Chapter 614: Children Deserve to Voice Out Their Thoughts Too

On the other side, once Luo Huian ended the call, she heaved a sigh and then placed her phone back in her pocket. She turned around on her feet and headed out of the balcony, when Qi Yongrui saw her arrive, he straightened up and questioned immediately, “What happened? Did someone make things difficult for you again?” He, of course, knew the good things that Ye Jinglan was doing.

That mer was petty and miserly and yet he liked to take advantage of others. Not only was he taking money from his wife but he was also testing her patience by ripping her off every second day. Now Qi Yongrui couldn’t help but feel guilty. He took the children under his care because he felt sorry for the two children but because of his little sympathy, his wife lost six million yuan in a matter of a few days.

Though six million yuan was not a big sum of money for them, it was not small either. His wife, who loved money more than she loved her skin care, was taking out one million yuan after another all because of him. When Qi Yongrui thought about this, he hung his head in shame.

“I am—”

“There is no need.” Luo Huian knew what the mer was going to say. She sighed and waved her a dismissive hand. She said to the mer, “I am not blaming you but you also need to understand that you can’t just help everyone in the world. Being sympathetic and kind is good but there is a limit to your kindness. Look at this: if you continue being kind without asking for anything in return, people will take it for granted.”

“I understand, wife. It was my fault,” Qi Yongrui agreed amicably. He knew that he was the one who made a mistake. He was only worried about the children and didn’t think about what would happen later on. His actions were too rushed. If he were given another chance then he would be much more careful.

Luo Huian didn’t blame Qi Yongrui any further once the mer accepted his mistake. Instead, she said to him, “We need to arrange her surgery as soon as possible. If we keep them here, then it will only cause trouble for ourselves. In case Ye Jinglan admitted that we have kidnapped his children, then we will be in trouble. After all, the guardianship of the children is still under him.”

Qi Yongrui agreed with what Luo Huian said to him. As much as he hated to admit it, Ye Jinglan was still the father of the two children, even if he was their stepfather; after the death of his late wife, the guardianship naturally fell in his hands. Thus, he was the one who had the rights over the two children.

If he maintained that they snatched the kids and brought them away with them, the law would lean in favour of Ye Jinglan.

“Then I will leave the matter of surgery in your hands, wife,” said Qi Yongrui.

Luo Huian hummed. She explained a few more things to Qi Yongrui and then left the room. Once she walked out, Nian Zhi and Nian Wu came looking for Qi Yongrui. They were right outside the room and heard a few snippets of their conversation.

Nian Zhi was worried that Ye Jinglan had caused trouble for Qi Yongrui and Luo Huian. Thus, she hurried inside the room and climbed onto Qi Yongrui’s lap, “Uncle Qi!”

“You are awake?” Qi Yongrui was quite surprised to see the two children running around so early in the morning. He thought that the two children would be asleep, as they were up quite late last night.

“Yeah,” Nian Zhi nodded. She wanted to tell Qi Yongrui that they had been awake for three hours and had been waiting for him to wake up but then she thought it through as she realised that she sounded quite whiny, like a child. In her stubbornness to act as a mature and understanding girl, she forgot that she was still a child who was allowed to act childish.

She glanced at Qi Yongrui and carefully asked, “Uncle Yongrui, did our stepdaddy make things difficult for Aunt Huian?”

Qi Yongrui didn’t want to make things difficult for the children but at the same time, he didn’t wish to hide the truth from them. He turned to look at the two kids and very seriously spoke to them, “Your stepdaddy is indeed making things difficult for your Aunt Huian. Because of this, your aunt is having a troubled time. Make sure to stay nice to her, alright? Your aunt is not unkind. She is just unhappy because of the things that your stepfather keeps doing.”

“You need to be nice to her. The next time you see her, make sure to greet her nicely, alright?”

Nian Zhi and Nian Wu looked at one another. They knew that Ye Jinglan was not going to let them go. However, they never thought that the mer would be this tricky. He was actually asking for a lot of money from Aunt Luo. The two siblings didn’t know how many zeroes six million had but they did know that it was a lot of money; if not, Ye Jinglan would have never wasted his time by calling Luo Huian.

If he had asked for six million yuan, then the money must be a really big sum.

“Don’t worry, Uncle Qi,” said Nian Zhi with a determined look on her face. “I and my brother will not forget the help that Aunt Luo had given to us.” She paused and then said to Qi Yongrui, “And I will also return the money that I owe Aunt Luo once I grow up.”

For the first time in her life, Nian Zhi felt hopeful and happy. These past few days that she had spent with Qi Yongrui and his family were the happiest. Ever since her father died, her mother became busier and she stopped paying attention to her and her brother. There were times when she might even forget to cook for them. And not for a few hours but for days!

When things went out of control, their mother went out and married Ye Jinglan. And once that mer came to their family, their mother changed even further. In the past she at least didn’t hit them but after that mer came to their family, Mother Nian started hitting them. And every time she looked at them, she would stare at them with a hint of disgust in her eyes.

They had no idea what the mer did but everyone turned a blind eye to their sufferings.

Even when he beat them up, Mother Nian didn’t stop her. This was something that made them confused. Their mother clearly loved them when their father was alive; then how come she stopped loving them all of a sudden?

Qi Yongrui saw that the two children were not only mature but also understanding. He smiled at them and rubbed their heads. He gently said to them, “I am thinking of taking you two to the strawberry farm today. Are you alright with that?”

Even though Nian Zhi and Nian Wu were children, he didn’t want to make them do anything that they didn’t want to do. Qi Yongrui might not be a father yet but he had read a lot of books on parenting, as he had hoped to become a good father in case he did get pregnant with Luo Huian’s child.

In the books that he read, it was often quoted that children had their own will and self-respect. They couldn’t dismiss their opinions just because, as adults, they believed that the children didn’t know anything better.

When Nian Zhi and Nian Wu heard Qi Yongrui ask them whether they wanted to go to the strawberry farm, their eyes lit up. After the death of their mother, this was the first time anyone had asked them for an opinion. Usually, the adults around them told them what they needed to do or what they should say.

Even when they were giving them leftovers, they expected the two children to be grateful to them and they were. But it felt rather weird to hear their neighbours say that they had given them fresh food when the truth was that they had handed them what their children couldn’t eat.

If Nian Zhi and Nian Wu were a bit older, they would have understood the hypocrisy of the human heart. Those neighbours clearly didn’t want to help them but at the same time, they wanted to prove that they were good people who had hearts kinder and purer than gold.

“We are willing,” said Nian Wu excitedly but when Nian Zhi glanced at him with a light glare, the mer boy lowered his head and cleared his throat. “I mean… if it’s okay with Uncle Qi.”

Qi Yongrui pretended to not notice their little actions. Stifling a smile on his lips, he said to the two children, “Alright, then we will go to the strawberry farm today. Go and get ready; tell your Uncle Fan that we are going on a small picnic.”