Chapter 21

The little dragon cub didn"t even eat dinner, showing just how angry he was,

on the way back, he kept sniffling in Bai Huo"s arms.

“Dad was the one who got hurt, what are you crying for?” Bai Huo was amused, patting his back while coaxing him.

The little dragon cub put his little hand on Bai Huo"s bandaged chin, his tears raining down.

“It doesn"t hurt.” Bai Huo didn"t know whether to laugh or cry, afraid that he wouldn"t believe it, he simply peeled off the gauze and raised his chin. “Look, it"s really alright.”

The wound had already stopped bleeding, forming a thin red scab, from a distance, it looked like a stroke from a red pen. A human"s strength was limited, when the knife flew out, Bai Huo deliberately tilted his head at a certain angle, the visual impact in that split-second was amazing, but in fact, the cut wasn"t that big. Moreover, this injury was nothing for a dragon.

The little dragon cub finally stopped crying, his little hand was carefully stroking around Bai Huo"s wound, as if he wanted to confirm something.

Looking at his son"s cautious movements, Bai Huo felt his heart warm. In the end, he didn"t get hurt in vain. Missing out on beer and mahjong time, and destroying his plants, all of these could be ignored. That"s just what it meant to raise a child, no matter how much they made you grit your teeth in anger, just one cute action rejuvenated you.

On the way back, the little dragon cub had tired himself out from crying, and had fallen asleep on Bai Huo"s shoulders. Bai Huo held him all the way home, his shoulders heavy.

The next morning, Bai Huo roused the little dragon cub out of bed, unexpectedly discovering a trace of blood on the corner of his mouth. Bai Huo jumped in fright, but he thought that the cub had just eaten something that shouldn"t be eaten in the middle of the night. Later, after inspecting, he found that the blood was from the cub himself.

“Ahhh-open your mouth.” Bai Huo had a solemn face, ordering the dragon cub to open his mouth as he pointed a flashlight.

The little dragon cub hadn"t fully woken up yet, he was dazed, opening his mouth purely mechanically.

The position of the two little canines were b.l.o.o.d.y, and there was redness on the back molars. It seems that the boy really despised Xiao Shu last night. While Bai Huo was shocked, he also couldn"t help but feel a little worried. The child was naturally aggressive, he had known that since he"d hatched. Bai Huo had been deliberately making corrections and educating him, such as banning him from killing live animals and reducing his dependence on raw food.

Currently, it seems that the corrections were holding on. The little dragon cub wouldn"t attack human beings for no reason. Judging by appearance, he could be regarded as civilized, polite, and even quite harmonious with human beings. But now, this “harmony” needed to be questioned. Last night, if Bai Huo wasn"t holding back the cub, Xiao Shu probably would"ve lost his life.

One day, if the cub was angered while he wasn"t around, what would happened?

The little dragon"s head drowsily rocked from side to side, then he fell into Bai Huo"s arms. Bai Huo picked him up and felt his forehead, his temperature was a bit high.

With the experience gained from the indigestion episode, Bai Huo didn"t panic this time. He helped the little dragon cub rinse out his mouth, and fed him some warm water before putting him back to bed, then he called Shan Hu.

“As long as the high fever doesn"t persist, there"s no need to take medicine,” Shan Hu said. “It"s normal for children to get fevers. Did he catch a cold last night?”

“It"s not a cold.” Bai Huo thought it over. He needed to explain the child"s reaction last night, so, he hid the inside story, and focused on the part where the dragon cub was so angry, he wanted to attack a person.

“It"s a fever caused by surging rage and large emotional fluctuations.”

After speaking, Shan Hu hesitated: “But … this phenomenon mostly appears in adolescent dragons. This is the first time I"ve seen it in such a small child. What kind of child has such deep hatred, are you sure he wasn"t just scared?”

Bai Huo looked at the sleepy little dragon cub, saying in his heart, this child doesn"t seem to be scare-able.

“I"ll keep observing, I"ll call you if something comes up.” Bai Huo didn"t want to say any more, hanging up the phone.

Although he knew that he shouldn"t spoil the boy too much, Bai Huo felt uneasy. Later that night, he called the kindergarten and asked for leave, wanting to let the little dragon cub rest at home for a few days.

After receiving the call, the head teacher gladly consented, enthusiastically expressing her sympathies, but she didn"t forget to remind Bai Huo that "People should live to suffer“, meaning the homework still needed to be completed.

Bai Huo was talking on the phone while the little dragon cub watched, both exposed a “Got found out” expression.

“If nothing else, the small white flower a.s.signment must be completed. Next week, our kindergarten will be taking the children on a trip to sweep the graves in the cemetery. Everyone has to make their own small white flowers, which will help deepen the children"s patriotism.”

Bai Huo didn"t understand. How can small children handcraft such intricate flowers, isn"t it all the parents" work? Why beat around the bush, he might as well deduct some of the cub"s allowance money for fish, and buy a little white flower to help him make an impression. But these criticisms were all said in his heart, Bai Huo didn"t have the nerve to say them out loud. After all, his son still had to survive in the kindergarten.

