Mo Xiaomo stared at him blankly, as if at that moment, her future with Zhong Teng was destined to lead to a past with an unexpected ending.
“We all paid dearly for what we missed.” Zhong Teng paused and continued.
He asked Mo Xiaomo to come to him, but she didn’t, so for the past six years she has been both father and mother of Qingbao.
And what he paid, is that he forever missed Qingbao’s six years of growth, missed Qingbao’s first calling “dad” and fell in love with Mo Xiaomo at the the most beautiful age.
“I am not a man who will discard. I have been preserving my moral integrity for six years. I was so wrong six years ago, but you can’t deny that I am not bad. Please take me as one of your thousands of pursuers and give me a chance.”
Zhong Teng spoke honestly, and Mo Xiaomo was distracted by the bright light in his eyes.
It was like the first time she’d heard Zhong Teng say so much to her, rambling but sincere.
“Give me time to consider.” After a while, Mo Xiaomo squeezed four words out of her throat.
She didn’t want to say more.
When Mo Xiaomo returned to the Zhong’s in the evening, she thought that such a rich family would live in a magnificent and noble house, but she did not expect that Zhong Nanping and his wife would live in a quaint Chinese-style house.
Zhong Nanping changed into rough pajamas and sat quietly in a rocking chair in the front yard.
Qingbao crouched on the ground playing the mud. Everything here was new to him, full of surprise.
“Mommy, Qingbao loves it here…” Qingbao raised his hands which was stained with mud and said excitedly to Mo Xiaomo.
“Qingbao wants to sleep here tonight, just for one night…” When he heard Mo Xiaomo wanted to take him away, Qingbao pout his lips unhappily and begged her.
Mo Xiaomo nodded as she realized her own change of her thought and chose to compromise.
When taking a bath at night, Qingbao saw the big bathtub in the bathroom and asked Zhong Teng to take a bath with him. They threw the white foam in the bathtub to each other and had a good time.
When he got out, Qingbao climbed into Mo Xiaomo’s arms and said mysteriously, “Mommy, I have a secret.”
“What secret?” Mo Xiaomo was upset that Fang Keyu had only arranged one room for three of them.
“Daddy’s got a beard on the lower part of the body!” Qingbao raised his eyebrows with a “praise me” in his eyes.
Mo Xiaomo felt pins and needles on her scalp. Zhong Teng, who had just entered the room, heard Qingbao and almost stumbled on the spot.
“Zhong Teng, be careful of your behavior in front of the kids!” Mo Xiaomo accused, her face livid.
Zhong Teng felt wronged, “I took a shower behind a curtain and Qingbao fell out of the bathtub. I didn’t think too much about it before I came out to look at him…”
Both of them wore swimming trunks when they took a bath. It was only in the shower that he…
Mo Xiaomo gave him a glance and did not want to continue this topic, but Qingbao in her arms was still full of curiosity. “Mommy, why does Daddy have a beard and Qingbao doesn’t?”
“…” Mo Xiaomo felt she didn’t have the guts to look into Qingbao’s innocent eyes.
“You’ll have it when you grow up…” Zhong Teng had a dry cough and took Qingbao out of Mo Xiaomo’s arms.
“Really? Will it be as much as Daddy?” Qingbao asked cheerfully.
“…” Zhong Teng can’t help but throw Qingbao into the quilt.
Feeling eyes on his back that made him shiver, Zhong Teng knew that Mo Xiaomo wanted to kill him now.
The frightening eyes finally subsided when Qingbao was satisfied to fall asleep. Zhong Teng breathed a sigh of relief and looked up through the small night light. Mo Xiaomo had closed her eyes and seemed to be asleep.
She falls asleep quickly anywhere.
The drama of the day was over. “Can my relationship with Mo Xiaomo go further tomorrow?”
Zhong Teng was still thinking when Qingbao suddenly kicked thin quilt to his feet with his two legs.
Zhong Teng raised his hand to get the quilt, but it was Mo Xiaomo’s tender hand that he touched.