TL: Moonlit
The previous translator for this one was my friend. They got so busy so I asked for their permission to continue the translation, so here ya go… ^^
“We’ve sealed this place so tightly that those students won’t be able to see him, right?”
“Well, isn’t that obvious!”
“But is it really a good idea for us to do this?”
“What’s wrong with it? It’s just survival of the fittest. If we let him set up his stall in front of us, it’ll be us who get eliminated! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that our business suffered when he had his stall there yesterday! Do you want to go hungry and be a good person here?”
Upon hearing this, the candy-coated hawthorn seller’s face showed a hint of hesitation.
He quickly glanced back at the teppanyaki stall behind him.
Beside the teppanyaki stall, a tall and thin young man was cajoling a child who looked just like him, as if they were carved out of the same mold.
The child seemed a bit unhappy, with a thin layer of mist covering his round ink-black eyes and a hint of redness at the corners, making him look particularly pitiful.
In the next second, the father and son seemed to sense his gaze and quickly turned their heads toward him.
The candy-coated hawthorn seller immediately averted his gaze and tightly gripped the handle of his snack cart.
“Hey! What’s the matter? Do you still want to make room for them?” The neighboring stall owner selling roujiamo frowned and lowered his voice. “You’re being kind-hearted at the wrong time, aren’t you? Do you want to pay your son’s tuition fees next semester or not? Huh?”
The words of the roujiamo stall owner struck a chord with the candy-coated hawthorn seller.
Candy-coated hawthorn was a seasonal snack that sold best in winter, so every winter, Yu Dong would come to Sanjiaokou to sell candy-coated hawthorns and switch to selling cold noodles when the weather got hot.
This year, Yu Dong had some financial difficulties, so he was especially hopeful to earn more money by selling candy-coated hawthorns.
However… Yu Dong had been selling hawthorns for over a decade, without fail, in large clusters of hawthorns like hawthorn, strawberry, blueberry, etc., and the students would only eat one or two sticks a week, resulting in poor business for Yu Dong.
And after the teppanyaki stall owner arrived yesterday, Yu Dong’s already modest candy-coated hawthorn sales became even worse.
According to what other stall owners said, if they didn’t unite and find a way to hinder the teppanyaki business, then all of their businesses would surely suffer!
Thinking about his son’s uncertain tuition fees for the next semester, Yu Dong closed his eyes.
Yu Dong deluded himself.
As long as he didn’t look back and ignored this father and son…
“Uncle, what are you selling?”
A tender and childlike voice, like a long, soft feather, tickled Yu Dong’s heart.
Without a moment of hesitation, Yu Dong opened his eyes.
Somehow, the father and son who had been behind him were now standing in front of his stall.
Yu Dong lowered his gaze and met a pair of bright, star-like eyes as if they contained sparkling stars.
Xing Xing blinked, and the crystal jelly-like lips curved up, revealing two small dimples on the fair cheeks.
“Uncle?”
With his round face, chubby like a baby’s, and big round eyes, the child had long and curly eyelashes that resembled small brushes, a cute little nose, and glossy lips… He was the most beautiful and adorable baby Yu Dong had ever seen.
Anyone, upon seeing the genuine smile of a baby, would be drawn to their pure and rare innocence.
And especially when the baby was as beautiful and cute as Xing Xing.
In Yu Dong’s eyes, Xing Xing’s smile was like the sugar in candy-coated hawthorns, sweet and heartwarming.
On Yu Dong’s big and rough face, a smile couldn’t help but appear. He whispered, “I sell sugar-coated haws.”
“Sugar-coated haws?” Xing Xing blinked his eyes, turned his little body, and lifted his small head to look at Yu Bai. “Daddy, are sugar-coated haws delicious?”
Yu Bai bent down and picked up Xing Xing.
“Sugar-coated haws are delicious!” Yu Bai smiled and pointed to the transparent cabinet on Yu Dong’s sugar-coated haw cart. “Xing Xing, look, this one is strawberry, this one is blueberry, this one is hawthorn… Sugar-coated haws are made by wrapping these fresh fruits in sugar. When the sugar hardens, it forms a layer of a hard shell.”
“When you take a bite of the sugar-coated haw, the sweet sugar shell mixes with the juicy and slightly sour fruit, making it taste sweet and sour…”
Before Yu Bai finished speaking, Xing Xing had already subtly pursed his lips and swallowed his saliva.
Yu Bai smiled and asked, “Do you want to eat?”
Xing Xing shyly buried his head in Yu Bai’s neck.
“N-No, I don’t…”
Yu Bai decisively exposed him, “You’re already salivating.”
Xing Xing’s soft little body stiffened. “N-No, that’s not true… I’m not that greedy.”
The grandpas and grandmas in the neighborhood committee had said that after the New Year, Xing Xing would be going to kindergarten in a few months.
Xing Xing going to kindergarten is a big kid. How could a big kid drool at the sight of food like a little kid?
He, he wasn’t greedy!
