Raising Kids C07

Chapter 7

Although the fish’s tail didn’t slap his face, the splash from the grass carp’s sudden movement soaked Xie Ze’s face. The fishy-smelling water stunned him for a moment before his eyes turned red.

Xie Hui had just finished selecting a few fresh vegetables and was about to put them in a bag when he suddenly heard a pitiful, whimpering voice behind him.

“Daddy… wuwuwu… Daddy.”

Normally, no matter how well-behaved Xie Ze was, he was always at home, with no other kids to play with. Xie Hui never deliberately teased him, but now, the moment they stepped outside, he had already been bullied by a fish. His eyes turned red as he ran over to hug his father’s leg.

“Fishy! Eat the fishy!”

Seeing his son looking so aggrieved, as if he were about to burst into tears, Xie Hui didn’t assume he simply craved fish.

Back when the original host was filming a movie abroad, Jiang Ge had once called to inform him that the nanny had not been taking proper care of Xie Ze. She had served him fish without removing the bones, and the one-year-old had choked on a bone and ended up in the hospital.

Xie Hui wasn’t sure if a child that young could retain memories, but ever since then, Xie Ze had barely touched fish, even when it was on the dining table.

“Which one do you want to eat?”

Xie Ze’s dark, round eyes darted around before he pointed at the very fish that had just splashed him, grinding his teeth as if taking revenge.

“That one, then.”

Xie Hui asked a staff member to help him catch the fish. After weighing it, the employee placed it in a bag and stuck a price tag on it, smiling as he asked, “Sir, would you like it cleaned?”

“Yes, please remove the guts.”

It wasn’t that Xie Hui didn’t know how to clean a fish himself, but if he could save himself the trouble, why not? Besides, taking care of a child was no easy task. The physical and mental exhaustion piled up quickly.

In the past, Xie Hui had been focused entirely on his career and rarely took care of his child. But during his missions, he had overheard many people complaining about how their wives, who enjoyed the comforts of home, would still say they were tired just from taking care of a kid. Meanwhile, they, as the hardworking breadwinners, never complained.

Now that he was experiencing it firsthand, Xie Hui realized that society often viewed mothers as superhuman, expecting them to never tire. In reality, they shouldered an enormous burden.

Even though Xie Ze was an obedient child, his boundless energy could still be exhausting. And this was with the help of a nanny.

The cameraman captured the moment when Xie Ze clung to his father, glaring fiercely at the fish.

The crew member in charge of interacting with the guests frowned slightly when he saw this. His job meant he often reviewed audience comments and live chat messages. So, while he initially found the scene cute, he also started wondering how many internet trolls it would attract.

“Daddy, the snacks over there look like they really want to visit Baby’s tummy.”

After finishing their grocery shopping, Xie Ze was still full of energy. He pushed a small shopping cart over to the snack aisle, tugging at Xie Hui’s shirt while looking up at him with puppy-dog eyes, as if he were a little pup begging for a bone.

“Do you remember the promise you made to Daddy?”

Xie Hui didn’t reject him outright. Instead, he gently ruffled his son’s hair, his voice filled with warmth.

“I remember. I can’t eat too much junk food because it’s bad for my health. If I get sick, I’ll have to get shots and drink bitter medicine. So, Daddy, can I just buy one thing?”

“Of course.”

Since he could only pick one item, Xie Ze cherished the opportunity. He ran around pushing his little cart for quite some time before finally selecting a pack of biscuits and placing it inside.

“Daddy is the best in the whole world!”

As Xie Hui picked up some seasonings they were missing at home, Xie Ze followed along, sweetly praising him in his baby voice.

At first, Xie Hui felt a bit soft-hearted, but after hearing it too many times, he started finding it a little excessive. His own son had somehow turned into a little chatterbox.

After buying the seasonings, Xie Hui kept his promise and took Xie Ze to the accessories section to buy a pair of children’s sunglasses.

At the checkout, a staff member, who had previously spoken with Xie Hui, read aloud a promotional line about the store’s membership program, which offered a 20% discount.

It was just part of the script, but Xie Ze took it very seriously. As they were checking out, he even stood on his tiptoes, trying his best to make sure the cashier lady could see him.

“Big sister, big sister! Can I get one too?”

Seeing the tiny child struggling to stand taller, his face flushed red from the effort, the cashier’s heart nearly melted. She resisted the urge to ruffle his hair and instead gave him a professional smile.

“Little one, you’re not old enough yet, so you can’t get one.”

“Oh… okay.”

Xie Ze didn’t throw a tantrum or insist. He just lowered his head, looking a little dejected.

After paying, the cameras briefly captured the store’s home delivery service for the audience.

On the car ride home, Xie Hui finally asked, “Why did you want that card? Was it because it looked nice?”

“The lady said that having the card gives you a 20% discount. Daddy works so hard to earn money.”

Xie Ze buried his head in his father’s chest, his voice muffled with disappointment over not getting what he wanted.

“If Baby wants to buy something at that store, you can just use Daddy’s card.”

“Mm.”

