Xia Ling nodded with a smile and replied crisply, "Yeah."
To Lin Chao, the gesture seemed effortlessly cool, even provocatively charming. His Adam's apple bobbed as he gritted his teeth, ready to fire back—until Xia Ling raised a finger, pale and luminous in the sunlight, and pointed past him.
Lin Chao turned instinctively.
On the white hospital wall behind him, a chalky smear marked where he'd leaned. His loud floral shirt hid the stain well enough.
"Go home and change," Xia Ling said, shooing him like a pesky fly. "And next time, don't forget a red envelope. Since your Lin family and my Mo family are connected, skipping gifts would be… impolite."
Lin Chao's eyebrows knotted. *Why should I give them anything?* Mo Chen was irrelevant! If she cared so much about manners, why not divorce the man?
Humiliated, he opened his mouth to retort—but Dadan and Erdan barreled over with five strangers in tow, kicking up dust that forced him to snap his jaw shut.
Dadan skidded to a halt, finger jabbing at Lin Chao. "Uncles, aunties—this man tried to buy us as his sons! Mom refused, but he won't leave us alone!"
"You? As my sons?" Lin Chao sneered. "I wouldn't take you if you paid me!"
He wanted heirs, sure—but not some stranger's brats. His glare dripped disdain.
Dadan bristled like a cat with a stepped-on tail, fists clenching.
Xia Ling stepped between them, her hand firm on Dadan's head. "A misunderstanding," she told the crowd, her voice calm. "This is the children's uncle. They just met today and… didn't bond." She paused, letting the implication settle, then sighed. "Kids exaggerate."
The onlookers nodded, piecing it together: a relative's poorly timed joke.
Xia Ling bowed slightly. "Thank you for your concern." She nudged the boys. "Dadan, Erdan—apologize."
This seemingly soft nudge made the two brothers dipped into stiff 90-degree bows. "Thank you, uncles and aunties!"
The crowds anger softened into nothing. How could they stay mad at a polite young mother and her rowdy boys?
As Xia Ling chatted with them, she watched Lin Chao's face darken. Quickening her smile, she patted the boys. "Greet your uncle properly."
"Hello, Uncle!" those two smart kids chirped immediately.
Erdan tilted his head. "Will you give us a gift now?" His hopeful tone pinned Lin Chao like a butterfly to corkboard.
Why should I? Lin Chao seethed. These weren't even Mo Chen's blood—just freeloaders!
His smile stayed plastered as Dadan "whispered" loudly, "Maybe Uncle's broke? We shouldn't embarrass him…"
Lin Chao's eye twitched. Those little con artists. They indeed that Mo Chen's raised kids.
He angrily yanked a leather wallet from his pocket, took out a stack of red bills, split the stack of crisp ten-yuan bills inside, and thrust half at each boy. "Here. A gift from your uncle."
The crowd gasped. A thousand yuan—more than any of them earned in a year—glinted like a neon sign.
Dadan and Erdan froze. They'd hoped for pocket change, not a fortune.
"Uncle," Erdan stammered, "Dad says we can't take gifts without Mom's permission."
Lin Chao's grin turned feral. Oh, this is perfect. The little schemers had trapped themselves.
He regrouped the cash and lunged for Xia Ling's hand. "Take it—for the kids!"
She sidestepped smoothly. "Enough. Your brother warned me that you get… overexcited in public. Now I see it's true."
Lin Chao blanched. Brother? Since when did Mo Chen—that stone-faced bureaucrat—call him family? The thought curdled his stomach.
As the crowd murmured, Xia Ling herded the boys away, leaving Lin Chao to simmer.
Behind her, his voice rasped: "Mo Chen won't always protect you."
She didn't look back.