Cheng Jinlan leaned back against the wall, trying to give herself some support. “What do you mean?”
“Your daughter, Cheng Liqi, called me the night before last, using your phone.”
The night before last? Cheng Jinlan's heart skipped a beat as she thought of the faint breathing on the phone. She grabbed her right hand holding the phone with her left, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible. “Why did she call you?”
“You should ask her.”
“What did you say to her?”
“Sun Wukong Havoc in Heaven.”
Cheng Jinlan was stunned. “What?”
“She asked me to tell her a bedtime story, so I told her the story of Sun Wukong Havoc in Heaven.”
Cheng Jinlan: ...
“I've answered your question, shouldn't you answer mine now? What lie did I tell you?”
The crisp sound of the phone hanging up was his only reply.
Shao Chengze tapped his phone lightly on the railing, feeling something was wrong. On the phone, her voice had lost its previous aloofness and coldness, and was filled more with obvious tension. She was afraid of him talking on the phone with her daughter. Why would she be afraid of him talking to her daughter?
Cheng Jinlan quickly looked up his number's call log. Her finger froze on the screen. The night before last, there was an outgoing call at eight o'clock, missed, and another outgoing call at eight fifteen, with a duration of nearly forty minutes.
Inside the room, Cheng Liqi was curled up in bed, answering a call from Shen Chuqi on her smartwatch.
"Cheng Liqi, I just video chatted with my grandma, and I found out I have a grandma too!" Shen Chuqi couldn't even wait until tomorrow to share the good news with Cheng Liqi.
"Wow, Shen Chuqi, you're so lucky now, you have a mom, and a grandma too. You'll get so many red envelopes during New Year."
Shen Chuqi giggled. He also felt very fortunate. He suddenly remembered the most important thing he wanted to tell Cheng Liqi tonight. "Little Liqi, my mom said my grandma is Shao Chengze's mom, so Shao Chengze is my uncle."
"Ahhh!!" Cheng Liqi was a little shocked. "He's your uncle? So is he your mom's older brother?"
"Yes, but my mom also said grandma is her biological mom, uncle is not her biological brother. But even if he's not a biological uncle, I can still hug his leg."
Cheng Liqi didn't understand. "What does that mean?"
Shen Chuqi scratched his head. "I don't understand either. Anyway, I call him uncle, and his legs are very thick."
There was a knock at the door outside. Cheng Liqi quickly said goodbye to Shen Chuqi.
Cheng Jinlan gently pushed open the door. "Little Liqi, are you still not asleep?"
The small stars on the ceiling cast dim lights and shadows. Cheng Liqi lay in bed, pretending to have closed her eyes. "Mom, I'm already asleep."
"If you're sleeping, how come you can still talk?" Cheng Jinlan walked to the princess bed, drew back the curtains, and sat down at the edge of the bed.
Cheng Liqi first opened one eye, then opened the other. "Mom, I was sleeping just now, and now I'm awake again."
Cheng Jinlan didn't expose her lie anymore. She gently and softly stroked her hair spread out on the pillow. "Were you on the phone with Shen Chuqi just now?"
Cheng Liqi nodded. "Yes, Mom."
Cheng Jinlan lowered her voice and spoke mysteriously. "Little Liqi, do you want to exchange secrets with Mom?"
Cheng Liqi's interest was piqued. She propped up her little body, eyes shining, and asked, "Mom, how do we exchange secrets?"
"You can ask me a secret, and I can also ask you a secret. We'll exchange fairly. Do you want to play this game?"
"I do!" Cheng Liqi promptly pushed away the quilt and sat cross-legged on the bed. She wanted to know many of her mom's secrets, she just didn't know which one to ask.
Cheng Jinlan asked, "What secret of mine do you want to know?"
Cheng Liqi thought hard for a good while, before finally deciding what to ask. "Mom, do you like Dad?"
"What?"
This was the second time tonight Cheng Jinlan was caught off guard by her daughter's question. She reflexively asked back.
