“Is this new?”
“Yes. Why? Don’t you like it?”
She pressed her lips together gently and shook her head. “No … I love it …”
“Really? Do you think it’s pretty?”
“Uh huh, it looks good.” Natalia nodded gently, looking a little shy.
The actor suddenly felt immensely pleased with himself. Naturally, he felt a sense of accomplishment that Natalia would approve of his skill.
This style of braiding suited Natalia as well. The girl had a classic oval face, high-bridged nose, and deep-set eyes. Only, characteristically, they were not too pronounced, so her profile was not as deep set as those of a girl of European descent. However, they were already exquisitely delicate.
“Our Natalia is the most beautiful little princess in the world.” Hua Jin knelt beside her and took her gently by the shoulders. He looked at the porcelain doll in the mirror, finding her pleasing to the eye, and at the same time, he felt a strange sense of achievement!
Instantly, a thought came to him.
How wonderful it would have been, if Natalia were really his daughter. This way, he wouldn’t have to be jealous that Mu Yazhe had such a cute daughter! Then again, so what if she wasn’t his own flesh and blood? Is blood relation really that important?’
He wasn’t old-fashioned or feudalistic, believing that there had to be someone to carry on the lineage. He simply had never thought about having a child. He felt that raising a child was better than giving birth to a child. So why not treat Natalia like his own flesh and blood?
The actor stroked her cheek gently, his eyes filled with tenderness. The girl raised her eyes to meet his, then she quickly turned away shyly. She seemed to have reverted to her timid self, like when they had first met.
Hua Jin was stunned for a moment. He frowned slightly. He was taken aback because, in a moment of absentmindedness, he realized that something in Natalia seemed to have changed.
He remembered the time he was on the terrace and had turned around to see her standing there. The same face, but for some reason, she had struck him then as a devilish little witch.
But now, Natalia had reverted to being the shy doll she had been when they first met.
Unless…
These were two different personalities and he hadn’t realized it. The actor was skeptical, but he did not make his suspicion too obvious.
In the past few days, he seemed to have forgotten the task that Alice had given him. Alice was hoping that he would be able to help sketch out Natalia’s personality. Or rather, she was hoping he could make a record of Natalia’s daily personality and behavior. However, he had been so busy with managing his retirement from the entertainment industry that he had forgotten about this.
“What’s the matter?” When Natalia caught him staring off into space, she was puzzled and asked him.
“Oh, oh… it’s nothing!” The actor reached for the knitted hat and pulled it gently over her head.
A handmade lily adorned the knitted hat, and it made Natalia look pure and adorable.
“What a pretty hat!” Natalia loved the hat.
The actor grinned. “Wear it to the beach too, okay?”
The wind was strong on the beach and so was the sun. To protect her from the sun, Hua Jin had prepared a considerable amount of sunscreen so that she wouldn’t get burned during this vacation at the beach.
Especially with skin as tender and fair as Natalia’s, the sea breeze and sun combined would easily cause her skin to burn and peel. Sun protection had to be in place.
