Xin Qing's body grew taut the moment she heard that voice. Tremors shook her body, and she had to struggle with all her might not to bolt right then and there.
"What's wrong with you?" William had noticed Xin Qing's strange behavior and was just about to step closer to help her, but another hand emerged from behind Xin Qing's body and beat him to it. Xin Qing barely had time to react before a pair of tiny, soft, white hands touched her face.
"Ah... uh... ma..."
Xin Qing turned around abruptly. Her eyes fell upon a pair of dark pupils, which were gazing at her. A pale and plump little baby, who had foams at her mouth, was reaching out her hands towards Xin Qing.
"Ah Sha!?" Xin Qing yelled in surprise. At Xin Qing's voice, Ah Sha's eyes brightened instantly and she tilted her body towards Xin Qing. Xin Qing quickly reached out and took the baby, hugging its tiny form to her own body. "You're here! Oh, God, you're here!" Xin Qing said, her tears spilling as she rained kisses upon the baby's tiny, pale and tender face.
"I brought her here, of course," Ying Qingcang said, staring at her with gloomy eyes. "She's turning one soon. I'd like the family to be together for her first birthday." After he said those words, he gave William a pointed look.
Vacillating between tears and laughter, Xin Qing said, "This is all my fault. I should've gone back. Thank you for bringing her here!"
"We're family. So you don't have to thank me," Ying Qingcang said, smiling suddenly. Xin Qing shuddered inwardly when she saw that smile. She quickly lowered her head. "That was close," she thought. "I was so close to being seduced again."
William had been watching them from the sidelines. At that moment, he seemed to have come upon a realization. "Seems like I'm not needed here after all!" William said, smiling. "Since your family's here, then I guess I have no more business here." William nodded to Ying Qingcang. "You should be more careful if you have such a beautiful wife staying out!"
Xin Qing wanted to correct William, but clammed up pathetically after noticing the look Ying Qingcang's had given her.
"Thank you for the advice. But I trust her, because we are very much in love with each other!" Ying Qingcang said, pulling Xin Qing into his arms. When Xin Qing tried to move, he trapped her waist against him. There was nothing more Xin Qing could do but grin at William.
William looked at her, tipping his head slightly. Then he got into his car and left. Xin Qing jumped away when William's car was quite some distance away. "Are you nuts? Since when did we become family?"
"I was listed as the father in Ah Sha's adoption papers. Your name was listed down as the mother. If you aren't willing to accept this, I could always change it when I go back. That's one reason for them to terminate our child custody," Ying Qingcang said humorlessly. "Also, I came all the way here with Ah Sha just to see you, yet here you are, flirting with another man on the streets. It's going to traumatize the poor child."
Xin Qing was not in the mood to argue with him. Putting on a fake smile, she turned around and walked away. Ying Qingcang was not in a hurry, so he trailed after her lazily as he pushed the trolley along. Every time Xin Qing picked up her pace, Ah Sha's hand would wrap around her neck, trying to reach for Ying Qingcang who was trailing behind them.
"Ah... uh... da!" If Xin Qing did not stop to wait for Ying Qingcang to catch up, Ah Sha would start crying. This infuriated Xin Qing as she was now forced to stay within a few paces' distances from him.
When they reached her place, Xin Qing suddenly remembered that she did not have any food prepared for Ah Sha. She decided to make another trip to the supermarket. When she opened the door to head out, two people walked in with two massive suitcases.
"You even brought people here?" Xin Qing asked, wondering why she never saw those people.
Ying Qingcang gave her a look. "They'd been following us around with the car, didn't you notice?"
"Young miss!" Ah Che exclaimed excitedly. Xin Qing had only just realized that Ah Che had come along too. Exhilarated, Xin Qing walked over and gave Ah Che a hug. "Long time no see. Are you well?"
Ah Che's entire body grew taut when he noticed the daggers shooting out from Ying Qingcang's eyes. He quickly took a step back. "Young miss, I'm very well! Aunt Tian and Uncle Fu sent their regards!"
