"Because the uncle is my mom's good friend!"
Lu Huaijiao smiled as she looked at the middle-aged man in front of her.
Zhang Yuan was stunned for a moment by Lu Huaijiao's words.
The Lu Huaijiao before me seemed to overlap with the image of Su Xiaowan. Equally kind, equally quirky, a sparkling girl…
Zhang Yuan looked at Lu Huaijiao and unconsciously fell into memories.
Thinking of Su Xiaowan, that wonderful girl who left so early, his eyes welled up with tears.
"Uncle..."
A blue handkerchief was handed to Zhang Yuan. Zhang Yuan looked up and met Lu Huaijiao's crescent-shaped eyes: "This is for you."
"Um……"
Zhang Yuan took the handkerchief and held it tightly, feeling both touched and amused.
He was comforted by the little girl.
"I'm fine, sorry you had to see me like this. I heard you're going out to eat? If you don't mind, would you like to come along?"
"OK!"
Lu Huaijiao sweetly agreed.
Without the slightest hesitation.
The two followed Zhang Yuan and wandered through the alley for a while before arriving at a courtyard house that didn't look like a place to eat at all.
"Is it alright to eat here?"
Zhang Yuan looked at Lu Huaijiao.
Lu Huaijiao's gaze fell on the words above the door. She hummed and said, "So you moved here? I thought the owner had closed the shop. I looked for a long time but couldn't find it."
This shop wasn't located here before.
At that time, we were still on the street outside.
On her birthday, the family of three had originally planned to have dinner together, but Lu Zhengde had something come up at work, so in the end Su Xiaowan had to take Lu Huaijiao with her.
It was here that I met Zhang Yuan by chance.
Lu Huaijiao never expected that after so many years, Zhang Yuan would still remember the shop where they first met, and even bring her there.
Waaaaah, how can there be such a good memory in this world?
Gu Changzheng, who was standing nearby, noticed that his wife's expression was a little off, so he quickly reached out and took her hand to show his presence. "Jiaojiao, let's go inside."
"Mmm, I'll take you to eat the snacks I loved when I was little. They're super delicious!"
Lu Huaijiao's joy was evident on her face. She grabbed Gu Changzheng's arm, greeted Zhang Yuan, and then entered the courtyard first.
Zhang Yuan smiled as he looked at the young couple in front of him. He looked up at the sky and silently thought, "Xiao Wan, you can rest assured, your daughter has found a very reliable partner."
Don't ask Zhang Yuan how he knows Gu Changzheng is reliable. He's been handling cases for so many years, and his specialty is identifying what kind of person someone is.
Although Gu Changzheng was simply dressed and not very talkative, the feeling he gave off, and the way he looked at Lu Huaijiao, was one of treasuring her more than his own life. That kind of look couldn't be faked.
Lu Zhengde may have liked Su Xiaowan before, but he loves himself more.
So in this respect, Lu Huaijiao was much luckier than Su Xiaowan.
Seeing that his deceased friend's descendants were doing well brought Zhang Yuan considerable comfort. He also believed that a cheerful and optimistic girl like Lu Huaijiao, though she might experience some pain, would surely recover quickly.
Zhang Yuan was more confident about what he was about to say.
Inside the courtyard house.
This is a genuine private kitchen restaurant.
The rooms inside were separated by screens, creating a dozen or so private rooms of roughly the same size. Inside the rooms, the aroma of tea wafted through the air, creating a very pleasant atmosphere.
Lu Huaijiao sat in the armchair, resting her chin on her hand, waiting for the dishes to be served and for Zhang Yuan to speak.
She wasn't naive enough to think that Zhang Yuan was just there to have dinner with her.
Zhang Yuan washed his hands, dried them, and sat down.
Looking at Lu Huaijiao's eyes, he didn't know how to speak for a moment.
After all, no matter how bad Lu Zhengde was, he was still her biological father...
"Huaijiao..."
"Uncle Zhang, please just tell me. I can handle it," Lu Huaijiao said with a smile.
Zhang Yuan sighed.
This little girl is so smart.
"Then I'll... just say it directly?"
"Mmm, mmm, mmm, go ahead and tell me, the food hasn't been served yet!"
Lu Huaijiao looked expectant, as if she wasn't about to hear something that would make her angry.
Zhang Yuan sighed and slowly began to speak.
“I went to see you last night… Lu Zhengde.”
He quietly recounted the events of the previous night to Lu Huaijiao and the others.
“You… Lu Zhengde seems to suspect that I have something going on with Xiao Wan…” Zhang Yuan still found it difficult to talk about this.
If you were to tell someone else, that would be fine.
However, the other party was, after all, the daughter of his deceased friend. As an elder, it was somewhat awkward for him to reveal that he and the other person's mother might be misunderstood as having an affair.
Lu Huaijiao hummed in response and glanced sideways at Zhang Yuan.
"So you're my dad?"
Her gaze was pure, her eyes incredibly innocent.
This gave Zhang Yuan a strange feeling: if he admitted it, he could have such a well-behaved and innocent daughter. Anyway, no one knew what happened back then. If he admitted it, he could rightfully take care of Xiao Wan's daughter...
However, this thought only surfaced for a moment before Zhang Yuan immediately shook his head, rejecting this extremely dangerous and sordid idea.
"no."
Xiao Wan was such a wonderful girl, how could he bear to smear her name after she left this world?
Although he could guarantee that if he were Lu Huaijiao's father, he would cherish her dearly, he couldn't betray Xiao Wan.
She was a girl he cherished; he couldn't smear her reputation.
"Your mother and I are just ordinary friends."
After saying this, Zhang Yuan added somewhat hesitantly.
“I admit that I did pursue your mother, but when she chose Lu Zhengde, I put those feelings aside and decided to just be her friend for life.”
As he spoke, he glanced at Lu Huaijiao, afraid that she might overthink things.
The girl listened attentively without any distracting thoughts.
She nodded, resting her chin on her hand: "I believe Uncle. My dad, Lu Zhengde, that guy is too stupid to doubt my mom, or rather... he doesn't actually love my mom that much."
If you truly love someone, how could you not clarify the misunderstanding and let yourself make a mistake?
So in the end, it all boils down to not loving each other.
Lu Huaijiao's insightful understanding surprised Zhang Yuan, but it also eased his slight embarrassment.
The rest is much simpler.
"Yes, I did investigate this matter, and I found that it seems that all of this was deliberately arranged by someone."
"Hmm? It was Qin Yanhua who arranged this, wasn't it? Lu Zhengde is really stupid, being manipulated by a servant."
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