Chapter 114: The Chubby Kid at Cousin’s House
The Bai Family’s second home was buzzing with activity for a whole day. By evening, when everyone had dispersed, everyone was exhausted, save for Bai Ruozhu who was still in confinement after childbirth. Nevertheless, everyone was in high spirits and even ecstatic.
The following morning, Bai Zehao went alone to the town, while Bai Zepei followed Bai Yihong to the fields to work. Someone had to do the work in the fields, and Bai Zepei had no intention of holding things up because of him.
After Bai Zepei had been busy in the field for about two hours, someone called out from the edge of the field, "Er Lang." He looked up to see his elder cousin, Bai Ruomei.
Bai Ruomei was Bai Yibo’s eldest daughter, who had married into the Lu family in town a few years ago. She had very little contact with the second branch of the Bai family and seldom returned to the Back Mountain Village.
"Er Lang, why are you still working in the fields even after earning the top place in the examination? You made your big sister look all over for you," Bai Ruomei said with a smile, pulling a man who was standing next to her. It was then that Bai Zepei noticed that his brother-in-law, Lu Ming had also come.
"Mom, I’m about to drop dead of exhaustion. How much further do we have to go?" came a disgruntled and complaining voice from behind Bai Ruomei, who was a young boy.
Bai Zepei knew that the boy was Lu Donghai, Bai Ruomei’s son, who was nearly three years old. He peeked over and almost grimaced at the sight of the boy. He was so surprised by the boy’s size.
Was the child really this chubby? No wonder he was complaining about not being able to walk.
"Cousin, brother-in-law, have you been to see grandpa? Or you could go home and sit for a while. My mother is at home. I will go home after finishing my farm work," Bai Zepei greeted the two and then spoke politely.
Bai Ruomei waved her handkerchief to ward off a fly that had flown towards her. There was a lot of manure in the fields, which attracted flies. It was nauseating. If not for wanting to see Bai Zepei, she wouldn’t have come to the fields.
"What are you talking about? You’re a top scholar now, why are you still doing such labor in the fields, aren’t you afraid of others laughing at you? Hurry up and go home with your cousin, we can hire a couple of people to help you with your work," Bai Ruomei said. Her family ran a dessert shop in the town, the business was good and they had hired a couple of helpers, hence her lofty opinion.
Bai Zepei paused, bowed to Bai Ruomei, and said, "Grandpa has always hoped that we would be an agricultural and scholarly family, so now that I’ve passed the exam, how can I neglect farming? Cousin, go and rest at home for a while, I’ll be fine soon."
Hearing the commotion, Bai Yihong walked over from the other end of the field, smiling as he greeted Bai Ruomei and her husband. Although he did not like Bai Yibo, he was still very kind to the younger generation.
"Uncle, please tell Zepei to stop working in the fields, so that he won’t lose his dignity," Bai Ruomei started to whine at Bai Yihong.
Bai Yihong had to exert considerable effort to keep his face straight. How did work in the fields equate to losing dignity? Had he been humiliating himself by farming his whole life?
"Er Lang’s continuing to stay true to his roots even after achieving such good results, this is a good thing. You can go and rest, don’t worry about him," Bai Yihong said with a smile.
Seeing that she was getting nowhere, Bai Ruomei could only stamp her foot in irritation before leaving with Lu Ming and Lu Donghai. Lu Ming’s eyes were full of cold light, apparently he looked down on people who earned their living from the soil.
Bai Ruomei and her family had already visited the old mansion, and despite Wang’s opposition, insisted on seeing Bai Zepei. Bai Ruomei, more savvy than Wang, preferred to win over her promising cousin rather than offend him.
The family of three made their way to the second house of the Bai family. Lin Ping’er welcomed them warmly, served them tea, and asked Bai Ruozhu to bring Dengdeng out for them to see.
Bai Ruomei wasn’t too warm towards Bai Ruozhu, and this was the first time Bai Ruozhu had met this elder cousin. In her previous life’s memories, she hadn’t interacted with Bai Ruomei much. However, Bai Ruomei also hadn’t targeted her predecessor, so while they weren’t close, she maintained polite manners towards Bai Ruomei.
"Oh, this child is really good-looking." Bai Ruomei was quick with words and immediately sang praises for Dengdeng, as if the child was something magical. This made Bai Ruozhu a bit embarrassed, so she quickly made some polite remarks, and was about to reciprocate by praising Bai Ruomei’s child. However, when she took a closer look, she was frightened.
Lu Donghai was too fat, to the point of being scary. She remembered that Lu Donghai was not yet three years old, but he seemed to weigh nearly 80 kilograms. He was quite tall, and his face was round with fat. He was so chubby that he wobbled when he walked, looking as if he would topple over with even the gentlest nudge.
How did this child become so fat? It’s like he was force-fed growth hormones!
No wonder Bai Ruozhu was shocked. With the improved living conditions of the present age, some families stuffed their children until they were overly fat. But in these ancient times with backward conditions, especially in rural families, who would stuff a child to this level of obesity? At least not in Back Mountain Village.
As a person who had studied medicine in her previous life and had learned traditional Chinese medicine, Bai Ruozhu was genuinely worried about Lu Donghai. If it continued like this, this boy would likely have problems with his heart and brain in the future, and might not live long.
As she was still digesting the shock, Bai Ruomei handed over several packages of biscuits to Lin Ping’er, saying with a smile, "Second aunt, these are snacks from our shop, they’re not worth much money, please don’t despise them".
Lin Ping’er accepted with a smile and thanked her repeatedly, but she couldn’t help wondering in her heart. Bai Ruomei had never sent any desserts during the festivals in previous years.
At this moment, Lu Donghai suddenly jumped up, shouting loudly, "I want cookies, I want cookies, mom, you’re lying to me, you’re not giving me cookies to eat!"
He shouted so loudly that Bai Ruozhu got scared and shook violently. Dengdeng, who was in her arms, also burst out crying.
Who would have guessed Lu Donghai would throw himself on the ground and start rolling around, all the while crying and shouting for dim sum.
Lin Ping’er was probably also in shock because she had never seen such a child before, and she was frozen in place. Once she came to her senses, she hurriedly opened a package of cookies and said, "This candy is originally for children to eat, come and eat it quickly."
Finally, Lu Donghai stopped rolling around, struggled to stand up from the ground, and without a care for his dirty hands, grabbed a cookie and took a big bite. He didn’t even utter a word of thanks.
Bai Ruomei’s face fell a little, she said with a forced smile, "Second Aunt, please don’t mind, Donghai is the oldest grandson and is spoiled at home, which makes him a bit impatient."
Bai Ruozhu quietly smirked. What did this have to do with being impatient? If this were her child, she wouldn’t let him misbehave like this at someone else’s home, and she wouldn’t let it slide without disciplining him. Moreover, the boy was so chubby, he was still eating cookies?
She glanced at Dengdeng in her arms, after soothing him a bit, Dengdeng stopped crying. But she silently made a decision in her heart that she would become a strict mother in the future, and she would never let Dengdeng turn out like Lu Donghai.
Just as Bai Ruozhu was lost in thought, Lu Donghai was already eating his third biscuit. The speed at which he ate was a shock to anyone. Bai Ruomei, who was standing there helpless, handed him a cup of tea and said, "Have some tea, be careful not to choke."
Lu Donghai gobbled up another piece, then with the hand held by Bai Ruomei, he lifted the teacup to be fed a mouthful. However, as soon as the tea entered his mouth, he spat it out with a hiccuping sound.