Treasure Hunt: Tycoon's Priceless Runaway Wife
Chapter 159: The Irreparable Gap

Chapter 159: Chapter 159: The Irreparable Gap

Ji Baby, with reddened eyes, hugged Little Bai as the nanny took him back home. Another nanny who usually took care of Ji Baby, Mo Xin, had taken a leave for a few days. Aunt Guan turned on the light, and the house was filled with a cold, desolate air.

Apparently, Ji Rui hadn’t returned yet.

"Aunt Guan, don’t tell Daddy about what happened today!"

Without Ji Rui or another adult to protect him, Ji Baby exuded a mighty presence that seemed inconceivable for a five-year-old child given his tone and facial expression.

The genuine care and concern Ji Rui held for Ji Baby only dated back a few months. Before that, Ji Baby relied on his own wit and maturity to handle the Ji Family’s constant baiting from Ji Rui’s stepmother, who was also his grandmother, and his two uncles.

Of course, under Mr. Ji’s watchful eye, those three didn’t dare to commit any grave misdeeds, but they frequently engaged in subtle ways to take advantage of Ji Baby’s young age.

So, to outsiders, Ji Baby seemed like a child who was protected and cherished from a young age. In reality, he grew up amidst such tumultuous challenges, making his mind naturally more complex and calculating than most children.

"Mm. I understand!"

To this little master, honest Aunt Guan indeed felt a bit intimidated. If she didn’t know better, she would have believed she was interacting with a dignified adult.

Ji Baby placed the sleeping Little Bai back in the cat’s bed, stroked the cat mommy’s head, and said, "White, I’ve returned Little Bai to you. Don’t carry it around and run everywhere again."

White glared at Ji Baby and let out a soft "meow meow" before gently licking the top of Little Bai’s head.

Ji Baby squatted in front of the cat’s bed, hands under his chin, staring in a daze at the touching scene of the big and small cats grooming each other in affectionate bliss. Lost in thought, he heavily sniffed his nose, stood up, and ran into his own bedroom.

Ji Rui returned home close to midnight, and surprisingly, the big and small cats were peacefully cuddled up sleeping in their bed.

"Where’s the Baby?"

Handing his briefcase to Aunt Guan, Ji Rui asked.

"Asleep."

Without even bothering to change his clothes, Ji Rui walked towards his bedroom to open the door.

"The young master is sleeping in his own room tonight," Aunt Guan quietly informed him, then asked, "Mr. Ji, is there anything you’d like to eat? I can cook something."

"Dumplings."

Ji Rui gently pushed open Ji Baby’s room door, walked to the bed, and sat down.

Ji Baby lay on his side facing away from him. From the rhythmic movement of his shoulder and his breathing pattern, one could tell he was deeply asleep.

Ji Rui extended his hand towards the little face but stopped short of touching it.

He had just come back from the outside; his hands were icy cold. If he woke the little guy, he would end up with an endless hassle.

Thinking this, Ji Rui bowed his head, kissed the soft hair of Ji Baby lightly, and got up to go back to his room to shower.

After getting out from the shower, he found dumplings prepared by Aunt Guan along with two fragrant fried eggs on the coffee table.

"Was the Baby good today?" Ji Rui asked while eating the dumplings, his gaze fixed on the two cats in the pet bed, though the question was directed to Aunt Guan, who was ironing clothes.

"Yes, he was good. The kitten was a bit sick today, so Baby and I took it to the vet."

Aunt Guan selectively recounted the day’s events but didn’t mention Miss Le. She thought Miss Le was a good person, very attentive to Baby, so if Baby didn’t want Mr. Ji to know, she would help keep the secret.

"Oh..."

Ji Rui withdrew his gaze from the pet bed. No wonder the kitten had a new leather-collar bell around its neck; they had been to the pet shop.

After finishing the dumplings, Ji Rui hesitated but still decided to push open Ji Baby’s bedroom door.

Cautiously climbing onto his son’s bed, Ji Rui couldn’t help but laugh at himself.

Except for the childhood phase when he relied heavily on his mother, he had grown to be very independent. For years, he had lived and slept alone, never feeling lacking or seeing anything wrong with it.

Yet now, at thirty, he was afraid of loneliness, wanting a warm bed in the winter nights. Even if the one sharing this bed was his own son, it was certainly better than staring at the ceiling sleeplessly until dawn all alone.

Carefully snuggling into the bed, Ji Rui found Ji Baby instinctively turning towards him in sleep, naturally clutching his pajama front with tiny hands.

Ji Rui gently touched his face as if to kiss him, but unexpectedly felt a stretch of cold moisture with his palm.

Turning up the bedside lamp a bit, he took a closer look, seeing the tear-stained face of his beloved son. Though his eyes were closed, the long eyelashes were still dotted with a couple of tear droplets.

Ji Rui let out a silent sigh, tenderly wiping the tears from his eyes and face with his thumb, eventually planting a few kisses on his face and forehead.

In his heart, he felt both pained and helpless.

As a father, he knew better than anyone the reason that would make such a clever and strong child like Baby cry in his sleep could only be one.

He could wipe away his son’s tears again and again, but the void in his son’s heart was beyond his ability to fill.

Holding his beloved son, Ji Rui stared at the ceiling, wide awake. Not until the latter half of the night did he drift off into a blurred sleep.

In the morning, Ji Rui was roused awake by the energetic Ji Baby, who had climbed onto his belly and was pinching his nose fiercely, he opened his eyes to see Ji Baby’s grinning face.

"Daddy, morning!"

As soon as Ji Baby saw his eyes open, he braced himself against Ji Rui’s chest and leaned over to plant a peck on his face.

"Good morning, Baby!" Ji Rui ruffled Ji Baby’s hair, hugged him, and sat up.

"Today, you need to go to school obediently, alright?" Ji Rui scooped Ji Baby up around the waist and, barefoot, carried him into the bathroom.

For convenience, Ji Rui had prepared two sets of toiletries in both his and Baby’s bathrooms.

"Got it!" Ji Baby mischievously tickled Ji Rui’s waist with his fingers. Although he knew Ji Rui wasn’t ticklish, he still enjoyed teasing him like this.

Ji Rui placed Ji Baby on the stool before the sink, took out two toothbrushes, one large and one small, and squeezed long and short strips of toothpaste on them.

"Daddy, are you going to pick Baby up this afternoon?" Ji Baby asked, head tilted as he looked at Ji Rui with a mouth full of foam.

"Mm!" Since deciding to have his beloved son live with him, Ji Rui’s work schedule had changed significantly.

Previously, he used to have overtime or business functions six days a week.

Now, if he could avoid it, he mostly wouldn’t choose to work late at the office. He delegated most of his social engagements to his staff.

Indirectly, he realized that he seemed to be seeing his secretary less and less recently.