A Billionaire CEO Brings His Child Home: The Awakening of the Stay-at-Home Dad System

The next day, the morning sunlight was cut into a narrow golden line by the curtains and fell on the hotel's white sheets.

The golden thread lay right next to Tingting's feet. She rolled over, her toes twitching, kicking the blankets into a mess. She held her Kapibala doll close to her chest, its furry ears pressed against her chin.

Chen Hao had finished washing up and changed into a clean light gray short-sleeved shirt. He had splashed some cold water on his hair, which was still damp.

He sat at his desk, on which lay two sheets of A4 paper, marked with pencil creases.

He drew that last night when he couldn't sleep, thinking about several folding methods that might be used in today's competition.

Next to the two pieces of paper were two cups of soy milk, with fine water droplets condensing on the cup walls, and two steamed buns on a white plate, steam rising and carrying the aroma of meat and dough.

He glanced at Tingting on the bed.

She was still nestled in the pillow, her hair a mess like a bird's nest, Kapibala's ear pressed against her cheek, leaving a faint red mark.

Her mouth was slightly open, and her breathing was even; she showed no signs of waking up.

Chen Hao reached out and gently patted her shoulder.

"Tingting, get up, you have a competition today."

Tingting's eyebrows twitched, and her eyelids fluttered twice.

She didn't open her eyes, but hugged Kapibala a little tighter, mumbling something indistinctly.

Chen Hao patted her again.

"Tingting, the paper airplane competition, you forgot?"

This sentence is more effective than anything else.

Tingting's eyes snapped open, her bright black pupils darted around, blinked, and then she sat up abruptly, while Kapibala rolled off her lap and onto the sheets.

She froze for two seconds, as if her brain hadn't fully booted up, then her mouth opened: "The competition? The competition today?"

"Yes." Chen Hao pushed the soy milk cup towards her. "Go after you've had breakfast."

"Ouch!" Tingting woke up instantly, threw off the covers, jumped out of bed, and stepped barefoot onto the carpet.

"Dad, why didn't you wake me up sooner! What if I'm late?!"

"It's only seven o'clock, it doesn't start until nine, there's still time."

"That won't do! I haven't washed my face! I haven't changed my clothes! I haven't put on my race badge!"

As Tingting spoke, she ran to the bathroom, opened the glass door, stood on the small stool by the door, and turned on the faucet.

Water gushed out, and she scooped up a handful to splash on her face. She squeezed a little foaming facial cleanser into her palm.

I rubbed it haphazardly a couple of times and then smeared it on my face. White foam covered my face and two clumps stuck to my hair.

She reached for the towel with her eyes closed, but after a couple of tries, she couldn't reach it. Then she cried out, "Daddy! The towel!"

Chen Hao walked over and handed her the towel.

Tingting took it and rubbed her face haphazardly. She managed to get the foam off, but her hair became even more tangled.

She didn't care, squeezed out some toothpaste, and brushed her teeth for two minutes, making a mouthful of white foam. She rinsed her mouth, grinned at herself in the mirror, and...

She flashed two rows of white teeth, gave a satisfied hum, jumped off the small stool, and ran back to her room.

"Dad, what should I wear?"

"Didn't we prepare everything yesterday? White T-shirt, pink shorts."

"Yes, yes, yes."

Tingting opened her small suitcase, took out the white T-shirt and pink shorts, and quickly put them on. The T-shirt was a little big, and the hem almost covered the shorts.

Ignoring everything else, she pulled her clothes down a bit, took out a small pink comb, and, facing the dressing mirror on the bedside table, clumsily began to braid pigtails with both hands.

It took me a while to get that tuft of hair on the left side all together. I wrapped it with a rubber band three times and tied it into a crooked little bun.

The right tuft was even more difficult. She tilted her head, her tongue unconsciously pressing against the corner of her mouth, earnestly struggling with her hair.

After several minutes of fussing, the two pigtails were finally tied up, one higher than the other, with the left pigtail tip leaning to the left and the right pigtail tip leaning to the right, looking like two disobedient little horns.

She shook her head from side to side, her two little braids swaying with each movement, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright."

Chen Hao looked at her two braids and couldn't help but laugh, but he didn't say anything.

He handed her the competition pass, a pink ribbon with a plastic clasp and her photo printed on it.

Tingting took it, hung it around her neck, looked down at the photo, patted it, and nodded, saying:

"nice."

Chen Hao inserted the straw into the soy milk and handed it to her.

"Take a sip first, to warm your stomach."

Tingting took it, took a big sip, and found the soy milk to be warm and subtly sweet.

She took another bite of the bun. The bun skin was soft, and some of the meat filling juice dripped onto her fingers. She licked her fingers and took another bite.

Its cheeks were stuffed full, like two little hamsters, and it asked in a muffled voice while chewing:

"Dad, how far do you think I can fly today?"

"Fly as far as you can, just do your best." Chen Hao picked up a steamed bun, took a bite, and chewed slowly.

Tingting swallowed the bun in her mouth, took a sip of soy milk to smooth it out, and then looked up at him very seriously.

"I want to fly 110 meters."

Chen Hao was amused by her words, and the corners of his mouth turned up.

"One hundred and ten meters?"

"Mmm!" Tingting nodded vigorously, her two pigtails swaying up and down.

"You said that as long as I fold it with care, the paper airplane can fly to a very, very far place for me."

I put extra effort into it today. I planned out the folding method before going to bed last night. Today I wanted to fold the kind with very stable wings.

"It's a design with a narrow fuselage, long wings, and a small bend in the tail for balance. I figured that out yesterday."

"When did you decide to do this? Didn't you go to bed early yesterday?"

"I thought about it after the lights were off," Tingting said matter-of-factly.

"I thought about it with my eyes closed, and only fell asleep after I finished thinking about it, so I'm sure I can fly far today."

Chen Hao reached out and ruffled her hair, making her left pigtail even crooked.

"Okay, then fly 110 meters."

Tingting took another bite of the bun, her cheeks puffed out and her eyes bright.

After finishing breakfast, Chen Hao folded the two A4 sheets of paper with creases on them and put them into his backpack.

He picked up his phone from the bedside table and glanced at it. There was an unread message from Yu Jingwen, with a location of the Ningbo Gymnasium, followed by the following text:

"Teacher Chen, this is the location of the Ningbo Gymnasium. The competition starts at nine o'clock in the morning. Please arrive early and don't be late."

I'm extremely busy today and don't have time to pick you up. You can just come directly there.

The text was followed by a "Go for it!" emoji, featuring a round, yellowish face with two clenched fists.