Chapter 47: A Little Crush

While continuing his work, Liu Heming paid a little attention and noticed that the Finger Sweet Potato’s drought resistance lasted about forty minutes. He couldn’t bear to eat any more of it now. Even though his daughter offered it to him, he placed it back into her little pocket.

This was a really good thing—he would let his daughter have it as a snack. In the future, when he grew his own, it would be time enough to eat them then.

After a whole afternoon of labor, he finished going through all the Tomato plants. Alex felt very accomplished too, holding her little head high with pride.

In the evening, Liu Heming felt a bit troubled, unsure what to cook for everyone. With no other options, he chopped up a large pile of Potatoes from home and took out the remaining steak from the refrigerator to make a big pot of potato and beef stew.

The flavor of this pot of potato and beef stew was a bit inferior compared to the Dumplings from lunch, but it was still edible. After all, Liu Heming was still only at the Cooking Apprentice level and hadn’t developed any particular skills in cooking yet.

But he was confident—there was the System, after all. Since he had already unlocked the cooking subcategory, he would make sure his daughter could eat her favorite foods every meal in the future.

This was Alex’s first time staying overnight here, and Liu Heming took it very seriously. Especially when he saw the little one run out after her bath, wearing cute Pajamas, he was simply overjoyed.

Her hair was cute, her face was cute, her Pajamas were cute, her fluffy little slippers were cute, and her chubby little feet were even cuter. In his eyes, his daughter was the very embodiment of cuteness. He even had a sudden urge to drive Sasha and Robin away so he could live alone with his daughter.

But he knew that idea was too unrealistic. Even if Robin didn’t step in, the other two bodyguards were more than he could handle—they had muscles all over their arms.

“Can I sleep with the Bear Cubs today?” Alex asked, snuggling in Liu Heming’s arms while yawning.

“They don’t sleep quietly at night; they might wake you up,” Liu Heming said with a frown.

“But I like them so much, and I really want to sleep with them,” Alex said pitifully.

Liu Heming was in a difficult spot. He couldn’t make the decision on this matter, so he could only look at Sasha, seeking permission from the big boss.

The little girl was clever too. She knew the decision was in her mom’s hands, so she also looked at her mother, her little face covered with a pitiful expression.

“Won’t the Bear Cubs hurt Alex?” Sasha set down the book she was reading and looked at Liu Heming seriously.

“They won’t. Except for sometimes waking up a bit early, they usually sleep with me,” Liu Heming answered honestly.

“Alright then,” Sasha nodded and went back to reading her book.

Father and daughter were both delighted. Liu Heming picked up Alex, waved to the two Bear Cubs, and started heading upstairs.

Alex leaned on Liu Heming’s shoulder, watching the two Bear Cubs clumsily climb the stairs behind them, which made the little girl very happy.

He placed the little one and the two Bear Cubs onto the small bed. The bed, originally meant only for the little girl, felt a bit crowded now.

“You two behave and sleep well. There will be chicken as a reward for breakfast tomorrow. If you don’t behave, I’ll punish you with Bread for the whole day,” Liu Heming warned the two Bear Cubs.

The two Bear Cubs paid him no mind and seemed to be having a great time playing on the soft little bed.

“Alright, Alex, rest early. We have to go back to Houston tomorrow,” Liu Heming said, stroking the little girl’s head.

The little girl nodded and pointed a finger toward her own chubby little cheek.

“So sweet. Sleep well, my dear,” Liu Heming said with a smile, kissing his daughter’s cheek.

“Good night, Daddy,” the little girl said.

“Good ni—” Liu Heming couldn’t finish.

He wondered if he had misheard. Did the little one just call him Dad? His tears fell uncontrollably. He truly hadn’t expected to gain the little girl’s acceptance like this—earlier in the day, she had still been calling him Dexter.

He kissed the little girl’s forehead again before turning off the light for her. His heart felt completely full from that one word “Daddy” from his daughter.

Controlling his emotions, he said goodnight to Sasha, letting them manage their own time, and then hurried back to his room, where he lay on the bed and cried his heart out without holding back.

After crying, he sat on the bed grinning foolishly for a while, then remembered he still hadn’t seen what the little girl looked like when she was young. He quickly went to the computer and inserted the memory card Robin had given him.

There were so many photos inside, starting from when the little girl was a baby all the way up to now. As he flipped through them one by one, Liu Heming felt as if he was watching his daughter’s growth process.

It took him more than two hours to quickly browse through all the photos on the card. But he found it all very interesting and decided to look at them more carefully when he had some free time later.

He then searched for some photos that Robin had taken that day. This time, he went through them a bit faster. When he came across one particular photo, he paused. It was the one Robin had snapped of their “family of three” holding small Dumplings.

The little girl was smiling happily, and both he and Sasha had flour smeared on their faces by her. If someone outside saw this photo, no one would guess they were a couple about to get divorced—they’d only see a harmonious family of three.

Sasha was smiling too, and Liu Heming noticed that the little girl’s smile resembled Sasha’s. Moreover, the mother and daughter had similar face shapes.

And honestly, Sasha looked truly beautiful with that sweet smile. It wasn’t like her usual stern expression, which made her seem unapproachable. Liu Heming thought that maybe that cold expression was reserved just for him—his exclusive treatment—while she acted normally toward others.

He felt a bit upset, and a little bit of a crush stirred in him. Such a beautiful wife—how could he have been so muddled back then that he had no memory of it at all?

He pulled up the photo of Sasha as a child on his Mobile Phone. She was smiling just as brightly as the little girl did now. After looking at it for a while, Liu Heming turned off the computer.

But having a crush was useless—she wasn’t meant for him. She had only postponed her wedding over there; with him, they were getting a divorce.

He lay down on the bed and called out to the System in his mind a few times, wanting to chat with it and also confirm the effects of the Finger Sweet Potato. But the System didn’t respond, so he had to give up. Who knew where the System had gone off to play.

Running through the images of his daughter in his mind once more, Liu Heming fell asleep without even realizing it.