Tang Jiu drove Gu Suisui to her apartment building.
"Mommy, did you miss me these past two days?" The moment Gu Suisui saw Feng Yaoqin, an exceptionally bright smile bloomed on her face. Before Feng Yaoqin could even come over to help her out of the car, she was already running towards her on her little legs.
"Suisui, be careful! Slow down, don't fall."
"You are Mommy's precious darling, of course Mommy missed you." How could Feng Yaoqin not miss her daughter? She had been eagerly awaiting Suisui's return from the reality show filming.
The moment Feng Yaoqin received Tang Jiu's call, she rushed downstairs to wait, afraid of not seeing her beloved daughter the very first moment she could.
Feng Yaoqin bent down and picked her up, carefully looking at Suisui. She discovered that her daughter hadn't lost weight during her time away, and her face even seemed a little rounder??
"Suisui, did you have fun in Sishui Ancient City? Did that intern daddy named Ke Jingyang bully you?"
Feng Yaoqin had also seen the trending topics on Weibo last night.
Honestly, her biggest worry all along had been Ke Jingyang, the intern dad invited by the production team. A big star with tens of millions of fans, who seemed arrogant and ill-tempered. He had even made her daughter cry during the pilot episode recording.
Feng Yaoqin constantly worried that this person would bully her Suisui during the actual filming. Especially since Suisui was so young and didn't know anyone on the production team. She might suffer and have no one to comfort her. The thought of this possibility kept her awake at night.
But the photos of Ke Jingyang that had been leaked looked a little different from the way Feng Yaoqin felt about him when she saw him in the park that day. He seemed to have a gentler aura and was carefully holding the hands of Suisui and another little boy. Moreover, her daughter was clearly in a good mood today, so she probably hadn't been wronged.
"Happy!! Dad Ke is very nice to me. He even bought me roasted sweet potatoes yesterday! Oh, right, Dad Ke also gave me a box of dragon's beard candy and told me to eat it all, but I secretly saved two for you, Mommy." Gu Suisui whispered, as if she had done something particularly secretive.
Feng Yaoqin breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "What about the others? Like the other four children? Are they nice to you?"
At Suisui’s age, kids had a strong urge to share. As long as someone was willing to listen, she could chirp on forever, sometimes talking nonstop for half an hour or more.
Feng Yaoqin was more than happy to hear every little detail about her daughter’s experience. She listened intently, eyes full of warmth and patience.
But… when she heard Suisui say that the production team made them sleep in a dilapidated thatched hut at night, she couldn't help but frown.
…That kind of house… is it even safe to sleep in??
Feng Yaoqin had originally thought that in a variety show like this, where children travel together, the guests would stay in a comfortable place, if not a five-star hotel, at least somewhere where they wouldn't have to worry about food and drink. She didn't expect the production team to do something like this.
Feng Yaoqin was about to call Tang Jiu to subtly inquire about what was going on when she suddenly remembered that Ke Jingyang, the intern daddy who lived with Suisui, was a big star with many fans. The production team might mistreat Suisui, a non-celebrity child, but they would never mistreat him, or the fans would tear the production team apart in minutes if they found out.
This meant that everything might just be for the sake of the show. Suisui was young and didn't understand these things, so what she told her was just what a child her age would understand.
Having figured this out, Feng Yaoqin's heart, which had been in her throat, returned to its original place.
Gu Suisui sat on the sofa at home, drinking the milk that her mother had specially prepared for her. Suddenly, she thought of something and tilted her head, asking, "Mommy, why don't I have a dad? Doudou's dad is his dad, but Dad Ke isn't my dad."
Doudou had told her that every child has their own dad, so Gu Suisui, who had never seen her own dad, couldn't help but ask her mommy after coming back.
Feng Yaoqin paused as she reached for the fruit plate, stammering, "Your dad, your dad he..." She repeated he several times, but couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.
Feng Yaoqin really didn't know how to explain this to her daughter.
Feng Yaoqin had actually thought that this day would come. After all, even if Suisui didn't ask when she was young, she would know when she grew up and went to school that she was different from children who grew up in families with both parents.
The thought of her daughter being sad, upset, or feeling inferior when she learned the truth pained Feng Yaoqin, and she didn't know how to explain.
Gu Suisui noticed her mother's unusual behavior. After a moment of thought, she asked cautiously, "...Did Dad go to heaven?" The female lead Su's sister's mom had gone to heaven and would never come back.
In her dream, the man called Dad by Sister Su definitely wasn’t her real dad—but she still called him that.
When Feng Yaoqin heard her daughter ask this, she was stunned for a moment, then patted her head and said, "Our Suisui is so smart, she can even guess that."
