novelblue
Chapter 135 - 135 129 Early Experience of Fatherhood Changling Gets
Chapter 135 - 135 129 Early Experience of Fatherhood Changling Gets
?Chapter 135: 129: Early Experience of Fatherhood, Changling Gets Jealous (First Update) Chapter 135: 129: Early Experience of Fatherhood, Changling Gets Jealous (First Update) Today is the weekend, and the amusement park is swarming with people. There’s a long queue outside the pirate ship, and a stage has been set up nearby where cosplayers are performing, mostly portraying characters from animations, which attracts many children.
Two girls are queuing up.
“Why are there so many people?”
“It’s the weekend.”
One of the girls nudges her companion, who is playing with her phone, with her elbow, “Look ahead, look ahead.”
The companion looks up and, in the dense crowd, she immediately spots the tallest one, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt without any logo. His posture is casual yet upright. He isn’t playing with his phone or looking around but queuing seriously, occasionally proceeding forward slowly with the crowd, moving at a leisurely pace, and his demeanor is impressive compared to the other visitors who look disheveled from the summer heat.
“He has a really good figure,” the girl whispers to her companion.
She adjusts her glasses and takes out a piece of drawing paper.
*****
The place is crowded and noisy, with music playing on the performance stage as well.
Xie Shang couldn’t hear what Wen Changling said and turned his head, leaning down.
“What did you say?”
Wen Changling, wearing a yellow fisherman’s hat, says, “Tongtong says she can’t see.”
Tongtong is also wearing a yellow fisherman’s hat with little ducks stitched on it.
Xie Shang lifts Tongtong up; since his left hand is holding things—Tongtong’s children’s water bottle and small backpack—he can only hold her with one arm.
“Can you see now?”
Tongtong is very happy, “Mm!”
The queue is divided into several lines, moving very slowly.
Possibly because of her hearing impairment, Wen Changling is much more perceptive of her surroundings than most people. She notices, “There’s a lady in front who keeps looking at you.”
Xie Shang follows her gaze.
Wen Changling guesses, “Maybe she fancies you.”
“…”
The lady is holding the hand of a four or five-year-old boy, occasionally pretending to watch the performance on the stage but can’t help turning back frequently. Her gaze falls on Wen Changling and Tongtong several times, showing her curiosity.
Xie Shang says, “She’s an elder I have met before,” during a gathering hosted by Xie Yanli.
Wen Changling responds with an “Oh,” “Should we go say hello?”
“No need.”
They’re not familiar.
Xie Shang doesn’t approach, just nods to the elder.
The sharp Miss Wen notices again, “There’s also a young lady sneaking a look at you over there.” She guesses, “Maybe she fancies you too.”
“…”
Her tone sounds as if it’s none of her concern.
Whether someone is sneaking a look or not, Xie Shang doesn’t care; he is more concerned about Wen Changling’s attitude, “Miss Wen, did you come to watch a play?”
Miss Wen consciously shuts her mouth.
After a few seconds,
“Do you think I should be jealous?” she senses Xie Shang isn’t quite happy and explains, “But with your looks, if I got jealous every time someone glanced at you, I’d be soured to death. Let them look, it doesn’t do any harm.”
Xie Shang, “…”
Wen Changling always manages to irritate him.
The pirate ship finishes a round, and a new group of tourists boards; the people in line anxiously press forward.
The crowd pushes Wen Changling away from Xie Shang’s side. She is watching the performance on the stage and doesn’t mind.
“Changling, don’t stand too far away.”
“Oh.”
Wen Changling moves a little closer to Xie Shang and stands next to him.
After a short while, she drifts away again.
Xie Shang, while also taking care of Tongtong, constantly looks out for Wen Changling. He takes her hand and puts it around his waist, “Hold onto my clothes.”
Wen Changling holds on.
After another round on the pirate ship, when the crowd moves forward, Wen Changling lets go of his hand.
He instantly notices, “There are many people here, you need to hold on tight to me.”
“Oh.”
