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Chapter 16




Chapter 16
Fortunately, the little dragon cub finallycompleted the life changing event of molting before entering school.
“Come on, stand straight.” BaiHuo looked at the bald head in front of him solemnly. Without the fluff to protecthim, the little dragon cub was slippery smooth, like a plucked Christmasturkey. Bai Huo was about to suffer internal injuries from holding back, in theend, he couldn’t help but burst into uproarious laughter: “Sorry, I don’twant to laugh at you … it’s just … bahaha ha ha ha …”
The little dragon cub blushed furiously; hewas so angry that he was contemplating breaking off the father-sonrelationship.
Bai Huo quickly took out some dried fish tocoax him: “Okay, okay, don’t be mad, this is good actually, now youdefinitely won’t show your true shape to your classmates.”
After all, this look was so unsightly, Li LinXi wouldn’t want to lose face in front of his classmates.
The scheduled interview was for 10 o’clockthis morning, so Bai Huo got up early in the morning and entered the rarely usedkitchen. After cooking noodles of dubious quality, he brought two bowls out tothe little guys sitting vigilantly at the table.
“What is this?” The fat birdstirred the black soup for a while, wondering what poison Bai Huo had putinside.
“Fish noodles,” Bai Huo saidproudly, “No bad, right?”
The little dragon cub and the fat birdlooked at the noodles that were as black as black sesame paste, dumbfounded:“It looks … not quite right…”
“Okay, hurry up and eat, you’ll belate for school.” Bai Huo walked away to pack the little dragon’s schoolbag.He’d intentionally worn formal clothes today, an excellently crafted shirt fit snugglyto his waistline, and black trousers wrapped his long legs, making him lookeven slimmer. These clothes, plus the thin-rimmed glasses perched on the bridgeof his nose, made him radiate an atmosphere of elegance, which was completely deceiving.
Bai Huo had never packed a child’sschoolbag before. He couldn’t think of anything the child needed to bring, sohe carelessly stuffed in two change of clothes, and filled the rest of the bag withdried fish, considering the matter done.
When he left the bedroom, he found that thefat bird and the little dragon cub were still staring blankly at their noodles.He pushed his glasses up with an index finger and asked: “Why aren’t youeating? Can’t bear to ruin it?”
The fat bird was speechless, wondering whatkind of monstrous optimism this guy had to think that they were reluctant to disturbthese carcinogenic noodles?
“Let me tell you a story,” BaiHuo completely lacked awareness, smiling as he sat down at the table. “WhenI was traveling the world in my youth, I once passed by a farm house and saw anold lady cooking some noodles inside. She was preparing it for her grandson whowas leaving for college. When she handed him the noodles, she said, ‘It’s ajoyous occasion when someone gives you a bowl of noodles before you go away. Aftereating these noodles, you must keep in mind that someone at home is thinkingabout you, and you must return safe and sound.’”
“Wait a minute, isn’t he just going tokindergarten?” The fat bird was stunned.
“Slurp~”, the little dragon cub suddenlyburied his head in the bowl, when he lifted his head, the empty bowl clatteredand spun around.
Bai Huo felt contented, he patted thelittle dragon cub’s head: “Good boy, you understand your father’s goodintentions.”
After that, the two simultaneously turnedto look at the fat bird.
The fat bird took two steps back: Nuh-uh,no way.
It was inconvenient to wear a scarf in thespring. Bai Huo wanted to put the fat bird into his briefcase, but the latterwas afraid that he would be crushed by Bai Huo, who has never used a briefcasebefore, and opted to fly by himself.
“Fine, take your time.” Thefather and son waved goodbye.
The interview was to take place in the director’s office. Who know what Ji Bei told the reception staff, but when the two young women saw the little dragon cub, they distressedly gathered around and hugged him: “Poor thing, come here, I’ll take you to see the headmaster.”
The little dragon cub was stupefied by thisenthusiastic hug, it took him a long time to snap out of it, then he keptwrithing in the young ladies’ embrace. Bai Huo saw his flushed face and reachedout, pulling him over with a chuckle: “Thank you, he’s heavy so let me holdhim.”
Back in Daddy’s arms, the little dragon cubtightly wrapped Bai Huo’s neck, blinking quickly in distress, with anatmosphere like he was never going to let go again.
“The headmaster is a good person. Althoughshe looks strict, she’s very good with children, and she’s verysoft-hearted.” The young woman enthusiastically introduced the headmasterto Bai Huo while leading the way.