"Grandma said little uncle likes little auntie, little auntie likes little uncle, and that's how Bean and Stinker came into this world. So did I come into this world because Dad likes Mom and Mom likes Dad?"
Cheng Jinlan seldom had the urge to cry. She didn't like crying. In her usual mindset, the time spent shedding tears was better spent thinking of how to solve the problem.
But because of her daughter's words, the sourness in her heart suddenly rushed to her throat, and for a while Cheng Jinlan couldn't get any words out.
Cheng Liqi pulled on her mother's fingers. "Is that how it is, Mom?"
Cheng Jinlan held up her little face and kissed her eyes, then hugged her into her arms. "Baby, of course that's how it is."
Cheng Liqi wrapped her little hands around her mother's back, a big smile on her little face. "Okay, I'm done asking, now Mom can ask me a secret."
Cheng Jinlan gently patted her back. "Can Mom know what secret you told Shen Chuqi the night before last?"
Ah - Mom wanted to know that secret! Cheng Liqi's little head tossed and turned in her mother's embrace. She couldn't lie to her mom, but should she tell the truth?
Cheng Jinlan could tell she was struggling. "It's okay if you don't want to say."
She probably knew something, otherwise she wouldn't have asked so much about Dad these past few days. The question was how did she find out. Her father's identity was only known to Shi Ran. Cheng Jinlan guessed that Cheng Jinchuan also had suspicions, but he never directly asked her. Shi Ran would not say anything like this in front of Cheng Liqi, and Cheng Jinchuan was ambiguous about trivial matters, but unambiguous when it came to major issues, especially those concerning Cheng Liqi.
Cheng Jinlan thought back to that night's conversation with Shi Ran. Could it be that she hadn't been asleep then? But how did she get Shao Chengze's number? Cheng Jinlan had too many questions in her mind, but she didn't want to force her daughter to talk about things she didn't want to. This little girl seemed to have many things hidden in her heart, she couldn't add any more pressure to her.
Cheng Liqi breathed a sigh of relief. She rested her chin on her mother's shoulder, and spoke in a soft, sticky voice. "Mom, can I owe you a secret for now, and repay it to you later?"
Cheng Jinlan pretended her tone was light. "Of course, but remember you have this IOU. You can't go back on your word later."
"I definitely won't go back on my word. Let's pinky swear." Cheng Liqi held out her little finger. She wanted to be true to her word, and not break promises like her big uncle.
After mother and daughter finished their pinky swear and sealed the promise, Cheng Liqi yawned. "Mom, I'm sleepy."
This time she really was sleepy.
"If you're sleepy then let's sleep. Mom will keep you company tonight, okay?"
"Okay." Cheng Liqi patted her little pillow. "Mom lies here, I'll lie in Mom's arms."
The little one in her arms soon fell asleep, but Cheng Jinlan tossed and turned all night, unable to fall asleep. It was almost dawn when she finally dozed off briefly. As a result, she overslept that little nap.
Fei Zuhui saw that mother and daughter still hadn't come over, figuring they must have forgot to set an alarm and overslept. She went over directly to get them up.
The three Cheng siblings and their parents lived in the same residential compound. Eldest son Cheng Jinchuan wanted his own private life, so he lived in the building furthest in a straight line from his parents'. Youngest son Cheng Lichuan was already married and lived at the end of the street. Cheng Jinlan lived next door to her parents in a detached house.
Fei Zuhui didn't see anyone in the master bedroom, so she went to Cheng Liqi's room. Cheng Liqi was already awake, her hair a mess, quietly and carefully getting dressed. Seeing Grandma come in, she softly shushed, signaling that Mom was still sleeping and mustn't be woken up.
Knowing her daughter managed a hotel and bore heavy burdens, Fei Zuhui understood it was rare for her to sleep in, so she didn't wake her up. She quietly brought her granddaughter back next door.
At the dining table, Cheng Shanhe was reprimanding Cheng Jinchuan, saying he was too reckless, he shouldn't have taken that land in Nancheng. Cheng Jinchuan was completely nonchalant. "I've already taken it, it's a bit late for you to say this now. Don't worry, I definitely won't let that land crash in my hands. A threefold increase might be exaggerated, but I can definitely flip it for double the price."
