Lan Yuxi saw the guests off and returned to the living room.
As soon as she entered the room, she heard Nan Zhenting say indignantly, "If it were me, I wouldn't acknowledge him as my father either. He was useless his whole life and only dared to acknowledge his son after his wife died."
"I'll go talk to Xiang Nan," Nan Xiao said, standing up and going upstairs expressionlessly.
Seeing that he was not in a good mood, Lan Yuxi waited until he went upstairs before saying to the furious Nan Zhenting, "Dad, the next time something like this happens, you should say less."
Nan Zhenting frowned, "What? Did what I just said offend him again?"
Lan Yuxi chuckled, "No, there are no parents in the world who don't love their children."
Nan Zhenting snorted, "Only the two of you are good! Leaving the children at home to go out and play yourselves."
Ling Xiaoling smiled and patted Nan Zhenting's hand, then said to Lan Yuxi, "Go check on the two children. They're sulking."
Lan Yuxi smiled helplessly. With three vinegar jars in the family, two big ones and two small ones, she didn't know how to balance them.
Upstairs, in the children's room.
Chaocao and Mumu each had a computer in front of them, watching in silence.
Han Yi, holding a small airplane, didn't dare to play with it. His older brother and sister were angry, what should he do?
The next second, Chaocao and Mumu closed their computers simultaneously and ran towards the big bed.
Han Yi was stunned and quickly followed, "Brother, sister, what's wrong?"
Chaocao pulled him, "Get on the bed, go to sleep."
"Oh." Han Yi got on the bed and lay down next to his brother. "Brother..."
Mumu lowered her voice, "Shh—don't talk, your aunt is coming up."
Han Yi wanted to get up and see if his aunt had really returned, but Chaocao pressed him back onto the bed. Then, Mumu used the remote control to turn off all the lights in the room.
Lan Yuxi, peeking through the crack in the door, saw the lights disappear instantly and smiled before knocking on the door.
Mumu whispered, "Brother, Mom is knocking. What should we do?"
In the darkness, Chaocao blinked his dark eyes, "Sleep!"
Mumu understood immediately. Sleeping meant not opening the door for Mom.
Lan Yuxi knew the two little ones wouldn't open the door for her. After counting to three, she pushed the door open and entered.
In the darkness, Lan Yuxi looked at the three lumps on the bed and sighed regretfully, "Alas, sleeping so early. What about the delicious snacks I brought back? Should I have them as a midnight snack?"
Mumu wriggled under the covers. Chaocao squeezed her little hand hard, and then, a "gulp" sound came from the room.
It was Han Yi swallowing his saliva.
Lan Yuxi, amused, opened her backpack and placed several small boxes of snacks on the coffee table, then retreated.
I'll give you a little treat first. After you've eaten, I don't believe you won't cheer up.
"Mom!" the moment Lan Yuxi closed the door, Chaocao sat up abruptly.
Seeing that their brother had gotten up, Mumu and Han Yi stopped pretending. After sitting up, Mumu also turned on the lights.
The light was a bit dazzling, and the three little ones closed their eyes, unaccustomed to it.
When they opened their eyes again, Lan Yuxi was standing by the bed with a smile.
"Son, what do you want to tell Mom?"
Chaocao's little nose twitched slightly. "Don't you love me and my sister anymore?"
Lan Yuxi raised an eyebrow slightly. She thought her daughter would be the first to cause trouble, but unexpectedly, her son spoke first.
Mumu glanced at the snacks on the coffee table and pulled her brother's hand. "Brother, I think Mom still loves us. Look, although she didn't take us out to play, she brought us delicious food."
Chaocao hesitated, but soon, his eyes became firm again.
Lan Yuxi smiled affectionately, "I'll report today's itinerary to you. At noon, your father and I ate lunch at a private tea house..."
Lan Yuxi did not miss any detail as she told the two children. She knew they would have found out even if she hadn't told them.
Chaocao and Mumu exchanged glances. What Mom said was the same as what they had found out.
Seeing that the two children were silent, Lan Yuxi said in a low voice, "Do you know the meaning of that small noodle shop to my mother?"
Mumu looked at her expectantly.
Chaocao also stopped talking.
Han Yi blinked, "Auntie, is the noodles at the small noodle shop delicious?"
Chaocao gave him a helpless look and covered his small mouth with his hand.
Lan Yuxi gently took her son's hand away and then said to Han Yi, "To be honest, it's not as delicious as what our cook makes at home. However, that small noodle shop holds my most beautiful memories. I didn't have a happy childhood. Sometimes, when I didn't want to go back to the Nan family, I would do my homework at that small noodle shop while waiting for your uncle to finish school, and then we would eat a bowl of noodles there before going home together."
Chaocao's eyes reddened slightly. Although his mother hadn't told them what kind of life she had in the Nan family, it didn't mean he didn't know. His mother had a very hard childhood. If his father hadn't protected her, his mother would have been gone long ago.
"The grandfather and grandmother at the noodle shop were very kind. Only with them could I dare to laugh loudly. But when I went there this time, I found that both the grandfather and grandmother had grown old."
Lan Yuxi controlled her emotions and continued, "When I went to the restroom, Grandma waited for me outside the door. She told me that during the four years I was gone, your father almost went there to sit for a while every period. He wouldn't say a word, just sat there drinking quietly. Once, he got drunk and told Grandma that only when he was drunk could he see me."
Mumu's tears fell with a plop.
Lan Yuxi raised her hand and wiped the tears from her face. "Grandma also told me that they are old and can no longer work, but because of your father, she and Grandpa have persisted, because besides that place, your father didn't know where else to find me."
Chaocao lowered his small head upon hearing this, and soon, a patch of the quilt was soaked with his tears.
Lan Yuxi tilted her head up, forcing back the tears in her eyes. "Your father brought me there, actually, just to tell Grandpa and Grandma that they could retire. Your father is not good at expressing himself. He does many things silently. This time, he brought me there without telling me the real purpose, so I pretended not to know anything, and you should also pretend not to know, alright?"
Mumu and Han Yi nodded their little heads vigorously.
"Mmm," Chaocao responded dully, then raised his small hand to wipe the tears from his face. "Mom, I'm sorry! I wronged you."
Lan Yuxi took a tissue and wiped his tears again. "It's okay, it's all my fault. If I had told you before going out, you wouldn't have misunderstood."
"It's not Mom's fault!"
Chaocao and Mumu said in unison, then got up and threw themselves into her embrace.
Lan Yuxi stroked their heads affectionately. Seeing Han Yi staring at the snacks, she smiled and said, "Go eat your snacks. Those snacks are what I loved to eat when I was a child."