Tangning's entire body was stiff. He couldn't breathe for a moment. He knew the ending was inevitable but couldn't change it. "Card game, it's a card game."
Jiang Mianmian held Little Lettuce and sat on the sofa. She smiled and said, "Forget it, don't tell me about these games. I don't care about them. Come on, Little Lettuce, do you want some chocolate?"
She brought the fruit plate on the table to Lettuce, which contained various snacks.
"Thank you Aunt Jiang! I'm moving!"
As Jiang Mianmian watched Little Lettuce eating snacks, her eyes softened. "Although Lao Bai and I are DINKs and neither of us plans to have children, when I see your Little Lettuce, Tangning, I really like him. You've taught him so well."
Seeing Tangning still standing alone, Jiang Mianmian called out, "Hurry up and sit down."
Tang Ning walked over to Jiang Mianmian and sat down next to her. He had never seen Jiang Mianmian so easygoing before. She was wearing loose home clothes and had her hair curled. She looked good and chatted with him about family matters with a smile on her face.
"Have you really been alone all these years?" Jiang Mianmian asked.
Seeing Tang Ning's silent look, Jiang Mianmian was able to continue the conversation on her own, "Before I met Lao Bai, I also felt that being alone was good. I could handle everything on my own. I worked so hard that my health deteriorated. Later, when I was with him, I found that it was not bad to have someone to take care of the family. Do you think my house looks clean?"
Tang Ning went to Jiang Mianmian's house with a blank mind. There were some photos hanging on the wall, including Jiang Mianmian and Bai Wuliang's wedding photos, their travel photos, and many other photos of their life over the past decade.
In every photo, Jiang Mianmian smiles happily.
"These were all cleaned up by Lao Bai. He is a very strange person, a mysophobia. He can't stand anyone making the house dirty, except me. He can accept me no matter what. I remember a few years ago when I vomited all over the floor due to stomachache, he was so fond of cleanliness that he carried me to the hospital alone."
When Tang Ning left Jiang Mianmian's house, he felt as if he was in another world.
"Tangning, remember to bring Little Lettuce over to play next time!" Jiang Mianmian waved at Tangning.
"Okay! Goodbye, Aunt Jiang!" Little Lettuce held Tangning's hand and helped her absent-minded father complete this social interaction.
The two walked away. Little Lettuce stopped and looked up at Tangning, "Dad, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so sad? Is it because of Aunt Jiang?"
"Yes." Tangning squatted down and hugged Little Lettuce, "Dad hopes that Aunt Jiang's life will be different from what she has chosen now."
"Dad, do you hope that Aunt Jiang will not be with Uncle Bai and continue to work hard on her career?" Little Lettuce said seriously, "Many of Dad's fans think so too. They don't want Dad to raise Little Lettuce. They hope that Dad will continue to sing."
"Thank you, Rapunzel," Tangning said softly.
This was Jiang Mianmian's own decision. She regarded this game as her whole life. When she chose to give up everything, she truly had a lifetime of memories here, happy memories.
Throughout her childhood, her stepfather was unable to hurt her.
In her youth, she studied hard, made a group of good friends, and saved Bai Youliang.
When she reached middle age, she had a successful career and was proposed to by the man who had loved her for many years.
This was her happy life. Even when she died on the last day, she would recall her life with satisfaction and gratitude, and die in peace and happiness.
This may be the best choice for her.
"Dad, do we still need to go see Uncle Zhou now?" asked Lettuce.
Tang Ning raised his head. He was going to go check on Zhou Kang. Lin Yun and the others were all fine, but he hadn't checked on Zhou Kang yet.
Just as Tangning arrived at Zhou Kang's door, before she even knocked, she heard a noise coming from inside the house. It was a woman's voice, "Can't you come home earlier from get off work to help An An with her homework? You want to go to work and I don't? Huh? And you suddenly told me that your friend is coming to visit. Zhou Kang, can you have some pity on me? I'm already very tired. I have to go to work and take care of the kids every day. Do I have to serve your friend now?"
Tangning and Little Lettuce stared at each other, neither of them dared to say a word.
"Sorry, I didn't think of that." Zhou Kang in the room really didn't expect that. He had been at work all day today and didn't know how he got along with his wife at home. When he got home and casually mentioned that a friend was coming, he found that his wife, who could barely maintain a respectful relationship with him, exploded in an instant.
"Of course you don't have to think about it! Zhou Kang! If you could think about it, you wouldn't have been a hands-off boss for so many years! When An An was still a child and needed someone to take care of her, didn't you have to work overtime every day? Don't I have to work overtime..."
Tangning took Little Lettuce's hand and left the Zhou family. Little Lettuce looked dignified and could not utter a word.
Tangning was worried that Little Lettuce was frightened by the argument just now. In fact, he was also a little frightened. The strange woman's tone of collapse made him feel afraid of her life. What kind of life would make her choke and scream wildly
"Little Lettuce, are you okay?" Tangning asked with concern.
Little Lettuce shook his head, then nodded again. He said seriously, "It's better to be like Aunt Jiang, have money and don't have children. You'll be happier."
He said he thought of himself as a child, so he changed his words and said, "Being rich is the happiest thing."
Tangning gave Little Lettuce a thumbs up after noticing that she had understood the true meaning of life at such a young age.
A business on the street played the songs that Tangning sang when she was young. As the night deepened, passers-by would take a second look at Tangning when they passed by her, but they were unable to connect Tangning with the owner of the song in a short period of time.
