The mother and daughter finally went out! Gu Xingyi took a blissful shower!

He had no idea that Xia Xiyao outside might not come back at all.

After showering, Gu Xingyi started preparing dinner.

The usual two meat dishes and two vegetable ones—tonight, the main dish would be noodle soup.

But since he didn’t know when they’d be back, and was worried the noodles would go soggy and taste bad, he decided not to cook them just yet.

After setting the dishes on the table and slicing the noodles to rest on the chopping board, Gu Xingyi returned to the living room, flopped onto the sofa, and began scrolling through parenting articles on his phone.

“What to do when a child refuses to eat? Just give them a beating!”

No way! Delete that immediately!

Xiao Nainai is such a good girl, there’s no way she wouldn’t eat. And besides, with a cute little thing like her, he couldn’t even bring himself to lay a finger on her.

Before long, Gu Xingyi was getting sleepy. He yawned and glanced at the time in the upper-right corner.

It was already 7 PM. Why weren’t the mother and daughter back yet?

He suddenly sat up straight. No way, right? Did something happen to them?

Feeling anxious, Gu Xingyi jumped to his feet, put on his shoes, and was about to head out to search for them—when he opened the door and ran straight into the pair just coming back.

A waft of sweet fragrance drifted in from the doorway.

Gu Xingyi was completely stunned.

Xia Xiyao was humming an unfamiliar tune, walking lightly, and the curve of her lips clearly showed she was in a good mood.

She held several shopping bags in her hands. Xiao Nainai clutched her mama’s shirt with one hand and held the doll Gu Xingyi had given her in the other.

What stunned him the most was that both of them were now dressed in well-fitting new clothes—white blouses with small floral prints, paired with pleated skirts that fluttered lightly in the breeze.

As they say, clothes make the person.

Just one trip outside and the pair looked completely transformed. Gu Xingyi almost didn’t dare to look at them, though truthfully, he never really dared to look at her to begin with.

Two pairs of bright, almond-shaped eyes blinked at him in surprise. The next second, Xiao Nainai ran over cheerfully, called out "Papa!" sweetly, clearly delighted from her outing and the new clothes.

That one word—papa—nearly made Gu Xingyi's soul leave his body. His voice even trembled when he answered, then crouched down and ruffled her hair.

Adorable kids should be illegal!

And at that moment, Xiao Nainai was pure cuteness mixed with a mischievous little spark.

Gu Xingyi was instantly defeated. All the worry that had built up inside him vanished like smoke.

He scooped the little one into his arms and led the way back into the house.

“Papa made noodles for you tonight! With two eggs in it!”

“Yes! Nainai loves eggs! Nainai loves papa the most!”

Xia Xiyao stood outside the door, flustered. Just a moment ago, the little one had said she loved mama the most, and now she’d switched sides?

Xiao Nainai didn’t have to wait long. The egg noodles were ready in no time.

Gu Xingyi placed the bowl in front of her, tapped her little nose, and turned instinctively toward the bedroom.

But just as he turned around, he felt his shirt tugged by a tiny hand.

“Papa, will you eat with Nainai?”

That soft, milky voice rang out again. When Gu Xingyi turned back, he met her expectant gaze. He hesitated, sneaking a glance at Xia Xiyao sitting nearby.

She didn’t say anything. Didn’t even look his way. It was as if she hadn’t heard Xiao Nainai at all, quietly slurping her noodles.

“…,” Gu Xingyi was speechless. The situation was too confusing. If she wanted to reject him, could she just say it clearly? What did silence even mean?

As a long-time single dog, Gu Xingyi had no idea what this woman meant. So he tried tentatively, “Then… I’ll stay and eat with Xiao Nainai?”

“Yay! Papa, sit! Sit next to Nainai!”

The reply came from Xiao Nainai, happily patting the chair beside her.

Scratching his nose awkwardly, Gu Xingyi went back to the kitchen, brought out a bowl of noodles, and sat next to Xiao Nainai.

Mama on the left, papa on the right. In the middle, Xiao Nainai was surrounded by both parents for the first time. Her face didn’t stop smiling, and she ate with unusual gusto—finishing her whole bowl of noodles clean.

In the end, it was Xia Xiyao who stopped her from overeating, worried she’d get a stomachache. Only then did the little one finally put down her chopsticks.

After dinner, Xiao Nainai wanted both her parents to play in the princess room with her, but only Gu Xingyi ended up going with her. Xia Xiyao quietly returned to the master bedroom after the meal.

Gu Xingyi understood. Just letting him join them for dinner must have taken a huge amount of mental effort for Xia Xiyao.

He tried putting himself in her shoes.

If it had been him, experiencing what she had—there was no way he could sit down and act peacefully with someone who had hurt him like that.

Wait, no—if it were him, then the original Gu Xingyi wouldn’t even have a corpse left.

He’d have been chopped up and fed to the dogs!

Gu Xingyi played with Xiao Nainai until 9 PM. By then, she was nodding off from drowsiness, but still refused to go to bed.

In the process, he also noticed a serious problem—Xiao Nainai was already three years old, but she still didn’t know how to take off her own shoes!

A normal three-year-old should already be in kindergarten!

He knew it was the result of the unstable environment she had grown up in, so he couldn’t expect progress overnight. But it still tugged painfully at his heart.

At that moment, Xia Xiyao came out of the bedroom. She didn’t say anything, just silently watched Gu Xingyi and Xiao Nainai on the sofa. Her gaze made her meaning clear.

Gu Xingyi got it instantly. He gently picked up Xiao Nainai, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and said with a warm smile, “Xiao Nainai, it’s time for bed! Papa will play with you again tomorrow, okay?”

Xiao Nainai, who had been dozing off, opened her eyes slightly. She looked at Gu Xingyi’s face, then turned to look at Xia Xiyao. Suddenly, her little head buried into Gu Xingyi’s neck.

“Nainai wants to sleep with papa tonight!”

The sudden declaration caught Gu Xingyi completely off guard. Xia Xiyao’s expression darkened.

Nothing is scarier than sudden silence.

Gu Xingyi looked innocently at Xia Xiyao. This was all the little one’s idea—he hadn’t prompted her!

Xia Xiyao clenched her fists in frustration. That little traitor! After everything she had done for her, it only took two days for the enemy’s sweet words to win her over?

In the end, the little one got her way. Xia Xiyao helped her wash up, and the girl happily burrowed into papa’s bed.

Clinging to Gu Xingyi like a little koala, she refused to let go. He didn’t mind at all.

It was Gu Xingyi’s first time putting a child to sleep. He recalled some parenting advice he’d read online and began telling her a gentle bedtime story.

“Tonight papa will tell you the story of the Ice Queen. A long, long time ago, in a beautiful kingdom, there was a king with two adorable daughters. One of them was named Elsa…”

It was also the first time Xiao Nainai had fallen asleep in papa’s strong arms. The first time he told her a bedtime story.

First time he cooked for her. First time he gave her a gift. And now, two more firsts added to the list.

Xiao Nainai felt a deep sense of happiness… and drifted into a peaceful sleep.