Chapter 386: A Secret Base
"So you have come. Come here and sit. Lian has grown bigger again."
"Yes. She has been helping with many things lately as well, which has been a great help to me."
Qiong Xing still remembered the moment she was born.
That tiny hand that had grasped his finger was still small compared to an adult’s, but now she had grown and could firmly cling to him.
Compared to Rui and the others, she might have been slower, but he felt joy seeing his child growing steadily and healthily.
"I am very happy that she is growing up healthy."
As he gently stroked her back, Lian finally lifted her face, which had been lowered.
"Can you greet him?"
He did not intend to force her.
If she did not want to, that would be fine.
He only wanted to ask.
After a brief hesitation, she surprisingly nodded and greeted Mr. Paulo in a small voice.
Qiong Xing hugged her and praised her for doing well, and she smiled happily as usual.
"I also apologize for surprising you before. The cookies Lian made were very delicious."
"...I made them with Mama."
"I see, I see. I am truly fortunate to have received something so delicious."
Although the conversation was still somewhat awkward, it was already an improvement compared to before.
Mr. Paulo also seemed to treat this as a final opportunity and spoke gently to Lian.
Qiong Xing himself thought that even if the two of them did not reconcile, it would not be a problem, so he had been prepared to leave it be if it did not work out this time.
"Actually, I came today not only because of Lian, but also to ask you for a favor."
"What is it?"
The request itself surprised Mr. Paulo, since Qiong Xing had rarely ever asked anything of him.
But even so, the elder smiled and nodded, saying that he would listen to anything.
For that, Qiong Xing felt grateful.
"Actually, we are going to have another child."
"......You truly do not know the meaning of settling down, do you?"
Although he said it with exasperation, he still smiled and offered his congratulations.
Qiong Xing also very much wished to settle down, but he could not stop his eager mates, and since he was not opposed to their family growing, he did not actively try to stop it either.
"Sarin and the others said something similar. They also told me to bring the baby to show them as soon as it is born."
Before contacting Mr. Paulo, he had already informed Katarina and the others of the pregnancy, and they had responded by saying, "Just how hard are you planning to work yourself?"
But immediately after that, they had insisted he not overexert himself, to ask for help whenever needed, and to definitely bring the baby to see them once it was born.
"Those guys...! How unfair, they get to see the baby first! Bring them here to me as well!"
Well, birds of a feather flock together, as they say.
The three of them always argued whenever they met, yet perhaps they were not so different in what they valued.
"Is Grandpa angry?"
"No. He is happy and congratulating Mama for having a baby."
Qiong Xing explained this to Lian with a slightly forced smile, worried that things would become too noisy otherwise.
...
"Do Rui and Yue prefer playing outside or inside the house?"
"Outside!"
With that one answer, the decision was made.
When Qiong Xing brought the two of them to Joa, he said to him that he wanted to build a room for them.
"Alright. Where should it be? Next to Cari’s room, maybe..."
"No. Let’s build it in the trees."
"...Huh?"
Joa looked at him as if he had no idea what he was talking about, but Qiong Xing ignored it and led him into the garden, pointing at a suitable tree.
"I want to build a small house up there for Rui and Yue."
"...Haah."
Joa sighed as if yet another strange idea had been proposed, while the twins beside them were already excited and cheering.
It was not meant to be a full-fledged house, just something big enough for two children to lie down and play inside.
It was the kind of treehouse-style secret base that anyone would have dreamed of at least once, and Qiong Xing had always wanted to build something like that for the children.
"It can be inside the house too, but these two do not usually stay quiet when playing indoors. So I thought they might be happier on a tree they often play around."
"So that is what you were thinking. I understand how you feel, but is there really a need to go that far? Giving them a room is still too early—"
"Nooo! We want it! We want it, we want it, we want it!"
Panicking at the thought of losing their secret base, the two children clung tightly to Joa’s legs and begged him to build it for them.
Finding it amusing, Qiong Xing quietly watched the situation unfold, and in the end, the twins’ adorable pleading won, and the construction was decided.
"Tch. I do not mind building it, but I do not know how to build something like that."
"I do not think you need to overthink it. Just like building a birdhouse on a tree, I only need to install a small hut on top of it that is just barely big enough for me to fit inside."
"Hold on, that is not what we agreed on. What do you mean, big enough for you to fit inside?"
Tch.
Qiong Xing had casually tried to include himself, but Joa did not let it slip past him.
"You can build it, but do not even think about climbing up there, Qiong Xing. You two as well, if Mama tries to climb, stop him, got it?"
"Got it!"
Hey, hey, hey. That is not "got it."
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