0008 008 Love and Love
She stood up straight like a little lion. Having just learned to stand, she pushed away her father's hand that was supporting her and maintained her balance on her own. Her expression was calm, but she was actually terrified inside. Her two little legs, which were supporting her body, trembled incessantly, even though they were buried in her long fur.
She leaned on Qi Yu's lap, a head taller than him, her fists clenched and hidden under her large skirt.
Qi Yu watched her intently, remaining silent for a long time. But when she could no longer hold on, he reached out and caught her, letting her trembling upper body fall into his arms.
"Yes, I love Yao Yao the most."
All her strength had been drained away, and no one knew what she was hoping for.
"Oh," came the weak reply.
"What's wrong? Why did you suddenly confirm this?"
But Qi Yu didn't want to let her go, so he raised his hand and tapped her nose, continuing to question her.
"Nothing, just asking."
"You think your father doesn't like you? Why would you have that misconception?"
"It's not my imagination, it's just... nothing... I just wanted to ask!"
Even now that she's grown up, Qi Shuyao still gets flustered when faced with questions she doesn't want to answer, and Qi Yu patiently cooperates, which actually stops the question from being asked.
However, new problems have arisen.
"Then I'd like to ask you, why have you been hiding in your room these past few days?"
"I, I, I just want to draw. I have a new inspiration, but I can't put pen to paper. It's frustrating. I don't want to see anyone. That's it."
She gave a halting explanation, her hands gesturing wildly at her sides to cover it up.
"Oh, I see."
"Ah... well, how did you learn needlework? I remember you were already very skilled at it when I was little."
The little girl held up the flower sewn on the fine gauze and waved it in front of him, awkwardly trying to change the subject again. But Qi Yu was clearly lost in thought. He reached out and took her small hand and the flower on her dress, gently touching it, before finally speaking after a long while.
"These are not difficult. Learn them slowly and practice a few times, and you'll get the hang of them."
“When I was little, I often wore patched clothes, as well as clothes that were altered from your big clothes. My dad was really good at sewing.”
Qi Shuyao praised him skillfully, then raised her hand and patted his chin from behind, immediately touching his prickly stubble, which was dense and thick.
She turned to stare at his profile and nudged his shoulder with her raised knee.
"Dad, after Pei Yuzhou died, was things really chaotic?"
"How so?"
"I was talking to Sheng Sheng about it. It seems that her childhood sweetheart and neighbor, Su Shaojin, has had some kind of family trouble because of this. His father, who has been in business for so many years, has suddenly become an official. It seems very strange, but I don't really know. I'm just guessing."
Qi Yu slowed down his patting of her back, going over her few words in his mind again and again, repeatedly confirming the logic within them, and thought there shouldn't be any problems.
"It's alright. The situation hasn't gotten out of control yet; everything is still normal."
“Then you should be careful. I always felt that Pei Yuzhou’s death was very abnormal. Even if he was sick for a long time and it was very serious, he couldn’t have died right after retirement. How could the timing be so coincidental?”
"He was actually considered to have retired early, about six months ago. He was already very ill and couldn't even leave the hospital, so he had no choice but to retire. There are other suspicious points, but they haven't been fully investigated yet, so we can only observe for now."
Qi Yu had already considered what she said, but unfortunately, the incident happened so suddenly that even with his extraordinary abilities, he couldn't grasp the most crucial point, so he could only calm down first.
"Don't worry, even if the sky falls, I'll protect my little girl and keep her safe and sound."
"Anyway, you have to be careful; the world is so chaotic."
"Okay, Daddy promises you. Now, can my little darling go back to sleep? Do you want to greet guests with dark circles under your eyes during the day?"
"Sleep, sleep, sleep now."
Qi Shuyao scrambled up from her father's arms, but before she could stand up straight, her skirt, which was pressing down on her feet, pulled her back down, causing her to fall head over heels on Qi Yu. The man laughed as he freed the little fool from under her skirt and carried her straight back to the bedroom.
She was put on the bed, but the arm around her neck was still stubbornly refusing to be removed, and even her calf was raised and dangling. Qi Yu patted her back and teased her.
"Do you want Daddy to sleep here with you tonight?"
"OK."
She effortlessly slipped out of his arms, jumped into the covers, lay down on one side, and pulled back the other half of the blanket.
Her innocent gaze made Qi Yu despise himself. He pointed towards the bathroom, indicating that she should lie down first.
Qi Shuyao watched his back as he walked away, then rolled up the blanket and covered her head with it, twisting herself into an arc under the blanket before suddenly springing up and furtively hiding the drawing board that was lying face down on the ground in a corner.
She shed her fitted base dress and quickly slipped into a loose nightgown. Then she lay down and counted on her fingers how many minutes Qi Yu had been showering in the bathroom. After one hand's worth of fingers were pressed down, the man, who was drying his hair, came out wrapped in a towel. He haphazardly wiped his short hair with the towel a few times and then crawled to her side.
They lay neatly on either side of the princess bed, with only their heads peeking out of the blankets. They stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before Qi Yu reached out and turned off the bedside lamp, plunging the bedroom into complete darkness.
