Xiao Luo and Zhang Dashan chatted briefly with Tang Wantian before bidding her farewell, and then they left for home. Of all the people who attended this class reunion, only Tang Wantian and Hu Shuipin made him remember the genuine friendship they used to share back in their university days. As for the others, Xiao Luo could only scoff at the thought. If he were ever to bump into any one of them in the future, he certainly wouldn’t go beyond a courteous greeting.
It was almost 10 p.m. when they arrived back at Gong Village. The little girl, Bei Bei, who had fallen asleep on Xiao Luo’s thighs during the ride, woke up as she was being carried up the stairs.
“Daddy, where are we?”
The little girl rubbed her sleepy eyes and asked.
Zhang Dashan chuckled and said, “This is where your daddy lives.”
“It’s so dark in here.”
The little girl felt a bit uneasy as she held tightly to Xiao Luo’s back.
Zhang Dashan puckered his lips and tried to change the subject to cheer her up. “Girl, was the food tonight tasty?” he asked.
“Yep,” she replied and smiled at him adorably.
Zhang Dashan smiled back and said, “Hehe… you are just like my good old brother here, you don’t eat veggies, and like to eat meat only.”
“Mommy said that I’m still growing up, so I need to eat more meat.”
“Then, did mummy tell you not to call just anyone your daddy?” Zhang Dashan said that on purpose, just to tease her.
His words stumped her, and she didn’t know how to respond to the question.
Zhang Dashan pointed at Xiao Luo, then looked at Bei Bei and said, “I must be honest with you, little girl. He’s not your father.”
“You’re bluffing! He is Bei Bei’s father!” she cried. The little girl was adamant and pulled a face.
“Why are you so sure that he’s your father?”
“Because he looks the same as my daddy, the one that I saw in my dream,” she said. Her innocent words were compelling, and she said it with a solemn expression.
Upon hearing that, Xiao Luo and Zhang Dashan were both stunned. Daddy in her dreams? What was going on here? Could it be that this little girl didn’t have a father, and her understanding of her daddy was all based on an illusionary dream?
What astounded Xiao Luo even more, was that the father that Bei Bei had dreamed of looked exactly like him. Wasn’t that highly unusual?
“Old Xiao, I think I can now believe in this thing we call fate.”
Zhang Dashan sighed, then patted Xiao Luo on the shoulder and said, “If it isn’t fate between you and this kid, then I don’t know how to explain any of this anymore.”
Xiao Luo agreed. This unique situation, where a little girl he had never met before, insisted that he looked exactly like the father in her dream, was tough to fathom.
…
…
Back at their apartment, Xiao Luo and Zhang Dashan had to face a serious issue: how to bathe the little girl.
Both of them were novices at this, with absolutely no experience taking care of a child. They were tripping over each other in the bathroom, especially when they were cleaning her head. Bei Bei had already promised to open her eyes only when she was told. But while they were washing her hair, she couldn’t resist opening her eyes, and in the end, shampoo got into them, and the burning sensation in her eyes made her cry out loudly.
Xiao Luo quickly rinsed her eyes with clean water and coaxed her, gently calming the little girl down.
“I don’t want Dashan to bathe me!”
The little girl didn’t blame Xiao Luo but instead had placed all the blame squarely on Zhang Dashan.
Seeing her stare at him with her big accusing eyes, Zhang Dashan felt hurt inside.
They finally finished bathing the little girl. Without any clothes that could fit her, Xiao Luo gave her one of his shirts as her pajamas. The white shirt with its rolled-up sleeves made Bei Bei look like a little ragamuffin, though she didn’t look half as bad, all scrubbed up and clean.
“Hey, hurry up and dry her hair. The weather is cold now. You’ll be in a ton of trouble if she catches a cold!” Zhang Dashan said.
Xiao Luo had his hands at his waist and stared at him, looking overwhelmed. “So, you’re just gonna sit there with your legs crossed, sipping on your drink and acting as a commander with your eyes glued to the TV?”
He meant to say that Zhang Dashan should help out instead of leaving everything for him to do by himself.
“Tsk, that little girl doesn’t like me. I’m not going to stick my nose into this childcare business,” Zhang Dashan replied, then turned his eyes back to the TV.
Xiao Luo shot back, and he said, “Are you seriously having a tantrum with a little girl?”
