Chapter 207

A flash of surprise suddenly flashed across Xia Lin's eyes, and a slightly embarrassed expression emerged on his face. He stammered, "How...how did you know that I smoke? I brushed my teeth and changed into clean clothes before coming back!"

"Besides, I don't smoke at home." After saying this, he turned to look at his wife beside him with a suspicious look on his face and continued to ask.

Zhong Yanyan crossed her arms, looked at him seriously, and snorted, "Don't think I don't know. Xiao Si sent me the photo of you smoking outside a long time ago! You are so capable that you dare to smoke outside secretly behind my back!"

"Tell me the truth now, how much private money have you hidden from me besides smoking?" As she spoke, Zhong Yanyan stretched out her right hand and spread out her palm, signaling Xia Lin to hand over the private money quickly.

Hearing this, Xia Lin couldn't help but smile bitterly, shaking his head and explaining, "How can there be any private money? I actually snatched this cigarette from Lao Leng, and there was only half a pack in total. I only smoked that one cigarette, who would have thought that Xiao Si would be so big-mouthed that he would even tell you such a small thing."

After saying that, Xia Lin seemed to remember something, and quickly reached into his pocket and fumbled around, then took out the pack of cigarettes and a silver lighter, and handed them to his wife.

"This is the remaining cigarette." Xia Lin said sincerely.

However, Zhong Yanyan took the thing immediately and stared at him with a half-believing and half-doubting look, as if she wanted to see through his eyes to see his true thoughts.

"Really?" Zhong Yanyan raised her eyebrows, with a hint of distrust in her tone.

"Of course it's true! When have I ever lied to you?" Xia Lin nodded quickly and assured his wife solemnly.

Seeing this, Zhong Yanyan raised the corners of her mouth slightly, revealing an expression that seemed like a smile, making it difficult to guess what she was thinking at the moment.

Xia Lin knew that he was in the wrong this time. He looked at the other person sincerely and said firmly, "Dear, I swear to you that I have never lied to you about anything other than my background."

"When the old man did that, I was so furious that I made up my mind right then and there that I would never recognize that so-called father and the identity of the eldest young master of the Xia family again!" When he said this, a hint of embarrassment flashed in Xia Lin's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

He continued to explain, "In fact, my original plan was to wait until Ruo'an was ready to get married, and then go to the old man to ask for back what belonged to me."

"As for letting Ruoan recognize him as his father, I have never considered it at all. After all, what happened back then!" Xia Lin sighed deeply, as if he recalled some unpleasant memories.

At this time, Zhong Yanyan persuaded earnestly: "Now that the misunderstanding has been resolved, let's be nice to him. As the saying goes, 'The tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop, the son wants to support his parents but they are not waiting'. If you miss the opportunity to be filial, it will be too late to regret it in the future."

"And I heard from Mu Shen that Dad has always blamed himself for Mom's death, and he has been suffering for so many years. He has also kept his illness a secret from everyone, and he even thought about leaving this world quietly to apologize to Mom."

"If Ruo An hadn't been so worried and asked Mu Shen to go visit, something might have really happened."

After hearing this, Xia Lin was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly, indicating that he agreed with Zhong Yanyan's point of view.

Seeing this, Zhong Yanyan gently took his hand and asked softly, "Why don't we go visit him together?"

Zhong Yanyan knew very well that Xia Lin had actually wanted to go there a long time ago, but he just needed someone to give him a way out.

"Okay, I'll go with you to take a look." After some inner struggle, Xia Lin finally nodded, indicating that he agreed.

Seeing that he agreed, Zhong Yanyan's heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally settled down, and she couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief.

"Don't smoke anymore. It's bad for your health. Besides, Ruo'an is pregnant now. This is not a joke!" Zhong Yanyan warned seriously.

Hearing this, Xia Lin looked guilty and quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, I really won't smoke again in the future."

In fact, he himself had no addiction to smoking, but he was just in a very depressed mood just now, and he happened to meet his old friend Lao Leng, so he asked for a cigarette from him to relieve his boredom.

After all, I was short of money and couldn't afford such good cigarettes.

"It's good that you know you're wrong." Zhong Yanyan nodded slightly to show her approval.

She thought to herself that if she hadn't accidentally caught him smoking today, she probably wouldn't have known that he was so worried about the old man.

I have to admit, this guy hides his emotions perfectly!

At this moment, Zhong Yanyan took a photo of the cigarette in her hand and threw it into the trash can without hesitation.

Xia Lin stared at her actions with suspicion. He could naturally understand throwing away the cigarette butt, but what was the meaning of taking pictures?

"Would you like to take a picture?" Xia Lin looked at Zhong Yanyan in confusion and asked, while solemnly assuring, "I promise you that I will never smoke again next time."

