After taking a shower, Xu Lu sat on the sofa in a white bathrobe, looking like a pink and tender glutinous rice ball. Zheng Tianming, sitting next to her, made her complexion appear even more radiant.
"Son, I have something I want to ask you." Zheng Tianming said, hugging Tuanzi tightly. "Do you still remember the bad guy who kidnapped you?"
Xu Lu was clearly terrified. He shrank closer to Zheng Tianming, his memories of that day becoming increasingly hazy, let alone able to recall them.
Zheng Tianming patted Xu Lu's head: "Don't be afraid, it's okay if you can't remember."
Not only did the group run away, but they also sent him threatening text messages. Zheng Tianming has been keeping this in mind, and it has become a hurdle in his heart.
He would pay some attention to cases involving human traffickers, but because of his position, he couldn't get accurate information.
Xu Lu hugged Zheng Tianming's waist and gagged. He only remembered the smell of the stinky socks from that time, and just thinking about it made his stomach uncomfortable.
Given his previous gastroenteritis, his forehead was now covered in sweat.
Zheng Tianming picked the person up and said, "Don't be afraid, I won't mention it again."
Xu Lu rested his chin on Zheng Tianming's shoulder. He also wanted to help his father, but he just couldn't remember. "I'm sorry," he said softly, his voice filled with guilt.
Zheng Tianming patted his back: "It's not your fault, why are you apologizing?" He walked to the balcony: "Look at the stars for a while, don't think about it."
Xu Lu turned his head. The sky was full of stars. The PE teacher was going to teach them how to play soccer, and he was worried that it would rain.
After taking a shower, Xu Mengyu came out of the bathroom and saw the father and son looking up at the stars on the balcony. She heated up three cups of milk and said, "Stop looking, get ready for bed."
Xu Lu turned her head.
Xu Mengyu frowned slightly: "Lulu, are you feeling unwell?" Why do you look so pale?
"No," Xu Lu said, leaning on Zheng Tianming's shoulder. "Mom, our school has a soccer tournament next month." If we advance, we can play soccer with kids from other schools.
"Okay, I'll come cheer you on then." Xu Mengyu winked at Xu Lu after saying that, but I have to be wrapped up like a rice dumpling, otherwise I'll be exposed when I'm boiled.
Xu Lu was overjoyed; he was determined to advance!
Zheng Tianming carried Xu Lu back to the living room. Seeing three glasses of milk, he kissed Xu Mengyu on the cheek and said, "So nice?"
"What are you thinking about? I'll have a couple of drinks by myself." Xu Mengyu said, then hugged Xu Lu in her arms: "Don't rub the color off my clothes." It was so hard to get this color.
“...”
Zheng Tianming picked up the milk glass and took two sips: "It's getting late, I'll sleep with Lulu tonight."
The things he asked today will traumatize the child, and Xu Mengyu would definitely turn on him if she found out, but he had no choice but to do it.
Xu Lu looked at Zheng Tianming and thought, "Why would I sleep with him? He's hopeless!"
Xu Mengyu raised an eyebrow slightly: "Okay."
Zheng Tianming went to take a shower.
"Son, tell me, what did you talk about with Uncle Zheng just now?" Xu Mengyu was worried. In her mind, Zheng Tianming was only half reliable.
Xu Lu, afraid that Xu Mengyu would worry, said, "It's nothing, I just wanted to see the stars, and I was worried that it would rain and we wouldn't be able to play soccer." This was the truth; he couldn't tell his mother a big lie.
Xu Mengyu was relieved: "Then go to sleep early, good night."
"Goodnight, Mom." Xu Lu gave Xu Mengyu a quick kiss on the cheek.
When Zheng Tianming came out of the shower, he saw Xu Lu lying on the bed, listening to a math explanation, and he was so sleepy that he kept yawning.
The educational directions at home and abroad are different, and so are the math problems. Xu Lu felt that her brain had already left home and gone off to play on its own, while her body hadn't kept up.
Zheng Tianming lay on the bed, which creaked and groaned.
“Uncle Zheng, you can’t even straighten your legs.” Xu Lu got up and looked at him. His calves and feet were hanging outside, and the blanket wasn’t big enough.
It's strange that he can even sleep on such a small bed: "You sleep in your own bed and don't worry about me." With that, he turned off the video.
Xu Lu reached for the bedside lamp to turn it off, but the motion-sensor light under the bed turned on. Feeling a little embarrassed, he crawled into bed. He was afraid of the dark, but he didn't say anything.
Zheng Tianming turned to his side, curled up, with the blanket only covering part of his stomach, leaving his back exposed.
"Uncle Zheng, there are extra blankets in my mom's room," Xu Lu said softly, tucked under the blanket. He was used to sleeping alone and felt safest when he was all tucked in.
Zheng Tianming got up and went out. Xu Lu ran off the bed and locked the door. His clever little brain was good at everything except studying.
