Chapter 98 If the childhood sweetheart line is made of gold...
As Liu Duanhe grew up, he became increasingly lively and cheerful. Although he and Feng Xingyun were both raised by the Feng family, their personalities were almost at opposite ends of the spectrum.
His fair and tender little face always smiled at everyone he met. He had big, bright black eyes and was even prettier than the BJD dolls that kids love these days. As he grew up, his features became more and more androgynous, and his delicate and beautiful features made him look like a girl.
Feng Xingyun became increasingly taciturn and reserved day by day. His chubby face was always serious like an adult's, though in the eyes of real adults, he only looked even cuter.
After the two children were picked up from school that day, Liu Rumeng, unusually, came to pick them up. To be honest, Zhang Yuxiang had almost forgotten about her over the years and looked down on the couple more and more.
They got married and had children, but they don't care about them at all; they have no sense of responsibility whatsoever.
Liu Rumeng smiled broadly. In the past two years, the Feng family had developed better and better, posing no threat to the Liu family. However, it was different for Liu Rumeng. After all, he had not inherited the Liu family's assets. If he could cooperate with the Feng family on a project, it would be an achievement.
He said politely, "Thank you for taking care of my son, Xiao He. His grandfather misses him, so we're taking him back to his grandfather's house to keep him company."
Unfortunately, Zhang Yuxiang had already seen through him and wasn't buying it. She remained unmoved and calmly said, "Okay, then I'll get Xiao He ready and dressed. Please wait a moment."
After saying that, he nodded and went upstairs. The two children were playing with toys together in the room.
Zhang Yuxiang carefully arranged a children's room for Liu Duanhe, thus refusing Feng Xingyun's insistence that Liu Duanhe share a room with him.
In his view, this is indeed good for the relationship between the two children, but as the children grow up, they need their own privacy.
But they always went to each other's rooms to play and sleep together in private, and Zhang Yuxiang never tried to break them up.
Zhang Yuxiang knocked on Liu Duanhe's door first, and a childish voice came from inside, "Auntie?"
Zhang Yu said softly, "It's Auntie, Auntie is coming in."
She pushed open the door, and there sat the lovely Liu Duanhe obediently on the carpet, with Feng Xingyun beside her. The two children were playing with a puzzle attentively.
When she came in, both of them looked up at her.
Zhang Yu squatted down and said to Liu Duanhe, "Baby, your dad is here to take you to grandpa's house. Let's change your clothes first."
Feng Xingyun immediately frowned and asked, "How many days will the baby be gone?"
Liu Duanhe obediently replied, "Okay."
Then, somewhat awkwardly, she said, "Brother, don't call me baby. I'm all grown up now. Call me by my name."
Feng Xingyun shook his head and said, "No, Mommy calls you baby too, why can Mommy but I can't?"
Liu Duanhe explained logically, "Because Auntie is an elder, and you are my older brother, only a few months older than me."
His big, dark eyes sparkled, so cute they melted anyone's heart. Zhang Yuxiang couldn't help but pat his head and praise him, "Our baby is so smart, he didn't get tricked by his brother at all."
Liu Duanhe's lips curled up; after all, he was still a child who enjoyed praise and compliments from his elders. He revealed his tiny, rice-grain-like teeth, looking adorable and radiant.
Zhang Yuxiang kissed his soft little face, and Feng Xingyun, not to be outdone, kissed his other cheek.
Liu Duanhe remained calm about this. He was used to the closeness and affection of his elders and peers. His older brother and aunt especially loved to kiss him, which made people sigh that they were indeed mother and son, even their ways of expressing affection were so similar.
He had a long memory, so even though he grew up in the Feng family, he knew that Aunt Zhang and Uncle Feng were not his parents, and that Xingyun was their biological child.
Seeing that Liu Duanhe had forgotten what he had just said, Feng Xingyun seized the opportunity and quickly ran away, saying, "Baby, I'll go find you a gift. It's something I prepared for you these past few days."
Seeing him running so fast, Zhang Yuxiang laughed and said, "Why is your brother in such a hurry? You can't outrun him."
Liu Duanhe smiled slyly, "Because my brother was afraid that if I kept talking, he wouldn't let me call him baby anymore."
Zhang Yuxiang had long noticed Liu Duanhe's precocious intelligence. She flicked his nose and teased, "You little rascal, always teasing your brother."
Although it appears that Feng Xingyun is taking care of the younger brother, with the older brother making all the decisions and the younger brother obediently following orders, Liu Duanhe is actually the one in control, and everything depends on his wishes.
Zhang Yuxiang had long planned to nurture Liu Duanhe properly after he started school, so as not to stifle his talent.
Zhang Yuxiang took out the clothes she had prepared for Liu Duanhe and went to the dressing room to prepare the things he wanted to take home, while she asked Liu Duanhe to change out of his pajamas.
Once both children were old enough to understand, Zhang Yuxiang taught them to take care of themselves by dressing and eating.
Just as Liu Duanhe finished changing his clothes, Feng Xingyun returned, carrying several small boxes, his bright black eyes fixed on him, full of anticipation.
Opening it like a treasure, Liu Duanhe was also a little curious and leaned forward to take a look. Zhang Yuxiang also packed out a small backpack and came out of the dressing room.
They saw that Liu Duanhe was holding a gold longevity lock, which was inlaid with various gemstones of excellent quality. It was incredibly valuable and would be a treasure even for a family like theirs.
"Xingyun, is this a gift you prepared for your younger brother? Where did you get so much money?" she asked in surprise.
