In the Lu family’s yard, there are many flowers.

Kouko is very interested in the flowers growing in other people’s yards and often stares at them, but he doesn’t pick them.

Before, he used to damage the flowers at home.

Qiao Wanqing had told him several times that flowers are beautiful and meant for looking at, not for destroying, or else he wouldn’t be able to see them anymore.

Now he understands and doesn’t touch them carelessly.

However, Qiao Wanqing can’t teach him to always ask, “Can I touch this, Mom?” because that would cover too many things and might stifle his curiosity.

So, she only educates him when he tries to touch something he shouldn’t.

Kouko sometimes tries to touch Keke (another child), but Qiao Wanqing doesn’t think this is a failure in her parenting.

Kouko is usually very shy and never approaches strangers, so she didn’t expect him to want to touch the baby.

As for not educating him right after he touched the baby, she feels Kouko meant well.

If every innocent action had to be corrected, he would end up too afraid to touch anything.

Still, she knows that Kouko is interested in babies, so in the future, when they see someone with a baby, she’ll remind him not to touch without asking Mom.

Telling him now would only discourage him, and he wouldn’t remember.

She realizes Kouko made a mistake today, but being lectured in a harsh way makes it seem like her parenting is terrible, which frustrates her.

Since they don’t know each other well, and the other person is acting “for Kouko’s sake,” if she responds angrily, they might say she lacks manners and is difficult to get along.

She doesn’t mind what people say, but since she’s now Gu Yanqing’s girlfriend and the future daughter-in-law of the Gu family, her reputation reflects on them.

She can’t ruin their image just to win a small argument, so she decides to limit future interactions instead.

“Miss Qiao.” Just then, she hears someone calling her from behind, startling her.

She turns around to see it’s the foreigner named Lort.

“Sorry for startling you,” Lort said with a smile. “You looked so deep in thought. I’ve been standing here for a while, and you didn’t notice.”

Lort was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt with a wide collar, and Qiao Wanqing thought he looked almost glowing in his fair skin.

His smile was dazzling.

“Not much, just watching my child play here.”

“It’s really hot outside. Why not go inside to sit?”

“There are too many people inside. I came out for some fresh air. Mr. Lort, you should go inside and sit down; don’t worry about me,” Qiao Wanqing urged.

Even though she felt fine, standing here alone with a man might lead others to gossip about her.

Lort clearly didn’t catch her hint and waved his hand, saying, “It’s okay. I thought it might be boring for you to be here alone, so I came to keep you company.”

“…No need, I’m going to find my boyfriend. Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Lort.”

Thinking quickly, Qiao Wanqing picked up Kouko to leave, but then she heard Lort say, “I know where it is. I just came from there. Let me take you.”

Qiao Wanqing thought, “…Seriously?”

Come on, can’t you read the room?

She picked up Kouko, who seemed a bit unhappy and pointed at a large bunch of blooming jasmine in a flower pot, saying, “Flower, flower, Kouko wants~”

“Flower?” Lort was confused at first, but then realized Koko was talking about the jasmine and murmured, “Even though it’s not nice to pick someone else’s flowers, you’re so cute, the owner would forgive me.”

“Don’t! Don’t pick!”

Before Qiao Wanqing could finish her sentence, Lort had already picked a small branch with flowers, saying, “Here, for you, my adorable little one.”

Qiao Wanqing: “…”

Kouko saw the small flowers in Lort’s hand and loved them, but he was too shy to reach out.

Qiao Wanqing was worried someone might see the flowers and say Kouko was misbehaving by picking someone else’s flowers.

Just as she was about to refuse Lort, saying it wasn’t necessary, she heard Gu Yanqing’s voice from the entrance: “Wanqing.”

Hearing him, Qiao Wanqing felt relieved.

She walked over, holding Kouko, and playfully scolded, “Where did you run off to?”

When Kouko saw Gu Yanqing, he forgot about the flowers and leaned toward him, calling out softly, “Daddy.”

