It was a very young being, only ten over months old and had just learned to sit. He started walking much later than other children of the same age because of his illness. There were blisters all over Xiao Bai’s body, many of which were bleeding. However, the little guy was very resilient. As the nurse gave him an injection, Xiao Bai did not cry. He was very well-behaved.
Hong Dali and the others slowly approached Xiaobai. When the nurse was done giving Xiaobai the shot, Hong Dali looked him over from top to bottom before saying, “Actually, Xiaobai is quite good looking. He’s very cute.”
As he spoke, he extended his arm to Xiao Bai and gently touched Xiao Bai’s little palm with his little finger.
“Googoo—” Although there was a strange big brother in front of him, Xiao Bai was not afraid at all. He reached out with his little hand and gently grabbed Hong Dali’s hand.
Xiao Bai’s smile was happy and pure.
Xiao Bai was a very resilient good boy. Any other toddler would have cried the whole day and ended up with their voices hoarse if they had to take injections, medicine, and bear with blisters all over their body.
But Xiao Bai was different. He was jovial and sunny. When he saw the nurse’s encouraging gaze as he took the injection, he would stop crying and fussing. He would even hold on to the nurse’s wrist and gurgle as he laughed, carefree and without worry.
“Sigh, this child.” The nurse’s eyes teared up as she looked at Xiao Bai. “When we first found him, he had been abandoned in a toilet. His cries attracted our attention. I think his parents probably abandoned him when they realized that he was sick. When we brought him back, we found the word ‘bai’ on the back of his shirt, so we named him Xiao Bai.”
“Hehe, this little fellow.” Before Hong Dali transmigrated, he was an orphan. Xiao Bai was also an orphan, so he felt a connection. As he held Xiao Bai’s hand, he did not despise the fact that Xiao Bai was dirty. He looked Xiao Bai over and the more he looked, the more he liked him. “He looks really cute. Look, he laughs like me, so carefree, haha!”
Everyone was happy after hearing what Hong Dali said. Tang Muxin’s eyes welled up with tears and she pouted, saying, “Dali, this brat. Actually it’s good that he can be so carefree every day…” She then stamped her foot angrily, saying, “Xiao Bai’s parents are so hateful. Why did they abandon Xiao Bai? He is such a cute child…”
A rugged woman, one of the people present, was quite peeved when she heard what Tang Muxin said. “Don’t scold the parents. To be honest, other than an extremely wealthy family, an ordinary family would not be able to afford treatment for an illness like the one Xiao Bai has even if they sell everything they own. I kind of understand why they did what they did. It’s not easy. Now, the problem is, what will happen to Xiao Bai in the future? He can’t stay at the hospital for the rest of his life, but if he leaves, his illness will be hard to manage without treatment. It’s really troubling.”
When they heard what the rugged woman said, everyone sighed deeply.
Xiao Bai was cute and looked really good. It would not be an exaggeration to say that if not for his blisters, he would be able to take part in shows like “Baby Plan”.
However, because of this illness…
“We have 32 nurses in the neonatal treatment center. Although there are three shifts, there are more than eight nurses in each shift. Everyone will play with him when they come and go from work. Now, these thirty-two nurses have all become Xiao Bai’s mothers.” The nurse who was giving Xiao Bai the injection looked at Xiao Bai affectionately and said, “He is actually not so sick now, just that it’s very painful when he bathes. The blisters on his body and the wounds that have not healed hurt when they touch the water. There is nothing we can do about it. After a night’s sleep, there will be a smell from Xiao Bai’s body.”
“Oh.” Tang Muxin’s expression was filled with sadness. “Such a tiny child, so much suffering…”
“Don’t worry.” Li Nianwei gently put her arm around Tang Muxin’s shoulder and consoled her softly. “Young Master is here. I think there must be something he can do to help.”
Hong Dali was playing with Xiao Bai. He laughed and asked, “Xiao Bai, can you walk yet?”
Xiao Bai stared at Hong Dali with big luminous eyes, not understanding. Finally, the same rugged woman explained, “Children around one-year-old like him are usually able to walk, but Xiao Bai can only sit unaided for a short period of time. It’s even more so after some of his blisters broke, got infected, and now his little feet do not even have all their toes.”
“I see.” Hong Dali nodded and took the milk bottle. “Xiao Bai, do you want some milk?”
Once Xiao Bai saw the milk bottle, he quickly grabbed it.
He hugged the milk bottle tight, as if he were afraid someone would take it away.
When he finished drinking the milk, Xiao Bai burped in satisfaction. He then started gurgling and laughing again.
“This child is no trouble at all.” The rugged woman sighed. “He usually lies alone in the crib, looking at the ceiling. He will whine a little if none of the mothers have come by to visit him for a long time, but he rarely cries.”
