Chapter 149: Dad, I’m the Boss

Cao Shujie and his wife, Cheng Xiaolin, never expected Mengmeng’s cough to get worse.

During the day, Mengmeng ate a little less and wasn’t as lively as before, but her overall spirits still seemed fine. They had thought that after coming back home, with all her running around, her increased activity had actually strengthened her immune system.

But neither of them anticipated that around 10 p.m., Mengmeng would suddenly spike a high fever. The mercury thermometer showed her temperature had reached 39 degrees Celsius, and her body was drenched in sweat.

Cheng Xiaolin quickly told her husband, “Shujie, go get the fever medicine. Let’s give her some.”

“I’m on it.” Cao Shujie, still in his slippers, rushed out to the medicine box in the small outer room to find the fever reducer.

Ever since they had a child, ibuprofen suspension had become a staple in the house.

Using the little measuring cup that came with the ibuprofen, Cao Shujie poured out 4 milliliters of the red liquid. He didn’t even bother to screw the cap back on before hurrying back into the bedroom. “Honey, here’s the medicine.”

“She always gets hit hard when she catches a cold. We don’t even keep her cooped up all the time,” Cheng Xiaolin muttered as she held the cup to her daughter’s lips, gently coaxing her in a soft voice. “Mengmeng, open your mouth. Drink this and you’ll feel better.”

“Mommy, I feel awful… really awful.” Mengmeng was feverish and groggy, eyes closed, her voice weak and drowsy.

After taking the medicine, she drank a few sips of water. But she accidentally choked and started coughing several times in a row, making Cheng Xiaolin’s heart ache.

A few minutes later, Cheng Xiaolin gently patted her daughter’s back, helping her drift off to sleep.

“I’ll set an alarm for around 3 a.m. to check on her. If she’s still feverish, I’ll give her another dose,” Cheng Xiaolin said, finally turning her attention to her phone and setting the alarm.

According to the instructions, ibuprofen suspension can be taken every six hours if the fever persists.

Once everything was taken care of, a wave of exhaustion hit her. Cheng Xiaolin couldn’t hold on any longer and murmured, “Shujie, I’m so tired. I’m going to sleep first.”

Even her voice sounded drained.

Her head had barely touched the pillow and the blanket wasn’t even fully pulled over her when Cao Shujie heard the soft sound of her breathing. She had already fallen asleep.

Rubbing his temples to stay calm, Cao Shujie washed the measuring cup clean and set it aside. He turned off the bedroom light and carefully climbed back into bed, moving slowly so he wouldn’t disturb his wife.

Just before falling asleep, Cao Shujie remembered something. He set his own alarm ten minutes earlier than his wife’s and put it on vibrate, tucking it under his pillow. Then he glanced at his daughter, fast asleep at the innermost side of the bed, and finally drifted off himself.

But his sleep was restless. Around 2 a.m., before his alarm even buzzed, he woke up on his own.

He reached for his phone and saw that it wasn’t even 3 a.m. yet.

Stretching his arm over his wife, he gently felt Mengmeng’s forehead. It was still cool. Relieved, he thought about going back to sleep, but even with his eyes closed, he couldn’t doze off again.

Lying under the covers, staring at the ceiling, his mind wandered aimlessly.

After a while, he remembered something else. He reached over and grabbed his wife’s phone, turning off her alarm in advance.

From then on, Cao Shujie checked Mengmeng’s forehead every so often. At first, there was no change. But later, during one check, he found her burning up again. In her sleep, Mengmeng tossed and turned, clearly uncomfortable from the fever.

Without bothering to take her temperature again, Cao Shujie got out of bed and poured another 4 milliliters of ibuprofen suspension. Back in the bedroom, under the moonlight, he gently supported his daughter’s head and coaxed her into drinking the medicine. Then he grabbed the nearby thermos and had her take a few sips of water to rinse the taste from her mouth. Watching her fall back asleep, Cao Shujie finally let out a sigh of relief.

Throughout the whole process, his wife didn’t wake up, and he hadn’t planned to disturb her.

