After dinner, Xing Zhaozhao personally escorted Fu Lan to Aunt Hao's house in the village at the foot of the mountain.
Ying Hongyi's family wanted to stay at home for two days, but there were only two rooms and they couldn't fit everyone. They could stay at the guesthouse in town, but it would take two hours to travel there and back, which was inconvenient. So Fu Lan offered to give up her room to Xing Zhaozhao. She would go to Hao's house to squeeze in with Xiu Ning for the night, and then they would go back to their home in town.
Xing Zhaozhao still felt bad, but Fu Lan didn't seem to mind at all, and said with a smile, "I've bothered you for too long, Sister Xing. It's time for me to go back. Grandpa and Grandma have been wanting me to move back home. I was worried that you wouldn't be able to take care of three children by yourself, so I didn't mention it to you. Now that my brother-in-law is back, I can rest assured. But don't think you can get rid of me like this. I'll still come over and bother you often."
Xing Zhaozhao chuckled: "Come on, come whenever you want."
"Thank you so much for everything, Xiaolan," Xing Zhaozhao said to Fu Lan. If it weren't for Fu Lan, she wouldn't have been able to run off so confidently. Although Hongfei and Hongyu could take care of her sister, it wasn't as reassuring as having an adult around.
Fu Lan shook her head: "I should be the one thanking you. If it weren't for Sister Xing, I would be dead long ago. How could I be living well like this now and even have my own little savings?"
Mentioning her secret stash of money, Fu Lan smiled happily and winked playfully at Xing Zhaozhao. It really was a secret stash!
"Oh right, your little stash of money is still with me," Xing Zhaozhao remembered.
"Let's leave it here with you for now; I'm not comfortable leaving it at home," Fu Lan said after thinking for a moment.
“Okay,” Xing Zhaozhao readily agreed.
After taking Fu Lan to Aunt Hao's place, Xing Zhaozhao didn't leave immediately; she sat there for a while longer.
Gao Qingshan rushed over after hearing the news, and looked reluctant when he heard that Fu Lan had also moved back to her home in town. It would be inconvenient to see her again in the future.
"Why don't you just marry her sooner?" Aunt Hao said jokingly.
Gao Qingshan was in a real dilemma. Xiaolan was still young, and he wasn't planning on getting married too early. Before, she had been living halfway up the mountain, so it was easy to see her, and he hadn't really realized how far the distance was. But now that Uncle Mingcheng had suddenly returned and Xiaolan was going home, he suddenly realized just how far the distance was. It was almost like the "thousands of mountains and rivers" that the educated youth had talked about. He planned to go back and talk to his grandfather to see if he could buy a bicycle.
When Xing Zhaozhao returned home, the dining table and kitchen stove had all been cleaned up, the dishes had been washed, and there was still half a pot of hot water left in the pot, which was probably reserved for her bath.
Inside Ying Hongyi's house, you could faintly hear the father teasing his daughter. The little girl was laughing so hard she almost choked, and her mother scolded her.
Xing Zhaozhao smiled knowingly, turned around and went into her room next door. The three little ones were playing around on the bed with their father. Fortunately, the new bed that she had Uncle Hao make was big and sturdy enough for them to play around in.
When Gao Mingcheng saw Xing Zhaozhao return, a smile appeared in his eyes as he said, "You're back."
"Hmm." Xing Zhaozhao responded indifferently, still not giving him a friendly look as she thought about what happened during the day.
Gao Mingcheng helplessly touched his nose. He didn't think it was a big deal, but what could he do when his wife was so shy? He could only try to coax her slowly.
"Mom." Hongyu opened his arms happily when he saw his mother return.
Xing Zhaozhao walked to the bedside, hugged the little guy, and asked, "Why aren't you asleep yet? He's usually asleep by now."
"I can't sleep." Hongyu grinned. Dad's back, he was so happy, he wasn't sleepy at all.
Little Hongling, who was originally nestled in her father's arms, became unhappy when she saw her mother holding her brother. She nimbly crawled over, forcefully pushed her brother away, snuggled in herself, found a comfortable position, yawned, closed her eyes, and fell asleep instantly.
Xing Zhaozhao: "..."
Gao Mingcheng: "..."
Hongfei and Hongyu: "..."
"Fell asleep so quickly?" Hongyu asked incredulously, gently poking her younger sister's chubby little face with her finger.
