Qi Anan was a little confused. Qi Hong was an absolute NPC in the novel. He ultimately played the role of getting soy sauce, and he wasn’t mentioned much at all. He wasn’t a good father. He wasn’t a good father to Qi Anan nor Qi Zhen.
(t/n: getting soy sauce: be a bystander and avoid getting involved in others’ business.)
He was at the back of the plot, even if he was getting soy sauce. When Qi Zhen got close to the big boss, he wanted to make a dent with his doting father persona to make a fortune along the way. But in the end, it didn’t work out. He couldn’t get Jiang Lu’s help, and his men casually sent him off.
There were suspicions of water ripples. Qi Anan didn’t like him very much and didn’t have a good impression of this character. Seeing him come in with a gloomy face made her feel there was bound to be a calamity.
(t/n: water ripples: it means he was a character created to add words to the story and doesn’t add much to the plot.)
Qi Hong was at the most handsome age for men, wearing a proper suit, well-maintained, but his face wasn’t friendly as if he wanted to make trouble. The moment he stepped into the house, he looked around with a darkened face but froze in place.
The subtle changes in his expression, no one noticed… except Jiang Lu.
His gaze retracted from Qi Hong’s face, glanced at Qi Zhen, and finally fell on the small suitcase.
His pupils were dark, without a trace of light.
“What’s going on with this…? What are you doing?” Qi Hong looked around. He was a little confused by this scene, asked with a frown.
Can’t you see it was a birthday? At first glance, you could see it was good friends who got together to have a party. Qi Anan shook the garland in her hand: “Celebrating a birthday.”
Oh, this father must have no idea in his heart, she added: “Today is Qi Zhen’s birthday.”
Qi Hong didn’t say anything anymore.
At first glance, this room had been carefully arranged, with gentleness and care everywhere, and the coffee table was full of gifts, absolutely without any half-heartedness.
These couldn’t be prepared in a hurry. Qi Hong swept around, and his face became even more ugly.
He stood there with an aura of nonchalance and arrogance and looked at Qi Zhen with a cold expression. That day on the phone, she didn’t say anything directly. She kept saying that Qi Anan was very good to her. Yes, she was indeed good to her.
But… Qi Hong glanced at the suitcase: “Anan is here celebrating your birthday. She prepared so many things. What are you going to do with a suitcase?”
Qi Zhen stammered: “I-I’m just packing up.”
“What are you packing? What are you doing with a suitcase this early in the morning?! This is to celebrate your birthday. Are you suffering from being wronged or what?” Qi Hong suddenly became angry.
The taste of being deceived wasn’t pleasant, and this kind of advanced deception method of having the hardships of being unable to say it was even more disgusting.
Qi Anan didn’t know why Qi Hong was so angry. She only knew he didn’t like “Qi Anan” very much. As soon as he entered the door, she thought he was coming for her.
Who would’ve known that he was furious with Qi Zhen?
Initially, the atmosphere was good just now, but it was all ruined when he came. Qi Anan frowned and asked: “You… why did you come here suddenly? Why don’t you go into the study and sit down for a while? I’ll ask Uncle Chen to pour you a cup of tea.”
Qi Hong looked at Qi Zhen indifferently and turned his head to look at Qi Anan. Surprisingly, his tone calmed down after looking at her: “Anan is so big. Dad is okay. I haven’t seen you for a long time. I just happened to be a little free these days. So I came to see you.”
He looked at his little daughter and couldn’t help but be surprised that this daughter was very different from his impression. The usual Qi Anan always had a gloomy face and didn’t like to talk, let alone laugh. From birth, he had paid little attention to her, but now he realized that his little daughter had grown so quick-witted and dainty. Her once lifeless eyes had become a pair of smiling eyes, and the little dimples on her cheeks made her look bright and lovely, which made people’s hearts soft.
Qi Hong smiled and rubbed Qi Anan’s hair: “Anan had changed so much from when she was a child. Why are you so estranged from me? Why don’t you call me Dad?”
Not to say I have no feelings for you. Even “Qi Anan” hadn’t seen you for years.
Qi Anan was baffled by this father-daughter drama scene. She inexplicably called out with a wooden face: “… Dad.”
Jiang Lu was standing at the end of the crowd. Although the expression on his face looked very calm, the hands hanging at his side had gradually clenched so hard that the bones were white.
