Chapter 128: The Father Who Exploited His Child Star 21

Xie Chu had always been a child who didn’t cause his parents any worry. When other families were struggling with homework after elementary school, getting so frustrated they wanted to throw things, he would come home every day and dutifully finish his homework at his desk.

Whenever Xie Hui returned from the shop after a busy day and wanted to ask if he needed help with his studies, Xie Chu would blink innocently.

“Homework? I’ve finished it. Dad, do you want to teach me? If you do, I can save a little for tomorrow.”

Of course, Xie Hui wouldn’t be so thoughtless as to disrupt his child’s good habit of self-discipline.

“Bring it over, Dad will check it for you.”

“Okay.”

Xie Chu went upstairs to his room, brought down his schoolbag, took out his already organized homework, and handed it to his father.

Xie Hui opened it and checked, and indeed, there wasn’t a single mistake; the accuracy rate was 100%.

“My Chu Chu is so amazing?”

Xie Chu nodded reservedly on the surface, but the smile in his eyes almost overflowed.

“Since your homework is done, come help Dad prepare the vegetables.”

Xie Hui beckoned, and Xie Chu immediately trotted over. Dressed in his school uniform and red scarf, he sat on his special small stool, chatting with his father about interesting things that happened at school while preparing vegetables.

In the yard, Xie Hui had planted roses. Roses were easy to care for and bloomed without much effort. A gust of wind blew, and a rose petal landed on Zhaocai’s nose as he slept in the flowerbed.

The big fat orange cat pawed at it, batting the petal off. Disturbed, he was no longer sleepy, so he lay there, stretched, and meowed, his tail swaying.

“Dad, is Zhaocai fat again? Should we put him on a diet?”

While preparing vegetables, Xie Chu stared at the fat cat for a long time. He remembered how Zhaocai had laid on him during his nap last weekend, making it hard for him to breathe, and seriously suggested a diet.

“Can you resist feeding him? Or do you think he won’t sneak food from other places?”

The familiar neighbors around here all loved feeding this cat. Its round, fluffy fur was well-maintained, and its name was auspicious.

“Oh, then forget it.”

…

At the Snack Shop, Xie Hui now only handled matters related to the sauces, leaving everything else to the hired staff.

His business was doing quite well; some people even offered high prices for his sauce recipe, but without exception, Xie Hui refused them all, content to just run his small shop.

When the food business was good, the profits were quite high. Every morning, when the staff went to buy ingredients, Xie Hui would personally supervise, absolutely not compromising his reputation.

He ensured the raw ingredients were clean and the kitchen environment was up to standard.

Xie Chu occasionally made guest appearances in some films during elementary school, but he stopped when he entered third grade. The main reason wasn’t that he didn’t want to go, nor was it a lack of opportunities, but rather… he entered a very awkward period of losing his baby teeth.

Even when he was a little kid who couldn’t speak clearly, Xie Hui knew he was more sensitive to pain than normal people.

The period of losing baby teeth was simply unbearable for Xie Chu, especially when a tooth was loose but wouldn’t fall out, hurting with every touch, yet he couldn’t resist touching it.

Every time he tentatively touched a loose tooth with his tongue or hand, he would end up in tears from the pain.

“Did you secretly touch it again?”

Xie Hui, cooking in the kitchen, saw his son, dressed in his school uniform, walk in with teary eyes. Before he even spoke, he had already guessed what happened.

“I, I didn’t touch it, boohoo.”

As Xie Chu spoke, tears welled up.

“You can’t touch your teeth. What if the new teeth don’t look good later?”

Xie Hui put down what he was doing, washed his hands, then walked over to Xie Chu, squatted down to be at eye level with him, and used a tissue to wipe away his tears.

“Boohoo, Dad, it hurts so much.”

This was the first time Xie Hui had seen him like this, burying his face in his arms and acting spoiled, his eyes red all around from crying, tears welling up with every word he spoke.

After he started losing his baby teeth, Xie Hui, even though he knew it might not help, specifically took his son to the Hospital.

After the examination, they said that some people indeed have a special constitution and are more sensitive to pain than normal people; Xie Chu’s body itself had no issues. For the teething period, the doctor suggested supplementing with more calcium.

But seeing his tooth loose and not falling out, Xie Hui was at a loss.

“What can we do if it hurts? You didn’t want to go to the Hospital to have it pulled last time.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Chu immediately covered his mouth with his hand. He covered it too forcefully, hitting the loose tooth, and tears instantly welled up again.

He buried his head in his father’s arms, like a wounded little animal, whimpering sadly for a long time.

Xie Hui held him as he did when he was little, and casually straightened his messy clothes.

“Boohoo, Dad, am I delaying your cooking?”

When he didn’t touch it, the loose tooth didn’t hurt. Xie Chu looked up, his eyes teary, staring at his father.

With him looking like that, it would be strange if Xie Hui could cook peacefully.

“No, Dad was just too tired from work and wanted to hug Chu Chu.”