Cheng Shanhe's frown grew deeper, about to say more, when he saw his granddaughter come in and immediately smoothed out his expression into a much gentler smile. "Little Liqi is awake."
Cheng Liqi ran over to Grandpa and sweetly said, "Grandpa, did you sleep well last night?"
Cheng Shanhe beamed. "Grandpa slept very well. Did little Liqi sleep well?"
Cheng Liqi nestled against Grandpa's knee. She blinked at Big Uncle, then replied Grandpa, "I slept so well, I even had a sweet dream."
Cheng Jinchuan chuckled lightly. At least he didn't spoil this little girl for nothing, she still knew to get him out of trouble.
Fei Zuhui urged from the side, "Alright, enough intimate chit-chat between you two. It's very late already, little Liqi will be late for school."
Just because his niece knew to protect him, Cheng Jinchuan took the initiative to offer driving the "little princess" to kindergarten today. But the "little princess" still didn't trust him. "Big uncle, why don't you just let Sister Wu take me instead. She won't make me late for school."
Cheng Jinchuan carried the little princess to her car seat and buckled her in. "Don't worry, with big uncle driving, you definitely won't be late. Big uncle will take a shortcut and make sure you're the first one at school."
Oh well, since big uncle wants to drive her to school so badly, just let him.
Cheng LiQi leaned sideways to look at the scenery outside. After a while, she asked a little uneasily, "Uncle, did you take the wrong route? The road you took is different from the one Sis Wen took." She didn't recognize many of the words on the buildings outside.
"Uncle already told you this is a shortcut. It's a road you haven't taken before. Why do you doubt your uncle so much?"
Cheng LiQi laughed twice without answering. Her expression said it all.
Cheng Jinchuan nearly spit out his drink when he heard her laugh without speaking - this was the status he had in his little niece's heart.
Watching her uncle's angry nape, Cheng LiQi was about to placate him when her eyes fixed on a tall building outside. She asked anxiously, "Uncle, is that the Shaw Corporation?"
Cheng Jinchuan glanced out the window. "Oh, your kindergarten wasn't wasted on you. You already recognize quite a few words. That's the Shaw Corporation."
Cheng LiQi didn't notice the disdain in Uncle's voice when he said "Shaw Corporation." Craning her neck to keep looking back, she said, "Uncle, this company looks so big. I can't even see the top. It's like it runs into the clouds."
Cheng Jinchuan scoffed. "How do you feel that way? Our family's building is much taller than this shabby one, and at least ten times more magnificent. Little LiQi, you can't be wishing for the Shaw's prosperity and diminish our own family's prestige."
Cheng LiQi's attention wasn't on her uncle's words. "Uncle, what's the name of this road?"
Cheng Jinchuan had long adapted to the girl's erratic thoughts and answered all her questions. "Chunhui Road."
"Can I ask Sis Wen to bring me this way too in the future?"
"What, have you realized your uncle's route is much faster than Sis Wen's?"
Cheng LiQi knew how to flatter Uncle well. "Yes, Uncle is the best."
On the opposite lane across the railing, a black car drove in the opposite direction and turned into the Shaw Corporation's park.
Shao ChengZe was on the phone with Shen XiWen. "You can hide from me and not answer my calls. I'm too lazy to bother with you either. But when your mother-in-law comes to find you, you'll have to deal with her yourself. Don't ask me for help."
"What?! Mother-in-law is coming?!"
Shao ChengZe's ears were grated by her shrill voice. He wanted to hang up but still had things to ask her, so he endured.
"You suddenly have a son. Do you think she can stay put at home?"
Shen XiWen wailed.
Shen ChuQi hugged his mother's arm. "Mom, what's wrong? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?" Shen XiWen's voice returned to normal as she smoothed her son's short hair. "Mom's fine. Your grandma is coming. Mom is excited."
