Genius Daddy in the City - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It was the peak of school release at the Little Swan Kindergarten . As the school bell rang, cute little faces shuffled out of the school . There were many parents crowding the school entrance, waiting to pick their kids up .

Ye Chen stood aside with wide eyes to study those kids carefully . He was worried that Mengmeng would be in the crowd and that he would miss her .

He had never picked kids up from school before . Never had he thought it was so sweet and nerve-wracking at the same time . Perhaps it was the feeling of becoming a first-time parent .

Ah Hu asked for his number after he brought him there . Figuring that he had nothing since he had just returned, Ye Chen got Ah Hu to bring him to an ATM machine nearby to withdraw some money . He bought a mobile phone and a SIM card to tell his mother that he would pick Mengmeng up himself .

He would be lying if he said he was not envious of the kids who were being coy with their parents .

Ye Chen’s eyes lit up just when he was thinking to himself . He saw a lady in a white chiffon dress bring a little girl out . The lady was only 24 or 25 years old . With such a pretty face and great charisma, she attracted many adults when she walked out .

Meanwhile, the little girl wore a faded black uniform . She had two little braids on her head while her little nose was straight and high, and her big eyes watery and sparkly . She was indeed a beauty .

Who else would that little angel be apart from Mengmeng?”

“Mengmeng!” Ye Chen called out to her . He walked over excitedly .

The little girl scoffed and turned her head away to avoid looking at him .

The smile on Ye Chen’s face froze as he sighed secretly .

The lady smiled and spoke to him courteously after taking a good look at him, “Hi, you must be Ye Mengmeng’s father . I’m Mengmeng’s teacher, Ou Lan . ”

Wu Lan was always the one who picked Mengmeng up . However, she had called Ou Lan in advance, informing her that Ye Chen would pick her up . Therefore, Ou Lan recognized him upon seeing that Ye Chen resembled the little girl .

“Hi, Teacher Ou . ” Ye Chen nodded while smiling . He heard the little girl scream all of a sudden just when he was going to say something .

“He’s not my father, Teacher Ou . He’s not my father!”

Ye Chen forced a smile at the moment . He could be cold, overpowering and even ignore other people . However, he was helpless when it came to his own daughter . What could he do when he owed the mother and daughter so much?

Ou Lan squatted and patted the girl’s head . “Mengmeng, you can’t speak to your father like that . Did you forget that I taught you to be a good girl who’s courteous and respects her parents?”

Ye Chen looked at Ou Lan with endless gratitude hearing that .

The little girl pouted and looked at the packed crowd with a stubborn expression . She seemed to be looking for someone . “Where’s Grandma? I want Grandma to bring me home . ”

“Grandma has something to do so she won’t be coming . She got me to come,” Ye Chen comforted her while smiling kindly .

Ou Lan looked at her with utter helplessness and said with a smile, “It’s tiring that your grandma has to work . It’s the same since your father is here to bring you home . Mengmeng, wait with Mr . Guard for a bit okay? I need to speak to your father . ”

The little girl held onto her hand tight and attempted to decline by instinct . Ou Lan looked solemnly at her now . “Be good, Mengmeng . Otherwise, I’ll be mad . ”

The little girl could only nod unwillingly .

Ou Lan turned her head to smile at Ye Chen after speaking to the guard as she sent Mengmeng to the guardhouse . “Mr . Ye, can I speak to you for a while?”

Ye Chen looked at the little girl and nodded after making sure that everything was good .

The duo walked to the school field . While checking out the environment that his daughter was in every day, Ye Chen was emotional . He said from the bottom of his heart, “Teacher Ou, thank you so much for taking care of Mengmeng all this time . ”

He saw with his own eyes that other kids walked out on their own earlier whereas Ou Lan had brought Mengmeng out . From that alone, one could tell how she usually treated Mengmeng .

