Chapter 42
Cheng LiQi saw that her dad and mom were not saying anything, thinking she had guessed right, she shook her finger at her dad, "Dad, you can't climb over the wall, it's dangerous, you might hurt your leg," she whispered into her dad's ear, "Dad, you can use a ladder, with a ladder you don't have to worry about hurting your leg."
Shao ChengZe laughed out loud, amused by his precious daughter's uncanny words, he ruffled her fluffy bangs, "Dad knows, we happen to have a ladder at ho, when Dad wants to see little LiQi, I'll just climb over with the ladder."
Cheng LiQi happily nodded, it would be so fun to have Dad co over on a ladder to see her.
Shao ChengZe didn't actually need to climb over walls now, but it was barely any better than that, coming and going in the dark of night, not allowed to be seen by anyone, he was still a man that couldn't stand the light of day.
But things had to be taken one step at a ti, at least now he had so "status" with her, legitimate reasons, if she accepted his ring, it would be even more legitimate.
Too bad...the ring was returned, this box had been sitting in Cheng Jinlan's bag the whole ti, last night was too chaotic, she forgot to give it to him, when the father and daughter were talking about climbing over walls versus using ladders, she rembered.
Seeing the small box pushed over to him, Shao ChengZe knew what was inside, it was the expected result. Rejected this ti, next ti he'd look for an opportunity to propose again. For a proposal, his psychological expectation was to try at least ten tis, with no upper limit.
Seeing the small box, Cheng LiQi thought it was a gift Mom gave Dad, she scratched her forehead, feeling a little awkward, "Dad, I didn't prepare a gift for you."
She had only received so many gifts from Dad, with nothing prepared to give back.
Shao ChengZe squeezed her little hand, "Little LiQi coming to the airport with Mom to pick up Dad is already the best gift, you even gave Dad flowers, it was Dad's first ti receiving flowers from soone else."
The corners of Cheng LiQi's mouth curled up high, oh right, she gave Dad beautiful flowers.
"I picked the flowers, Mom paid, it was from
and Mom together to Dad."
The corners of Shao ChengZe's mouth bent into the sa arc as hers, "Dad really liked them."
They didn't eat dinner together, Shao ChengZe said he had a dinner appointnt that night, would put down his luggage and imdiately head out. This line finally got a proper look from Cheng Jinlan, he was sensible enough to know to make an excuse on his own, without needing her to say anything.
Although Shao ChengZe really wanted to have a family dinner with the three of them, sotis you had to advance inch by inch, sotis you also needed to quit while you were ahead. Her agreeing to co to the airport to pick him up was already an unexpected joy, if he insisted on having dinner together now, it would likely cause her to resent it.
After Shao ChengZe returned ho, just as he finished showering, he got a call from his mom telling him to go to Songlin Apartnts as soon as he finished his business, she would be waiting for him there.
From his mom's tone, Shao ChengZe thought sothing had happened with Shen XiWen. As soon as he entered the door without even changing his shoes, a face full of feathers greeted him.
With one hand blocking the feather duster, and the other supporting his mom, he didn't know where her anger ca from, "Unlike other mothers who would hit their kids, you specifically aim for the face, what offense has my face caused you?"
Lv Siwei spat at him, "You still have the cheek, your dad's face, and our Lv family's reputation have nearly been ruined by you."
"What's happened?" This was the first ti Shao ChengZe saw his mom so furious.
Lv Siwei pointed at his nose with the feather duster, "Don't you have a daughter?"
Shao ChengZe was stunned, "Who told you?"
Lv Siwei whacked him hard on the back with the feather duster, "Just answer yes or no. No need for all that extra chatter."
If he dared to keep hiding it from her, she would beat him into a pig head today.
Shao ChengZe answered firmly, "Yes. She's six this year, nad Cheng LiQi, beautiful and cute, extrely well-behaved."
After hearing this, Lv Siwei hit him fiercely, hands shaking.
"She's already six, the girl gave you a daughter, already six, and you still haven't offered the girl a commitnt till now, Shao ChengZe how did your dad teach you, do you even know how to write the word responsibility, when that well-behaved little girl calls you dad, you happily agree, don't you feel ashad!"
Shao ChengZe sighed, letting the feather duster fall on him.
"Because I made mistakes back then, causing our separation, I found out about my daughter's existence only a few months earlier than you, I'm now working hard to take responsibility, but I was absent for seven years, for the child and for her, it's not easy for them to accept
again, so you probably can't et your granddaughter for now."