“Our kindergarten has high fees; ordinaryfamilies can’t afford it, only wealthy people can send their children here. Inorder to guarantee the quality of potential students, in addition to the headmaster,two other directors will join in the interview. Little Lin Xi will do great, justtry to answer anything they ask, but it’s also fine if he can’t. Your child isstill small, he can learn everything later.”
“Mhmm …” Bai Huo listenedabsentmindedly. Walking passed a small room, his attention was suddenly grabbed.
It was 10 am, the kindergarten waspreparing fruits and snacks to be distributed to the children. The children saton their small stools, waiting for the teachers to give them their share.
“During snack time …” Bai Huoasked, “Do you serve fish?”
“Fish?” The two young women lookedlike they’d heard something ridiculous, smiling. “Sir, are you joking,how can fish be in the snacks ah? It’s dangerous for children to eat fish, whatif there’s a stray bone? Oh, we’re here— “
Little Lin Xi, his head lying on Bai Huo’sshoulders, heard that there was no fish and his head tilted slightly.
Bai Huo seemed to feel two small horns.
No fish, he was very unhappy.
Bai Huo patted his shoulder to pacify him, thenhe put the child down and walked him into the room.
The director’s office wasn’t very large.Two men and one woman sat side by side, a small table in front of them. Thisarrangement was quite grand, it looked like an interview for a job as a governmentofficial.
“Headmaster, the guests arehere.” The young women led them in.
“Li Lin Xi and his father,right?” The headmaster was an older woman, with gray hair and chained eyeglassesperched on her nose. She looked at Bai Huo, her expression solemn. “Hello,I’ve heard of your general circumstances, shall we start now? “
She was worthy of being a leader for somany years, she knew how to get straight to the point, simply entering thetopic as soon as he approached.
Bai Huo nodded and tried to smilesophisticatedly: “Greetings everyone, my name is Bai Huo, this is my son,Li Lin Xi.”
The other two directors had already readthe basic information, they asked routinely, “Can your child speak?”
“Lin Xi,” Bai Huo bent over, placinghis hand on the child’s shoulder. “Say hello to the teachers.”
The little dragon cub coldly glanced at thehumans that were several times taller than him: “I’m Li Lin Xi.”
The three adults choked a bit.
Bai Huo was quite amazed. Since he’d namedthis child, this was the first time he’d heard him pronounce his own name. It wasdifferent than being called by others, it carried a special feeling of recognition.
The headmaster pushed up her glasses andasked, “Is the household monolingual or bilingual?”
“Household?” Bai Huo thought fora bit, the fat bird was always chirping all day, and bird language was also alanguage, so he answered unhesitatingly, “Bilingual!”
The headmaster lowered her head and tickeda checkbox on her sheet.
“Hmm, does your child have any specialhabits? For example, wetting the bed, sucking his fingers, etc.”
The little dragon cub gave the questioner ascathing glance.
“Oh, there is!” Bai Huo saidwithout thinking, “He likes to jump into the lak…”
The little dragon cub immediately turned tolook at him.
“Jump to the…Hulu Babies, youknow, dancing,” Bai Huo forcibly spun his tongue. “As soon as thecartoon comes on, my son really likes to watch it and jump around, he gets veryexcited.”
“Is that so?” The two directors’eyes lit up. “That means that he has a talent for dancing. You shouldconsider signing him up for special classes. Can he demonstrate right now? I happento have some songs on my phone.”
The little dragon cub: “…”
Hey guys, how can you tell if yourfather is crazy? Please respond, it’s urgent.
Bai Huo looked at the little dragon cub affectionately,there wasn’t a hint of apology in his eyes, on the contrary, there was a lookof anticipation.
Hey OP, a father’s love is like a mountain.
The music sounded, and the little dragoncub felt extremely unenthusiastic, but he had no choice but to help Bai Huocomplete this lie. With a gloomy expression, he jumped randomly along with themusic, waving his hands.
Although there was no rhythm, the child was innocent and cute, skipping around brought out ample adorableness.
“Not bad, not bad, that’s a bonuspoint.” The two directors bowed their heads and ticked.
“Apart from dancing, is there anythingelse, for example mathematics, reciting Classical texts, etc.” The headmasterasked.
Bai Huo thought to himself, modern humanchildren really had it rough, they had to learn so many things by the age ofthree. When he was three, he was still rolling around in the hot spring valley’smud.
“Hmm, Classical texts …”
As soon as Bai Huo opened his mouth, he wasinterrupted by the little dragon cub’s crisp voice: “I can’t!”
“But he can count.” Bai Huo grinned,“Cub, count for the teachers.”
The little dragon cub suspected that BaiHuo had suddenly decided to prank him. When did this guy teach him how tocount?
