novelraw Chapter 17: 017
Chapter 17: 017
Chapter 17
Shao ChengZe's face stiffened slightly, but it wasn't too bad. At least in his daughter's heart, he could still occupy a good-looking position.
He used a napkin to wipe away the cream from the corner of her mouth, not knowing if he was comforting her or comforting himself, "It's good enough that little LiQi likes her dad."
Hearing her dad say this, Cheng LiQi felt even more worried. She rested her other hand on her chin too, "But I don't really like dad much right now either. Today is only the second time I've met dad. I feel...hmm..." She carefully weighed dad's current position in her heart, then held out her little hand. Her thumb landed on the last joint of her pinky finger. She didn't stop and kept going up until she barely had less than a millimeter left on the tip of her pinky finger, "This much liking for dad."
Sitting not far away, Wu Lin had been holding it in the whole time. But now, even with all her effort, she couldn't keep it in. Her coughs pushed their way out from her throat, and she couldn't stop them no matter what. Even tears were coughed out.
"Wu Jiejie, what's wrong?" Seeing her like this, Cheng LiQi was a little worried.
Wu Lin waved her hands repeatedly, holding in her bright red neck as she said, "I'm fine, the cake was too sweet, stuck in my throat."
"Wu Jiejie, drink some water."
"Okay, okay." Wu Lin hurriedly picked up the water and took a sip, pretending she couldn't see President Shao's face that looked like he was bleeding internally.
Shao ChengZe probably wouldn't need to eat dinner today. Two rocks had already pressed down in his stomach, one heavier than the other.
"Little LiQi, do you want to be dad's teacher and teach dad how to get people to like him?"
Cheng LiQi's worried look dispersed, and bright twinkling stars shone in her eyes, "I can be a teacher?!"
Shao ChengZe smiled, "Of course, mom likes you the most."
That's right, mom likes her the most, so of course she can be dad's teacher. But she had never been a teacher before and didn't know how to teach little kids, let alone big kids. Cheng LiQi's eyes fell on the smile at the corner of dad's mouth, and she suddenly had inspiration.
She sat up straight, lightly cleared her throat, and spoke seriously, imitating what teachers look like when they're teaching class, "Dad's big friend, you have to smile more, don't keep your mouth corners like this." She imitated dad's manner, lowering her own mouth corners, "Your brows are furrowed sometimes too, like a big tiger, very scary. You're good looking when you smile, like me. Mom is happiest when I smile. When I smile, mom smiles too."
The smile at the corner of Shao ChengZe's mouth grew bigger. "Like this?"
"Mm-hmm." Cheng LiQi nodded heavily. "Just like this."
"Your mom has also said...she likes seeing me smile."
Shao ChengZe's voice revealed a hint of absent-mindedness. That was when they were happiest, when she held his face and said she liked his smile the most. But now she didn't even want to look at him. No matter how good he smiled now, he wouldn't get her liking anymore. No, he had never made her like him before.
"That's right, so dad, you have to smile more. Do whatever mom likes, only then will you get her to like you."
Shao ChengZe accepted the teaching humbly, "Dad understands now, thank you Teacher Little Cheng."
Cheng LiQi also felt she had succeeded very much as a little teacher. She put the last bite of cake into her mouth as a reward for herself.
Shao ChengZe asked her, "Do you want another piece?"
Cheng LiQi shook her head. "No more. I like sweet things, but I can't eat too much. Mom said it's bad for the teeth. I want white, neat, orderly teeth."
Looking at the little young miss's serious manner, she really had educated her very well.
"What are you going to do with mom this weekend?" Shao ChengZe passed the water to her mouth. Kong Yichan said little kids like to go to amusement parks.
Cheng LiQi drank a big gulp through the straw and thought of what she was going to do this weekend. "This weekend is Shi Ran Dad's birthday. Li PeiFeng Uncle said he wants to throw a party for Shi Ran Dad." She leaned in secretively toward Shao ChengZe and said, "I prepared a surprise for Shi Ran Dad."
The delight in her brows and eyes, Shao ChengZe asked, "Little LiQi...really likes Shi Ran?"
Cheng LiQi didn't hesitate at all. "I like him a lot. Shi Ran Dad is so nice to me, buys me yummy food, buys me all kinds of toys. He plays the piano so so amazing," Cheng LiQi thought of something else, "Shi Ran Dad tells the best stories. After he finishes telling me stories every time, I sleep and have beautiful dreams."
Shao ChengZe's heart felt sour, but he also knew he didn't have the right to be jealous.
"Dad...plays the piano really well too, especially amazing."
