Ji Kangyong and Li Zhaozhao instinctively ran forward, but Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan remained calm and only slightly quickened their pace.
"Old Shen, hurry up, what are you dawdling for?" Zhang Heping caught up and shouted.
Shen Yanming shook his head. "You guys go back first. I'm carrying the child, and the road is slippery." Since we're going to get rained on anyway, we shouldn't fall because we're in a hurry.
Zhang Heping stopped in his tracks. "Alright then, I'll go with you."
“No need. Go back quickly and let Wanwan take a hot bath and change her clothes.” Shen Yanming said this as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as if he were taking care of a little sister next door. But Bi Qiaoan clearly heard the teasing in his words and felt that her husband was creating an opportunity for the two of them.
Zhang Heping didn't catch the meaning. He glanced at the somewhat disheveled girl not far away and nodded: "Then I'll take you home first. When you get back, have Qiao An bring you a change of clothes."
"Okay, you can go back now."
Zhang Heping ran forward and grabbed Li Wanwan, saying, "Let's go first. I'll come back and give the umbrella to their family of four when we get back."
Li Wanwan did not struggle and followed Zhang Heping's footsteps, quickly catching up with Li Zhaozhao and Ji Kangyong.
"Hey, where's Lao Shen?" Li Zhaozhao, who was running in the lead, noticed something was wrong and stopped to turn around.
Ji Kangyong had already figured everything out. "Don't look, they're behind us. They're carrying the baby, they wouldn't dare run. Let's go back first, grab the umbrella, and then come back to deliver it."
As they were talking, a torrential downpour began. Everyone was soaked to the bone, their clothes completely drenched, and rainwater streamed down their foreheads and chins.
"Well, now it really doesn't matter whether it's earlier or later," Ji Kangyong sighed. "Let's take it slow, just consider it keeping Lao Shen company."
Li Zhaozhao had no objection, but still said, "Luckily it didn't rain when we were eating, and luckily the temperature is high now. Even if we got wet, we might not catch a cold."
Upon hearing this, Ji Kangyong and Zhang Heping froze, thinking to themselves, "Could there be a problem with this rainwater?"
The two exchanged a glance, and Zhang Heping, unable to bear it any longer, shouted, "My God!" and ran away.
"What's wrong with him? What triggered him?" Li Zhaozhao was puzzled. Even Li Wanwan felt that Zhang Heping's mental state was not quite normal.
All Chi Kangyong could say was, "He was probably worried that this rain would be the beginning of another disaster."
No sooner had he finished speaking than lightning and thunder roared in the sky, as if in agreement.
Their hearts sank, and they all quickened their pace forward without prior arrangement.
Bi Qiaoan glanced at the group ahead, paused briefly, then resumed her frantic running, unsure of what had happened. She asked Shen Yanming, "Did you sense anything unusual about this rain?"
"No, it's just a normal weather phenomenon."
Bi Qiaoan nodded: "Let me carry An'an, that way I can shield him from the rain a little."
This time, Shen Yanming didn't refuse and let Bi Qiaoan carry one of them. The rain was heavy, and he felt his vision was being obstructed.
The couple cradled their two little ones' heads to their chests and walked quickly forward. An'an and Nuan'nuan were initially a little frightened, but in their parents' arms, they felt incredibly warm. Their initial worry and fear transformed into curiosity and playfulness.
Even though the cold rain made it hard for them to open their eyes, the two little ones still stretched out their little hands, wanting to have a close encounter with the rain.
Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan didn't stop them. Since they were already wet, what difference did it make whether they had more or less contact? As long as the two of them didn't make a fuss in their arms, it was fine.
The journey was a bit long, and the rainwater on the mountain quickly gathered into streams, gurgling down the mountain. The couple waded through the water and soon made it down the mountain.
Two figures came running from a distance. "Old Shen, come here, let me hold the umbrella for you two," Zhang Heping said, holding the umbrella over his head for Shen Yanming. Ji Kangyong did the same, holding the umbrella for Bi Qiaoan.
The couple and their two children were protected. Shen Yanming looked at the two of them, who were soaked in the rain again, and asked, "Since you're going back, couldn't you have taken a couple more umbrellas? Or are these the only two you have at home?"
Zhang Heping explained, "Lao Ji and I thought, since we're already soaked, it's the same whether we get wet for a while or a couple of hours, so there's no need to waste resources." What else could we do but get wet? "Besides, using two umbrellas at the same time seems a bit of a hassle."
Shen Yanming paused, then said, "Alright, you make a good point. Let's go back quickly. Are Li Zhaozhao and Li Wanwan both at home?"
"Ah, Wanwan is at my house, and Zhaozhao is at Old Ji's house..."
As they talked, they arrived at Building 6. Finally, they had some shelter and wouldn't be soaked by the heavy rain anymore, which made them all feel quite relieved.
The two kids, however, looked quite disappointed. They hadn't had enough fun before they were brought back.
"Alright, little darlings, if you want to play in the water, ask your mom and dad to prepare some hot water, and then we can play to our hearts' content, okay?" Zhang Heping squatted down and patiently said while holding the two children.
An An nodded and looked at Bi Qiao An.
Bi Qiaoan ruffled the two children's wet hair: "Okay, let's play again when we get back!"
The two babies jumped up and down excitedly, leaving Shen Yanming speechless. It was just their daily hot bath; they'd taken one before, so why were they so excited? Little did he know, the little ones couldn't distinguish between bathing and playing in the water.
The group wrung out the rainwater from their clothes to make sure it wouldn't drip, then took the elevator upstairs together.
Zhang Heping and Ji Kangyong came down from the 9th floor; it's better for a group of grown men to wash up together. As for the 16th floor, they can leave it to Wanwan and her family of four.
Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan had just closed their bedroom door and put their two children down when they took out a brand new set of pure cotton pajamas from their spatial storage.
Bi Qiaoan took the key to the next room, opened the door, and walked in. She heard the sound of running water from the bathroom.
Bi Qiaoan looked around and found a small stool next to the sofa. She placed it by the bathroom door, put her pajamas on it, and then knocked on the bathroom door.
Li Wanwan was startled by the noise and quickly turned off the tap. "Who's there?"
"Wanwan, it's me, Qiao An. I've left the new pajamas by the door. You can come and get them when you're done washing. Zhang Heping and the others are on the 9th floor and won't be up for a while, so take your time washing. I'll head back now."
Li Wanwan recognized the familiar female voice and calmed herself down. She said through the door, "Okay, sister-in-law, thank you for your help."
"It's okay, no trouble at all. You can wash up without worry, I'll close the door for you."
"Okay!"
After closing the door and returning home, Bi Qiaoan found that Shen Yanming had already prepared hot water for the two children in the bathtub. An'an and Nuannuan sat naked in the bathtub, splashing in the water. The warm bath water was much more comfortable than the cold rainwater.
Shen Yanming watched over them from the side, and also washed the two babies to get rid of the cold.
Bi Qiaoan glanced at it and said, "I'll go make some milk powder for them."
Just as Shen Yanming was about to nod, he heard his two children protest: "Mommy, fruit tea!"
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