She clutched at him.
Midway, she took a glance at her phone and then again forgot.
“…”
Xie Shang sighed, switched Tongtong’s water bottle and backpack to his other hand, single-handedly held the child, and freed his left hand to wrap around Wen Changling’s waist, to prevent her from always straying too far.
After the pirate ship ride, Wen Changling took Tongtong to the bathroom.
As they came out, someone was calling from behind, “Miss.”
Wen Changling turned around, “Are you calling me?”
Two girls approached.
The one wearing glasses handed Wen Changling a piece of drawing paper, “We were in line behind you just now, drew this while waiting, for you.”
Wen Changling accepted it, “Thank you.”
The girls walked away. On the drawing paper, there was a page of comics, sketched in simple lines, with five frames—Xie Shang placing Wen Changling’s hand on his waist, Wen Changling walking away, Wen Changling clutching at her clothes, Wen Changling walking away again, and Xie Shang embracing her.
In the drawing, Tongtong sat on Xie Shang’s arm, the little yellow duck’s hat askew.
Cute and lively, it was drawn with spirit and vitality.
Xie Shang waited outside, took Wen Changling’s backpack from her hand as she came out.
“Where did this drawing come from?”
Wen Changling said, “Someone gave it to me.”
Xie Shang looked at it, “Nicely drawn.”
Wen Changling folded the drawing carefully and placed it in Tongtong’s backpack.
Tongtong said she wanted to ride the merry-go-round again. There were only children and ladies on the merry-go-round, not a single gentleman present.
“I’ll take Tongtong on the merry-go-round, you wait here for us.”
“Okay.”
There were railings around the carousel, and Xie Shang waited outside them.
The theme park was large, bustling with visitors coming and going. Being the weekend, it was busier than usual, with vendors by each attraction selling snacks, accessories, toys, drinks, and even parent-child matching outfits and mascot costumes.
There was also a fortune-teller’s stall, simple and crude, with a small tricycle and folding tables and chairs, and two careless characters for fortune-telling stuck onto the trike. The fortune-telling gentleman wasn’t doing good business, hawking to every passerby he saw.
“Sir, have a fortune told.”
Wearing sunglasses, he fixed his gaze on Xie Shang.
Xie Shang stood still and watched.
The fortune-teller had an air of an unfathomable sage, “Avoid misfortune and pursue fortune, no charge if not effective.”
Xie Shang was an atheist.
However, his grandfather Xie Jingxian was quite superstitious, and his grandmother Madam Zhai as well. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have had his fortune told as soon as he was born, even giving him a name to ward off misfortune.
Ms. Su Nanzhi was not superstitious, saying that his poor health as a child had nothing to do with destiny. It was because she, as a mother, did not have good health herself, failing to provide the best prenatal environment for her child.
The fortune-teller stood up, hands clasped behind his back, mysterious, “Sir, you’ve recently been troubled by emotional issues, haven’t you? Come, have a fortune told.”
Xie Shang glanced at the merry-go-round; Wen Changling had turned to where he couldn’t see her. Lately, he had a bad habit, which he didn’t know how he’d developed, of feeling uneasy whenever he couldn’t see Wen Changling.
He walked to the fortune-teller’s stall and sat down.
The fortune-teller smilingly presented a QR code, “Please scan this first.”
Twenty yuan for one session.
Xie Shang felt he must be out of his mind; he didn’t believe in this stuff, yet he scanned the code regardless.
“What would you like to know?”
“Marital fate.”
The fortune-teller took out a red piece of paper, “Write your name on this paper.”
Xie Shang wrote his name.
The fortune-teller took out a wooden box, which contained a stack of bright yellow cards, “Draw one.”
Xie Shang drew one.
Attached to the bottom of the card with a red string was a thin bamboo slip that read: “Lower-lower grade.”
The fortune-teller looked at the pattern on the card, “Sir, this fortune of yours—”
“No need to explain.”
Xie Shang didn’t listen and stood up to leave.
He didn’t believe in it.