Chapter 10

After leaving the master bedroom, Ji Qingyu headed to the children’s room. Sister Sun was tidying up toys in the living room and vacuuming the sofa and carpet. Sister Liu was bathing Feng Jiayuan, who was still playing with her duck in the bathtub. Feng Jiayuan was the first to notice Ji Qingyu, her eyes lighting up, “Mom!”

Ji Qingyu walked in and stood by, watching the little princess bathe and inspecting the children’s bathroom.

The sink was designed with Feng Jiayuan’s height in mind, and the toilet and bathtub were also very small, which even she, a two-hundred-month-old baby, found adorable. She picked up the hourglass placed nearby and, after a moment of thought, quickly understood its purpose. The sand was fine and flowed slowly, likely to remind Feng Jiayuan to brush her teeth for a full three minutes. She could spit out the toothpaste and rinse her mouth when the sand finished flowing.

“Mom, why did you come out?” Feng Jiayuan asked, squeezing her duck, which made a quacking sound.

Ji Qingyu, who had known Yuan Bao for less than five hours, was about to tell her first lie: “Mom missed you so much, I came out to see you!”

Then she hesitantly asked, “Do you want Mom to sleep with you tonight?”

Honestly, she was a bit resistant to sharing a bed with Feng Chengze. They weren’t familiar with each other at all, so how could they sleep in the same bed? She feared she would have insomnia tonight.

Feng Jiayuan yawned and shook her head, “No need. I’m not a three-year-old.”

Sister Liu couldn’t help but laugh. Yuan Bao had been sleeping in her own crib since birth and now slept in her own bed, making her a very independent little role model when it came to sleeping.

Ji Qingyu: “?”
Why are you so cool, kid?

She remembered that even after starting elementary school, she still clung to her mom to sleep with her every night.

“Did Dad make Mom angry again?” Feng Jiayuan asked with certainty.

“…” Ji Qingyu realized she was wrong, “No! Mom just missed you!”

Feng Jiayuan wrinkled her nose, “Dad was really annoying today. He made me so mad.”

Ji Qingyu laughed, “Who taught you that?”

“Grandma always calls Chairman Feng like that…” She quickly covered her mouth, blinked, and corrected herself, “Grandpa.”

But Grandpa allowed her to call him “Chairman Feng,” and he called her “President Yuan” and “Little Chairman Feng.”

While chatting with her daughter, Ji Qingyu curiously observed. Yuan Bao was indeed a delicate little girl, comfortably leaning back as Sister Liu, her personal hairdresser, gently massaged the ends of her hair and then rinsed it clean with a spray nozzle, before putting on a purple drying cap.

After completing the series of steps, Sister Liu began to blow-dry Feng Jiayuan’s thick and smooth hair. Even the hairdryer was mini-sized, looking like a custom-made model. It was also purple, which seemed to be the princess’s favorite color. The hairdryer had an engraving—【+O】

The writing was crooked as if written by a child. The plus sign was likely a homophone for Jiayuan’s “Jia,” and the circle represented “Yuan.”

“Mom, I’m sleepy.” The gentle, warm breeze from the hairdryer made Feng Jiayuan yawn repeatedly and rub her eyes. After combing through her hair to ensure it was dry, Sister Liu picked her up and carried her to bed.

Feng Jiayuan barely opened her eyes and said again, “Good night.”

Ji Qingyu chuckled softly, “Good night, baby.”

After quietly leaving the children’s room, Ji Qingyu went to the living room to admire the night view through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Soon, her phone vibrated, making her palm tingle. She unlocked it to see a message from Feng Chengze: [I’m done.]

He showered quickly; it had only been about twenty minutes since he entered. She hadn’t slept well the previous night and was indeed a bit tired today. After receiving the message, she went straight back to the room. To be safe, she politely knocked on the door. Only after hearing Feng Chengze’s low voice inviting her in did she push the door open and enter.

Feng Chengze stood by the bed, wearing dark blue pajamas, with all the buttons properly fastened. He looked calm, serious, and abstinent, so proper that anyone with improper thoughts should immediately reflect on their behavior. He was drying his hair with a towel. He didn’t even turn his head when he heard the door open.

Ji Qingyu gave up the idea of greeting him with “Mr. Feng, I’m coming in” and went into the walk-in closet. This closet was shared by the male and female owners. It had a ceiling-high shoe cabinet with buttons on the side to move the shoes down as needed. In the middle was a watch cabinet, neatly displaying men’s watches, tie clips, and cufflinks.

