Someone's there! This dangerous thought flashed through Ling Ruoke's mind!
Tan Peishi was puzzled, but she could still tell that Ruoke's expression had changed, so she looked around curiously and asked, "Ruoke, what's wrong?"
Ling Ruoke didn't answer, and after a while shook her head. "It's nothing, I was just spacing out."
The feeling vanished in an instant, as if it were her imagination. But her intuition and experience told her it wasn't! Someone had been spying on them, and it wasn't one of their own!
Tan Peishi breathed a sigh of relief and glared at her amusedly, saying, "You scared me to death! I thought something terrible had happened. You looked like a mouse seeing a snake, which frightened me too."
Ling Ruoke smiled but didn't answer. She only said, "Let's take a taxi back. I'm a little tired." Her eyes darted around warily, especially to the dark corners.
Fortunately, a taxi came soon after we arrived.
Ling Ruoke carefully looked around before sitting down with Tan Peishi. Soon they arrived at Tan Peishi's building, and only then did she feel completely at ease.
But when she reached Tan Peishi's door, someone suddenly came down from upstairs without making a sound, startling Ling Ruoke. Turning around, she saw a middle-aged woman. She couldn't help but look at her a few more times; the woman nodded and smiled at her, then hurried away with her head down. "Peishi, do you know her?"
“Yes, I know him. The apartment upstairs from mine was sold a few months ago, and that person just now is the new one.” Tan Peishi entered first, put Xiao Lele down, and looked at Ling Ruoke, saying, “I feel like you’ve been acting a little strange tonight.”
Ling Ruoke smiled slightly. "Maybe I drank a little and got a bit drunk. It's alright, go take a shower and go to bed early."
After taking a shower, Ling Ruoke lay in bed with her son, unable to fall asleep. She stared out the window, the moonlight cool, the shadows of the trees swaying in the distance, making her feel uneasy.
A thousand thoughts raced through my mind, my heart pounded wildly, and it took me a long time to finally drift off to sleep. I woke up twice during the night to feed my son, and then couldn't fall back asleep for a long time afterward. I finally drifted off to sleep, but the next day, just as dawn was breaking, I was jolted awake by a nightmare and couldn't fall back asleep.
After playing with Xiao Ping'an for a while, I decided to get up early and prepare breakfast with Aunt Tan.
Lele got up too. Ling Ruoke then put Xiao Ping'an on the carpet and let the two brothers play in the living room.
"You're so diligent. Our Peishi, she insists on waiting until breakfast is ready and on the table, and only gets up when someone has to call her," Mrs. Tan said with a smile, gently scolding her daughter. Though it was a scolding, her tone was full of affection; mothers are always like that.
Ling Ruoke smiled and said, "If I had a mother who would cook for me every day and wait for me to get up, I would do the same. Just like in the days after I gave birth, my mother-in-law did everything for me every day, and I didn't do anything but eat supplements and sleep."
Hearing this, Mrs. Tan smiled even more happily and said, "You have a good mother-in-law. In today's society, it's rare to find a mother-in-law as good as you. Especially a lady from a wealthy family, it's even rarer to find someone who treats her daughter-in-law like this."
"I agree, my mother-in-law is the best." All the past troubles are in the past; Yang Ziyun is now a rare and wonderful mother-in-law. She truly dotes on her like a daughter, loving her even more than she loves Qingfeng. But now that Ping An is here, her entire focus is on her grandson.
Ling Ruoke felt that her mother-in-law was very understanding. She loved Xiao Ping'an so much that any other mother-in-law would have forced her daughter-in-law to take her grandson back to B City so that she could see him more often. But she didn't. She understood her son and daughter-in-law's feelings and knew that they wanted to spend more time together, so she endured her longing for her grandson.
Mrs. Tan had always treated her like a daughter, and seeing Ruoke doing well made her smile happily. "Hehe, as long as she's happy, as long as she's happy."
"Aunt Tan, have any new people moved into this building recently?"
Mrs. Tan smiled and shook her head. "I have no idea. There are so many people upstairs and downstairs, I don't know many people at all. Besides, I don't go out much every day, how would I know if there are any new people? Why are you asking?"
"Oh, it's nothing, I was just asking casually. Everyone's been saying how hot the secondhand housing market is lately, so I was just asking. Aunt Tan, I'll go wake Peishi up now."
