Yang Chen felt that he and Lin Ruoxi were both very unlucky to have met each other because most of the time, he was always apologizing to Lin Ruoxi!
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Yang Chen looked at Jane in exasperation.
Jane took a sip of her beer and scrunched her nose in response to the unpleasant taste.
"Why should I? Honestly, I think that the reason you refused to accept me is because of Miss Lin. I might be a genius but I am human. And my human side tells me that your divorce would greatly benefit me."
Yang Chen almost tripped, amazed at her bluntness.
"Can't you just help me? I'm still planning to hold a wedding with Ruoxi next month once the weather cools down."
"Can't you just get a divorce?" Jane pursed her lips.
"Stop bulls.h.i.+tting with me!" Yang Chen raised his voice subconsciously. "I'll never divorce her unless Lin Ruoxi herself asks for it! We've been through so much together from the quarreling to the cold wars! I'll never agree to divorce her just because of a woman who appeared out of nowhere! If I didn't love her, I wouldn't have lived with her till now!"
"But that's not what she thinks. Love is like a spring. Hurting her is like pulling on the spring. Sooner or later, it would lose its original form and never be the same again."
Yang Chen ruffled his hair. "Then I'll just push it back into its original form!"
Jane was speechless at his reply. She chuckled and said, "This is my first time seeing you so agitated."
"It looks like you really love her. I guess there's no hope for me then.'
Yang Chen realized he might have been too harsh on her. "I'm not mad at you. It's just the self-realization of how much I suck getting to me."
"It's fine, I understand."
"Then… what can I do to save this?" Yang Chen croaked out.
Jane contemplated for a while and replied, "You're asking me, someone who's never dated before, to give advice to a married man like you? I can only think of one thing now. But it's pretty dumb."
"It doesn't matter if it's dumb or smart, as long as it works!"
Jane lifted a finger.
"What?" Yang Chen was confused.
"One word."
"Yeah?"
"Wait."
In a noodle restaurant located at the shopping district, Lin Ruoxi, Lanlan, and Minjuan sat at a small table by the corner.
The air was filled with the smell of delicious noodle broth.
There wasn't much of a crowd since dinner time had pa.s.sed.
Lin Ruoxi sat on a chair, facing Lanlan and her nanny with an odd expression on her face.
To be more accurate, it was more shock and awe.
Minjuan felt embarra.s.sed and smiled at Lin Ruoxi apologetically.
Lanlan was blissfully unaware as she continued to slurp up her noodles.
It was hard for her to sit down while eating noodles since she was too small.
So she had to stand on a chair with a big bowl of noodles in her arms as she ate.
It would've been hard for any ordinary child to hold a bowl that was more than twenty centimeters wide, but it was no big deal for Lanlan.
What shocked Lin Ruoxi was the fact that there were already three empty bowls in front of Lanlan as she ate out of the fourth one.
"Ahhh!" Lanlan exhaled satisfyingly.
Lanlan leaned back to finish the soup before stacking it on top of the others.
She placed down her chopsticks and grabbed her handkerchief from Minjuan to wipe her mouth.
Right after that, she burped and rubbed her belly. "I'm full!"
Lin Ruoxi snapped back to reality and looked down at her own bowl. There was still half of it left.
Everything felt so surreal! She was already full from half a bowl and the kid in front of her finished four large bowls of noodles!
If Minjuan hadn't asked for an extra serving, the chef might not have been able to make enough in time!
Even though she knew Lanlan was no ordinary child, this was beyond her wildest imagination!
How did the noodles even physically fit in her belly?
"Sister, don't leave leftovers! Grandpa said we can't waste food!" Lanlan nagged her when she saw that Lin Ruoxi wasn't eating her food.
Lin Ruoxi couldn't help but blush. She was already full but couldn't stop lest she get looked down on by a kid. Having no choice, she tried her best to stuff the noodles into her mouth.
Minjuan carried Lanlan onto her lap. "Miss Lin, I'm sorry that you have to witness this. Lanlan has always had this appet.i.te. I was surprised at first too, but then I got used to it."
Lin Ruoxi smiled forcefully. "Minjuan, is Lanlan's grandpa her only relative?"
She had been wanting to ask this for a long time but it felt weird to ask Lanlan.
Minjuan sighed. "I… I'm not very sure myself."
Lin Ruoxi felt slightly dejected for asking. "I'm sorry for asking this."
Minjuan shook her head. "It's not that, Miss Lin. I myself am not too sure of her past. Master has never brought it up before."
"Lanlan has a mom and dad! Grandpa said my dad is in Zhonghai and he'll bring me to meet him soon." Lanlan interrupted them.
Lin Ruoxi was startled. "In Zhonghai?"
"Yes!" Lanlan nodded. "But Grandpa said Daddy is very busy and we can only meet him some time later."
Lin Ruoxi thought to herself, how could a father be too busy for his own daughter?
She looked at Minjuan in confusion.
"Miss Lin, I'll be honest. I don't know very much. When I first met Lanlan, she was brought to my village to find a nanny. My husband died very early and we didn't have any kids. My in-laws weren't good to me and thought I was a burden. I was saved from the abuse from my mother-in-law and given this job to feed myself. It's been almost a year since I started this job. Lanlan's past was just one of the things that we did not discuss and I did not dare to bring it up. Lanlan said her mom told her that she will come back to find her but I don't know how much of that is true. Sometimes I wonder to myself too. What kind of parents can be so cruel that they would abandon a cute daughter like Lanlan?"
Lin Ruoxi's eyes reddened as she looked at Lanlan pitifully.
Lanlan had already jumped down from the chair and was leaning against the window, looking down at the crowd.
Lin Ruoxi wiped her tears and asked, "Minjuan, how old is Lanlan? She should be about four years old now right?"
Her question startled Minjuan and her expression changed abruptly. Seconds later, she recovered and smiled stiffly. "Miss Lin, one may a.s.sume that."
"Hmm? What do you mean by 'a.s.sume'?" Lin Ruoxi frowned. "Is she three years old then? It doesn't matter. She has a good appet.i.te, so it's no wonder she's bigger than the other kids."
Minjuan smiled and nodded her head in agreement.
Lin Ruoxi could tell that something felt wrong but she didn't want to pry. "Will Lanlan be staying in Zhonghai permanently? If so, I can help you guys look for a good kindergarten, because it isn't easy to enroll kids nowadays. I have invested in several kindergartens. They would be more than willing to take her in."
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