The next morning, Li Chu was busy in the kitchen.

He doesn't like eating mutton stew at night because the flatbread is made with unleavened dough and is hard to digest.

The mutton was stewed last night, so now we can make the flatbread.

The kitchen door was pushed open, and when Li Chu turned around, he was surprised to see his daughter standing in the doorway.

"Huihui, why are you up so early?"

He kept talking while his hands never stopped moving.

"Dad, thank you!"

His daughter's unexpected thanks made Li Chu stop what he was doing, and he turned to look at her.

"What's wrong with you? Did you get up so early just to flirt?"

"I knew it would be like this," Wenhui thought to herself.

"Dad, it's because I said I wanted to eat mutton stew yesterday that you started preparing it last night and got up so early this morning to continue. That's why I thought I'd come over and thank you."

"Silly girl, I am your father. Before you live independently and start your own family, what's wrong with me taking care of you?"

How long can I take care of you? From the time you were born, at most twenty years or so. After you get married, you can't be as willful as you are at home anymore.

Wenhui leaned against the kitchen door frame, looking at her father with a slightly blank expression.

"Dad, to be honest, you're so great, how am I going to find a partner when I enter society?"

Li Chu was amused by his daughter's words: "Who told you to look for a partner who looks just like me? Are you lacking fatherly love?"

"But you're so good to Mom, and you've spoiled me since I was little. It'll be hard for me not to compare when I look for a partner in the future."

"I spoil you and indulge you because I'm your dad. You're looking for a partner, not a father. Why should others have to be like me? A family is for two people, and whether life is happy or not requires the joint efforts of both."

Huihui, remember this: in this world, besides your mother and me, no one is obligated to spoil you. You can't look for a partner with that kind of mindset. Everyone is born of parents; why should someone else pamper you? Think about it carefully, doesn't that make sense?

After saying that, he poured the kneaded dough from the bowl onto the work surface and continued kneading.

Wenhui stood there, quietly pondering what her father had just said.

"My kindness to you and my willingness to grant your every request actually have another layer of meaning."

"What does it mean?"

"I'll ensure you have a comfortable material life and a rich spiritual life from a young age, so that when you enter society, you won't be blinded by a man's sweet words."

"Dad, I won't."

Li Chu turned to look at his daughter and smiled slightly: "Really? That would be best!"

After saying that, he started to divide the dough he had kneaded into small balls and then rolled them out thinner with a rolling pin.

What does it feel like to eat a bowl of hot mutton soup on a freezing cold morning?

It was so satisfying! I felt warm all over after eating it.

Lu Ping, who usually eats very little, ate a big, delicious bowl of food.

After finishing the meal, I took another sip of mutton soup.

"Ah, this is so wonderful! I haven't had mutton stew in so long."

"You're too easily satisfied!" Wang Yueyue, who was engrossed in her work, looked up from the bowl, which was bigger than her head, and glanced at Lu Ping, saying.

"Oh, Yueyue, you don't understand. You'll only understand when you leave home and go to other places in the future."

bidige.

Wang Yueyue shook her little head like a rattle drum.

"No way! I'll just follow Brother Xuan from now on. Wherever he goes, I'll go."

Well, Lu Ping, who had just finished eating, was stuffed with another mouthful of dog food, making her roll her eyes.

Seeing her embarrassed expression, Wenhui chuckled to herself.

"You're still laughing? Go eat your food."

Lu Ping slapped Wen Hui, somewhat annoyed.

Wang Yueyue didn't care at all and lowered her head to continue eating.

Seeing that Yueyue's face was smeared with soup, Wenxuan took out a handkerchief from his pocket. Wang Yueyue naturally brought her face closer, and after Wenxuan wiped it for her, she lowered her head again.

Sitting across from her, Lu Ping watched their coordinated actions and couldn't help but feel jealous.

But what can she do when she doesn't have a childhood sweetheart like that?

“Pingping, just eat when you're eating, and drink soup when you're drinking soup. Why are you looking at them? It will only make you more upset.”

"Li Wenhui, if you don't speak, no one will think you're mute."

"Oh, you Lu Ping, I'm just trying to protect you from harm, and you don't appreciate my kindness. I'll scratch you!"

"Haha, Wenhui, Huihui, stop tickling me, I'm ticklish."

...

When the two of them first started arguing, Wenxuan was very perceptive. He picked up his and Wang Yueyue's bowls and then the two of them sat down together at the table where their parents were eating.

"Wenxuan, wash the dishes later and use some of the medicine powder on the sink counter, otherwise the oil will be too greasy to clean."

"Dad Chu, you don't need to worry about it, I'll wash it later."

"Okay, our Yueyue is still the best behaved!"

"hey-hey!"

...

Happy days passed by, and soon the Lantern Festival was over. It was time for Wenxuan, Wenhui, and Luping to return to school.

Last Sunday, Li Wenxuan's ancestral worship ceremony went smoothly. Many guests came to his home, almost all of them elderly men, including one centenarian who walked with a cane and was quite unsteady on his feet.

There were also many uninvited visitors, even from Kitagawa and Tsushi.

Some of the people Li Chu didn't even recognize, while others were people his master had taken him to visit once before.

Uncle Wang and the person from the sanatorium had a rather long conversation in the study.

...

After seeing the three children off, Li Chu drove Ding Qiunan and Wang Yueyue home.

Wang Yueyue will be living here from the start of this semester. Her parents are not here, and her grandparents live too far from the school, which is inconvenient.

"Yueyue, you can have lunch at your aunt's house next door. If you want to go out, remember to take your keys. We're going to work now."

"Okay, Aunt Qiu Nan, goodbye. Goodbye, Dad Chu."

After watching her open the gate and go inside, Li Chu started the car and drove towards the hospital.

What kind of meeting do you have today?

"It's not really a meeting, it's just a report on the investigation results of that case before the Lunar New Year."

Upon hearing that it was that case, Ding Qiunan immediately lost interest in asking.

She knew that her man kept many things to himself, and she wouldn't ask any questions unless he brought them up himself.

At the hospital entrance, after Ding Qiunan got out of the car, Li Chu drove straight to the health department.

Inside the hospital, downstairs in the administration building, two men and a woman were negotiating with the sentries.

One of the two men was Xiao Zheng from Dongshan, who had come looking for Li Chu before but hadn't seen him.