Proud of Her Father

Lu Yuanqiu nodded, holding her hand firmly, and spoke softly: "Don't speak, don't speak, it's alright, it's alright, don't rush, let's not rush for now, listen to me first..."

He noticed that Bai Qingxia's arm was also trembling violently.

Looking at her, Lu Yuanqiu took a deep breath and said earnestly, "Bai Qingxia, listen carefully to what I'm going to say next. My eldest and second uncles know your father. Your father is the founder of the White Rhinoceros brand. White Rhinoceros instant noodles were his labor of love when he was young, but due to certain reasons, the brand no longer belongs to him."

The girl stared intently into the young man's eyes, their hands tightly clasped. Her tear-filled gaze showed a trace of incomprehension, along with a hint of astonishment.

Lu Yuanqiu knew that Bai Qingxia had no idea what her father had done in his youth; she only knew that her father used to be a boss.

Just like the neighbors living in osmanthus lane, they only knew that Bai Songzhe used to be a boss, and had no idea about Bai Songzhe's connection to the White Rhinoceros brand.

Bai Qingxia looked at him with great astonishment, unable to speak.

Lu Yuanqiu continued, "My dad knows about this too, but he didn't expect Uncle Bai to react so strongly to the instant noodles. Although my dad didn't mean any harm, this is his fault, not yours, and not Uncle Bai's. Uncle Bai reacted like that just now because it must have brought back painful memories. He's already hurting so much, how could he possibly be in the wrong?"

The girl lowered her gaze, panting, as tears continued to fall, seemingly trying to digest the whole thing.

Lu Yuanqiu wanted to stroke her head, but when he loosened one hand, the girl panicked for a split second. She quickly raised her gaze to stare at Lu Yuanqiu's hand until it slowly came to rest on the top of her head, and only then did she shift her gaze back to Lu Yuanqiu's face.

The young man smiled gently at her: "Knowing this now, do you understand the whole story?"

He gently stroked Bai Qingxia's head and said, "Your father has never brought these things up to you. Don't overthink it. I was very puzzled before too, but today I think I suddenly understand."

Seeing the girl looking at him with red-rimmed eyes, Lu Yuanqiu explained patiently, "I think Uncle Bai probably didn't want you to feel the same resentment, hatred, and anger he feels when seeing White Rhinoceros instant noodles. Because that was a career he once loved, his labor of love. He hadn't even had the chance to boast about his success and White Rhinoceros to his daughter—how could he let his daughter hate the White Rhinoceros brand from the very beginning?"

"It was his brand. Perhaps he thought that one day he could make a comeback, and then when you first heard about this brand from his lips, the emotion it would evoke in you would be pure pride, complete pride in your own father."

Having said this, Lu Yuanqiu looked at the pink hair clip on top of the girl's head and let out a silent sigh.

At that moment, a snoring sound came from nearby.

The two of them turned their heads and saw Bai Songzhe leaning against the table, fast asleep.

"You sit here for a moment, I'll go check outside."

With that, Lu Yuanqiu stood up, but his hand was still tightly gripped by Bai Qingxia. She looked up, and upon realizing it, slowly loosened her fingers, clasping them together in her lap.

Lu Yuanqiu then stepped out of the storeroom door. At that moment, his old man was sweeping up the debris of the smashed instant noodles with a broom.

Seeing Lu Yuanqiu come out, his dad quickly looked up and asked, "How is it?"

"Uncle Bai fell asleep. I told Bai Qingxia about the White Rhinoceros matter."

Hearing this, Lu Tian sighed and said, "I never expected him to react so strongly just seeing instant noodles. Who would have thought..."

At this point, Lu Yuanqiu suddenly looked at his father's face in shock: "Good grief."

He glanced back to make sure Bai Qingxia couldn't hear, and hurriedly pulled Lu Tian aside, saying, "Why is your face swollen up so high?"

"Huh?" Lu Tian had no idea. He quickly grabbed a mirror from the cashier counter and looked at his reflection. Only then did he see a red, five-finger handprint on his right cheek, which was swollen high up.

"It's fine, it's fine, just apply some ice to bring the swelling down," Lu Tian said casually, though inside he felt somewhat like crying.

Lu Yuanqiu: "You should go home first. It's best if you don't come to the supermarket at night for the next few days."

Hearing his son's words, Lu Tian understood what he meant. He nodded, picked up his jacket from the chair, glanced at the storeroom door, and said to Lu Yuanqiu, "Comfort her well, sigh..."

After his dad left, Lu Yuanqiu grabbed a few band-aids and walked into the storeroom.

Bai Qingxia was bowing her head, earnestly wiping the blood off her father's hand with tissue paper. Seeing Lu Yuanqiu enter, she raised her head.

Lu Yuanqiu smiled and wiped the lower corner of her eye with his thumb, teasing, "Don't forget to wipe your own tears while wiping your dad's fingers. They're hanging in a whole string."

Obediently, Bai Qingxia raised her arm and gave her face a couple of casual swipes with her sleeve.

She then looked at the stack of band-aids in Lu Yuanqiu's hand, looking as if she wanted to say something.

Lu Yuanqiu spoke up directly: "Pay for the band-aids yourself later and drop the money into the cash register drawer."

The girl nodded immediately: "Okay."

She took the band-aids and helped her dad wrap the injured finger on his left hand, while Lu Yuanqiu wrapped the right one.

In the middle of it, Bai Qingxia suddenly asked in puzzlement, "Why... why is my father the founder, yet the company no longer belongs to him? Did he do something wrong?"

Hearing this, Lu Yuanqiu looked up. The girl raised her gaze as well.

After all, she would still care about this question.

Lu Yuanqiu averted his gaze unnaturally: "This..."

He definitely couldn't tell her.

Although the girl looked gentle and frail, she actually had a strong side to her, and Lu Yuanqiu didn't want her to know these things just yet.

"I don't really understand these kinds of things..."

Lu Yuanqiu, who usually loved to spin yarns, found himself unable to make anything up at this moment. While he didn't want Bai Qingxia to know the real reason, he equally didn't want her to harbor the misconception that there was something wrong with his own father.

After all, when a person goes bankrupt while the company and brand still stand tall, the superficial reason can only be that her father himself messed up and got kicked out.

Fortunately, the girl only raised the immediate question and did not probe deeper.

"Let your dad sleep here for a while. You stay here with him, and go back when the time is right."

The girl nodded, not standing on ceremony regarding this.

Lu Yuanqiu went out of the storeroom. Halfway there, he saw Bai Qingxia come out and place the money for the band-aids into the cash register drawer.

Although she hadn't worked there for long, she had already memorized the price of every single item in the supermarket, a detail that both Lu Yuanqiu and Lu Tian found very surprising.

At ten-thirty in the evening, Bai Qingxia woke her father up. After taking a nap, Bai Songzhe seemed to have forgotten what happened earlier and had reverted to his original silly, simple-minded self.

Watching the back of the girl as she escorted her dad out of the supermarket doors, Lu Yuanqiu took off his vest and said, "I'll walk you guys home."