Chapter 42: Let Uncle Give You a Bath

Chi DuoDuo’s whole body was almost sticking to the front seats, as he came close to Yu Chu’s ear and whispered, “I will often buy you ice cream and other delicious food in the future. You have to eat slowly, don’t rush.”

His voice was full of sympathy, and because Yu Chu couldn’t explain why he behaved like that earlier, he just stared out the window. Xie XingMu told Chi DuoDuo, “Sit back down and put your seat belt back on.”

Chi DuoDuo then backed up and sat down.

Xie XingMu continued to drive, and half an hour later, the off-road vehicle entered a high-end residential area and parked in the underground parking lot of one of the buildings. The three of them entered the elevator, Xie XingMu pressed the top floor, and the elevator rose quietly.

Yu Chu stared at the number keys in front of him and suddenly noticed someone touching his hand. He looked down to see Chi DuoDuo was looking up at him, “Xiao Chu don’t be afraid, we’ll be home soon.”

Yu Chu didn’t pay attention to him, but Chi DuoDuo didn’t realise that, his two bright eyes constantly looking at him. Xie XingMu smiled, and picked up Chi DuoDuo into his arms. 

The elevator arrived and there was only one door on the entire floor. Xie XingMu went to the door and pressed the fingerprint lock, and entered Yu Chu’s fingerprints into it, “From now on, when I’m not at home, it’ll be easy for you to get in and out.”

Chi DuoDuo, who was leaning on his shoulder, answered, “When you’re not home, I can take care of Xiao Chu.”

When he got inside, Xie XingMu first took a pair of disposable slippers from the shoe cabinet and gave them to Yu Chu, then knelt down to change Chi DuoDuo’s shoes, who looked at Yu Chu and asked enthusiastically, “Xiao Chu, do you want me to change your shoes?”

“No.” Yu Chu replied. He changed his shoes and walked into the living room, taking in his surroundings. The living room was very nice, the decoration and furniture looked good. A few fluffy cloth cushions were thrown on the couch and stuffed animals were scattered on the shag carpet. Under the floor-to-ceiling windows with a small fence circle, which was paved with colored plastic blocks, next to the high-class wallpaper was also plastered with flowery green posters, the luxuriously decorated house was made a little unconventional.

Xie XingMu had changed his shoes, and he said, “Go look around a little to become familiar with everything.”

Yu Chu asked, “Will I be an inconvenience?”

“You’ll be living here, what’s the inconvenience?” Xie XingMu said.

Chi DuoDuo wanted to pull Yu Chu to see his room, “Xiao Chu, I’ll show you my new toy, it’s a panda!”

Yu Chu wanted to wrestle his hand out, but the child’s hand was soft and small, so he finally held back and let Chi DuoDuo pull him toward the second bedroom. Turning back when he reached the door to his room, he looked at Xie XingMu who was about to go out again.

“You and DuoDuo stay at home, I’ll go to the supermarket next door to buy some things.” Xie XingMu.

Chi DuoDuo pulled Yu Chu into his room and picked up a stuffed panda to show him, “Look at this, he’s called Little Duo.” He touched the panda, “Little Duo, this is Xiao Chu, say hello.”

The intelligent panda then made a mechanical child’s voice, “Hello.”

Chi DuoDuo looked at Yu Chu and asked, “Do you like it?”

Yu Chu wanted to dislike it, but when he met his bright eyes with a pleasing look, he nodded his head and said, “It’s alright.”

The room was beautifully decorated, and it was clear that Xie XingMu had taken great care to give his nephew the best living space possible, and after Chi DuoDuo had introduced his toys, Yu Chu wanted to see the rest of the house. But he was preceded by the enthusiastic Chi DuoDuo, who showed him the way and introduced him to everything.

By the time Xie XingMu returned, Yu Chu had toured all the rooms, including the upstairs swimming pool, gym and sunroom, and came to the conclusion that Xie XingMu was rich. Could a chief of criminal investigation in this world be this rich? He was a little bit confused.

Xie XingMu carried a pile of paper bags into the house, called Yu Chu over, took out a pair of slippers from one of the paper bags and put them in front of him, “Change into them, the rest are new clothes I just bought. I’ll put them in your room.”

“Which one’s my room?” Yu Chu asked, staring at the new slippers.

Xie XingMu replied, “Go and pick it out yourself, whichever one you like.”

Yu Chu had just looked at the four bedrooms on this floor, one was Chi DuoDuo’s room, one was the bedroom Xie XingMu was living in, and there were two unoccupied guest rooms left, so he should choose one of them.

“Do you like the bedroom? The closet and bathroom are big, you can live here if you’d like.” Xie XingMu replied.

Yu Chu’s head was down while changing his slippers, but he looked up sharply at the words. Xie XingMu looked at his glaring eyes before responding, “I’ll move to the guest room next door.”

