Nan Chen kept quiet, and Ning Ran didn’t know what to say either.
Erbao realized how she had made things extremely awkward and turned toward Dabao for help.
“Let’s not talk about this any further, shall we? We wouldn’t be here if Daddy doesn’t like Mommy, right?” Dabao asked Erbao.
“Yeah, that makes sense!” Erbao nodded profusely.
“Come on, let’s go get something to eat!” Ning Ran said.
“Mommy, Daddy, I miss Uncle Xing. Can we have him over as well?” Dabao asked all of a sudden.
“Of course! Have him meet us at Heshunlai Hotpot City. We’ll be having hotpot today!” Ning Ran suggested.
She then realized she had forgotten to seek Nan Chen’s opinion on it and turned towards him. “Are you okay with that?”
Why bother asking for my opinion when she’s already said yes? Heck, she’s even thought of where to go and what to eat! I’d never hear the end of it from these kids if I were to say no right now!
“Of course, I’m always okay with anything.” Nan Chen said.
“All right, give me a moment. I’ll give Uncle Xing a call.” Dabao whipped out his phone and went outside to make a call.
“It’s just a phone call. Does he really have to go outside like that?” Ning Ran mumbled.
“Children have a need for privacy too, you know? You should learn to respect that.” Nan Chen said coldly.
“Hey, I do respect others! Look, I didn’t tell the kids to listen in on your conversation earlier!” Ning Ran clarified.
Nan Chen glared at her. “Right, sure you didn’t…”
“I really didn’t! Tell him, Erbao!”
“Stop using the kids as a shield!”
“Daddy, you’re bullying Mommy again! You’ve been bullying Mommy a lot lately!” Erbao glared angrily at Nan Chen.
Nan Chen softened up immediately. “No, I was just kidding!”
Dabao came back after getting off the phone, and the four of them headed out.
With all sorts of hotpot gathered in one spot, Heshunlai Hotpot City was the best place for hotpot in Flower City.
It was easy for one to get overwhelmed by the huge variety of hotpot available, but Ning Ran was set on having a spicy hotpot that day.
She had been through an emotional roller coaster lately and needed a good hotpot session to help her feel better.
As Nan Chen wasn’t into such dishes, she had to rely on her protective kids to help her get what she wanted.
There were a lot of people eating hotpot due to the cold weather, so it took them quite some time to find a parking spot.
Ning Ran was about to get off the car when Nan Chen called out to her, “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Oh, right, I can’t show my face in public! Ning Ran thought to herself as she put on her face mask, hat and sunglasses.
Erbao laughed when she saw that. “You look like the killers on TV, Mommy!”
“You go on ahead. I’ll have someone make the arrangements for us. It’s too crowded for us to go in through the front door.” Nan Chen said.
“That won’t be necessary. Uncle has already made the arrangements.” Dabao said.
“You had him book us a room?”
“That’s right. With Uncle’s connections, it’s no problem at all. Since it’s still early, how about we go shopping for a bit? I’ve been wanting to buy a pair of roller skates.” Dabao suggested.
“Right now?” Ning Ran was confused.
Dabao nodded. “There’s a mall nearby, right? I wanna go shop for a pair of roller skates.”
Nan Chen found it odd. Why would he need to do his own shopping? I could just give the order and we’d have the best roller skates delivered over right away!
“Let’s go eat first. We can just have Qiao Zhan buy you those roller skates.” Ning Ran was puzzled as well.
“No, I wanna go shopping with Mommy and Daddy! We haven’t done that before at all!” Dabao insisted.
“Me too! It’s still a little early for dinner anyway!” Erbao chimed in.
Nan Chen and Ning Ran exchanged glances and decided to agree with their son’s request.
The family of four then went shopping in the huge mall nearby. They bought Dabao and Erbao a pair of roller skates each and even bought Erbao a very cute hat.
An hour had passed.
“I’m a little hungry. Can I get an ice cream?” Erbao asked.
You can’t have ice cream at night, remember? Besides, it’s so cold right now!” Ning Ran reprimanded her.
“Why can’t she have ice cream if we can have hotpot? Come on, let’s go buy some.” Nan Chen said.
Is he trying to pick a fight?
Despite having received support from Nan Chen, Erbao refused to budge until she got permission from Ning Ran.
She stared at her mother and waited for her to say something.
“All right, you can have one. But just this once, got it?”
Erbao was delighted to hear Ning Ran let up and quickly dragged Nan Chen towards the Haagen-Dazs shop nearby.
“Is there something on your mind, Dabao?” Ning Ran bent down and asked.
Dabao kept quiet and simply grinned at her.
“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”
Being his mother, Ning Ran was able to notice something off about him.
“It’s nothing, Mommy. Don’t worry about it!” Dabao said while wrapping his arms around her neck.
“Really? Look, you can tell Mommy about anything, okay?”
“Yes, Mommy.” Dabao said softly.
Erbao had a spring in her step as she made her way back after getting her ice cream.
At that moment, Dabao got a call from Nan Xing. “Where are you guys? I’ve already ordered the food!”
“We’ll be there in a bit, Uncle Xing!”
The private room that Nan Xing had booked was the most expensive and quiet one in the area.
Ning Ran understood what Dabao had on his mind when they opened the door and saw Ouyang Qing inside.
A strong wave of discomfort and disappointment swept through her body.
Why did Dabao invite the woman that Nan Chen was intimate with? He may not have said a word about this, but I’m sure he knows she’s coming! In fact, I bet he’s the one who invited her! After all, Nan Xing knows about her and Nan Chen, so there’s no way he’d invite her! Just what is this kid playing at?
Ouyang Qing was surprised as well. I thought it was going to be dinner with Nan Xing, Nan Chen, and the kids! What’s she doing here?