Emotions are the most draining thing. As the environment darkened, he instantly felt sleepy. Soon, the breathing next to Qi Yu became steady. The girl unconsciously turned over to face him, and a soft little finger hooked onto his big hand.
He turned around and clenched that little hand into his own.
After more than half a month, Qi Shuyao finally got a good night's sleep. Just as dawn was breaking, only a sliver of light squeezed in through the gap in the heavy curtains, and a strange sensation touched her cheek. When she reached out to push it away, her hand was clamped.
"What..." came from a sticky, mushy voice.
"It's okay, go to sleep."
She vaguely heard footsteps and the sound of a door opening and closing. She turned over to the other side and quickly went back to sleep.
Daylight broke, and time flew by. Qi Yu had already returned from outside. The people inside were still asleep. She turned over several times, rolled the quilt around herself, and twisted herself into a ball.
The maid was right; the mornings in the mountains were indeed chilly. A cold hand touched Qi Shuyao's face, startling her so much that she suddenly opened her eyes. It took her pupils a while to refocus, and after recognizing Qi Yu, she muttered something.
"What did you do this morning?"
"To greet guests."
"Hmm..." She finally shook off his hand and was about to fall asleep again.
"You can't sleep anymore tonight. Go take a shower and get up. You still need to put on makeup and get ready."
"Sleepy……"
"I'll sleep in tomorrow. The guests are coming soon. I'll take a shower and wake myself up."
But she turned over, rubbing her eyes; she wasn't fully awake yet.
"Dad will wash me."
Qi Yu didn't dare to rashly pull back her blanket; he was just tidying the edges when he heard those vague words. He paused, then smiled.
"Yes, in the future."
"Hmm?" It seems like this little girl has just woken up.
"Get up." He finally dragged her out of bed and threw her into the bathroom.
"Why do you smell so good today? Did you wear too much perfume?" Her little head popped out again, but Qi Yuyi grabbed it and pulled it back inside. After closing the door, he turned and went downstairs to arrange the birthday party.
Today, Aunt Liu made a pot of tiny, miniature buns for the little birthday boy, each one a bite-sized treat. As soon as they came out of the pot, Qi Yu sneaked a couple and ate them. They tasted delicious. He took the plate, grabbed some chopsticks, and went back upstairs.
Qi Shuyao's room was a complete mess. She had already put on her dress, but she hadn't chosen any jewelry or accessories yet. All the gold and silver jewelry, big and small, that had been neatly arranged in the jewelry cabinet had been taken out and spread out from the dressing room all the way to the bedroom. Her long hair was still wet from washing, and as soon as it was dried, it was being combed. A dozen hands were busy on her, while the protagonist in the middle was yawning and couldn't even open her eyes.
She had just stretched her arms when she opened her eyes and spotted him leaning against the door in the corner reflected in the mirror.
"Come in quickly! What are you doing out there? Dad, help me braid my hair, she's hurting me so much."
The little maid quickly let go and took a step back. Qi Yu stepped forward, took the hair, handed her the plate containing the small buns, and began braiding it according to the diagram she had drawn.
It's been many years since I braided my daughter's hair, but I'm still quite skilled at it now.
Qi Shuyao swallowed a small steamed bun and looked at him in the mirror.
"Where did you go this morning? What guests did you meet? I didn't see anyone else at home."
The long, slender hands in the mirror moved back and forth through her hair, and the smile on her lips was very gentle.
"Do you remember those two little monkeys that looked a lot like you that we used to keep in the villa in the east of the city? We brought them back to you today; they arrived in the early hours of the morning."
“I remember, Qiqi and Guoguo, how am I like them? You always say that.”
"Because you all like to climb on my back, and you even do the same thing."
As he spoke, he had already braided her hair, gathering all the strands back and then letting them go. The pretty little girl with big eyes looked even more like a little princess.
"That was all from when I was a kid, why bring it up now?"
She angrily pinched the last two small buns together and put them in her mouth. She then casually pushed the plate onto the table, stood up, and her slightly long skirt trailed on the ground. When she was still, it was a straight-cut style, but when she turned it slightly, you could see the pleated patchwork structure inside, like a blooming flower.
She took a small step back, spun around in the middle of the room, her hair and skirt swirling together, drawing beautiful arcs in the air.
"How do I look? Am I pretty today?"
"Of course she's beautiful. Our young lady is beautiful every day."
Before Qi Yu could answer, the servants beside her began to boast. It seemed that she hadn't really meant to ask him; her face showed no other expression as she turned to admire herself in the mirror.
"Alright, let Aunt Han take them to tidy up the house first, then we'll go downstairs."
He stepped forward to take her hand, but his daughter dodged him.
"Going downstairs now? Someone's here? So early?"
"No one else is coming, so I'm taking this opportunity to let you see the gift first."
"Oh, opening the gifts now? Isn't that too early? Why don't you let others see how rich my dad is this year?"
"I'm afraid this year's gifts will scare those people away."
Qi Yu didn't know what he was arguing about, but he insisted on going over and taking her hand, placing her soft little paw in his palm and holding it. Qi Shuyao was still wearing slippers under her skirt, and she was much shorter than him, so it really looked like he was holding the hand of a little girl.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