President Shao praised himself for the first time ever. It wasn't very skilled, he even paused in the middle, but he was definitely more amazing than Shi Ran at piano.
"Really?!"
"When there's a chance, dad will play for you."
"Okay!" Cheng LiQi clapped.
"From now on, dad can call you at night and tell you stories, okay?"
Cheng LiQi stopped clapping, a little hesitant. "But dad, I don't like Journey to the West, I like the stories Shi Ran Dad tells, like Snow White, Frozen, The Princess and the Pea. And dad doesn't tell stories as well as Shi Ran Dad."
Cheng LiQi had no idea she had put another rock on her dad's already internally bleeding heart as she counted off her favorite fairy tales on her fingers.
"Dad can also tell those stories." Shao ChengZe took her hand. "Dad told it badly last time because that was dad's first time telling a story. Dad will definitely tell it very well next time."
Cheng LiQi was a little doubtful, because grandpa could never tell stories well. But she obediently nodded her head, "If dad's not busy at night, you can tell me stories."
"From now on, dad won't be busy."
Cheng LiQi replied, "Then when I want to listen to stories later, I'll call dad."
"Okay." Shao ChengZe spoke solemnly.
Wu Lin silently turned around to look out the window, pretending not to hear the conversation between father and daughter. She felt that if Shao ChengZe had paper and a pen in front of him right now, he would take it without hesitation and write a whole contract of promises - promising he wouldn't be busy at night, promising he would definitely tell good stories - then sign his name, stamp his seal, effective for preferably ten thousand years.
Cheng LiQi was full, she carefully wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I'm done eating, dad. Let's go buy some more cake. I want to bring some back for mom, grandma, and Nainai to eat."
Shao ChengZe picked her up from the chair with one arm and brought her to the display case. Wherever she pointed, he took that one. When Cheng LiQi was done, Shao ChengZe took out a tiramisu from the case as well.
Cheng LiQi thought dad wanted to eat this cake. "Dad, do you like eating this cake?"
Shao ChengZe replied, "Your mom likes eating this the most."
He called Shen Xi Wen.
Shen Xi Wen was putting on a face mask. She answered vaguely, "What's up, Uncle Shen ChuQi?"
Although the godmother had hidden the fact that she gave birth and Shen Xi Wen was quite angry about it, the gifts she gave to Shen ChuQi were very generous. Her uncle must have had a hand in that. So Shen Xi Wen had been quite attentive to her uncle these past few days, answering his calls almost right away.
Shao ChengZe asked, "What is Shen ChuQi doing tomorrow night?"
"He's going to a friend's birthday party."
Shen Xi Wen didn't want to bring up Shen ChuQi's dad, so she said it was a friend of Shen ChuQi's.
"You're busy these days. I happen to be free tomorrow night so I'll take him there."
Shen Xi Wen was wary. She didn't want him to run into Shen ChuQi's dad. "No need for that. You're a busy man. Every minute of your time must be worth tens or hundreds of thousands. I can't afford it. My assistant can handle it."
Shao ChengZe replied, "You don't have to keep hiding it. I already know who Shen ChuQi's dad is. And I'm not going to confront him tomorrow."
His own situation was a mess right now. He was in no position to confront Li PeiFeng, let alone after arguing with Cheng Jinlan last time that he had no right to talk to Li PeiFeng. Now in his current circumstances, he was even less qualified to talk to Li PeiFeng.
"Then what do you want?" Shen Xi Wen wondered. He wasn't the type to give her son rides for no reason.
Shao ChengZe lightly coughed. "Little LiQi will probably be there tomorrow too."
Shen Xi Wen was silent for a second, then burst out laughing. "President Shao, you've changed. Missing your daughter must be eating away at you. You were stubbornly pretending last time, saying you were just being my escort to the Bai family's party. You were clearly hoping to see the young Miss Cheng. The moment you returned to the country, you anxiously tried to get close to her. Hey, why don't you tell me, what did you do to wrong her back then? Let me think about it and see if there's still a chance to salvage things. That way, next time you want to see her, you won't have to use me or my son as an excuse."
Shao ChengZe didn't take her teasing and simply said, "Didn't you want me to invest in your director friend's movie?"
Shen Xi Wen had a director friend who was talented and had good scripts, but he was aloof and investments for his films kept falling through. His production plans kept getting delayed again and again. Of all Shen Xi Wen's reliable contacts, Shao ChengZe was the only tycoon, but he wasn't interested in investing in films and had declined so far.
Shen Xi Wen immediately jumped up from the sofa and ripped off her face mask. "It's a deal. You take Shen ChuQi to his dad's place tomorrow night, and you can't go back on your word to invest in my friend's movie."
