Xiao Dan sprang up from the rock and rushed toward Xu Feng.
Qing Shan, startled by her sudden movement, burst into tears in her arms, but she had no attention to spare for soothing him.
Whoosh!
Xu Feng caught Xiao Dan and held her tightly against his chest.
She had lost a lot of weight.
After more than half a year apart, her once-rounded cheeks had grown angular, and her chin had become pointed.
"As long as you're safe. As long as you're safe. Dad's here. I'll take care of everything."
Xu Feng's voice was muffled, as though something had lodged in his throat.
He had so much he wanted to say.
Lu Fei's constant talk of her, everything back home, how much he had missed her, and his search over all these days.
But now, he merely patted Xiao Dan's back, gently, just as he had soothed her after nightmares when she was little.
Xiao Dan buried her face in his chest, her shoulders shaking violently, yet she made no sound.
She had always been like this, refusing to cry in front of anyone no matter how upset she was.
A stubborn little thing, too.
Caught between them, Little Qingshan squirmed uncomfortably in her arms and let out another wail.
Only then did Xiao Dan snap back to her senses. She stepped half a pace back and hurriedly adjusted her hold on the baby.
She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, then looked up at Xu Feng and smiled.
"Qing Shan, look who's here." She held the baby out toward Xu Feng, her tone deliberately casual. "Here's your dad."
Xu Feng looked down.
Xu Qingshan had grown a whole size bigger since leaving Earth. His formerly wrinkled little face had filled out, and his skin was fair and tender.