Chapter 17

The joy of little children is so simple.

Liu Ling was also amused by her son's shy little look, and explained to An ZhiXia with a smile, "This child is just too shy. ZhiXia, don't mind him. He's not familiar with me yet. It's normal for him not to let me hold him. When he gets used to me later, he definitely won't be so shy."

Over Liu Ling's shoulder, An ZhiXia asked An WenQing, "Isn't that right, little An WenQing?"

She hoped An WenQing would be more vigilant so he wouldn't be so easily kidnapped in the future.

But when she thought back to her previous life, how he was taken away with a hand over his mouth, then drugged along the way until he didn't survive, An ZhiXia felt the urge to tear An MeiYun apart.

This was just a child. Although not particularly close to her, he still called her auntie. Yet An MeiYun was so vicious that everyone in the An family died directly or indirectly by her hand.

An WenQing's laughter pulled An ZhiXia's wandering thoughts back to reality. Zhou Nan had finished cooking the last dish and told them to hurry up and eat.

With An WenQing as a topic, An ZhiXia and Liu Ling laughed and talked as they walked to the dining room. This gave Liu Ling a very different impression of An ZhiXia.

At first, An ZhiXia's sharp appearance made Liu Ling think this young aunt would be very difficult to deal with. She didn't expect her to be not as unapproachable as she appeared. She even really liked playing with little An WenQing. The others were already in the dining room. An MeiYun was helping serve the dishes. In addition to An JingZhi and An ZhiAng, two men in their early twenties were sitting at the table, one of them wearing glasses.

An ZhiXia naturally knew who they were. An JingZhi introduced them, "ZhiXia, these two are also your brothers. The one with glasses is your second brother ZhiRen, who teaches at school like Dad. The other is your third brother ZhiXian. He currently works at a hospital as a resident doctor."

An ZhiRen looked refined and cultivated like An JingZhi, with a scholarly air about him. He smiled and stood up to greet An ZhiXia, his attitude very gentle and considerate in his words.

Compared to An ZhiRen, An ZhiXian was more aloof, simply giving a brief greeting.

An ZhiAng glared at An ZhiXian, then smilingly urged An ZhiXia to hurry and eat, asking her to sit next to him. He had even prepared her bowl and chopsticks, afraid she wouldn't feel comfortable.

An MeiYun was very unhappy, because that was usually her spot, yet this woman had just returned and now the whole family was doting on her. Plus the family's resentment towards the Gao couple, she didn't dare make trouble about it at this time, she could only repress her dissatisfaction and add another spot for herself.

Because An ZhiXia had just returned, tonight's dinner at the An family was exceptionally abundant. Zhou Nan had gotten up early to line up for the braised noodles with pork that An JingZhi and Zhou Nan kept piling food in her bowl, even forgetting to eat themselves because they doted on her so much. An ZhiAng also attended to her the entire time, so An ZhiXia ate heartily and contentedly.

Even the two large chicken legs went to her and An WenQing, one each, which made An MeiYun sullen the entire time.

She should know that she used to be the only girl in the family, everything was rationed for her, even little An WenQing couldn't compare to her status.

But now, all the attention had been snatched away by An ZhiXia, no one paid her any mind.

After the meal, to make a show, An MeiYun unusually took the initiative to clean up when everyone else put down their chopsticks.

Normally Zhou Nan wouldn't let her do these chores.

Including Liu Ling, she rarely had her daughter do housework since Liu Ling worked outside and handled the household chores herself.

But today, she was eager to have a heart-to-heart with her daughter, so when An MeiYun offered to help clean up, she agreed without thinking too much, angering An MeiYun to grit her teeth when no one was looking.

An ZhiAng pulled his two brothers outside to the entrance and started in on them, "Third brother, do you dislike our little sister coming back?" An ZhiAng and An ZhiXian were two years apart. Plus the oldest was away in the military and the second was a bookworm, so the two of them were the closest, able to speak without reserve.

But this time, An ZhiAng's confrontation left An ZhiXian somewhat baffled. "Are you standing up for her?"

He didn't have any particular feelings about An ZhiXia, liking or disliking her. After all, he'd never met her before.

But wasn't that just his personality, aloof towards everyone?

An ZhiAng spoke as if it was a matter of course, "I am standing up for her. Second and third brother, let me tell you, ZhiXia and I are twins. I'm definitely going to protect her. You have to protect her too, don't let anyone bully her, otherwise don't blame me for not giving you two face."

The second and third brother exchanged a look, not quite understanding what was going on.

After all, when they thought MeiYun was the biological child, they didn't see him protecting her. On the contrary, the two were always fighting over trivial things. It was only in the last two years that MeiYun suddenly became well-behaved and stopped antagonizing him.

Come to think of it, it was in the last two years that MeiYun started behaving, around the same time she got involved with the Gao family...

What a coincidence. They had to admit, their little sister was quite calculating and scheming.

After a while, An ZhiXian puzzledly spoke up, "I heard twins can have a psychic connection. Could it be you and ZhiXia have that too?" So that's why he was so protective of her. "I don't care about connections or not, in any case I'm definitely going to protect my little sister. What's more, ZhiXia is so well-behaved and suffered so much in the past, we should all be more considerate of her."

Speaking of which, at the mention of her suffering, An ZhiRen and An ZhiXian's hearts went out to An ZhiXia. And feeling sorry for her, they got swindled by that rascal An ZhiAng for their pocket money!

An ZhiAng had promised to buy An ZhiXia new clothes, and not just one outfit either. He was unemployed without money, but his second and third brothers had money.

Especially the second brother, who had been working for several years. Aside from contributing to household expenses, he didn't have much personal spending, only An ZhiAng occasionally swiping some from him. He must have at least a few hundred yuan saved up. Asking him for 100 yuan was already very reasonable.

As for the third brother, although still a medical resident, he'd been working for over half a year. Doctors didn't have low salaries either. Asking him for 50 yuan wasn't excessive, right?

Just pooling this together, they had 150 yuan on hand. He planned to take his little sister out shopping tomorrow at the biggest department store.