CH 27

In mid-December, the first snow of the year fell in N City, rain and snow to be exact.

Today, after the evening study session, Li Wei accompanied Zhang Man to an unfamiliar neighborhood near her home. Zhang Man confirmed the address against the door number on the paper, and raised her eyes to look at the youth beside her.

With his encouraging nod, her heart gained courage.

She raised her hand and rang the doorbell.

Soon, a man’s loud and clear voice rang out, “Who is it?”

He opened the door, rubbed his sleepy eyes and froze for a moment when he saw two students in school uniforms at the door: “…Man Man?”

The man was wearing silk long-sleeved pajamas and was tall and had a robust look. He has a clean, flat haircut and a sharp look, and even has a scar on the corner of his forehead, which makes his face look a bit fierce.

Far from Zheng Zineng’s gentle and courteous appearance that gives a good impression.

Zhang Man politely greeted him, “Hello, Uncle Xu.”

A hint of doubt emerged from the man’s eyes, but he smiled and invited them in to sit.

Zhang Man pulled Li Wei and sat down on the sofa in the living room, while Xu Shang went to pour tea for them.

Xu Shang did not expect Zhang Man to come to him. His impression about the relationship between the little girl and her mother is very general, and before that she was also indifferent to him. He almost didn’t recognize her after not seeing her for months, but the little girl definitely looked a lot more mature than before.

There was also a boy next to her. Their combined age probably wasn’t as old as he was, but he certainly won’t dare to be negligent now.

Xu Shang poured them both two cups of juice, and himself a cup of green tea.

He took a sip of water to moisten his throat, “Man Man, you came to see me so late today, is there something wrong?”

Zhang Man sat upright, straightened her back, and spoke straight to the point: “Uncle Xu, I came here today to ask you, do you still like my mother?”

Xu Shang, who just had a mouthful of tea in his throat, almost spewed it out, choking and coughing for a while.

What is this? This is something that has only been heard from the mother-in-law to see her son-in-law, but never from the daughter to see her mother’s boyfriend, right?

Ahem…ex-boyfriend.

Xu Shang had no idea why she was asking this, but nodded honestly at the young girl’s serious eyes.

He broke up with Zhang Huifang during this time, and was arranged by the family to go on a few blind dates, but not once did his heart flutter. In fact, he has been still thinking about Zhang Huifang, but he knew that she was no longer interested in him.

The young girl saw him nod, her tense expression relaxed, and her gaze became kind to him.

Xu Shang blushed and coughed covertly, “Why are you asking this?”

Zhang Man also picked up the juice and took a sip: “Uncle Xu, what did my mother say when she broke up with you before?”

Hearing her ask this, Xu Shang was even more embarrassed. These kinds of private words, how to speak out in front of a little girl? Moreover, this little girl is still the daughter of his ex-girlfriend…  Xu Shang feels like he has a bit of a headache.

Who knew that the little girl seemed to see his embarrassment and gently soothed him by saying: “its okay, Uncle Xu, just say it, I won’t tell my mom.”

Xu Shang hesitated for a while and his mood was suddenly a bit low, he answered honestly: “Ahem… There’s nothing to say… Your mother said she thought my character was too honest and dull and that it was quite meaningless to be with me.”

His head was lowered in embarrassment as he said it. How could he mention it to a child and still be sentimental about it?

Zhang Huifang back then, was really the white moonlight of their hearts for many years in that particular neighborhood. He had a crush on her for many years and was afraid to confess his love. Besides, he always knew that she wouldn’t look up to him. When they were together, she joked about marrying him, but later she still thought he was too boring.

Hearing this, Zhang Man and Li Wei looked at each other.

As expected, Zhang Huifang also lied to Xu Shang.

With that nature of hers, after knowing that Xu Shang definitely wants to have a child, she would rather find another reason to dump him than to have him dump her because of this later.

“Uncle Xu, my mother doesn’t know about my visit this time. I came here because I want to talk to you about something and ask your opinion.”

Xu Shang swallowed, listening to her serious tone, he felt a little nervous.

Zhang Man began to explain her intentions: “My mother lied, she actually quite like you, except that she knows that if you marry her, you will definitely want another child. But my mother does not want to have another child for my sake, so…”

Xu Shang listened to her words in shock and his eyes widened slightly, he was so nervous that his hands shook. He truly did not think that Zhang Huifang’s reason for not wanting him was this.

He didn’t want to lose face in front of the children, so he held his left hand with his right.

He remembered that Zhang Huifang seemed to have mentioned this topic. At that time, his family was pushing him hard, and to be honest, since he was almost 40 years old, he certainly wanted to have a child of his own while he was still young. So at that time he did not think twice to say: “Sure I do. I do want a child. I think it’s best to hold two for three years, one who looks like you and one who looks like me.”

Indeed, when saying this, he did not think too much about Zhang Man. However, from the bottom of his heart, even with his own children, he will not neglect Zhang Man. It is her child, after all.

