CH 94

Jiang Xu thought that he didn’t need to worry about little boys liking his daughter until Xiaoxiao was at least ten years old. In fact, he had even optimistically believed that being called in as a parent was something that would only happen after Xiaoxiao started primary school.

However, things didn’t go as planned.

Shortly after the start of the semester, Xiaoxiao got into a fight with a classmate, Wang Yize, and the teacher called Jiang Xu in as a parent. In front of the teachers, no matter if you were a professor or a department head, you had to endure the scolding. Jiang Xu himself had never been criticized so severely during his school days and couldn’t bear to listen any longer, so he impulsively handed the phone over to Shen Fangyu.

Shen Fangyu had a thick skin and asked the teacher straightforwardly, “Why did Jiang Mu Shen hit Wang Yize?”

At that time, Jiang Mu Shen was standing next to the teacher, probably because the teacher had put the phone on speaker, Xiaoxiao cried out, “Daddy, he bit me…”

After hearing this, both Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu’s faces changed.

Fortunately, the kindergarten was very close to Jihua. The two of them didn’t even have time to eat lunch and they rushed to the kindergarten as fast as they could, afraid that their daughter had been wronged. Then they saw Wang Yize, who had been beaten with a swollen nose and a bruised face, and Xiaoxiao, who was crying but had no visible injuries on her body.

Because Xiaoxiao was one year older than her birth certificate and had grown faster than her peers, Wang Yize looked half a head shorter than her.

“Where did he bite you?” Jiang Xu asked anxiously.

Xiaoxiao raised her arm, and there was a shallow bite mark on her small arm that would have disappeared if they had come a few minutes later.

Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu hurriedly found a bunch of cotton swabs and iodine to disinfect Xiaoxiao’s arm. The little girl was crying and sobbing, but she finally stopped crying.

Wang Yize, who had swollen face and a tissue stuffed in his nose: “…”

Jiang Xu directly picked up Xiaoxiao and walked to Teacher Qi, “Did student Wang Yize bite my daughter first?”

Teacher Qi was a bit embarrassed and stuttered, “Your daughter has beaten him up like that. How can a girl be so fierce?”

Shen Fangyu put away the medical kit and walked to Teacher Qi, “You make it clear first, who started it?”

“Who are you?”

Usually, Xiaoxiao’s grandparents pick her up from school most of the time, so Teacher Qi was not too familiar with Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu.

But now that Jiang Xu had opened his mouth and kept saying “my daughter,” so he should be Jiang Mu Shen’s father, but Teacher Qi wondered who Shen Fangyu was and why he had come, so she asked subconsciously.

Shen Fangyu answered shamelessly, “The agent of justice.”

“With a “pfft”, Xiaoxiao, who still had water droplets on her eyelashes, couldn’t help but laugh out loud. She noticed everyone’s gaze on her and she quickly put on a serious face, as if contemplating the meaning of life.

Teacher Qi: “…”

However, with two big men over 1.8 meters tall standing in the office, she felt a little guilty and had to confess, “It was indeed Wang Yize who bit Jiang Mu Shen first, and then Jiang Mu Shen hit Wang Yize.”

Jiang Xu nodded, “Teacher Qi, if the child’s parents need medical expenses, I can cover it, but I don’t want to hear anyone bullying my daughter again. Otherwise, I will let her fight back,” he paused and added, “Jiang Mu Shen won’t come back to class this afternoon. I’m taking her home to rest.”

After he finished speaking, he didn’t even look at Wang Yize, and left with Xiaoxiao in his arms. They bought some snacks to comfort her on the way home and when they arrived home, Jiang Xu’s expression turned serious as he asked Xiaoxiao, “Who taught you how to fight?”

“Sun Wukong!” Xiaoxiao replied without hesitation.

“Don’t lie,” Jiang Xu scolded.

Seeing that her lie was exposed, Xiaoxiao glanced at Shen Fangyu from the corner of her eye and shamelessly sold him out. “Daddy taught me.”

“Shen Fangyu,” Jiang Xu stood up. “You taught our daughter to fight?”

Shen Fangyu looked up at the ceiling. “I taught her pretty well, didn’t I? Look at that stinky kid, he couldn’t even fight back. Otherwise, it would have been our daughter who was bullied today.”

Hearing this, Xiaoxiao became even more proud and immediately demonstrated a proper fighting stance. It wasn’t until she saw Jiang Xu furrowing his brows that she quickly retracted her hands and feet and obediently lowered her head to stand still.

