Goodbye, Feng Shan

After hearing Chen Qin say that, Chen Hai’s hand did indeed freeze for a moment. He looked somewhat incredulous. “Didn’t she go back to her hometown?”

Chen Qin’s expression remained impassive. “If you’d bothered to ask about Qiaoqiao these past few days, you wouldn’t be unaware that they’re back.”

Chen Hai had fallen out with Feng Shan, but that didn’t mean Chen Qin had any issues with her. The two of them had always gotten along fairly well. Besides, Chen Qin had just given birth, so Feng Shan had brought her daughter over for a visit, as they had arranged to do today.

An Yao, who was sitting beside Chen Hai, also looked a little surprised. After all, she didn’t know much about Chen Hai’s situation, and she had never asked about his family.

After hearing what Chen Qin had said, Chen Hai began to fidget uneasily. Even the food in front of him had lost its appeal.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it.” Keke stood up and hurried to the entrance to open the door.

“Hello…”

It was Feng Shan’s voice from outside, along with a little girl’s.

“Big Sister Keke.”

“Qiaoqiao.”

After changing her shoes, Qiaoqiao came running in. The moment she saw Chen Hai, her eyes lit up.

“Daddy!”

Like a swallow returning to its nest, Qiaoqiao immediately threw herself into Chen Hai’s arms, rubbing her little face against him.

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy! I missed you so much, Daddy!”

“Daddy missed you too, Qiaoqiao.” Seeing his daughter, Chen Hai wrapped his arms tightly around her.

“But Daddy never called Qiaoqiao.”

“I wanted to, but no one answered…” Chen Hai explained helplessly. It wasn’t that he had never called Qiaoqiao; Feng Shan simply hadn’t picked up.

“Uncle Ye, Aunt Li, Big Sister Yuyou, Sister Fish, Yezi…” Qiaoqiao obediently greeted everyone one by one. But when she noticed An Yao, she tilted her head, clearly unsure who she was.

“Big Sister?”

“Hello, little girl,” An Yao said.

“Hello!” Qiaoqiao didn’t seem to mind at all and beamed at her.

Feng Shan entered the living room as well. She didn’t look particularly well, especially when she saw Chen Hai holding their daughter. However, with everyone else there, she didn’t say anything to interrupt the reunion between father and daughter.

“Chen Qin, how’s your recovery going?”

“Very well. I’ve basically just been staying at home.” Chen Qin smiled brightly. Then, noticing Feng Shan’s poor complexion, she asked, “About that…”

She had heard that Feng Shan had aborted the baby. Since the gap between their pregnancies hadn’t been very long, Chen Qin hesitated and didn’t continue.

“Let’s eat.” Feng Shan merely smiled.

At that moment, Yi'an began to cry. His voice wasn’t particularly loud, but it still carried.

“Ye Shuang, our son is crying,” Chen Qin said.

“Hmm, I’ll take a look.” Ye Shuang stood up, thinking she should perhaps bring Little Yi'an over. But Feng Shan said, “I’ll do it. You’re sitting all the way inside, so it’s inconvenient for you to get out.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

Feng Shan walked over to the crib and took a look at Ye Yi'an. Then, as if she had noticed something, she said, “He’s wet. His diaper needs changing. I’ll do it.”

She also noticed the bag beside the crib, which was filled with diapers.

Feng Shan moved swiftly. After placing the baby on the changing table, she skillfully changed Yi'an’s diaper.

“Thank you so much…” Chen Qin said repeatedly.

“It’s nothing.” Feng Shan waved it off.

After his diaper was changed, Yi'an stopped making a sound and settled down quietly. He was such a well-behaved baby that perhaps, if he hadn’t been wet, he wouldn’t have cried out at all.

“Yi'an is actually pretty well-behaved. Duoduo used to cry all day when she was born. We had to hold her and coax her to sleep before we could put her down,” Keke said.

“He really is well-behaved.”

After this little interruption, Feng Shan returned to her seat. However, she sat far away from Chen Hai, diagonally opposite him beside Fugui.

With Feng Shan there, Chen Hai grew noticeably more subdued.

The atmosphere also began to turn somewhat strange.

Feng Shan didn’t say anything. Instead, she focused her attention on An Yao. After all, An Yao was sitting beside Chen Hai. If she was a friend of Bai Yuyou, she should have been sitting with Yuyou and the others—not separately beside Chen Hai.

“Heh. That was fast,” Feng Shan suddenly said with a cold laugh.

“…” Hearing that, Chen Hai snorted. “Heh.”

Since they were divorced anyway, Chen Hai simply couldn’t be bothered to explain.

“She’s An Yao, Chen Hai’s employee,” Ye Shuang spoke up, trying to ease the tension and keep Feng Shan from overthinking things.

“An employee? That’s nice. An employee—you have her work when there’s something to do, and when there’s nothing to do, you just…” Feng Shan didn’t finish the sentence.

But that sentence caught the attention of the Twin Fishes, who had been focused on eating.

“Actually, she can’t do that. She’ll cry if you do,” Anshi Yi began, only to receive a chop to the head from Ye Shuang.

Just eat your food. This has nothing to do with you.

It was clearly only a misunderstanding, yet the two fish would probably bring it up for the rest of their lives.

“I’m full. I have something to do.” Chen Hai didn’t want to stay any longer, so he stood up. “An Yao, you’re full too, right? Let’s go.”

An Yao froze. She was still clutching a large chicken leg in her hand, and for a moment she looked completely blank.

“Am I… supposed to be full?”

“You’re full,” Chen Hai said.

“Oh… I’m full.” An Yao could only stand up, though she brought the large chicken leg with her.

“Sit down. Qiaoqiao is here—aren’t you going to spend some time with your daughter?” Ye Shuang said.

“…” Chen Hai glanced at Qiaoqiao sitting beside him and fell silent.

“Daddy, don’t go.” Qiaoqiao tugged at Chen Hai’s sleeve. She hadn’t seen her father in a long time, and her coaxing voice carried a hint of grievance.

“All right. Daddy won’t go.” The moment Chen Hai felt his daughter tug on his clothes, his heart softened. He could only sit back down. After all, his daughter was practically his only weakness.

When Chen Hai sat down again, An Yao, who was beside him, froze for a moment as well. But she sat down and continued eating.

She was actually quite hungry.

She had only eaten one steamed bun for breakfast, then cleaned and organized Chen Hai’s home from top to bottom.

Chen Hai had paid her a lot of money—so much that An Yao felt a little embarrassed. That was why she had to work even harder. She even cleaned the windowpanes every day, until the sunlight shining through them sparkled brilliantly.

Feng Shan had been observing An Yao as well. But An Yao gave her a much better impression than Zhou Min. She didn’t have the sort of unpleasant air that made people dislike her. She was simply an innocent college student who knew little about the ways of the world. She was thin and delicate, and she didn’t exactly have much of a figure.