Ye Tiancheng didn't say much more and led his people to the place he had arranged with Hou Mingzhu.
It was a coincidence of timing, right around mealtime. Hou Mingzhu considered that Ye Tiancheng and Xiao Huli must have had a very difficult and dangerous day, and might now be tired and hungry.
She also hoped that Ye Tiancheng and Xiao Huli could rest well, and not have to rush off again without even a moment to catch their breath. This was why she had arranged for them to eat first as a family.
However, after she and her daughter waited at the restaurant, they saw Ye Tiancheng leading a very beautiful person with long red hair towards them, and even inviting that person to sit at the table. Hou Mingzhu almost thought Ye Tiancheng had reverted to his old ways.
But she managed to restrain herself and maintain her composure. With her daughter by her side, Hou Mingzhu also considered that Ye Tiancheng was supposed to return with Xiao Huli, but now he had brought someone else. There might be something amiss.
Xiao Huli sat down at the table. While Hou Mingzhu was still lost in thought, her eyes full of suspicion, Ye Qingcheng was more direct. Upon seeing her father, she greeted him first. Then, seeing the person who appeared with her father, she asked a question.
"Dad, who is this beautiful big sister? Why did you bring her? Where is Uncle Xiao Huli? Why isn't he with you?"
Facing her daughter's innocent and clear eyes, Ye Tiancheng was a little unsure how to describe the miracle that had happened within a single day.
However, looking at Hou Mingzhu's expression, Ye Tiancheng knew that if he didn't explain quickly, he would be misunderstood. At this moment, their family couldn't afford to argue, so Ye Tiancheng quickly explained, "This is Xiao Huli. Qingcheng, this is your Uncle Xiao Huli, not a beautiful big sister."
Suddenly, both Hou Mingzhu and Ye Qingcheng looked at Xiao Huli with incredulous expressions.
Xiao Huli, with his mind blank and unable to recall anything, felt that the current situation was definitely not right. He looked towards Ye Tiancheng.
Ye Tiancheng said to him helplessly, "You used to hide your identity, transform into a child, and stay by my side. So now that you've suddenly become an adult, they are very surprised."
At this, Xiao Huli didn't know what to say and asked a bit timidly, "Uh, it, it sounds like I was a bad person?"
Ye Tiancheng was speechless and didn't know how to respond. The initial motive was certainly questionable. As for what kind of misunderstanding had occurred now, it was unclear. Whether he was bad or not was yet to be determined.
"Whether you are a bad person or not, I don't know. But seeing as you haven't done anything bad just now, and we have a past relationship, it's not impossible to give you a chance. But now is not the time to dwell on these things. We need to leave quickly, and we can discuss things in detail later. Let's eat first and not waste time."
After hearing Xiao Huli speak, Ye Qingcheng said with some surprise, "So it really isn't a big sister."
Hou Mingzhu was also a little unsettled. However, at least Xiao Huli had spoken, and his voice proved he was definitely not a woman. Ye Tiancheng had also said he was Xiao Huli. Hou Mingzhu's negative emotions subsided completely, and she began to feel a little concerned for Xiao Huli.
After all, Xiao Huli had lived with them for a long time and had always had a good relationship with them. Hou Mingzhu certainly didn't want anything to happen to Xiao Huli.
"What exactly is going on? How did Xiao Huli suddenly become an adult? What hidden identity?"
Ye Tiancheng didn't want Hou Mingzhu to worry, so he roughly explained to her what had happened in the roughly one day they had been apart.
Ye Tiancheng's narration was relatively objective, as he wanted to view Xiao Huli from an objective perspective, including Xiao Huli's true identity, Xiao Huli's sudden transformation back, and Xiao Huli's every move after transforming back, analyzing the possibilities of these actions, and the fact that Xiao Huli might have amnesia.
Hou Mingzhu listened silently for a long time. However, because she could sense that Ye Tiancheng didn't really blame Xiao Huli, and his current attitude towards Xiao Huli was more accepting than rejecting, Hou Mingzhu didn't have a strong reaction and didn't dislike Xiao Huli either.
It was just that before Ye Tiancheng fully accepted Xiao Huli again, she would naturally maintain some reservations.
If Xiao Huli still had his harmless child-like appearance from before, Hou Mingzhu might have softened her stance. But the adult male sitting in front of them, though beautiful, was still different from a child.
Hou Mingzhu then recalled Ye Tiancheng's suspicions about Xiao Huli in the past. At that time, everyone had blamed Ye Tiancheng, including herself.
At that time, they had all judged Xiao Huli by his appearance, believing him to be innocent and Ye Tiancheng to be troubling a child. But unexpectedly, Xiao Huli was indeed not an innocent child and did have problems. Ye Tiancheng was not wrong; they were wrong.
Thinking of this, Hou Mingzhu felt that in the future, she should offer fewer opinions and get less involved in Ye Tiancheng's affairs in this regard.
