"Of course," Cheng Shang nodded.
Zhou Lin’s gaze shifted as he asked, "You know Seo Zhenzhen, or rather, Seo Zhenzhen’s parents."
Cheng Shang fell silent.
Zhou Lin wasn’t in a rush and simply laid out the stakes, "If this gets out, others will think Seo Zhenzhen is your illegitimate daughter."
"Nonsense," Cheng Shang’s anger flared up instantly.
"Well, if you don’t tell, everyone else will think so."
"That’s all in the past, don’t ddle in it." Cheng Shang still didn’t plan to talk. Regarding those old grievances, he felt there was no need for the younger generation to know.
Without pressing further, Zhou Lin lifted his eyes indifferently and glanced over Cheng Zhiwei, seeing she was still talking with He Ye. He chuckled softly, then stood up and called Zhou Ruoki to leave.
Zhou Ruoki imdiately put down her fork, grabbed a napkin to wipe her mouth, and obediently stood beside Zhou Lin.
Guo Cuihua quickly packed so rice cakes and gave them to Zhou Ruoki to take ho.
Zhou Ruoki’s small face lit up with a smile, "Thank you, Grandma."
Guo Cuihua stroked his hair, "Such a sensible child, co over and play with Yangyang and Xingxing more often."
Zhou Ruoki said goodbye to everyone one by one before leaving with Zhou Lin.
He Ye mused, "Zhou Lin has raised the child very well."
Though Zhou Ruoki was just over two years old, his temperant was already much more steady than that of his peers, even managing to be composed and gracious.
They say a child’s character at three is an indicator of his older self; Zhou Ruoki was certainly destined for greatness.
Cheng Zhiwei didn’t agree with his opinion, but she didn’t object either. Considering Zhou Lin’s hands-off parenting, it was already quite impressive that Zhou Ruoki could maintain such a character.
"Just to have such a mother is too pitiful," Guo Cuihua couldn’t help exclaiming, feeling sorry for Zhou Ruoki.
Cheng Shang frowned and glared at Guo Cuihua, "You’re the one who always talks too much."
Cheng Zhiwei touched her chin, eyeing Cheng Shang intently. At this point, Cheng Shang was still defending Seo Zhenzhen—what exactly was her relationship with him?
She truly didn’t want to suspect anything.
But Cheng Shang made it difficult for her not to.
She didn’t speak again; He Ye went to help in the kitchen, and soon laughter and cheerful voices filled the air once more.
Downstairs.
Zhou Ruoki sat in the car, clutching the box of rice cakes like a treasure, a smile constantly on his small face, a sign of his happiness that day.
Until he felt a slight weight on his head.
Zhou Lin ruffled his hair, "Having fun?"
Zhou Ruoki nodded earnestly, "Cheng Yang and Cheng Xing are really nice, and so is Aunt Cheng."
He hesitated briefly before murmuring softly, "Mommy was wrong."
In the ideas Seo Zhenzhen instilled in Zhou Ruoki, Cheng Zhiwei and Cheng Yang and Cheng Xing were not good people; they would co to take everything he had, and he couldn’t trust them.
Yet, when he was isolated by the other children, it was Cheng Xing who took the initiative to sit with him and play gas.
When he was hit, it was Cheng Yang who rushed forward to help him, even making the other person cry.
Zhou Ruoki felt, after so interaction, that they were very different from what he had imagined.
Zhou Lin looked out the window, his large hand gently stroking Zhou Ruoki’s hair intermittently, his voice cold, "They are your siblings, sharing the sa lineage as you, but it wasn’t as your mother said—that they destroyed our relationship. It was dad who did sothing sorry to Aunt Cheng, and she took Yangyang and Xingxing and divorced ."
Zhou Ruoki blinked, seemingly understanding but not quite.
"You’ve seen it yourself, they’re really good to you, aren’t they?"
"Mm."
"Yangyang and Xingxing are your brother and sister, no matter what’s between and Aunt Cheng, they are the closest people to you in this world, so you must stand by them and be each other’s strongest support."
So of Zhou Ruoki’s words were difficult for him to understand, but he roughly grasped what Zhou Lin ant—he was supposed to treat Cheng Yang and Cheng Xing as his family.
He thought that he was willing to do so.
Because they were all very kind and gentle people.
"You are the heir to the Zhou Group, you have to protect them, understand?" Zhou Lin’s voice was low and steady, "Dad wants you to do this."
"Okay."
Zhou Ruoki agreed promptly; there were many things he didn’t understand, but since it was what his dad hoped for, he could do it.
Zhou Lin patted his head reassuringly, "Let’s go ho."
"Dad, let’s go ho."
Zhou Ruoki had been very happy recently, Dad had beco gentler, and he had made friends too.
If it weren’t for Seo Zhenzhen finding him, he would have almost forgotten he had a mother like that.
In a secluded corner of the kindergarten, Seo Zhenzhen, dressed in a janitor’s outfit, pinched Zhou Ruoki’s arm fiercely and hissed, "You ungrateful thing, didn’t I tell you to beg your dad to save ? What good are you?"
Zhou Ruoki was in pain and wanted to cry, but he dared not; his little face turned pale, "I’m sorry, Mom, I did ask Dad, but he doesn’t want to."
"How could he not want to, you must have taken my words as a joke," Seo Zhenzhen pushed Zhou Ruoki.
Zhou Ruoki fell to the ground, his palms imdiately scraped, but he didn’t dare to cry, his eyes brimming with tears, "Mom, co ho with ."
"Ho? Your dad would love nothing more than to see dead so he can take Cheng Zhiwei and her bastard back to the Zhou family, but I won’t let it happen." When Seo Zhenzhen ntioned Zhou Lin, it was with a deep-seated hatred.
Her entire life had been ruined by Cheng Zhiwei and Zhou Lin.
"No, Aunt Cheng is a good person, and Cheng Yang and Cheng Xing are good people too, they wouldn’t do that," Zhou Ruoki tried to persuade Seo Zhenzhen of Cheng Yang and Cheng Xing’s goodness.
But what he got in return was an even greater surge of rage from Seo Zhenzhen.
She laughed coldly, "No wonder you won’t save , you can’t wait to replace with another mother, ingrate! I raised you with such care, and you turn out to be a cheap trick, no wonder your dad doesn’t like you."
Zhou Ruoki stood up, staring down at his shoes.
Seo Zhenzhen cursed fiercely for a while until she heard the teacher’s voice looking for soone and then warned, "Bring your card tomorrow, do you hear , you useless thing?"
Zhou Ruoki numbly nodded in agreent; he suddenly felt that maybe his mother didn’t like him, her son, that much after all, because if she did, she should be like Cheng Yang and Cheng Xing’s mother.
That kind of tenderness.
The teacher’s voice rose, "Qiqi, what are you doing here? Co on, I’ll take you to the classroom."
Zhou Ruoki walked back absent-mindedly.
Noticing sothing was amiss, the teacher imdiately squatted down to check on Zhou Ruoki and found him crying; she anxiously asked, "What happened?"
Seo Zhenzhen, with her head lowered and back bent, deliberately roughened her voice, "This child just fell down, and it looks like his hand is hurt."
The teacher quickly picked up Zhou Ruoki and carried him to the infirmary in a panic.
Zhou Ruoki, resting on the teacher’s shoulder, looked back to see Seo Zhenzhen’s slowly straightening figure, her eyes icy cold.
He looked down, feeling even the urge to cry had left him.
Back in the classroom, Cheng Xing handed him the building blocks, "Let’s play together."
But Zhou Ruoki just lay on the table, unmoving.
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