A Single Father’s Troubles - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Ridiculous

Lin Tingwan held his phone, running like crazy toward the parking lot.

The teacher said Guagua had been frightened and couldn’t stop crying; it would be best if a parent could come over.

Guagua was a child who usually didn’t cause worry lively, cheerful, and sensible. Seeing this message, Lin Tingwan felt as if his soul had left his body.

He had never been so panicked. His heart was thumping wildly, and he drove his small electric scooter haphazardly, nearly getting grazed by a sedan.

Lin Tingwan pulled two hundred yuan from his pocket, slapped it onto the other driver’s hood, and rushed toward the kindergarten amidst the owner’s curses.

A little girl with curly hair, wearing a princess dress and having fair skin, saw him and began to sob uncontrollably: “Uncle Lin, why did you only just get here?”

Bengbeng wiped her tears, stumbling along behind Lin Tingwan as they walked into the classroom.

Lin Tingwan anxiously scanned the room for his son. When he finally found the child huddled in a teacher’s arms not at all his usual lively self, just silently weeping his eyes instantly welled up.

“Baby, Daddy is here.” Lin Tingwan’s voice was hoarse as he reached out his arms.

The little one lying weakly in the teacher’s arms heard the familiar voice. He struggled to lift his swollen eyelids and choked out a cry: “Wooo… Daddy…”

In that familiar, secure embrace, Guagua’s twitching, sobbing body finally began to calm down slowly. His small hands, however, gripped Lin Tingwan’s clothes deathly tight, trying to shrink his body as much as possible, as if trying to merge entirely into his father’s chest.

Lin Tingwan had never seen the child in such a fragile state; it felt as if a giant hand had seized his heart, causing unbearable pain.

He suppressed the sadness in his heart and turned to look at the teacher: “Teacher Xiao Liu, what happened?”

Teacher Xiao Liu explained: “We were having an activity in the park today where a male teacher plays a giant. Usually, Guagua loves this role, but today, for some reason, he burst into tears the moment he saw that male teacher and couldn’t be coaxed out of it…”

“Guagua usually likes that male teacher very much… but today… we really don’t know what happened.”

Listening to the teacher’s words, a flash of pain crossed Lin Tingwan’s eyes.

He knew why Guagua was so afraid: because Guagua had mistaken that male teacher for Kuang Ye.

The last time Kuang Ye suddenly appeared, it had given both father and son a huge fright. Guagua had cried incessantly at the time and had nightmares for several days following. As Guagua returned to normal, Lin Tingwan thought the matter had passed, but he hadn’t expected Kuang Ye to leave such a powerful lingering impact on the boy.

Lin Tingwan was filled with both guilt and self-reproach; he hadn’t even noticed Guagua’s abnormality!

“Thank you, I understand the situation. It has nothing to do with that male teacher.”

Seeing his understanding, Teacher Xiao Liu felt slightly relieved. Noticing Lin Tingwan was still wearing his work badge, she proactively said: “Once Guagua is a bit calmer, you should go back to work. We will keep a close eye on the child.”

“I’m requesting a leave for Guagua; we’ll rest at home this afternoon.” Lin Tingwan shook his head, gazing at the baby in his arms. The boy looked so pitiful; how could he bear to leave him alone at the kindergarten?

Lin Tingwan sat on a small kindergarten chair holding Guagua while making calls to the manager and Pei Shaoyu to explain the situation.

He actually particularly disliked taking leave he even had a bit of “leave shame.” Every time, he had to summon all his courage to apply to his superiors. But when it came to his son, all his fear and shame vanished.

Teacher Xiao Liu stood to the side, looking at the two pairs of “rabbit eyes” one big, one small and her heart softened. She was utterly perplexed; that male teacher was very normal, so what was it? How did it scare the child to that extent?

Lin Tingwan held his son and coaxed him for about ten minutes until Guagua’s emotions finally stabilized, though he remained extremely clingy, huddled in Lin Tingwan’s arms.

Lin Tingwan wiped the wet little face, picked up Guagua’s small backpack, and took a taxi home along with Bengbeng, who insisted on coming with them.

The meeting didn’t end until nearly six o’clock. After it adjourned, there was a follow-up business dinner. Not long after it started, Kuang Ye made an excuse, said his goodbyes, and left early.

Just after stepping out, Kuang Ye opened his phone and sent a message to a group chat, asking if anyone wanted to go boxing. The group, which usually saw messages flooding in all day long, was deathly silent today. His message felt like a stone sinking into the sea no one responded.

Kuang Ye’s already foul mood soured further.

With a dark face, he started the car.

Kuang Ye had two houses in City B. He currently lived in a double-story villa of over 300 square meters in the Dongcheng District. The other was in the Dinghai District; back when he was studying at B University, his mother had bought a small house of over 100 square meters to make his commute easier. However, he found the place too small and had never lived there.

Both houses required taking the elevated highway. Kuang Ye stepped on the gas, and by the time he realized it, he found himself inexplicably on the beltway.

From the restaurant to Lin Tingwan’s home, one indeed had to take the beltway.

