VFGRC Chapter 68

Saturday’s customers were really overwhelming. Yu Bai and Yun He were both busy at the on-site snack window, serving customers and preparing snacks at the same time, barely able to keep up with the demand.

In the end, it was thanks to the help of the older auntie employees that the pressure on Yu Bai and Yun He was significantly relieved as they assisted in attending to the customers.

In the small break room, after watching an early education video for a while, Xing Xing’s two round, dark eyes began to show signs of drowsiness.

He had secretly peeked through the crack in the door and noticed that his daddy was especially busy up front, without any time for rest.

It seemed like Daddy couldn’t lull him to sleep anymore.

Xing Xing pursed his lips, and his big round eyes blinked.

Daddy was too busy! He didn’t want to bother Daddy.

So… he would have to fall asleep by himself.

Although Xing Xing had never gone to bed by himself before, he was smart!

He had watched Daddy take care of him before bed every day, so he had long learned what preparations needed to be done before sleeping.

Xing Xing recalled how Yu Bai had taken care of him in the shop a few days ago.

First, Xing Xing took off his little shoes and neatly arranged them on the floor. Then, he stepped onto a small stool and climbed onto the low, makeshift bed in the break room.

One by one, Xing Xing unfolded the blanket and fluffed the pillow. Finally, he found the stuffed cat toy placed in the corner.

Hugging the cat toy, Xing Xing waved his little hands and spread the blanket over his feet.

After all the busy activity, Xing Xing finally lay down on the bed.

At this moment, little sweat beads had formed on Xing Xing’s forehead!

“Whew!”

The process of preparing for a nap was really tiring!

After initially expending energy watching the early education video, and now being busy for a while, a strong sense of fatigue washed over Xing Xing.

So sleepy! But… he still couldn’t fall asleep.

Xing Xing blinked his eyes, and with the soft and fluffy white cat plush toy in his arms, his big eyes met the toy’s small eyes.

Right! Every time before sleeping, Daddy would sing him a lullaby!

How did the lullaby go?

A tender, slightly off-key, childish voice, as if it could squeeze out water, echoed in the empty room.

“Sleep, sleep, my dear baby of Daddy’s…”

As Xing Xing buried his little head in the embrace of the cat plush toy, he gently hummed the lullaby that Yu Bai had sung to him countless times in his ear.

As if at this moment, he was once again nestled in the warm embrace of Yu Bai, feeling the warmth of Yu Bai’s chest.

The lullaby Xing Xing hummed gradually grew fainter, and his little head instinctively nuzzled against the direction of the cat plush toy, sleepiness resurfacing.

Slowly, the rest room became quiet.

It wasn’t until several hours later that the door to the rest room was pushed open.

—

Human energy is limited; no one can do two things perfectly at the same time.

Today’s customers were exceptionally numerous, so when Yu Bai was busy attending to the customers up front, he unintentionally forgot about Xing Xing in the rest room.

This oversight couldn’t entirely be blamed on Yu Bai’s memory.

Because on normal days, Xing Xing was an extremely disciplined little one. When nap time came, he would willingly leave the rest room and run to Yu Bai’s side, asking Yu Bai to lull him to sleep.

But today, in an unprecedented occurrence, Xing Xing hadn’t run out of the rest room. And due to being occupied with many tasks, Yu Bai had forgotten about Xing Xing’s nap.

When he finally realized that it was time for Xing Xing’s nap, an hour had already passed since Xing Xing’s scheduled nap time.

Yu Bai immediately set down what he was doing. “Yun He, could you watch the customers for me? I’ll go to the rest room and check on Xing Xing.”

Hastily, Yu Bai walked to the entrance of the rest room.

Xing Xing was a well-behaved and sensible child. He knew what he should and shouldn’t do. Moreover, there were no dangerous items in the rest room, so theoretically, Xing Xing should be very safe there.

However, as a parent, Yu Bai still worried about the possibility of something happening to Xing Xing in the rest room.

Gently pushing open the door to the rest room, before he could even call out “Xing Xing,” Yu Bai saw that on the small bed in the rest room, there was a small “hill” formed.

Yu Bai immediately swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and quietly approached the small bed.

“Hoo, hoo, hoo…”

In the tranquil rest room, the soft sound of a baby’s breathing during deep sleep could be heard.

Xing Xing was lying on the bed, hugging his beloved cat plush toy, sleeping soundly!

Yu Bai’s figure paused, and upon seeing this scene, he revealed a look of surprise.

Xing Xing had actually learned to sleep on his own!

Without overthinking, Yu Bai first approached Xing Xing, carefully checking if the covers were properly arranged. Then, he tucked the corner of the blanket for Xing Xing.

Gazing at Xing Xing’s adorable sleeping face, a faint smile curved on Yu Bai’s lips. He took out his phone from his pocket and snapped a photo of Xing Xing peacefully sleeping on the bed.

This was the first time Yu Bai had discovered that Xing Xing had learned to sleep on his own.

Raising a baby on his own was undoubtedly tough, but watching his child gradually grow up, learn, and master more and more things, transforming from a blank canvas into a vibrant and colorful masterpiece… the sense of accomplishment in this process was beyond words.

Yu Bai’s face lit up with contentment.

He didn’t want to disturb Xing Xing’s sleep too much, especially since there were still more things waiting for him outside.

