Chapter 41 Stay-at-Home Dad (5)
A room full of dolls, which I had only glimpsed briefly before.
Now that they needed to start searching for the baby inside, Bai Ye had to observe carefully.
The one near the feet is made of pure cotton cloth, while the doll's body is carved from wood, with a soft, human-skin-like material covering the wooden shell.
I only realized it when I touched it just now.
Is this one?
How exactly do we determine whether something is the main subject?
Bai Ye didn't know a solution for the time being, so he could only rely on his senses to rotate the doll's various parts, including but not limited to: gouging out the eyes, digging out the mouth, twisting the nose, pulling the hair...
In short, we tried every destructive tearing motion imaginable.
A perfectly good doll was cruelly destroyed, its wrinkled state a far cry from its original exquisite appearance.
"No, this isn't it."
Bai Ye casually tossed the doll aside and picked up the second one to make a judgment.
After doing this five times in a row, laughter broke out again.
Behind him.
Bai Ye heard the source of the sound, but remained calm and continued with his previous actions, even muttering to himself, "Why is this so difficult? It's not right, this is still not right."
As he spoke, he casually tossed the doll behind him.
"Oops, I threw it in the wrong place."
Bai Ye clumsily covered her mouth and exclaimed in surprise, then ran a few steps to pick up the one she had just thrown away from the pile of intact dolls.
"whee."
A soft laugh rang in my ears.
Bai Ye shifted his gaze slightly, looking at the second doll on his right.
That laugh just now came from it.
Therefore, the baby's main body is hidden inside this doll's body.
Bai Ye stretched out her hands, gently picked up the doll as if holding a baby, and then slowly placed it in her arms.
Gently patting his back, one pat at a time, he said, "Baby, you're being a little naughty. Why aren't you sleeping properly this late? Why are you playing hide-and-seek with Daddy?"
Hehe, haha.
The laughter was crisp and clear. The baby in Bai Ye's arms slowly rolled its eyes, dark blood tears flowing out as it did so.
Bai Ye was wearing a pure white coat, which was now stained with blood and tears. The sticky texture and scalding heat made his skin feel like it was being burned.
Is this blood and tears? It's totally miniature lava!
But you can't let go; if you abandon the child, something terrible will definitely happen.
Continue to smile, be kind and approachable.
"Baby, Daddy will take you back to your room to sleep, okay? Daddy will sing you a nursery rhyme, 'One, two, three little friends, four, five, six little friends...'"
The baby in her arms no longer sheds blood and tears.
Bai Ye carried the doll and the baby back to the bedroom and placed them together on the bed.
He didn't dare to sleep in the middle of the night and stayed with the baby the whole time.
The next day, Monday, the woman left for work early.
As dawn approached, Bai Ye couldn't stay awake any longer and dozed off for a bit.
Upon hearing the baby cry, she immediately wakes up and begins changing diapers and preparing formula.
Once the child was eating, my own stomach started growling.
I'm so hungry. I was up all night yesterday and all my energy is used up.
"Baby, can I go to the kitchen to see what we have to eat?" Bai Ye asked, looking down.
Upon hearing this, the baby, who was happily drinking milk, immediately burst into tears, pouted, and refused to drink any more milk.
"Okay, okay, you're the boss. I'll hold you while you drink milk, will you come with me?"
Bai Ye carried the child and paced back and forth in the bedroom, trying to calm the child down for a while before slowly walking to the kitchen.
The dining table was empty; no one had prepared breakfast for him.
Bai Ye was oblivious to this; he hadn't fully adapted to his role yet, and went straight past the dining table to open the refrigerator.
"I don't drink the yogurt."
"What is this? Shumai? That's fine. Baozi? I'll have that too."
Bai Ye held the baby in one arm, using her fingers to support the bottle and feed her, while taking out frozen shumai and steamed buns from the refrigerator with her other hand and placing them in a steamer to heat them up.
Ten minutes later, the baby finished drinking the milk.
Meanwhile, his breakfast was also steamed.
The child cannot be left unattended; he cries as soon as he is put down, so Bai Ye can only hold him while feeding him.
The five internal organs are filled, blood circulation is instantly improved, and vitality is abundant.
After that, Baiye spent the entire day actively “studying” the baby, except for changing diapers and feeding the baby every few hours.
"Baby, are you sleepy? Do you want to go to sleep?"
The baby smiled, indicating its unwillingness.
"Baby, do you want to play a game? Hide and seek."
The baby yawned repeatedly, closed his eyes, and remained motionless, indicating that he didn't want to play.
In this way, Bai Ye tries to understand the baby's thoughts based on the baby's reactions.
The baby was very active for two hours after waking up from his nap, and was very enthusiastic about all sorts of "little games".
