“I’m not a man?” Zhou Jingran laughed angrily.
He had served his country, earned military merits, been brave in training, and worked tirelessly.
How could he not be a man?
How dare she say he wasn’t a man?
Tang Rubao ignored him, glared fiercely one last time, then picked up Anlai, who was on the verge of crying but dared not, and went back to the room.
Before closing the door, she coldly warned him: “I know you only acknowledge Xinxin as your daughter. Anlai is my adopted daughter, and I don’t need your approval. But you are not allowed to lay a finger on her, or I will fight you to the death.”
“Also, a day has already passed; there are still two days left. Hurry up and raise five hundred yuan for me. I need money to raise my daughter, or I’ll go to Xiuxiu and demand she return the two hundred yuan she took from me.”
After saying this, she closed the door and latched it.
Zhou Jingran stared at the tightly shut door, feeling both angry and bemused.
Was he really such a brute?
Why would he even think of touching a little girl’s hair?
Anlai was adopted by her, and he is her husband. Isn’t Anlai also his daughter?
Would he really hit his own daughter?
“Anlai must have been frightened,” Tang Rubao thought, placing the girl on the bed, her heart aching.
In their past life, Anlai was Zhou Jingran’s biological child, yet he never showed her any love.
In this life, she would not expect him to love Anlai either.
Her chest tightened at the memory of how she had deliberately brought up Ke Xin earlier.
A dull ache settled in her heart.
Anlai’s eyes filled with tears, fragile like a porcelain doll that could shatter at any moment.
She whispered softly to Tang Rubao, “Mom, is he my Dad?”
Does she have a father?
If she has one, why hasn’t she dreamed of him?
“No,” Tang Rubao said, pulling Anlai into her arms and lying down with her on the bed.
She had already filed for divorce, soon she and Zhou Jingran would be separated.
Zhou Jingran is not Anlai’s father. Anlai carries the surname Tang, making it even clearer that he is not her father.
“Anlai, let Mom hold you while you sleep.”
Anlai curled her small body in Tang Rubao’s arms.
Tang Rubao turned slightly to the side, bending her body like a large shrimp shielding the little shrimp in her arms.
Anlai loved her mother’s embrace, it was warm and safe.
She had finally found the mother from her dreams.
Anlai’s thin little hand gripped Tang Rubao’s fingers tightly. “Mom, will you always love me?”
Tang Rubao nodded, assuring her, “Anlai is Mom’s precious daughter, and of course Mom will always love you.”
Since meeting this little girl, Tang Rubao felt as if the pregnancy symptoms she had experienced with her daughter in her past life, and the agonizing pain of childbirth, had all happened just yesterday.
While bathing her, she noticed a red mole on Anlai’s back, in the exact same spot and size as her daughter’s.
If reincarnation were possible, perhaps she had even transmigrated into her daughter’s body after her own death.
Tang Rubao kissed Anlai’s forehead. “Baby, Mom loves you.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Heartache, loss, and recovery, so many emotions surged within her.
For the first time, Anlai fell asleep quickly in her mother’s arms.
Tang Rubao gazed at her sleeping daughter under the lamplight.
The faces of her daughters from her past life and this life overlapped in her mind, indistinguishable from each other.
Tears streamed down Tang Rubao’s face as she leaned down to kiss Anlai’s forehead again. “If you can’t tell the difference, it doesn’t matter. You are still Mom’s precious daughter.”
The next afternoon, after training, Zhou Jingran brought Tu Xiuxiu and Ke Xin home together.
Tu Xiuxiu carried a net bag containing five apples.
Entering the living room, she smiled at Tang Rubao, who was preparing dinner in the kitchen: “Ah Ran said you adopted a daughter, so I brought Xinxin over to see her.”
Tang Rubao turned briefly to glance at Tu Xiuxiu indifferently, offered no reply, and went back to cooking.
Tu Xiuxiu maintained her poise and did not blame Tang Rubao for her cold attitude.
At that moment, Anlai heard the noise and came out of her room.