Zheng Tianming knocked twice on the door and went inside.
"Holy shit--"
Xu Mengyu wore a glowing mask, her mouth emitted blue light, and her clothes, which appeared to be multicolored black, startled Zheng Tianming.
"Are you crazy?" Xu Mengyu was resting with her eyes closed when she was suddenly yelled at, which startled her.
Zheng Tianming walked to the bedside: "Those who don't know would think you've mastered it." His whole body was glowing, but he didn't turn on the light.
Xu Mengyu ignored her.
As she turned around, Zheng Tianming was even more shocked: "You stuff all sorts of things in..."
"Don't be so cheap, it's none of your business." Xu Mengyu pulled the blanket over herself, and in those three short seconds, she had extinguished a lifetime's worth of awkwardness.
Zheng Tianming leaned closer: "Don't tell me you didn't know that people's skin color changes as they get older?"
Xu Mengyu turned her head away: "I need to exercise after giving birth. Anyone who wants to change their expression is sick." Does she look like an idiot?
"How do you train like this?" Zheng Tianming said, holding out his hand. He had trained a lot in the army, but he had never heard of training like this.
Xu Mengyu really wanted to give him a shield: "If you keep puffing your cheeks out like that, I'll get angry." He's not sleeping at night, and he's always causing a commotion in her room.
"Let me see," Zheng Tianming said, holding Xu Mengyu's hand to prevent her from moving.
Xu Mengyu grumbled and cursed, but in the end she couldn't escape being looked at. She had braces, so she couldn't speak or bite!
"If you're envious, I'll give you a new one, you can insert it." Xu Mengyu made a speechless expression.
Zheng Tianming pinched Xu Mengyu's cheek: "You're quite the talker. Is the place big enough?"
Xu Mengyu peeked out: "You don't have a butt..."
Zheng Tianming swallowed the rest of his words; otherwise, how could they have become a couple...?
After Zheng Tianming took the quilt back, he found that Xu Lu had locked the door. He went back to get a hair clip, but found that it was useless.
The bottom of the door is blocked by something; the only way to prevent this is to remove the door.
Having no other option, Zheng Tianming had to go back. Xu Mengyu locked the door from the inside, but she still managed to get in.
"Why can't you go into Lulu's room..." Xu Mengyu was full of questions. She had just heard clearly that Zheng Tianming asked Xu Lu to open the door, and Xu Lu said that he was going to sleep and said goodnight.
Zheng Tianming got into bed: "A new brain works so well, go to sleep early."
Xu Mengyu glared at Zheng Tianming, implying that she wasn't very bright!
Xu Lu got up and put the doorstop away. If he was a little kid and fell asleep in danger, it would be very dangerous for the adults not to be able to open the door.
Zheng Tianming pulled Xu Mengyu into his arms: "I was just about to ask, couldn't you have chosen someone else? Like mine?"
Xu Mengyu retorted to Zheng Tianming, "He wants to be a substitute? Dream on."
"I'd like to." Zheng Tianming finished speaking and kissed Xu Mengyu's neck. "Let me try?"
Xu Mengyu chose to ignore him. He's having a good time here, let him try. Pah!
Zheng Tianming was just teasing Xu Mengyu, burying his face in her body: "I gave He Kai a sum of money and also hired an expert."
This can't be kept from Xu Mengyu, otherwise if she finds out later, she might turn on him for spending money to save her rival.
"What a kind person." Xu Mengyu moved forward after saying that. She had already cooperated with He Kai, but that wasn't enough. She couldn't possibly give money and save the murderer who wanted to kill her, even though he was pitiful.
But she didn't stop Zheng Tianming from doing good deeds.
"Not angry?" Zheng Tianming's hand landed on Xu Mengyu's flat stomach, and he even pinched it. How come there wasn't a bit of meat on it?
Xu Mengyu patted Zheng Tianming's hand: "Why should I meddle so much? It's not like it's my money."
“From now on, you can manage my other card too. Just leave me enough money for a pack of cigarettes every day.” Zheng Tianming was afraid that Xu Mengyu was being sarcastic.
Her specialty is settling scores after the fact and digging up old dirt.
Xu Mengyu didn't utter a sound. Mind your own business, drink less cold water, and eat less beans—these are all basic common sense.
Zheng Tianming lay flat on the bed, his hands restlessly touching Xu Mengyu's body: "How much did you weigh when you were pregnant?"
Xu Mengyu had no idea why he was asking this in the middle of the night instead of sleeping.
He was not by her side during a crucial period of her life.
“LuLu said he wants a little sister,” Zheng Tianming said softly.
Xu Mengyu was so sleepy she could barely stay awake: "Ask him, is it okay if we're half-siblings?"
Zheng Tianming slapped Xu Mengyu's butt: "Are you crazy?"
