A Warm and Cute Strike (GL) - Chapter 29

“Re… Really?” Xiang Qingnuan’s eyes widened, her face filled with worry. “If I don’t go, will Daddy really be taken away by the police?”

Xiang Nan put on an incredibly serious expression and said, “I was kidding.”

Qingnuan’s expression froze. She blinked, realizing she had been tricked. She glared at Xiang Nan, pouting her lips in a dissatisfied cry: “Daddy!”

That “Daddy” was filled with a mix of grievance and a young girl’s typical spoiled charm—soft, muddled, and adorable.

“Haha—” Xiang Nan pinched her small nose and grinned mischievously. “Daddy was just playing a joke on you. We have to have a sense of humor, right?”

“Hmph!” Qingnuan gave a light huff and turned her face away, clearly disagreeing with his so-called sense of humor. However, she soon broke into a giggle; knowing her father wouldn’t be dragged away made her very happy.

Xiang Nan ruffled her soft hair, but his expression gradually grew serious, his furrowed brow revealing his true distress.

While breaking a promise wouldn’t lead to an arrest, what he had said earlier was indeed a fact. Backing out now would not only mean paying a massive penalty for breach of contract but also stabbing Mango TV in the back by letting all the staff’s early preparations go to waste. Such a move would be truly dishonorable.

I’d probably be blacklisted after that, he thought.

Though he had his own little schemes, he never intended to actually bail on the show. He just hadn’t expected little Xuening to be so stubborn; at her age, once she said no, she meant no.

He had originally thought she might change her mind after a month. If she had agreed, he would have negotiated further with the production team. After all, with filming so close, Director Zhou Ludong would be more desperate than him. At that point, he could have pushed for a compromise: letting Xuening stay with the crew without appearing on camera. Zhou Ludong, even if reluctant, would likely have agreed.

But all of that required Xuening’s consent. Over the past month, he had tried talking to her, but her resistance was so strong it made him wonder if she suffered from social anxiety. Of course, that was just a guess; it remained to be seen. But currently, she refused even to step out the door, making all his arrangements meaningless.

Xiang Nan pondered how to achieve a win-win situation, so he didn’t notice that the little girl sitting on his lap had turned her head and was staring at him intently.

Qingnuan was a sensitive child. Watching her father’s tightly knit brows, she slowly lowered her eyes, her small hand gently tugging at a button on Xiang Nan’s shirt.

Did I make Daddy sad?

“Daddy, I’ll go with you after all…” After a long silence, she adjusted her expression and looked up at Xiang Nan with a forced smile.

Xiang Nan was surprised. “Why the sudden change of heart?”

“It’s nothing. Didn’t Daddy say that everyone has the right to choose to do what they like? I like going out to play, and Sister Xuening likes staying home. Sister isn’t stopping me from going out, so I shouldn’t force her to go either.”

In that moment, Xiang Nan felt more than just surprise. He hadn’t expected that a point he had made only once would be remembered so clearly by his daughter—and taken to heart!

While the logic wasn’t perfectly applicable to every situation, for her to understand it to this degree at such a young age was enough to make him burst with pride. He pulled the little one into a tight hug, resting his cheek on her head. “Nuannuan, Daddy is very happy you think that way,” he said warmly.

Qingnuan let him hold her quietly before finally reaching out her small hands to gently return the hug. She loved Sister Xuening, and she loved Daddy; she didn’t want to see Daddy sad. But… if she went out to play with Daddy, would Sister Xuening blame her?

That Night, in the Bedroom

Qin Xuening leaned against the headboard, flipping through her music scores by the light of the bedside lamp as usual. When the clock struck 9:30, she looked up from the pages toward the door.

The little girl is a bit late tonight…

Click.

Just as she closed the score and prepared to go check, the handle moved. The door opened a crack, and a little girl in a pink-and-white nightgown poked her head in before slipping inside.

“Sister Xuening…” Qingnuan smiled coyly, shut the door, and pitter-pattered over, climbing onto the bed with practiced ease. She dove under the covers and clung to Xuening like a little octopus.

Xuening felt a wave of helplessness. She had no way of dealing with this clingy little thing. At first, she hadn’t pushed her away out of pity, but now things had spiraled out of control. Truly, she had spoiled the girl.

Xuening patted the small head through the blanket. “Your pillow is over there.”

Qingnuan’s face emerged from the covers. Wrapped in the sheet, she put on a piteous expression.

“Be good. Go over there and sleep,” Xuening said, gesturing toward the other pillow with her chin.

Qingnuan looked at her, then at the pillow. Finally, she crawled over and, with a quick kick of her little foot, sent the cream-colored pillow with its cute embroidery tumbling onto the floor. Then she turned back and lunged into Xuening’s arms, saying with a giggling, innocent look, “Sister Xuening, my pillow is dirty. I can’t sleep on it.”