Xing Zhaozhao gently swatted his little paw away, glared at him, and whispered, "Be careful not to wake your little sister."
The little guy chuckled shyly and nodded.
Xing Zhaozhao laid the little girl down at the back of the bed and draped a small towel over her protruding belly to keep it warm.
After settling the little girl down, I turned to look at the other two little ones. They seemed to have caught my sleepiness, yawning and their eyelids were drooping.
Xing Zhaozhao smiled and helped them put their pillows on the other side of the bed: "Alright, you two should go to sleep now."
Hongfei nodded obediently and went to lie down.
Hongyu strained to keep her eyes open, still trying to stay awake: "No, I don't want to sleep yet."
Xing Zhaozhao forcefully pressed him down to lie down: "Go to sleep quickly, Mom will take you to the mountains to play tomorrow."
"Really?" Hongyu asked with a look of surprise.
“Of course,” Xing Zhaozhao said.
"Is Dad coming too?" Hongyu asked.
“Dad, Uncle Ying and the others are going too,” Xing Zhaozhao said.
“I want to go check out that hot spring,” Hongyu said. Ever since they first went there when they discovered it, Xing Zhaozhao had never taken them to such a deep place again.
“Okay.” Xing Zhaozhao rarely agreed so readily. Anyway, Gao Mingcheng was there, so it wouldn’t be a problem to take them a little further in.
"Great, I'm going to sleep now." Hongyu said happily, quickly closed his eyes, and soon began to snore softly.
Xing Zhaozhao: "..."
Xing Zhaozhao gently poked the little guy's cheek, but he didn't react at all; he really fell asleep quickly.
While Xing Zhaozhao was putting the child to sleep, Gao Mingcheng had already gone to the kitchen to prepare the bathwater for Xing Zhaozhao and brought it in.
After taking a shower, Xing Zhaozhao was about to get ready when Gao Mingcheng pushed her back to bed.
"Just leave it there," Gao Mingcheng said.
Xing Zhaozhao thought he was going to tidy up, so she let him be and prepared to go to sleep.
"It might still be useful in a while," Gao Mingcheng suddenly blurted out.
Xing Zhaozhao was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted. A faint blush rose to her face. She was so angry that she turned around and kicked him, gritting her teeth and shouting, "Gao Mingcheng!"
Gao Mingcheng grabbed her and, seeing her flustered appearance, quickly went over and hugged her, trying to soothe her: "Don't be angry, Zhaozhao, I was just teasing you."
"What a joke! I haven't settled the score with you for what happened this afternoon," Xing Zhaozhao said in a low voice, annoyed. If it weren't for the fact that the child had just fallen asleep, she would have started yelling.
"Get away, don't stick so close, it's so hot." Xing Zhaozhao tried to push the person away.
It didn't work out; Gao Mingcheng only clung to her tighter. There was no way she would leave; he wasn't even clinging to her tightly enough.
"This afternoon has nothing to do with me," Gao Mingcheng defended himself.
Xing Zhaozhao raised an eyebrow: "If it's none of your business, then what is it of mine?"
"Mm." Gao Mingcheng nodded.
Xing Zhaozhao: "??!?!" He actually dared to admit it?! She was furious.
The thought had barely crossed her mind, and before she could even open her mouth, the man beside her buried his face in her neck and began to kiss her: "I'm a man, Zhao Zhao." They had been separated for almost two years, "Seeing you dressed like that, how could I resist?"
Xing Zhaozhao: "??!!" They actually turned the tables on me, this is outrageous!
Xing Zhaozhao snorted coldly: "So, you can't resist seeing other women dressed like that?"
"That's impossible, they're not you," Gao Mingcheng said without hesitation, taking it for granted.
Before Xing Zhaozhao could react, Gao Mingcheng suddenly leaned close to her ear and whispered, "But Zhaozhao, I haven't had a chance to ask you yet, where did you get that dress? And where did you go dressed like that?"
Xing Zhaozhao froze instantly.
A sudden sense of panic welled up in Gao Mingcheng's heart, and he tightened his grip on her arm. "What happened, Zhaozhao? Tell me. I'm scared of you."
Xing Zhaozhao rolled over and snuggled into Gao Mingcheng's arms. Her voice was slightly hoarse as she said, "I feel like I've died once, Mingcheng."
Gao Mingcheng felt as if his heart was being squeezed tightly by a large hand, and he felt a sharp, throbbing pain.
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