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Fang Yuwei rejected Chen Man quickly in front of the father and two sons and hung up the phone right after.
She felt guilty and did not dare look at the three of them, keeping her head down and sipping the soup.
“Yangyang wants some too.” Xiao Yangyang came close to Fang Yuwei, lifted his little head, and his big round eyes were full of longing.
Xiao Chaochao also followed over and mumbled softly, “I want some too.”
Fang Yuwei’s heart almost melted. How could she bear to refuse them? She immediately fed them a few spoonfuls one after another. Looking at the two delicate and lovely little ones, she felt deep regret.
How could she have been so heartless as to abandon them? What a sin she had committed.
While taking a bath, Fang Yuwei recalled that the key point of her divorce from Lin Yan was when she got back in touch with her junior high school classmate, Chen Man.
Both of them were considered good-looking and were stunning beauties who stood out in a crowd. After graduating from junior high school, Chen Man worked for two years and then married a rich man. She even lived in a villa in the provincial capital and had a son and a daughter.
Unfortunately, her husband later had an affair. The mistress was capable and successful in her career. She secretly gave birth to a son and directly forced her way in, gaining the approval of the ex-husband’s entire family.
Chen Man was a useless vase, but because she knew her place, she voluntarily gave up custody of her children and agreed to be driven out of the house. Her husband’s family gave her a compensation of 100,000 yuan.
She took the 100,000 yuan and returned to the city, rented a house to live in, and spent her days eating, drinking, and having fun.
According to Chen Man’s logic, the average monthly salary at that time was only a few hundred yuan. If she put the 100,000 yuan in the bank, with interest, she could spend it for more than twenty years. By then, her son would have grown up and inherited the family business, and it would be easy for him to support her.
After hearing that Fang Yuwei had married Lin Yan, had nothing, and even gave birth to two children, Chen Man felt she had suffered a big loss. She told her to never take the children with her and even said she had always hired nannies to take care of her kids. She told her not to suffer with Lin Yan.
Chen Man kept saying that Lin Yan had ruined Fang Yuwei and insisted on taking her out to see the world. During that time, she often brought a rich second-generation man named Haohao to pick her up and take her to KTV.
Over time, Fang Yuwei got used to the life of luxury and indulgence. How could she still look favorably upon a teaching job and Lin Yan?
In reality, it was nothing more than a boring hunt for the rich second-generation. Wang Haohao took a liking to Fang Yuwei and wanted to play with her. Once he had enough, he would throw her aside.
Once you entered that circle, how could you possibly settle down and earn money? You could only keep becoming a plaything for one man after another until you aged and lost your looks, and most likely ended in tragedy.
Fang Yuwei finished her bath and was getting ready to go outside to blow dry her hair.
The dormitory was small. At that moment, the door was closed. The two little ones were playing with building blocks in the only available space near the door.
“Can I go out?” Fang Yuwei lowered her head and asked them.
The two didn’t respond and continued playing with their blocks.
Thinking her voice was too soft, Fang Yuwei asked again.
They still didn’t react. Xiao Yangyang even moved a bit to block the center of the door, while Xiao Chaochao sat closer to his brother’s side. The two of them blocked the door completely.
Fang Yuwei looked at them and thought they were just too absorbed in their play. Not wanting to disturb them, she sat at her desk to dry her hair and picked up a book to read.
She had eaten early, taken a bath, and had time to read. Tomorrow was the weekend and she didn’t have to work overtime.
Fang Yuwei was moved to tears by the happiness of such a life.
“Chaochao, Yangyang, come take a bath.” Lin Yan finished washing the dishes and came out to call them.
Two little heads lifted and looked at Lin Yan.
Fang Yuwei also looked away from her book and felt a little hurt.
Why didn’t they listen to her just now? Was it because she usually wasn’t the one taking care of them? But she had just fed them soup.
“Just a little more time.” Xiao Yangyang said to Lin Yan.
Lin Yan said, “Dad has the water and clothes ready. Come over now.”