The rest of the ride home was spent with Xie Hui coaxing his little troublemaker.

If it had been a more willful child, Xie Hui might not have had this much patience. But Xie Ze was just too sweet. Holding onto him, his little arms wrapped around Xie Hui’s neck, pouting in disappointment without saying much… he was so adorable that it made Xie Hui’s heart ache.

When they got home and started preparing dinner, Xie Ze’s mood finally improved. He began doing things that, in his eyes, were helping—but in Xie Hui’s eyes, were just making a mess.

The filming crew couldn’t help but wonder: if it weren’t for Xie Ze, they could have started eating a long time ago.

Xie Hui, however, showed no sign of impatience. He handed off every little task the kid could do without hesitation and found it amusing to watch him run around on his short legs.

A nanny helped Xie Ze with his bath, giving him a rare moment of personal time.

The crew knew very well that, although the show’s selling point was cute kids, the real stars were the celebrities. So when the crew followed Xie Ze into the bathroom, the little boy—dressed only in his shorts—politely but firmly kicked them out.

With a righteous tone, he declared that his dad said boys should be mindful too, and that filming while he was bathing was not allowed.

—

“Experiencing it firsthand, raising a child really is exhausting.”

Xie Hui poured himself a glass of water and sat on the couch in the living room, speaking directly to the camera.

Following the director’s prior instructions, the crew member responsible for guest interviews asked about Xie Ze’s mother.

“Mr. Xie, why haven’t we seen the child’s mother at all throughout the show’s filming?”

Brother Jiang had gone over this topic with the production team multiple times beforehand. He knew that once the show aired, curiosity about the child’s mother would spark heated discussion.

Rather than letting rumors and wild guesses spread, it was better to clarify everything here and now.

Besides, the truth couldn’t stay hidden forever—anyone willing to dig a little would find out the real story.

The original Xie Hui had never intended to hide it, so Xie Hui himself saw no reason to go out of his way to keep it under wraps. It wasn’t as if it would cause a public scandal.

There was no cheating, no betrayal—just a college romance that ended before it could lead anywhere.

“I’ve never been married. I met my child’s mother in college. We liked each other, confessed, and started dating. Just before graduation, she found out she was pregnant. We had already been planning to get married.”

“But at the time, my career was on the rise. Pregnancy is already stressful, and I failed to balance work and family. I focused too much on my career. After the baby was born, she asked to break up.”

“I agreed, but I wanted to keep the baby with me. Lately, as work has settled down, I’ve realized how quickly he’s growing. I don’t want to miss out on his childhood, so I plan to dedicate more time to him.”

Xie Hui left out many details—especially the part where, when Xie Ze was seven months old, his mother saw Xie Hui filming an intimate scene with a female actress and wanted to abort the baby before breaking up with him.

He knew that if he mentioned it, the mother would face overwhelming public backlash and insults, and that wasn’t what he wanted.

Since he hadn’t lived through it himself, he had no intention of judging right or wrong. He just wanted to present a harmonious front.

Xie Hui had no lingering feelings for the original host’s first love, but he did feel a bit sorry for the little one he had been raising all this time. He didn’t want Xie Ze to ever know that his mother had almost abandoned him.

Sensing the sensitivity of the topic, the crew didn’t press further and shifted the conversation to balancing work and family.

—

Fresh out of his bath, Xie Ze changed into a fluffy animal onesie, slipped on his slippers, and ran toward his dad.

“Daddy, I want to sleep with you tonight.”

Even though Xie Ze knew they were filming, he still wanted to sleep with his dad. He was a little scared that the fish he ate during the day would come back to get him at night.

“Alright. But how about you wait for me in the bedroom first? Daddy needs to take a bath.”

“Okay!”

The little one expertly ran to his room, grabbed his small pillow, and made a beeline for his dad’s bedroom.

Though he had more than one pillow, he only liked the one he’d been using for a long time.

After climbing onto the bed, he tossed aside the extra pillow next to the big one and carefully placed his own in its spot before snuggling under the blanket.

Why, when his dad had already prepared a pillow for him, did he still have to bring his own? Well, this was just one of those little rituals that only a three-year-old would insist on.

To keep things from getting too dull, a crew member took the initiative to chat with Xie Ze and awkwardly started a conversation.

“Do you like your dad?”

Xie Ze furrowed his little brows and glared at the man before responding grumpily,

“What kind of stupid question is that?”

Remembering what he’d seen when an auntie took him to the park before, Xie Ze frowned even more. With a sigh, he continued,

“Uncle, are you going to ask me next whether I like my dad or my mom more?”

“I’m not a two-year-old anymore. Can you not be so childish?”

Being called childish in a drawn-out baby voice was a unique experience for the crew member.

Luckily, his awkwardness didn’t last long. Xie Hui, now dressed in his sleepwear, walked out from the bathroom.

The moment he saw him, Xie Ze shot out from under the blanket and pounced on his dad. Xie Hui instinctively caught him as the little one wrapped his arms around his neck like an oversized pendant.

“Daddy, hug! Last night, you said you’d tell me the story of General Mulan today!”