Because Aunt Zhang’s voice was booming, Lu Mingzhe knew that Niannian was crying at home even through the phone. He instantly grabbed Xiang Wan’s hand.
“I’ll go with you!”
Neither of them had driven. They ran downstairs hand in hand. Although they immediately got into a taxi, it still took them half an hour to get back to Xiang Wan’s residential complex.
Lu Mingzhe gave the driver two hundred yuan and told him to wait downstairs. The two of them sprinted upstairs.
After running just two flights of stairs, they heard Niannian’s heart-wrenching cries in the corridor.
Xiang Wan was worried and nervous. Her hands trembled as she fumbled for her keys, and she tossed her bag directly to Lu Mingzhe.
“You go up and open the door first.”
Lu Mingzhe rushed upstairs. Aunt Zhang was anxiously pacing outside the door.
Without further ado, he opened the door and charged in decisively.
He hadn’t taken two steps before he saw his grandmother who had fainted on the floor, and Niannian, sitting on the floor, crying so hard that sweat was pouring off her, her throat hoarse, snot and tears streaming down her neck, looking almost like a different person.
She was so small, yet she had suddenly encountered such a terrifying event. He didn’t know if she had been injured from falling. The moment he saw her, Lu Mingzhe’s heart ached and trembled.
With a thud, he dropped to the floor and scooped Niannian into his arms.
With trembling voice and hands, he held her tightly.
“Baby, don’t cry. Baby, don’t be scared. Daddy’s here.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy came late. I’m sorry, baby.”
Although they had only met once, Niannian seemed to remember him.
Being held in his arms like this, she quickly calmed down.
Her small hands clutched his shirt tightly, her face pressed against his chin, her sobs intermittent.
After a few seconds, Lu Mingzhe used his shirt sleeve to wipe her face.
As he wiped, he continued to apologize to her.
“I’m sorry, Daddy came late, I’m sorry, baby.”
The situation had been urgent, so Aunt Zhang hadn’t had time to ask who this stranger was before he rushed into the house.
Now, she saw that Niannian really had a father!
Before, the neighborhood aunties often discussed Niannian’s background behind their backs when they brought their children out.
Most of them guessed that Xiang Wan was divorced, or that Niannian was illegitimate.
After all, Xiang Wan was too beautiful, and usually busy with work…
Grandma Xiang had explained to them that Niannian had a father, but he worked out of town and didn’t come back often.
They, however, had assumed she was lying to save face for her granddaughter, and hadn’t expected it to be true.
Not only did Niannian have a father, but he was also such a young and handsome man, a perfect match for Xiang Wan!
Aunt Zhang was silently appraising Lu Mingzhe when Xiang Wan ran up, out of breath.
Seeing her grandmother lying on the floor and Niannian still sobbing in Lu Mingzhe’s arms, her legs went weak, and she also dropped to her knees with a thud.
“Grandma. What happened, Grandma? Wake up! Are you okay?”
Lu Mingzhe turned back and handed Niannian to her.
“Take the child downstairs. I’ll carry Grandma to the hospital, quickly!”
Although Grandma was also a meter sixty tall, she weighed only a little over seventy pounds, feeling as light as a feather when held.
Lu Mingzhe carried her, took two quick steps, and was soon at the taxi.
However, the driver refused to open the door.
“Sorry, our car doesn’t take emergency patients. It’s bad luck. What if something happens…”
“I didn’t explain clearly just now. I’ll return the money, find someone else.”
Before Lu Mingzhe could argue with him, the driver tossed the money out the car window and sped away.
By the time Xiang Wan, holding Niannian, chased after him, he was already hailing a taxi by the roadside.
The weather had turned sunny. The temperature in Hangzhou in mid-May had risen sharply. Both of them were tense, and Lu Mingzhe was sweating profusely on his back.
The neatly ironed white shirt clung to his broad back, and the muscles in his arms, holding his grandmother, bulged, making him look exceptionally manly at this moment.
At this moment, Xiang Wan had to admit that sometimes in life, a man was indeed indispensable.
There seemed to be an unwritten rule in Hangzhou that carrying an emergency patient was bad for business. So, he waited by the roadside for several minutes. Although taxis kept passing by, none stopped.
It was already significantly delayed, and any further delay would be disastrous!
Lu Mingzhe was anxious. He gritted his teeth. Seeing another taxi speeding towards them but showing no intention of stopping, he stepped out with his grandmother, blocking the middle of the road.
Curses were accompanied by the screech of brakes, and the car finally stopped.
“Are you trying to die? Don’t you want to live…”
“To the nearest hospital, I’ll give you a thousand yuan!”
The driver finally shut up. Under Lu Mingzhe’s urging, he sped all the way to the hospital.
He carried his grandmother into the emergency room and finally handed her over to the doctor.
The doctor started resuscitating Grandma and also ordered a full body examination. They needed to complete the hospitalization procedures and pay the fees.
After the patient was taken in, the nurse asked them to handle the paperwork.
Lu Mingzhe listened attentively, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Got it. Give me Grandma’s ID card, I’ll go now.”
Seeing that he was sweating profusely and his face was very tense, Xiang Wan felt a little guilty.
But she still had a little one in her arms at the moment, so she could only let him run errands.
She rummaged through her bag for the documents. It was inconvenient with one hand, so Lu Mingzhe took Niannian with his free arm.
The little one had stopped sobbing. Xiang Wan had wiped her face clean in the car, and changed her into a clean onesie.
She now looked like a perfectly carved jade figurine again. Lu Mingzhe couldn’t help but kiss her cheek and nuzzle her face with his nose.
“You were scared, weren’t you? I’m sorry, baby. Daddy won’t let this happen again.”
Niannian giggled as he nuzzled her, finding it ticklish.
Her little hands grabbed his ear, and she mumbled, “Abba~ Abba~”
She actually remembered that pronunciation!
Xiang Wan found the ID card, took Niannian back, and handed it to Lu Mingzhe.
“We’ll wait here. You don’t have to rush. You can take your time. Thank you for your trouble.”
Lu Mingzhe took the ID card with one hand and handed Niannian back with the other.
As a result, Niannian’s hands gripped his ears and refused to let go, mumbling reluctantly, as if she didn’t want to part with him.
Xiang Wan couldn’t stand seeing her cling to Lu Mingzhe so excessively every time.
“Niannian, come here, Mommy will hold you. He has things to do, and he’ll come back later.”
Niannian didn’t listen.
She squirmed, like an eel, evading Xiang Wan’s grasp. Her small arms wrapped around Lu Mingzhe’s neck.
She even anxiously called out “Abba, Abba,” as if the moment she let go, Lu Mingzhe would never return.
This child was truly heartbreaking.
She had accompanied him day and night, and yet her mother had decided she didn’t want him anymore.
A father she had only met once, and now she was so close to him at their second meeting.
Xiang Wan couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.
“Alright, stop acting spoiled, come here quickly. Why is this child so unreasonable?”
With a wail, Niannian buried her face in Lu Mingzhe’s neck and started crying.
Looking at his wronged and pitiful daughter, and then at Xiang Wan, whose complexion was a little off due to nervousness and worry,
Lu Mingzhe patted the little one, then patted the bigger one.