Du Xiaoruo knocked on Lele's room door, but there was no response.

She pressed her head against the door and whispered, "Lele, may I come in?"

After a while, a child's hesitant voice came from inside the room, "The door isn't closed."

Du Xiaoruo smiled faintly, glanced back at the camera that was filming her, and pushed open the door to enter the room.

In the live stream room,

Wow, so this is Lele's room! His bed is quite interesting; the lower bunk is a small study. It feels so cozy and secure. I want to buy one for my son too.

Lele's bed is made by Shanlin Woodworks. I saw it at a furniture store before; it seemed to cost close to 300,000 yuan per set.

I'm sorry to bother you; I'm not worthy.

Du Xiaoruo walked to the bedside, grabbed the small railing on the edge of the bed with both hands, and used the strength of her arms to flip herself up onto the upper bunk.

Holy crap, she didn't even use the stairs, she just climbed up! How did she do that?

[Now I finally know why we bought such an expensive bed—it's because we have a woman in our family who's always jumping around! Hahahaha.]

Du Xiaoruo pressed her head against the small mound of flesh under the blanket and whispered,

"Lele, Lele, Lele Lele Lele Lele..."

Actually, Lele wasn't so aggrieved when Du Xiaoruo came in. Now, hearing her mother calling her name like she was singing, she was secretly laughing under the covers.

When Du Xiaoruo saw the quilt shaking with laughter, she knew the little guy wasn't angry anymore.

Lele was raised very well by Qiao An. She has a gentle personality and stable emotions. She must have grown up in a very loving environment. Her momentary grievance was just a sudden jealousy. She can be comforted and she will be fine.

"I'm sorry, Lele. Your dad brought the book over in the middle of the night yesterday, and I only found out about it this morning. But would you like to sleep in the big bed with us tonight?"

The little hill in the blanket nodded obediently, its mood brightening at the thought of sleeping in the big bed with its parents.

"Now, let's discuss this. Xiaoshu's father is away on a business trip and will be staying at our house for a week. Do you think that's okay?"

This time, Xiaoshanbao didn't nod immediately; instead, he remained silent.

Du Xiaoruo continued, "If you don't agree, I'll contact Xiaoshu's father and think of another way to settle Xiaoshu, because this is also your home, and your opinion is very important to us."

Xiaoshanbao remained silent for a while, then Lele pulled the blanket off his head. The air inside the blanket was stuffy, and his fair face turned pink from being covered, making him look even more tender and cute.

Lele took two deep breaths, twisted the corner of the quilt with her little hands, and said in a low voice, a little awkwardly, "Let Xiaoshu stay at home."

Du Xiaoruo smiled and hugged him, blanket and all, into her arms. "Our Lele is so kind."

Lele blushed so much her ears turned red, and she made her request even more quietly.

"I also want to sleep in a big bed at night."

"good."

"Also, we can't just be nice to Xiaoshu because he's a guest. We should be nice to him too. We should live in this world together."

Du Xiaoruo rested her chin on the blanket and laughed for a while.

"Okay, I agree. Also, it means treating everyone equally, not the same as everyone else."

In the live stream room,

[Hahaha, how can this be both heartwarming and hilarious? Lele, is your Chinese teacher watching the live stream? She's probably crying her eyes out in the bathroom right now.]

[Xiao Ruo is so gentle, oh my god. She said this is Lele's home too, and his opinion is just as important. I felt like crying for no reason after hearing that.]

Seriously, this made me cry. I was that child who was always ignored. When relatives came, I had to give up my room. If their kids broke my toys, I didn't dare say anything. My mom would scold me for being stingy and shameful. If I had been treated so gently when I was little, I probably wouldn't be so insecure and withdrawn now.

[Hugs to the person upstairs. Some people spend their entire lives being healed by their childhood, while others spend their entire lives healing from it. I just hope that the wounds we suffered won't be passed on to the next generation.]

This won't continue in the next generation, because I won't have children; life isn't worth it.

After calming Lele down, Du Xiaoruo and Lele walked out of the room together.

The house has a large open kitchen. Du Xiaoruo checked the refrigerator and found that there were still plenty of fresh ingredients, which must have been temporarily purchased for them before they moved in.

