what do you think?”

Bai Wenjin answered with a question of his own. “Dad, is your health okay?”

“It was caught early. Early stage, nothing too serious.” Bai Lihui waved his hand, signaling him not to worry too much.

“Wenjin, I know you don’t like Jiang You either, but you are the eldest. You need to put more effort into this child.” Bai Lihui watched his eldest son.

Bai Wenjin frowned slightly, but quickly returned to normal, saying tonelessly, “I understand.”

Bai Lihui sighed inwardly and patted his shoulder. “Go on, let’s go see the child. You could treat him as a stranger before you met him, but from now on, he is your younger brother. You need to take it to heart.”

The sound of hurried footsteps came from the doorway. The usually calm Old Tian now looked extremely nervous, saying anxiously, “Master, Eldest Young Master, the Little Master has a fever!”