The Tiantian Hair Salon was located in a run-down shop at the bottom of an old residential building. Liang Canwen parked his Bentley in a parking spot within the complex. He could enter the hair salon from here, but this entrance led to the living quarters; the front door of the hair salon faced the street.
He put the little one on the bed. The little one, fast asleep, was clutching Aisha's skirt tightly. Liang Canwen mixed some formula and put the bottle in the little one's mouth before letting go.
She was three years old and still drinking formula.
Liang Canwen played both mother and father. He filled a basin with water and bathed his daughter. It was already late when he finally took a shower. He went back to the double bed and lay down. He caught a whiff of Li Xingran's lingering scent on the pillow and threw it in the trash.
"Damn, annoying. Sleep!"
The next morning, sparrows outside the window were chirping on the telephone wires.
Liang Canwen woke up and saw his daughter sitting on the small bed opposite, playing with modeling clay.
"Yanyan, who are these little people you made?" Liang Canwen stretched and asked.
"This one in the white dress is Mommy, and the one in the dance dress is Auntie. Daddy, can you help Yanyan give this to Auntie for me? I promised her I'd make it for her."
"Okay, but you also have to promise Daddy that you won't wet your pants again at kindergarten today. You have to tell Teacher Yu Man if you need to pee, alright?"
"Okay~"
Liang Canwen smiled and mixed milk powder for the little girl to drink.
The little girl drank milk powder every morning and evening, which used to be a significant expense. As she grew up, the amount of milk powder she consumed was astonishing.
Then he brushed his daughter's hair and braided it. Liang Canwen was a hairdresser, so his daughter's hairstyle was different every day.
After breakfast, he took her to kindergarten.
The kindergarten was just down the street, a few minutes' walk away. Liang Canwen used it as exercise to take his daughter to kindergarten every day.
"Remember, you have to give it to Auntie!"
"Alright, alright, Dad remembers."
"Bye-bye!"
The little one, with their backpack on, ran into the school, checking their hands and mouth before heading into the classroom.
Liang Canwen returned to the barbershop. He wasn't planning on opening for business the next couple of days. He took the clay figure and the bag containing Ye Fanzhi's qipao, ready to take them to the dry cleaners. He drove off in his Bentley Bentayga.
He hadn't paid much attention to the car last night because it was too dark. The burgundy interior and the sapphire-blue body were beautiful. It was a head-turner driving down the road.
Modu Dance Academy.
Li Wenning's school.
Liang Canwen had never been here before. Previously, it was always Li Xingran who came to see her sister, or her sister would come to the barber shop to see her niece.
Li Wenning had chosen Modu Dance Academy in the first place because her sister and brother-in-law were in Modu.
The Bentley Bentayga drove down the street and turned into Modu Dance Academy. After swiping a card to enter, it drove into the school grounds. Students around them began to discuss it.
"Damn, a Bentley Bentayga, and it's new! How much does it cost?"
"It's a Bentley, so at least a few million, right?"
"I wonder which rich second-generation kid is driving a luxury car to pick up a girl from our school?"
The Bentley Bentayga parked in a parking space. Liang Canwen got out of the car. He called Li Wenning twice, but she didn't answer. He figured she should be in the dorm at this time.
"Excuse me, student, which way is the girls' dormitory?"
"Over there."
"Thanks."
Liang Canwen closed the car door and walked towards the girls' dormitory building, holding the small gift box.
Other students watched the Bentley owner's back and whispered among themselves…
"Who is he going to confess to this time?"
"There was a Porsche owner who came three days ago and succeeded in confessing. He took away a junior. How long do you think this one will take?"
"He won't take a day. He'll be taken away later."
"A day? No way? She should at least be reserved for a day or two."
"Screw being reserved, look at the car he's driving, a Bentley! Those things cost millions."
Liang Canwen asked his way all the way to the girls' dormitory.
The dormitory aunt was watching You Are My Human Fireworks. Seeing a man with a handsome appearance holding a gift box outside, sneaking glances inside.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" the dormitory aunt walked out and asked.
"I'm looking for Li Wenning, a senior." Liang Canwen didn't know what department or class his sister-in-law was in, only that she was a senior.
