Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Winter chill.

The frigid wind blows fierce.

A slight coldness in the home.

Early morning.

Mianmian awoke.

She found herself sleeping on her stomach and had turned over onto her back.

Then she saw Father sitting by the window, writing.

Suddenly remembering what her teacher taught about complimenting someone in medical school.

"We've all cut open others, so we should judge from appearance to essence."

Mianmian carefully looked at Father. His jawline was sharp but not too wide, for his face was thin, the skin tightly hugging the jawbone at a perfect angle, needing no cutting or filling.

Where Father's nasal bone met his forehead, the transition was very distinct. A slight furrow of his brow would gather the muscles of his face, giving an impression of a faint frown yet deep emotion that made one care about him.

Father's eyes were slightly narrowed at the outer corners with a slight redness at the inner corners, the typical peach blossom phoenix eyes.

The deep inner corners meant he naturally seemed a loyal and righteous man. When deep in thought, his eyes would narrow slightly, appearing alluring and charming.

The whites of Father's eyes were just a touch larger than usual, so when silent, he exuded an imposing and domineering aura. (Note 1)

Mianmian stared at Father in a daze, then lingered lazily in bed, subconsciously sucking her finger, thinking to herself, "Oh no."

As a child, sucking her finger and drinking a bit of invigorating elixir could be excused as awakening her mind.

But when she grew up, sucking her finger would be seen as idiotic.

She should learn to restrain herself, only sucking her finger when no one was around.

Hearing the noise, Jiang Changtian turned his head.

He saw his little daughter lying in bed, seriously sucking her finger, and a smile naturally appeared on his face.

"The little lady is awake," he said, rising to his feet.

He reached out to pick up his daughter.

Mianmian fell into Father's fresh, clean embrace.CHeCk for new stories on no/v/el/bin(.)c0m

She felt happy.

Not only could she look at this handsome man, but she could hug him too.

"Father will dress you," he said.

Jiang Changtian held the child with one arm while rummaging through the small clothes at the bedside with his other hand.

Mianmian stretched out her finger, pointing at a small padded jacket, saying, "Father, I want to wear that one."

Her infant voice was soft and endearing, as if speaking too slowly would make her drool, but she sounded very earnest.

Jiang Changtian respected his daughter's choice, taking the small padded jacket to dress her.

After putting on the padded jacket, he added a split crotch cotton robe that Sister Xia said Mianmian had gestured for, likely because she kept falling in dresses, so Xia sewed up the bottom like adult underwear, allowing her little legs to spread without tripping.

It was just a bit inconvenient for using the restroom, as she couldn't squat directly but had to remove the robe.

But that wasn't an issue, as Mianmian had never soiled her clothing, always being very clean.

It really wasn't easy for an infant to develop motor skills, but luckily in winter she wore padded clothing to cushion her falls.

It was too cold to go outside and play anyway.

After eating, Mianmian unsteadily toddled a few steps in front of Father before plopping down to play with wooden building blocks. Her brothers had made them by cutting wood with their swords into identical pieces of various shapes. She would entertain herself by assembling them, sometimes too lazy to pick up distant pieces and having little ants help carry them over.

Jiang Changtian returned to writing after tending to his daughter.

Mianmian played for a while until she grew bored. She struggled to her feet, wobbling along the wall until reaching her father.

Seeing his little daughter approach, Jiang Changtian lifted her into his lap.

"Does the little lady want to learn characters too?" he asked.

Mianmian shook her head. "Want Father, not learn."

Jiang Changtian smiled. "Then sit obediently while Father finishes this, and I'll play with you after."

Mianmian nodded.

Sitting in Father's lap, she watched intently as he wrote with a brush.

She wondered what Father was writing?

Father couldn't become the top scholar, alas, she knew her dad couldn't achieve that.

The wish for an official's child to follow in his footsteps seemed unattainable.

She saw a mass of densely-packed characters in front of her, most in the traditional script. Her heart sank, realizing she'd likely have to study them.

She could only wildly guess based on the half-similar characters, becoming illiterate once more.

'The Art of Governing the People'

One, Fooling the People: Unify their thoughts, entice them with benefits, make promises to them.

Two, Weakening the People: Reward lightly, punish severely.

Three, Exhausting the People: Find tasks for the people, exhaust them with work, leaving them no leisure to mind other matters.

Four, Humiliating the People: Strip them of dignity, instigate mutual accusation and exposure.

Five, Impoverishing the People: Deprive them of wealth beyond basic living needs.

Six, If the previous five methods fail, kill them. (Note 2)

Jiang Mianmian was utterly shocked, her chubby hand striking the paper inadvertently.

The ink blot from the word "kill" spread, staining her hand as well.

Father grasped her little hand gingerly, carefully wiping it with a cloth, saying as he cleaned: "Does my daughter want to learn the characters too? When your hand is steadier, Father will teach you writing. Be good."

Once clean, Father kissed her palm.

Jiang Mianmian gazed up at Father blankly.

She let out a sheepish "Baa!"

Darn it!

......

......

......

(Note 1, source from an online post, a medical student's analysis describing a male celebrity.)