"Go ahead, go ahead. If you don't call her, she really will sleep until night." Mrs. Tan shook her head with a helpless smile.
Ling Ruoke pondered to herself, deciding that she should tell Huo Qingfeng when she got back that they needed to ensure Tan Peishi's family was well protected. She had a nagging feeling that a powerful storm was brewing and about to erupt.
Shaking her head to temporarily clear her mind, Ling Ruoke entered the master bedroom and pulled back Tan Peishi's blanket. The cold startled her, and she abruptly opened her eyes, lunging to snatch the blanket away.
Ling Ruoke hugged the blanket and stepped back. "It's time to get up, Aunt Tan has already made breakfast."
Tan Peishi rubbed her arms together, glaring at her fiercely. "There's nothing wrong, and you guys have to disturb my sleep. It's outrageous!" Despite her complaints, she obediently started getting dressed. She couldn't help it; the blankets had all been taken away, and she didn't want to freeze to death.
Ling Ruoke only put the blanket down after seeing that she was dressed and had gotten out of bed.
Tan Peishi snuggled up to her and clung to her, muttering, "So sleepy, so sleepy."
Ling Ruoke had no choice but to let her hang on her body as they walked to the living room.
As soon as Tan's mother saw her daughter's condition, she immediately started nagging.
Tan Peishi covered her ears and twisted her body like a child, crying out, "Mom, I know! You say that every day, my ears are getting calluses!"
Mrs. Tan shook her head and sighed helplessly.
Ling Ruoke received Tan Peishi's gaze and smiled helplessly. A pang of sadness lingered in her heart; if her mother were still alive, she would surely be able to act as spoiled as Peishi.
Watching Pei Shi mutter and argue with Tan's mother, Ling Ruo Ke thought to herself that she must talk to the colonel and make sure their safety was protected. Such a warm family shouldn't be disturbed by any possibility.
After breakfast, Tan Peishi pulled Ling Ruoke aside, saying they wanted to go shopping. The two of them hadn't gone on a shopping spree together in a long time. "We've been holding back our money for too long. We need to let it rest a bit, otherwise, we'll end up with something too big."
Ling Ruoke chuckled and pinched her cheek. "If you want to spend money, just say so! Why beat around the bush like that!"
"Hehe, I'm a reserved person, so of course I can't be so direct. This kind of subtle and indirect approach isn't something everyone can achieve, right?"
Mrs. Tan said helplessly, "It's all because you have so many twisted logics."
Tan Peishi stuck out her tongue and twisted her body, acting like a mischievous child who loved to argue with her mother.
Xiao Ping'an is still young, so naturally he had to go with his mother. Xiao Lele originally wanted to go with his grandmother, but when he saw Xiao Ping'an go with his mother, he also wanted to go out with her.
Anyway, Z City isn't a major international metropolis, so there won't be huge crowds, and it's not a problem with having a child with you. However, Ling Ruoke was a little worried because in a crowd, it's easy for someone with malicious intent to make a move. But Peishi had already planned to go shopping, and she couldn't stop Peishi from going out. Giving up the whole family for fear of choking wouldn't work; she couldn't keep the whole family at home just because of potential dangers.
It happened to be Sunday, and there were many more people on the street than usual, but it wasn't so crowded that it was impossible to move.
This was the first time Xiao Ping'an had ever seen a bustling street. He was used to being in the army, surrounded by the same people coming and going. He mostly saw green trees and camouflage uniforms, rarely witnessing such a colorful scene. Therefore, his big eyes widened in amazement as he curiously looked around, as if he couldn't take it all in.
"Look at your son, he looks like a country bumpkin in the city. Why don't you come back and live here? Don't raise such a smart child to be a country bumpkin. I get so bored without you in the city." Tan Peishi didn't have many friends in Z City. She was outgoing, but actually quite a homebody. She used to have close colleagues at work, but after she stopped working, those colleagues naturally drifted apart. After Ruoke came, she finally had someone to keep her company. But now that Ruoke had gone to the army, she could only keep her mother company, playing with the children occasionally, and life was a bit lonely.
Ling Ruoke took a breath and smiled. Her reasons for joining the military were twofold: to spend more time with her husband and for safety. She always sensed an unknown storm lurking beneath the surface, and wanted to ensure her safety within the military. She wasn't afraid of suffering herself, but she didn't want to harm those around her.
