after the reunion

It was almost three o'clock when Zhao Xi returned home. He didn't know why the car came so late tonight, but he just felt extremely tired, and every cell in his body was calling for a quick rest.

But he wanted to take a look at his son's tender little face right away.

Zhao Dongdong woke up as soon as he was touched, obviously not fast asleep.

"Father...?" the child rubbed his eyes and cried in confusion.

Zhao Xi sniffed, patted his head, took off his clothes and socks, and got under his quilt, "Daddy sleeps with baby tonight, okay?"

Zhao Dongdong woke up suddenly, "Huh? Really? Dad is so kind!"

Zhao Xi laughed lightly, hugging his small body, just like when he was more than one year old, Zhao Dongdong's head was tightly leaning against his chest, and he breathed evenly within a short while.

Zhao Xi felt the child's breath warm his cold chest, and even his heart, which was beating too fast along the way, seemed to calm down.He patted the child's back, murmured some children's story, and fell asleep after a while.

When Zhao Dongdong woke up the next day, he rubbed his head satiatedly, then felt something wrong with his hands, let out a "huh" and opened his eyes, "Ahhhhh—!"

Zhao Xi was awakened from his sleep, his mind was buzzing, he stared blankly at the child's excited little face, not knowing what was going on.

Zhao Dongdong was very energetic, dragged him out of the quilt, picked up the messy clothes on the floor, and threw them to him, and then sat on the small bed to pull on the sweater and cotton pants with great effort. During the construction, I realized that his father was still wandering with his eyes straight.

"Father!" Zhao Dongdong called him dissatisfied.

"Ah, what?" Zhao Xi returned to his senses in a daze.

Zhao Dongdong was depressed, "Dad, what's the matter with you? Dongdong is going to school, and Uncle Qin is waiting below, let's hurry up!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Xi's expression changed.Zhao Dongdong next to him was also frightened and shut his mouth, timidly daring not to speak.

Looking at the child's terrified appearance, Zhao Xi tried his best to slow down the expression on his face, forced a smile and said, "Don't worry. Uncle Qin hasn't come, so let's dress slowly. Dad hasn't made breakfast yet. Be good, go and brush your teeth first."

Zhao Xi ordered him slowly, but Zhao Dongdong's small face turned redder and redder, and finally burst out, "Isn't Uncle Qin here? Didn't he say he came to pick up Dongdong every day? Why doesn't Uncle Qin come?"

Zhao Xi was so overwhelmed by the series of questions, he didn't care if the child accepted it or not, so he picked him up and threw him into the bathroom, "Wash your face yourself!"

Then he went back to his room to get dressed, and there were intermittent sobbing sounds from the bathroom. Zhao Xi was even more irritable. He buttoned his clothes wrong several times, and finally almost tore them all off in annoyance.

Breakfast is millet porridge cooked last night, egg custard, and a cup of warm milk.

Zhao Dongdong figured it out after dawdling in the bathroom for a long time, his eyes were red.

Zhao Xi pretended not to see, and handed the milk over.The child took it in a muffled voice, drank and drank, his little face sank, and big tears rolled into the cup.

Zhao Xi only felt that he was going to pass out from the headache, and he felt pain in his heart, his heart ached so badly, but he didn't know how to comfort him.He shouldn't have had that kind of thought in the first place, he shouldn't have allowed the child to have frequent contact with the other party, and he shouldn't have been unable to get out at this time.

"Be good, Dongdong, why are you crying? Isn't it good for Dad to send you off? Don't you like Dad?" Zhao Xi sighed, walked over and hugged the child on his lap, comforting him gently.

Zhao Dongdong's face was full of tears and snot, his eyes were moist, with innocence and incomprehension about the world, he said bluntly, "Dad, Uncle Qin promised me that he would come to pick up Dongdong every day. "

Zhao Xi took the milk away from the child, not daring to look into the child's eyes, "You may not believe everything he says. He is not Dongdong's relatives, he has his own family, his own lover, he has no obligation to You make such a promise."

Zhao Dongdong blinked incomprehensibly, and repeated aggrievedly, "But he promised me, adults promise children, you can't lie! You can't lie!"

He said firmly, looking straight at his father, hoping to get an affirmative answer from him.

Zhao Xi looked away slightly, took a sip of porridge from the bowl, and said flatly, "Whether he cheats you or not, he won't look for you in the future. What do you want to play, dad will accompany you."

Zhao Dongdong collapsed instantly when he heard this, and howled out with a "wow", "Uncle Qin is a badass, Uncle Qin is a badass! Woooooo! Scoundrel! Lie Dongdong! Woohoo! Lie Dongdong!"

The little guy's emotions that had just calmed down collapsed again, he was out of breath from crying, tears fell down like money, and soon a puddle of water accumulated on the corner of the table.

Zhao Xi looked at him calmly, neither stopping nor persuading him.

After a few minutes, the child was a little tired from crying.Only then did Zhao Xi hand over his milk again, "Drink the milk. I'll be late for school soon."

Zhao Dongdong still had tears in the corners of his eyes, he felt so sad that his father didn't coax him, but Uncle Qin lied to him.Sobbing, he took the milk, took a sip, and couldn't help crying again.

