My Dad is My Mom Chapter 31: 031

Chapter 31

Cheng Jinlan was unable to sleep in the first half of the night, and had one dream after another in the second half. In each dream, a big black dog kept barking at her. When she woke up the next day, the dark circles under her eyes were so heavy that even thick makeup could not cover them.

Cheng LiQi's eyes were half-closed as she looked up at her mother's face and asked, "Mom, did you not sleep well?"

Cheng Jinlan rubbed so fragrant cream on her face, then gently patted her daughter's chubby cheeks twice before answering her question, "A little."

Cheng LiQi opened her eyes wide. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yes."

"What did you dream about, Mom? Was a big tiger chasing you?"

"No, it was a big black dog."

"Ah~" Cheng LiQi stroked her mother's head to comfort her, "Don't be afraid, Mom. Dogs aren't that scary. White puppies are very cute, and so big dogs can be cute too. Not all big dogs are frightening. The big dog in Mom's dream must have been adorable."

Cheng Jinlan picked up a comb and started brushing her hair. "How does little LiQi know the dog in Mom's dream was cute? Did you sneak into Mom's dream?"

Cheng LiQi tilted her head and thought for a mont before replying to her mom, "Because Mom is the best mom in the world, the prettiest mom, the cutest mom. So that big dog must have chased Mom because he liked Mom. A dog who likes Mom must be very cute, just like ."

Cheng Jinlan had originally woken up in a terrible mood after a poor night's sleep. But now she cupped her daughter's chubby face in her hands and kissed her hard several tis in a row. What was she to do with this little sweetie who was her daughter? Was she planning to lt her mom's heart first thing in the morning?

"No one is as cute as our little sweetheart. Our little sweetie is the cutest baby."

The corners of Cheng LiQi's mouth turned up. "Then please give your cutest little sweetheart, , the cutest little braids."

Cheng Jinlan did more than just the cutest little braids. She styled Cheng LiQi's hair into a flower bun. Cheng LiQi spun around in front of the mirror several tis and then happily went out the door holding her mom's hand.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw a huge bouquet of roses placed next to it.

"Wow~~ Mom, who left these beautiful flowers at our door? They're so pretty!"

The bouquet was too big for Cheng LiQi to hold, so she could only squat down and lean in to sll the roses, then look up at her mom. "They sll so nice, Mom. Was it brought by a fairy?"

Cheng Jinlan had seen the flowers in the back seat when she parked her car last night.

During their relationship, he had given her all kinds of gifts - the newest jewelry, bags, clothes. It was convenient and perfunctory. Sotis she was too lazy to even open them and look. But he had never given her flowers before. It wasn't that she particularly liked flowers, she just couldn't imagine what it would be like if he appeared with a bouquet. It really wasn't his style, just as she had never imagined that the word "woof" would co out of his mouth.

Did he think that by barking "woof" he would get the dogs to recognize him as one of their own?

Cheng Jinlan plucked a rose, snapped off the stem, and tucked it behind Cheng LiQi's ear. She held her daughter's chin and examined her carefully. "I feel like I'm looking at a beautiful little fairy."

Cheng LiQi touched the rose on her ear. She jumped up happily. "I've beco a little flower fairy!"

Cheng Jinlan bent down to pick her up. "Our little LiQi has beco a little flower fairy. Does she still want breakfast?"

Cheng LiQi put her arms around her mother's neck. "I do. Little flower fairies need to eat a lot to grow into even prettier fairies." She rubbed her little nose. "I can already sll the breakfast Grandma Qu is making."

Cheng Jinlan carried her little flower fairy through the small door in the wall. The wind blew over the roses blooming on top of the wall, and their fragrance filled the June air.

Sumr had arrived before they knew it.

It was Saturday today. Cheng Jinlan hadn't gone to the hotel yesterday, so she needed to go over this morning to deal with so backlogged work. The hotel was also hosting two important conferences this weekend that she wanted to oversee.

When she parked her car in the underground garage, she habitually took out her phone to check her ssages. The red dots on WeChat had piled up. The liveliest was the conference group led by Chang Yunqiong and Miao. The conference was taking place tomorrow, and they were doing a rehearsal today.

Zhou An spoke for the first ti in the group. He @Cheng Jinlan, then @Shao Chengze: [After the eting ends tomorrow, we three companies should get together. First, we've mostly just been in contact online recently, so we should have a "net friends etup" to match nas to faces and build a good foundation for our next collaboration. Second, to celebrate the successful and smooth conclusion of our conference. I'll play host and we can eat and drink to our heart's content, not leaving until we're drunk. What do you think?]

Below, the other people in the group responded enthusiastically, agreeing that Boss Zhou had a great idea.

The two people he @ had not yet responded.

Cheng Jinlan typed in the chat box: [Boss Zhou is right, we should get together. But Boss Zhou shouldn't have to play host. Boss Zhou has taken care of ishui and Lanchen's business, he shouldn't have to spend more on treating us to a al. I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Boss Zhou's team and Qiongmiao's team for their care and coordination with ishui's work, as well as everyone's hard work recently.]

Right after Cheng Jinlan hit send, another ssage appeared in the chat at the sa ti. Hers was on top, the other below. The sender of the other ssage was Shao Chengze.