When two mothers go shopping together, they're bound to have the same goal—children's clothes! And there are only a few children's clothing stores in the city, the most famous being the place that sold maternity clothes last time.
Several months have passed, but the saleswoman clearly still remembers Ruoke; her radiant smile, which even eclipses the sun, is the best proof. No wonder, in a small city like this, customers spending over ten thousand yuan in two consecutive days are a rare occurrence throughout the year.
"Oh my, the little one is so cute, just like the children in the New Year's paintings." This was the saleswoman who had served her and Huo Qingfeng. "It seems like you were just pregnant when you came to buy things, and now your child is so big."
Ling Ruoke smiled at her and said, "Yes, time really flies." She bent down and put the little guy down, letting him hold her little finger and toddle around the store.
The sales clerk bent down and spoke to Xiao Ping'an: "Little friend, what's your name? Which piece of clothing do you like?"
Xiao Ping'an ignored the first question. As for the second question, it's unclear whether he genuinely understood or it was just a coincidence. He reached out and grabbed a set of clothes. It was a tiger costume, like the ones in the promotional poster next to it; wearing it would make him look like a little tiger.
"Oh my, little one, you have such good taste!" The saleswoman took the clothes down for Xiao Ping'an to touch, but her eyes were fixed on Ruo Ke.
Ling Ruoke simply smiled slightly, reaching out to touch the clothes herself; the fabric was alright. The chubby-faced little guy in the promotional picture was quite cute. Their Ping An was even more handsome than the child in the picture; he'd definitely look good in it.
Tan Peishi also came over and said, "Hey, you know what, it really suits you. Like father, like son. A tiger like our captain should have a tiger cub like our little Ping An, right?" She reached out and pinched the little guy's pink cheek.
Little Ping An grinned and chuckled.
Ling Ruoke couldn't help but smile. This little guy was quite vain; he understood every word of praise and would giggle. She didn't know if he truly understood, or if he was just very sensitive to adults' emotions—aren't children said to have amazing intuition?
Since the little one likes it, the mother naturally wants to give it a try. Every mother wants her child to look beautiful; this is an eternal truth.
Xiao Ping'an is mischievous, but unlike most children, he doesn't resist getting dressed, eating, or washing his face. It takes a lot of fuss before he finally gives in. When the saleswoman brought him clothes to change into, he obediently opened his arms, which pleased the saleswoman even more as she dressed him and praised him for being clever.
"I think your family's Ping An might be even more narcissistic than the captain!" Tan Peishi stroked her chin with one hand, and came to a conclusion after deep thought.
Ling Ruoke just smiled. She didn't know what to say, because what she wanted to say was: That's because both father and son have the right to be narcissistic!
"Wow, it looks so good! Others have tried on this outfit before, but your son is the first child to look this good in it!" the saleswoman exclaimed. Other saleswomen who weren't serving customers also rushed over, some even taking out their phones to take pictures of the little tiger.
Ling Ruoke couldn't directly refuse them, so she cleverly changed her position to prevent them from taking pictures of her son's face. His father was a special forces soldier, so it was better to be careful.
"Sister, your son looks so good in this, why don't you buy it? And this coat is very thick and warm; you only need to wear a sweater underneath." Unlike usual, the saleswoman didn't emphasize the current discount, which reduced the price by over 100 yuan. She knew this customer wasn't short of money and naturally wasn't concerned about the cost.
Ling Ruoke naturally wanted to buy clothes for her son because he looked good in them. "Let's change him first," she said. New clothes aren't clean yet; they're full of bacteria, which isn't good for the child. Besides, kids like to put everything they can grab into their mouths, and if they ingest bacteria, it'll be even more troublesome.
"Why don't you just wear it? Walking down the street like this will definitely turn heads." The saleswoman tugged at the little tiger's ear, finding the child's appearance increasingly exquisite.
"No, let me change first." Ling Ruoke took the initiative to take off her clothes.
Little Ping An grabbed her collar, preventing her from taking it off, making "hmm" sounds and looking anxious.
Tan Peishi finally couldn't help but burst into laughter and said, "Ruo Ke, your little guy is really vain. He knows that this looks good on him, so he doesn't want to take it off. Fine, just let him wear it."
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