Mommy, don't be afraid, I'll bring you blind boxes and scam you out of a wealthy family to

After seeing Grandma off, Duan Shimi and Duan Xianchen accompanied Grandpa home.

Wen Li and Duan Hetong had another destination: to visit their mother at the hospital.

The private hospital room was always so quiet.

Before each of Wenli's visits, the caregiver would clean the room and leave beforehand, leaving the space entirely to the mother and daughter.

Hearing the door open, Leon put down the medical report in his hand and turned around: "Li, Mr. Duan, you're here."

The little ones greeted him sweetly, "Hello, Uncle Leon~"

She skillfully moved her own little stool over and placed it next to the hospital bed, having prepared a whole bunch of things to say to her mother.

Adults also have information to exchange.

"Things are going well today." Leon handed over the report. "There have been no rejection reactions to the new treatment so far, which is a good sign."

Duan Hetong flipped through it; the medical terms were too technical, but it was clear that all the indicators were stable.

"Thanks."

Leon shook his head: "We should thank her."

He looked down at the little baby beside the hospital bed: "Every time she comes, she talks a lot with her mother. Based on our past successful cases, for patients in a long-term coma, familiar voices and emotional stimulation are very important treatment methods."

Wen Li didn't hear what the adults were saying. Holding Duan Hetong's phone, she showed her mother the photo album: "This was taken today, a family photo!"

"Grandpa and Grandma have made up and are holding hands!"

"Grandma takes a big airplane and flies very, very far away... But she'll come back! Liar, it's a puppy."

Leon couldn't help but laugh at her childlike appearance.

Wen Li leaned over the bed and said, "Everyone was so happy today. Mommy would have been even happier if she were here."

Duan Hetong watched them quietly.

Wen Li cupped her little face in her hands, her initial slight disappointment quickly turning into a smile: "It's okay, Li Bao, we'll take lots and lots of pictures when Mommy wakes up!"

Her little hands pointed in the air: "Mommy stand here, baba here, Pear in the middle..."

As she spoke, she smiled contentedly.

The person in the hospital bed was fast asleep, their brows and eyes relaxed, as if they had also received the good news.

Leon whispered to Duan Hetong, "The project is progressing better than expected, but the real challenge lies in the later stages..."

He paused, then laughed: "But I'm more confident than before."

Duan Hetong understood what he meant, and the two of them looked at the little bundle of milk together.

"She has a daughter who will never give up on her—so she will never give up on going back to her."

Even after Leon left, Wenli continued to mutter to herself.

Every time I visit Mommy, I feel like there's never enough time. Pear Baby has so much to say!

"Qiuqiu was picked up and taken home yesterday."

"Shen Yaya didn't come to school... Teacher Zhang said she's going to another kindergarten."

"Gugu said she wants to draw 'matching paper outfits' for Libao and Mommy—what are 'matching paper outfits'?"

Her small hand gently squeezed Wen Shulian's fingers.

"Mommy, I missed you a little bit yesterday and today."

"Hmm..." She shook her head, "Not just a little."

"Two dots, three dots, four dots..."

Counting and counting, it's like counting stars.

Then, the little one's eyes crinkled into a smile: "Now there are so many little stars, Mommy, wait a little longer for Pear Baby!"

As Duan Hetong listened, he thought of the little guy's glass bottle filled with origami. Was he going to add new stars to it again?

The little bundle of milk raised its head, its long eyelashes fluttering: "Baba."

"Um."

She asked without warning, "When Li Bao grows up, will she marry Brother Hui Hui?"

Duan Hetong: "...?"

How did the topic suddenly jump to this point?

Duan Hetong rarely felt this choked up: "Why do you ask that?"

"Shen Yaya said it," Wen Li said seriously. "She said she wants to marry Brother Shuo Shuo—baba, what does 'marry' mean?"

Duan Hetong took a soft breath: "It's about getting married. Does Li Bao know what marriage is?"

Wen Li nodded: "Just like my grandparents?"

