Chapter 45: A Daughter is a Little Padded Jacket
Her eldest cousin walked over and helped Ling Anxun to the main seat in the center.
Her grandfather sat to his right and her grandmother to his left, the three of them seated in a row.
An uncle took Shanshan by her small hand and led her step by step to stand before the three of them.
A small porcelain cup was pressed into her hand.
"Shanshan."
Her grandfather leaned down, his voice exceptionally gentle.
"From now on, you’re a child of the Ling family. Uncle Ling is now your father. Are you... happy?"
The little girl nodded vigorously, her voice clear and bright.
"I am!"
’There was still a lot she didn’t quite understand.’
’For example, she didn’t know what a family register was, or what it meant to be formally accepted into the family.’
’But Zhang Yunhua had already explained the adoption to her several times.’
’She knew that from this day forward, she was no longer a child who was all alone.’
’She had a home, grandparents, and a father.’
Without the slightest hesitation, she stood on her tiptoes and held the cup of warm tea up before Ling Anxun.
"Father, please have some tea."
That single word—"Father"—was so sudden, so real.
Ling Anxun’s body went rigid, and he froze on the spot.
But he was no ordinary man. After just a moment’s daze, he quickly composed himself.
He reached out with a slender hand and took the small porcelain cup.
Then he tipped his head back and drank the tea in one go, draining the cup completely.
The whole family watched on.
Her grandfather gave a slight nod, a flicker of satisfaction in his eyes.
Her grandmother was already covering her mouth, laughing so hard that tears welled in the corners of her eyes.
Her cousins, sitting off to the side, were all trying to stifle their laughter.
This was especially true for the two brothers, Ling Zhiyu and Ling Zhiwei.
They nudged each other’s shoulders, their faces flushing red from the effort of holding back their laughter.
After presenting tea to her father, Shanshan was guided to do the same for her grandmother and grandfather.
She bowed respectfully, saying in her sweet, childish voice, "Grandfather, please have some tea," and, "Grandmother, please have some tea."
With each phrase, the elderly couple grinned so wide they couldn’t close their mouths.
They eagerly took the teacups for a sip before quickly pressing a thick red envelope into her hands.
After the tea ceremony, Shanshan picked up a fresh cup of tea, her little face serious, and turned to look at Ling Anxun.
"Father, what about Mother? Why isn’t she here to drink my tea? I prepared tea for her, too."
The warm atmosphere in the room was instantly broken by silence, which was then shattered by an eruption of laughter.
"HAHAHA!"
Ding Qin reached out and gently pinched Shanshan’s little cheek.
"Silly child, you don’t have a mother yet! Your father here is so busy with work he doesn’t even have a girlfriend. Why don’t you give him a little push? Tell him to hurry up and find you a new mother, then you’ll have someone to drink your tea, right?"
Her words were met with another ripple of soft laughter from around the room.
Ling Anxun had never had any interest in marriage.
He frowned and quickly changed the subject.
"Let’s eat. The food is getting cold."
Seeing that her son was clearly displeased, Ding Qin knew better than to press the issue.
She let it drop and started making small talk with the person next to her.
Later, the topic somehow shifted to changing Shanshan’s name.
Someone brought it up.
"Her name should be changed, too. Now that she’s part of the Ling family, ’Ling Shan’ would sound lovely."
Ling Anxun’s expression didn’t change upon hearing this.
"Just change her last name. The rest can stay."
Ding Qin and her husband exchanged a look, a hint of resignation in their eyes.
’His attitude seemed far too dismissive.’
But Shanshan sided with her father, giving a little wave of her hand.
"Just my last name is fine. I don’t mind. What my name is doesn’t matter, as long as I get to be with my father."
Her grandparents couldn’t argue with that, so they could only nod in agreement.
But seeing how attached the child was to Ling Anxun...
She insisted on holding his hand when they walked and sitting next to him during meals.
She wasn’t the least bit afraid of his stone-cold expression; on the contrary, she was always giggling as she tried to snuggle into his arms.
The whole family couldn’t help but mutter amongst themselves.
Ling Zhiwei, being the boldest of the bunch, couldn’t resist leaning in to ask.
