Work Text:
“I don’t like you anymore.” He Rixian huffs, shoving at Hua Cheng’s shoulder and then patting it instantly in consolation. “Take me to the swing.”
“Nope.” Hua Cheng grins, crouching in front of a pouting child. “I only take nice girls to the swings. And you’ve been bad.”
“You’ve been bad! I saw you smoking a cigarette and I’m going to tell mommy!”
Little noisy brat. Hua Cheng rolls his eye at her.
“Then I’ll tell her you had two ice creams today and didn’t even finish your vegetables.”
“You bought me ice-creams. You’re gonna get in trouble.” He Rixian attempts to fold her arms on her chest but only manages to kind of hug herself around the middle. “Daddy’s gonna kick you and- and kick you again.”
“Oh? Then I’m gonna kick your daddy three times, how does that sound?”
He Rixian’s eyes go wide and then a little teary.
“That sounds bad!” She cries out. “Don’t kick daddy!”
“I’m gonna.”
“Ge, no! Will you take me to the swings if you promise not to kick daddy?” She pleads in a whiny voice. Ridiculous child.
“You’re shit at negotiating.” Hua Cheng stands up sharply, grabbing the pouting child with one hand and positioning her on his hip. “But I’ll let it slide this time.”
As he pushes He Rixian high enough to make Shi Qingxuan faint if she saw them, he glumly contemplates his misfortune – he doesn’t even like kids. How did he manage to get tangled into this mess? Why on earth did his employees have enough nerve to reduce him to babysitting duties? That’s the last time he agrees to watch the kid, he swears. He pays her parents enough to afford a live-in babysitter or something.
“Ge, higher!” He Rixian yells.
Hua Cheng scowls and pushes her higher.
***
“Well, If you want to give me maternity leave, I’ll watch her myself.” Shi Qingxuan shrugs a week later, having invaded Hua Cheng’s office once more.
“You had your leave when she was born. Extended one. She’s what, six now? No leave. Get her a nanny.”
“You know she is four, A-Cheng. And I tried to get her a proper babysitter. It’s He Xuan who won’t approve of anyone, you know this too!”
“Keep trying. I’m too busy to watch your kid. I have half a city worth of money to manage, you think I have time for playgrounds?”
“You were playing on your phone when I came in.” Shi Qingxuan smiles sunnily. Annoyingly. “Besides, it’d do you well to spend some time outside. Look how pale you are!”
“No.”
“A-Cheng, please.”
“No.”
“I called the kindergarten already to notify them that you’re on pick up duty!”
“Then call them again. I’m not picking her up.”
***
After picking He Rixian up, Hua Cheng takes her to the nearby park. It’s vast and there’re not as many children there. She’s likely to flip out when she finds out there’s also no swings, but it’s a problem for future Hua Cheng.
“Where are we going?” He Rixian pesters as they walk. “Is it fun in there? Do they sell sweets? Can I get some? Do they sell toys? Can I have a toy?”
“I don’t know. We’ll see when we get there.”
“I want tanghulu.”
“Okay.”
“Mommy says you’re her boss, is that true?”
“Yes.”
“When I grow up, can I be a pilot?”
“Yes.”
“And a mermaid?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Those aren’t real.”
“But daddy says they’re real and that their teeth are very sharp.”
“Your daddy is a liar."
He Rixian humphs and bites Hua Cheng’s wrist so hard he almost lets go of her hand.
“What the hell?!”
“Are my teeth sharp? I want to be a mermaid.”
Hua Cheng groans and swiftly raises the girl in his arms, grabs her ankle with one hand, flips her upside down and dangles her a little in the air. He Rixian squeals with joy.
“Do not bite me.” He scolds.
“Higher, ge!”
“No. This is not a game. I’m punishing you.”
“I’m a pilot, look!” He Rixian outstretches her arms and makes what she must think is an airplane noise. Hua Cheng sighs and gives up. At least she’s not biting anymore. He carries her to the park just like this and then dumps her carefully on the grass.
“Go play.” He says.
He Rixian giggles, still lying on the ground. Hua Cheng nudges her carefully with a tip of his shoe. She giggles harder. He leaves her like that and looks around to find a bench.
