Pei Dundun slept for two hours, waking up without crying or making a fuss. He grabbed his toes and called out to the surveillance camera, “Daddy, Daddy...”
No one responded.
He got up in one go, throwing the blanket off the crib bit by bit. With little hands gripping the edge of the bed and little short legs straddling it, he gradually shifted his weight outside. When his feet slipped, he ended up hanging on the edge of the bed. After swaying twice, he fell into the blankets on the floor and landed on his bottom.
He picked up his little bag, put the milk bottle and important belongings inside, and put on his slippers.
A real man had to find his daddy by himself.
As he attempted to escape to the door, Auntie Zhang, who had just returned from the restroom, caught him in the act.
Auntie Zhang looked at him and felt lucky that she had come out of the restroom; if she had stayed for another minute, he might have escaped through the front gate.
“Dundun, where are you going?”
“Grandma Zhang, I’m going to find my daddy.”
Auntie Zhang said, “Your daddy is working at the estate tonight. Can we wait for him at home?”
Holding onto his bag tightly, Pei Dundun said, “I can help daddy with his work.”
It was normal for children to look for their fathers when they woke up. Anyway, the estate was not far from here. Taking a stroll there with the child shouldn’t affect Mr. Pei’s work, right?
Auntie Zhang said, “Okay, let’s go find daddy.”
She called her husband to join them, and the two of them took the child and headed to the entrance of the estate.
Pei Rong had never brought the child here before, but the security guard recognized Uncle Zhang and Auntie Zhang, assuming the child was their grandchild and they were out for a walk in the estate in the evening.
As long as they didn’t disturb the guests in the guest area, the estate allowed employees to take their children for a walk in the garden.
Uncle Zhang escorted them to the entrance and then went back to watch the gate. Auntie Zhang took Pei Dundun to the garden and said, “I’ll call your daddy.”
Knowing that his daddy was here, Pei Dundun was no longer in a hurry. His attention is drawn to a trio approaching from the opposite direction—a big person, a small person, and a cat.
The cat was huge, fluffy, with a long tail dragging on the ground, tethered by a leash.
The adult leisurely walked with the cat while the child continuously threw stones at the cat’s head.
The cat’s dodging movements seemed to pique the child’s interest. If he hit it, he would bounce towards his mom, proudly proclaiming, “I hit it!”
The cat’s owner smiled helplessly, seeming to feel sorry for the cat, but the indulgence towards the child overshadowed everything. If the cat growled at the child, she would tug on the leash, tightening it around the cat’s neck to pull it away.
After several attempts, the cat looked wilted and stopped dodging the stones. Finding it no longer interesting, the child switched to poking its belly with a stick.
“Can you not poke the cat with a stick?” Pei Dundun looked at the auntie beside him with hopeful eyes.
He was very clever and liked to communicate with adults when there was something on his mind.
The cat seemed to see a savior and took two steps, hiding behind Pei Dundun, softly meowing.
“Just poke.” The child reached over Pei Ge to poke with a branch. Pei Ge stepped back, and the cat followed suit, like playing tag with them.
Pei Ge was a head shorter than the child but very agile in blocking with the stick.
The naughty child, unable to poke the cat, angrily threw the stone in his hand.
Bang—Pei Dundun’s forehead swelled into a bump.
It hurt.
Was the cat hurt just now, too?
The big cat suddenly stood up, its front paws on Pei Dundun’s shoulders—surprisingly taller than him. It fluffed up its fur, showing its teeth, and growling at the child poking with the stick.
The cat owner’s face darkened immediately. She was surprised that her cat, which she raised so dearly, was growling at her own child.
She felt a subtle jealousy towards this smart child, pulled the leash forcefully, and dragged the cat away from Pei Dundun.
An adult West Forest Cat weighed eighteen pounds. With such a tug, Pei Dundun was carried forward by inertia, almost falling flat on his face. The cat, with agile movements, caught Pei Ge’s face with its fluffy body.
“Oh, how careless!” The cat owner exclaimed.
“Dundun!” Auntie Zhang quickly helped the little child up, dusted off his clothes, and noticed a bump on his forehead. Despite being frustrated, she didn’t scold him.
“This lady, how could you...”
Mr. Pei sent her a layout of the mansion’s rooms and instructed her to take Pei Dundun to room 101.
Auntie Zhang saw Pei Dundun standing there looking at the cat, the cat behaving well, and the cat owner appearing knowledgeable and polite. She glanced at the map for a few seconds, but who knew Dundun would be bullied like this!
Pei Dundun, with a dirty face and disheveled hair, was a seasoned veteran of falls and tumbles. He touched his forehead, a hint of tears shimmering in his eyes, yet he persisted in acting cute, saying, “Sister, can you sell me the cat?”
He and the cat had formed a bond of comradeship, and he couldn’t let the cat be beaten anymore.
“Sell?” The cat owner seemed to find it amusing. “It’s worth over ten thousand. Why should I sell it to you? Do I need this money?”
“Yes, Mom, we won’t sell.”
Her child has always been outstanding from a young age, articulate and impressive, envied by others. But when compared to Pei Ge, the contrast is stark, making her child appear impolite and unpleasant. She has no intention of indulging this child, not even allowing him to take the cat.
Both grandmother and grandson were dressed in roadside bargain clothes, clearly brought in by staff to make trouble.
She wanted to complain.
“Dundun,” Auntie Zhang didn’t want to endure this frustration, suggesting, “Let’s go home and ask Dad to buy you a better one, okay?”
Mr. Pei was the most doting father she’s ever seen, not because he indulged his son’s excessive material desires, but because of his patient companionship—she had never seen a man so patiently raising a child.
If Dundun really liked cats, even if Mr. Pei was extremely unwilling to keep pets, he would still buy one for him.
Pei Dundun felt slightly troubled, finding this a bit difficult.
“I can spend a lot of money.”
He took out a hundred yuan bill from his bag, the one he was supposed to use to buy milk last time. The policeman confiscated it and gave each of his five older brothers a bucket of instant noodles, which smelled delicious, but he didn’t get any.
The cat’s owner sneered, “Poor little beggar.”
