CH 7

Luo Qin slammed on the brakes, stopping the car on the side of the road. He got out of the car and looked back in the direction he had just come. 

The back of that figure looked just like Lin Zhixia.

It’s just that… he was holding a child in his arms?

Luo Qin’s long hesitation had given the figure time to disappear into the crowd. He walked up and down the street, looking for Lin Zhixia but couldn’t find a trace of him. Had he been mistaken?

Luo Qin only wore a suit with no jacket in the cold weather. He had been in such a rush to find Lin Zhixia that the cold hadn’t affected him until now. He returned to the warm car but made no move to drive away. Instead, he lit a cigarette and started smoking silently.

Lin Zhixia was the man who had forcibly squeezed into Luo Qin’s life in a very ugly manner. Then, after he threw a divorce agreement at Luo Qin, he really disappeared from his life. 

At first, he suspected that Lin Zhixia was playing tricks again. But day after day with no sign of him, it seemed he really did disappear completely. Luo Qin believed that this person had really left.

In fact, Luo Qin didn’t miss Lin Zhixia very much. Although they used to be husbands, he knew next to nothing about Lin Zhixia’s life. In the beginning, Lin Zhixia had coerced him in such a despicable way. So naturally, Luo Qin felt only disgust and had no interest in getting to know Lin Zhixia. 

Even with his absence, Luo Qin’s life barely changed. The only difference was Luo Yao, who would sarcastically say that Lin Zhixia was just acting. He would definitely come back in a few days. In his pathetic life, there was no one who would even mention his name. 

Luo Qin never tried to find Lin Zhixia after he left but sometimes he would wonder what kind of person Lin Zhixia actually was. What had caused such a change in him before he left, what was the before and after? He used to work so hard to pursue Luo Qin and then one day he looked down on him and left. Why was Lin Zhixia so contradictory?

Luo Qin would never know the answers to these questions because Lin Zhixia had disappeared. 

Just now, he had been so excited at the prospect of meeting with Lin Zhixia that he had stopped everything. He couldn’t understand why. 

*

“Dad,” Lin Keai peeled off a small piece of the sweet potato. He put it up to Lin Zhixia’s mouth, “eat!” 

Lin Zhixia smiled and took a small bite, “Okay, Dad has eaten it. Your turn, Xiao Ai.”

Lin Keai started to nibble on the sweet potato. When they returned to the store, there was still half of the sweet potato left. Lin Keai couldn’t eat anymore, so he wrapped it up carefully and put it in his breast pocket. 

His pocket was a cornucopia of snacks; lollipops from Grandma Qin, chocolate balls from Dad and sticky mochi dumplings from the uncle at the hot pot restaurant next door. He had everything!

Lin Keai patted his little pocket in satisfaction and then sat at an empty table in the restaurant to play with his cards. Lin Zhixia got to work. 

Qin Zhe came in from the door with a pack of snacks in his hand and piled it all up in front of Lin Keai. Deciding to take a break, Lin Zhixia came out from the kitchen to see such a scene. He hurried over to hold Xiao Ai back. Lin Keai stared at the snacks longingly. 

Qin Zhe laughed when he saw Lin Zhixia being so stern about the snacks, “I felt bad for scaring Xiao Ai earlier so I bought him some snacks to make amends. Don’t be so concerned!”

Lin Zhixia complained, “Brother Qin, you and Aunty Qin spoil him too much. You buy him food every day and he doesn’t even eat all of it.” 

Lin Keai looked at Qin Zhe and then looked at his father. Then he pulled his eager little hands away. 

“Why can’t I buy him things every day?” Qin Zhe smiled softly and took out a pack of cheese sticks from the bag. He remembered that Xiao Ai liked to eat this and he handed it to Lin Keai, “then just take this, okay?”

Was he coaxing Lin Zhixia or Lin Keai? Lin Zhixia sighed and took the cheese sticks. He handed them to Lin Keai who was staring at him with wide, eager eyes. He was so happy that he spun in a little circle. 

What a greedy little kitten. 

