Daily life 5
Soon, September arrived, and it was time for Yu Li to go to university.
After his graduate school entrance exam was successfully passed, Yu Li chose to attend Y University, as he wanted to accompany Yuanyuan's growth, and his advisor's research direction was integrated circuits.
After the honeymoon trip, it soon came to September, and Yu Li had to go back to school.
On the first day Yu Li went to school, the couple carefully communicated this to Yuanyuan. Yu Li, wearing his backpack, crouched down and gently stroked the young child's head, speaking slowly: "Yuanyuan, Daddy has to go to school, but I'll be back before it's dark. You can play with Grandpa He, or you can go with Big Daddy to the office, okay?"
Yuanyuan held onto Yu Li's sweatshirt hem, listening seriously, then puzzledly asked, "Go to school?"
Behind him, Yan Shiting also crouched down, patiently explaining, "Going to school is something Daddy needs to do, and in the future Yuanyuan will do it too."
"Now Daddy needs to take care of his own matters, and Yuanyuan can do your own things first, waiting for Daddy to come back," Yan Shiting repeated.
"My things?" Yuanyuan asked.
"Yes," Yan Shiting said, "What Daddy just said, staying home and playing with Grandpa He, or going to the company with me, are things Yuanyuan can do."
Yu Li also reiterated, "I'll be back before it gets dark."
The little Yuanyuan didn't have a concept of time, but he knew what it meant for it to get dark.
Although he still didn't fully understand what his two fathers were saying, hearing that Daddy would come back reassured him a lot. He tugged on Yu Li's sweatshirt hem and said, "Daddy will come back."
"That's right," Yu Li stroked Yuanyuan's cheek. Yuanyuan then nodded, "Okay."
The communication on this matter was temporarily concluded. Yu Li went to school, and Yuanyuan stayed at the manor in the morning.
The little one sat at the door for a while, then as usual, followed behind Butler He running around everywhere, sometimes going to the garden to dig in the dirt, sometimes playing with toys back in the villa.
When it was lunchtime, Yuanyuan watched Butler He making him milk formula, but his gaze inadvertently kept drifting to the villa's front gate. It was still a long way until it got dark.
However, the next moment, the villa gate opened, and Yu Li's figure appeared in the doorway. "Huh?" Yuanyuan was a bit puzzled at first, then happily ran towards the door: "Daddy!"
His walking had become steady now, but he still wobbled a bit when running. Luckily, the distance to the door wasn't far, and he smoothly reached Yu Li, hugging his legs. "Daddy, is it dark now?" The young child's dark eyes seemed to contain stars, shining brightly.
"No," Yu Li smiled and crouched down, "But Daddy thought about it, and still wanted to come back to have lunch with Yuanyuan."
Lin Jiarong had returned to the southern province, and Yan Sui was busy hiring people for the studio, so the only one close to Yuanyuan at the manor now was Butler He.
Thinking that the dining table would be cold and quiet during lunch, and the sunshine-loving little Yuanyuan might not be used to it, Yu Li still decided to come back.
Sure enough, when the young child heard that Daddy would have lunch with him, the smile on his face became even more obvious: "Good, Daddy, Yuanyuan eat!"
He happily clapped his hands, and Yu Li, seeing this, felt even more certain that his decision was right. It was just a small sacrifice for his lunch break.
After that, Yu Li maintained the habit of coming back for lunch. In this way, the time he and Yuanyuan were separated each day wasn't too long, and in the afternoons Yuanyuan could still go to the company to find Big Daddy.
Seeing his fathers for a lot of the day, Yuanyuan adapted to it very quickly. Time flew by, and soon it was winter.
After the winter vacation, Yu Li had a lot more time to play with Yuanyuan.
Now one year and nine months old, Yuanyuan had grown taller, and his speech and walking had progressed rapidly.
After a heavy snowfall in Y City, Yu Li took Yuanyuan to the courtyard to build a snowman.
He carefully dressed the young child in thick clothes, putting on gloves, a scarf, and a hat, and after finishing, promptly gave him a warm bath to prevent him from catching a cold.
He was so busy taking care of Yuanyuan that he didn't even notice himself - when bathing Yuanyuan, he accidentally got his own clothes wet, and it took a while before he changed.
So the next morning, when Yan Shiting first woke up, he noticed the person in his arms had an abnormal body temperature. He quickly lowered his head to look, seeing Yu Li's brow furrowed uncomfortably, his eyelids swollen and his lips pale and slightly cracked.
Yan Shiting felt Yu Li's forehead, finding it alarmingly hot. "Little fish, little fish." He called out a few times, and the person in his arms slowly opened his eyes, but his gaze was hazy and not fully alert.
"Gege..." Yu Li blinked, his eyes a bit moist, "It hurts so much."
He felt a splitting headache, and his body ached from the fever, even the bedsheet he normally found soft now felt prickly.
Yan Shiting frowned deeply, helping him sit up and feeding him half a cup of water, then went to get some fever-reducing medication for him to take, also calling Dr. Xu to come over.
After taking the medication, Yu Li lay on the bed resting for a while, his voice hoarse as he said, "At least Yuanyuan slept with Mom last night, so he won't get infected."
