209 CHILDISH HOPE

Hu Lei woke up to a familiar presence beside her. She felt those strong arms hold her waist and pull her into a warm chest. She snuggled closer and rubbed her face against the bare, warm chest. She sighed happily as she enjoyed the moment.

\"You did not have to come back.\" She murmured in a muffled voice.

Zhong Feng tucked her closer into his body, her head below his chin. He lifted her hand to pet her fluffy, messy head. She rubbed her head against his head like a cute kitten. His lips stretched into a small smile which remained hidden from her.

\"I know.\"

\"It was just a brief moment of anger.\"

\"I know.\"

\"I could have handled it by myself.\"

\"I know.\"

\"You are being insufferable.\" She said with annoyance as she beat his chest lightly with a small fist. No one would believe that these were the hands that had destroyed an apartment the previous day.

Zhong Feng pulled her impossibly closer into his body and kissed her forehead before loosening his hold. \"What did your father say?\" He asked.

Hu Lei did not respond immediately. \"You know that I always believed that my father was a good person. I know that he did a lot of wrong things. But I firmly kept my trust in him. I loved him.\" She paused and proceeded in a quieter voice. \"Even when he experimented on me in Antarctica, I didn't lose all my faith in him. I was angry at first, but I also thought that something good would come from it.\"

\"Now, I just learned how many things he hid from me. I always felt sad that he had died before he knew that he had a son. Now, I realise that he knew about him all along. If he knew, why did he let FaiFai suffer? He could have prevented his weak condition. Wasn't he a godly doctor? I don't know if he had inherent goodness in him. I don't even know if he ever even loved me or just kept me as a little soldier who could never betray him.\"

Tears flowed out of her eyes as she felt the emptiness in her heart. She had believed that her father had kept her while her mother had abandoned her because he loved her and treasured their familial bond. However, she was no longer sure.

\"Your father was many things, but he loved you, even in his craziest moments.\" Zhong Feng spoke quietly.

Hu Lei looked up at him with large wet eyes. He lifted his hand and wiped the tear stains from her cheeks which were no longer sallow as they had been when she had returned to Supreme City from that indescribable hell.

\"You think so?\" There was a childish hope.

\"Your father loved science and pushing the edges of experimental medicine to the limits. However, even when there was a chance to do so, he always considered the opinion and well-being of his daughter. He did not only love her. He also respected her. And he gave me a second chance at life.\"

\"I don't understand.\"

\"Let me tell you a story.\" He brushed her hair lightly, petting with hand. \"There was once a little boy who was dying. And he would have died. His father and uncle were fighting over a kingdom, and he became a casualty of the war. He would have been the heir of the kingdom if his father won. But if he did not exist, his uncle had a better chance of taking over. His body was poisoned for years such that he slowly lost strength and became very unhealthy. In the end, he fell into a coma.\"

\"His parents invited a godly doctor who came with his adorable little daughter. He examined the boy and told them that the boy would die. His liver had failed, and other organs were also dying. Even a transplant from his parents or sister could not save him.\"

\"When the doctor would have left, the little girl spoke up and said that she wanted to save the boy. She refused to leave until her father saved the boy. She claimed that her body was magical, and she could save the boy. The boy's parents were desperate to hold on to any hope. They asked the doctor if it was true.\"

\"The doctor said that whether it was true or not, his child was not a tool. He would not use her for the sake of saving another. But the girl refused to leave crying desperately. Finally, he asked her if she was sure of her decision. She nodded profusely. The desperate parents said that they would do anything in return if the doctor saved her.\"

Zhong Feng smiled. \"The girl said that if she saved the boy, he would belong to her forever, and no one would take him from her. Even as a child, she was a little crazy.\"

\"What are you saying?\" Hu Lei asked, blinking in shock.

\"Your father was not a good man, and he was not a conventional parent. But in his own way, he loved you and treated you as a partner, even when he should have let you grow. Perhaps in his somewhat twisted mind, allowing you to choose to donate a piece of you to save a dying boy was his own way of loving you.\"

\"Are you saying…\" Hu Lei could not grasp it.

\"Yes, you saved my life because you were crazy and stubborn. Your father should never have listened to you.\"

Hu Lei surprised him by smiling for the first time in the whole morning. \"I was never in danger. I do have a magical body, you know. It is the way that it has always been. It is the reason I survived when other experimental subjects died in Antarctica.\"

She did not know why, but she had never been a normal human since her childhood, or so her father had told her. He always said that she had been born a superhuman: strong, smart and strong regenerative powers. Nothing could break her

\"Even though he was a terrible parent, I am glad that he listened to me and saved you.\" She knew she was being silly, but she felt that even though he should never have done it, at least he had always treated her as a real person.

Zhong Feng felt pain looking at his little wife who had no real understanding of familial love and bonds. He had only told her the story to distract her from the pain of betrayal. In truth, he disagreed with almost all of Hu Ming's decisions even though one of those was the reason he was alive.

Hu Lei was his treasure. He never wanted to see even a surface scratch on her. How could he bear to think of a little girl cut open and a piece of her removed even to save his life? He wanted her to always be a lazy cat that he pampered. It was what she had wanted.

He swore once again that he would drown her in his love until she forgot all the injustice that she did not know that she had suffered.

\"Hey, what are you thinking about?\" Hu Lei called out with a scowl, looking at Zhong Feng. She did not like that he was distracted.

\"You don't need to know.\" He teased.

She pushed him down and sat astride on his body. She looked at him like a spoiled princess. \"Do not forget what you said. You are mine. You are not allowed to think about anything else when you are with me.\"

\"I would not dream of it.\" He pulled her and kissed her pouting mouth over and over and over again.