Chapter 222 - 119: Telegram

Chapter 222: Chapter 119: Telegram

She woke to the fragrance of flowers and the chirping of birds. Opening her eyes, she found herself lost in Li Xiu’s gaze, as deep and affectionate as the sea. She lightly licked her slightly dry lips and, as if bewitched, slowly kissed the eyes that were always fixed upon her. Zhou Lian murmured softly, "Jin Chen, I adore you!"

His pupils quivered. And with the same soft-spoken words, "Bao’er, I adore you!" the two of them gave their hearts to each other, holding nothing back.

It was nearly noon by the time they got up again. Seeing Zhou Lian so delicate and drained, Li Xiu said tenderly, his heart aching for her, "Bao’er, you must be exhausted. Are you hungry? It’s all my fault. I couldn’t hold back."

She shot him a playful glare. ’I really brought this on myself,’ she thought. ’I knew Li Xiu was a hungry wolf, but I still provoked him. Who else is there to blame?’ But she couldn’t stand seeing him so cautious and guilt-ridden, so she said languidly, "I’m okay. But I am getting a little hungry. What about you? Aren’t you hungry?"

Carefully helping Zhou Lian get dressed, Li Xiu said softly, "I’m fine. Let’s wash up and go eat."

Li Xiu wasn’t lying. He really didn’t feel hungry. From last night until now, he was still so caught up in the excitement he couldn’t think of anything else. Perhaps this was what they meant by love being all the sustenance one needs.

They walked into the dining room, arms around each other. Sister Fang was busy preparing lunch. Seeing them enter, a smile naturally spread across her face. "You must be hungry. I saved some food for you. Have a little something to tide you over. We’ll have a proper meal when the kids get back from school."

"Thank you, Sister Fang." As Li Xiu helped her into a chair at the dining table, Zhou Lian smiled and thanked her.

Watching Li Xiu go back and forth serving the food, Sister Fang smiled and shook her head. "Don’t mention it," she said with a soft laugh. With that, she hurried back to the kitchen. ’After all these years, I still can’t bear to be the third wheel to their endless, effortless displays of affection!’

When Zhou Lian was about half full, Li Xiu gently stopped her. If she ate more now, she wouldn’t have room for lunch. Her appetite had always been small, so Li Xiu was always strict about managing her food intake. He was more concerned about her health than she was herself.

At noon, everyone had returned home, and they all enjoyed a lively lunch together. But just as they had finished eating, Li Bao rushed in. He looked at Li Xiu and Zhou Lian and said softly, "Big Brother, Sister-in-law, my Second Great-Uncle... he’s not going to make it. A telegram came from home. They want you to come back to see him one last time!"

Everyone was stunned. The news was too sudden. Li Xiu was the first to recover. "Who sent the telegram? Why was it sent to you?"

Li Bao was taken aback by his big brother’s question for a moment. But the matter was urgent, so he didn’t overthink it. "The telegram was probably sent by Li Guo," he said quickly. "The handwriting looks like his. I don’t know the full details yet."

After thinking for a moment, Li Xiu said, "Go back and make arrangements. Have your wife bring the kids over here. The two of you go back, but don’t take the children. Make it a quick trip!"

Li Bao nodded and left quickly. Under the circumstances, as a direct nephew, he had to go back. By rights, the children should have gone too, but his big brother had said not to take them. Li Bao couldn’t quite figure out why, but his instincts told him it was always best to listen to his big brother.

"Sister Fang, go pack your things and Yanyan’s things. You and Yanyan will come with us. Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, I’ll have to ask you to look after Nuonuo and the house!"

Mr. and Mrs. Zhou exchanged a hesitant glance. Mr. Zhou looked at Li Xiu and said, "Doesn’t Nuonuo need to go back? That doesn’t seem right."

Seeing his father-in-law looking out for him, a slight smile touched Li Xiu’s lips. "Sister Fang can’t take care of two children by herself," he said nonchalantly. "Yanyan is the eldest grandson; there are some occasions he must be present for, or it would reflect poorly on him. Nuonuo is a granddaughter, so her absence is excusable. It’s not a big deal. Besides, I doubt anyone will be paying attention to such details then. Don’t worry, Father-in-law. I have it under control."

