Chapter 114: Cold War

Chapter 114: Chapter 114: Cold War

After heading upstairs, Deng Yuyuan slumped bonelessly back into the recliner, asking casually, "Do you know Meng Deyin?"

"Of course. He’s the mentally ill youngest son of the Meng family. When my brother and his wife took Little Shu to see a doctor, they even asked the Meng family to recommend a good psychiatrist." Wei Yin tried to pull Deng Yuyuan out of the recliner but failed, so she sat down next to her instead. "I heard he fell in love with a village girl and made a huge fuss about going to the countryside two years ago. Apparently, that village girl even had a child, though she was divorced. A few days ago, he ran off to the girl’s hometown and either rented or bought a house there. But it turned out the girl wasn’t even living at home, and he went crazy looking for her—"

Wei Yin’s voice abruptly cut off. She suddenly stared at Deng Yuyuan. "Don’t tell me... the person he likes is you."

"Alright, I won’t tell you," Deng Yuyuan smoothly played along.

Wei Yin’s eyes instantly widened, her breath catching for half a second. "It’s really you?!" she gasped sharply, lowering her voice to an urgent whisper. "How... how did you provoke a lunatic like him? He even went to your hometown to corner you? You’re raising Tuantuan all by yourself; that’s way too dangerous!"

Before she even finished speaking, her hands had already grabbed Deng Yuyuan’s forearm. Her grip tightened subconsciously as her gaze swept up and down, carefully inspecting Deng Yuyuan—from her calm but slightly pale face to the side of her neck, and down to the exposed skin of her shoulders and arms, as if searching for any lingering bruises or hidden injuries.

Deng Yuyuan patted her hand. "It’s fine. He can’t beat me in a fight. When the hard approach failed, he tried the soft one, so I just tricked him. It’s just that now—"

Deng Yuyuan was studying at Jinghua University, so rumors were bound to reach the Meng family eventually.

Wei Yin stood up, her movements full of protective anxiety. "I’m going to tell my brother and his wife. Xiao Yuan, how can you still be in the mood to lie there? If I were you, I’d be so anxious I’d want to flee to the other side of the planet."

Deng Yuyuan waved a hand dismissively. "I was so anxious I passed out." And with that, she fell asleep instantly.

Helpless, Wei Yin sighed. She grabbed a small blanket, draped it over Deng Yuyuan, and went down to the living room to find the elders. There, she learned that Bai Miaomiao had just been making a loud fuss about Deng Yuyuan. The sky seemed to be falling, yet the person at the center of the storm was still sleeping, completely unbothered.

Meanwhile, her little nephew was acting as if he were sick too, aggressively humming and huffing at the top of his lungs in the living room, causing Wei Qi to run around in an anxious panic. Once Wei Qi tired himself out, he sat back down at the table and ate an ear of corn—children truly had hearty appetites. Wei Yin sat next to him to munch on some corn as well, taking the opportunity to quietly inform Wei’s mother about the situation.

Wei’s mother’s expression grew solemn. The younger generation didn’t know the truth about Meng Deyin’s illness, but the elders knew the inside story: the Meng family simply couldn’t control Meng Deyin.

"I heard that even though Deng Yuyuan is only a freshman, she is highly valued by the professors. I will donate a sum of money to the university’s laboratory in the name of the Wei family. As long as she can produce results, the university will protect her," Wei’s mother said. The Wei family would definitely do its part. "However... is Xiao Yuan really sleeping?" she added, lowering her voice.

"She fell asleep instantly. She’s probably just slacking off," Wei Yin replied truthfully. "What’s wrong? Did the kids get into a fight? Do you need her to come down and mediate?"

Wei’s mother showed a rare hint of bewilderment. "I don’t want Little Shu to become a second Meng Deyin. Tuantuan mentioned that her best friend is a little girl named Fubao, and Little Shu got angry. He thinks Tuantuan should consider *him* her best friend, so the two of them are throwing a tantrum at each other."