“Okay——”
The bathroom was small. With Lin Yan and the two children inside, it was already very crowded. Since Fang Yuwei had never helped bathe the kids before, she decided not to get in the way.
She flipped another page and continued reading.
After Lin Yan finished preparing everything, he waved at them. The two little ones looked over at Fang Yuwei and, seeing she was reading seriously, got up and ran to their father.
Time to bathe quickly.
Fang Yuwei read a page, touched her still damp hair, got up to open the door, and intended to go out to blow her hair.
Just as she opened the door, sounds came from the bathroom.
The two little ones suddenly burst into tears, not letting Lin Yan take off their clothes. They ran out of the bathroom and startled Fang Yuwei. Before she could say anything, they clung to her legs, tears rolling down their cheeks like peas. “Mom, don’t go. Mom——”
“Mom, don’t leave me and Dad——”
They hugged her tightly and cried loudly. Fang Yuwei saw their flushed little faces and teary eyes. When she realized what was going on, she felt like the worst person in the world.
She closed the door, squatted down, stroked their little heads, and comforted them, saying, “Mom’s just going out to get some air. I’m not leaving. Don’t cry, don’t cry.”
“Mom——”
“Wuwuwu——”
The two soft and sweet little ones squeezed into her arms and clung tightly to her neck with their small hands, refusing to let go. Their eyes were filled with tears, and they kept sobbing.
Fang Yuwei’s heart ached terribly. She hugged them and kept promising she wasn’t going anywhere.
The two little ones refused to take a bath unless Fang Yuwei brought them. For the first time, she and Lin Yan bathed the children together.
The bathroom was too small, so Fang Yuwei stood outside. After Xiao Yangyang finished bathing, she dried his body and hair, then quickly helped him get dressed.
Once he was dressed, Fang Yuwei carried him out.
The freshly bathed child was fragrant and soft, such a tiny little thing. Fang Yuwei suppressed her urge to nibble on him as she carried him to the bed.
“Mom, you have to dry my feet, there’s water,” Xiao Yangyang wrapped his arms around Fang Yuwei’s neck, lying on her shoulder and speaking in a soft, milky voice. His little hand pointed at a nearby towel. “Use that one to dry.”
Fang Yuwei freed one hand and used the towel to dry his feet.
“You have to dry it for a long time,” he pouted as he spoke.
“Mm.” Fang Yuwei wiped repeatedly many times before placing him on the bed.
Inside the bathroom, Lin Yan picked up a towel to dry Xiao Chaochao’s body. Chaochao pouted and pushed Lin Yan’s hand away, stepping farther back.
How could Lin Yan not know what his eldest son was thinking? He gently coaxed in a soft voice, “What if you catch a cold?”
Xiao Chaochao looked aggrieved but still pushed his hand away and took two steps back. He looked toward the door, and a mist of tears welled up in his dark and clear eyes.
Lin Yan’s throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, unable to say a word for a moment.
“Are you done bathing?” Fang Yuwei’s clear voice came from outside. She walked in and saw her son standing to the side. “Come here and dry off quickly or you’ll catch a cold and get sick.”
Xiao Chaochao quickly walked over to Fang Yuwei and obediently let her dry his hair and body.
“You smell so nice.”
Fang Yuwei said this, and Xiao Chaochao’s little face instantly bloomed into a smile. “I take a bath every day, I always smell this good.”
So Mom has to dry his hair and dress him every day too.
“I smell good too!” Xiao Yangyang’s voice came from outside. He was bouncing on the bed, continuously emphasizing, “I smell good every day, Teacher Fu said I smell good, and Xiao Mei also said I smell good.”
“Fragrant fragrant fragrant, everyone smells good.” Fang Yuwei picked up Xiao Chaochao and went outside to dry his feet.
Lin Yan watched as Xiao Chaochao happily clung to her. His eyes rippled with emotion. The children, after all, were carried in her womb for ten months and birthed by her. He never felt jealous of their closeness to her.
