Chapter 56.1

An An clung stubbornly to Jiang Rou. Despite her small size, the little girl—likely due to good nutrition from an early age, had a strong grip. Jiang Rou tried to pull her away a couple of times but couldn’t.

She tried to comfort her, “Mommy and Daddy will come to pick you up in the afternoon. Look at all these kids your age; you’ll play games and have snacks together. It will be fun, and the time will pass quickly. Mommy won’t have as much fun at school.”

An An twisted in her arms and buried her face in Jiang Rou’s neck, crying, “No, I want Mommy.”

She was impossible to console.

Li Xiao, unable to stand it any longer, took the child from her arms. An An resisted for a moment, but not having her father’s strength, she was soon pried away. Li Xiao held her firmly and placed her on the ground before grabbing Jiang Rou and running off.

Unexpectedly, An An chased after them, crying, “Mommy—”

The kindergarten teacher blocked the door, preventing An An from leaving. The little girl’s cries grew heart-wrenching, “Mommy—”

Jiang Rou’s heart ached at the sound. She had never seen An An cry like this and couldn’t help but turn her head to look.

Li Xiao also felt a pang of sympathy and stopped. “Alright, you go to class. I’ll stay here with her.”

He turned around and picked up the child.

Seeing her father return, An An’s mood improved slightly. She wrapped her little arms tightly around his neck, sniffing quietly. A tear, as big as a bean, hung in her eye, looking pitiful.

Several teachers in the kindergarten were at the door, trying to comfort the children, each holding a crying child.

Jiang Rou came back and patted An An’s head. “Daddy will stay with you in class, and Mommy will come to pick you up in the afternoon.”

An An still reached for her mother, but Li Xiao carried her to the swings. After playing for a while, An An’s mood gradually calmed down.

Seeing that Li Xiao wasn’t leaving and staying with their daughter, the kindergarten teachers couldn’t help but comment, “This is the first time I’ve seen a father stay with his child on the first day of school.”

Other parents, no matter how heartbroken their children were, wouldn’t stay with them at kindergarten. It was considered too indulgent.

But An An didn’t care. Once she saw her father staying with her, she began to play around the kindergarten, curious about other children who were crying and running over to watch.

—o—o—o—

In the afternoon, Jiang Rou had only two classes. Since the teacher ran over time a bit, she finished at four. When Jiang Rou arrived at the kindergarten on her bike, it was not yet dismissal time.

She parked her bike by the roadside, locked it, and then walked to the large iron gate of the kindergarten. The children were playing a game of “Eagle Catches the Chicks,” with An An stuck in the middle. Upon seeing her mother, she immediately left the other children and ran over, happily shouting, “Mommy—”

The teacher, seeing this, couldn’t help but laugh and cry, “Li Qingshu, come back, it’s not time to leave yet.”

An An didn’t realize the name was being called for her. At home, Jiang Rou and Li Xiao always called her An An, so she thought that was her only name.

Jiang Rou told her through the gate to keep playing, “You can only go home when the bell rings.”

An An didn’t go back and instead squatted by the gate waiting.

With just a few minutes left, the kindergarten teacher lined the children up to leave. Parents who arrived early could pick up their children, while those who had not arrived yet had to wait.

Jiang Rou was among the early ones and stood at the front of the line. When the kindergarten gate opened, the teacher handed Jiang Rou the backpack with An An’s name on it.

Jiang Rou squatted down to pick up her child and told her to say goodbye to the teacher.

An An obediently waved her hand, saying, “Goodbye.”

The teacher smiled, “Goodbye, An An.”

Jiang Rou helped her onto the back of the bicycle and, smiling, asked, “Did you have fun today?”

The little one had completely forgotten the morning’s unhappiness and replied with a sweet smile, “Yes, I had fun—”

Jiang Rou sighed in relief, thinking everything was settled. However, the next morning, she once again underestimated her clever little one.

