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

Twenty tomato seedlings, with well-developed white root systems, thick stems, and no disease spots.

Fifteen chili seedlings were planted; the plants were short and sturdy, with thick, green leaves, and there were no aphids.

Ten eggplant seedlings, with intact root systems and no bacterial wilt.

Two bundles of scallion sprouts, with long white parts and fresh roots.

A box of garlic, with plump cloves and no mold.

One bag of ginger, with plump ginger sprouts and no rot.

……

[Ding! Seedling inspection completed. God-level planting experience points +128!]

He also randomly checked several packets of seeds.

Tomato seeds, cucumber seeds, corn seeds, green bean seeds, water spinach seeds, amaranth seeds, lettuce seeds,

Romaine lettuce seeds, spinach seeds, celery seeds, radish seeds, carrot seeds, potato seeds, onion seeds...

He opened and checked each item to confirm that they were all the ones he had previously selected.

"No problem," he told the driver.

The driver unloaded the goods at the entrance of the yard, piling them together with the flower seedlings Chen Hao had bought earlier.

The driver drove off in the bread truck.

Shen Xiaoting squatted in front of the pile of seedlings, picked up a tomato seedling, and looked at it.

The seedling is about 15 centimeters tall, with four or five leaves and fine hairs on its stem.

She leaned closer and smelled it; it had a faint scent of grass.

"Dad, what's this?"

"Tomato seedlings. Plant them, and they'll grow into tomatoes, the red, round kind."

"I love tomatoes!" Shen Xiaoting carefully placed the seedlings back into the box. "Dad, when are we going to plant them?"

"Afternoon. Let's have lunch first, then we'll plant."

Chen Hao took his daughter's hand and walked back to the convenience store.

Meng Meiling had already set out the food. Chen Bingzhong sat at the table. The gauze on his right arm had been changed today; it was white and very clean.

He glanced at Chen Hao, then at Tingting, and picked up his rice bowl: "Eat."

Shen Xiaoting climbed onto her little stool, picked up her rabbit-shaped chopsticks, took a piece of braised pork, put it in her mouth, chewed it a couple of times, then suddenly remembered something, put down her chopsticks, and said to her grandmother:

"Grandma, Dad bought so many flower seedlings! There are roses, peonies, lavender, and so many more! We're going to plant them this afternoon!"

Meng Meiling smiled and placed a piece of fish on her granddaughter's plate: "Really? Are you going to help Dad with chores this afternoon?"

"Yes!" Shen Xiaoting nodded vigorously. "Daddy, teach me how to plant flowers! I want to plant lots and lots of flowers!"

While eating, Chen Bingzhong mumbled, "Why plant so many flowers? We can't eat them."

"Dad, the garden is for looking at, the vegetable garden is for eating," Chen Hao said.

"We have tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, peppers, eggplants, and green beans in the garden, enough for us to eat."

Chen Bingzhong snorted and didn't say anything more, but the corners of his mouth were curved wider than usual.

After finishing the meal, Chen Hao helped his mother clear the dishes, and then took his daughter back to the old house.

He started a live stream, and as soon as the live stream started, viewers flooded in.

After yesterday's paper airplane live stream, he has nearly 290,000 followers. In less than a minute after the broadcast started, the number of viewers exceeded 6,000.

"It's open! It's open! Afternoon session!"

"The streamer is planting flowers this afternoon? I saw lots of seedlings by the door!"

"Tingting changed her clothes? She's wearing a floral dress, so cute!"

"The garden construction is finally starting! I can't wait!"

Chen Hao sent a message using his mind: "This afternoon, first transplant the seedlings to the garden, then plant the vegetables."

He walked to the garden on the east side of the yard, picked up a shovel, and began to loosen the soil.

He had already turned over the soil in the garden yesterday, but he would turn it over again today, breaking up the large clods and picking out the stones and grass roots.

He worked quickly, turning the soil with a shovel, and in less than half an hour, the soil in the entire garden was loose and fine, as if it had been sifted.

[Ding! Garden soil tilling completed, God-level planting experience points +124!]

Shen Xiaoting squatted beside the garden, watching her father turn the soil, her little face full of admiration.

Seeing her father covered in sweat, she ran back into the house to get a wet towel, then ran back to hand it to him, saying, "Dad, wipe your sweat."

Chen Hao took the towel, wiped the sweat from his face, and felt a warmth in his heart: "Thank you, Tingting."

He squatted down and picked up the first flower seedling—a rose.

He gently took the seedling out of the flowerpot, and with his fingers gently brushed away the soil around the roots, revealing the white root system.

The root system was very developed, and some old roots had coiled up at the bottom of the pot. He used scissors to cut off those coiled roots and shortened the excessively long roots.

[Ding! Rose seedling root pruning completed, God-level planting experience points +132!]

"Tingting, look, this is called root trimming." Chen Hao held up the trimmed rose seedling in front of his daughter.

"There are too many roots, all crowded together, making it difficult for new roots to grow after planting. Only by cutting off some of the old and rotten roots can new roots grow."

Shen Xiaoting leaned closer to look and nodded: "Oh... Xiu Gen."

Chen Hao dug a hole in the garden, about two centimeters deeper than the soil ball of the rose seedling, and twice as wide.

He placed the pruned rose seedling into the pit, straightened it with his hand, and then used a shovel to backfill it with soil, gently compacting it as he went to ensure that the soil and roots were in full contact.

"Tingting, when planting flowers, the soil should not be compacted too tightly or too loosely."

Too tight a bed and the roots won't grow; too loose and the seedling won't stand firm.

He pressed the soil around the seedling with his hand to check its compactness—just right.

After planting, he watered it thoroughly to help it establish itself.

Water slowly seeped down the roots of the seedlings, and the soil changed from light brown to dark brown.

[Ding! Rose transplant successfully completed. God-level planting experience points +145!]

"Dad, is there anything we should be careful about regarding the roses this month?" Shen Xiaoting squatted down beside him, taking notes carefully.

Chen Hao smiled as he looked at his daughter's earnest little face.

He squatted down and began to explain to his daughter.

Roses love sunshine and need at least six hours of sun every day. They also like warmth; they will get frostbite if it gets too cold.

The optimal temperature for its growth is between 15 and 26 degrees Celsius. The soil should be loose, fertile, and well-drained; waterlogging will cause root rot.

Shen Xiaoting listened attentively, and although there were some words she didn't quite understand, she tried her best to remember them.

"There are many varieties of roses. The one we planted today is 'Red Dragon,' which has a deep red color and many petals, with more than forty petals on a single flower."

The flower is quite large, about ten centimeters in diameter.

"It's huge!" Shen Xiaoting gestured with her hands, spreading her arms to show the size of a watermelon.

Chen Hao smiled and continued, "The methods of propagating roses include cuttings, grafting, layering, and division."

This is a grafted seedling. The roots at the bottom are from wild roses, and the branches at the top are from Chinese roses. By grafting them together, the roots are stronger and the flowers are more abundant.

What is grafting?

"It's about grafting two different plants together so they grow into one. Like assembling building blocks."

Shen Xiaoting suddenly realized: "Oh! It looks like building blocks!"