Lu Qingyu's hands went from holding one bag to holding two.
But Su Jingsheng showed no intention of stopping. If there was anything Duoduo could use, she bought it all.
Unfortunately, Duoduo had a habit of sleeping and soon dozed off. Su Jingsheng did not dare wander around, so she found a place to rest, held Duoduo in her arms, and let her sleep against her.
The scent of a mother is familiar to every baby.
Duoduo was no exception. Her chubby little hands clung tightly to Su Jingsheng's clothes, afraid that she would leave.
Seeing this, Su Jingsheng felt terrible. Duoduo was still so young, yet she did not even have this small sense of security. What would happen to her in the future?
She voiced her feelings in a casual tone.
“Mr. lu, honestly, if there ever comes a day when you don't want Duoduo anymore, don't tell her. Just return her to me.”
Lu Qingyu frowned but did not respond.
What she had said would never happen.
Unable to get a response, Su Jingsheng lowered her head and looked at Duoduo, who was sleeping soundly in her arms. Although her arm was already aching, she was willing to endure it so the little princess could sleep well. A little soreness was nothing.
Because of Duoduo, their outing had to end halfway through.
After returning home, Su Jingsheng placed Duoduo in the cradle and wrapped the gifts she had prepared in bags.
She had checked every item. Duoduo was so young that she could not distinguish between things that could be eaten and those that could not, so everything had to be clean.
She also prepared all the things she had brought earlier again.
Despite her fatigue, she did not stop moving.
Lu Qingyu leaned against the sofa and watched her indifferently.
He had seen her alluring appearance at the wedding, so it was difficult to associate her with the homely woman she was now.
How could one person possess so many different temperaments?
Lu Qingyu slowly lifted his eyes and asked, “Do you hate them?”
The question came out of nowhere, and Su Jingsheng did not have time to react. Her thoughts were focused on Duoduo, and her mind was filled with calculations about how much longer she could stay with her.
“Hmm?” she answered absentmindedly.
“Shen Mingfeng, Su Yuning, your stepmother, and your biological father.” Lu Qingyu listed the names one by one.
Su Jingsheng's bent back stiffened. The man had seen everything that happened at the wedding; anyone who was not a fool would understand.
In any case, there was nothing worth hiding...
She continued tidying up. “I hate them.”
She hated them to the bone.
One day, she would definitely make them pay the price. Definitely!
Looking at the many packaging bags beside the coffee table, Su Jingsheng straightened her aching slender waist, wiped the sweat from her forehead, tied all her hair behind her head, and casually counted everything with her hands on her hips.
“By the way, when are you leaving? Can you leave a little later?”
Duoduo was still sleeping. If Lu Qingyu left later, Su Jingsheng could wait until Duoduo woke up and spend a little more time with her.
Lu Qingyu raised his hand and checked the time. It was already five o'clock.
They should be here by now.
Before Lu Qingyu could answer, the doorbell rang outside the door.
Su Jingsheng looked over in confusion. Who would come here?
She went to open the door. A middle-aged man in his forties stood outside the door, his suit neat and straight, a polite smile on his face. “Hello, are you Miss Su?”
Su Jingsheng studied the man before her. She truly had no idea where she had seen him before, so she nodded uncertainly. “I am.”
She stood by the door without any intention of inviting him in.
The middle-aged man noticed her guardedness and said with a smile, “Miss Su, you may have misunderstood. I am not a bad person. I came to pick up Xiaobao.”
Pick up Xiaobao?
Suspicion flashed across Su Jingsheng's face. She looked back and saw Lu Qingyu walking over, apparently acquainted with the man.
Wasn't he supposed to take Duoduo home? Why had he sent someone else to pick her up?
Could he be his father?
Su Jingsheng's heart skipped a beat. She looked at the middle-aged man again. He did not look like it, and his age was wrong too.
“She is sleeping inside. Be gentle.”
Lu Qingyu stepped forward, took Su Jingsheng by the wrist, and led her one step back.
The middle-aged man entered, bowed to Lu Qingyu with his straight body, then walked toward the cradle.
“Wait, what is going on? Who is he?” Su Jingsheng broke free from Lu Qingyu's grasp.
Even if Lu Qingyu knew him, she still had to know who this man was.
A relative?
The middle-aged man was about to explain himself when Lu Qingyu spoke first. “My parents hired him to take care of Duoduo.”
The middle-aged man looked at Lu Qingyu. Seeing his cold, gloomy expression and the hint in his eyes, he nodded in acknowledgment. “Yes, I am here to take care of... Miss Duoduo.”
“A nanny?”
Wasn't that supposed to be a woman?
The middle-aged man truly did not know how to explain himself to Su Jingsheng, so he carried the cradle out first. His movements were exceedingly gentle, and he did not dare wake Duoduo, who was sleeping soundly inside.
Watching Duoduo being carried away, Su Jingsheng felt miserable.
She wanted to refuse, but realized that she had no right to do so. In the corner of her eye were the gifts she had prepared for Duoduo. Soon, they would disappear, and this apartment would be left with only her.
Something seemed to vanish from Su Jingsheng's body along with her strength.
Suddenly exhausted, she rubbed her temples. “Since someone has come to pick up Duoduo, you should go back too. Goodbye.”
She did not want to see the living room become empty.
Su Jingsheng fled into the master bedroom to avoid it.
The butler returned to collect some things. He glanced inside the room and, while passing Lu Qingyu, asked in a low voice, “young master, what is going on? Miss Su doesn't know your true identity?”
How clever the butler was—he could tell at a glance that something was wrong.
What seemed even stranger to him was his young master's attitude. If the two were in love, little miss would not have been sent to master and madam.
If she had been “bought,” the young master would not have sent little miss here for someone else to look after.
Their relationship seemed close yet not close, and he truly could not understand it.
How was he supposed to explain this to master and madam when he returned? When they came, they had specifically asked him to assess Miss Su's character and see whether she was worthy of taking on the mother's role of little miss.
The atmosphere around Lu Qingyu suddenly turned frigid, and the temperature seemed to drop. He looked coldly at the butler. “Too talkative!”
The butler's scalp went numb. It was not that he was too talkative; with the task at hand, he had no choice but to ask.
Judging by the young master's manner, he would not be able to find out anything. He would simply report everything truthfully to master and madam; they would have their own methods.
The butler carried things back and forth four or five times before finally finishing. At the end, he asked Lu Qingyu, “young master, shall we return together? You have not been back to the old residence in a long time. Madam misses you very much.”
“I still have things to do.” Lu Qingyu was busy with work, and returning home was practically a luxury for him.
The game that had been delayed still needed a final confirmation. He had to return to the company now.
He took out his phone and sent Xiao Xu a text message.
Seeing this, the butler did not dare say anything more and left with Duoduo.
While waiting, Lu Qingyu heard a faint, feeble sobbing from the master bedroom. It contained so much sorrow that it inexplicably tugged at his heart.
Even the nearly frozen heart in the left side of his chest was stirred by that sorrowful sound, its beating becoming irregular.
His long fingers clenched his clothes tightly.
He did not understand what was happening to him.