Yu Shanhe walked out of the room yawning.
He was bleary - eyed and full of impatience.
But when he saw his little daughter sobbing in his son's arms,
that bit of impatience vanished in an instant, replaced by a wrinkled - browed look of concern.
He still ignored his son.
He picked Niannian up in his arms and comforted her for a while.
After Niannian intermittently told him the reason for her crying, Yu Shanhe didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Silly girl, your brother is right. If the sky were to fall, your dad would hold it up. You're my daughter. Since I brought you into this world, I'm obliged to share all your burdens and protect you. Don't blame yourself for such things. It's what a father should do."
This was the first time Niannian had such a concrete feeling of fatherly love.
The little girl couldn't put into words all the profound truths.
At this moment, she just felt it was so good to have a father.
It was also great to have a brother.
The feelings her father and brother gave her were completely different from those of her master and senior brothers.
Although they all doted on and tolerated her,
her master and senior brothers were the ones who had raised her. That was the affection accumulated from day - to - day companionship.
Her father and brother, on the other hand, had only been with her for less than a month.
They could completely forgive and tolerate her because of an accidental injury.
Was this the bond of blood?
The little girl seemed to suddenly understand something.
It was vague and she couldn't quite grasp it.
She just felt that having a family was really, really wonderful.
Smelling the reassuring scent on her father, the little girl closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
That night, in her dream, her second brother was no longer a great demon.
She dreamed that she was sitting at the dinner table, with her father and second brother beside her, and two blurry faces.
It seemed to be her mother and eldest brother.
Mom...
Niannian tried hard to see the blurry face of the woman beside her clearly, but she couldn't dispel the fog no matter how hard she tried.
When she opened her eyes, it was already bright outside.
The little girl remembered the warm scene in last night's dream and suddenly clenched her small fists.
She took out her phone watch and called her father.
Yu Shanhe had already gone to the company. To his surprise, he received a call from his daughter. He quickly paused the meeting.
His little daughter never called him unless something was up.
What had happened?
With a nervous heart, Yu Shanhe answered the call.
Niannian's soft and waxy voice came from the other end.
"Hello, Dad. I want to go and see Mom."
"Hmm? Go and see Mom? When?"
Yu Shanhe didn't know why his daughter suddenly brought this up.
Hadn't he just suggested taking Niannian to see her mom yesterday?
Was his daughter in such a hurry?
"Right now. Is that okay?"
Niannian was really impatient.
She could draw talismans, many kinds of them.
If her mom was sick, she could draw a health - boosting talisman for her.
To make her mom recover soon.
If her mom was stimulated, she could draw a peace - calming talisman.
To soothe her mom's nerves.
If her mom was cursed like her brother and father,
she could also break the curse!
In any case, no matter what the situation was, she had a way to make her mom get better soon.
She wanted last night's dream to come true.
"Right now? Wait a minute, Dad will make some arrangements and come to pick you and Yusheng up later."
Yu Shanhe would never refuse his daughter's requests.
No matter what they were.
He stopped the meeting right away. He first called the sanitarium to inform them, and then called Yusheng, asking him to bring Zhao Tang.
Just in case...
Just in case his wife suddenly went crazy, with Zhao Tang around, his wife's emotions could be quickly stabilized.
After the last banquet, Yu Shanhe had changed Zhao Tang's school - going status from day - student to boarding - student.
So now, he had to ask for leave from the school first and then let Yusheng go to pick her up.
Yusheng was reluctant to go.
He didn't really want to face Zhao Tang.
Now, whenever he saw Zhao Tang, he would think of his stupid self before.
It was simply a black history that he wanted to bury himself in a hole for.
Being played around by a kid just a few years old.
He might as well have lived his years for nothing.
Maybe he was also happy to see his mom.
Even though he was so reluctant, he still dawdled and found a driver to pick Zhao Tang up from school.
Zhao Tang didn't know that Yusheng had already seen through her tricks. She thought she was forced to board at school because Yu Shanhe disliked her.
She still pretended to be innocent in the car and tried to bad - mouth Niannian.
"Second brother, I've really missed you so much these days at school."
Yusheng replied perfunctorily, "Yeah, yeah."
"Second brother, I never meant to snatch anything from my sister. I know that's my sister's home, not mine. You're my sister's brother, and Dad is my sister's dad too. But I've lived here since I was a kid. I really regard you all as my real father and real brother."
"I know my sister doesn't like me. Dad wants to make it up to my sister, so he made me go to school. But... but I'm really scared... I don't want to live at school at all. They all say you don't want me anymore... Woo - woo - woo - woo..."
"I can apologize to my sister. Second brother, could you please talk to Dad and let me go back home... Woo - woo - woo..."
Zhao Tang knew how to cry to make Yusheng feel sorry for her.
Crying loudly and throwing a tantrum would only make adults annoyed.
Only sobbing softly and shedding silent tears could make adults feel pity.
She looked so pitiful with her aggrieved look.
But Yusheng felt not the slightest bit of softness looking at her.
Sometimes, onlookers see more clearly than the parties involved.
After changing from the party involved to an onlooker, everything became clear.
The young Zhao Tang's acting skills were not that perfect yet.
In fact, it was easy for people to see through.
Those two dry tears that she had to squeeze out with all her might were nowhere near the look of real sadness.
Yusheng wanted to slap himself again.
How could he have been deceived by such clumsy acting for so many years?
What was wrong with his eyes?
Maybe he should make an appointment with an eye doctor tomorrow.
Yusheng had no mood to comfort Zhao Tang.
He was a straightforward person. After the strange things on him were removed, although his temper had improved, he still preferred being direct.
If he liked someone, he liked them. If he disliked someone, he disliked them.
He couldn't stand any pretense.
After seeing through this so - called sister, Yusheng didn't even want to perfunctorily respond to her.
Not exposing her face - to - face and yelling at her to shut up was already his last bit of self - restraint.
Zhao Tang pouted and cried for a long time. Her hands that were pinching her legs to squeeze out tears began to tremble.
But she found that no matter how much she cried, Yusheng didn't show the slightest reaction.
After a while, she stopped crying on her own.
Frowning, she sized Yusheng up with her peripheral vision.
Seeing the impatience on his face, Zhao Tang's heart skipped a beat.
Oh no!
It seemed that even second brother had changed!