Xuening: “…”

This girl is getting more and more mischievous…

Xuening sighed softly, yet the curve of her lips held a trace of undeniable indulgence. She shook her head and pinched the girl’s nose. Amidst the child’s playful laughter, she put the score away, turned off the light, and went to sleep.

The room fell quiet. After a while, Qingnuan’s voice rang out in the darkness.

“Sister Xuening, if Daddy and I go on the reality show, will you be mad at me?”

The girl’s voice sounded clear in the empty night, carrying a slight echo as if it could travel far. Xuening squinted her eyes, half-asleep, not quite understanding why Qingnuan would think she’d be angry.

She closed her eyes and whispered, “No. Go if you want to.”

Vaguely, she seemed to hear the girl’s soft laughter. She ruffled the child’s soft hair and soon drifted into a dream…

And so, it was settled: Qingnuan and Xiang Nan would participate in the reality show. Ye Feifei even rushed back for the occasion. She claimed she was helping them pack, but in reality, she mostly just directed her assistant on what to organize.

“Nuannuan, Mommy’s little baby, when your Daddy is cooking, stay far away. Only go over once you’re sure it’s safe. If you don’t get enough to eat, remember to ask the other uncles. Don’t just endure it!” Feifei held her daughter, giving a thousand instructions.

As a parent, Feifei had learned some details in advance. She was incredibly worried that her daughter would suffer because of her father.

Xiang Nan stood by, caught between laughter and tears. “Come on, I won’t let my daughter starve, will I?”

Feifei shot him a sideways glance. “Who was it that nearly burned down the kitchen trying to fry an egg?”

Back when she was first pregnant, she had a sudden craving for a fried egg in the middle of the night. She woke Xiang Nan up to make one, and he nearly torched the newly renovated kitchen. If it hadn’t been extinguished in time, there would have been a fire. Since then, Feifei had banned him from the kitchen. You just couldn’t expect an “artist” like him to know how to cook!

Exposed by his wife, Xiang Nan looked a bit awkward, especially with his daughter’s wide eyes fixed on him. He gave a few fake coughs to cover it up. “That was then, this is now! How many years has it been? You have to view your husband with an eye for growth!”

Feifei responded with a simple “Hehe” and went back to instructing her daughter.

Tomorrow, when the camera crew came to pick them up, she would also appear on screen. This was an arrangement by the company; she was required to show affection for Xiang Nan and exhibit the warmth of their home to establish her image as a perfect wife and mother.

Feifei felt the script provided by the company was too fake. Her home wasn’t a stage, and she hadn’t built herself up on a specific “persona” anyway. She wasn’t afraid of a persona collapse causing her to lose fans, so she decided to just be herself and act naturally.

However, when it came time for bed, Feifei’s plan for the three of them to sleep together was heartlessly rejected by her daughter.

“Goodnight, Mommy! Goodnight, Daddy!” Qingnuan smiled adorably, gave them a wave, and gently shut her door. It was obvious where she was going.

“See? Our daughter doesn’t even cling to us anymore…” Xiang Nan said, full of resentment.

“Haha, I think it’s great. Let the two sisters bond. Isn’t that nice?”

“I suppose so. Xuening… she’s just too quiet,” Xiang Nan murmured, pulling his wife close as they drifted off to sleep.

Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

Early the next morning, several cars drove into the elite neighborhood, stopping in front of the Xiang and Qi residences.

Xie Sha, the junior director in charge of the Xiang family unit, was the first to step out. Looking at the mansion before her, her eyes shone with excitement. She rang the doorbell, and after a few seconds, the iron gate opened automatically. Xie Sha and the cameramen filed in.

They first filmed the closed front door, then Xie Sha knocked. The wooden door opened to reveal a woman dressed as a nanny. Auntie Lin, appearing on TV for the first time, was nervous and excited, her face a mask of smiles.

“Hello, hello! Please, come in quickly!”

Xie Sha nodded and led the camera crew into the home of Ye Feifei and Xiang Nan. Per their prior agreement, they didn’t focus specifically on the luxury of the house, prioritizing the people instead.

“Where are Mr. Xiang and Miss Ye?” Xie Sha asked Auntie Lin.

Before she could answer, there was movement on the stairs. “You’re here early.”

Xiang Nan walked down the stairs, looking a bit sleepy-eyed, though it didn’t detract from his looks; rather, it gave him a touch of effortless charm.

“Good morning, Mr. Xiang!” Xie Sha stepped forward, while the cameramen trained their lenses on him.

Since they had met before, Xie Sha got straight to the point, asking eagerly, “Are your wife and daughter awake yet?”