CHAPTER 381: CHAPTER 371: FIRST BIRTHDAY

January had already brought winter.

The sky was a bit gloomy, with no sign of the sun, and everyone on the street was bundled up in winter attire. Qin Guanglin put on his hat again, stuffed his hands into his sleeves, and hurried along, busy with preparations for his daughter’s first birthday celebration.

Originally, they hadn’t done anything for her full moon celebration, just the couple and Qin’s Mom huddling at home, unable to host anything, so they had been waiting for the first birthday to make it up to little Anya.

Qin’s Mom had originally wanted to set up banquet tables in the old street, so that neighbours and friends could join in the festivities, but after some thought, Qin Guanglin didn’t agree and instead booked a medium-sized hotel.

— His daughter had barely seen anyone since she was born, they missed full moon and hundred days celebrations; it was, in fact, the first time they were celebrating anything. All kinds of relatives would be attending, so it was better to make it somewhat formal.

Moreover, Gu Xiaoqing being recognized as a godparent was also on this day, so they couldn’t make it too simple.

"What are you buying all this for?"

When He Fang came back from work, Qin Guanglin was arranging a table full of odds and ends, with their daughter wobbling in a baby walker. As she picked up her daughter and gave her a kiss, then turned to glance over, she understood what it was for without waiting for Qin Guanglin to explain.

Sure enough, Qin Guanglin gathered all the little trinkets on the table and pinched out a palm-sized abacus, said, "It’s for the ’zhuazhou’ ceremony in a few days, to see what she will be when she grows up."

At this point, he suddenly became curious, "There should have been a ’zhuazhou’ before, right? What did our daughter grab?"

"She grabbed a celery stalk."

"..."

"What’s with that expression?" He Fang glanced at him, hugging her daughter and humming, "Celery means diligence and being thrifty in managing household affairs, that’s good, certainly better than grabbing your broken paintbrush."

"How is it broken? Painting... Fine, being thrifty, that’s good, thrifty household management. In a couple of days, we’ll see what Ya grabs this time, right my girl?"

As he spoke, Qin Guanglin stood up from the sofa and leaned close to He Fang, lowering his head to give his daughter a couple of playful kisses. Anyway, no matter what she grabbed, there would be nothing bad about it.

"Give me the child, you hurry and cook," he took over his daughter and urged.

"What about me?"

"Go cook, what ’what about me?’"

Qin Guanglin rocked the baby a couple of times, and seeing that He Fang was still staring at him, he finally realized and leaned in to give He Fang a peck on both cheeks, "Happy now?"

"Half-hearted, hmm."

"Alright, let’s start over, come back here."

"You hold your daughter."

He Fang had already dived into the kitchen, taking down an apron from the wall and tying it on.

Soon after, the sound of chopping vegetables mixed with the television sounds from the living room, Qin Guanglin aiding his daughter to move slowly around the living room in her walker.

...

He’s Daddy arrived the day before the first birthday party. He had originally said he would come for the full moon celebration when He Fang was born, but since there had been none, it had been delayed until now. By the time the old man saw his granddaughter again, Anya was already able to toddle around in her walker.

He stayed for dinner at Qin Guanglin’s home that evening, then sat for a while longer, playing with little Anya. Not wanting to be a bother to them, he declined the young couple’s offer to stay in the guest room, choosing instead to continue staying at the hotel he used on his previous visit.

Apart from He’s Daddy, other relatives and friends from the Qin family’s elders also came, all arranged and accommodated by Qin’s Mom. By the next day, the hotel where the banquet was set up had balloons and arches, and from a distance, one could see the words "Happy 1st Birthday to Qin Anya".

Gu Xiaoqing arrived early at the venue, not dressing as sharply as usual—wearing a white long tie-waist coat, layered over a high-neck sweater, and, rare for her, had applied some light makeup, softening her brows and eyes substantially, completely transforming from tomboy to mature woman.

"Are you... Xiaoqing’s sister?"

Qin Guanglin looked at her baffled as she hung her coat aside, and couldn’t help but ask.

"Move aside." He Fang handed her daughter to Qin Guanglin, pulling Gu Xiaoqing left and right, her joy rendering Xiaoqing slightly embarrassed.

"You really look pretty dressed up like this..."

"Don’t tease me, Sister He."

"I’m serious..."

