Chapter 4 — My Tattooed Dad

I'm always awake. But I will close my eyes and pretend to sleep. He then gently closed the door. One time, he returned later than usual. It's almost four in the morning. I heard noises downstairs, so I secretly crawled at the top of the stairs and looked down. He sat at the entrance changing shoes, his right hand wrapped in gauze, blood seeping out. The young man driving next to me, I later learned his name was Hua Thanh, was frantically looking for medicine. "General Manager Pho, this wound needs to go to the hospital for a few stitches..." "No need." "But..." "Noisy." Hua Thanh immediately closed his mouth. I squatted at the top of the stairs, holding the railing. As if sensing something, he raised his head and looked upstairs. Our eyes met. In the darkness, his eyes stopped. "Why aren't you sleeping?" I didn't speak. "Come down here." I wrapped my nightgown around me, ran downstairs, and stood in front of him. I looked at the bandage on his hand. Blood seeped out, staining half of the white gauze layer red. I reached out to touch it. He dodged. "Don't touch. Dirty." "Does it hurt?" I asked. He looked at me, two seconds later he replied: "It doesn't hurt." Lie. The gauze bandage is all red. I ran to the tea table in the living room, holding the box of cartoon band-aids that the housekeeper had used to stick on my knee during the day. There is a picture of a yellow duck on it. I stood in front of him, on tiptoe, taping a yellow duck-shaped Band-Aid over the bandage. He bowed his head and looked at the yellow duck on the ice. Standing next to him, Hua Thanh's expression gradually became distorted. "This..." "It works." I said seriously. "If you stick it on, it won't hurt anymore. The housekeeper said so." Pho Nghien was silent for a long time. Then he laughed. That was the first time I saw him smile. Not a sneer, not a cold laugh either. It was a real smile, the corners of the lips curled up, carrying a bit of helplessness. "Okay." He said. "If you put it on, it won't hurt anymore." That night, he let me sleep in his bed. I curled up in one corner of the blanket, he lay on the other side, his injured hand placed outside. When I was about to sleep, in a dream, I heard him say something. It seemed like: “You little troublemaker.” But his tone didn't sound like he was hating. It's like accepting fate. Only later did I know. That night, his hand was injured because someone came to his area to cause trouble. The troublemaker also brought along a da.a.o. Originally, Pho Nghien could have let his juniors handle it. But that person shouted: "Pho Nghien, why have you been so gentle lately? Have you been captured by some little lover?" After that, he immediately took action himself. Later, Hua Thanh complained to the housekeeper: "In the past, our Deputy General Director was so calm, but now his temper is getting bigger and bigger." The housekeeper smiled and said: "That's not a big temper." "So what is it?" "It already has a weakness." 【Chapter 6】 One month later, I had to go to school. Pho Nghien found me the best elementary school nearby. It's a private school, the tuition is unbelievably expensive. On the day of admission, he himself took me to school. He drove a large black car, parked in front of the school gate. All around were parents taking their children to school. Parents hold their children's hands, carry small school bags, and talk and laugh as they walk. He opened the car door, got out first, then came around to me and picked me up. I put on my new bag and raised my head to look at the school gate. A bit tense. "Afraid of what?" He squatted down and adjusted my collar. "...Not afraid." "Lie." He lightly flicked my forehead. "Your face is pale." I pouted. He took a piece of chocolate from his pocket and stuffed it into my hand. "If someone is bullying you, tell dad." "Yes." "No matter who it is." "Yes." "Nor are teachers." "...Yes." He stood up, looked at the security guard at the school gate and then looked at the surrounding parents. There were a few mothers secretly looking at him. His eyes were both scared and curious. Also

That's right. A man over one meter eight meters tall, his entire body covered in tattoos, taking a little girl the size of his hand to school was truly remarkable. The homeroom teacher is a teacher over thirty years old. When she saw Pho Nghien, the professional smile on her face stiffened for a moment. "Are you... To Duong's... person?" "Guardian." Pho Nghien replied. "Ah, her father?" "Yes." He immediately admitted without hesitation. I stood next to him, my heart trembling slightly. He said he was my father. Although lawyer Qi said the procedure has not been completed yet. Although legally, he is still only my "temporary guardian". But he said he was my father. The third day after school started, it happened. In the class there is a male student named Chu Minh Thuy. His family also runs a business, has a white appearance, and has been pampered since childhood, so he is always arrogant in class. I don't know where he heard the rumor and then ran to me. "Hey, To Duong." I lowered my head to draw, not paying attention to him. "My mother said you were picked up by someone else, you don't have a biological mother." My hand stopped. "Your other father is covered in tattoos, is he a gangster?" The other children all looked over. "My mother told me to stay away from you, saying your family is not normal."