SFBF CH37

There was a lot of extra stock in the kids’ storage room, but this children’s phone watch wasn’t something the purchasing staff had intentionally bought in excess. It was only there because they had bought the wrong model in the first place—

The buyer had purchased two watches of the same model, but overlooked the fact that Ao Zai was only three and a half years old and couldn’t yet use the kind of watch meant for older kids.

So after buying Gu Ao a new smaller watch, this extra one could only be tossed into storage.

The last time Shen Qing went to sneak—ah no, go get body wash, he had already noticed this spare watch in storage. At the time he had thought it was a pity, such a waste. It had to cost at least over a thousand yuan.

“Didn’t expect it’d come in handy this soon.” Shen Qing grinned, showing a row of white teeth, and opened the package box.

Gu Huaiyu stared at the words on the box that read “Suitable for ages 5–13” and stayed silent for a very long time.

The two little kids also had perfect “O”-shaped expressions, staring blankly at their aunt—

Something about this felt wrong, didn’t it?

No matter how you looked at it, little uncle definitely wasn’t only thirteen years old anymore.

Because Gu Duo liked simple things and disliked flashy ones, this new watch—same model as the one on his own wrist—also looked very plain overall, with no cartoon patterns on it.

…In fact, the whole thing was blue!

After taking it out and checking the color, Shen Qing let out a sigh of relief too—as long as it wasn’t pink, everything was negotiable.

He had noticed that the box showed three colors in total: black, blue, and pink.

Honestly, even though the box said this one was blue, Shen Qing had genuinely feared that the moment he took it out, he’d see some dazzling sparkly pink strap…

Not because of anything else, but because if it had still been pink, then in Gu Huaiyu’s mind he’d probably be permanently locked to the concept of pink forever.

“Ta-da.”

Taking out the watch, Shen Qing held it up in both hands like he was presenting treasure and introduced it to Gu Huaiyu: “Look, making and receiving calls is no problem, and I think it can also do video and voice messages. As for the other functions… Duoduo, come explain them to your uncle.”

As for the extra functions, Shen Qing didn’t understand them either.

But that didn’t stop his eyes from sparkling as he looked at Gu Huaiyu with open anticipation.

Gu Huaiyu: “……”

…As if on cue, Gu Duo’s phone watch rang right then.

In an instant, the gazes of the two adults and two children all converged at once on the watch on Gu Duo’s wrist.

Shen Qing said, “See? The ringtone is clear and loud! And the sound quality is… pretty decent too, right?”

Gu Huaiyu: “……”

At the side, Gu Duo instinctively glanced at the incoming caller display, paused a moment, and said, “It’s Xu Weiming,” before hopping down from the chair to answer the call.

Shen Qing: “Xu Weiming? The little young master from the Xu family?”

He hadn’t even known these two children still kept in touch after that birthday party.

The phone watch call was on speaker mode, so even though Gu Duo moved a little farther away, little Xu Weiming’s soft babyish voice still came through brightly and clearly: “Gu Duo! Why did you only answer my call now?”

Shen Qing: “…From the sound of that tone, it seems Young Master Xu keeps in pretty close touch with your brother?”

Stroking his chin, Shen Qing turned to the Ao Zai across from him, trying to get some answers from President Ao.

Usually, since Ao Zai was glued to Duoduo every day, he should know best who his brother had been in contact with.

But perhaps because he was still too young and not sensitive to this sort of thing, when Shen Qing asked him, he simply held up his little head, thought for a moment, and then countered in a crisp voice: “Cigar little master, who is that?”

Shen Qing: “…Forget it.”

Then Shen Qing suddenly remembered the phone watch in his own hand and kept pitching it to President Gu: “See that? It even has caller ID. How smart is that!”

Gu Huaiyu: “……”

Over there, Gu Duo had already moved farther away. The adults couldn’t hear clearly when he lowered his voice and said something, but the voice on the other end remained loud and clear. Little Xu Weiming said, “Because I missed you!”