After sitting in the rest room for a while, Yu Bai stood up and left.

He gently closed the door, and the rest room returned to its quiet state once again.

During this nap, Xing Xing slept exceptionally well and didn’t have any dreams.

It wasn’t until he was half awake and half asleep that he heard the sound of the door being pushed open. That’s when he opened his eyes.

The first person he saw upon opening his eyes was Yu Bai.

At this moment, it was closing time for the shop.

Yu Bai had finally finished attending to all the customers. Due to the unusually large number of customers today, apart from the made-to-order window, all the pre-prepared snacks in the other windows, managed by the older auntie employees, were completely sold out.

Today’s earnings were certainly substantial, but the exhaustion was undeniably real.

Once Yu Bai was done with his tasks, he promptly returned to the rest room where Xing Xing was resting.

Yu Bai assumed that Xing Xing had already woken up.

However, upon entering the rest room again, he found Xing Xing still asleep.

Yu Bai was about to give Xing Xing a light pat to wake him up, but Xing Xing opened his round, slightly hazy ink-black eyes, brimming with sleepiness and a hint of dazed confusion.

Gradually, Xing Xing’s ink-black eyes became more alert.

“Daddy.”

Xing Xing, who had just woken up, spoke with a soft and mellow voice, carrying a melodic rhythm in his words.

Yu Bai rubbed the little one’s soft head, “Finally awake?”

Xing Xing’s tender milk-like voice responded with a sound of affirmation.

Xing Xing then slowly said, “Daddy, today I slept on my own.”

“I know,” Yu Bai lightly tapped Xing Xing’s chubby cheek with his fingertip and smiled, “Xing Xing, you did an amazing job today. You managed to learn to sleep on your own without me noticing.”

Xing Xing’s watery eyes twinkled and his small mouth curved upward, revealing two adorable dimples of pride.

“Mhm, mhm!”

Daddy praised him for being so capable and for learning to sleep on his own!

He felt so happy! So happy!

With Yu Bai around, Xing Xing, who was always mindful of his image, could only celebrate inwardly. He planned to continue being well-behaved and capable, learning even more things early on, so that Daddy would praise him as being amazing every day!

—

As a reward for Xing Xing’s good behavior that day, Yu Bai promised that Xing Xing could choose whatever dinner he wanted.

“Anything you can eat, you can order.”

Xing Xing was initially thrilled. He wanted to order all the delicious dishes that he had never tried before, especially the ones that Yu Bai had made in the past.

However, on the way back home, as Xing Xing contemplated what to have for dinner tonight, he found himself tangled in indecision once again.

If he ordered too much food, it would mean that Daddy would have to spend a lot of time and effort preparing them… Daddy had already been busy at the shop today, and Xing Xing didn’t want to make him even more tired.

But, having to choose a few items from what he wanted to eat for dinner, Xing Xing, who struggled with decision-making, found himself in a dilemma.

What should he choose for dinner?

As they got closer and closer to home, Xing Xing’s conflicted little mind was like a running computer, getting warmer and warmer.

Once they reached downstairs, Yu Bai put Xing Xing down. He was about to take out the keys to open the door when a voice came from behind him.

“Yu Bai.”

Yu Bai’s hand involuntarily tightened around the keys.

“When I have some free time, I want to come to your shop and try those new snacks you’ve introduced,” Ji Rongyu said, “After finishing my work trip today, I immediately booked a flight back to J City.”

“Unfortunately, I was a step too late. Your snack shop has already closed, so I had to wait for you downstairs at your apartment.”

Ji Rongyu walked up to Yu Bai, intending to act coquettishly like he used to.

Because Yu Bai was someone who couldn’t resist softness.

However, before Ji Rongyu’s hand could touch Yu Bai, Yu Bai subtly shifted his body to the side, avoiding his touch.

A slight pause crept onto Ji Rongyu’s smiling face, and his hand awkwardly hung in the air.

Ji Rongyu: “Yu Bai…”

Yu Bai sidestepped, and as he looked at Ji Rongyu, his smile seemed a bit shallower than before.

Yu Bai: “If you want to eat, you can come to my shop tomorrow. After all, my shop is just around the corner at Sanjiaokou. There’s no need to rush and book a flight back to J City.”

Ji Rongyu: “But… I wanted to try your snacks as soon as possible. I wanted you…”

Yu Bai patted Ji Rongyu’s shoulder with a smile, “We’re both adults, aren’t we? Always saying ‘want’ like a broken record, isn’t that getting old? We’re friends, that’s why I can tolerate hearing such cringe-worthy things from you. If it were someone else, they definitely wouldn’t be able to stand it…”

As Yu Bai spoke, an inexplicable sensation crept over Ji Rongyu, as if an invisible wall had suddenly sprung up between him and Yu Bai.

Just this morning, he and Yu Bai had been chatting amicably. Why did it feel like there was now a sense of distance when Yu Bai spoke to him in J City?

Was it his imagination?

In the past, Yu Bai had never deliberately refused his closeness, nor had he ever spoken with a smile that carried such a sense of distance.

Ji Rongyu’s lips tightened slightly.

Clearly, he was finding it hard to adapt to Yu Bai’s current attitude toward him.

Yu Bai… What exactly has happened?

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Translator’s corner: 

Moonlit: Ji Rongyu… Good luck 🙂