Chapter 127 (First Update)
One hundred and twenty-seven:
Mu Shaowu: !!!
Mu Shaowu was genuinely surprised that he would admit it, and burst out laughing.
He teased Ye Qingxi deliberately, saying, "Oh, your baby missed me, huh?"
Ye Qingxi became embarrassed again. He turned his head away and said in a soft voice, like a proud and aloof kitten, "Who said I missed you?"
"Of course, it was my baby who said it."
"That's your baby lying to you," Ye Qingxi thought to himself, but he didn't say it aloud, afraid that Mu Shaowu would really think he was lying to him.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he quickly said, "Dad, put me down, let's go take pictures."
"Photograph?"
“A snowman,” Ye Qingxi said.
Mu Shaowu: ? ? ?
Mu Shaowu was even more confused.
However, he still obediently let go of Ye Qingxi.
Ye Qingxi took his hand and ran to the five snowmen in the front yard.
"I'll go call Grandpa," he said happily.
Mu Shaowu: ? ? ?
No, what does his father have to do with this?!
Before Mu Shaowu could even ask him a question, Ye Qingxi had already let go of him and ran into the house.
Mu Shaowu had no choice but to turn his gaze to his younger siblings, "What do you mean?"
Mu Shaoting pointed to the snowman in front of him and explained, “Dad, you, me, Shaoyan, Xiaoxi.”
Mu Shaowu: ? ? ?
Mu Shaowu: ...
He looked at the five plump, well-dressed snowmen in front of him. How could they resemble them?
Only the scarves and hats are from them.
wrong……
Mu Shaowu quickly noticed the problem, "Why am I here? You and Shaoyan are next to my son?"
Mu Shaoting: ...
Mu Shaoting laughed and said, "Well, I'll go inside and get a glass of water."
Mu Shaoyan quickly added, "I'm going to eat some chocolate to replenish my energy."
After saying that, the two quickly went into the house.
Mu Shaowu: ...
Well, when the tiger is away, the monkey becomes king!
You two just wait!
However, these snowmen are actually getting cuter the more you look at them.
Mu Shaowu took out his phone, took a picture of the little snowman representing Ye Qingxi, and then took a picture of the one representing him.
Ye Qingxi pushed open the door to Mu Feng's study and said happily, "Grandpa, my dad is back."
Upon hearing this, Mu Feng simply hummed in response, showing no particular emotion.
Ye Qingxi ran to his side, looking at him expectantly, "So Grandpa, I want to take another picture."
Mu Feng never refused to speak to him, especially since his eyes were sparkling with obvious happiness.
Mu Feng couldn't bear to let his eyes dim.
"Okay." He stood up and left the study with Ye Qingxi.
When Aunt Zhang saw Mu Shaowu return, she smiled and said, "You're finally back! It's almost the New Year."
"Mm," Mu Shaowu replied.
"Then stand still, I'll take your picture."
Ye Qingxi quickly stood behind the little snowman in the middle, and the others also stood in line in turn.
Aunt Zhang smiled at them and said, "Cheese!"
"Cheese!" Ye Qingxi shouted together with Mu Shaoting, Mu Shaoyan, and Mu Shaowu.
Once the photos were taken, Aunt Zhang handed the camera to Mu Feng.
Mu Feng then handed the camera to Ye Qingxi.
Ye Qingxi looked at the preview image inside. Five people, five snowmen, the thick snow reflecting the light and illuminating their faces. Everyone looked happy and beautiful.
Finally, there was someone behind each snowman.
After taking the photos, everyone went back to their rooms.
Aunt Zhang made soup and served each of them a bowl to warm them up.
Ye Qingxi sipped the water, holding the bowl in her hands, feeling warm from the inside out.
After finishing the soup, Mu Shaowu went back to his room to put away his luggage, and Ye Qingxi followed him upstairs.
"Dad, aren't you supposed to be back tomorrow or the day after?" Ye Qingxi asked.
Mu Shaowu laughed, "I came back early just to see you."
Ye Qingxi felt a little embarrassed after hearing what he said.
Are you very tired? Do you want to take a nap?
"It's alright," Mu Shaowu said. "I slept on the plane."
Ye Qingxi nodded, "I see."
He followed Mu Shaowu into the room and watched as Mu Shaowu took out the clothes and daily necessities one by one and put them back in their original places.
Ye Qingxi felt a little dazed; he had just returned like that.
Without warning or prior notice, it happened suddenly and pleasantly.
He appeared at the time he most wanted to be there.
Ye Qingxi couldn't help but lower her head and smile—it's so nice.