She took out some fresh fruits and vegetables, salmon, and eggs, intending to make a vegetable salad and then fry a salmon in butter.

Joan had never eaten breakfast in this house; he usually ate breakfast in the apartment's dining room. After changing his clothes, he came out of the walk-in closet, ready to go out.

Du Xiaoruo held two eggs in her hand, looked up and saw Qiao An dressed in a sharp suit, and asked, "Aren't you having breakfast at home?"

Joan was clearly bewildered. He had no concept of home. When he lived in the manor, he had servants to wait on him, but he never knew that it was not home. After moving out, he was all alone and didn't even know how to boil water.

“I… want to eat at home.” Joan went back to the kitchen, took off her coat and draped it over the back of a chair, then went to the bar to make coffee with the coffee machine.

"Would you like some coffee?" Joanne asked.

Du Xiaoruo put the eggs into a saucepan and turned on the heat to cook them.

She glanced back, pursed her lips, as if she wanted to drink it, but seemed to be hesitant about something. "Um, yes, but no milk and no sugar."

Joanne peeled open a coffee capsule. "Why is it so bitter?"

"Hmm." Xiaoruo turned back to prepare the salmon, muttering softly, "I think I've gained a little weight recently, and I don't want milk or sugar."

After saying that, Du Xiaoruo felt that she had gone a bit too far with Qiao An today. Saying that she was fat in front of a boy seemed like she was deliberately being coquettish.

Qiao An glanced at Du Xiaoruo's slender waist under her champagne-colored satin shirt. "She's not fat. Just add a little bit more, and don't drink it so bitter."

Lele and Xiaoshu were playing in the living room. Because the kitchen was open-plan, they heard Qiao An's words...

Little Shu exclaimed, "Daddy, I want coffee too, the kind with lots, lots, lots and lots of milk and sugar!"

“No, kids can’t drink coffee,” Joan refused ruthlessly. “You’d better keep quiet.”

Du Xiaoruo placed the salmon into a buttered frying pan, glanced at Xiaoshu with a smile, and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"That kid told me to die before the New Year so he could inherit my watch."

Du Xiaoruo chuckled, and seeing Qiao An's hurt expression, quickly comforted her.

"Children speak without restraint, children speak without restraint."

Viewers in the live stream were ecstatic about how sweet it was.

The best kind of love I can imagine is having breakfast together, then going out to do your own thing, but because you've shared breakfast with the one you love, all the busyness of the day feels sweet.

Haven't you noticed that Xiaoruo talks more when she's with President Ha? She rarely initiates conversations with others when they're at the restaurant.

[Mr. Ha even told her not to drink anything so bitter. What a sweet love story! This couple is so adorable.]

Lele played with building blocks with Xiaoshu for a while when his phone rang. It sounded like a text message had come in. He picked up the phone and looked at it; it was a message from the class group chat.

Class teacher Ms. Jiang: [Students, one-third of summer vacation is already over. Please don't forget to finish your summer homework on time.]

Huang Longyu: [Teacher, I've been doing my homework diligently, and yesterday I even went to a nursing home with my mom for social practice.]

Class teacher Ms. Jiang: [Huang Longyu is fantastic! Other students, don't forget your social practice class!]

"You two wash your hands and eat." Qiao An helped Du Xiaoruo set the breakfast on the table, then turned around and called the two little ones over to eat.

Lele washed her hands and returned to the dining table. She picked up her milk, took a sip, and with white milk foam still clinging to her upper lip, she eagerly said to Du Xiaoruo,

"Mom, we have a social practice assignment."

Du Xiaoruo took out a tissue and wiped his mouth. "Hmm? What are you practicing?"

"It's about doing outdoor activities with Mom and Dad," Lele thought for a moment and said, "I want to ride my bike on the riverside path."

Little Shu was munching on an egg when she heard Lele's words. She quickly swallowed the egg and raised her chubby little arm.

"I want to go out and eat something delicious with Ruo's mom."

"Okay." Du Xiaoruo nodded. She had been worried about not having enough content for her live streams these past few days.

"Then write down everything you want to do and stick it on the refrigerator, and we'll do it together."

Joanne put down her coffee cup. "I need to work..."

