“Dad!”
Su Yan’s smile froze on his face.
His gaze involuntarily fell on Jiang Zhi, and the smile gradually faded, replaced by a hint of curiosity and exploration—
She looked very beautiful today.
The woman wore delicate light makeup, a gentle summer breeze blowing, leaves rustling, and her white dress rippling like water, making her look like a pure angel.
Such a beautiful wife.
Oh right, wife…
Sorry.
Just my brain has always been a bit off.
First, there was the inexplicable cold violence from him, and now this, what is she playing at? Whose daughter? My daughter? How was I unaware I have a daughter?
Could it be Jiang Zhi still holds a grudge against that milk tea I spit out at her?
Is it necessary?!
Su Yan looked around and didn’t see any cameras or anything like that. He asked, “Are you recording some prank video? Where’s the camera?”
“No.”
“Then is it truth or dare?”
“Not that either.”
“Oh, then I get it, I really get it.”
Halfway through, Su Yan suddenly gasped and strongly condemned, “Are you trying to make me your fall guy, you BYD!”
That’s why.
No wonder when he was peeking at Jiang Zhi and her husband at the amusement park entrance on the second floor of the mall, there was always a feeling of unfamiliarity between them.
So their relationship is problematic!
But why does she want me to be the one to take over?!
No way!
Could it be Jiang Zhi actually likes me? Was her behavior towards me before just to get my attention?
Su Yan felt like he understood the truth.
But sorry, don’t crush on me, I’m just a legend. When it comes to people who want to seduce me, Su Yan is quite skilled at handling them.
“Sorry, you’re a good person.”
“Are you insane…?!”
What is this person saying?
Knowing that Su Yan probably misunderstood something, Jiang Zhi let out a weary sigh. She rubbed her brow and said, “I’m not joking.”
Why does this scene feel so familiar?
When she first met Qian Qian, she seemed just as disbelieving.
Out of helplessness, Jiang Zhi pointed to the photo of Qian Qian on her phone, emphasizing once again:
“This really is your daughter.”
Su Yan grinned slightly, saying to himself, “I get it, but right now I still want to focus on my career; dating or something…”
“……”
Jiang Zhi rolled her eyes.
“Shut up!”
She was annoyed, and her stomach was starting to hurt more and more. Jiang Zhi stepped forward, pinching Su Yan’s jaw, staring into his eyes, impatiently clicking her tongue.
“I’m telling you, listen, understand?”
“Uh-huh?”
Su Yan blinked.
The world quieted, and Jiang Zhi organized her words, recounting everything that happened after she met Qian Qian… except for the fact that she was originally a man.
Regarding her gender issue, she wasn’t planning to tell anyone.
“Okay.”
Seeing Su Yan’s expression gradually turn to one of shock, Jiang Zhi released her hand, tilting her head, “Now you understand, right? Qian Qian really is your daughter.”
“……I’m confused.”
Su Yan cleared his throat, eyebrows furrowing deeply, “What you’re saying is, Qian Qian… also your daughter, has traveled back from the future?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re just an ordinary college student, but you’ve taken on the responsibility of raising her?”
“Uh-huh!”
Su Yan recalled Jiang Zhi’s earlier words, took off his mask, and pointed at himself: “And I’m Qian Qian’s dad, also your future husband?”
“Though I really don’t want to admit it…” Jiang Zhi pouted, her cheeks flushing.
“But that’s how it is.”
“Is that so…”
Su Yan stared at Jiang Zhi, not seeing any signs of her lying. Now, he had to consider another possibility: “Are you out of your mind?”
“Do you want to die?”
“Cough, I’m just asking.”
Su Yan swore to the heavens, he was just purely curious.
He truly thought Jiang Zhi’s mind wasn’t quite right.
Would a normal person say such things? If you’re going to make up a story, at least make it reasonable, right? You’ve already got time travel in here; how about you also throw in some valuables?
What was that saying again?
Don’t take advantage of your looks to do whatever you want; just because you think you’re hot, don’t assume I’ll unconditionally believe what you say.
Even if we assume…
Assume Qian Qian really did travel back from the future, would future him get married and have kids?
Su Yan couldn’t imagine that kind of future.
“I know this sounds unbelievable; at first, I felt the same way as you.”
Jiang Zhi pulled up another photo, the one Qian Qian brought back from the future of the two of them: “Until I saw this.”
In the photo, the woman had a face exactly like Jiang Zhi’s, but with a more mature demeanor and figure, smiling gently.
Jiang Zhi explained, “That’s me in the future.”
“Pretty nice.”