In reality, Wei Shu was the only one throwing a tantrum; Tuantuan was already over there drawing pictures. Wei’s mother didn’t know how to handle this kind of dispute. If it were Deng Yuyuan, she would probably have a solution.

Sometimes an outsider sees things more clearly. Wei Yin laughed. "Why bother Xiao Yuan for this? Just go talk to Tuantuan yourself."

"Would Xiao Yuan think we’re pressuring Tuantuan?" When it came to matters involving Wei Shu, Wei’s mother was always overly cautious.

"Alright then, just sit here and do nothing. Tuantuan is a smart little kid; she’ll definitely come looking for Little Shu," Wei Yin said, seeing the situation clearly. Tuantuan still couldn’t multitask at her age. Once she finished drawing, she would naturally remember the Wei Shu she had pushed to the back of her mind. "I have to say, even though it’s hard for Tuantuan to think about multiple things at once, she’s incredibly focused. Her attention span is great. Little Shu is huffing so loudly, yet she isn’t affected at all, completely tuning out the world."

Wei Yin, who loved watching a good show, went to the cabinet to fetch a bag of sunflower seeds, pulling them out and inviting Wei’s mother to crack them with her.

Sure enough, halfway through her drawing, Tuantuan remembered Wei Shu. She grabbed her picture and ran over to him, poking the paper with her chubby little finger. "Brother Xiao Shu, hurry up and come draw with me! I want to introduce you to Fubao too, so Fubao knows that while she wasn’t around, I made a new friend!"

"Here, do you want to draw yourself, or should I draw you? In the picture, we’ll hold hands. I’ll hold a doll in one hand and you in the other, and then we’ll draw Brother Xiaoqi next to us." Tuantuan pointed to a little chicken in the corner of the page. "This is the little chick I raised in the village. It’s a pity there are no chicks here. Chicken is so yummy! I love raising chicks, and I love the eggs they lay too!"

Wei Shu couldn’t keep up the cold war any longer. His expression cleared like a passing storm. "You want to raise chicks? You can raise them at our house, and you can come see them often."

"Really?!" Tuantuan’s eyes lit up. "I love chicks the most! When the time comes, I’ll give you half of all the eggs I collect!" Only after finishing her sentence did Tuantuan remember there was another brother. "Hmm, I’ll divide them into three portions. One for me, one for Brother Xiao Shu, and one for Brother Xiaoqi."

Wei Shu was clearly delighted by the priority he had in Tuantuan’s words. He allowed himself to be docilely pulled to the desk by Tuantuan, even finding the time to turn his head and shoot a warning glare at Wei Qi not to follow them.

Wei Yin chuckled from the sidelines. "Don’t worry about Little Shu turning out like that Meng family guy. He is completely wrapped around Tuantuan’s little finger. Things have a way of working themselves out. The children are still young, so don’t worry about things so far in the future."

When Deng Yuyuan finally came downstairs, she noticed that Wei Shu was intentionally or unintentionally leading Tuantuan to isolate Wei Qi. She didn’t voice any warnings to the two children. Instead, she chose to chat with Wei Qi herself and watch him play. Seeing her mother, Tuantuan instinctively went over, sticking close and playing affectionately with Wei Qi and her mother. Left with no other choice, Wei Shu could only follow them with a dark expression.

Wei Yin was still at the dining table drinking tea with Wei’s mother. "Look, with Xiao Yuan around, Xiaoqi and Little Shu’s relationship has even improved. You should take notes. Xiaoqi really does get left out a lot. Next time Little Shu acts like this, you should go play with Xiaoqi."

Wei’s mother looked a bit dejected. "Little Shu won’t come sticking to me the way Tuantuan does."

Wei Yin sighed in exasperation. "But at least Xiaoqi won’t feel excluded. He’ll be much happier! Xiao Yuan is right—a healthy family dynamic requires trying to treat the children equally. Since perfect balance is impossible, parents just have to do their best to fill in the gaps wherever they appear."

Wei’s mother was taken aback. Indeed, with Deng Yuyuan keeping him company, Xiaoqi’s smile was much brighter.