“He is actually in quite a lot of discomfort.” Another nurse wiped tears from her eyes. “The blisters on one side of his body form just as the ones on the other side scab over. The itch that comes after the blisters scab over is what makes him the most uncomfortable. Whenever it itches, he will kick his little legs or hit his head with his little hands in an attempt to lessen the itch and pain. We try to carry him when he cries, but we have to put him down very quickly because he cries even harder when we put even a little pressure on him.”
As she watched Xiao Bai laughing with Hong Dali, Tang Muxin’s eyes reddened. She asked, “Is there really nothing that can be done to help him? If western medicine does not help, perhaps we can try Chinese medicine? My heart hurts when I look at him. It’s as if something is pressing on it. Such a small child, such bright eyes. He is like an angel!”
“Oh, by the way, does your Hospital Chief know about Xiao Bai?” Hong Dali suddenly asked as he played with Xiao Bai.
“Ah? Yes.” The rugged woman nodded. “The Hospital Chief was the one who allowed Xiao Bai to stay. Our Hospital Chief prefers to keep a low profile, so he told us to keep it a secret. He said that the child is young and his wounds might get infected. Later, the news somehow got out and reporters started coming here. Some caring people came often to visit him in the last two months. In the past there were not so many.”
“Oh, your Hospital Chief is quite a good man.” Hong Dali said approvingly, “Reward him with twenty million first, just as a thought.”
“Hmm? What twenty million?” The woman was quite confused as she had no idea what Hong Dali meant by twenty million.
As the lackey who had been with Hong Dali the longest, Ling Xiaoyi understood immediately. She smiled and said, “Yes, Young Master.”
“Young Master?” The woman finally understood. She exclaimed loudly, “You are Young Master Dali, the number one super prodigal!”
“Ah, that’s me.”Hong Dali did not mind her outburst at all. He had been in many situations like this before. The most troubling thing about being a public figure was that no matter where he went, someone would recognize him.
“You are Li Nianwei!” The woman looked towards Li Nianwei, screaming and shouting in excitement. “Beauty, please sign me an autograph!”
“…” Li Nianwei reluctantly removed her mask and nodded. “Okay.”
When they heard that the young man leading the group was actually Young Master Hong Dali and that the goddess Li Nianwei was with him, all the nurses immediately crowded around them, talking at the same time. “Young Master, please help Xiao Bai. He is such a pitiful child.””Yes, please help him. You are the only one in this world who can help him.”
“I’ll try.” Hong Dali looked at Xiao Bai and asked, smiling, “Xiao Bai, do you want Papa?”
“Goo goo.” Xiao Bai was still only a baby and did not know many words, but he knew how to say the words for Mother. The problem was, he had no father, so he only knew how to call Mother. He opened his little hands and cried at Hong Dali, “Mama!”
“Call Papa!” Hong Dali appeared dissatisfied. “It’s Papa, not Mama!”
“Mama!” Xiao Bai gurgled as he waved his little hands. “Mama, carry!”
“Hahaha, Dali, when did you become a mother?” Tang Muxin was bent over laughing. She said, “Xiao Bai has 32 mothers. If you become his father, won’t you will have an instant harem?”
Everyone found Tang Muxin’s words hilarious and they all laughed so hard they could not stand straight.
“This brat.” Hong Dali ignored Tang Muxin. He finally had a chance to call someone else brat. He was always the one getting called brat by other people, so now he was feeling amused. “Call Papa!”
“Mama!” Xiao Bai resolutely refused to call him anything else. “Mama, carry!”
“You’ll be the death of me!” Hong Dali ignored the strange odor coming from Xiao Bai’s body and cuddled him to his chest. He did not care that Xiao Bai might dirty his clothes at all. He tapped Xiao Bai’s nose gently and laughingly continued to coerce Xiao Bai. “Call Papa! Call Papa and I will buy you sweets! You can eat whatever you want!” As he spoke, he took a jade Guanyin and hung it on Xiao Bai’s neck. “This is a really fun toy. Take care of it. Don’t drop it!”
Xiao Bai did not know what a jade Guanyin was, but he was attracted by the candy. Xiao Bai finally cried out, “Wawa! Sweet, sweet!”
Everyone almost fell on the ground laughing. Tang Muxin was clutching her belly. “Wawa is good. Hahaha!”
“It’s Papa, not Wawa!” Hong Dali tapped Xiao Bai’s nose gently again. “Call Papa!”
“Wawa!””Papa!””Wawa!”
“All right, it looks like we have to take it slow.” No matter what, he was a father now. Although Xiao Bai was not his biological son, Hong Dali was happy. “Oh yes, Xiao Bai, I have a great white shark called Xiao Bai. Your name is also Xiao Bai. This is not good. It’s hard to differentiate between the two of you.”
He made sense. Xiao Bai sounded like an animal’s name.
Tang Muxin gently straightened Xiao Bai’s clothes. She said softly, “Dali, how about you give him a proper name. We can’t just call him Xiao Bai forever.”
The moment she finished saying that, she suddenly remembered Dali’s way of giving names and hurriedly added, “Don’t give him a weird name!”
