Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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Upon hearing Wen Changyi’s question, Nuo Nuo immediately lowered her head and hid behind Tang Tang, unwilling to answer him.
Seeing this, Ji Xiaozhuo took her hand to comfort her, “Nuo Nuo, don’t be afraid. I’ll never let anyone hurt you again! I’ll take you home now, come with me.”
After saying this, Ji Xiaozhuo pulled Wen Nuo and ran towards the gate.
Tang Tang, seeing this, didn’t stop the two children. At this moment, she also didn’t want to deal with them at all, so she chased after them.
Wen Changyi, bewildered, stopped Tang Tang and asked, “What’s going on? How did my Wen Nuo end up here? Did you bring her here? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Tang Tang noticed his genuinely confused expression and felt a little strange. She turned to look at Liu Zixuan, who was biting her lower lip, her face showing an undisguised guilt and anxiety. She tugged at Wen Changyi’s arm and said, “Changyi, let’s go upstairs first. I’m suddenly feeling a bit cold. I want to go upstairs and rest. Anyway, Nuo Nuo is here; we can find her later.”
Wen Changyi warmed her hand with his, “Just a little longer. I’ll ask her what happened.”
Liu Zixuan bit her lower lip even tighter, her palms sweating nervously. She deeply regretted coming down to sunbathe today.
Seeing her like this, Tang Tang suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Could it be that Liu Zixuan hadn’t told Wen Changyi about Nuo Nuo yet? If that were the case, Wen Changyi’s reaction would make sense.
The more Tang Tang looked at it, the more she felt that this made sense. It seemed that Liu Zixuan didn’t dare to tell Wen Changyi what she had done. Was she afraid that he would blame her?
Tang Tang’s most hated person right now was Liu Zixuan. She could be kind to everyone, but she couldn’t be kind to her. Since Liu Zixuan deliberately kept it from Wen Changyi, she was going to tell him anyway. His daughter was bullied; as a father, he couldn’t stand idly by. He had to give his daughter an explanation.
Therefore, Tang Tang stopped leaving and instead coldly said to Wen Changyi, “Commander Wen, shouldn’t you be asking your wife this question? You should be asking her why she kept quiet about Nuo Nuo being knocked unconscious and not taking her to the hospital, asking her why she obstructed us from taking Nuo Nuo to the hospital, and asking her why she brought her mother to threaten us after finding out Nuo Nuo had suffered a concussion and lost her hearing. Now do you know why Nuo Nuo is here? If I didn’t bring Nuo Nuo to the hospital, would your wife have?”
“Concussion? Deafness?” Wen Changyi’s eyes widened in disbelief. After a long while, he looked at Liu Zixuan beside him. “Didn’t you say that Nuo Nuo has gone to kindergarten and that she is with your mother along with Rui Rui?”
Liu Zixuan’s face turned pale instantly, her nails digging deeply into her palms. She knew she couldn’t hide it anymore, and the best way now was to take the initiative to admit her mistake. So she grabbed his hand and explained, “Changyi, listen to me. I… I didn’t mean to. I accidentally hurt Nuo Nuo. I thought she was fine. The reason I kept it from you was because I didn’t want you to worry. You’re injured now and need to recover properly. I was planning to tell you after you were discharged from the hospital.”
Wen Changyi pursed his lips and didn’t speak, his face dark and gloomy.
Seeing him like this, Liu Zixuan felt frightened, and tears streamed down her face. “Don’t you believe me? Although I don’t like Nuo Nuo, have I ever done anything to her all this time? If I really wanted to hurt her, would I have waited until today? Others don’t believe me, but don’t you?”
Wen Changyi’s lips twitched, and after a long while, he asked, “What exactly happened?”
