Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At the park near the Li family house, Lin Wan sat on a swing with Li Zexinâs English test certificate in her hand.
âOh⦠I thought you found my cooking terrible and were intentionally finding an excuse to get rid of me. I didnât know there was really something you wanted to show me,â she said.
âIâm giving it to you,â Li Zexin said. âItâs the result of your hard work.â Lin Wan was speechless.
âI was a complete failure in English, and now I have improved so much. Isnât it all thanks to your tutoring?â Li Zexin drew a little red flower on the certificate.
Li Zexuan smirked. âYouâre a bootlicker.â
âThatâs right.â Li Zekai stuck out a tongue at Li Zexin.
Li Zexin glared at his two brothers. âBoth of you donât know how to repay kindness. Look, Ms. Lin, Iâm the most devoted to my family. When I get married, youâll come live with me.â
âIs he proposing to me to be his mother-in-law?â
Lin Wan shook her head. âIâll stick with Mr. Li. Heâs getting older and needs someone to take care of him. When you get older, youâre more prone to strokes. He shouldnât be alone.â
Li Yanchen heard that.
âIâm only in my thirties,â said a resentful voice from the door.
Lin Wan took a deep breath. âI really shouldnât be speaking ill of people behind their backs.â
âIâll still be agile at seventy.â Li Yanchen walked over to them. âWhat are you all discussing? Why are you talking about me behind my back? You make it seem like Iâm the most useless person in the family.â
âLi Zexin wants to separate from us, and he wants to take Ms. Lin with him,â said Li Zexuan.
âSeparate? Who said anything about separating from you? I was just saying that weâll all get married in the future. We canât live together after getting married. Since Iâm the most devoted son, she can come live with me,â said Li
Zexin.
Li Yanchen put his arm around Lin Wanâs shoulders. âIn the future, you should all worry about your own wives. Iâll take care of my wife.â
âDad, if I donât get married, can I keep living with you?â Li Zekai asked.
The two older brothers were stunned. Their little brother was actually the most clever.
âI wonât get married either. Wait, Iâm the oldest son⦠So, Iâm going to be in charge of the family in the future,â said Li Zexuan.
âThen, me too! I wonât get married either! â said Li Zexin.
Lin Wan didnât know what to say. She thought that the whole family sticking together would be a nightmare.
Li Yanchen frowned. âYou can all stay at home. In a few years, I might retire. Iâll be traveling the world with Wanwan.â
Lin Wan couldnât help but smile at Li Yanchen. His answer was truly unexpected.
âIâd like that,â Lin Wan said.
The three kids stared at their father.
âDad, in a few years, wonât I just be starting middle school? You donât want to take care of me anymore?â asked Li Zekai.
âExactly! Jiejie is only in second grade now. In ten years, heâll only be in high school. Itâs when we need our parentsâ support the most. How can you travel the world and leave him?â Li Zexin had a brilliant idea. The three brothers surprisingly reached a consensus.
âI meant âa few yearsâ in a general sense. It might be a decade or more before I truly retire. Regardless of that, Iâll take care of Wanwan. You three can go hassle your mother-in-law.â
The three brothers pouted. âMr. Li, we canât talk to you anymore. You can leave.â
Li Yanchen picked up a basketball and threw it at Li Zexin. âLeave where? This is my house. Iâll stay here, thank you very much.â
Lin Wan pulled Li Yanchen aside. âMr. Li, didnât you want to drink wine tonight? Weâre out of stock at home, I can accompany you to buy some more.â
There was a members-only supermarket outside the Royal Water Bay residential complex.
Lin Wan intentionally led Li Yanchen away. As they left, Li Yanchen held her hand.
âWanwan, weâll always be together, right?â
âYeah, back in my village, children who got married would settle in the city, and the elderly were separated. I donât want that for us. I wouldnât agree to it.â âThatâs good.â
âIn fact, you donât need to vie for their attention. No one is more important to me than you. Jiejie and the other kids are still young. When they find the people they love, they wonât want to stay with us anymore.â
âI know. I⦠also feel that Iâm so immature sometimes. But⦠when they say things like that, I canât help but compete. Wanwan, if only we had met when we were both in our twentiesâ¦â
Li Yanchen sounded regretful. He had only known her for a few months. She was still in her twenties, while he was already in his thirties.
âWho knows, maybe twenty-something me will really meet twenty-something you in another world. After all, if things like transmigration can happen, what else is possible? Next time we meet, I hope Iâm older than you, or weâre the same age. Then Iâll be the one chasing after you.â
âSounds good. Let me experience what itâs like to be chased afterâ¦â
In the evening, the villa was filled with life as the family gathered around the big round table to have dinner.
After finishing her spa treatment, Fang Ru returned home to find the Li family villa brightly lit. She went around to the door and rang the doorbell.
Auntie Huang saw that it was Mrs. Han on the screen. âItâs Mrs. Han. Should I open the door?â
âGo ahead,â said Lin Wan.
Auntie Huang pressed a button to open the door.
Fang Ru walked in and saw a table full of people. âIâm sorry for disturbing your dinner. Itâs quite lively here,â she said in embarrassment.
âHave you had dinner? If not, join us.â Lin Wan invited her. After all, she had already eaten some of their local specialty before.
âI donât eat dinner at night. Iâm on a diet. I saw your lights on when I got home, so I just came to say hi. You guys go ahead and eat. Iâll head back now.â
With so many people around, Fang Ru didnât feel it was convenient to discuss private things with Lin Wan.
âWanwan, if youâre free after dinner, come to my place for a while. Iâm alone at home today,â Fang Ru said as she left.
âSure.â Lin Wan nodded.
Lin Wan thought that if she stayed home, the three stepsons would probably want her to play some board games with them again. It might be more relaxing to go to Mrs. Hanâs house to chat.
In the evening, Li Yanchen was the only one left without company.
He turned on his computer and decided to research travel destinations.
Li Zexuan and the others went to a nearby arcade.
At Mrs. Hanâs house, there was only her housekeeper and Mrs. Han. Since Fang Ru started dieting, the housekeeper only needed to prepare her own dinner. Most of the time, she just had a simple bowl of noodles.
The housekeeper smiled when she saw Lin Wan at the door. âMrs. Li, hello.â
âHello, Auntie.â
âWanwan, I was waiting for you! Come, help me choose an outfit for the party tomorrow.â Fang Ru pulled Lin Wan along and headed straight for the closet.
This was the first time Lin Wan had climbed up to the second floor of Hanâs house. The layout and decoration of Hanâs villa were completely different from the Li familyâs.
âIs my house much smaller than yours?â Fang Ru asked.
âItâs about the same. The decoration in your house is very sophisticated.â
âReally? The decoration is the part of this house Iâm most satisfied with. I took full responsibility for it before getting married. Itâs everything I like.â
âItâs really impressive.â
Fang Ruts walk-in closet was much smaller than her own, and it was filled with all sorts of clothes in a mess. Lin Wan stood at the door. She was unsure where to step..