“Brother Dong, you’ve worked hard! I didn’t expect you could really bring them back!”
Xu Huaying excitedly lifted Gu Dahu off Xiao Huaidong’s back and placed him on the single sofa at the side.
Xiao Huaidong set Gu Qingling, who was in his arms, onto the other sofa.
“Brother Dong, you’re injured!”
Xu Huaying cried out in alarm.
Xiao Nanchu kicked off with her legs, jumped up, and ran to Xiao Huaidong’s side, looking at him worriedly.
“Dad, where are you hurt?”
Her shout woke Gu Erhu as well.
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Gu Erhu blurted out, “Mom, Big Brother and Lingling are really back? I’m not dreaming, right?”
Xu Huaying shot him an annoyed glance. “Your Uncle Xiao brought them back. If not for him, your brother and sister would have suffered who knows how much.”
Gu Erhu pouted dismissively. “That’s because the police officers were amazing. At most, he just brought them back!”
“Gu Erhu, shut up!”
Xu Huaying was so angry she was panting.
“Huaying, I’m fine. These two kids were drugged. Give them some water first—they should wake up on their own soon.”
Xu Huaying choked up. “Brother Dong, the children don’t understand you, but how could I not? You’re already so badly injured, and you’re still thinking about them. It’s one thing that Erhu doesn’t know gratitude, but he even—”
“Huaying, we’ll be living together in the future. There will inevitably be some friction. There’s still a long road ahead. I won’t argue with children.”
Xiao Huaidong held Xu Huaying’s hand and gently wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes.
Xiao Nanchu, who had been about to find iodine to treat her father’s wound: “……”
Maybe she should just lie back down. It seemed her dad needed Aunt Xu’s concern more.
“Brother Dong, I’ll get the first aid kit right away and treat the wound on your arm.”
Xu Huaying pushed Xiao Huaidong slightly and was about to turn away, but he grabbed her.
“Give the two kids some water first. My injury isn’t urgent.”
Gu Erhu snorted. “Mom, he’s just trying to put on a good show in front of you. I bet that injury isn’t serious at all.”
Xu Huaying tried hard to suppress her anger and patted Xiao Huaidong’s hand. “Alright, Brother Dong, I’ll listen to you.”
She strode to the sofa, grabbed Gu Erhu, flipped him over, and smacked his backside.
“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?”
Gu Erhu begged repeatedly, “Mom, I was wrong! I know I was wrong, please stop hitting me!”
Being spanked by his mother in front of Xiao Nanchu made him feel utterly humiliated.
Getting hit there—how could he not be laughed at by Xiao Nanchu in the future?
“Good that you know you’re wrong. If there’s a next time, it won’t be just one slap.”
Xu Huaying glared at the troublesome Gu Erhu, then took the kettle, poured two cups of water, and fed them to Gu Dahu and Gu Qingling. Afterward, she fetched the first aid kit and applied iodine to Xiao Huaidong’s wound.
“Brother Dong, look at this wound—it’s as long as a pair of chopsticks, and you still say it’s nothing.”
Tears welled up in Xu Huaying’s eyes. Her movements became even more careful, afraid of hurting him.
“I’m a man—rough skin and tough flesh. As long as the children are fine, this little injury is nothing.”
Xiao Huaidong smiled, his eyes full of affection, as if they couldn’t leave Xu Huaying for even a moment.
Xiao Nanchu covered her face with both hands. This was too much to watch.
Her dad, after falling in love, had become almost unrecognizable.
Although she believed he wouldn’t abandon her for a woman,
she now seriously suspected that, judging by his attitude toward Xu Huaying, if Xu Huaying asked him to punish her, even if he didn’t hit her, he might still scold her.
Terrifying love-struck brain.
She just hoped Xu Huaying wouldn’t turn into someone like her biological mother—kind in front, but cruel behind.
Otherwise, her future days would be difficult.
Soon, Gu Dahu and Gu Qingling woke up.
“Mom!”
Gu Qingling threw herself into Xu Huaying’s arms, crying bitterly.
Gu Dahu, with a serious little face, walked up to Xu Huaying and stood still, his head nearly lowered to the ground.
“Mom, I’m sorry. I didn’t take good care of my younger siblings!”
Xu Huaying, frustrated at his failure, raised her hand, intending to slap him so he would remember. But seeing the guilt in his eyes, she withdrew her hand.
“If not for your Uncle Xiao, you and Lingling would have been sold by traffickers by now. He risked his life and was seriously injured to save you. Now you and Lingling should thank him.”
When they were rescued, they had no consciousness at all.
They simply didn’t believe Xiao Huaidong would go save them.
If they had been sold, wouldn’t no one be left to stop him and their mother from being together?
How could a gigolo possibly save them?
Impossible!
The siblings turned their gaze to Gu Erhu, hoping he would tell them the truth.
“I don’t know. Don’t ask me.”
Gu Erhu turned his face away.
Who told their mom to ignore his feelings and spank him in front of outsiders?
He just wouldn’t say.
Gu Erhu’s reaction made Gu Dahu and Gu Qingling even more convinced that Xu Huaying was deliberately making them believe the gigolo was their savior.
They wouldn’t fall for it.
“Mom, did you personally see him save us? Unless he can prove it, we won’t thank him.”
Gu Qingling pouted in agreement. “I also don’t believe he would be that kind. Mom, don’t let him deceive you.”
“You… all of you, so ungrateful. Good, good, very good!”
Xu Huaying’s voice rose several pitches in anger.
“It seems I’ve been too good to you.”
Seeing how angry she was, Gu Dahu hurriedly admitted his fault. “Sorry, Mom. Lingling and I don’t mean we don’t believe him. It’s just… don’t you think it’s too much of a coincidence? We were just taken, and he immediately found us and rescued us. That was a traffickers’ den.”
Xu Huaying laughed in anger. “So saving you was a mistake?”
She looked at the three children, a trace of pain flashing in her eyes. “Fine. Then tell me—what exactly happened today? How did you end up being targeted by traffickers?”
“I… we…”
Gu Dahu glanced at his brother, who had turned his back, then at his guilty, head-lowered sister, and stepped forward to take all the blame.
“Mom, it was all my fault. I couldn’t stand how good you were to that gigolo and burden, so I took Erhu and Lingling and ran away from home. My intention was to hide somewhere and force you, because of us, to drive them out. I didn’t expect to be tricked—they locked us in a warehouse. After that…”
Facing Xu Huaying’s increasingly disappointed gaze, Gu Dahu’s voice grew softer and softer.
Images flashed through his mind—how he had been slapped several times by the bad men to let Erhu escape, his face still burning with pain, and how Lingling had her hair yanked and was slapped repeatedly. A wave of regret surged through him.
If they hadn’t been rescued now, he didn’t even dare to imagine what would have happened to him and Lingling.