Li Xiaoya rushed behind the door, where a small stove sat on the table with a kettle atop it, bubbling away.
Sheng Yuxiao was seated at the table. He picked up the hot kettle and poured Li Xiaoya a cup of warm milk.
Only then did he look up and ask, "Did you have fun?"
His eyes and brows were naturally sharp and cold, and now with his face stern, he looked even more intimidating.
But Li Xiaoya wasn't afraid of him like this.
She walked over and said, "It wasn't fun."
"Really?"
"Mm, I was a bit scared."
Sheng Yuxiao thought to himself that this was just talk. When she was with Ke Muning, she was practically sitting on top of his head.
Li Xiaoya quickly added, "When I heard Secretary Wang say you were coming, I got even more scared. I heard that stray bullets hurt a lot and can even kill people. I was worried you might get hurt too."
Sheng Yuxiao felt this was sincere.
He pushed the milk towards Li Xiaoya, his expression softening a bit: "So you even know what stray bullets are now?"
Li Xiaoya nodded, holding the cup.
Though it was Ke Muning who had taught her that later.
Sheng Yuxiao reached behind him and grabbed the beach hat he had bought, placing it on Li Xiaoya's head.
"Did you get heatstroke that day?" Sheng Yuxiao's tone suddenly became much gentler, "Are you still feeling unwell?"
"I didn't actually get heatstroke, Secretary Wang lied to Ke Muning about that. How did you find out?"
"Ke Muning called a doctor, bought medicine... and also bought you clothes, a hat, ice cream, and cotton candy." Sheng Yuxiao snorted with laughter, "I know everything."
Li Xiaoya couldn't help but touch the new hat on her head and said, "Then you must have also bought me ice cream and cotton candy."
"No, I didn't. Too much ice cream and cotton candy will give you a toothache..." Sheng Yuxiao took out some small cookies and a little dress.
Li Xiaoya opened the cookie package, took one out, dipped it in the milk before popping it in her mouth.
Sheng Yuxiao smiled, "You certainly know how to eat."
"Mm, I saw it in an advertisement when the village was showing outdoor movies." Something about twisting and dipping. Little Xiaoya had secretly drooled over it back then.
"Is it tasty?"
"It's delicious." Li Xiaoya dipped another piece and then fed it to Sheng Yuxiao.
What could Sheng Yuxiao say to that?
Forget about Ke Muning carrying her on his shoulders.
Even if Ke Muning hugged her and ran eight laps, he wouldn't be jealous anymore.
"Do you want to go home now? If you do, we can leave right away." Sheng Yuxiao paused, then said, "If you don't want to, I can stay and play with you for two more days."
"Let's go now then." Li Xiaoya said firmly.
Sheng Yuxiao felt a bit regretful, but he always put Li Xiaoya's wishes first, so after she finished her milk, he carried her out.
Secretary Wang was still sitting nonchalantly outside. Seeing them come out, he immediately turned his gaze towards them: "Leaving already?"
"Mm." The one who responded was Sheng Yuxiao, "You..."
"You two go ahead, I'll play for two more days." Secretary Wang put on his sunglasses.
With Sheng Yuxiao here, he couldn't play anymore, so he decided not to join the commotion.
Sheng Yuxiao stared at him for a moment, knowing his nature well, and didn't try to persuade him further. He simply carried Li Xiaoya away.
On the other side.
Grandfather still took what Li Xiaoya said on the phone seriously.
So he asked Wei Wenjuan, "Xiaoya said you brought something back? Did you?"
Wei Wenjuan was startled at first, then smiled helplessly and took out a small cloth bag, pouring out a seashell from inside.
"What's this?" People like Wei Xuanming were used to thinking about things in complicated ways.
He reached out to take the shell, about to turn it over carefully to check for any hidden mechanisms.
Wei Wenjuan said, "It's just an ordinary seashell."
Wei Lin blurted out, "Then what's so special about bringing it back?"
"Because Xiaoya picked it up on the beach, thought it was pretty, so she wanted to bring it back for you."
Just that?
Wei Lin still didn't understand.
But Wei Xuanming's expression had clearly changed, and he said, "Put it in my bedroom."
