Chapter 1576 - 1578

Gong Ruini turned over, habitually reaching to the side, only to find it was empty.

Rubbing her eyes, through the light coming in through the curtains, "It’s still early, right?"

Gong Ruini’s hand reached under the pillow, feeling around for the time.

"Sleep a bit more, it’s six o’clock. I’m going to exercise." Zhao Xuran, dressed in his sportswear, walked over to Gong Ruini, tucked her in, and gave her a kiss.

"Oh." Gong Ruini didn’t think much of it when she heard he was going to exercise.

Unexpectedly, not long after, Father Gong heard his own son wailing; what was going on?

Gong Ruini couldn’t sleep soundly anymore, quickly getting up to rush to her son’s room, only to see Zhao Xuran emerging with a still-crying Pingping.

What was going on? Why was he up? Gong Ruini looked at Zhao Xuran in confusion.

"Mommy, Mommy." Crying Pingping reached out for Gong Ruini as soon as he saw her, wanting her to hold him.

"I’m taking him to exercise." Zhao Xuran wouldn’t give Pingping a chance, carrying him straight outside.

"You really should exercise." Although Zhao Xuran’s tone was calm, it carried an undeniable firmness, causing Gong Ruini, who had intended to dissuade him from disturbing her son, to abandon the idea.

"Right, go check on An An. I’m worried with all this noise, it’ll wake our daughter." There’s no need to be careful with the son, but it’s different with the daughter.

Yawning, Gong Ruini nodded and shook herself awake to check on An An in the next room.

Upon entering, she saw An An already sitting up, her little eyes anxiously looking around.

"So cute." Gong Ruini really couldn’t resist cute things.

Especially those big eyes of her daughter’s paired with her rosy, sleepy cheeks—truly adorable beyond words.

"Brother, brother..." An An continuously called out, "Daddy, daddy."

Poor Zhao Xuran, at that moment, Gong Ruini really wanted to capture how her daughter looked now.

Poor him, this father totally anxious about his daughter, hurriedly asking her mom to check on her, yet in their daughter’s heart, he was the one who took away her favorite brother.

"Daddy took brother to exercise." Gong Ruini, holding her daughter, carried her back to her bedroom.

It was truly early, and Gong Ruini, who was used to sleeping in, just couldn’t make herself wake up.

Exercise? An An didn’t understand the meaning of the word, but she knew daddy didn’t take her.

This made our little princess An An very unhappy. "I, I, want to go."

Gong Ruini had already placed An An on the bed, planning to go back to sleep. Falling asleep with her milky-smelling daughter was quite a nice experience.

Unexpectedly, her own daughter started getting fussy, "An An is still small."

"Brother, the same." An An deftly sat up.

Sigh, her daughter was so determined. "Brother is a boy, An An is a girl, brother needs to protect his sister."

"I, can too." An An didn’t understand the concept of "protect," but she knew if her brother could do it, there was no reason she couldn’t.

Gong Ruini was about to go crazy; no matter how she tried to persuade her, her daughter wouldn’t listen, just pitifully looking at her.

Seeing such a sight, what else could Gong Ruini do but take her daughter to find Zhao Xuran and the others?

Although Zhao Xuran didn’t say where they were going to exercise, bringing a child along, they couldn’t have gone far.

Yawning, Gong Ruini dressed her daughter and wobbled to the terrace.

Pushing the terrace door open, she heard Zhao Xuran in a stern voice, "Straighten your back and stand tall."

"So weak, did you not eat?"

Hearing such nonsense from her husband, Gong Ruini really wanted to laugh. At this hour, of course, they hadn’t had breakfast.

Pingping, hearing his father say that, was displeased and innocent, "No, no breakfast yet."

Of course, there was no breakfast, so his stomach was hungry, and being hungry, how could he have the energy to do this?

Zhao Xuran was unfazed by his son’s rebuttal, showing no displeasure, "I haven’t eaten either, and yet I’m exercising."

"Why can’t you exercise?" Zhao Xuran raised his voice.

What could Pingping do? With his father saying that, if he insisted on being hungry, he’d probably get punished, and that’s the last thing he wanted.

Pingping rubbed his belly, then tried to straighten his back. Hum, tomorrow he must seize a chance to tell grandma and grandpa that dad is really bullying him.

"Brother." The little princess hesitated for a moment, "Hello daddy."

In Gong Ruini’s arms, she squirmed, wanting to walk herself.

The once obedient daughter, realizing she didn’t need the attention anymore, immediately turned unrecognizable, truly showing her tenacious side.

Hearing his daughter’s voice, Zhao Xuran’s first thought was, did he go crazy from hunger, and was hearing things in his sleep-deprived state, because there shouldn’t be his daughter’s voice when she was supposed to be sleeping.

While he was doubting himself, something clung to his calf, and looking down, it was indeed An An.

His daughter was here, and she was wearing sports attire—it was definitely her doing.

As for why his daughter appeared but not his wife, the reason was simple: she should’ve gone somewhere to continue resting.

Upon a quick glance, he saw Gong Ruini already nestling on the wicker sofa, indicating it was An An’s idea.

"An An, why are you here?"

An An turned to look at Gong Ruini, hoping someone would translate for her, but upon turning, she discovered Gong Ruini wasn’t behind her, making her anxious.

With mom not around, she could only speak up herself, though she was unwilling to talk at the moment.

Her little eyes darted around, noticing Pingping standing with a straight back. She quickly ran to Zhao Xuran’s side, also standing straight.

"An An, are you planning to train too?" Why Zhao Xuran dragged Pingping out early was because An An would usually be asleep at this time and wouldn’t notice, but unexpectedly, on the first day of training, An An found out.

An An didn’t respond, just quietly stood next to Pingping, mimicking his actions.

Zhao Xuran, watching his daughter also get up to exercise, was at a loss. His daughter was delicate; wouldn’t exercise ruin her skin?

"Like me?" Pingping was delighted. In his memory, he grew up with his sister; how could he have things she didn’t?

Pingping couldn’t care less about what dad said; to him, dad’s words were nothing but bluffs.

An An nodded incessantly, indeed correct.

Really? She’s seriously going to exercise? What to do?

Zhao Xuran panicked. His son was fine with any drill; he was a tough boy. But his daughter’s delicate skin, what could he do?

Anxiously, he awaited an answer online.