“Bud, Mommy loves you too.”
“Bud, Mommy is going to hang up now, okay? Goodbye.”
Bud waved at the phone receiver, then realized that Mommy couldn’t see her. She wanted to say “goodbye,” but after trying hard for a while, no sound came out. So she just gently tapped the receiver twice with her little hand.
Wan Jiayin took the receiver from Bud’s arms and put it back on the phone. Seeing the little dumpling puffing out her cheeks, looking a bit unhappy, she gave her a kiss on her little face. “Is Bud sad because she couldn’t say goodbye to Mommy?”
Bud nodded, pointed to her own mouth, then pouted and waved her hand, meaning her mouth wasn’t behaving.
Yue Guohuai took Bud from Wan Jiayin’s arms. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Lots of little ones your age can’t say much of anything yet.”
“Let’s practice these next few days. Start by saying goodbye to Grandpa every day. By the time your mom calls again, Bud should have it down, okay?”
“Gran… pa, okay!” Bud nodded her head.
Yue Guohuai understood what Bud meant, but he was still so happy that his eyes crinkled with joy. “That’s right, Grandpa is good. And Bud loves Grandpa the most, doesn’t she?”
Bud nodded firmly. “Four!” (Trying to say ‘yes’)
Yue Guohuai hugged Bud and gave her several big kisses. “Awww, Grandpa knew our sweetheart loves Grandpa the most.”
“Grandpa’s big sweetheart, come on, let’s go play chess with Old Fox Huo.”
Yue Guohuai carried Bud next door.
For the past month or so, Huo Yingnian had been very busy, leaving early and coming home late every day.
Today, he happened to come home early for a change, so Huo Jiusi also came back early to have dinner with him.
“Bud, come here and let Grandpa Huo hold you.”
Huo Yingnian took Bud into his arms and gave her a little bounce. “This child is growing so fast, and she’s gotten a lot sturdier too.”
“Gran… pa.”
Bud gave Huo Yingnian a kiss on the cheek. Huo Yingnian’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Yue Guohuai. “Bud can already speak that clearly?”
Yue Guohuai held his head high and puffed out his chest. “Of course! Who do you think her grandfather is?”
“What does Bud speaking early have to do with you? Don’t try to take credit.”
Huo Yingnian teased Bud, “It’s because our Bud is smart, isn’t that right?”
Bud covered her mouth and giggled happily.
Yue Guohuai took Bud back. “Come on, come on, let’s play chess, let’s play chess.”
“You’re still so impatient.”
Huo Yingnian pointed at Yue Guohuai. “Your chess skills aren’t great, but you sure love to play.”
“You old fox, who are you saying has bad skills? The only reason I lose is because I play against you. Look, who else have I ever lost to?”
Thinking about this always made Yue Guohuai terribly frustrated.
The two of them had been playing chess together ever since they met in their twenties. Now, they were both over sixty, and he had never won a single game against this old fox.
“Jiusi, come, sit next to Grandpa. Watch how Grandpa beats your Grandpa Yue.” Huo Yingnian patted the spot next to him.
Huo Jiusi obediently sat down beside Huo Yingnian and watched the board carefully.
Yue Guohuai’s playing style was just like his personality. If you had to use one word to describe it, it would be ‘fierce.’
He was extremely aggressive, using attack as his defense.
Huo Yingnian’s playing style, on the other hand, was tricky and unpredictable. It seemed to have no pattern, but hidden within were intricate traps.
If you let your guard down even a little, you’d fall right into his trap and get completely crushed.
The two were evenly matched, but Huo Yingnian was clearly a step above.
“This…” Yue Guohuai hesitated, holding a chess piece.
There was nowhere good to play. It felt like no matter where he put this piece, it was a dead end.
“Old Yue, this wishy-washy attitude isn’t like you. Hurry up.” Huo Yingnian picked up his teacup and looked at Yue Guohuai with a smile.
Yue Guohuai glared at him. “Old Fox Huo, don’t get too cocky.”
“What am I being cocky about? I’m not being cocky.”
“As long as you haven’t placed your piece, anything is still possible.”
Huo Yingnian turned his head and said to Huo Jiusi, “Jiusi, remember, even if success is ninety-nine percent certain, there’s still that one percent uncertainty. Nothing is truly settled, so you must never let your guard down.”
“Grandpa, I’ll remember.”
“Bud, here, you help Grandpa place this piece.”
Yue Guohuai really couldn’t decide. He figured he’d let Bud try, but he already knew he was probably going to lose this game too.
Bud looked at the piece in her hand, then at the chessboard. She tilted her head, her little face full of confusion.
She didn’t know how to play chess. How was she supposed to know where to put it?
Somebody, please save her.
“Old Yue, you’re really getting more impressive by the day, aren’t you?” Huo Yingnian was so exasperated by Yue Guohuai’s shamelessness that he just laughed.
“It’s fine if Bud places the piece, but let me be clear: this still counts as you losing. If you actually win, it means Bud beat me, not you!”
“Don’t go around bragging that you won. I won’t admit it.”
“Fine, fine, fine.”
Yue Guohuai rubbed his face against Bud’s little cheek. “Bud, just put it anywhere. It doesn’t matter, since it’s the same no matter where it goes.”
Bud’s big eyes scanned the board. She spotted a spot that looked good, stretched out her little arm, and placed the piece down.
“This!”
“This!”
Yue Guohuai laughed with wild joy. “Hahahaha, I won, I won!”
“Grandpa’s big sweetheart is really a lucky star!” Yue Guohuai kissed Bud so hard her little face got squished.
Bud looked completely confused. She turned to Huo Jiusi, who gave her a thumbs up. “Bud is really amazing.”
Huo Yingnian smiled wryly and shook his head. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it.”
He hadn’t even noticed that spot.
“Even the most careful plan can have a flaw!”
“No more, no more.”
Yue Guohuai stood up and waved his hand. “My sweetheart needs to go to sleep. We’re going home.”
“Look at that, acting smug just because he won!” Huo Yingnian pointed at Yue Guohuai’s retreating back and couldn’t help but complain.
“Grandpa, wait a moment.”
Seeing that Huo Yingnian was about to put the chess pieces away, Huo Jiusi stopped him. “I want to look a little longer.”
“Then you take your time. Grandpa is going to the study to take care of some things.”
After Huo Yingnian left, Huo Jiusi took a piece from his grandfather’s box and placed it in a different spot. Instantly, the situation on the board changed again.
Back at home, Yue Guohuai vividly described to Wan Jiayin how Bud had helped him redeem his long-held grudge.
Wan Jiayin watched Yue Guohuai, who looked just like a little kid. She then turned her head to look at Bud, only to find that Bud had already fallen asleep.
“Shh.”
Wan Jiayin immediately raised her index finger, signaling Yue Guohuai to stop talking.
She picked up Bud and put her in her little crib. Little White jumped in, and Bud rolled over and hugged Little White tight.
Little White curled up into a ball, wrapping her little paws around Bud’s arm.
On the other side, Little Bear also jumped into the crib. She lay down at Bud’s feet.
“Come on, come on, let’s go to our room to sleep.”
Wan Jiayin waved at Yue Guohuai. Just as they were about to take Bud back to their room, they saw Huo Jiusi coming over.
“Jiusi, are you sleeping with Bud again tonight?”
Before this, Huo Yingnian had gone on a business trip abroad for a while, so Huo Jiusi had moved into their house.
Their home had plenty of rooms. Right next to Ye Zhiqiu and Yue Mingyuan’s bedroom was a guest room. It was originally kept for Yue Mingde and his wife, but Li Yan never wanted to stay overnight there, so that room had always been empty.
