Lu Chuanbai looked at Xu An'an and said in a gentle tone, "An'an, do you know Yiyi?"
"Come to think of it, your names are quite similar."
After Lu Chuanbai finished speaking, Xu An'an and Xu Yiyi quickly shook their heads.
Xu An'an: "Uncle, I don't know him."
Xu Yiyi: "I don't know her."
Xu Qingqing silently rolled her eyes. These two kids really loved to play. By now, she was basically sure that Xu An'an knew about Xu Yiyi running away from home!
"Um, I still have something to do, so I'll go and get busy first. We'll keep in touch when we have time." Xu Qingqing waved and said goodbye to Lu Chuanbai.
Watching Xu Qingqing's hasty back as she left, Lu Chuanbai suddenly felt a pang of emptiness in his heart. He had been thinking about showing her his office, where there were also some antiques.
Xu Yiyi noticed the fleeting expression on Lu Chuanbai's face. He looked up at him with his little face and asked, "Uncle, are you married?"
Caught off guard by this question, Lu Chuanbai smiled indulgently and then touched Xu Yiyi's head. "Why, are you, a little kid, starting to urge me to get married?"
Xu Yiyi rolled his eyes. "Urging to get married... So, uncle, you mean you're not married yet. Why haven't you gotten married? Is there someone you just can't let go of in your heart?"
Lu Chuanbai flicked him on the forehead. "Kid, are you meddling too much?"
Covering his head, Xu Yiyi snorted. "Uncle, you're so unreasonable. I'm just concerned about you."
Lu Chuanbai couldn't help laughing. Was he being lectured by a toddler?
On the other side, Xu Qingqing squatted down and looked into Xu An'an's eyes. "An'an, tell mommy the truth. Did you know about your brother running away from home?"
Xu An'an rolled her eyes and twisted her little hands. "Mommy, how could I know? It was all my brother's idea."
Xu Qingqing raised an eyebrow slightly. She clearly didn't believe it, but since Xu An'an firmly said she didn't know, Xu Qingqing didn't ask any more. She took her little hand. "Let's go. Mommy will take you shopping!"
"Wow, shopping? Mommy is so nice!" Xu An'an bounced around happily. She thought to herself, Humph, it's still good to be with mommy. There's meat to eat and things to buy. She even got to see her grandparents. Her brother didn't get to.
Well, she'd take a few photos of her grandparents later and show them to her brother.
When they came to a children's clothing store, Xu Qingqing was about to pull Xu An'an in when a sharp voice came to her ears.
"Yo, isn't this Miss Xu? Do you know how much the clothes in this store cost, Miss Xu? Judging by your outfit, I'm afraid the salesperson won't even want to serve you."
Xu Qingqing turned around. The one speaking was Gu Anrou. At this moment, she had her arms crossed and her chin held high, looking down on Xu Qingqing.
Her eyes darkened slightly, and she tightened her grip on Xu An'an's hand. Once upon a time, Gu Anrou had flaunted herself in front of her like this. In the past, she had no status to fight back, but now, huh, who would indulge her?
Xu Qingqing sneered, with a hint of disdain in her eyes. "Whether I can afford it or not is none of your business, Miss Gu. Why, is this store yours, Miss Gu? That's why you're meddling so much?"
There were several of Gu Anrou's sisters standing beside her. Seeing that Xu Qingqing dared to talk back to Gu Anrou, they all started to scold her.
"Do you know who you're talking to? This is the young lady of the Gu family. You're not someone who can ever climb up to her level!"
"Exactly. You don't look that old, but you already have a child. You must not be a decent woman."
Xu An'an didn't like to hear this. She stood up, put her hands on her hips, and scolded them. "I won't allow you to talk about my mommy like this. You bad women! Poisonous women!"
Hearing this, the women were even more enraged.
"How did you raise your child? A little kid cursing people. It's so uneducated!"
Gu Anrou also laughed smugly. "Come to think of it, I've never seen this child's father. Oh, Miss Xu, don't tell me you were abandoned and had a child out of wedlock?"
There was coldness in Xu Qingqing's eyes. She flexed her wrists. Before Gu Anrou could react, she slapped her across the face.
Gu Anrou's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at her.
"Slut! How dare you hit me!"
Xu Qingqing immediately retorted, "Humph, what right do you have to scold others? You even cursed a five - year - old child. Where's your education? This slap today is to teach you to speak properly and not to spew crap!"
Gu Anrou was so angry that she was about to explode. She looked at the people around her. "What are you all standing there for? Beat her up for me!"
Xu An'an was not afraid at all. She even stepped in front of Xu Qingqing, determined to protect her mother.
"What are you doing!" Lu Chuanbai's voice came from not far away. Gu Anrou instantly deflated like a punctured balloon. She put away her aggressive attitude and walked up to Lu Chuanbai aggrievedly, complaining, "Brother Lu, look at her. She just slapped me. How could there be such a fierce woman?"
Before Lu Chuanbai could say anything, Xu Yiyi snorted. "She must have hit you because you said something wrong first."
Hearing the voice, Gu Anrou then realized that there was a little kid holding Lu Chuanbai's hand. She immediately widened her eyes. "Brother Lu, who is he?"
Xu Yiyi had a straight face. He had seen everything just now. This bad woman had wanted to attack his beautiful mommy and cute sister. He hated this bad woman!
"You don't need to worry about who he is. I think there must be some misunderstanding between you and Miss Xu. For my sake, let's just forget about this." Lu Chuanbai didn't want to answer her question and skipped the topic directly.
Gu Anrou stamped her foot in anger. "Why, Brother Lu? It was clearly her who bullied me."
The others also helped Gu Anrou speak. Xu Qingqing just stood there coldly all the time and didn't intend to defend herself.
Lu Chuanbai's face gradually showed impatience. "Anrou, don't make me say it a second time."
Gu Anrou fell silent and stamped her foot aggrievedly. She really wanted to run away right away, but she was not willing to let Xu Qingqing be with Lu Chuanbai.
"Okay. I'll forgive her this time for Brother Lu's sake. What are you going to do, Brother Lu? Can I accompany you?"
Saying this, she waved to those people. "You guys go back first. I'll accompany Brother Lu."
It was at this moment that Xu Yiyi spoke up. "No. I don't want to be with you. You look like a bad person."
He shook Lu Chuanbai's arm. "Uncle, you promised to accompany me. How can you let her come? I don't like her."
Gu Anrou frowned and looked at Xu Yiyi unhappily. "Brother Lu and I grew up together. Who are you?"