Bai Chen had already messaged Mr. and Mrs. Bai, so when they got out of the car, they saw the couple waiting for them at the villa's entrance.
Stirred by the car stopping, Ye Yunyun rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked curiously at her family.
"Bao Bao, come let Grandma give you a hug." The woman before her wore a light-colored long robe with an amber necklace around her neck. She was a mature woman who had aged gracefully, still possessing a certain charm.
Ye Yunyun didn't struggle, snuggling obediently into her grandmother's arms.
Mrs. Bai looked with heartache at Ye Yunyun's hat-covered head. "How did it get this bad? Your mother doesn't know how to watch you properly, and your father is just a waste of air. They let my precious Bao Bao get hurt."
In her youth, Mrs. Bai had been a powerhouse of a woman, with a formidable temper. She never minced words when criticizing someone.
The little baby in her arms was fair and delicate, with chubby cheeks. Her little lotus-root-like hands were being stuffed into her cherry-like mouth—
"Precious babies shouldn't suck their fingers." Mrs. Bai gently pulled Ye Yunyun's hand out, carried her into the house, and took off her hat. "Wearing a hat for too long gets stuffy, and it's not good for your wound's recovery. You don't need to wear it at home."
Ye Yunyun didn't react, continuing to play with her grandmother's finger, which was adorned with a Jade Ring.
'Whoa—if that Jade Ring were on my hand…'
Hearing the unfamiliar child's voice, Mrs. Bai looked down and happened to see Ye Yunyun placing her own little finger next to Mrs. Bai's, pretending to compare their sizes.
A young child's greed only comes across as cute, especially since Mrs. Bai was certainly not short on money.
Mr. Bai also heard the innocent, childish words, and a hint of a smile appeared on his stern face.
Soon, they realized something even more important: Ye Yunyun could talk!
Previously, Ye Yunyun would at most make a couple of "ah ah" sounds. Most of the time, she would just hang her head in silence, only offering a slight glance when an adult tried to play with her. Even with medical intervention from a young age, her condition hadn't improved.
Mr. Bai spoke first. "Since Yunyun wants it, how about Grandpa buys a whole set for you? Does Yunyun want a ring, plus another ring and a bracelet, and a necklace too?"
Ye Yunyun's eyes lit up.
Mrs. Bai chimed in, "Whatever Yunyun wants, just say it so Grandpa and Grandma know."
'Of course I want everyth—'
The butler chuckled. "Chairman, Madam, please don't tease the young miss. She can't talk yet."
"Li, don't be ridiculous. Didn't my Bao Bao just say she wanted my Jade Ring? Haha." Mrs. Bai was grinning from ear to ear.
The butler looked astonished. "But the young miss didn't say anything just now."
Mr. and Mrs. Bai exchanged a look of shock and uncertainty.
Beside them, Bai Chen realized his parents had also heard the voice. "Xiao Yunduo didn't actually speak just now. Mom, you must have misheard."
With an outsider present, it wasn't a good time to explain things to his parents.
Mrs. Bai played along smoothly. "Haha, I must be getting old and useless. I probably misheard. I've been hoping so much for my Bao Bao to speak that I guess I've started imagining things."
Mr. and Mrs. Bai had seen their share of storms in life. Although the current situation was strange, now was not the right time to discuss it. The old couple just wanted to hurry and take their Bao Bao into the study to investigate properly.
Ye Yunyun huddled in Mrs. Bai's arms, a little stunned and scared.
'Wh-what's wrong? I didn't say anything.'
'Waaah, but I really do want that Jade Ring. How did Grandpa and Grandma know?'
'Could it be... they have the Mind Reading Technique?'
If they didn't comfort her soon, the little one was going to be scared stiff. The kid wasn't very bright to begin with; it would be terrible if she got frightened.
Mr. Bai said, "In that case, we'll just have to buy Bao Bao a full set of jade to make it up to her."
Mrs. Bai added, "Of course. The way Bao Bao was looking at the jade, it was as if the word 'want' was written all over her face."
"Her little hands were touching it all over, as if afraid the adults wouldn't know she wanted it."
Hearing this, Ye Yunyun silently retracted her hand. But Mrs. Bai took off her Jade Ring and pressed it into Ye Yunyun's palm.
"If you like it, take it and play with it. Grandma will have someone come over later to custom-make a set for my Bao Bao."
------
As they passed through the living room, a low whimper suddenly came from a corner.
It's a dog! Ye Yunyun delightedly craned her neck to look, wriggling in her grandmother's arms.
Mrs. Bai took the cue and set Ye Yunyun down. Ye Yunyun waddled unsteadily toward the source of the sound, looking so precarious that the adults all wanted to snatch her back up.
'Oops, I haven't walked in a while, so I'm a little rusty, hehe. I love playing with doggies.'
It was a large black dog with a sleek coat, confined in a big cage. It wagged its tail excitedly at Ye Yunyun.
Ye Yunyun's eyes sparkled, and she couldn't resist stepping forward to stick her hand into the cage.
'Woah, so this is the retired military dog the Bai family keeps in the story. What a handsome boy, such a good boy!'
The butler spoke up from the side. "Young Miss, Shi Tou bit someone recently, so he can't play with you right now."
'Shi Tou bit someone? Hmm… What actually happened was he accidentally went into the kitchen and saw the nanny, Nanny Zhang, secretly eating the master's bird's nest soup. He started barking at her, so Nanny Zhang spat in Grandpa and Grandma's food. Shi Tou then knocked the food bowls over. When Nanny Zhang tried to hit him for it, she ended up getting hurt herself.'
'Shi Tou doesn't bite people. He only bites ungrateful scoundrels.'
Ye Yunyun pretended not to understand the butler's words and continued reaching her hands out toward Shi Tou.
The butler blocked her view. "Young Miss, you really can't play with Shi Tou right now. Shi Tou hurt Nanny Zhang, so he might hurt you too."
'Tch, Nanny Zhang only got a scratch.'
'Didn't Nanny Zhang get hospitalized because the bite went down to the bone? And what's with what Bao Bao is "saying"? Wasn't it that Shi Tou suddenly went wild and attacked Nanny Zhang?'
Recalling that the kitchen's security camera had been broken on the day of the incident, Mr. and Mrs. Bai immediately sensed something was fishy.
Before, because Nanny Zhang and Li had been working for the Bai family for decades, Mr. and Mrs. Bai had easily believed their story. But if there was truly more to it… Still, after so many decades of service, and given how generously they treated both Nanny Zhang and Li—even their son was a presidential assistant at the company—why would they act this way?
'Or maybe Bao Bao just imagined it all? Bao Bao wasn't there. How could she know about these things?'
Mrs. Bai frowned and asked, "Li, speaking of which, since it was our dog that hurt Nanny Zhang, I should find some time to visit her in the hospital. This was a terrible, undeserved accident for her."
The butler replied, "My wife is at the New Fang Orthopedic Hospital right now. A distant nephew of mine is her attending physician. Although the bone was injured, it wasn't a fracture. The doctor said she'll be able to walk again after a few more days of rest. There's no need to trouble you, Madam, or the Chairman to make a trip. I just hope that when my wife returns to work, you, Madam, the Chairman, and the young masters and misses won't mind if she's a bit clumsy."
'What hospital? Nanny Zhang is at home right now! She bribed the doctor, who's a distant relative of hers, to write a fake medical report. The huge workers' compensation payment and large medical fee that Grandpa and Grandma gave her were split between the two of them.'