By the time Mengmeng had taken her medicine and settled down, it was nearly 4:30 a.m. Cao Shujie couldn’t fall asleep again, so he got dressed, grabbed his laptop, and went out to the small room to look up some information that had become fuzzy in his memory.

Once he got busy, he lost all sense of time. It wasn’t until he heard his wife’s startled voice from the bedroom that he snapped out of it and stood up to head back inside.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Cao Shujie pushed open the bedroom door and saw Cheng Xiaolin sitting up in bed. He asked her gently.

Cheng Xiaolin glanced at her daughter sleeping to her left, then looked at her husband who had just come in. She felt a pang of guilt. “I set an alarm, but it didn’t go off. I was supposed to get up and give Mengmeng her medicine. Thank goodness her fever didn’t come back.”

Hearing this, Cao Shujie chuckled. “Oh, that. I figured you were exhausted, so I turned your alarm off.”

“But Mengmeng did start burning up again around 4 a.m. I gave her another dose and got her back to sleep.”

Only then did Cheng Xiaolin realize what had happened during the night.

Looking at her husband’s face, still wearing a faint smile, she said softly, “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I could handle it. No need to wake you up. You should get more rest,” Cao Shujie said with a smile.

That smile had a calming effect. Cheng Xiaolin felt a deep sense of comfort.

She asked, “Did you not sleep at all last night?”

“I got a few hours. Woke up around 3 and couldn’t fall back asleep, so I went online to look up some stuff,” Cao Shujie said, nodding toward the small room outside.

Cheng Xiaolin was touched. “I’m well-rested now. You should go get some sleep.”

“Nah, I’m not tired anymore. You stay here with Mengmeng. I’m going to take the dogs out for a walk, or they’ll start getting rowdy again,” Cao Shujie replied.

“Alright then, go ahead,” Cheng Xiaolin agreed. She knew their four big dogs would be a handful if they didn’t get their morning walk.

As her husband left the room, Cheng Xiaolin reached out and felt her daughter’s forehead. It felt normal. Relieved, she smiled.

Thinking about what her husband had just said, a warm, happy smile spread across her tired face. He had quietly taken on responsibilities she hadn’t even noticed.

…

When Wang Yuelan heard from her son that little Mengmeng had a second fever during the night, she felt distressed. But once he told her that Mengmeng had taken another dose of medicine and was stable now, she felt less anxious.

She told her son, “Go walk the dogs.”

She herself went to start breakfast, already thinking about what delicious food she could make for her granddaughter.

After leaving the house with the four dogs, Cao Shujie headed west, eventually arriving at the Yellow River embankment. At this hour, the sun hadn’t yet risen, and the sky was still tinged with darkness.

After Cao Shujie came up and saw that no one was on the dam, he immediately unleashed the four dogs, letting them roam freely around the area.

He was thinking about the little pug at home. Mengmeng hadn’t been feeling well these past couple of days, and strangely enough, the pug had become listless too.

He had considered bringing the pug along, but that little dog never appreciated his good intentions. It always looked at him with wary eyes and refused to come no matter what he said.

With nothing better to do, Cao Shujie pulled out his phone and started scrolling through the news. There wasn’t anything new or interesting.

Just the usual—some celebrity caught cheating again, making headlines everywhere, while the person involved acted like nothing had happened.

Who’s pretending to be in love while secretly falling apart?

There were also a few articles discussing the current state of the economy and its problems. The intros looked well-written and convincing, but when Cao Shujie actually read through them, he realized most of the content, though seemingly logical, didn’t hold up under scrutiny. Some of it even seemed copied and pasted.

Cao Shujie couldn’t even be bothered to complain about it. After a while, he opened QQ on his phone and saw that several group chats had over 99+ messages, but his private messages were almost empty.

Then he noticed a few friend requests. Just from the profile pictures, they were all scantily clad girls with curvy figures. The notes attached read things like, “Big brother, add me! Let’s chat about something fun!”

“What the hell is this crap?” Cao Shujie muttered, cursing as he exited QQ.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he looked up at the sky and noticed the sun rising in the distance, though its light was blocked by thick clouds. The weather today felt off.