Zhao Xi couldn't bear it any longer, sighed, helped him wipe away his tears and snot, and kissed him without being dirty at all, then chuckled, "Dongdong doesn't like Dad anymore, what Dad said, I will take Dongdong with me from now on." Go to the playground in Dongdong, take Dongdong shopping, does the baby only like other uncles?"

Zhao Dongdong conditioned retort, "No, no."

Zhao Xi bent his eyes, "What is that?"

Zhao Dongdong lowered his head and stopped talking.

Seeing that his son had calmed down, Zhao Xi took the cup again and asked the child to drink it from his hand.

After a hard-fought breakfast, Zhao Xi took the children downstairs, and the corridor was completely silent, indeed, there was no Qin Muyang's car.

Zhao Dongdong pursed his mouth, but finally said nothing.Silently let my father lead me to take the bus.

The days that followed were calm and slow, and Qin Muyang really never appeared again. Fang Qin and Xu Haoran didn't even come to 'Yuan Se'.

Bai Yuhang came to him occasionally, Zhao Dongdong asked him about Uncle Qin while his father was away, Bai Yuhang was silent for a long time, and then said that Uncle Qin was busy.

Zhao Dongdong insisted on calling Qin Muyang to confirm, but he insisted that the other party's phone was broken.

Then the phone was on for a long time, but no one answered.

Bai Yuhang flicked his phone helplessly, he did not lie, Qin Muyang has been very busy recently, busy with work and getting married.

I don't know when it started, they seldom come out to get together, Fang Qin went abroad again, Xu Haoran was imprisoned in the company by the old man, he himself was near the end of the term, and he was too busy in school.

As for Qin Muyang, the last time he saw him was at a private restaurant in the city center, and the other party was sitting with a bunch of people in suits and leather shoes, obviously talking about business.

At that time, Bai Yuhang was a little surprised. Although the Qin Ershao he knew was much calmer now, he was not a rigid workaholic. On the contrary, he paid great attention to having both life and work.

At the same time, the Qin and Lin families had already started discussing privately about getting married. There was no news from Qin Muyang, and he and Xu Haoran knew about it from the Xu family dinner.

Bai Yuhang breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the two of them would finally cut off the last bit of contact.

Zhao Dongdong next to him saw that he was in a daze and ignored him, and sat depressedly fiddled with the remote control, feeling depressed.

It's the beginning of February in a blink of an eye, the atmosphere of the New Year is slowly coming out, and the decorations on the street are booming.

Bai Yuhang and Xu Haoran have been in love for nearly ten years, and they were accepted by Xu's family as early as the year before last. They must spend the New Year's Eve at Xu's family.

Although Zhao Xi had been prepared for a long time, he was still disappointed for a while.

Uncle Bai was not there, Uncle Qin was not there, even Brother Qinghua whom he had met a few times was gone, and Zhao Dongdong felt that he and his father had returned to the old days.

A few happy, a few sad.

There were lights and festoons outside, and children were yelling at their parents to buy New Year's gifts.However, Zhao Xi reluctantly took the child to the mall to pick out a new set of clothes, and he never wanted to go out again.

He didn't want to go out, and he didn't want to look at those faces that were grinning to the ears.

Zhao Dongdong didn't clamor for someone to come and play like Christmas, but now he just quietly nestled at home with his father and watched TV.

Their family didn't even buy lanterns, and the couplets on both sides of the door were gifts from the upstairs neighbors.

On New Year's Eve, Xu Haoran, Bai Yuhang, and Lin Yueze and Lu Qinghua, who hadn't seen each other for a long time, all called him one by one to pay New Year's greetings, and told him to go to bed after watching the party at night. You can come back in a few days.

Zhao Xi replied listlessly, but the kitchen was deserted.

Zhao Dongdong was not hungry either, and obediently listened to him talking on the phone, hearing the chattering noise on the other end of the phone, and his small eyes inadvertently showed envy.

Seeing the look in his son's eyes, Zhao Xi froze for a moment.After saying a few words in a hurry, he hung up the phone.

"Ah, um, what do Dongdong want to eat tonight? Anything is fine?" Zhao Xi coaxed the child and said.

Zhao Dongdong didn't have much energy, "Well, dumplings? Don't you want to eat dumplings during the Chinese New Year?"

Zhao Xi stood up with a smile, and patted his head dullly, "Yes, eat dumplings! Well, Dad will cook right away."

He has been away from home for six years, and stayed abroad for the first two years. At that time, Zhao Dongdong was constantly sick since he was born. He was so busy that he couldn't even sleep well, and he missed Chinese New Year every year.After returning to China, I was busy looking for a house and settling my grandma's ashes, and my life gradually got on the right track, but I couldn't get up the energy to take care of it.

Zhao Dongdong had no concept of New Year since he was a child. As he got older, he just understood that today is just a festival, a festival where you can ask your parents for gifts, and many people can eat and play together.

He just heard the noise from Uncle Bai's side, there were adults and children, it sounded very lively.He is really envious.

Zhao Xi was busy preparing dinner. He bought vegetarian dumplings that could be eaten in one pot. He also bought some fish and vegetables.They had a seven-day holiday for the new year, and since a few days ago, he and Zhao Dongdong basically didn't go out much.Food and everything is bought early.