Mr. Liu walked hurriedly, clearly in a great hurry.

He passed through the archway at the other end of the garden, his clothes flashing by before disappearing from sight.

“Uncle Liu is gone.” Lili sat on the stone bench, looking in the direction Mr. Liu had left.

Without giving it much thought, Ms. Yang sat down and arranged the dishes in the food box one by one: "Mr. Liu is the dean, perhaps he has something to do."

Pear doesn't think so.

Mr. Liu had just come out of the academy and was about to leave.

Why are we heading back now?

Lili listened to the intermittent coughing sounds around her, and after a while, she indeed heard a familiar voice.

"Mother, are you alright?"

"Cough...cough cough cough..." A weak voice whispered, "Mother is alright, don't worry about me..."

After a few breaths, Mr. Liu sounded even more anxious: "Thank goodness our son is back, you were coughing up blood!"

"It's alright, Mother's health is just like this, Mother knows what she's doing..."

"mother!"

"Mother, please be careful. Let me help you up so you can have something to eat."

The two exchanged a few more words before their voices gradually faded away.

Yang paused, realizing that she seemed to have overheard someone else's private conversation.

Yang silently gathered up the dishes that had been laid out and stood up: "Lili, let's move to another seat..."

Lili said "Oh" and silently jumped off the stone bench.

Yang moved the food to a spot further away from the wall and rearranged it.

Lili was a little absent-minded, her eyes fixed on the dishes in front of her, but her mind was still on what had just happened.

The one who was coughing just now, is that Mr. Liu's mother?

Judging from this, there should be a small villa behind the garden where Mr. Liu lives, as does his mother.

But...didn't you say that Father didn't know about Mr. Liu's mother's condition? If Grandma Liu has been staying here bedridden and recuperating, given the way she's coughing, Father couldn't possibly not know.

Unless, Grandma Liu only recently moved here.

Seeing that Lili was staring at the Four Happiness Meatballs in front of her, Madam Yang asked, "Lili, do you want to eat? Don't worry, Daddy will be here soon."

Lili snapped out of her daze and nodded: "Mm!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a bell rang, and students began to emerge from the study.

Yang's face lit up with joy. Suppressing her excitement, she stood up and looked toward the entrance of the garden, her gaze sweeping over the many students.

Shen Laosan has already seen them; he will definitely come to the garden to find them after school.

Sure enough, the person dressed in a dark blue robe who rushed over from the entrance was none other than Shen Laosan.

Yang's heart raced instantly, and her feet involuntarily stepped forward. Shen Laosan also came over with great anticipation and joy.

The two stood under the tree, gazing at each other hand in hand, their affection as deep and sweet as ever.

"Wanniang!"

"Saburo!"

Shen Laosan looked intently at Yang Shi, and after a long while, the two smiled at each other.

Pear Pear hadn't eaten yet, but she felt like she was already full.

"Sigh, I've lived for thirty years and eaten dog food for thirty years." Lili rested her chin on her hand, watching her parents' idol drama unfold, swinging her legs, feeling both helpless and happy.

The children benefit the most from their parents' loving relationship. Lili believes that her parents will definitely be loving like this for the rest of their lives.

Lili felt that the Shen family had such a good atmosphere partly because the men in the Shen family all loved their wives.

He also knows how to respect, love, and favor his wife.

At the same time, he also thoughtfully acts as a mediator between his wife and family.

No wonder my mother and her two aunts have such a good relationship.

Other students brought their families into the garden. Yang and Shen Laosan finally finished their farewell act, and Yang hurriedly pulled Shen Laosan over to sit down.

Yang pursed her lips, suppressing a smile, but she was very happy, with two rosy clouds on her cheeks.

Shen Laosan, standing to the side, didn't suppress his joy at all, and openly held Yang's hand.

As soon as the two came over, Lili immediately went over and said, "Mother, Mother is so shy, Father, Father is laughing heartily."

Madam Yang was already used to being teased by her daughter. After all, she was Lili's mother, so what was wrong with a mother being affectionate with her father?

