Chapter 9.1

Sheng Zexi felt quite pleased that his daughter liked the things he had bought, but he couldn’t quite figure out why he was so happy about it.

Shaking his head, he went back to his work.

Meanwhile, Nuo Nuo was happily playing with her toys. That evening, she told her mother about the things Daddy had bought for her. With her little hands on her hips, she looked confused and asked, “Mommy, Daddy bought me some things, but he kept them in his room without telling me. Is he shy?”

Sheng Zexi shy?

Xu Ai found that hard to imagine. She reached out to ruffle Nuo Nuo’s hair and casually explained, “Maybe your dad just forgot to tell you when he brought them home.”

However, she couldn’t figure out why he suddenly decided to buy clothes for their child. She didn’t want to overthink it, either. Let him do as he pleased. He was Nuo Nuo’s father. It was great if he cared about her, and if not, that was fine too.

Unlike Xu Ai’s indifference, Nuo Nuo was overjoyed about the new clothes her Daddy had bought her. Children can be easily pleased, just a little sweetness can make them very happy. That night, she took the initiative to find Sheng Zexi to chat, sitting on his bed while playing with her toys. “Daddy, can you play with these blocks? I can stack them!”

It had been years since Sheng Zexi played with building blocks. If it had been a while ago, he wouldn’t have had the patience to play with Nuo Nuo. But thinking about the possibility of her staying the night, he looked up information online and found out that children can have a soothing effect on adults. He wasn’t sure if that was the reason, but he had slept quite well the previous night.

Recently, his insomnia had worsened, leading to frequent headaches during the day. He was curious to see if Nuo Nuo really had any impact on his sleep. Now that she was in a good mood because of the new clothes, he thought that if he could keep her entertained, maybe she would stay with him tonight. Sheng Zexi felt a glimmer of hope.

When he was feeling good, he worked efficiently, and if he could finish things later, that was fine too.

After some thought, he sat down, picked up Nuo Nuo’s building blocks, and said, “I used to play with blocks when I was little. I should still know how.”

Nuo Nuo eagerly handed him her blocks, her big eyes sparkling with confidence in her father. “Daddy, then you help me put them together!”

“I’ll go get some more blocks.”

Sheng Zexi had a mild obsession with cleanliness, and he could easily imagine how dirty the child’s toys must be. Nuo Nuo would toss them on the floor, on the coffee table, or in her box, getting her little hands all grimy before touching the toys again. However, at that moment, he decided he could tolerate her playing with her toys for a while if it meant she would stay the night.

If he didn’t allow it, he imagined that the little girl would burst into tears, and all the goodwill he had built up would evaporate.

When Nuo Nuo ran out, she was barefoot. A little while later, she returned, hugging her toys, and opened the box, dumping the blocks out.

Sheng Zexi silently watched her tiny feet as his gaze fell on her toys. He picked up the instructions and quietly began assembling the blocks for her.

The blocks came together in Sheng Zexi’s hands with remarkable speed. Before long, a spaceship appeared before them.

Nuo Nuo had asked her Mommy to play with blocks before, but her mother was often busy and would leave shortly after starting. She had also asked the housekeeper to join her, but the housekeeper didn’t have the same level of intelligence as her dad and couldn’t put them together as quickly. Often, she didn’t know how to assemble them at all, which left Nuo Nuo feeling bored.

But Daddy was different, he completed the assembly in no time. Nuo Nuo’s eyes sparkled with admiration as she watched him.

She had never considered that her father, with whom she didn’t share a close relationship, could be so impressive.

She still had more challenging blocks to try.

“Daddy, wait a second!”

Nuo Nuo jumped off the bed and dashed outside. After a moment, she returned with another box of blocks and eagerly poured them out onto Sheng Zexi’s bed.

He had never imagined his bed would be covered in blocks, yet he couldn’t say anything. Nuo Nuo looked up at him with sparkling eyes and said, “Daddy, this one is harder. Can you help me put it together? It’s okay if you can’t do it.”