The feather duster stopped as Lv Siwei looked at him, "Then what's the story with you telling
before you had a girl you liked?"
"It's her." He felt a little awkward, not used to talking about his feelings in front of elders, but his expression was also solemn, "All these years, I never got over her."
Lv Siwei wanted to hit him again.
"Never got over her, yet you made mistakes, never got over her, so many years yet you never went back to find her. Making mistakes ans you should apologize, explain, kneel, which have you done? She was unlucky to be liked by you, keeping everything bottled up, you like her yet you refuse to make it clear, what kind of liking is that, who would know you like her? Even your introverted dad still rembered to tell
'I like you' three tis a day when pursuing ."
Lv Siwei seed to recall sothing as she raised the feather duster again, "No wait, what mistake did you make back then? If you did anything indecent, forget taking responsibility, you should get as far away from the mother and daughter as possible, granddaughter, how could I claim she's my granddaughter."
Shao ChengZe felt utterly ashad from his mother's words, she was right, if it wasn't for him bottling everything up back then, perhaps there wouldn't have been so many misunderstandings, they wouldn't have missed out on so many years together.
"It's complicated, but not what you think, in short it was my mistake."
Only then did Lv Siwei breathe a slight sigh of relief, leaning on her knees as she sat on the foyer chair, "You're not lying to ?"
"No." He sat next to the old woman, patting her back to help her calm down, "How did you find out?"
Lv Siwei glared at him, still annoyed, "How I found out, I saw when I got off the plane, I was debating whether or not to co over, fortunately I did." Her tone softened, "You said your daughter is called Cheng LiQi, what characters?"
"Cheng as in future, Li as in clever, Qi with the water radical."
"Good na. I saw her from afar, could tell she was a clever little girl, voice crisp and lively like a little milk bun, fair and tender as a stead bun, so beautiful, her mom is beautiful too, one look and you know she's a good girl. Shao ChengZe, listen, you need to admit your mistake with the right attitude, and pursue her with the attitude of pursuing soone, none of that putting on airs and thinking about face or acting cool, and especially no shady tricks, if she can accept you then good, count yourself lucky, if she doesn't accept you, then you can't continue disturbing the mother and daughter's peaceful life, and materially you have to compensate them as much as you possibly can, otherwise I'll have your dad co out and teach you a lesson."
"Alright, if you can get my dad to co out, he probably won't have ti to teach
a lesson, only thinking about getting intimate with you."
"You little brat, still have the heart to tease ." Lv Siwei gave him another whack with the feather duster, she felt her son was different than before, his eyes were lively now, even making cheeky jokes, she cleared her throat, unable to resist asking, "Seeing you like this, the situation now isn't a dead end?"
Shao ChengZe picked off the feathers stuck to his clothes, "Not exactly, I'm trying to turn the dead end into an open end."
"Not trying, you must turn the dead end into an open end."
If it didn't beco an active situation, according to ChengZe's temperant, he would probably end up alone for the rest of his life. The key was that he didn't care about being single, but she still wanted to see that well-behaved and clever little girl, as well as that girl as beautiful as a fairy that she didn't even get a clear look at in the airport.
Shao ChengZe said, "She is the young lady from the Cheng family."
Lv Siwei was startled, "The Cheng family? That Cheng family?"
"Mm, her father didn't say anything else, just that he would not let his daughter enter the Shao family, so I thought, can I marry into her family instead?"
Lv Siwei slapped his shoulder, "Marry in, your dad just said to get back what your grandmother deserved from the Shao family, he didn't say to sell your life for them! If you ask , just take back everything you deserve, then take that as a dowry and marry into the Cheng family. That way you might still have a glimr of hope." The old lady looked at him disdainfully, "The girl's father is reasonable enough, how could he not beat you half to death?"
Shao ChengZe smiled and asked the old lady, "Do you want to see the photos?"
Lv Siwei was excited, "You have them?"
Shao ChengZe took out his phone. They were screenshots he took of the TV when watching LiQi's Children's Day performance. There were a few of her holding LiQi.
"Her na is Cheng Jinlan."
Lv Siwei held the phone with both hands, swiping through one by one. When she got to the last one, she took a deep breath, "Shao ChengZe, hurry up now, do you hear , hurry up and take action. A girl this good, if you don't make a move there will be countless people chasing her. Use every skill you've got, don't hold anything back," she thought for a mont, "Seems you don't actually have that many skills. Should I order so how-to guides online about chasing girls?"