The adults sitting at the table: “…?”

Who would’ve thought their Duoduo was actually pretty popular… huh.

After exchanging a glance with Gu Huaiyu, Shen Qing gave a dry cough and said, “…See? Just like I said, this phone watch has great sound quality, good speaker quality too—at the very least, the conversation content is extremely clear.”

Gu Huaiyu: “……”

Still only stared at him in silence.

By now Duoduo had probably run far enough away that Xu the little friend’s voice could no longer be heard, and then Shen Qing noticed with surprise, “Oh, there’s even a plug-in port here. So if Big Boss, you’re worried about privacy leaks, you can use earphones too! This children’s phone watch is really very smart!”

“……”

Gu Huaiyu touched his brow with a finger. His voice was low, as if suppressing something, as he said, “Don’t be ridiculous, Shen Qing.”

“How is this ridiculous?” Shen Qing looked at him, full of incomprehension, his eyes widening at the same time.

His eyes were bright, and his expression utterly sincere. “…Besides, since you don’t even want to contact other people anyway, then you could just give your new number to only a few of us. That way, the only people who’d ever call you would be Duoduo, Ao Zai, and me. Even if you’re too lazy to use earphones and put us on speaker, there’s nothing in our calls that outsiders can’t hear. It wouldn’t involve any privacy or secrets.”

Shen Qing felt that this arrangement of his was practically perfect.

Gu Huaiyu: “……”

Shen Qing went on analyzing seriously: “And you don’t need any other functions anyway. This is convenient to carry around and waterproof too! You wouldn’t even need to take it off when bathing!”

Gu Huaiyu: “……”

In Shen Qing’s view, nothing could be more suitable for the big boss to wear than this children’s watch. Even a smartphone wouldn’t be better.

…Well, ignoring the appearance.

But the appearance wasn’t ugly either!

It wasn’t like the Peppa Pig cartoon-style little toy watch on Ao Zai’s wrist!

Besides, practicality was what really mattered. Why care so much about looks? Big Boss, you barely even go out, so who are you wearing an expensive beautiful watch for anyway?

The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. Shen Qing directly grabbed the hand the big boss had resting on the table and tugged it over, then tried to roll up his sleeve.

“What are you doing?”

Gu Huaiyu finally reacted and instinctively tried to pull his hand back.

The moment he withdrew his hand, Shen Qing was caught off guard and nearly lost his grip.

But in the end, he still managed to catch Gu Huaiyu’s fingertips and pull the hand back again.

“Just try it on first and see if the size fits.” Shen Qing lifted his eyes toward him, the outer corners lightly hooked up. “If it doesn’t fit, then forget it. Right, Ao Zai?”

Across from them, Ao Zai tilted his little head. “Ao?”

Clearly he hadn’t understood what Auntie was saying at all.

But Ao Zai was a little kid committed to objective truth. Twisting his body around, he climbed up to stand on the chair and leaned his whole self over the table just to see clearly what the adults were doing.

Once he vaguely understood that uncle and auntie were having a tug-of-war over a watch, Ao Zai directly started waving his own chubby arm and proudly displayed his own tiny watch too: “Ao Zai, has one too! Ao Zai can give uncle!”

Ao Zai was still too little. His watch was even more toy-like, with functions limited to making and receiving calls.

Usually President Ao didn’t even remember to wear the thing. This morning he had only copied his brother after seeing him wear a watch, but unexpectedly now it had come in handy.

Waving his little arm, President Ao enthusiastically declared that if little uncle liked it, he could share his own watch with him.

Gu Huaiyu: “……”

Shen Qing burst out laughing on the spot.

The next second, under the big boss’s serious gaze, he immediately straightened up and solemnly clarified: “Ao Zai’s Peppa Pig watch was not chosen by me.”

“Of course, if Big Boss, you want it…” Shen Qing tried hard not to laugh. “Then the two of you can switch, hahaha!”

