276 Get Closer

"Don't assume that I've already accepted you just because I let you hug me! You… You still have to prove yourself!" The little lad was still maintaining his stance, though his face was tinting with more red from shyness.

His face might be looking awkward, yet, deep down, he was very much looking forward to this hug.

Mu Yazhe could see through his visage but still played along with him by merely concurring, "Er."

"Only this time—you can only hold me this one time…"

Youyou repeated his message again. It was only when the man nodded one more time that, with a pout, he gingerly drew a step closer.

One step and then another. This went on until his father's elegant, athletic arms reached across his armpits and powerfully embraced him.

The little lad's face flushed scalding red in that instance.

The man easily propped up the little boy's buttocks with his left arm.

The child was too skinny.

He wondered if the child had a rare case of malabsorption or was suffering from nutritional imbalance. Possibly, that stupid woman did not nourish him adequately.

Children his age are still developing and should eat more.

In this regard, the mother and son are alike. Both are too thin.

Little did he know that the boy had always been sickly and physically weak since birth, and his body could not take in all the nutrients from the abundant nutritious food his mother was feeding him.

The little lad was as light as a fluffy rice ball in his arms. Mu Yazhe lowered his head to ponderingly gaze at him, whereas the child shyly bowed his head to hide his blushing face to the man.

What was he feeling?

It was an unfamiliar sense of fatherly love.

He used to yearn for a father's love—one with strong arms that could easily hold up the sky and with a warm, sturdy chest that could thaw the cold winter's snow.

Carefully laying his head on his father's chest, he was able to hear the strong and powerful beating of his father's heart.

His nose stung all of a sudden, and a thin rosy film spread across his cheeks.

Without realizing it, the thick, curly eyelashes framing his eyes were tainted with wetness.

It felt so warm…

Pound, pound, pound—

The heart sounded like a drum beating. Somehow, as he sat listening to the strong, rhythmic thumps, an inexplicable sense of safety welled up from within.

He fell asleep unknowingly.

When Yun Shishi returned with the bun and milk, the little lad was already sound asleep in his father's embrace.

She opened the door to this scene…

The man, who was sitting beside the bed, was holding the boy, whose eyes were tightly shut, in his arms. Under the illumination of the setting sun, the little lad's face was waxed pink with a rosy tint on his cheeks. They boy's eyelids with long lashes firmly covered his eyes.

The man heard the footsteps and glanced up to see her arrival. He put his index finger to his lips, signaling her to tread quietly.

She understood and turned around to smile apologetically at Li Hanlin. "Thank you, principal! Youyou is sound asleep now. It's already late and you should be on your way!"

"You're welcome!" The agent grinned and stole another look at the sleeping boy in his father's arms.

Er, this little lad looks cuter when he's asleep. He has a tame and demure look, which is expected from a six-year-old.

"Sigh!" he sighed and turned to her. "I won't stay around, then. I'll get going now; see you soon!"

"Er, goodbye, principal!"