"What's wrong with An'an's teeth?" Li Jinchuan immediately scooped him up into his arms.
Because Jiang Wanyi had always been the one taking care of Li Cheng'an, Li Jinchuan had no idea about the child's condition, not even something as minor as a toothache.
"It hurts... My teeth hurt so much..." Li Cheng'an's crying grew louder and clearer.
"How can he suddenly have a toothache out of nowhere? Just how has Jiang Wanyi been taking care of you?!" Li Lechuan frowned.
He subconsciously shifted the blame onto Jiang Wanyi, assuming that she, as the mother, had failed to look after the child properly.
Li Cheng'an wailed at the top of his lungs in agony.
With Jiang Wanyi around in the past, his teeth had never caused him this much misery.
"It's just a toothache. Once he falls asleep, it won't hurt anymore," Li Lechuan comforted.
In his eyes, a toothache was never a big deal.
Yet Li Cheng'an was in unbearable pain, causing him to cry even louder.
Looking at his son, who wouldn't stop crying and making a fuss, Li Jinchuan irritably loosened his tie and shouted toward the doorway, "Mother Wang, where did you put the household painkillers?"
Mother Wang hurried over and answered with a troubled expression, "Young Master, the young master's painkillers ran out long ago. Madam said she was going to buy some new ones, but she never got around to it."
"What do you mean she didn't get around to it? Jiang Wanyi has all the time in the world, and she can't even handle a simple thing like this?" Li Jinchuan interrupted impatiently. "There isn't even backup medicine in the house?"
"No, that's not it, Young Master," Mother Wang quickly explained. "The young master will only take that strawberry-flavored painkiller that Madam brought back from out of town. He's allergic to any other brand."
Li Jinchuan's brows locked tightly together. He glanced at Li Cheng'an, whose face was flushed red from crying as he rolled around on the floor clutching his cheek, and had no choice but to take out his phone and dial Jiang Wanyi's number once more.
The phone rang for a long time before it was finally answered, and Jiang Wanyi's cold voice came through: "What could you possibly want in the middle of the night?"
"Buy An'an's painkillers and bring them back right now. His tooth is hurting badly, and he needs to take his medicine immediately!" Li Jinchuan commanded.
There was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds, followed by Jiang Wanyi's sarcastic laughter: "President Li, I am not your family's maid. It's almost one o'clock in the morning, and the pharmacies closed hours ago."
"You!" Li Jinchuan choked on his words, then flew into a rage. "Jiang Wanyi, have you lost your mind? You won't even care for your own son? An'an is crying in pain right now, have you no heart?"
Li Cheng'an's wails could faintly be heard through the receiver.
Without even batting an eyelid, Jiang Wanyi shot right back, "Then why doesn't President Li take his precious son to the hospital for a checkup? Or you could send Jiang Jiaojiao to buy the medicine. Hasn't she always wanted to be An'an's mother? This is a golden opportunity."
Too angry to speak, Li Jinchuan lowered his voice and threatened, "Jiang Wanyi, don't push your luck!"
"No matter how you throw a tantrum at me, I can let it go, but An'an is your biological son after all!"
Jiang Wanyi sneered. "Those who know better realize he's my biological son, but anyone else would think he was born to Jiang Jiaojiao."
Hearing Jiang Wanyi's voice through the phone, Li Cheng'an cried even harder. "Mommy! I want Mommy! Sob, sob... It hurts so much!"
Hearing the child's cries, Jiang Wanyi's fingers tightened slightly around her phone, but she quickly regained her indifference. "Li Jinchuan, you're the child's father. Can't you even handle a trivial matter like this? Why must you disturb people's sleep in the middle of the night?"
"Trivial?" Li Jinchuan forced the two words out through clenched teeth. "Jiang Wanyi, do you hear yourself?"
In the past, Jiang Wanyi had always held Li Cheng'an's well-being above all else, terrified that the child might even get a single bump or scrape.
Yet now, with the child in such severe distress, he refused to believe Jiang Wanyi could be so heartless!
Hearing Li Cheng'an's increasingly miserable cries from the other end of the line, the corners of Jiang Wanyi's lips curved into a cold smile.
"I distinctly remember warning you not to let An'an eat sweets before bedtime. Didn't he gleefully tell me just a few days ago that Jiang Jiaojiao bought him a strawberry cake as a midnight snack? Why wasn't he complaining about a toothache then?"
"Now that it hurts, you remember to look for me. Do you really take me for a pushover made of clay, with no temper at all?"
"What's wrong with a child eating a piece of cake? Why do you have to be so petty?" Li Lechuan remained completely oblivious to any wrongdoing. "Just go buy the painkillers and bring them back this time, and we won't have to bother you with this kind of thing in the future."
"That's right, I am petty," Jiang Wanyi's voice was as cold as ice. "So now the two of you father and son can bear the consequences yourselves. If you want medicine, go buy it yourselves!"
With that, she hung up the phone without the slightest hesitation.
Respect other people's fate.
It was Li Cheng'an's own fault for stubbornly insisting on eating sweets—what business was it of hers?
To prevent any further disturbances, Jiang Wanyi even turned her phone straight off.
She had completely given up on this pair of ungrateful father and son; she held no expectations left for them whatsoever, and consequently felt no heartache.
Having the phone hung up on him yet again, Li Lechuan was so furious he almost dropped his phone. When he tried calling back, he discovered the phone had been turned off!
"Daddy, when is Mommy going to bring the medicine?" Li Cheng'an tugged at the corner of Li Jinchuan's shirt through tear-blurred eyes, half of his face swollen from the pain.
With a dark expression, Li Jinchuan put his phone down. "She's not coming."
"No, impossible!" Li Cheng'an widened his eyes as tears streamed down his face. "Mommy loves me the most, she'll definitely come!"
"I said she's not coming!" Li Jinchuan raised his voice in irritation. Seeing his son's instantly pale face, he forced down his temper and explained, "Mommy is busy right now and can't come back."
Li Cheng'an stood there blankly before suddenly asking in a small voice, "Does Mommy not want me anymore?"
He was still young and emotionally immature, but he could still feel the painful disparity.
How could the woman who used to revolve entirely around him refuse to come back even after hearing him in such agony?
Shouldn't she have hailed a cab and rushed home through the night?
This question pierced through Li Jinchuan's heart like a knife as well.
He squatted down and softened his tone, a rare occurrence. "Don't let your imagination run wild. When daylight comes, Daddy will take you to the hospital."
"I want Mommy!" Li Cheng'an threw a tantrum, rolling around on the floor and wailing loud enough to almost blow the roof off.
For the next few hours, Li Jinchuan pulled out all the stops to coax his son.
He told stories, sang songs, and even did something he had never done before: pacing back and forth across the living room holding Li Cheng'an until three in the morning, when the crying and exhausted boy finally fell asleep in his arms.
Li Jinchuan gently carried his son back to bed and collapsed onto the sofa. His shirt was already soaked through with sweat. As he massaged his temples, he suddenly realized that over the past five years, Jiang Wanyi had spent almost every single night just like this.
Just how immense must one's willpower be to manage that?
In the past, he had always felt that Jiang Wanyi lived a life of ease, but he never expected that the life of a full-time housewife was far from as comfortable as he had imagined.
Just as he was lost in thought, his phone suddenly vibrated.
The caller ID displayed "Jiang Jiaojiao".