"Mm! Mm! I bought them gifts. Please pass it to them when you return!"
Seeing that the men had already moved the bags upstairs, Ying Qingcang said, "You can leave now."
"Leave? Ah Che won't be staying here?"
"Oh! I'm staying at a hotel!" Ah Che said quickly.
"There's plenty of room here. There's no need for you to stay at a hotel!" Xin Qing said, glaring at Ying Qingcang.
"But it might not be appropriate for him to stay here since he was planning to hunt for women," Ying Qingcang said coolly.
"Hu-hunt for women?" Xin Qing blushed, though her blush was inferior compared to Ah Che's. "Ye-yeah," Ah Che said, closing the door and hightailed it out of there.
Xin Qing stood in the living room with Ah Sha in her arms whereas Ying Qingcang sat on the couch as if he owned the place. None of them said a word. For Xin Qing, it was because she had no idea what to say, whereas Ying Qingcang was secretly looking for traces of male presence in her home.
"Um..." Xin Qing could not take the silence anymore. She sat down opposite of Ying Qingcang. "You came here out of the blue. Is something wrong?"
Ying Qingcang seemed to be smiling at her all this while. Sometimes the smile was there, but sometimes it vanished. It was impossible to tell if he had actually been smiling. It gave Xin Qing the creeps. Ying Qingcang stood up and poured himself a glass of water. "What could possibly go wrong?"
"You..." Xin Qing had wanted to ask whether his fiancé would be happy with him being here, but she held herself back because that would totally make her sound jealous.
"What?" Ying Qingcang smiled again.
Xin Qing felt like covering Ying Qingcang's face with a rag or something. Why was he smiling for no reason? Her brain was short circuiting because of his smile.
"I'm going to make our meals," she said, passing Ah Sha to Ying Qingcang. Ying Qingcang stopped her. "Unpack Ah Sha's things first."
Ah Che had left a cartoon-themed suitcase in the living room. It contained Ah Sha's things. From the suitcase, Xin Qing took out a children's mat, a baby walker in the form of a toy car, and several other playthings. She set the items on the floor.
Ying Qingcang placed Ah Sha on the baby walker. Ah Sha could already walk with its help, just that she was still unable to maintain stability, causing her to fall on her but from time to time.
While Xin Qing was cooking their meals, she watched as Ah Sha went around the house with the baby walker. Ah Sha would smile whenever she saw Xin Qing. The word "ma" would form on Ah Sha's lips, or it could be "meh". Regardless, hearing it still filled Xin Qing's heart with emotions. If only she could disregard the man whose eyes was continually trained on her, then everything would be picture-perfect.
"Ah Sha's very smart," Ying Qingcang said all of a sudden. "I showed her your photo every day and told her that the one in the photo is her mother. Can't believe she remembers."
Xin Qing blushed. "You, you still have time to teach her?!"
"Aunt Tian would take over when I'm busy. Otherwise, how do you think she was able to call you mom the moment she saw you?"
"Thank you..." Xin Qing stared at Ying Qingcang. In truth, she had long since prepared herself for Ah Sha to forget her. After all, the child was still too young. Surprisingly, Ah Sha had not only remembered her, but had even called her mom!
Ying Qingcang strolled towards her lazily and stood in front of her. "How are you going to thank me?"
"Take one more step, and your clothes will be covered in congee," Xin Qing said, pointing at the pot beside Ying Qingcang. Ying Qingcang frowned and took two steps back. "We've been apart for half a year, and you've become so much cleverer!"
Xin Qing plastered a fake smile. "I know right! Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to face down so many troubles on my own."
"Seems like you've been living comfortably," Ying Qingcang said, wanting to step forward again. Xin Qing held out the spatula in her hand, shoving it in the space between them. "It's bad to have oil stains all over your body. I suggest you go wait outside," Xin Qing said. Ying Qingcang was just about to speak when they heard Ah Sha's crying voice. Xin Qing quickly turned off the stove and left the kitchen. The little bundle of joy was yanking her diaper.
