Lu Jinting and Ye Guanguan were on the right track, spending sweet days together. Lu Jinting’s week-long marriage leave was over. Every day, he would go to the army for training his soldiers. Every morning, Ye Guanguan saw him off at the door. She would check his cap and coat and give him a deep kiss.
If they stayed in the hallway for too long, Zhang would screw up his courage and honked the horn. When Lu Jinting grew sullen and walked out, Ye Guanguan would see Zhang sitting in the driving seat like a coward who still force a brave smile.
“I’m going to Tuanzi’s nursery this afternoon. The nursemaid will cook dinner.”
Ye Guanguan held Tuanzi, who was ready to go to the nursery, with her right hand. After seeing Lu Jinting off, she would take Tuanzi to his nursery, too.
To his nursery? Lu Jinting frowned unconsciously when sitting in the back seat, and he asked, “Lu Geqi, you had a fought in your nursery?”
“No! I always behave well in the nursery!” replied Tuanzi, waving his little arms and feeling aggrieved.
“Mister,” said Ye Guanguan, blaming him silently with her big eyes. “Why are you always so rude to Tuanzi? There’s a parents’ meeting today. You don’t have a day off. I’m his mummy and I have to go.”
Lu Jinting chuckled when he saw Ye Guanguan patting her chest confidently. So, it felt so good to turn the girl he loved into his son’s mother!
“Fine. Thank you, my honey.”
Leaving family stuff to Ye Guanguan without anxiety, Lu Jinting put on a gentle smile that he didn’t even realize when he saw his beloved girl becoming his own wife. Zhang was so amazed at his boss’s smile that he nearly forgot to see the traffic lights.
In the afternoon, Ye Guanguan, wearing a pink long dress, turned up at the gate of Tuanzi’s nursery. After she walked into the nursery, colorful walls and buildings with children’s paintings filled her eyes. Suddenly, someone patted her shoulder gently.
She looked back and felt a drumming in her temples.
“What a coincidence, Sister, you come for the parent’s meeting, too?” asked Qiao Xinyi.
Qiao Xinyi was wearing a simple sportswear, quite different from how she was dressed up last time. She looked more casual this time.
Ye Guanguan just got a bad feeling about it, and she asked, “You’ve got a child studying in this nursery?”
“No. The director of the nursery told Grandpa there would be a parents’ meeting. So, Grandpa asked me to come.”
“?”
Ye Guanguan looked unbelievably confused. No wonder the nursemaid told her about the parents’ meeting and even Lu Jinting didn’t know about it.
When Ye Guanguan was lost in thought, Qiao Xinyi smiled decently. Looked like she was familiar with parents’ meetings. Ye Guanguan’s shocked look was like a joke.
“Oh, here is the thing. Before you married Jinting, I always attended Tuanzi’s parents’ meetings. You know, Jinting was always busy, you know. So, Grandpa asked me to come today. I think he just forgot it. Sorry.”
The natural look on Qiao Xinyi’s face made Ye Guanguan feel more aggrieved. But Qiao Xinyi was behaving so well that Ye Guanguan didn’t have a chance to ask her to leave.
“Oh, Miss Qiao, there you are. Come in, please. The meeting will begin momentarily.”
A woman who seemed to be a teacher pushed to the front of children. She first recognized Qiao Xinyi. Seconds later, she saw Ye Guanguan standing by Qiao Xinyi’s side. In recent days, Ye Guanguan sometimes sent Tuanzi to the nursey and brought him back.
“Oh, Miss Yu, thank you. How is Tuanzi behaving lately?” asked Qiao Xinyi.
“Perfect, of course. Tuanzi is the monitor of our class. He’s so self-disciplined that he isn’t like a little boy.”
Miss Yu and Qiao Xinyi walked to the teaching building, laughing and chatting. Ye Guanguan, however, froze as if she shouldn’t have been here.
Ye Guanguan had thought Qiao Xinyi, the blind dater who rarely stood a chance, wouldn’t manage to stir up trouble after Lu Jinting got married. Unexpectedly, Old Mr. Lu asked Qiao Xinyi to come for Tuanzi’s parents’ meeting.
Oh, moreover, Ye Guanguan really hated it when Qiao Xinyi called her “Sister”. Sounded like they were a legal wife and a concubine in the ancient time.
“Mummy! Mummy, there you are! I know you don’t lie to me!”
Ye Guanguan was frowning, at a loss what to do when a little boy suddenly rushed out and held her leg tightly. She looked down and saw Tuanzi, who didn’t want to leave her this morning.
Qiao Xinyi, who hadn’t entered the teaching building yet, froze. As she looked back, her face tortured with embarrassment.
It was then that Miss Yu felt strange. She scratched her head and asked, “Miss Qiao, what’s happening? Aren’t you Lu Geqi’s mother?”
Over the past two years, Qiao Xinyi attended all Tuanzi’s parents’ meetings on behalf of Lu Jinting. Teachers in the nursey were familiar with her and thought she was Mrs. Lu, though they sometimes wondered why Tuanzi’s father never came.
Qiao Xinyi blushed with shame. She hesitated, and didn’t know how to explain. Tuanzi puffed out his chest and walked up, holding Ye Guanguan’s hand.
“This is my mummy! She isn’t!”
Miss Yu searched her memory and thought about it. At last, she realized why she always found Ye Guanguan familiar. On the wedding day, Lu Jinting and Ye Guanguan’s gossip was profiled in a newspaper. Back then, Miss Yu thought the bride was beautiful.
The bride had meant to marry the bridegroom. But for an unknown reason, she ended up marrying the bridegroom’s uncle. Such a breaking gossip shocked the whole city.
Even so, no one managed to know exactly about stories of rich families.
“Uh… Miss Qiao… she is…”
Ye Guanguan was glad to see the embarrassed look on Qiao Xinyi’s face. She restrained her happiness, thinking she would give a chicken drumstick to Tuanzi’s dinner.
“She’s just Aunt Qiao!”
Without the least hesitation, Tuanzi replied, not noticing that Qiao Xinyi was already too ashamed to look up. She was treated as Mrs. Lu for such a long time, but was exposed at this moment. She wasn’t even a member of the Lu family.
“All right. We’re here for the parents’ meeting. She can stay. Let’s hurry up and don’t waste time,” said Ye Guanguan.
At this moment, she turned out to be a generous wife. Holding Tuanzi’s hand, she walked past Qiao Xinyi and Miss Yu. Led by Tuanzi, she entered his classroom which managed to hold less than twenty students.
Walls of the classroom were painted with colorful graffiti and cartoon patterns. Many parents had already been sitting in the classroom. Children ran around and made noises. Ye Guanguan froze at the door of the classroom, feeling a bit of a misfit.
“Mummy, come! This is my seat!”
Tuanzi patted the stool beside him excitedly. It was a seat he reserved for Ye Guanguan.
Little children swooshed past Ye Guanguan. In case of knocking them down, Ye Guanguan dodged willingly. Unexpectedly, she slipped and nearly fell forwards onto people sitting in the classroom.
Someone held Ye Guanguan from behind. She looked back and saw Qiao Xinyi who followed up.
“Are you alright, Sister?”
Qiao Xinyi looked like a great lady who always had good intentions and never got angry. Last time, Lu Jinting sent her away with a flea in her ear. Ye Guanguan had thought she would bear grudges.
Whatever… People couldn’t be angry with those who smiled to them. Ye Guanguan stood firmly, took back her hand and smiled politely.
“I’m fine. Why don’t you just call me Guanguan? Tuanzi calls you Aunt Qiao anyway. You don’t need to feel like a stranger.”