Shen ChuQi bounced up. "Grandma is coming! When? Mom, can we go pick up Grandma?"
Hearing Shen ChuQi's voice, Shao ChengZe asked Shen XiWen, "Can I speak with your son?"
"What do you want?" Shen XiWen was wary. "Don't try to pry anything from my son. He won't tell you who his dad is."
Shao ChengZe was impatient. "I don't care who his dad is. He's close with Cheng LiQi. I have something to ask him."
"Oh~ Little LiQi ah, what do you want to ask? Let me pass it on." Shen XiWen didn't want to miss this gossip.
"When is Cheng LiQi's birthday? Does your son know?"
Shen XiWen rejoiced. The Shao boss wasn't so dense after all, catching on so quickly. Good that he noticed. Then when mother-in-law comes, she won't be settling scores with her.
Shen XiWen asked Shen ChuQi, "Son, when is Little LiQi's birthday? Do you know?"
"I know. My birthday is the seventh day of the lunar new year. Little LiQi is just half a year younger than me. Her birthday is the seventh day of the fifth lunar month."
Shen XiWen's voice contained hidden excitement. She asked the person on the phone, "Did you hear that? Little LiQi's birthday is the seventh of the fifth month. She's six this year."
She eagerly anticipated his reaction. A typically unflappable person hearing such an explosive, cosmic revelation - how would he lose composure?
"Oh, I see. Your mother-in-law arrives the day after tomorrow. Get ready to receive her. I'm going on a business trip the day after tomorrow."
Shen XiWen was somewhat stunned. That's it? So bland??? Did his reflex arc take too long to process that he might have a daughter?
Kong YiChun had just gotten out of the car and saw the boss's car enter the parking lot. She happened to have something to discuss with the boss, so she stood by and waited. But after waiting a while, the boss still hadn't gotten out of the car. Kong YiChun looked at her watch, then at the driver Sun Bei. If this went on, she would be late for the meeting. Sun Bei waved his hand indicating he also didn't know what the boss was doing in the car. When he got out of the car, the boss had been spacing out.
Shao ChengZe caressed his phone screen, finding his own thoughts laughable and preposterous.
Six years old, born on the seventh day of the fifth month. She was already separated from him for over half a year when she got pregnant. It couldn't be his daughter no matter how it was calculated. And...there was one fact he had to admit whether he wanted to or not - to her, he was at most a dalliance. How would she be willing to bear his child? Her unease was probably just his illusion. After all, he didn't understand her well either. His supposed understanding was merely self-delusion.
Shao ChengZe buttoned his suit and got out of the car. Kong YiChun saw the boss get out and immediately went up to him. "President Shao, that land in Nancheng. Old Mr. Shao called early this morning and said you must call him back as soon as possible."
Kong YiChun steeled herself to emphasize "must" and "as soon as possible." She was afraid the boss wouldn't call Old Mr. Shao back. Then the only one to suffer would be her, with Old Mr. Shao practically blowing up her phone.
"Got it." Shao ChengZe took out his phone and dialed the old man's number.
Er... Kong YiChun said "as soon as possible" but didn't expect the boss to be this soon. She quickly took out her phone to relay the message to the secretariat, signaling them to be alert. Judging by how fast the boss called Old Mr. Shao back, his mood must be especially unpleasant today.
Cheng Jinlan felt very dazed this day. There were some things she definitely needed to discuss with Cheng LiQi, but she still hadn't figured out how to say it, or how much to say. The adult world was too complicated, while a child's feelings were too pure. She didn't want Cheng LiQi to be hurt in any way because of adult matters.
Jiang Jiang called and Cheng Jinlan suddenly remembered Jiang Jiang was coming over today. She almost forgot about it. She hurriedly asked Cheng Jinchuan about his plans tonight and felt relieved knowing he had a drinking gathering so wouldn't be home for dinner. Jiang Jiang probably didn't want to see him.
But when she brought Jiang Jiang home and picked up Cheng LiQi from school, not only was Cheng Jinchuan there, Shi Ran was too.