Facing Xia Lin's question, Zhong Yanyan raised her head, looked him straight in the eye, and said slowly: "I have sent the photo to Ruoan's mother-in-law Yutong."

"When did your relationship with her become so good? Are you planning to report Lao Leng?" Xia Lin said with a helpless look on his face.

Zhong Yanyan rolled her eyes at him and responded, "She and I have always gotten along well! Besides, you know that smoking is harmful to health, but not only did you not help persuade Lao Leng to quit smoking, you let him smoke! Of course, if Yutong knew about this, I would have nothing to say."

"However, I would like to ask her to do you a small favor and tell her husband to stop passing you cigarettes." As she said this, Zhong Yanyan turned her gaze to Xia Lin.

Upon hearing this, Xia Lin couldn't help but gasp and muttered to himself, "Lao Leng is in trouble now! If Yu Tong finds out that he is still smoking, he will definitely have to kneel on the durian tonight!" After saying that, Xia Lin nodded very confidently.

Zhong Yanyan looked at him suspiciously and asked in surprise, "You know this so clearly?"

Xia Lin chuckled and explained: "What's so strange about this? Back then, Lao Leng was often punished for such a trivial matter as smoking."

"Just because of this, they broke up several times! Every time, Lao Leng begged for mercy, and I even went out of my way to buy him durian so that he could kneel in front of Yutong's house, admit his fault, and beg for forgiveness!"

Hearing this, Zhong Yanyan couldn't help but laughed out loud, covering her mouth, and joked: "From this point of view, Lao Leng will probably sleep in the study for a month this time!"

Xia Lin also shook his head helplessly and sighed: "Who told him that he just couldn't quit smoking!"

"As a friend, why don't you persuade him to smoke less? Now look what happened, we're relatives now!" Zhong Yanyan glared at her husband and complained unhappily.

Xia Lin pouted indifferently and answered directly: "I still hold a grudge in my heart! His Zexi married our Ruoan, and my darling child whom I raised with great effort was easily deceived and brought back home by his boy."

"It's only been a short while. In a few months, they will even have a child! Is he miserable? I see he's very proud of himself, but I'm very happy!"

Hearing this, Zhong Yanyan was stunned and didn't know how to refute for a moment.

She opened her mouth, but could only mutter helplessly, "No matter what, the baby in Ruoan's belly is still our grandson!"

At this moment, Zhong Yanyan seemed to suddenly remember something and hurriedly urged Xia Lin: "By the way, I bought some clothes for our dad before, and they are in the room. Hurry up and help me get them."

However, Xia Lin was not happy when he heard this, and felt aggrieved: "The old man has so many clothes that he can't wear them all, and you actually bought him new ones! Why don't you buy more for me?" After saying that, he looked at his wife pitifully.

Zhong Yanyan was completely speechless at this point. She rolled her eyes in annoyance and said angrily, "Buy, buy, buy. I'll take you to the mall tomorrow and pick out a few pieces for you, okay?"

"These clothes were bought by Yutong and I. They were originally prepared for the elderly in the family. Not only my uncle gets some, but my father also gets some!"

After listening to his wife's explanation, Xia Lin nodded with satisfaction, then turned around, said hello to his uncle, and drove out with Zhong Yanyan.

"Aren't you going back first? Where are you going?" Zhong Yanyan asked with a puzzled look.

She was quite familiar with this road. She should have turned at that intersection just now, but Xia Lin drove straight ahead.

Hearing Zhong Yanyan's question, Xia Lin turned his head to look at her, replied with a smile: "Let's go somewhere first." After that, he continued to drive attentively.

Not long after, the car slowly stopped in front of the flower and bird market.

Xia Lin unbuckled his seat belt quickly, got out of the car, and then went around to the other side to help Zhong Yanyan open the door, then stretched out his hand to signal her to get out.

The two walked into the flower and bird market side by side. Xia Lin was obviously very familiar with this place. He took Zhong Yanyan with brisk steps through the bustling crowd and stalls filled with various flowers and pets, and finally came to a shop specializing in selling turtles.

Before they stepped into the store, the busy shop owner suddenly looked up. When he saw who was coming, he showed a surprised and happy expression on his face, and shouted in disbelief: "Xia Lin?"

Xia Lin smiled and nodded to the boss, greeting him: "Uncle Qiao, long time no see!"

Uncle Qiao put down his work, walked up quickly and gave Xia Lin a big hug, and said excitedly: "It's really you, kid! You finally decided to come back, it's good to be back, it's good to be back!"

As he spoke, he looked Xia Lin up and down, his eyes full of love and joy, "Look at you, you are still as handsome as before!"