Shanshan wasn't the least bit shy.
She tugged on her father's large, sturdy hand.
"Daddy! Horsey! I wanna ride!"
As she spoke, she pumped her short little legs and dashed toward the carousel.
Shanshan sat on a little pink horse, her hands gripping the pole tightly.
When she looked up, she saw the mother-daughter pair, Liu Yingzi and Cao Jiajia, standing across from her.
Cao Jiajia was glaring at her, her small face tense, her eyes looking ready to pop.
Shanshan didn't even bother to look back.
She hopped off the horse and ran straight to Ling Anxun.
Cao Jiajia watched as Ling Anxun knelt to wipe the sweat from Shanshan's face.
He gently patted her on the back and asked in a low voice,
"Are you tired? Do you want some water?"
Cao Jiajia had long since forgotten what it felt like to be held by her father.
In her memory, her father was always in his military uniform, his back ramrod straight, and he rarely ever held her.