“Not good.” The little dragon cub sat on the sofa and suddenly sighed.

Bai Huo was struck by the adorableness of his earnest "It"s the end of the world" expression: “Hey, isn"t your Dad right here, what are you worried about?”

After saying this, Bai Huo immediately moved to call Officer Ji, but then he thought, asking a police officer to deliver a white flower from so far away, wasn"t that strange?

“We shouldn"t bother Uncle Luo for such a trivial thing … uh, I mean Uncle Ji,” Bai Huo discussed with the little dragon cub, "How about we make it ourselves?”

The little dragon cub looked at him doubtfully.

Bai Huo was good on his word, immediately running to the bathroom and coming out with a dozen sheets of paper: “Come on, of course we can do it ourselves, isn"t it just a little white flower?”

The little dragon cub looked at the folded wet wipes in his hand: “…”

Half an hour later, Bai Huo leaned back on the sofa and took a swig of beer, shaking the two randomly bound “little white flowers” in his hand, tossing them to the little dragon cub: “Look, I made two flowers, you can give the extra flower to a cute girl in your cla.s.s. “

The little dragon cub silently hid away his neatly folded handmade flowers, getting up to accept his Dad"s little white flowers, which didn"t look much better than used toilet paper.

Bai Huo was never one to stay idle, the little dragon cub had barely started his impromptu vacation when he excitedly took the child to go crustacean fishing.

This was the season for the smell of fried prawns filling the street, thin crayfish sh.e.l.ls, and tender meat, chewy and delicious, you can"t stop at one. There was a crustacean farm near the forestry station, the owner was old friends with Bai Huo. When he heard that Bai Huo wanted to fish with his child, he opened the most beautiful lobster pond for him without demur.

“Go fish, go fish, I don"t need your money.” The boss"s first financial investment to start the farm was won from Bai Huo, so he was very generous.

“That"s very kind of you.” Bai Huo was sitting under a large parasol, using it to block the sun while watching this farce. When he heard this, he chuckled, tossing away his fishing rod and pulling out a fishing net.

The farm owner choked.

It was the busy season, the amount of people coming over to buy shrimp was wearing out the welcome mat. Although the farm owner felt pain, he couldn"t stand around all day staring at Bai Huo. Besides, this guy was so shameless, even having a chaperon wouldn"t make him behave, the owner had no choice but to leave him be.

“Then you go fish, I"ll bring over a small bucket later.” The boss gritted his teeth and said, deliberately emphasizing the word “small bucket”. Meaning, you get a small bucket worth of free food, nothing more!

“Thank you so much, I was worried about how we"d carry it back.” Bai Huo grinned.

When the boss went away, the little dragon cub poked his head out from beside Bai Huo, his eyes sparkling and tail wagging, making Bai Huo"s heart itch. This was a common occurrence, as soon as the little dragon cub started acting cute, Bai Huo immediately relented.

“Fine, but only for five minutes, you just had a fever, remember?” Bai Huo warned.

The little dragon cub nodded enthusiastically.

Bai Huo looked around, confirming that there were no security cameras around, then waved his hand: “OK, go.”

The little dragon cub was in high spirits, he transformed instantly, diving into the water. His body was very flexible, as soon as he entered water, he was more unrestrained than a fish. A few moments later, the water exploded, lobsters frantically climbed ash.o.r.e like they"d just seen a ghost. The scene of tens of lobsters fleeing for their lives would make a normal human scream and faint.

But Bai Huo was different, he wasn"t even human.

Bai Huo cheerfully tried capturing them all in the net at first, but soon found that they couldn"t all fit. Thinking quickly, his eyes fell on the three-meter-wide large outdoor parasol by the pond.

In the evening, the owner of the farm finally finished his day"s work, with his hands clasped behind his back and a smile on his face, he surveyed the ponds, reviewing the results of his own cultivation.

The first odd thing he discovered was the bare parasol stand by one of the ponds, the large parasol had disappeared.

“What … what"s going on?” The boss was stupefied, he ran over to the pond to observe, shockingly, the surface of the pond was calm like still water. Where did all his lobsters go?

Looking around again, there was a small plastic bucket by the umbrella stand, the same one the boss had sent to Bai Huo. The bucket was filled with half-dead lobsters, foaming at the mouth.

“What the h.e.l.l …” The farm owner reached out tremblingly, pulling off the post-it note stuck to the red plastic bucket.

“Borrowed your parasol, I"ll return it later. The lobsters were carefully selected, the best of the best.”

The farm owner looked up at the sky and roared: “Bai Huo, wait till I get my hands on you-“

At the same time, Bai Huo the scoundrel was relaxing in his courtyard.

The little dragon and the fat bird were sitting side by side on the bench, attentively watching the red crayfish turn over in Lin Ke"s pot, drooling.