There are several, but the nearest one is taken. Before Hua Cheng can feel annoyed about that, too, he takes a look at the man sitting there and his heart skips a beat. He’d think he is having a heart attack but he’s actually in perfect health. No, it must be the man. It’s almost like he is glowing, luring Hua Cheng in, beckoning him to come closer. He is wearing a cream t-shirt, light blue jeans, and is holding a book on his lap. His shoulder-length hair is swaying softly in the wind. He is lithe and gentle and ethereally beautiful. He is also looking at Hua Cheng with slightly widened eyes. Ah. Hua Cheng’s never been one to catch feelings, and he definitely doesn’t believe in love at first sight, no. He’s too educated for that. It’s just. This beautiful, beautiful man might think he’s abusing his daughter and Hua Cheng doesn’t need a visit from CPA or whatever. Yes. He must clear up the misunderstanding immediately.
He’ll explain that he has actually been very careful with He Rixian, and that he is babysitting her out of goodness of his heart, and the man is going to be too impressed with him to worry, and once he is reassured Hua Cheng will give him a tasteful little compliment, perhaps something about how his artistic nature wouldn’t let him walk past such a beauty and then ask about the book he is reading, which is going to be a perfect opening for a conversation and by the end of it he might even ask for the man’s number. Yes. That sounds like a great plan. He’s going to ace it.
“Stay where I can see you.” He tells He Rixian sternly and then walks straight to the bench the perfect stranger is sitting on.
When he approaches the man blinks and looks down at his book with a slight frown.
“Hi,” Hua Cheng starts once he is close enough, feeling suddenly nervous and appalled at himself for it. He takes a breath and gets it together by force: “She is not mine.”
The man blinks up at him.
“Sorry?” He says and oh, his voice is divine. Hua Cheng’s mouth goes dry.
“The girl.” He repeats, feeling like he might not be explaining himself quite as he intended, but not being able to stop. He frowns. “She’s not my child.”
“So you dragged a strange kid to the park by her foot and just… dumped her here?” The man looks even more tense now and Hua Cheng feels his palms start to sweat. What’s wrong with him?
“I-” He starts. “I know her.”
“You do?”
Okay, this is shit. This is going bad. What does he do now? He had a plan. Right, the plan!
“I want to draw you.”
“Uh?”
Abort, abort! Hua Cheng takes a small step back. This is awful. He has twelve extremely successful businesses, he is a shark. How has he gotten reduced to this?
“I- I’m very rich.” He swallows. “Successful.”
He will have to kill himself.
“That’s… very good?” The man is looking at him, confused and a little alarmed. Unfortunately, he is still extremely beautiful and also seems to have put some kind of spell on Hua Cheng because he just can’t stop talking.
“Can I read your book?” His voice has gone embarrassingly thin. He thinks he might cry.
“My book?”
“Is- is that any good?”
The man snorts and then shakes his head, relaxing slightly.
“It’s alright.” He says. “But shouldn’t you be watching the kid? I’m afraid that the book might take your attention away from her.”
The kid! He Rixian! Hua Cheng turns his head sharply and finds her trying to climb a nearby tree.
“Oh.” He says.
“How about you take the book home and return it to me some other day?”
“Okay.”
“I usually read here after work during the week.” The man says. “Do you come here often?”
“Every day.” Hua Cheng nods quickly. “A-after the. Kindergarten. I’m on the list. For the pick up. Because I know her.”
“Well then, I’m sure we’re going to work it out somehow?” With that, the perfect, perfect stranger closes the book and hands it to Hua Cheng. He takes it tentatively. His hands almost don’t shake.
“Ge!” He Rixian yells. “Help me down.”
“Sorry, I have to take that.” Hua Cheng mumbles and then bolts. Never in his life has he fallen lower. He barely registers approaching the tree and yanking a child off it. By the time he turns around the man is gone. It’s like he’s never been there in the first place, and Hua Cheng would gladly blame his atrocious behaviour on sun stroke or something if not for a thin, paperback book he is still holding in his left hand.