TL: Moonlit
The temperature on Xing Xing’s forehead was scorching hot, causing Yu Bai’s fingertips to retract upon contact.
When did Xing Xing’s forehead become so hot?! He was perfectly fine earlier when Yu Bai brought him out, and his body temperature was normal…
Yu Dong, who was sitting on a chair and scrolling through his phone, suddenly heard Yu Bai’s anxious voice beside him.
“Old Yu, can you help me watch over my stall?”
Yu Dong put down his phone and looked over.
He saw Xing Xing curled up in Yu Bai’s arms, his chubby hand tightly gripping Yu Bai’s collar. Xing Xing had his eyes closed, his eyebrows furrowed, and several beads of sweat forming on his forehead, as if he was feeling very uncomfortable.
Yu Dong asked, “I’ll watch over your stall, but what happened?”
“Xing Xing was perfectly fine when he came out earlier. But when he was sitting on the bench just now, he suddenly had a fever. I need to take him to the hospital right away!”
“A fever?” Yu Dong immediately got off the chair and reached out to touch Xing Xing’s forehead. “Wow, it’s so hot! We need to take him to the hospital quickly. The nearest hospital is a 20-30 minute walk away…”
Yu Bai said, “I’ll call a taxi!”
“It’s the peak time when students finish school, and then it’ll be rush hour. It’ll be difficult to find a taxi.” Yu Dong paused and suggested, “My home is in the neighboring community. I have an electric scooter. Can you ride it? You can take the electric scooter and rush to the hospital with your child!”
Before long, Yu Dong brought the electric scooter in front of Yu Bai.
After exchanging contact information, Yu Bai immediately hopped on the electric scooter with Xing Xing and headed to the nearest hospital in Sanjiaokou.
Yu Bai was in a hurry, so he simply tidied up his snack cart.
The prime business hours at Sanjiaokou for snack carts were only a few hours. Yu Dong estimated that Yu Bai wouldn’t be able to return anytime soon after taking his child to the hospital.
Coincidentally, Yu Dong’s candied hawthorn stall had always been quiet, so he decided to tidy up Yu Bai’s snack cart as well.
However, just as Yu Dong was halfway through tidying up Yu Bai’s snack cart, a well-dressed and handsome man appeared in front of the teppanyaki stall.
Ji Rongyu asked, “Are you the owner of the teppanyaki stall?”
Zhao Miaomiao mentioned that the teppanyaki stall owner was a young man in his twenties who looked good.
Ji Rongyu looked at Yu Dong, who had weathered the wind and frost, in front of the teppanyaki stall…
Ji Rongyu frowned. He began to doubt the accuracy of the information from Zhao Miaomiao.
“No, no, I’m not the owner of the teppanyaki stall. I sell candied hawthorns next door,” Yu Dong replied.
“Then… where is the owner of the teppanyaki stall?”
“Oh, you mean Yu Bai?” Yu Dong said. “Yu Bai’s son suddenly had a fever and just went to the hospital. I’m helping him tidy up the stall…”
Yu Dong cautiously asked, “Do you have any business with Yu Bai?”
Although Yu Dong was just a small snack cart owner, he had encountered all sorts of people in Sanjiaokou.
And a person like Ji Rongyu, who exuded an extraordinary aura and had a noble appearance, was definitely not a regular customer of snack carts.
If this person had ill intentions toward Yu Bai, Yu Dong could also help protect him.
“I came here to…” Ji Rongyu’s gaze fell on the sizzling teppanyaki plate emitting a delicious aroma.
“I wanted to buy teppanyaki here,” Ji Rongyu said. “I heard that this teppanyaki is very delicious, and the business is exceptionally good, so I wanted to come early and join the queue.”
Yu Dong asked suspiciously, “Really?”
He found it hard to believe that someone dressed in a sharp suit, looking like a wealthy young master, would personally come to buy street food.
Yu Dong was a bit skeptical.
Ji Rongyu spoke firmly, “Yes.”
