Chapter 271 Going to the Art Exhibition

His idea was for Karina to go back to the hotel and rest first.

Lele was asleep by now, but she still had a fever, and her small face was flushed with heat.

Karina shook her head, holding Lele's hand tightly, tears streaming down her face: "Lele is like this because of me. If anything happens to her, I will never forgive myself for the rest of my life."

“You don’t need to take all the blame on yourself,” Li Tingxi said with a tense expression, feeling guilty. “The main responsibility lies with me. I didn’t take good care of Lele and didn’t even know she had a fever.”

Karina looked up at him, her eyes blurry with tears, making her look rather pitiful. "Tingxi, do you think Lele will hate me? I hit her so hard today. I've never hit her before, even when I was angry."

She choked up as she spoke, grabbing Li Tingxi's hand tightly, her face filled with lingering fear and self-reproach: "I don't know how I'm going to face Lele when she wakes up."

Li Tingxi froze for a moment, hesitated but still did not choose to push her away. "Lele is still young. Apologize to her sincerely and say a few nice words to coax her. She won't hold a grudge."

He paused, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed softly, "Actually, I should apologize to her too. Children are naturally sensitive, and I was so harsh on her today."

Karina's eyes flickered, and a bitter smile appeared on her face. She said with a hint of frustration, "I know I've spoiled Lele's temper, but my abilities and energy are limited. I also want someone I can rely on to help me share the burden."

She stopped talking at this point.

Realizing she was still holding Li Tingxi's hand, she hurriedly let go, wiped away her tears, and forced a weak smile at him. "Tingxi, don't overthink it. What I mean is, if it weren't for your help all these years, I'm afraid I would have collapsed long ago."

Her fragile, seemingly delicate appearance contrasted sharply with her capable and composed demeanor at work, making Li Tingxi realize that she was, in fact, just a single mother who had to become strong for the sake of her child.

He unconsciously softened his tone: "If you're tired, go rest on the cot."

Karina didn't refuse this time, but after lying down on the bed, she didn't close her eyes. Instead, she stared at Li Tingxi's back and was secretly anxious.

While he's currently softened because of Lele's illness, she should seize this excellent opportunity and work on developing a relationship with him.

Following the doctor's instructions, Li Tingxi brought warm water and used a towel to wipe Lele's face and limbs.

However, Lele was too small, and he was afraid of waking the child, so he moved carefully but clumsily.

Seeing this, Karina immediately got out of bed and pressed his hand down, saying, "Let me do it."

As she spoke, she took the towel from his hand and carefully wiped Lele's body.

Li Tingxi stood to the side watching when a sudden rumble came from his stomach, causing him to frown.

Karina realized what was happening, stood up, put her hand on his shoulder and patted him, "The hospital has a self-service kitchen, I'll go make you something to eat."

Li Tingxi felt a sense of resistance to her overly intimate actions, and took a step back without making a sound, refusing lightly: "No need, I'll have someone send some takeout over."

“You really don’t take your stomach problems seriously at all,” Karina said reproachfully, her attitude firm. “I’ll just make you a bowl of noodles, it’ll only take a few minutes.”

Before Li Tingxi could say anything more...

#Please do not use incognito mode whenever verification is required!

What? She's already out of the ward.

Li Tingxi looked at Lele, who was still fast asleep, and felt somewhat annoyed.

After a while, the doctor came to check on Lele and found that her fever had almost subsided.

Li Tingxi felt a little relieved. At that moment, Karina brought in a bowl of noodles and urged him to eat quickly.

In front of the doctors and nurses, he didn't want to embarrass Karina, so he just said he would eat later.

Karina, however, was not easily fooled. She brought up the time when he had a stomach ache so badly that he had to go to the hospital, and also complained about his bad habit of drinking on an empty stomach when socializing.

The doctor and nurses next to them immediately smiled knowingly. The doctor even professionally echoed Karina's words: "Sir, since your wife has said so, you really need to take your stomach problems seriously. Three meals a day are the most basic thing to ensure."

Li Tingxi knew they had misunderstood as soon as he heard this. He was about to explain that he and Karina were just colleagues when Lele on the bed suddenly woke up.

Upon opening her eyes and seeing Li Tingxi's face, Lele raised her two little hands, making a gesture as if she wanted him to hold her, and cried out in grievance, "Daddy."

Li Tingxi didn't have time to explain and went over to ask her if she was still feeling unwell.

Lele threw herself into his arms, hugged his neck tightly, shook her head and cried, calling him "Daddy" repeatedly.

Li Tingxi coaxed Lele to have the doctor examine her and confirmed that there was nothing seriously wrong, but they needed to wait for the fever to completely subside before getting some medicine.

After the doctor and nurses left, Karina went over to hug Lele.

Lele buried her head in Li Tingxi's chest and protested, "No, Mommy, Mommy hit Lele, it hurts so much."

Karina's face paled, and with red eyes, she apologized to her, "Lele, Mommy knows she was wrong. Mommy will never hit you again. Please forgive Mommy, okay?"

Li Tingxi also tried to comfort her: "Lele, it was wrong of Mom to hit you. I've already scolded her. Do you know how heartbroken Mom was when you were unconscious?"

Lele hesitated, raising her head, her eyes still filled with fear as she looked at Karina. "Mom, can you promise you won't hit Lele again?"

Karina nodded quickly and tentatively extended her hands to her.

This time, Lele didn't refuse and was willing to let her hug her.

Karina breathed a sigh of relief and coaxed her gently, "Lele, it was wrong of Mommy to hit you today. To make it up to you, how about Mommy takes you to a parent-child art exhibition? Don't you like drawing? Lots of children will be participating, and our Lele will definitely be the best one."

Lele was indeed interested, but she looked at Li Tingxi expectantly: "Daddy will be coming with us too, right?"

Karina looked at him, her eyes filled with expectation.

Li Tingxi frowned. "I probably don't have time."

Lele immediately felt wronged and pouted, "If Daddy isn't going, then I don't want to go either. All the other kids have their dads with them, and Lele doesn't want to be outdone by them."

Although Karina's expression also betrayed her disappointment, she still tried to smile and comfort her: "Lele, it's the same if Mom goes with you. No one will ask you if you have a father, and no one will laugh at you for it. Those who use this to attack you are bad people. We don't need to pay attention to them."

Li Tingxi felt a little uncomfortable hearing this, and after hesitating, he finally asked, "When is the art exhibition?"