How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 414 - 416: He Can Smile_1

Li Qiao and Qin Jin hung out together until the child in the house started to cry.

Only then did Qin Jin speak, "Calm down, I’ll come over and hold you in a moment."

The child’s crying abruptly stopped.

Li Qiao laughed, yet felt embarrassed, "Do you think he knows what we’re doing?"

"If a child understands that, wouldn’t he be a little too clever?" said Qin Jin as he finished tidying up and moved to help Li Qiao.

"I can do it myself, you watch the child." Li Qiao cleaned up, then opened the window to air out the room before heading into the break room.

Qin Jin said, "Both wet and dirty."

Li Qiao replied, "Probably couldn’t hold it anymore, we’re really not competent."

Qin Jin was unconvinced, "As soon as he cried, I came. How’s that for incompetence?" How should one be competent, then? He asked the child, "Am I a competent daddy?"

The child turned his head away.

Li Qiao said, "He’s mad we’re not playing with him."

The child moved his foot to show that Li Qiao was right.

Li Qiao laughed and said, "See, he understands everything."

Qin Jin replied, "He understands everything except how to call daddy. Say daddy, and wherever I go tomorrow, I’ll take you with me."

The child opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

At that moment, a knocking sounded from outside, "Jin, what are you hiding in there for?"

The speaker was Liu Er.

Qin Jin opened the door, "What’s the matter?"

"Cheng Jiu’s parents are making a scene at the gate."

"Don’t bother with them," Qin Jin replied, then quickly changed the subject, "Who did you find to take care of the child when I asked you?"

Liu Er explained, "The new worker Zhou Ju. I suddenly had something to take care of, and seeing she was quite honest, I asked if she had experience taking care of children, and she said she did."

Qin Jin said, "Next time I leave the child with you, no matter how busy you are, you don’t touch anything, even if it’s dirty work, you should bring him to me."

Liu Er replied, "....You’re being too careful."

Qin Jin countered, "Wouldn’t you be careful with your own son?"

Liu Er quickly agreed: "Got it, got it, just like you said, next time I’ll take him with me even if I’m going to the bathroom."

Qin Jin was finally satisfied.

Li Qiao was speechless, "Next time just leave him at home, I’m off on Saturday afternoon and can take care of him."

Qin Jin stubbornly said, "I can take good care of him."

Li Qiao didn’t persuade him further, thinking, suit yourself.

........

Then someone else came looking for Qin Jin.

Qin Jin and Liu Er went out together.

Li Qiao stayed to look after the child.

The child hummed and fussed.

Li Qiao asked, "Are you hungry?"

The child kept fussing, his little hands raised, fingers opening and closing.

Li Qiao didn’t understand, what does that mean? She lay down where the child was and realized the light coming through the window was too bright. She moved the child to another spot, but he continued to hum and fuss.

Li Qiao asked, "Do you want to go outside and play?"

The child moved his legs.

Li Qiao guessed he was bored staying here, so she put a baby sunhat on him to partly block his view and carried him out of the office, into the small courtyard by the entrance. She then saw Zhou Ju walking from the workshop towards them.

"Sister, hello, I didn’t recognize you before, sorry about that."

"It’s fine," Li Qiao said with a smile, thinking to herself, You seemed a bit unhappy when I sent you away earlier.

She had changed her attitude very quickly in just one afternoon, probably afraid I’d speak ill of her to Qin Jin.

"The child really looks like you, such fair skin," Zhou Ju said, trying to engage the child playfully.

The child remained expressionless.

Zhou Ju asked how old the child was.

Li Qiao answered, "Three months."

"My sister’s baby smiles as soon as you play with him at three months, why doesn’t he react? Maybe you should take him to the hospital to check," Zhou Ju suggested, believing herself to be offering kind advice.

Li Qiao replied, "He can smile."

Perhaps because he was naturally reserved, he didn’t smile often.

As they were talking, Qin Jin came back. Zhou Ju looked at him shyly and timidly, "Director Qin, hello."

