Chapter 22 Girls and Children
Everyone suddenly understood. "Oh! So he was just trying to coax Tongtong. I got the wrong idea!"
"Sister-in-law Zhou Ying is back, so Master Pao must start eating meat! Look, all of us have such pig brains!"
"Stop shouting!" Lin Youqian's face suddenly turned cold, and his tone contained a strong warning.
Zhou Ying tugged at Lin Youqian's arm and joked, pretending to be unaware.
"You people's thoughts are becoming increasingly impure. Who else could Paoye like besides Tongtong?"
Tongtong is the daughter of Lin Youqian's good brother Mai Dong.
When he was at the border base, Mai Dong followed his family's arrangements and got a girlfriend during his home visit. The two were in love and lived together for a while.
Later, Mai Dong said he wanted to file a marriage report, but the woman disliked the hardships of the frontier and refused to join the army. She also couldn't stand the long-distance relationship of being separated from each other, so she broke up with him.
Who would have thought that a year later, the woman actually came to the base with a two-month-old baby girl, claiming that she was Mai Dong's daughter.
Through paternity testing, it is true.
The woman said she was unable to raise the child, so she left the child to Mai Dong and ran away, and she could no longer be contacted.
At that time, Mai Dong received an emergency notice and needed to go abroad for a mission. Because the risk factor was high, he entrusted his child to his good brother Lin Youqian.
"Master Pao! I entrust my daughter to you and register her under your name. If I can return safely, you will return Tongtong to me in the future. If something unfortunate happens, you will be her father and raise her for me and teach her well, okay?"
A brother entrusted his life to him, and Lin Youqian vowed to keep his promise. "Okay, don't worry. I will take good care of the baby and wait for your triumphant return!"
Ten months later, of the 12 brothers who had carried out the mission, only 9 returned with honors. Mai Dong, on the other hand, left behind his little daughter, who was less than a year old.
Lin Youqian registered the baby under his own name and changed the name to Lin Letong.
How could he, a grown man, take care of a child? The base was a secret place, and we couldn't hire outsiders to babysit.
So, Zhou Ying, a cultural and arts soldier, volunteered to take the child in to raise.
"Ah Qian, I like Tongtong so much. Please let me raise her. I'm a cultural soldier. I don't have to train or perform missions. I have a lot of free time, so I have more time to spend with her."
"Besides, our art troupe is made up of female soldiers. They should know how to take care of babies better than the rough guys at your arsenal, right?"
"Our art troupe is only half a day's journey from the base. From now on, every month when you don't have any missions, you can come and see the baby."
At that time, Lin Youqian was leading a team in major research and had no energy to take care of Tongtong, so he agreed.
Zhou Ying was ecstatic.
Originally, ever since their breakup, Lin Youqian had deliberately kept his distance from her, treating her like an ordinary friend, neither cold nor warm. Even though she gave up her promising career for him and joined the army as a small arts soldier, their relationship still did not make any further progress.
God had been merciful, sending her Tongtong. With the child as her bond, and the emotional foundation they had built during college, she was confident she could melt him.
When the child could speak, she asked Tongtong to call her mom and Lin Youqian dad.
Since she was the one who had been taking care of him, Lin Youqian had no objection. As for calling him dad, that was natural.
Because Tongtong was originally registered in his household registration book and was his daughter.
Later, Zhou Ying said that Tongtong was a smart child and she needed to grow up in a healthy and complete family environment, so she begged for reconciliation.
Although Lin Youqian's feelings for Zhou Ying no longer existed, he still agreed for the sake of the child.
So, in order to let Ms. Wen let go of her prejudice, he listened to Zhou Ying's bad idea and asked Hao Shuai to play the role of a gay man.
I thought, accepting my rival's daughter as my daughter-in-law is better than accepting a man, right?
But they both underestimated Ms. Wen's determination. She would rather her son remain a bachelor for the rest of his life than allow Zhou Ying to marry him.
It was said that the Zhou family had a corrupt tradition and Tian Fangfang was vicious and could never raise a good daughter. If he married Zhou Ying, it would bring disaster to the Lin family for three generations. Unless she died, no daughter of the Zhou family could ever dream of marrying into the Lin family.
The mother and son just wasted time like this!
Zhou Ying just waited like that!
It was not until Ms. Wen used a breast cancer diagnosis letter to force Lin Youqian to marry Qi Xu that this train carrying the love, hatred and vengeance of two generations entered a new track.
…
Lin Youqian frowned slightly, looking a little unhappy. "You brought Tongtong with you?"
Zhou Ying smiled gently. "Yes! The baby said she missed her daddy very much, so of course I had to bring her back."
"Besides, she's over three years old and should be going to kindergarten. The border areas are harsh and cold, and babies often catch colds every winter. So I want to take her back to Lake City. First, you're here, so you and your daughter can be together often. Second, the climate here is pleasant, and both the teaching quality and the environment are excellent. Our baby deserves the best care, doesn't she?"
Lin Youqian thought about Zhou Ying's words. In fact, she was right. For Tongtong's better growth, she should be taken back to Hucheng to attend kindergarten.
But how should I explain this to the little stutterer?
"I'll think about the kindergarten. Once I've made arrangements, you can enroll!"
Zhou Ying knew what he was worried about. Right now, she had no choice but to use Tongtong to tie this man down.
"Isn't there a military kindergarten next to the military institute? It has the best teachers and campus environment. You are a soldier, so our Tongtong can go in."
Military kindergartens are safer and more confidential than other kindergartens and are indeed a good choice.
Keep it a secret from the little girl for a while, and tell her about the child after you have completely won her heart.
"Okay. I'll go and consult tomorrow and get Tongtong enrolled as soon as possible. You go home first and get some rest."
Zhou Ying's heart felt like it had been stabbed by a blunt knife. Her nails dug deep into her flesh to soothe the pain.
After a while, he calmed down and smiled again. "Ah Qian, Tongtong misses you very much. We haven't seen each other for half a year. Don't you want to spend some time with her?"
In the past, he would have rushed to see the little baby eagerly.
But now, Qi Xu's messages kept coming one after another, and he just wanted to go back and coax the big baby.
"It's too late today, Tongtong must be asleep. Tell her I'll go see her early tomorrow morning, okay?"
Zhou Ying didn't expect that Lin Youqian was so obsessed with Qi Xu that even Tongtong couldn't hold his heart.
"Tongtong said she won't sleep until you come back. She said she won't sleep until her dad comes home. If you don't believe me, why don't you send her a video?"
Before the dinner, Zhou Ying told her aunt not to let Tongtong sleep. She also told Tongtong that if her father called, she should cry and beg him to come back.
Lin Youqian looked at his daughter crying in the video and couldn't bear it. "Tongtong, be good, don't cry! Daddy will be with you now!"
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