The word "stepfather" made Xi Jun blush and feel excited. He kept serving tea and water, rinsing bowls and chopsticks, and calling Lu Chuqing "daughter" as if she were his own daughter.
Having ordered the food in advance, Lu Chuqing was served dishes to the private room one after another after she arrived.
The drinks included freshly squeezed juice, and Lu Ying ordered orange juice.
Xi Jun poured a glass for Lu Ying first, and then poured a glass for Lu Chuqing.
"The juice here is freshly squeezed, so my daughter can drink more to supplement her vitamins."
Lu Chuqing wanted to take it herself, but the man had already thoughtfully placed it beside her.
She could only smile and thank the man, "Thank you, stepfather."
The little girl wore her hair in a bun, and her short, wispy baby hairs framed her face, making her look even more youthful and adorable.
When she smiles, her eyes crinkle and her face shows shallow dimples, making her look sweet and well-behaved.
Xi Jun was immediately struck by his doting fatherly love, and his eyes were full of affection and doting as he looked at Lu Chuqing. "Ying and I... cough, your mother and I have only been dating for a short time. My surname is Xi, you can just call me Uncle Xi."
Lu Ying had told Lu Chuqing the man's name earlier, and every time she mentioned him, she referred to him as "Uncle Xi." Lu Chuqing was so excited that she couldn't help but call him her stepfather.
Actually, if she wasn't afraid of scaring Xi Jun, she would have called him "Dad" directly.
Before meeting Xi Jun, she was a little worried that the man might be deliberately showing his good side.
But after meeting the man, all her concerns disappeared. She had a strong intuition that the man was a very good person, and even felt that the man should be with her mother.
From the moment he entered until now, the man seemed a little nervous, but he also paid attention to the details.
Sometimes, Lu Ying only needs to make a gesture to know what she wants, and the man can immediately sense it and provide accurate assistance.
Then the two exchanged glances, and the grown man instantly beamed with joy.
The man also took good care of her, looking at her as if she were his own daughter.
Thinking about how the man kept calling her "daughter," Lu Chuqing looked at Xi Jun and said, "Okay, then I'll call you Uncle Xi for now, and you can just call me Qingqing. That's what my mom calls me too."
"Okay, Uncle got it."
Xi Jun placed a piece of preserved plum pork rib on Lu Chuqing's plate and said softly, "Chuqing, eat more vegetables. You'll burn a lot of energy in class, so replenish your strength."
"Thank you, Uncle Xi. Please eat more too. You've been so busy taking care of Mom and me that you haven't even eaten much yourself."
As she spoke, Lu Ying also placed a piece of pork rib into Xi Jun's bowl, saying, "Eat more, the children and I are worried about you."
Meeting the woman's soft almond-shaped eyes, Xi Jun's eyes widened, her ears turned red, and she immediately picked up a rib and stuffed it into her mouth, "Mmm, delicious."
Seeing the man's expression, Lu Ying couldn't help but laugh.
Hearing the woman's soft laughter, Xi Jun stared blankly at Lu Ying, unable to suppress a smile.
Lu Chuqing had initially thought the atmosphere was quite warm, but now she suddenly felt like she was completely superfluous.
Before long, they had eaten almost half of the dishes when Lu Ying suddenly put down her chopsticks.
Lu Chuqing was gnawing on a tiger-skin chicken foot when she heard the woman ask Xi Jun, "How long has it been? Why hasn't Qingxu arrived yet?"
Xi Jun also put down her chopsticks, her expression softening slightly. She took out her phone from her pocket and said, "I'll make another call and ask."
As he spoke, the man got up and went to the corner of the cubicle to make a phone call.
Lu Chuqing sucked on the meat on the chicken foot, her tongue darting around the bone in her mouth, and asked Lu Ying in a low voice with her words indistinct, "Mom, who is it?"
Lu Ying explained to her, "It's your Uncle Xi's son. We agreed to have dinner together today, but the kid found a part-time job during summer vacation and said he would arrive a little later so we could eat first, but he still hasn't come."
Spitting out the bone from her mouth, Lu Chuqing said "Oh" and continued gnawing on the chicken feet.
Something seemed to flash through her mind, but she tried to grasp it but couldn't, so she stopped worrying about it and focused on gnawing on her chicken feet.
Lu Ying, afraid that she would mind, explained in a low voice, "Your Uncle Xi's family situation is a bit special. His son is not very talkative, so don't be too petty when you see him."
Lu Chuqing deliberately put on a pitiful look, "Okay, okay, I haven't even met him yet and Mom is already telling me to put up with him."
"What are you talking about? Don't you know who your mother loves more?" Lu Ying said irritably.
“That child suffered a lot when he was young, which is why he is not talkative when he grows up. Be magnanimous when you first meet him. If you really can't get along, then you can just stop talking to him.”
Lu Chuqing said that on purpose. She's not a petty child anymore. Hearing Lu Ying say that, she quickly straightened her face.
"I understand, Mom. I can't possibly argue with a child."
Hearing her say that, Lu Ying wasn't entirely reassured.
She wasn't actually worried about whether Lu Chuqing would upset Xi Qingxu; she was worried about whether Xi Qingxu would be upset in any way.
Although she felt sorry for the child, it was her first time being a stepmother, and she didn't know if she could do it well.
Besides, the child was rather withdrawn, and even Xi Jun hadn't been able to truly open the child's heart over the years, so she had some doubts about herself.
Xi Qingxu found a job helping people move goods. He helped load the goods, then followed the truck, and helped unload them at the station. The last trip was to a small supermarket on Jinchen Road.
This area was only developed a couple of years ago, and the small supermarket is located on the first floor of a commercial building.
The driver pretended to carry two cases of drinks, then took a bottle of mineral water from the freezer from the supermarket owner, unscrewed it, took a couple of sips, and started chatting.
"Boss, you have a great location for your shop! It's at a crossroads and near a bus stop, a place with high foot traffic!"
The owner, a short man, just smiled when he heard this. "Where? It's far from the intersection, only close to the bus stop."
The driver's face was full of flattery, "You must be making a lot of money, right? Look around this area, only a few supermarkets have opened, and your location is one of the best!"
The shop owner quickly waved his hand, "What's the point of making money? It's only about a hundred yuan a day! We developed this area late, so nobody comes here usually. The shops around here are losing money every day!"
"If it weren't for the few study classes upstairs, where students would stop by to buy a bottle of water after class, I don't know if I could even make fifty yuan a day!"
Upon hearing this, the driver looked up at the building and saw several signs for summer classes crammed together, covering various arts subjects.
Now that the topic has come up, the driver chimed in, "Speaking of which, running training classes is still the most lucrative business! A relative's daughter of mine took a summer course, which cost 2,300 yuan a month, and she only attended for four hours a day!"
"They claim to offer intensive college entrance exam preparation classes, accepting students from all grades and guaranteeing high scores! It's all a scam!"
The man drank water and chatted idly, watching the tall, thin boy carrying boxes in and out.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
