Chapter 5 - Zi Xia

Yun Ling looked at her and felt strange. He didn't really know what to do or even interact with her. He briefly wondered if other people felt the same way as him the first time they saw their child.

'Now that I think about it, I don't even know her name.' Yun Ling thought to himself. He should have asked his father first before leaving. That was quite irresponsible of him. This was his daughter yet he didn't even know her name.

"What's your name?" Yun Ling slowly crouched down to her level as he asked the little girl. The caretaker also moved to the side leaving nowhere for the little girl to hide.

"My... my name is Zi Xia." The little girl answered nervously. Even though they are both father and daughter, they didn't even know each other. They are basically strangers only related by blood.

"I see, Zi Xia is it? I'm Yun Ling, and I guess, I'm your father." Yun Ling introduced himself awkwardly.

"Kyaa! They look so cute together! Look at them, mother! Don't they look really alike?!" Li Jing squealed as she excitedly looked at the two of them.

"You're right. If not for their facial shape being a bit different then they would have looked exactly alike. Ling'er has a quite narrow face but that's because he's a boy after all. Haah, looking at Xia'er reminds me a lot of the times when I got Ling'er dress like a girl." Ye Lin sighed contentedly as she reminisced.

Veins throbbed on Yun Ling's temple when he heard his grandmother's remarks. "Grandma, can you please not keep on bringing that up? That was a long time ago!"

Ye Lin smirked and was about to retort when Li Jing intervened. "Alright, that's enough mother. I know you like teasing Ling so much but let's leave the two of them for a moment. Dongmei, you come with us too."

Yun Ling looked at them leave with the servants and sighed in relief. As much as he loved his grandmother, she can be annoying at times.

He turned towards his daughter only to see her staring at him intently. He stared back, thinking of something. There was one thing he was wondering about the whole time aside from his daughter, that would be the girl's mother.

Why did her mother send her here just now? What is her purpose? Who is she even? What is her identity? Is she after his wealth? Or is it something else?

Numerous thoughts went through Yun Ling's head. He wanted to figure out the reason why the mother of his daughter sent her here now out of all time? Why didn't she do it before? Why now? Why not later?

Yun Ling narrowed his eyes as he asked his daughter. "You, who's your mother?"

Zi Xia flinched a little at the look her father gave her. She took a step back, her eyes revealing a look of fear.

Yun Ling was surprised. At first, he didn't know why she suddenly got scared of him but then he realized that he might have looked frightening when he asked her that question. His expression must've scared her. Yun Ling felt helpless. He didn't do it on purpose.

"I'm sorry if I scared you just now, can please you tell me who your mother is?" He asked her gently this time.

"Mama?"

"Yes, your mama. Papa wants to know who mama is." Yun Ling felt weird for talking this way but figured out that it is the best method to use when talking to a child.

Zi Xia shook her head. "Mama told me not to say. Mama said to not tell anyone even if it's papa."

"I see..."

Yun Ling then asked her questions like her address, her mother's job, her home's environment, etc. but the little girl only answered the same thing:

"Mama said to not tell anyone even if it's papa."

Yun Ling didn't show it but he was inwardly frustrated. Just how careful was this girl's mother? Every question he asked her, the little girl only has the same answer. It was as if her mother already predicted what kind of questions they'll ask her and told her to say that.

Just who in the world is that woman? Why does she not want her identity to be revealed? What is she hiding?

If Yun Ling wanted to know her identity from his daughter, then he had one option left. That was to invade her mind and read her memories. Even though it's hard, he can certainly do it. However, there was no way he was going to employ that method ever. Doing that to his daughter just feels so wrong. Not to mention there are dangerous side effects, even if there wasn't, he still wouldn't do it. They might be strangers but that is his daughter, his own flesh and blood, there's no way he's going to play around with her mind.

And besides, with how careful her mother is, she probably already placed some measure of security in her mind.

'Oh well, if the little girl won't tell me then I'll just ask her caretaker later.' Yun Ling thought.

"Papa?" Zi Xia called out. Yun Ling had been silent for several minutes already and it's bothering her.

Yun Ling was broken out of his thoughts by his daughter and smiled. Had it been others who interrupted him, he would have been annoyed right away. It's already the second time his daughter interrupted him but strangely, he didn't feel the slightest bit of annoyance at all.

'So this is what it means to be a father huh?'

Yun Ling's hand slowly reached out towards her, making the little girl startled at first. Then, she felt his hand gently patting her head.

Yun Ling sighed ruefully. This was his daughter yet she's so scared of him. It made him feel bad and a bit hurt.

"I'm sorry." Yun Ling said.

"Papa?"

"I'm your father but until now, I didn't even know you existed. I don't know what kind of things you like, I don't know what kind of things you don't like, I don't know your hobbies, heck I didn't even know your name, your birthday, nor what you looked like until now. I'm your father but there's so much I don't know about you. You know nothing about me too. For that, I'm sorry." Yun Ling smiled sadly.

Zi Xia looked at him in the eyes and smiled. She took Yun Ling's hand away from her head and held it with her hands as she warmly said. "Papa don't need to apologize. Mama already told Zi Xia it's not Papa's fault. Papa doesn't know Zi Xia because Mama didn't tell Papa."

"Your mama said that?" Yun Ling was taken aback. He didn't expect that at all. Normally, other women would say bad things or make their children dislike their father especially if that father is absent in most of their children's lives. It would seem that this woman is different and has a good breadth of mind.

Zi Xia nodded and then adorably said with a pout. "But Papa, please don't blame Mama. Mama is really smart so I'm sure Mama has some reasons why Mama didn't tell Papa."

Yun Ling let out a small laugh at his daughter. "Haha, I don't know who your mama is but looking at you, I'm sure that your mama is an amazing person. She raised you well."

"Yup! Mama is amazing!" Zi Xia said proudly making Yun Ling smile.