The evening glow of the setting sun filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Cloudtop Apartments, casting a warm, golden light.
The sound of a door opening came from the entrance.
Gu Chengyu, holding his son and feeling somewhat guilty, had just stepped through the doorway.
The little one in his arms, who had been listless all afternoon, perked up the moment he saw his mother approaching from the living room. In those big eyes, so much like Su Qianqian's, tears instantly welled up. His little mouth quivered pitifully as he stretched out his arms, straining desperately toward his mother, and whimpered in a soft, tearful voice, "Mama... hold..."
That voice, that expression, was utterly heart-wrenching.
Su Qianqian's heart clenched. She hurried forward to take her son from Gu Chengyu's arms, soothing him gently,
"Oh dear, what's wrong with Mama's good boy? Why are you so upset?"
The moment he was enveloped in his mother's soft, fragrant embrace, Nuonuo seemed to have found his greatest sanctuary. He immediately buried his little head in the crook of her neck and began to sob quietly.
It wasn't a loud wail, but a soft, sniffling cry, his little shoulders shaking with each sob, tears pattering down. It was unbearably touching.
Su Qianqian's heart ached. She patted her son's back gently to comfort him while shooting a reproachful glare at the flustered Gu Chengyu beside her:
"What did you do to the baby? He was fine when you left this morning, and now he's crying like this? Did you upset him again?"
Gu Chengyu was completely dumbfounded by his son's sudden dramatic performance:
"I didn't do anything! He was fine in the office this afternoon; he even said 'Dada'! He... he probably just got tired from playing?"
He offered a somewhat guilty explanation, but seeing his son's pitiful, abused-puppy look, his words felt utterly feeble.
After crying in his mother's arms for a while, as if having vented all his grievances, Nuonuo gradually stopped sobbing, though his little nose still quivered occasionally.
He lifted his tear-filled, big eyes to look at his mother and began to babble out his complaint.
"Mama, Dada bad."
He first pointed at Gu Chengyu beside him, then made a waving and shaking motion, his little brow furrowed, indicating Daddy was bad.
Next, he pointed to his own little mouth, mimed talking, then scrunched up his face and covered his own little throat, telling his mother:
"Nuonuo, ouchie~"
Finally, he pointed toward his forgotten toy box, then pouted again, looking aggrieved:
"Dada no give... Nuonuo, sad~"
The whole performance was smooth and emotionally charged.
Relying on a mother's intuition and Nuonuo's vivid demonstration, Su Qianqian understood her son's entire complaint.
She felt both exasperated and amused. Lifting her head again, her beautiful eyes holding even more reproach, she glared at the utterly stunned Gu Chengyu: "Gu Chengyu! What on earth did you do to our son this afternoon?"
"You wouldn't let him play with his toys? And you forced him to talk all the time? You made his little throat sore? What kind of father are you!"
Gu Chengyu's shock at this moment was beyond measure.
He stared wide-eyed at the little rascal in his mother's arms, who was now secretly peeking at him with those watery big eyes, puffing out his little chest, a hint of triumph in his gaze!
This kid, not even a year old yet, already knows how to tattle?
And with acting skills and scene reenactment?
This afternoon, he was just too excited, coaxing him to say 'Mama' over and over, wanting to give Qianqian a surprise, and then he didn't let him play with toys for a bit?
How did that turn into abuse in this little guy's version?
He felt more wronged than Dou E. All his doting on this kid was for nothing.
"Qianqian, let me explain, it's not like that..." Gu Chengyu tried to salvage his image in Qianqian's eyes.
But Su Qianqian clearly trusted the weak, pitiable, and helpless little treasure in her arms more.
Holding her son, she gave a soft humph and turned to walk toward the living room sofa: "Be good, sweetie, don't be upset anymore. Mama will hold you, Mama will get your favorite toy car, okay? We'll ignore the bad Daddy."
Nuonuo immediately stopped crying and smiled, hugging his mother's neck, replying softly, "Mama, good..."
He didn't forget to glance back at his father, delivering one last accusatory look.
Gu Chengyu: "..." He felt a stab in his chest.
Heaven and earth be his witness, in this life, besides spoiling Qianqian, the person he spoiled the most was this little guy.
And this was the result? His precious son, whom he even took to the office, was telling tales about him to his beloved Qianqian?
Gu Chengyu looked toward the sofa, where Su Qianqian was taking out various toys and patiently coaxing their son. The evening sun shone on them, the scene as beautiful as a painting.
The petty frustration in his heart dissipated a little. He smiled helplessly, walked over, shamelessly squeezed onto the sofa, and stretched out his long arms to encircle both his precious ones in his embrace.
"Alright, alright, it was Daddy's fault, Daddy was wrong." He lowered his head and first kissed the top of his son's head.
Then he leaned over and, ignoring Su Qianqian's coquettish attempts to dodge, planted a firm kiss on her cheek, his voice low and gentle:
"I won't force Nuonuo to talk anymore, okay? I just wanted him to say 'Mama' today, so I kept talking with him all afternoon."
Nuonuo seemed to understand. He lifted his little face to look at his father, then threw himself into his arms, as if forgiving him.
Su Qianqian watched the father and son, her heart melting. She mumbled, "That's more like it."
Gu Chengyu tightened his embrace around the two treasures in his arms.
Fine, let him tattle.
After all, this little guy is the baby Qianqian worked so hard to bring into the world.
He could never spoil him too much.
