Ran Ran looked at the prawns on her plate nervously, afraid that An An and little Ji Chi would beat her to it if she was not careful.
“Ran Ran, don’t worry. We won’t be able to eat more than you. You can eat slowly; there’s no rush.”
Pei Ge watched as the three children worked hard to eat the prawns on their plates. Zhang Manhua was indeed good at cooking prawns, but she could not help but feel worried when she saw the three children eating like this.
“Ge Ge, don’t worry; I’ll tell them.”
Zhang Manhua saw the worry in her daughter’s eyes and comforted, “Are you guys going to listen to grandma?”
“Yes.”
Ran Ran’s voice came from her throat.
“Of course.”
An An and Ji Chi swallowed the prawn meat in their mouths before answering her.
“Okay. Then, promise grandma that you will stop eating after having two more prawns.”
There was a hint of a smile in Zhang Manhua’s voice as she watched the three children stop what they were doing and look up at her with fear.
“Why, grandma? Your prawns are so delicious; I haven’t had enough yet.”
Ran Ran raised her head. Her cheeks were stuffed to the brim, and her words were unclear. She just had to use a lot of effort to identify what she was saying.
“That’s because no matter how delicious the food is, you can’t eat so much. You guys need to learn to control yourselves.”
Zhang Manhua spoke in a sincere and earnest manner. At this moment, she looked more like an elder. Her benevolent face was filled with the earnestness of teaching a junior, yet she was also very gentle.
“Okay.”
Ran Ran nodded, but that did not mean that she would give up on all the prawns in front of her. She had gotten them herself while her two brothers were fighting over them. These were all her spoils of war.
She did not need to eat so many prawns, but she could eat other dishes.
The three children soon ate until their stomachs were round. They put down their chopsticks and ran to the sofa in the living room to play.
There were still three adults drinking and chatting at the dining table. Zhang Manhua was already a little tipsy. Although she was not at the stage of swaying when she walked, the shadows of the people in front of her were overlapping and she mistook Qu Xiujie for Ji Ziming.
“I say, Ziming, you must treat my Ge Ge well. She may be stubborn sometimes, but her heart is soft.”
“Ziming, you must treat Ge Ge well.”
“Ziming, is… is this your wine glass? Let’s toast!”
…
Zhang Manhua was about to get drunk from the alcohol.
“Madam!”
Butler Charlie was quick to react and rushed to Zhang Manhua’s side within a second or two. However, because Pei Ge was there, he did not move.
“I’ll take care of my mom here. Butler Charlie, you can go rest for a while.”
Pei Ge explained when Charlie ran over.
“Alright, I’ll go upstairs. If madam wakes up, you can call me.”
Charlie nodded. He could finally sleep peacefully.
“Okay.”
Pei Ge agreed verbally. After Charlie had gone upstairs to rest, Zhang Manhua sat up and looked at Qu Xiujie before saying softly, “Let me tell you. This Butler Charlie is really strict.”
“I realized that. If you don’t pretend to be drunk, he’ll probably be waiting here.”
“Although he’s very responsible, it’s quite mentally draining for me if he keeps taking care of me.”
Zhang Manhua sat up and poured herself another glass of red wine. “Xiujie, are you still blaming mom and me for what happened back then?”
Qu Xiujie was clearly stunned. He did not expect Zhang Manhua to speak about the past.
“I hated you then, but I don’t hate you anymore.”
Qu Xiujie was speaking the truth. No matter how great the hatred was, it would slowly accumulate and be wiped clean over time. Only the most beautiful and pure memories would remain. If not for Zhang Manhua and meeting Pei Ge, Qu Xiujie would think that he would continue like this.
He would live like this his whole life.
“I’m sorry.”
Zhang Manhua’s eyes were glistening with tears as Pei Ge, who was sitting beside her, looked at her. The string in the deepest part of her heart was easily plucked. She had seen Zhang Manhua like this ever since her father passed away.
Seeing Qu Xiujie today, Zhang Manhua’s eyes were still filled with tears and her voice was choked. She had not stopped when she first saw Qu Xiujie and had been sitting at the same spot. The red wine in her glass was almost emptied.
“Mom, stop drinking. You’ll really get drunk if you continue drinking.”
Pei Ge tried to take the wine glass from Zhang Manhua’s hand, but she realized that the latter was holding it so tightly that she did not even have the chance to let go.
“I’m not drunk. I’m happy today. Ge Ge, you don’t know. When I was young, I always wanted to know whose family I was from, but your grandmother refused to tell me anything. When I was young, I had a serious illness and all my memories were gone. I only remembered that I had a family and my home was very warm, but when I woke up from my dream, I had nothing but myself.”
Zhang Manhua quietly explained. In her world, the dark shadow of her childhood had always been by her side. No one told her what to do or where to look for her memories.
She thought that she would never be able to find her family again, but she did not expect that she would be able to see her younger brother again in her lifetime. Even if she were to look at him from afar, she would still be satisfied.
“Mom…”
Pei Ge choked. She knew very well what kind of psychological damage her mother had suffered when she was young. If it were her, she might not be able to accept it, but she was not her mother after all.
“Ge Ge, pour some wine for your uncle. I still want to have a good drink with him.”
Zhang Manhua’s eyes lit up as she saw three people who looked exactly like Qu Xiujie.
“Xiujie, why do you have so many faces?”
Zhang Manhua’s laughter was very touching.
“Sister, don’t drink anymore. We didn’t meet today for you to drink.”
Qu Xiujie also realized that something was wrong with Zhang Manhua. From the moment she sat at the dining table until now, the red wine in her glass had not decreased by much.
