The Fish is Sad!!

In the morning, when Xiao Baiguo woke up, she didn’t call for the fish anymore.

A few days ago, as soon as she opened her eyes, she would definitely call out for the fish.

Only after Bai Zhi and Li Qiurong coaxed her to finish her milk powder would she quiet down and be able to see the fish.

But today, Xiao Baiguo didn’t make a sound.

Even after being fed the milk powder, she still didn’t say anything.

Li Qiurong sighed.

“I feel like something’s wrong. No matter how clever a child is, they wouldn’t know so much, right? Xiao Zisu only learned that the fish died after we told her. Besides, one fish died, and the other is still alive, but she didn’t even care about the other one.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Is the baby not drinking the Meng Po Soup?”

“…”

Bai Zhi was suddenly speechless.

For a child who’s not even half a year old, understanding the concept of life and death isn’t normal, and the other fish was abandoned too.

After a moment of silence, Bai Zhi still didn’t want to think in that direction.

“If she hasn’t drunk the Meng Po Soup, could she have peed on herself?

Could she have pooped on herself?”

If she hadn’t drunk the Meng Po Soup and reincarnated, it would be embarrassing for her to pee on herself.

But Xiao Baiguo not only peed on herself but also peed on others.

It wasn’t just pee—she also pooped on others.

The topic ended there.

Xiao Baiguo lost interest in the carp.

Bai Zhu killed another carp, and Xiao Baiguo completely lost interest.

She wasn’t very happy the whole day.

Li Wuzhen from next door came over to find Xiao Zisu.

Li Xiaoni didn’t come over today after being scolded yesterday.

In the afternoon, Li Dama came over for a chat.

Yesterday, Li Dama had scolded Li Xiaoni.

Although hitting a child was wrong, Li Xiaoni’s behavior of begging for food from other people’s houses was also a problem.

These days, every household is struggling, and Li Xiaoni, relying on her youth, went to others’ homes to beg for food. That behavior itself was wrong.

One could only say that Li Dama was someone who cared about face.

Li Qiurong had a slightly better impression of her.

Of course, they still didn’t know the hidden intentions of Li Dama.

If they did, Bai Zhi and Li Qiurong would definitely grab a broom and chase her out.

…

The Bai family had gotten used to city life.

Lin Yongcheng and Bai Ji went out to work, and Li Qiurong and Bai Zhi stayed at home to take care of the children. Life had settled down.

But it didn’t stay peaceful for long.

Xiao Baiguo kept scratching her head, as it felt very itchy. She would occasionally lift her paw and scratch a little.

One morning, when Li Qiurong lifted her from bed, Xiao Baiguo suddenly spoke, saying “Wai… Wai…” twice and stared at Li Qiurong.

Li Qiurong froze for a few seconds and then asked in a daze, “Sweetie, call it again.”

Xiao Baiguo called again, “Wai…”

“Ah, sweetie can call me Grandma!” Li Qiurong hugged her and kissed her nonstop. “Our sweetie is amazing, giving Grandma such a big surprise!”

She hadn’t even learned to call her parents but could already call Grandma.

Li Qiurong was so excited.

She hugged Xiao Baiguo again and kissed her.

“Grandma will steam an egg for you to eat!”

As they walked out of the room, Li Qiurong still had a smile on her face when Bai Zhu, who had finished washing Xiao Zisu’s face in the yard, walked in holding a porcelain basin.

He noticed that Li Qiurong’s expression was a bit unusual.

“What’s going on? Why are you so happy?”

“Sweetie can call me Grandma!” Li Qiurong couldn’t help but brag. “I just dressed her, and suddenly, she called me. This child is so smart. We never taught her, she must have learned it from Xiao Zisu calling me often.”

“???” Bai Zhu looked confused.

Wait a minute… what do you mean she learned it on her own?

Didn’t I teach her?

He had been teaching her to call out “Grandma” every day, but she couldn’t get the words out.

Now, it seemed like it was Li Qiurong who got the credit.

He was really angry!!!

But he couldn’t say anything.