After the family got everything settled and went to bed, it was just past eight in the evening, still early.
There were no mobile phones or television, but Fang Yuwei felt an unusual peace and picked up a book to read.
“Tell us a story.”
“Story time!”
The two little ones brought over a fairy tale book and asked Lin Yan to tell them a bedtime story.
Lin Yan sat on the bed and flipped to the first page of the story. His warm and gentle voice rang out, “The story of the three little pigs. In a distant mountain village, there lived a pig mother—”
He read the story seriously, and the two children listened quietly.
Fang Yuwei had originally been reading, but she was gradually drawn in by Lin Yan. Not because the story was particularly captivating, but because of his voice—low, soft, magnetic, and pleasantly resonant.
When Lin Yan finished reading one page and saw that besides the children, Fang Yuwei was also listening to the story, his page-turning hand paused for a moment and he couldn’t help but clear his throat.
One story, then another, then another—
Lin Yan kept reading until Xiao Chaochao reminded him, “Dad, Mom fell asleep.”
Hearing this, Lin Yan stopped speaking.
Fang Yuwei was lying on her side, hands under her head, eyes closed, already fast asleep.
Xiao Yangyang excitedly crawled a few steps on the big bed and said with a grin, “Dad put Mom to sleep!”
Lin Yan stopped him. “Sleep quietly.”
“Don’t wake Mom.” Xiao Chaochao pulled his brother back, speaking seriously.
Xiao Yangyang obediently retreated, pulled his thin blanket over himself, and lay down with a satisfied expression. He glanced at Fang Yuwei several more times, his small eyes squinting with laughter.
By the time Lin Yan closed the book, the two little ones were already asleep.
Looking at their sleeping faces, then at the peacefully sleeping Fang Yuwei, Lin Yan gently pulled the thin blanket over her.
Normally by this time, the children would already be asleep, but they had stayed awake, forcing themselves not to sleep, out of fear that Fang Yuwei might go out again.
Even though they were small, they understood everything. It was precisely because of this that he felt heartache and guilt.
Lin Yan sighed countless times in his heart. He was not trying to restrict Fang Yuwei’s freedom. He knew about her dissatisfaction and also felt that he had wronged her. He wanted to make it up to her.
But the two of them kept drifting farther and farther apart.
He no longer knew what to do.
*
The next day.
Fang Yuwei had another full night’s sleep.
She woke up naturally without an alarm. When she pulled open the curtain, she saw Lin Yan taking the two little ones out. Her sleepiness instantly vanished. “Where are you all going?”
Why didn’t anyone call her, just left her at home alone?
How mean.
Xiao Yangyang said, “Mom, we are going to help Dad.”
Fang Yuwei understood—they were going to help at the breakfast shop. She didn’t want to stay home alone, so she said, “Wait for me, I’m coming too.”
Lin Yan thought she hadn’t understood and reminded her, “We’re going to the breakfast shop.”
She had never gone with him before. She never got up early and never wanted to help. On weekends and during holidays, it was always him taking the kids over, because she didn’t know how to take care of them.
Fang Yuwei replied, “I know, wait for me.”
The two little ones nodded wildly, obediently standing to the side. Xiao Chaochao even said to her, “Mom, no rush, take your time.”
Fang Yuwei’s heart felt so warm. “Mom will be quick.”
After she finished getting ready and was about to go out with them, Lin Yan reminded her, “Put on a hat, the sun will be out when we come back.”
Fang Yuwei then found a hat to wear before going out.
The breakfast shop was not far from the school gate, so they didn’t need to drive. The family walked there together.
At first, the two little ones stood beside Lin Yan, but they gradually ran over to Fang Yuwei. Seeing that she didn’t scold them and even looked down at them, chatting along the way, they became even more talkative.
Children were the best at observing expressions and were very smart. Xiao Yangyang was the first to gather his courage. He ran to Fang Yuwei’s side, reached out his little hand to hold hers, and said while pouting, “Mom, I’ll take you there. There’s a lot of yummy food.”
