Being disliked by his own son, Qin Ningyi opened his mouth but finally said nothing.
Shen Wuyou was a patient, so he would lend his son to him a little longer.
On the bed, Shen Wuyou, who had been a bit dispirited, caught a glimpse of Qin Ningyi's ashen face out of the corner of his eye and suddenly laughed. He winked at An'an, "An'an is so good to Uncle Shen."
Seeing that his face had finally regained its color, An'an silently apologized to his father.
After Shen Wuyou was refreshed, An'an snuggled into Qin Ningyi's arms, "Dad."
His eyes blinked, looking at Qin Ningyi, and he smiled like an arrogant fox.
Qin Ningyi maintained his composure and pulled him into his arms.
"Shave my beard again tonight."
Half an hour of laughter and play passed.
As night fell, An'an finished dinner with Shen Wuyou and happened to run into Sun Zhiyuan, who had come to visit Old Master Qin.
"Sorry, Grandpa, I was walking too fast." An'an lowered his head and quickly apologized. He had turned back to call Shen Feng and didn't notice the person who suddenly appeared in the hallway.
Sun Zhiyuan's stern face was about to erupt, but upon hearing the soft, milky voice, his expression suddenly softened, "It's okay."
He looked at the little one in front of him and thought of his hard-won young son. On impulse, he half-knelt down, his rough hands hovering over An'an's head, wanting to touch his hair.
He hadn't seen him for a long time.
"Such a sensible little boy." He wanted to touch the soft child, but his hand hesitated.
An'an subtly took a step back, "Thank you, Grandpa. My dad is next door. I need to go find him."
Mommy said there were many bad people in the world. If he met a stranger acting strangely, he should stay away and mention that he had relatives around.
Even though he was in the hospital, he didn't dare to relax at all.
Sun Zhiyuan withdrew his empty hand with a sense of loss, and the joy on his face vanished. He looked up again and met An'an's face.
This face, so like Qin Ningyi's when he was young, shocked him.
Considering An'an's words that his dad was next door, wasn't this Old Master Qin's ward?
"Is your dad Qin Ningyi?" Although it was a question, he had almost confirmed the conclusion.
An'an looked at the old man in front of him with some confusion.
Although his hair was dark, the wrinkles on his face and his voice were those of someone he could call Grandpa.
He didn't know if this person was a bad guy like Mommy said, and he didn't know if he should talk to him, so he just looked at him with innocent and bewildered eyes.
He was a child, so it was normal not to understand. After all, Ruan Ruan often looked at him with such eyes.
Thinking of Ruan Ruan, a smile appeared on An'an's face, making his innocent look even more genuine.
"So well-behaved." Sun Zhiyuan smiled, "What's your name?"
An'an pursed his lips and looked at him.
"I'm your dad's friend. I held your dad when he was little. I'm not a bad person." Sun Zhiyuan saw An'an's distant look and pointed to the on-duty personnel outside the door, "You can ask them if you don't believe me."
Receiving a reassuring nod from the duty staff, An'an felt a little relieved, "An'an."
"An'an, that's a good name. Where's your mom?" Sun Zhiyuan completely shed his authoritative demeanor, bending down to get as close to An'an as possible.
An'an's eyes dimmed, and he shook his head, "Mommy is busy."
After talking for a while, Sun Zhiyuan only got fragmented answers from An'an. He looked at the taciturn An'an, subtly rubbed his face, and seemed to be smiling kindly.
Why was An'an so clueless? Was he really too young? But he always felt that An'an wasn't as ignorant as he appeared.
"This personality is just like your dad's when he was little."
Qin Ningyi was timing it and was about to go out to look for An'an when he heard Sun Zhiyuan say, "What personality?"
As he walked out the door and saw Sun Zhiyuan squatting in front of An'an, he paused, "Uncle Sun."
This uncle used to chat with him like this when he was young, but he wasn't someone who liked to chat with people, especially such an enthusiastic adult.
"Dad!" Seeing Qin Ningyi, An'an rushed over. He didn't want to talk to this grandpa about his mommy, nor did he want Grandpa to know what he liked or wanted to play.
Qin Ningyi picked him up and said without thinking, "Sorry, Uncle Sun, he's shy with strangers."
"The child is this old already, and Uncle hasn't even attended the wedding. You've kept it well hidden!" Sun Zhiyuan teased, hiding all his impatience in his eyes as he stood up.
"Whose family is the child's mother from? It's not little Zou, is it?"
The joke between the Qin and Zou families was familiar to those who knew them, and he could only think of Zou Xiaoxiao.
"No." Qin Ningyi led him inside, "Her surname is Huo. You probably don't know her."
"Huo..." Sun Zhiyuan froze upon hearing the surname. He didn't hear what Qin Ningyi said next, his mind filled with that surname.
It had been so many years since he had heard that surname; he had almost forgotten it.
"Little Sun?" Grandma Liu raised her voice to call him as she saw him spacing out.
"Ah?"
"Why are you standing at the door spacing out? Come and sit down."
Sun Zhiyuan hurried in, "It's nothing, nothing. I just suddenly remembered some work-related matters."
"Grandpa Sun, what's wrong with the surname Huo??" An'an asked instinctively as he saw him approach.
He was just curious why this talkative grandpa was stunned when he heard his mommy's surname. Was there anything strange about this surname?
"Nothing."
Sun Zhiyuan's demeanor became noticeably absent-minded afterward.
After this day, Sun Zhiyuan still came every day. Each time he would speak kindly to An'an, and sometimes he would come early and play with An'an and Ruan Ruan.
Qin Ningyi's wounds gradually healed, and Shen Wuyou was able to get out of bed and make rounds in Old Master Qin's ward.