“Listen to Baba,” Jiang Xu said. “It’s not right to hit people. We shouldn’t use violence to solve problems.”

“You’re kidding,” Shen Fangyu was about to retort, but Jiang Xu glared at him and he changed his tone, “I’m not guilty. I’m not guilty at all.”

“But Baba,” Xiaoxiao called out, “you just told the teacher that I could fight back, didn’t you?”

Jiang Xu: “…”

That was said for Wang Yize to hear, moreover, the teacher’s original intention to conceal it had angered him.

“Daddy and Grandma told me I can’t bully others, but I can’t be bullied either.” While speaking, Xiaoxiao wiped the frown on Jiang Xu’s forehead, “Baba, don’t frown.”

Jiang Xu sighed, unexpectedly Xiaoxiao noticed that he couldn’t stop frowning and tried to force him to relax.

She already looked like Jiang Xu, and observing him for a long time, she could imitate his expressions vividly. A round little face wrinkled up, making Jiang Xu somewhat helpless and amused.

After a while, he compromised by relaxing his face, pinching Xiaoxiao’s face, and saying to Shen Fangyu, “Then take her to a taekwondo class on the weekend. Children have soft bones and aren’t as resistant to falls as you are. Let her learn from a real teacher, but don’t let her get hurt.”

“Also,” he warned Xiaoxiao: “You must never take the initiative to bully other children, or all your toys will be confiscated.”

Xiaoxiao immediately came back to life: “Okay!

The incident was eventually resolved by sending Xiaoxiao to a training class. Wang Yize’s parents knew their son was in the wrong and didn’t come to Jiang Xu for medical expenses, but Teacher Qi called Jiang Xu to apologize, probably out of guilt.

Jiang Xu finally settled down, but he didn’t expect that not long after Xiaoxiao joined the class, the stinky boy who was beaten up would say he wanted to date his daughter.

What was going on?

Nowadays, some children are exposed to information early on, and Jiang Xu had heard from others that kindergarten children often imitate adults and think they must have boyfriends or girlfriends, but he thought it was just a joke.

Unexpectedly, someone would be interested in his daughter.

Shen Fangyu was even angrier than him. He went to look for the phone number left by Wang Yize’s parents last time and took out the chicken feather duster that Mother Jiang used to beat him with before. If Jiang Suo hadn’t stopped him, he would have gone to meet that boy already.

“Why did my mother bring this thing from her old home?” Jiang Xu looked at the chicken feather duster in shock.

Shen Fangyu said seriously, “Heritage.”

Jiang Xu was choked and chose to talk with the little girl who could speak human language. “So why does Wang Yize want you to be his girlfriend?”

He asked in a softer voice and Xiaoxiao proudly replied, “He said I’m pretty.”

Jiang and Shen: “…”

Okay, he’s a shallow little boy.

“What about you?”

“I don’t want to be his girlfriend. He’s not cool at all,” Xiaoxiao said seriously, “I want to be Sun Wukong’s girlfriend.”

That’s good.

Shen Fangyu put away the feather duster. First, he didn’t know where to find Sun Wukong, and secondly, even if he found him, he probably couldn’t beat him.

“Why do you want to be Sun Wukong’s girlfriend?” Shen Fangyu asked.

After thinking for a while, Xiaoxiao took the chicken feather duster and played with it as if it were the golden cudgel. “Because he’s powerful and can catch demons!”

This reason was really… simple and straightforward.

Although children always have countless whimsical ideas, they can also be so innocent that it makes people can’t help but smile.

Finally, Jiang Xu instructed, “If any other child asks you to be their girlfriend, you must come back and tell Baba and Daddy. Also, don’t let any other little boys kiss or hug you.”

“If they kiss or hug you, just hit them,” Shen Fangyu said straightforwardly.

Xiaoxiao nodded seriously and asked, “Can Sun Wukong hug me?”

“…” Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu said in unison, “No, he can’t.”

“Okay,” Xiaoxiao reluctantly took the chicken feather duster to the balcony to practice her transformations. Jiang Xu watched her immature figure and worried, “What if she grows up and gets fooled by bad boys?”

“Please have Zhong Lan and Lin Qian chat with her more,” Shen Fangyu placed a hand on Jiang Xu’s shoulder and commented, “But I think our daughter doesn’t see ordinary boys as anything better than monkeys…she probably wouldn’t be interested.”

