As the door shut right before their eyes, Lu Qin lowered his head, exchanged a glance with the little kid, and saw the same guilty look reflected in each other's eyes.
The two of them, one big and one small, sat side by side on the steps. Pei Dundun sighed, "I forgot the watch had GPS tracking."
Lu Qin asked, "But why would your dad suddenly check the location?"
Someone at the estate must have tipped him off, right? Seems like acquiring the place first would have been the right move.
Lu Qin looked down at himself, noticing how disheveled he appeared. Both he and Dundun's clothes reeked of fish. If they didn’t take a shower soon, they’d be pickled enough to turn into salted fish themselves. Could they still fit in to be a family with Beauty Pei?
Probably not. Beauty Pei always smell nice and fresh. They'd likely be kicked out.
It was early autumn, and the weather was slightly chilly. The trees and shrubs in the yard were still green, but when the wind blew, yellowing leaves would rustle down from the edges, falling onto the steps.
Lu Qin lifted the little kid onto his lap. Just then, he noticed a fish scale stuck to Dundun’s hair, discreetly plucked it off, and tucked it into a crack between the stones, destroying the evidence.
The father and son sat there watching the scenery for about ten minutes before Lu Qin suggested, "How about Dad takes you to the bathroom in the sanatorium for a bath?"
They had stayed there for two days and still had spare clothes left behind.
Pei Dundun replied, "We should stay here and reflect on our actions."
Lu Qin countered, "But Dad needs to maintain his image..."
Before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud crashing sound from inside the house, like something glass or ceramic shattering on the ground.
Was Pei Rong angry and smashing things?
No way. If Pei Dundun had managed to stay so innocently carefree until now, it was probably because Beauty Pei was too lazy to even get mad.
In a hurry, Lu Qin picked up the kid and rushed to the door. Pei Dundun quickly entered the door code, and after two beeps, the door swung open. The father and son ran toward the source of the noise, only to find that Pei Rong had dropped a ceramic bowl.
Pei Rong’s face looked awkward.
The little kid had been eating takeout for two meals in a row, so Pei Rong wanted to make a simple dish of fried rice with eggs for Dundun that evening. But while cracking the eggs near the pan, half of the egg white accidentally slipped to the floor.
He thought he’d clean it up after finishing cooking, but while getting a bowl from the sterilizer to hold the fried rice, he slipped on the egg white. He managed to catch himself by grabbing the counter, but the bowl didn’t survive the fall.
Now, with Lu Qin and Dundun looking at him with concern, Pei Rong became a little embarrassed and irritated. "Did I say you could come in?"
Lu Qin suggested, "How about I take Dundun for a bath before we resume our punishment?"
Pei Rong looked at his child, whose clothes were filthy. Washing up before dinner indeed seemed necessary, so he said, "You wash yourself."
He pinched his nose and led Dundun off to take a bath.
Pei Dundun tilted his head and asked, “Daddy, does Dundun smell bad?”
Pei Rong replied, “Just a little.”
Pei Dundun started chatting away, “Today, a fish this big jumped right into my arms! I grabbed it—it was slippery and cold. We caught fifteen fish! It was too many, so we gave some to Uncle Security Guard.”
Pei Rong patiently listened to the whole story, played along, and after running the hot water, asked, “So, did you reflect while you were outside?”
Pei Dundun nodded enthusiastically, “I did. I didn’t supervise Daddy Lu well and even went fishing with him. Daddy Lu’s wound started bleeding, and then I lied to you when I got home.”
“I’ll be better at supervising and won’t lie to Daddy again.”
He was always getting into trouble, but when it came to reflecting, he was number one.
Reflecting could ensure he wouldn’t make the same mistakes, but it wouldn’t stop the chaos from escalating.
Pei Rong said, “Daddy Lu knows how to do a lot of things. The older you get, the more he’ll be able to teach you. But right now, he’s hurt, and he needs to rest. Because he loves you, he’s willing to go fishing with you even when he’s injured. If Dundun loves Daddy Lu as well, you should help make sure he doesn’t do too much.”
Pei Dundun closed his eyes and washed his hair. “Okay!”
Meanwhile, Lu Qin had taken his own bath, with no one to even help him with a trash bag.
He went downstairs and cleaned up the egg whites and broken porcelain in the kitchen, mopping the floor as well. The whole thing took less than three minutes.
After tidying up, Lu Qin hesitantly lifted the lid of a pot and saw three servings of fried rice inside. His expression softened. He then used another pot to quickly make a simple preserved egg and cucumber soup—light, refreshing, and sweet—perfect to go with the fried rice.
Pei Rong came downstairs with a freshly cleaned Dundun, and by then, Lu Qin had already placed the fried rice and soup on the table.
Pei Rong didn’t even bother to stop him from cooking anymore. After all, if Lu Qin wasn’t making food, he’d be out fishing and grilling to make Dundun extra meals, so cooking was the lesser evil.
He went to the kitchen and brought out another small pot of boiled salted shrimp, which he had originally planned to add to the fried rice. But before tossing it in, he worried it would ruin the dish, so he left it out.
Pei Dundun sat between his two dads, looking at the fried rice and the cucumber soup, clutching his special big spoon.
“The fried rice is so delicious!” Pei Dundun ate with big bites, praising loudly.
In reality, the fried rice was far from perfect: the rice was still rice, and the eggs were still eggs. Some parts were dark from too much soy sauce, while others were pale and bland. The ingredients hadn’t really mingled well in the pan.
Not to be outdone, Lu Qin said, “Yeah, it’s ten times better than takeout.”
What a lie.
Pei, the great beauty, calmly sipped the best cucumber soup on the table, occasionally giving the little boy a slice of cucumber or peeling a shrimp for him.
Every time his bowl had more food, Pei Dundun’s eyes sparkled like a puppy receiving a divine gift. He would take a bite of whatever was given to him before putting it aside.
It was this look that had coaxed the laid-back beauty into cooking countless meals for him over the past two years.
Lu Qin had long seen through his son’s foodie nature. Trying to salvage some image as a reliable father, he lowered his voice and seriously discussed with Pei Rong:
“Do you think our son will get kidnapped one day with just a lollipop? Have you done any anti-abduction education?”
Pei Rong raised an eyebrow meaningfully. “You think Dundun would be lured away by a lollipop?”
Lu Qin: “Well, considering how much he loves food…”