Gu Huaiyu: “……”

His hand resting on the table paused. Looking at the smile on the young man’s face, Gu Huaiyu sighed so faintly that it could barely be noticed.

After that, he raised his hand and slowly unclasped the mechanical watch on his own wrist, taking it off.

Then he silently indicated for Shen Qing to put the children’s watch on him.

Shen Qing: “Uh.”

Perhaps it was because the way the big boss took off his own watch was too handsome, too stylish—almost too sexy.

At that moment, looking again at the children’s phone watch in his hand, Shen Qing suddenly did feel it really didn’t match Gu Huaiyu at all.

…

But still, same as before, this was only something to wear at home. Gu Huaiyu wasn’t going outside.

So what if it was a children’s watch!

If President Gu agreed to wear it, then Shen Qing would put it on him!

Compared to the strap of the big boss’s own watch, the children’s watch strap was so cheap-looking it almost hurt to look at, the most traditional sort of strap. Fortunately, the big boss was so thin he was practically skin and bones, and his wrist was not thick at all, so there was no problem wearing it.

But when faced with such a hand—full of needle marks, pale, with veins standing out—Shen Qing’s movements unconsciously grew far gentler than usual, nothing like his typical rough, careless style.

Head lowered, he carefully fastened the strap.

His warm fingertips brushed across Gu Huaiyu’s icy wrist from time to time. Shen Qing thought, the big boss had already been sitting here in the sun all morning—how was his hand still this cold?

Instinctively, he rubbed and warmed the back of the cold hand a little too.

And Gu Huaiyu just kept watching him.

Suddenly, Gu Huaiyu asked, “You really want me to wear this watch that much?”

“…If it can be used, then might as well wear it.”

Shen Qing’s thinking was very practical. “Otherwise it’s just one more thing sitting useless in storage. What a waste… okay, done.”

After saying that, Shen Qing straightened up again.

Still holding Gu Huaiyu’s hand, he lifted it and admired it, tilting it left and right. “See? It suits you so well! You can’t even tell it’s the same model as Duoduo’s!”

Gu Huaiyu: “……”

His lips moved slightly. Then Gu Huaiyu’s gaze dropped back to his own wrist. The moment he clearly saw the result, he couldn’t help raising his brows, his entire expression full of disbelief.

Meanwhile, Shen Qing was still carefully admiring the big boss’s wrist and fingers. He even raised Gu Huaiyu’s hand high into the sunlight to inspect it closely.

In the end, he nodded in utter satisfaction. “The key point is that Big Boss, your aura is doing all the work here. If you wore a hundred-yuan watch, people would think it was Patek Philippe. Don’t worry—even if somebody sees it, nobody’s going to think it’s a children’s watch…!”

“……”

Gu Huaiyu said nothing.

He only pulled slightly, withdrawing his hand from Shen Qing’s grasp and setting it back on the table.

Just then, Li Hong came jogging downstairs from the upper floor and arrived in the living room.

“President Gu, there’s a very urgent document from Europe that you need to review. It’s being faxed right now—”

Li Hong stopped dead the instant he came close, and then his tone changed completely: “President Gu… why are you wearing a children’s phone watch?!”

Shen Qing: “……”

Li Hong had been by President Gu’s side for a long time, but even this was the first time he’d seen a scene like this, so naturally he was a little shaken.

He did his best to control his expression so he wouldn’t laugh out loud, and forcibly tried to preserve his boss’s dignity: “…It’s… it’s quite distinctive.”

Ao Zai, still lying on the table, enthusiastically backed him up: “Very distinctive!”

“…Haha, does Young Master Ao also think so?”

Trying to ease the awkwardness, Li Hong quickly moved over to Gu Ao and started chatting with him. “Why are you lying on the table, little young master? That happy?”

Gu Ao giggled twice. He actually liked this kind of cheerful atmosphere very much, so he explained to Li Hong: “Watching auntie put watch on uncle!”

