They say spring rain is as precious as oil, but I don't know why there's been so much rain this year. The biting wind, mixed with rain, hits people with a chilling coldness.
Xu Keke and Fan Wu, heads slightly bowed, pedaled their bicycles furiously against the wind and rain. Luckily, they made it inside the department store before closing time. Fan Wu found the manager and quickly located Little Fatty's mother.
Upon hearing that her child was missing, Little Fatty's mother walked out, saying nonchalantly, "He must have gone off to play somewhere. These kids are so naughty."
Little Fatty's mom could see their anxiety, and although she said that, she didn't slow down her pace.
The department store had closed for the day, so they left through a back door. Xu Keke and Fan Wu passed each other by half a head. She saw the marks his shoes had made on the ground and guessed that Fan Wu's leg was probably giving way. Seeing the fine beads of sweat on his forehead, she was even more certain that he was gritting his teeth and enduring it.
Fortunately, Xiao Pang's yard was right next to the department store. Xiao Pang was playing with his younger siblings at home when he was asked where Yuan Bao was. He waved his chubby little hand and shouted, "We were walking home when an old lady called Yuan Bao from a distance. When Yuan Bao saw her, he dropped me and ran away!"
When Fan Wu asked him what the old lady looked like, the chubby boy frowned. He was far away, and his mind wasn't on the matter, so he couldn't see clearly. He stammered for a long time, but besides her age, he couldn't get any other information.
Xu Keke vaguely guessed who it was. She discussed with Xiao Pang's mother and left a bicycle at their house. Ignoring what Fan Wu said, she shoved the umbrella she had borrowed from Xiao Pang's mother into his hand and rode off first.
The rain wasn't as heavy as before, just a light drizzle.
Fan Wu quickly grabbed an umbrella to shield Xu Keke from the rain, and sighed as he looked into her eyes. She must know his old ailment had flared up. His legs couldn't tolerate the cold, especially on cloudy or rainy days when the pain would be severe. He hadn't tried it properly earlier, and he hadn't expected it to be this bad. He should have had Xiao Lin accompany her.
Fan Wu knew that no matter how much he insisted, the woman wouldn't listen to him. Although he hadn't spent much time with her, for some reason, he knew what she was thinking. He could sense her every glance, every word, even every emotion. The more they interacted, the more he felt as if they had known each other for a long time.
Fan Wu stopped being coy and sat directly in the back seat. Xu Keke didn't stand on ceremony either, reaching behind him and grabbing his hand that wasn't holding the umbrella, placing it on her waist.
Fan Wu, sitting in the back seat, curled his lips slightly, leaned forward again, and held the umbrella higher, completely shielding Xu Keke.
Xu Keke didn't turn around, but she knew the man was definitely getting soaked in the rain. Although she already knew Yuanbao would be alright, she still felt uneasy until she saw him. Xu Keke unconsciously quickened her pace. She once again marveled at Feng Lichun's exceptional physical condition; his stamina was exactly what she wanted.
Back in Baijia Lane, just as Xu Keke had predicted, she saw Zhao Xiuying in the house.
“They also said you got married, and I said no.” Zhao Xiuying ignored the crowd in the room and started yelling as soon as Xu Keke entered.
Xu Keke pushed her away and strode over to Yuanbao. "Where have you been? Do you know how worried everyone is?"
"Mom, I... I was wrong." Before Xu Keke could even speak, Yuanbao lowered his head and admitted his mistake.
He was about to rush out to find his mother when Miss Feng and Mr. Lin stopped him. Seeing his mother soaked to the bone because of him made him feel terrible.
“The children are all here, there’s no rush to teach them. You should go inside and change your clothes first, otherwise you’ll get sick and who will take care of the children.” Miss Feng rolled her eyes at Xu Keke. Although her words were unpleasant, Xu Keke knew she meant well. She smiled at her.
Unexpectedly, Miss Feng was quite awkward. When she saw Xu Keke smiling at her, she rolled her eyes at her instead, leaving Xu Keke both amused and exasperated.
When Xu Keke came out of the inner room after changing her clothes, she didn't expect that Miss Feng had already gone back to her own room. She didn't even have a chance to say thank you. To her surprise, Fan Wu, who had also gone back to his room to change, was already sitting in his room even faster than her.
"Are your legs okay? You should go back first."
Fan Wu replied decisively, "No need. I can at least be distracted here, otherwise my legs hurt too much."
His words left Xu Keke feeling somewhat helpless, but she had other things to deal with right now, so she could only let him be.
Yuanbao's explanation was the same as Xu Keke's: he had encountered Zhao Xiuying on his way home from school. Zhao Xiuying asked him to take her to find Xu Keke, but Yuanbao naturally refused. So he took her to another alley, hoping to persuade her to go back. Unexpectedly, it started raining. Yuanbao was just a child, and he had nowhere to go. Seeing that the rain was getting heavier, he was worried about Xu Keke and Da Cui, so he had no choice but to bring them back.
Xu Keke was curious about how Zhao Xiuying had found her. But Zhao Xiuying was more concerned about who Fan Wu was. She pointed at Fan Wu and said, "Chen Yurong said you found a man and got married. Could it be him?"
Xu Keke and Fan Wu's eyes met in mid-air. In a flash, they smiled at each other, confirming their place in each other's hearts.
Seeing the two of them like this, Zhao Xiuying couldn't sit still any longer.
These days, Chen Yufen, because of her pregnancy, finally has an excuse not to take care of her anymore. So she completely ignores her.
There's also Chen Yurong at home, who cries every day. Her sister told me the other day that she seems to have lost her job, fallen out with her family, and has nowhere else to go but to live here.
This Chen Yurong is different from her sister, and she's nowhere near as good as Feng Lichun back then. For the first few days, the two of them went their separate ways, but then, for some reason, Chen Yurong started causing trouble for him.
Despite her delicate and pampered appearance, she can be quite sharp-tongued when she's looking for trouble. Zhao Xiuying simply can't win an argument with her.
Constantly being nagged by Chen Yurong, Zhao Xiuying began to have an idea. She went to find Liu Wenda. She wanted to see her grandson, and she also wanted to see her former daughter-in-law, Feng Lichun. Liu Wenda had a plan; he had someone find the soldier who had driven that day. He had the young soldier drive her to the place where Xu Keke had been dropped off.
It was quite a coincidence; she hadn't walked far after getting off the bus when she saw a group of children leaving school, and among them was her son, Yuanbao.
From her incoherent words, the others managed to glean the gist of the situation.
"I'll take you to find Zhou Chengguang." As long as it doesn't bother Xu Keke, Fan Wu can help her with this. Because he knows where Zhou Chengguang is.
"Zhou Chengguang is currently in the south of the city and doesn't have anything else to do, so it shouldn't be a problem to send his mother there."
When Fan Wu reported to his superiors, considering that Zhou Chengguang was newly married, in addition to Zhao Xiuying, he also had Chen Yurong, who was unemployed, brought out of the army and sent to the south of the city together.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