Even though he was already tired of eating it.
But Mom had never been there before.
Fang Yuwei turned her hand to hold Xiao Yangyang’s chubby little hand and asked, “What delicious food is there?”
Xiao Chaochao also left hid dad behind and ran to the other side to hold Fang Yuwei’s hand.
The two of them rushed to answer, “Dumplings, bread, cake…” “Eggs, noodle soup…” “So many yummy things, just so many.”
“So many, huh.” Fang Yuwei held one little darling in each hand, chatting and laughing as they walked toward the school gate.
Once they exited the gate, they needed to cross the street. Lin Yan quickly stepped forward and positioned himself on the left side of the three of them. When they walked to the other side, he moved to the right and motioned for the cars to slow down.
One adult and two children followed Lin Yan across the road.
“Mom, sit here.”
The two little ones pulled Fang Yuwei into the shelter. As soon as they found an empty seat, they tried to get her to sit down. Xiao Chaochao didn’t want to let go of Mom’s hand and also tried to pull out the chair for her. He was so anxious that he almost stomped his little feet.
“Sit further in, the sun will shine later.” Lin Yan said.
“Let’s sit inside.” Fang Yuwei spoke and pointed to a table inside.
“Okay.” The two little ones held her hands and led her inside.
Today was the weekend. Since parents were not dropping off their kids for school, the breakfast shop’s business was a lot slower, with only a few scattered tables of customers.
“Aunt Wang, this is my Mom.” Xiao Yangyang called out to a dark-skinned and skinny woman not far away.
Wang Guihua put down her bun tongs, swiftly closed the steamer lid, and smiled as she raised her voice, “This is your Mom?”
“Mm, my Mom.” Xiao Yangyang’s tone had a hint of pride. “My Mom came with us to help.”
Wang Guihua smiled and looked at Fang Yuwei, “Do you want to eat something?”
Fang Yuwei gave a gentle smile, “I’ll take a look, you go ahead and keep busy.”
After hearing that, Wang Guihua didn’t bother her further. She quickly grabbed the buns that customers wanted and then called out to another auntie in the hall, “Li Cui, bring the buns over!”
The auntie she called out to quickly carried the buns over, took out a pen and wrote the price on a handwritten bill, then placed it on the customer’s table.
Fang Yuwei looked around and estimated that the shelter covered around 200 square meters. There were several big trees around, so it was fairly shady.
The innermost part of the shelter was separated into a so-called work area. Four aunties were hired in total. One was responsible for making noodle soup and dumpling soup. One was responsible for stir-fried noodles and stir-fried vermicelli. Every morning someone delivered various cakes and buns, which were sold by Wang Guihua.
Another shorter and slightly chubby auntie was in charge of cleaning the tables, keeping the area tidy, and delivering food to customers.
Because the shop was close to the school, it sold pretty well when there were students. But student arrival times were highly concentrated, and during those rush hours, there weren’t enough hands, so Lin Yan had to come and help.
“Mom, I’ll get something yummy for you.”
After speaking, Xiao Chaochao jumped off his chair and headed toward Wang Guihua. Xiao Yangyang quickly followed, “I want to get something for Mom too!”
The two of them stood in front of the display case, pointing with their small hands at several items. “This one, this one, and that one—”
Wang Guihua picked out a few items and then stopped, smiling as she said, “You’re getting so much. Can you finish it? If you can’t, it’ll go to waste.”
She seemed to be speaking to the two children but was actually glancing toward Fang Yuwei.
After she spoke, she handed two plates to the children, “Go ahead. If you finish it, come back for more.”
When Fang Yuwei heard this, she felt something was off.
From Wang Guihua’s tone, someone who didn’t know might think it was her store. But this was their family’s shop.
The kids were so small, how could they carry things themselves?
Other customers had their food brought to the table by the staff. Why was it, when it came to their family, that the two kids had to carry it?