“But pictures can be edited,” Su Yan corrected, “And if you want me to believe, at least show me a picture of my future self, right?”
“That’s the problem!”
This statement infuriated Jiang Zhi.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and suddenly she felt like punching Su Yan.
She thought, if I had your future photo, would I still need to argue with you? Do you think I really want to be involved with you?
It’s all for Qian Qian!
Hold it in, don’t get angry…
“Even if you don’t believe, can you accompany me to meet this child?”
Jiang Zhi rubbed her stomach, calming herself down, her tone turning pleading: “Even just a face-to-face meeting would be great; she really wants to see you.”
She truly had no way to prove to Su Yan their relationship with Qian Qian.
But if they met, perhaps that blood bond would naturally connect with him as well.
She could only pin her hopes on that.
Staring into Jiang Zhi’s incredibly sincere eyes, Su Yan hesitated, faintly sensing his teammates calling to him from behind.
The bus was about to leave.
He had to go.
But somehow, Su Yan uncertainly nodded, “If it’s not too late… it should be fine; I need to return to base by nine.”
——————
Back at the hospital.
To avoid giving Sister Jiang any unnecessary misunderstandings, Jiang Zhi specifically found a reason to send Jiang Ruyan away before Su Yan came in.
As soon as Jiang Ruyan left, Su Yan entered.
“Dad!”
Qian Qian had just woken up; as soon as she saw Su Yan, her eyes brightened.
She looked excitedly at her dad, then shifted her gaze to Jiang Zhi, as if saying: Wow! Mom, you finally reconciled with Dad?!
Jiang Zhi awkwardly rubbed her nose.
The moment the little girl called out “Dad,” Su Yan was completely stunned.
Then, under Jiang Zhi’s prompting gaze, he hesitantly moved over to Qian Qian.
“Qian… Qian Qian?” he said.
“Dad!”
The little girl pounced into Su Yan’s arms, rubbing against his chest, looking up at him with eager eyes.
It really is Dad!
Such a familiar embrace, with a faint scent of tobacco; Qian Qian felt as if she had returned to long ago, when Dad held her.
In fact, to avoid making Mom sad, there’s something she had always dared not tell her.
That is, she felt closer to Dad than to Mom; after all, while Mom was very nice to her, sometimes she could be strict and forced her to eat vegetables.
Dad wasn’t like that.
Whatever she wanted, Dad would buy for her; if she didn’t want to eat something, Dad would hide it from Mom and secretly eat it for her.
But why did Dad’s stubble disappear?
She clearly liked rubbing against Dad’s stubble the most, and Dad said he’d keep his stubble his whole life for Qian Qian. Oh Dad, come on—
Does he really like Qian Qian that much?!
On the other side, Su Yan was starting to feel uneasy. Qian Qian’s sudden action startled him, and he found himself making eye contact with the little girl for the first time.
This was the closest he had ever been to a child.
Su Yan instinctively wanted to push Qian Qian away.
But for some reason, a voice inside him kept stopping him.
As if he would regret it if he really pushed the little girl away; something was growing within him.
“Hey, stop staring.”
Su Yan called out to Jiang Zhi, who was watching from the sidelines: “Can’t you manage your daughter?”
“Ha…”
However, upon hearing this, Jiang Zhi merely chuckled mischievously and returned, “What? Me? Can’t you manage your daughter?”
Su Yan was at a loss for words.
Saying such annoying things again.
He sighed, wanting to push Qian Qian off him, “I’m not your…”
“Better not say that.”
Jiang Zhi, having anticipated his reaction, kindly reminded him, “If you don’t want your clothes to be stained with both snot and tears, I suggest you be kind.”
Thinking of how Qian Qian cried back then still left her with lingering fears.
Su Yan: …
No matter what, he thought his head was hurting; he could only let Qian Qian stay on him. It was at this moment he finally had a chance to observe her.
To be frank, this little girl carved from jade resembled Jiang Zhi a lot.
That soft, delicate little face was resting comfortably on his chest, her long eyelashes brushing against his neck, making his heart tingle.
But at the same time, the more he looked, the more he felt an indescribable strangeness.
He seemed to understand why Jiang Zhi was so insistent on him meeting this child.
Seeing this scene of fatherly affection, Jiang Zhi felt a mix of complex emotions. She opened her mouth, anticipation mixed with a hint of fear and trepidation:
“So, what do you see?”
“……”
After a long silence.
Su Yan gathered his strength and gently withdrew his body, using a large hand to stroke Qian Qian’s hair, his tone淡然: “I don’t know…”