Bai Ye was forced to take on two companionship tasks. He failed once and was penalized, but he barely succeeded and got through the task safely the other time.
The two games took nearly three hours. The baby was very engrossed in them, which was very tiring. He drank milk twice during the games and finally fell asleep contentedly.
Bai Ye finally got a break, but was so tired that she lay motionless on the sofa.
This kind of work, which requires both physical and mental effort, is really exhausting.
Most importantly, the child is unable to communicate, so bribery is not an option.
"I'm so tired, so sleepy, I can't take it anymore, I need to doze off for a while."
Bai Ye leaned back on the sofa and drifted off to sleep.
After an unknown amount of time, the sound of a lock being opened rang out, followed by angry shouts and curses.
"Wu Neng, what about dinner? I work hard outside, and when I get back, there's not even a hot meal to eat."
"ah?"
"What do you mean 'oh'? You stay at home with a child and have plenty of free time, yet you don't even cook dinner."
"I don't have time. I'm busy all day," Bai Ye retorted.
The woman scoffed, "Are you kidding me? The baby can't even crawl yet, he just needs to lie there and drink milk. What are you busy with?"
"I--"
"Tell me, what did you do all day?"
Bai Ye recalled, “I got up in the morning to make milk and change diapers. I ate breakfast myself and then held the baby in the sun for an hour in the morning, doing baby massage.”
"At noon, I read her a storybook, continued to make her milk and change her diaper, and played two small games with her. In between, I took the time to do a full body check-up and clean her umbilical cord."
"Oh right, I just got her to sleep and was about to take a nap when you got back."
The woman laughed even louder after hearing this, and said with a disdainful tone, "Listen to this, it's just making milk, changing diapers, and playing around a bit, is that all there is to it? Let me tell you, only when I'm out there working hard to earn money, that's what matters, the real deal!"
Bai Ye didn't want to talk; he was holding his breath.
The woman waved her hand, turned around and walked out. "I'm going out to eat. This is a one-time exception. If you're this lazy again tomorrow, I'll cut your pay in half every month. You didn't even get up to make breakfast this morning. How lazy can you be!"
"Bang--"
The door closed.
Bai Ye stood in the center of the living room, looking towards the kitchen, somewhat lost.
Does being a stay-at-home dad include cooking? Does it include preparing three meals a day at home?
But that's not right, that's not right.
"It's strange. My only client is this baby. I have no complaints about feeding and caring for her. So why should I have to be served three meals a day by the observer?"
[Players please note: Observers have the right to rate the quality of your service. If the other party does not give a five-star review, you will still lose 3000 even if the task is completed.]
"So, if I take good care of this baby and keep her happy and content every day, I can get 3000 after the mission ends?"
[Yes, player.]
"Then I choose to give up the observer role."
Bai Ye made a judgment without hesitation, "It's weird. You've definitely set a trap for me. This observer seems troublesome. She seems to assume that because I'm a full-time stay-at-home mom, I have to take care of everything at home. Today she only asked me to prepare breakfast and dinner, but she'll definitely ask for more and more in the future. Most importantly, she looks down on me because I'm a full-time stay-at-home mom."
This is what angers Bai Ye the most.
Why should I?!
Does being a full-time stay-at-home mom make you inferior?
But this is clearly a project that has been strangely included in the scope of work, which means that you should be paid for doing this.
The mechanical sounds seemed to fall silent.
After a long pause, the message continued: "[Players, please note: Abandoning the Observer quest will result in a direct discount on the dungeon quest rewards. Aside from a deduction of 3000, the previous standard will still apply.]"
In other words, if the customer is not satisfied after the task is completed, half of the payment will still be deducted.
That means 3000 minus half, leaving only a pitiful 1500.
After working hard all year, I ended up with only 1500. This deal is really not worth it.
Bai Ye couldn't help but wonder, "Strange, is it that other players don't want to do this dungeon?"
The player was good at analysis, but it was to no avail; abandoning the mission midway resulted in a direct deduction of 30 health points.
Great, all the subsequent pits have been dug.
Even the option of voluntarily giving up was perfectly circumvented.
Bai Ye carried the baby back to the bedroom, comforting herself with an "Ah Q" mentality: It doesn't matter, at least there's one less person to take care of.
When the woman returned, it was already midnight.
The other person seemed to have been drinking and was quite drunk. As soon as they entered, they started shouting and demanding hot towels.
Bai Ye had just put the baby to sleep and was about to rest when she suddenly heard such a loud noise, and her anger flared up.
Since you're an excluded observer, I won't hold back.
"Ta-da!"
Walking quickly into the living room, Bai Ye immediately started yelling, "What kind of towel is Mao? Coming back at this hour after drinking, and you still have the nerve to shout like that? Don't you know that such loud noise will wake up the baby?"
"What did you say?"
