Wen Ya had always been an emotional person.
The gentle, amiable smile on her face vanished the moment Chen Qiang said the word “wedding.”
In the instant her entire face darkened, she looked almost like a murderer who had a dozen lives on his hands.
“Little friend,” Wen Ya said, her voice an entire octave lower than before. Her hand remained firmly pressed against the crown of Chen Qiang’s head. “If you keep saying nonsense like that, Auntie is going to twist your head off and kick it around like a ball.”
She tightened her fingers slightly and drew Chen Qiang’s head toward her, causing the boy’s body to lean forward.
Looking at his slowly paling face, Wen Ya continued in a voice that ended on an almost gentle note, “Did you see me playing ball just now? Your head is going to be just like that ball. I’ll gently—ever so gently—smack it right off.”
“...”
Chen Qiang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found that his voice was stuck in his throat.
Shen Sixing was astonished by the startling things the child had said.
In truth, he could understand the boy’s thoughts.
Children over the age of eight had already developed a sense of beauty and instinctively adored pretty girls.
His younger brother, Shen Sigui, had also often tried to secretly hold girls’ hands. Once, after one girl’s mother caught him and gave him a thorough beating, he had run home crying and told Shen Sixing, “I’ll never like girls again!”
The next day, he had secretly slipped out to look for her again.
That was how seven- and eight-year-old children were—vague, hazy crushes, with the courage to say and do whatever they wanted because they had no idea what fear was.
Understanding was one thing, but Shen Sixing put himself in Wen Ya’s shoes and thought about it.
If someone dared to secretly hold his daughter’s hand right in front of him, he would probably smash the person’s head in on the spot.
Shen Sixing had never thought of himself as someone who would have such thoughts.
He always believed in solving problems with the least possible fuss, never wasting a single unnecessary step.
He was even less likely to act irrationally on impulse.
Such an extreme course of action was practically lunacy, completely at odds with the education he had received.
And yet, at that moment, Shen Sixing truly understood the weight of the words “being a father.”
How terrifying.
He thought to himself.
After becoming a father, he had actually turned into an irrational lunatic.
Chen Qiang had already been frightened to tears by Wen Ya’s change in demeanor. His eyes glistening with tears, he said timidly, “I don’t want to marry her anymore.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
The boy stumbled backward and fled crying as though he had seen a ghost.
Shen Yi said, “It’s over, Mom. You scared him away. He used to give me beer bottle caps!”
Chen Qiang probably would never speak to her again.
Wen Ya was utterly baffled. “Beer bottle caps? Do you like collecting junk?”
“They’re called gifts, Mom.”
“Gifts?” Wen Ya seemed rather uninterested. “People give me gifts all the time on Valentine’s Day, but I’ve never needed them.”
Shen Sixing listened quietly from the side for a while.
“Miss,” the young man said in a light, casual tone, as though merely making an offhand remark, “may I invite you to spend next Valentine’s Day with me?”
Wen Ya straightened and turned to look at him.
She had not expected someone with his tortoise-like personality to take the initiative and ask her out.
“Sure,” she said softly. “But haven’t you had anyone to spend it with these past few years?”
In Wen Ya’s mind, Valentine’s Day was the sort of holiday when young men and women would usually arrange candlelit dinners and enjoy a pleasant evening together.
Shen Sixing fell silent.
In reality, he could not understand why men and women alike were so enthusiastic about an intangible holiday.
He had no lover, and he had never celebrated Valentine’s Day.
He did, however, have a whole pile of enemies. He could spend Enemy Day by himself.
Still...
There was no need to say something so socially inept and ruin the mood.
...
After the sports meet ended, the students and parents gradually left.
Outside the school gate, many people who lived nearby walked home. Some fathers carried their children on their shoulders, while some mothers picked them up in their arms.
Shen Sixing slowed his pace and glanced down at Shen Yi. “Would you like me to carry you?”
Wen Ya shot him a sidelong look, doubtful. “Can you manage?”