It seems that it was after that conversation that Zhang Huifang did not take long to break up with him.

“Man Man, what I meant back then was…”

There was some struggle in Xu Shang’s eyes.

When he found out that this was the reason for their breakup, he was actually very excited inside, it turned out that she did not dislike him at all. He would like to immediately declare that he does not want any more children, but then he remembers his mother at home, who is so old and still looks forward to having grandchildren every day, so he can’t say anything.

Zhang Man was satisfied when she saw him thinking seriously.

The reason he didn’t immediately change his mind and say he didn’t want children was because he was honest and cautious, a man who would take responsibility for what he said. She then laughed softly, “Uncle Xu, you misunderstood. I was saying that I want you to go after my mother again. I would be very happy if you could give me a cute little brother or sister later.”

She saw the man’s eyes snapped up full of surprise, so she added: “Uncle Xu, I know you have been very good to my mother, I also want her to live a happy life in the future, so in regards to her thoughts on this matter, I will be there to persuade her.”

Xu Shang was a little dazed as he listened to her words.

But after a few moments, he could not stop being ecstatic in his heart. The little girl in front of him was simply an angel sent from heaven! How could she be so cute ah?

He tried to pretend to be deeper, but he couldn’t hold back and smiled so much that the corners of his eyes were creased: “Man Man, you’re such a good girl ah… Don’t worry! Your Uncle Xu will never let you down!”

At this age, he no longer gets carried away by joy like a kid, but Xu Shang still feels that today is the most exciting day of his life in a while.

When the people were respectfully sent away, Xu Shang rubbed his hands in the room and walked back and forth a few times before smiling and patting his head.

I think I’m really being looked at.

__

From Xu Shang’s house, the snow fell more heavily. It began to snow yesterday morning and has not stopped since then. During the day, the street community organized a lot of people together to clear the road, but it was covered with thick snow again in the evening.

The two walked one after the other, Li Wei walked in front, and the snow was trampled out by him. Zhang Man shoe soles are thin, she didn’t want to get her shoes wet, so she stepped on his footprints and walked forward.

Such quietness, after months, has become natural between the two.

In fact, the snow is not so cold and in contrast, when Zhang Man looked at him walking in front, her heart warmed even more. She thought about today’s events and felt that she must change the trajectory of Zhang Huifang’s life, and not let her end up alone, as in her previous life.

She knew that Zhang Huifang did like him after hearing that phone call, and inquired about Uncle Xu’s home address as soon as possible.

Zhang Man had a good impression of Xu Shang, but to be on the safe side, she also went to his 4S Authorized car dealership and asked the clerk about his character.

To her great satisfaction, the response was unanimously positive, and everyone said the man was honest, capable, responsible and reliable.

Zhang Man also inquired about his previous marriage history and heard that he had been married to a blind date. Two years later, his wife died in a car accident. He was busy with his career and failed to engage in a relationship and has been single since then, so his private life is also very clean.

During this period of time, she was not only busy doing competition questions, but also busy asking around for information, and could not let Zhang Huifang know. Even Chen Feier complained that their mother and daughter were definitely born in the wrong place, and she was instead like a worried old mother.

The two had nothing to say all the way to Zhang Man’s house. Suddenly, the youth in front of her stopped, and Zhang Man, who wasn’t paying attention when she thought about things, fell headlong onto his back.

She cried out in pain as she covered her nose and tears were welling up in her eyes.

The youth turned to her teary eyes and his eyes rested on her frozen red ears.

She usually used to tie her hair in a high ponytail when she went to school, and her palm-sized face was covered by bangs, leaving only half of it open. Her pair of ears also grew well. They were small and round, with thick earlobes, and looked especially cute.

But now those ears are frozen red and her white skin is so red that it’s conspicuous and it looks a little heartbreaking.

The youth’s eyes paused and looked her in the eye again, “Does it hurt from the bump? You have to watch the road when you walk.”

Just eased from the soreness and numbness of the bridge of the nose, Zhang Man still cannot speak too well, and muttered with some dissatisfaction: “…who let you stop without saying a word.”

“Mm, I’m to blame.”

Surprisingly, there was a warm smile at the corner of the youth’s mouth. He did not retort but watched her, and under the streetlight, her shadow was much smaller and thinner than his.

He suddenly remembered the last time he hugged her at the bar, the kind of touch that felt like being hugged by a soft cloud.

The tingling sensation in the heart came once again.

Before he met her, he had always thought that he was an absolutely sensible person and that his thoughts could absolutely control his actions.

But it’s different now. The body has again acted on itself before the brain clearly reacted.

With dark eyes, he stepped forward and put his hands on the young girl’s shoulders, and was about to exert a little force…

“Is it you Zhang Man? Did my dead daughter finally come back!? It’s so late and you didn’t even call me? Eh…? Is he…your classmate?”

The sound of high heels hitting the ground and the dangerous tone of voice resounded in the hallway.