With an extra person in the house, Xu Huaiyi belatedly realized that life had become inconvenient. For instance, he could no longer freely come and go from the RV, nor could he eat whatever he pleased at will. In short, nothing related to his previous life could appear in the house anymore. Even when speaking with his wife, he had to be cautious. Though the child was young, he was sharp—who knew what anomalies he might notice?
Xu Huaiyi felt frustrated.
Especially now, with sweat clinging uncomfortably to his body. In the past, every time he returned from outside, he would drink a can of chilled carbonated beverage, then take a cold shower, and all the summer heat would dissipate. It was pure bliss. But now…
He and the boy stared at each other, and he had no idea how to shake him off.
"Hey…"
"Your son now has a name, given by Mother. Father may call me Xiao Yu."
Xu Huaiyi’s mouth twitched. Hearing the boy solemnly refer to himself as "son" and call him "Father," he couldn’t help but feel like teasing him. "You haven’t even kowtowed to me yet, and you’re already calling me Father? Isn’t that a bit too casual for acknowledging kinship…"
Before he could finish, Xiao Yu dropped to his knees with a thud, respectfully kowtowed three times, then stood up on his own without waiting to be told to rise. His movements were fluid and decisive.
Xu Huaiyi, "…"
This was someone who preferred action over words—right up his alley.
He cleared his throat. "Well, I’ll make it up to you with a proper gift for acknowledging kinship later…"
"Alright!"
"From now on, you’ll be called Gu Xiaoyu. 'Gu' is your mother’s surname. Since your mother has no brothers, you’ll carry on the Gu Family’s lineage. Consider it a way to repay us for taking you in."
Gu Xiaoyu bowed his head and performed a solemn salute. "Yes, your son will remember Father’s teachings."
Xu Huaiyi wasn’t used to such formality or his somewhat literary way of speaking. He couldn’t help but cough twice. "Well, at home, there’s no need to be so formal. It’s more comfortable to be casual. We’re just farming folks—we don’t have so many rules."
Hearing this, Gu Xiaoyu looked up at him and replied, "Alright."
Then, the two of them just stared at each other in silence.
The awkward atmosphere was so palpable that even Gu Huanxi, who was breastfeeding their daughter in the inner room, felt exhausted on their behalf. So, she gave them something to do. "Didn’t you two just come back from outside, all sweaty? Aren’t you going to wash up?"
Hearing this, Xu Huaiyi finally had an excuse. He hurriedly agreed, "Right, right, let’s go wash up…"
After saying this, he went into the inner room to fetch a change of clothes. Seeing Gu Xiaoyu still standing there motionless, he naturally flicked the boy’s forehead. "What are you standing around for? You have clean clothes in your bundle, right? Get them and come with me to the rear courtyard to bathe."
Gu Xiaoyu mechanically followed behind him. After a long while, he covered the spot on his forehead where he’d been flicked, still somewhat dazed. No one had ever treated him like this before—not even his father…
And yet, he didn’t feel offended.
However, he soon had to eat his words.
The place where they bathed was in the firewood shed in the rear courtyard. It was a bit crude but reasonably spacious. As soon as they entered, Xu Huaiyi began undressing boldly and without the slightest hesitation.
Gu Xiaoyu froze, forgetting what he was supposed to do.
By the time he reacted, Xu Huaiyi had already stripped him completely naked and was vigorously scrubbing his back. The strength in his hands was such that struggling was useless. Gu Xiaoyu’s small body flailed on Xu Huaiyi’s lap like a fish washed ashore—helpless and pitiful.
He was so shocked that his eyes widened in disbelief.
When he finally found his voice again, his face was already flushed with shame. He protested, "I can wash myself…"
Xu Huaiyi continued on his own, "I'll just scrub your back for you. You'll definitely have to wash the front yourself. Hey, you're pretty fair-skinned, kid. Your skin is even softer than a little girl's…"
Gu Xiaoyu, "…"
Wasn't that an insult?
He glared at Xu Huaiyi with shame and indignation, but the other man let him look openly, lifting a basin of cold water and pouring it over his head with a splash, exclaiming happily, "Ah, that feels good!"
Gu Xiaoyu withdrew his gaze, his eyes filled with a complexity he had never felt before.
The two of them stood there, bare and unguarded. His movements were clumsy and stiff, but Xu Huaiyi cheerfully hummed a little tune, "La-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la-la…"
Gu Xiaoyu, "…"
After washing up, the two tidied themselves, and Xu Huaiyi naturally picked up the dirty clothes they had changed out of to wash them.
Gu Xiaoyu was stunned once again.
Xu Huaiyi skillfully scrubbed the clothes without any discomfort. "What are you looking at? Come over here. I'll teach you how to wash clothes. Don't think it's beneath a man to wash clothes—that's just stubborn and wrong. As an outstanding man, washing clothes is a basic skill…"
Gu Xiaoyu crouched down beside him and asked stiffly, "Are there other skills?"
Xu Huaiyi replied proudly, "Of course there are. Like cooking—a man who can cook is charming. Your mother, she fell for me because of my cooking skills."
Gu Xiaoyu asked woodenly, "Anything else?"
Xu Huaiyi nodded. "You also have to know how to earn money. Even if you can't make a lot, at least you should be able to support your family. And you have to be willing to spend on your wife, especially when she's unhappy…"
"Anything else?"
"You also have to know how to sweet-talk, to be smooth with words. But you're too young for that right now." After saying this, Xu Huaiyi raised an eyebrow at him. "So, after hearing all this, do you feel like you've learned more from me than from ten years of studying?"
Gu Xiaoyu, "…"
On the contrary, he felt like all his previous studies had been wasted.
He scrubbed the clothes clumsily, feeling so overwhelmed that he was losing his bearings. Where was he? What was he doing? What kind of father had he gotten himself?
This was completely different from what he had imagined.
Inside the house, though Gu Huanxi couldn't hear what the two were saying, she could see everything clearly through the window. Xu Huaiyi's mouth hadn't stopped chattering, and she couldn't help but sigh to the daughter in her arms, "Your father can't keep his mouth shut again. That kid is sharp—who knows when he might slip up…"
Little A'Li, full and content, happily blew bubbles, completely oblivious to her mother's frustration.
In the yard, the newly paired father and son worked together to wash and hang the clothes. Just as they were about to fetch water from the well, they heard a loud knocking at the gate.
Immediately after, a voice shouted, "Third Brother, open the door!"
Xu Huaiyi's face darkened. He knew that buying the mule cart would attract curiosity and questions from many, but he hadn't expected the Xu family to be the first to show up.
How could they have the nerve?
"Xiao Yu, go inside."
At that moment, the casual and friendly demeanor Xu Huaiyi had shown earlier was gone, replaced by something that reminded Gu Xiaoyu of the scene he had witnessed in the woods when someone was being robbed.
If he hadn't seen the shadow of a soldier in him, he wouldn't have offered himself.
He lowered his head and replied, "Yes…" before turning and walking toward the house.
Xu Huaiyi picked up the wooden bucket and carrying pole, walking out unhurriedly, and didn’t forget to call toward the room, “Wife, I’m going to fetch water. You rest well.”
Gu Huanxi didn’t make a sound, standing by the window, frowning as she looked outside the courtyard.
Why were the Xu family members so persistent?