Chapter 630: Trouble
The corners of Qi Haoran’s mouth twitched when he saw this. Mu Yangling quickly coaxed him gently. “Is this the only way for my little baby to open the box? That won’t do. Mother will have many ways. How many can Little Bear think of?”
Mu Yangling spoke very slowly and repeated it a few more times. Although Little Bear had yet to speak, he could understand what the adults meant after hearing something a few more times.
He tilted his head and looked at the remaining three boxes, thinking seriously.
Only then did Mu Yangling have the time to ask Qi Haoran, “Why didn’t they send the things over together?”
“Your things were probably packed later. There are gifts for the three of us in these boxes. Your family must have packed these things in a hurry and asked Teacher Liu to bring them over. I forgot to tell you two days ago.”
Madam Liu and Teacher Liu didn’t set off on the same day. It was probably because they were too busy at the beginning and forgot to tell the Mu family about this, so the Mu family hurriedly packed five boxes of gifts. Some of them were for Qi Haoran, some for Mu Yangling, and most of them were for Little Bear.
Later on, when they found out that Madam Liu was delaying her departure by a day, they packed a few more boxes. This time, they were much more detailed. Moreover, a large portion of the things were for Mu Yangling whilst the remaining was for Little Bear, and none of them were for Qi Haoran.
As Mu Yangling and Qi Haoran spoke, Little Bear climbed up the table from the chair and retrieved the feather duster that was stuck in a bottle. After slipping down, he went straight to the box and opened a crack. Then, he reached in with the chicken blanket and pushed it open. Being strong, he merely had to exert a little strength.
He looked smugly at his parents.
This smug little face was a carbon copy of Qi Haoran’s smug look.
The couple watched the entire process from the side. Qi Haoran carried him up smugly and praised, “My son is indeed smart!”
The smile on Little Bear’s face deepened, and the two of them beamed together. Mu Yangling looked at her son’s chubby little face and then at Qi Haoran’s. She immediately said regretfully, “If your baby fat was still there, it’d be a big and small version of Little Bear…”
Qi Haoran’s face stiffened and he glared at Mu Yangling. “Why would I still have baby fat when I’ve already grown up?”
Little Bear reached out to pat his father’s face with a look of pity, making Mu Yangling burst out laughing.
The family of three shared the gifts before getting someone to carry them into the storeroom. They decided to pack the things tomorrow. Because Little Bear was in a good mood, he squeezed his way between his parents, wanting to sleep with them.
As the weather had already begun to turn cold, Little Bear slept soundly in the middle, covered by a blanket. Mu Yangling couldn’t help but kiss him, but Qi Haoran felt that he was in the way. He gently carried the kid up and placed him on the bed. After covering him with a small blanket, he hugged his wife to sleep.
The next day, Little Bear was the first to wake up. When he realized that he was not sleeping between his parents, he was momentarily confused. Then, when he saw his parents hugging each other, he lifted the blanket and climbed onto their blankets, shaking the two of them awake.
Qi Haoran opened his eyes and quickly grabbed his son and stuffed him under the blanket. He patted his butt gently and said, “The weather is so cold, yet you still dare to wander around without a blanket.”
Little Bear let out an “ahhh” anxiously.
Qi Haoran’s sleepiness instantly dissipated. He lifted the blanket and quickly took off the kid’s pants, then carried him and ran to the bathroom. However, before he could reach the bathroom, a splash of water shot out and directly watered the flowers and plants embroidered on the screen in front of him.
Qi Haoran instantly felt a little guilty. This screen was sent over by Zijin two days ago and seemed to be worth a lot of money.
He turned around to look at his wife. Seeing that she was still sitting on the bed in a daze, he secretly glared at his son and hurriedly rushed to the toilet bowl. However, since the kid had already emptied his bladder, there was no longer a need for it.
The father and son stared at each other for a moment before Qi Haoran carried him back. He stuffed his son into Mu Yangling’s arms and said, “Sleep a little longer. It’s not dawn yet.”
Just now, Qi Haoran took the time to look at the hourglass and felt that his son had woken up really early. It was only 4 a.m. now, right?
He hesitated for a moment. Should he risk being discovered and go to bed to sleep, or should he quickly slip away?
Qi Haoran and his son’s round eyes met. Qi Haoran made a prompt decision and said gently to Mu Yangling, “Ah Ling, the military camp is a little busy today. I’ll go first. Sleep a little longer with our son.”
Mu Yangling opened her heavy eyelids and glanced at him. Then, she looked at the hourglass and immediately felt a headache. “It’s only four o’clock. Why are you up so early?”
“What are you speaking of, four o’clock? It has already struck the hour of the Tiger. I must hasten to the barracks. Do rest longer, my dear, and look after our son.”
“Little Bear needs to pee once. Help him relieve himself first.”
Qi Haoran glanced at the screen sheepishly and said, “He’s already peed…”
Relieved, Mu Yangling hugged her son in her arms and covered him with the blanket in a daze. Then, she let out an exhale and fell asleep again.
Qi Haoran hurriedly put on his clothes and ran out quietly. After closing the door tightly and said to Spring, who had run out of the side room after hearing the commotion, “Madam and Young Master played till too late last night. Don’t wake them up if there’s nothing important. Let them sleep until they wake up naturally.”
Spring hurriedly agreed.
Qi Haoran hurriedly shook Fei Bai awake and went to the military camp.
Letting out a yawn, Fei Bai shrunk his neck. “Master, why are we going so early today? Didn’t we leave the training of the soldiers to the subordinate generals?”
Could Qi Haoran tell him the truth? He could only say, “I have my own plans.”
He, too, was feeling bitter. They had just arrived in Ju Prefecture and there was little furniture to begin with. The screen left behind by the landlord was too rough, and neither he nor Mu Yangling fancied it. After learning about this, Fan Zijin had spent some effort and quite a lot of money to buy a good one and placed it in Qi Haoran’s house. Qi Haoran wondered if it could be removed and washed…
However, he was now a pauper and did not have the money to secretly buy a new one to replace it…
Before Qi Haoran could think of a good solution, he heard Fei Bai exclaim. Qi Haoran looked up and was about to ask what was wrong when he saw the brilliant lights in the distance.
Qi Haoran narrowed his eyes and asked, “Is that the military camp?”
Trembling, Fei Bai replied, “Based on the distance, it should be the military camp.”
Qi Haoran stared at it for a while before Fei Bai hurriedly said, “Master, something might have happened. That’s why the lights are so bright.”
“Did we run into any messengers along the way?”
Fei Bai immediately stopped talking. If anything happened to the military camp, the Prince would definitely be notified. If they did not encounter any messenger, it meant that someone was deliberately hiding the matter from them.
Qi Haoran turned his horse around and said, “Let’s take the byway.”
Two guards behind him immediately stepped forward to pave the way. The guards in charge of Qi Haoran’s travels were all trusted aides who had risked their lives with him. Soon, they found the byway marked on the map and quietly approached the military camp.