Each plate had two types of pastries. The two children carefully held them. Just as Fang Yuwei was about to get up and go over, Lin Yan had already stepped forward and took the plates from them, then quickly walked over to place them in front of Fang Yuwei.
After setting the plates down, he went back and pointed at a few other cakes, “One of this, and also tiger-skin cake. One portion of scallion pancake too.”
“That’s too much.” Wang Guihua hesitated.
Lin Yan said, “Just take it. We won’t sell out today anyway.”
Wang Guihua slowly and reluctantly picked them out and handed the plate to Lin Yan.
Lin Yan said, “Make three cups of milk too.”
Wang Guihua opened her mouth but in the end said nothing and turned to prepare the milk.
Lin Yan placed the cakes on the table, then went to get the dumpling soup and stir-fried rice noodles he had just asked an auntie to cook.
“Wow—” Xiao Yangyang widened his eyes, pointing at the food on the table, and looked at Fang Yuwei. “Mom, isn’t this a lot of delicious food?”
He didn’t lie to Mom.
“There really is a lot. We can’t finish it all.” Fang Yuwei played along perfectly.
Xiao Chaochao thought for a moment, “If we can’t finish it, we can let Dad eat it.”
Fang Yuwei looked toward Lin Yan, who was bringing dumpling soup to a customer. After he delivered it, he carried two buckets and began cleaning the tables.
One bucket was for trash and the other for used cups and plates.
With him helping out, the aunties who worked in the hall had a much easier time.
“How much is the bill?” A customer who had finished eating stood up and asked.
Wang Guihua raised her voice, “Two bowls of dumpling soup, one scallion pancake and a bowl of soy milk, right? That’s one yuan and fifty cents.”
The customer walked over to her, took out money, and paid.
Wang Guihua accepted the money, opened the drawer below, and placed it inside.
Just as she closed the drawer, another customer came over. She greeted him with a big smile and warmly said, “Master Liu, what are you having today? Still meat buns and milk coffee?”
“Yes.”
“Then go pick a seat quickly. I’ll bring it right over.”
Wang Guihua handled everything smoothly, chatting and joking with familiar regulars. If you didn’t know better, you would think this was her shop.
“Mom, eat this.” Xiao Chaochao picked up a piece of cake and reached his small hand toward Fang Yuwei. “This one is yummy.”
Not to be outdone, Xiao Yangyang also picked one up, pouting slightly and saying in his childish voice, “Mine is even yummier.”
Fang Yuwei took a bite of each and nodded her head, “They’re both quite delicious.”
The two little ones smiled cheerfully and began eating the cake their mother had bitten into, overjoyed.
Fang Yuwei placed the dumpling soup in front of her, picked one up, gently blew on it, then fed it to Xiao Chaochao.
For hot food like this, she naturally assumed she should blow it cool and feed it to them.
Xiao Chaochao’s face was a little uneasy at first, but then he was overjoyed and immediately opened his small mouth as wide as he could.
Chomp—
He took a big bite.
“Good job,” Fang Yuwei brought the remaining part to Xiao Yangyang, who was waiting eagerly.
He also tried his best to open his mouth wide, but Fang Yuwei thought it was too much and didn’t let him finish it.
Seeing that their mother would feed them, both of them sat obediently, waiting bite after bite to be fed.
Fang Yuwei fed them dumplings and then noodle soup, worried they might choke, so she blew on it before feeding them some soup and then let them drink some milk.
She finally understood how exhausting it was for Lin Yan.
Feeding two children like this for every meal—his patience was truly commendable.
Her arms were already sore.
Lin Yan, who had been busy all along, constantly kept an eye on the children. Seeing the two boys just sitting there, waiting to be fed by her, he frowned slightly, quickly washed his hands at the faucet, and walked toward them.
The two little ones sat on either side of Fang Yuwei, so Lin Yan sat across from her, with the children beside him too. He picked up a pair of chopsticks and said gently, “Let Dad feed you.”
