Xu An'an got stuck even before she started writing. Pouting, she put the pen on the paper and craned her neck to see how Xu Yiyi was writing.
"Dear aunts, it's my fault in this matter. Please don't scold Mom..."
"Who are the aunts?" Xu An'an asked in confusion.
"The aunts are my fans," Xu Yiyi explained seriously.
"Every time my fans comment on my posts, they say they're my aunts. It must be right to apologize like this."
"But there are also male fans..."
"Oh, right." Xu Yiyi then added "uncles" after "aunts". "Dear aunts and uncles. Is this okay?"
"Okay," Xu An'an nodded in satisfaction. "I'll write like this too."
In the hospital, the lights in the ward were blindingly white. It was already dark outside.
Lu Chuanbai walked into the ward with the chicken soup and meals he bought outside and propped up the small table on the hospital bed.
Lu Chuanbai called out to Xu Qingqing, who was still lying in bed scrolling through her phone. "Get up and have dinner. Keeping the phone too close is bad for your eyes."
"You're getting as naggy as my mom," Xu Qingqing grumbled as she sat up and showed Lu Chuanbai the skeptical comments on her phone.
"You left during my speech to deal with this matter?"
Although Xu Qingqing had seen a lot of relevant comments, most of the foul - mouthed ones had been deleted by Lu Chuanbai's people.
"These netizens are really scrutinizing the show with a magnifying glass. They even noticed that An'an almost let the cat out of the bag," Xu Qingqing was a bit worried that it would affect Xu Yiyi's future acting activities.
After all, Xu Yiyi really liked performing.
"You don't need to worry about this. Just focus on recuperating. I'll handle it properly," Lu Chuanbai said as he handed the soup spoon in his hand to Xu Qingqing and served a bowl of chicken soup, pushing it in front of her.
"Thank you." While drinking the soup, Xu Qingqing continued to look at her phone and received photos sent by Xu Yiyi and Xu An'an.
When she opened them, she found handwritten apology letters from the two little ones.
"Dear aunts and uncles, it was my idea to let Uncle Lu pretend to be my dad on the variety show because I didn't want everyone to know that I don't have a dad.
Here, I apologize to the audience I've deceived. If you're still not satisfied, just scold me, but please don't scold my mom. She has nothing to do with this."
Looking at the childish handwriting and the words that showed their protection for her, Xu Qingqing felt extremely heart - aching.
Her two little angels were so sensible. They would rather be scolded themselves than implicate her.
Seeing Xu Qingqing's face turn solemn, Lu Chuanbai frowned worriedly, thinking that her wound was hurting again.
"What's wrong? Is your wound hurting again? I'll go find the doctor."
"No need." Xu Qingqing quickly stopped him and zoomed in on the apology letter on her phone for Lu Chuanbai to see.
"Look."
Lu Chuanbai leaned over and saw the kids' apology letter. In the letter, they denied that he was their dad, and an indescribable sense of sadness welled up in his heart.
Lu Chuanbai closed the phone with emotion. He put one hand on the white iron railing of the head of the bed and the other around Xu Qingqing's waist, trapping her in his arms.
His eyes were filled with helplessness and pity. "Qingqing, don't you think we should tell the kids the truth?"
"You don't want them to think they don't have a dad, do you? If this apology letter is published, there will definitely be extreme viewers who will use the most vicious words to attack the innocent kids. You don't want to see them being scolded, do you?"
Xu Qingqing blushed under Lu Chuanbai's burning gaze and lowered her eyes.
If it were in the past, she would definitely have firmly refused Lu Chuanbai and taken this matter on alone.
But this situation was different. While scolding her, those netizens would also scold the kids, and she couldn't accept that.
Xu Qingqing's gaze fell on Lu Chuanbai's big hand on her waist again. The fingers without nails were wrapped in thick gauze. It would be a long time before the nails grew back.
For various reasons, Xu Qingqing hesitated. Lu Chuanbai had risked his life to save her many times.
Every time, he had been resolute. In the process, Xu Qingqing could see that Lu Chuanbai was truly sincere to her.
He also really wanted to be a good father to the kids.
Xu Qingqing pursed her lips slightly and nodded gently, indicating her agreement.
"Okay, then let's tell the kids about this."
Xu Yiyi and Xu An'an were waiting for Xu Qingqing to reply whether their apology letter was acceptable.
Xu An'an was lying on the window, looking at the pitch - black sky and the swaying tree shadows. The little girl was picking at her fingers.
Xu An'an counted on her fingers. "Mom hasn't been home for three days. It's getting dark again today. She won't come back, will she..."
"I miss Mom so much!" Xu An'an tugged at the loose hair on one side of her braid.
"Grandma can only braid my hair. Mom can make beautiful little braids for me."
"An'an, Mom is busy with the job she loves. We should support her," Xu Yiyi pulled Xu An'an away from the window so that she wouldn't think about those things.
"An'an is very beautiful even with braids."
"Really..." Although Xu An'an pouted, she still nodded.
"We haven't seen Uncle Lu these days either. Wangcai is locked up at his home, and we can't play with Wangcai."
"If only Uncle Lu were our dad."
"That's not going to happen," Xu Yiyi re - braided the loose braid on his sister's head.
"Didn't we do a paternity test? Uncle Lu isn't our dad."
Dinglingling...
The phone watch in Xu Yiyi's toy box rang. Xu Yiyi asked his sister to hold the end of the braid he had just made, planning to tie a rubber band after answering the call.
"Hello, Mom."
Seeing that it was his mother calling, although Xu Yiyi had told his sister not to miss Mom, he actually missed Xu Qingqing very much.
Xu Yiyi cheered excitedly. "Mom, are you at work?"
"I want to talk to Mom too." As soon as Xu An'an heard it was Xu Qingqing calling, she quickly squeezed over. Her hand loosened, and the braid came undone again.
"Mom, An'an misses you so much! When will you come back?"
Hearing the kids say they missed her, Xu Qingqing was both happy and self - reproachful.
It was her dereliction of duty to let the two kids under five years old be away from their mom for so long.
"An'an, Mom can come back tomorrow," Xu Qingqing promised them with a smile.
Sitting diagonally across from Xu Qingqing, Lu Chuanbai paused the hand holding the soup spoon when he heard Xu Qingqing say that and looked at her unhappily.
Her wound wasn't healed yet, and she needed to rest for a few more days.
Lu Chuanbai pulled Xu Qingqing's palm with his other hand to remind her to take care of her body.
Xu Qingqing covered the mouthpiece and made a pleading gesture to Lu Chuanbai. "I can rest at home. The kids miss me so much!"