Qin Jin assessed her with his eyes, "Who are you?"

Zhou Ju: "...I’m a new female worker hired by the factory, named Zhou Ju."

"What’s a female worker doing here? This isn’t where you should be." Qin Jin bent down to kiss the child, who stiffened his neck to reveal a double chin, straightened his arms and legs in clear disdain.

Li Qiao laughed, "Stop kissing him, are you done with your work? Once you’re done, take the child’s things and head home."

Qin Jin responded affirmatively.

He quickly went into the office.

Zhou Ju felt awkward, "Sister, I’m leaving too."

Li Qiao hummed in response.

When Qin Jin came out, he was holding a bag in one hand and a milk bottle in the other.

Approaching, he stuffed the milk bottle into the child’s mouth.

The child instinctively clung to it and began to drink.

The young couple fondly watched him eat, and after he finished, the family of three then headed home.

...

By the time they got home, it was nearly evening. frёeωebɳovel.com

After dinner, Li Qiao washed up and prepared to sleep, but the child, having lied down too much during the day, was not sleepy at night and kept kicking his legs by the bed.

Li Qiao carried him around the room; he showed no sign of sleepiness. Every time Li Qiao walked towards the door, the child extended his head eagerly and opened his eyes wide, full of yearning for the outside world.

Qin Jin said, "He might want to go out. I’ll carry him around for a bit; you rest."

"Let’s go together," Li Qiao said.

As they were strolling around the nearby park and came across a secluded area, Li Qiao said, "It smells awful here."

"I smelled it too, like a dead pig." Qin Jin sniffed, "Seems like it’s coming from around here."

Li Qiao stood up to search; the bright moonlight made the surroundings clearly visible. "Why can’t I see anything? It feels like the smell is emanating from here."

Qin Jin, "Qiaoqiao, let’s go back. It might just be a dead rat."

"Alright." Li Qiao took a step and felt the dirt under her feet was softer than elsewhere. Shifting her gaze, she took out a flashlight to inspect.

There were many fallen leaves in autumn.

The ground was covered in dead leaves. She stepped on it again, picked up a twig from the ground, covered her nose and started digging, revealing a few maggots, feeling both disgusted and frightened. She hadn’t experienced morning sickness even during pregnancy, but now she held onto a tree trunk and retched.

Qin Jin also felt his scalp tingle, "There might be a dead body buried here."

Li Qiao, "That’s what I was thinking." That’s why she had been searching here, "Why don’t you dig a bit to check."

"I’m not going to dig." Qin Jin went home with Li Qiao and then reported to the police.

The next day before dawn, Li Qiao was called to the nearby criminal investigation team for questioning.

At the spot she had found, a body wrapped in a burlap sack was buried.

Li Qiao explained the sequence of events in detail and was preparing to leave when someone called out to her.

Li Qiao turned around, surprised, "Yawen, what are you doing here?"

The other party was Mao Yawen, whom she had met the previous year at another district’s criminal investigation team.

"This is one of our subordinate detective squads; I came today to pick up some files. Are you called in again to help solve a case?"

"This time, I’m the one who reported it," Li Qiao explained the situation briefly.

Mao Yawen said, "It sounds quite tricky. If the victim’s identity can be established, that’s good, but I’m afraid it could be someone from out of town. You’ve graduated, right? Where do you work?"

Li Qiao, "I got into grad school, am still studying."

Mao Yawen gave a thumbs-up, "Impressive!"

After a brief chat, the two separated.

When Li Qiao returned home, many gossip-loving neighbors came to inquire about the situation, and she described the previous night’s scene with vivid detail.

"You young people just don’t know what’s appropriate, bringing a child with you, aren’t you afraid of scaring him?"

Li Qiao smiled, "Isn’t he just fine?"

"Next time, be more careful."

"Yeah," Li Qiao was receptive to the advice.

She hadn’t expected that a walk in the park would lead to such an incident.

But because of what happened, that park probably wouldn’t be frequented by anyone anymore.

........