She had been feeding them the whole time and hadn’t even had breakfast yet.
When the two little ones heard that Dad was going to feed them, their faces instantly drooped.
“I’m already full,” Xiao Yangyang said first.
Xiao Chaochao picked up his cake and began nibbling, “I’m full too. Dad, you eat by yourself.”
They ate these same foods every day and were already tired of the shop’s offerings.
They just wanted their mom to feed them. Dad always ruined the fun.
“Already full?” Fang Yuwei picked up a dumpling, “No one wants another bite?”
She brought it to their mouths, and both of them opened wide and took a big bite, very cooperative—completely different from Lin Yan, who always had to coax them around.
Young children couldn’t eat much. There were still plenty of dumplings and noodle soup left. Fang Yuwei picked the dumplings for herself and let Lin Yan have the noodle soup.
“The food here is cheap and the portions are generous. Very reasonable pricing,” Fang Yuwei said with a smile.
Lin Yan pushed the scallion pancake toward her, “It’s because we’re near a school. It has to be cheaper than in town or there wouldn’t be so many customers.”
In town, dumplings and noodle soup cost one yuan a bowl. They only charged fifty cents here. It was all about selling in volume and still priced like a few years ago.
But since the space was their own and there was no rent, the profit was still acceptable.
“That’s true,” Fang Yuwei picked up a piece of the scallion pancake and took a bite.
The buns and cakes in the shop weren’t much different from those in town or even the city, but they weren’t made on site. They were all delivered in the morning by nearby home-based workshops.
Lin Yan made less profit because he sold them at a lower price.
“Mom, I want that cake,” Xiao Yangyang didn’t want the tiger-skin cake in his hand anymore and asked for the mini cake instead.
“I want to switch too,” Xiao Chaochao also threw his cake on the table.
Fang Yuwei saw there was only one mini cake on the table. Instinctively, she looked over to where Wang Guihua was, hoping to ask her for another. She caught sight of Wang Guihua tucking away money with both hands under the counter, her expression evasive, sneaking around.
Fang Yuwei’s eyes darkened.
Lin Yan had already split the small cake in half, “One half each, is that okay?”
The two of them nodded, then asked to give Mom a bite.
Fang Yuwei quietly withdrew her gaze, smiling as she bent over and took a small bite from each.
Lin Yan watched her smiling face with the children, his own expression relaxing, unable to look away.
After ten thirty, breakfast customers dwindled. Lin Yan went to the counter, counted the money in the register for the day, then took Fang Yuwei and the children back home.
“Chaochao and Yangyang are leaving?” Wang Guihua smiled as she looked at the two children.
The two little ones held onto Fang Yuwei’s hands, one on each side, nodding. Xiao Yangyang even emphasized, “We’re going back with Mom.”
After crossing the street, Fang Yuwei looked at Lin Yan, “When you’re not at the shop, it’s always Aunt Wang collecting the money. Do you think she might be pocketing it?”
Lin Yan noticed a car approaching and moved them to the innermost side of the road, “It’s possible, but I can’t help it. I can’t be there all the time.”
He couldn’t always be at the shop.
“Stealing money is not okay,” Fang Yuwei didn’t like this kind of behavior. Even with them there, she was bold enough. It was outrageous.
Lin Yan said, “She’s capable. I can’t find anyone to replace her for now. As long as she doesn’t go overboard, we can only keep things as they are. I try to be there during the peak hours.”
Fang Yuwei was momentarily speechless and didn’t know what to say.
After all, she wasn’t the one taking care of the kids. Lin Yan truly couldn’t manage everything alone.
The family of four walked to the teachers’ dormitory. The two little ones suddenly shouted, “Grandma—”
Fang Yuwei looked over and saw a petite woman in a wide straw hat standing at their doorstep. At her feet was a woven sack. She looked nervous and uneasy as she waited.
When she saw Fang Yuwei, she became even more tense.
Ayalee[Translator]
＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