The mother and son played out a chase scene, making everyone in the yard laugh even harder.

Little Yuanbao cleverly hid behind Chen Du, tilting his head out and calling out pitifully, "Mommy..."

Ye Zhao stood in front of Shen Du, met his gaze, and suddenly pointed to the side, saying, "Get out of my way."

Chen Du looked down at Yuanbao, who was clinging tightly to his leg, and hesitated.

Just as he hesitated, Ye Zhao reached out and pulled Yuanbao out from behind him. Her movements were so swift that Shen Du was stunned and could only watch as Yuanbao was pitifully pulled away by her.

"Mommy, Mommy, Yuanbao was very good this afternoon..." Little Yuanbao pouted and pleaded pitifully.

Ye Zhao ignored him and led him to another small table. Her expression turned slightly serious as she said in a deep voice, "Then tell your mother what you did this afternoon?"

When everyone saw that she was going to discipline the child, they all dispersed and went inside, leaving only Chen Du standing there.

Yuanbao looked at her timidly, and obediently replied, "I took my dad for a walk, and a lot of people recognize him now."

Ye Zhao: "...Alright then, what else did you say to them?"

Little Yuanbao shook his head sadly and said in a childish voice, "I didn't say anything, Mommy..."

Shen Du vaguely sensed that Ye Zhao was unhappy and also realized that someone might have been spreading rumors outside, so he walked over and asked, "What's wrong?"

Ye Zhao frowned and glanced at him, but said nothing.

Chen Du added, "Yuanbao was very well-behaved today. He didn't say anything out of line. He just introduced me to your neighbors."

Yuanbao looked at Ye Zhao timidly, feeling wronged and not daring to speak.

Ye Zhao vaguely realized that she had misunderstood him. Seeing his expression, she felt extremely distressed. She reached out and hugged Yuanbao, saying gently, "Mommy misunderstood you, baby. Mommy apologizes to Yuanbao. Can you not be angry, baby?"

Little Yuanbao obediently shook his head: "Baby isn't angry, but why is Mommy angry?"

Shen Du was surprised that Ye Zhao apologized to the child without much hesitation. She treated the child as an equal and didn't find it strange to apologize to a child. While Shen Du was surprised, he also felt that her approach was absolutely right. No wonder she was able to raise Yuanbao so well.

Ye Zhao sighed slightly, remembering what Sister Li had said, and patted Yuanbao's head, saying, "Mom thought Yuanbao had said something out of line outside, so she was a little angry, but since you didn't say anything, Mom isn't angry anymore."

She didn't care what outsiders said, as long as Yuanbao didn't say it, she could just clarify the rumor another day.

Xiao Yuanbao smiled, her eyes crinkling in a way that perfectly mirrored Ye Zhao's.

"It's good that Mom isn't angry. Shall we eat our food?"

"good."

Ye Zhao stood up and then noticed that Chen Du was still beside her, so she nodded and said, "Let's go, it's time to eat."

Chen Du nodded, turned around and followed behind the mother and son. After walking a few steps in silence, Chen Du asked, "Have I caused you any trouble?"

Ye Zhao shook her head upon hearing this: "No, let's eat."

Seeing that she didn't want to talk about it anymore, Shen Du finally shut his mouth and didn't ask any more questions, but he didn't mention leaving either.

Seeing that there were many people today, Xiao Lin specially increased the portion size when cooking, and the dishes on the table looked more plentiful than usual. Yang Xu kept praising Xiao Lin, which made him feel embarrassed.

As soon as Shen Du entered, everyone in the room quieted down a bit, except for Xiao Yuanbao, who was still chattering away, sharing the delicious food Xiao Lin had made with Shen Du.

Ye Zhao continued to exchange a few words with Shen Du from time to time to ease the atmosphere.

Feng Cheng was also there tonight, talking to Ye Zhao about some things at the shop. Ye Zhao would occasionally reply while eating, her smiling and relaxed demeanor something Shen Du had never seen before.

A few stray hairs framing Ye Zhao's forehead made her appear even more gentle and graceful. When she smiled, her eyes curved into crescents, her gaze clear and bright, like a pool of still water. Chen Du couldn't help but look at her face for a long time, so long that Yang Xu, standing beside him, noticed his gaze and his heart skipped a beat, realizing something was wrong.

"Mr. Shen, this dish is quite good." For reasons unknown, Yang Xu interrupted his thoughts.

Shen Du suddenly came to his senses and realized that his behavior just now was a bit inappropriate. He quickly lowered his head to eat the food in his bowl. Without thinking, he picked up a chestnut and put it in his mouth. After chewing it a couple of times, he realized something was wrong, but considering the people around him, he didn't spit it out and forced himself to swallow it.

Yang Xu, who witnessed the whole thing, couldn't help but widen his eyes. He knew that the chestnut was scooped up by Xiao Lin with a spoon. Since President Shen wasn't eating it, he pretended not to see it. Unexpectedly, Shen Du put it in his mouth without hesitation and didn't spit it out even after realizing something was wrong.

Yang Xu vaguely sensed what Shen Du was thinking, but pretended not to notice. However, he was quite surprised. He recalled what had just happened and subconsciously glanced at Ye Zhao, only to find that she hadn't noticed anything at all.

After finishing his meal, Yang Xu hurriedly asked Xiao Lin where the pharmacies were. Xiao Lin looked worried and asked him what was wrong. Yang Xu simply said that he had eaten too much and was going to buy some digestive pills. No one thought much of it.

Seeing that Shen Du and the other man had no intention of leaving, Ye Zhao arranged two rooms for them in the Green Field. Little Yuanbao hadn't seen Shen Du for a long time and insisted on sleeping with him. Ye Zhao had no choice but to give Shen Du a few instructions and then let Yuanbao go to rest with him.

Watching the two figures go upstairs, Cheng Yu sighed, "I didn't expect Yuanbao to be so attached to him."

Ye Zhao slowly said, "It's probably still the innate sense of closeness based on blood ties..."

Cheng Yu nodded: "I'm relieved to see how much he cares for Yuanbao. It's good to have another person to love the child."

After saying that, she suddenly remembered something and asked, "What will happen to Yuanbao if you marry Jiang Che in the future?"

Ye Zhao frowned and said, "What do you mean, what should we do? He's my child. Wherever I go, he goes. A-Che isn't the kind of person who favors one over the other."

Cheng Yu laughed, glancing at her and saying, "Oh, so you're protecting her already?"

Ye Zhao raised his chin and said, "That's right."

"Look at you, so capable..."

The two chatted as they walked toward Osmanthus Road. On the way, they ran into Yang Xu, who was returning with a box of medicine in his hand. It didn't look like digestive pills, so Ye Zhao didn't ask any questions.

Cheng Yu, watching Yang Xu's hurried departure, said, "He doesn't seem to be trying to digest his food; he seems to have a bit of diarrhea..."

Ye Zhao frowned and said, "That can't be, Xiao Lin's cooking is quite clean."

Yang Xu didn't have diarrhea, but he was worried that Shen Du would get a rash the next day after eating chestnuts, so he quickened his pace.