"You all go ahead and eat, don't worry about me." Chu Yi cleared her throat and started eating. Qiao Anchen saw this and said, "Eat slowly."
"Mmm." Chu Yi nodded vigorously, and even looked up at him secretly, puffing out her cheeks as if she was feeling guilty. Qiao Anchen couldn't help but rub the top of her head.
Chu Yi protested a little, reaching out to grab his hair that he had messed up.
She noticed that Qiao Anchen had recently taken a lot of rubbing her head. Although he had done it before, it was rare, and each time it made Chu Yi blush and her heart race.
But now, to be honest, she finds it a little annoying.
The reason is simple: every time Qiao Anchen touches her head, Chu Yi feels like an adult is patting a child's head with a playful and caring tone, and not a trace of the tenderness and affection from before can be found!
It had been raining for the past few days, but the rain finally stopped in the evening. The air was fresh and clean, the dark clouds dispersed, and crystal-clear water droplets slid off the green leaves.
As usual, Tian Wan and Qiao's father were going for a walk after dinner. Qiao Anchen was about to go back to his house when he was stopped.
“You two stay at home all day, you should go out and exercise,” Mr. Qiao said sternly, and Qiao Anchen frowned.
“We have sports.”
"Hey, let's go." Chu Yi tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Dad probably just wants to spend more time with you and talk to you."
Upon hearing this, Qiao Anchen lowered his eyelids, seemed to think for two seconds, and said nothing, but changed direction and walked towards the door.
Chu Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The four of them walked out together. Although Qiao Anchen still had that indifferent expression, he walked side by side with his father, and the two would exchange a few words from time to time.
Chu Yi, arm in arm with Tian Wan, gazed at that spot, a slight smile curving her lips.
“You really do have a way.” Tian Wan leaned closer and said with a smile, and Chu Yi was slightly taken aback.
“Qiao Anchen never comes out with us.”
"Ah..." Chu Yi opened her mouth in surprise.
“When he was a child, I didn’t get along well with his father. We were separated for several years and he lived with his grandmother.”
"Later, when we remembered to care about him, Qiao Anchen had already become like this. He was only eight years old then..." Tian Wan's eyes revealed memories, mixed with a series of complex emotions such as melancholy and regret.
The neighborhood was quiet under the shade of the trees, with the occasional bird call coming from somewhere. There was a large lawn nearby, and not far away, children were playing soccer on it.
After the rain stopped, the pale golden sunset emerged, its soft light enveloping the earth.
Tian Wan's gaze was somewhat vacant, but her expression remained unchanged as she slowly said, "He's still a child. His features haven't fully developed yet. When he stands up, he's only about waist-high to his father."
"There was a power outage that day, but it was still light outside the community. He moved a chair and sat in front of the flower bed to do his homework. He was very well-behaved and quiet."
"Next to him was a group of children playing around, about his age, kicking a ball and running around happily. Qiao Anchen seemed not to see them, focusing intently on the notebook in his hand."
“I walked over and squatted down in front of him, asking him why he didn’t go and play with them.” Tian Wan turned to look at Chu Yi, her eyes welling up with barely perceptible tears, and she smiled gently.
Do you know what his answer was?
Chu Yi shook her head, and Tian Wan turned her head to look at Qiao Anchen's back in front of her, her voice so soft that it seemed to float in the air.
"He said he preferred doing his homework to playing football."
"Among his peers, he was unusually quiet, and he arranged everything in a very orderly manner, so that no one had to worry about him."
"It's like being forced to grow too fast, maturing and growing up prematurely, but some things are lost forever."
With abundant rainfall during this period, low-lying roads inevitably accumulated water. Qiao Anchen and his father stopped in their tracks and turned to look at the two people ahead.
After Tian Wan finished speaking, she walked up with Chu Yi.
"What's wrong?"
"There's a puddle here, can we cross it?" Mr. Qiao asked. Tian Wan glanced at the yellowish-brown puddle under her feet, which was about a meter or so deep, and she tentatively stepped across.
Mr. Joe took her hand and caught her on the other end of the line.
"The property management in this community is getting more and more lax. I'll have to file a complaint about it sometime," he muttered to himself. Qiao Anchen looked at Chu Yi, who was trying to figure it out with her head down.
"Will it work?"
Today, Chu Yi wore a narrow A-line skirt. Normally, this distance wouldn't be a problem, but when she lifted her leg to try, it seemed like she couldn't take that many steps.
She looked up at Qiao Anchen and shook her head in distress.
"How about I go around from that side?" Chu Yi looked around. There was a small flower bed next to her. She could walk through it, but it would be a detour.
"Wait a minute." Qiao Anchen stepped over from the other side of the puddle, stood in front of her, looked them over, and said, "I'll carry you across."
"Ah, no need..." Chu Yi was a little embarrassed. Qiao Anchen had already wrapped one arm around her waist and easily lifted her up. Chu Yi suppressed her gasp and quickly hugged his neck.
