A phone call woke Pei Rong up at eight in the morning.
Pei Dundun had a good routine. He played during the day until he was tired and then slept. He woke up a bit after six in the morning. While the beautiful dad was still sound asleep, the little kid amused himself. Usually, Pei Rong would let himself sleep for another hour before getting up to make breakfast for him.
It was rare for him to sleep until eight. When the phone woke him up, Pei Rong instinctively reached out to feel for his son beside him but found the space empty, which jolted him awake immediately.
He did not allow Pei Dundun to get into trouble before he himself was awake. Early in the morning, he didn’t want to wake up to a mess. Pei Dundun was very obedient and didn’t dare to do things that were strictly forbidden.
Realizing that Pei Dundun wasn’t in bed, Pei Rong’s first reaction was that the little rascal had finally rebelled. Two seconds later, he remembered that he had sent his son away.
“Daddy!”
Pei Dundun’s voice was full of energy. He said happily, “Daddy Lu is going to take me to the amusement park.”
From his son’s excessive excitement, Pei Rong could hear the anticipation for the outing. He yawned and said, “But Daddy just opened his eyes.”
Pei Dundun knew it took two hours for his dad to drive from home to Daddy Lu’s place. He pouted and said, “Okay, then Daddy, you sleep a little longer.”
His dad took a long time to get out of bed after opening his eyes, so he definitely couldn’t make it in time.
Pei Rong said with his eyes closed, “If Dundun can stay at the amusement park until eleven, Daddy can make it.”
The little kid didn’t like playing the same ride repeatedly. In the past, when Pei Rong took him to the children’s playground, he would slide once, ride the bumper cars once, and then hit his dad’s patience limit. After an hour and a half, he would hold his dad’s hand and say, “We can go home now.”
Pei Dundun said, “I’ll wait for Daddy.”
Pei Rong hung up the phone and was on the highway fifteen minutes later.
Seeing his dad try so hard to make it in time would definitely move Pei Dundun to tears.
***
Lu Qin had made breakfast, including steamed egg custard and date paste buns. While eating breakfast, Pei Dundun said, “My daddy can make this too.”
He pointed at the steamed egg custard, “But his doesn’t have meat and shrimp in it.”
If great beauty Pei was willing to sprinkle a bit of scallions, it would be a blessing.
Lu Qin felt even more affection for the boy and wiped his mouth.
While Pei Dundun was talking, he deliberately ate slowly to drag out the time; otherwise, Pei Ge would usually just eat quickly and speak little.
He continued, “It’s just as delicious. Grandma Zhao adds tofu and clams, and Uncle Jiang makes it with crucian carp soup.”
“One time, Daddy tried to pass off Uncle Jiang’s cooking as his own, but I caught him right away!”
Lu Qin listened and felt something was off. “How old is your Uncle Jiang?”
Was he fifty?
It sounded like they lived together and even shared the same pot to steam eggs.
Pei Dundun: “A little older than Dad.”
Lu Qin pressed further: “How much is a little?”
Pei Dundun held up four fingers.
Lu Qin asked casually: “Do you live together? Is Uncle Jiang married?”
Pei Dundun: “We used to live at Uncle Jiang’s house.”
He took a bite of a date paste bun: “Uncle Jiang isn’t married. He likes someone but doesn’t dare to say it; he only tells me. Uncle Jiang is a coward.”
Lu Qin squished the date paste bun flat, thinking, ‘Could it be that he likes your dad?.’ Otherwise, why would he tell a kid this? Was he trying to plant a seed or confess through Dundun?
And why wouldn’t Pei Rong accept any of his gifts but be willing to stay at an outsider’s place?
“Do you like Uncle Jiang a lot?”
Pei Dundun burst out laughing: “Yes, he even calls me Brother Pei*!” (T/N: He means his name ‘Pei Ge’. But without knowing the context, one would just assume what he said was ‘Brother Pei’.)
Lu Qin’s eyes darkened, sensing a crisis. This man named Jiang, trying to please Dundun, was shamelessly calling the child “brother” despite his age.
Dundun was so adorable. How could he be the older brother of someone so old?
He wouldn’t tolerate anyone being more ingratiating than him.
Lu Qin: “Only guilty people are cowardly. So where is your Uncle Jiang now?”
Pei Dundun: “Uncle Jiang has also returned to the country!”
After saying this, he covered his mouth. That’s it, no more. If he says any more, Daddy Lu will find out their address.
Lu Qin squashed the fluffy date paste bun into a hard lump. This Jiang fellow came back to the country, and with Dundun not around as a distraction, things were looking grim.
Pei Rong was so lazy. If someone cooked, cleaned, and changed lightbulbs for him every day, wouldn’t he become dependent over time?
Pei Dundun said: “Dad, I want to take a nice bath before going out to play.”
He hadn’t seen Dad for a long time. If he turned into a dirty Dundun, his pretty dad might dislike him.
Lu Qin calmed down for a moment. “Okay, let’s sit for a while before washing.”
Pei Dundun’s hair inevitably picked up some of the smell of alcohol from last night, and Lu Qin was worried that Pei Rong would notice.
The two of them looked like a father and son who had been out causing trouble late at night, thinking alike.
Madam Jiang took Dundun for a walk in the garden, while Lu Qin prepared things for going out.
Half an hour later, Madam Jiang filled the bathtub for Dundun’s bath, doting on him by placing a pile of toys around the tub, giving him whatever he wanted.
Lu Qin put items like a bottle, formula, thermos, and spare clothes into the trunk, saying, “Mom, you go get ready. I’ll take over.”
Lu Qin took his mother’s place, squeezed out some foam, and patiently scrubbed Dundun’s hair and back. Pei Dundun was focused on playing with his toys.
As he scrubbed, he noticed the bathwater changing color.
He couldn’t be that dirty, right?
Lu Qin’s eyelid twitched as he watched Pei Dundun, with a yellow rubber duck in one hand and a soy sauce bottle in the other, pouring it into the tub.
No wonder the kid was getting dirtier the more he bathed!
Lu Qin held the soy sauce bottle and asked, “What are you doing?”
Pei Dundun let go and grabbed a small spoon, adding salt to the tub while checking with Daddy Lu: “Two spoons of salt, half a spoon of sugar, this much soy sauce, and red wine.”
Lu Qin realized, catching sight of half a bottle of red wine squeezed among the bottles, that this was the recipe for red wine braised beef.
He was pleased the little one remembered the measurements after seeing it once, but... why were the condiments here?
“You can’t play house while taking a bath.”
Pei Dundun was unhappy with the coloring, so he added more soy sauce: “This way Dundun can smell just as good as Dad’s red wine braised beef.”
When Dad, who couldn’t eat, kissed Dundun, he would know how delicious it was.
When he wanted to eat it himself, he could just lick his arm. So convenient.
Lu Qin: “...”
How was he supposed to reason with this?
He fished Pei Dundun out of the water, wrapped him up, and tucked him under his arm. Then he grabbed a small bowl and, at a dizzying speed, mixed the condiments, letting the little one dip his thumb in to taste.