As he was bantering with Zhang Dashan, he had already taken out the hairdryer from the drawer. He now sat on the stool, with Bei Bei standing between his thighs, and was carefully blowing her hair dry.
“Daddy, is Dashan angry?” the little girl asked, lifting her head with her lips pursed.
Xiao Luo smiled at her and said, “No, he isn’t, he’s just feeling a little wronged. Just leave him alone.”
“Oh.”
Bei Bei nodded her head obediently. She placed both her hands, as white as snow, on Xiao Luo’s thigh and lowered her head, quietly allowing Xiao Luo to dry her hair. She looked to be thoroughly enjoying the interaction with her “daddy.”
“What the… Why should I be feeling wronged? What does Old Xiao think? I’m into lolicon too?”
Zhang Dashan couldn’t help frowning and muttered to himself as he looked at Xiao Luo drying the little girl’s hair.
…
…
Before going to bed, Bei Bei begged for Xiao Luo to tell her a story.
Without a choice, Xiao Luo told her about a story he had once been told in elementary school: “The Thirsty Crow.”
She enjoyed the story and cooed, “Daddy, the crow is so clever.” Bei Bei’s eyes were filled with delight.
Xiao Luo ruffled her hair and smiled. “Yep, so when you run into something difficult in the future, you should try to figure out a good way to solve the problem, just like this crow,” he said.
“Okay, Bei Bei understands,” the little girl said, nodding her head obediently.
“All right, it’s time to sleep.”
Xiao Luo switched off the lights and slept beside the little girl.
Bei Bei turned sideways and hugged his arms as she said, “Goodnight, daddy.”
“Good night!”
Xiao Luo turned his head. The bright moonbeam shone through the window, and he could see Bei Bei’s eyes were closed, and she had fallen asleep. Illuminated by the moonlight and sleeping peacefully under a blanket, she looked just like a little fairy.
When he recalled the encounter with this little girl earlier in the day, he couldn’t imagine it had come to this; it was more like a dream!
Who’d believe that a little girl he had never met before, would suddenly insist that he was her daddy right after meeting him? She was now even depending on him to take care of her needs as she would with her birth parents.
As he reflected on the events that had taken place, Xiao Luo couldn’t help smiling. Whether by fate or otherwise, he was now a father for a night. But, he didn’t have any complaints as he was beginning to like the experience. It seemed as though this little girl, Bei Bei, was born with some mysterious powers that made people like and want to take care of her.
…
…
“Daddy, I wanna pee!”
The next morning, when the first light was just breaking in the eastern skies, Xiao Luo was awakened by the little girl.
When he opened his eyes, he saw her cute little face staring at him. Bei Bei was pushing at him, trying to wake him up.
Xiao Luo shook off his sleep, got up, and brought her to the toilet.
When he got out of the toilet, he saw Zhang Dashan lying sideways on the sofa, snoring with his prominent posterior sticking up in the air. There were also many crumpled pieces of paper towels on the floor, and they seemed to be stained with dried thick fluid.
Xiao Luo furrowed his eyebrows and angrily kicked Zhang Dashan’s buttocks.
“Ouch!”
Zhang Dashan jumped off the sofa, shrieking like a pig being slaughtered.
Realizing that it was Xiao Luo, he yelled at him, “What the f*ck, why did you kick me? You’re not jealous of my big booty, are you?”
Xiao Luo was fuming, and pointing at the paper towels littering the floor, he asked him sternly, “Explain to me what’s going on with these?”
“Explain your *ass, explain! I caught a cold yesterday, and I had to wipe off my snot constantly. What, you thought I jacked off? How could you!” Zhang Dashan shouted back.
“Oh, err…”
Xiao Luo rued his haste in judging what he saw and felt a little embarrassed. He thought that Zhang Dashan had pleasured himself right in his living room and did not even take the trouble of properly disposing of his indiscretions, just tossing the paper towels all over the floor.
Xiao Luo’s expression wasn’t easy to read, and Zhang Dashan had no way of knowing if he still harbored such a sick thought. He immediately lashed out at him again and said, “You better get those dirty thoughts out of your head. Otherwise, you’ll never have the end of it, okay! F*ck, hurry up, and go buy me breakfast to appease my wounded soul!”
He felt much better after letting off some steam, then he laid down again and went back to sleep.
All credit to Zhang Dashan, for in a single stroke, he had turned calamity into a fortune. Not only was he vindicated, but he also found a way for Xiao Luo to get him breakfast.