Seeing that he asked for the reason, Liu Zixuan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he still asked for a reason, it meant that he still believed her, so she immediately explained what had happened that day, “Nuo Nuo brought a cloth tiger back, and Rui Rui saw it and wanted to play with it. Nuo Nuo wouldn’t let him, and Rui Rui couldn’t resist… He tried to take it by force, and the two children started arguing. Nuo Nuo pushed Rui Rui to the ground, and Rui Rui cried his heart out. When I saw Nuo Nuo, as the older sister, hitting her younger brother, I got angry and slapped Nuo Nuo. I didn’t expect Nuo Nuo to lose her balance and hit the wall, knocking her unconscious. I really didn’t mean to. I just thought Nuo Nuo was temporarily unconscious and would wake up soon, but I didn’t expect it to be this serious. You know I always have a short temper.”
Tang Tang listened to Liu Zixuan’s explanation of the incident so casually, as if it were just a momentary outburst of anger. But can a slap cripple a child?
Tang Tang was furious and immediately retorted, “How dare you say that so lightly? Could one slap really cause Nuo Nuo’s face to swell like that? And because of your slap, Nuo Nuo’s left ear is completely deaf, and her right ear is also affected. She’ll have to wear a hearing aid for the rest of her life. What parent would cripple their child with just one slap? Do you know what disability means for a child who’s not even four years old? How could you bear to hit your own child like that?”
“You!” Liu Zixuan was annoyed by Tang Tang’s meddling, but she couldn’t refute her. She hadn’t just slapped her once; she had slapped the girl many times before realizing what she had done. But it was too late for regrets, and she absolutely couldn’t say those words.
Wen Changyi’s face darkened even more after hearing Tang Tang’s words. He wasn’t stupid; he knew that an ordinary slap couldn’t cause a concussion or deafness. Zixuan’s words were definitely exaggerated.
Although he didn’t particularly like Nuo Nuo, she was still his own flesh and blood, and he loved her dearly. He knew Zixuan had always been bothered by Nuo Nuo’s existence, but he never imagined she would lay a hand on the child, let alone cripple her! She might not have meant it, but it certainly wasn’t just a slap.
The child was crippled; what would become of her for the rest of her life?
Wen Changyi took a deep breath, not wanting to be laughed at in front of others, and turned to leave, clenching his fists.
Liu Zixuan, ignoring Tang Tang, hurriedly followed him, trying to explain.
Tang Tang only turned and left when the two figures were out of sight. Regardless of how those two resolved the matter, she finally felt a sense of relief. She truly didn’t want to forgive Liu Zixuan.
When Tang Tang rushed home, she saw the two little ones, without keys, pitifully squatting at the door. Nuo Nuo was huddled up, while Ji Xiaozhuo tried to open his not-so-broad arms to hug her, patting her back to comfort her and tell her not to be afraid.
Seeing this, Tang Tang felt a warmth in her heart.
No matter what, Nuo Nuo still had their love, didn’t she?
Tang Tang went over and hugged both little ones, giving them a kiss each. “My sweet babies, shall we make a delicious seafood stew for lunch? There will be your favorite prawns and crabs!”
Ji Xiaozhuo immediately poked Nuo Nuo’s cheek and loudly repeated in her right ear, “Nuo Nuo, did you hear that? We’ll have big crabs and prawns for lunch!”
Nuo Nuo raised her red eyes, pursed her lips, and suddenly reached out to hug Tang Tang’s neck, burying her face in her neck and nuzzling against her cheek in a spoiled manner.
Nuo Nuo rarely acted this way; it seemed she was truly heartbroken this time. Tang Tang felt a pang of heartache, lifted the little girl by the bottom, and carried her inside, speaking loudly in her right ear, “Our little princess Nuo Nuo is so cute; you must be happy every day, okay? If you’re not happy, you won’t be as pretty and cute as you are now, right?”
The little girl nodded gently in her arms after a long while.
Tang Tang kissed her again. “Nuo Nuo, look how much your auntie and uncle love you, Xiao Zhuo loves you too, Great-Grandpa loves you too, so many of us love you. You’re already happier than many children. It doesn’t matter if others don’t love you, because you have us, right? Little ones shouldn’t be greedy.”
Nuo Nuo paused, then nodded, this time with a much larger nod.
