Happy Youngsters: Lin Miaomiao and Yingzi are vying to have babies!

Xia Donghai took a deep breath, adjusted his glasses, and looked very serious.

He wanted to put his hands on Xia Ze's shoulders, but found that his son, whom he hadn't seen for many years, had grown taller than him.

At this moment, Xia Ze very sensibly squatted down.

This action stunned Xia Donghai, and his eyes involuntarily welled up with tears. His eldest son was as sensible as ever.

"Xiaoze's dad is sorry. He hasn't been able to be there for you as you grew up over the past ten years, nor has he been able to visit you abroad."

"Old Xia, I never said I blamed you."

Xia Donghai chuckled and patted Xia Ze on the shoulder: "You little rascal!"

The phrase "Old Xia" doesn't mean Xia Ze disrespects Xia Donghai; on the contrary, it brings the two closer together.

At this moment, Xia Donghai continued, "Don't leave this time you return to China. Your Aunt Liu Mei and I want to see you go to university, get married, and have children."

These are Xia Donghai's true feelings.

Xia Ze, Xia Xue, and Xia Yu are all his children. He can be with Xiao Yu and Xiao Xue, but he can't be with Xia Ze.

For this reason, Xia Donghai always felt guilty towards Xia Ze.

"I'm not leaving. I'm coming back this time to stay with you and Mom."

"I just hope Mom won't dislike me."

Xia Ze smiled and looked at Liu Mei, whose eyes were also wet with tears. Of course, his words, "Don't dislike me," were just a joke.

He knew Liu Mei's personality very well; she was definitely a very qualified stepmother.

Liu Mei wiped her eyes and happily helped Xia Ze up.

"Don't dislike it, don't dislike it!"

"I'm so happy to have such a sensible son."

After the passersby realized it was a misunderstanding, they all left, and Xia Donghai and his family got into the car to return to Xingfu Community.

Xia Ze enjoyed emperor-level treatment throughout the journey.

Liu Mei refused to let Xia Ze carry the not-so-heavy suitcase himself; Xia Donghai had to carry it upstairs.

After returning home.

As soon as I opened the door, two elderly people rushed into the living room.

They are Xiaoxue's grandparents in the drama, but now they are also Xia Ze's grandparents.

It's often said that grandparents and grandchildren are closer, and that's certainly true.

When the two elderly people saw Xia Ze, they offered him fruit and snacks, and then asked him if he had suffered abroad.

"Dad, Mom, let's go inside and talk. Meimei is preparing a big meal for Xiaoze."

Xia Donghai and the others smiled helplessly as they were blocked outside the door.

Everyone returned to the living room.

Xia Ze was forcibly pulled to sit on the sofa by the two elderly people, and then a series of questions and concerns were posed to him.

As for Liu Xing and Xiao Xue, they sat curiously to the side.

Several hours passed before Xia Ze was finally freed from the care of the two elderly people after Liu Mei had prepared the meal.

The dinner table.

Liu Xing and Xiao Yu stared longingly at the food on the table, while Xiao Xue sat silently beside Xia Ze without saying a word.

"Here you are! The young man said he remembers you liked to eat braised fish in vinegar when you were little, so Auntie made braised fish in vinegar for you specially."

Wearing an apron, Liu Mei placed the braised fish in vinegar sauce on the table. It must be said that Liu Mei's cooking skills are indeed excellent.

The braised fish in vinegar sauce was a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate, and even Xia Ze found it appetizing.

"There's enough food, Mom. We can't possibly finish all this. You should come and eat too!"

Xia Ze saw that there were already more than a dozen dishes on the table, but Liu Mei was about to go back to the kitchen to cook, so he quickly stopped her.

We can't cook any more; we can't finish all this food.

Xia Donghai quickly intervened, saying, "That's right, Meimei, the refrigerator is only so big. If we cook too much food, it will be a waste."

“No, that won’t do. This is the first time our family has sat down together for a meal as a whole. This amount of food isn’t enough.” After saying that, Liu Mei was about to go into the kitchen again.

"Mom, when is dinner? I'm starving!" Liu Xing said, clutching his stomach as he looked at the sumptuous meal.

Hearing this, Liu Mei was about to scold Liu Xing when Xia Ze hurriedly interjected, "Mom, I'm hungry too, let's eat!"

Chapter 3: Xia Xue: Brother, you have to stand with me.