With a long stride, Qiao Anchen and Chu Yi crossed the puddle and reached the clean ground on the other side. Qiao Anchen steadied himself and let go of Chu Yi's hand, allowing Chu Yi to step onto solid ground.
The whole process took only about two seconds, and Chu Yi was still a little dazed and hadn't quite recovered.
Until her gaze caught sight of Qiao's father and Tian Wan pretending not to see anything, she turned around and continued walking forward, her face suppressing a smile.
"..."
Chu Yi lowered her head in embarrassment and rubbed her forehead.
"Could you be a little more careful in front of Mom and Dad next time?" The two followed behind slowly, and Chu Yi couldn't help but complain to Qiao Anchen in a low voice, his expression froze for a moment.
What's wrong with me?
"Don't you dare lay a hand on me!" Chu Yi said angrily, while Qiao Anchen felt completely innocent.
Where did I touch you inappropriately?
"Just now!"
"And he always likes to touch my head—" Chu Yi started to say, but then she couldn't continue. Her face turned red, and she quickened her pace to avoid walking with him.
Qiao Anchen opened his mouth, paused for two seconds in surprise, and then followed, pursing his lips.
He stood silently to the side, his eyes lowered, quiet and still. Chu Yi hadn't walked far when she remembered what Tian Wan had just told her, her heart softened, and she slowed her pace.
"I'll feel really embarrassed," Chu Yi explained to him in a low voice, "because it's different when we're in front of elders than when we're just the two of us."
"Oh..." Qiao Anchen nodded, his expression seemingly understanding but not quite, and it was unclear whether he had actually listened.
Just as Chu Yi was about to add a few words, she saw Qiao Anchen extend his hand to her and tentatively ask, "Can we hold hands?"
"..."
It's not impossible to lead someone by the hand.
Chu Yi looked up at the backs of the two people walking side by side in front of her, then looked up at Qiao Anchen and tried to make a deal.
"Why don't you just bear with it?"
"..."
After taking a walk, it was getting dark, and the streetlights on both sides were on. Parents were calling their children home.
As she passed the lawn again, she heard footsteps beside her. Before Chu Yi could turn around, she was lightly bumped, and the chubby-faced boy immediately apologized to her.
"I'm sorry, sister!" As soon as he finished speaking, he ran away on his short legs, buried himself in his mother's arms, and was then picked up by his father and carried on his shoulders.
The child's silvery laughter mingled with the man's voice, seemingly discussing his improved ball skills, as the family of three walked away happily into the distance.
Mr. Qiao suddenly sighed.
“She’s about the same age as Qiao Anchen, and her child is already this big.”
The scene was eerily quiet for a few seconds, and no one spoke.
Then, I heard him speak again, asking a question that was deliberately made to sound casual.
"Hey, Chu Yi, when are you planning to have a baby?"
Chuyi: "..."
Her pupils dilated with some tension. She swallowed hard, her mind racing to organize her thoughts on what to say.
Tian Wan glared at Qiao's father with dissatisfaction, reached out and nudged him, but was glared back at by Qiao's father. As the two went back and forth, Chu Yi finally came up with an answer.
"Dad, well, Qiao Anchen and I plan to consider this issue after some time has passed."
After she finished speaking, she gave Qiao Anchen a wink, and he immediately nodded in agreement.
"right."
Mr. Qiao gave the two of them a deep look, then stopped pressing the question and simply sighed meaningfully.
"Don't think about it for too long, or Qiao Anchen will really become a late-in-life father."
"..."
Author's Note: It's been a while since I've given out red envelopes, so I'll give out eighty red envelopes in this chapter.
53. Chapter 53
The two of them didn't stay there that night. After becoming adults, they seem to dislike changing places; they feel most comfortable and at ease in their own private space.
The drive back was quick, taking less than ten minutes. After washing up and getting into bed, Chu Yi was still thinking about what had happened earlier, hesitant to speak.
Qiao Anchen remained calm. After taking a shower, he picked up a book and started reading. When it was almost time, he put away his glasses, pulled back the covers, and prepared to lie down and sleep.
It's as if he wasn't the one who wanted to have her child in the first place.
Chu Yi was preoccupied and absent-minded in everything she did. In fact, she would occasionally think about this problem during this period, but she deliberately ignored it.
But now that it has been made public, it seems there is no way to escape it anymore.
"Qiao Anchen." She called his name, then turned around, lay on her side, and looked at Qiao Anchen's quiet face.
"Hmm?" He turned his head, his eyes appearing pale under the orange light, as if shimmering with a gentle glow.
"What Dad said today..." Chu Yi hesitated before speaking, asking for his opinion first.
What do you think?
Qiao Anchen seemed to frown and recall for a moment, then remembered, "Children?" he answered immediately and matter-of-factly.
"Aren't you planning to consider it later?"
"...And what about you?" Chu Yi asked seriously.
"Your thoughts."