He couldn’t ask soone else to take his place.
So he asked them to wake him if he started falling asleep.
For so reason, they apologized instead.
"What’s wrong?" Qiong Xing asked.
"You just gave birth. You must be exhausted. Normally we’d tell you to rest as much as possible, but..."
"It’s alright. I knew this before deciding to give birth. I won’t say I want to stop now just because it’s hard."
If he were going to say sothing like that, he would never have chosen to give birth in the first place.
He appreciated their concern, but when he simply asked them to help him instead, they finally nodded.
"More importantly, what should we do about her na? It would be sad if we keep calling her ’the baby’ forever."
When Qiong Xing asked if anyone had a good na idea, everyone simply told him that he should be the one to decide.
"Is it really okay if I decide?" Qiong Xing asked.
"You should be the one to choose," Leander said.
"If that’s the case... how about the na Qiong Lian?"
"Qiong Lian?"
"It ans to connect, to link, to tie things together. It might sound a little like a boy’s na, but I want it to carry the aning of soone who keeps the people we love and our family connected."
Qiong Xing wondered if a more feminine na might be better, but that was the na that ca to his mind at that mont.
When he asked, "What do you think?" everyone nodded in agreent.
Their family had grown again and many things would surely happen in the future.
There might even be tis when they argued with each other.
But if Little Lian was there, everything would be fine.
As long as Lian was there to connect their hearts and keep their family and loved ones tied together.
Qiong Xing was sleepy.
Extrely sleepy.
How much milk could such a tiny body possibly drink?
He knew that because the baby was small, he had to feed her often. But just when he thought he could sleep, he would be woken up and just when he thought he could finally rest again, he would be woken up once more.
The lack of sleep almost made him collapse.
Elias and the others took the initiative when it ca to changing diapers, but feeding the baby was sothing only Qiong Xing could do.
Every ti they woke him, they looked apologetic.
Even so, for the sake of his adorable child, Qiong Xing forced himself to wake up half-asleep, feed her milk, and change her diapers.
After a few months, things slowly improved and he was finally able to get so proper sleep.
"I really want to go outside already," Qiong Xing complained.
He asked to go out for a change of pace, but everyone’s reaction was not good.
They said it was dangerous.
They said it was still too early.
Just how worried were they?
So he asked when it would finally be okay.
Their answer was: when Lian could walk on her own.
Without saying another word, Qiong Xing picked up Lian and walked straight out of the room.
There was no way he was going to wait that long.
In the end, he was stopped right at the entrance. But Qiong Xing refused to back down and eventually Joa gave in and allowed them to go out as long as they stayed nearby.
"Why are you so against going outside? I understand that it can be dangerous, but that doesn’t change whether Lian is with or not."
Qiong Xing knew they were saying it because they cared about him and Lian. But staying locked inside all the ti made him feel suffocated.
Even if it was just for a short ti, he wanted to step outside and refresh himself.
"I understand that," Joa said. "But I just can’t help worrying."
Qiong Xing understood Joa and the others’ feelings, but he also wanted them to understand his.
"Your Papa are really slow to act, aren’t they, Lian?" Qiong Xing said.
"Hey. You should say we care about our family," Joa replied.
It had been a long ti since Qiong Xing had been outside.
He handed Lian to Joa and ran toward the familiar flower field and imdiately tripped.
"Your mom is still as restless as ever, Lian," Joa said.
"It’s nothing new!" Qiong Xing replied.
"Don’t act proud about it."
Even as an adult, falling over like that was embarrassing.
But after finally getting the chance to go outside, Qiong Xing did not care about small things like that.
He rolled onto the ground and lay on his back.
Joa who is still holding Lian sat down beside him.
"I used to like lying down like this and watching the clouds drift by," Qiong Xing said.
"What are you, an old man?" Joa replied.
"When you’re always moving around, you don’t really notice it, right? But when you stop like this and look carefully, you can see that the clouds, the wind, and the sun... the world is really turning."
"Well, of course it is."
Whether soone is sad or laughing, the world keeps turning.
"...When my parents passed away, I felt like the world inside had stopped. No, I believed it had stopped. i couldn’t accept reality. I just lived day by day doing what the people around told to do. But the people who should have been there... were no longer there and that made very sad."
When he closed his eyes, mories from long ago ca back to him.
His mother had a cute appearance, yet she was clumsy and acted more like a boy.
His father looked strong and cool like a real man, yet he was skilled with his hands and always treated his mother with gentle care.
Qiong Xing had loved them deeply.
No... he still loved them even now.
But those two people had suddenly disappeared from his life.
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