"Shanshan, your father walks around with a stern look on his face all day, like a statue in a temple. How come you’re not scared of him at all?"
"Scared? Why would I be?"
Shanshan tilted her head, her big eyes blinking as she gazed at him.
"My father is super handsome, you know? Look how bright his eyes are and how straight his nose is. He’s even better looking than those celebrities on TV!"
She began to seriously count off her father’s good points on her fingers.
Ling Zhiwei was momentarily speechless.
"You don’t get it. Your dad used to be terrifying!"
He decided to spill all the beans on Ling Anxun.
"He used to scold people all day with that stone-cold face. What he said was law, and his temper was like a thunderstorm! Besides your grandparents, everyone in the family trembled in his presence! Even the dogs would tuck their tails between their legs and run away from him!"
But Shanshan wouldn’t have it.
Her little face grew stern and she puffed out her cheeks. Tiptoeing, she planted a loud SMACK of a kiss on Ling Anxun’s cheek.
The air seemed to freeze for a moment. Everyone was stunned.
Even Ling Anxun himself was dumbfounded.
He stood frozen in place, his gaze slightly unfocused as his Adam’s apple bobbed.
"Don’t be sad, Father. You’re not scary at all."
She wrapped her arms around his neck, her soft little body pressed against his chest.
"I like you the most, Father! Anyone who says you’re scary is a big meanie!"
The living room erupted with laughter.
Ling Anxun’s ears burned as his fingertips unconsciously drifted to the cheek she had just kissed.
He suddenly understood what his sisters-in-law meant when they always said a daughter was a father’s ’little padded jacket’.
’It was absolutely true.’
Shanshan officially moved into the Ling family’s ancestral home.
She spent her days eating and drinking, with no chores to do whatsoever.
She ate the snacks the maids brought, flipped through the books they provided, and rolled around on the soft daybed whenever she felt sleepy.
Even the lessons Ling Anxun scheduled for her were repeatedly postponed by her grandmother, who would wave her hand dismissively and say,
"What’s the rush? Let her get used to life here first. Don’t just pile on the schoolwork right away; it’s not good for her."
Ling Anxun watched his daughter chase butterflies and feed the goldfish in the courtyard, her laughter echoing throughout the garden.
He had wanted to insist on strict discipline, but faced with the child’s carefree little face, his heart ultimately softened.
He had no choice but to put her studies on hold for the time being and let her run wild and play.
The Ling family’s ancestral home was as vast as a labyrinth.
It had winding corridors, rows of adjoining rooms, and artfully placed rockeries and ponds.
Shanshan was utterly captivated by the place, dashing all over it every day.
When asked what she was doing, she would just blink and say mysteriously,
"I’m looking for treasure! Maybe there’s a chest of gold hidden in the old mansion, left by our ancestors! Or an heirloom sword! Or at the very least, a treasure map!"
One afternoon, she was gone for two or three hours and hadn’t returned.
The maids called out for the "Young Miss" all over, but got no response.
The kitchen staff said she hadn’t come by to sneak any snacks.
They had searched the entire back garden, even around the pond.
Panic began to well up in Ling Anxun, and his expression turned cold.
Just as he was about to go search for her himself, a commotion arose at the entrance.
Ling Zhiyu and the others were back.
The car had just pulled to a stop and a door opened when a clear voice rang out.
"Brothers! You’re back!"
Shanshan came tumbling out of the flowerbeds in the front yard, the hem of her dress stained with mud and her cheeks smudged with dirt.
"Eldest Brother!"
The moment she saw Ling Zhiyu, she spread her arms and started running lightly toward him.
But just as everyone expected her to pounce on the eldest, she veered off and rushed into Ling Zhiyan’s arms instead.
"Hello, Second Brother, Third Brother, and Fourth Brother!"
She tilted her little face up, her smile radiant.
She hadn’t missed a single one of the remaining three brothers, greeting them all.
The corner of Ling Zhiyu’s eye twitched, and he deliberately put on a stern face.
"Shanshan, don’t you want your Eldest Brother anymore? Or are you saying you don’t think your Eldest Brother spoils you enough?"