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"Thank you." Li Xiaoxia’s expression softened as she saw her husband had even thought to bring home some plain congee, and she gave him a rare, tender smile, followed by her thanks.
Fan Feng Shou, with a face full of worries, brought back meals and plain congee, but was pleasantly surprised by his wife’s warm smile!
"Xiao Xia!" This was the signal for a ceasefire.
The moment Fan Feng Shou understood his wife’s stance, he emotionally called out to her in a low voice, fearing he would wake his mother and spoil the moment.
"Feng Shou, I’m sorry, I know I’ve been somewhat unreasonable lately. Baozhen’s illness has suddenly made me see things clearly. Let’s not take the outside talk to heart. We can’t become enemies as husband and wife and let outsiders benefit, right?" Li Xiaoxia, feeling remorseful, grabbed her husband’s extended hand and said with tears.
"Xiao Xia..."
"Baozhen’s serious illness made me realize that the most important thing is that our family is well!" For the sake of their daughter, she should not have acted impulsively, pushing her husband into someone else’s arms.
She was inadvertently giving Xiao San a windfall!
The thought of a daughter without a father, it was just so sad and heartrending.
Her daughter, Li Xiaoxia, how could she be treated like this!
"Xiao Xia, I’m sorry, it’s my fault for not doing well. I will treat you and our daughter better in the future!"
Fan Feng Shou, hearing his wife’s insightful words and seeing her slightly sorrowful eyes, felt both satisfied and self-reproachful, and he hugged her tightly for comfort.
Looking at his daughter’s sleeping face, he also thought of the scene with Qiu Yan Yan downstairs, harboring a sliver of hope. Now that his wife showed vulnerability, that hope intensified even more. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Once filled with wild ambitions, Fan Feng Shou didn’t even realize how stiff his wife’s body was in his arms.
"Um..." Li Xiaoxia’s body tensed up, then she awkwardly pushed her husband away, showing a slightly embarrassed shyness, and covered it up by saying:
"Feng Shou, Mother must be starving too. Call her to eat, and then she can go back to sleep. Once Baozhen wakes up and really stops relapsing, we’ll go home."
This hospital smell is really unpleasant.
"Okay."
Fan Feng Shou heard her and saw her rarely shy smile, of course he cooperated.
Fan Jiefang thought all night and felt that such matters really needed to be settled quickly.
His wife had only been gone half a day, but when he came home for lunch and didn’t see her there with a delicious meal prepared, and the courtyard was devoid of their three sons’ joyous laughter—he then understood that without his wife, life was not worth living.
After he retired from the military, he never suffered with food again. Although his old mother cooked without much oil or salt, it was still better than what he made himself!
Because his wife was not there, he had to cook for himself. After not cooking for several years, even making simple noodles turned out to be a disaster, not to mention he over-salted them to the point of being inedible!
Grain was different these days; you couldn’t just throw food away if it didn’t taste good, and he couldn’t bring himself to do that.
In the past, on assignments, what hadn’t he eaten? Even with the noodles being too salty, Fan Jiefang still drank water while forcefully swallowing them down.
He drank up all the cold water in the house on his own.
Fan Feng Shou could not afford to be absent from work indefinitely. Since his daughter was fine for the moment, he went back to work first.
Left alone, Li Xiaochun saw her daughter-in-law, whose hands never touched spring water when it came to chores, so she immediately suggested she’ll go back to buy groceries and cook, also preparing a minced-meat porridge at home. That would give her granddaughter the nourishment she needed.
Li Xiaoxia knew that when it came to household chores, she simply couldn’t compare to her mother-in-law.
Besides, she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her daughter, who was still in deep slumber. Hearing her mother-in-law showing understanding, she quickly nodded repeatedly and unusually said a "Thank you, mother."
Touched by this gratitude, Li Xiaochun went to the market before heading home, which is why she missed crossing paths with Fan Jiefang.
Before entering the ward, Fan Jiefang also bought some fruits because he couldn’t visit his sick niece empty-handed, could he?
Seeing that his sister-in-law was alone and that his niece was asleep, Fan Jiefang didn’t bother with the absence of his brother and directly asked.
"Sister-in-law, do you know about the plan for mother and Feng Shou to adopt Xiao Xian? I want to know what your thoughts are on this."
Li Xiaoxia was taken aback, not expecting her elder brother-in-law to directly ask her. She awkwardly looked up at him, glanced at her daughter, and gestured for them to step outside to talk.
"Elder brother, I really can’t comment on this matter... You know, after Feng Shou got hurt, mother cried at home for many days. I don’t know who brought up the idea to her, then she started insisting on the adoption. I never really considered such a thing," Li Xiaoxia replied softly, awkwardly clasping her arm.
It was all Li Xiaochun’s own doing. She already had a daughter, and now she wanted to rely on a nephew who hasn’t a drop of her blood to provide for her in her old age?
Heh, she wasn’t crazy. Only her mother-in-law would deceive herself into thinking that adopting a male heir would ensure someone to care for her in her old age!
She’s better off raising her daughter, and in the future, she could just find a son-in-law. As long as she keeps her eyes wide open, with her daughter’s current good looks, as long as she doesn’t become disfigured, and with the support of her own family, that would be much better than hoping for a nephew with no blood ties at all!
After all, Fan Xian is Fan Feng Shou’s own nephew, but does he have anything to do with her, Li Xiaoxia? Not a single bit!
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