WangXian Forever 7

Chapter 82 ZhuiLing

The naming ceremony was just a formality, something to be completed for now on a small scale, until the rest of their family returned from the trip to the south.

SiZhui had suggested Juanqu, as their baby's hair was a mess of unruly curls, with a personality to match... and inevitably, Jin Ling ended up calling her Ququ (pronounced ChuChu).

The child was a menace.

Albeit a beautiful, beguiling one, who, once her initial fear was vanquished, became a little terror.

Nobody could resist the chortling, chuckling little toddler with a knack of getting herself into so much trouble. No nannies lasted, with one after another leaving in a flood of tears because the child was beautiful enough to forgive but definitely was a repeat offender.

In the end, it was SiZhui who had to go find her every time she got lost, or fell into her grandmother's lotus pond, the one her grandfather had made a special effort to make as a wedding present.

Now, both SiZhui and Jin Ling were questioning the party of disciples who had visited the tiny seaside town where Ququ was from.

"When will the fountain be installed?" Jin Ling was asking.

"And the hostel for guests?" SiZhui reminded him.

From the corner of his eye, he saw someone waving frantically.

He looked up to find Jin Fei looking desperate, trying to catch his attention.

"I'm just coming." He whispered to Jin Ling, who looked towards the door to see who was calling his love away.

"Ququ?" Jin Ling grinned.

"Probably. Where do you think we'll find her this time?" SiZhui smiled sweetly back at him.

Jin Ling wanted to kiss him so badly right then, but the disciples, anxious to please, were watching him like hawks.

"Kitchen. I'm betting you one gold piece." He replied, instead.

"Alright, I'll bet she's in our garden." SiZhui told him hesitantly.

"One day, you're going to forget about those rules...and when you do..." Jin Ling winked at him.

SiZhui gulped hard and ran away, wondering if it could be called power walking.

"I swear, she was right there! I was hanging up clothes to dry, so I put her in the basket, I only looked away for one second!" The poor woman was wringing her hands, tears in her eyes.

SiZhui put a warm hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about Ququ. She was born under a lucky star; she'll be fine." He reassured her.

"But she's just a baby...what if something happened to her?" She burst into tears.

SiZhui thought it was far more likely something would happen to something else, since their baby was so durable. They surely had lucked out when she came to live them. These days, SiZhui wondered how they had managed to live without her for so long.

She was such a happy baby, hardly ever crying, instead she treated everyone to a beautiful smile, a gap between her baby teeth and endless curls.

That was her secret weapon, SiZhui realised. She was so cute and utterly charming, making everyone who met her, fall straight in love.

He wondered whether this protective feeling that came from somewhere deep inside himself...was it how his fathers had felt? When they had found him? He too, had been extremely lucky, not only in who his fathers were, but that he had survived his childhood, fraught with danger.

Right now, the sniffles coming from the lady next to him, had him gently escorting her to the kitchen, where he boiled some water for her. When she realised he was pouring tea for her, she immediately fell on the floor, kowtowing.

"I'm so sorry! Please forgive me, you are the Sect Leader's husband...it is unforgivable to make you do that!!" She was trembling on the floor.

SiZhui made her sit up again, smiling with kindness shining from his eyes.

"Please relax, Jin Fei. I have made tea so many times in my life, it's second nature. Besides, look! No one is here. If anyone comes in now, who is to say who made it in the first place?" He patted her arm and poured some for himself too.

The lovely warm fragrance of jasmine and green tea wafted from the steam, calming them both.

The sudden clatter of metal falling to the ground startled them both, nullifying the benefits of the tea in an instant. SiZhui stood up to move towards the sounds. The pantry was where ready food was stored to be served, and the noises were getting louder and louder.

When SiZhui opened the door, he was met with a ghost baby.

Flour covered every available surface and Ququ was merrily licking the piles she had made, learning about texture, watching the way the white powder sifted through her chubby fingers. When she saw SiZhui, she made grabby hands at him, giggling with delight.

"Don't worry Jin Fei, I found her!" SiZhui grinned back at and the catastrophic mess of the pantry.

He picked her up, fully intending to hold her away from his pristine robes, but Ququ had other ideas, grabbing his hair and tugging until he was forced to hug her. She kissed his cheek enthusiastically and now there were two ghosts walking out of the kitchens, white footprints leading away.

"Were you hungry, baby?" He asked her.

"Baba!!!" She yelled instead, and SiZhui nearly dropped her.

He had to sit down, right there on the stairs that led away from the kitchen.

She had spoken!! Her first word! And she probably meant him, right?

Not a fan of remaining still, she was already trying to crawl away from him, and SiZhui gathered his wits and stood up, pacifying her urge to move.

"Let's go get cleaned up, and then we can eat something, okay?" Now he didn't care what she looked like; SiZhui held her close to his body and brought her to their bedroom.

Bathtime was even more fun and messy. SiZhui found that if he thought of Ququ like a rabbit, looking after her became so much easier. Alright, so what if the floor was wetter than the tub, did it matter when his baby girl was having such a good time?

He had just finished dressing her and was trying to plait her hair, when Jin Ling joined them. She squealed with delight, raising her arms towards him, getting up so fast, SiZhui was left holding the comb.

"Dada!" She yelled, barrelling towards him.

Jin Ling had stopped for a heartbreaking second, before scooping her up in his arms and throwing her up in the air, both of their hearts easing as her gay laughter rang out, loud and clear.

"Her first words!" Jin Ling said, wiping his eyes.

"Second." SiZhui handed over payment for losing a bet.

"Second?"

"Baba and Dada!" She beamed her single toothy grin, and yanked really hard on his hair.