Chapter 483 How did he "die"?

Cui Xiao felt a mix of emotions.

Thankfully, Zhou Mubin truly loves Xiao Nuomi.

She felt guilty because she kept it a secret for five years, causing him to miss his daughter's growth.

There was also a warmth that she herself didn't even notice, like tender buds in early spring, quietly emerging from the bottom of her heart.

She glanced up and met Zhou Mubin's gaze. His eyes held a questioning look, along with a hint of tenderness that was hard to detect. Cui Xiao quickly looked away, pretending to look at the night outside the window.

About an hour later, Xiao Nuomi's head gradually tilted towards the pillow, her babbling voice grew softer and softer, eventually turning into even breathing. Her long eyelashes cast a light shadow under her eyelids, and her little fist was still clenching a small corner of the bed sheet.

Zhou Mubin squatted by the bed and quietly watched her for several minutes before carefully reaching out to tuck her exposed forearm into the blanket.

He turned to look at Cui Xiao, gestured towards the door with his eyes, and said in a low voice, "Come out and talk?"

Looking at her daughter's peaceful sleeping face, Cui Xiao unconsciously rubbed the hem of her clothes with her fingertips. After a few seconds of silence, she nodded gently.

She knew that some things were simply unavoidable.

She tiptoed out of the ward with Zhou Mubin, deliberately slowing down the force when closing the door until the hinges made a barely audible click before she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The corridor was deserted in the dead of night, with only the faint green light of the indicator light at the nurses' station in the distance.

Occasionally, the soft beeping of an electrocardiogram monitor could be heard, exceptionally clear in the empty corridor.

Zhou Mubin leaned against the cold wall, irritably loosening his tie.

He turned to look at Cui Xiao. The light fell on her face, illuminating her pale profile. She seemed to be thinner than she had been five years ago.

Why did you give birth to Little Glutinous Rice?

He spoke first, his voice hoarse from the late night, "Don't you hate it?"

He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing violently. "Since you gave birth to it, why didn't you tell me? Why did you lie and say you were already married?"

Hearing these words, she clenched her hands at her sides, her nails digging into her palms and leaving crescent-shaped marks, but she remained expressionless, her voice regaining its former aloofness, "Whether I have my own child or not, how I raise it, is my business, and has nothing to do with you."

Zhou Mubin seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, and suddenly stood up straight. "It has nothing to do with me? Look me in the eyes and say that she is my daughter, that she has half my blood, and that's why you're excluding me?"

He stepped forward, his voice trembling with suppressed rage, "I was foolish before, I didn't cherish your feelings, but I'm willing to change. All these years, I haven't had a single woman by my side, but you, you've sentenced me to death, even taking away my right to be a father."

Cui Xiao subconsciously took a half step back, avoiding his burning gaze, her eyes falling on the window at the end of the corridor, where the blurry night was reflected.

Her voice was flat, like a frozen lake, "Whether you've changed or not is none of my business. I left you back then simply because I felt we weren't right for each other, and I didn't want you to keep bothering me."

Zhou Mubin was stunned, then gave a bitter laugh, his eyes bloodshot. "If you don't want me to bother you, then don't have my child! You gave birth to my child without a word, shouldn't you give me an explanation?"

Cui Xiao finally turned to look at him, her eyes filled with desolate indifference. "The child is mine alone, and has nothing to do with you."

Zhou Mubin was genuinely amused and exasperated. "You can have children all by yourself? What, have you evolved faster than other humans, become hermaphroditic, and can reproduce asexually?"

Cui Xiao suddenly looked at him, her eyes wide, her face turning a shade paler with anger.

Seeing that she was too angry to speak, Zhou Mubin snorted, "Without me, you wouldn't have been able to give birth to such a cute daughter as Xiao Nuomi. Cui Xiao, even if you don't want to admit it, it's no use. I am Xiao Nuomi's father, and you can't change that."

Cui Xiao, "You..."

Before she could finish speaking, Zhou Mubin interrupted her, "I'm fine, I'm extremely happy to have such a lovely daughter."

Cui Xiao couldn't argue with him.

I'd better not say anything more.

After a while, Zhou Mubin stepped forward and lowered his voice, "Cui Xiao, no matter how much you hate me, your daughter's health is the most important thing. Here, you go and rest, I'll keep watch."

Cui Xiao replied resolutely, "No need."

Zhou Mubin: "Alright, then you can come with me. It'll be a good opportunity for us to develop our relationship."

This man is so stubborn.

Cui Xiao felt that nothing she did was right.

However, after staying up until 3 a.m., Cui Xiao somehow fell asleep.

Perhaps it was because Zhou Mubin was there that I felt a strange sense of security.

As dawn broke and the east began to lighten with the pale glow of a fish's belly.

Zhou Mubin didn't sleep all night. Instead of feeling sleepy, he felt an irrepressible excitement surging in his chest.

He has a daughter now; that soft, cuddly little one is his biological daughter.

He tiptoed out of the corridor and drove straight to the most popular breakfast stall near the hospital, where he queued for half an hour before finally buying two large bags full of breakfast.

Crab roe buns, vegetable porridge, tea eggs, steamed dumplings, and wontons that Cui Xiao used to love, which she bought by taking a special detour.

When they returned to the ward, Xiao Nuomi had just woken up and was rubbing her eyes and whimpering. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw Zhou Mubin come in.

Zhou Mubin laid out the breakfasts from the insulated bags one by one, and the small table was instantly filled with them, the steaming aroma and the smell of cooking filling the air.

"Little Nuomi, look! Pick whatever you like to eat."

He picked up a tea egg, skillfully cracked the shell with his fingertips, and peeled it off bit by bit, cleaning even the inner membrane thoroughly. He even blew on it carefully before handing it to Xiao Nuomi. "It's freshly peeled, not hot anymore."

Seeing Xiao Nuomi holding the egg and taking small bites, he ladled out half a bowl of vegetable porridge, scooped up a spoonful, gently blew on it to cool it, and held it to her lips, saying, "Have some porridge to fill your stomach; it's soft, sticky, and easy to digest."

Little Nuomi opened her mouth, put the spoon in her mouth, her eyes curved into crescents, and said indistinctly, "Uncle Zhou's peeled eggs are the best, and his porridge is delicious too."

After feeding him half a bowl of porridge, Zhou Mubin asked casually, "Little Nuomi, has Mommy ever mentioned Daddy to you?"

Little Nuomi paused in her bite of the egg, her little brows furrowing slightly. She nodded first, then shook her head vigorously, her voice tinged with confusion, "Mom mentioned it. She said Dad died a long time ago and went to heaven to become a star."

The spoon in Zhou Mubin's hand clattered against the rim of the bowl, and he froze, his smile instantly freezing.

He was standing right here, so how did he suddenly "die"?

He was both angry and amused. This woman, Cui Xiao, couldn't even come up with a more plausible reason to lie to the child. Even saying she was abducted by aliens would have been better than this.