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Chu Qinghuai calmly switched his phone to Do Not Disturb mode, concealing his slightly shocked expression. He quickly reverted to his gentle and ordinary fatherly demeanor, though his extra little movements still betrayed his panic.
"Dad, didn't you wipe my mouth? It hurts so much."
Cai Cai covered her mouth and looked at him with a hint of resentment.
Chu Qinghuai exclaimed, "Ah, I'm sorry, I remembered it wrong."
He then threw away the crumpled paper.
Xiao He slapped the table with both hands: "Happy Sheep! Happy Sheep!"
She couldn't wait to watch it, so Chu Qinghuai stopped her while putting on the cartoon and placing the phone between the three of them so they could watch as much as they wanted. This was one of the few opportunities they could watch cartoons for so long.
After settling the children in, Chu Qinghuai continued eating. Hearing from Lin Jiang that the banquet cost two thousand yuan and the dishes were indeed excellent, he ate a lot without any hesitation. However, he chewed very slowly, which showed that his mood was still affected.
Zhong Wan sat down next to him and suddenly leaned in to whisper in his ear, "I want to eat that pork chop."
"good."
He was a good husband, extending his chopsticks to serve food to his partner.
Zhong Wan is more outgoing and can chat with others at the dinner table. For example, Lin Jiang's friends saw her three children and mistook them for her relatives. But when Zhong Wan admitted that they were her children, the group of people looked on incredulously.
"You were born so early?"
"Having three children would be a lot of pressure."
"But thankfully it's not three sons."
"..."
Although she knew they meant no harm, hearing some scrutinizing words still made her uncomfortable. Zhong Wan smiled and tried her best to digest these words, letting them go in one ear and out the other. As long as she didn't respond, it was the other person who would feel awkward.
With Lin Jiang mediating and giving Zhong Wan an apologetic smile, she naturally didn't take it to heart.
Zhong Wan sat close to Chu Qinghuai and noticed that he hadn't touched his chopsticks much afterward. It couldn't be that he was full, so she secretly asked him, "Is it not to your liking or are you feeling unwell? Why aren't you eating?"
Because she was looking at the other person's profile, she didn't notice the forced smile at all. She only heard, "I'm not feeling unwell. I was just wondering if the babies will be hungry when we get home tonight?"
Zhong Wan patted his back with one hand, looking on with a smile: "It's okay. After I finish eating, I'll get them some rice soup to soak in and feed them a few bites. That cake was really big, and they really couldn't finish it."
"Okay, I'll go get some rice later."
Seeing that he smiled again, Zhong Wan said with relief, "I thought you were unhappy."
"No, let's eat. What do you want to eat? I'll get it for you."
“That little glutinous rice ball.” Zhong Wan bit her chopsticks, squinting to see the dish in the distance. Chu Qinghuai found her dazed look quite cute.
Especially today, her hair was all down, and her flowing bangs swayed with her movements like dancing silk threads.
Only when his beloved was sitting beside him could Chu Qinghuai feel less anxious and more at peace, temporarily ignoring the malicious text messages.
They stayed until after dinner, a group of people standing under the streetlights, their shadows stretched long, the evening breeze dispersing the lively atmosphere.
Lin Jiang was carrying several takeout containers filled with untouched dishes and rice. She carefully separated them and handed them to Zhong Wan.
“The children haven’t eaten much, they’ll definitely be hungry tonight, I’ll take this back for them to have an extra meal.”
Zhong Wan hesitated for a moment, but finally accepted it steadily, saying, "Sister Lin, you're too kind. There's no need to be so nice to the children."
The three children were so engrossed in watching cartoons that they refused to eat a single bite. Chu Qinghuai and Zhong Wan had no choice but to agree not to discipline the children in public, thinking it would be better to let them go hungry. However, Sister Lin was so thoughtful that she couldn't bear to see the children go hungry and specially saved some food for them.
"Quickly say thank you to the auntie."
Mumu, Caicai, and Xiaohe's faces were all flushed. They looked up at Lin Jiang and said thank you, their bright pupils like inlaid jewels.
Lin Jiang especially liked them. She squatted down and hugged each of them, saying, "It's been so long since you've invited Auntie over to play."
Zhong Wan answered for her, "How about we go to the noodle shop to visit Auntie another day?"
The children all said it was good.
Before leaving, she had the children say goodbye to their uncles, aunts, and brothers, and then she and Chu Qinghuai led them home.
The moonlight cast extremely long shadows of the family of five. The three little ones, who were about the same height, hopped and skipped around, while Mumu and Xiaohe's pigtails looked playful and cute in the shadows.
"Mom, Dad is playing on his phone while walking."
Xiao He mercilessly tattled on her father to her mother. Upon hearing this, Chu Qinghuai immediately turned off the screen, put it in his pocket, and argued, "I didn't play."
"I saw you playing it, Dad, you're lying."
In her excitement, Xiaohe misspoke, saying "lie people" as "lie leng," which made the two adults burst into laughter.
Chu Qinghuai continued to tease her: "Baby, Daddy really wasn't playing. Daddy was clearly checking tomorrow's weather."
Little He is young and easily fooled, and she is willing to believe her father's words. "Okay, then what will the weather be like tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow will be a sunny day, so you and your sister can wear skirts."
