Chapter 416: You Come Back Here

“Have you eaten yet?”
Not wanting him to keep asking questions, she quickly changed the subject.

Jiang Hong’s lips curved slightly, his eyes filled with affection as he looked at her. How could he not understand her little tricks? Of course she was trying to divert his attention.

But if he had really wanted to dig deeper into these things, he would’ve done so long ago. It’s just that he didn’t want to—because he knew everyone had their secrets. It’s just that the secrets his wife kept were a little different from others.

Besides, he felt that the less he knew about such things, the better. The more he knew, the greater the danger it could bring to his wife.

“Not yet. Everyone just wanted to get home quickly. Dinner was simple—each of us only had a steamed bun,” he replied.

Li Yiyi looked at him with heartache and said, “Alright, then go take a hot shower first. The hot water’s been kept ready at home by the three elders. I’ll go make you something to eat. How about noodles? We had chicken for dinner and there’s still some chicken broth left. I’ll use it for your noodles, okay?”

Just hearing that made Jiang Hong’s stomach growl. He nodded.
“Alright, I’ll leave my dinner in your hands. I’ll go take a shower first,” he said, then leaned forward and gently kissed her on the forehead.

Li Yiyi’s heart started pounding like a startled fawn, and her cheeks flushed warm.

Even though they were already an old married couple, whenever they got affectionate, her traitorous little heart still got shy.

“Alright, hurry and take your shower. I’m going to cook your noodles now.”
With that, she pushed him away with a red face and turned toward the kitchen.

---

Meanwhile, in another room, Father Jiang, who was sleeping soundly, was suddenly startled awake. Once he fully woke up, he heard voices outside.

He immediately recognized his son’s voice and hurried to get up.

“Wait, where are you going?”
Just as he sat up and was about to get out of bed, his wife’s voice stopped him from behind.

Father Jiang paused and turned to look at his wife, who was also getting up.
“Old woman, didn’t you hear? Our third son is back. I want to go out and see if he’s eaten.”

Just as he moved to get out of bed again, placing his left leg on the floor, his left arm was pulled back by his wife.

“You come back here!” Mother Jiang snapped, yanking him back into bed.

“What are you going out for? Do you need to? His wife is out there. The two of them are whispering sweet nothings to each other, and you want to barge in? Get back into bed and sleep. Don’t worry, even if your son skips a meal, he’ll be fine. Besides, doesn’t he have a wife now? You think she’d let him go hungry?” She shoved him back under the covers.

Father Jiang lay in bed and thought about it—his wife did have a point. His son had his wife now. What was the point of a father rushing out there? He’d just be disturbing the young couple.

“Thanks, old woman. I almost went out there. You’re right—he has his wife to take care of him. Me going out would’ve been awkward. Alright, I’ll stay put and sleep,” he said cheerfully.

---

At that moment, the couple in the dining room had no idea what had just gone down in the other room.

Smelling the fragrant noodles his wife had made for him, Jiang Hong began to eat heartily. The broth—enhanced by chicken stock—made it taste absolutely divine.

After eating, he even washed his own bowl and chopsticks. When he returned to their room, the two lay in bed chatting for a while before finally falling asleep in each other’s arms.

---

The next morning, when the siblings saw that their father had come home, they excitedly each grabbed one of his arms and shouted with glee.

“Dad! When did you get back? Didn’t Mom say you wouldn’t be home until today?” Jiang Zhanpeng asked, grinning.

Jiang Hong ruffled both of their heads affectionately and replied, “I was supposed to come back today, but I missed you both too much, so I sped things up a little. What? You’re not happy to see me?”

“How could I not be? I was hoping you’d come back earlier! I missed you and Mom so much!” Jiang Zhanpeng hurriedly expressed his feelings.

Just as he finished, a sudden giggle ruined the warm and fuzzy mood.

Jiang Hong followed the sound and quickly found the source—it was his daughter.

Jiang Zhanpeng looked nervously at his laughing sister and quickly blinked at her several times.

But Jiang Yueyue acted as if she didn’t see it. She looked up at Jiang Hong and said,
“Dad, don’t listen to him. I think he wasn’t happy about you coming back early—he was scared. Honestly, while you and Mom were gone, he practically ruled the school. The teacher even called home asking for a parent to come in.”

Jiang Hong immediately turned his gaze toward his younger son, who was trying to sneak away, and called him out, “You little rascal, don’t go anywhere. Tell me, why did the teacher say we needed to come to school? What did you do?”

Realizing he couldn’t escape, little Jiang Zhanpeng stopped in his tracks, bit his lip, then turned around and gave his dad a flattering smile.

“Dad, it’s not entirely my fault, okay? It’s like this—one day on my way to school, I saw someone asking my classmates about our traditional Chinese medicine factory. I didn’t think he looked like a good guy, so I threw a rock at him. I didn’t expect him to be such a tattletale and go report me to the school.”

Jiang Hong caught a key point in his son’s words.
“You just said someone was asking your classmates about our TCM factory? Are you sure they were asking about the factory?”

“How could I get that wrong? I heard it loud and clear—both ears, no mistake!” the little guy said seriously, full of conviction.

Jiang Hong pursed his lips and, after a moment of silence, asked, “And afterward? You didn’t see him again?”

“Nope, didn’t see him again. But if I ever do, I definitely won’t let him off. What a petty guy, running to the school just to report me. I say he’s the real bad guy!” Zhanpeng huffed angrily at the memory.

“Alright, got it. Still, you were in the wrong too. No big punishment, but I’m not letting you off scot-free either. For the next two weeks, you’re getting up early with me every day to go run two laps,” Jiang Hong said with a smile.

At that, Jiang Zhanpeng immediately looked like the sky had fallen. Grabbing his dad’s hand, he wailed,
“Nooo, Dad, just hit me instead! I’d rather you give me a beating than make me wake up early to run every day—I don’t want to!”