Chapter 47
Even in his interactions with Huo Ran, it was always Huo Ran taking the initiative, and he would gradually respond.
Indeed, his character wasn’t one that people would easily like, because all his actions were associated with “shyness.” If you saw this demeanor every day, you would involuntarily feel annoyed.
But Huo Youqiao had never felt annoyed.
The initial reason, of course, was because of his daughter. Huo Youqiao wouldn’t refuse anyone who treated his daughter well, as long as there was no malice involved. He couldn’t see any malice in Ye Zhi, even though he was sometimes overly accommodating. But that wasn’t malicious, so he never intervened or stopped them from getting close.
Then, how he started paying attention, even he couldn’t explain.
Ye Zhi couldn’t be considered particularly handsome, but he had many good features. For example, his skin was fair and flawless, his eyelashes were thick, and his nose and mouth were delicate. It was a face that had no threatening qualities and made people feel comfortable.
And the genuine smile on his face in the photo deepened this sense of comfort.
Huo Youqiao stared at the photo for a long time, his frozen fingertips finally moving again to swipe the photo away, as if erasing certain emotions that shouldn’t have arisen. He began to carefully select photos of his daughter, like all parents, he would set his daughter’s photos as the wallpaper on his communicator.
As he scrolled through the photos, most of them were solo shots of his daughter. Occasionally, Ye Zhi would appear, but his full face was never shown, almost always in profile or from behind. For some reason, Huo Youqiao spent more time browsing through these photos than looking at photos of his daughter. His heart even stirred up some ripples that shouldn’t have existed, causing him to furrow his brows slightly.
Finally, he selected one of his daughter’s photos as the wallpaper. Huo Youqiao glanced at his watch, seeing that there were five minutes left before he had to resume work. He originally wanted to turn off the screen, but inexplicably, he couldn’t help but click on one of the photos again.
It was a photo of Huo Ran with Ye Zhi, with Huo Ran holding a fluffy little rabbit in her hands. Three pairs of eyes looked at the camera, all showing expressions of joy.
Huo Youqiao stared at the photo for a minute, then quickly connected to the smart printer and printed out the photo, selecting the smallest size, one inch.
Because it wasn’t a professional photo printer, the printed photo appeared slightly blurry, but the smiles of the two people were still bright. Before the secretary knocked on the door and entered, Huo Youqiao placed the photo in the compartment of his wallet.
This photo of Huo Ran was particularly cute.
Finding this reason in his heart, after Secretary Lin Xiuming came in, Huo Youqiao continued with the remaining work.
After playing in the children exchange area for two hours, and then taking a tour bus to the wild animal area, Huo Ran’s energy seemed to be exhausted. She leaned against the window and soon became drowsy. Ye Zhi then picked her up and took off his coat to cover her, coaxing her to sleep.
Before Huo Ran woke up, Huo Youqiao had already arrived.
There was a special mother and baby rest room in the park, and the environment was quite good, with even a small bed provided. But Ye Zhi knew that Huo Ran was a clean girl, and he didn’t know if the beds in the park were cleaned regularly, so he didn’t dare to put her on them and held her in his arms instead.
When Huo Youqiao came in, his arms were already numb from holding her for so long.
The tall man came in, and the room darkened slightly. He quickly found Ye Zhi’s figure in the sparse crowd and walked over quickly, trying to lighten his steps as much as possible.
“Sorry, I’m a little late.”
“It’s okay, you’re quite early.” Ye Zhi smiled.
Seeing his daughter sleeping comfortably, and the clothes covering her, Huo Youqiao didn’t hesitate to take off his thin coat and gracefully draped it over Ye Zhi’s shoulders. By the time Ye Zhi reacted, his nostrils were already surrounded by the faint scent of pheromones emanating from the other person.
Ye Zhi felt a little nervous and quickly said, “You don’t have to, I’m not that cold…”
“It’s not warm here this season, and there’s no heating. Just wearing a shirt will definitely be cold. You should put it on first.” Huo Youqiao’s tone brooked no refusal. He added, “Let me hold her, and we’ll go to the restaurant to order food.”
As he handed over Huo Ran, Ye Zhi felt a little nervous again. His hand, which had lost sensation due to the numbness, felt the warmth from the other person’s arm. His heart trembled slightly, and even when the other person left, his heart rate hadn’t returned to normal. Ye Zhi curled his fingers, pulled the coat draped over him, and stood up to follow.
The temperature had dropped a bit, and there was wind outside. Ye Zhi only felt cold when he came out. Seeing Huo Youqiao, who was wearing only a shirt, he quickly walked up and whispered, “Here, take your clothes back. Your shirt is thinner than the clothes I’m wearing.”
