Chapter 307: The Problem |
After finishing the roasted pig trotters that An Yuanyao and his daughter left behind, Liu Changqing quickly tidied up the table. He wrapped up the trash in a plastic bag, tied it up, and planned to throw it out with the rest of the garbage tomorrow.
Once he was done, he went to the bathroom to wash his hands, did a bit of grooming, then headed toward the bedroom.
When he pushed open the door, he saw An Yuanyao lying on the bed with her back facing him.
She didn’t seem to notice him coming in at all.
He walked over to the bed and gently shook her shoulder, speaking softly.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s still about Xiazhi…”
Her voice was weak, and Liu Changqing could even hear the guilt in her words.
“I feel so useless… I couldn’t help her at all when she needed it…”
He didn’t expect this to be what was on her mind.
“All right, don’t overthink it… This really isn’t your fault.”
Liu Changqing offered comforting words as he gently turned An Yuanyao’s body so she faced him. Only then did he notice that her eyes were a little red.
For a moment, he was taken aback.
It looked like she was holding back her tears. She lifted her hand and wiped her eyes with the back of it. Pregnancy had made her more emotionally sensitive, and her mindset had changed a lot too.
An Yuanyao was clearly in that state now.
What had happened to Liu Xiazhi made her think of the baby still growing in her belly. She started imagining how, one day, this child might also be bullied.
Feeling like there was nothing she could do about it filled her with a sense of helplessness.
It felt more like guilt...
Seeing the redness in her eyes and how close she was to tears made Liu Changqing feel a strange ache in his chest.
He raised a hand and stroked her cheek. Feeling his touch, An Yuanyao reached up and held his hand, sniffled, and said,
“Maybe I’m just overthinking everything. I feel like I’ve been acting weird lately…”
“Don’t stress yourself out. I’ll take you downstairs for some sunshine tomorrow. Anyone who’s cooped up at home for too long starts overthinking stuff.”
“Mm…”
She softly responded in his ear. Liu Changqing didn’t say anything else and simply lay down beside her, resting his head next to hers.
Before he knew it, An Yuanyao’s breathing had evened out. When he looked over, he saw her eyes were closed—she seemed to be asleep.
After lying there for a bit longer, Liu Changqing quietly got up and gently opened the door to leave the room.
Standing in the hallway, he paused for a moment and looked toward his daughter’s room.
Memories of his own childhood came flooding back.
He thought about his old life in the other world—a happy family of three, scenes from when his parents raised him, all playing vividly in his mind. He instinctively started putting himself in his daughter’s shoes.
If something like this had happened to him back in elementary school… how would his father have handled it?
As he thought about it, the serious look on Liu Changqing’s face melted into a warm, nostalgic smile.
Just remembering those little moments from the past filled his chest with warmth.
When he snapped out of it, Liu Changqing turned toward the kitchen. A short while later, he came out holding an empty drink bottle.
He went into the bathroom to fill it with water, then walked to his daughter’s room and pushed open the door.
Usually at this time, she might be watching TV or playing on her handheld console. But tonight, she was curled up on the bed looking glum.
She noticed the sound at the door, peeked over, saw it was her dad, and quickly turned away again.
Grumbling,
“I just want to be alone right now…”
Liu Changqing didn’t respond. He simply walked over, gently helped her sit up, then cupped her small face in both hands, making her look straight at him.
Liu Xiazhi unhappily kicked at him with her little feet.
But Liu Changqing ignored it. He let go and brought up the plastic bottle full of water, holding it in front of her.
With a serious look, he asked,
“Xiazhi, what do you think this is?”
“Huh?”
She stopped kicking and looked at him, confused by the strange question. Her eyes flicked between her dad and the plastic bottle in his hand.
She stared for a few seconds before hesitantly answering,
“It’s… water?”
“You could say it’s water, but you could also say it’s not.”
As he spoke, Liu Changqing unscrewed the bottle cap and pointed to the water almost overflowing at the top.
“People are like empty bottles. When all your negative emotions fill you up, eventually it spills over.”
“……”
Liu Xiazhi’s eyes widened a little.
She had no idea what her dad was talking about.
Liu Changqing didn’t explain much more. He glanced at the bottle’s mouth, then held it out a little closer.
“An empty bottle is like a bottomless pit. A person who never has anything to be sad about—that’s not a real person. You know the saying, ‘When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you’…”
“Dad, what are you even saying? I don’t get it!”
She cut him off. Liu Xiazhi’s words brought Liu Changqing’s whole speech to a grinding halt. He’d been planning a deep and meaningful lesson, but now…
Thinking it over, he realized this was all too abstract for his daughter.
Maybe… something simpler and more direct would work better.
Raising the bottle a little higher, Liu Changqing said,
“Look into the bottle opening.”
Though she didn’t understand what he was up to, Xiazhi still obediently peered into the mouth of the bottle.
The moment her face was right in front of it—squirt! Liu Changqing suddenly squeezed the plastic bottle hard. Water sprayed right out.
“Ah!!”
A high-pitched scream. Xiazhi stared in shock, wide-eyed. She touched her wet face and looked at her dad, who was now smiling at her.
Before she could say anything, Liu Changqing beat her to it.
“Let me put it this way—if someone doesn’t mess with us, we don’t mess with them. But if they do mess with us… You hit ’em back! Our Liu family isn’t afraid of anything!”
Now that Xiazhi could understand. She stared at her dad, stunned.
Back when she was eating pig trotters, her dad told her to ask her brother for help. That made her feel a little disappointed.
But lately, her dad had started to feel different to her—he was always showing up when she needed him most.
That was why she got so upset earlier when she overheard the conversation between her parents and went sulking back to her room.
She didn’t want a dad who gave big-picture advice or thought about things from a grown-up’s perspective.
She just wanted a dad who cared about her, who stood by her.
Her mind raced with all kinds of thoughts.
Then suddenly, Liu Xiazhi threw herself forward and hugged her dad tightly.
Liu Changqing wrapped his arms around her and stood up.
He said softly,
“Go take a shower. You smell like roasted pig trotters.”
“No, I don’t! I smell nice and sweet!”
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