"Going out for a trip, and still remembering to think of this old man. The person hasn't returned, but the gift has to come back first. Good, very good." Wei Xuanming sighed lightly, then looked at Wei Wenjuan and his brother. Even his instinctive desire to lecture his sons was suppressed.
He suddenly felt that rather than not being able to communicate with his two sons, it would be better to let Xiaoya teach these two uncles...
After all, they listened to everything Xiaoya said.
And Xiaoya... was always considerate of them.
Asking them to bring back a "gift," wasn't that also constantly reminding him to be mindful of family affection, and not to always get angry with his sons?
A servant carefully walked out and asked, "Will the second young master and the little young master be eating here together today?"
Wei Xuanming didn't speak, just looked at them.
Wei Wenjuan said, "Let's eat here then."
Wei Xuanming was about to snort coldly, but held it back.
They didn't discuss Ke Muning's matter for the time being, because there were still many mysteries waiting for Xiaoya to return and reveal herself.
Only Wei Lin was so anxious, it was like his heart was being clawed at, extremely uncomfortable!
After dinner, Wei Xuanming kept back one of his trusted subordinates and asked him, "How do you think the second young master and little young master have been lately?"
"...Very good? Although they had an argument with you on the phone that day, it was all for the little miss after all. They were just overly concerned. Didn't they still listen to you afterwards? It's rare that they didn't hold a grudge against you..."
"Mm, they're developing in the direction of normal people."
The old master whispered a few words to his subordinate, who nodded and quietly went to take care of it.
At around 9 PM on Monday night, Sheng Yuxiao arrived at Jin City airport with Li Xiaoya.
On the way back to the city, Sheng Yuxiao told her, "When you go back, if they ask you what exactly you and Ke Muning talked about, what you did, how Ke Muning treated you... don't tell them."
Li Xiaoya didn't expect the last three words, and was stunned for a moment before asking, "Why?"
If she told them, wouldn't they stop worrying? Shouldn't that be a good thing?
"I didn't ask you about it the whole way here either. Do you know why? You're already familiar with Ke Muning's personality, you should be able to figure it out..."
"To keep it a secret between me and Ke Muning?"
"Mm, only then will Ke Muning truly accept you from the bottom of his heart and become close to you. ...You chose to go to Atari Island with Ke Muning for this result. So don't give others a chance to ruin it."
The temperature in Jin City was worlds apart from the island's, and Sheng Yuxiao pulled up her hat as he spoke.
"There are many people in the Wei family, and besides Wei Lin, you're still too young to know if there are others with ulterior motives. So it's better not to tell anyone. Only you yourself are the most trustworthy. Otherwise... if one day, Ke Muning hears those details from someone else's mouth, it will be fatal. He will doubt your motives."
Just as he finished speaking, the car arrived at their destination.
Sheng Yuxiao reluctantly patted the fluffy hat on Li Xiaoya's head.
The beach hat from earlier had already been folded and packed into the suitcase.
"Let's go," Sheng Yuxiao uttered.
He really wanted to kill all those troublesome things, he thought expressionlessly.
Li Xiaoya carried her small backpack, while Sheng Yuxiao helped her with the suitcase, only leaving after sending her through the door.
The servant once again joyfully shouted and ran in through the door: "Little miss! The little miss is back too!"
To better wait for Xiaoya's return, the two Wei brothers had stayed since the day they came back.
Hearing the sound now, they quickly turned their wheelchairs and rushed towards Li Xiaoya.
Wei Wenqing's movements were even faster.
He suddenly rushed over, lifted Xiaoya high and spun her in a circle.
Li Xiaoya hugged her little uncle's neck, also breaking into a smile.
The old master also suddenly sat up straight, but then slowly leaned back, his face nonchalant.
The elderly woman sitting right next to the old master couldn't help but ask, "Who is that?"
The old master said calmly, "A child in the family." Ke Muning's incident had further alerted them; before Xiaoya grew up, her true identity should be concealed as much as possible!
Wei Wenqing turned around, still holding Xiaoya.
Only then did Li Xiaoya see that there were two strangers at the table.
