Hongyu ate without stopping, looking at Xing Zhaozhao accusingly: "Mom, you've gone too far! You didn't keep your word. Do you know how worried we were when you came back so late?"
Hongfei nodded in agreement as he ate, "Mmm, mmm."
Xing Zhaozhao gently tapped his forehead: "So you deliberately didn't eat, lay on the kang pretending to be asleep, ignored your mother, and deliberately scared her?"
After saying that, she gave Hongfei a reproachful look: "Dafei is also fooling around with Xiaoyumao."
Hongfei paused in his munching on the chicken nugget, a shy expression appearing on his little face: "I'm sorry, Mom."
“It’s not my brother’s fault. I made him do it with me.” Hongyu puffed out his little chest to defend his brother. “Although we made a mistake, Mom was wrong first, so Mom should apologize first.”
Xing Zhaozhao paused for a moment, then sincerely apologized to them: "I'm sorry, Mom was delayed this time and came back late, which made you worry. I can't guarantee that this won't happen again, but I will try my best to come back in the future, okay?"
Hongyu's eyes darted around, and he said, "As long as you promise to buy such delicious fried chicken again tomorrow, I'll forgive you."
Xing Zhaozhao raised an eyebrow: "You're really pushing your luck, trying to bargain with me? Then you won't eat today either."
After saying that, Xing Zhaozhao not only confiscated the fried chicken from his hand, but also beat up this brat who was pushing his luck.
The little one cried loudly, "I know I was wrong, I'll never do it again."
Hongyu had a tear in the corner of her eye, but in the end she still ate fried chicken again, though the pain in her butt was very real.
Hongfei sighed helplessly and wiped away the tears from his younger brother's eyes. Why bother? His greed was insatiable; not only did he not gain anything, he also got a beating for nothing.
Fu Lan had already eaten, but stopped after taking a bite. Curious, she asked Xing Zhaozhao, "Sister Xing, why were you delayed there for so long this time? What happened?"
"It's all because of Ling Yongde, who schemed against our Mingcheng..." Xing Zhaozhao told Fu Lan what had happened, especially the multiple entanglements between Ling Yongde and Ling Xiao's family.
When Fu Lan heard that Ling Ze, such a lively and energetic little guy, had been raised by Ling Yongde to the point of developing depression and dying young, she was both angry and resentful: "It's a shame that the heavens let that beast live to be eighty. It's too easy for him." At the same time, she was also extremely relieved, "Fortunately, he's already in jail and won't have the chance to harm anyone again."
“By the way, Sister Xing, Ling Ze’s father probably doesn’t know that Ling Ze’s mother asked Ling Yongde to pass on a message for her, right? Should we tell him? We can’t just watch them be separated for decades because of this misunderstanding, can we?” Fu Lan asked Xing Zhaozhao.
Xing Zhaozhao thought for a moment and nodded: "I'll go see Brother Fei tomorrow and ask him to help me send a message to Ling Xiao."
After saying that, Xing Zhaozhao brought up the matter of cooperating with the textile factory with Fu Lan: "...We're planning to start a company called Zhaolan, what do you think? We'll just be responsible for providing the designs, and then we can sit back and wait to collect the money, isn't that great?"
Upon hearing the name "Zhao Lan," Fu Lan's pretty face flushed slightly with excitement, but she couldn't help but worry: "Start a company? Can we... really do it?"
"Don't worry, Rongrong is helping to keep an eye on things, there won't be any problems," Xing Zhaozhao reassured her.
"Who is Rongrong?" Fu Lan asked.
“My daughter-in-law,” Xing Zhaozhao said with a smile.
Upon hearing the words "daughter-in-law," Hongyu, who had been engrossed in eating fried chicken, forgot the pain in his bottom and immediately looked up at Xing Zhaozhao, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. He asked, "Mom's daughter-in-law? Is she my wife? Mom, have you seen my wife? Is she pretty?"
Xing Zhaozhao: "..." This little brat, he's so young and he's already thinking about getting married.
Xing Zhaozhao raised her hand and gently slapped his head: "Your brother's."
When Xing Zhaozhao mentioned him, Hongfei looked up blankly, with fried chicken crumbs on his lips, not understanding what she meant.
"So it's my brother's." Hongyu looked regretful, his eyes darting around as if he had just thought of something. He looked at Xing Zhaozhao in surprise and said, "Could my brother's wife be Gao Zhuzi's wife's younger sister? I think her name is Rongrong. I met her when I went to the village last time. She always likes to chase after my brother."
"She's a bit ugly, cross-eyed, and sloppy. She likes to eat while sniffling." Hongyu looked at her brother, her little face full of sympathy.
Hongfei then remembered something, his face turned pale, and he looked at Xing Zhaozhao in disbelief.
Xing Zhaozhao was both amused and exasperated, wondering what all this was about: "No, that's not it."
"That's good." Hongyu patted her chest with her small hand, looking like she was still shaken. "I don't like the Gao family."
Hongfei also visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then who exactly is this Rongrong, brother's wife?" Hongyu blinked and looked at Xing Zhaozhao, asking curiously.
Hongfei looked at Xing Zhaozhao, his bright eyes filled with expectation, but also a hint of unease and trepidation. He hoped she wasn't like Gao Zhuzi's wife's younger sister.
Xing Zhaozhao smiled and patted Hongfei's head: "When you grow up and see it, you'll naturally know."
Xing Zhaozhao didn't know when Gao Hongfei and Ying Rongrong met; she just mentioned it casually, never expecting that day to come so soon.
The next day, Xing Zhaozhao went to the black market in town to find Fei Ge and asked him to deliver a note to Ling Xiao in Qingxi Town. She didn't write anything too explicit on the note, fearing it would be difficult to explain; she simply told Ling Xiao to go ask Ling Yongde if there was anything he was hiding from him, especially regarding Ling Ze's mother.
Xing Zhaozhao didn't know when Fei Ge delivered the note. Two days later, Ling Xiao suddenly arrived, bringing Ling Ze with him.
Ling Ze was bouncing around with the small bundle hanging from his arm, looking very happy.
"What's wrong? What's going on?" Xing Zhaozhao asked, puzzled.
Ling Xiao looked at Xing Zhaozhao apologetically: "I have to go to the south for something, and I may not be back for at least a month. I'm really worried about leaving the child alone at home. Besides you, I don't have anyone else I trust, so I have to trouble you again."
When Xing Zhaozhao heard him say he was going south, her eyes flashed and she immediately understood what he wanted to do. She smiled and nodded in agreement: "No problem."
The three little ones got together again and happily ran out to play.
When Ling Xiao saw his son meet his friends, he turned around and completely forgot about his father. His lips twitched slightly, but he was finally relieved.
"Thank you for your trouble." After saying goodbye to Xing Zhaozhao, Ling Xiao turned to leave, but after taking only a few steps, he stopped, turned back to look at Xing Zhaozhao, and asked, "How did you know that Ling Yongde was hiding something from me?"
"I overheard him mention it when I caught him last time," Xing Zhaozhao casually lied.
"Why didn't you mention it when I came to pick up Ling Ze that time?" Ling Xiao raised an eyebrow and asked.
Xing Zhaozhao smiled and said, "I forgot."
Ling Xiao: "..."
Ling Xiao didn't press further. He thanked Xing Zhaozhao and left quickly. He didn't know what the outcome of this trip south would be. They had been separated for almost ten years, but he believed he would regret it if he didn't see her with his own eyes and ask her in person.
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