However, both of them underestimated Xiaoxiao’s fondness for this “monkey”.

Not long after, Jiang Xu received another call from Teacher Qi, not because of a fight this time, but because the teacher had assigned homework for the children to draw their families. Everyone drew their parents and themselves, but Xiaoxiao drew two rocks split in half.

Teacher Qi showed Xiaoxiao’s masterpiece to Jiang Xu, “How are you teaching your child?”

Jiang Xu returned home with the drawing, feeling at a loss. He looked at Xiaoxiao and her grandmother, who were concentrating on watching “Journey to the West”. He asked, “Xiaoxiao, who told you that your parents are rocks?”

Xiaoxiao immediately threw her grandma under the bus, “Grandma!”

Jiang Xu asked his mother, “Mom?”

“I…,” Mother Jiang hesitated, “I told her that she was a rock that jumped out of the crevice. She likes Sun Wukong so much, and last time she said she wished she could have jumped out of the crevice like he did. So, I went along with her…”

“…”

Apparently, being grandparents and being parents are two completely different attitudes. His parents didn’t impose the same strict demands on Xiaoxiao as they did on him when he was a child. They either indulged her or went along with her.

Family education was a skill, and teaching children was a highly specialized skill.

So Jiang Xu straightforwardly passed the buck to Shen Fangyu, “Explain to Xiaoxiao where she came from, otherwise you’ll be sleeping on the couch.”

“Damn it, Jiang Xu… Why are you becoming more and more heartless?”

Since Xiaoxiao was born, their intimate time has been greatly reduced. The first two years were okay, but later, Xiaoxiao grew older and stayed awake for longer periods of time. Every time Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu finished work, she would pester them to play games together.

Children need company, and the Jiang couple also need rest, so the two fathers almost always work overtime to accompany their daughter after work.

Entertaining a child was a physically demanding task. Every time they finally managed to put her to sleep, exhausted, they would take a shower and lie back in bed, too tired to do anything else, let alone talk.

In addition, there are people in the house at night, so they can’t make too much noise. It was still exciting to hold back their voices the first one or two times but as they grew more afraid of making noise, they became less and less satisfied.

Jiang Xu’s old house was also rented out, so the two people who had a home occasionally had to go out and rent a hotel room, making a fuss like college sweethearts.

As a result, Shen Fangyu forgot to return the room key card last time. He stuffed it in his pocket and left his clothes in the living room, so when Xiaoxiao took it to use it as a bed and pillow for her Barbie doll, the card fell out as she was playing.

Xiaoxiao didn’t recognize many characters, so she eagerly went to ask her grandparents what it was.

Jiang Xu’s parents brushed it off casually, and when he came home, his father hinted with meaning, “Your mother and I are a bit deaf. We’re always asleep before ten, and our sleep is good, so we’re usually not disturbed. If it’s inconvenient, we’ll start sleeping at half past nine from now on.”

At first, Jiang Xu didn’t understand what he meant until Shen Fangyu said that something in his left pocket seemed to have changed to his right pocket, and then Jiang Xu suddenly understood.

The deceased Dr. Jiang almost packed his bags and left the earth, and Shen Fangyu became a permanent resident of the sofa because of it.

Facing the mercilessly closed bedroom door, Shen Fangyu sighed and had to take the culprit to the living room and start working overtime to hold a small meeting with her.

When Jiang Xu decided to come out and observe the situation, the father-daughter duo were telling stories. They must have touched a nerve, as Xiaoxiao held Jiang Xu’s pink rabbit with tears in her eyes and was crying until her nose turned red.

“Then what happened? What did Uncle Rabbit do?”

“Uncle Rabbit left the group in a state of despair,” Shen Fangyu said. “No one has seen it since.”

He held Xiaoxiao in his arms and patted her back, while the little girl sobbed and angrily asked, “I don’t understand why the little rabbit had to tell Uncle Rabbit’s secret to everyone? Uncle Rabbit was clearly so good to everyone.”

“Yes…”

“But the Little rabbit didn’t mean it, it’s just that it’s still young and didn’t know that only its baba can have baby rabbits in the group, so it accidentally let slip and caused the whole group to think that Uncle Rabbit was different, so Uncle Rabbit was isolated.”

