"Tongtong, my darling, you've worked so hard." Xia Xiang pulled Jiu Wu over and gestured for Jiu Wu to take the flowers from Yi Tong's hand.
"It's no trouble at all. I'm so glad that Mother and Father are back." Yi Tong's tone and expression were very indifferent, and she showed no sign of happiness as she handed the flowers to Jiu Wu.
"Uncle Rex is still waiting for me, I want to go to class first." Yi Tong looked at Xia Xiang, then at Jiu Wu beside her, and unconsciously pursed her lips.
"good"
Xia Xiang rubbed her head. Actually, she should have taken the opportunity to kiss her, but the child was a little nervous in front of Jiu Wu, so she didn't make things difficult for her.
“Then we’ll take you there,” Jiu Wu suggested gently, eager to make a good impression. “Your father and mother will go with you.”
"No need. Mother and Father haven't seen each other for so long, they can have a good chat." Yi Tong calmly refused, then obediently went upstairs to get her plush duck bag, said goodbye to the two of them, and left home without looking back.
"Little Fatty, did I mess this up?" Jiu Wu looked at his daughter's cold back. "She must be disappointed in me. Look, she calls you 'Mom' so affectionately, but she calls me 'Father' so distantly."
"Don't worry," Xia Xiang said, somewhat amused, gently patting Jiu Wu's back to comfort him. "Tongtong is really looking forward to meeting you, and she likes you a lot too."
At first, she thought it was her fault because after Tongtong turned one, she became very busy and couldn't take her with her. By the time she came back, the child was already three years old.
At first, she raised Tongtong like a normal child, but later Tongtong talked to her for a long time like a little adult, and she felt relieved. She fully supported whatever Tongtong wanted to do.
But sometimes I still want to be a spoiled, domineering parent and just whine and beg Tongtong for a hug.
"So you don't need to worry." Xia Xiang had high hopes for Jiu Wu. With his age of forty-one and thirty-five years of experience in raising children, he could easily win over the kid.
"Why?" Jiu Wu asked, puzzled.
He didn't understand, and even felt it was his fault for not fulfilling his responsibilities as a father, not showing up for so long, and even leaving her behind and leaving by himself.
"Jiuwu, don't overthink it. Tongtong has a really good impression of you, I promise." Xia Xiang raised three fingers to swear.
She mentions Jiuwu almost every day and has told Tongtong a lot about Jiuwu, so they aren't exactly strangers.
"Just treat her like a normal friend. Being too enthusiastic will only put pressure on her. Take it slow," Xia Xiang suggested, recalling Yi Tong's reaction earlier.
"Really?" Jiu Wu hugged Xia Xiang tightly, feeling very distressed.
"Really?" Xia Xiang nodded with utmost seriousness.
——
"Baby, what is Tongtong learning from Rex?" Jiu Wu asked belatedly.
“She said that Rex has beautiful handwriting and she wants to learn calligraphy from him,” Xia Xiang replied.
Jiuwu: I've spent more time with Rex than Xia Xiang, how come I didn't know he had such high attainments in calligraphy?
...
"Tongtong, your dad's out of seclusion. Why aren't you home playing today?" Rex was a little surprised to see the little girl calmly walk into the office.
"Miss Yitong," the assistant said respectfully, taking the child's bag.
“My mother hasn’t seen him in a long time either, and I don’t want to disturb them at home.” Yi Tong sat down at her own desk with practiced ease.
“Well, thank you for helping your uncle with his work today,” Rex said with a gentle smile, and very casually had her assistant move another stack of files onto her desk.
Yi Tong nodded slightly, and after reading it, she neatly signed Rex's name. "You're welcome. I've learned a lot too."
Rex: How can teaching her to write my name not be considered calligraphy practice?
——
After spending several days with his daughter whom he had just met, Jiu Wu gradually figured out her temperament and was able to restrain his overblown fatherly love, treating his daughter calmly.
Yi Tong was also helpless, finally realizing how incomplete her mother's description of her father was.
Her dad really knows how to push kids too hard, but he can still indulge him for his mom's sake.
The family of three then planned to return to Tieshikong to stay for a while.
After Jiu Wu and the others returned to the Iron Dimension, they discovered that their daughter had a lot of names. His father-in-law named the child Wuyou, which was said to be a name chosen from the Ye family. Although his grandfather was not happy, he didn't say much because the name had a good meaning.
Xiong Ge calls the child Xiao Shi because she is the tenth among the grandchildren.
Grandpa named the child Xia Yanxi. The Xia family originally did not have generational names, but because their eldest grandson was named Xia Yanqi, every child, regardless of gender, had the character "Yan" in their name.
Each family member calls out to themselves, without disturbing the others...
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