Although Xie Chu’s eyes were still teary, he was not stingy and gave his father a big hug.

During the hug, Xie Hui heard his sobs, feeling both helpless and a little heartbroken.

The teething period was tough for any child. A while ago, he heard a neighbor say that Old Wang’s granddaughter had pulled out a tooth while eating candied hawthorn during her teething period, crying for half a day from the pain.

Xie Hui didn’t say anything, and Xie Chu was happy to cling to his father. Until his own stomach became disobedient and started rumbling.

“Dad, I’m hungry…”

When Xie Hui heard this, he looked down slightly and saw his son’s flushed face.

“Okay, I’ll make it for you.”

Xie Chu didn’t ask his father to hold him anymore, but still didn’t want to leave, so he stood by and tiptoed to look into the pot.

Xie Hui only stir-fried a small green vegetable and his own pickled vegetables. On the other side, the preserved egg and lean pork congee was almost ready. As soon as he lifted the lid, a rich aroma of food wafted out.

The congee had been cooked very thick, but considering Xie Chu was losing his teeth, Xie Hui added more water when cooking it, so the congee looked a bit thin.

The unique taste of preserved egg and the aroma of lean pork perfectly blended together. When a bowl was served to Xie Chu, the spoon he held was superfluous; he could just hold the bowl and slurp it down.

“Dad, what if I get hungry later…”

It was summer vacation now, and Xie Chu was quite worried. The daytime was long, and he only had congee for lunch. He was a little concerned that he would have to trouble his father to make him food again in the afternoon.

Normally, Xie Chu would just snack to get by, but now that his teeth couldn’t bite and hurt with every touch, he became a bit delicate.

“How about we try making you carrot congee this afternoon? Dad saw a new recipe; they say carrot congee has no carrot taste after it’s cooked.”

Xie Chu didn’t really like carrots, but he was willing to believe his father.

After eating, Xie Hui had just finished washing the dishes when he picked up the carrots he bought at the supermarket, still covered in mud, and skillfully chopped them.

“Dad, everyone says boys should be brave and not cry all the time.”

Xie Chu’s words made Xie Hui slow down his chopping.

“Chu Chu, do you want to listen to others, or to Dad?”

“Of course, I trust Dad!”

“Then Dad thinks that when a person feels pain, it’s okay to cry, and when they’re unhappy, it’s okay to be angry. It’s better to express emotions than to keep them bottled up.”

“Oh, then next time I won’t listen to that person. What he said was wrong.”

Xie Chu’s trust in his father was almost ingrained in his bones. Even if Xie Hui told him the sun rose from the south, he would start to doubt if he had remembered it wrong all along.

Xie Hui had put so much effort and love into raising his little one, and he was honored to have his trust.

On a summer vacation afternoon, the noisy cicadas seemed to be lulling people to sleep. Xie Hui sent Xie Chu upstairs to sleep, while he went to the yard.

Xie Hui hadn’t raised many cats before and wasn’t very familiar with them. He always thought their Zhaocai was just getting fatter from eating, but he never expected it to have kittens.

Seeing that his son seemed to like cats, Xie Hui decided to keep all of Zhaocai’s kittens.

After Zhaocai gave birth, he had her spayed for her health.

Now, under the shade of the trees in the small villa’s yard, a row of fat orange cats lay neatly, their tail-wagging movements almost identical.

After tidying the yard, Xie Hui added cat food and treats for them, then went back to his room for a nap.

In the afternoon, Xie Hui was woken up by his alarm. He immediately went to the kitchen to check the congee he had set to cook at noon. After opening the lid, the carrot smell was indeed very faint.

This was something an old lady taught Xie Hui when he went to the wet market last time. When cooking carrot congee, add a little lard, and after it’s cooked, the carrot taste can be almost ignored.

Confirming that the carrot congee was quite successful, Xie Hui went upstairs and gently knocked on the door.

“Chu Chu, are you awake?”

“Yes, Dad.”

Xie Hui first heard the answer, then the door was opened from inside.

“Dad, have the cats been fed?”

After lunch, Xie Chu’s teeth hurt too much, and his eyes hurt from crying, so he went straight back to his room to rest. Now that he was awake, he remembered that his cats hadn’t eaten yet.

“They’ve all been fed. Zhaocai ate an extra dried fish.”

“Dad, what about my congee?”

Xie Hui heard his topic quickly switch from whether the cats had eaten to his own hunger, and he smiled helplessly:

“So, I’ve fed the cats, now it’s your turn. The carrot congee is ready, and it tastes pretty good. Shall we go downstairs and try it together?”

“Mhm.”

After finishing a bowl of congee, Xie Chu voluntarily put the bowl in the sink, then turned to see his father lying on the rocking chair in the yard, and quickly ran over.

“Dad, I want to eat carrot congee again tomorrow.”

“Oh? You don’t dislike carrots now?”

“Actually, actually… carrots are quite tasty, hehe.”

Xie Chu hadn’t finished smiling at his father when he suddenly froze.