Shen Sixing was unconvinced. “I’m not that frail, Miss.”
He could at least fire a gun with one hand. He had more than enough basic strength and stamina.
He thought for a moment, then added, “Why don’t you try me?”
Shen Yi had often been carried around like this when she was little.
She hesitated coyly.
Shen Sixing bent down and squatted in front of her, patting his shoulder. “Come on up.”
Shen Yi looked at his shoulders, which indeed did not appear particularly strong, and carefully climbed onto his back.
When she lay against him, she could feel his shoulder blades.
But his hands firmly supported the backs of her knees, and he rose without the slightest wobble.
“...Seems like you can handle it,” Shen Yi said.
“I told you I could.” Shen Sixing took a step forward, then shifted his center of gravity to make sure she would not slip down.
Lying on his back, Shen Yi suddenly remembered something. She reached out and tugged at his hair. “Give me my little box back. It belongs to me.”
“That little black box?” Shen Sixing’s head tilted slightly from the tug. “Your little box is remarkably advanced.”
“It was given to me by my dad. Can you help me open it?”
Shen Sixing freed one hand and took the black box from his pocket. After operating it with one hand a few times, the lid popped open with a click.
There was a small, smooth display inside.
“It even has a video function.” Shen Sixing smiled at the camera and held up two fingers in a V. Then he turned his wrist, directing the camera at Shen Yi on his back.
The image showed the little girl’s round face, her eyes wide with curiosity as she stared at the screen.
“Look.”
Shen Yi leaned closer from above his head.
Wen Ya was curious as well. She leaned over, resting her head against Shen Sixing’s shoulder. The three of them were practically pressed together, their heads nearly touching.
Wen Ya blinked and marveled softly, “It’s so tiny. I can’t believe something this small can even record video.”
Shen Yi saved a video as a keepsake, then closed the box.
The young family of three walked home along the path outside the side gate of the sports field.
The sun was nearly below the horizon. Resting on Shen Sixing’s back, Shen Yi placed her chin on his shoulder and swung her legs back and forth.
“Dad, I won three gold medals at the sports meet today!”
Shen Sixing’s voice was soft and gentle. “You’re amazing.”
“Mom helped me win two of them. Mom is the best.”
“She certainly is,” Shen Sixing said as he carried her along.
The young man cheerfully chanted twice, “Miss is invincible, unmatched beneath the heavens~”
Wen Ya turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. “Do you really have to call me ‘Miss’?”
Shen Sixing was caught off guard, and his pace slowed by half a beat.
“Then... Ms. Wen?” he tentatively tried another form of address.
“That sounds so formal.” Wen Ya preferred to be direct. “Shen Sixing, if I called you ‘husband,’ what do you think you should call me?”
The smile on Shen Sixing’s face froze.
He opened his mouth, but not a single sound came out.
Wen Ya was utterly baffled by his tendency to become coy at the slightest disagreement. “Is this your first time talking to a girl? Is my question really that difficult to answer?”
“Sorry,” Shen Sixing apologized politely. “I don’t interact with people very often.”
Before he turned fifteen, he had been a complete shut-in, never having any contact with outsiders.
After he was kicked out at fifteen, the place he visited most often was the glittering, debauched world of casinos. The women there were even less likely to take a liking to a pale-faced pretty boy with such a miserable look about him.
Shen Sixing was still self-aware enough to know his limitations. “No one would like someone like me.”
Wen Ya immediately covered her mouth and laughed. “You’re really something.”
She suddenly understood why she liked him.
A pure-hearted, gloomy tech geek like him was simply too much fun.
Perched on her father’s back, Shen Yi listened to their conversation and couldn’t help but smile as well.
The three of them continued down the path.
The red glow on the horizon gradually narrowed, dangling precariously along the skyline.
Walking beside him, Wen Ya’s shadow merged with his, stretched long by the last ray of light.
Shen Yi’s small shadow lay between them.
Like a tiny, complete family.