Ji Rongyu had indeed come to Sanjiaokou today to find the teppanyaki. He wanted to taste it again.
According to Zhao Miaomiao, his portion of teppanyaki tofu and teppanyaki rice cake was divided by two of her classmates, and the stall owner tailored the teppanyaki to their individual tastes.
This led to slight variations in the taste and texture of the teppanyaki that Ji Rongyu tried.
In Ji Rongyu’s words, the spiciness of the teppanyaki tofu was slightly spicier than the teppanyaki rice cake.
Of course, even though there was a slight difference in taste between the two, the overall difference was not significant. Both were delicious.
The fact that the teppanyaki stall owner could adjust the snacks to suit different customers’ tastes demonstrated his ability to control the taste of the snacks to a certain extent.
Accurate control of food taste is a skill that every chef must master.
However, the level of precision in controlling the taste of food depends on the skills of each individual chef.
Ji Rongyu was curious and wanted to see how far the teppanyaki stall owner’s ability to control the taste could go.
Therefore, Ji Rongyu personally came to Sanjiaokou to find this teppanyaki stall.
If the teppanyaki stall owner could make the taste he wanted about seventy percent similar, then it would meet Ji Rongyu’s investment criteria.
Unfortunately, it seemed that he and this teppanyaki stall didn’t have any fate.
Today, Ji Rongyu specifically cleared his schedule in the afternoon to come and try the teppanyaki, but the stall owner suddenly took his son to the hospital for treatment.
Ji Rongyu felt a bit disappointed.
Ji Rongyu asked Yu Dong, “So… will he come to set up his stall here tomorrow?”
Yu Dong replied, “I don’t know. I heard that he and his son live together. His son is sick, and tomorrow is the weekend, so students don’t have classes… He probably won’t come to set up his stall here, right? I guess he will have to wait until his son recovers to come next time… It will probably be next week at the earliest.”
In addition to Qingqiao Elementary and Middle Schools, Sanjiaokou also had a large residential area.
But the most profitable time for the snack cart owners in Sanjiaokou was during the weekdays when students went to school.
Because once it was the weekend, all the students would go home on their days off. Students who had their pocket money controlled by their parents couldn’t casually buy the snacks they wanted like they did when they were in school.
Moreover, in the eyes of some parents of middle school students, the snacks from the carts were considered unhealthy, and they would never buy these snacks for their children.
So, when it was the weekend, the snack cart owners in Sanjiaokou also took time off along with the students’ schedules. They would only come back to Sanjiaokou to set up their stalls on Monday.
Hearing Yu Dong’s words, Ji Rongyu frowned even more.
He would have to wait until next week to taste this teppanyaki?
But he would be leaving J City next week to attend a food summit in another city… It wouldn’t be possible in terms of time.
Should he choose to stay in J City and wait for the teppanyaki that may or may not satisfy him, or should he go to the food summit to find restaurants that have been carefully selected by the organizers and have great investment potential?
It was a difficult problem.
—
Hospital.
After the doctor’s diagnosis, it turned out that Xing Xing had a fever due to a cold.
“I’ll give him a shot to bring down the fever, give him some medicine, and administer an IV drip with saline solution,” the doctor said. “If there’s no improvement in two to three days, remember to come back to the hospital for a follow-up.”
“Okay.”
It was currently winter, which was the peak season for illnesses like influenza and pneumonia. Young children were particularly vulnerable and easily susceptible to viral infections.
As a result, the pediatric emergency area of the hospital was filled with parents and infants.
While waiting in line for the fever-reducing shot, Yu Bai finally found an empty seat and sat down with Xing Xing in his arms.
Xing Xing’s chubby little hands rested on Yu Bai’s shoulder, and his round, watery eyes looked up at him.
Yu Bai asked, “Are you awake?”
Xing Xing nodded his tiny head.
Actually, he wasn’t awake; he was… awakened.
Because as soon as each infant entered the injection room, within a minute, the room would be filled with the desperate cries of the babies.
He was awakened by the crying.
“Wah—I don’t want a shot! Wah—I don’t want a shot!”