With Mu Shaowu back, Ye Qingxi naturally moved from Mu Feng's room back to Mu Shaowu's room.
Mu Feng had no objection to this.
Ye Qingxi looked at him and said, "Grandpa, remember to go to bed early!"
"Okay." Mu Feng agreed readily.
However, his actions were not so cooperative.
That night, the lights in Mu Feng's study stayed on until midnight.
Anyway, his little grandson doesn't know, Mu Feng thought to himself.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but recall the scene every night after ten o'clock, when Ye Qingxi would rush into his study and ask him to tell her a bedtime story so they could sleep together.
Mu Feng smiled, then a sharp doubt suddenly arose in his mind.
Could it be that he had been sleeping here all this time, and had me tell him stories, because he wanted me to get some rest?
Mu Feng thought it was impossible; how could a child have such awareness?
But Ye Qingxi has always been intelligent; just because other children don't have it doesn't mean he doesn't.
He has always been very concerned about his family.
Mu Feng looked down at the jade bracelet and watch on his wrist.
He recalled Ye Qingxi saying to him when she gave him the watch, "Grandpa, you need to take care of your health and stay healthy."
Mu Feng: ...
Mu Feng sighed, closed his laptop, turned off the light, and left the study.
He returned to his bedroom, which was pitch black.
Mu Feng turned on the light, but the bed where Ye Qingxi should have been lying was empty.
The entire bedroom was quiet and spacious.
For a moment, he felt a sense of unease.
But he didn't show anything. He calmly walked into the bathroom, took a shower, dried his hair, and lay down on the bed.
The custom-made bed was a bit too big for one person, so he slept in his usual spot, but the familiar soft touch was gone from his arms.
The calls of "Grandpa" are gone.
She no longer had his delicate little hands holding her, nor his clear, bright eyes gazing at her.
No bedtime stories tonight.
No bedtime stories tonight.
No bedtime story needed tonight.
Mu Feng turned off the light and silently closed his eyes.
However, bedtime stories don't disappear; they just move on. Upstairs in Mufenglou, Mu Shaowu was holding Ye Qingxi, gently telling him a bedtime story.
Ye Qingxi is on vacation, so his schedule isn't as regular as before. He was even more excited when Mu Shaowu came back tonight, and the two of them talked until midnight.
Ye Qingxi yawned, and Mu Shaowu then looked at his watch and said in surprise, "It's already midnight, go to sleep."
Ye Qingxi nodded.
He had already taken a shower, so he could simply lift the covers and lie down.
Mu Shaowu leaned against the headboard and coaxed him, "How about Daddy tells you a bedtime story? I heard from your aunt that you quite like listening to them."
"Okay," Ye Qingxi replied.
He hasn't heard Mu Shaowu's bedtime stories yet.
I wonder whose storytelling style he'll resemble more.
Is it his concise father, his vividly described sister, or his adorable, childlike nephew?
Ye Qingxi moved closer to him and listened to him speak.
However, Ye Qingxi soon discovered that none of them were true.
Mu Shaowu's storytelling style is more like acting; if it weren't for the limited space on the bed, he would have loved to perform a scene for him right now.
Ye Qingxi: ...Is it possible that telling bedtime stories is meant to help children fall asleep? With you making so much noise, how can any child possibly sleep?
Ye Qingxi is exhausted; her father should just quit the bedtime story business.
He grumbled to himself, then slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
The next day, Ye Qingxi slept until she naturally woke up.
He rubbed his eyes and saw Mu Shaowu appear in front of him. "You're awake. Are you hungry?"
Ye Qingxi was stunned for a moment before belatedly realizing, "Oh right, Mu Shaowu is back! His father is back!"
He couldn't help but laugh.
"Not hungry yet."
"Then you can stay in bed a little longer. If you're hungry, I'll go downstairs to eat with you."
"Mm." Ye Qingxi nodded.
He lay in bed for a while longer before getting up to wash up and go to the restaurant for dinner.
After finishing his meal, Mu Feng glanced at Mu Shaowu and said to him, "Come with me."
Mu Shaowu stood up and followed him to the study.
Mu Feng sat down in his office chair, looked at his son, and asked him, "How do you feel about your handling of Qiu Lu's matter?"
Mu Shaowu didn't expect him to say that.
He looked at his father and heard him say, "Are you satisfied with how you handled things?"
Mu Shaowu: ...
"I'm not satisfied," Mu Feng said calmly.
