Early morning.
Soft rays of warm sunlight streamed in as Su Jingsheng turned over after a sound sleep.
Her delicate arm struck something. A stuffed toy? No, that could not be right. There was nothing on her bed.
As a thought occurred to her, Su Jingsheng instantly woke up. Grabbing the quilt, she screamed wildly, “Ah! Help!”
She kept her eyes tightly shut and screamed.
Even the little birds in the tree outside the window were frightened into flight.
Lu Qingyu had rarely gotten the chance to sleep in. Being awakened left him extremely displeased, but when his gaze fell on the frantic Su Jingsheng, most of his anger vanished.
Rubbing his aching temples, he threw off the quilt and got out of bed, behaving as though this were his own home.
When Su Jingsheng raised her eyes, she happened to see Lu Qingyu's retreating figure. Looking down at her clothes, she saw that she was still wearing the evening gown she had not had time to take off the night before.
She let out a sigh of relief, then said unhappily, “This is my bed. Didn't I tell you to sleep in another room?”
If she had been wearing anything less, she really would have driven this man out with a broom.
Lu Qingyu chose to remain silent.
He had simply thought the room smelled nice, so he sat beside the bed. As he sat, drowsiness overcame him, and he fell asleep beside her.
They even had Xiaobao together. What was there that they could not do?
Seeing that Lu Qingyu had no intention of replying, Su Jingsheng became even more furious. She wanted him to leave immediately, but then she remembered that today was the day she would see Xiaobao.
She could not act recklessly.
She got out of bed barefoot, changed her clothes, and said coldly to the man, “I’m going to work first. Bring Xiaobao over at noon.”
It had been several days since she had seen Xiaobao.
Judging from the photos, she had grown quite a bit plumper. Her skin was pink and tender, and she was incredibly adorable.
Thinking of her daughter, Su Jingsheng was no longer so impatient. She turned and went to the bathroom for a quick wash, then took bread from the refrigerator and bit into it. As she walked, she grabbed her keys and bag.
With the bread in her mouth, she mumbled, “I’ll come back earlier today. Bring Xiaobao over earlier too.”
If there had not still been work at the company, Su Jingsheng would have stayed here waiting for Xiaobao.
After Su Jingsheng left in a flurry, Lu Qingyu sat down on the sofa and called Xiao Xu. “Go to the old residence and bring Xiaobao over.”
Xiao Xu’s scalp prickled as soon as he heard this.
Who did not know that the little princess was now the darling of the two elders? Last time, when a servant had taken the little miss outside for some sunlight, there had only been a slight breeze. But after madam saw it, she had fired the servant on the spot.
The wind was so strong today. If the child caught a cold or something, he would be finished.
“President Lu, madam will never allow it. If Miss Su wants to see her, why not have her go to the Lu Family?”
Lu Qingyu recalled the attitude Su Jingsheng had shown when she thought he sold insurance.
“No need. Bring her directly. If anything happens, come to me.”
Lu Qingyu did not give Xiao Xu time to hesitate before hanging up.
Xiao Xu stared at the black screen of his phone, feeling as though he wanted to die.
Right now, let alone President Lu—even if the Emperor of Heaven himself came, no one could take the little princess even half a meter away from the old residence. How was he supposed to bring this up with madam?
President Lu, you cannot do this…
Xiao Xu was close to tears.
An hour later, Xiao Xu arrived carrying Xiaobao. Four servants followed behind him, each carrying infant formula, diapers, toys, and a cradle.
It was practically the same as being at the old residence.
Xiao Xu explained, “madam said that the little miss must be brought back after one hour. Otherwise, she will come with master to take her back.”
Even this much time had only been specially approved after madam learned that the little miss’s biological mother wanted to see her.
…
After finishing the matters at the company, Su Jingsheng drove home immediately.
When she opened the door, she saw a pile of things filling the room. In the center of the living room, her daughter was sleeping in a tiny cradle.