“You’re being too kind . To tell you the truth, I like Mengmeng very much . ” Ou Lan chuckled softly, but a little grim expression soon took over her pretty face . “But that silly girl Mengmeng is quite pitiful . I heard from Aunty Lan that you disappeared before she was born . Just when she turned five, her mother was gone too . Then, she was diagnosed with leukemia when she was three and a half . Although I’m not related to Mengmeng and I’m just making a living, my biggest hope is for this kid to grow up healthy . ”

Ye Cheng felt his heart sink and he took a deep breath in . “Teacher Ou, I…”

“Mr . Ye, you don’t have to explain anything to me . I’m just an outsider after all, so I shouldn’t be asking about your family . However, Mengmeng is really sad . Although she’s only four, her mind is much more matured than kids her age . ”

Ou Lan sighed, looking pained . “There are many kids at school who make fun of Mengmeng because she doesn’t have parents, but she doesn’t cry . Instead, she charges at them, scolds them, squeezes and scratches them . She offended some kids in her class, thus many of them are unwilling to play with her . As a result, she’s possibly a little introverted and has low self-esteem . ”

Ye Chen listened quietly before he turned around slowly to face the guardhouse .

“Mengmeng loves drawing when she’s alone, especially pictures of meadows and stars . I’ve asked her before, and she said the meadow is the closest to the stars . Meanwhile, everyone who disappears from this world will turn into a star in the sky . Therefore, her dream is to bring her sketchpad to the meadow to draw stars, so she’ll be closer to her father . ”

Ye Chen shuddered when he heard that . He felt a lump rise in his throat .

Throughout the five years he disappeared, nobody had seen him alive, and nobody had seen his body had he been dead . Perhaps everyone thought he was dead, including his parents .

Therefore, his daughter, who was under their influence, would have that thought too . To her, her father was already dead . It was a kind of desperate conclusion .

Now that he appeared before her all of a sudden, it was like fire being ignited in an endless desert . Her passion and light could not be kindled no matter what .

Ou Lang turned around all of a sudden and looked at him in all seriousness . “Mr . Ye, in reality, Mengmeng approves of you deep down in her heart . She’s a kid after all, and she craves love from her mother and father just like most of the kids her age . However, she feels a little contradicted . Perhaps it has something to do with her experience since she matured earlier . That’s right . She’s a stubborn yet introverted little girl . ”

Ye Chen nodded .

One could say that apart from his own parents, the teacher standing right before him was undoubtedly the person who understood Mengmeng best . If she did not say this today, he would have never understood his daughter .

Ou Lan checked the time and said with a smile, “Alright, that little girl must be impatient from all the waiting . Mr . Ye, that’s all that we’ll talk about today . ”

“Thank you so much, Teacher Ou . ” Ye Chen initiated a handshake as he expressed the gratitude that came from the bottom of his heart .

Ou Lan shook his hand softly before she drew back when she touched his hand . “There’s no need for you to thank me . It’s my job . ”

Ye Chen smiled and followed her to the guardhouse . The little girl did not stop pacing up and down the entrance, clearly impatient .

Ou Lan squatted to smoothen the little girl’s hair in front of her forehead . She said while smiling, “Mengmeng, go home with your father now . Don’t forget what I taught you, and listen to your father . ”

She got up and walked out as soon as she was done speaking .

“Goodbye, Teacher Ou!” The little girl waved at her, looking doubtful .

After Ou Lan left, Ye Chen only said to the little girl with his head down, “Mengmeng, I’ll piggyback you home, okay?”

“Hmph, only kids will want piggyback rides . I’m not a kid . ” She lifted her chin extremely arrogantly before she started to walk in front .

Ye Chen caught up to her immediately . He was worried that she might fall or be hit by cars on the street . She turned her head to look at a Pretty Goat cartoon bag on the display when they passed by the supermarket . There was a burning desire in her eyes .

Ye Chen looked at the bag she was carrying and realized that the color had faded a lot . Even the two straps were restitched before . He felt pain and guilt well up within him .