"Have your friend contact Kong Yichan tomorrow."
Ah, Shen Xi Wen just loved his decisive attitude. She kindly reminded him, "Brother-in-law, you have to be decisive like this in front of the young Cheng Miss too. Since you like her, you have to say it outright. Don't hide it or keep it to yourself, you know?"
Her reply was the sound of him hanging up.
Shen Xi Wen tsked. He wanted to tear down the bridge before even crossing it. Here she was imparting the truths of love to him, but did he get it?
The next day, Shen ChuQi wore a little black suit with a black bow tie. His hair was styled up in a big pompadour with hair wax, looking very handsome. Though he was a little nervous. This was his first time riding with his uncle, and his uncle looked as stern as Cheng LiQi's grandpa.
"Uncle, why do you have so many stuffed animals in your car?" Shen ChuQi started up a conversation. Could it be that his uncle, like Cheng LiQi, also liked stuffed animals?
Shao ChengZe's expressionless face looked up into the rearview mirror and he forced an awkward smile. "Little LiQi likes stuffed animals. You can take some if you'd like."
Seeing his serious uncle's smiling face, Shen ChuQi was a little stunned. Somewhat shyly, he said to Shao ChengZe, "Uncle, you look very nice when you smile, just like Cheng LiQi."
Shao ChengZe's smile became a little bigger. "You're good friends with Little LiQi?"
"Mm-hmm." Shen ChuQi nodded vigorously. "We're super good friends. When we grow up, I'm going to be her groom."
Shao ChengZe's smile froze. The car once again lapsed into silence.
Shen ChuQi still didn't sense anything wrong and continued, "I've been saving up money for a long time now. In the future, I'm going to buy her the most beautiful wedding dress for her to wear."
The corners of Shao ChengZe's mouth turned down. "You're both still young. It's too early to talk about these things now."
Shen ChuQi shook his head. "It's not early at all. Cheng LiQi said some things require early planning."
Hearing "Cheng LiQi said", Shao ChengZe's impending words were choked back.
For the rest of the ride, Shen ChuQi kept talking about his and Cheng LiQi's plans for the future, starting every sentence with "Cheng LiQi said". Shao ChengZe's face visibly darkened until it was black as the bottom of a pot when they reached their destination.
Of course, seeing it was him who brought Shen ChuQi, Li PeiFeng's face wasn't very friendly either, but he endured and didn't let it get too unfriendly. Shen Xi Wen had said not to pick up their son, so he assumed she was the one sending Shen ChuQi over. He had even gone specially to the barber shop to get a haircut in preparation for today. He didn't expect it would be Shao ChengZe instead.
One part of him thought, the Shao family were not good people. He had to draw a clear line with Shao ChengZe. Another part thought, Shao ChengZe would be his uncle-in-law in the future. He was the godmother's own son. He was a big mountain he would have to get over in order to marry Shen Xi Wen.
Li PeiFeng pulled Shen ChuQi to his side and said, neither shady nor straightforward, "Thanks for bringing him over."
Shao ChengZe replied, "It was no trouble."
He just wanted to punch you, but he couldn't punch the son, so he could only punch the dad.
Shen ChuQi was pulled inside by his dad. He looked back at Shao ChengZe and said, "Uncle, aren't you coming in? Cheng LiQi is here too."
He immediately covered his mouth after saying that. His mom said not to tell other people for now that Cheng LiQi's dad was his uncle.
Shao ChengZe declined, "I won't go in."
He only wanted to catch a glimpse of Cheng LiQi from afar. He didn't want to annoy her. She had told him not to keep hovering around her, so he wouldn't hover.
Cheng LiQi was carried out of the car by Shao Dad. She was hugging a box, which contained a surprise gift for Shao Dad. Cheng Jinlan was on the phone, gesturing for them to go inside first.
Shao ChengZe leaned back in his seat, feeling irritable. He had no cigarettes on hand to help him relieve this irritation. He was trying to quit smoking. He thought quitting would be easy, just like how he once thought getting over her would be easy.
Their separation at the time had been so sudden. That period of darkness was something he seldom looked back on.
Now she wasn't with Shi Ran, she still said he deceived her. He could feel her hatred towards him, not only because he didn't say he was Shao ChengZe's grandson, he suspected there was another hidden reason... He was also afraid he was being overly sensitive.
Cheng Jinlan had just hung up the phone when she noticed the person sneakily taking photos in the corner. She quickly walked over, it didn't matter if she was photographed, she didn't want Cheng LiQi to be photographed as well.
Someone behind her brushed past her shoulder and strode forward, grabbing that person!