Preparation
The next day.
The alarm clock rang recklessly in his ears. Shao Zizhuo opened his eyes and woke up for a few seconds. He rubbed his temples to relieve the fatigue from yesterday's drunkenness. He turned over and sat up. Today was Zhenzhen's first day in kindergarten and she couldn't be late.
Shao Zizhuo put on his clothes and went to Zhenzhen's room in his slippers to call her. She was sleeping soundly, the flesh on her cheeks was squeezed up by the pillow, and her soft, childish hair was stuck to her forehead in a messy, furry manner.
Shao Zizhuo's heart sank into a corner, collapsing into a unique, enclosed space, carefully shielding Shao Kezhen from the wind and rain. And today, from the day Zhenzhen entered kindergarten, her world would no longer be just her. Zhenzhen would be free from his embrace, and she would begin to have her own friends, teachers, and everything in her life that belonged to her alone.
The old father could only watch her go away with sadness and relief.
Shao Zizhuo put his thoughts aside, brushed away the loose hair covering her forehead, and gently called her to get up: "Baby, get up, you have to go to kindergarten today."
Zhenzhen turned over, escaping Shao Zizhuo's hand that was trying to wake her up. She moved her body without opening her eyes, but she got up and sat on the bed, mumbling, "Dad~"
Shao Zizhuo skillfully held her in his arms and took her into the bathroom. Just like he had done for more than a thousand mornings, he held her in one hand and wiped her face with a wet towel with the other. Zhenzhen closed her eyes and let her father operate on her face.
After wiping her face, Shao Zizhuo patted her cheeks gently, and her chubby cheeks trembled slightly. Shao Kezhen opened her eyes, and the toothbrush that Shao Zizhuo handed her had toothpaste perfectly applied on it. Shao Kezhen opened her mouth with satisfaction, put the special children's toothbrush into her mouth, and brushed her teeth up and down obediently.
Shao Zizhuo looked in the mirror. Two people, one big and one small, were wearing parent-child pajamas and brushing their teeth in the same way. He smiled gently. He taught her how to brush her teeth, so of course she did the same thing as him.
Shao Kezhen glanced over curiously, one eyebrow raised, the other lowered, her expression expressing her confusion. There was still foam in her mouth, and her words were slurred: "Dad, what are you laughing at?"
Shao Zizhuo spat out the water from his mouth, washed off the foam from the corners of his mouth, and reached out to help the kindergarten kid: "The baby is so cute, Daddy feels very happy."
As soon as Shao Kezhen's mouth was wiped dry, she immediately grinned and gestured to Shao Zizhuo in a hurry: "I am very happy too. I am so happy to be with my father."
After Shao Zizhuo tied her hair into a bun, he pinched Shao Kezhen's face and carried her schoolbag for her.
A colorful backpack, slightly larger than a dingdou, sat uncomfortably on his shoulder, creating subtle wrinkles on his suit. He squatted down and picked up Shao Kezhen, who leaned softly against his shoulder.
Shao Zizhuo set off with his shoulders full of energy.
When they arrived at the kindergarten gate, Shao Zizhuo handed the schoolbag to Shao Kezhen and squatted down to tell her something: "Don't do anything casually..."
Just as he was about to say a few words, Shao Kezhen hummed and put her two small hands on Shao Zizhuo's mouth. "Don't hit other children casually. You have to listen to the teacher and be polite." She puffed out her chest proudly and said, "Dad, I'm not a two-year-old anymore! I understand everything. You've told me many times."
Shao Kezhen broke free from his arms and wanted to go to the kindergarten anxiously. Shao Zizhuo's arms were suddenly empty. Feeling lost, he looked at Shao Kezhen in disbelief.
Why is it different from what is said in the book?
He read a lot of parenting psychology on how to communicate with children who are reluctant to go to kindergarten and how to encourage children to take the first step in social development. As a result, Shao Kezhen did not cry at all, and even had an inexplicable yearning for kindergarten, just like eating instant noodles by chance, as if it would immediately become her next "hobby".
Shao Kezhen, carrying her schoolbag, waved her hand maturely and said goodbye to her father. She had to do something important today! But when she turned around, her father was still standing there in a daze.
Oh, there's really nothing I can do about Dad. Shao Kezhen ran over, her schoolbag banging against her back. She tugged at Shao Zizhuo's trouser leg and said, "Dad, lower your head."
Shao Zizhuo squatted down, and Shao Kezhen gave her a real kiss on the cheek. She looked at him longingly and told him like a little adult, "Daddy, go to work. I'll be back after school. You just wait for me at home."
Shao Zizhuo laughed sincerely as he watched his daughter jump into the kindergarten step by step.
The wealthy woman who had come to deliver the child stood by, her eyes nearly popping out of her head in surprise. "Shao Zizhuo, that's Shao Zizhuo, right? He's even more handsome after not seeing him for a few years, much more handsome than that old man back home. But why is that child, that beautiful, adorable child, calling him daddy? I haven't seen Shao Zizhuo in a few years, and he already has a child? But I haven't heard about the child's mother. He's not married, is he?
