Zong Jinghao hugged her with one arm and used his other arm to pat her back repeatedly.
He was drenched in sweat, but yet he didn’t smell bad. He whispered in her ears with a pain-stricken yet affectionate voice, “Don’t cry. You’ll look ugly if you keep crying.”
Zong Yanxi cared about her appearance a lot since she was praised for her beauty ever since she was young, so she couldn’t stand being called ugly. Her voice croaked as she asked, “Do I look ugly?”
“Yeah.” Zong Jinghao gently wiped away the tears on her eyes with his fingers. “Ruixi, don’t cry.”
He was used to that name even though her name wasn’t Lin Ruixi anymore. After all, he felt that that name suited her very well.
Zong Yanxi sniffled and asked Zong Jinghao with tears in her eyes, “Daddy, you don’t want us anymore because you think I look ugly, right…”
As she said that, she started to sob again. She missed her Daddy a lot in his absence.
The more she thought about that, the sadder she felt.
Meanwhile, her words made Zong Jinghao’s heart ache like crazy because all he wanted was to be with his children. He pressed his forehead against his daughter’s and kissed her nose and cheeks. “Of course not. You are the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world. You are the love of my life.”
“Daddy.” Zong Yanxi hugged his neck and sobbed uncontrollably in his arms. Zong Jinghao tried to console her patiently because he understood how dejected she must have felt.
On the other hand, Shao Yun was gaping in shock as he stared at the man carrying Zong Yanxi. What’s going on here? Is this idiot, I mean, man, Zong Yanxi’s father?
He turned around and gave Zong Yanchen an inquiring look.
His brows furrowed as his expression turned into a comical one. “Is that man really your father?”
Zong Yanchen his head firmly. “Yes.”
Shao Yun was rendered speechless at that answer.
Why did he sit here and smile like an idiot then?
Shao Yun cast his glance back on Zong Jinghao and incidentally met Zong Jinghao’s gaze. Who is he and why is he taking my two children with him? What kind of relationship does he and Lin Xinyan have?
Lin Xinyan wouldn’t allow a man that she doesn’t trust to bring the two children out, and he seemed genuinely concerned for their safety as well.
Shao Yun chuckled and greeted, “Nice to meet you. Why didn’t you come in? I saw you smiling on the street and I thought you were a…”
He didn’t complete his sentence because he saw that Zong Jinghao didn’t look like a dumb person.
However, Zong Jinghao still managed to sense the derision in his words. He replied with an inquiring tone, “Who are you?”
Zong Jinghao never saw this man around Lin Xinyan before, and she never told Zong Jinghao that she had friends or relatives in C City.
If he’s not Wen Xian’s relative, that means he’s…
He made an educated guess from the fact that it wasn’t hard to figure out who Lin Xinyan’s friends and family members were. Zhuang Zijin and Lin Guoan were her family in the past while Wen Xian and Zhuang Ziyi are her family now. Wen Xian’s relatives are all in B City, so he should be Zhuang Ziyi’s relative, right?
Shao Yun smiled and answered, “It’s a long story. How about we find a place to talk after we take care of this?”
Zong Jinghao’s silence indicated his agreement.
Shao Yun patted Zong Yanchen’s shoulders and said, “Stay put. I’ll be back soon.”
The driver is still standing there, and I need to teach him a lesson. I can’t have him driving so recklessly and possibly hurting someone else in the future!
“Alright.” Zong Yanchen nodded his head obediently. After Shao Yun left, Zong Jinghao asked him, “How have you guys been?”
Zong Yanchen nodded in a way that showed his sorrow. “We’re doing fine. Yanxi and I have started going to school, and mommy has been quite busy with work.”
After he said that, he turned around in a huff.
Zong Jinghao caressed his head and asked, “Are you angry?”
Zong Yanchen twisted his body slightly to shake off his hand as he replied coldly, “No.”
“Are you jealous of Ruixi? Should I give you a hug too?” Zong Jinghao immediately knew what was going on judging by Zong Yanchen’s personality.
However, Zong Yanchen didn’t back down. “No, I didn’t!”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Actually, he was a little jealous of his sister because Zong Jinghao showered her with all his attention and seemed to have forgotten about him.
Ah!
Suddenly, a shriek interrupted their standoff. Shao Yun couldn’t control his temper, and as a result he threw a powerful punch at the driver and sent him reeling.
“You’d better count your blessings and watch it next time. Get lost now,” Shao Yun hissed.
The driver stumbled into his car and drove off in the speed of light.
Meanwhile, Zong Yanchen took a nervous gulp when he saw Shao Yun’s vicious expression. Usually, Shao Yun seemed quite childlike and friendly, so they hit it off very quickly when they first met. This was the first time Zong Yanchen saw Shao Yun acting so violently, so he couldn’t help but shudder. When Shao Yun approached him, he unwittingly took a step back as Zong Jinghao bent over and held his hands.
Zong Yanchen took a look at Zong Jinghao and didn’t say anything. However, he didn’t break free from his grasp as well, so it seemed like they had come to a truce.
“I know a quiet place. Let’s go there,” Shao Yun suggested.
Incidentally, Zong Jinghao wanted to go somewhere quiet to spend time with his two children as well because he realized that loitering at the street wasn’t that appropriate.
“Please show us the way.”
Shao Yun replied, “Sure.”
He flashed his usual cheeky and innocent smile and added, “It’s not too far from here. Let’s walk there.”
The place he mentioned was a coffee house, and it was a quiet environment because there were private rooms inside. After they arrived, Shao Yun ordered two servings of ice cream for the children. Besides that, the restaurant also provided cold drinks because the weather was getting hotter as summer was just around the corner.
The room wasn’t big, but it was air-conditioned and quiet. Zong Jinghao carried his daughter with him and sat down while Shao Yun sat down opposite them.
At that moment, the waiter came in with two servings of ice-cream. The ice-cream was served in exquisite crystal glasses, so it looked very appetizing. When the waiter placed the ice-cream down on the table, he asked, “Would you like to order anything else?”
Without looking up, Zong Jinghao replied, “I’ll have a glass of iced water.”
The waiter smiled and responded, “Alright.” He then directed his question at Shao Yun, “What about you, sir?”
“I’m good, thanks.” Shao Yun waved his hands.
With a courteous smile on his face, the waiter walked away with the tray in his hands.
The moment he stepped out, Shao Yun asked impatiently, “You’re from B City.”
Just like how Zong Jinghao guessed who Shao Yun was, Shao Yun did the same to Zong Jinghao as well.
Zong Jinghao responded in an indirect manner, “The kids are still young.”
He was insinuating that they shouldn’t talk about their affairs in front of the children.
Besides that, they already had a good guess of each other’s identities even if they didn’t introduce themselves, so there was no point in talking now.
Shao Yun was an intelligent man, so he understood what Zong Jinghao was trying to say. He replied knowingly, “I need to go out to handle something else. I’ll come back later.”
“Thank you.” An equally quick-witted man himself, Zong Jinghao knew that Shao Yun was giving him some time alone with the children.
Meanwhile, Zong Yanchen stared at the ice-cream on the table and patted his sister. “Are you gonna eat the ice-cream?”
Only then, Zong Yanxi emerged from Zong Jinghao’s arms. “What ice-cream?”
Zong Jinghao was amused at how much of a glutton Zong Yanxi was. He stroked her face and sat her up on the couch for her to see the ice cream on the table. Then, she took a scoop of the ice cream and tried to feed Zong Jinghao. “Daddy, give it a try. It’s delicious. mommy doesn’t want me to eat too much ice cream, so I asked Mr. Shao to bring me out to get some.”