Gu Huaiyu: “……”

Shen Qing: “……”

Li Hong: “……”

Utterly beyond words!

Looking at the Patek Philippe on the table, which was supposed to be on President Gu’s wrist, and then at the children’s electronic watch currently on President Gu’s wrist… Li Hong could only think: as expected of Madam!

Only Madam could do something like this. If it were anybody else… who would dare put a children’s watch on President Gu?!

The living room once again sank into a weird silence.

“Ahem.”

Shen Qing coughed lightly first, breaking the awkwardness.

Looking at Assistant Li, who was standing ramrod straight but whose eyeballs practically looked about ready to pop out, Shen Qing felt it necessary to explain himself a little: “It’s because President Gu doesn’t use a phone, and then I thought this would make it more convenient for us to reach him, and there just happened to be a watch in the house…”

Li Hong: …President Gu had been rarely leaving the house and not using a phone for two whole years already.

At first, when people suddenly couldn’t get hold of President Gu anymore, everyone had found it very hard to adjust.

Even old Master Gu had barged in front of President Gu twice over this matter and spoken to him at length.

But never had anyone thought of persuading President Gu to rejoin the technological age in this way.

After hearing it, Li Hong nodded vigorously. So indeed, as expected of Madam! Truly original in his ideas!

…That said, the reason President Gu didn’t use a phone was also not because he literally lacked one.

If he only rejected smartphones, then it wasn’t as if they couldn’t afford one of those old-fashioned phones that could stay on standby for a week.

So in the end, it was still…

Li Hong understood Madam’s idea, but very regrettably…

This time Madam would probably end up disappointed.

…Truthfully, the fact that President Gu was willing to even try on this watch already showed tremendous indulgence!

It was just that President Gu’s determination not to interact with people remained too firm…

Shen Qing could read the shock and meaningful silence on Assistant Li’s face.

He suddenly understood that although Gu Huaiyu almost never went outside, even his assistant found the sight of the big boss wearing a children’s watch this shocking.

So considering President Gu’s identity, perhaps having him wear a children’s watch really was something earth-shattering.

…Well, then forget it.

Shen Qing didn’t want to force him. “Actually, this was only for trying it on. There’s not even a SIM card in it yet, and it’s not like I was really insisting that President Gu wear it…”

As he spoke, he raised a hand to take the watch back off the big boss.

But at that moment, Gu Huaiyu moved.

His long fingers bent slightly. First he raised his hand and closed the book in front of him. Then he slowly picked up the mechanical wristwatch he had taken off and left on the table.

Finally, under Shen Qing’s puzzled gaze, he slowly turned his head and asked Li Hong, “Wasn’t there an important document I needed to review?”

“…Oh, oh, right, right!” Li Hong answered completely on reflex.

Gu Huaiyu said, “Let’s go.”

As he spoke, he turned his wheelchair around.

He still sat straight in the wheelchair, and the indifferent expression on his face looked no different from usual. Only just before leaving, Shen Qing heard him casually say to Assistant Li, “Find some time to get me a new SIM card.”

Li Hong: “Oh, yes, yes… hm? Hmhmhm??”

Shen Qing also jerked his head up.

But Gu Huaiyu offered no explanation at all. He only wheeled over and said a few things to Ao Zai, mostly just reminding him to play carefully and not fall, and then he left.

Shen Qing: “…?”

Assistant Li worked extremely efficiently. By that afternoon, President Gu already had a new phone number.

Maybe the big boss really was different from ordinary people.

President Gu’s number was incredibly easy to remember… after all, the middle contained four identical digits in a row, so they only needed to remember the first three and the last four.

When Assistant Li told them the number, never mind Shen Qing—even little Ao Zai memorized it quickly.

—Before this, the contact method this little one had memorized for his uncle had still been Assistant Li’s phone number.

Thinking of that, Shen Qing suddenly felt he had actually accomplished something pretty big.

