Chapter 8: Isn't Bai Zhi Absent?

Bai Dan's gaze fell upon the yard, cluttered with miscellaneous items. Nothing was in its place, and the tidiness of the past was nowhere to be found.

Bai Dan placed the meat into Bai Da's hand and was ready to head back, but his eyes landed on Bai Da's clothes.

They had a large tear, and nobody had bothered to mend it.

"Look at your clothes—are they decent? Won't you hurry up and patch them?"

Nowadays, buying new clothes was not something taken lightly; it was all about mending and making do for another year.

Bai Da felt a bit embarrassed and put his hands behind his back.

"Well, since Bai Zhi isn't around, no one's here to mend them for me, Dad. When do you think you can let Bai Zhi come back? Our home is really busy, and we need her help!"

Bai Da didn't want to say this, but he had no choice.

These days, he had been just scraping by with food, and the three children couldn't cook, only managing to boil some rice porridge. How were they to continue like this?

Especially since Xixi had lost weight—they were three well-behaved kids who dug up fish mint to earn money. If they couldn't eat properly...

Upon hearing this, Bai Dan's face darkened, and he looked at Bai Da with a menacing glare.

"If you say one more word, Bai Zhi will stay with me from now on. When you bullied her, you did as you pleased. Now that no one's around to work for you, you think of asking her to return? Is she your serving maid? Why don't you let Bai Ye and Bai Yu cook, or your precious daughter?"

Bai Dan's gaze turned to the group pet standing behind Bai Ye with a pitiful look,

Looking plump and fair, clearly someone who had never suffered much,

Tired from digging up just a little fish mint every day.

Wasn't his Xingxing the one who kept both the inside and outside of the house in order? Had she ever complained of hardship or fatigue?

Upon hearing this, Bai Da felt uncomfortable. Xixi was the child of a good brother; how could he let her suffer? After all, she was still young.

She was just a little bundle of joy, always clinging to him and saying she loved Daddy the most.

"Dad, Xixi is still so young; how can she do heavy chores? I'm here to cook, that should be enough. Don't you have other things to do? You should go back first. If Bai Zhi doesn't return, that's fine, let her take care of you instead."

If Bai Zhi wasn't coming back, he could take care of Dad in his old age.

Bai Dan looked at Bai Da's entitled attitude and got furious. Why did he regret bringing them meat?

"Heh, she's young? Is our Xingxing that much older? Bai Da, your name suits you well!"

Bai Dan turned and left, not wanting to see his useless son for a moment longer.

Xingxing and Xixi were about the same age, yet Xixi was considered young and in need of care?

Was Xingxing supposed to handle everything?

Bai Da was taken aback and wanted to call out to Bai Dan—however, he didn't know what to say.

Just then, Bai Ye came over and saw the meat in Bai Da's hand,

"Dad, you must be tired. Go rest, we'll handle the cooking."

Bai Ye took the meat from Bai Da's hand, unconvinced that the three of them couldn't whip up a decent meal!

Watching Bai Ye's sensible demeanor warmed Bai Da's heart, and he ruffled his head,

"It's alright; you guys can't cook, so I'll do it. You just help me with the fire, okay?"

Bai Da, dragging his weary body, walked toward the kitchen. The kitchen was a mess.

Xixi was standing by the pot washing dishes, but as she had never done it before, her movements were clumsy.

Hearing someone coming, she was startled and quickly turned around, sighing with relief to see that it was Bai Da. She patted her little heart and said,

"Daddy, I'm a bit clumsy, and I can't wash clothes, but I will learn!"

She smiled sweetly, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Bai Da,

"Daddy, I'll also learn to cook so that when you come home, you'll have food to eat, okay? Daddy, why don't you go rest, and I'll cook with my brothers--you can trust me, I'll do great!"

Xixi, who clearly didn't know how to cook, patted her chest confidently, making Bai Da want to laugh. It seemed to lighten his fatigue,

"Alright then, I'll give you a chance. You try it out."

Even if it didn't taste good, it didn't matter, Xixi was so well-behaved, Bai Da thought.

While one family of three was enjoying their harmonious time, Bai Dan was walking home, growing angrier by the thought that Bai Da was unkind to Xingxing. He decided not to send them anything ever again.

Luckily it wasn't Xingxing who came. If she had, and had seen Bai Da like that, wouldn't she have been hurt and upset?

If Bai Zhi knew about this, she would only say, "Grandpa, you're worrying too much. To be honest, I don't care about their family at all; I just want to stay as far away from them as possible and live my own small life. They're living life on a completely different level--I can't compare."

When Bai Dan got home, he found Bai Zhi cooking. She was stir-frying potatoes and had also made a cold dish with fish mint and stir-fried pork with garlic shoots that she had brought home.

Seeing Bai Dan, Bai Zhi beamed a big smile,

"Grandpa, you're back. Come and eat."

Seeing Bai Zhi's smiling face, Bai Dan smiled too. It seemed that his anger from the road diminished. That foolish boy, lacking insight--that's great. From now on, he could just live with Xingxing; he wouldn't let Xingxing be with him.

"Alright, grandpa is coming. Didn't I ask you to wait for me to come back before cooking? Why don't you ever listen, child?"

Bai Zhi seemed a bit helpless--cooking was no big deal, and yet grandpa made such a fuss about it as if she couldn't carry anything on her shoulders. But at the same time, she felt a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

Whether it was the grandpa who had left her in reality long ago, or this grandpa, both of them cherished and loved her just the same. She was so content.

In the future, she wanted to stay with her grandpa always.

"Grandpa, it's just cooking, I'm already used to it. After we eat, can we make bamboo crafts together? I want to make those really small baskets."

Bai Zhi had already planned to make some Green Bean Cake as well as red bean cakes to sell, and then, after saving enough money, to sell other things.

She and her grandpa were going to have a better and better life, buy lots and lots of houses, and then wait to become a landlady, haha.

"Okay, grandpa will teach you."

Bai Dan thought Xingxing just wanted to play and didn't mind it. After eating happily with his granddaughter, he pushed Bai Zhi out to do her homework quickly while he did the dishes.

Once everything was tidied up, the two of them turned on the lights in the courtyard and started to make bamboo baskets. Even without any light, Bai Dan could continue with his eyes closed.

You should know that he had been doing this for decades, and this craft had supported the Bai siblings.

"Grandpa, can I make a basket this small?" Bai Zhi asked, gesturing with her hands--it would be about the size of a small watermelon, big enough for pastries, and a small size seemed cuter.

"Sure, grandpa will make it for you."

A basket of that size could be made by him in two hours. He guessed Xingxing wanted to carry it outside to play, and of course, he wanted to fulfill her wish.

...

Early in the morning, just after she got up, Bai Zhi saw a small basket on the table in her room. Tiny and incredibly cute, it made her eyes sparkle--it was so beautiful that she couldn't bear to give it away. Grandpa had worked so hard to make it.