It took several seconds before Fu Yanci finally came back to his senses, his gentle tone suddenly becoming anxious:
"No, my daughter, how can she have your surname?"
Lin Sa let out a cold laugh, her turbulent emotions calming down instead:
"You still know she's your daughter?"
"You've held Su Yurou's son over a hundred times, haven't you? But what about her? She's only met her father once since birth. Is she some unsavory bastard child? Unworthy of a father?"
Lin Sa's nose twitched, she didn't want to cry, but tears still couldn't help but stream from her eyes.
Regarding anything about herself, she would never shed tears; she was always accustomed to solving problems.
However, she couldn't stand even a tiny bit of her daughter's grievance; it was unbearable and agonizing.
This was her precious treasure, born at thirty after fighting for her life, surviving against all odds.
The thought of her treasure being treated with such indifference by her biological father felt like her heart was being fried in oil.
"No, I..."
Fu Yanci was stunned for a few seconds, his usually composed and solemn face showing a hint of helplessness.
Only now did he realize belatedly that he had indeed neglected his daughter and Lin Sa a bit too much.
The name... no, he had thought about his daughter's name; he had even spent several days flipping through dictionaries for it.
He had delayed making a decision because he felt that his daughter's name had to be special, something unique.
"Listen to my explanation, Sa Sa."
His flustered emotions gradually calmed down as he stepped forward and took Lin Sa's hand:
"I've thought about our daughter's name, I just haven't made the final decision yet. I haven't been neglecting our daughter."
"Don't call her A Li anymore, it's too inauspicious. Our first child should naturally take after the father, don't you think?"
Fu Yanci's tone softened again as he patiently coaxed her.
Seeing that Lin Sa didn't resist, he pulled her into his embrace again:
"I promise you, I'll sort out registering our daughter's household today. It doesn't matter if we didn't have the full moon banquet; at the hundred days banquet, we'll definitely have a grand celebration. I'll invite all the celebrities in Haicheng, I guarantee it will be a sensational and lively event for our daughter, okay?"
Lin Sa was embraced again, the familiar scent of pine entering her nostrils.
She wanted to resist, but it was as if her bones had been instantly removed, and she suddenly lost all strength, not struggling.
The phone rang at that moment; it was Zhang Sao calling:
"Madam, are you feeling better? Li Li has been crying non-stop, perhaps she misses her mother, you..."
Before Lin Sa could speak, Fu Yanci proactively took the phone from her hand:
"Zhang Sao, please comfort the baby well, I'll bring Madam back now."
Lin Sa opened her mouth.
Seeing Fu Yanci stand up and hand her her coat, she suppressed the words that were about to escape her lips and let him drape the coat over her shoulders.
Fu Yanci had the driver take him and Lin Sa to Wanshi Shengjing.
As soon as the door was pushed open, Li Li's loud crying could be heard. Lin Sa instinctively wanted to rush forward, but Fu Yanci went towards Li Li first.
Li Li had clearly been crying for quite some time, her entire little face flushed purple.
But miraculously, as soon as Fu Yanci approached and held her, Li Li immediately stopped crying.
She widened her big, round eyes, curiously observing the man holding her.
"Baby, I'm Daddy, don't cry, be good."
"Zhang Sao, go and prepare milk for the baby, I'll feed her. I'm not leaving tonight; I'll stay and take care of her myself."
Fu Yanci held Li Li, gently instructing, while rocking her softly.
Lin Sa stood at the entryway, watching from afar, a nameless sorrow welling up inside her.
His posture while holding the baby was so professional, his methods of coaxing the baby so skilled... it was clear he had accumulated considerable experience.
The thought of him spending the entire postpartum confinement period with Su Yurou, and how he had personally taken care of Su Yurou's son in the same way.
Lin Sa's heart felt as if it was being slowly tortured by knives in that instant.
Intense pain struck her, and she clutched her chest, her face pale, forcing herself to support herself as she walked into the room.
"Madam, are you alright?"
Zhang Sao noticed Lin Sa's unusual expression and quickly asked.
"I'm fine, please bring the breast pump to my room."
Lin Sa instructed softly and walked into the room, closing the door.
Before becoming a mother, she never knew that a woman transforming from a girl to a mother would have to go through so many difficulties.
Pumping milk was something she couldn't even imagine before.
But now, motherly love came naturally.