“I told you the child is asleep, she finally fell asleep. She wakes up at the slightest sound, so please keep your voice down.”
"Wu Neng, you've really got some nerve! You're eating and drinking my food now, and you still dare to talk to me like that?"
Bai Ye "recalled" for a moment, then nodded, "Yes, I did eat and drink your food, but as a member of the family, I also worked hard, and I deserve what I get."
"you!"
"You take care of giving birth, I'll take care of raising the baby. Neither of us owes the other anything, so don't feel like you're losing out."
The woman remained silent, staring fiercely at him.
Bai Ye was a little frightened, but when he thought of the strange gifts lying in his information bar, especially the golden grain of rice, he immediately felt at ease.
At worst, we can just dissolve this observer in front of us.
However, we must also be wary of other advanced and bizarre phenomena that may appear later. We should avoid using them now if possible, and use our resources wisely.
"Um, be gentle, I'm going back to take care of the baby."
Courage is temporary; cowardice is instinct.
Fearing that the strange creature before him might retaliate, Bai Ye quickly made his escape after his arrogant outburst.
Back in the bedroom, after thinking for a moment, I locked the door again.
Although I know this is useless to the supernatural, at least it gives me some psychological comfort.
Then she tiptoed to the bedside, lay down near the baby, and whispered, "Baby, I've really offended someone. From now on, I'll only take care of you. You have to be a powerful monster, because I'm counting on you to protect me."
After Bai Ye finished speaking, he felt that what he said sounded somewhat familiar.
I think I heard it in my village when I was a child.
A woman was holding her child, crying as she said, "I did all this for you. I endured his beatings. You must be successful, you must make something of yourself."
Bai Ye felt a chill run down her spine, and thinking back to her own behavior, she felt a sense of self-loathing.
"Hey baby, do whatever you want. I have ways to protect myself, I don't need a little baby like you to help me."
The sleeping child smacked his lips, his eyelashes fluttered, and then fell silent again.
The next morning, Bai Ye woke up early.
He wanted to go out and see what was going on, but he didn't prepare breakfast himself. Would the observer get angry?
Quietly and cautiously, Bai Ye made his way to the living room, believing he had made no sound.
Before I could even look around, a voice rang out behind me, "Xiao Neng, why are you only just waking up? Breakfast is in the pot, hurry up and eat it while it's hot."
"?"
What's going on? Why is there another person here?
Bai Ye turned around and stepped back, looking directly in front of him.
He was an old man with a kind face, wearing an apron and rubber gloves with soap bubbles on them.
Seeing Bai Ye standing there in a daze, he said, "Go ahead. I know you've been working hard these past few days. I'll come and lend you a hand."
Bai Ye was forced to sit in front of the dining table, where a variety of delicious foods were laid out before her.
Steaming hot congee with preserved egg and lean pork, sweet red date soup freshly cooked, and steaming hot xiaolongbao (soup dumplings).
The old man sat opposite me and urged, "Eat quickly, I made all of this early this morning, it's all clean, hygienic, and healthy."
Who is this person?
Where are the observers from last night?
[Ding! Observer change detected, mission restarting—]
[The mission restart has been completed. Players, please equip your characters and perform maintenance and care for important clients. Currently, there are 2 people undergoing maintenance. Please check your inbox.]
Another two-dimensional memory entered my mind.
He still possesses martial prowess, but the background and environment have changed.
Wu Neng's wife went on a business trip out of town, and he was unable to take care of his one-month-old baby by himself, so he called home and asked his father to come and help.
This is the old man in front of us; the other party has been voluntarily "serving" him three meals a day for three consecutive days.
Bai Ye found the change in mission strange, but the old man in front of him looked so kind. If he was such an observer, then getting along with him should be alright.
Looking at the breakfast on the table, it smelled so good! Even though the rice grains were crawling around and the buns were soaked with blood, it still made my mouth water.
Bai Ye picked up a small steamed bun, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and smiled brightly.
"Thank you, Dad. Your breakfast is truly the best in the world." The praise was given without hesitation; this is the attitude one should have when one is indebted to another.
Taking another sip of porridge, Bai Ye continued to praise, while battling the plump white worms in her mouth, "Dad, your porridge is especially delicious, cooked to perfection. I love this taste."
The old man was very satisfied and waved his hand, saying, "It's just some home-style cooking. If you like it, I'll make it for you every day."
"Thank you, Dad."
After Bai Ye finished speaking, he lowered his head and continued to eat voraciously.
Just as they were enjoying their meal, the person across from them suddenly spoke up, "Xiao Neng, your wife has been away on a business trip for several months. She must have left you a lot of money, right?"
"!"
The steamed bun in Bai Ye's mouth suddenly didn't taste good anymore.
This observer has ulterior motives; the situation seems even more complicated than the previous one.
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