Sure enough, Shushu hauled him away just like a little chick.
Doudou shrank his neck, his big eyes casting a cautious glance at his big brother, then another cautious glance.
Bai Shu had already noticed his younger brother’s little antics. He carried Doudou all the way to the car, sighed, and scooped the little fellow into his arms.
Doudou immediately reached out to wrap his arms around his big brother’s neck. Bai Shu rolled his eyes and snapped, “Gentler!”
Looking aggrieved, Doudou loosened his grip and stared submissively at his angry big brother.
Bai Shu maintained a completely expressionless face as Doudou watched him, though inside he was already laughing hysterically.
His younger brother was stubborn through and through, but the moment Bai Shu got mad, Doudou instantly reverted to a meek, cowed little creature.
Doudou stared up at him, holding out his little hands so his big brother could buckle him into his child car-seat. Once that was done, he brazenly beamed a cheeky smile, suddenly lunged forward to wrap his arms around Bai Shu’s head, and furiously rubbed his chubby little face against Bai Shu’s cheek.
“Hehehe, Shushu”
“Call me Big Brother. You have no respect for seniority it’s all because I spoiled you too much in the past.” Bai Shu gave the little fellow’s small cheek a firm poke.
Instantly, little red fingerprint marks bloomed across Doudou’s fair cheeks.
Unable to hold it in any longer, Bai Shu burst out laughing. “Pfft! You’re something else. You manage to drive Big Brother fighting-mad every single day. Do you know you were in the wrong today?”
Doudou shot his lower lip out in a flash, turned his little face away, and began twiddling his fingers.
Stiffening his face back into a mask of solemn severity, Bai Shu demanded, “Speak.”
As he spoke, he twisted the child’s face back around. Doudou glared at him with puffed-out cheeks, putting on a fierce expression.
Bai Shu was so exasperated he laughed. “Anyone watching would think Big Brother was the one who did something wrong.”
Doudou muttered under his breath, “It was Big Brother’s fault.”
His big brother shouldn’t have let himself get bewitched by that big bad guy’s good looks and agreed to date him. If not for that, would Doudou have had to deal with so many headaches?
He used to be such an extraordinarily well-behaved child, yet he was ruthlessly forced by his big brother into becoming a rascal.
Bai Shu stared at Doudou in complete shock. “You actually think like that in your heart?!”
Oh no, this younger brother was beyond saving.
With a mournful, tragic expression, Doudou whimpered, “It is Big Brother’s fault! Wuwuwuwu—”
Thinking back on everything that had happened this morning, the little fellow burst straight into tears.
Doudou poor Doudou was under so much pressure!
And his big brother kept making things harder for him.
Seeing the little fellow cry, Bai Shu didn’t dare press him any further. He quickly pulled him into his arms to coax him, compromising at once, “Alright, alright, alright, it’s all Shushu’s fault, stop crying.”
Hearing that, Doudou choked off his sobs instantly and chimed right in, “Mhm.”
Bai Shu: (;-_-)…
“Sit properly.”
The little rascal had even learned how to fake a cry his little face was completely dry without a single trace of tears.
Right at that moment, hearing the commotion, Xie Xiran walked over to check on the situation and asked with genuine concern, “What’s wrong? Why is Doudou crying?”
Could it be that I went too far today and made Doudou cry? For once, even Xie Xiran felt a twinge of regret. He had only meant to tease Doudou a little; if he had ended up reducing the kid to tears, the losses would truly outweigh the gains.
With an exasperated huff, Bai Shu replied, “Nothing, he was just faking a cry over here.”
Doudou covered his ears and shook his little head, chanting, “Doudou isn’t listening, Doudou isn’t listening!”
Xie Xiran smiled. “Well, then I can rest easy. See you in a bit, bye-bye!”
“Bye-bye.”
After rolling up the window, Bai Shu gave the little fellow’s chubby cheek a playful pinch. “Behave yourself today, or Big Brother won’t mind putting on a live performance of spanking a child to set a good example for the other families.”
Doudou: (⊙_⊙)！！
He offered an immediate guarantee: “Doudou will be exceptionally well-behaved.”
“Hmph.”
With a cold snort, Bai Shu turned away and feigned sleep.
