The bathrooms in this old building were not very large. The tiles were filled with water that spilled from the basin. Qin Gengxin walked inside and saw his daughter sitting in the red basin. Mrs. Qin tried to wash her hair gently while holding her small body.
"Mom, let me do it." Qin Gengxin approached.
"Aiya, you don't know how to bathe your child, let me do it." Mrs. Qin looked at Qin Wenqian as she said this. "Honey, don't cry anymore. You cried so much that your grandmother's heart ached."
"I definitely shouldn't have listened to you at first. I should have gone to America earlier to see this child and reveal Xian Guiying's true face. I should have brought my granddaughter with me and taken care of her. At least this child wouldn't be so scared of me now." Mrs. Qin said this with tears in her eyes. "Tell me, why are you still defending that woman? You consoled us by saying she was too preoccupied with the Xian Enterprise and that your daughter was too young to travel. Aren't you the one who protected her and didn't let us know that you and she weren't on good terms? Gengxin, mom and dad just want to see you doing fine. Look at what's happening now!"
Amid Qin Wenqian's cries, Mrs. Qin said in tears, "If it weren't for Xian Guiying's big belly and you say that the child in her womb is yours, we would not agree to this marriage! Otherwise, do you really think with your grandmother around, you might end up marrying the Xian Family's granddaughter?"
"Mom." Qin Gengxin frowned and looked at her indifferently. "Don't talk anymore."
At the same time, he bent down and carried Qin Wenqian out of the basin, whose body was covered with water. He didn't care if the water in her body would wet his shirt or not. He carried his daughter in his arms. He took the towel and wrapped it around the child's body, hugging her tightly.
Qin Wenqian raised her head and cried until she was almost out of breath. Qin Gengxin took her out of the bathroom, wholeheartedly calmed his daughter, then whispered into her ear, "Spoiled girl, this is daddy's fault, stop crying, okay? Be good. Qianqian, don't cry."
Qin Gengxin immediately took the child to his bedroom, placed the child on the bed, and wrapped her with a thick blanket. Although Qin Wenqian was still crying, she didn't cry as hard as before.
Qin Gengxin crouched next to the bed and looked at his daughter, whose eyes were red and voice was hoarse from crying. He held her little hand tightly, "You can punish daddy as you please. Daddy will admit his mistakes. Daddy understands his mistake, okay?"
"Qianqian, actually, daddy is very upset. For the past year, daddy has never had a good time. Daddy doesn't know how to take care of his child, but daddy will learn it. Tell me where it hurts. Daddy won't force you to take a shower again. What do you want to do? Tell daddy, hmm?"
Qin Wenqian finally stopped crying as Qin Gengxin comforted her. Tears dripped from her eyes as she looked sadly at her father, who was crouching in front of her.
Seeing that his daughter had finally stopped crying, Qin Gengxin brought her small hands to his mouth, kissing them.
Qin Wenqian looked at him and said in a small voice, "I want juice."
"Alright, fruit juice, daddy will take it for you!" Qin Gengxin stood up and walked out of the room.
In the living room, Mrs. Qin had changed into clean clothes. When she saw that Qin Gengxin had come out, she handed the juice on the table to him.
Qin Gengxin took the juice and glanced at Mrs. Qin.
Mrs. Qin sighed. "You never taken care of a child before this, so you don't understand what it means for a child to cry so hard. She was afraid, which is why she was resisting."
Mrs. Qin continued, "Gengxin, although Qianqian doesn't recognize me as her grandmother now, there is one thing I must remind you. No matter when you and Xian Guiying divorced or what the reason is, custody of this child must be given to us, the Qin Family. I've already missed her life a lot, it is impossible for me to let that woman take my granddaughter away!"
With that, Mrs. Qin sat on the couch with a determined face.
Qin Gengxin said nothing as he took the juice glass back to his bedroom. Qin Wenqian curled up under the blanket, her eyes staring at him as he entered.
"Here, Qianqian, have a drink. It's watermelon juice. Grandma just poured it for you." Qin Gengxin said softly as he placed the glass to her lips.
Qin Wenqian drank the juice obediently. When half a glass of watermelon juice ran out, she turned her head away, which meant that she would never drink it again.
Qin Gengxin put the glass to the side and wrapped the child in a blanket. He placed her on his lap and then looked at the little girl curled up in a blanket.
Her cute and pretty face was exposed.
"You can stay at daddy's place for a while. Even though daddy isn't good at taking care of you, but daddy can learn, hmm.." Qin Gengxin said with a smile.
Qin Wenqian looked down, not sure if she was ready to accept her father in her life or not.
Qin Gengxin placed his hand on her head. "Qianqian, give daddy a chance."
Qin Wenqian remained silent. Instead, she pulled the blanket slightly upwards so that it covered her head. Then, she arched her head out of Qin Gengxin's embrace and got out of his embrace.
Although Qin Gengxin hadn't been with Qin Wenqian for long, he could tell that, even though the child was young, her little heart was sensitive and soft.
He patted the blanket on her body. "Don't be hard on daddy, ok?"
Qin Wenqian pulled the blanket back, still not showing her head.
Qin Gengxin sighed and smiled, his hands caressing the blanket. The smile in his eyes was real and warm.
• • • •
When Xian Guiying received a call from the nanny, she had just finished changing the IV bottle and was resting in bed with her eyes closed.
The nanny called to say that there were some urgent things at home and she needed to leave, but before leaving, she left the child in the care of an old woman named Yuan, who often brought biscuits for Qin Wenqian.
Her husband was too ill, and she had to take care of him in the hospital.
Xian Guiying hung up the call and leaned against the headboard, blankly looking at the white wall.
"What's wrong? Stop thinking. After all, mild concussions are also concussions, so you should rest well, or you'll get sick in the future."
She nodded but said nothing. She looked at the phone in her hand.
Seeing that her expression was unsightly, Wei Zhengsheng couldn't help but walk to the side of the bed and look at her. "Whose call did you just receive? What's the matter?"
Xian Guiying then raised her head to look at him. "Auntie Zhang's husband fell ill. She has to leave for a while. Afraid that something would happen to Qianqian, she entrusted the old woman opposite the door to take care of her."