Tang Tang put the little girl on the sofa and took out the new airplane model Ji Yan had bought for her to assemble. “Look, this is a new one Uncle bought for you, but he hasn’t had a chance to give it to you yet. Now Auntie is giving it to you in advance. You should finish assembling it quickly, and then show it to Uncle. Uncle will definitely praise our Nuo Nuo.”
Nuo Nuo’s eyes immediately brightened, and she stretched out her two little hands to take it and examine it carefully. The sadness from before was gone from her face. Whenever the little girl started assembling something, she would completely forget herself and forget all her bad emotions. It has to be said, this is an advantage.
After observing for three minutes, Nuo Nuo immediately handed the model to Ji Xiaozhuo, “Brother Xiaozhuo, take it apart.”
Ji Xiaozhuo readily took the model, grabbed his special disassembly tools, and began to disassemble it. The two little ones worked together again.
Seeing that they had both recovered, Tang Tang felt relieved and turned to go into the kitchen to cook.
When Tang Tang took the two little ones to the ward to deliver food, this was the scene she saw: Grandpa Ji was sitting by the bed reading the newspaper, while Ji Yan was lying on the bed peeling an apple. There was no interaction between the two, as if they were complete strangers. However, Ji Yan wasn’t peeling the apple for himself; he had cut it into pieces and placed them on a plate, while Grandpa Ji would occasionally reach for some apples from the plate to eat.
The two of them, one peeling and the other eating, were surprisingly harmonious.
Tang Tang smiled and led the two children inside. When Grandpa Ji saw them, he glared at the three of them with a stern face. However, none of the three were afraid of the old man’s expression and continued to smile, because they all knew he was just a paper tiger.
Tang Tang placed the food she brought on the table. Ji Yan had just undergone surgery and couldn’t eat seafood, so Tang Tang prepared a fish for him separately, so he could eat seafood with everyone.
Tang Tang carefully removed all the fish bones, making sure everything was clean before putting it in the bowl. She filled about a bowl with fish meat before feeding Ji Yan.
Grandpa Ji, having watched his grandson being waited on by Tang Tang like a mentally challenged person unable to care for himself for so long, finally couldn’t take it anymore. He was just peeling an apple, how could he be so weak as soon as his wife arrived?
A perfectly healthy man being waited on by his wife— how could he do that? Besides, the two children were there! Didn’t these two parents care about their image? Being so affectionate in front of the children— what if they saw it and started having bad habits and early romances?
Later, when Ji Xiaozhuo, barely in middle school, brought Nuo Nuo home holding her hand and openly announced to the family that she was his wife, Grandpa Ji was so angry he almost pulled out his belt and gave Ji Yan a good beating. It was all because of him and Tang Tang’s constant shows of affection that they had corrupted the children!
Of course, that’s a story for later.
At this moment, Grandpa Ji, unable to bear it any longer, slammed down his chopsticks and glared angrily at Ji Yan. “Is your arm or hand broken so you need your wife to feed you every meal? How can a grown man do this? Can’t you eat by yourself?”
Tang Tang was startled by the old man’s loud voice, and her hand, which had been feeding him, immediately froze. Seeing the old man’s outburst, fearing that the grandfather and grandson would start arguing again before they could even reconcile, she hurriedly explained tremblingly, “Grandpa, please don’t scold Ji Yan. I was being unreasonable and insisted on feeding him.”
Grandpa Ji waved his hand with a stern face. “Don’t speak. If you do something wrong, it’s his fault for not teaching you properly. Fine, do you expect a grown man like him to have his wife stand in front of him to shield him?”
Tang Tang wanted to explain further, but Ji Yan stopped her by grabbing her hand. He took the bowl and chopsticks from her and obediently admitted his mistake, “I’m sorry, Grandpa, I know I was wrong. I’ll eat by myself from now on.”
Ji Yan’s face showed no unhappiness after being scolded. If you looked closely, you could even see the hidden joy in his eyes. He was indeed happy because his grandfather had scolded him again after many years. This meant that the old man had begun to ‘make up’ with him. Otherwise, the stubborn old man would have refused to scold him even if he died.
Ji Yan admitted his mistake quickly enough that Grandpa Ji, who originally had a lot more to say, couldn’t say anything more. He could only give up and continue eating with his head down.