If he did, Li Qiurong would definitely laugh at him.

Li Qiurong wasn’t done bragging, “When Bai Ji and them come back, I’m going to let Sweetie call me again in front of them, let them cry in jealousy!”

Their little granddaughter’s first words were for Grandma, and let their daughter and son-in-law feel jealous!

After working hard for ten days, Bai Zhi ended up being the one who made his daughter-in-law’s clothes. What could he say?

Nothing at all, just pretend nothing happened.

He wiped his face and put the basin on the wooden rack.

“Let me hold Sweetie, I want to hear her call me Grandpa and get a surprise too.”

“Okay, you hold her. I’ll go steam the egg.”

Xiao Baiguo changed arms and leaned on Bai Zhu’s shoulder.

As she looked down, she saw Xiao Zisu peeking through the door frame, looking at her with a deep, resentful gaze. She said, “My sister can call Grandma, but she can’t call me ‘sister.’ I want to hear her call me ‘sister.’”

“Sweetie is still young. It’s not urgent for her to call sister.” Bai Zhu casually lied, and the priority now was to hear the result of his own teaching.

He needed to enjoy being called “Grandpa” first.

“Hmph!” Xiao Zisu snorted.

Bad Grandpa, sister is easier to call than Grandpa, and he’s just tricking the child!

Bai Zhu sat on a bamboo chair under the eaves and placed Xiao Baiguo on his lap. He gently coaxed her, “Sweetie, quickly call ‘Grandpa,’ and Grandpa will forgive you.”

He had taught her for ten days, and now she called Li Qiurong first.

If she called a few more times, he’d forgive her.

Xiao Baiguo’s head felt very itchy.

She scratched her head with both hands, making herself look like a lion with a golden mane, still very uncomfortable, feeling like something was crawling on her head.

“Wai…”

“Good girl, call again.”

“Wai.”

“Hey, Grandpa is here. Call again.”

“Wai…”

Xiao Baiguo looked at him with clear, innocent eyes, wanting Bai Zhu to see if there were little bugs crawling on her head.

She had been uncomfortable for several days.

She called out several times, but Bai Zhu didn’t get it.

He was too immersed in the joy of hearing her call him Grandpa to notice she was a little anxious.

She called out twice more, but Bai Zhu still didn’t notice.

Xiao Baiguo stopped speaking.

She pursed her lips, scratched her head hard again, and tugged her hair to the sides, pulling with great force.

There were little bugs in her hair, and she wanted to pull her hair off.

Without hair, there would be no bugs.

She felt so miserable right now!!!

“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” Bai Zhu finally noticed her unusual behavior. It’s normal for a child to pull at their hair or other people’s hair, but pulling her hair with such force was abnormal. “Does your head hurt?”

Xiao Baiguo nodded, feeling very uncomfortable in her head.

“Let go of your hair, don’t pull it anymore, Grandpa will check for you.” Bai Zhu gently moved her soft hair and found a few black little things crawling on her head.

Was this lice?

How could a child who can’t walk have lice on their head?

It must have been passed on from someone else!!

Bai Zhu felt a headache coming on.

Without asking, he already knew what had happened.

His child, Xiao Zisu, was always very clean, bathing and washing her hair frequently, so it was impossible for her to have lice.

It must have been the neighbor’s child, Li Jia’s kid, who gave Xiao Zisu the lice, and then she passed them to Xiaobai Guo.

One child passes it to another, and likely, anyone in the household with long hair got infected too.

Children have delicate skin, and with lice living on their heads, sucking blood, how could she not be uncomfortable?

No wonder Xiaobai Guo was anxiously pulling her hair.

“Don’t pull your hair, little one. A few little bugs have fallen into your hair. Later, Grandpa will help you pull them out,” Bai Zhi patted her head.

As soon as she heard about the little bugs, Xiaobai Guo stopped pulling her hair.

Her head still itched, so she scratched again.

Thankfully, the adults in the house trimmed her nails often, so she didn’t have long nails and couldn’t scratch her scalp badly.

