"The day after Wang Sanbao left was a day off.
Lu Jiang, accustomed to his regular schedule, woke up early. Feng Qingxue and their child were still soundly asleep, so he didn’t disturb them. Quietly getting dressed, he left for a few laps of running. On his sweaty return, he found Feng Qingxue still deep in sleep and Xibao kneeling beside her on his bottom, touching her face gently with his small hand now and then.
"Mom, mom, mom!" The tender voice was crisp and anxious, "Dad is gone! Dad is gone! Baby has no dad! Mom, mom, get up, find dad!"
"Xibao!" Feng Qingxue, without opening her eyes, waved away the small hand on her face, "Your father is off today, he must be at home."
After spending over a month intensely studying, sharing her advanced medical knowledge, participating in training activities, and treating soldiers with Guo Xiuying, her schedule was jam-packed. She was exhausted.
The only thing she wanted now was to sleep in, to have a good, long sleep.
Spreading his small chubby hands, Xibao expressed helplessly, "No, no dad! Mom, no dad!"
Seeing Xibao’s expression, Lu Jiang couldn’t help but laugh. He picked up a towel hanging on a clothesline to wipe the sweat from his face and neck and called out to Xibao. The little guy turned his head, his eyes brightening.
"Dad!" Xibao happily crawled up, extending his arms towards him.
Lu Jiang scooped him up in one go, "Mom is sleeping, Dad will play with you. Now, shall we go pee first?"
With his little fists bumping together, he declared, "Poop!"
Lu Jiang hadn’t smelled anything, but taking Xibao’s words seriously, he feared the boy might have a bowel movement on the bed. Reluctantly, he rushed him out to the courtyard without putting clothes or shoes on him.
The moment the barefoot and bottomless child squatted down, a ’plop’ sounded, and a foul smell immediately filled the air–Gold had hit the ground.
"Xibao, your poop is so stinky!" Lu Jiang said, pinching his nose.
Hitting his little head in agreement, Xibao commented, "Stinky!"
After finishing his business, he shuffled his tiny feet and scooted forward. He then directly took his butt to Lu Jiang.
That white, chubby little bottom!
"Did a poop, wipe bottom!" Xibao reminded Lu Jiang.
"Naughty boy!" Lu Jiang, who had taken some toilet paper and wet wipes from the room while Xibao was still defecating, squatted beside him waiting to clean up. After the toilet paper didn’t work, he used the wet wipes, then shoveled the poop into the latrine Feng Qingxue had built. Washing and hanging the wipes, he finally took the boy who wanted to start agriculture into the room.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Xibao swayed his two chubby little legs, "Dad, eat food! Eat food!"
"Yes, yes, yes, you are the boss. I’m just here to feed you and clean up after you!"
For the little patriarch, he prepared a bowl of malt essence, a fried egg pancake - two eggs mixed with a spoon of flour and a handful of chopped green onions. Chicken eggs were a rare sight in the army due to transportation difficulties, so all of these were fetched by Feng Qingxue from her space the previous night.
Lu Jiang also ate the food that Feng Qingxue had prepared earlier.
Feeling full and satisfied, they left for playing, leaving the room quiet.
By the time Feng Qingxue woke up, it was already eleven o’clock, and she felt refreshed.
After freshening up and applying her skincare, Lu Jiang came in, holding a droopy-headed Xibao, "Qingxue, prepare something nutritious."