She easily found the wardrobe with sleepwear, all silk camisole nightgowns. Although there were robes, they weren’t comfortable for sleeping. The only two sets of tops and bottoms were also camisoles and shorts. Anyone who has worn a nightgown knows that the hem would be bunched up around the waist within half an hour of lying in bed. When she came out of the closet, Feng Chengze had already left the master bedroom. Her phone had his message from three minutes ago: [Let me know when you’re done.]

She replied: [Okay.]

Even though she wasn’t ready to see the conversations between her future self and Feng Chengze, the phone screen was large enough to see a few lines at a glance. Their recent three messages were in stark contrast to their previous sweet and fiery exchanges—

Boss Dad: [Don’t sleep too early, wait for me. I’ll be at the hotel soon.]
Me: [I’m exhausted. I want to sleep!!]
Boss Dad: [Even if you’re asleep, I’ll wake you up.]
Boss Dad: [I got delayed buying the raspberry cake. Do you want some?]
Me: [Mouth open, waiting~]

Ji Qingyu: “…Ugh.”

So cheesy.

In some ways, Feng Chengze and Ji Qingyu were on the same wavelength. He also came to the children’s room. Feng Jiayuan was already fast asleep. He bent over to look at her, not daring to breathe too heavily for fear of waking her.

Sister Liu, who had been taking care of Feng Jiayuan for nearly four years, was very sensitive to any slight noise. She thought the child might be fussing for water or needing to use the bathroom, so she quickly opened the sliding door. Seeing the tall figure, she was stunned.

What was going on today? It was one thing for the lady to come, but now Master, too. Then she thought: they had just returned from a business trip abroad and might really miss the child. So she quietly closed the door and retreated to her own room, not wanting to disturb the heartwarming scene of the father watching his daughter sleep.

Feng Chengze was almost entranced. The child’s eyelashes were long and curled. Her hands were in a surrender position by her head, and her soft hair was spread out on the small pillow. With each breath, her slightly protruding belly rose and fell rhythmically. Beside her was a bunny comfort toy she slept with. Before this, he had never even imagined what kind of woman he would marry, let alone have a child. His soul was only twenty-eight years old, and his daily thoughts were about how to lead the group to greater heights. Marriage and children were not on his five-year plan. Suddenly, he had a wife and a daughter who called him dad and could get sulky. He was indeed at a loss, but he couldn’t deny that he was also happy.

As he had told Ji Qingyu, this was his child; how could he not like her?

Feng Chengze had never looked at anyone so intently before. He couldn’t resist reaching out, wanting to pinch and rub her, but afraid of waking her up, he just gently brushed her chubby cheek with his finger.

In her sleep, Feng Jiayuan unconsciously moved closer, tilting her head to press her cheek against his hand. Feng Chengze was shocked, a faint smile appearing on his face.

On the other side of the sliding door, Sister Liu felt a bit uneasy. She knew this couple’s habits: one worried about the child getting too hot, the other about her getting too cold. She could gently remind the cheerful wife, but she didn’t dare say anything to the silent and stern husband. Every time the husband came to check on Yuan Bao at night, he would always pull the blanket up tightly, not realizing that children tend to sweat the most in the first few hours of sleep. She listened at the door, hearing no movement, and thought the husband had left. She opened a crack and was stunned to see he was still there.

It had been twenty minutes, right?
Sister Liu could only wait patiently…

Before leaving, Feng Chengze tucked the blanket around his daughter, finally feeling reassured and satisfied as he left the children’s room. He unlocked his phone and saw that Ji Qingyu hadn’t called him back to the master bedroom yet, so he went to the study instead. He casually flipped through some information, planning to find a suitable time to anonymously hire a capable and reputable detective to investigate the events of the past five years. Although he had no intention of divorcing, the feeling of not knowing the backstory was extremely frustrating.

Why did he marry Ji Qingyu?
Why did Ji Qingyu agree to marry him?
How did she get separated from her brother?

He couldn’t just ask someone who knew. Perhaps Ji Qingyu hadn’t noticed, but tonight’s dinner at the old house seemed strange to him, though it might have been normal for his future self.

For example, his parents didn’t mention his brother at all during dinner.
For example, the family photo in the hallway only included his parents, him, Ji Qingyu, and the still-crawling Yuan Bao, but not A Yu.
For example, his father’s reminder to “pay attention to the celebration” likely had some unspoken implications. His intuition told him it was related to A Yu’s imminent return. It seemed A Yu had become a taboo in the family. Because of this, he couldn’t probe these matters directly and had to investigate discreetly without alerting anyone.

Feng Chengze fell into deep thought. When he snapped back to reality, he glanced at his phone. If he calculated correctly, it had been an hour and a half since he left the master bedroom.

What was this woman dawdling about at this late hour?
He frowned and sent a message: [ ? ]