Her daughter's words reminded Ren Zhiping immediately. She raised her hand to wipe away her tears, and smiled at her daughter embarrassedly: "Look, I am really old and confused. Xiaoxiao, if you have anything you like to eat, tell me and I will make it for you!"
"Okay! If I want to eat, I will tell you! Mom, you and Dad don't think too much, I'm here, you won't starve! I have to go to the tea shop later, I'm leaving first, call me if you have anything!"
"Okay, then be careful on the road!" Ren Zhiping nodded and reluctantly sent her daughter to the door. Watching Yu Xiao's figure disappear in the corridor, Ren Zhiping sighed and reached out to close the door of the living room.
"Xiaoxiao is gone?" Yu Jiahou walked out of the kitchen and asked his wife.
“Hmm…” Ren Zhiping nodded weakly, her eyes somewhat dim.
"What's wrong with you?" Yu Jiahou asked nervously as he saw his wife looking a little uneasy.
"Husband, Xiaoxiao just said that as long as she is around, she won't let us go hungry. You say... the tea shop she opened was all built with Ming Yusong's help. If we don't tell her now, Xiaoxiao will hate us to death when she finds out in the future. What do you think we should do now?" Yu Xiao's life experience has always been like a big stone weighing on Ren Zhiping's heart. When the company was still there, she hadn't thought so much about it. But now she has to rely on Yu Xiao for support, and all her daughter's money is lost to Ming Yusong. No matter how good her psychological quality is, she can't be calm when she hears Yu Xiao's words.
“Oh…” Yu Jiahou sighed heavily: “Yes! How about… let’s find a suitable opportunity to tell her! In the future, when she does tea business, she will definitely have contact with Ming Yusong, and seeing how good their relationship is, oh, blood is thicker than water… Tell her earlier, Xiaoxiao is not a bad child. Even if she blames us, she will forgive us for raising her all these years!” Yu Jiahou nodded in agreement. At this point, he had nothing more to say.
"Then...how about we call Ming Yusong first?" Ren Zhiping stood there and thought about it.
"Well, that's fine! But it's hard to explain over the phone, so let him come over! But Xiaoxiao's tea shop is opening in the next two days, so you should wait a couple of days before talking to him!"
"Oh well!"
"So I'll just... fight now?"
"Okay! You go ahead and hit me! I'll go downstairs and throw away the trash by the way!" After saying that, Yu Jiahou went out with the trash.
Ren Zhiping looked at the door, knowing that her husband was evading her. She sighed and went back to her room to find her cell phone. Fortunately, she had found Ming Yusong's number in her daughter's phone book and saved it. She didn't expect it would come in handy now. Looking at the number, she bit her lip, stood up from the bed, walked back and forth in the room, and finally sat down on the bed again, gritted her teeth and pressed the dial button heavily.
Uncle Ming had already had breakfast and was carefully checking the growth of the tea trees in the tea garden. Seeing that it was an unfamiliar number, he picked up the phone without thinking: "Hello!"
When Ren Zhiping heard Ming Yusong's words, her heart trembled violently. She felt a little nervous and suddenly didn't know how to start.
"Hello! What can I do for you?" Ming Yusong asked again when no one responded.
"Hello...Hello, are you...Ming Yusong?" Ren Zhiping finally mustered up the courage to speak.
"Yes! Who are you?"
"I... I'm Yu Xiao's mother!"
"Yu Xiao's mother? What happened to Xiao Xiao?" Uncle Ming was shocked when he heard that it was Ren Zhiping who called. Because he was not familiar with Ren Zhiping, or she was somewhat resistant to him, she would not call him if it was not something important.
"Oh, no, no! Xiaoxiao is fine! I just want to tell you something else! Do you know Yao Bingyan?" Ren Zhiping swallowed nervously.
"She is my wife! How...how do you know her?" Uncle Ming was stunned when he heard Ren Zhiping's words. Suddenly, as if he realized something, his hand holding the phone tightened sharply.
"I am Bingyan's best friend. When she was divorcing you, she was already three months pregnant..."
"Wait a minute! What did you mean just now? She is three months pregnant? You mean... Bingyan and I have another child?" This unexpected news surprised and delighted Uncle Ming.
"Yes! But at that time, you two were getting divorced, and she was the one who proposed the divorce. She didn't want to compromise because of her pregnancy, so she didn't tell you the truth. Not long after the child was born, Bingyan was diagnosed with uterine cancer. She was a strong-willed person. At that time, her family was poor, and she knew that this disease could not be cured, so she gave up treatment. Later, she passed away when the child was less than one year old. Before she died, she entrusted the child to me..."
“So… you mean… that child is Xiaoxiao?” Without Ren Zhiping saying anything else, Uncle Ming already understood all the truth. When he thought that Yu Xiao was his biological daughter, Uncle Ming could no longer hold back his tears.