Xin Qing turned her head and asked Ying Qingcang, "Is the diaper making her uncomfortable?"
Ying Qingcang grabbed a new diaper from the bag and toss it to Xin Qing. "Time for a diaper change."
Xin Qing took Ah Sha and had been planning to place the baby on the couch. But Ying Qingcang took out a small blanket and lay it out over the children's mat. Then, he grabbed a box of wet wipes and baby powder. "You should do it here."
"Isn't it softer on the couch?" Xin Qing asked, confused. Ying Qingcang stared her down. "Can't you just listen to me?" he asked her back.
Xin Qing pouted, but did precisely what Ying Qingcang had told her. She laid Ah Sha flat on the blanket. A pungent smell assaulted her nostrils the moment she peeled open the diaper.
"She, she pooped!" Two patches of orange-colored stool stained the diaper and Ah Sha's small butt.
Ying Qingcang grabbed a toy and tried to cheer the Ah Sha up. "Hurry up. Or else she'd kick up a fuss later."
Xin Qing threw out the dirty diaper. Gently, she cleaned Ah Sha with the wet wipes and then applied baby powder. Finally, she put a fresh diaper on Ah Sha. Probably due to comfort, Ah Sha bit down on her tootsie twice. Then, she smiled at Xin Qing and began pushing her tootsie against Xin Qing's mouth.
"Not everyone has the chance to enjoy her tootsie, not even Aunt Tian, who had been looking after her daily." Smiling, Ying Qingcang watched as Xin Qing bit down twice on Ah Sha's foot. Ah Sha chuckled in response.
"She didn't offer her tootsie to you?" Xin Qing asked, narrowing her eyes. Ying Qingcang poked her head. "Go take care of the food. I'm hungry."
Ying Qingcang had brought along Ah Sha's high chair, so during the meal, they placed Ah Sha in it. Then, they placed Ah Sha's food in front of her. Ah Sha dug into her meal happily. Soon, her entire face was covered in food.
"I'll feed her!" Xin Qing said, unable to bear the sight any longer.
Ying Qingcang stopped her. "Why feed her? Didn't you see how happy she is eating on her own?"
"But look at her face. It's covered in food," Xin Qing said, watching as Ah Sha once again missed her mouth and ended up poking the spoon at her nose. Xin Qing reached out, wanting to take the spoon.
Ying Qingcang glared at her. "No. Let her eat on her own. She can do it. If you're like this, the child won't be independent in the future."
Before Xin Qing could say anything, Ying Qingcang got up and went to his suitcase. He took out a book and tossed it to her. "Read it when you have time."
"How to raise your kid to be smart and independent," Xin Qing said, reading the book title aloud. "Fine..." she thought. "It's true that I've never read any books on this particular subject."
After dinner, Ying Qingcang brought Ah Sha upstairs. When Xin Qing was done with the dishes, she went upstairs to check on them. She discovered the cot that had been set up beside the wooden bed. In the bathroom, a baby tub was placed in the bathtub. Ying Qingcang was sitting there, his eyes trained on Ah Sha. Ah Sha was sitting in the baby tub, splashing water all over.
"You brought along a lot of stuff, that's for sure!" Xin Qing could not help but appreciate the thoughtfulness shown by this man.
Ying Qingcang glanced at her. "It was Aunt Tian and Uncle Fu. I'd only noticed just now too."
"Alright!" Xin Qing said. That was when she noticed another suitcase. She pointed at it. "What's in there?"
Ying Qingcang looked at it. "That's mine," he said.
"Oh. Okay. Then I'll help you take it to the room next door," Xin Qing said, moving to take the suitcase.
Ying Qingcang removed Ah Sha from the baby tub, wrapped a bath towel around her body, and passed the baby to Xin Qing. "Why take it to the next room?"
"What! This is my room!" Xin Qing said, glaring at Ying Qingcang. She did not even bother to start toweling Ah Sha dry.
Ying Qingcang shrugged and began to unbutton his shirt lazily. "Which is why I'm sleeping here."