In the distance, the sun was setting, the sky a fiery red. The sky seemed to paint the earth with a generous layer of red-gold paint. Xi City"s sunsets were as spectacular as always. After so many years, it was still breathtaking.

Bai Huo laid down under a tree, drinking his beer. He narrowed his eyes serenely, sighing. His back was against the light, his body bathed in the light of the setting sun, the contours of his face clearly defined. When he closed his eyes, the thin hairs of his eyelashes were all distinct.

"Pang", Chef Lin put down the pot, the crayfish were red and plump, glossy and fragrant, neatly contained by the large pot.

The little dragon cub and the fat bird impatiently pounced on it.

“Be careful, it"s hot.” Bai Huo warned the children with a smile.

Lin Ke wiped the sweat off his brow, and dragged the parasol of unknown origins towards Bai Huo: “There"s still so much left.”

“They won"t be able to finish it all, take it down to He Ling"s bar.” Bai Huo instructed.

“Then I"ll help myself!” Lin Ke lifted the lobsters to his back and dashed away, fearing Bai Huo would change his mind.

“Hold on, it"s just a bag of lobsters.” Bai Huo pulled him back. “I need to ask you something.”

Lin Ke rubbed his nose, smiling sheepishly. The two were facing each other, Lin Ke"s eyes unconsciously turned towards the unhealed cut on Bai Huo"s chin, and his imagination started running wild: “What … What is it? “

Bai Huo noticed that his expression was strange, but he didn"t bother with it: “Has the a.s.sociation made any recent movements?”

“Movements?” Lin Ke scratched his head, saying “Oh, Patriarch Zhou has officially taken office. But handovers have been taking place all over the world recently, it doesn"t seem like a major event.”

“What about Ding Ping?” Bai Huo asked.

Lin Ke finally understood what Bai Huo wanted to ask, he looked back at the little dragon cub, who was chowing down like he"d never eaten anything in his life, then said in a quiet voice: “The last time I saw Ding Ping was when she came to deliver the notice about the appointment of the new patriarch. She muttered something about Little Lin Xi"s private adoption not being in accordance with the rules and what not, but she didn"t say anything more useful. Now, Chong Wen-dage is the patriarch, as long as the patriarch doesn"t say anything about it, it counts as acquiescence. I think Patriarch Zhou is quite fair and reasonable. You can relax Director Bai, with Patriarch Zhou"s support, the a.s.sociation won"t come after Little Lin Xi.”

When Bai Huo heard this, not only did he not heave a sigh of relief, instead, his doubts deepened.

“What are you worried about, Director Bai?” Lin Ke was puzzled.

“Nothing.” Bai Huo shook his head. “Right, what"s the gossip, have you seen our patriarch"s wife?”

“The patriarch"s wife?” Lin Ke was instantly excited. “Oh man, I"ve heard some things.”

“Oh?”

“I heard that she"s an ordinary water dragon, but no one knows what she looks like. The official explanation is that she has poor health, so she rarely goes outside. All the responsibilities that should be taken care of by the patriarch"s wife, like managing allies and so on, is being performed by Ding Ping.” Lin Ke said excitedly, "But I think, maybe Patriarch Zhou is just overprotective of his wife, so he doesn"t let her make public appearances. He"s just taken office after all, there"s so many things to handle, who would willingly let their wife run around doing all that hard work. “

“A water dragon?” Bai Huo was even more baffled. “Isn"t Zhou Chong Wen a fire dragon? It"s an interracial marriage?”

“Uh, yeah.” Lin Ke was embarra.s.sed, “Don"t you know the current situation of us dragons? It"s a blessing to just be able to find a wife … unlucky ones like me have to look for wives among humans. “

“Unlucky? Cross your heart and tell me you"re dissatisfied with your multi-millionaire mother-in-law.”

“I"m not!” Lin Ke said immediately.

“Thought so, get out.” Bai Huo waved him away.

Lin Ke"s words were not all correct. Zhou Chong Wen was only five or six years older than Bai Huo. When Bai Huo left the dragon clan at the age of thirteen, Zhou Chong Wen was almost an adult. Although the dragon race was on a downward spiral at that time, it wasn"t so bad that he couldn"t find a spouse. Even though Zhou Chong Wen wasn"t well liked at that time, to secure the next generation, the elders wouldn"t pick a wife from a different race for him. So, there was only one explanation, Zhou Chong Wen had insisted on it himself.

Well, perhaps it was as Lin Ke said, and he truly loved his wife.

Thinking of this, Bai Huo felt bored. He was an eternal bachelor; how could he understand these things? So, he shook his head and smiled, holding the beer bottle, he walked over to lecture his son, “Li Lin Xi! Didn"t Dad just say that you can"t eat so much at night … No! I won"t fall for the cute act again!”

T/N:

head teacher- lit.teacher in charge of a cla.s.s. This is the best I could come up with.

People should live to suffer- Idiom.exemptible from the death penalty but hardly from punishment

Crayfish- Idk why the author switches between crayfish and lobster. Maybe they"re interchangeable where she"s from.