Chapter 968: BAI FAMILY"S DYNAMICS
AT dinner, everyone gathered at the dining room.
Bai Zhen was sitting at one end of the long table, his expression full of happiness. He constantly talk to the teenager sitting on his right. Although the topic was all about "Hua-er", Luo Yan listened to the other with utmost focus, smiling and responding to everything. Which also made Bai Zhen very happy.
Seeing this, Bai Chen couldn"t help but feel emotional. This past month, the number of times his father sat down for a meal with them started to decrease. There were a lot of times that the other would just have emotional outburst that having a proper meal was not just possible.
He didn"t mind that. Because he knew that"s something to be expected. He just didn"t like how often it happened recently. Because it showed that his father"s illness was getting worse.
Bai Chen truly didn"t want to think of the day that this illness would take his father away. Even if he wanted to steel himself into accepting that possibility, it"s still too d.a.m.n hard. It probably would never be easy.
That"s why seeing his father smile and laugh like this was something so precious. He now felt very glad that Luo Yan would stay here for a month. At least, it would give his father some peace of mind.
After dinner, Bai Zhen returned to his room to rest for the night. The others stayed at the tea room to have some after dinner tea.
"Xiao Yan, Xiao Jin, if you ever feel bored, just ask your Brother Ze to bring you to famous hang-out spot in the city."
"Wow, Dad, where did you learn to use the word "hang-out"?" Bai Ze asked exaggeratedly after hearing what his father said.
Bai Chen only gave his son a side glance. His gaze was clearly saying, "do you think I"m 100 years old or something?".
Bai Ze only grinned at that. "Don"t worry, Dad. Xiao Yan and Xiao Jin won"t be bored since we"d be spending a lot of time in the game."
"Me too, me too! I want to play too!" Bai Ye suddenly said.
Because his older brother often talked about Arcadia, he searched for it on the internet to see just what"s so fun about it. Before he knew it, he had already watched tons of videos. He truly wanted to play the game. Even more so, after knowing that Yan Yan was also playing it.
Although... He glanced at Yan Yan. The other, seemingly feeling his gaze, turned to him. Yan Yan smiled. It was still a pretty smile, but unlike before, he no longer felt the same fluttering feelings as before.
Was this because of that curse called "p.u.b.erty"?
Bai Ye had read about that before. That all kids would undergo that kind of transformation. Boys would grow tall and their voice would turn deep. During that process, their bones and joints would hurt. Not only that, some would also rebel against their parents, turning into bad kids.
He was so scared when he read that that he didn"t want to experience p.u.b.erty. But then, Yan Yan suddenly appeared like this. He was no longer the small and pretty Yan Yan he remembered. He was still pretty but... he looked too old now. They still matched before but now, they could only be seen as brothers.
He sighed. Was this what people called being heartbroken?
Luo Yan was observing Bai Ye, so he saw all the different expressions that flashed on the kid"s face. He wasn"t sure. But the other was definitely thinking about some crazy things. You know, something that only a kid could think of.
Anyway, Bai Ye seemed to have already recovered from the shock he had earlier when they arrived. Although he was no longer as clingy as he was before during their last visit here. Which was probably a good thing. Since Luo Yan wouldn"t be able to spend time with him as the other wanted considering how near the start of Arcadia Cup preliminary was.
"You can"t. It"s only for big kids and you"re still a small kid," Bai Ze said with a gloating tone.
Bai Ye glared at his older brother and shouted, "Aren"t you ashamed calling yourself a big kid when you"re supposed to be a man?"
That phrase made the rest of them laugh.
"This kid..."
Bai Ze stood up as if he was going to punish Bai Ye. The latter also quickly stood up and ran to their mother.
"Mom, Brother is bullying me!" he complained.
Sun Xiulan forced herself to stop laughing, and then she pretended to be serious and proceeded on "scolding" her eldest. "Ah Ze, stop teasing your brother."
Bai Ye looked back at his older brother with a triumphant look on his face. As if saying, "look, Mom is always on my side".
Bai Ze raised one brow and the turned to their father. His expression changed to that of someone full of grievance.
"Dad, Xiao Ye is bullying me. Go and get justice for your first born!"
Bai Chen only looked at Bai Ze with a deadpan expression before standing up and saying, "I"m going to sleep."
As he walked out of the tea room, he was starting to worry about the future of their company. Would this childish son of his be able to lead the Bai Group in the future?
He could only shake his head and hope for the best.
As soon as their father left, Bai Ye burst into laughter. "Dad ignored Brother. It"s because Brother is such a big foo—"
"Ehem!" Their mother suddenly cleared her throat as if cutting off what Bai Ye was about to say. And then she looked down at Bai Ye with a raised brow.
Receiving his mother"s glance, Bai Ye had no choice but to change his words. "I mean, Brother is such a big buffoon."
Bai Ze then stretched his hand and pulled his brother"s cheek. "You cheeky brat."
This time, their mother didn"t interfere no matter how much Bai Ye complained.
Watching them, Luo Yan couldn"t help but chuckle once again.