Zhuzhu deftly pulled over a box and pushed the pieces inside. Then she pulled over another box, pulled out a bunch of wooden blocks, and said with a smile:
"Third Uncle, Second Aunt, you can put many things together from this, but unfortunately I had to eat before I finished. Will you help me put it together tonight?"
Zhou Lei glanced at the hourglass and shook his head. "Zhuzhu, your third uncle has to go to school tomorrow. If I fall asleep, the teacher will spank me. So, your third uncle can only play with you for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Any later and it won't work."
Upon hearing this, Zhuzhu looked at Zhou Tao, who nodded in agreement. "Your third uncle is right. Second aunt will also be busy at the shop tomorrow. If she sleeps too late, she might doze off and make mistakes in the accounts, resulting in her undercharging customers. That would mean our shop would lose money."
Zhuzhu understood, and pushed the wooden block she had taken out back into the box. "Then we won't play tonight. Second Aunt and Third Uncle, get some rest. You can play with Zhuzhu again tomorrow."
Zhou Tao and Zhou Lei exchanged a glance, smiled, patted Zhuzhu's head, and praised her as a good child, saying she was very sensible.
Zhuzhu chuckled. "Mom said that you don't necessarily have to get everything you like at once. You have to learn to take it slow and steady, and there's plenty of time in the future."
She couldn't let her aunt and third uncle get so tired that they got beaten or made mistakes, otherwise no one would play with her in the future. Her parents were very busy, and she couldn't always bother them to play with her.
They've settled in, but Li Mai and Nan Ling won't be able to get a good night's sleep tonight.
After seeing them off, Nanling turned and went back to her residence, with Yuze following her.
"I've arranged for you to stay in a courtyard on the south side. I'll have the butler take you there!" Nan Ling glanced back at him before heading back to her own courtyard.
But Yuze followed behind.
Nanling stopped and turned to look at him. Yuze walked up to her and said softly, "Can we talk?"
Nanling glanced at him a few times and nodded. "Let's talk. I also hope to clarify things with you."
She turned and went inside, followed by Yuze.
Inside the main room, the two people sat facing each other.
Nanling glanced at him and sighed, "Thank you for visiting Qing Shi Town, Patriarch Yu. As a guest, you can stay here as long as you like. However, there are other things I must apologize for."
Yu Ze's face remained calm as he watched her intently, listening carefully to what she had to say.
“I think you’ve heard about my past. My children and my husband lost their lives because of me. I’ve carried the weight of too many lives on my shoulders all my life. I even have trouble sleeping at night, especially on holidays when I always think of my parents, my children and my husband.”
"Yuze, I know you are a rare good man, and I cherish you as a friend. However, marriage is impossible. In this life, I will never have the right to seek my own happiness again."
Nanling spoke these words calmly, just as calmly as Yuze, who was sitting opposite her listening to them.
Yu Ze listened quietly, without interrupting, letting her speak as she pleased. Today, he was determined to hear all her innermost thoughts and to truly understand her.
He could even feel that the more she talked, the closer he got to her heart.
"The things you gave me before, except for the box of jade beads and jade pieces that I gave to Xiaomai, are still here. I'll have someone send them back to you when I get back to the capital. As for that box of things, whatever you want from my place, I'll give it to you in return."
"If you can still consider me a friend in the future, then please greet me when we meet. If you no longer wish to be friends with me, then let's treat each other like strangers from now on!"
After Nanling finished speaking, she decided not to say anything more and looked at Yuze, wanting to hear what he had to say.
When Yu Ze heard her last two words, he felt angry. If this woman wasn't the woman he liked, he might have rushed up and beat her up.
His eyes gradually turned cold as he stared intently at her. "Nanling, I only have one question for you."
“Ask away!” Nanling said, taking a sip of tea.
"When the night is still and quiet, when you sleep alone in your warm tent, have you ever felt lonely? Have you ever thought about... a man?"
"Cough cough!" Nan Ling choked on his words, her hand trembled, and some of the tea in her hand splashed out. She stared at him in disbelief.
Seeing her reaction, Yuze understood. He snorted, stood up, paced a few steps, steeled himself, and walked up behind her. Looking down at her instantly stiffened back, he sighed inwardly and slowly raised his hand to place on her shoulder.
Nan Ling shuddered, but dared not hesitate. The next moment, she quickly ducked to avoid his hand, then swiftly grabbed his arm and used a grappling technique to pin him to the ground.
She stepped on his chest with one foot, her eyes blazing with anger, "Yuze, are you forcing me to fight you?"
Yu Ze didn't retaliate at all, but continued to look at her calmly, his eyes seeming to spit fire. Suddenly he smiled. A handsome man like him, when he showed a happy smile, it was very shocking.
Nanling was stunned.
Yu Ze didn't struggle, but looked at her with a light smile and said softly, "Lingling, I have already gotten the answer from your reaction."
“I know you also have trouble falling asleep every night, just like me. After all, we are both middle-aged now, and we are no longer innocent young men and women. After experiencing such passionate things, after a while, we also have desires, and our bodies also need them. This is only human nature.”
Seeing Nanling blush instantly and quickly back away from him, he chuckled again, stood up, and glanced down at the white floor. It was clean and pure. So she liked white floors. He decided that when they got married, he would change the floor to white as well.
After looking at the ground, he looked up at her again, walked towards her step by step, and continued, "Leng Leng, we are all the same, normal people, with normal feelings and needs. But I know that people with our personalities are different from others. We don't want to just find someone for a moment of pleasure, that would only make our hearts emptier."
"Otherwise, I wouldn't be without even a concubine or maidservant. My wife has been gone for six years, and I've endured it all. Lingling, you are the first woman I've ever loved in my life, a girl I liked before I married my wife. Now that the opportunity is before me, do you think I would give it up so easily?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com