The next morning, Li Xiao got up to cook breakfast while Jiang Rou was responsible for helping An An wash up and get dressed. After getting An An ready, Jiang Rou tidied herself up and checked both her own bag and An An’s small bag.

An An’s backpack was a diagonal strap design, but unlike the old clothes-made one from Zhou Hong, this one was a custom piece Jiang Rou had designed herself and asked the fabric store owner to make. The pink bag had yellow fabric trimmed with ruffled edges on both sides. It featured one small pocket inside and another on the outside, with the outer pocket adorned with pearl-embroidered flower petals.

The small backpack wasn’t very big, so Jiang Rou packed two handkerchiefs, some paper, snacks, and a hand-carry bag with a clean set of clothes and a water bottle inside.

After the three of them finished breakfast, Jiang Rou went to wash the dishes while Li Xiao went to gather his things. When it was time to leave, Jiang Rou called out to An An but received no response.

She turned to Li Xiao and asked, “Where’s the child?”

Li Xiao was also taken aback. “Yeah, where is the child? I saw her just now.”

The two exchanged glances and then went back into the house to search. They checked every corner but couldn’t find any trace of An An.

“…”

Jiang Rou called out softly, “An An? Come out, okay? We need to go to school.”

She crouched down to look under the bed but saw no one. She frowned as she searched through the cabinets, “Didn’t you have so much fun yesterday? Don’t you miss your new friends?”

There was no one in the cabinets either.

Li Xiao searched the living room and the bathroom but found no sign of the child. Suddenly, he said, “Forget it, we won’t go to school today. Come out, An An, Daddy will take you to the amusement park now.”

When Jiang Rou heard this, she glared at him and was about to stop him when Li Xiao quickly lifted the blanket on the bed and found the little one hiding underneath.

The little one, once found, giggled excitedly.

Since they were rushing in the morning, neither Jiang Rou nor Li Xiao had made the bed, and the blanket was piled up. They didn’t expect the little one to hide in there.

Li Xiao, laughing, picked An An up from the bed and said, “My daughter is so smart.”

Jiang Rou, irritated, hit him, “You spoil her too much. You scared me half to death.”

She had thought the child was missing and was prepared to go looking for her.

An An, with her messy hair, smiled happily and said, “Go to the amusement park.”

Jiang Rou replied sharply, “Go to the amusement park? I think you’re just being naughty.”

In the end, ignoring An An’s pretend crying, Jiang Rou and Li Xiao took her to the kindergarten. Li Xiao originally wanted to stay, but Jiang Rou chased him away.

“No crying. Stay at school today, okay? Mommy knows you can do it. Daddy will come to pick you up this afternoon. If you behave well, Mommy will make braised pork for you tonight.”

The little one seemed to realize she had upset her mother. She fidgeted with her little hands and looked at her father with a pitiful expression.

Li Xiao shrugged, “Your mom is angry, and I don’t dare to help you.”

The little one bit her lip and then tried to please Jiang Rou, saying, “No crying, An An won’t cry.”

Jiang Rou responded mildly, “Alright, but you have to keep your word. I will ask the teacher.”

The little one was led into the classroom by the teacher—looking back frequently.

After a few days of school, An An gradually adapted to kindergarten life. Although she still fussed every morning, she was seen happily playing when Jiang Rou came to pick her up in the afternoon. Once, when Jiang Rou went to pick her up, several other children even insisted on going home with her.

The teacher couldn’t hold them back.

On Friday, Li Xin came back. Her school had a strict management system, with students not allowed to leave and a half-month vacation schedule. It was rigorous, but the students’ performance was excellent.

Last semester, Li Xin ranked tenth in her grade. The teacher told Jiang Rou that if she kept it up, she could get into the top universities.

Compared to other students, Li Xin had some disadvantages due to her weaker foundation. She was in Class 3, while Classes 1 and 2 were more competition-oriented, with many students winning numerous awards and likely getting recommended for prestigious schools or going abroad. Classes 3 and 4 focused on serious exam preparation.