“Yeah, my little one. Come here,” Gu Yanqing said as he took Kouko in his arms.

He then asked Qiao Wanqing, “Why did you come outside?”

“Just getting some fresh air.” She didn’t want to say more in front of others.

“I was just about to take Miss Qiao to find you, Mr. Gu,” Lort said as he approached, sounding a bit disappointed. “I didn’t expect you to be here so soon.”

“Is that so? Thank you for your concern, Mr. Lort,” Gu Yanqing replied calmly.

He wasn’t being overly suspicious, but he noticed Lort seemed especially interested in Qiao Wanqing.

When he had seen Lort holding the flowers and talking to her, it made him uncomfortable.

However, since Lort was also a future business partner, Gu Yanqing didn’t want to create conflict.

Given his temper, he usually wouldn’t tolerate anyone showing interest in his future wife.

“Let’s go inside,” Gu Yanqing said to Qiao Wanqing.

“Okay,” she replied politely, turning to Lort and saying, “Well, we’re going in now.”

Lort smiled and waved at her.

Gu Yanqing: “…”

“What’s wrong?” Once inside the house, Qiao Wanqing noticed Gu Yanqing’s unhappy expression.

“I’m trying to figure out how to negotiate with Lort and their company.”

“What did he do to you?”

“His eyes were not right when he looked at you.” Gu Yanqing said this very unhappily.

“…You’re overthinking it. My child is old enough to know better.”

Qiao Wanqing truly didn’t notice anything strange about Lort.

He was just a bit too enthusiastic, but thinking that meant he had feelings for her was either narcissism or paranoia.

Gu Yanqing let out a cold snort.

Qiao Wanqing laughed, “Mr. Gu, I didn’t realize you’re a jealous type. Don’t worry; I’m not that charming, so there aren’t many people who’d fall for me just by seeing me.”

“…”

What if my wife’s beauty attracts people without her knowing?

Instead of returning to the room with the other women, they went to a guest room on the second floor that had been temporarily set up for them to rest.

It was already late morning, and it was time for Koko’s milk.

He needed to drink formula three to four times a day, and he loved the brand Gu Yanqing bought for him.

Drinking milk was the happiest time for Kouko.

He no longer impatiently demanded milk like he did when he was younger, but whenever he saw his mom preparing it, he would excitedly follow her, watching the bottle in her hands.

At that moment, nothing could distract him.

Gu Yanqing loved to tease him during this time.

He brought out Kouko’s new toy, a chicken that could make sounds and even lay eggs. He didn’t know if it was a male or female chicken, but the most amazing part was that while it sang and turned on the ground, it would lay eggs.

It could hold four eggs in its big belly, and it took about ten minutes to lay all of them.

Once it finished, a valve would open and slowly push the eggs out.

Kouko loved watching it lay eggs.

Every time an egg was laid, Kouko would excitedly shout and chase after it, waiting to pick up the egg and hand it to his mom or dad.

“Kouko, the chicken is about to lay an egg,” Gu Yanqing said, activating the mechanism on the back of the chicken while looking at Kouko, who was eagerly following his mom.

“No, don’t!” Kouko couldn’t take his eyes off his mom’s hand, trying a little to resist his dad’s temptation.

“Really don’t want it? What if the egg gets squished?” his dad teased.

Hearing this, Kouko glanced at Gu Yanqing and saw that the egg had hatched.

The crazy little chick was running around and bumped into the egg, making it roll several times.

Gu Yanqing exaggerated, “Oh no, it bumped into the egg! Someone needs to pick it up!”

“You pick it up!” Kouko noticed Qiao Wanqing had already poured the milk powder and didn’t want to help at all.

“I won’t pick it up,” Gu Yanqing teased. “You have to do it, Kouko!”

Koko looked at the milk in Qiao Wanqing’s hands, then quickly ran over to pick up the egg from the ground and handed it to his dad.

