Right Here Waiting For You

She kissed him again.

Li Yanmo visibly stiffened. This was the second time that Tiantian kissed him, and her justification was too absurd. After he regained his composure, he pushed her away gently, and said with his brows furrowed, “Ning Tiantian! Going forward, you are not to kiss me so casually!”

“But I kissed you earnestly!” Tiantian blinked her eyes innocently. “Besides, you said going forward; Does that mean I can continue kissing you right now?”

“…no!”

Li Yanmo gnashed his teeth. Was this really a three-year-old kid?

Uh-huh. Tiantian would never tell Inky that she learned all these from watching TV!

When Tiantian’s mother came in the evening to fetch Tiantian home, Li Yanmo’s mother also happened to be back from her work trip. The two besties had a quick chat in the living room. “Sorry to have troubled you guys for the past few days.”

“What are you talking about? Tiantian is my daughter-in-law.” Mama Li smiled with crinkly eyes. “You might as well let Tiantian stay with us. Your new company is just starting to pick up. Besides, it’s based overseas. On top of your already busy schedule, you’d have to rush to and fro in order to take care of Tiantian. As a photographer, I run around a fair bit too, but I have plenty of time as a freelancer.”

Tiantian’s mother appeared to be somewhat hesitant. Although there was a child betrothal, she had been an irresponsible mother by often leaving Tiantian at Yanmo’s house. To let Tiantian continue staying here didn’t seem very appropriate.

Having heard their conversation, Li Yanmo couldn’t help but walk out of his bedroom, saying, “Mom, Tiantian’s house is literally next door. It isn’t necessary–”

He did not want this little child to cuddle him to sleep every day.

“It is necessary! Very necessary!” Tiantian interrupted, having followed Li Yanmo out of the bedroom. “Mama, I want to continue staying at Inky’s.”

Mama Ning lowered her head to look at Tiantian, and sought to confirm, “Tiantian, did you really think this over?”

Think? There was no need to think this through. This was exactly what she wanted!

Staring at her mom with pitiful eyes, Tiantian said, “Mama, there’s no need to worry. Just leave me at Inky’s. Mama’s company is just starting to pick up, and there are so many matters waiting for you. Besides, you’ll be exhausted if you had to keep traveling to and fro. I’d feel sorry for you, Ma…”

Mama Ning was moved and mildly heartbroken by Tiantian’s assurance.

“See, even Tiantian has agreed to it. This is a done deal. Are you worried that I’d be a terrible mother-in-law?” Mama Li struck a hands-on-hip pose and pretended to be angry.

Mama Ning did not know whether to laugh or cry. “All right, I’ll be back later with Tiantian’s stuff.”

After her mom left, Tiantian jumped up and down excitedly on the sofa. “That’s great. I can now finally officially cohabit with Inky!”

“You make it sound as if we had been sneaking around previously,” snorted Li Yanmo.

Tiantian pouted, “That wasn’t the same. Whenever Mama came back, I would have to sleep at my own place at night. Now I don’t have to!”

When they were in bed later that night, Tiantian’s excitement hadn’t worn off. She continued rolling around on the bed, her eyes also rolling about wildly. “Inky, I’ll come and look for you at school, okay?”

Other than being happy about the cohabitation, Tiantian was also excited to start school. She’d been waiting so long to become of schooling age, and to go to school together with Inky.

Before Li Yanmo could even respond, the little girl had already yawned a few times and was having difficulty keeping her eyes open.