“You didn’t mishear it. Mr. Qu is indeed my uncle. I will find a suitable time to explain everything to you next time. I want to bring Ran Ran up to her room first.”
Pei Ge explained again, feeling her heart ache as she looked at the girl lying on the sofa. She then told the man, “Ziming, bring our daughter up to her room. The living room is a bit too windy and cold.”
“Okay.”
Ji Ziming narrowed his deep eyes at Qu Xiujie, who was sitting beside him, then at his mother. Without another word, he carried the lassie up to the second floor.
Just as she reached the fifth step, Madam Ji called to her. “Ge Ge, why are you still calling me ‘auntie’? What should you be calling me?”
“Call you what? My niece isn’t lawfully wedded to your son yet,” taunted Qu Xiujie, giving Mother Ji a look of disdain. “Don’t tell me that you still want my niece to call you ‘mom’ now?”
“Who told you to speak? I don’t care if you are her uncle. This is the Ji family’s house—my house. Here, you follow our rules, so don’t speak arbitrarily.”
The older woman rolled her eyes at the middle-aged man beside her, her voice showing her dissatisfaction.
“Mom, uncle, stop quarreling; I’ll come back after bringing Ran Ran up.”
Pei Ge told the two elders in exasperation, yet her eyes held a hint of a smile.
“Okay, I’ll wait for you. You must explain to me clearly who exactly this old man is after you come down.”
Madam Ji nodded while looking at Qu Xiujie, who was seated opposite of her.
“Who are you calling an old man?”
It was Qu Xiujie’s principle not to bicker with women, but upon seeing how this one before him kept taunting him, he did not think much and immediately stood up to peer down at her.
The latter was startled by his sudden movement. She lifted her head to look at him as her eyes turned sharp and fierce. “Why are you standing up like this? Trying to show that you are tall and that I am shorter than you? I am much older than you are!”
She reached out a leg and accurately kicked him on his knee, causing Qu Xiujie to sit back down on the sofa immediately. The two looked at each other as the air around them stilled.
Pei Ge stood atop the staircase and looked at the two. She shook her head with a smile and walked upstairs.
She walked in front of Ji Ziming and opened the door for him and their daughter to enter. The pink-themed room made Ran Ran’s mood improve slightly.
“Good girl, daddy here will pour some water for you.”
The man placed Ran Ran onto the bed, then walked over to the sofa area to pour some hot tea for her. After cooling it down to the right temperature, he brought the cup back to her.
“Daddy, did you add sugar?”
The girl frowned at the tea cup the man was passing to her, truly not wanting to drink it.
“You want me to add some sugar?”
“Yes. It’ll be so bitter without sugar.”
Her forehead was crinkled tightly. Although she was thirsty, she still did not want to receive the cup.
“Be a good girl. You are sick right now, so you must drink this warm water. You can drink sugared water once you recover.”
Pei Ge revealed an unhappy expression, causing her daughter to pause. She originally intended to make use of this chance when she was sick to have her parents accompany her more, yet she did not expect them to request her to take good care of herself as per usual.
Her parents did not agree to her small wish.
“But mommy, my mouth feels bitter now…”
Ran Ran choked. Her sickly expression made her mother’s heart ache.
“Fine, then. Shall we add a bit of honey in?”
Pei Ge bent down to look at her daughter’s pretty face and asked softly, “Shall I go get you some honey?”
“Only honey?”
The girl finally knew how to catch her mommy’s heart.
“Only honey. If you don’t like it, I will go to the kitchen to see if Auntie Zhang has anything you like to eat, okay?”
“No need, mommy. Just honey is enough. Put some to this tea.”
“Okay.”
Her mother nodded as she rubbed her little head. Her hair was very soft and smooth, except that she looked very weak.
“Then, wait here for mommy. I will go get you the honey.”
Pei Ge stood up and walked out from her room to return to hers. When she opened the door, she spotted An An and Ji Chi building a huge block castle on the carpet.
“You guys…”
She was quite surprised. She did not see the boys when she returned. It turned out that they were hiding in her room.
“Mommy, why are you back?”
An An stood up. His eyes displayed shock. According to calculations, their parents should be on their way to work now.
“What’s wrong? Can’t mommy come back early? Your little sister is sick, so I naturally have to be home.”
Pei Ge chuckled, watching the two children who were hiding something behind their backs. Still, she could not see what it was as the two of them held onto it tightly.
“Mommy, can you come in a little later?’
An An peeked behind him. He and Ji Chi had spent half the day building this castle, and they were left with the last pillbox before they were done.
“Okay. I just came to get some honey. I’ll leave after taking it. You two can continue playing. Mommy will come back when you guys call me over, okay?”
She smiled at her two, handsome sons, who had an uncanny resemblance to Ji Ziming when he was being gentle.
“Okay. Mommy, where is your honey? I’ll get it for you.”
An An nodded with a smile.
“It’s fine. I will take it myself. You two can continue playing.”
She waved and walked over to the bookshelf to retrieve the honey, then she left the room. Standing outside the door, she exhaled deeply. Having seen the ‘big project’ on the floor, she knew that the two children had been preparing it for a very long time.
When she walked back to her daughter’s room, Ji Ziming was sitting beside the girl and consoling her softly.
“But daddy, why did the princess not like the little frog? The little frog is so cute.”
He was currently telling her the story of The Frog Prince. What Ran Ran was perplexed about was something that her father could not answer. Pei Ge walked over and softly answered for him while standing behind him.