Lele immediately replied, "Dad, you should work hard and earn money. Don't feel guilty. I'm happy as long as Mom is with me."

Joan swallowed back the next sentence, "But it's also important to be with you," and awkwardly picked up her coffee cup again, took a sip, and found it very bitter.

After Qiao An went to the company, Du Xiaoruo and the two children sat cross-legged on the carpet next to the sofa, took out some sticky notes, and started writing about their social practice.

Lele had already thought of many things she wanted to do with her mother, and quickly wrote them down on a sticky note.

Cycling along the riverside trail

Let's go to the zoo to see tigers, lions, elephants, giraffes, and other small animals!

Du Xiaoruo stole a glance, a smile spreading across her eyes, "Lele, are you sure tigers and lions are small animals?"

Lele thought for a moment and then drew an X over the word "small".

The little boy, who couldn't write yet, was so anxious he kept stamping his feet.

"Brother Lele, please help me write this down. I want to eat cake, xiaolongbao, barbecue, mochi, ice cream, pizza, and hamburgers."

Lele took a sticky note, wrote "Eat something" on it perfunctorily, and then handed it to Xiaoshu.

Xiao Shu reverently took the note, glanced at it, and felt something was amiss.

"Brother Lele, why are there so few words? I clearly said a lot."

Lele stroked his curly hair and started talking nonsense with a straight face.

"This is my brother's unique condensed technique. Although it only has three words, it contains everything you just said."

Xiao Shu's eyebrows practically flew off in admiration, and she frantically made heart shapes with her hands, exclaiming, "Brother is super amazing!"

[Hahaha, Little Book, if you even had a kindergarten diploma, you wouldn't be in this mess.]

[Lele is right, those three words really do encompass everything.]

But upon closer inspection, it's as if it didn't say anything at all, hahaha.

Du Xiaoruo's phone rang. She stood up and went to the dining table to get it. She saw that the caller ID was Mrs. Huang. Du Xiaoruo thought for a moment and remembered that this Mrs. Huang was Huang Longyu's stepmother, the woman she met at the stepson's rant meeting on the first day she transmigrated.

I thought I would never have anything to do with these stepmothers again, but to my surprise, they called me first.

Du Xiaoruo instinctively wanted to hang up, but suddenly remembered that she was live streaming and the other person might be watching her stream. Hanging up directly would be too hurtful.

Pressing the answer button, Mrs. Huang's sweet, coquettish voice came through the receiver.

"Xiaoruo, I'm watching your live stream right now, it's so funny, how can a kid be so cute?"

"Ah, yes, so cute." Du Xiaoruo replied perfunctorily, thinking to herself that she was glad she hadn't hung up the phone earlier.

Mrs. Huang added, "How about we get together at Evening Star Cafe this afternoon? It's been so long since we've seen each other since you recorded your show."

When the topic of Evening Star Cafe came up, Du Xiaoruo felt as if she had forgotten some important information. On the day Xiaoshu was injured, Xia Qing also mentioned that Qiao An wanted to acquire Jinse shares, and Du Xiaoruo had the same feeling.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Mrs. Huang said with a smile,

"It's settled then. Arrive at 2 PM. Bring the kids along too, the café is having an event today, the kids can play with the bubbles."

Mrs. Huang hung up the phone, and Du Xiaoruo turned to ask the two children,

Are you guys going to play with bubbles later?

Lele cheered, "I want it! I love blowing bubbles!"

As Lele spoke, Xiaoshu shook her head blankly, "Never mind, blowing bubbles is childish."

Then the two little ones fell silent.

Lele blew on her nose, "Hmph!"

Xiao Shu belatedly realized that it wasn't too childish, and blowing bubbles was still fun.

In the live stream room,

[Hahaha, I'm laughing so hard I'm crying! Blowing bubbles is too childish for 3-year-old Xiaoshu, but it's just right for 9-year-old Lele.]

[The little book even tried to save face for itself; it's so cute.]

Knowing they would be having outdoor activities later, Du Xiaoruo's family dressed casually in T-shirts and shorts, looking cool and comfortable.

