Holding Lu Miaomiao in his arms, Lu Tingfeng tried his best to soften his tone. “All right, go say goodbye to your teacher and little classmate. It’s time for us to head back.”
“Okay!” Lu Miaomiao flashed a sweet, radiant smile.
After bidding farewell to the teacher, she gave Tong Mingkai a vigorous wave and chirped, “Bye-bye! See you tomorrow!”
Tong Mingkai pressed his lips together, still clutching a building block in his hand. He waved back at Lu Miaomiao, though his voice was barely a squeak. “Yeah… see you tomorrow.”
As he watched Lu Tingfeng carry Lu Miaomiao away, envy filled Tong Mingkai’s eyes.
He longed so badly to have a father like that hold him. And if a father wasn’t an option, an uncle would do just fine.
This uncle is so handsome…
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a flurry of hurried footsteps echoed from the doorway.
The next moment, a figure appeared right outside the classroom. Seeming not to notice anyone standing by the door, she pushed it open and rushed straight inside.
Moving in a frantic hurry, she nearly collided head-on with Lu Tingfeng.
Fortunately, Lu Tingfeng’s reflexes were lightning fast. Even with Lu Miaomiao in his arms, he sidestepped smoothly, narrowly avoiding an accident.
“I’m so, so sorry! I was in such a rush—I didn’t run into you, did I?” Tong Yuexin apologized profusely.
Even as she spoke, her gaze darted frantically around the classroom, searching for the sight of her son.
Tong Mingkai had spotted Tong Yuexin the moment she arrived. Trotting over on his chubby little legs, he beamed and called out, “Mommy!”
“Oh, sweetie.” Tong Yuexin immediately dropped to a squat, gently patting Tong Mingkai’s head as a wave of guilt washed over her. “I’m so sorry, Mommy’s late. Did Kaikai get scared waiting so long?”
Tong Mingkai shook his head obediently.
Still perched in Lu Tingfeng’s arms, Lu Miaomiao chimed in with a bright smile, “He wasn’t scared at all! He even told me that Auntie was just super busy with work, which is why she couldn’t pick him up right away. He’s so, so sensible!”
With that, Lu Miaomiao politely greeted Tong Yuexin, flashing a cheerful smile and calling her “Aunty.”
Recognizing the little girl from the morning as soon as she saw the pink princess dress, Tong Yuexin felt a wave of relief seeing how well the two kids were getting along. She smiled warmly back at her. “Hello there. Are you heading home late today too?”
Lu Miaomiao nodded brightly. “Mm-hmm~”
After exchanging pleasantries, Tong Yuexin bade the teacher farewell, took Tong Mingkai by the hand, and got ready to head home.
Right before leaving, Tong Mingkai piped up in a milky voice, “Goodbye, Uncle.”
Hearing his voice, Tong Yuexin suddenly remembered the grown man she had almost crashed into just moments earlier.
The second her eyes landed on him, however, she froze.
This man… why does he look so much like what Kaikai will look like when he grows up?
Since Tong Yuexin was reborn, she knew exactly what her son would look like as an adult, and her instincts immediately drew a comparison. She glanced back and forth between Lu Tingfeng and her two-year-old son. No matter how she looked at it, even though the boy was still a toddler, were they actually starting to resemble each other?
Well, the world is huge, she reasoned. It’s completely normal for one or two strangers to share a resemblance.
Pushing the thought out of her mind and offering one last word of apology to Lu Tingfeng, Tong Yuexin took her son’s hand and walked away.
The moment they stepped out the door, Tong Yuexin felt a bit sheepish and explained, “I’m so sorry for making Kaikai wait so long for Mommy. I wanted to get to you quickly, so I took a shortcut—and ended up getting completely lost.”
Even though Tong Mingkai knew intellectually that his mother was simply busy and hadn’t abandoned him, seeing Lu Miaomiao get picked up by family had still stirred up a tiny pang of grievance in his chest. He had tried hard to rationalize it by telling himself his mom was just tied up with work, but he had still secretly longed for an explanation.
Yet, when he actually heard the real reason, it wasn’t quite what he expected.
My mom… seems kind of airheaded?
She couldn’t even find her way to his kindergarten without getting lost. Clearly, he was the one who needed to step up and protect her!
Meanwhile, Lu Tingfeng had driven over, and before getting into the car, he cast one lingering glance in the direction Tong Yuexin had disappeared.
Back in the classroom, her profile had looked vaguely familiar, but seeing her now, that strange sense of déjà vu grew even stronger. He was certain he had seen her somewhere before, yet try as he might, he couldn’t put his finger on it.
Logically speaking, the number of women he interacted with was very small. Even though Tong Yuexin hadn’t worn any makeup or dressed up, she was striking enough that if he had truly crossed paths with her before, he surely would have remembered.
Before Lu Tingfeng could puzzle it out, he noticed a pair of eyes staring intently at him.
Looking back, he found Lu Miaomiao sitting properly in the back seat with her seatbelt buckled, staring at him with eyes glowing with mischief.
Knowing all too well what kind of antics his little niece was capable of, Lu Tingfeng silently turned away and shut the car door. “Time to go home.”
Those three words, however, did nothing to dampen Lu Miaomiao’s enthusiasm.
She pressed her face against the window, her gaze fixed on him with wide-eyed excitement as she played matchmaker. “Little Uncle, do you have a crush on that pretty aunty just now?”
Lu Tingfeng deadpanned, “No.”
“Then why were you staring at her the whole time? I saw you! Back in the classroom you kept looking at her, and you didn’t even look at anyone else.”
Pressing her nose against the glass to watch Tong Yuexin’s retreating figure as she held Tong Mingkai’s hand, Lu Miaomiao whined eagerly, “And even after we came outside, you kept staring at her. You totally like her, don’t you?”
“What on earth is bouncing around inside that little head of yours?” Completely exasperated, Lu Tingfeng reached over and gently ruffled her hair. “Sit properly and stop squirming; I’m starting the car.”
Lu Miaomiao quickly clutched her braids, pulling a pout. “You’re messing up the pigtails the teacher braided for me!”
Grumbling over her hair, she quickly shot one last wistful glance at the spot where Tong Yuexin had vanished before pressing on. “But Little Uncle, that aunty was so pretty, she smelled so nice, and her voice was super gentle! Since you kept staring at her, does that mean you like her? Am I going to get a little auntie soon?!”
With everyone at home constantly buzzing about getting him a wife, she naturally wanted a little auntie of her own. That aunty was wonderful—she liked her a lot!
As Lu Tingfeng turned the ignition, he let out a heavy sigh of resignation.
Leaning back into the cabin, he gave the little girl’s cheek a playful pinch with a wry smile. “Where do you come up with these wild imaginations at your age? Stop listening to your dad’s nonsense—he never teaches you anything useful.”
He figured that for Lu Miaomiao to be nagging him about marriage at such a tender age, she must have picked it up from the rest of the family. He certainly had no mental bandwidth for romance right now. Besides, considering what had happened that day…
A shadow crossed Lu Tingfeng’s eyes as the memory surfaced. He didn’t say anything more to the little girl, simply cutting her off. “That’s enough chatter. Sit tight, we’re heading home.”