Feng Xingyun nodded seriously, and took the money from Liu Duanhe's hand to put on Liu Duanhe's wrist. "Yes, it's the New Year's money that my grandparents, maternal grandparents, and you all gave me."
"After all, my younger brother will marry me and become my wife, so of course I want my wife to live a long and healthy life."
It was impossible for Zhang Yuxiang not to laugh when such mature-sounding words came from a child's mouth. She burst into laughter, "Where did you learn that at such a young age?"
It's worth noting that although they didn't take away his New Year's money and would still give him some pocket money from time to time, Feng Xingyun really had a lot of heart and perseverance to save up such a sum.
Thinking about this, she suddenly realized something was wrong and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Where did you buy it from?"
Feng Xingyun puffed out his chest proudly and said, "I asked my grandma to go with me to buy it. I told her it was for my wedding, and she immediately helped me. But I picked out all the gifts myself, and I used my own money."
As he spoke, he looked at Liu Duanhe to show that this was all his own intention.
Hearing this, Zhang Yuxiang immediately understood. With Feng Xingyun's allowance of around one million yuan, it would be enough to buy this longevity lock. Feng Xingyun also took out several gold bracelets, which meant that his maternal grandmother must have contributed money as well.
His maternal grandmother had met Liu Duanhe many times, so she could naturally guess who Feng Xingyun was talking about. After all, Feng Xingyun had been calling Liu Duanhe his wife since he was a child, and they thought it was just a child's joke. They never expected that the child would take it so seriously.
Zhang Yuxiang believes this sense of responsibility is more valuable than millions.
From their conversation, Liu Duanhe realized that the gifts had cost Feng Xingyun all his money. After all, he was still a child. Although he could tell from his daily life that his family was well-off and he didn't have an adult concept of money, he could feel the weight of the sentiment. Liu Duanhe was also a little timid.
He pressed down on Feng Xingyun's hand, grabbed the gold necklace, and took the gold lock off his neck, refusing, "Brother, I can't take all your money."
Liu Duanhe understood that he was a boy, and his brother was also a boy. His father had said that men could not marry each other, and he could not be his brother's wife.
Although he didn't know why only men and women could be together, and not women and women or men and men, he knew that it was simply not allowed. Liu Duanhe, still a well-behaved child, was puzzled but couldn't think of a way to change it, so he couldn't accept all of Feng Xingyun's money.
Zhang Yuxiang was quite open-minded. She put the longevity lock on Liu Duanhe's wrist again and said with a smile, "Baby, it's good that you accept it. Auntie will make up for the money your brother has. Consider it a gift from Auntie and your brother together. Baby, you didn't take all of your brother's money."
Although Feng Xingyun was somewhat unwilling that his feelings had suddenly become his mother's and his own, Liu Duanhe's refusal was beyond his expectations, and he still stared at Liu Duanhe expectantly.
Liu Duanhe thought about it and accepted it anyway.
He didn't want to accept them before, but it was because these were all the money Feng Xingyun had spent on them, so their value was different. Although he had seen several rooms full of gold and jade artifacts and jewelry at his grandfather's house before, their value was incomparable to these.
His reluctance to accept them stemmed from their added value, not their monetary value.
Liu Duanhe had already decided to go to her grandparents' house this time, so she told them to go to that room to bring gifts for her aunt and brother as well.
He smiled sweetly, "Thank you, brother, thank you, auntie."
He wrapped his arms around Zhang Yuxiang's neck and kissed her cheek.
When Feng Xingyun saw that he had accepted it, he was overjoyed. However, because of his status as the older brother, he could not jump up. He could only watch longingly as Liu Duanhe kissed his mother first.
Realizing that Liu Duanhe wasn't going to say anything more, she immediately abandoned all restraint and leaned in, "Baby, won't you give your brother a kiss?"
Liu Duanhe chuckled, her big eyes crinkling with laughter like a little fox. "Hmm, of course I haven't forgotten my brother."
Then he kissed Feng Xingyun, who immediately grabbed him and smacked him on the face many times. Before the stunned Liu Duanhe could react, he ran away.
Coming to her senses, Liu Duanhe said accusingly to Zhang Yuxiang, "Brother kissed my face all over with saliva again, you bad brother."
This is why Liu Duanhe wanted to postpone his marriage to Feng Xingyun. Feng Xingyun was very aloof when facing others, but who would have thought that he liked to lick Liu Duanhe's face with his saliva at home? When Liu Duanhe was a child, he was often brought to tears by Feng Xingyun's affection.
Zhang Yuxiang couldn't stop smiling. The two children bickered and played, but never got into a fight. Feng Xingyun clearly liked Liu Duanhe very much, and Liu Duanhe also cherished Feng Xingyun's kindness to him. She was happy to see the two of them become playmates and take care of each other.
"Then hurry up and grab your brother, and tell him not to kiss your face with drool." She patted Liu Duanhe's shoulder and encouraged him.
Liu Duanhe had completely forgotten about his biological father, Liu Rumeng, who was waiting downstairs, and immediately chased after Feng Xingyun.
Zhang Yuxiang's actions were purely intentional. Liu Rumeng and her husband had gone too far over the years. Apart from having their secretary regularly send them money for Liu Duanhe's living expenses, they had practically ignored Liu Duanhe. When they met with them, they would only talk about business and never asked how their own child was doing.
Although she felt sorry for Liu Duanhe, she was helpless because the Liu family was powerful and she was not Liu Duanhe's biological parent. She could only resort to this petty trick of letting him cool off in order to vent her anger for Liu Duanhe.
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Author's Note: Childhood sweethearts, innocent and carefree [cat emoji]
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