Perhaps she was having a beautiful dream, because the corners of her mouth lifted from time to time.
She looked so sweet and happy.
Seeing this scene, Su Jingsheng’s heart softened completely. She took off her high heels and carefully walked forward.
Xiaobao truly looked very much like her, as though she had been carved from the same mold. But on closer inspection, her brows and nose resembled her father more. Fortunately, she was not ugly.
She crouched down beside her and reached out to touch Xiaobao’s short hair.
After being apart for so long, mommy had really missed her to death.
She simply could not bear to disturb Xiaobao’s sleep.
Scrape.
A strange noise suddenly rang out behind her. Before she could widen her eyes, Xiaobao was startled awake, and then—
Waaah…
Xiaobao’s cries echoed throughout the entire room.
Su Jingsheng’s heart shattered too. She glared at Lu Qingyu, who had made the noise, then picked Xiaobao up and gently soothed her.
“Be good, Xiaobao. Don’t cry, don’t cry. Mother is here. Don’t cry.”
“It’s all dad’s fault. Shall we hit dad?”
“Don’t cry, don’t cry. My Xiaobao, don’t cry.”
From the moment Su Jingsheng entered, Lu Qingyu had kept his head lowered, playing on his phone. Since Xiaobao was asleep, he had not said anything.
But he had perfectly well frightened Xiaobao awake. That was unforgivable.
All of Su Jingsheng’s good mood was ruined.
She did not even glance at Lu Qingyu. She carried Xiaobao straight back to the master bedroom and took out the toys she had prepared earlier, covering the entire bed.
It took quite a while to soothe Xiaobao before she recovered from the fright.
She placed Xiaobao on the largest stuffed toy and tried hard to amuse her. “Xiaobao, look. What is this? It’s a doll, isn’t it? Such a big doll—bigger than Xiaobao.”
She let Xiaobao touch it.
The soft texture did nothing to ease Xiaobao’s crying. She lay there with a wronged pout, but less than three seconds later, she began wailing again.
Su Jingsheng was so furious at Lu Qingyu that she could have killed him.
It was fortunate that Xiaobao was being cared for by his parents. Otherwise, Xiaobao might not even have grown up, let alone maintained psychological health.
No, she needed to pay more attention from now on. Even without child custody, she could not ignore this daughter.
Hearing the wailing from the master bedroom, Lu Qingyu instinctively furrowed his brows.
He had never liked children.
Recalling the look Su Jingsheng had given him earlier, his brows twitched. He put down his phone.
The game interface was still displayed. It was a mobile game that had not yet been released, and he was testing it. Once it was nearly ready, it could be launched.
He had personally guided its development and invested considerable effort in it. Otherwise, he would not have been playing it here.
When Lu Qingyu appeared at the doorway, Su Jingsheng turned around while holding Xiaobao, lest he frighten her beloved person again.
“Don’t cry, Xiaobao. Mommy’s heart aches when you cry. Be good.”
Lu Qingyu stood at the doorway, genuinely unable to understand how a child could make both parents act this way—and even her as well.
A child who did nothing but cry all day—wasn’t that a demon?
If Su Jingsheng knew what Lu Qingyu was thinking, she would probably have gone berserk.
He could say whatever he wanted about anyone else, but he absolutely could not speak that way about her beloved person.
“Be good, Xiaobao. Mommy’s heart aches so much. Be good. Mommy will take you out to play. We’ll buy rag dolls, clothes—whatever you want, all right?”
As long as Xiaobao stopped crying, Su Jingsheng was willing to do anything.
Three minutes later, Xiaobao was still crying nonstop, showing no sign of stopping.
Leaning against the doorframe, Lu Qingyu said lightly, “She’s hungry, isn’t she?”
Su Jingsheng felt as though she had been struck by lightning.
That was right.
Crying for this long did not seem like a reaction to being frightened. It looked more like she was hungry.
She turned to look at Lu Qingyu, and a hint of embarrassment appeared in her eyes.