Raising Kids C38

Chapter 38: PUA Man, Stay Away from My Daughter (5)…

While talking to the foreign branch manager on the phone, Xie Hui heard strange cries from behind. He turned around to take a look and then closed the balcony door.

At this age, children are extremely curious. Compared to Xie Lang, who just leaned in and got his ear grabbed, An’an was actually being merciful. Most of the time, she went straight for people’s hair.

When Xie Hui finished his call and turned around, he was surprised to find Xie Lang still standing by the crib, his ear still being held by little An’an. Seeing Xie Hui open the balcony door, Xie Lang looked at him with deep resentment.

“Bro, help me, wuwu…”

“Didn’t she let go just now?”

Xie Hui walked over and picked up An’an, coaxing her to release her grip.

Seeing the little one behave so sweetly and adorably in his brother’s arms—especially when she grinned—Xie Lang felt a surge of jealousy.

But the next second, he caught sight of her mouth, and his body stiffened. He quickly leaned in and stared at An’an intently.

An’an, who had been grinning happily, immediately shut her mouth as he got close. Her chubby little hands clenched into fists and waved in the air.

“Does it not hurt anymore?”

Xie Hui held An’an’s tiny hand in his palm and shot Xie Lang a glance.

Hearing this, Xie Lang became a little more reserved.

Earlier, An’an had indeed let go of his ear after a short while, but Xie Lang wasn’t convinced. He leaned in again, wanting to test if her grabbing his ear was just an accident.

Unexpectedly, this time, once she grabbed hold, she refused to let go.

“Bro, I think I just saw a tiny bit of white coming through in her mouth—her teeth might be coming in?”

Hearing this, Xie Hui started teasing An’an to make her laugh. When she grinned, he closely observed her mouth.

Sure enough, a tiny bit of white was peeking through where her teeth should be.

“No wonder An’an has been biting everything lately.”

Especially her own hands—Zhang Jie could barely turn around before An’an would stick them in her mouth.

“Bro, hold on. I’ll go buy some teething biscuits.”

Xie Lang shot up so fast that Xie Hui didn’t even have time to stop him. Walking to the window, he saw Xie Lang already driving away from the villa.

Actually, the nanny had already prepared teething biscuits and stored them in the cabinet.

According to the nanny, babies at this stage are teething, which makes their gums itch.

Recently, Zhang Jie had been diligently disinfecting An’an’s toys, but no matter what she held in her hands, she would always want to put it in her mouth. Because of this, Xie Hui had stopped playing the finger-grabbing game with her.

Fueled by impulse, Xie Lang rushed to the mall, entered a baby store, and was led to the teething biscuit section by a sales clerk. If not for his last shred of rationality, he might have cleared out the entire shelf.

He bought two boxes of every suitable option. After checking out and just stepping out of the store, a woman suddenly walked up and slapped him across the face.

“Xie Lang, is this what you meant by ‘going home’?”

The unexpected slap left Xie Lang completely stunned.

Even though the person in front of him was his girlfriend, he couldn’t accept being slapped in public like this.

“Are you really busy with work, or are you cheating on me with another woman? You even have a child now?”

A vein on Xie Lang’s forehead twitched. His gaze darkened as he stared at her. After a long pause, he finally squeezed out a simple response:

“Let’s break up.”

Before she could react, he turned and left. As he got into his car, the right side of his face was still stinging.

Even his older brother had never laid a hand on him before. The anger in Xie Lang’s heart had yet to subside.

When he got home, Xie Hui immediately noticed the obvious handprint on his brother’s face.

“What happened?”

Xie Lang lowered his head, tore open a box of teething biscuits, and handed one to An’an. For once, the little one smiled at him.

Hearing his brother’s question and recalling what had happened at the mall, Xie Lang suddenly felt a surge of irritation.

“Bro, I just got dumped.”

He wasn’t actually feeling heartbroken—more than anything, he was just fuming about getting slapped.

Xie Hui’s gaze flickered slightly. Ever since he entered this world, he had been too busy dealing with his little ancestor to think about anything else.

But hearing Xie Lang’s words now, he finally remembered the storyline of this world.

In this world, the plot revolved around a forty-year-old man who picked up a heartbroken, drunk young woman at a bar—a fresh college graduate. The rest of the story was filled with sweet moments and dramatic face-slapping.

And Xie Lang? In the original plot, he was the ex-boyfriend the female lead dumped and humiliated.

After graduating, he frequently disappeared for long periods, and the female lead once even caught him shopping at a baby store. When she angrily confronted him, all he coldly said was, “Let’s break up.”

Originally, the previous host of Xie Hui’s body had resented his daughter after his wife passed away, so his younger brother often came over to take care of his niece—leading to this massive misunderstanding.

“Huh? Weren’t you just out buying teething biscuits for An’an? How did that turn into a breakup?”

Xie Lang scooped up his little niece into his arms and sighed before finally complaining.

The little one was now happily gnawing on her teething biscuit. She adapted well to being held by someone else, not crying as she used to. She even gave Xie Lang a bright smile.

“I really can’t take it anymore. Why does dating feel like being in prison? I was just buying biscuits for An’an, and as soon as I stepped out of the store, my ex slapped me across the face! This is the first time I’ve ever been hit in my life!”