Xu Mengyu turned her head: "You don't mean you want me to get pregnant again so you can show it to me and make up for your regrets and guilt towards me, do you?"
He wants to make her suffer again so he can take the opportunity to make amends. What a crazy idea!
"No, I was just saying whatever came to mind." Zheng Tianming really didn't mean that. He just felt that she wasn't fleshy, and when he thought about her pregnancy, he wanted to find a topic to chat with her about.
Xu Mengyu hummed softly twice: "That would be best." Otherwise, this person simply has a problem.
Zheng Tianming held Xu Mengyu's wrist and placed it on his body: "I remember, you used to like her. Back then, we lived upstairs and downstairs, and you would watch her videos every day. If you didn't let her watch them, you would ignore her the next day."
“...”
"Some memories don't need to be spoken." Xu Mengyu was so embarrassed that she wanted to disappear into the shadows.
At that time, the other sisters might not have been curious, but she was. The key point was that she used this to torment Zheng Tianming, seeing his helplessness, shyness, and inability to do anything about it. Every time, she was furious, but she had no choice but to comply.
I was so excited back then, it seemed so interesting.
"I was having dinner with my classmates, and you insisted on seeing it. You got angry when I refused..."
Before Zheng Tianming could finish speaking, Xu Mengyu covered his mouth.
Doesn't she have any pride?
The crucial point is that he even went to the bathroom to show her, and when he got home, he was so angry that he kept cursing at her.
Xu Mengyu still remembers that he ignored her for a week afterward, and when he calmed down, he bought her fruit and snacks.
"So you said all this just to distract me?" Xu Mengyu's hand was still on it; she could feel the throbbing.
Zheng Tianming held Xu Mengyu's wrist: "I'm so frustrated. You don't care about me. Last time you finally had a change of heart, but you took it back."
"What kind of talk is that?" Xu Mengyu pulled her hand back. "How old are you? I'm going to sleep." She had an early meeting tomorrow.
Zheng Tianming turned and hugged Xu Mengyu. If he had known this would happen, he should have stayed in Xu Lu's room and made do with sleeping there for one night.
Xu Mengyu closed his eyes, forcibly diverting his attention. He didn't mind the discomfort and just stayed affectionate, knowing she definitely wouldn't give in.
"You're really torturing me." Zheng Tianming kissed Xu Mengyu's shoulder: "Don't move around, goodnight."
Xu Mengyu wanted to find a comfortable spot, but couldn't. In the end, she simply stopped thinking about anything and started silently reciting numbers in her head.
She was asleep.
Zheng Tianming wasn't sleepy at all. He drank some alcohol and watched a terrible movie with lots of action scenes. He watched everything he should and shouldn't have that night, and even forced himself to recall his school days.
“...”
Now he really wants to know how to get rid of calluses on his hands.
Xu Mengyu slept until dawn. Zheng Tianming had already gotten up to prepare breakfast. Xu Lu sat on the sofa with her Chinese textbook in her hand, reading two words and memorizing a sentence. If she forgot something, she would read it twice.
"Good morning, Mom." Xu Lu put down her book after seeing Xu Mengyu.
Xu Mengyu quickly washed up, still wearing her pajamas. She went to the kitchen and saw Zheng Tianming dressed neatly, serving porridge.
Zheng Tianming glanced at Xu Mengyu without saying a word, then carried the porridge out.
Xu Lu sensed that something was off; why were neither of them speaking?
Xu Mengyu was eating breakfast when she saw the message from Hu Xiaohui. She had a meeting at eight in the morning, processed documents at nine, had to set up an investor at noon, started writing a new song in the afternoon, and met with her acting teacher in the evening.
My schedule is packed.
We're finally back on track.
After breakfast, Zheng Tianming took Xu Lu to school. When he returned to the company, Xu Mengyu was already in the morning meeting.
He didn't say a word from morning until noon.
Xu Mengyu was busy with her own things and ignored him. She didn't care whether he talked or not. Why didn't she use the time to practice her lines instead of trying to coax a man?
When we were kids, we had voice actors for cameo roles in movies and TV shows. But that's not possible now. You not only have to be a good actor, but you also have to be good at reciting lines.
These are all her weaknesses.
Zheng Tianming took the coffee Hu Xiaohui had prepared and entered the office: "I'm just wondering, if I don't say anything, are you really ignoring me?"
"Ah, what else?" Xu Mengyu raised her head, picked up the coffee next to her, and took two sips.
"If you don't say anything, I'll ignore you, okay?" Zheng Tianming frowned.
Xu Mengyu put down her coffee: "Why don't you try it and you'll see..."
Do we still need to try?
He's suffered countless losses since childhood, and no matter what happens in the process, he's always the one who has to apologize in the end.
"When do you plan to forgive me?" Zheng Tianming asked directly, without beating around the bush.
Xu Mengyu chose to ignore those words...
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