Looking at Li Xiu’s expression, Mr. Zhou sighed. ’Ah, well,’ he thought. ’My son-in-law must know something if he’s not letting Nuonuo go back. He’s even bringing Sister Fang along specifically to look after Yanyan. I’m afraid there’s more trouble waiting for them there!’

Two cars sped toward their hometown. Li Bao and his wife, Wang Xiaojuan, were in one of them. Wang Xiaojuan looked at Li Bao with some worry. "Is it really okay not to bring the children back?"

Focusing on his driving, Li Bao glanced at his wife. "It’s fine," he said softly. "Big Brother has his reasons for not letting us take the kids. Don’t worry. Mr. and Mrs. Zhou will take good care of them."

Wang Xiaojuan shot Li Bao a look. "Of course I know Mr. and Mrs. Zhou will take good care of them!" she said with a hint of exasperation. "I’m worried about what the people back home will say. According to custom, the children should go back with us."

Li Bao scoffed. "It’s fine. Didn’t you see? Big Brother isn’t even letting Nuonuo go back. And he’s having Sister Fang go with us, too. Big Brother must know something."

Sighing, Wang Xiaojuan said, "Why can’t they ever just give it a rest? Second Great-Uncle is on his deathbed, and they still have the energy to cause trouble? Do they have any brains? All of them combined aren’t half as smart as Big Brother, yet they’re always stirring up drama just to get noticed. Is it that they’re afraid Big Brother *won’t* come down on them?"

"Just keep that between us," Li Bao chuckled, glancing at his wife’s indignant expression. "Don’t say it in front of Dad when we get back. The three of them, the old brothers, they’re very close. Even though Dad isn’t fond of Second Great-Uncle, it’s not your place to say so."

"I’m not stupid. As if you needed to tell me. By the way, do you think if they dare to cause a scene this time, Big Brother will put them in their place?"

Li Bao snorted, then spoke slowly. "He’ll definitely deal with them, but he’ll have to wait until after Second Great-Uncle... you know. Don’t be fooled by how cold and ruthless Big Brother seems; he’s actually the one who values relationships the most. In Second Great-Uncle’s entire family, I think only the man himself holds a shred of affection in Big Brother’s heart. As for the others... Hmph! Just you wait and see. If they behave, it’ll be fine. But if they dare to cause trouble this time, I’m afraid Big Brother will solve the problem for good. He’s put up with them for long enough!"

Wang Xiaojuan hmphed. "That’s true. But that’s only because they have the good fortune of not being around to get on Sister-in-law’s nerves. If they ever dared to mess with Sister-in-law, let’s see if Big Brother could still hold back then!"

"Are you kidding?" Li Bao said, looking at his wife in surprise. "As clueless as those characters are, they wouldn’t dare provoke Sister-in-law, would they? Do they have a death wish?"

Wang Xiaojuan replied nonchalantly, "Who knows. If they had any sense, things wouldn’t have gotten to this point. Forget it, let’s not talk about them. It’s just irritating. Anyway, I’m a niece-in-law. Aside from the necessary ceremonies, I won’t have much to do. I’ll help Sister Fang look after Yanyan. Sister-in-law is the wife of the eldest son; I’m sure she’ll have her hands full and won’t be able to."

Li Bao gave his wife an approving look and smiled. "My wife is the best! Sister-in-law really will have her hands full. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked Sister Fang to come along. Just focus on helping Sister Fang look after Yanyan. Sister-in-law is the kind of person who never forgets a kindness!"

Hearing her man’s praise, Wang Xiaojuan said huffily, "I’m not doing it to get on her good side. But then again, if you bully me in the future, I’ll go tattle to Sister-in-law!"

"When have I ever bullied you? Wang Xiaojuan, that’s slander!"

"What do you mean, ’when’? Just the other day..."