Li Xin knew she lacked talent and wasn’t good at competitions, so she dedicated herself to practicing problems.

Every half month when she came home, Jiang Rou noticed she seemed thinner.

In the evening, the family went out for a big dinner. Li Xiao didn’t come home that night as he had a dinner gathering.

They found a restaurant with good food and ordered four or five dishes.

During the meal, Li Xin told Jiang Rou that Chang Lei hadn’t been to school for a month.

Chang Lei was Chang Yong’s eldest daughter. Jiang Rou knew her and had heard that she was exceptionally good at her studies, even skipping a grade when she was younger, and starting high school at thirteen, making her the youngest in their class.

Jiang Rou frowned and asked, “Did something happen?”

Li Xin wiped An An’s mouth with a napkin and shook her head, “I’m not sure. She came for a few days at the beginning of the school year, and then she was gone.”

Originally, she, Chang Lei, and Ji Yu often had lunch together and discussed their studies, but recently, because Chang Lei hadn’t been around, she and Ji Yu hadn’t eaten together either, fearing others might misunderstand.

“I asked Ji Yu, he said her mother was sick.”

Jiang Rou remembered that during the banquet celebrating Chang Yong’s son’s full moon, Zhao Yun’s father had mentioned that Zhao Yun seemed to be ill. At that time, she had thought Zhao Yun was just upset. Later, Jiang Rou called Zhao Yun, but the call went unanswered.

Li Xiao and Chang Yong’s relationship was ordinary at that time, so Jiang Rou didn’t want to ask him to investigate.

However, if Zhao Yun was indeed seriously ill, she felt it was still necessary to visit.

That evening, when Li Xiao returned, Jiang Rou couldn’t help but share what Li Xin had said with him. Then she asked, “Zhao Yun wouldn’t have gotten into trouble, would she? Otherwise, why would the child not even go to school?”

Li Xiao paused his action of drying his hair with a towel. “I don’t know, but I heard that Chang Yong has been having a rough time lately. Earlier this year, he was injured by his brother-in-law and spent half a month in the hospital. After his sister found out about it, she was quite angry but didn’t intervene. Chang Yong simply stopped going home altogether. Recently, several of his projects have been encountering issues one after another. He even thought he was being sabotaged, so he took his son to a temple to pray to Buddha.”

Li Xiao was amused by this and couldn’t help but think that even if there were divine beings, they probably wouldn’t protect this fool.

Li Xiao knew that wealthy people were often superstitious, and those like Chang Yong, who were uneducated and wealthy, were even more so. When asked if he thought he was being sabotaged, he suggested Chang Yong find a master to break the curse.

Chang Yong seemed to have truly believed it and actually went to pray and burn incense.

Li Xiao found this amusing and thought to himself that even if there were gods, they probably wouldn’t help this fool.

Knowing Jiang Rou was kind-hearted, he said, “If you’re worried, I’ll go and ask for you.”

Jiang Rou nodded, “If it’s too much trouble, just forget it.”

Li Xiao threw the towel onto the dressing table and turned to embrace her. “What’s so troublesome about this? Chang Yong is in no position to protect himself. Even his brother-in-law has removed him from his position. Even if he gets angry afterward, I’ll just say that I don’t deal with matters between women.”

Li Xiao had always been open about his good relationship with his wife in business circles. People like Chang Yong might look down on him, thinking he was controlled by his wife and afraid of her, but there were also those who saw him as reliable. The latter were often very successful individuals.

Li Xiao also found something interesting: most truly successful people had harmonious family lives and marital relationships, whereas those who were moderately successful, such as executives in large companies or wealthy small business owners, often struggled with controlling themselves and had chaotic relationships with the opposite sex.

Li Xiao quickly gathered information and the next day reported that Zhao Yun was in Room 1402 of the VIP ward at The No.6 Hospital. “Fei Fei told me that Chang Yong had known about her hospitalization for a long time but had never visited. The couple’s relationship was very strained. As for the details of her condition, Fei Fei didn’t know. He was no longer interested in dealing with Chang Yong’s matters. Fei Fei thought Chang Yong was unreliable and was planning to look for a new job.”