Xin Xīn was also on winter vacation, and yesterday she and Wang Jianfeng had come to Y City to keep them company for the New Year.
Hearing Yu Li's words, Yan Shiting sympathetically caressed his face. The fever-reducing medication soon took effect, and Yu Li drifted off to sleep again.
Thanks to his regular exercise these past two years, by noon, Yu Li's fever had subsided, but he still lacked strength, with a stuffy nose and sore throat.
Yan Shiting brought a bowl of porridge upstairs, watching him finish it, then brought out the medication prescribed by Dr. Xu.
After taking the medication, Yu Li's peripheral vision caught a small figure at the door. He looked over and saw Yuanyuan clinging to the door frame, his eyes filled with tears as he called out, "Daddy."
He hadn't seen Daddy all morning. Yuanyuan was about to run in, but then heard Yu Li's hoarse voice: "Yuanyuan, don't come in, go play first, Daddy is sick and might infect you."
The little one didn't understand the concept of contagion, but hearing that Daddy was sick, his tears immediately started flowing. He obediently stood in place and asked, "Daddy hurt?"
Father and son both had reddened eyes, one from the discomfort of being sick, the other from worrying about Daddy.
Yan Shiting, feeling helpless but deeply pitying, stood up and gathered Yuanyuan into his arms, softly explaining, "Daddy is almost better, but if you get infected too, you'll hurt, and Daddy will be very sad."
With this explanation, Yuanyuan seemed to understand. The little one looked at Yu Li, then at Yan Shiting, finally burying his face in Yan Shiting's embrace, his eyes red, "Okay, I'll go play."
Yan Shiting ruffled his hair, carrying him out of the room.
The young child had low resistance, and for two consecutive days, Yu Li didn't let Yuanyuan come into the room to avoid infecting him. During these two days, Yan Shiting didn't go to the office, staying home to take care of him.
Until the third morning when he woke up, Yu Li felt clear-headed, with all the cold symptoms completely gone. When he went downstairs, Yuanyuan, who hadn't seen his father for two days, clung to his shoulder and uncharacteristically broke into loud sobs.
Aside from the first two months after being born, Yuanyuan cried very rarely. In the past few months, he hadn't even cried, even if he accidentally fell, just getting up with reddened eyes and soon becoming happy-go-lucky again.
This time, he cried out loud, tears and snot flowing, his little hands reaching out to be held by Yu Li. Yu Li was deeply pained, his own eyes gradually reddening as he comforted Yuanyuan. Not only was he worried about the child, but the child was also worrying about him. After a while, Yuanyuan finally calmed down.
Seeing the tear tracks on his face, Yu Li wanted to take him to wash up again. In the washroom, Yu Li filled the basin with warm water, but Yuanyuan withdrew his hand and scurried out, returning moments later carrying a small stool.
He looked at Yu Li and said, "Daddy, Yuanyuan washed himself."
Yu Li was momentarily stunned, then saw Yuanyuan place the small stool in front of the vanity, stepping up so he could reach the faucet.
Yu Li didn't interrupt him, knowing that at this age, children were starting to have their own ideas. He watched as Yuanyuan rolled up his sleeves, took his own small towel, dampened it, then laboriously wrung it out. But the little one's strength was too small, and the towel was still dripping wet.
Then Yuanyuan draped the damp towel over his face, rubbing it back and forth. When finished, he tilted his little face up and asked, "Daddy, am I done washing?"
By the time he finished this whole process, Yuanyuan's shirt in front had gotten wet, and the water from the towel had also dripped down his arms beneath the rolled-up sleeves. Additionally, the bangs on his forehead were damp, and droplets were dripping from his round chin.
He looked a bit disheveled. Yu Li stroked Yuanyuan's head, wrung the towel dry, and wiped the water off his face, saying, "You're done washing, Yuanyuan did great. There's just a bit of water left on your face, but Daddy can help you dry it."
Yuanyuan immediately curved his eyes into happy crescents, his mouth also forming a half-circle smile.
Yu Li put the towel away, taking Yuanyuan to the closet to change his shirt. As he unbuttoned the collar and helped the young child put on the soft lining, Yu Li casually asked, "Why did Yuanyuan suddenly want to wash his own face?"
Yuanyuan raised his arm to put it through the sleeve, explaining, "Daddy washes Yuanyuan, Daddy is sick."
Adults are always saying "wearing wet clothes will make you sick." After seeing Yu Li get sick that day, Yuanyuan had thought back to the previous night when his father had gotten his clothes wet while bathing him.
Yu Li's hand paused on the other shirt he was about to put on. Understanding Yuanyuan's meaning, Yu Li stroked his head, saying, "Daddy's sickness isn't because of Yuanyuan, don't feel it's your fault."
He smiled and continued, "But since you wanted to wash your own face, from now on Daddy will help you run the water and wring the towel, until you can wring the towel by yourself, okay?"
Yuanyuan understood, quickly nodding his head.
Yu Li's heart was completely melted. He kissed Yuanyuan's cheek, changed his clothes, and carried him downstairs.
Comments
Post a Comment