Story #6 – Baby’s Training Day

“We have a problem,” Qiu Ying announced over dinner one night.

“What’s the matter?” her husband, Ji Xiang Kong, asked.

She pointed to their child, sitting in his high chair at the end of the table, and said, “Xiao Feng’s daycare is closed tomorrow.” 

“What?  Why?”

Qiu Ying shrugged her shoulders and reached for some vegetables which she placed in front of their son.  “It’s a last minute thing apparently.  The electric company needs to turn off their electricity for several hours tomorrow in order to make some fixes to a nearby electrical unit, so the daycare has decided to close their doors for the entire day.  I just got notice of it on my way home tonight.  What are we going to do?  I have an important meeting in the morning that I can’t miss, my parents are still out of town, and it’s too late to find a babysitter for an entire day.”

“What else can we do?” Xiang Kong put down his bowl of rice and sighed.  “I’ll have to take him to the training base with me tomorrow.”

=//=

The next morning, Xiang Kong arrived to work carrying a lot more than he normally did.  In addition to Xiao Feng who was strapped across his chest in a baby carrier, in each of his hands he carried giant bags filled with blankets, stuffed animals, toys, diapers, extra clothes, bottles, and baby formula.  Qiu Ying might as well have packed the baby’s entire nursery, Xiang Kong muttered to himself, as he struggled to open the training base’s heavy metal doors. 

The yanking motion caused him to jostle the baby and Xiao Feng let out a whimper in his sleep.  Xiang Kong looked down and immediately started to apologize in a whisper, “Sorry, sorry, sorry!” and then he prayed the baby wouldn’t wake up and erupt into a massive cry.  It could sometimes take forever to get him to stop once he got going.  “Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry!”

Behind him, Shu Wen also arrived to work at the same time, and peered over his shoulder to see what was going on.  “Why, what do we have here?  Isn’t this Xiao Feng?  So cute.  He looks like he’s really grown since the last time I saw him, and I think he’s looking more and more like his mother, but why did you bring him here today?”

“Can you help me open the door?” Xiang Kong wheezed out.

“Oh, sure.”

Once Shu Wen opened the doors and Xiang Kong followed her inside he explained about the daycare situation.  He then laid out blankets on the floor for the baby to crawl around while Shu Wen went to wake up the players. 

After Xiang Kong retired from competing, he and Qiu Ying moved from the second floor of the training base, which they had turned into their apartment after their wedding, and into their own apartment nearby.  By then Qiu Ying was pregnant with Xiao Feng so it had only made sense for them to finally have a place to call their own. 

As the founder of Phoenix and its largest shareholder, of course Xiang Kong stayed on with the team even after retiring.  Gu Fang had offered to step aside, but business management wasn’t Xiang Kong’s forte and Gu Fang did it so well.  With a clap to his old friend’s shoulder, Xiang Kong had told him to not even think about going anywhere else.  Instead, he now helped Shu Wen by serving as the team’s data analyst and continued to formulate new strategies to fight against their opponents. 

In a surprise turn of events, Xiang Kong also became a college professor.  The university that had created a major just for Xia Ling decided to expand their esports program even after his graduation, and now Xiang Kong taught a class there two days a week.  Fortunately, today wasn’t one of Xiang Kong’s teaching days so he could bring Xiao Feng with him to the training base. 

When the players stumbled out of their bedrooms, they were surprised to find a baby in their midst. 

Xia Ling stepped forward to wave at his nephew who’d woken up by now and asked, “Why is Xiao Feng here today?

“Daycare’s closed and there was nobody else to watch him.  You’re all just going to have to put up with him for today.”

“That’s okay,” Pei Xi piped up from the kitchen where he’d gone to brew his first cup of coffee of the day.  “We don’t mind, do we guys?” 

The other players quickly agreed.  Indeed, with the Xiao Feng sitting quietly amidst his toys and blinking innocently back at them, it didn’t seem like it would be such a big deal having to spend the day with a baby.

Several hours later, everyone was singing a different tune. 

Not only did Xiao Feng demand a lot of attention, he needed to be watched constantly.  At first, he’d started out in the arms of Xiang Kong, but he was then passed to his uncle, Xia Ling, when one of the younger players needed Xiang Kong’s assistance with something.  Xia Ling had then needed to use the bathroom, so he’d passed the baby to Yi