The song goes "I want you to be safe, happy, and worry-free/I want to hug you under the aurora on the snowy mountains/Even if you are a ghost, I will still love you as before..."
Little Lettuce suddenly asked: "Dad, you sang that person, is that someone you like?"
"Yes, that's my father's love." After Tangning decided to be a serious father to Little Lettuce, he never mentioned Prince again.
"Why does Dad love me?" asked Lettuce.
"Because..." Tangning herself couldn't explain it.
"Why doesn't Dad love Uncle Xie?" Little Lettuce continued to ask. As he grew older, he and Xie Yunting got along much better. At least that was how Tangning saw it. If Xie Yunting wanted to be nice to someone, it would be easy for him to fall in love with him, even if the other person was a little brat.
"Why should I love Uncle Xie?"
"Uncle Xie looks more like a good match for dad."
The night wind blew on Tang Ning, making him feel a little cold. He held the warm little Lettuce in his arms. Little Lettuce was already five years old and would soon be of primary school age. He ate a lot and felt heavy to hold.
"Matched? Who taught you this word?" Tang Ning frowned. This was definitely not taught by her teammates. Could it be that Xie Yunting instilled these ideas into Little Lettuce
"Isn't it?" Little Lettuce looked like a little adult. "Uncle Xie and Daddy look very comfortable standing together."
Children know what is beautiful and what is ugly. Some studies have shown that even newborn babies are more willing to stare at good-looking people.
"Dad, it's actually very relaxing to be with Uncle Xie, right? Uncle Xie takes care of everything." Little Lettuce added.
Tangning had no way of refuting this. He was able to teach Little Lettuce so well because of Xie Yunting's help. For example, he helped her with which kindergarten to attend, whether to enroll in interest classes, and which brand of clothes was more suitable.
When he wanted to refuse Xie Yunting's help, Xie Yunting would say that these were the intentions of the Xie family elders.
In this copy of life, Xie Yunting really helped so much, so much that everyone except the players wondered why Tang Ning didn't join Xie Yunting.
Tang Ning felt guilty for delaying Xie Yunting. Even though Xie Yunting was just an NPC made up in a card game, Tang Ning felt guilty when she saw that Xie Yunting was still single at his age.
But even so, when Little Lettuce spoke, Tangning still said seriously, "Love is different."
"Even if it's painful to be with my lover, I still want to be with him. This is love." Tang Ning said: "Just because it's easy to be with each other, it's better to say that love is the life, not the person."
"Why?" Little Lettuce asked curiously, "Why do I love you? Is there anything that Uncle Xie can't compare to?"
Tang Ning had walked a long distance with Lettuce in his arms. His arms and waist began to ache. There were few passers-by around, and no lights. He suddenly remembered that he had also walked such a long distance in the Ghost Husband copy.
Why
In this copy of his life, he often thought about this question: Xie Yunting was so good, why did he still love that Cun
Is that being so powerful that he always saves him
But Xie Yunting has always protected him. Xie Yunting is also very powerful. Now Xie Yunting's strength is even not inferior to Mo Yunchu's back then.
Then why
Xie Yunting's personality is much better than his. Even though he had rejected her for so many years, even though he suddenly wanted to raise a little lettuce that appeared out of nowhere, Xie Yunting could continue to treat him patiently and try his best to be nice to the little lettuce, so nice that the extremely sensitive little lettuce would speak well of Xie Yunting.
Suddenly, Tang Ning stopped.
He seemed to understand why.
It’s not that Xie Yunting is not good enough, it’s that Xie Yunting is too good. He grew up in love, and he has the ability to share his love with many people, to his relatives, to his friends, to Lettuce, and to the world.
He could only leave his only love to Tang Ning.
From the beginning to the end, what Tang Ning wanted was actually such a preference that could drown his love and allow his wandering soul to rest in love.
Even though she saw that he was weak and incompetent, she still gave him everything with love without hesitation.
In his and Xie Yunting's life, he had become strong enough to wrap up the weakest part of himself, blocking the deepest part of his heart layer by layer. That place had long been marked by another person.
So no matter how good Xie Yunting is, he will never truly fall in love with him.
"Little Lettuce, I don't know how to explain this, but Uncle Xie is much better than your dad. Would you rather let Uncle Xie be your dad, or would you rather let me continue to be your dad?" Tangning asked softly.
"I understand." Little Lettuce lay in Tangning's arms and said nothing more.
Tang Ning brought Little Lettuce back home. He cooked for Little Lettuce, gave Little Lettuce a bath, and finally came to Little Lettuce's bedroom, picked up a fairy tale book and tried to coax Little Lettuce to sleep.
The ending of the story of Rapunzel is that Rapunzel was thrown into the wilderness by the witch, and the blind prince searched for her in the forest for many years. Finally, they saw each other and lived happily together.
When Tangning turned the page to tell the next story, Little Lettuce suddenly sat up from the bed. He took the fairy tale book from Tangning and said like a little adult, "Dad, come to bed today and I will tell you a bedtime story."
Tangning was stunned for a moment, but did not reject Little Lettuce's filial behavior. He lay on the bed and closed his eyes. Only a warm yellow bedside lamp was on in the warm room.
"What story do you want to tell me?" Tangning asked gently.
"It tells the story of how Rapunzel's father met his prince again."