Chapter Fifty-Nine: A Family of Four (Part Two) — The First of Five Chapters Upon Release
Su Nanxing was utterly baffled. “Why?”
“Why didn’t you just tell the truth back then? How were you so sure I wouldn’t be willing to come back with you?”
“I was afraid you’d be scared if I told you! Besides, you’ve always scoffed at those melodramatic plots in TV dramas. If I said it, wouldn't you look down on me even more?”
Tao Ming couldn’t make sense of his reasoning. “Well, I can still look down on you now. Your wife and kids are gone; who knows who’ll benefit from it in the future. I’ve heard there are plenty of handsome men in Weishui!”
Having lived with Tao Ming for so long, Su Nanxing naturally understood her temperament. He grinned, rubbing his head against her shoulder playfully. “Wife, if you don’t want me, no one will!”
“Tsk tsk, the young master of the Su family, and no one wants him?”
Su Nanxing recalled the nearly a hundred young women he’d “bumped into” before, shuddered, and said, “Wife, I’ll take you all to meet my mother right now. She’ll definitely adore you.”
“So who were those parents I met on Earth? I called them Mom and Dad for years!”
Su Nanxing glanced at Tao Ming cautiously. “They were hired extras.”
“So all those red envelopes they sent were actually from you?”
He nodded.
“No wonder they were so generous!”
“You’re not angry?”
“Would it help if I were?”
Su Nanxing leaned in and kissed her. “My wife is the best!”
Softly, their child shouted, “You’re still kissing! Shame, shame, shame!”
Su Nanxing ran over and scooped her up. “Daddy wants to kiss you too!”
She struggled fiercely. “No, your beard pokes!”
He let her go, picked up Nuonuo, and planted a big kiss. “I have two little treasures now!”
Nuonuo, who had been uneasy all along, finally felt at peace.
Su Nanxing looked into her sparkling eyes and said, “Call me Daddy and I’ll give you something nice.”
Softly hurried over. “Daddy, I want one too!”
Nuonuo softly called him “Daddy.” Su Nanxing beamed, took out two delicate bracelets, and fastened one on each girl. “Daddy’s unique Star Guardian Array is engraved on these. You’ll be invincible in Weishui.”
Tao Ming took off her wedding ring and held it up. “Does this have it too?”
Su Nanxing’s face scrunched up. “Why take it off?”
“How am I supposed to work with it on? I dress and wash them every day. What if it scratches them?” She threaded a cord through the ring and hung it around her neck. The more protective charms, the better.
“From now on, leave these things to me. You just watch.” Su Nanxing’s spirits soared.
The Seventh Prince stood at the doorway, listening, but heard nothing. He called out, “Time to eat.”
Su Nanxing removed the isolating array and scooped up both girls. “Let’s eat first.”
Tao Ming followed behind, thinking how wonderful it would be not to have to carry the children anymore.
When the Seventh Prince saw the door swing open to reveal Su Nanxing holding the two children, looking so intimate, he felt a pang of envy. Maybe it was time he married and had children, too?
He saw Tao Ming following and was about to say something when Su Nanxing urged, “Come on!”
The Seventh Prince stepped aside for Su Nanxing, intending to speak with Tao Ming. Su Nanxing blocked him. “Don’t get too friendly with my wife.”
Tao Ming pushed Su Nanxing away. “What’s wrong?”
The Seventh Prince walked a few steps and signaled Tao Ming to follow. Su Nanxing tried to intervene, but Tao Ming shot him a glare and went along.
The Seventh Prince lowered his voice. “The Yulong Guards situation is resolved. You needn’t worry.”
Tao Ming acknowledged him, surprised. “There’s no need to keep this from Su Nanxing.”
The Seventh Prince’s lips curled. “I just wanted to annoy him.”
Tao Ming patted her chest. “Don’t do that. My heart can’t take it.”
He furrowed his brow. “Why?”
“You don’t know how handsome you are?”
He smiled even more alluringly. “Of course I do. But you don’t.”
Tao Ming pursed her lips. “You can’t fool me. You never had that kind of feeling for me.”
The Seventh Prince’s smile faded. “How can you tell?”
“If you did, you wouldn’t have stepped aside before, letting him hold me.”
He blinked. “Maybe I’ll feel differently in the future.”
Tao Ming turned to leave. “Forget it. I wouldn’t dare fall for someone like you.”
“Why not?”
“Too many admirers, too much pressure. I’d rather choose someone nobody else wants.”
Su Nanxing watched their conversation, fuming and cursing the Seventh Prince’s ancestors inwardly. Hearing Tao Ming’s last words, he shot a provoking glance at the Seventh Prince and gently urged, “Wife, aren’t you hungry? Let’s go eat.”
Tao Ming shivered, goosebumps rising, but replied softly for appearance’s sake, “Yes, husband.”
The Seventh Prince watched the family of four laughing and descending the stairs, feeling a touch of melancholy. If he hadn’t cared about so many things, if he’d seized his chance before, might there have been a possibility with Tao Ming?
On the ground floor, a door to the right stood open, and Miaomiao was carrying a tray of food inside.
They entered the room to find a round table, where Qin Sihao and Longlinyi were already seated, Mu Zhu standing nearby.
Su Nanxing set the two children in their chairs, gallantly pulled out a seat for Tao Ming, then sat opposite the children. “Wife, you just eat. I’ll take care of them.”
Tao Ming took out two pairs of training chopsticks and handed them over, waiting for the meal to begin.
Qin Sihao looked at Tao Ming and sighed, “You’re just like your mother, keeping your husband firmly in check.”
Su Nanxing protested, “I’m just doting on my wife!”
The Seventh Prince entered just then, sat down, and asked, “Tao Ming, has he always been like this?”
“Like what?”
“Henpecked.”
Tao Ming gazed lovingly at Su Nanxing. “Men from other worlds all treat their wives like this.”
Su Nanxing returned her gaze tenderly. “A wife is to be cherished!”
The Seventh Prince turned to Softly. “Softly, anything you want to say?”
She stared at the dishes. “What’s that red one? Is it tasty?”
The Seventh Prince picked up his chopsticks. “Let’s eat. If we wait much longer, we’ll be full.”
...
The meal was warm and comfortable, the table cleared, the bowls spotless.
Tao Ming took out tissues to wipe the children’s mouths, but Su Nanxing snatched them and did it himself, saying, “I told you, from now on, I’ll handle this.”
Tenderness spilled from Tao Ming’s eyes. She took another tissue and leaned over to wipe Su Nanxing’s mouth.
The Seventh Prince felt his eyes ache, sighed, and said, “You all go rest. Watching you is painful.”
“I’ll teach you an otherworldly phrase for moments like this—‘eye-burning.’”
The Seventh Prince immediately said, “Utterly eye-burning.”
Su Nanxing picked up the girls and called to Tao Ming, “Let’s go rest upstairs. No one else wants to see us.”
The Seventh Prince, thoroughly annoyed by Su Nanxing’s behavior, decided to stir trouble. “Tao Ming, don’t forget what you promised me.”
Tao Ming knew he meant the matter of rebellion and nodded.
Su Nanxing pulled a long face. “What are you two keeping from me?”
Tao Ming pushed him toward the door. “You’ll find out!”
“Wife, you can’t do this.” Su Nanxing tried to resist.
Tao Ming pinched him. “One more word and you’re sleeping on the floor tonight.”
Su Nanxing immediately recalled the maxim, “The most important thing is to follow your heart,” and obediently shut his mouth, heading upstairs.
Tao Ming, thinking about sharing a bed with him tonight, felt her whole body heat up.