Chapter 3.2

Once Nuo Nuo got it, she struggled to open the package, her little face still red from crying, filled with frustration. Auntie Lu noticed the pleading look in her eyes and was about to help, but Sheng Zexi had already reached out to assist her.

After he opened it, Nuo Nuo wanted to invite her father to play with her, but Sheng Zexi gently pulled his hand back, his expression indifferent. “Daddy has work to do.”

Nuo Nuo understood, her little hand dropping to her side as she obediently replied, “Okay, Daddy, you go ahead.” She then bounced off to play with her new toy.

The toy her father bought wasn’t exactly the same, it was more varied and fun.

A few days later, when Sheng Zexi returned home from work, he found Nuo Nuo sitting at the coffee table, dividing her ham sandwich and donuts.

One portion for mom, filled with a variety of treats, and she made several smaller portions to share with the caregivers who looked after her.

Auntie Lu noticed Sheng Zexi entering with his briefcase, his expression cold, and she quickly avoided eye contact before asking Nuo Nuo, “What about Daddy’s?”

After dividing everything, Nuo Nuo realized she didn’t have much left. She hadn’t thought about sharing with her father. Since her mom and the caregivers treated her well, Nuo Nuo didn’t want to reduce what she had for them. As for Daddy, he had been too busy to play with her.

Holding onto the remaining treats, Nuo Nuo glanced at her father with a guarded look, as if afraid he would take them from her. She shook her head, “None left.”

Sheng Zexi was taken aback.

The next evening, as the workday ended at Sheng Corporation, Sheng Zexi handed an urgent document to his assistant for the sales director’s signature. The assistant returned shortly, looking troubled. “Director Tang has left for the day.”

Several clients in Sheng Zexi’s office chuckled at this. “Isn’t Old Tang a workaholic? What’s up with him leaving early today? Isn’t he usually the last to leave?”

One of the staff, knowing the reason, raised his phone to show them. “His wife gave birth today!”

The room erupted in laughter.

“Is this his second child?” someone chimed in.

“Of course! The first one is already seven. He’s been waiting for a girl since the first, but it turned out to be a boy. He was hesitant to have a second child because he was afraid it would be another boy, but he really wanted a daughter, so he finally decided to try again. Now he’s got both a son and a daughter—he should be happy.”

As they enjoyed their tea and exchanged jokes, Sheng Zexi decided to visit the hospital after the clients left. He had urgent documents to be signed by Director Tang, and he had prepared a gift for the occasion.

After parking his car, Sheng Zexi took the gift and the documents to the hospital.

When he arrived at the door of the hospital room, he knocked gently before pushing it open. The room was lively, with several colleagues who were friends of Director Tang inside, greeting him warmly.

Director Tang, usually a serious man, was beaming with joy as he held his newborn child.

Seeing Sheng Zexi, he hurriedly greeted him, “What brings you here, President Sheng?”

Sheng Zexi handed over the gift to Director Tang’s family and then presented the urgent documents to Director Tang.

“I have something urgent.”

Knowing how important work was, Director Tang took the documents and handed the baby to his mother before moving to the side table to review them.

With nothing to do while waiting, Sheng Zexi walked over to the baby, discreetly slipping a red envelope into the child’s hand. Director Tang’s mother looked flustered. “President Sheng, this is too generous of you.”

She came from the countryside and was quite practical. Sheng Zexi noticed her nervousness and calmly replied, “It’s nothing, just for the baby.”

He took a quick glance at the newborn, who was wrinkled and not particularly attractive. He couldn’t remember what Nuo Nuo looked like when she was born.

After sitting for a while, Sheng Zexi prepared to leave. To his surprise, Director Tang quickly transformed into a doting father. For the next two months, every time he finished work early, he rushed home, no longer the workaholic he used to be.

One day after a meeting, Director Lu from the PR department couldn’t help teasing Director Tang as he hurried away again. “Old Tang, look at you! Ever since you had a daughter, you can’t seem to leave work fast enough. It makes me want to have a daughter too! Are they really that great?”

Holding his briefcase, Director Tang was already in the mood to leave. At the mention of his daughter, his eyes softened. “You wouldn’t understand. I’ve been waiting for a daughter for years. If I had found out I was having another son, I would have been heartbroken.”

He then glanced enviously at Sheng Zexi. “President Sheng is lucky, his firstborn was a daughter.”

Director Lu joked, “If your firstborn was a daughter, would you have been leaving work early for years now?”

Director Tang didn’t deny it.

After waving goodbye to them, he left.

Director Lu turned to Sheng Zexi, who seemed lost in thought. “Aren’t you going home to be with your daughter?”

Sheng Zexi had social obligations that evening. After checking his watch, he replied, “No need.”

After finishing his evening engagements, Sheng Zexi returned home past ten o’clock. Auntie Lu was trying to coax Nuo Nuo to sleep, but she was resistant, demanding milk. After drinking her milk, she still refused to sleep and ran around the room with a little gray airplane, bumping into Sheng Zexi just as he entered.

The little girl bumped into Sheng Zexi’s leg and stumbled backward.

He reached out to steady her. As she caught a whiff of his scent, she couldn’t quite describe what it was, but it was unpleasant enough for her to wrinkle her nose and say, “Stinky.”

She then wriggled free from his grasp, avoiding him, her clear eyes filled with strong disdain.

A little while later, having eaten too much jelly, Nuo Nuo began to cry loudly, clutching her stomach in pain.

Sheng Zexi was in his study working on the computer when he heard her cries. He stepped out into the hallway and looked down at the scene: Nuo Nuo in her pajamas being comforted by Xu Ai. He didn’t quite understand why this little girl, who was already being cared for by so many people, still needed his concern.

Sheng Zexi was uncertain. His parents had divorced when he was young, and his father favored his stepson, who wasn’t even related to him. He had never liked children, and Nuo Nuo’s arrival had been unexpected. His marriage to Xu Ai was publicly framed as a union of families, but in reality, it had formed because of the child. Before her, he hadn’t even considered starting a family.

Before the marriage, he often found himself alone. He didn’t trust his family and certainly didn’t believe that a family could be a safe haven for a child.

Years ago, he had been bullied at school and returned home hoping for a word of comfort from his father, only to be berated for being useless.

At that time, he thought perhaps his father simply didn’t know how to love him. He tried to understand his father’s indifference. But later, when a child of a woman he liked simply scraped their knee while riding a bike, his family was in an uproar.

Eventually, he realized that his father didn’t struggle with understanding love, he just didn’t love him.

Sheng Zexi learned to clench his fists and protect himself, no longer depending on the hope that others would care for him.

He had thought it would be enough for others to take care of this little girl, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case after all.