The man was crying his eyes out.
No, to be precise, the tears were gushing out like a faucet.
It was just… incredible. Most people truly couldn’t achieve this.
Zuo Yang’s eyebrow twitched.
She handed him a pack of tissues, her tone neutral. “Here.”
Ji Zexian hurriedly accepted it. “Thank you… I’ve already put away the meeting gift. Thank you, I really like it.”
Originally, that meeting gift had been casually tossed aside by Feng Lin and was already soaked by the rain.
But now, in Ji Zexian’s eyes, it had become a priceless treasure.
“Ahem, I formally apologize for everything I did earlier.”
Recalling every moment of his first meeting with his daughter, especially his disheveled appearance and overwhelming stench, Ji Zexian felt himself crack, shatter, and petrify—the kind that would scatter with a gust of wind.
First impressions!
Ruined by him!
The worst part was that he had made his daughter angry…
Where was his daughter short? She was clearly the most adorable in the entire universe! He was blind, utterly blind!
Then he remembered his daughter’s words: “It’s because I had no father to teach me that I’m so ill-mannered!” Ji Zexian’s eyes reddened again.
He deserved it! He deserved to die!
He had been absent during his daughter’s growth as a father. He wished he could slice himself into a thousand pieces!
“About the broken glass—do I still need to pay for it?” Zuo Yang asked deliberately.
Ji Zexian became frantic again.
Ahhh! His daughter had only broken a few panes of glass at home, and he had yelled at her, scolded her.
He wanted to beat himself to death!
“Pay for what? Smash it! It was well-smashed! It was my fault for being rude, for being deaf and not hearing the doorbell. How about we just burn the whole place down? Should we go now?”
Feng Lin’s lips twitched. That manor villa worth hundreds of millions, and he talks about burning it just like that. You’re truly enslaved—enslaved by your daughter.
Seeing Ji Zexian after he had deliberately cleaned up and dressed properly, Feng Lin could clearly see it now.
This was indeed Miss Sister’s father. After all, father and daughter looked remarkably alike, especially those smiling eyes.
Really, anyone with eyes could tell at a glance that these two were father and daughter.
If only this father hadn’t been so disheveled initially, sporting that beggar style, they wouldn’t have had that whole scene.
Mo Qingyan curled his lips. See, he had said Ji Zexian would burn the house down.
Ji Zexian was definitely regretting it to death right now. Not only would he burn the manor villa, if Zuo Yang wanted the stars in the sky, he’d go pluck them for her immediately.
Zuo Yang’s mood was actually somewhat complicated and a bit helpless at the moment.
Although Ji Zexian had recognized her, no one knew how to address the matter directly now.
Zuo Yang felt it was better to give Ji Zexian some time and space first. Otherwise, things would become too awkward.
Mainly, she was afraid Ji Zexian would flood the house with his tears. Why was he so prone to crying? Did her mother know about this?
“Mo Qingyan, I’m a bit tired. I want to take a nap. When I wake up, I’d like to eat sweet and sour pork ribs and hotpot.”
To make it seem more realistic, Zuo Yang deliberately rubbed her eyes and yawned.
Mo Qingyan saw through it but didn’t point it out, merely saying softly, “Go ahead.”
After Zuo Yang returned to her room, Feng Lin and Yu Ning tactfully left as well, giving space to Mo Qingyan and Ji Zexian.
Ji Zexian’s gaze remained fixed on the closed door, as if suffering from tear incontinence—his tears never stopped flowing.
Mo Qingyan didn’t initiate conversation either, simply sitting there quietly.
A long time passed.
“How is A-Ying? Is she… is she alright?” Ji Zexian wiped his tears haphazardly and sat opposite Mo Qingyan, his voice trembling as he asked.
“You should confirm Auntie’s situation yourself,” Mo Qingyan said.
Ji Zexian nodded: “You’re right, I need to find her, I’ll go find her right away. All these years, I never believed A-Ying just left me like that back then. How could my A-Ying die?”
