"Qiqi hadn't been living at home lately, so she hadn't seen her friend in a long time. She missed her."
"Qiqi wanted to tell her friend that she'd moved."
"She was living at her uncle's house now."
"Oh, I see."
The man's doubts mostly faded.
Was it a neighbor's child?
He hadn't noticed Qiqi getting along with any particular child before.
The aftereffects of the accident two years ago still lingered.
She was old enough to go to school, but he worried she'd be bullied in her condition.
After all, if she couldn't make a sound, she couldn't even communicate in the most basic way.
Children were innocent and carefree, sure.
But expecting them to be patient and considerate... wasn't that asking too much of them?
He didn't want his daughter to have any more bad memories.
So he'd had her study at home.
It was only elementary school material.
It wouldn't be hard to catch up later.
But...
Maybe it would've been better to send her to school back then?
Would she have been hurt less?
Maybe spending time with kids her own age would've made it easier for her to speak?
But she'd spent plenty of time playing with Huan Huan and Lele, her eldest brother's children.
And yet there'd been no sign of her making a sound.
Though now it seemed that Yuan Yuan was partly to blame.
The man didn't dwell on it.
He'd trusted Yuan Yuan too much before. Most of what he knew about his daughter had come from her.
How could someone who'd been so cruel to a child truly care about her every move?
Still, he was glad to know that his daughter had a friend she cared about so much.
At least she had a friend who made her happy.