Coldness

Qian Daoliu held her in his arms, his heart aching for her.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something comforting, but realized he didn't know what to say.

He knew all too well what had happened to Bibi Dong.

He knew what Qian Xunji had done to her.

He knew why she hated the people of the Qian Family.

And he knew better than anyone why Qian Renxue had been met with coldness by her mother from the moment she was born.

Get Bibi Dong to hold Qian Renxue, then sleep beside her like an ordinary mother and daughter?

That was impossible.

Unless he used his authority as the Great Enshrined to force her.

But what would forcing her accomplish?

An embrace forced out of someone wasn't a mother's love. Forced companionship would only make Bibi Dong hate the child even more.

Besides, what right did he have to force Bibi Dong?

His own son had done something worse than an animal. What right did he, as the father, have to demand that the victim love the child of that beast?

Qian Daoliu's heart churned like a storm-tossed sea, until all he could do was let out a helpless sigh.

"Be good, Xiao Xue. Don't cry anymore." He gently patted his granddaughter's back and soothed her softly. "Grandpa will talk to your mother and ask her to... to spend more time with you, all right?"

Qian Renxue lifted her head from his arms and looked at him with tear-filled eyes. "Will... will Mom listen to you, Grandpa?"

Looking at her eyes, red and swollen from crying, Qian Daoliu felt a pang in his heart.

She didn't know.

The child knew nothing at all.

She didn't know why her mother didn't like her, or how she had come into this world.

She simply wanted her mother's love, just like any other three-year-old child.

"Grandpa will talk to her." Qian Daoliu could only soothe his granddaughter with this hollow promise.

"Then Grandpa can't lie." Qian Renxue scrubbed at her tears with her sleeve, then looked earnestly at Qian Daoliu with red-rimmed eyes. Her voice carried the stubborn pleading unique to a three-year-old. "You have to keep your promise, Grandpa."

Looking at her serious little face, Qian Daoliu's guilt threatened to spill over.

He wasn't the sort to make promises lightly, but what else could he do now but agree?

Let her keep sitting here and crying until her throat was hoarse and her eyes swollen, with no one to comfort her?

"All right." He nodded, his voice a little hoarse. "Grandpa won't lie."

Only then did Qian Renxue slowly stop crying.

She sniffled a few times, then wiped the tear tracks from her face again and again with her sleeve.

Her eyes were still red and her nose still scrunched up, but at last, a smile returned to her little face.

"Grandpa's the best."

Qian Daoliu stroked her hair and sat with her for a while longer.

After she had completely calmed down, he called a maid to take his granddaughter back to rest. Then he stood and strode toward Nurse Zhou's room.

When he reached Nurse Zhou's door, he heard voices coming from inside.

It was Bibi Dong's voice.

"...What should I watch out for when it gets hot in summer?"

"In summer, the room needs good ventilation, but don't let the wind blow directly on the young master," Nurse Zhou replied patiently and carefully. "If he sweats, wipe him dry promptly so he doesn't get heat rash. The bathwater can be a little cooler than in winter, but not too cool..."

Bibi Dong listened closely, occasionally asking a follow-up question.

Just from hearing her voice, anyone would have thought she was a devoted, gentle, and attentive mother.

Qian Daoliu stood outside the door, his feelings a tangled mess.

This woman was learning from a wet nurse how to care for a baby she had taken in, and she was studying with such focus and care.

Meanwhile, her own daughter was sitting on the stone steps outside, crying her heart out.

Qian Daoliu stood at the doorway for a moment, then gave a light cough.

The voices inside stopped abruptly.

The door opened.

Nurse Zhou stood in the doorway. When she saw Qian Daoliu, her expression changed slightly. She hurriedly stepped back and bowed respectfully. "Great Enshrined."

Bibi Dong sat in a chair, holding Luo Dong.

She glanced up at the visitor, her gaze indifferent and unruffled.

She didn't stand to bow. She offered no respectful greeting. She didn't even give him a second look.

Qian Daoliu looked at the baby in her arms.

Tiny, wrapped in swaddling clothes, with only his face showing.

Bibi Dong held him with practiced ease: one hand supporting the back of his neck, the other supporting his bottom. It was exactly the proper way Nurse Zhou had taught her yesterday.

When she looked down at the child, her gaze softened, unlike the way she looked at anything else.

She had never shown that softness to Qian Renxue. Never.

Qian Daoliu sighed inwardly, then turned to Nurse Zhou. "Go outside for a while."

Nurse Zhou looked as though she'd been granted a pardon. She bowed to them both again, then hurried out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Only two people and a baby remained in the room.

Qian Daoliu fell silent for a moment, then broke the stillness. "Bibi Dong."

He didn't call her "Holy Maiden," nor did he call her "daughter-in-law."

He knew both titles would sound like mockery to her.

He used her name, giving her the most basic respect.

Bibi Dong still didn't speak. She simply held Luo Dong and watched him in silence.

There was no respect in her gaze, no fear, and no anger.

Only a calmness that was almost icy.

Nothing could be read in it, yet it unsettled him more than anything else.

Under her gaze, Qian Daoliu felt a little uneasy.

He knew his wrongdoing toward Bibi Dong went far beyond simply failing to raise his son properly.

After that incident, he had only remained silent.

He hadn't pursued the matter, punished anyone, or even apologized to Bibi Dong.

Because he had been the Great Enshrined of Spirit Hall first, and a father second.

For the sake of Spirit Hall's stability, for the sake of the Qian Family's reputation, he had chosen silence.

That silence, like Qian Xunji's brutality, was another sin laid upon Bibi Dong.

"I came to talk to you about something." Qian Daoliu spoke slowly and gently. "Treat Qian Renxue well. She's your child, too."

Bibi Dong's arms tightened slightly around Luo Dong, then relaxed again.

She gave no answer.

Her expression didn't change at all, and her gaze remained calm.

Qian Daoliu sighed again.

He had expected this.

"I know you don't want to." His voice carried guilt and helplessness. "But Xiao Xue is innocent.

"She doesn't understand anything. All she knows is that you're her mother. She wants you to hold her and sleep beside her. She wants to... to receive just a little of your care, like this child.

"When I came here just now, I saw her sitting alone on the stone steps outside, crying until her voice was hoarse.

"She asked Grandpa to talk to her mother and ask her to hold her, too."

Bibi Dong's lashes moved.

But that was all.

"I know Qian Xunji wronged you." Qian Daoliu's voice sank, as if he were speaking to himself. "I wronged you, too. I turned a blind eye to what happened and never gave you justice. You can hate me, you can hate him. But Xiao Xue..."

Qian Daoliu paused.

"She's just as innocent as you are."

The room fell silent for a long time.

Bibi Dong said nothing.

She only held Luo Dong, her gaze calmly resting on Qian Daoliu.

That look seemed to ask, Have you finished?

If you have, then you can leave.

Looking into her eyes, Qian Daoliu suddenly felt that he couldn't say another word.

He had known before coming that this was how it would end.

He had no right to force Bibi Dong to do anything. He already owed her too much.

He couldn't even face what his own son had done, so what right did he have to demand that a victim love the child?