A mischievous smile appeared on Yu Bai’s face, but Xing Xing, with his face buried in Yu Bai’s neck, couldn’t see it.
Yu Bai intentionally said, “Since you don’t want to eat sugar-coated haws, let’s go back and set up the stall.”
Ever since yesterday, Yu Bai had noticed that Xing Xing seemed interested in sugar-coated haws. Whenever a student with sugar-coated haws passed by, Xing Xing would look at them curiously.
And today, while they were preparing the stall on the side, Xing Xing would occasionally glance at the small stall selling sugar-coated haws.
Upon hearing Yu Bai’s words, Xing Xing tightly grasped Yu Bai’s clothes with his chubby little hands on Yu Bai’s shoulder.
Xing Xing’s actions clearly revealed his unwillingness, but his mouth was like a stubborn clam, refusing to speak.
Yu Bai helplessly reached out and touched Xing Xing’s head.
His Xing Xing was good in every way, except for being so temperamental.
Xing Xing clearly wanted to eat sugar-coated haws but always acted like he didn’t want to, making Yu Bai worried.
But a child’s personality needed to change gradually, impatience wouldn’t work.
Yu Bai pinched Xing Xing’s cheeks and smiled helplessly, “Daddy wants to eat sugar-coated haws. How about you pick a good one for me?”
Xing Xing’s long, curly eyelashes fluttered.
Yu Bai continued, “Look, these uncle’s sugar-coated haws are all this big. Daddy can’t finish one by himself. We can share it together when the time comes, okay?”
Xing Xing bit his lip with his white teeth and whispered, “Okay, okay…”
Yu Bai smiled and said, “Then go ahead and pick.”
Xing Xing wasn’t in a hurry to look at the sugar-coated haws, but raised his little head and asked, “What flavor of sugar-coated haws does Daddy like?”
“I like all flavors, but I just can’t pick a favorite sugar-coated haw.” Yu Bai said, “That’s why I need your help!”
“Okay!”
Xing Xing concentrated and stared at the neatly arranged sugar-coated haws in the transparent cabinet for a while before speaking softly.
“Eat… eat the strawberry flavor, how about that?”
Yu Bai kissed his son’s soft cheek like tofu. “Great! Boss, give us a strawberry sugar-coated haw!”
Yu Bai kissed a bit too hard, causing the flesh on Xing Xing’s cheek to tremble.
Xing Xing lowered his little head, feeling his cheeks burning.
It must be because Daddy kissed too hard!
Yu Bai took the sugar-coated haw and handed it to Xing Xing.
Yu Bai: “Try it.”
Xing Xing had a small mouth and ate his meals in small bites, so he nibbled on the sugar-coated haw in small bites as well.
However, Yu Dong’s sugar-coated haw was frozen solid, and the sugar shell on the outside was slippery. When Xing Xing’s little teeth gently slid on it, not even a slight bite mark was left. Instead, his teeth almost bit his tongue.
Xing Xing, who had never suffered any losses since birth, wrinkled his small eyebrows and stared seriously at the sugar-coated haw.
Yu Bai couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Daddy, no, no laughing!”
Xing Xing pouted, feeling a bit unhappy.
Yu Bai barely suppressed his laughter. “Daddy won’t laugh. The sugar-coated haw is too hard. Let’s leave it for a while and eat it when it melts, okay?”
Xing Xing licked his front teeth with his small tongue, feeling a bit reluctant. “Okay then…”
“I’ll give you a paper bag to put them in. If they get dirty, you won’t be able to eat them.” Yu Dong took out a long paper bag. “This is especially for sugar-coated haws.”
Yu Bai smiled. “Thank you.”
Xing Xing also used his tender voice to say, “Thank you, uncle!”
“No need to thank me, no need to thank me.” Yu Dong smiled, his wrinkles squeezing out.
Who wouldn’t like such a well-behaved, polite, and cute child?
After Yu Bai and his son left, Yu Dong thought for a while. When Qingqiao Junior High was about to finish school, he slightly moved his snack cart to the side.
This time, Yu Bai’s teppanyaki stall was no longer completely blocked by his and the neighboring snack carts. As long as the students looked a little, they could see Yu Bai’s teppanyaki.
And this scene fell into Yu Bai’s eyes.
Yu Bai’s eyebrow raised.
Author’s Note:
[Little Theater: Where did Xing Xing’s Tsundere side come from?]
Yu Bai: Definitely not me.
Yu Bai’s grandmother in heaven: Not me either.
The grandpas and grandmas in the neighborhood committee: We only took care of him for a month! Of course, it’s not us!
The certain seme who appeared in the previous chapter: Heh, little brat. When it comes to being tsundere, you can’t compare to me! Loser!
Xing Xing:…
Xing Xing unleashed his ultimate move.
Xing Xing: Wuu wuu wuu, Daddy, someone bullied me—
Yu Bai & Yu Bai’s grandmother & the grandpas and grandmas in the neighborhood committee: It was you all along!!
Xing Xing (in his heart): When it comes to playing the innocent, you can’t beat me, hmph.
