On Sunday afternoon, Lu Mingzhou picked up his daughter from her children's coding class.
The little girl skipped along as soon as they stepped outside, gesturing animatedly as she told him how many pellets her snake had eaten in Snake and how long it had grown. Sadly, it had hit a wall in the end and died.
Unable to hide his adoring smile, Lu Mingzhou picked her up and spun her around.
"My daughter's amazing!"
The little girl giggled happily. "Daddy, what yummy food did you make me for dinner?"
Lu Mingzhou set her back on the ground, looking regretful. "Daddy has to go on a business trip today. You'll be with Mommy in a little while. I'll bring you back a present."
"Awww! Isn't today the weekend?"
Her long, lilting "awww" melted her father's heart.
"Daddy has a meeting in Beijing first thing tomorrow morning, so I have to fly over today to get ready."
"But-but-" After saying "but" twice, the little girl finally got it out. "But Mommy's cooking doesn't taste good..."
Lu Mingzhou didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It turned out his daughter wasn't going to miss him, just his cooking.
"Don't worry. Mommy isn't cooking. She's waiting for you at Grandma's. Grandma made your favorite scallion oil noodles." "Yay!" The little girl's face brightened instantly. "Daddy, let's hurry!"
Father and daughter chatted about this and that along the way. Once they arrived, Lu Mingzhou said a hurried goodbye to his daughter, took his suitcase, and got into the ride-hailing car bound for the airport.
After learning about Lu Mingzhou's itinerary, Liu Yu had offered to pick him up at the airport, but Lu Mingzhou politely declined. For one thing, he didn't want to trouble Boss Han's secretary over something so minor. For another, he