Chapter 49: From Now On, It’s Just the Two of Us

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: From Now On, It’s Just the Two of Us

After leaving the underground mall, Chen Yuan hailed a cab to Jiang Wanyi’s place.

On the way, he thought about the task from earlier. It was completely different from Jiang Wanyi’s.

It was more like a passive task, with no prompts or hints. Instead, at a certain point, it would simply inform you that the task was complete.

Soon, he arrived at Jiang Wanyi’s front door and knocked.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

"Who is it?" Jiang Wanyi called from inside.

"Delivery."

"Coming!"

CLICK—

The door opened a crack, and Jiang Wanyi’s hand reached out. She didn’t show her face, ready to take the items.

Instead of handing over the items, Chen Yuan grabbed her hand.

"What are you doing?!"

Jiang Wanyi’s voice suddenly rose in alarm.

"It’s me," Chen Yuan chuckled.

Seeing Chen Yuan, the tense expression on Jiang Wanyi’s face instantly relaxed.

"I’m gonna hit you! You scared me half to death."

Jiang Wanyi’s small fist tapped against Chen Yuan’s chest. Then she noticed the things he had bought.

"Didn’t you say you were sending a delivery runner? Why did you come yourself?"

"I did call a runner, but it would’ve taken over half an hour. I didn’t want to waste time, so I just came myself."

"Da-daaa..."

"Da-daaa..."

As they spoke, a sound came from Mili.

Chen Yuan tilted his head and saw Mili in her playpen, her little lip quivering, her face tear-streaked.

"What’s wrong?"

Putting the items down, Chen Yuan walked over and lifted Mili out of the playpen.

"Da-daaa... Da-daaa..."

Held in Chen Yuan’s arms, Mili started crying even harder.

She couldn’t talk yet, so all she could do was call for her daddy through muffled sobs.

WAAAH... WAH WAH WAH...

He glanced back at Jiang Wanyi and saw her standing there with her hands on her hips.

"Did you hit her?"

"Look at her mouth, it’s covered in a rash. I was trying to apply some cream, but she wouldn’t let me and kept sucking on her fingers. I tapped her hand, and she just started crying."

"Daddy’s got you. We won’t be friends with Mommy anymore, okay?"

He held the baby, gently stroking her back.

Mili rested her head on Chen Yuan’s shoulder and stopped crying, suddenly becoming very obedient.

He walked to the dining table, picked up the bottle of calamine lotion, and went back into the playpen.

Sitting cross-legged on the play-mat, Chen Yuan held her with one arm and started humming a nursery rhyme.

Mili blinked her big, sparkling eyes and giggled incessantly.

Jiang Wanyi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’This daughter of mine... it’s like she was Chen Yuan’s lover in a past life. She’s going to be completely boy-crazy when she grows up!’

"Mili, don’t move!"

Seeing Mili about to put her hand in her mouth, Chen Yuan said in a mock-serious tone, "From now on, no hands in the mouth. Got it?"

"Ah, ah..."

Mili couldn’t talk, so she could only coo in response.

Chen Yuan glanced around and spotted the little yellow rubber duck she played with at bath time in a corner of the playpen.

"Don’t move now. If you’re a good girl, I’ll let you play with this in a little while..."

"Ya ya ya..."

"It’s a deal, then. Now let’s put on some medicine. It won’t hurt one bit..."

Chen Yuan shook the bottle of calamine lotion and gently dabbed it around Mili’s mouth. She was perfectly behaved the entire time, not crying or fussing, and quietly let him apply the medicine.

"Such a good girl, Mili. Let’s play a game."

Chen Yuan shot a look at Jiang Wanyi, who understood immediately. She brought the toys he had just bought over to the playpen.

The moment she saw Jiang Wanyi approach, Mili scrambled into Chen Yuan’s arms, hugged his neck, and pointedly turned her little bottom toward her mother, clearly still sulking.

"Heh heh..."

Chen Yuan looked at Jiang Wanyi, struggling to hold back a smile.