For some reason, the lady suddenly felt like she was heartbroken. She watched Shao Zizhuo leave and called her bestie heartbrokenly, "Guess who I saw doing what?"
The person on the other end eagerly asked her to speak. She looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, stubbornly holding back tears of sadness. "Shao Zizhuo was taking a girl to school in kindergarten, and the child called him 'Dad.'"
······
Shao Kezhen followed the teacher's instructions and placed her hands on her lap, sitting upright. The teacher praised her from above, but she didn't hear a word, her mind wandering thousands of miles away.
She doesn't like going to kindergarten and having to deal with a group of children who insist on playing with her, just like the children she meets every time her father takes her out.
But the children in the kindergarten should all have mothers. She wanted to ask them how to make their mothers willing to be friends with her. When she meets their mothers in the future, she will have many tricks to use and will definitely become familiar with them quickly. Shao Kezhen smiled secretly.
Also, when her mother becomes her good friend, she will plead for her father and ask her mother to forgive him and be good friends with him as well.
Soon it was time for free activities.
Shao Kezhen picked out the strongest kid in the class and approached him casually, "How did you become friends with your mother?"
Little Zhuangzhuang asked in confusion: "Mom is mom, friends are friends, but mom is not a friend."
Shao Kezhen glanced at him impatiently, shook her head, and walked away. He looked stupid, and he was indeed not friends with his mother.
She glanced around and picked out Meimei, a little girl with a bun like her. Meimei was playing with building blocks. Shao Kezhen picked up a block from the corner and handed it to Meimei: "Meimei, how did you become friends with your mother?"
"Friend?" Meimei put the building blocks Zhenzhen handed her on the pile, sat down on the floor, and began to talk to Shao Kezhen. "Mom said I can tell her everything. She is my best friend."
That's right! Shao Kezhen sat beside her, lost in thought: "Then how did you two become so familiar with each other?"
Meimei frowned, and together with the buns on her head, they looked like a bunch of candied haws: "I don't know, but every time I make my mother angry, as long as I cry and call her, she will forgive me immediately, and we will be reconciled."
Zhenzhen held her face in her hands, trying to remember: if crying and calling her mom when she was angry worked, then could Daddy try that, too? Mommy would reconcile with him and then let Daddy introduce her to her.
But Zhenzhen suddenly remembered her father's stiff arms and his expressionless face when facing outsiders. No, no, her father couldn't learn it. She held her chin with her hand, feeling melancholy as if she hadn't eaten a full breakfast. Forget it, she would do it. She would teach her father first, and then let her father imitate her and do it.
Zhenzhen in the kindergarten was making her own plans. After Shao Zizhuo drove out of the kindergarten, he turned straight to the private hospital. He pressed the floor button and saw the words "Psychology Department" in bold letters next to it.
Shao Zizhuo walked into the psychological clinic with ease and lay down on the chair in the clinic without being invited. The incandescent light fell into his eyes, and he squinted uncomfortably.
Cheng Fengxuan's resistance to his behavior was futile, as he had long been accustomed to it: "It's been a long time since I came here. What's the matter this time?"
Shao Zizhuo said without a trace: "I saw her."
Cheng Fengxuan keenly grasped the message: "Zhenzhen's mother?"
The overwhelming, suffocating tide seemed to surge towards Shao Zizhuo again. He was having trouble breathing and sat up straight, breathing deeply. Cheng Fengxuan came over and handed him a glass of water: "Your condition had improved a lot, but after seeing her, all your efforts were ruined."
Cheng Fengxuan sighed. He was the person who knew Shao Zizhuo's experiences in recent years best. He even cut Zhenzhen's umbilical cord with his own hands. He was Shao Zizhuo's best friend and had personal feelings for him. Most of the time, he was unable to use professional and objective psychological counseling methods to treat Shao Zizhuo's psychological problems.
He really didn't know where to start. Zhenzhen's birth was completely beyond his medical knowledge. If he wanted to find an example in the animal world, it could only be barely close to the seahorse. But Shao Zizhuo just endured it and raised Zhenzhen alone. From a novice dad who didn't know how to make milk powder or change diapers, to a mature dad who could tie hair and make complementary food, all the hardships he went through were not something that outsiders could understand.
In this situation, Shao Zizhuo was only moderately depressed. If it were him, he wouldn't dare to think about it.
But after Zhenzhen learned to talk and walk, she continued to provide nourishment of love without relying on any medication. Shao Zizhuo's depression actually improved day by day, and he had not come to him for psychological counseling for a long time.
But today... Cheng Fengxuan sighed silently in his heart. Zhenzhen's mother was still an emotional threshold that Shao Zizhuo could not cross. He seriously suggested to Shao Zizhuo: "Zizhuo, she is so important to you. You can try to have an open and honest talk with her. Maybe your previous separation was also a misunderstanding?"
"Having a result is always better than being stuck in the middle like now." Cheng Fengxuan paused, "If you can't communicate with her directly, you can also try to let Zhenzhen act as a buffer between your two relationships."
Shao Zizhuo calmed down and regained his rationality: "Do you think she will recognize Zhenzhen? It's not her child, but it's her biological child. How can she believe it? They didn't even take her eggs, but she has her blood. How can you explain it?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