Sheng Zexi noticed that some blocks were already partially assembled, indicating that Nuo Nuo had tried but hadn’t succeeded.

After a moment of silence, he replied, “Okay.”

Then he started working on it.

His movements were swift, and assembling the blocks seemed almost effortless. Before long, he completed one step, then another.

The blocks that would have taken Nuo Nuo days to figure out were easily assembled in Sheng Zexi’s hands. He finished just before she was ready for bed.

Nuo Nuo was thrilled, looking at the finished product with admiration for her dad. “Daddy, you’re amazing! I have a Rubik’s Cube too. Can you play with it?”

Just then, Auntie Lu knocked on the door. After receiving permission, she asked Nuo Nuo, “Nuo Nuo, it’s getting late. Do you want to go back and sleep?”

“Yes!”

The blocks on the bed were already assembled by her dad, leaving just a few scattered blocks. Nuo Nuo handed the finished spaceship to Auntie Lu, tidied up the remaining small blocks, and placed them back in the box. She jumped off the bed, remembering to put her shoes on before leaving, and waved goodbye to her dad. “Daddy, I’m going to sleep now. Good night!”

“Good night.”

Sheng Zexi’s expression tightened, feeling a little displeased. He had spent the whole evening playing with building blocks, only for Xu Ai to send someone to take the child away.

Auntie Lu definitely wouldn’t have volunteered to take Nuo Nuo back to bed. Sheng Zexi guessed that it must have been Xu Ai’s doing.

Indeed, it was Xu Ai who had asked Auntie Lu to check with Nuo Nuo, as she didn’t want to talk to Sheng Zexi at all.

So she sent Auntie Lu to ask if Nuo Nuo wanted to come back to sleep.

They hadn’t had any arguments that evening.

Nuo Nuo, of course, wanted to sleep with her sweet-smelling mom, so she quickly returned home. Once back, she didn’t rush to bed but instead pulled out the blocks her dad had assembled and proudly showed them to her mom. “Mommy, look! This is the spaceship Daddy made for me. Isn’t he super awesome?”

Xu Ai glanced over.

The blocks Nuo Nuo was showing off were the most challenging ones in her entire collection. They weren’t bought by Xu Ai but were chosen by Nuo Nuo herself. There were many pieces, and they were small, making them difficult for her to understand. Xu Ai, lacking the skills to help, had only attempted to assemble them a few times before she quickly made an excuse to leave for work.

The housekeeper had also tried to help but got stuck at the beginning. To Xu Ai’s surprise, Sheng Zexi, the busy man, had actually taken the time to help his daughter finish them. It was truly a sight to behold; it was as if the sun had risen from the west. She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of scheme he was up to.

Xu Ai didn’t care what he was thinking. She realized that when a man cares about someone, he will find patience, no matter how busy he is. When he doesn’t care, he treats you like air.

Although she didn’t understand why he suddenly took an interest in Nuo Nuo, it was good. If he was invested, maybe during the divorce, he’d give her a little more for Nuo Nuo’s sake. Though it might just be wishful thinking, it was nice to have something to hope for.

Nuo Nuo was so absorbed in playing with the blocks that she didn’t want to go to bed. After several unsuccessful attempts to coax her, Xu Ai finally snapped, “If you don’t sleep, you’ll have to sleep with your Daddy!”

Immediately, Nuo Nuo put her toys away, obediently lying down but still pouting, her little lips forming a discontented expression. “I don’t want to sleep with Daddy.”

Mommy was soft and fragrant, all Nuo Nuo wanted was to cuddle with her.

Seeing her holding on tightly, as if fearing she would be thrown away, Xu Ai found it amusing. She smiled and tucked her in. “Alright, if you don’t want to sleep with Daddy, then be good and go to sleep.”

Nuo Nuo promptly closed her eyes. As her long eyelashes shadowed her beautiful dark eyes, she mumbled, “Mommy, I’m being good.”

Xu Ai and Nuo Nuo slept soundly through the night.

**