Yes, rather than letting her daughter mistakenly believe that her daddy had abandoned them, it was better to let her think that her daddy was no longer around.
When Feng Yaoqin was young, she thought that those handsome, good-at-fighting delinquent boys were very charming. Even though Suisui's dad wasn't very talkative, he was the most special one in her eyes, and she had once been infatuated with him.
Not long after Suisui was born, that man said that he had something to do and would be leaving for a while, about three months or so. He said that he would give his daughter a stable and prosperous life, and that Suisui would have everything that other children had. Who knew that after he left, there would be no news of him again? Three years, he had been missing for three whole years, and she hadn't even received a single text message during that time.
Although Feng Yaoqin had harbored a lot of resentment towards him over the years, and she could no longer feel the burning love she had felt for him when she was young, one thing she was very clear about was how much that man loved Suisui.
He was the one who gave Suisui her name. When Feng Yaoqin first heard the name, she didn't like it, feeling that it was too simple and casual. Her daughter should have a unique name. It wasn't until she learned the meaning of the name that she liked it more and more.
Suisui pingan, peace year after year… she knew how much hope and love he had for this daughter.
When Suisui was first born, she was especially fussy and would only fall asleep if someone held her at night. She would cry non-stop even if she was placed in a stroller. Then he, a grown man, would hold her for more than ten hours a day, sometimes not even letting her help him hold her.
But now, that man had vanished without a single word. Given his personality, he most likely either died unexpectedly, or got involved in something illegal and ended up in jail.
…It was better not to have such a dangerous person as Suisui's dad. What if he wasn't dead and really did something bad outside? Wouldn't she and her daughter end up suffering too?
Feng Yaoqin pulled herself out of her chaotic thoughts and stared at her daughter's fair and clean little face. Seeing that she didn't seem to be troubled by this question, she tentatively asked, "Would Suisui be unhappy if she didn't have a dad?"
Gu Suisui thought about it seriously for a while, then shook her head and said with an innocent expression, "No, because I have Mom!"
Although she didn't have a dad, she had a mom who would cook for her, tell her stories, and buy her little skirts to wear. As a cotton candy spirit who had no parents by her side since she was conscious, Gu Suisui said that she was already very satisfied.
Listening to the child's tender voice, Feng Yaoqin's eyes slightly moistened. She turned her back and secretly wiped away her tears, not wanting her daughter to see her like this.
What's going on with her lately? Why did she keep getting so easily moved to tears by her daughter? What if Suisui misunderstood that her mom wasn't strong at all and liked to cry like her?
Suisui only had her as her mommy now, and she had to be a good role model for her daughter.
==
Back at home, Gu Suisui finally got her phone back. The first thing she did after turning it on was to send a voice message to Sister Fu. The reason she didn't call was because she knew that Sister Fu was busy filming on set right now, and calling would disturb her.
The last time she was on the set with Brother Lu Chi, an auntie didn't turn off her phone, and her ringtone suddenly rang during filming. The director uncle got so angry he nearly yelled her into tears. So scary!! QAQ
Gu Suisui didn't want Sister Fu to be scolded because she called.
After sending a message to Sister Fu and waiting two minutes without getting a reply, Gu Suisui ate a piece of apple and sent a sticker to Sister Su. Most of the stickers were given to Gu Suisui by Lu Chi. He saw that she, a little kid, wasn't very good at using WeChat when he was on set, so he copied all of his greeting stickers and gave them to her, adding new ones every two or three days.
However, what Lu Chi didn't know was that after he sent the stickers, Gu Suisui turned around and sent her newly acquired stickers to Su Yuqing.
On the other side, Su Yuqing's phone vibrated with a "buzz," and she received a message from WeChat.
This time, it was really from Gu Suisui.
Su Yuqing looked at the cute, Q-version character on the sticker, acting coquettish and selling cuteness. After hesitating for a moment, she sent a message: "Were you busy these past two days?"
A minute later, a 10-second voice message came over.
"Sister Su, I went to record a variety show these past two days. They didn't let me bring my phone, so I couldn't send you stickers every day ヽ(≧Д≦)ノ" Su Yuqing could feel the energetic, bubbly tone in the little girl’s voice.
Her voice was so energetic, so it didn't seem like anything had happened.
Once she started, Su Yuqing no longer refused to reply to the voice messages that Gu Suisui sent her, like she had done in the past few days.
She thought, Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Perhaps after she spent more time with Gu Suisui, just like in her previous life, when this person's shortcomings were gradually exposed, she would no longer have the thought of being reluctant to strike.