"Heh, another one looking for Li Wenning."
"Another one??? Are there a lot of people looking for Li Wenning?"
"You're the fifth one this week. Just go home, you're disturbing her studies."
The dorm auntie saw right through it.
"???"
"Heh heh heh~" a female student who was heading downstairs to take out the trash said with a laugh, "Handsome, I know where Li Wenning is. Over there, on the third floor of the Comprehensive Building. I just came out and saw her in Gymnastics Room 13."
"Okay, thanks. Uh... May I ask, why is the dorm auntie so hostile when I say I'm looking for Li Wenning?"
"Don't you know Li Wenning is the school beauty?"
My sister-in-law is the school beauty?
I used to shut myself off from the world, only wanting to make big money. How could I know the school beauty was right beside me?
But to be honest, the two Li sisters are both beautiful. Otherwise, Li Xingran wouldn't have had the chance to be a mistress of a rich man, right?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Liang Canwen's attention was always on the elder sister, so he didn't pay attention to the younger sister-in-law.
"My bad, brother-in-law."
"Handsome, Li Wenning is really aloof. Lots of guys try to hit on her, but she just ignores them and doesn't give them the time of day. Good luck to you."
"..."
Comprehensive Building, third floor.
"One, two, three…"
"Sit down a little more, ah! Ow—"
Groans of pain echoed from the dance rooms lining the hallway.
Gymnastics Room 13 was at the end of the corridor.
A dancer in a black leotard was practicing in front of a glass wall, correcting her movements as she danced.
The bright sun shone on the woman's slender, graceful body, highlighting the beauty of her form with every lift and fall of her arms.
Knock, knock, knock.
Hearing the knock, Li Wenning, her hair pulled back in a bun, turned around, and her aloof expression immediately blossomed into joy.
"Brother-in-law!"
Li Wenning called out, excitedly running a few steps before immediately slowing down, trying to be ladylike. She shyly walked up to Liang Canwen, lowered her head, and then raised it again. Because she had been practicing, her forehead was covered in sweat. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and said gently, "Brother-in-law, you came to see me～"
Liang Canwen handed her a small gift box. "Yanyan made this clay figurine for you. She told me I had to give it to you today."
Li Wenning opened it and laughed. "Hehehe~ It's so cute. Yanyan is amazing. I love it."
Liang Canwen smiled.
Li Wenning: "Brother-in-law, are you laughing at me?"
"I only found out when I came to your school that you're so popular. Who knew you, a little kid, would become the school's beauty queen."
In Liang Canwen's mind, his sister-in-law was still the fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl from when her sister got married. In the blink of an eye, she was already a graceful young woman.
She had grown up.
"I'm not a little kid anymore, Brother-in-law. I've grown up," Li Wenning puffed out her chest.
"Yes, yes, yes, you have definitely grown up."
Li Wenning complained, "It's because you haven't come to see me at school in the past few years. You only care about my sister and don't care about me, your little sister-in-law."
"So popular, have you gotten a boyfriend?"
"No, no, brother-in-law, I don't have a boyfriend. I'm single, I've always been single."
"What kind of guy do you like? I'll introduce you to someone."
"I'm not telling you."
"Oh, so mysterious. You must like someone, right?"
"Ugh, brother-in-law, can we not talk about this? Tell my sister I'm going to see Yanyan after school."
"Your sister and I got divorced yesterday."
"You're kidding, right? How could you two get divorced? I don't believe it."
"I wouldn't joke about something like this."
"Why are you getting a divorce?"
"Your sister's been seeing someone else. Why would I stay and get cheated on?"
"My sister is too much!"
"We're getting a divorce, and I don't care anymore. You can visit Yanyan whenever you like. I won't be your brother-in-law anymore, just call me by my name. I'm leaving now, study hard."
After saying that, Liang Canwen turned to leave. Li Wenning immediately crouched on the ground and started crying, covering her head.
Some students passing by saw this scene and exclaimed, "Wow, weren't you here to confess to Li Wenning? Why did you make her cry even harder than someone who just got dumped?"
Liang Canwen: ???