The more Xie Lang thought about it, the angrier he got. But before he could say more, he noticed the amusement in his brother’s eyes.

Then, Xie Hui pointed at the little one in Xie Lang’s arms.

“And what about the countless times An’an has hit you?”

She had tugged his ears, pulled his hair, and even grabbed his nose. But when An’an was still weak, Xie Lang had just assumed she was playing with him.

“An’an doesn’t count.”

If his brother hadn’t pointed it out, Xie Lang wouldn’t have even remembered..

Even though An’an yanked his ears every day, making him howl in pain, in Xie Lang’s mind, it still didn’t compare to the humiliation of the slap from his ex-girlfriend.

“You’ve thought it through? You really want to break up?”

Xie Hui knew very well that the Children of Heaven were naturally drawn to each other, so he only asked for the sake of asking.

In the original plot, Xie Lang was just the ex-boyfriend—a tool for the male lead to occasionally feel jealous and misunderstandings to arise. Even just existing and breathing was enough to be a reason.

“I’ve thought it through, bro. You have no idea how outrageous she is.”

Xie Lang had never vented about it to his friends before, mainly because some of his friends overlapped with Jin Lu’s, and he didn’t want things to be awkward for either of them.

But in front of his brother, he didn’t have that concern. He let everything he’d been holding in spill out at once.

“Back when I first started working, she went through my phone behind my back and messaged my department manager, telling him I had a girlfriend and that I loved her very much.”

“Then she deleted the manager behind my back. I honestly suspect that my manager must’ve cursed me out as a lunatic.”

Xie Hui didn’t like to judge other people’s relationships, but just hearing this made him feel it was absurd.

As they spoke, Xie Lang’s phone chimed. He placed his little niece back on the bed.

As soon as he put her down, An’an started babbling loudly again. Xie Hui picked her up and sat her on his lap, and she quieted down.

Since they were at home, Xie Lang directly played the voice message.

“Xie Lang, how can you break up with me so self-righteously after betraying me? Don’t you think you’re being too cruel?!”

Before the voice message even finished playing, Xie Lang simply blocked her. Then, turning his head, he met the synchronized gazes of his older brother and little niece.

Leaning back against the sofa, he rubbed his temples.

“Bro, you see? She’s still saying I’m in the wrong. She slapped me in a crowded mall, and she doesn’t think she’s in the wrong?”

The main reason Xie Lang had no interest in getting back together was that he simply couldn’t be bothered to explain anything to Jin Lu. Blocking her felt like shedding a heavy burden, and he let out a deep sigh of relief.

Different perspectives lead to different views, so Xie Hui couldn’t judge who was right or wrong.

In the original story, the male lead had a successful career and plenty of free time. No matter how spoiled or temperamental the female lead was, he had time to coax her, to indulge her whims, to plan romantic surprises.

A mature man could better tolerate the female lead’s little tantrums.

But someone like Xie Lang, who had just graduated and was only starting out in his career, needed a partner who could understand how busy and exhausting his work was.

Relationships rarely have clear-cut right or wrong—at the end of the day, it just comes down to whether you’re a good match or not.

“By the way, bro, I heard Mom and Dad are coming back to get divorced?”

Xie Hui had heard about it too and nodded lightly.

“Yeah. Apparently, Dad has found his true love.”

Hearing that, Xie Lang got full-body chills. His dad was deep in his middle-aged greasy phase, and last time they video-called, he had been giddy talking about how he had found someone who truly made his heart race. Just thinking about it made Xie Lang’s toes curl in secondhand embarrassment.

With another topic to distract him, Xie Lang quickly put his breakup out of his mind and focused on playing with his little niece. Watching her gnaw on a teething biscuit, drooling everywhere, he wrinkled his nose in mock disgust while gently wiping her drool away.

Now that An’an was older, she wasn’t as easy to fool anymore. At dinner, she refused to let the nanny hold her and insisted on staying in Xie Lang’s arms.

Being her favorite person for once, Xie Lang didn’t mind that his food got cold—he was just happy.

After dinner, worried that An’an would fall asleep too early, the two brothers took her for a walk in the courtyard. Xie Lang brought up the topic from the afternoon again.

“Bro, I’ve thought it through. I’m still young, and work keeps me busy. I really couldn’t give her the emotional support and companionship she needed. I can’t put all the blame on Jin Lu for the breakup.”

Right after he said that, An’an babbled as if agreeing with him.

“So yeah, I just need to work harder.”

Xie Hui wasn’t sure why he jumped topics so quickly, but seeing how serious he was about focusing on his job, he nodded lightly and agreed, “Yeah, waiting until you’re more mature to deal with this is a good idea.”

“Yiyaya, ahya~”

An’an waved her tiny hands in the air as if trying to catch the setting sun.

Watching this, Xie Lang couldn’t help but smile. The gloom from his breakup completely disappeared.

—

#Footnotes:

—A teething biscuit is a hard, dry biscuit designed for babies who are teething. It helps soothe their gums and provides a safe way for them to practice chewing. These biscuits are usually made to dissolve easily in the mouth, reducing the risk of choking.