After they moved in, Qiao An had someone bring Du Xiaoruo's car over. Du Xiaoruo found the parking spot at the property management office and drove the two little ones to Wanxing Cafe at 1:30.

When Du Xiaoruo arrived at the coffee shop, the scene before her eyes startled her.

While the previous stepmothers had dressed quite glamorously, it was still within the acceptable range for everyday life. But today, they were all dressed as if they were attending an awards ceremony. Mrs. Huang even wore a low-cut, backless fishtail dress.

Du Xiaoruo glanced at the camera behind her and realized that today wasn't a stepson's rant session; everyone just wanted to take this opportunity to appear on camera.

"Huang Longyu," Lele greeted.

Huang Longyu stood behind Mrs. Huang, still wearing a suit jacket and a small plaid bow tie, his hair slicked back and shiny.

Huang Longyu felt uncomfortable with the overly formal attire, and he just waved to Lele listlessly.

Netizens had previously only joked about Huanglong jade online, but they never expected to see it in person, and they were all quite excited.

Haha, Huanglong Jade, I've heard so much about you!

Forgive my ignorance, but may I ask who Huanglongyu is?

[It's actually quite a tragic story. Simply put, Huang Longyu deliberately ruined his mother's silk nightgown while washing it, and Lele accidentally let it slip during a live stream. Huang Longyu's father happened to be watching the stream at the time, and he ended up getting a beating from both his mother and father.]

Hahaha, that's so tragic.

The café hosted a small party in the garden outside the door. Children played in the sand, blew bubbles, and ate snacks, while several mothers chatted on outdoor chairs under the parasols.

Du Xiaoruo sat in a corner next to the bushes, drinking iced coffee and silently watching the stepmothers chat.

Anyway, today wasn't the usual stepson rant session. The stepmothers all wanted to use the live stream to establish their personas, so they were all trying to be gentle and virtuous, and no one cared whether Du Xiaoruo participated in the discussion.

After chatting for a while, the shop assistant came over and invited them to watch a movie indoors. It was a currently popular anime that was said to be very exciting.

When the children heard that they could watch cartoons, they cheered and rushed into the house.

Du Xiaoruo deliberately slowed down her pace, waiting for everyone to move forward before leisurely walking at the very back, thus avoiding unnecessary small talk.

The cameraman was filming the children when they entered the coffee shop, and suddenly someone grabbed Du Xiaoruo's arm.

She stopped and found that the two women who had grabbed her were somewhat familiar. The original owner's memories were not very clear, and Du Xiaoruo could not remember who these two women were. She could only look at them blankly.

"Mrs. Qiao," a woman with her hair styled in a bun and an air of elegance and sophistication said softly.

"Jinse's stock price has been falling, and our family is almost starving. Qiao An wants to acquire it, but my husband says that Jin Xizhen values ​​Qiao Qingchuan the most, and the Jin family won't let Qiao Qingchuan fail completely. But so far, the Jin family hasn't made a move at all, and I'm extremely anxious."

"that is."

The other woman was younger and more attractive, she asked.

"My husband used to think so too, but now the stock price is like it's on a skateboard, and the Jin family still refuses to make a move. Mrs. Qiao, can you give us a clue? Is Qiao Qingchuan really able to turn things around this time?"

From their conversation, Du Xiaoruo remembered that these two ladies were shareholders of Jinse, the wives of President Wang and President Li.

As they were talking, they went into the coffee shop. Because there were cameras filming, no one spoke again.

Sitting down on the sofa, Du Xiaoruo finally remembered why the topic of acquiring shares and Wanxing Cafe felt strangely familiar. She recalled that when the original owner attended this stepson's rant session, it was Qiao An who asked her to come so that she could record the stepmothers' conversation.

Based on these clues, Qiao An has already obtained some incriminating evidence against several shareholders.

In the original story, Joan's fate was to be imprisoned for commercial fraud. It was at this critical juncture that he impulsively used the information he had to threaten the shareholders, and was subsequently countersued and imprisoned for extortion.

Anime was playing on the projector in the coffee shop, but Du Xiaoruo couldn't concentrate at all. Her not-so-bright brain was working at high speed, trying to figure out the cause and effect of these things.