Ji Yan secretly squeezed Tang Tang’s hand under the table and said to her, “I can manage by myself. You eat too, don’t let the food get cold.”
Tang Tang watched him eat a couple of bites with some concern, making sure he could hold the bowl steadily and use chopsticks without any problem, before she felt relieved and ate her own meal. From now on, with the old man around, she would never dare to feed Ji Yan again.
Grandpa was really strict! She thought she finally understood why Ji Yan was so serious, upright, and unsmiling; it must all be from Grandpa’s teachings.
Luckily, Ji Xiaozhuo didn’t have the same personality as his grandfather and father; otherwise, three stern-faced, taciturn men in one family, plus a naturally quiet Nuo Nuo, would be quite terrifying.
Sun Yi, who had been silently watching from the side, was secretly laughing his head off. He mentally gave Grandpa Ji countless thumbs up. Ji Yan deserved a good scolding; he wasn’t crippled and didn’t need his wife to feed him. So dramatic! Let’s see if he dares to feed him dog food again! Hahaha, Sun Yi felt he could eat an extra bowl of rice at lunchtime.
During lunch, Tang Tang told Ji Yan about her encounter with Wen Changyi and Liu Zixuan, wrinkling her nose as she said, “So Wen Changyi didn’t know about this. Liu Zixuan kept it from him, but I just told her everything so she wouldn’t get away with it.”
Tang Tang rarely showed such a mischievous side, but Ji Yan found it quite endearing.
Tang Tang patted Nuo Nuo’s little ear and deliberately spoke in a voice the little girl couldn’t hear, “I wonder if Nuo Nuo’s father can give Nuo Nuo an explanation.”
Ji Yan pursed his lips and spoke in a similarly soft voice, “Whether he gives an explanation or not, I will make sure the Liu family gives an explanation. Nuo Nuo’s injuries can’t be left untreated. I’ve already asked someone to take care of things. I won’t let the Liu family get away with it so easily. At the very least, I’ll get the best possible compensation for Nuo Nuo.”
Tang Tang didn’t even know when he had asked someone to take care of things; it turned out he had been keeping this in mind all along.
Hearing this, Ji Xiaozhuo’s eyes lit up, and he asked Ji Yan in a small voice, “Dad, can we not ask for compensation? Can we just have Nuo Nuo’s dad give Nuo Nuo to our family instead? They’re not good to Nuo Nuo, but we are.”
Ji Yan patted Ji Xiaozhuo’s head and said apologetically, “Dad can’t do that for now.”
Ji Xiaozhuo was disappointed again, but the next second he said confidently, “It’s okay, I’ll figure it out myself. One day I will make Nuo Nuo our family.”
This little guy had always been thinking about making Nuo Nuo one of his own, but this idea was too difficult to realize. However, Ji Yan and Tang Tang couldn’t bear to shatter his hopes, so they let him try.
Grandpa Ji, listening to the conversation between the three, gradually sensed something was wrong and asked suspiciously, “Nuo Nuo’s ears weren’t like this from birth?”
He knew that Nuo Nuo’s ears weren’t very good, but he thought it was a congenital condition and didn’t ask any further questions. Little did he know that it wasn’t like that at all; it seemed to be caused by someone. But who would lay a hand on such a soft, helpless little child?
Seeing his great-grandfather ask the question, Ji Xiaozhuo, without waiting for an answer, immediately began to angrily tell him his grievances, “Great-grandfather, you have no idea! Nuo Nuo’s stepmother is so wicked! She used to never give Nuo Nuo breakfast, making her go hungry, and she wouldn’t buy Nuo Nuo suitable clothes or toys. She even beat Nuo Nuo badly! The doctor said Nuo Nuo can’t hear anything in her left ear, and she can only hear a little in her right ear. She’s so mean!”
Grandpa Ji frowned, looking at Nuo Nuo’s obedient appearance, couldn’t even eat anymore. He put down his chopsticks and asked Tang Tang, “Tang Tang, tell me what happened? Was the little girl’s ear really broken?”
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