One infant cried with tears and a runny nose, while his parents did their best to drag him into the injection room, looking particularly pitiful.
Xing Xing’s small body trembled, and he instinctively shrank into Yu Bai’s arms, only daring to show his round ink-black eyes as he looked at the baby being dragged into the room with a mixture of fear and curiosity.
“Wah—wah!”
Inside the injection room, the pitiful cries of the babies were deafening.
A ripple effect was set in motion.
Several babies waiting in line at the entrance to receive their shots witnessed this terrifying scene, causing them to cry one after another.
“Mommy! I don’t want a shot! I don’t want to get a shot!”
“Wow! So scary!”
“Wah! Why do I have to get a shot? I won’t do it!”
Meanwhile, the parents were frantically trying to comfort their children.
Compared to the crying babies who refused to get their shots, Yu Bai noticed that Xing Xing in his arms seemed unusually quiet.
Yu Bai smiled in relief.
He knew that his Xing Xing was the bravest and most courageous baby in the world!
Then, Yu Bai lowered his head and met Xing Xing’s teary, watery eyes.
Yu Bai:…
Xing Xing’s nose, cheeks, and eye sockets were all red. He blinked his long, curled eyelashes, and tears glistened as they rolled down his cheeks.
Xing Xing tightly clutched Yu Bai’s collar, his small, milky voice choked up.
“Dad, do I really have to get the shot?”
Xing Xing didn’t want to cry in front of his dad and look ugly.
But the shot looked so scary!
It was his first time getting sick, so Xing Xing had no idea what getting a shot was like.
Just thinking about what might happen inside the injection room made Xing Xing’s small body tremble uncontrollably.
At that moment, Yu Bai’s warm hand gently touched Xing Xing’s head and patted his back.
A glimmer of hope surged within Xing Xing.
If Dad was so gentle with him, maybe Dad wouldn’t make him get the scary shot, right?
Xing Xing raised his little head, tears shimmering at the corners of his eyes.
Yu Bai slowly smiled at Xing Xing.
In a gentle tone, he uttered cruel and chilling words.
“No, sweetie! If you want to get better quickly, you have to get the shot! Besides the shot, you’ll also have to take cold medicine later…”
Xing Xing widened his ink-black eyes, and the watery mist in them turned into broken pearls, wetting Yu Bai’s collar.
Wuwuwu! Dad was being mean! Poor Xing Xing was already sick, and Dad still wanted him to get a shot and take yucky cold medicine…
Wuwuwu! Xing Xing didn’t love Dad anymore!
“Next, number 234, Yu Shuoxing…”
Yu Bai scooped up Xing Xing, who was still sad and teary.
Although Xing Xing was a chubby little lump of flesh, his flesh was just soft baby fat and had no strength at all.
Unable to break free from Yu Bai’s hands, Xing Xing, with teary eyes, was brought into the “terrifying” injection room.
The pungent smell of disinfectant assaulted his nose, causing Xing Xing’s “golden beans” to drop even faster.
Yu Bai placed Xing Xing on the injection table and mercilessly pulled down his pants.
Xing Xing’s small hands clung to Yu Bai’s arm, “?!”
The cotton swab touched Xing Xing’s little buttocks, leaving behind a chilling sensation.
“Your son is so well-behaved and quiet.” The nurse praised, “Several children started crying as soon as they entered, but getting a shot is not scary at all…”
Just as Xing Xing, who was shedding tears quietly, was being praised, his watery eyes froze, and his small body became motionless.
In the blink of an eye, the nurse took advantage of Xing Xing’s stillness and swiftly administered the injection.
While still immersed in the nurse’s beautiful praise, Xing Xing’s teary eyes blinked and blinked.
1, 2, 3.
The nurse removed the needle and pressed a cotton ball against the injection site.
“It’s done.” The nurse let out a sigh of relief. “Take the child out.”
Yu Bai lifted Xing Xing and left the injection room.
Xing Xing in Yu Bai’s arms: Huh? The shot is over?