Yu Chu lowered his head, “No need, I’ll stay in the guest room.”

Xie XingMu looked at the swirl of hair on top of his head and couldn’t help but have a smile on his face.

“I can stay with Xiao Chu.” Chi DuoDuo interjected next to the invitation and was driven off to watch cartoons by Xie XingMu.

Chi DuoDuo obeyed and went to the TV with his panda, Little Duo, in his arms. Xie XingMu carried the tiny paper bag into the guest room, dumped all the clothes inside on the bed, and hung them one by one in the closet.

“Usually the housekeeper will also clean this room, so it’s very clean. There’s no attached bathroom, so you’ll have to use the bathroom next to the living room…” Xie XingMu admonished, while taking scissors to cut off the price tag on the clothes, put the underwear in the drawer under the closet, and hung the jacket on top.

Yu Chu watched as he unpacked a cardboard box and poured out several pairs of underwear from it, unapologetically shaking them with his hands and putting them together with the underwear. He moved his lips, wanting to say he’d do it himself, but Xie XingMu had already closed the drawer door, pulled open another one, and started putting new socks inside.

All the new clothes bought were put away in different categories before Xie XingMu closed the closet door, “Go and watch TV with DuoDuo, I’ll go and cook.”

DuoDuo was watching cartoons and when Yu Chu went to the sofa, he patted the place next to him, “Xiao Chu, come sit here.”

But Yu Chu sat down on the single sofa to his left, leaned back and stared at the cartoon on TV.

A rabbit was stealing radishes from the ground, and after watching it absentmindedly for a few minutes, Yu Chu couldn’t help but turn his head toward the kitchen. Xie XingMu was wearing a ridiculous apron with a pink cat on it, the same one he wore in the video. He was standing at the cooking table beating eggs, the muscles in his back bulging powerfully under his T-shirt as he moved.

He set the beaten egg aside and started chopping again, the knife falling swiftly and skillfully with a very rhythmic thud. The sun was about to set in the west, and there was red haze light coming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The lines of his face, which looked harsh, were gilded with a gentle light when he was looking at it sideways.

Yu Chu didn’t realize that he had been staring at Xie XingMu until Chi DuoDuo put his face in front of him and was seriously asking, “Xiao Chu, what are you looking at? We can watch something else if you want.”

“Ah…” Yu Chu came back to his senses and covered up, “I can watch anything.”

“But you obviously don’t like watching Crazy Rabbit.” Chi DuoDuo shoved the remote control into his hand, “You change the channel then, change it.”

Xie XingMu prepared the meal, brought it to the table and called out to the two of them to eat. There were several dishes on the table, and they looked good. Yu Chu went to sit down and was about to take the bowl in front of him when he slapped the back of his hand, “Wash your hands first, before you eat.”

Yu Chu turned his head and saw Chi DuoDuo standing at the bathroom door, squinting at him, so he quickly went with him to wash his hands.

“I just washed, my hands are very clean.” Yu Chu replied.

He reached for his chopsticks again, but Xie XingMu slapped him away once again, “You still have this bad habit since Singwon Island, you never wash your hands before meals, go and wash them.”

Yu Chu sat still, staring at the pink cat on the apron in front of him, his face sunken, Xie XingMu looked down at him and tapped the bowl with a chopstick, signaling him to hurry up and go.

“Come on, Xiao Chu, I’ll wash your hands, come on.” Chi DuoDuo called out to Yu Chu as he pressed himself against the bathroom door frame.

Yu Chu finally stood up indignantly, pushed the chair out behind him with a bam, and walked towards the bathroom again. 

一一The two of them were standing side by side, washing their hands in front of the mirror. Chi DuoDuo looked at the gloomy Yu Chu in the mirror and said comfortingly, “Don’t be upset, children have to wash their hands before eating. If you don’t like it, I can wash it for you.”

He reached out with his foamy little hands to rub Yu Chu’s fingers. Yu Chu took his fingers out and rubbed them himself, Chi DuoDuo added, “See, how simple it is? Come, put them under the water to rinse them clean…”

The veins on Yu Chu’s forehead jumped and he couldn’t resist, “I can wash my hands.”

“Oh, you’re a good boy then.” Chi DuoDuo began to wash his hands.

After washing his hands and sitting down at the table, Xie XingMu didn’t say anything more, and only used a soup ladle to serve soup to Yu Chu and Chi DuoDuo respectively.

Yu Chu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, lifted his chopsticks and started to eat.

The dishes looked good, but they tasted even better than they looked. He put a piece of fried mushroom into his mouth and felt a fresh aroma instantly fill his taste buds.

“You wanted me to cook for you before, so now that you ate it, how does it taste?” Xie XingMu eyes piled with a light smile.