He leaned back in his chair. "Of course I know you did something, but you also know very well that it wasn't anything important. The one who truly avenged Xiaoxi was your older brother, or even Shao Yan's classmate, not you."
“Rongsheng may indeed lose several hundred or even tens of millions because of your actions, but this does not address the root cause. It will neither embarrass him nor cause him pain. In fact, he can simply buy one less car.”
Mu Shaowu: ...
“If you haven’t solved the problem in substance, then you should have come back immediately. You are his father, his closest relative. He’s been hurt and wronged, and you should be by his side.”
"I can't leave the crew while I'm there," Mu Shaowu explained. "If I leave, the crew will have to stop filming, everyone's progress will be delayed, and then no one may be able to celebrate the New Year."
"This is not a problem. These things can be solved with money."
"Isn't it just burning money? At worst, we can stop for one day during the New Year and burn money for one day. Don't you have that kind of money?"
“Dad, the film crew isn’t just my crew,” Mu Shaowu said. “I’m the male lead, and I have a responsibility to the crew. I can’t let my actions affect everyone else.”
"So you have no responsibility towards your son?"
That's not what I meant.
“I know,” Mu Feng said, “but Mu Shaowu, you have to provide either companionship or problem-solving, right?”
"What's the point of being a father if you can neither help your son solve his problems nor be there for him during his moments of distress and sadness?"
Mu Shaowu: ...
Mu Shaowu remained silent.
Mu Feng's voice was soft, but it struck Mu Shaowu's heart with great force.
“In the past, if you wanted to become an actor, I wouldn’t allow it. I said being an actor is meaningless. What is an actor? A star? An artist? What do actors have? Fans? Exposure? Money? What’s the use? Actors are just pawns in the hands of capital. Because they have to live in front of the camera, there are many things they can’t do or can’t do.”
"So I didn't want you to be an actor, but you said you liked it, so you went for it. You're young, you've been a chosen one since you were a child, doing whatever you wanted, but now, you've reached the top of the acting world, but when your son got into trouble, you still had to use your older brother to take revenge."
"Don't you want to avenge your son yourself? Of course you do, but you don't have the ability because you're just an actor, a useless actor."
"Mu Shaowu, a man, a qualified man, must have the ability to protect his wife and children."
"You didn't have a wife and children before, so you don't understand these things. You just think that whatever makes you happy is fine. As the second young master of the Mu family, what is there that you can't do or experience?"
"But now you have children, you are a father, and your life can't just be about your own happiness."
"Have you thought about how long you want to be an actor? How old do you want to be?" Mu Feng asked him. "Do you have any plans for your future? What kind of plans do you have?"
Mu Shaowu: ...
Mu Shaowu did not answer.
Mu Feng knew that.
He said, "Then start thinking about it today. Think about how you want to develop your future and how you want to be a good father."
Mu Feng looked at his son and said, "Don't let Xiao Xi have to rely on his uncle every time something happens to him."
"No matter how much his uncle loves him, he is not his father."
"Otherwise, why don't I just let your brother be his father?"
When Mu Shaowu left Mu Feng's study, he felt utterly empty.
Mu Feng looked at his somewhat disappointed expression and said nothing.
He knew, of course, that he had done everything he could for Mu Shaowu, and he was trying his best to avenge his son.
But it didn't work.
What he did was like children's roughhousing; it's meaningless unless it causes serious injury.
Growing from a young man into a father, feelings of loss, confusion, and even helplessness are inevitable experiences.
The difference is that in a normal family, two people experience these things.
If the father makes a mistake, the mother will point it out.
If the mother does something wrong, the father will tell her.
The two supervised and encouraged each other.
But Ye Qingxi has no mother, he only has a father, so Mu Feng has to take on the responsibility of supervising and promoting him himself.
He had to keep an eye on Mu Shaowu, pointing out his shortcomings so that he could be a better father.
He was the one who chose this father for Ye Qingxi.
Therefore, he must take full responsibility.
Mu Feng did love his son.
He just hoped that Ye Qingxi could have a better life.
Hopefully, his son will become more mature and understand more clearly what the meaning behind the simplest word "Dad" truly is.
A father is not someone you can simply feed and water to help him grow up.
Just because you say "I love you" to your father doesn't mean you truly love him.
A father is the sky for his child, the roof over his child's head to shelter him from the storms. No matter how strong the storms outside are, a father can shield his child from harm.
However, Mu Shaowu clearly lacked the ability to cover the sky and the sun.
Mu Feng hoped he would have it.
Mu Feng wanted him to understand that in this world, the only person Ye Qingxi could rely on and wanted to rely on was him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
