37. Xu Leyang
“Mom!”
As soon as Jiang Ruyan left, Jiang Zhi heard Qian Qian’s crisp voice calling from the amusement park.
The little girl, sweating all over, clambered out of the foam ball pit, wobbling like a little penguin as she flopped down by the table. She clung to the edge of the table, her eyes sparkling with excitement: “Wow, Mom, hello… so pretty!”
Mhm!
This is the mom she knows!
The sudden compliment from the little girl, with the word “pretty” drawn out long, sent ripples through the air.
As soon as she finished speaking, curious glances from people around turned toward them.
Jiang Zhi’s face flushed instantly; she shrank her neck and hurriedly lowered her voice, saying, “Alright, alright, that’s enough…”
The awkward praise equated to awkward blackmail on her daughter.
“But you really are very pretty, though?”
Qian Qian said innocently. She remembered that her mom loved it when Qian Qian and her dad praised her looks, and every time they did, her mom’s mood would instantly brighten, and she would agree to whatever request followed.
“You…”
Jiang Zhi was speechless but suddenly noticed a little boy beside her daughter.
The boy looked about six or seven years old, wearing a T-shirt printed with Ultraman, and was holding hands with Qian Qian… Hmm? Hm! Holding hands?!
What did she just see?!
Which kid dares to hold hands with her daughter? Jiang Zhi forced a smile, her voice trembling: “Um, Qian Qian, this is…”
“Huh? Oh! Right, Mom!”
Hearing Jiang Zhi’s question, Qian Qian seemed to just remember the little boy’s existence. She smiled and pulled him closer to her, introducing him to Jiang Zhi: “This is Qian Qian’s new friend, named… named…”
“Lele.”
The little boy chimed in just in time, slightly bowing toward Jiang Zhi and politely saying, “Xu Leyang, hello, sister, I’m Qian Qian’s friend.”
“…Hello.”
He was indeed quite polite.
But young man, do you think that this way you can win me over and get my daughter to you?
Still too young!
At this moment, the sentiments of an old father made twenty-two-year-old Jiang Zhi ridiculously take note of the flaws of an eight-year-old child.
“Qian Qian, we…”
“Lele, let’s keep playing! This time it’s your turn to chase me; whoever loses is a puppy!”
Go…
The last word had yet to leave her mouth.
Under the bright incandescent lights, her daughter smiled with crescent-moon-shaped eyes and flushed cheeks, but Jiang Zhi suddenly found herself at a loss for words.
Qian Qian often smiled at her.
But right now, Qian Qian’s smile was one Jiang Zhi had never seen before—one filled with genuine, pure happiness.
“Mom, what did you say?”
Qian Qian tilted her head in confusion.
Her feet, originally wanting to head deeper into the amusement park, paused, leaving Lele behind as she returned to Jiang Zhi like a well-behaved puppy, wagging her tail and waiting for her command.
Jiang Zhi pressed her lips together, and after a moment, she managed to smile faintly: “It’s nothing, just don’t play too crazily; look at you, all sweaty.”
“Got it!”
Qian Qian replied cheerfully, then turned and ran off. The foam balls made a “swoosh” sound as she stepped on them, and her joyful figure clearly treated Jiang Zhi’s reminder as mere background noise.
“This child…”
Jiang Zhi rested her chin on her hand, somewhat helpless. She looked at Qian Qian and Lele playing happily in the distance and suddenly sighed self-deprecatingly.
She thought to herself that she was really regressing.
What was she doing competing with a little boy? Wasn’t it enough for Qian Qian to be happy? Upon closer inspection, this child hadn’t come from the future; all her friends had disappeared, and she must be lonely too, right?
Now it was hard-won to meet a peer and have an opportunity to release her energy, and she was thinking about breaking them apart?
Jiang Zhi! What were you thinking?!
Realizing all this, Jiang Zhi decided to just let Qian Qian and Lele play.
Sister Jiang didn’t know when she would come back from shopping, so for the next while, Jiang Zhi simply pulled out her phone and began to type.
——————
“Mhm~”
After finishing two chapters, Jiang Zhi pulled herself out of her imaginative thoughts, shifted her tingly bottom, and glanced at the time.
Wow! Five o’clock in the afternoon?!
Had four hours really passed?!
Jiang Zhi quickly looked up, and upon seeing the two children still frolicking in the foam ball pit, she breathed a sigh of relief.
While relieved, she felt a bit puzzled.
Qian Qian was fine since she had always followed a free-range policy (laugh), but where had Lele’s parents gone? Why hadn’t they come to pick him up?
Jiang Zhi frowned and called out toward her daughter: “Qian Qian, come here!”
“We need to go.” After Qian Qian wobbled over, she explained to her daughter.
Where could Sister Jiang have gone that she had been gone for so long? But it was clearly unrealistic to stay here any longer; if she had to say why…
TMD, she already wasted a hundred bucks on the amusement park fees for these four hours.
“Oh~”
Upon hearing this, Qian Qian looked very disappointed.
But she still obediently followed along, walking out of the amusement park and methodically putting on her shoes.
Once her shoes were on, she noticed Lele still at the amusement park, and with a slight sound of surprise, she asked, “Lele, I’m going home with Mom now, aren’t you leaving?”
“Um, my dad and mom haven’t come yet.”
After saying this, Xu Leyang stood on tiptoe, eagerly gazing toward the mall’s entrance, exuding a sense of loneliness.
Seeing this scene, Jiang Zhi’s pupils constricted suddenly, memories flooding back, stirring something within her heart.
She bent down, gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and spoke softly: “Do you remember your parents’ phone number? Do you need me to help you contact them?”
“Can you?”
“What’s stopping me?”
Jiang Zhi smiled faintly, opened her phone to the dial screen, and handed it to Xu Leyang.
The security measures at the amusement park were excellent; even if Lele stayed here, it wouldn’t be problematic. But she just felt that leaving a child alone here for over four hours was a bit much.
Taking the phone, Xu Leyang skillfully entered a string of numbers. After a long wait plagued by busy signals, the call finally went through.
“Mom…”
“When can you come pick me up?”
“…Oh.”
“Okay, bye.”
Xu Leyang pressed his lips together and returned the phone to Jiang Zhi.
“How is it?”
Seeing Lele in a bad mood, Jiang Zhi asked, “When will they come to get you?”
“They’re not coming,” Lele shook his head: “My uncle is coming to pick me up.”
“Your uncle?”
Jiang Zhi frowned, as if a thought had crossed her mind. She organized her words and asked, “Lele, did your uncle bring you to the amusement park?”
“No, my mom brought me.”
Lele spoke, his eyes filled with a sense of loss: “Mom said she had work to do, so she left early and asked my uncle to come get me.”
“Ah…”
Jiang Zhi instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
She could see that this child’s parents were very busy, but leaving a child alone in the amusement park was a bit extreme, right? If she hadn’t lent her phone to Lele, he probably wouldn’t even have known that his mom had left.
So irresponsible!
Jiang Zhi mentally judged.
More irresponsible than her, a mother by accident; at least she wouldn’t abandon her child… uh, speaking of which, she did seem to have left Qian Qian with Sister Jiang to look after… cough, cough, that doesn’t count!