He stared up at the sky. It didn’t look like snow was coming, but the longer he stayed on the dam, the colder he got. The chill seeped into his bones, and his teeth started chattering.

“Daha, Erha, come back!” Cao Shujie couldn’t take the cold anymore and started calling for the four dogs.

To his surprise, the first ones back were the two German Shepherds.

They bounded toward him with powerful strides, muscles rippling under their sleek black fur. Their strong, agile bodies made them look especially fierce.

As soon as they reached him, the two German Shepherds rubbed up against him affectionately.

But they forgot just how much momentum they had built up running over. Each weighing over 50 jin, the two dogs leapt at him together, knocking Cao Shujie straight off his feet and into the grass.

“You damn mutts, trying to kill me?” he grumbled, sprawled out on the ground.

Daha and Erha came running over too. Mimicking the German Shepherds, they pounced on him and started licking his face. The two German Shepherds were already on top of him, and now Daha and Erha squeezed in beside them, wagging their tongues and slobbering all over him.

“Get off, get off!” Cao Shujie wiped his wet face, feeling utterly grossed out.

He waved the dogs away, got to his feet, and thought about Mengmeng. He wondered if she had woken up yet. He wasn’t in the mood to play with the dogs anymore, so he leashed them and headed home.

Mengmeng’s unexpected cold had lasted four days, with two of those days spent battling a fever. Cao Shujie and Cheng Xiaolin had been considering taking her to the hospital if her fever didn’t break soon. But as if the heavens had heard his prayers, Mengmeng suddenly recovered like a miracle.

Whatever the reason, seeing Mengmeng bouncing around again, shouting that she was hungry and wanted to eat, brought tears of joy to Cheng Xiaolin’s eyes.

She had been exhausted these past few days, though she knew her husband was even more worn out.

“Mom, let’s go into town tonight and treat ourselves to a nice meal to celebrate,” Cao Shujie said happily.

But as soon as he said it, Wang Yuelan muttered, “Mengmeng just got better. She should be eating light right now. Why are you making a fuss? Wait a couple more days until she’s fully recovered.”

Cheng Xiaolin agreed.

In her view, their daughter had only just recovered. Going out to eat now, no matter what they ordered, would probably be too greasy and not good for Mengmeng’s recovery.

As for Cao Jianguo, he sat quietly to the side without voicing any opinion.

With two against one, Cao Shujie was clearly outvoted, and his suggestion was promptly shot down.

Even so, Wang Yuelan made a clear broth with pork ribs and added a few potatoes, simmering the ribs until they were fall-off-the-bone tender. When it was ready, she shredded the meat for her granddaughter. Watching Mengmeng eat a small bowl of shredded pork and potatoes filled her with joy.

After dinner, Cao Jianguo pulled Cao Shujie aside and said, “Shujie, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it, Dad?” Cao Shujie asked, puzzled by his father’s serious tone.

His father said, “I called your uncle and talked to him about us going to pick up your grandfather. But your uncle said they’ll bring him back themselves on a Saturday next month. Your older and second cousins’ families will come along too.”

“So, we don’t need to make the trip anymore?” Cao Shujie asked.

Cao Jianguo nodded. “No need for us to go.”

“That works. I’ll prepare some special dishes to welcome them,” Cao Shujie said.

Then he added, “In that case, I’ll move into the new house before the end of this month. When Uncle and my cousins come, they’ll have a place to stay and won’t need to rush back the same day.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Cao Jianguo nodded. He thought his son’s suggestion was a good one.

In his view, ever since his older brother’s family had settled elsewhere, they rarely came back.

But that was understandable. Everyone had their own lives, and with such a large family, it wasn’t easy to just drop everything and travel.

Cao Shujie thought about it. Aside from a few QQ video chats, he hadn’t seen his two cousins in a long time. It would be nice to catch up in person.

“Dad, do we know the exact date they’re coming back? I want to get some beef and lamb in advance,” Cao Shujie asked.