Qin Guanglin watched the two of them chattering away, too lazy to join in, pushing his daughter’s pram to where Qin’s Mom was, leaving her in the care of the two seniors, and himself heading to greet guests at the entrance.

The banquet wasn’t large, besides family members on both sides, they had only invited close friends such as Xiao Yu, Chen Rui and the like, friends like Yu Le, with whom they weren’t as tightly connected, were not invited. It was a celebration within a small circle.

"Hey, seem to have lost weight?"

Xiao Yu got out of the car with his son and approached Qin Guanglin to greet him at the entrance.

"Really?!" Qin Guanglin now loved hearing that he’d lost weight. He’d been knocking himself out with push-ups every day; it would really knock the wind out of his sails if there were no results.

"Fake."

"Damn, get inside quick."

Qin Guanglin, annoyed, herded him inside while Chen Rui’s car was searching for a parking spot.

"That one there, have you met your boss at the signing?" Seeing Xiao Yu dawdling, he pointed at Chen Rui, who was just getting out of his car.

"No, wasn’t the emergency response still not lifted back then? The contracts were all sent by mail."

Xiao Yu said casually. He was just part-time, so all this boss and not-boss stuff... speaking of which, he wasn’t even as familiar with the person he’d connected with.

Chen Rui, seeing Qin Guanglin’s chubby face from a distance, couldn’t help but smile. He walked over quickly and patted his shoulder, "Having a kid really changes things... so fortunate, truly."

"Don’t I know it, I’ve scored big time."

"Next time you draw the sequel to ’Daughter,’ you might need to change your image."

Joking as they entered the venue, by nearly eleven o’clock, most of the invited guests had arrived. He Fang was chatting with friends, holding her daughter; Qin’s Mom was accompanying the aunt and a group of relatives. Qin Guanglin casually went around then began preparing for the event.

No emcee was hired. He simply stood there and thanked his friends and family. Videos of his daughter’s growth played on the screen behind him, followed by toasts, cutting the cake, and by the time everything was done, it was nearly eleven-thirty. After the cake was divided and eaten came the main event.

Qin Guanglin took out prepared items one by one—abacus, pens, books, money, food, and other jumbled stuff—and set them up, while He Fang pulled out the pen Qin Guanglin had given her before she graduated and added it to the mix.

"We need this too."

Xiao Yu thought for a moment, then took off his keychain from his waist and tossed it over, saying with a laugh, "Grab the keys, and she can become a landlady later."

"This, this goes in too," Chen Rui joined in the fun. He rummaged through his bag, pulled out the company seal, and threw it to Qin Guanglin, "A strong woman, opening her own company to be the boss."

Gu Xiaoqing blinked, rummaged through her bag since she didn’t have cosmetics or anything, and finally took out a bank card to add to the pile, "Just to make up the numbers."

After everything was set up, He Fang held the daughter in front of the items, sat her down, and whispered something to her, regardless of whether she understood or not.

"What did your family grab back then?" Qin Guanglin asked Xiao Yu.

"Grabbed a book."

Xiao Yu was rather proud when talking about this, "In the future, she’s definitely going to be a Tsinghua University whiz kid."

"Didn’t grab a fishing rod?"

"... Zhou Nan wouldn’t let me include it."

"Hahaha, it would’ve been over if you had, she would’ve clung to it nonstop." Qin Guanglin laughed.

As they were talking, Little Xiaoyu wandered over to where the items were set up, curiously looked over the things on the ground, and then a little hand suddenly grabbed his ear.

"..."

"..."

Little Xiaoyu was startled, tried to move his head but couldn’t break free, and hesitated to push the hand away as he was afraid to hurt such a small person. After freezing for two seconds, his mouth quivered, and he started to cry.

"Wah..."

The two little ones, one crying and the other giggling, caused He Fang and Zhou Nan to hurry over and separate them.

Seeing Zhou Nan comforting his son, a chill ran down Xiao Yu’s spine.

...She’s so young and already bullying boys, she won’t end up like her dad, will she?

"Keep your daughter away from my son in the future," he warned Qin Guanglin, concerned.

"Keep your son away from my daughter."

Qin Guanglin was even more upset. His daughter was supposed to grab a pen or keys, not someone’s ear.

If all else failed, at least grab a seal or abacus...

In front of an audience, Anya sat among the array of items for a restart of the grabbing ceremony, looking around curiously with her big eyes, down at her little feet, and finally picked up the bank card that Gu Xiaoqing had placed.