Everything, absolutely everything, could be compromised for her Li Li.
She could be unbeautiful, unrefined, even disheveled, exhausted, heartbroken, and messy... but compared to Li Li's healthy growth, these were insignificant.
Lin Sa's movements in starting the breast pump were already very skilled, even numb.
The pain of breast engorgement, initially unbearable, had now become second nature.
She was a mother now, with her own precious baby... The thought of her daughter's adorable little face made Lin Sa's eyebrows and eyes soften unconsciously.
Fu Yanci coaxed Li Li to sleep and gently pushed open the door.
In the dim light, the woman was wearing a light pink home outfit. Her previously neat and tidy short hair had grown longer, with strands framing her forehead just covering her eyebrows.
Perhaps it was the radiance of motherhood, but her originally cool and sharp eyebrows and eyes now appeared exceptionally gentle and soft under the soft light, as if veiled by a fine mist, shedding their former sharpness and gaining a captivating tenderness he had never seen before.
She was looking down, lost in thought, her gaze focused and gentle, a sense of inner peace and contentment he had never seen on her face before.
At that moment, Fu Yanci's heart felt as if it had been lightly struck by something invisible, an unprecedented tremor spreading from the depths of his heart.
"Are you done? Do you need any help?"
Fu Yanci walked towards Lin Sa, his magnetic voice exceptionally gentle.
Lin Sa instantly snapped back to reality, instinctively covering herself with her clothes, her expression flustered:
"You... why didn't you knock when you came in?"
Fu Yanci smiled dotingly and squatted in front of her:
"Sa Sa, what part of you haven't I seen? Are you shy with your own husband?"
Fu Yanci sat down beside Lin Sa and took out a long glass box:
"I found someone to buy a box of wild, hundred-year-old red ginseng for you to replenish your qi and blood. This is something money can't buy; I put a lot of effort into getting it."
Lin Sa looked down, and in the dim light, she saw a thick, long red ginseng lying on bright yellow brocade in the high-end transparent glass box.
At first glance, it resembled a human form and had a powerful presence; it was clearly a good item.
The doctor had long said that Lin Sa's qi and blood were severely depleted, making her prone to dizziness and fainting, and advised her to buy red ginseng to replenish them.
However, Lin Sa had asked many friends, and even asked colleagues from Changbai Mountain to help buy some, but all she got were small pieces, and drinking them didn't seem to help much.
Lin Sa knew quality when she saw it; this item was clearly obtained with great effort, and it was to her liking.
She took it, and the icy aura around her slightly receded:
"Okay, thank you."
"When Tang Guo mentioned that you had a hemorrhage during childbirth that day, I was shocked. I feel guilty that I couldn't be by your side."
Fu Yanci felt Lin Sa's sharpness fading and embraced her again, gently holding her hand:
"I had planned to return that day; I had already bought my ticket. But Yurou suddenly fell and bled a lot."
"Before Jiang Yang went to the secret base, he repeatedly instructed me to ensure Yurou's baby was born safely. I promised him, and I must fulfill it."
"Sa Sa, I've always treated Yurou as a sister and Jiang Yang as a brother. Please don't misunderstand anymore, okay?"
Fu Yanci's gentle tone echoed in Lin Sa's ears.
For a moment, Lin Sa also reflected, perhaps she was too sensitive after giving birth, or perhaps she had misunderstood something.
Fu Yanci's phone rang at that moment, and the words "Rou Rou" on the screen pierced Lin Sa's eyes.
Fu Yanci reflexively released his hold on Lin Sa and immediately stood up to answer the call:
"Yurou, what's wrong?"
"Yan Ge, my stomach hurts so much, and I've bled a lot again just now. The doctor said my qi and blood are severely depleted and I need red ginseng. I heard the best red ginseng on the market was bought by you, Yan Ge, you must have bought it for me, right?"
Lin Sa clearly saw Fu Yanci's body subtly sway.
His voice was steady:
"Why didn't you say so earlier? I gave the red ginseng to Sa Sa; her constitution isn't good either and she needs to replenish her qi and blood."
Su Yurou's voice came through the phone's speaker clearly:
"Is that so? Yan Ge, you're so good to Sister-in-law. Then... can Sister-in-law share half of it with me?"
As soon as Fu Yanci finished speaking, he heard Lin Sa's crisp and resolute voice next to his ear:
"Impossible, don't even think about it!"
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