Yu Chu glanced at him, still chewing a piece of beef in his mouth, as he answered indifferently, “Didn’t you open a restaurant? What’s so great about knowing how to cook?”

The smile in the corner of Xie XingMu’s eyes intensified, “I didn’t open a restaurant.”

Yu Chu was stunned, and said, “You lied, and you still wouldn’t admit it.”

“How could I in that situation?” Xie XingMu didn’t eat, both hands clasped on the table, eyes kept looking at Yu Chu, as he spoke, “It doesn’t matter. I want to apologise to you for all that I concealed previously.”

He sat up straight and cleared his throat and said, “Please allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Xie XingMu, 26 years old, and I have been working for the Haiyun City Criminal Investigation Team. I was on an undercover mission on Singwon Island, and now that the mission is over, I’ve returned to the city to continue my detective work.”

Yu Chu put down his chopsticks and looked at him, and was about to open his mouth when Chi DuoDuo sat up next to him and said seriously, “Please allow me to re-introduce myself. My name is Chi DuoDuo, 5 years old. I’m from the Little Sun Kindergarten. DuoDuo is the class leader.”

Xie XingMu turned his head somewhat helplessly to look at Chi DuoDuo, pulling out a tissue to wipe the soup on his face, Yu Chu mouth hooked up a light smile, buried his head and continued to eat. After finishing the meal, Xie XingMu shooed the two away from the table and cleaned up the dishes, plates and tables himself.

Chi DuoDuo, holding the panda Little Duo, came over and sat on the same single sofa with him. Although the single sofa was very small, Yu Chu didn’t move to the side, but Chi DuoDuo apparently didn’t feel conscious, but leaned closer to him, and rested his head on his arm.

Yu Chu looked back at Xie XingMu, who was putting empty dishes into the dishwasher, and thought that if he changed his position, Chi DuoDuo might want to follow him again, so he held back.

Chi DuoDuo also watched very attentively, or, as long as Yu Chu was watching seriously, he also watched very seriously, and kept expressing his views.

“Why is this grandmother hiding the goodies? I don’t hide mine. I would want to share it with Uncle and Xiao Chu.”

“His family also has a dog! I can’t keep a dog, because Uncle is busy with work. I’m afraid that no one will feed the dog and it will be hungry.”

“Uncle would also make this kind of cake for me. It’s very good and delicious.”

… 

Yu Chu listened to his childish words, but didn’t feel impatient, because his words always included Uncle. Yu Chu pieced together all the information about Xie XingMu in these words.

Xie XingMu cleaned up the kitchen, brought a plate of fruit over, fed a strawberry into Chi DuoDuo’s mouth, and lifted a piece of mango toward Yu Chu, “Open your mouth.”

Yu Chu opened his mouth and the sweet and smooth mango slipped into his mouth.

Xie XingMu put down the fruit, sat down on the couch next to him, picked up the laptop on the coffee table, and started working. Yu Chu chewed on the fruit and watched TV while listening to Chi DuoDuo’s choppy words.

His eyes were fixed on the screen and his ears were filled with Chi DuoDuo’s voice, but out of the corner of his eyes, he was watching Xie XingMu, sitting closeby. Xie XingMu wore a pair of black frame glasses and tapped on the keyboard with a concentrated look. His unruly short hair gave him a high profile, with a natural banditry, but the glasses also let him breathe a bit of elegance. The two very different temperaments fused together, but were in a strange harmony, and exuded a unique, attractive charm.

Chi DuoDuo was also very patient, the little boy’s words continued even when Yu Chu gave no response, so he would say them to Xie XingMu. Every time, Xie XingMu would stop tapping his keyboard, listen carefully to Chi DuoDuo, and then answer carefully.

At eight o’clock at night, Xie XingMu took a look at the time, then said to Chi DuoDuo, “You need to take a shower and go to bed.”

Chi DuoDuo began to whine, “I want to play a little longer! I still want to play games with Xiao Chu.”

Yu Chu hurriedly shook his head, “You have to take a bath and go to bed.”

Chi DuoDuo went into the bathroom reluctantly.

Xie XingMu filled the bathtub with hot water and went to Chi DuoDuo’s room to get his pajamas. Yu Chu sat alone on the sofa, thinking that he could finally catch up on the drama in peace, but before he could watch two minutes, the episode ended. He heard Chi DuoDuo’s laughter coming from the bathroom and couldn’t help but go to the door and see the child sitting naked in the bathtub, letting Xie XingMu wash his hair, with two little yellow ducks floating in the water.

Chi DuoDuo looked at Yu Chu at the door and beckoned enthusiastically, “Come, let uncle give you a bath too.”

Xie XingMu’s hand rubbing his hair jolted to a pause, then continued washing as if he hadn’t heard, while Yu Chu turned his head and left the bathroom.