“If you give us all the supplies, how will you feed Youyou?” Xu Lin said.
Zheng Ming did have a lot of supplies in the apocalypse, but Xu Lin didn't even care about his meager resources.
"I'll give you half," Zheng Ming insisted.
“Sure,” Xu Lin readily agreed.
After walking for three days, they finally arrived at the camp. Zheng Ming shaved and took a shower. Although he was not as dashing as before the apocalypse, he was still considered clean and tidy among the many survivors.
Do you think I look dressed like this?
"Will Youyou not like this toy?"
"If I tell her directly that I'm her father, will she not believe me?"
"I……"
"Shut up!" Xu Lin couldn't stand Zheng Ming anymore.
“No matter what you wear, you’re still a stranger to her. Relationships need to be built up slowly. This toy is something I made for you based on Youyou’s preferences. She’ll definitely like it. She doesn’t understand what ‘dad’ means right now. In her eyes, it’s the same as ‘uncle’ or ‘aunt’.”
Xu Lin, who was driving, finished speaking in one breath, and Zheng Ming stopped talking, but the hands he was rubbing his clothes betrayed his inner tension and unease.
It was noon when they got back to the base. As soon as Zheng Ming got out of the car, his eyes darted around looking for Youyou.
"Where's Youyou?" Xu Lin asked.
“She went to your place. Ever since you left, she’s been going there to wait for you every day. It’s almost time for dinner now, so my mom should bring her back,” Sun Wei said.
As soon as Li Jingjing saw them return, she immediately went to prepare food for them to eat at her place.
"Xu Lin is back? Zheng Ming is here too?" Everyone had just finished exchanging greetings when they heard Dr. Dai's voice.
She made braised pork for lunch and brought a bowl over to Li Jingjing. On the way, she ran into Grandma Wu bringing Youyou back from Xu Lin's place, and then Xu Lin and Zhou Pin brought Zheng Ming back. Everyone inevitably had another round of pleasantries.
Zheng Ming had already heard that it was Dr. Dai who told them his location, and he also knew that Xu Lin and the others had been with Sun Wei's family, so he was not surprised to see Dr. Dai here.
Seeing little Youyou being pushed around in a stroller by Grandma Wu, Zheng Ming's eyes welled up with tears. Little Youyou, who had been happily watching Xu Lin, was completely bewildered.
"Stop peeing, where's the present?" Xu Lin nudged Zheng Ming's arm.
"Oh, right, Youyou, this is a gift from Daddy. I hope you like it." Zheng Ming took a small solar-powered electric toy from the car and handed it to Youyou.
"Dad?" Youyou asked back.
“Yes, I am your father,” Zheng Ming said, wiping away his tears.
"dad!"
Youyou called out happily, clearly thinking that her father meant the same thing as the uncles and aunts she had called him before.
"Why!"
Immersed in his daughter's calls, Zheng Ming was unaware of the truth and was deeply moved. No one revealed the truth, allowing Zheng Ming to continue his emotional journey.
After exchanging pleasantries, she said goodbye to the doctor and left, leaving her two children waiting for her to eat.
"We're all coming to my place for dinner tonight; it's a rare opportunity for us to get together," Xu Lin said.
After dinner, the group sat together and talked about their experiences after they separated. Minister Sun brought up the issue of Zheng Ming's resettlement.
“Why don’t you build your house next to ours? That way it will be easier for us to visit Youyou in the future,” said Grandma Wu.
She was the one who couldn't bear to part with Xiao Youyou the most. She had raised the child almost entirely from birth, and they were more like family than biological grandparents. She couldn't bear to see Youyou leave, but the child definitely had to live with her biological father, so she had to settle for letting Zheng Ming live next to them.
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