“So, Xiaoxiao, Daddy will also tell you a secret today. You must not say it like little rabbit and hurt Uncle Rabbit. Okay?”

Xiaoxiao nodded, “I won’t say it.”

He wiped her tears, “Xiaoxiao, like little rabbit, you Baba gave birth to you. Your baba is the most amazing dad in the world. He endured a lot to have you.”

“But Xiaoxiao, your other friends, like the rabbits in the rabbit group, were born from their mommies, so we must keep baba’s secret and protect him. We can’t let other people know his secret or let other people hurt him, okay?”

Xiaoxiao’s chubby face was all smiles, and her grape-like eyes were very bright. “Mm!”

Shen Fangyu kissed his daughter’s cheek and asked, “If the teacher asks you to draw Mommy and Daddy next time, how will you draw?”

“I’ll draw you and Baba,” Xiaoxiao replied.

Shen Fangyu disagreed, “Mmm?”

“Oh! I’ll keep the secret,” Xiaoxiao said, “Then I’ll tell the teacher I don’t want to draw.”

Shen Fangyu rubbed Xiaoxiao’s head and said, “Okay, just tell them we don’t want to draw.”

Jiang Xu cleared his throat and pushed the half-closed door open. He squatted down and said to Xiaoxiao, “It’s late, let me put you to bed. Daddy will go take a shower.”

“Baba,” Xiaoxiao said, “You don’t have to put me to bed tonight, I can sleep by myself.”

“So obedient?” Jiang Xu asked.

“Baba,” Xiaoxiao beckoned him closer with a small hand. As soon as he leaned in, the little girl suddenly planted a big kiss on his cheek.

“Thanks for your hard work!” she said crisply.

Jiang Xu was stunned. The little girl had already run back to her room and closed the door, but the warm feeling was still spreading in his heart.

Taking care of children was often exhausting, requiring a lot of energy and emotions to care for their psychological needs. One must pay attention to every move the child makes, always be on edge, afraid they might fall or say something wrong and teach the child bad habits. But every feedback from the child can easily touch the hearts of their loved ones.

That feeling was difficult to describe in words, but it was incomparably beautiful.

Shen Fangyu pulled him over and imitated Xiaoxiao, kissing his other cheek and saying softly, “Thanks for your hard work, baby.”

Jiang Xu felt embarrassed by the father and daughter’s fuss, and he turned his face and asked, “What story did you just tell her that made her cry like that?”

“It’s a story about Uncle Rabbit the hero. Uncle Rabbit has been guarding the peace of the rabbit herd, resisting the invasion of the eagle…”

As he was speaking, he suddenly felt a heaviness in his chest. Only then did Shen Fangyu notice that Jiang Xu had fallen asleep.

He took Jiang Xu’s hand that was hanging by his side and enjoyed a rare moment of ease. But he was worried that sleeping like this for too long would be uncomfortable for Jiang Xu, so he gently lifted him up and carried him back to bed.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Xu woke up as soon as he let go of him.

“You go to sleep,” Shen Fangyu comforted him, “I’ll turn off the lights for you. I’ll go to the bathroom outside to wash, and then I’ll sleep out there so as not to disturb you.”

Jiang Xu rubbed his eyes, looking a little sleepy. He glanced at Shen Fangyu lazily and said, “I’ll wait for you.”

Years of living together made Shen Fangyu very familiar with the implied meanings behind Jiang Xu’s every word, especially in this regard.

“Why the sudden interest?” Shen Fangyu asked him.

Jiang Xu turned around, half covering his head with the blanket, and didn’t say a word.

Shen Fangyu asked, “Aren’t you tired?”

“Are you tired?”

“When have I ever been tired? Besides… as long as I still have breath in me, you can bet I’ll be able to do it.”

“Tsk.”

Shen Fangyu chuckled softly and pulled the person out from under the covers, saying, “Well then, why don’t you just accompany me for a round in the shower?”

Clothes were tossed into the laundry basket, and the floating white mist obscured the bathroom glass, revealing only the overlapping handprints pressed against the wall.

The prolonged suppression combined with the emotional stimulation of the night made the kisses more urgent, and the rushing sound of water drowned out all other noises. Jiang Xu gasped and said, “Turn off the light.”

“No, don’t turn it off,” Shen Fangyu teased. “Who turns off the light while taking a shower? Besides…” He leaned in and whispered into Jiang Xu’s ear, using a breathy voice, “You look really good.”