Even though Ao Zai and Duoduo had already memorized their little uncle’s contact information, Shen Qing still thoughtfully entered the boss’s new number into both children’s phone watches just in case.

For the next two days, Shen Qing didn’t see Gu Huaiyu.

The big boss didn’t come looking for him, and Shen Qing himself had no reason to go looking for the big boss either.

Though actually, that seemed more normal.

Originally, if nothing was happening, the big boss wouldn’t have asked the original owner to come upstairs either.

So was the big boss still suspiciously keeping an eye on him? …

Shen Qing, meanwhile, continued living his normal stay-at-home life—playing games, exercising, taking care of the kids.

Only occasionally, when he ran into Assistant Li on the way to the third-floor gym, he would politely ask about his husband’s condition.

From Li Hong’s tone, it seemed there really had been some problem with company business lately. President Gu had to handle a lot of documents every day, spend long periods in video meetings, and so on…

Not only was he busy, but he apparently had tired himself sick again. They said his IV dosage had increased again, and even in that condition he was still insisting on working.

And from what Shen Qing observed, the medical staff had also been coming to the house very frequently these past few days.

Under those circumstances, it wasn’t appropriate for him to bother the big boss, so Shen Qing had been quite quiet these two days, and both little kids had also been very well-behaved.

Two more days passed. Since the weather was good and Duoduo didn’t have tutoring that day, Shen Qing finally took the kids to the amusement park they’d been talking about.

Going to an amusement park didn’t really require much preparation anyway, because Shen Qing himself had basically no standards for going out and could make do with anything.

As for taking kids out, it was mostly just a matter of preparing snacks for children, bringing water bottles, tissues, and so on. Aunt Zhang handled all of that, so Shen Qing got to stay relaxed.

The only thing he himself had to watch was waking up earlier that morning and not oversleeping, otherwise it wouldn’t be fun.

And it also wouldn’t look good.

…After all, this was his first early-morning outing together with the kids.

It involved the dignity and authority of the family head, so he absolutely could not be late.

For that reason, Shen Qing even specially set an alarm.

The soul of an office worker made him very sensitive to alarms, and on that day, Shen Qing did indeed successfully wake up early.

The only aftereffect was severe. Sitting in the car, Shen Qing kept yawning nonstop.

This time, Aunt Zhang and Assistant Tian Yi from President Gu’s side came out with them too. Since there were more people, they directly used a nanny van.

The inside of the vehicle was spacious, and the seats were comfortable too.

Since he planned to catch up on sleep, Shen Qing went straight to the very back row.

He slumped in his seat, half-dozing. Up front, energetic little Ao Zai was already lying against the window and looking outside.

Tian Yi was chatting with him.

The two of them chirped away noisily, but Shen Qing didn’t really pay much attention to what they were saying.

Since he could hear Ao Zai’s voice the whole time, he didn’t pay especially close attention to that little one.

Instead, he found himself occasionally looking up to check on Gu Duo—because Duoduo was such a quiet child that if Shen Qing didn’t know what he was doing, he inevitably worried a little more about him.

The first two times Shen Qing looked up from his drowsing, he didn’t notice anything strange.

The third time, when Shen Qing once again nodded off and woke up, stretched his neck, and looked toward the front, he saw Gu Duo curled up in his seat, apparently doing something.

From the back row, Shen Qing couldn’t clearly see what Gu Duo was doing. He could only make out a little figure curled into a ball.

That posture made Shen Qing instinctively think his stomach was hurting again.

He couldn’t help but reach out and pat him. “Duoduo?”

Gu Duo responded and turned around, looking at Shen Qing in confusion. Only then did Shen Qing see the page lying on his lap.

“You…”

Shen Qing froze. “You’re still studying in the car?”

Weren’t they going to the amusement park? …

This wasn’t the road to Gu Duo’s tutoring class by mistake, was it?

Shen Qing was almost bewildered, as if he’d woken from a nap and accidentally time-traveled.