A lot of children were noisy, they whine and throw tantrums to get their way. Lin Keai was very well behaved but he also had his own little fault although many would not consider it a shortcoming at all. 

Lin Keai was a little glutton! If he saw food, it was impossible for him to walk away. Like other children, if he got hurt he would start to cry but if he was given some good food, he would immediately feel better. He was too easy to coax. Lin Zhixia was always worried that his son was one delicious steamed bun away from getting abducted. 

Lin Zhixia wasn’t obsessed with snacks. Where did Lin Keai get this habit from?

A person’s face appeared in Lin Zhixia’s mind.

But from what he knew of the man, Luo Qin was a person who didn’t care about the food he ate. Lin Zhixia couldn’t imagine a child version of Luo Qin happily eating a roasted sweet potato.

After thinking about it, maybe it was because Lin Zhixia didn’t absorb enough nutrients when he was pregnant. So the little guy liked to eat everything he could see.

Thinking about this, Lin Zhixia was a little sad. He felt like he owed the baby some good food.

The restaurant was generally open until nine o’clock at night which was early for most places. At that time, the flow of customers was actually still very busy. Technically, it was too early to close but Lin Zhixia staying later meant that Lin Keai had to as well. 

Lin Keai would always be so tired that he would lay on the table to sleep. It broke Lin Zhixia’s heart so he always closed his doors at nine o’clock sharp to take his son home. 

Today’s business happened to be slow so Lin Zhixia decided to close the door half an hour early. Grandma Qin came back from the square dance as he locked the door, holding an emerald green fan in her hand. She waved it while walking and seeing Lin Zhixia about to leave, she looked surprised and said, “Isn’t it too early to close up?” 

Qin Zhe hadn’t left yet. Seeing his mother after the dance running here to hang around instead of going home, he said angrily, “It’s almost nine o’clock, so late! You should be heading home to sleep, not wandering around outside!” 

Grandma Qin gave him a withering look. “What do you care? Why are you trying to manage your own mother?!”

Seeing that mother and son started fighting again, Lin Zhixia hurriedly interrupted, “There are not many people out tonight and Xiao Ai is sleepy. We’re heading home to go to bed early.” 　

“Oh, our little dear is sleepy. Come on,  give Grandma Qin a hug.” Old lady Qin hugged Xiao Ai in her arms while he rubbed his eyes and looked really sleepy. 

Grandma Qin sighed, “Xiao Lin, you can’t keep going on like this. Business is not good and the baby is not well taken care of. “

Qin Zhe whispered an urgent reminder, “Mom, Zhixia has his own difficulties. He does his best.”

“Tsk,” Grandma Qin glared at him and then turned back to Lin Zhixia. She smiled and said, “Xiao Lin, why don’t you think about finding another partner to help you share the burden. You work too hard and the baby can’t spend so many hours in the store every day.”

Lin Zhixia smiled and said, “It’s okay, Aunty, I’m always there for Xiao Ai and I’m too busy for a partner.”

Qin Zhe tugged at Grandma Qin’s clothes, “Mom.”

“Don’t you tug on me,” Aunty Qin fiercely reprimanded her son and then she changed her attitude as she looked back at Lin Zhixia. She kindly said, “What about our family’s Xiao Zhe…?”

Before she could finish her words, Qin Zhe blushed and covered her mouth. He took Xiao Ai from Aunty Qin’s arms and after his own hug, returned the child to Lin Zhixia. Without a word, he dragged his mother out of the door, as if he were dragging a child away after being naughty. 

After a moment, Lin Zhixia and Lin Keai could hear her scolding Qin Zhe from far away. 

Lin Zhixia smiled. He knew what Aunty Qin wanted to say and why Qin Zhe was embarrassed. In fact, Qin Zhe had expressed his feelings for Lin Zhixia directly before but Lin Zhixia rejected him at the time. 

He had no extra thoughts to think about partners and romance. Qin Zhe had taken it well and said that the two could still be friends. So the relationship between them was not awkward. 

Lin Zhixia picked up Xiao Ai, “Let’s go home!”

Lin Keai waved his small fist excitedly, “Yeah! Go home!”