She also remembered that in the rocking chair fantasy, her grandparents were celebrating what was called "the first wedding anniversary".

Duan Hetong had probably heard that children, when they reach a certain age, always ask all sorts of strange and unusual questions.

I didn't expect that I would have to start dealing with this so early.

"Honey, marriage is something adults do. Let's think about it when you're older, okay?"

Wen Li nodded obediently.

Then a new problem arose: "Baba is an adult."

"……Um?"

"Then, why didn't Baba get married?"

Duan Hetong chuckled: "Because I haven't met someone I like yet."

He tucked a stray strand of hair behind Wen Li's ear: "When Li Bao grows up, she should wait until she meets someone she truly loves before deciding whether or not to get married."

Wen Li asked, bewildered, "Baba isn't going to marry Mommy?"

The children in the kindergarten all have fathers and mothers who are married.

Duan Hetong glanced at Wen Shulian subconsciously.

He didn't know how to explain the complex relationships between adults to a three-and-a-half-year-old child.

One is his biological mother, the other his adoptive father; there is no love between them, let alone marriage.

However, this is too difficult for the little guy to understand.

Duan Hetong hesitated for a moment, then changed his approach to one that Wen Li could understand: "Your mommy and I are the ones who take care of you together. Taking care of you doesn't necessarily mean being married. Just like your grandparents, aunts, and uncles, they all love Li Bao very much, right?"

Wen Li nodded immediately.

Duan Hetong said softly, "Daddy and Mommy will always love Li Bao."

Wen Li's sweet, baby voice said, "Li Bao will always love Baba and Mommy!"

"And Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle Gugu..."

"And also, Brother Huihui, Qiuqiu, Brother Shuoshuo, Teacher Zhang..."

"Uncle Xie Lin, Uncle Pei Ji, Uncle Leon..."

"Grandpa Butler, Grandpa Wu, Grandma Zheng..."

Counting on her little fingers, she practically wanted to name everyone she knew.

Duan Hetong looked at her with a smile.

She loves so many people.

It is precisely because of this that she is loved by so many people.

-

Tan City Prison.

The heavy iron doors opened one by one, and Takano, dressed in prison clothes, was led into the visiting room by the prison guards.

In just a few months, he seemed to have aged more than ten years. His hair had turned mostly white, his eyes were sunken, and his chin was covered with messy stubble. He was no longer the handsome man he used to be.

People who abuse their wives and daughters are not very popular here.

The prison guards took "special care" of him, and his fellow inmates were "kind and friendly," which made his more than ten years in prison quite colorful.

Takano looked up and saw the woman sitting at the other end of the visiting room, and was clearly taken aback.

The woman wore large sunglasses and a mask, her legs crossed, and even her posture exuded a coldness that kept people at a distance.

Takano frowned, looking for a long time, but still couldn't recognize him: "You are...?"

The woman, too lazy for pleasantries, cut to the chase: "Where's A-Lian?"

Takano's lips moved slightly: "It was you...you...you didn't know?"

"I just finished my seclusion. After I came out, I couldn't contact A-Lian, and you disappeared too." The woman stared at him, her gaze quite intimidating even through her sunglasses. "Tell me, where is she?"

Takano unconsciously avoided eye contact: "She... was in a car accident more than a year ago, and she still hasn't woken up."

The woman's pupils suddenly contracted: "How could this be...?"

She suddenly remembered something: "What about Li Bao? I heard that you and that bitch surnamed Bai are both locked up—who's taking care of Li Bao now?"

Mentioning this, Takano shuddered reflexively, as if utterly terrified of the name that was about to be uttered: "She was... she was adopted by the Duan... Duan family!"

"The Duan family?" The woman exclaimed in surprise, taking off her sunglasses. "The Duan family from the Duan Group?"

Beneath the sunglasses, a face that was so bright it was almost arrogant was revealed.

It was none other than the national film queen, known as "the dream of the entire entertainment industry"—

Shen Yinman!