Seeing Lu Chuanbai's intention, Lu Fenglin scoffed disdainfully.
He had thought the relationship between the two had advanced by leaps and bounds. But unexpectedly, Lu Chuanbai still showed hesitation when he showed up.
This meant he still had a chance.
"I won't stand on ceremony then."
After saying that, Lu Fenglin took a long stride and walked through the space between Father Lu and his stepmother into the living room.
Seeing Xu An'an sitting on the carpet playing with dolls, Lu Fenglin curved his lips and showed a sincere smile for the first time in a long while. "A—An'an, Uncle's here."
The two kids hadn't seen him for a long time. Especially Xu An'an. When she saw Lu Fenglin, she didn't even have time to put on her shoes. She ran bare - footed and happily threw herself into his arms.
"Uncle Second, you're here!"
Xu An'an was a relatively precocious child. She had no resistance to handsome guys, especially a man like Lu Fenglin, who was handsome with a touch of arrogance.
It really was true that girls like bad boys.
"Uncle Second!" Xu An'an's big eyes sparkled.
Just throwing herself into his arms like that?
She was his daughter!
But no matter how jealous Lu Chuanbai was, he couldn't pull Xu An'an off. He could only frown and look at her worriedly.
His daughter had poor taste. She even liked someone as bad as Lu Fenglin.
"Uncle Second, you haven't been here for so long. I missed you so much!" Xu An'an wrapped her arms around Lu Fenglin's neck and coquetted.
Hearing his new title, Lu Fenglin proudly tilted his head and raised his eyebrows at Lu Chuanbai. "Sorry, Uncle Second has been quite busy these days. I'll come to see An'an and Yiyi more often in the future."
"Then it's a deal!"
"It's a deal." Lu Fenglin looked at Xu An'an dotingly and even spun her around in his arms.
Was this what it felt like to be missed? Not bad.
The stepmother was so angry when she saw how intimate Xu An'an was with Lu Fenglin.
Didn't this brat promise her that he wouldn't get close to these two little bastards and Xu Qingqing anymore!
Did he just turn a deaf ear to her words!
Father Lu was also quite surprised. Lu Fenglin was usually a very quiet person who never stood out. He didn't expect that he could get along so well with the two kids.
Receiving Lu Fenglin's taunting eyebrow - raise, Lu Chuanbai seemed cold and unconcerned on the surface, but deep inside, he was extremely jealous.
Anyone could tell the difference between "Uncle Lu" and "Uncle Second". "Uncle Second" was a much closer title.
Lu Chuanbai picked up Xu Yiyi and held him in his arms. He asked, "Yiyi, why do you call him Uncle Second but call me Uncle Lu?"
Lu Fenglin's lips curled even more. He looked at Lu Chuanbai ostentatiously, just like a kid showing off a beloved toy that no one else had.
"What's there to ask? Of course it's because I have a better relationship with them."
But the next moment, Lu Fenglin was refuted by Xu Yiyi.
"No. It's because Uncle Second is Uncle Lu's younger brother, so we call him Uncle Second." Xu Yiyi explained with a smile.
This was how he and his sister distinguished between the two of them.
The implicit pride on Lu Fenglin's face disappeared instantly. He twitched the corner of his mouth and pretended nothing had happened as he played with building blocks with Xu An'an. "An'an, Uncle Second will teach you how to build a castle!"
Xu An'an nestled in Lu Fenglin's arms and nodded excitedly. "Okay."
"Let's use this as the roof." Lu Fenglin picked up a black triangle to be the roof of the castle.
Xu An'an pouted. She wasn't satisfied with this color combination. Just as she was about to speak up to change it, Lu Chuanbai, who seemed to know what she was thinking, picked up a pink triangle and put it on the roof, replacing the black one.
"An'an likes pink better. Pink is much purer than black."
"Yes, pink is the prettiest." Xu An'an clapped her hands in agreement.
Lu Chuanbai was quite proud of their telepathy. He slightly raised his lips and glanced at Lu Fenglin with a smile in his eyes.
He had won this round.
The smile on Lu Fenglin's face faded. He couldn't help but curse Lu Chuanbai for being childish in his heart. He even had to compete over such a trivial matter.
Lu Chuanbai continued to press on. He picked up a yellow square building block and put it on the window. "How about using this yellow one for the window?"
"The window should be blue, okay." Lu Fenglin hooked his index finger and removed the yellow square, replacing it with the blue window he had chosen.
Lu Fenglin provocatively glanced at Lu Chuanbai. Since they were going to compete, he wasn't going to admit defeat.
Xu An'an didn't have any particular preference for the yellow or blue window, but Xu Yiyi thought the blue window was more suitable than the yellow one.
The two brothers went back and forth, competing fiercely. But in the eyes of outsiders, it was a harmonious and happy scene.
Father Lu watched all this with relief. This was what he had always longed for: a kind father and filial sons, and brotherly love.
If only the two brothers could always get along in harmony.
The older a person got, the stronger their longing for family affection. Father Lu, who was decisive in the business world, actually felt his eyes getting hot and was on the verge of tears.
To cover up his abnormality, Father Lu left quietly without saying goodbye, pulling along his stepmother with a gloomy face.
The stepmother was almost driven crazy with anger. She was grinding her silver teeth. If there weren't other people around, she really would have liked to go up and slap Lu Fenglin a few times.
She invited him to the party, not for him to play with Lu Chuanbai and those kids who looked like monkeys. What a waste of such a good opportunity to gather information and gain Father Lu's attention. He was really crazy.
"Alright, it's time for dinner." Xu Qingqing simply made fried rice for Lu Fenglin with the remaining ingredients. The ingredients were quite rich, all the leftover meat and vegetables from the hot - pot, and she even specially fried an egg on top.
"You don't like carrots and beef, right? I didn't put any of those."
The fried rice looked delicious, smelled fragrant, and was steaming hot under the light.
Hearing Xu Qingqing's concern, Lu Fenglin was slightly stunned. The softest part of his heart was touched.
For so many years, even his mother couldn't remember that he didn't like carrots and beef. But unexpectedly, Xu Qingqing remembered it all, even though they had only attended one party together.
"Thank you." Lu Fenglin lowered his eyes, his voice hoarse.
"Alright, An'an, stop clinging to Uncle. He hasn't eaten yet." Xu Qingqing pulled Xu An'an out of Lu Fenglin's arms.
When she leaned over close to Lu Fenglin, Lu Fenglin smelled the faint orange fragrance on Xu Qingqing's body. He was a bit dazed and for the first time stood up at a loss.
Lu Chuanbai, who had seen all this, narrowed his eyes unhappily. He slightly raised his sword - shaped eyebrows, handed Xu Yiyi to Xu Qingqing, and deliberately said, "You take the kids upstairs to take a bath and go to sleep. I'll stay down here."
"Okay. Don't quarrel with each other." Xu Qingqing didn't think much and just gave a reminder. Then she led the two kids upstairs.
Hearing the words "take a bath and go to sleep" come so smoothly from Lu Chuanbai's mouth, Lu Fenglin stopped the action of shoveling rice into his mouth.
"You like the two kids very much, don't you?" Lu Chuanbai sat in front of Lu Fenglin and casually poured a glass of water. Although it was a question, his tone was quite certain.