Faced with Lili's teasing, he just smiled shyly and pinched her cheek: "Were you hungry? You're going to cancel your mom's plans."

Lili giggled and dodged away, then put her hands on her hips and teased the other one: "Daddy can't see anyone else when he sees Mommy, can he? He can't even see that Lili is here too, can he?"

Shen Laosan laughed heartily, reached out to rub her little tuft of hair, then picked her up and placed her on his lap: "How could that be? My daughter is so cute, who would dare not see her?"

Lili was happy after being praised, and reluctantly said, "Alright then, you're all punished by having to give all the pork belly to Lili!"

As Yang scolded her, she put more meat into her bowl: "You little rascal, I bet you just want to eat meat, don't you? All you ever think about is eating. I'll have to buy you new clothes again soon!"

Lili smiled and said to her in a coquettish tone, "Isn't Lili cute when she's chubby? The more flesh Lili has, the cuter she is."

"Yes, yes, my daughter is the cutest! Come on, let's eat!"

Lili climbed back onto her stone bench and started eating on her own, watching her parents feed each other.

Ah, I'm full.

The two, having been apart for a short time, felt like newlyweds, whispering sweet nothings to each other for a while, and then told him what Old Mrs. Shen and Old Mr. Shen had asked her to convey.

Shen Laosan was deeply moved: "My parents have always been like this; they have always been the most supportive of me."

“Yes.” Madam Yang nodded, then asked him, “Oh, by the way, I just ran into Mr. Liu at the entrance of the academy.”

Shen Laosan was surprised: "Dean? No wonder I thought I saw someone in front of you just now. It seems that the Dean brought you in?"

Lili chimed in, "Yes, yes! Uncle Liu said Lili is 'clever yet silly, very interesting'!"

Old Man Shen laughed and said, "Really? What happened?"

Yang laughed and recounted the conversation between Lili and Mr. Liu, which made Shen Laosan feel both proud and amused.

"Mr. Liu is indeed as my parents said, he seems very learned!"

"Yes, I told Lili about Mr. Liu's story, and Lili admires him very much."

As Yang spoke, she recalled the conversation she had overheard by the wall. After a moment's hesitation, she told Shen Laosan, "Just now, Mr. Liu led us to that stone table over there. Later, when we were by the wall, we heard a coughing sound coming from the other side. Mr. Liu hurriedly left. Then, I heard Mr. Liu call out what sounded like 'Mother'?"

Shen Laosan's expression hardened slightly, and he replied, "Yes, that is indeed the dean's mother."

Ms. Yang asked in confusion, "I remember Mr. Liu's mother always lived in the suburbs to recuperate. How come she's here?"

Old Master Shen's expression turned somewhat sad and regretful: "Old Madam Liu, she..."

"What?"

"The headmaster said that Old Madam Liu didn't have much time left and wanted to spend her last days at the academy listening to the students reading, rather than staying at home alone. So the headmaster brought her to live at the academy."

Yang didn't know what to say, but she had already guessed what was going on when she overheard the conversation.

"Father, didn't Uncle Liu take Grandma Liu to see a doctor more than 20 years ago? Could it be that this illness has been left untreated until now?"

Old Shen nodded: "Yes, the dean founded the Moxiang Academy here after failing to find a doctor back then. However, the dean said that it is already very fortunate that Madam Liu has lived for more than 20 years despite suffering from this terminal illness. He dares not ask for too much more. Besides, Madam Liu has been suffering from illness for more than 20 years. If... it would not be a bad thing."

Madam Yang lowered her brows: "That's true."

Lili's heart stirred slightly. She did some quick calculations and realized that Old Madam Liu was not destined to die.

She always felt that things would take a turn for the better somewhere.

Seeing that Yang Shi looked gloomy and a little sad, Shen Laosan smiled and tried to distract her by putting a piece of Four Happiness Meatballs on her plate: "Alright, alright, let's eat first."

Yang smiled and placed one on his plate as well: "Okay."