He Ruixing’s expression turned colder. He did not like her talking about terms and conditions with him. “Don’t forget that this was a problem you started. You have the responsibility to deal with it. How dare you threaten me and try to discuss conditions with me? If dad knows about this, he would be angry.”
He Ruilin gave a short laugh. “Ruixing, aren’t you just afraid that you won’t be credited?”
“What a joke.” He Ruixing did not want to bother with her. “You think it’s easy to blackmail Zong Jinghao? If you really had something to blackmail him with, why not just force him to marry you instead of making this mess? Are you crazy?”
Now that He Ruixing was calm, he did not believe that He Ruilin had anything to blackmail Zong Jinghao with.
If she did, she would have blackmailed him into marrying her. He would not have broken off the engagement and she would not have made this mess.
“You’re crazy!” He Ruilin was furious. “I wanted to help you, but since you’re not keen on it. Don’t blame me for what happens next.”
She turned and went upstairs.
He Ruixing gave a cold snort. “Be obedient and stay at home. Don’t keep making dad angry.”
When Xia Zhenyu came out of the room, she heard He Ruixing shouting, so she quietly scolded him. “Your dad has been in a bad mood recently. Don’t talk so loudly at home or else he’ll be angry.”
It took her a lot of effort to console him and made him rest in his room.
“Okay.” He Ruixing walked into his room to change. He took his clothes out but he did not change immediately. He sat on his couch and dialed Guan Jing’s number.
He cleared his throat as he pondered how to tell him. Guan Jing might not pick up his phone or meet him. It was obvious that he was calling because of what was on the news.
The phone kept ringing until it reached the voice mailbox, and still no one had picked up the call. He Ruixing gripped onto his phone. Instead of feeling defeated, he put down the phone. He unbuttoned his suit and went to the bathroom for a shower. He changed then went out.
He Ruilin stood by the second floor’s window. Her hand was holding onto the curtain as she watched He Ruilin left through the back door. He drove his car and went off.
Regardless of whether Zong Jinghao had loved her not, she had been with him for a long time. She knew that Zong Jinghao would not reject seeing him.
The corner of her lips was turned upwards. “Ruixing, I’ve given you a chance. It’s you who didn’t take it, you can’t blame this on me.”
She took out her phone and sent a video to Zong Jinghao’s number. She sent another copy to his personal email, just in case he had not looked at his phone.
At the villa.
Aunt Yu had cooked a whole table of food, as if it was Chinese New Year.
Zhuang Zijin was helping to fill the bowls with rice. Lin Ruixi was in the living room playing by herself. Lin Xichen was still in his room, refusing to come out because he said that his face was too ugly to be meeting with people.
A white light shone in and a black car drove in from outside. Soon, Lin Xinyan and Zong Jinghao came down from the car and went into the house together.
When Lin Ruixi heard the door open, she immediately poked her head above the couch to look at the door. When she saw the people who were at the door, her eyes turned bright.
Xichen said that this was dad.
She skillfully slid down from the couch and ran towards the door with short legs. Lin Xinyan thought that she was here to greet her, so she crouched down to welcome her. “Ruixi.”
Instead of running to her embrace, Lin Ruixi stopped in front of Zong Jinghao. She looked up at the tall man and blinked her eyes. He was so tall and handsome.
“Dad.”
Lin Xinyan was speechless.
And so was Zong Jinghao.
“Dad.” Lin Ruixi reached out to hug Zong Jinghao’s leg. “Dad, hug.”
Lin Xinyan tried to coax her daughter. “Ruixi, be a good girl and come over to mommy.”
She shook her head. “I want a hug from dad.”
Lin Xinyan felt awkward and heartache. Although the girl had lacked the love of a father, she had never called anyone else her dad.
“Ruixi, come over to mommy. This man is not dad.”
“I want dad.” As if she had not heard Lin Xinyan’s words, Lin Ruixi hugged his leg tighter. She leaned her face on Zong Jinghao’s face and blinked her bright eyes at him. “Dad, can you hug Ruixi?”
