“I came back to see my little girl.” Apparently, Lu Yi was just missing his daughter.
When Yan Huan heard this, she felt rather jealous. A kick of tartness filled her throat, as if she had just downed an entire bottle of vinegar.
“You love your daughter the most now, huh?”
“Well, of course.” Lu Yi reached out and cautiously caressed his daughter’s soft hair. She was a little girl indeed, her whole body was as tender as a flower bud, and even her hair was as silky as her mother’s.
Yan Huan was on the verge of tears, as she felt that she was falling out of favor.
“What kind of nonsense are you thinking?” Lu Yi turned around and was at a loss, when he noticed Yan Huan pouting.
“What is it, are you jealous of your own daughter?”
Yan Huan still looked greatly wronged. It finally clicked for Lu Yi why Xunxun’s expression felt particularly familiar sometimes. It turned out that it was originally Yan Huan’s character. Xunxun was undoubtedly born by Yan Huan, she was like a carbon copy of her.
“All right, all right.” Lu Yi coaxed her, setting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a little squeeze, “No one in this world can ever replace you, and the same goes for Xunxun. I love Xunxun, but that’s because she’s our child. If she were someone else’s child, I wouldn’t even glance at her.”
As he toyed with Yan Huan’s hair, his smile grew.
No one in this world is more important than you.
Yan Huan finally broke into a smile amidst her tears, extending her arms and wrapping them around Lu Yi’s waist.
“Lu Yi, if we bear all the hardships now, we won’t suffer anymore in the future, right?”
As of now, what she dreaded the most was if something bad happened to Lu Yi, or to her children. She hoped that the rest of their lives would be peaceful and smooth-sailing, untroubled by any more misfortune.
She could not stand it anymore and was greatly afraid.
“Don’t worry.” Lu Yi gently stroked her hair. We will all be safe and sound. We’ll watch our children grow up, get married, and have children. Then, we’ll grow old together, day by day.
In fact, upon careful thinking, aging was not such a horrifying thing, after all. As they grew older, their children would also have grown up. Then, he reached out and drew the small quilt over his daughter, who was sleeping so soundly. In his heart, he silently prayed that she would grow up healthy and lead a safe life, instead of suffering so much like her mother.
The hem of the curtain lifted as the wind breezed past once again. The flurry of air entered the room and flipped over a page of the book lying on the ground. At that moment, a faint fragrance of ink filled the entire room.
The aroma was exceptionally subtle and light, while the lingering smell was rich.
Yan Huan hoisted the little girl into her arms, who had just woken up from her deep slumber. Rubbing her eyes occasionally, she was evidently still sleepy.
“Is our baby awake?”
Yan Huan planted a peck on her daughter’s little face. “By the way,” she began as she handed Xunxun over to Lu Yi. “Your daughter has learned to say papa.”
“Really?” Lu Yi pulled his daughter into his arms with a skeptical expression on his face. “Baby, call Papa.” Lu Qi and Lu Guang had already called him papa on countless occasions, but what he wanted most was to hear his intimate little daughter’s ‘Papa’.
Xunxun blinked her large, beautiful eyes which twinkled like crystals, the cloudiness in them emphasizing her innocence.
“Say Papa.”
Lu Yi coaxed his daughter. The sweet scent of milk on Xunxun’s body made Lu Yi love carrying her in his arms. This was his daughter, who was connected to him by blood.
Xunxun’s lips parted in a goofy grin, revealing her two little milk teeth that resembled grains of rice. Recently, her little teeth had begun to grow, and she loved to bite people. However, she would not do that to her parents.
“Darling, call papa.” Seeing his daughter unhappy, Lu Yi pinched her puffy little cheeks. He must hear it now, as he had to spend the next day at work without seeing Xunxun at all.
“Guagua…”
Little Xunxun opened her mouth, and she enunciated these two words with astonishing clarity.
Lu Xi felt that his heart was crumbling.
Why was it still ‘melon’? Did he really look like some kind of melon?
“Guagua, guagua…” Little Xunxun seemed to elicit satisfaction from her newfound interest, as she repeated the word ‘guagua’ endlessly.
Lu Yi was completely helpless. Forget it, guagua is fine. As long as he knew that his daughter was calling him, it would be fine.
Yan Huan needed to receive a health checkup that day. She prodded her daughter on her little nose and said gently, “Mommy is going to the hospital for an injection. My baby, be obedient and listen to your grandma, got it?”
Little Xunxun’s little head bobbed energetically in agreement.
“Okay, good.” Yan Huan inched her little face forward toward her daughter.
Little Xunxun thoughtfully kissed her mother, leaving a trail of saliva on her cheek. Then, she reached out with her chubby little hand and waved at her mother.
Yan Huan suddenly felt a tang of bitterness erupt in her mouth. This little girl must have no conscience. She did not even muffle a cry as she waved her mother goodbye. In the past, whenever her mother left her field of vision, she would burst into a screaming fit. Now that she had grown up and developed a mind of her own, she had become more reasonable. As long as one spoke and reasoned properly with her like now, the little girl would definitely understand and would not cause trouble for the adults at all. Needless to say, she was no longer the little girl who would cry herself to death.
Now that her crying had greatly reduced, the adults were less distressed. Despite that, Yan Huan felt upset. Perhaps, she was still in the ‘three year dullness’ period after the delivery.
She walked into the hospital. As it was merely a regular checkup, she did not ask for anyone’s company and went alone. She also did not inform Lu Yi about this, lest he would be occupied with both his work and her personal matters.
“Miss Yan, this way please.”
The nurse politely showed Yan Huan the way.
Yan Huan wondered why she was not brought to the right, as she had been in the past. However, she did not voice her doubt, as she assumed that the hospital might have rearranged its departments.
Her medical checkup required an appointment, as she would be examined alone without any outsiders. Otherwise, her bare face would likely cause a huge uproar if it was seen by the public. Although she had not starred in any major films in recent years, she had made several guest appearances. Therefore, her popularity had not diminished at all from her indefinite inactivity. Instead, it continued to remain high.
“Miss Yan, please extend your arm.”
The doctor said to Yan Huan with an amiable smile. The white coat draped over his body was spotless and professional, while his smile was trustworthy and relaxing.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. I’m just drawing blood. It doesn’t hurt much, it’s just like being pricked by a needle.”
Well, Yan Huan already knew this feeling very clearly.