Xiaohe was even happier after hearing that.
After calming the child down, Zhong Wan finally found a chance to walk up to Chu Qinghuai and ask him, "Why have you been playing on your phone all night? Did something happen at the fruit shop?"
No, don't overthink it.
Chu Qinghuai remained calm, revealing no clue whatsoever, and even joked, "I really am checking the weather. It looks like it's going to rain heavily in a few days. I'll wash all the sheets and blankets tomorrow."
"good."
Zhong Wan had been married to him for so many years. If she couldn't tell that this was a lie, then she had lived in vain. But since he didn't want to say it, she wouldn't force him.
Next week is supposed to have seven sunny days, I don't know which city's weather forecast he was looking at.
-
When we got home, just as expected, the three children started complaining of hunger, lying on the dining table wanting to eat, too exhausted to even take off their clothes and shower.
Zhong Wan pretended to be angry: "Why didn't you eat properly during mealtime? Now you don't."
Mumu looked up, realizing she had made a mistake, but didn't dare to answer. She secretly glanced at her mother's expression, and after several seconds, she finally called out "Mom!"
No matter the situation, she will always answer whenever the children call for their mother.
"Um?"
Mumu shook her head and fell silent again.
Zhong Wan didn't make things difficult for them, offering a way out: "Would you like to eat properly next time?"
"want."
Where are you two?
Cai Cai and Xiao He: "Yes."
While her mother was talking to her sister, Cai Cai climbed off the chair and ran to the kitchen. Just then, Chu Qinghuai was there. He pointed to the milk powder can on the counter and made two "ah ah" sounds. Chu Qinghuai looked at him and asked, "What's wrong?"
I'm hungry.
He took his mother's words seriously, and it seems he'll have to go hungry tonight. He just doesn't know if his mother will allow him to drink his bedtime milk.
Chu Qinghuai smiled and patted his head. "Go and apologize to Mom. Next time, eat your meals properly. Dad will heat up the food for you now."
"Okay~" he nodded as he answered, being more obedient than anyone else at this moment.
The next second, Cai Cai ran to Zhong Wan's legs and tugged at her pants, "Mom, I'm sorry."
Zhong Wan accepted, telling him it was okay, and that the matter was over.
Chu Qinghuai was heating up the food in the kitchen, while Zhong Wan took the children to take a bath. She was worried that it would be too late after dinner, and they couldn't take a bath right after eating, so it was better to take a bath first and then eat. The three children cooperated well.
...
When Zhong went to bed that night, Chu Qinghuai was leaning against the headboard looking at his phone. When she leaned closer, he seemed startled and quickly turned off his phone. The movement was so exaggerated that one couldn't help but think he was up to something.
Both of them fell silent.
Zhong Wan remained motionless with her hands on either side of his body, staring intently at him. Chu Qinghuai couldn't withstand the intense gaze and looked away, but Zhong Wan followed his gaze, determined to make the two of them look at each other.
One of her knees was still pressed between the man's legs.
This is a terrible position.
Chu Qinghuai gently pushed her shoulder away, pretending to misunderstand, "If I wanted to, I'd be on top."
Zhong Wan told him to stop pretending, "How many years have we been married?"
“Three years,” he blurted out.
"Good to know. Try betraying me if you dare."
Zhong Wan pointed at him fiercely, but Chu Qinghuai did not find it stern.
She had misunderstood after all.
"What are you thinking? I didn't do anything."
Chu Qinghuai showed her his phone again; it was a shopping app.
"Then why are you hiding?"
Zhong Wan lay down beside him.
"You suddenly coming over gave me quite a fright." He touched his nose sheepishly.
"Heh, coward." Zhong Wan sneered.
Chu Qinghuai knew she was angry, so he reached out and put his arm around her shoulder, then kissed her neck...
The next day, Zhong Wan didn't go to work and stayed home to play with the children. Chu Qinghuai made breakfast for the family and then went out. Now that he runs his own shop, he doesn't have many holidays.
"I'm going to work."
As usual, he said goodbye to his wife and children and prepared to leave, but today he walked in the opposite direction from the fruit market.
The streets were bustling with pedestrians, and the air was filled with the delicious aroma of steamed buns.
Chu Qinghuai followed his memory through an alley to the door of a family selling fried dough twists. He knocked on the door awkwardly, unwilling to look at the place where he had lived for more than ten years.
"Here it is, who is it?"
A sharp female voice reached his ears, and Chu Qinghuai frowned but didn't make a sound.
As the dilapidated door creaked open, his face came into view, followed by a curse: "What are you doing here, you damned bastard?"
However, Chu Qinghuai's eyes were even sharper than hers, his gloomy face as if a block of ice could drip from it, suppressing his emotions: "Didn't I remind you to stay away from my child?"
The old woman paused for a moment, then her triangular eyes narrowed immediately. She pointed at the person's nose and started cursing, revealing her true nature, "What are you saying? Who cares about your few people? You debt collectors!"
She spat rudely, and Chu Qinghuai, suppressing his discomfort, asked, "Really, it wasn't you who sent me the text message?"
Who's so bored?
Before he could even think, he was locked out and subjected to several malicious curses.
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