Fan Jian greeted Luo Ye and Su Baizhou with a cheeky grin as he brought them back home.
Today, lunch was prepared by Su Baizhou and Luo Ye.
Su Baizhou cooked, and Luo Ye helped with the chopping and prep work.
Luo Ye brought out dish after dish from the kitchen.
Fan Xinya and Fan Jian watched this scene, feeling that these were truly the kind of days they cherished.
After placing a dish on the table, Luo Ye said, "Auntie, Uncle, if you're hungry, feel free to eat. I'll go help Senior in the kitchen."
"Thank you, Xiao Ye," Fan Xinya said, her gaze growing more and more fond. She was increasingly impressed by the young man.
After Luo Ye went back into the kitchen, Fan Xinya sighed and said, "This kid really likes our Fanfan, doesn't he?"
"I can tell," Fan Jian replied, but his voice grew quiet. He leaned in and whispered to his sister, "Do you know his family background?"
Fan Xinya looked at him and shook her head. "When we marry off a daughter, who cares about family? If the other party is rich, Fanfan is more than a match for them; if the other party is poor, Fanfan would never look down on them."
"No, sister," Fan Jian murmured something softly in her ear.
Fan Xinya's face changed slightly, a look of surprise and then deep regret filled her expression.
"Is that so…?"
When Luo Ye came out of the kitchen again, Fan Xinya's gaze toward him softened, as if he were her own son.
At that moment, the phone rang.
Fan Xinya picked it up, and when she saw who was calling, her brows furrowed.
Fan Jian grabbed the phone from her, his voice sharp with anger as he answered, "What face do you have to be calling my sister?"
On the other end of the line was Su Baizhou's father, Su Changqing.
"Xinya, is Baizhou there with you?"
"Fanfan is my niece. Whether she's here or not has nothing to do with you," Fan Jian growled, his anger barely contained.
Before Fan Jian could say more, Su Baizhou, wearing an apron, came out, snatched the phone from his hand, and spoke coldly, "If you divorce Mom, I'll stay with her."
Then, she hung up the phone and, with a neutral expression, returned to the kitchen.
Fan Jian and Fan Xinya were left staring at each other, unsure of what to say.
Not long after, Luo Ye brought dish after dish to the table.
It was the result of his and Senior's teamwork. While he hadn't been much help, looking at the feast before him filled him with satisfaction.
After lunch, the neighbors asked Fan Jian to help harvest some corn.
Fan Jian, ever the helpful soul, immediately agreed and brought Luo Ye along.
For Luo Ye, this was a strange experience, giving him a firsthand look at the hard work of farming.
Although it was October, the weather hadn't cooled down yet. The sun hung high, and Luo Ye's sweat poured freely as he worked in the fields.
He had spent the past couple of days harvesting corn, and his down-to-earth nature made him well-liked by the villagers.
In the end, he earned 200 yuan for his work.
Compared to his monthly royalties of several thousand yuan, that 200 yuan in cash felt surprisingly precious to him.
With the two red bills in his pocket, Luo Ye hopped onto the electric tricycle with Fan Jian and headed home.
By now, he had become familiar with everyone in the village and even earned the title of "king of the kids."
Especially when it came to his skills in playing Chicken Dinner and Honor of Kings, he quickly became a legend among the local elementary school students.
His rank as an invincible god and a glory king was practically mythical to them.
Not to mention, his Chicken Dinner account had money spent on it, and the golden Maserati skin had the kids in awe.
But as all good things come to an end, the seven-day holiday was already on its fifth day.
Su Baizhou and Luo Ye had to return to Jiangcheng.
At the village entrance, the two sat in Fan Jian's electric tricycle, with a crowd of children following behind them.
One chubby child cried out, "King of Ultra, I'll wait for you to come back!"
Hearing this, Su Baizhou instinctively glanced at the young man beside her.
Luo Ye's face reddened with embarrassment.
"I, Ultraman's father, will wait for you too."
"I'll wait for you, too, Di Jia!"
The other children chimed in, their eyes sparkling.
A little girl shouted, "Luo Ye, when I grow up, I'll marry you!"
Upon hearing this, Su Baizhou's expression darkened.
Luo Ye trembled, sensing a sudden chill in the air, as if an invisible killing intent had appeared beside him.
When he looked toward the source of this chill, he saw Su Baizhou calmly staring off into the distance, acting as if nothing had happened.
Fan Xinya laughed and said, "Fanfan, it'll be cold soon. Buy a few more clothes to keep warm."
"Mm, Mom, you take care of your health too."
Maybe the concern from parents was always simple.
For their children's studies and work, they couldn't do much, so they only reminded them to stay warm and eat well.
"Mom, divorce him. I'll support you," Su Baizhou said seriously.
"I know. After I've rested at home for a while, I'll go back and talk to him."
After talking for a bit, Fan Jian, sitting in front of the tricycle, turned and said, "Don't worry, sister. These two kids are very sensible. Fanfan has Xiao Ye to take care of her."
As soon as he said that, a group of elementary school kids covered their mouths, gasping in surprise. They started to look at Luo Ye and Su Baizhou with mischievous grins.
Su Baizhou shot Fan Jian a fierce glare.
Fan Jian scratched his head sheepishly, then started up the tricycle.
"Let's go!"
The tricycle, as usual, let out an exaggerated noise—though it was an electric vehicle, it somehow emitted the sound of a gas-powered engine, kicking up a cloud of dust as it sped off.
At the bus station, the two boarded the train back to Jiangcheng, and once again, they returned to the quiet dynamic of their usual school selves.
Sitting in their separate seats, neither of them spoke.
Luo Ye looked over at Su Baizhou and comforted her, "Senior, don't be upset. What's bad doesn't stay, and what's good will come."
"I'm not upset."
In fact, Su Baizhou wasn't upset at all.
In her heart, her mom should've divorced that man long ago.
So now, she only felt happy for her mother.
"Then why are you sulking?" Luo Ye asked, curious.
At this, Su Baizhou glanced at him and coldly replied, "Isn't this how I always am?"
But these past few days, she'd been acting like a good daughter in front of her mom, so now that she was back to her usual self, Luo Ye couldn't quite get used to it.
Her icy expression made Luo Ye gaze at her profile, lost in thought.
At first, Su Baizhou pretended not to notice, but as Luo Ye continued staring, she could feel her heart rate picking up.
She turned to question him about what he was staring at, but when she did, she froze.
In that instant, her eyes met his.
Luo Ye's eyes were beautiful—clear and untainted, with a purity that reflected his inner thoughts.
He was completely transparent in front of her, not hiding a thing.
Softly, Luo Ye spoke, "Senior, you don't have to act so tough in front of me."