The next morning, Ning Ran dragged her tired body out of bed to personally send her kids to school.
She felt bad for not picking them up from school, so she insisted on sending them to school.
Erbao who had not seen mommy the entire day rushed towards Ning Ran and threw herself onto her, “I’ve missed you so much, mommy!”
“Have you been a good kid at school? Did you make any friends?” Ning Ran asked as she hugged her.
“Yes, I have! The teacher said we were really smart! Some of the girls were even trying to become brother’s girlfriend!” Erbao said in a cute voice.
“Don’t talk nonsense. What would you kids know about dating?”
“It’s true! They were fighting to give him snacks, but he ignored them all. They shoved the snacks into his bag, but he gave them all to me instead! It was so yummy!”
Ning Ran put on a stern face, “You greedy little girl! You shouldn’t just eat other people’s food like that, got it?”
“They gave brother the snacks willingly to win him over! I didn’t ask them for it.” Erbao pouted.
“Trying to justify your actions now, are you? Look, no more eating other people’s food, okay?”
Erbao wasn’t happy with that but didn’t dare talk back anymore.
After sending the child to school, Cheng Xiangyun and Ning Ran went to the studio together.
“The psychiatrist called and asked me to send the children for a follow-up today. I’ll send them there today after school is over.” Cheng Xiangyun said.
“In that case, I will ask the director for half the day off and go with them.”
“No, you don’t have to. The psychiatrist said it’d be better if the parent doesn’t go with them, so I’ll go instead.”
Of course, Cheng Xiangyun was aware of Ning Ran’s current situation in the crew. With the constant pressure from that superstar Luo Fei, things were already very difficult for Ning Ran as it is, even without taking leave.
If she took leaves frequently, Luo Fei would definitely seize the opportunity to sabotage Ning Ran by blaming her for slowing down the filming progress. Cheng Xiangyun lied to Ning Ran about the doctor’s message so she could focus on her film.
“In that case, I’ll leave it to you. A friend of mine from abroad will be arriving tonight, so I need to go pick him up. I owe him money, so he won’t leave me alone unless I do so.” Ning Ran said helplessly.
“You mean that guy who helped enroll your kids in school?”
“Yeah, it’s Tony.”
“Then I’ll go with you! This person was able to help enroll your kids in Zhixing Kindergarten with a single phone call, so he must be a big shot of some kind! I want to meet someone like that too!” Cheng Xiangyun looked very excited.
“Don’t bother, you’ll just end up feeling disappointed when you see him. He is a very shameless and ignorant boy toy. In fact, he’s even more wretched than me.” Ning Ran complained.
“Are you kidding me? It’s hard to imagine anyone being more wretched than you though. He was able to settle a problem with a single phone call from overseas that many couldn’t even with hundreds of thousand. How bad can someone like that possibly be?” Cheng Xiangyun said doubtfully.
“I have no idea how he did it either. But he’s a really terrible person, so you’re better off not seeing him anyway. Alright, I’ve got to get going now.”
……
At five o’clock in the afternoon, Cheng Xiangyun had arrived on time and picked up the kids from school.
“We’re going to see Dr. Qin again. Don’t be nervous, okay? Just answer whatever questions she asks, and do whatever she tells you to.” Cheng Xiangyun said.
“Alright, Aunt Xiang. We’re not scared.” Erbao said loudly.
Dabao nodded.
Zhixing Kindergarten wasn’t far from Qin Lan’s clinic. Before going there, Cheng Xiangyun had called Qin Lan and told her that they would be there in ten minutes.
When they arrived at the clinic, Qin Lan told Cheng Xiangyun that the kids didn’t need to be accompanied by an adult, so she come back in an hour to pick them up.
Cheng Xiangyun knew that the kids were geniuses, and Qin Lan was introduced by a police officer anyway, so she could trust her. She handed the kids to Qin Lan, and went to the nearby supermarket to buy some groceries. She had planned to cook them a delicious meal later in the evening.
Qin Lan started off by asking the kids some questions to check if they still showed any clear signs of psychological trauma from the incident.
She was shocked at their performance. Be it their level of intelligence or their mentality, they were not like that of a four-year-old child at all.
“Sweetie, there is a handsome guy who looks a lot like you. He wants to meet you. Would you like to see him?” Qin Lan asked softly.
Erbao looked at Dabao. She had to listen to her brother when it came to these things.
Dabao shook his head.
Mommy told us, we mustn’t accept anything from strangers, and we mustn’t follow strangers either. If a stranger approaches us, we must politely reject their advances.
We haven’t met that handsome man before. That makes him a stranger, so of course we mustn’t meet him.
“Brother says no.” Erbao said.
“The handsome man isn’t a bad guy. He’s my friend. I promise you; he means you no harm.” Qin Lan explained.
Erbao looked at Dabao again.
Dabao still shook his head.
If he has nothing to do with us, then there is no need to see him.
Qin Lan’s phone rang, it was Nan Chen. He told her that he had arrived at the clinic.
That was fast of him. Usually it could take months just to invite him for a meal, and now he’s rushed here so quickly for these kids?
Does he value them over his friends?
Qin Lan was a little jealous. These kids seemed to matter more to him than an old friend like herself.
Qin Lan stepped aside and said softly to Nan Chen, “I’ve tried talking to them about it, but they refuse to see you.”
Nan Chen too, was unsure of what to do. It was indeed rather sudden of him to try and meet them like this when he didn’t even know them nor their parents.
In Flower City, even famous celebrities and big shots would have to get in line for an appointment if they wanted to meet Nan Chen. But these kids had refused to see him even though he had personally come to meet them?
This was such a huge turn of events. Nan Chen had never thought he’d get rejected by someone, let alone by two children.
The phone went silent, but Qin Lan knew Nan Chen was still listening.
“I can try talking to them again. Or maybe you could wait at the entrance and pretend that you bumped into them by chance?” Qin Lan said.
“Okay.” Nan Chen replied.
Nan Chen hung up the phone feeling defeated. He had come here sincerely, after all.
In order to meet the kids today, he had asked Jiang Zhe to prepare some gifts: Two beautiful dolls and two boxes of snacks personally made by a famous pastry chef in Flower City.
In order not to startle the kids, he even drove over by himself without his aides.
And yet, he wasn’t even able to see them after all that trouble.
He couldn’t just walk in there either as that would startle the kids, so he could only wait inside his car.
Suddenly, a strong feeling of irritation started to build up in him. He exhaled slowly, took out his mobile phone and replied some work emails to calm himself down.
Meanwhile, Qin Lan was still trying her best, “The handsome man is just right outside now. If you won’t meet him, should I tell him to go back?”
Erbao looked at her brother, “Since he’s already here, why don’t we see him? What if it’s something important?”
Qin Lan struggled to hold in her laughter. This kid is so cute for thinking that people needed something from her.
Dabao didn’t answer immediately, as he was thinking about it.
“Besides, Dr. Qin is here with us, so we’ll be safe!” Erbao tried to convince her brother using logic.
Dabao knew that his sister loves to have fun and wants to meet him.
Since there isn’t any risk anyway, we’ll just meet him then!
Dabao nodded.
Qin Lan let out a sigh of relief. This kid has finally said yes!
