Qiqi woke up to see Su Mu first, who was sitting quietly by the head of the bed with a book in hand, completely devoid of the anger that had filled her in the bathroom before. Yet, perhaps because it was Qiqi’s first ti witnessing such a deanor from Su Mu, she still felt a bit scared even though Su Mu had cald down.
Subconsciously, Qiqi looked around the room for Fu Shinian, but to her surprise, it was just the two of them.
Noticing Qiqi was awake and searching around, Su Mu smiled slightly:
"Fu Shinian is busy, would you like to call him over?"
Qiqi was startled, sat up in bed after wriggling out of her blankets, and gently shook her head in Su Mu’s direction: "No need."
Su Mu smiled, stretched over to feel Qiqi’s forehead—thankfully, no fever—and her heart gradually settled back into place. Looking at Qiqi, her expression was not stern, but it was definitely not kind either, making Qiqi in her presence sowhat nervous.
"Qiqi, I think you need to talk to ."
Qiqi nodded, admitting her fault:
"Mommy, I was wrong."
"Where did you go wrong?"
"I shouldn’t have taken a cold shower on purpose to make myself catch a cold, nor should I have tried to get what I want by getting sick," Qiqi’s eyes reddening: "I was wrong, I won’t do it again."
Seeing Qiqi like this, Su Mu felt quite bad too. She couldn’t deny her part of the responsibility in this matter, yet so things still had to be said—she couldn’t and didn’t dare let Qiqi take such risks again, staking her own wellbeing:
"Qiqi, do you know that I love you?"
Qiqi nodded:
"I know."
"Then, do you know that I worry about you when you’re sick, and I can’t sleep all night? Not just , Fu Shinian, Great Grandmother, and your aunt, they’re all worried about you. I believe you can tell from their recent attitudes towards you, right?"
"Yes, I know."
Su Mu took Qiqi’s hand, earnestly:
"I know that in this world, not everything can be achieved simply by speaking out. Many things also require the right approach and thod, but you’re a child. Even if you think you need to act to achieve your goal, you shouldn’t treat your health as a joke. You could have just told ."
After Su Mu’s words, Qiqi finally looked up at her, and after a few seconds, she asked:
"If I tell mommy, will mommy agree?"
Su Mu didn’t speak, and Qiqi looked at her: "Mommy won’t agree, right?"
Su Mu nodded:
"Yes, I won’t agree, but I will consider it. I will think about it from your perspective, from your standpoint. You know, you are the most important person in my world; I can’t not care about your feelings."
"So if I say it now, would you change your mind, Mommy?"
Su Mu looked at Qiqi for a while without speaking, but the hope in Qiqi’s eyes never faded. Finally, Su Mu said:
"Qiqi, can you give so ti to think about it?"
"Okay." Qiqi smiled, seemingly satisfied with that answer alone, and clasped Su Mu’s hand back: "Mommy, I really like Fu Shinian. You have no idea how happy I was the mont I found out he was my daddy."
Su Mu smiled and hugged her close to her chest:
"I rember all your words, and I will consider them carefully."
"But Mommy, I don’t want you to feel pressured for . If you really don’t love Fu Shinian and want to live with Uncle Wen, I can understand. I won’t do such a foolish thing again today. I won’t make you worry about anymore."
Su Mu stroked her hair and said:
"Mommy also needs to apologize to you; I shouldn’t have hit you."
Having said this, Su Mu gently pushed Qiqi away from her embrace, looked at her little face with heartache, and asked: "Does it hurt?"
Qiqi shook her head:
"I know Mommy did it for my own good, and I know I did sothing wrong, so it doesn’t hurt."
Qiqi didn’t have a fever again that night, and to save face for the little one, Su Mu and Fu Shinian didn’t tell anyone about Qiqi’s self-sabotage. It seed to beco a little secret among the three of them, which made Qiqi very happy, but she also knew she probably wouldn’t enjoy the sa treatnt as before.
Su Mu had been going to the hospital often lately and had no intention of taking Qiqi ho with her. Staying here herself seed a bit unreasonable after already being here for three days. However, seeing Qiqi’s disappointed look and thinking about what she had said to her that day, Su Mu’s heart softened with a twinge of pain, so when Fu Shinian went upstairs with Qiqi to put her to bed, Su Mu accompanied them.
Qiqi was visibly happy about Su Mu’s presence in the bedroom and asked while embracing her:
"Mommy, are you going to sleep with ?"
Su Mu kissed her forehead:
"I have things to do tomorrow and need to leave early, so you might not see when you wake up, but I can stay with you tonight."
"Okay." Qiqi excitedly turned to Fu Shinian: "Daddy, Mommy is going to sleep with us."
Fu Shinian, who was about to step forward, froze at Qiqi’s address, standing there dazed like a statue, breaths faint. Qiqi noticed Fu Shinian’s reaction and asked with a smile:
"Daddy, what’s wrong?"
Su Mu also looked back and saw his reaction, smiling gently.
This was the first ti Fu Shinian had heard Qiqi call him "Daddy." Although he had gotten used to being a father and having a child around, Qiqi had never called him "Daddy"; perhaps for Su Mu’s sake and maybe because she had her own little emotions. Fu Shinian was in no hurry, even prepared to be called "Fu Shinian" by Qiqi for life.
Yet just like that, Qiqi’s call of "Daddy" spontaneously echoed in his ears. He never knew that a simple title, just two words, could trigger such a reaction in him. That shock emanating from deep within was real and present; he felt as if he could give up everything for that title.
After recuperating from the shock, Fu Shinian walked over to Qiqi. Although she was still in Su Mu’s arms, he embraced her, holding together with Su Mu these two persons most important to him, his heart lting with softness.
Su Mu did not struggle, and let him hold them, bringing her unrest to calm.
When the warmth subsided after a long ti, Fu Shinian looked at Qiqi, pinched her little face, and said: "Qiqi, call that again."
With a slight smile, Qiqi spoke: "Daddy!"
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