"You...what did you call me?"

Lin Zhongtian's cheek muscles twitched and he looked at Zhao Yian with a frown.

Zhao Yian said as a matter of course: "Godfather, Daddy said that when you come to the village, let me and my sister worship you as our godfather!"

Having said that, Zhao Yian slapped his head, turned around, and ran into the group of his friends. He dragged out a little girl who looked very similar to him, and pushed her in front of Lin Zhongtian.

"Ningning, look, he's our godfather!"

Zhao Yian seemed to have social arrogance. He spoke very loudly and acted very decisively. He did what he thought and did not notice at all that his sister, who was born of the same mother, was blushing so much that blood was about to drip out.

Looking at the tall man in green in front of her, Zhao Yining's face flushed and her lips moved, but she was too embarrassed to call him that.

Lin Zhongtian just happened to like this kind of shy little girl, and immediately became playful and reached out to hug her.

The little girl with rosy lips and white teeth exclaimed, hugged his neck shyly, buried her head in his shoulders and dared not look up.

Lin Zhongtian laughed and looked down at Zhao Yian who was standing in front of him with a calm expression.

"Besides asking you to worship me as your godfather, what else did your father say?"

“It should be gone, right?”

Zhao Yian thought about it, then said loudly: "Oh, by the way, he also said that he originally wanted you to accept the two of us as his apprentices, but later he felt that the relationship between master and apprentice was not as good as that between father and son, so he changed his mind and asked you to be our godfather!"

“So that’s how it is!”

Lin Zhongtian nodded thoughtfully, then turned around and looked at the man who had appeared next to Pan Yunpeng at some point with a smile.

Zhao Lihe scratched his head awkwardly, chuckled, and said weakly: "Brother, please listen to my explanation..."

…

Twenty minutes later, in the Zhao family residence in the village.

Lin Zhongtian and Zhao Lihe sat opposite each other at a table, on which was placed a cup of hot tea that had just been served by a servant.

Zhao Lihe took a sip, put down the celadon teacup, and whispered, "After I returned home, I told Bai Ying everything that happened during this period. I found some excuses to cover up the things that involved you, big brother. But after all, Bai Ying and I grew up together and have been married for many years. She knows me better than anyone else in the world."

"I spent two months thinking about this lie, but she saw through it at once. I had no choice but to tell her that I met you when I went to Xi'an five years ago. I stayed near Xi'an for three months at that time, and the only person who stayed with me was the deceased Ding Tai. Bai Ying had no way to prove the truth of my words, so she reluctantly believed my story..."

Lin Zhongtian raised his eyebrows and asked with interest: "Then what?"

Zhao Lihe sighed and said, "Then she felt that although you and I were sworn brothers, we had only been together for three months and were not very reliable, so she proposed that An'er and Ningning worship you as their master, so as to bring you and me closer and tie you firmly to the chariot of the Tongmenghui."

"Of course, I am opposed to this, because I know the real reason why you are willing to help me. The relationship between you and me does not need to be maintained by these means. I don't want to use any means to win people over, and I don't want to use my two children as tools to use these means."

"But I can't say these words. Even if I say them, she won't understand. After all, the key to the problem lies in our origins and identities. But I can't tell her these. Therefore, when Bai Ying kept asking me the reason, I got angry and had a quarrel with her. An'er said that the relationship between master and apprentice is not as good as that between father and son. These words were said in anger by me."

"My original words at the time were, 'If you want to win her over, why don't you let An'er worship Big Brother as his father? The father-son relationship is much more solid than the master-disciple relationship.' Bai Ying knows my character and knows that I said this to blame her for using my children as bargaining chips, so she got angry and started arguing with me. But I didn't expect An'er to eavesdrop outside the house and take my angry words seriously..."

As he spoke, Zhao Lihe smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Lin Zhongtian said with interest: "So, this was actually your wife's idea?"