Gu Duo instinctively grabbed his book more tightly and continued looking back at Shen Qing, his expression seeming to ask: what’s the problem?

“…Of course there’s a problem! The car is shaking this much—reading with it on your lap is terrible for your eyes! And look at you, you’re rolled up into a ball! …”

Mm, although no one needed to worry about Duoduo’s posture or form—he was so well-behaved that there was basically no danger of him hunching over or anything like that.

But they were only in the car for a few dozen minutes, not flying on an airplane for hours. Did he really have to treasure every second and study this hard?

Aunt Zhang, sitting in the same row as Shen Qing, also strongly disapproved of the young master being this diligent. It would ruin his eyesight.

After a brief exchange with Aunt Zhang, Shen Qing decided to carry out his duties as head of the family and tell him no more studying.

But Tian Yi, sitting nearby, noticed the commotion. He immediately flipped open the little fold-out desk attached to the back of the seat in front of Gu Duo.

“Young Master Duo is reading, right? This is much more convenient. I wasn’t being attentive enough. Young Master Duo, if you need anything else, just tell me directly.”

Shen Qing: “???”

Duoduo turned back to glance at Shen Qing, his eyes still slightly puzzled, but he still placed his book onto the little tray and said to Tian Yi, “Thank you, Uncle Tian.”

Tian Yi said, “You’re too polite, Young Master Duo.”

From the back, Shen Qing said, “…Assistant Tian.”

Shen Qing called him over in a low voice.

Hearing himself addressed, Assistant Tian quickly responded, “Ah? Yes, Madam?”

Shen Qing gestured at him, telling him to come to the back to talk.

So Tian Yi hurried over to the rear of the van.

Shen Qing lowered his voice and asked, “Don’t you think that on a day like today, when we’re going to an amusement park, little Duoduo should get one day off? He’s already done tutoring for five days straight. Even the production team’s donkey ought to get a break. Why is he still studying?!”

Tian Yi suddenly understood, as if he finally grasped Madam’s meaning, and looked apologetic. “Sorry, Madam. If you hadn’t said it, I really wouldn’t have realized… I’m just too used to serving President Gu. I default to thinking that important people are supposed to be like this… haha.”

Shen Qing: “…What does this have to do with your President Gu?”

Tian Yi looked a little embarrassed and explained, “President Gu is exactly like this—he squeezes every minute to handle work or read. I’ve gotten used to it, and just assume big shots all act this way… haha.”

Shen Qing: “…Duoduo is… fine.”

Duoduo really did kind of look like a big shot.

Even though he wasn’t even seven yet this year.

Shen Qing said, “Just pay attention next time.”

Truth be told, this wasn’t really Tian Yi’s fault.

Hadn’t Shen Qing himself also mentioned before that the kids loved studying? And even Gu Huaiyu had thought that was normal… so what exactly could Shen Qing, as their little aunt, really do?

…Even if he couldn’t do much.

Since the kids were “accompanying” him out to play, then things still had to be done by his rules.

Shen Qing secretly made up his mind: once they got to the amusement park, he was going to drag Gu Duo into having a proper good time and make him understand the beauty of amusement parks. Once he had so much fun he forgot to leave, he wouldn’t keep thinking about homework anymore.

After sending Tian Yi back to accompany Ao Zai, Shen Qing curled back up in the rear row and dozed for a while. Then suddenly he thought of something else very important.

“Oh right.”

When they were almost there, he unexpectedly called a little meeting for the two kids.

“Later, when there are a lot of people around, don’t call me auntie. Just call me… gege.”

Since he had brought this up so suddenly, both little ones were baffled and tilted their heads at him.

“Why?” Gu Duo asked first.

Ao Zai also asked, “Why not call auntie, but call gege?”

Because Gu Duo had insisted on correcting Ao Zai’s pronunciation all this time, Gu Ao now pronounced “gege” with surprising clarity and fluency.

But Ao Zai was still deeply puzzled—because his actual gege was right there next to him studying!

