Chapter 3: Innate "Daddy" Saint Body
The message came from an old classmate, Liang Cheng.
Chen Jingle's first reaction was wondering why Liang Cheng had the time to invite him out. Upon checking the date—
“Oh, it’s actually a non-working day.”
He had slept in and lost track of time.
Being a full-time stay-at-home person, he honestly didn’t have much of a sense of time anymore.
He was about to reply with "No thanks, I need to study," but then felt it would sound too pretentious, so he deleted it.
After thinking for a moment, he asked the system, "What’s the next lesson?"
【Next up is a practical course.】
“Practical?”
Chen Jingle recalled the few practical courses the system had mentioned earlier, raising an eyebrow.
He quickly replied to Liang Cheng’s message: “What’s up?”
“Nothing much, just wanted to invite you out for milk tea, maybe chat a little.”
“I’ve got something on today, can’t make it. How about you come to my place? I’ve got watermelon, honey lemon tea, and all kinds of snacks.”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier! Give me ten minutes, I’ll be there soon.”
“Okay!”
Chen Jingle sent his location and put his phone away.
【Practical time has arrived. Smart babies, while it’s important to learn theoretical knowledge, hands-on practice is also crucial. Please choose from one of the four required courses: cooking, planting, farming, or health care. You have one hour. You can do it!】
Of course, he could!
“I’ll pick planting.”
Without hesitation, Chen Jingle made his choice.
He didn’t pick planting because he was a farmer or an expert in agriculture, but because he had been planting quite a lot in his yard over the past six months. He felt he had a little experience and wasn’t completely clueless.
Plus, he was curious to see what kind of differences there would be between this practical lesson and the previous theoretical one.
He rummaged through the tool bucket, pulled out a pair of scissors, and decided to trim a few bougainvillea plants in the yard to make them look better.
Plant care was mostly 70% maintenance and 30% pruning.
Take the corner bougainvillea, for example. It had been left to grow wildly at first, which seemed fine for a while, as it produced plenty of branches. But eventually, the branches became so messy it was a headache.
And when a strong wind blew, the whole thing got scattered everywhere.
If the management had been done right from the beginning, it wouldn’t have ended up like this.
But luckily, it wasn’t too late.
...
Chen Jingle wasn’t a professional, and even among amateur enthusiasts, he would be considered just average.
However,
When he put on his straw hat, held the scissors, and stood in front of the potted plants, he was surprised to find that there seemed to be new knowledge in his mind that he hadn’t learned before. He could now clearly recognize what needed to be done, almost as if an intuitive sense had been awakened.
“Wow, it can really be like this?!”
This feeling was like he had activated some sort of cheat code, as if someone experienced was guiding his hands—no, it felt more like being possessed!
Tsk~
The only thing he didn’t know was how long this effect would last after the practical lesson ended.
At that moment, Chen Jingle couldn’t help but shout in his mind, “I love studying! I love studying!”
Why wait? He immediately started trimming away!
He began with the small pots.
The small potted plants, which he thought had already been trimmed nicely and looked quite decent, now looked even better after just a few simple cuts.
What used to be mere cultivation was now real care, now properly called bonsai.
“If this effect works on all plants, then the system is invincible!” Chen Jingle marveled.
However, to grow a potted plant into an old tree, he still had a lot of work ahead of him.
Beep~ beep~
Just as he was busy trimming, a vintage silver Volkswagen Bora parked outside.
The window rolled down, revealing Liang Cheng’s face—glasses on, looking cultured, slightly plump, and fair-skinned.
“What ya doin?”
"Cutting, isn’t obvious?" Chen Jingle waved the scissors in his hand.
"Wow, so this is what you meant by 'can't step away'? You seem pretty free."
"This is just part of it. There are other things, too. Seriously, driving just for this short distance? Forget it, come in first and we’ll talk."
Chen Jingle opened the courtyard gate, letting the car drive in. After parking, Liang Cheng got out, bent over the back seat, and carefully carried out a little girl.
The little girl, still half-asleep, lit up the moment she saw Chen Jingle. She giggled and reached out for him, as if she couldn’t bear to spend another second in her father’s arms.
Seeing this, Chen Jingle’s face darkened. "Seriously? Why did you bring her here?"
The little girl was Liang Mingyue, Liang Cheng’s daughter, just a year old.
And the key point? She was a clingy little troublemaker—impossible to shake off.
Liang Cheng sighed. "I’m on babysitting duty today. What was I supposed to do? Leave her at home by herself?"
"Where’s Teacher Zhong and your mom?"
"Zhong has classes—her students are in their final year of middle school. My mom went back to the village for some errands and won’t be back until tomorrow."
Chen Jingle rolled his eyes. "Then you should’ve stayed home to take care of your kid instead of wandering around."
"It was Mingyue who didn’t want to stay home. She wanted to come out and play, okay?"
"Yeah, right. I believe you… not!"
"Ugh, enough talking. Help me carry her—she’s killing my arms."
"…That’s your daughter! And you only held her for what, a few seconds?" Chen Jingle snapped.
But, complaints aside, he tossed the scissors and gloves to the side. With a quick motion, he took the little girl from Liang Cheng, cradling her securely in his arms.
The moment Mingyue was in Chen Jingle’s arms, she stopped squirming and quietly snuggled against him.
See? That’s the effortless charm of a natural-born babysitter.
From childhood to adulthood, no matter where he went—be it teenage girls on the brink of adulthood or newborns who hadn’t even opened their eyes yet—Chen Jingle was always the favorite of the younger crowd.
Thirty years old with 25 years of babysitting experience.
Not that it was particularly useful.
It’s not like he was planning to become a professional nanny.
"You're still the best," Liang Cheng said, relieved to have passed off the responsibility. He even looked a little smug as he glanced at the carefully pruned bougainvillea plants nearby. "Didn’t know you had a green thumb."
"Of course. Want a couple? Didn’t you just finish decorating your new house? They’ll help absorb formaldehyde."
"Ah, I couldn’t possibly…"
"Oh, come on, they’re not expensive. As long as you’ve got one plant, you can propagate more. It just takes a bit of effort to make them look nice."
Chen Jingle chuckled at the thought of northern buyers shelling out hundreds—or even thousands—for a single bougainvillea, often just a small sapling.
He had bought bare-root seedlings for just two yuan each.
Of course, if you didn’t want to spend even that much, you could always "borrow" a cutting from a public green space.
Not that he’d recommend it—good citizens don’t do things like that.
"Little Mingyue, pick one you like, and Uncle will give it to you." Adjusting his grip, Chen Jingle held the little girl up to look.
She really was adorable, like a porcelain doll.
He began wondering if he should have a child someday—a mischievous little boy to "steal the cabbage" and infuriate Liang Cheng.
[TN:a metaphor for playful or sneaky behavior, often implying taking something that doesn’t strictly belong to you but in a humorous or lighthearted way. ]
Just as the thought crossed his mind, Mingyue pointed at something and babbled, "W-want… want…"
Still learning to talk, her words were unclear.
Chen Jingle followed the direction of her tiny finger, and his face darkened. "That one’s planted in the ground. I can’t dig it up for you. Pick another."
Liang Cheng burst out laughing.
In the end, Chen Jingle chose a Zhang Hong Ying and a double-petaled red bougainvillea, both already in full bloom.
Bougainvilleas were easy to care for—even if you didn’t water them for two weeks, they wouldn’t die.
"So, what’s new with you lately?"
Liang Cheng sprawled out on a lounge chair, enjoying the breeze from the fan and munching on watermelon. He didn’t even bother to share a bite with the little girl.