Shao ChengZe pressed the old lady's hand, "No need for guides, since you're here this ti, stay a few more days. If you have ti, you can make so candied haw fruit, she likes eating them, LiQi probably would too."
He had brought her so before, and she really liked them.
Lv Siwei was happy, "Great, I have plenty of ti. I'll go to the supermarket tomorrow to buy ingredients, I can have them made by noon." The old lady stood up as she spoke, and went to the study to find a pen and paper to write down what she needed to buy tomorrow.
Shao ChengZe sent Jinlan a ssage, [Want to eat candied haw fruit?]
After a short while, Jinlan replied, [Are you making them?]
Shao ChengZe's eyebrows quirked up, [I can try making them, but can't guarantee the taste]
[Then I won't eat them, you can keep them for yourself]
Shao ChengZe's smiling eyes spilled over, [I'll co pick you up after work tomorrow?]
[I have a cocktail party tomorrow night, don't know when it will end]
[Where?]
Right before going to sleep, Jinlan replied, [No need for you to pick
up, I have a driver]
Shao ChengZe laughed to himself, this was her passive aggressive way of scolding him, saying she has a driver so doesn't need him to specially co pick her up from the airport that one ti.
His phone vibrated again, it was a ssage from Yuan Zhongzhou, sending a few photos of who JingYao had been eting with recently. Shao ChengZe's gaze turned cold, this aunt-in-law of his was not so simple. She knew he had a daughter now, and that it involved the Cheng family, yet she had been holding herself back without making any moves. That in itself was abnormal. He had been having people keep an eye on her and Shao Zhangting, seeing her recent string of actions, it seed she wanted to drain the pond to catch the fish. Since she wanted to play this ga, he was very willing to entertain her.
The cocktail party was not an excuse from Jinlan, it was real. Originally her brother JinChuan was supposed to attend, but he went on a business trip to Lin City, so the job fell onto her. It was simple enough, she only needed to make an appearance representing the Cheng family.
She didn't expect to run into soone unexpected at the party, He ZhiJian. They had been on a blind date once before.
He ZhiJian was also surprised to see her, walked over with a wine glass raised and took the initiative to chat, "Miss Cheng, long ti no see, I thought your brother would be coming today."
Jinlan was poised and casual, "My brother is away on business, so I'm here in his place."
He ZhiJian expressed understanding, "Right, the restaurant you ntioned, I went. The taste is great, I really liked it."
When they went out for a al, most of the ti was spent talking about food. He ZhiJian wanted authentic Cantonese cuisine, so Jinlan recomnded a place. Their conversation was just small talk, she didn't expect he would actually go eat there.
Jinlan replied, "That's good that you liked it."
"Does Miss Cheng have any other recomndations? I feel like Miss Cheng's taste is very similar to mine, anything Miss Cheng likes, I would probably like too."
Jinlan's eyes shifted slightly. He ZhiJian was acting very odd. They had only shared one al together, with no contact after that, barely more than strangers. But looking at where He ZhiJian's gaze landed, Jinlan seed to understand sothing. A short-haired woman in a black fish tail dress, probably the one who made him waver that he ntioned.
Jinlan asked, "Mister He, are you trying to use
as a tool?"
Not that she was unwilling to be a tool, but she couldn't do it unknowingly.
He ZhiJian was startled, seeing where her gaze went, his expression a little embarrassed at his rudeness, "Sorry, of all the ladies here besides her, I only know you."
Jinlan clinked glasses with him, indicating it was fine, "If you like Cantonese food, Jin Yue in the east side is pretty good too."
He ZhiJian laughed openly, "Miss Cheng really is different from the rumors."
Jinlan also smiled, "Rumors are mostly false rather than true."
Her smiling face froze when she saw the person raising a glass to her from the corner of the room. Then her phone lit up, Jinlan apologized to He ZhiJian and went to a quiet corner to answer the call.
"Chatting about sothing happy?" The tone was undisguised sourness. From so point on, she had never smiled at him again.
Jinlan asked, "How did you get here?"
Cheng family events basically would not invite the Shaos, and vice versa, so it was rare they would run into each other at these kinds of occasions.
"Here to drink free wine, and to steal a driver's job, to take my girlfriend ho."
He emphasized "girlfriend".
"Oh, then please drink up Mister Shao. Unless you're afraid your stomach will get upset and run a fever again." Jinlan did not take his bait about "girlfriend
Reviews
All reviews (0)