My Youth Began With Him

Liu Ze didn’t know what to feel as he looked down at the bouquet of chrysanthemums in his hand.

Before he could say anything, however, Pudding said, “The girl in the flower shop told me that white chrysanthemums symbolized purity… and I thought, what a perfect present for a doctor! However, just white would be too boring so I asked the girl in the shop to add some yellow chrysanthemums. What do you think, do you like them?”

Pudding then looked up at Liu Ze with an innocent expression on her face.

Liu Ze looked down again at the white and yellow chrysanthemums; he couldn’t get mad, but he was mad! What an awkward situation…

The nurses outside began talking amongst themselves…

“Wait, why did Vice Director Huo’s daughter give Dr. Liu chrysanthemums? Aren’t chrysanthemums what you give to dead people?”

“Yeah, that’s a creepy gift… but she’s young, I’m sure Dr. Liu won’t blame her. She’s still a child, of course, she didn’t do it on purpose.”

“You’re right, you’re right, it’s so nice of the little kid to visit Dr. Liu.”

“Right? Plus, Dr. Liu is a really nice person, he would never get mad at a child for something she didn’t mean to do.”

Upon hearing the nurses’ remarks, Liu Ze had no choice but to swallow his anger. However, he couldn’t bring himself to wipe the ugly expression off his face.

“Uncle Liu, are you okay? Don’t you like my present?” Pudding asked as she stared at Liu Ze’s face.

“No, I love it.” Liu Ze forced a smile, which was, in fact, uglier than crying.

“I’m glad you like it, I’ll buy you more in the future!” Pudding exclaimed generously.

Liu Ze couldn’t help but shudder. “No, no, don’t give me these again in the future. Giving a man flowers isn’t appropriate.”

“Then I’ll try to buy you something more manly next time, okay?” Pudding said; next time, she’ll give him an urn.

“It’s okay, Pudding, you don’t have to do that. I’ve never gotten you anything, so I can’t accept anything from you.”

“It’s okay, you’re Mommy’s friend, right? I heard you always buy Mommy midnight snacks when she’s working overtime… I know Daddy doesn’t like it when other men get too close to Mommy, but you’re extremely brave. I really admire that about you!”

Liu Ze slightly frowned and bit his upper lip a little after hearing what Pudding said. He froze for a second; her words seemed… off. Was he overthinking things? This kid was no more than four years old, and her face looked nothing but innocent.

Of course he was thinking too much! What did a three-year-old know?

“Pudding, you weren’t that nice to me the other day, what changed?” Liu Ze asked with a smile; when he bought Huo Mian food the other night and bumped into Qin Chu and the twins, Pudding and Little Bean’s attitudes were filled with animosity.

“Last time was a misunderstanding, I thought you were trying to court Mommy, but later…” Then, Pudding paused on purpose.

“What happened later?” Liu Ze asked curiously.

“Later, once we got home, Daddy scolded us for being rude to Mommy’s colleague, and he also said…” Pudding paused again.

“What did your daddy say?” Liu Ze sat up with interest.