Meanwhile, Doudou happily wagged his little feet. Hehehehe, Big Brother isn’t mad anymore.
Just wait till later, Doudou was definitely going to call him “uncle” again!
Though they were still within Beijing, the city was massive, and after weaving through traffic with various stops along the way, the journey took well over an hour.
Doudou had long since fallen fast asleep in deep slumber.
With his little head resting against Bai Shu’s arm, Bai Shu who was also fighting off a wave of exhaustion lifted an arm to pull his younger brother closer so he could sleep more comfortably.
Over in the other vehicle, Xie Xiran’s spirits were equally high. In a way, this felt like taking a family vacation out together with Shushu.
Though their romance had only just begun, progress was moving at lightning speed far better than Xie Xiran had originally anticipated.
It certainly made sacrificing his rest time to accompany Zhuyi on a parenting show well worth it.
“Zhuyi, wake up. We’re almost there,” Xie Xiran said, gently shaking the child beside him.
Rubbing his eyes, Xie Zhuyi mumbled drowsily, “Mm, can we go look for Doudou Little Brother now?”
“Of course.” Xie Xiran wiped his face to help him wake up.
Xie Zhuyi perked up instantly; he could finally see Doudou again!
Bai Shu stretched lazily. At that moment, the driver passed back a production crew information card, looking somewhat hesitant as he said, “This was supposed to be a task you guys completed inside the car, but…”
You two had spent the entire ride fast asleep with your eyes closed, and absolutely nobody had noticed this pitiful little card.
Bai Shu took it immediately and opened it up. Inside was a questionnaire labeled: Doudou’s Trivia Quiz.
It consisted entirely of questions about Doudou’s personal preferences.
“Can we still answer this now?” Bai Shu inquired.
Because the deadline printed on it stated that answering before the vehicle parked would trigger a surprise bonus, but they had already arrived at their destination.
The driver shook his head.
Bai Shu: (⊙_⊙)!
Oh no.
He had completely missed the very first task of the show and handed in a blank sheet.
Bai Shu’s mood plummeted instantly. He gave Doudou a nudge, waking him up. “Mm, Big Brother~”
The child immediately lowered his head to rest his small forehead against Bai Shu’s shoulder once more.
Giving him a gentle shake, Bai Shu urged, “Stop sleeping, we missed our task entirely and you’re still sleeping.”
Doudou instantly popped his little head up, wiped the corner of his mouth, and asked with bright-eyed enthusiasm, “What task?”
“The task doesn’t matter anymore because we handed in a blank paper.” Unbuckling his younger brother’s seatbelt, Bai Shu got out of the car first and lifted him down.
Just then, he noticed Xie Xiran and Xie Zhuyi stepping out of the vehicle behind them. Xie Zhuyi was holding a card in his hand.
Catching sight of Bai Shu, Xie Zhuyi ran over excitedly. “Shushu Brother, come look at what Zhuyi found out about Doudou’s preferences!”
Emerging from behind Bai Shu while still half-awake, Doudou swayed unsteadily on his feet, waddled right up in front of Xie Zhuyi, and demanded eagerly, “What are preferences? Is it delicious?”
Staring in utter shock, Xie Zhuyi said, “Preferences aren’t food, and besides, why did you sit down on the ground?”
With that, he reached out to pull Doudou up.
Doudou twisted his body away in refusal, adopting a deeply profound tone. “Don’t touch Doudou just yet.”
Watching his younger brother’s antics, Bai Shu burst into laughter. “It’s fine, Zhuyi. His legs are just asleep. Give him a moment to shake it off, hahaha.”
Wearing an expression of supreme grievance, Doudou sat cross-legged on the ground, balling his fists up to pound angrily against his big brother’s foot.
Mean big brother, laughing at Doudou.
Crouching down, Xie Zhuyi wiped the little fellow’s face. “Having your legs fall asleep is so uncomfortable. Doudou is so strong.”
Beaming with pride, Doudou looked up. “Really?”
“Mhm, mhm.”
“Hehe~”
Just as the two children were happily entertaining each other, a cold huff rang out from nearby.
“Where did this wild kid come from? So lacking in basic manners.”
The voice belonged to another child.
Doudou turned his head, but his current posture prevented him from seeing who was behind him. He stuck out a small hand. “Doudou wants to get up.”