The frozen air was filled with awkwardness. Jiang Jiang and Shi Ran were still normal. The abnormal one was Cheng Jinchuan.
Jiang Jiang got up mid-meal to use the restroom. Cheng LiQi swallowed her food and looked at Uncle. "Uncle, you're so quiet today. Do you like Auntie Jiang?"
This was her first time seeing Uncle not say a word during a meal. Grandma said before that getting Uncle to shut up was harder than reaching heaven, unless it was a girl he liked. The only female guest today was Auntie Jiang, and Auntie Jiang was so pretty. So was Uncle quiet because he liked Auntie Jiang?
Cheng Jinchuan was raising his wine glass to drink and heard Cheng LiQi's words. He used the greatest might in his life to hold in the wine in his throat, flushing red and bulging out his neck to keep from spewing his drink.
Seeing his son's predicament, Fei Zuhui laughed out loud. Shi Ran lowered his head so his schadenfreude wouldn't show too obviously.
Cheng Jinlan put a large chicken leg on Cheng LiQi's plate and ruffled her little head. "Isn't this your favorite chicken leg that Nanny Qin made? Mom picked the biggest one for you. Eat up."
How could she tear apart Uncle's face so unforgivingly right off the bat?
Cheng LiQi glanced at the wall clock, no longer concerned with who Uncle liked. Uncle liked many girls anyway, and those he liked today he would dislike tomorrow. She buried her head and gnawed on the chicken leg. She had to eat quickly. It was the day before the day after tomorrow. She had to call Shao ChengZe.
Uncle hurriedly left after the meal. It was almost eight o'clock. Grandma and Mom were chatting with Auntie Jiang. She couldn't interrupt them, that would be rude. Cheng LiQi poked Shi Ran's arm. "Dad, can I use your phone to call Shen ChuQi?"
"No problem." Shi Ran took out his phone and unlocked it before handing it to Cheng LiQi. "Should I dial the number for you?"
"Thanks Dad, but I can do it myself."
Cheng LiQi took Shi Ran's phone and took out the small slip of paper from her backpack. She ran to the dining room and slowly pressed in the phone number digit by digit. Cheng LiQi hadn't thought of what to say first when the call connected.
"Who is this?"
Cheng LiQi waved at the phone screen in greeting before realizing they weren't on video and he couldn't see her. She spoke up, "It's me, Cheng LiQi. Weren't we going to call today? Are you busy now?"
Shao ChengZe threw the documents in his hand onto the table. Was the little auntie so bored that she took to bothering him daily for amusement? His tone wasn't good. "I'm very busy and don't have time to tell you stories today."
Cheng LiQi couldn't detect the distance he deliberately pulled back in his tone. She cradled the phone in both hands. "Since you're busy, we'll skip the story today. But I have a question I want to ask you, can I?"
Shao ChengZe rubbed his brow. "Go ahead."
"Is your company on Chunhui Road?"
"Yes."
Cheng LiQi was thrilled. "Your company is on the road I take to kindergarten. Very close by. Can I come to your company to find you?"
Shao ChengZe didn't understand what this little kid was trying to do. Right, he never even figured out her mother, how could he figure out her daughter now?
"I'm not necessarily at the company."
tags:
<translated>
“When will you be at the company?”
“I have a business trip for half a month starting the day after tomorrow.”
The day after tomorrow on a business trip, so tomorrow he will be here, is that what he means?
Shao ChengZe moved the phone away from his ear and looked at the number on the screen, “Whose phone did you use to make this call?” He wondered if he should reject calls from unknown numbers in the future.
“Shi Ran’s phone.”
Shao ChengZe was startled, “Who is Shi Ran? Shi Ran?”
“Yes, Shi Ran’s name is Shi Ran.”
Shao ChengZe sat up straight, “Why do you call him Shi Dad?”
“Shi Dad is just Shi Dad, if I don’t call him Shi Dad what do I call him?”
Cheng LiQi didn’t understand, “He’s not my dad, so I can’t call him dad.”