Grandpa would definitely help her catch the bugs, so she felt reassured.

Bai Zhi scratched her head a few times with his finger.

He turned to Xiaozisu and waved, “Xiaozisu, come here.”

“What’s wrong?” Xiaozisu ran over, her feet pattering.

“Don’t move.” Bai Zhi held Xiaobai Guo in place with one hand and used the other to push back Xiaozisu’s hair.

Sure enough, in addition to the black lice on her head, there were white lice eggs stuck to her hair, and it looked even worse than Xiaobai Guo’s head.

The neighbor’s children were so unhygienic—how could they still be playing together?

“Grandpa, what are you looking at?” Xiaozisu asked.

“You have little bugs crawling on your head, and you passed them to Xiaobai Guo.”

“Ah… little bugs?” Xiaozisu was shocked, then gasped again, “You mean I passed them to my little sister? Did she get bitten by the little bugs?”

“Xiaobai Guo got bitten and has been scratching her head.”

“What should we do?” Xiaozisu immediately felt teary-eyed.

She wasn’t afraid of getting bitten, but her little sister was so young. “Can’t the little bugs only bite me and not my little sister?”

“No, the bugs bite whoever they’re on.”

“Then we have to find them and get rid of them!”

“We can’t find them. We’ll have to shave our heads.”

Hearing about shaving her head, Xiaozisu pouted, covering her head with her hands, and began to cry softly. “I don’t want to shave my head! Bald heads are ugly!”

It wasn’t that there were no other options; Bai Zhi could prescribe medicine to treat the lice.

But the children’s skin wasn’t fully developed, so it was best to avoid using medicine if possible.

Shaving the head was the safest option.

He patted Xiaobai Guo’s head, her hair was fine and soft.

She had never had her head shaved before, so it wouldn’t hurt her.

In fact, shaving would make her hair thicker and stronger.

“We’ll shave your head along with your sister.”

“I don’t want to… Bald heads are ugly.”

Xiaobai Guo tilted her head. Shave her head?

She touched her little scalp and looked at Xiaozisu, who was crying because she didn’t want to lose her hair.

Was it that uncomfortable to have no hair?

Hair would grow back anyway, so why cry?

Li Qiurong, hearing the crying, came out of the house. “Why is Xiao Zisu crying?”

“Grandma, tell Grandpa I don’t want to shave my head! I don’t want to be a bald baby anymore!” Xiao Zisu rushed over and hugged her grandmother’s legs, crying softly.

“Why are you suddenly talking about shaving their heads?” Li Qiurong looked at him in confusion.

Why shave their heads for no reason? They were girls, not boys.

“Go to the mirror and check your hair. See if you’ve got lice,” Bai Zhu glanced at her well-groomed hair, worried. The two children had lice, and the adults would most likely have it too since they slept with the children at night.

“They’ve got lice on their heads?” Li Qiurong froze for a full minute.

The joy of hearing Xiaobai Guo call her grandmother faded.

She looked at her hair, then at Xiao Zisu, whose eyes were filled with tears.

She didn’t know if it was just psychological, but suddenly, Li Qiurong felt an itchy sensation on her head, as though little bugs were crawling on her scalp. She felt uneasy.

“What are lice?” Xiao Zisu asked in confusion.

Xiao Bai Guo also looked puzzled.

Yes, they had heard about little bugs, but how did they turn into lice?

What are lice?

Li Qiurong explained, “Lice are small insects that live on your scalp and suck your blood. If you don’t keep clean, you can get lice, and they spread to others. If you want to avoid lice, you need to wash your hair regularly.”

Xiaozisu was even more confused.

She wasn’t a dirty child—she bathed and washed her hair every day.

Her sister did too. How could they have lice?

“But I’m very clean, and my sister keeps clean too. Why did we get lice?”

“Someone must have passed them to you. Think about who you’ve been playing with recently.”

“I’ve been with…” Xiaozisu’s eyes widened in realization.

She pointed in disbelief to the next house. “I know who it is! It’s them!”

The neighbor’s children, Li Xiaoni and Li Wuzhen.