Seeing Mao Xiaoyu and Li Shanru so excited and happy, Wan Chu’er started to feel guilty. She said to Li Shan:
"Brother Lishan, I’m sorry for keeping you apart for so long."
Li Shan’s eyes were glued to Mao Xiaoyu, and upon hearing Wan Chu’er’s words, he replied casually, "Then don’t take Xiao Yu away next ti."
Wan Chu’er burst into laughter, while Mao Xiaoyu, feeling a bit embarrassed, pushed Li Shan gently and said, "I really enjoy going out. This ti, my sister-in-law took to many places, and I saw a lot of scenery and interesting things."
Li Shan thought for a while and said, "Next ti, I’ll take you out."
"Uncle Li, why are you only looking at Aunt Xiao Yu and not at ?" Little Zhuanqi protested discontentedly. She was happy to see Uncle Li and had been waiting for him to hug her as usual, but instead, he ignored her, which made her quite angry.
Hearing Zhuanqi’s words, everyone burst into laughter.
Hunter, pointing at his cheek, shouted: "Blush, blush, blush, Aunt Xiao Yu is going to beco Uncle Li’s bride."
Mao Xiaoyu blushed instantly and reached out to ruffle Hunter’s hair.
Li Shan laughed heartily and scooped up Zhuanqi, "Uncle Li did see you. Did you miss Uncle Li?"
"I bought gifts for Uncle Li, Great Grandpa, Grandma Zhu, Uncle Xiao Bai, Auntie...," Little hands counted all the relatives one by one, finally saying, "And Dad."
ntioning Dad, both Zhuanqi and Hunter pouted, "Why didn’t Dad co to pick us up? Mom, I miss Dad."
The atmosphere beca heavy for a mont. With a sigh in her heart, Wan Chu’er comforted the two little ones with a smile, "Dad is busy with work, but you’ll see him in a couple of days."
Hunter, mature beyond his years, asked, "Mom, do you promise? Do you promise that Dad will co to see us?"
Wan Chu’er: "...Yes, I promise."
Hearing the promise, both Zhuanqi and Hunter cheered. Wan Chu’er felt heavy-hearted as she looked out towards the highway; Li Shan drove quietly.
The car soon arrived at the old house. Seeing the familiar courtyard gate and wall, Wan Chu’er took a deep breath and walked in with the children’s hands in hers, while Li Shan deliberately lingered outside with Mao Xiaoyu, asking her minutely if she had missed him.
In the courtyard, Old Sir Zhong and Xiao Bai were playing chess under the old locust tree, with Xiao Bai loudly losing to Old Sir Zhong.
Hearing their arrival, both Xiao Bai and Old Sir Zhong looked over. Xiao Bai, seizing the opportunity, threw down his chess pieces and cheered as he lunged forward.
"Finally back, Zhuanqi and Hunter were almost turning into Africans." Xiao Bai tried to lift both Zhuanqi and Hunter but couldn’t stand up; the two kids had grown quite a bit.
He had to settle for patting the tops of the two little ones’ heads, "Did you miss Uncle Xiao Bai?"
"We did, both of us did," Zhuanqi and Hunter called out perfunctorily before cheerfully running to Old Sir Zhong.
"Great Grandpa, we’re back!"
"Great Grandpa, did you miss us?"
...
Hearing the noise, Mrs. Zhu happily walked out from the backyard kitchen, saying it had been tough, and they would eat soon.
Xiao Bai, pretending to be sad, touched his nose then looked at Wan Chu’er, sizing her up and nodding continuously, "Not bad, not bad."
Wan Chu’er couldn’t help laughing and crying as she asked, "What’s not bad?"
"Seeing your face glowing and eyes bright, it looks like things are going smooth for you. But there’s a faint sadness between your brows, seems like sothing’s troubling your heart..."
Seeing him act like a fortune teller, Wan Chu’er’s mouth twitched as she asked, "Have you changed careers? Or have you finally gotten a clue? When are you joining the monastery?"
Xiao Bai rolled his eyes at her, then, recalling sothing about Jiang Kechu, he leaned in with a grin and said, "Did you know, just a couple of days ago, Jiang Kechu did sothing so silly, it killed with laughter."
Hearing Jiang Kechu’s na, Wan Chu’er felt a stir in her heart, but she looked at him expressionlessly and without a word, walked away from Xiao Bai towards Old Sir Zhong.
Behind her, Xiao Bai called out, "No way! You’re still holding onto that grudge? After all this ti, it still hasn’t faded."
"Grandpa, how have you been these days?" Seeing more white hair on Old Man Zhong, Wan Chu’er couldn’t help but ask.
Old Sir Zhong smiled, "Very well. Go tidy up and get ready for dinner. After eating, get so good rest."
Wan Chu’er and her group had been traveling a long way, looking after two kids was exhausting.
After dinner and tidying up, with Mrs. Zhu and others helping with the kids, Wan Chu’er went back to her room. Though extrely tired, she couldn’t fall asleep, her mind kept replaying what Xiao Bai had said about Jiang Kechu doing the silly thing.
What exactly did Jiang Kechu do? Little Xiao Bai seed almost gloating.
But she didn’t want to ask Xiao Bai; should she allow herself to be mocked by him if her spouse had been played a fool? She thought about finding a chance to teach Xiao Bai a lesson.
Eventually, exhaustion took over, and she drifted off into a groggy sleep.
When she awoke, she thought she could hear Jiang Kechu’s voice. Engulfed in confusion about her location, she thought, how could Jiang Kechu be nearby?
In the yard, Jiang Kechu was playing soccer with Hunter and Little Zhuanqi, while keeping an eye on any movents from Wan Chu’er in the room.
He had co early to the compound, luckily was not turned away at the door. The two children were energetically playing with the ball, yet Wan Chu’er was nowhere to be seen. Without changing his expression, he asked his son, only to learn that Wan Chu’er had been asleep since last night and had not yet awoken.
It seed she was utterly exhausted. Jiang Kechu felt torn between wanting Wan Chu’er to rest more and eager for her to wake up and see him. However, he was also fearful of her greeting him with cold indifference.
"Dad, why did you kick the ball to sister again, you should have kicked it to ."
After absentmindedly kicking the ball to Little Zhuanqi for the nth ti, Hunter protested unhappily.
Jiang Kechu quickly apologized to his son, then couldn’t help adding, "Your sister is a girl; you need to let her play too."
"Dad, you’re the best." Little Zhuanqi imdiately flattered with a joyful grin.
Jiang Kechu’s heart stirred, looking around, he then saw Li Shan sitting on a tree looking at them and had to give up his earlier thought; he initially wanted his daughter to help him win back her mother’s heart.
Never mind that, better rely on himself. He couldn’t lose face in front of Bai Qiyan, nor lose dignity in front of Li Shan.
In the study, Old Sir Zhong, listening to Jiang Kechu play with the kids, shook his head slightly. It seed Jiang Kechu was quite unstable.
After lingering inside for quite a while, Wan Chu’er finally walked out boldly.
Seeing mom appear, Little Zhuanqi imdiately rushed over and hugged her mom’s legs, her little face excitedly saying, "Mama, Daddy ca, Daddy just took riding a big horse, Daddy also played ball with and brother, Daddy said I’ve grown tall, and I’m a big girl now, I shouldn’t be carried by mom anymore..."
Wan Chu’er smiled at her daughter but didn’t spare Jiang Kechu even a glance.
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