“I knew you’d be here!”
Little Yi Hao said proudly, his head held high.
In truth, he had only come to wander around and try his luck after realizing Baili Mengran had disappeared again. He hadn’t expected to find someone crying, which had startled him at first. Only then did he realize it was Baili Mengran weeping.
He then walked into the rockery and indeed saw Baili Mengran squatting there and crying.
A wave of relief washed over him. After sending a signal to Duan Xifeng and Ouyang Qinglin, he crouched beside Baili Mengran and took out a few pastries from his pocket.
“You disappeared this afternoon, and everyone in the manor was frantic looking for you. I figured you, being so clumsy, wouldn’t know to sneak to the kitchen for food. I brought you some pastries, but they’re all broken.”
Little Yi Hao looked at the pastries, which had crumbled into dust inside the oil paper, and pouted, a little displeased.
“It’s okay, broken ones are still pastries.”
Baili Mengran took the pastries, completely disregarding their crumbled state, and devoured them greedily.
“They’re delicious, thank you, brother.”
Baili Mengran finished all the pastries and even licked the crumbs from her fingers.
“Why did you come here to cry?”
Little Yi Hao still couldn’t understand why Baili Mengran always ran away.
“I just heard my mother and father talking. They don’t want me anymore, they think I’m a burden…”
Baili Mengran swallowed the last bite of pastry, a look of helplessness and confusion on her face.
“Why? Why would they think that?”
Little Yi Hao frowned upon hearing this. There seemed to be some hidden reason. The Baili couple were very good parents; they wouldn’t do something like this. He pressed for more information.
Unexpectedly, Baili Mengran burst into tears.
“Because I heard them say they’re moving after Grandma’s birthday banquet, taking my elder brother with them, and leaving me and my second elder brother behind.”
Baili Mengran recounted everything she had overheard in the study, not considering if the walls had ears. However, they were both young children and wouldn’t realize such a problem. Once she started crying, everything came tumbling out.
“What is going on?”
Little Yi Hao was confused. He hadn’t heard his mother mention that Baili Su’s poison had been cured! If that were the case, why were they suddenly planning to leave?
He didn’t understand the Baili family’s intentions.
“That’s what it means! I heard my father say that to my mother. They don’t want me anymore; both my elder brother and I are being abandoned!”
As Baili Mengran spoke, she started crying again. She wondered if it was because she was too troublesome that her parents decided to abandon her.
Little Yi Hao fell into thought. He didn’t see anything wrong with the situation but still patiently tried to comfort Baili Mengran.
“Maybe your parents were just joking and didn’t mean it. Don’t be too sad.”
Little Yi Hao said a few words, but Baili Mengran couldn’t listen to anything at the moment; she just wanted to cry her heart out.
Little Yi Hao was also a patient person and waited for Baili Mengran to finish crying before speaking.
“Are you done crying?”
Baili Mengran wiped her tears and nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed. She was the same age as him, yet he never cried.
She thought carefully. It seemed that way. Little Yi Hao had never cried in front of her, nor had he ever complained about the injustice Baili老爷 had inflicted upon him. He seemed to never get angry.
“What I want to say is, when something really happens, crying is useless. The only way to solve problems is to deal with them.”
Little Yi Hao wasn’t much older than Baili Mengran, but he spoke to her with the demeanor of an elder brother, reasoning with her. This left her stunned, completely bewildered as to what was happening and how she was being lectured.
“Alright, stop crying. Your father and mother are looking for you!”
Little Yi Hao patted Baili Mengran’s little head, intending to lead her out, but she pulled him back.
“I don’t want to go out yet. If I go out, I’ll see my father and mother, and they’ll scold me again!”
Baili Mengran drooped her little head, her face etched with helplessness and displeasure. She seemed genuinely helpless and didn’t know what to do.
“Okay, then I’ll sit with you for a while.”
It was summer, and sitting in the rockery, listening to the cicadas chirp and the birds sing, was a unique pleasure.
“My parents don’t want me anymore. What about your father?”
After a moment of quiet, Baili Mengran couldn’t help but ask about Little Yi Hao’s father again.
“I’ve forgotten what my father looks like. I envy you for having a father.”
Little Yi Hao was dejected. Mentioning his father made him unhappy.
“Then… have you found your father, like I told you about last time?”
Perhaps sensing Little Yi Hao’s somber mood, Baili Mengran realized she had said the wrong thing and quickly tried to backtrack.
She thought Little Yi Hao’s mother was a very kind person, but why didn’t Little Yi Hao have a father?
She had never seen a woman as beautiful as Little Yi Hao’s mother. Even her own mother wasn’t as beautiful. Moreover, Little Yi Hao’s mother was skilled in medicine and could cure her second brother. Why would no one want to marry such a beautiful aunt?
And where did Little Yi Hao come from?
Baili Mengran had many questions but couldn’t voice them now. She could only comfort Little Yi Hao.
The little brother was willing to come find her, listen to her cry, and listen to her speak. She couldn’t hurt his feelings anymore.
“No, I haven’t found my father yet.”
Little Yi Hao was a little sad. He looked at Baili Mengran, then lowered his head again. He glanced at the dark sky outside the cave entrance. Why hadn’t his maternal uncle come to find them yet? Wouldn’t his mother also abandon him?
“Then, what do you think of my elder brother? My elder brother is very capable and also very kind. Can he be your father?”
Baili Mengran sat and thought for a moment. She still felt her elder brother was the best and couldn’t help but recommend him to Little Yi Hao.
“Young Master… seems pretty good too.”
Little Yi Hao thought about it. Except for the first time he saw the young master, when he seemed fierce, he had been very, very gentle towards them in the following days. His mother had always worried about him not being good enough, so she needed to find a man with a better temper.
“I think he’s fine. Elder brother is truly a good person.”
Little Yi Hao gave Baili Jingxuan a very high evaluation. In his opinion, Baili Jingxuan was also a gentle man. He wouldn’t treat his mother badly, right?