“Sweetie, move your little hand and grab the bath basin.”

“If you grab it, we can take a bath. Come on, sweetie, reach for it!”

“Sweetie… look here!”

Despite Li Qiurong’s encouragement, Little Bai Guo stayed in her lazy fish-like pose, not even giving the bath basin a glance.

She was impossible to trick!

“Sweetie!” Bai Ji shook her little hand.

“You love baths, right? The bath basin is right beside you. Just stretch out your hand and you can grab it.”

“Sweetie, Mommy will help you grab the bath basin. Come on, open your little fist!”

But it didn’t work. Little Bai Guo kept her little fist closed, and Bai Ji didn’t dare force her fingers open. “Sweetie, you don’t like baths anymore?”

No matter what Li Qiurong and Bai Ji said, Little Bai Guo stayed as still as a mountain.

After a few minutes, Bai Ji finally realized something.

“Did she hold a grudge after we tricked her with the empty bath basin this afternoon?”

“When I came back, I saw her lying in the empty bath basin. Were you tricking her?” Li Qiurong asked in surprise.

She knew Little Bai Guo liked baths, but they hadn’t thought she would hold a grudge. Could a baby so young even remember such things?

“All your fault!” Bai Ji glared at Lin Yongcheng.

It was his bad idea!

Little Bai Guo had been tricked once, and now, when it was time for a bath, she wouldn’t cooperate.

Bath time had lost its appeal.

What could they use to coax her now?

“This kid is too clever!” Lin Yongcheng was also stunned.

Before, he thought a baby just over three months old wouldn’t understand much.

Trick her a few times, and after a little reward, babies usually forget. But it turned out their little one wasn’t falling for it anymore.

Ah, no… now that they weren’t tricking her, she wasn’t paying attention to them at all!

Bai Ji sighed. “What should we do? How will we coax sweetie from now on?”

This baby was hard to please.

Apart from baths, she wasn’t interested in anything else. And now even baths didn’t work. What could possibly move her?

Just thinking about it felt so disheartening!

Lin Yongcheng tried to suggest, “How about we give her three baths tomorrow to make her happy?”

“Did you leave her in the empty bath basin for a long time?” Li Qiurong shot them a side glance. “Lying in an empty bath basin isn’t comfortable; no wonder she doesn’t want to cooperate!”

The bottom of the bath basin was hard wood, and lying there would hurt her little head.

Since Little Bai Guo hadn’t cried, Lin Yongcheng and Bai Ji hadn’t thought much of it.

Who could they blame for this?

Of course, it was the fault of these unreliable parents!

The couple lowered their heads, feeling guilty.

Li Qiurong, however, didn’t dwell on it. “Let’s just give her a bath now!”

Once in the water, Little Bai Guo remained calm and still, sitting in the bath basin.

Li Qiurong supported her back with one hand and used a towel to wash her.

She didn’t make a sound or move, allowing Li Qiurong to do whatever she wanted with her.

“Maybe when she gets older, she’ll have other preferences?” Lin Yongcheng sighed deeply, trying to think long-term. “Once she starts teething and eating food, she’ll definitely have things she likes. I travel often, and when I find something delicious, I always bring some back.”

If you ask him if he’d dare to trick his little one again in the future, Lin Yongcheng wasn’t sure.

If she was already so hard to fool as a tiny baby, when she grew up and her temper got worse, she’d definitely throw punches at him.

No, wait… she probably wouldn’t even care about him at all!

Sigh… this child is too difficult to raise.

Bai Ji also sighed. “Zisu was so easy to please when she was little.”

Not only was she easy to please, but she was also easy to trick.

Although the saying “a person who has no desires is strong” wasn’t quite suitable for children, wasn’t the problem now that Little Bai Guo was uninterested in anything?

If she had even the slightest interest in something, they wouldn’t be so worried.

When Bai Zhu came home with little Zisu, he noticed the atmosphere at home felt off.

“Why does everyone look so serious?”

“You can ask them,” Li Qiurong replied.

She didn’t want to explain.

The couple had teamed up to trick the baby, and it ended up backfiring. She just couldn’t bring herself to speak.

Lin Yongcheng explained what had happened.

Bai Zhu: “…”

He didn’t know what to say, so he kept silent.

Little Zisu’s expressions changed rapidly, from confusion to bewilderment, and finally, to anger.

“You’re bullying my sister! She’s so little, how could you trick her?”

“Don’t be angry, Zisu. Daddy knows he was wrong. I won’t trick anyone again.” Lin Yongcheng bent down to hug his eldest daughter.

He was quick to admit his mistake.

After seeing his father, who was dictatorial and always had to show off, he didn’t want to become like him.

So, he tried to be a friendly father, always willing to discuss things with Zisu.

He added, “While you’re at home, spend more time with your little sister, talk to her.”

The little girl is always too lazy to move and ignores people.

I can only work with the older daughter.

Children like to play with other children, so maybe if the older daughter interacts with her, the younger one will start liking her!

“I talk to my sister every day,” Xiao Zisu was distracted by his words, still a little troubled. “But she ignores me…”

Although her sister never responds to her, Xiao Zisu really likes her.

If her sister would pay attention to her, she would like her even more.

