Pampered by Short-Lived Bigshot

He had thought that revisiting the old place would allow him and Shen Zhixian to pick up the beautiful memories of the past, full of passion, and then...

The ideal was wonderful, but the reality gave him a hard slap in the face.

Taking kids out for fun meant even ordinary intimacy was hard to come by, let alone "that" kind of thing. After looking after the two kids, Shen Zhixian had no strength left even to lift her arms. On the first day of the trip, her legs hurt so much she asked him to massage them...

Jiang Yanting still thought he could massage her legs and then...

But Shen Zhixian fell asleep directly, with no "then" at all.

Over the past few days, he had done nothing but cater to the two children.

"Daddy, come over quickly and take a photo for us!" Jiangjiang waved his little hand, calling him over.

Taking children out means that apart from looking after them, you also have to carry a load of clutter. Jiang Yanting's role, aside from carrying bags, was to act as their photographer.

"I want to take a photo over there!" Taotao pointed at some steps across the street, with a classic Europen building behind them, complete with colored glass that refracted a kaleidoscope of light in the sunlight.

Jiang Yanting took a photo for the three of them and was looking down at the picture...

"How did it turn out? I want to see." Saying this, Taotao jumped down the steps and ran towards Jiang Yanting.

Jiang Yanting took a step towards her. Traveling together really improves relationships – his with Taotao had become much closer than it used to be. Watching her hopping and skipping over, her twin ponytails flouncing adorably, his face suddenly changed...

At the same moment, Shen Zhixian realized the danger, too.

From around a corner, a black sedan suddenly sped towards them. At a corner like this, one should slow down, but the car's pace wasn't decreasing. The driver clearly realized the danger, braking while honking the horn...

The piercing honk made Shen Zhixian's pupils shrink, and as Taotao turned her head to look at the oncoming car, her young age made her forget to react for a moment.

They were less than two meters away...

Shen Zhixian was too far to get there in time no matter how hard she ran, but still, she started to run frantically. The man on the other side, however, was faster.

He scooped the child up just as the car brushed past Jiang Yanting's clothing, finally stopping with a screech a few meters ahead of them.

Shen Zhixian was trembling with shock, running over with stiff arms and legs.

"Yanting?"

"Taotao's fine." Jiang Yanting's voice was muffled, his complexion a bit pale, clutching Taotao so tightly in his arms that she was completely shielded.

"You're okay?" Shen Zhixian frowned.

"I'm okay."

"Uncle..." Taotao noticed a graze on the back of his hand.

...

After the unexpected incident, the four of them returned to the hotel early, not going to the Hospital. They got a first-aid kit from the front desk. Shen Zhixian intended to treat his wound, but Taotao insisted on doing it herself.

"Uncle, this might hurt a bit, hang in there." Taotao blew on the scrape on his back and began cleaning the wound with a cotton swab dipped in disinfectant.

Taotao had been startled at the time, and it wasn't until the ride back to the hotel that she suddenly started crying, her face turning red and her tears looking up at her; that pitiful sight brought both distress and amusement to Jiang Yanting.

It was just a slight scrape from the car's side mirror that had broken the skin, nothing serious. Otherwise, Shen Zhixian wouldn't have let Taotao treat it.

"I'll blow on it—" Taotao held his hand, her actions both careful and meticulous.

But what happened next took a very strange turn. Taotao was worried Shen Zhixian wouldn't take good care of him and declared she would personally look after Jiang Yanting.

Taotao was rarely this affectionate with him. Logically, Jiang Yanting should have been happy, but...

Why did it seem like this girl was treating him like a child to be coddled?

She watched him during meals and while he slept.

It was just like playing house with a girl.

He took a moment to hold a meeting with the people from his company, and she even insisted on sitting there and watching him...

A dozen company executives were waiting in front of the camera for Jiang Yanting to assign tasks.

Suddenly, the cold-blooded Mr. Jiang Second showed a smile to one side, "Five minutes, it's not time yet."

Then a milky voice followed, "I know, it's 1 minute and 25 seconds short, I just came to remind you, it's almost time, you should go to sleep."

Taotao felt that his video work was affecting his rest, and after much persuasion, agreed to a 5-minute video call.

"Okay, I know." Jiang Yanting said with a smile, gently stroking her hair, then returned to his meeting.

But the people on the other side of the camera were not so composed.

Honestly, having worked with him for so many years, they had never seen such a gentle side of Jiang Yanting before, let alone his tone or the indulgent look in his eyes, which almost blinded them.

Then they saw a chubby little white hand reach over and take the cup that had been in front of the camera.

"I haven't finished my coffee yet."

"Mom says coffee isn't good."

Half a minute later, the little girl brought him a bottle of pure milk.

Everyone at the other end of the video laughed uncontrollably.

The decisively fierce Mr. Jiang Second from the company, drinking milk? The image was just too bizarre.

Even when Jiang Yanting went to bed, Taotao would run over to pull up his sheets and ask considerately, "Uncle, do you want me to tell you a story?"

However a girl would play house, Taotao looked after him in that same way. Shen Zhixian was seeing for the first time Jiang Yanting being so compliant, being "manipulated" by Taotao without a word of protest.

That night, Shen Zhixian stayed to put Jiangjiang to bed, allowing father and daughter some time alone.

After finishing the story, father and daughter lay in bed, where there was almost enough room for another adult between them, staring at each other...

"Should we turn off the lights to sleep?" Jiang Yanting didn't know what else to say, and Taotao seemed to feel the same, nodding her agreement to turn off the lights. After the room dimmed, Jiang Yanting felt the little one beside him wriggling around, not knowing what she was up to...

After about five or six minutes, his arm under the blanket was grabbed, and the little girl snuggled up against him.

Taotao was smart but sensitive, and rarely got close to him, leaving Jiang Yanting suddenly unsure of what to do.

"Uncle..."

"Mhm?"

"I actually know."

"Know what?"

"That you're my dad, right?"

Jiang Yanting's body stiffened, but he didn't speak.

"I really like brother, and I like you too..."

And you're willing to spend money on me.

Jiang Yanting remained silent for a long while, and only after a long time did he ask with a hoarse voice, the question that had weighed on him for so long, "Have you hated me over the years? Felt that I abandoned you and your mom?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Brother said that I came out of a rock, and I've always thought I might not have a dad."

"What?"

"He said, Calabash Brothers came out of calabashes, there are creatures molded from mud, and on TV, there's a girl who was struck by lightning... So, it's normal that I came out of a rock."

"..."

Jiang Yanting's lips were tightly pressed, Xie Duo—

What on earth have you been telling my daughter!

It was daytime back home, and Xie Duo was in the middle of a routine morning meeting at the company, sneezing inexplicably a few times and frowning slightly—he hoped he wasn't catching a cold.