Chapter 34 I Have a Dad Now!
“No. He is daddy. I can smell daddy’s scent on him,” Duo Duo said as she tightened her grip around Chu Feng’s neck and refused to let go. She pouted her tiny mouth and said, “From the first time we met, I could feel it. And when I was in danger just now, Daddy showed up instantly and used his fist to smash the car and saved me. Mommy, didn’t you tell me daddy is a hero and a superman? And that when I am in danger, he will definitely appear? Have you been bluffing me all this while?”
“I…” Yu Muqing felt a heartache and was ashamed, her eyes turned red, and at that moment, she didn’t know how to explain the situation to her naive daughter.
“Mommy, please let Uncle Chu Feng be my daddy. Let him stay here with me.” Duo Duo blinked her big, black eyes, and pouted like she was wronged. She looked so pitiful as her tears began to drip down, one after another.
The little girl kept her tight grip around Chu Feng’s neck and cried miserably. “Everybody else in the kindergarten has a dad except me. All of them say that I’m a wild child… I am not a wild child. My daddy is back now. Mommy, please don’t snatch daddy away. Please don’t let daddy leave, alright? I just want my daddy. Please…”
Chu Feng’s heart was a spectacular mess, his eyes were turning red and he didn’t know if it was the fact that they were truly related by blood, or it was the child’s naivety that made him want to hold on to the doll-like child tightly in his arms and never let go.
“Duo Duo, I’m sorry. So sorry…” Yun Muqing could not bear it anymore and in an instant, warm tears streamed out of her eyes. For five years, they depended on each other; nobody understood better than her the criticism and ridicule that the mother and daughter duo had to go through, and nobody knew better than her of her daughter’s need for her father’s love, her desire and hopes for fatherly affection.
For five years, she struggled to make a living and exhausted every method there was to make up for her daughter’s yearning for a father, often with one lie after another. But at the end of the day, Yun Muqing couldn’t give her daughter what she wanted.
Yun Muqing wiped the tears off her pretty face and told herself to be strong and brave. With a choked voice, she said, “Duo Duo, I’m sorry. I lied to you. Actually…” Yun Muqing wanted to lay out all the truth to Duo Duo, even if it meant hurting her, even if it meant that she might hate her mother, but it would all be better than having her waiting pointlessly, day after day. She hoped that one day, Duo Duo would understand her good intentions. “Actually, I was angry at your dad. However, I have forgiven him now.”
Then, Chu Feng, who had remained silent till this point, shocked Yun Muqing and stunned her with his sudden words. “From now on, as your dad, I will always be by your side, Duo Duo. I will watch you grow up, go to school, get married, and start a family. Our family will be inseparable from now on.” Chu Feng wiped the little girl’s tear-stained face, focused all his attention on her, and said gently, “Duo Duo, I’m back.”
“Really? Daddy, Mommy, both of you are not bluffing me, right?” Duo Duo’s huge eyes were full of hope and naivety; she was unmeasurably happy.
Yun Muqing glanced at Chu Feng and understood that he was telling a white lie. She felt grieved yet very touched that even Chu Feng, who was a stranger, was willing to put on a mask and pretend to be the child’s ‘father’. As her birth mother, she couldn’t bring herself to ruin a four years old child’s fairytale-like dreams.
“Yes, it’s true. I am back, and I will never leave you again, Duo Duo.”
“Let’s pinkie swear!” Duo Duo stuck out her plump little hand and broke out into a smile.
Chu Feng and Yun Muqing looked at each other and they each offered a pinkie. Under the moonlight, the three of them held hands tightly, and it was warm and romantic.
“Pinkie promise is never to be broken!”
Duo Duo shouted with joy, her tiny face was brimming with happiness and sweetness. “I have a dad now!”