Kuang Ye expressionlessly unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and rolled down the window, letting the night wind blow through his hair. After driving for about 30 minutes, the car stopped at the entrance of a somewhat aged residential compound.

The property management in this compound was practically non-existent, and visitor management was basically zero. Kuang Ye gave a random room number, and the security guard let him through.

The compound was built early and didn’t have separate pedestrian and vehicle lanes, which actually made it convenient for Kuang Ye. He drove into the compound, as familiar as if he lived there himself.

Soon, the black Mulsanne stopped steadily at the building entrance, looking like a silent, giant beast crouching in the night. He stood by the car, lit a cigarette, narrowed his eyes, and looked up to search for a familiar window.

Kuang Ye didn’t have to exert much effort to find the one he was looking for.

A glow of warm yellow light peeked through that tiny window. Kuang Ye stared at the window expressionlessly, masochistically imagining the scene of Lin Tingwan being with his wife.

What were they doing right now? Were they harmoniously teaching their son together? Or were they leaning intimately against each other on the sofa watching TV?

Just thinking of those two scenes made Kuang Ye feel as if his heart were being pricked by fine needles one by one, a fragmented pain spreading through him.

For the first twenty-some years of his life, everything had been smooth sailing, whether in academics or career; he had never stumbled. He hadn’t expected to fall so hard over Lin Tingwan a fall he still hadn’t been able to get up from.

He prided himself on having given Lin Tingwan twelve-tenths of his sincerity.

He had cared for him meticulously. Knowing his financial situation was poor and fearing he would hurt his self-esteem, he had found all sorts of ways to slip him money. He looked after his preferences and habits, planning him into his own future… He had never treated anyone with such total devotion.

Even after discovering he had been dumped, his first thought wasn’t to track the person down and give them a beating to vent his anger. Instead, he worried if something had happened to him—or if his mother had given Lin Tingwan a check to make him leave, some melodramatic plot like that.

But what was the truth? The person had simply and elegantly walked away, wanting him no more.

Kuang Ye sometimes felt he was quite pathetic.

Lin Tingwan was a bit pretty, had a slightly good temper, and a personality that suited his taste, but so what? With his status, plenty of people would be willing to throw themselves at him without him spending a cent. He could sleep with a different one every day for 365 days without repeating.

But he didn’t want to sleep with any of them; he only wanted this one. He had thought about him for over four years, unable to forget. Even now, knowing Lin Tingwan was married with a child, he still thought about him.

Even more tragically, he had a hundred ways to make a person’s family break apart to get what he wanted. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Kuang Ye felt his heart swelling with a sour ache, as if it would explode the next second. Irritably, he threw his cigarette on the ground, crushed the butt with his foot, slammed the car door, and charged out.

Kuang Ye stepped into the elevator. In the corner of the elevator stood a woman with delicate features, dressed cleanly and neatly.

On the elevator’s digital panel, the number “8” glowed with a faint red light. Kuang Ye glanced at her; the woman was also looking up at him. Seeing his cold eyes, she lowered her gaze and silently pressed herself against the elevator wall.

The elevator, which had been in use for over ten years, swayed and rattled as it ran, making a rumbling noise. Kuang Ye stood without saying a word, as silent as a statue. The volcanic emotions surging in his chest cooled down slowly upon seeing the woman.

The elevator reached the eighth floor. The woman walked out directly, instinctively looking back at Kuang Ye, who remained motionless in the elevator.

This compound was quite old, and under the dim yellow light, Kuang Ye’s handsome face looked increasingly somber.

The woman was startled and quickly turned her head. She walked to the door of 802, hammered on it hard, and said loudly: “Tingwan, it’s me, I’m back!”

As she spoke, she looked back toward the elevator again. With a “creak,” the door was pulled open from the inside. Lin Tingwan’s delicate face appeared behind the door.

Feng Xueqing’s attention remained on the elevator behind her. She heard the sound of the elevator doors closing, but didn’t hear the man’s footsteps. She let out a sigh of relief with lingering fear.

“Sister Xueqing,” Lin Tingwan opened the door.

“Mama—” Bengbeng, who was focusing on playing with toys with Guagua inside, heard the noise. She scrambled up from the living room floor and threw herself into the woman’s arms, calling “Mama” with a brilliant smile.

“Good girl,” Feng Xueqing stroked her daughter’s fair face, soft as tofu. “Did you miss Mama?”

“Yes!”

Feng Xueqing gave a smile, then looked at Lin Tingwan again, saying with some concern: “Tingwan, you really should take Guagua and move to a different compound. I just ran into a weirdo in the elevator who didn’t press a floor button. He was handsome enough, but his expression was terrifying. My back is almost wet with sweat.”

Old compounds were like that—a mixed bag of people.

Lin Tingwan gave a grateful smile: “I’ve already picked out a place at Luhu. The environment there is quite good.”

“Luhu? That’s a nice place. It’s close to our home too. Bengbeng and Guagua will be able to play together often in the future.”

Lin Tingwan didn’t take the little episode to heart. He closed the door casually and smiled in agreement.

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