He even pouted a little, as if to say, ‘This dad is so hard to deal with. Can’t he make things easier?’

Gu Yanqing was speechless, feeling like he was being looked down on by a little kid.

Kouko hurried back to his mom’s side, happily watching as she covered the milk bottle and shook it gently.

Satisfied, he said, “Neinei~”

Qiao Wanqing sighed, “You shouldn’t always bully Kouko.”

“I just want to know what’s more important to this little food lover: the milk or his toy.”

“That question is like asking a child of divorced parents whether they choose dad or mom—it’s too hard!”

“…That’s kind of true.”

But that comparison felt a bit unsettling.

Once the milk powder was mixed, Qiao Wanqing handed it to Kouko, who received it with a big smile.

He ran over to Gu Yanqing and naturally curled up in his arms, wanting to be held.

It seemed like Kouko, or maybe all kids, loved being held while drinking.

He would lie back with a small bottle in his hands, looking so content, like people in ancient times enjoying opium, as if in a milk-drinking bliss.

Gu Yanqing held him close and joked, “Kouko, can you share a sip with Dad?”

Koko immediately stopped sucking on the bottle.

He didn’t want to share, but seeing how much his dad wanted to drink, he struggled for a moment and reluctantly took the nipple out of his mouth, holding it out to him: “Here.”

Gu Yanqing was just teasing him and didn’t expect Kouko to actually share.

He smiled and pushed the bottle back, saying, “Dad already had some; it’s for the baby.”

Once Kouko heard that, he checked to make sure his dad really didn’t want any, then happily put the nipple back in his mouth and started sucking again.

Gu Yanqing couldn’t help but pinch Kouko’s chubby little face—his baby was just too cute!

After playing with Kouko for a while, Gu Yanqing took out his phone.

He first browsed the news headlines and then opened WeChat.

He saw that his cousin, Yu Chu, had sent him a message about ten minutes ago, full of apologies.

Apparently, someone from the Lu family had said some pretty rude things earlier, and without Qiao Wanqing’s WeChat, they were just trying to say sorry.

Gu Yanqing tightened his grip on his phone.

He didn’t know much about the relatives from the Lu family; he only recognized a few of the men and didn’t know the women at all.

He felt okay leaving Kouko with Qiao Wanqing because he had a good impression of Yu Chu and trusted her character.

But now, he realized she might have been bullied by relatives he probably didn’t even know.

Feeling regretful, Gu Yanqing looked up and asked Qiao Wanqing, who was packing away the milk powder, “Did someone bully you and Kouko just now?”

Qiao Wanqing paused her hands, surprised. “Did Yu Chu tell you?”

Gu Yanqing nodded. “What did they say?”

“Kouko likes Yu Chu’s daughter, Keke, and went to touch her face. They started making a big deal out of it, saying Kouko wasn’t taught properly for touching things and that I didn’t teach him either, using his age as an excuse. They even hinted that I didn’t raise him well when I was alone with him.”

Gu Yanqing let out a cold laugh. “Who do they think they are? Even if Kouko hasn’t learned well, it’s not their place to comment. Besides, it’s easy for them to talk when they’re not the ones raising kids, acting like their children are so perfectly taught.”

“Exactly! I was so angry but didn’t want to argue with them directly, so I used the excuse of needing some fresh air and took Kouko out. They even called me petty.”

Gu Yanqing understood that this was really about looking down on Qiao Wanqing because of her background and having a child out of wedlock.

He felt sorry for her and said, “I didn’t know their mouths were so nasty. I shouldn’t have left you alone there.”

“It’s fine,” Qiao Wanqing said.

She was angry at first but then realized it wasn’t worth getting upset over a bunch of strangers.

You can’t bite back after being bitten by a dog, so she added, “I’m not mad anymore.”

Even if she wasn’t angry, Gu Yanqing wasn’t the type to easily let things go.

After thinking for a moment, he came up with an idea.