Ji Rui was a bit at a loss, even though he had been a father for nearly five years, he still couldn't call himself a competent dad. Seeing his son feeling wronged and sad, he could only squat down to rub his head, then gently pick him up. Even though this little guy had quite the acting skills, Ji Rui knew that at least half of the sadness in front of him was genuine true emotions from Ji Baby.
"Baobao, don't cry."
Ji Baby tightly wrapped his arms around Ji Rui's neck, burying his head in Ji Rui's shoulder nook, with his little shoulders shaking and trembling. This kid, who wasn't afraid of anything, would well up with tears whenever his mommy was mentioned, perhaps, this was just the nature of a child.
Ji Rui was somewhat headache over his son's request, gently patting his back as he walked out of the nursery room. Seeing the little young master with red eyes and sobbing in the hall, the two nannies there assumed the mischievous young master had upset Mr. Ji again, and none dared to come forward to soothe him.
Teary-eyed Ji Baby tightly held onto Ji Rui all the way to the swimming pool. Since Ji Baby loved swimming, Mr. Ji had specially constructed this greenhouse pool, showing his deep affection for Ji Baby.
However, even though Ji Baby was a little emperor in the Ji Family, getting whatever he desired, what he just asked for was something he couldn't have no matter how he tried.
Luckily, a child's grievances and troubles come and go quickly. When the large pool of clear, emerald water came into view, Ji Baby forgot his sadness and struggles as he left Ji Rui's embrace.
Slipping out of Ji Rui's arms like an eel, Ji Baby swiftly ran off, quickly climbing onto the one-meter diving platform a few meters away.
Left behind by Baobao, Ji Rui stood barefoot by the poolside wearing black swim trunks. His broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long, straight legs resembled a tall pine.
Ji Baby bounced around atop the diving platform doing some short warm-up exercises and then turned his head to shout at Ji Rui by the poolside.
"Daddy, I'm going to dive, do you want to watch?"
Whether Ji Rui didn't hear or for some other reason, he gave his son no response, stretching his long arm, his body bent down like an arrow from a bowstring and entered the water, his long arms and legs powerfully paddling a few times underwater like a fish until he reached the spot in front of the diving platform, where he sprang up from the water with a "whoosh," clapping for Baobao on the platform.
"Baobao, jump!"
Originally thinking his daddy was ignoring him, Ji Baby's pout turned into a wide grin, hopping a few steps back and calling out, "Daddy, you need to watch closely."
"Mm!"
With a mischievous smile, Ji Baby retreated to the very back of the platform, took two jumps, sprinted forward, and pushed off with his feet to soar agilely into the air, tucking his body into a somersault and then straightening out in mid-air before piercing the water below.
Ji Rui was stunned by Ji Baby's neat and graceful series of diving moves, staring momentarily at the splashes and bubbles, when suddenly a small head wearing a duck capping appeared in front of him.
"Daddy, wasn't I awesome?"
Without waiting for Ji Rui to respond, Ji Baby clung to Ji Rui's body like a monkey.
"Mm, awesome!"
Ji Rui's compliment, as simple as it was, earned him a fragrant, wet kiss from Ji Baby.
Ji Rui cupped the duck baby's duck bottom with his hand, recalling that roughly around four years old, Ji Baby had learned to swim, yet he was unaware of when he had learned to dive so skillfully.
"Who taught you to dive, Baobao?" Ji Rui kissed his wet face as a way of reciprocating.
"Coach Li, a little guy brother..."
Father and son rarely had time alone together, and Ji Baby answered cheerfully with a grin while tugging on Ji Rui's tense face with his hand.
Ji Rui looked down at his son; sometimes, the adjectives this little guy used made him speechless; if anything, he should be the "little guy."
"Daddy, let's race!"
Ji Baby never considered himself a little guy; even before his towering father, he never once felt intimidated.
Ji Rui pinched his bottom, "Race how?"
With pudgy fingers pointing to the other end of the pool, "First to swim to the other side wins."
Ji Rui glanced over at Ji Baby's little arms and legs, musing how such a huge difference in innate conditions was even fair.
Ji Baby didn't think he would lose; his face brimming with a confident smile, "Daddy... are you scared?"
"Not at all." Ji Rui shook his head, feeling exasperated. The word "fear" was practically nonexistent in his life dictionary.
"Alright, let's start now, swim however you want, first to reach wins!" Ji Baby's train of thought was quite clear; it seemed he regularly raced others.
But judging by how determined this little guy seemed, hardly anyone in the Ji Family must have dared to beat him.
"Mm."
A few minutes later, Ji Rui narrowly defeated Ji Baby by half a body length.
Initially, Ji Baby obviously pouted with a disgruntled face, but within seconds, the little fellow picked himself back up, full of fighting spirit, raising his small face to look at Ji Rui, "Daddy, let's race again! This time I'll definitely beat you!"
Ji Rui nodded, patting Ji Baby on the head, thinking to himself that his son, the son of Ji Rui, couldn't be someone who couldn't handle losing.
The father and son's race went back and forth three times; the first and second times, Ji Rui won with a "slight" advantage, but the third time, Ji Baby won by a narrow margin.
Having finally won a round, Ji Baby jubilantly bounced around in the water for a while before latching onto Ji Rui like a koala bear, asking for a prize.
Ji Rui, being incredibly smart, patted his little bottom, saying, "Anything except Mommy!"
Ji Baby's face immediately drooped, clinging to Ji Rui without another word.
"Young Master, Miss Deng is here, Sir wants you to entertain her," the butler's voice came in timely.
Ji Rui's expression darkened, handing Ji Baby to the butler, he pushed off the pool edge with powerful arms, vaulting onto the side.
"Who told her?!"
He had come back last night on a whim; even if living nearby, Deng Jiarong couldn't possibly have known he was home unless someone told her of his whereabouts.
"Young Master, I don't know!" The butler looked down fearfully.
Even though the butler had been serving the Ji Family longer than Ji Rui had been alive, Ji Rui's iceberg-like frosty demeanor still made him both inscrutable and somewhat intimidating.
Ji Rui could roughly guess who had betrayed his whereabouts; he pinched Baobao's face, "Baobao, tell Grandpa that Sister Jiarong is here and ask him to greet her."
Once instructed, Ji Rui turned toward another exit of the pool, which led straight to the second floor.
"Daddy, where are you going? I want to go too..."
Ji Baby squirmed uncooperatively in the butler's arms; just like his father, he had no desire to see Sister Jiarong either. Though she was quite pretty, her perfume was overpowering enough to fill an entire room, which always left him sneezing uncontrollably.
Ji Rui had almost reached the door when he heard Ji Baby's fussing and came back to give him a rare forehead kiss, awkwardly trying to comfort him.
"Daddy has to go back to the company for work, be a good boy and stay home, Baobao!"