Zhao Lihe nodded and sighed, "Although Bai Ying grew up with me and accepted some of the things I brought from the modern world, she is still a native of this world after all. Her thinking cannot jump out of the original framework. She can't imagine how you and I became brothers, so she gave me such a bad idea..."

Seeing Zhao Lihe's frank words, Lin Zhongtian also laughed: "Let alone her, even the smartest people in the world probably can't imagine the relationship between you and me, right?"

After saying this, Lin Zhongtian and Zhao Lihe smiled knowingly.

Then Zhao Lihe picked up the teacup, his face straightened, and said: "No matter what, Bai Ying has offended big brother. As a husband, I would like to apologize to big brother first. I hope big brother will forgive me."

After saying that, Zhao Lihe raised his head, drank the tea in the cup, and pretended to turn the cup upside down to show it off.

Lin Zhongtian's face was full of disgust. After he put down the teacup, he said unhappily, "If you want to apologize, why drink tea?"

Zhao Lihe chuckled: "You can drink if you want, bring Pan Yunpeng along, the three of us brothers won't go home until we're drunk tonight!"

Lin Zhongtian rolled his eyes, then seemed to remember something and asked curiously, "By the way, doesn't Pan Yunpeng have a wife and children in the capital? Why is his legitimate son here with you?"

Zhao Lihe sighed upon hearing this and whispered, "Yun Peng is a good brother, but he is a little unkind to the women in his family. When Xiao Hong was born, he only lived in the capital for three months before he sent someone to send him to the village. I know why he did this. First, he wanted Xiao Hong to grow up with my child, and second, he wanted to use his legitimate son as a hostage to show his loyalty to me."

"This kind of thing is very common in this era, but I don't feel comfortable with it, so I tried to dissuade him several times. Unfortunately, Yunpeng insisted on doing so, and I couldn't persuade him, so I just let him do it."

"As for the child who is now in the capital, he is the adopted orphan of a deceased brother. Yun Peng treats him as his own child, so naturally people in the capital can't see any flaws."

Lin Zhongtian nodded suddenly: "So that's how it is."

Afterwards, the two brothers chatted for a while, and most of the topics involved were related to the members of the Tongmenghui that Lin Zhongtian had met on the road.

After learning about the pasts of those people, Lin Zhongtian couldn't help but praise: "It should be said that you have a good eye for people. Without relying on your foresight about historical figures, you can actually find so many subordinates with reliable abilities and character."

Zhao Lihe looked strange when he heard this, and whispered awkwardly: "Brother, don't say anything. Bai Ying is in charge of this matter. I am a Ye Wenjie-style mascot and spiritual leader. Bai Ying is the Evans..."

"oh?"

Lin Zhongtian raised his eyebrows and was about to say something, but suddenly he looked up and smiled.

"Lihe, your wife seems to be back."

"Ah, so fast?!"

Zhao Lihe stood up in panic, then seemed to realize that Lin Zhongtian was next to him, and sat down quickly, watching Lin Zhongtian with great joy.

Zhao Lihe didn't care about the embarrassment and whispered quickly, "Brother, hurry up, let's check our statements first. It would be best if we could make up some details about our life in Xi'an City back then, so that Bai Ying wouldn't find out the flaws."

"Oh! What confession? Just wait and see!"

Lin Zhongtian curled his lips indifferently, then turned his head to look at the door and calmly picked up the teacup.

Seeing that he ignored him, Zhao Lihe could only sit there and wait anxiously.

The footsteps outside the door were getting closer and closer, and soon there were several knocks on the door.

Lin Zhongtian smiled, turned his head and looked at Zhao Lihe with a teasing expression.

Zhao Lihe coughed twice, drank a sip of tea, and said seriously: "Come in!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the door was pushed open by a bare hand, and a beautiful woman dressed as a young woman, wearing a double-breasted short shirt, a yellow skirt, and a bun on her head, suddenly appeared in front of Lin Zhongtian.