After all, they didn't understand much, and at any moment, they might inadvertently do more harm than good and wrongly accuse Ye Tiancheng.
The one who had suspected Xiao Huli and rejected him back then was Ye Tiancheng. Now, when Xiao Huli truly had problems, it was also Ye Tiancheng who was willing to soften his heart and accept him.
Hou Mingzhu felt that Ye Tiancheng's emotions and attitudes might all have their reasons. Just because they couldn't understand them didn't mean Ye Tiancheng was wrong. Indeed, it was better to offer fewer opinions in the future.
Perhaps Ye Tiancheng's attitude towards these people and matters was basically unrelated to their appearance. What these people and matters truly represented depended on the person and their past actions.
Ye Qingcheng didn't understand much. She only knew that Xiao Huli had always had a good relationship with her and patiently played with her. Now, Xiao Huli had amnesia and couldn't remember anything. She asked Xiao Huli with concern, "Uncle Xiao Huli, do you really not remember us? Not even Dad, not even me?"
Xiao Huli looked at them a bit awkwardly, holding his chopsticks and gently biting the tips. He looked at the child who was full of concern for him and shook his head gently with guilt.
"I'm sorry, I can't remember anything now. In fact, I don't even know my own name or your names."
Xiao Huli felt quite guilty. On one hand, he felt uneasy due to his amnesia. On the other hand, although he could now follow Ye Tiancheng, he heard their accounts and seemed to have done something to wrong them, which made Xiao Huli feel both guilty and uneasy.
Hou Mingzhu sighed and said, "Judging by your reaction, you probably really don't remember. It's okay. As long as you don't do anything bad, we will still accept you, and things can be like before."
"I believe Tiancheng thinks so too. Let us reintroduce ourselves to you."
Then, through Ye Tiancheng and their self-introductions, Xiao Huli learned about everyone's identities and his relationship with them.
The person who had protected him and left with him was named Ye Tiancheng. They were brothers in the past, but Ye Tiancheng had suspected him. He had proven himself through his actions and gained Ye Tiancheng's trust. In the end, he himself had problems, and fortunately, Ye Tiancheng was still willing to accept him, which was indeed very magnanimous.
And the two people sitting at the same dining table for this meal, the younger girl was Ye Tiancheng's biological daughter, Ye Qingcheng.
It was said that he had a good relationship with Ye Qingcheng before, and he helped Ye Tiancheng take care of the child and played with Ye Qingcheng.
The other one was Ye Qingcheng's wife, named Hou Mingzhu. She used to like him quite a bit. When he was suspected by Ye Tiancheng, she was deceived by his harmless appearance and even defended him in front of Ye Tiancheng.
Xiao Huli tightened his grip on his chopsticks. However, he still trusted Ye Tiancheng and the others. He felt that the people in front of him were like good people, without malice. Even in their accounts, although he might have done something bad, their tone towards him was mostly kind.
This was even more evident with the child Ye Qingcheng. Although children might not always lie, their emotions were very straightforward. Even if they lied, it would be obvious.
Xiao Huli could see how much sincerity was contained in Ye Qingcheng's concern and support for him.
Therefore, he finally said to the three people beside him, "Although I can't remember my past, I vaguely feel that you all seem familiar and kind to me."
"I might have done some bad things, but thank you for still being willing to accept me. I will definitely not do anything bad to you. I can promise and swear. If you have any means to restrain me, you can use them. I will absolutely have no complaints."
Ye Tiancheng smiled and said, "Come to think of it, this isn't the first time you've lost your memory. When you were still a child, I found you, and you also said you had amnesia. Although I don't know if what you said back then was true."
"But we'll talk about these things later. After we go back, we'll need to examine you to see if you really have amnesia and why you lost your memory. Talking more now is useless."
Xiao Huli nodded vigorously, "I understand. I will cooperate with you fully."
Ye Tiancheng didn't comment further and gestured for everyone to eat quickly. Everyone then accelerated their eating pace and boarded the Hou family's plane, flying back to their villa.
Although they would definitely have to continue searching for fragments of the Fuxi Qin and travel around, first, they had to return home to rest and make plans before setting out again. Moreover, Hou Mingzhu wanted to accompany Ye Tiancheng, and the Fatty might also want to join them upon their return, which would require even more preparation.
After returning, Ye Tiancheng also asked Hou Mingzhu to arrange for Xiao Huli to undergo medical examinations. The results were not very good. The doctor only said that it was very likely that Xiao Huli had suffered a severe mental shock, which caused him to suddenly lose his memory. It was difficult to say when his memory would recover.
Nuwa Stone also conducted some examinations on Xiao Huli and confirmed that Xiao Huli was not lying. Ye Tiancheng didn't say anything more and truly kept Xiao Huli by his side.
After resting at home for a few days, the Fatty also wanted to join them, and Ye Tiancheng finally did not refuse him.