The moment that Zong Jinghao’s leg was hugged by her, he had stiffened. He lowered his head to look at those eyes that were looking at him. It was like there was a lake in her eyes, the clear water was slowly rippling and shimmering with hope.
He bent down to carry her up. Perhaps it was because she was light, it took little effort for Zong Jinghao to carry her.
Lin Ruixi fell into a trance looking at the man so close to her. Dad was handsome!
She reached out to hug his neck tightly, as if afraid that he would put her down. She buried her neck in between his neck and shoulders.
Lin Xinyan wanted to carry her. “Ruixi…”
“Mommy, I want dad to carry me.” There was a brittle tone in her voice. Deep in her, she wanted she have a dad. She wanted to be hugged by her dad.
She wanted a dad to call.
“I’ll carry her.” Unlike what she expected, he did not reject her daughter. She was such a sweet girl, no one could bear to reject her.
Lin Xinyan felt at a loss. “She had never been like this.”
Zong Jinghao looked at her, there was a mocking smile on his face. “She doesn’t have a dad, of course she’ll want some love.”
Lin Xinyan stood still. Her face was calm, but she felt like a claw had gripped onto her heart so tight that she could not breathe and could only feel the pain.
She lowered her head and went in to put her things down.
Zong Jinghao carried Lin Ruixi to the living room. He put her on his lap and he looked at her face carefully. She looked a lot like Lin Xichen, but she looked cuter than Lin Xichen.
Her face was fair like smooth china. It was also soft, tempting others to pinch on her cheeks.
Just as he thought of it, Zong Jinghao did it. The cheeks under the finger were elastic and soft. “You’re called Ruixi?”
Lin Ruixi nodded her head. She opened her pink mouth and showed her white little teeth. “Mommy said, Rui for beautiful and soft, and Xi for the hope that the morning sun represents.”
Lin Xinyan had wanted her daughter to be beautiful and as cheerful and bright as the sun.
She was her daughter. She wished she would never see the dark and would always be in the sun.
She blinked her eyes and looked at Zong Jinghao. “Does it sound nice?”
“Yes.”
It was not a half-hearted reply, he really did think that it sounded good. Lin Xinyan had given her a good name.
Lin Ruixi happily smiled and fell into his embrace. Her small face was leaning on his chest and she was listening to his heartbeat. “Dad.”
Zong Jinghao tensed. This was the first time he had heard this word in his life.
There was an inexplicable excitement in him.
Like a stone abruptly thrown into stagnant water, the stagnant water in him started rippling.
He could not calm down.
Lin Ruixi reached her hands into his shirt and started moving her hand around.
Zong Jinghao lost his words.
He reached out to grab her hand but Lin Ruixi did not want to let go of his shirt. “Ruixi wants milk.”
Zong Jinghao was speechless.
He did not have that.
“Mommy has it.” She blinked. Why did dad not have it?
Lin Ruixi continued moving her small hands and touched his chest all over. It was so flat and hard.
“Mommy’s is soft. Why don’t you have it?” Lin Ruixi felt upset.
Zong Jinghao’s expression tensed further.
He tilted his head upwards and sighed.
Was she not twins with Lin Xichen?
Why were they polar opposites?
It was obvious that Lin Xichen was an independent boy and she was a clingy girl.
At this moment, the phone in his pocket rang, but he did not have the mood to look at it.
Lin Ruixi felt strange and reached out to touch his pocket. She reminded him, “Dad, your phone is ringing.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll take it for you.” Lin Ruixi said, trying to appease him.
She wanted dad to like her, so she had to perform well.
Lin Ruixi took out the phone. There was a video message on the screen. She blinked and she accidentally clicked on it.
The video played.
“Mommy, milk.” Lin Ruixi recognized the person in the video.
Zong Jinghao frowned and looked at the video.