Hearing Xia Ze say he was hungry, Liu Mei had no choice but to give up.

Xia Donghai, who was standing nearby, very perceptively stepped forward and untied the apron from Liu Mei's body.

"Yay, we can finally eat! I want to eat shrimp." Xiaoyu's mouth was watering, and she grabbed a shrimp without hesitation.

"I want to eat shrimp too!"

Seeing that Xiaoyu had started eating, Liu Xing couldn't bear it any longer. As if he wanted to compete with Xiaoyu to see who could eat more, he picked up two shrimp and put them into his bowl.

At this moment, Liu Mei first put a piece of spare rib into Xiaoxue's bowl, and then put a piece of sweet and sour fish into Xia Ze's plate.

"Xiaoze, Auntie was originally planning to take you out to eat, but I thought about it and realized that restaurants aren't very clean, so it's better to cook at home. Please don't mind." With that, Liu Mei placed another bowl of soup in front of Xia Ze.

Xia Ze smiled and said, "To be honest, I really don't want to eat out. When Lao Xia contacted me before, he often praised your cooking skills, Mom. I've wanted to come back to China and try it for a long time."

"And you don't know, I ate steak, sandwiches, hamburgers, foie gras and other Western food and fast food all day long when I was abroad. I'm almost sick of it."

"I remember there are Chinese restaurants abroad too, aren't there?"

"There are Chinese restaurants abroad, but they don't taste authentic. They always try to modify Chinese food to suit foreign tastes. I've been craving authentic Chinese food like this for a long time."

This was indeed Xia Ze's true feeling.

Hearing this, Liu Mei felt a pang of heartache; this child had suffered a lot abroad.

She immediately replied, "If you like it, Mom will make it for you every day from now on."

…………

After the meal, Grandma and Grandpa returned to their respective homes.

Liu Mei was washing dishes in the kitchen, while Xia Donghai was busy tidying up Xia Ze's room.

Perhaps due to the parallel world, the house's layout changed from three bedrooms, two living rooms, two bathrooms, and one study to four bedrooms, two living rooms, two bathrooms, and one study.

Although the apartment layout has changed, the interior decoration remains the same as Xia Ze remembered.

"Sigh, I also want a private room."

Liu Xing looked at Xia Ze's room with an envious expression, but despite his envy, he didn't have any other thoughts.

"Sure, I'll talk to Mom later and we'll tidy up the study so you can move in, okay?"

Perhaps because of his memories from his past life, Xia Ze felt no sense of unfamiliarity with Liu Xing, even though it was the first time he had met him.

Not only that, but he also joked around with Liu Xing in a very generous way.

"No, no, no, you're my half-brother! If I tell Mom this, I'll get a beating again tonight."

Liu Xing is also an optimistic child and feels no sense of unfamiliarity with Xia Ze.

"Hmph..." Xia Ze chuckled when he saw Liu Xing smile like that, and couldn't help but think that this guy was indeed a source of joy.

"I have some gifts for you and Xiaoyu in my suitcase: the latest game console and Transformers figurines. Go find them yourselves!"

"Game console!"

"Transformers figurines!"

Upon hearing about the gift, Liu Xing and Xiao Yu rushed into the room like wild horses.

Only Xia Ze and Xiao Xue remained in the living room. For some reason, Xia Xue seemed a little nervous and reserved at the moment.

Noticing Xiaoxue's unusual behavior, Xia Ze chuckled and teased, "What's wrong? Am I a demon? Are you that afraid of me?"

"No, no, no... I just..."

"You feel that your brother has changed after so many years? Xiaoxue, even though we haven't seen each other for more than ten years, your brother is still the same brother who dotes on you and loves you."

Do you remember when you were little, you couldn't climb down a tree and cried for your brother to save you? Do you remember when the chubby kid next door bullied you and your brother avenged you?

As Xia Ze spoke, her vague childhood memories gradually became clearer, and Xia Xue's tension and restraint gradually disappeared.

"Brother, I can feel that you haven't changed at all since we were kids."

"That's right, I've never changed. I'll still spoil you and love you the same way in the future."

Hearing this, Xiaoxue smiled sweetly, perhaps because she felt much more confident with her older brother's support.

"In that case, from now on you're on my side, brother. Don't call her 'Mom,' just call her 'Auntie'!"

Xia Ze moved closer to Xiao Xue.

He knew that Xia Xue had not yet accepted Liu Mei and still harbored hostility towards her stepmother.