Seeing the little dragon cub remaining silent,Bai Huo kindly reminded him: “Come on, didn’t you count very well at theMahjong table last time?”
“Huh?” The three interviewerssimultaneously looked up.
The little dragon cub met Bai Huo’sexpectant eyes, and had no choice but to say: “One …”
The three interviewers unconsciously stretchedtheir necks.
The little dragon cub forced himself tocontinue: “One Bing, two Tiao, three Tong, four Gang, five …”
Bai Huo beamed with pride, the littledragon cub finished up while the three interviewers looked on in shock,“Five … Hu!”
“He can also do it in the fivedirections.” Bai Huo said in a timely manner.
“Okay, no one needs to be perfect.”The headmaster sighed and looked at Bai Huo, then she suddenly slapped thetable energetically, “But this child …”
The two directors trembled from the impact.
“Is a genius!” The headmasterstepped forward and excitedly shook Bai Huo’s hand. “We’ll gladly take him!”
The two directors wiped their sweat.
“Thank you, headmaster.” Bai Huo alsoexcitedly shook back. “You have a good eye.”
The little dragon cub covered his face withhis schoolbag, he couldn’t bear to look anymore. Quickly shut up, Dad!
And so, the matter was settled. Aftercompleting the formalities, Li Lin Xi entered the Oak InternationalKindergarten as a nursery class freshman that same day. It stands to reasonthat parents weren’t allowed to stay in the school, but Bai Huo didn’t feelassured. After telling the headmaster that he would leave, he snuck back in andsquatted by the fence to watch his son inside the classroom. Anyhow, he was a joblessdrifter, he didn’t need to be anywhere.
The little dragon cub wasn’t human, afterall. Although he couldn’t see Bai Huo, he’d sensed that his father’s breath wasnearby, therefore, he didn’t get upset at first. He sat calmly in theclassroom, stacking building blocks with the other children.
Many three-year-olds couldn’t speak yet,especially boys, who usually had slower language development. The little dragoncub grew bored playing with them after a while. He looked around; his Dad stillhadn’t shown up, so he sneaked out while the teacher wasn’t paying attention.
Bai Huo knew that the child wouldn’t obedientlystay in the classroom, he jumped over the fence and grabbed the little dragoncub, tossing him back into the room.
After seeing Bai Huo, the little dragon cubwas very happy, so he sat quietly in the classroom for a while, until hestarted missing his father again. So, he sneaked out again, playing hokey.
These events repeated, and not three dayslater, an eye-catching banner was hung up by the kindergarten.
“Parents, please behave in a civilizedmanner! Don’t climb the trees.”
“Parents, please don’t climb onto theroof.”
“Please don’t climb the flagpole!”
“Please don’t break into the kitchenand try to put fish into your child’s meal!!!”
One week later, the headmaster was at theend of her rope, she personally led a team of staff to throw Bai Huo, who waspreparing to fish in the school’s lake, out.
“Headmaster, let me explain …”
“Get lost–!”
With this roar, Li Lin Xi’s chaotic kindergartenadaptation period finally came to an end.
The loving father who was kicked out of theschool expressed his heartache: Do you think it’s easy to be a first-time Dad?
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T/N:
Sir- handsomeguy / lady-killer. According to the internet, it can also be an extra flatteringway of saying Sir. So yes, they’re calling him handsome.
The three adults choked a bit-三个大人齐齐哽了一下. That’swhat it says, idk why they’re choking though.
Hulu Babies- Wikipedia “Calabash Brothers is a Chinese animation TV series. InChina, the series is popularly known as Huluwa (literally: ‘Calabash Babies’)” Thecharacter for lake and the first character in Hu(luwa) are homophones.
how can you tell if your father is crazy-The joke of this whole section is that it’s writtenin a popular way to ask questions on internet forums. I’ve translated it in away that makes more sense to English speakers. The literal translations werevery strange.
five directions- east, south, west, north and middle. BTW LLX was counting inmahjong suits and moves.
no one needs to be perfect- 还差个妖姬就齐活了- Rough translation. Ithink it uses some slang dialect that I couldn’t quite get the translation for.
playing hokey- It literally translated to ‘climbing a tree to dig bird nests.’ Forreasons I’ll get into later, I think its slang for skipping school.
I hate to make this t/n even longer, but ifyou’re like me, you probably went ‘wtf why can’t 3 year-olds speak?’ Apparently,China has a different aging system. Everyone is born age 1, and age up on the ChineseNew Year’s. So +1(sometimes +2!) to the western age. These kids are technically2, I guess.