At that moment, a delayed sense of pain reached his nerves.
The shot hurt so much!
Xing Xing pouted, about to continue crying in distress when the parents of other babies at the entrance to the injection room praised him.
“Wow! This kid is so brave! They didn’t shed a tear while getting the shot?!”
“They didn’t cry or make a sound at all! They’re really amazing!”
“Panpan, this kid looks even younger than you! This kid isn’t afraid of shots, but you, as the older brother, are scared of them. Isn’t that embarrassing?”
Among all the babies waiting in line to get their fever-reducing shots, Xing Xing was the only one who didn’t cry or shed any tears when going in or coming out.
Taking advantage of the situation, the parents waiting at the entrance “educated” their own children and praised Xing Xing.
The tears that were about to fall from Xing Xing’s eyes were held back.
These uncles and aunties were praising Xing Xing as a strong and well-behaved baby! Xing Xing couldn’t cry!
While Yu Bai rested on a nearby chair with Xing Xing in his arms, a chubby baby with tears slowly moved closer to Xing Xing.
Chubby Baby: “Does the shot hurt?”
The other babies, who were still shedding tears, all perked up their ears.
Xing Xing replied firmly, “It doesn’t hurt!”
During the injection, it was a bit painful. But after the shot, there was a little bit of pain. However, Xing Xing was super strong, and that little bit of pain could be completely ignored!
Chubby Baby hesitated, “Really, really?”
The other babies stopped their tears and looked at Xing Xing together.
Xing Xing proudly puffed up his chest, “Really!”
While Yu Bai was chatting with Xing Xing and the chubby baby, he took out a strawberry candied hawthorn from a paper bag and handed it to Xing Xing.
“Here.” Yu Bai said, “After the shot, have a strawberry candied hawthorn, and I’ll reward you with a candy too…”
Xing Xing pouted.
Dad had just taken him to the injection room for a painful shot!
Now, a strawberry candied hawthorn and a candy were supposed to comfort Xing Xing? Hmph! Xing Xing wasn’t so easily fooled!
Yu Bai reached out and gently rubbed Xing Xing’s soft head.
“You’re the first kid who didn’t cry during the shot,” Yu Bai’s voice was gentle, “My brave and strong Xing Xing, I’m very happy.”
Xing Xing’s flattened mouth curved up slightly.
He reached out to take the strawberry candied hawthorn and put the candy in his little pocket.
The candy was a precious reward from Dad to Xing Xing, so Xing Xing wanted to save it!
Xing Xing licked the slightly melting strawberry candied hawthorn.
The combination of sour strawberry and non-sticky candy was perfect, sweet and sour, just like Xing Xing’s current mood.
The emotions of the babies came and went quickly.
They had been crying and wailing collectively before due to the “shots,” but now they were all drawn to the strawberry candied hawthorn in Xing Xing’s hand.
The chubby baby who had come to ask if the shot hurt looked at the plump and lovely big strawberry, drooling.
“Mommy, I want to eat too…”
The chubby baby’s mom helplessly touched her forehead, “If you get the shot today, take your medicine, and behave without crying or fussing, then I’ll buy one for you too.”
The chubby baby immediately agreed, “Okay!”
—
After experiencing the fever-reducing shot, the saline drip didn’t feel as painful to Xing Xing.
After Yu Bai gave Xing Xing his medicine and gave him a candy to alleviate the bitter taste, he allowed Xing Xing to take a short nap in the room.
When Xing Xing woke up, his body temperature had returned to normal, but he still felt weak.
“Let’s eat first.”
Yu Bai served a meal according to Xing Xing’s appetite, placing it in Xing Xing’s special small bowl.
“Give it a try, how does it taste?”
Yu Bai cooked the silky egg porridge to the perfect consistency, with a layer of tantalizing rice oil on top that made anyone who loved porridge drool. The silky egg porridge was fragrant and suitable, and with just one bite, Xing Xing’s whole stomach “woke up.”