When Li Xiao inquired about the situation, Fei Fei poured out his grievances. He mentioned that since Li Xiao had left, Chang Yong had gone through seven or eight assistants, none of whom were satisfactory. Fei Fei, once a capable engineer, was now tortured into being an assistant, dealing with all sorts of trivial issues, including supervising the decoration of Chang Yong’s mistress’s new house.

The mistress was also a troublemaker, she was constantly dissatisfied and picky. Spending time with her felt like losing several years of life.

Fei Fei lamented that it was fortunate Li Xiao had left when he did; otherwise, they both would have been in trouble.

Jiang Rou remembered Fei Fei well. When he first came to the southern region, he had worked under Chang Yong alongside Li Xiao. He was considerate and had a pleasant personality.

“He should be able to find a good job easily. Why is he still working under Chang Yong?”

Li Xiao replied calmly, “He’s not foolish. If he had left earlier, Chang Yong would have definitely made things difficult for him. Plus, he still had a mortgage on a property.”

Now that his mortgage was paid off and he was no longer optimistic about Chang Yong, he naturally had other plans.

Fei Fei was sharp. If he spoke so openly, it meant that Chang Yong was indeed in serious trouble.

Jiang Rou nodded and suddenly asked, “Does Fei Fei have a girlfriend?”

Li Xiao was momentarily puzzled by the question and asked, “Why do you ask that?”

Jiang Rou was straightforward, “It’s for Dong Mingming. Her boyfriend, who is in the major crimes unit, recently recruited two new members, one of whom is a girl who looks decent. Although she isn’t as attractive as Dong Mingming, she is feeling insecure. Recently, she has been looking for quality young men to introduce to her. This way, she can both resolve her insecurity and have an additional spy to monitor her boyfriend.”

“……”

Li Xiao frowned upon hearing this. “What a mess.”

Jiang Rou was displeased. “What’s messy about it? I think the idea is quite good. Everyone benefits.”

He had no idea how difficult it was for men and women to find partners in later generations. During school, parents and teachers prohibited early relationships. By the time people went to college, most relationships ended after graduation. Once they started working, reality hit with discussions about housing and salaries. Her mother had even asked why she hadn’t had a relationship during college.

“I remember Fei Fei isn’t very old and looks quite decent. By the way, what is he like? Is he fond of partying?”

Li Xiao didn’t respond, thinking the idea was unreliable.

Jiang Rou, irritated, nudged him. “I’m asking you a question!”

Li Xiao had no choice but to answer, “He’s okay. He likes money and is a bit shrewd. Other than that, he’s fine. He didn’t pick up any bad habits from working with Chang Yong. His father died saving someone from drowning when he was young. His mother remarried later, and he was raised by his grandfather.”

Jiang Rou nodded. “That’s fine. Does he have a girlfriend?”

Li Xiao said, “No. He doesn’t trust women. His mother remarried less than two months after his father’s death. He’s just focused on making money.”

He turned to her, “You’re not seriously thinking of introducing him to someone, are you? Aren’t you worried that if it doesn’t work out, people might hold it against you?”

“What’s there to hold against me?”

Jiang Rou looked at him in exasperation. “I’m not forcing anyone to get married, just introducing them. If they feel it’s right, they can continue to see each other. If not, it’s just a meal.”

She felt he was taking it too seriously.

Li Xiao observed Jiang Rou’s nonchalant attitude and felt a bit uncomfortable. “Oh, you seem to know quite a bit.”

Jiang Rou wasn’t interested in his opinion and said, “On Monday, I’ll ask Dong Mingming about the situation with the girl. If you have time, you could also mention it to Fei Fei. Not all women are bad; she’s a police officer, after all.”

Li Xiao nodded. “Alright.”