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By the time Ning Ran returned to Flower City from the county, it was already ten at night.
Surprisingly, Dabao and Erbao had yet to sleep. Both of them were too excited to go to bed after hearing that their
mother was coming back that day.
Just as Ning Ran reached the entrance and alighted from the car, the face-recognition software by the door
activated and opened the door for her. At the same time, the software made an announcement, informing the
people in the house. “Mommy's back.” Mommy's back!
Erbao was the first to rush over to Ning Ran as she said in a sing-song voice, “Mommy!”
Initially, Ning Ran was preoccupied with everything that happened earlier in the day, but upon hearing Erbao's
voice, she found the weight on her shoulders lifted.
“Darling!” Ning Ran exclaimed in the same sing-song manner as Erbao.
The girl giggled. “Mommy, why are you so late? We were waiting to have dinner with you!”
“You haven't had your dinner yet? It's so late! Eating now would be like eating supper.”
Ning Ran found out that the dishes were still untouched on the table. The high-tech table came with a heating
function, so the food was still warm.
Upon hearing the commotion, Nan Chen stepped out of the study room and remarked, “You're late.”
“Yeah, I am. You guys should have eaten dinner first. You didn't need to wait for me,” Ning Ran apologetically said.
“The kids wanted to wait for you, and they wouldn't let me start eating. How can I not listen to them?” Nan Chen
mumbled aggrievedly.
Oh? There are actually times when Sir Chen himself can't take charge of the situation? How unusual.
Ning Ran then pretended to angrily chide the children, “You guys can't do this in the future. Don't starve Daddy,
okay?”
Playing along, the children promptly answered, “Got it! If Daddy gets hungry next time, we'll let him eat first, but
we'll wait until Mommy's back before we eat.”
Nan Chen was taken aback by their words. Wait, what are they talking about? They make it sound like I'm some kind
of insensible kid. I can't believe they're ridiculing me passive-aggressively when they're still so young!
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“I didn't say I had to eat first... You can't describe the situation like this,” mumbled Nan Chen pitifully.
“Oh, okay, you're right. Daddy was considerate, so he never once said that he was hungry,” Dabao solemnly
praised.
Nan Chen couldn't stand the boy's attitude. Hey, I'm your father. Don't you think it's inappropriate of you to talk
about me like that?
Meanwhile, Ning Ran was trying her best to hold back her laughter. “Thank you for waiting for me to come home
for dinner, Sir Chen. I'll give you a toast later.”
“If that's the case, Mommy, you'll have to toast to me too. I was waiting for you to come home for dinner too!”
Erbao chimed in, not wanting to be left out.
Dabao swiftly corrected his sister's behavior. “Mommy's our parent, and we're her children. Only people of the
younger generation like us toast to the elders. No elders like Mommy toast to us young ones.”
“Oh, I see. I'll toast to Mommy then.” Erbao immediately understood her brother's words.
Even though dinner was late that day, Ning Ran's return made the mood merry.
Honestly, if it weren't for making the children happy, both Nan Chen and Ning Ran would have just skipped dinner
that late at night.
“Mommy, you're not going anywhere anymore, right? You're going to be staying with us from now on, right?” Erbao
exclaimed happily.
“I won't be leaving for now. When does school start? Tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow?”
“The day after tomorrow. Mommy, I want you to send me to school.”
Erbao was even more elated at the mention of starting school.
“Sure. No problem. Let's toast to our reunion, then,” Ning Ran suggested.
Dabao and Erbao then lifted their glasses of juice. “Welcome back, Mommy! Cheers!”
It was too late, so Ning Ran did not eat much—she just kept drinking red wine.
After a while of drinking, she began feeling dizzy.
In the meantime, Erbao's excitement died down after dinner and was replaced by drowsiness. Hence, she went
straight to bed without even brushing her teeth.
Weariness seemed contagious, for Ning Ran got too lazy to do the dishes as well. Instead, she stood on the balcony
with her glass of wine, staring at the city lights a distance away from their house.
Even though Raining Pavilion was not a tall building, it was built on relatively high land that allowed Ning Ran a bird's
eye view of the city from the balcony.
Nan Chen walked over and wrapped his arm around her waist. “What's on your mind?”
“There are a lot of things I need to say to you,” she said.
“Sure. I'll get the wine.”
Nan Chen then went to get the decanted wine and filled a glass.
Even though it was already spring, the nights were still chilly. So, Nan Chen grabbed a jacket to drape it over Ning
Ran's shoulders.
“I'm a little scared,” Ning Ran suddenly confessed.
“Why?”
Ning Ran then told Nan Chen about her meeting with Ou Ling.
After hearing Ning Ran's words, he fell into deep thought for a while.
“Are you worried that there's a huge secret behind your past?” Nan Chen asked.
“Yes. I can't believe that my mother was forced to swear on my life before Bodhisattva. That means someone
doesn't want me or others to learn about my parentage. Now that I think about it, I'm not relying on anyone to stay
alive in this world, so is there really a need for me to find out the details of my past? Would my mother be happy
about me figuring out my past? If she never wanted me to figure it out, then am I going against her wishes by doing
this? If she wanted me to figure it out, then why didn't she tell me anything?” Ning Ran muttered.
“Do you think your past is important?” Nan Chen queried.
His question stumped Ning Ran.
He's right. Is it really important? If it's not, then why am I tormenting myself like this? If it is, then what about it is
important? Do I want to find my biological father? If my biological father is that important, then why hasn't he tried
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmto find me all these years? If my biological father is a heartless man, what is the point of me finding him? But if I
don't make things clear, I'll be hung up on this matter forever and ever.
“Maybe it's not that important, but...”
“I think it's important. You're wracked with worry because you think it's important. Because it matters to you. No
one will feel worried about things they don't care about, right? So, what you need to do first is to calm down.
Regardless of who your biological father is and what kind of a man he is, he won't affect your current life. As long as
you believe this, then I doubt this matter will affect you greatly. If this matter can't affect you that badly, then why
should you be worried about the outcome? Why should you be scared?”
Nan Chen gave her a lengthy reply; he had actually said more than his daily word limit.
Ning Ran found sense in his words. Yet, she could not help but wonder if the knowledge of her biological father
would actually affect her life.
She did not know the answer to that at all.
“I don't think you need to dwell on this too much. Most of the time, we worry for nothing,” Nan Chen reassured.
“So you're telling me that I should find my biological father?”
“Of course. Otherwise, you'll never get over this. Only by confronting it will you finally be free,” Nan Chen told her in
affirmation.
“All right. Thank you for your words. You've soothed my worries. Cheers.”
“You'll always have me no matter what troubles you face in the future. I'll keep you safe. Don't worry,” Nan Chen
gently said.
Ning Ran bobbed her head slightly and snuggled into his arms.
“You must be exhausted today. Rest earlier,” he added.
“Okay.”
After Ning Ran went back to the bedroom, she glanced at her phone to find six missed calls. All of them were from
Ding Fei.
Right as Ning Ran was about to give her a call in return, Nan Chen stopped her. “Don't let her affect your mood.
You're tired, and what you need now is rest. We'll deal with this tomorrow.”
With that said, he took Ning Ran's phone from her and switched it off.