Even though Zuo Ying had used Death Escape to flee from Ji Zexian all those years ago, he never truly believed she had died.
All these years, he never stopped searching.
But as days turned into months and months into years, there was no news of Zuo Ying. Despair nearly consumed him.
Mo Qingyan: “About Yang Yang…”
“She’s my daughter! Mine and A-Ying’s daughter! I couldn’t possibly mistake her!”
“Don’t you want to verify it?”
“No! Absolutely not! Yang Yang is my precious daughter!” As he spoke, Ji Zexian wiped his tears again, then suddenly asked with a somewhat sour tone, “What’s going on between you and my daughter?”
No wonder he felt so irritated when he saw his daughter being intimate with this Mo Family kid earlier. How could he not be irritated?
That was his dear little sweetheart!
Even though they hadn’t officially recognized each other, the blood ties connecting them genetically had already reacted!
Mo Qingyan: “…”
The topic changed quite quickly.
“Yang Yang and I are lovers.”
“How did you meet?”
Mo Qingyan: “…”
He couldn’t avoid this round after all.
So Mo Qingyan told Ji Zexian about how he met Zuo Yang and how they became lovers.
The more Ji Zexian listened, the tighter his frown became.
“So this incurable illness of yours… can it really be cured?”
No matter how outstanding this Mo Family kid might be, he couldn’t let his precious daughter be with someone who was practically a cripple with an incurable disease that might take him at any moment.
Mo Qingyan naturally understood Ji Zexian’s concerns.
Actually, although both of them had felt love at first sight during their initial meeting, after calming down, Mo Qingyan hesitated. He suppressed his feelings for Zuo Yang in his heart.
She was the precious one he didn’t dare to love.
Because he was a dying man.
But he couldn’t withstand the intensity of her pursuit.
For every step he retreated, she would advance ten steps toward him with incredible speed.
He would never forget how the smiling, flower-like yet utterly serious girl cupped his face and said:
“Mo Qingyan, just admit that you super like me! Love should be declared loudly and boldly! Otherwise I’ll cry for you to see.”
After saying this, the young girl actually pretended to sob.
In that moment, the walls he had built around his heart completely shattered.
He couldn’t bear to see her cry the most.
He was defeated, he had lost.
He pulled her into his embrace and confessed with the most tender, affectionate words:
“Little one, I like you, I really, really like you. You said that when we first met, you fell for me at first sight. How could I be any different? When I first saw you, I fell for you at first sight too.”
Then, the person in his arms laughed, her laughter so vibrant it seemed to make flowers tremble.
Only then did he realize the little rascal hadn’t been crying at all – it was clearly fake tears meant to soften his heart.
Really…
He was always helpless against her.
And so the two confirmed their relationship, and Zuo Ying didn’t object.
Since the red thread of fate had long tied these two children together, they might as well leave it to fate.
Moreover, Zuo Ying thought, in this world, there was no one who cherished her daughter more than Mo Qingyan.
However, Mo Qingyan’s affection for Zuo Yang remained restrained. The most intimate acts between them were limited to hugging and holding hands.
Going slightly further, Mo Qingyan enjoyed kissing the young girl’s small hands and forehead.
Each time, the young girl would blush with shyness, yet she always gave him the most wonderful responses—bashful but never coy. She would cup his face and peck at his cheeks like a woodpecker, utterly adorable.
As Zuo Ying put it, these two were purely in love.
Thus, to this day, Mo Qingyan and Zuo Yang remained a couple who had never shared a kiss, their first kisses still intact.
Did he feel no desire for her?
How could that be!
But once he confronted the reality of his physical condition, any such desires were suppressed.
Mo Qingyan thought deeply about it.
As someone who could die at any moment, how dare he hope for more?
Merely acknowledging this affection had already consumed all his courage.
He couldn’t take advantage of the young girl—she still had a bright future ahead.
If someday he were truly gone, at least she could embrace her new life completely intact.
He couldn’t yield to his selfish desires and leave an indelible mark on her.
He dared not do more, nor could he.