Shen Qing narrowed his pretty eyes, looking rather mysterious. “Because being called gege makes me sound younger.”

After all, his current identity was only a little over twenty years old. Being called “auntie” really was kind of unsuitable.

And besides, just imagining the scene in a crowded amusement park later, with the little kids loudly calling him auntie…

Shen Qing shook his head. “If you call me auntie, the turn-around rate will be way too high!”

Ao Zai started kicking his little legs in his small seat. “Turn-around… donkey? What is that? Why is it high?”

Shen Qing: “…‘Turn-around rate too high’ means lots of people will look at me and pay attention.”

Ao Zai: “Ao? Why would they all look at auntie?”

“……”

Shen Qing had no idea how to explain that issue to such a tiny child. So he placed a yellow little baseball cap on Ao Zai’s head and brushed him off: “Because I’m handsome.”

Ao Zai: “Mm?”

Ao Zai felt he had been brushed off.

He still didn’t understand why.

But after getting spun around in the conversation, he also forgot what he had even wanted to ask in the first place. Since Auntie had come to put a hat on him, he obediently sat there waiting for Auntie to finish, then went back to kicking his legs.

“What should we call little uncle, then?” Gu Duo, after a short silence, suddenly questioned Shen Qing specifically on this issue of changing the form of address.

Shen Qing said, “Little uncle is still little uncle.”

Unexpectedly, Gu Duo’s little face tightened, and his expression instantly turned much more grave. “…Are you going to divorce our little uncle?”

Shen Qing: ?! …

“Who said that?”

Shen Qing was dumbfounded.

Gu Duo continued with a solemn face, even seeming somewhat forlorn: “Uncle is still uncle, but you’re gege…”

No matter how you counted it, that changed the generational level.

Shen Qing: “…It’s only a form of address. In the future, your little uncle and I can each go by our own naming system.”

Gu Duo: “……”

Gu Duo was actually very sensitive to this phrase “each go by our own naming system.”

Because in his memory, before Second Uncle broke up with his girlfriend, they had argued and also said, “Each go by our own naming system.”

…During the first month after he and Ao Zai were taken in by Second Uncle, life had actually been quite comfortable.

Even though Second Uncle rarely came home and rarely bothered with them, his girlfriend, Aunt Xiaowen, had treated them very well. Every time she came, she brought gifts for him and Ao Zai, and she would chat with them and have heart-to-hearts too.

One of Gu Duo’s favorite German dictionaries had been a gift from Aunt Xiaowen.

…On the day when Second Uncle and Aunt Xiaowen broke up, Aunt Xiaowen had also told them they weren’t allowed to call her “auntie” anymore, and instead had to call her “jiejie.”

And after breaking up with Sister Xiaowen, Second Uncle quickly got a new girlfriend.

That auntie was a bit fierce.

And the way she looked at them held both wariness and dislike. Not long after, Second Uncle also began to see them as burdens…

Gu Duo looked at the elegant, youthful man in front of him, and his little brows nearly twisted together beyond his control. Suddenly he felt a bit panicked inside.

Although little auntie’s personality was flighty, he liked playing, couldn’t wake up early, and was occasionally hard for a little kid to understand…

In all other ways, he was actually quite good…

He started seriously thinking: if little auntie left little uncle, and little uncle, like Second Uncle, brought someone new home instead, then would he and Ao Zai soon be abandoned too?

That’s right—little uncle hadn’t come downstairs again these past two days, and little auntie also hadn’t gone upstairs again.

…Before Sister Xiaowen started “going by her own naming system” with Second Uncle, apparently they also hadn’t seen each other much anymore…

Gu Duo deeply folded his arms, his mouth almost flattening into a straight line.

The arm-folding motion made him notice the phone watch on his own wrist.

…Thinking of the newly entered private number of little uncle inside it, Gu Duo seriously considered whether he should call his little uncle and sound him out in advance.

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