Don't mess with that Miao boy, he's sickly and perverted.

Even the eldest daughter of the principal wife still needs to be coaxed in the end.

After all, they had been fighting since kindergarten. From the first time they met, their personalities clashed. They would compare their braids, their hair clips, and even who lost their baby teeth later. Unfortunately, they were assigned to the same class in elementary and middle school.

If you were to ask when the two of them truly grew closer, it was probably one day when Qiuqiu's flamboyant confidence completely disappeared. Chai Xiaomi noticed that this annoying guy no longer argued with her or caused her any trouble.

Later, Chai Xiaomi learned that Qiuqiu's happy and fulfilling family had suddenly changed.

A father who died of illness, a mother who had a whirlwind marriage, a stepfather with ill intentions, and a broken woman.

In the blink of an eye, former mortal enemies became best friends.

A few days later, Chai Xiaomi let Qiuqiu choose a restaurant and then went to apologize.

Recently, while his wife was away on a business trip, Chai Mingde has been doing everything he can to reduce the time Wu Li and their daughter spend alone together. Almost every day as soon as Wu Li gets home, he drags her to the market to buy groceries, prepare ingredients, and work in the kitchen together.

7 PM.

The silence at the dining table was eerily quiet.

Chai Mingde poured two glasses of cola, pushing one towards the boy.

"After Xiaomi went away to school, and her mother went on a business trip, I was all alone at home, with no one to talk to." His tone was mournful, like that of a lonely old man. "Xiaomi went out to meet her best friend again today, and now it's just you left to have dinner with me. Come on, let's have a drink. My old comrade invited me night fishing, but I have to go out later and can't drink, so let's have this instead."

Wu Li was silent for a moment, then raised his glass, clinked it against his, and took a sip of the dark brown liquid: "This sugar water tastes really good."

Upon hearing this, Chai Mingde was taken aback.

A pang of sadness welled up inside me; this poor child had never even tasted a Coke.

Thinking about how much prejudice I've held against him lately, perhaps it's because of the intense look he gives his daughter, but then again, his daughter is so adorable, who wouldn't like her? Anyone who doesn't like his daughter would be crazy!

Thinking of this, Chai Mingde felt much more relaxed.

"How about trying Uncle's Squirrel Mandarin Fish? It's my first time trying it too. This dish is a local specialty, and the process is very complicated. First, you have to score the fish, coat it in flour, and then deep-fry it..."

"So-so." The boy put down his chopsticks expressionlessly. "Uncle, is there one fish left in the kitchen? I've memorized the recipe, I'll cook it tomorrow, don't waste the remaining fish."

Chai Mingde's introduction came to an abrupt end.

The air suddenly became quiet.

His heart skipped a beat.

Having spent half his life in the business world, what kind of shrewd, obsequious, and two-faced behavior hadn't he seen? This was the first time someone had uttered such words to his face.

This kid lacks emotional intelligence.

It may be hard to hear, but it's the truth.

He paused for two seconds, then actually laughed.

He suddenly remembered himself when he was young, when he slammed his fist on the table and cursed his boss, stood up for strangers, and charged forward even knowing he would suffer losses. Back then, he couldn't tell a lie.

When did I learn to smile obsequiously, to be polite, and to swallow the truth?

Only when I return home and face my family can I be my true self again.

Chai Mingde picked up the cola, took another sip, and the bubbles rushed into his nasal cavity, making his eyes feel hot from the spiciness.

"Go ahead and do it. I want to see what kind of Suzhou cuisine you, a young Miao man, can make. I've been cooking for over twenty years; I'm not going to be outdone by you." Chai Mingde suddenly remembered something and chuckled. "By the way, do you know how the name 'Xiao Mi' came about?"

Wu Li paused, her chopsticks still, and looked up at him earnestly: "How did she get her name?"

Chai Mingde immediately perked up: "I still remember the day Xiaomi was born, when she was wheeled out of the delivery room, she was all purple and red, her little face all wrinkled, like an ugly monkey. But unexpectedly, she grew whiter and whiter in just two days. When I saw her, she looked like a glutinous rice ball, and I jokingly said, 'Let's name her Nuomi (Glutinous Rice).' But then I thought, the character 'Nuo' (Glutinous Rice) has too many strokes, and it would take too much time to write her name during exams. So I decided to name her Xiaomi (Little Rice). My wife and I hit it off immediately, and that's how we decided on it. You didn't expect that, did you? That's so capricious."

"Later, as she grew up, she always felt that her name was old-fashioned and kept asking me, 'Dad, why did you give me such a name?' So I had a bright idea and tricked her by saying, 'Dad earns the firewood, Mom cooks the rice, and you are the little darling in the middle.' That silly girl actually believed it, hahaha."

"Doesn't she realize that her mother doesn't know how to cook?"

Chai Mingde was speaking with great enthusiasm, completely unaware that the boy sitting opposite him had his eyes lowered, seemingly staring at the rice in his bowl, but a subtle, almost imperceptible smile was playing on his lips.

As he spoke, Chai Mingde simply brought over three large photo albums and spread them out on the table: "I'm not bragging, but my daughter was really as cute as a glutinous rice ball when she was little. She was fair-skinned and tender, with a round face and big eyes. Everyone loved her! When she was four, she went to the TV station with her mother and was spotted by a director who wanted to train her to be a child star. But my wife and I didn't agree. Children should spend their childhood playing. Why should they earn money at such a young age? No amount of money can bring back a happy childhood."

As he flipped through the pages, he said, "Look, this is from her first birthday. She's wearing a little princess tutu, isn't she adorable?"

"This is a picture of her when she was three years old, feeding pigeons in the park. She chased after the pigeons, tripped and fell, cried, but kept chasing after them. She's very stubborn."

"This was during her school's Children's Day performance when she was five years old. She forgot her moves when she got on stage, stood there blankly for a long time, and finally bowed and went off by herself."

"This photo was taken when she was seven, learning to ride a bicycle. She fell countless times, her knees were covered in bruises, and she wouldn't let anyone help her. Don't let her tendency to cry and her laziness fool you; if she's really set her mind on something, she'll see it through to the end..."

Chai Mingde was in high spirits, flipping through the photos one by one, eager to tell the story behind each one.

Wu Li's gaze was fixed on the photo album pages, looking at them intently and quietly.

Even he himself didn't realize that his usually aloof eyes had shed their usual coldness and were now filled with layers of soft light.

After speaking for a while, Chai Mingde, whose mouth was dry, glanced over and noticed that the boy in front of him had faint redness in the corners of his eyes.

He slapped his forehead and cursed himself under his breath for being "brainless".

He's so busy showing off his daughter that he's forgotten about Wu Li's background. His actions now are like rubbing salt into someone's wounds.

"I'm sorry, Xiao Wu, did I touch a sore spot? People should look forward, not backward. A hero's origins don't matter; the past is the past. Let's not look at it anymore, let's continue eating."

He reached out to collect the photo album.

"Wait," Wu Li pressed down on his hand, "Can I read all of this?"

sad?

He showed not a trace of sadness.

He was clearly delighted, delighted that his wife had been so tenderly cherished in her childhood, and grateful that in the years before she met him, she had already been properly placed, carefully cared for, and deeply loved.

But then, an inexplicable sense of panic washed over me.

He was afraid, afraid that the love he had given was far from enough.

He regretted not meeting her sooner.

He regretted it, regretted that he had been so vicious and arrogant when he first met her.

How scared, how sad, how helpless she must have felt at that time...

Thinking of this, my heart felt as if it were being torn apart, the pain was excruciating, and my eyes instantly welled up with tears, revealing a thin layer of red.