The content was: [Boss Zhou is right, we should get together. But Boss Zhou shouldn't have to play host. Qiongmiao is leading this conference, and Boss Zhou and his team have given Qiongmiao a lot of support and help. Boss Zhou shouldn't have to spend more on treating us to a al. I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Boss Zhou's team and Boss Cheng's team for fully cooperating with Qiongmiao's work and everyone's hard work recently.]

The others in the group looked at the ssages above and below. For a mont they thought there was sothing wrong with their eyes. How could these two ssages be so similar? Were they really written by two different people?

Zhou An replied first: [You two are so in sync?!]

But he recalled it in less than a second, imdiately following up with: [No matter who's treating, dinner is set! I'll definitely be there tomorrow, you two who offered to host better not find an excuse to duck out on .]

Boss Zhou recalled his ssage quickly, but so had faster eyes.

Wu Tongtong was one of those with fast eyes.

She looked at Boss Shao's ssage, then Boss Cheng from ishui's ssage.

She covered her mouth with both hands. She felt like she had found the person who could give her boss lifelong happiness, the one Boss Alex had ntioned. Could it be... Boss Cheng from ishui???

However, Boss Shao, who never changed his profile pic, when did he change it? Next to the domineering German Shepherd was a cute little white dog nestled up to it. That domineering German Shepherd did look a lot like her boss, but this little white dog was far too cute, completely inconsistent with her boss's image. Since when did her boss like such adorable creatures?

Wu Tongtong didn't know whether to be more surprised that her boss liked such cute animals, that her boss actually knew how to change his profile picture, or the subtle relationship between her boss and... Boss Cheng from ishui??!!!

Cheng Jinlan looked at the ssage, wanted to recall it, but felt that recalling it would seem more evasive. She simply threw her phone in her bag and stopped thinking about being in sync or what his profile picture was, or if he was trying to compete with dogs or sothing.

Shao Chengze stared at the two ssages for a while. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. Then he took a screenshot.

Cheng Jinchuan, who walked over from across the street, pushed his sunglasses further down his nose. He was seeing ghosts in broad daylight. This guy actually knew how to smile?

Cheng Jinchuan had co to attend an industry conference held in the city. He knew Shao's company was also attending, he just didn't expect to run smack into them at the entrance. What a small world.

Shao Chengze also saw Cheng Jinchuan.

Cheng Jinchuan pushed his sunglasses back over his eyes. Anyway, the entrance was only so big. He would not give way. He could give way to anyone, but in front of the Shao family, the Cheng family did not have the word "give way" in their vocabulary. Not even a milliter would they give way, and Shao thought he could discuss the land in Nancheng with him? What a joke.

Shao Chengze signaled for the people behind him to take a step back, then said to Cheng Jinchuan, "Boss Cheng, please go ahead."

He was showing a great deal of humility.

Cheng Jinchuan's subordinates recognized Shao Chengze and were shocked. Since when were the Shao family's people so polite? Not to ntion old man Shao, even Shao Zhangting and his son looked down on people like they were garbage. Moreover, this was the Cheng family they were facing. Not much was known about this new head of the Shao family who hadn't grown up in the Shao household, but in the end he had the Shao blood in him. How could he be any different?

Cheng Jinchuan was also stunned by Shao Chengze's show of deference. He shook out his sleeves and gave a cold humph before going through the door first.

The more he thought about it afterwards, the more he felt sothing was off. For Shao Chengze to show such humility, he must be seeking sothing. And what he sought was naturally his Cheng family's treasure. Why did he go along with Shao's "after you" just now and let him gain the upper hand in a tactical retreat?

As soon as Cheng Jinchuan returned ho, he picked up his little niece who ca running at him and gave her a big hug. "Little LiQi, your big uncle lost a step in the ga today."

Cheng LiQi took the sunglasses off her granduncle's nose bridge and put them on her own head. "It's okay, granduncle. If we've taken a wrong turn, we can just go back and start again. Even if we've lost this round of the ga, we can just start a new round. How did grandpa put it again?" She cleared her throat and lowered her voice to mimic her grandpa's, "Defeat is temporary, and so is victory. You must overco arrogance and impatience to find the eternal path."

Cheng Jinchuan's bad mood all afternoon was dispelled by his dear little niece. She was right - no matter how humbly Shao ChengZe acted, it wouldn't get past her stern grandfather Cheng Shanhe. The treasures of the Cheng family were not so easily obtained by just anyone.

"Granduncle, Hu Grandpa's family has moved soone into their ho," Cheng LiQi shared the latest news.

The Hu couple had moved abroad with their son last year but kept their house.

Cheng Jinchuan asked, "How do you know?"

"I saw people moving things into their ho when I ca back from my ballet class," Cheng LiQi replied.

"That's good news. You'll have new neighbors and potentially a new little friend to play with if they have kids too."

Cheng LiQi smiled happily. "I haven't seen them yet, but I feel like they do have a kid, a super cute little girl."

"Wow, you're a little psychic aren't you, a tiny fortune teller! Co tell granduncle how you know."

Cheng LiQi shifted the sunglasses down to her eyes and put on a mystifying expression. "Because a lot of the stuff they moved in are things us girls like. With such an obvious clue even I could guess it without being psychic."

Cheng Jinchuan was amazed by his precious little niece. He would have to protect this adorable psychic gem well and not let her be tricked away by ill-intentioned people.