Cao Jianguo shook his head. The date hadn’t been set yet. He and his older brother, Cao Jianlin, had agreed to call again before the trip to finalize the details.

That reminded Cao Jianguo of something else. He smiled and said, “Your big brother’s doing really well now. He’s a manager at a foreign-owned factory. Your uncle said Brother Bin makes over 300,000 yuan a year.”

Hearing that, Cao Shujie didn’t feel much of anything. Before he resigned, he had worked at a subsidiary of a research institute. So what?

He said casually, “Dad, it’s not a big deal. I made nearly 500,000 this year.”

That got a big reaction from Cao Jianguo. “You don’t get it. Your uncle said Brother Bin manages over 80 people at the factory!”

“Dad, I can manage people too, you know.” Cao Shujie was determined to change his father’s view.

But Cao Jianguo held up a finger and said with clear disdain, “You’re managing one person, and you’re proud of that?”

“Dad, I’m the boss. That’s my employee. I have to pay his salary.”

“And when my business grows, I’ll hire more people. They’ll all have to listen to me. Anyone who doesn’t behave can be let go. My Brother Bin can’t do that, can he?” Cao Shujie stood up as he spoke.

Hearing this, Cao Jianguo fell silent.

After a long pause, he finally stood up with a pleased grin and said, “That’s right. You’re the boss now. That’s not the same at all.”

“Dad, what’s going on with you? Why do you insist on comparing me to Brother Bin?” Cao Shujie couldn’t figure it out.

But Cao Jianguo just chuckled and waved his hand. “It’s nothing.”

With that, he dropped the topic and turned to walk outside.

Cao Shujie thought his dad was acting a little strange that evening, but since he didn’t say anything more, he didn’t press the issue.

The next morning, Boss Wang, the guy installing the radiators, finally showed up.

As soon as Cao Shujie saw him, he started in on him. “Boss Wang, we agreed you’d get it done in three days. Why are you two days late again?”

“Ay, Boss Cao, I’m really sorry. Something came up at home. One of the elders is sick, and I had to stay home to take care of them for a couple of days,” Wang Kun explained.

Whether that was true or not, Cao Shujie couldn’t say, but with him putting it like that, there wasn’t much else to argue.

Wang Kun brought two workers with him. They followed the layout and started drilling holes in the walls of several rooms. Once the holes were done, they began installing the pipes and mounting the radiators.

The work itself was pretty straightforward. As long as the placement was accurate, it was fine. The part that took time was threading the pipes.

They worked for most of the day. In the end, Wang Kun and his team connected the radiators to a large furnace, which they placed in the kitchen. It could also be used for cooking and boiling water, saving quite a bit on gas.

“Boss Cao, give it a try. See if it’s warm and check for any leaks,” Wang Kun said to Cao Shujie.

Cao Shujie didn’t stand on ceremony. He loaded the furnace with coal himself, filled the radiators and pipes with water, then opened the pressure valve. Water began circulating through the system. As it passed through the furnace, it was heated and carried warmth to the rest of the house.

To be honest, this setup wasn’t as comfortable as the boiler system he had at his own place. The water pressure was higher there, and it maintained a steady temperature for longer.

But his mother’s place had limited space. There was no way to install the same system here. Otherwise, Cao Shujie would’ve made sure his parents had the exact same setup.

About ten minutes later, Wang Yuelan beamed and said, “It’s warm now. The radiator’s even hot to the touch!”

Hearing his mother’s laughter, Cao Shujie felt genuinely happy.

He handed the remaining balance to Wang Kun. “Thanks, Boss Wang!”

“Hey, Boss Cao, I appreciate you choosing me for the job. Don’t worry about the quality. I’ll give you my word: if there’s any issue with the pipes or radiators within three years, I’ll replace them, not just repair them,” Wang Kun promised.

The main reason was that Cao Shujie was such a generous spender.

Between the heating system at his own place and this one for his parents, he’d spent nearly twenty thousand yuan. But he paid the full amount without batting an eye. No haggling, no delays—just straightforward and decisive.

(End of Chapter)