Lin Yongcheng smiled and comforted her: “Your sister is not ignoring you; she’s just too lazy to speak. Every time I come back, I talk to her, and she never responds to me either. Since I’m not home often, the task of talking to your sister is up to you. Can you do that?”

“I can!” Xiao Zisu obediently nodded.

Even if it weren’t a task from her father, she would still talk to her sister.

…

After Xiao Zisu finished her bath and went to bed, the four adults in the house gathered together.

Upon hearing Lin Yongcheng’s plan, Bai Zhi stared at her son-in-law for a while, then glanced at her daughter. Unlike Li Qiurong, who remained neutral, she directly expressed her agreement.

“Let Bai Ji go to the city; we’ll take care of the two kids.”

“But Guibao is still so young.” Bai Zhi was still troubled by this. “I feel guilty. She was a premature baby, and she’s such a lazy one…”

Just her laziness was enough to cause worry.

“Are you still worried about me and your mother?” Bai Zhi’s husband, Bai Shu, asked in return.

Bai Zhi stopped speaking.

She lowered her head, still torn.

She was reluctant to leave her daughter, but she knew Lin Yongcheng was doing it for her good. However, she couldn’t get past the emotional barrier in her heart and couldn’t bear to wean her little daughter so early.

“Guibao’s health is fine, and you don’t need to worry about her nutrition. There are so many children in the team, not all of them have breast milk. How many were raised on rice soup? Guibao has such good conditions, and you’re still worried? How did those other children survive?”

In the countryside, not all women get a month of rest after childbirth.

Some women have to get back to work the day after giving birth. Many new mothers themselves don’t have enough food to eat or don’t eat well, so where would they get the milk to feed their babies?

Children raised on rice soup can still grow up healthy; she shouldn’t worry about little Bai Guo.

Once Bai Shu spoke, Bai Zhi had no choice but to agree.

The couple would leave for the county in two days. Xiao Bai Guo would still get one more day of breast milk, and that night, Bai Zhi couldn’t stop shedding tears.

She tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, and Lin Yongcheng couldn’t sleep either.

“Mom and Dad are careful people. They’ll take good care of the two kids.”

“I’m not worried about Mom and Dad. I just feel guilty towards Guibao. She was so tiny when she was born, and I was afraid I couldn’t take care of her well. Now that she’s gotten a little better, I’m going to the city, and I won’t be able to take care of her anymore. I feel so blocked up inside.”

The first time Lin Yongcheng saw Xiao Bai Guo, she had already been born for a few days but was still a tiny thing like a kitten, with even her breath very weak.

Although he hadn’t seen her before, he could imagine how fragile she had been when she was born.

After a while, Lin Yongcheng finally spoke quietly, “I didn’t hit the Lin family lightly. He’d better behave, or I’ll deal with him!”

And the real culprit, Lin Dayang, he’d better not cause any trouble.

He couldn’t stay five years old forever. The debt would be settled sooner or later.

He nearly lost his wife and children, and that couldn’t be wiped away with just one beating from the Lin family. That would only count as interest. Lin Dayang would have to pay the debt himself!

…

Lin Yongcheng took his bicycle and brought Bai Zhi to the county, carrying a large bundle. It was rare for them to leave with a bundle, they usually brought it home.

Along the way, they met a few villagers who greeted them. Some familiar people asked about their trip.

“Yongcheng, why are you and your wife taking so many bags to the county? Is there some big news?”

“It’s nothing major. My wife is going to work in the county, just bringing a few clothes.”

“Your wife is going to work in the county?”

“Just a temporary job, not a great job.”

…

After dropping a bombshell, Lin Yongcheng and his wife quickly left.

The people who were there were all stunned.

Getting a job in the city, even if it’s just a temporary one, was enough to make people envious.

“Yongcheng’s wife hasn’t been out of the village since giving birth, so Yongcheng must have found the job for her, right? He really has some skills, able to get his wife a job so easily.”

“I heard it’s difficult for city people to find a job.”

“He’s the deputy section chief of the security department at the mine, and the county’s armed forces have his comrades. Getting a job for his wife by using connections is not hard for him.”

“Yongcheng has been promising since he was a child.”

“…”

The topic quickly shifted to Lin Yongcheng’s childhood. They walked and chatted, and after a bit of spreading, the news quickly spread throughout the whole Shanglin Dazhai.

Getting a job in the city was definitely big news in the countryside.

One word led to ten, and ten led to a hundred, and soon it was known by everyone in Shanglin Dazhai.

Some relatives and acquaintances started getting ideas.

Bai Zhi had just gotten better and was about to go to the county to work, which showed that Lin Yongcheng had good connections.

He had networks and ways, all thanks to family ties, so helping them out shouldn’t be too difficult.

Many people thought like this.

Others deliberately went to Lin’s father to provoke trouble.

Lin’s father had lived for decades and always had a few people who didn’t get along with him.

The last time he pretended to be ill to take a day off, they couldn’t catch him.

If he dared pretend to be sick again this time, they’d go to his house and mock him.

Everyone in Shanglin Dazhai knew that after the division of the family, Bai Zhi and the two children never went to Lin’s house, and Lin Yongcheng rarely visited.

It’s easy to imagine how bad their relationship was.

And now, the opportunity to mock Lin’s father had come!

His most promising son had moved out, and the son with no ability was still stuck. Who knew how many people were laughing behind Lin’s father’s back, calling him blind.