4

They had originally agreed to meet at noon, but that morning, while Zhuang Xiaodie and Nian Jinsi were sitting in the park with their child for breakfast, they received a call from the child's uncle. The uncle's surname was Ke Yan, and he owned a bakery. He had originally wanted to drive over to pick up the child the day before, but Zhuang Xiaodie had declined. He called again before 8 a.m. to ask if they had arrived, which seemed quite positive.

At that time, the child was holding a plastic lunch box and eating egg rice noodle rolls seriously. Zhuang Xiaodie came back after answering the phone, looked at Nian Jinsi, and said, "It's his uncle."

The rice noodle roll that the child was about to put in his mouth fell back into the bowl and looked up. Zhuang Xiaodie said, "Finish your breakfast first." The child said "oh" and lowered his head to continue eating.

The two of them walked a few steps away from the child, and Nian Jinsi lowered her voice slightly: "What did he say?"

"He wants to see the child," Zhuang Xiaodie said. "He... didn't know his sister had passed away. I only found out yesterday when I called her."

Nian Jinsi was silent for a moment and said, "This may not be true."

Zhuang Xiaodie recalled Ke Yan's first words yesterday. Although she disagreed, she did not refute Nian Jinsi and said, "He asked where we were, and I told him."

"Hand him over now?"

"Let's see what this person is like first," Zhuang Xiaodie said. Even so, people's hearts are hidden, and a few hours of interaction wouldn't reveal anything. She'd had an idea since yesterday, a quick way to tell, but she was still hesitant about whether to try it.

They drove most of the night last night and only managed a nap in the car in the early morning, barely enough for four hours. They hadn't slept well in the past few days and were now mentally precarious. They really didn't have the extra energy to deal with others.

"Okay, it won't be difficult as long as the child doesn't reject it," Nian Jinsi said. "If he does, we'll have to do some psychological work later."

Zhuang Xiaodie looked at the child who was diligently picking up the last bit of rice noodle rolls and said, "Don't look at his age, he seems to be very clear about the current situation."

"Yeah?"

"He knew we had no choice," Zhuang Xiaodie said. "He was very lucky to have a relative accept him."

The child threw away the garbage himself and sat back in his original seat.

There were a lot of people getting up early to exercise. The young people had gone to work, and now most of the people were elderly. There were people singing and exercising. Zhuang Xiaodie walked away to smoke a cigarette, and when she came back, she saw a tall man walking towards where Nian Jinsi and the child were. He looked very much like the man in the photo.

Zhuang Xiaodie ran back and heard him introduce himself to Nian Jinsi. Ke Yan sounded polite and smelled of bread. The child grabbed the corner of Zhuang Xiaodie's clothes, his face as tense as a drum.

Ke Yan squatted down, smiled at him, called the child's name, and said, "I'm your uncle, do you remember?"

The child hid behind Zhuang Xiaodie, and secretly peeked at him with one eye.

"I haven't been in touch with his mother for a long time," Ke Yan said. "I was the one who waited outside for his mother to give birth to him, and I was the first one to hold the baby."

"Then how come you didn't even know that your sister was gone?" Nian Jinsi obviously didn't buy it.

"Later we had a fight and haven't been in touch for two or three years," Ke Yan said. "She changed her number and job. I went to S City to look for her, but couldn't find her. I just thought she wanted to live her own life. After all, she has a family now, and it's hard to be like before. But she is my sister after all..." Ke Yan wanted to touch the child's head, but was avoided.

Nian Jinsi showed impatience: "Alright, alright, there's no point in talking about this now. We can't verify whether what you said is true or not." She paused and looked at Zhuang Xiaodie, "So, what should we do now?"

"Let's go to your bakery first." Zhuang Xiaodie said.

Ke Yan immediately agreed.

They said they were going to take a look, but in fact they had no intention of going in at all. Ke Yan drove in front and they followed behind. When they arrived at the bakery, they did not get out of the car, but just looked through the window for a while - the store was not big, and looking through the window, the counters and shelves were very clean. When they opened the car window, the aroma of bread wafted in, and the child swallowed.

Ke Yan went inside and, seeing they hadn't gotten out of the car, packed up some bread and a chocolate Swiss roll for the child. The child devoured it. She was so thin, yet she still had room for sweets after eating rice rolls. Zhuang Xiaodie was a little surprised. A bakery clerk was watching, so Ke Yan offered to take the child out for a little play. Zhuang Xiaodie agreed.

Speaking of playing, the natural choice was to go to the amusement park. The child had probably never been to an amusement park before, and he was obviously excited when he heard this, and finally spoke. Zhuang Xiaodie drove them to the amusement park. The child got out of the car, and Ke Yan naturally walked over to the child and waited. When Nian Jinsi got out of the car, Zhuang Xiaodie grabbed her and said, "Stay away from them for a while."

Nian Jinsi looked completely confused, but nodded in agreement.

After Nian Jinsi had walked away and there were no other people around, Zhuang Xiaodie was about to stop the car, but suddenly stepped on the accelerator and rushed towards Ke Yan and the child. At this distance, there was almost no time to dodge, so Ke Yan immediately picked up the child and turned his back to the side. Zhuang Xiaodie stepped on the brakes and jumped out to check. Seeing that the child was still protected in Ke Yan's arms, she nodded. Ke Yan, still in shock, stood up and was about to curse, but Zhuang Xiaodie interrupted him and said, "Will you protect him like this every day from now on?"

Ke Yan glared at him: "Of course! He's my nephew! Do you know that you almost killed someone by doing this?"

Zhuang Xiaodie said, "I know." She was very calm, then turned to Nian Jinsi and said, "I'm going to do something, you stay with them, I'll come back to pick you up." After that, she returned to the car.

Nian Jinsi's expression changed slightly, and he ran over to open the car door, but Zhuang Xiaodie had already gotten in and locked the car. Nian Jinsi slammed the door: "What are you doing crazy again?"

"Do you still remember Wei Yuling?" Zhuang Xiaodie said, "The friend of that little girl in high school."

"Remember, why do you mention this?"

"She always appears in front of me," said Zhuang Xiaodie.

Nian Jinsi narrowed his eyes: "What do you mean?"

"Yesterday, that boss's husband beat her for gambling money. Did you see it?" Zhuang Xiaodie asked.

"I was outside and heard it." Nian Jinsi looked up suddenly, "Are you crazy? We don't have the time—"

"You've been through it, so tell me what to do," Zhuang Xiaodie replied. "Do you want me to see the news that she's been beaten to death someday?"

Ke Yan came over with the child in his hand: "What are you talking about?"

"Get out of the car first, Zhuang Xiaodie—"

"Wei Yuling alone is enough for me to handle." Zhuang Xiaodie said, "This is my business, don't interfere."

"I'll go with you—"

Zhuang Xiaodie shook her head: "This is what I think." She rolled up the car window, blocking out Nian Jinsi's frightened and angry face, and drove away.