"Mili’s the best. From now on, you’ll just stick with Daddy."

"Aah aah aah—"

"Such a good girl. From now on, it’ll just be the two of us. We don’t need her anymore."

"Ya ya ya—"

Jiang Wanyi was so furious her chest heaved!

’It’s confirmed!’

’His little lover from a past life!’

’And hopelessly romantic in this one!’

’They’ve known each other for such a short time, and I’ve already been fired from my position as Mom!’

Clutching the little duck, Mili rested her head on Chen Yuan’s shoulder. The scene was cozy and serene.

Chen Yuan gently hummed a nursery rhyme, comforting the child.

After a while, the baby grew still.

Jiang Wanyi started to check on her, but Chen Yuan stopped her, signaling that the baby had just fallen asleep and she shouldn’t be disturbed.

He held her like that for another ten minutes or so. Once he was sure she was sound asleep, he carefully stood up and carried her to the spare bedroom.

"Take her to the master bedroom."

Jiang Wanyi pulled Chen Yuan toward the master bedroom.

Once inside, he gently laid Mili on the bed, put a fresh pad under her, and quietly covered her with the blanket.

Gazing at the peacefully sleeping Mili, Chen Yuan was lost in thought.

Jiang Wanyi stood in the doorway, watching Chen Yuan, also looking a bit dazed.

’This scene had played out countless times during their time together.’

’No matter how many times she saw it, she always found Chen Yuan incredibly charming. She could never get tired of looking at him.’

’He’ll be a great father one day.’

’The girl who marries him will be incredibly lucky.’

Once the baby was asleep, Chen Yuan quietly backed out of the room, only to find Jiang Wanyi looking at him with a stern expression.

"What’s wrong?"

"Why didn’t you back me up just now?"

That one sentence nearly fried Chen Yuan’s brain.

’Is she actually jealous of her own daughter?’

"I was just trying to calm her down."

"I don’t care if you were calming her down. Next time something like this happens, you have to be on my side!" Jiang Wanyi said, her tone serious.

"You need to tell her that what she did was wrong, and that Mommy only disciplined her for her own good."

Uh... well...

’Comrade Li used to say the exact same thing. Did she and Jiang Wanyi take the same parenting course or something?’

"I’ll try..."

"Not ’try.’ You ’must,’" Jiang Wanyi said, her pretty face set in a stern expression.

"Tell me yourself, if your clothes get dirty, can she wash them for you? If your shoes are muddy, can she clean them for you? If you’re hungry, can she cook for you?"

"Okay, okay. I’ll back you up next time for sure."

"That’s more like it," Jiang Wanyi said haughtily.

"It’s getting late, so don’t go home tonight. Go take a shower. Leave your clothes by the door when you’re done, and I’ll wash them for you."

"I’ll go get the baby. I can watch her tonight."

"Let her stay with me. You’ve been the one looking after her these past few nights. You may be young, but you can’t keep pulling all-nighters."

Jiang Wanyi’s heart ached for Chen Yuan. She knew all too well how exhausting it was to look after a baby at night.

As the mother, she was willing to work herself to exhaustion, but she couldn’t let Chen Yuan do the same.

"It’s really no big deal."

’With his kidney function and constitution both enhanced by 5%, pulling an all-nighter was nothing to him now.’

"I don’t care. You’ve already had her for two nights. I’ll take her tonight."

"Alright, then."

"Listen to me. Go take your shower. Don’t worry about a thing afterward; I’ll take care of it."

"Okay."

Chen Yuan went to the guest bathroom to shower. When he came out, he saw that the master bedroom door was ajar.

’In this situation, if the door had been closed, he wouldn’t have been able to go in, even if he wanted to check on Mili.’

’You never know what Jiang Wanyi might be doing inside—changing clothes, maybe, or just dressed casually, not fully covered. Even knocking would be inappropriate.’

’But since the door was open, there was no problem.’

Huh?

He quietly peeked in and saw Jiang Wanyi secretly wiping away tears, her eyes already red.

’Why was she crying all of a sudden?’

...