“Yes! Xiaoxiao is your and Bingyan’s child, your daughter. I have been infertile since I got married, so... I’m sorry..." Thinking of her friend’s last words and instructions before his death, Ren Zhiping shed tears of shame.
"Then, then... then I'll... I, I, I'll go back now!" Uncle Ming was so excited that he spoke incoherently.
"Okay! I'll tell you the details when we meet!" After finally telling the truth, Ren Zhiping let out a long sigh. He felt liberated and indescribably relaxed.
"Okay!" Uncle Ming nodded excitedly. Without caring about anything else, he hung up the phone and walked quickly down the mountain.
Yu Xiao and Kang Shaonan went downstairs and got into the car. Yu Xiao subconsciously looked upstairs, thinking about what his mother had just said, and felt a little uncomfortable.
"It will get better slowly, don't worry!" Knowing that she was upset, Kang Shaonan looked at his wife and comforted her.
"Take me to see that house!"
"good!"
Because of the lack of time, Kang Shaonan went to several agencies to look at some houses the day he learned that the Yu family company went bankrupt. In the end, he chose a well-decorated one. The landlords were a young couple. Because they were going abroad for further studies, the time was just these two days, plus the cleaning, so they delayed it until now. The house is in the city, not far from the two people's house and the tea shop, and it is also very convenient to go out and take a bus. Yu Xiao was quite satisfied with this place as soon as he got off the car.
The house was on the eighth floor, with three bedrooms and a living room, covering an area of more than 100 square meters. Because the landlord had just been married for a year, the furniture inside was almost brand new. When the two of them entered, the house had already been cleaned. Yu Xiao looked around the entire house inside and out and was very satisfied with the facilities in the house.
"The tea shop will open tomorrow, so why don't you let my parents move in today!" Yu Xiao didn't want to let his parents down, and didn't want them to continue living in that old house for even a day.
"Well, okay! Or you wait here and I'll go pick them up! There's nothing to clean up anyway!" Kang Shaonan nodded.
"Okay! Then go now!"
Kang Shaonan took the car keys and went out, driving back to his father-in-law's house. Because the house was in the old city, it was a bit far away, but Kang Shaonan arrived in 40 minutes. After telling the details, Yu Jiahou and Ren Zhiping were so moved that they didn't know what to say. The two of them didn't have much luggage, so they took some personal belongings and followed Kang Shaonan downstairs.
"Shaonan, thank you so much this time!" Although Kang Shaonan is their son-in-law, Yu Jiahou and Ren Zhiping are still very grateful.
"Dad, Mom, please don't be polite with me. This is what we should do! Aren't we a family?" Kang Shaonan smiled and comforted the old couple.
"Yes, a family, a family!" Listening to Kang Shaonan's words, Ren Zhiping nodded ashamedly.
When the car arrived downstairs, a taxi also stopped nearby. Seeing his wife getting out of the taxi carrying something, Kang Shaonan hurried over, took the things from her hand, and frowned: "Why didn't you wait for me to come back?"
"I'm not a patient! Why should I open a tea shop if I can't even do such a small thing? There's more in the trunk!" Yu Xiao said as he followed the taxi driver to the trunk.
Ren Zhiping looked at the things her daughter bought, all of which were daily necessities, and moved her lips but said nothing. She just walked silently with Yu Jiahou to the trunk and took the things one by one.
Kang Shaonan was a soldier, so carrying things was nothing to him. He carried more than half of the dozen or so plastic bags by himself. Yu Xiao wanted to take something, but neither Yu Jiahou nor Ren Zhiping let her do it. The family of four went upstairs, and as soon as the door to the living room was opened, Ren Zhiping and Yu Jiahou looked at the house in front of them and knew that the rent was not cheap.
"Shaonan, this will cost a lot of money, right?" Ever since the company went bankrupt and the couple moved into the old rented house, Ren Zhiping and Yu Jiahou had some idea about renting a house.
"Mom, Dad, just live here peacefully. Don't worry about money. With Xiaoxiao and I here, things will be fine!" Kang Shaonan looked at the old couple and comforted them.
"Mom, I have bought almost everything you need. Shaonan has asked someone to help clean the house. You can tidy up by yourselves. I'll go to the tea shop to take a look!" Yu Xiao didn't want to make his parents feel too guilty, so he walked towards the door while speaking.
"Okay, then be careful on the road!" Ren Zhiping nodded, and she and Yu Jiahou sent their daughter and son-in-law to the door.
Kang Shaonan took his wife to the tea shop. Tomorrow is the opening day of the tea shop. Although the shop is not big, Yu Xiao does not want to make any mistakes, so as not to disappoint Uncle Ming's expectations of him. Because the tea shop is in a good location, as soon as the two opened the door, someone came to buy tea. Yu Xiao enthusiastically recommended it to the customer. All the knowledge he learned in the one-month stay at Uncle Ming's place was put to use. Seeing the customer leave with satisfaction, Yu Xiao was full of hope for future business. (To be continued)