Seeing Zhou Jingran, Tu Xiuxiu, and Ke Xin, she politely greeted, “Hello, Uncle and Aunt.”
When Tu Xiuxiu saw Anlai, she was somewhat surprised.
She glanced at Zhou Jingran, then at Tang Rubao in the kitchen. “Is she your daughter?”
Why does this little girl look so much like Tang Rubao?
If you said they were your biological children, some people might believe you.
Ke Xin held Tu Xiuxiu’s hand and scrutinized Anlai with an appraising gaze.
Anlai’s skin was sallow, and her hair not as black as hers. Ke Xin muttered to herself, “This little beggar is really ugly.”
Ke Xin raised her chin arrogantly, looking at Anlai.
Aunt Rubao isn’t as pretty as her mother, and the little beggar isn’t as pretty either, so Uncle Zhou definitely won’t like her.
Anlai noticed Ke Xin staring and felt a flash of surprise in her eyes.
The little girl in front of her didn’t say anything, but how could she not hear being called a little beggar?
Her brows furrowed tightly. She now had a mother, a home, and she was no longer a little beggar.
Zhou Jingran grew increasingly displeased with Tang Rubao’s attitude.
He strode into the kitchen, lowering his voice: “Xiuxiu came to see Anlai out of kindness, why are you giving this attitude?”
“Tang Rubao, is this how Commander Tang raised you? How rude!”
How dare she bring up her father?
Tang Rubao turned to the side, raised the spatula, and glared sharply at Zhou Jingran. “My father saving you is the biggest mistake of his life! If you dare mention him again, I’ll smash you to death with this spatula!”
Zhou Jingran’s face flashed with astonishment.
How did she know that Commander Tang had risked his life to save him?
He didn’t love Tang Rubao. If Commander Tang hadn’t pushed him away during that mission, he would have died in the explosion.
Commander Tang pushed him away just in time, saving him from danger. During the explosion, Commander Tang shouted, “Go back and marry Rubao! Take good care of Rubao for me—”
After returning from the mission, he married a woman he didn’t love at all.
Only the two of them had been at the mission site.
No one else knew he had been saved by Commander Tang.
But he didn’t hide it from the troops, he recorded it in detail in his mission report.
He thought that since he hadn’t told Tang Rubao, she wouldn’t know he had been rescued.
Now that she brought it up so unexpectedly, Zhou Jingran was flustered.
But thinking of her attitude toward Tu Xiuxiu, he felt unhappy. “Xiuxiu brought apples to see Anlai. She’s a guest. You shouldn’t have treated her like that.”
Tang Rubao ignored him and continued frying eggs.
After frying, she scooped the eggs into a bowl.
She carried it to the living room along with the stir-fried wood ear mushrooms and lean pork.
The aroma was enticing.
Children love sweets, but they can’t eat eggs and meat every day.
Even though Ke Xin had just eaten steamed buns and cabbage noodles that Zhou Jingran had brought from the cafeteria, she couldn’t help but stare at the eggs and swallow.
Tang Rubao placed the dishes on the table, then returned to the kitchen to scoop two bowls of rice. She gently called Anlai: “Anlai, come and eat.”
Anlai walked over and sat on the stool.
She looked at Zhou Jingran and Tu Xiuxiu. Tang Rubao knew the child wanted to ask if they wanted to eat too. She smiled gently at Anlai: “Anlai, don’t worry about them, we’ll eat.”
Zhou Jingran frowned, displeased. “Is this the way you teach a child?”
Then he looked at Ke Xin with gentle eyes. “Xinxin, do you want some eggs? Uncle Zhou will get you a bowl.”
As soon as he said this, Tang Rubao placed one of the fried eggs from the plate into Anlai’s bowl and the other into hers.
She then divided the stir-fried wood ear mushrooms and lean pork between Anlai’s bowl and her own.
Zhou Jingran froze mid-step as he was about to get a bowl. He glared at Tang Rubao, face ashen, and asked angrily, “Is this really necessary?”