"These damned human traffickers…" After hearing the story, Gu's mom was grinding her teeth in anger at the traffickers and raising the rolling pin in her hand to swing at Gu Zhihan, "And you, young man, why didn't you wait for Mengmeng after school? I'll beat you to death!"
Gu Zhihan didn't dodge as he usually did. He stood his ground, silent, as if waiting for the blow.
Because… he too thought he deserved it.
Just as the rolling pin was about to hit Gu Zhihan, Luo Mengmeng suddenly spread her arms in front of him, protecting him like a hen shielding her chick, "Future Mother-in-law, you can't bully my husband!"
Her crisp, childlike voice sounded soft, but her tone was fiercely protective. She exuded an air of 'you have to step over my body before you can lay a hand on my husband'!
Was she protecting him?
Gu Zhihan's dark eyes fixed on the little figure in front of him. He felt a warm current flow through his heart and spread into his every bone, his lips involuntarily curving into a smile.
"Oh, so young and already defending your husband. Alright, alright, I won't hit you…" Gu's mom sighed helplessly, put down the rolling pin, and then blamed herself, "To be honest, most of the blame falls on us parents for not being responsible enough. We thought the kindergarten was only a few steps from home and nothing would happen. But something did happen. Later, I'll have your godfather rearrange my work schedule at the hospital so I can drop you off and pick you up from school every day."
Gu's mom was truly terrified.
If Mengmeng had really been abducted, or if both of them had been taken, either scenario would have been the death of both of their parents!
"I'll also wait for her from now on to go to and from school," Gu Zhihan turned his head away awkwardly and guiltily added.
The sharp-eared Mengmeng heard him and immediately lifted her watery eyes to seek confirmation, "Really?"
"Truly," confirmed Gu Zhihan, nodding with an earnestness he had never shown before.
His heart was still filled with guilt and self-blame…
"Then we have to pinky promise," Luo Mengmeng extended her plump, tender little paw towards him.
"Childish!" Although Gu Zhihan complained, he ultimately extended his little hand and hooked it around her tiny paw.
The two small hands interlocked, and Mengmeng immediately shook their linked fingers and recited in a childlike voice, "Pinky promise, hang on a hook; no changing for a hundred years!"
After she finished, she took herself quite seriously and lifted her thumb, then pressed it toward his thumb as if stamping a seal.
Gu Zhihan: "…"
But seeing Luo Mengmeng's tears turn into laughter, Gu Zhihan's heart, burdened with guilt, finally felt a bit relieved.
"Silly girl, you really must avoid strangers from now on, okay? There are many bad people in this world," he couldn't help but remind her.
"But that kidnapper uncle looked so kind. I thought he was a good person at the time, that's why I talked to him," Mengmeng guiltily fingered her hands.
Gu Zhihan was annoyed, "Appearances can be deceiving."
"How can I tell if someone's heart is good or bad then?" Luo Meng instantly became a curious baby, blinking and asking the little boy in front of her. Biting her finger, her eyes rounded, she answered her own question, "Do we need to take out a stranger's heart to see whenever we meet one?"
This level of comprehension…
Gu Zhihan was instantly speechless. Let's pretend he said nothing at all...