Chapter 28 The cold shoulder
Leonid tried his hardest to finish three days' worth of work into two days. What he couldn't anticipate was a sudden change when the deal was about to be made. He was forced to say in Haicheng for a week. When he finally finished up his work, he boarded the plane that same afternoon to hurry back.
It was already dark out by the time he made it home. Father and son had already finished their meal. Ren Zhouyuan was cleaning up the chopsticks and bowls, while An An followed behind him, occasionally holding up a plate or two in an attempt to help. They were almost done cleaning up when they heard the click at the door.
After living here a few days, other than the change in environment, there hadn't been much adjustment of their schedule. Usually it was just him and An An in the house. So even though Leonid hadn't said beforehand when he was coming back, Ren Yuanzhou only hesitated for a moment before realizing what was going on.
Inexplicably he felt a bit nervous. Although he carried on wiping down the table, the scrunched up cloth in his hand revealed his feelings. Hearing the sounds from the front door, An An ducked behind Ren Zhouyuan, hands fixed around his pants while his wide eyes stared at the front door, fearful that some bad guy would show up.
After a few seconds, the bad guy showed up, a big bear.
The big bear walked forward a few steps. His strong presence made Ren Zhouyuan sigh and put everything down, facing him to greet him.
His mind spinning, he tried to think of something to say, finally managing nothing more than "Welcome back".
Something flashed through Leonid's eyes so quickly that it was hard to read his mood. He gazed at Ren Zhouyuan, then looked down at An An. Some unexplainable strong emotions were ramming against his heart.
"I'm back." He looked into Ren Zhouyuan's eyes. Then he squatted down, fixing his eyes on An An.
This was the first time he had come face to face with An An. Even beforehand he recalled thinking that An An was quite an adorable child. Now he felt so even more strongly. His eyes and nose were clear and well-defined, his face like a sculpture. It was nothing like most foreign kids with their faces full of freckles. His smooth cheeks made him want to give the kid a kiss.
Despite his inner excitement, Leonid still wore a cold expression. Nervousness caused him to bite down on the insides of his cheeks, with only his searing gaze hinting at what was really going on inside of his mind. He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say, and finally settled for silence. Only his eyes remained fixed on An An.
Unfortunately An An couldn't read his emotions. The man before him was not only a despised foreigner, he also looked like he was ready to eat him. He was a whole head taller than Daddy, too. Little An An felt an intense sense of danger and ducked even further behind Ren Zhouyuan, hiding his face behind Ren Zhouyuan's legs to avoid having to even impart a single glance.
Leonid felt as though he'd been doused in cold water. He hadn't expected this reaction, and looked helplessly at Ren Zhouyuan.
Seeing that his son was reacting exactly as expected, Ren Zhouyuan wanted to laugh as much as he felt sorry. He patted An An on the head, instructing him to walk over to the front. But An An wrapped his arms around his legs, twisting from side to side to avoid looking at him in the face.
Ren Zhouyuan was exasperated. His son's habit of disliking foreigners was deeper than anticipated. Originally he thought that after taking enough classes with foreign teachers he might be cured of this inclination. Unexpectedly enough, it had come back in full strength when he saw his own father.
