Da Wa and the others walked all the way to the connecting area between the carriages before stopping.
Cheng Tao asked curiously, "Yan Sen, what's going on? I don't remember you saying Uncle was going too."
"Yeah, wasn't Dad not going? Why is he on the train? Is he bringing us something?" Erwa asked, puzzled.
The older child couldn't bear to look at his younger brother anymore. Even now, he still hadn't figured things out. He guessed that all of his intelligence was focused on eating.
Xiao Duo couldn't stand it anymore and explained, "Erwa, Dad isn't delivering anything; he's going with us."
Sanwa leaned back lazily, too lazy to say a word, but both Dawa and Xiaoduo knew that their little brother had definitely figured this out long ago.
They used to think their younger brother was lazy, but they gradually realized that he was probably the smartest one among them.
"Dad arrived just in time; he almost missed his train," Erwa remarked.
While they were talking, the train started clattering along the tracks.
The eldest child sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "Dad was prepared for this a long time ago, you know."
"What? Why didn't he say anything? Oh." Erwa suddenly realized. "No wonder Mom's face changed."
"You've finally figured it out," Xiaoduo said helplessly.
Cheng Tao looked on with a gossipy expression. "What's wrong? Did your aunt and uncle have a fight?"
"We didn't argue, but after my dad pulled this stunt, things definitely won't be over anytime soon."
Thinking about how serious her mother's anger could be, Erwa felt a chill run down her spine. "Why don't we stay here a little longer before going back?"
His father caused the trouble, so he should be the one to appease his mother's anger.
The older child nodded in agreement. "Let's go see what food they sell on the bus later."
Isn't his dad always so cold-hearted? This time he made a mistake, so let his mom teach him a lesson. The eldest child will never admit that he was gloating and trying to screw over his dad.
The children immediately agreed that they should go back later.
Li Huai watched as his eldest son led the other children away quickly, and he cursed his son inwardly.
That little rascal, he's fast enough.
If they were here, even if the wife was angry, she wouldn't be able to show it because the children were around. But the little rascals all ran away, so it's no wonder the wife took the opportunity to get angry.
He smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Qinglan, let me explain. Well, I've bought the tickets, but I haven't been able to get leave yet. I wasn't sure if I could go, so I haven't said anything."
Seeing that his wife didn't speak, he continued nervously, "After I went there this morning, I had a good talk with my boss, and he finally agreed, so I rushed over here."
Zhao Qinglan recalled asking Xiao Xu about his taciturn nature earlier.
"Keep making things up, go ahead and make things up," she sneered.
Li Huai's forehead was covered in sweat. "I really didn't lie to you. I only confirmed it this morning. I just wanted to give you guys a surprise."
"Hehe." There was no surprise, but quite a few shocks.
With the children away, Li Huai didn't need to worry about saving face, so he quickly humbled himself and used sweet words to coax his wife.
Thanks to his tireless efforts, Zhao Qinglan's anger subsided somewhat.
“I’ve noted this down. We’ll settle the score later. Go and call the children back.”
"Why do we still need to calculate this?" Li Huai smiled wryly. But he had indeed gone too far this time, and he felt guilty, so he could only obediently go find the children.
The older kids were sitting in the food cart. Luckily, both the older kids and Cheng Tao had money in their pockets, and the children had already bought some food, planning to have a long stay in the food cart.
Thinking about how he was groveling over there while these little brats were eating and drinking well here, Li Huai's expression darkened.
The third child, with his sharp eyes, spotted his father first and, feeling grateful, nudged his older sister beside him. "Dad's here."
Cheng Tao, the eldest and second son, who were sitting opposite Li Huai, didn't see him because his back was to Li Huai. Even the second son, who was focused on eating, didn't hear his younger brother's reminder.
"You guys are living a good life, aren't you?" Li Huai stood in front of the table.
Erwa suddenly heard his father's voice and almost choked on what he was swallowing.
"dad."
"uncle."
Xiao Duo and Cheng Tao called out one after the other.
Li Huai glanced at the group and then looked at his eldest son. "You little rascal, you've got guts."
The older child smiled foolishly. "Dad, you're here."
Li Huai couldn't possibly settle scores with his eldest son right now, so he just said coldly, "Let's go, your mother wants you to go back."
"Dad, let me finish eating, we can't waste this." Erwa grabbed the plate, reluctant to let go.
So Li Huai sat down next to them and waited for them to finish eating.
Apart from the second and third children, the others were so uncomfortable that they couldn't eat anything.
The third child is someone who doesn't care about me as long as it doesn't involve me. The second child is just carefree; he's the only one who can eat without a care in the world.
Zhao Qinglan was wondering why the children hadn't returned yet, and whether she should go out and look for them herself, just in case something had happened, when she saw her husband leading a few children to the end of the carriage.
The children began to observe Zhao Qinglan's expression from a distance, and only breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that she looked alright.
As soon as they approached Zhao Qinglan, they asked, "Where have you been? Why did it take you so long to come back?"
"Ask your good son," Li Huai said irritably.
Zhao Qinglan glared at him, implying that she hadn't settled the score with him yet, and Li Huai's expression immediately changed. "They went to eat."
"Auntie, we felt a little hungry after using the restroom, so we went to the dining car and ate something," Cheng Tao explained immediately.
Zhao Qinglan's attitude towards Cheng Tao was naturally very good. "Have you eaten? Auntie brought some food too."
"I'm full."
The children were very grateful to Cheng Tao at this moment.
After Zhao Qinglan asked and learned that her husband was indeed the one in the upper bunk, she immediately sent him to live in Cheng Tao's bunk.
However, Li Huai made an excuse that it was still early and he would go over there when he went to bed at night, and insisted on staying there.
Because of the children, Zhao Qinglan couldn't really get angry with her husband, but she still occasionally vented her frustration on him during the journey.
Da Wa and the others knew exactly what was going on, so naturally they wouldn't expose it. Every time Zhao Qinglan targeted Li Huai, they pretended to be deaf and dumb, and some even gloated at Li Huai's misfortune.
Li Huai was in the wrong and dared not refute his wife, but he made a note of it in his notebook for the children, thinking that he must teach them a lesson and rebuild his authority as their father when he had the chance.
Haishi is quite far from their place; it takes several days to get there by train.
Because of the hot weather, Zhao Qinglan didn't bring much food. When it was time to eat, she asked Li Huai to take the children to the food cart to buy food and bring it back for them to eat together.
Cheng Tao was going to pay, but Zhao Qinglan wouldn't let him. It was just a few days' worth of food, and she could afford it herself.
Fortunately, Cheng Tao was used to eating at their house, so he didn't insist on giving Zhao Qinglan food when she refused. He just said that he would treat everyone to a good meal when they arrived in Haishi.
Although Cheng Tao doesn't go back to Haishi often, it's still his hometown, giving him many advantages over Zhao Qinglan and the others.
Zhao Qinglan, being worldly-wise, didn't react much, but the children, especially Erwa, were filled with anticipation.
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