The eggplant flesh of the garlic mashed eggplant is soft and tender, infused with the salty and fresh fragrance of garlic, with a hint of unique spiciness. The cold-dressed cucumber is sour, sweet, and delicious, extremely appetizing.
Of course, the most fragrant and delicious dish is definitely the salted water beef brisket.
Yu Bai sliced each piece of beef brisket into a thickness so thin that it was translucent like a cicada’s wing. The seasoning was simple, not overpowering the natural flavor of the beef. With each bite of beef brisket, it filled the mouth with a fragrant taste.
Although it was just a porridge with three side dishes, Yu Bai managed to make it interesting.
Yu Bai originally thought that there might be leftovers on Xing Xing’s plate, but he didn’t expect that Xing Xing would finish everything, including the porridge and the dishes.
Xing Xing patted his round belly, satisfied, and leaned on the cushion, letting out a small burp.
Dad’s cooking and dishes have become more and more delicious since he came back from the hospital.
Xing Xing pinched his chubby arms, his expression filled with a hint of distress.
Oh dear! He’s turning into a little chubby baby.
After finishing dinner, Yu Bai played with Xing Xing for a while at home and let him watch educational videos. Then, he coaxed Xing Xing to sleep.
While Xing Xing was sleeping, Yu Bai quietly left the bedroom.
When he was cooking dinner earlier, he had contacted Yu Dong, the seller of candied hawthorns.
Yu Dong said he had brought Yu Bai’s food cart to his doorstep. If Yu Bai wanted to pick up the cart, he could go directly to his place.
After finalizing the time for picking up and returning the cart with Yu Dong, Yu Bai opened a webpage on his computer.
Considering the current situation, setting up a snack stall seemed to be the best choice for Yu Bai. By operating the snack stall for three to four hours every afternoon, after deducting costs and taxes, he could earn at least tens of thousands of yuan per month. If Yu Bai worked even harder and set up the stall on weekends as well, he would definitely earn even more.
Yu Bai estimated that if he continued this for two to three years, he would be able to earn enough money to open a snack shop.
By then, Xing Xing wouldn’t have to accompany him outside in the cold weather like today and risk getting sick.
Thinking back to Xing Xing’s pitiful appearance with teary eyes before he got the shot, Yu Bai pursed his lips, feeling a twinge of self-blame.
Xing Xing got sick because of his reckless mentality. He thought that if he dressed Xing Xing in enough clothes, it would reduce the risk of him catching a cold. But Xing Xing still got sick.
If… he had more money, he could hire several nannies to take care of Xing Xing at home, play with him, and Xing Xing wouldn’t have to stick with him at the stall, leading to him getting sick, right?
Yu Bai gently bit his lower lip with his teeth.
Everyone said that Xing Xing was the most obedient and sensible cub they had ever seen.
But only Yu Bai knew that Xing Xing was obedient and sensible because the clever Xing Xing had early on realized the hardships of his single father’s life. Xing Xing worked hard to shoulder more responsibilities on his young shoulders, just to prevent him from becoming even more exhausted.
“Click.”
Yu Bai pressed the mouse, browsing the webpage.
On the webpage, there were rows of ads for part-time nanny positions.
As one of the busiest cities in China, J City had high housing and living costs, and hiring a nanny was expensive.
Yu Bai thought about hiring a part-time nanny to play with Xing Xing during the hours he was away at the stall. But he worried that the cheap ones wouldn’t treat the child well, and he couldn’t afford the expensive ones.
There were very few part-time nanny positions available that fell in the middle range.
After hesitating for a moment, Yu Bai decided to post an ad for a part-time nanny on the website himself and then closed the webpage.
These two days were his rest days, and with Xing Xing being sick, Yu Bai needed to stay at home to take care of him and couldn’t go out to set up the stall.
It gave him enough time to wait for suitable candidates to submit their resumes for the nanny position.
However…
The next day, when Yu Bai woke up, he received a new email in his inbox.
In just one night, there were already applicants for the part-time nanny position to take care of Xing Xing!
Author’s note:
There will be two more updates coming up.