Qi Hong saw that it wasn’t appropriate to stay at this scene, so he patted his clothes: “I came back today at a not too appropriate time, sorry for disturbing you kids. I’ll go first, so you guys have fun. Anan, entertain your friends well. Daddy will go to the branch office to look and come back to accompany you in the evening.”
After he smiled and finished talking to Qi Anan, he cast a cold and meaningful look at Qi Zhen and turned to leave.
This glance made cold sweat seep out of Qi Zhen’s back. She slightly bit her lower lip, and the panic in her heart grew bigger and bigger. The reason Qi Hong was a good father in front of her wasn’t that he liked her. To put it bluntly, he was interested and wanted to role play.
His fatherly love could be given to her or others.
Qi Zhen was very uneasy in her heart. Qi Hong had no idea what that glance meant.
Thinking about it in a daze, suddenly, with a light touch in her hand, Qi Anan took her suitcase over.
Qi Zhen’s actions today made Qi Anan feel a little strange in her heart, plus Qi Hong came in a rare… Qi Anan immediately suppressed these peculiar thoughts. It couldn’t be; her daughter in the novel was kind-hearted and pure. This was a coincidence.
Her expression was still very earnest, and her round eyes were bright and clear.
“A Zhen, don’t pack today. Let’s put this back.”
She was angry with her on purpose!
Qi Zhen suddenly realized that she had really underestimated Qi Anan. Obviously, on the first day, she realized that she wasn’t simple, so she should be more vigilant about her.
Qi Anan must have guessed that she complained to her father, so she made a plan and staged this kind of cozy scene? This way, she could provoke her father’s disgust and, along the way, kill two birds with one stone, letting her father treat her differently.
Not only that, she used such a clever tactic to beat her thoroughly with no troops left. Now she was looking at her jokes with such an innocent expression on her face!
Qi Zhen almost wanted to vomit blood inside, gritted her teeth and pulled out a gentle smile: “Give it to me, Anan. I shouldn’t have packed at this moment. I wasn’t expecting you to give me such a big surprise. I’ll put this suitcase back in the bedroom first.”
Her smile widened: “Anan, thank you for preparing so carefully. I’ll always remember this birthday.”
They were all teenagers, and the atmosphere was easy to fire up. Qi Anan was lively and loved to smile, and Qi Zhen was fitting and gentle. Everyone had a good time.
There was only a slight regret. The sweet scene that Qi Anan was looking forward to didn’t appear. Jiang Lu sat aside. Not only did he communicate with everyone less, but he didn’t even look at Qi Zhen.
In the evening, when everyone was being sent away, two young men who became acquainted with Qi Zhen were talking to her in front of them. Qi Anan took the time to ask in a low voice: “Jiang Lu, why do you look so unhappy today? Is something wrong?”
Jiang Lu answered her question with a question: “Are you happy?”
“I’m happy ah. Do I look like I’m having a bad time?” Qi Anan touched her, a little puzzled, and asked him with a smile.
Jiang Lu didn’t say anything.
She did look happy.
However, what kind of father would say something like “Anan is so big”? This should only occur with relatives who haven’t seen each other for several years.
“Jiang Lu, look at you frowning so much.” Qi Anan tilted her head to look at him, “I used to think you were very profound, but now I find that you seem more profound than before.”
That was right. At that moment, she had no idea what was going on in his head. She thought he came to Qi Zhen’s birthday party because he had few feelings for her. Who knew that he didn’t send her a single candy this day.
Jiang Lu looked down at her and asked abruptly: “If Qi Zhen didn’t live here anymore, how would you feel?”
Qi Anan was taken aback: “If she didn’t live here, where would she live?”
“No idea.”
This question had no head nor tails, but Qi Anan was used to taking care of Jiang Lu, so she thought about it and answered thoughtfully: “It’s not much. If she likes it here, she can stay. If she doesn’t like it here, she can not stay. As long as she’s comfortable.” After getting along in the past two days, Qi Anan knew that Qi Zhen wasn’t comfortable here. No matter how she took care of her, she couldn’t open up.
In the original novel plot, Qi Zhen lived in a residential school when she went to high school. She liked that Qi Anan wouldn’t block her way. Anyway, everyone could go to school together every day.
As long as the two cubs could be happy, then everything would be fine.
Jiang Lu listened to Qi Anan and was silent for a while: “Soon.”
There was no head or tail again. Qi Anan didn’t understand: “What’s soon?”
Jiang Lu didn’t answer. His eyes looked at Qi Anan, and there was imperceptible tenderness inside.
He could see that very soon. Qi Zhen would be rolling.