Chen Ding sent her a message asking her to help Qiao An acquire Jinse's shares. Now that I think about it, perhaps Chen Ding meant for her to help Qiao An acquire the shares through legitimate means and avoid going to jail.

Once Du Xiaoruo figured out this setup, she had a much clearer idea of ​​what to do next.

After the two-and-a-half-hour animation ended, as everyone stood up, Du Xiaoruo deliberately slowed her pace again, and Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Li also slowed their pace and came closer.

Mrs. Wang said softly, "Mrs. Qiao, we have some acquaintance, so please tell us the truth about what we just talked about."

Du Xiaoruo pursed her lips.

She wasn't good at lying, and before she even opened her mouth, her face was already mostly red.

Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Li noticed that her face was flushed, and they thought she was quite sincere, at least she wasn't trying to deceive them with glib words.

"I can't talk about family matters. If the Jin family wanted to make a move, they wouldn't have waited until now." Du Xiaoruo said this in a low voice, and dared not say any more.

This was merely Du Xiaoruo's speculation. She deliberately said this to mislead Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Li, making them believe that the Jin family wouldn't intervene. This was the limit of what Du Xiaoruo could do; saying another word might expose her deception.

As for the two wives, the Jin family's reluctance to make a move meant they had already made up their minds; they just wanted a definite answer from Du Xiaoruo.

Because I promised Lele during the day that he could sleep in the big bed at night, four people slept in the big bed at home tonight.

The two children were tired from playing and fell asleep lying around. Qiao An was kicked twice by Xiao Shu and slapped on the face by Lele. She couldn't sleep anymore, so she simply got up, grabbed her blanket, and lay down on the sofa.

Not long after he got up, Du Xiaoruo also quietly followed him out barefoot.

The issue of the share acquisition had been on Du Xiaoruo's mind all night. She needed to remind Qiao An immediately, because if Qiao An threatened those shareholders, it would be too late.

There are also security cameras in the house. Although they are covered with bath towels at night, the sound can still be heard.

Holding her phone, Du Xiaoruo quietly walked to the sofa and squatted down.

She reached out and poked Qiao An's face. Qiao An opened her eyes and saw a dark little guy in front of her. She was so scared that she shrank back and almost cursed.

Du Xiaoruo quickly held her phone screen up to Qiao An.

【This is Xiaoruo. I need to talk to you about something.】

Qiao An was at a loss for words, looking at her with disgust, "Why are you acting like you're meeting with a secret agent?"

Du Xiaoruo pointed to the camera, put her index finger to her lips to signal him to be quiet, and then typed on her phone.

[Joan, don't threaten the shareholders. Acquire the shares through legitimate means.]

After showing this line to Qiao An, Du Xiaoruo felt it was a bit too dry, so she added another sentence.

Do not do anything illegal; be a law-abiding citizen.

Qiao An was completely bewildered. Was she really going to wake him up in the middle of the night just to tell him to obey the law? Qiao An thought Du Xiaoruo was kind of adorably silly.

He chuckled softly in the darkness, looking at Du Xiaoruo through the bright moonlight streaming through the French windows. She was squatting in front of the sofa, her doe-like, wet eyes particularly sincere and charming, her fair face seemingly glowing in the night.

Having built up the atmosphere, Qiao An ignored her previous ramblings and, almost as if possessed, reached out and gently stroked her cheek a few times with her thumb. Her throat was hoarse from being woken up.

I really want to kiss you.

Du Xiaoruo's cheeks seemed to suddenly burn, turning red from her cheekbones all the way to the base of her ears.

She typed angrily.

I'm kindly reminding you, don't repay kindness with enmity!

Then she stood up and stormed back to her bedroom. Reaching the bedroom door, Du Xiaoruo touched her burning face, growing angrier the more she thought about it.

She rushed back to the sofa and squatted down.

乔安舔舔干燥的下嘴唇，喉结在薄薄的皮肤下滚动了一下，这是冲回来准备揍人吗？

With a loud bang.

Du Xiaoruo bumped her forehead hard against Qiao An's forehead, and then pushed it back forcefully.

After venting his anger, he rushed back into the room and closed the door.

Qiao An rubbed her throbbing forehead. Had this thing practiced Iron Head Kung Fu? Its strength was extraordinary.