"Wife"
"Mommo"
"Yes, Yes... I got it," sighed Yu Dong as she walked to the sweet shop. She didn't know how things escalated to this point, but all she knew was that once they arrived at the town. Both daddy and son were like a loose cannon. They rushed here and hurried there. If not for her keeping check on Chen Mi, she would have lost the two long ago. Just now, Chen Mi rushed to this sweet shop leaving her behind. If not for the money pouch with her, he might have jumped on the next adventure hunt by now. "Please pack twenty water chestnut cakes for me, five to eat and fifteen to take away, and a bowl of Double-Layer Steamed Milk Custard to take away."
"Yes, please wait for a moment," said the boss lady as she took out of bamboo leaves and packed fifteen water chestnut cakes in one and five in another to eat. On the other hand, the boss lady's husband filled a wooden bowl with steamed milk custard. "Here you go, that will be thirty copper coins."
Yu Dong paid the money and then exchanged Little bun with Chen Mi for the water chestnut cakes. Honestly, just now, her heart literally jumped to her throat. Chen Mi had been so shy and silent when she first arrived that she had forgotten that he was an energetic young man of sixteen. With Little bun in her arms, at least she would have some security to prevent Chen Mi from running around like before.
Sure enough, Chen Mi settled down with his son out of his arms. Though he was still looking around the town, his head moving so fast that he was creating after images. He was at least walking silently by Yu Dong's side without 'oh what's that' and running away.
"Da! Da!" Little bun pointed to the water chestnut cakes that Chen Mi was eating and refused to take a bite of custard milk. He, too, wanted to eat that fascinating cake, not this gooey milk thing.
'Like father, like son,' muttered Yu inwardly. However, she simply scooped a spoonful of milk custard and shoved it inside Little bun's mouth when the latter opened his mouth to complain. "Don't even think about it. You cannot eat that right now. In fact, you are not allowed to eat sugar at all, but mommy is being lenient and letting you eat it a bit. If you complain any more, then Mommy will take this away too."
Yu Dong had raised her brothers and was well aware of the fiasco babies made when they had sugar. If not for Little bun making a fuss in the middle of the street, she would not have bothered buying this custard milk either.
Little bun pouted but settled down. He knew that his mommy was serious. His mommy was strict when it came to his health, even if he could get away with many things. If his mommy said 'no,' even daddy Liu would disagree with him.
How unfair.
Yu Dong didn't know that her son was actually lamenting over the injustice of the world. She continued to scoop bite by bite of milk custard and let Little bun eat it to satisfy his cravings. She didn't want Little bun to stay awake at night after overeating sugar. Thus, she put away the bowl of custard milk in her space once Little bun finished eating half or so of milk custard.
"Wife, where are we going?" asked Chen Mi after eating his cakes. At first, he was a bit excited to look around, but now that he had eaten a few snacks, he had calmed down a bit. Or, more than likely, he was lazy to run about on a half-full stomach. Ever since he gave birth to Little bun, Chen Mi hardly ever walked around, so he got tired and settled down after running around for a while.
"To the ox and horse market," answered Yu Dong as she patted the fussing Little bun. She knew she shouldn't have brought him here. Little babies became really fussy when they were brought into crowded places, "and then we will look around for a carriage. It's good if we can buy a readymade carriage. If not, let's have someone make it for us."
Chen Mi nodded, then took the fussy Little bun in his arms. His excuse was that Yu Dong would have gotten tired from carrying Little bun, but when Yu Dong gave little bun to him, Chen Mi grinned down at his son before mouthing 'disown'. Little bun stopped fussing and silently let his daddy carry him like a flipped magical switch.
Yu Dong didn't know what went through between the father and son. She only saw that Little bun had stopped making a fuss and couldn't help but tease, "It looks like bunbun still likes his daddy the best."
Chen Mi patted Little bun's back and gave Yu Dong a smile. On the other hand, Little bun listlessly looked at his mommy and sighed, 'liking this devil-like daddy? That's never going to happen.
The two of them walked to the ox and horse market, and just like before, Yu Dong was surrounded by a lot of noise as they walked inside the market. Chen Mi had covered Little bun's ears with his hand. Still, because Little bun's senses were nurtured by Yu Dong's spiritual water, the baby could clearly hear all the hustle and bustle made by the hawkers. He buried his head against his daddy's chest and whined like an old man who got a severe hangover. Chen Mi heard his small whines and smiled, "Didn't I tell you to stay at home? Now you have no choice but to suffer."
Little bun rubbed his small head against his father's chest and inwardly scolded his father. 'Stinky daddy, you should have told me that this place would smell of poop and pee, then I wouldn't have acted stubbornly. '
That's what Little bun believed, but even if Chen Mi told him this before, he would still insist on coming with his daddy, believing that his daddy was lying.