Xie Zhuyi stood up quickly and grabbed his hand. “Heave-ho, Big Brother’s got you.”
Doudou stood up on wobbly legs, leaning his chubby little body entirely against Xie Zhuyi.
Fortunately, Xie Zhuyi had a sturdy build unlike Doudou’s soft, fleshy frame; otherwise, he might not have been able to support the heavyweight toddler.
Witnessing the scene unfold before him, the other child looked utterly shocked, which quickly morphed into deep embarrassment. “Y-you… why are you lame?”
Without waiting for a response, the child covered his mouth in dismay, bowed deeply to Doudou, and apologized profusely: “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had a physical disability… I didn’t mean it just now…”
The more he spoke, the guiltier he felt. He truly deserved to be punished for saying such a terrible thing to a disabled child.
Doudou and Xie Zhuyi exchanged a bewildered glance. A massive question mark hovered over both of their heads what on earth was this person talking about?
Over on the other side, Bai Shu was leaning against Xie Xiran, biting his hand to keep from laughing out loud.
Xie Xiran, too, was struggling desperately to contain his amusement.
“Gosh, this is too hilarious. He actually thought Doudou was handicapped!” Tears of mirth were streaming down Bai Shu’s face as he whispered, “I can’t breathe.”
Xie Xiran murmured an agreement and produced a handkerchief to gently dab away the tears at the corners of Bai Shu’s eyes.
It was only then that Bai Shu realized he was leaning directly against Xie Xiran’s arm.
His fair cheeks instantly flushed a brilliant crimson, heat radiating straight up to his tips of his ears. He accepted the handkerchief and stammered, “Th-thank you.”
Xie Xiran reached over to wipe the remaining moisture himself. “Don’t mention it.”
Right at that moment, a scorching, piercing gaze was fixed directly upon them from close range.
Limping slightly on his half-asleep legs, Doudou hopped over, threw himself against Bai Shu’s leg, and shot him a silent, accusatory glare.
What do you think you’re doing? What do you think you’re doing?!
Look at this! If he didn’t step in and supervise closely, would he even have a place left in this family?
He had barely looked away for a second, and Xie Xiran was already making physical contact!
Bai Shu was currently feeling rather flustered and didn’t quite know how to handle the situation. Spotting Doudou felt like a lifesaver; his eyes lit up and he immediately scooped the child into his arms. “Doudou’s legs are still weak, Big Brother will carry you.”
Meanwhile, Zheng Jiaxuan was still standing off to the side, deeply regretting his words.
Tian Yuewei stepped out of her car and greeted the others with a smile. “Hello everyone, I’m Tian Yuewei, and this is my son Zheng Jiaxuan, nickname Pingping. He’s five years old this year.”
Having spoken out of turn earlier, Pingping had lost all the swagger he possessed when he first stepped out of the car. Instead, he shrank back and hid completely behind Tian Yuewei.
He had actually called that pretty little boy handicapped! The little boy’s moral conscience was taking a severe beating right now.
The three families exchanged polite greetings. Tian Yuewei couldn’t help feeling a bit perplexed—why was her son hiding behind her like that the entire time?
Perhaps he was simply suffering from a bit of stage fright after meeting so many strangers all at once.
Bai Shu and Xie Xiran exchanged knowing, amused smiles with one another without explaining further.
After all, Pingping had brought the misunderstanding upon himself; if they pointed it out, the child might just lash out from embarrassment.
Let him figure it out on his own.
The live stream viewers were bouncing back and forth between the various camera feeds before finally settling on the main channel.
They were literally dying of laughter over the misunderstanding where Doudou’s numb legs got mistaken for a limp.
Holy cow, Doudou is legendary! If something like this happened to anyone else, it’d feel bizarre, but with Doudou, it’s completely par for the course. I was originally hoping to watch Doudou put Pingping in his place, but he didn’t even have to say a single word just one posture was enough to make Pingping behave with total remorse. Hahahahaha Pingping looks like his entire worldview has shattered, while Doudou and Zhuyi just look at him like he’s a total weirdo. Meanwhile, Shushu and Xie-ge are standing in the background trying not to die of laughter. I’m dying of laughter too, what an incredible coincidence.