1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 295 Extra Chapter 3: The Babies Practice Martial Arts, A Scheming Woman Comes Knocking

The babies are two and a half years old.

The two-and-a-half-year-old toddlers are full of energy, and the small courtyard can no longer satisfy their curiosity and desire to explore. The three caregivers are constantly worried that if they are not careful, the toddlers will slip out of the yard and disappear.

In order to exhaust the babies' energy, Gu Bin decided to bring forward the martial arts training plan.

Besides Lele, Pingping, An'an, and Xixi, all three children were forced by their father to practice their basic skills for more than two hours every day without any slack.

Da Bao is most enthusiastic about martial arts. He's usually as mischievous as a monkey, but he stops making a fuss when you ask him to practice boxing.

Imitating his father's actions, he waved his little fists and performed childish military-style boxing, which made all the adults laugh heartily.

Xi Xi was no less impressive. Despite being a little girl and not as strong as her brother, she was much more agile.

Gu Bin started by teaching the basics, letting the children practice backbends.

Before her older brother could learn it, Xixi mastered it after just one try. Her grandma and sixth grandpa were beaming with joy, praising her as a descendant of a military family and a promising talent who would go to military academy and serve her country when she grew up.

An'an prefers quiet to activity and has little interest in practicing martial arts, mostly doing it to cope with official business.

With his father watching, he lazily threw a few punches.

As soon as his father turns his head, he will put down his sore and numb little arms and take the opportunity to be lazy for a while.

Gu Bin felt helpless about his son.

With two elderly people around, he couldn't hit or scold the kid. Even if he really wanted to teach the lazy and slacking brat a lesson, he was powerless with the two elders watching him all the time.

-

Pomegranate flowers bloom and fade, summer goes and autumn comes.

September is the golden autumn season, another year of harvest, and the children are 3 years old.

Lele's surgery was successful, and she is gradually recovering.

In a good mood, Gu Bin called his relatives and friends one by one, inviting them to his home for a banquet to celebrate the babies' birthdays.

This time, an unexpected guest arrived at the birthday party.

When Zhu Luoxuan appeared at the old house as Chen Xiaoyi's girlfriend, it really surprised Gu Bin and Lin Xiyu.

Li Qing also brought her son. As someone who knew the situation, her shock was no less than that of the couple, and perhaps even greater.

What is your brother thinking?

Before the banquet even started, she took the opportunity to come to Lin Xiyu and expressed her extreme dissatisfaction: "That woman's heart is clearly not with him. Is he blind or what? He insists on getting entangled with a woman with ulterior motives and even brings her home."

"You seem even angrier than I am?"

Lin Xiyu glanced at her in surprise: "She's my rival in love, not yours. Why are you so angry?"

"I dislike any woman with ill intentions."

Li Qing suffered a silent defeat in her battle of wits with Wang Fan's mistress, and the word "mistress" was the last thing she could bear to hear.

"I don't know about this either."

Lin Xiyu understood immediately and rubbed her temples with a headache: "I didn't know that woman was coming beforehand. Xiaoyi has been in Shanghai all along. It was my oversight that I didn't tell her the truth beforehand, which allowed that woman to take advantage of the situation."

"You should be more careful."

Li Qing was speechless: "I warned you, but you didn't take it seriously. That woman is obviously not simple. She so easily got your brother under her thumb, and he's willing to be her backup."

"That guy Xiaoyi..."

Lin Xiyu was furious: "She seems like a very shrewd person, but she's made a fool of herself when it comes to relationships."

"He's not stupid, he's just blinded by lust."

Li Qing glanced at Zhang Juan sitting next to her cousin and sneered, "If Zhu Luoxuan looked like that girl, do you think he would be tempted? Men are all the same; they can't resist beautiful women. All that talk about overflowing sympathy is just an excuse for lust."

"You can be angry, but don't drag others into it."

Lin Xiyu followed her gaze and looked over, her eyes showing displeasure: "Juanzi has nothing to do with this. Keep your voice down. Young girls are very sensitive. It's not good if others hear you."

"I was just using an analogy."

Li Qing said nonchalantly, "It's not that there's anything wrong with her, it's just that the girl is very average-looking, nothing particularly stunning about her."

"Mind your own business and worry about yourself."

Lin Xiyu suddenly frowned, looked past her body, and looked towards the entrance of the courtyard.

For some reason, Wang Fan showed up uninvited once again to attend the children's birthday party, and even brought a glamorous and alluring woman with him.

The woman was a stranger; Lin Xiyu was certain she had never seen her before.

"Xue Fangyu?!"

Li Qing turned around and her expression immediately changed.

"You know her?"

Lin Xiyu glanced at her with pity.

"She doesn't deserve it."

Li Qing let out a soft snort, her eyes filled with disdain.

"You should pay more attention."

Lin Xiyu used the same words she had just spoken to warn her: "Don't let her have another son under your nose. Dingsheng's assets can't withstand any more trouble. One illegitimate child is already enough of a headache. If there are a few more, your son's inheritance rights will really be in jeopardy."

"Jia Rui is the rightful heir to Ding Sheng, and no one can take him away from him."

Li Qing's gaze towards that woman was venomous and ruthless.

"You can't do illegal things."

Lin Xiyu was startled by her sudden outburst of anger and patted her shoulder to comfort her: "Putting everything else aside, Jiarui is a good boy. You can't let a moment of confusion affect your son's future."

"You don't need to say that; I understand perfectly well."

Li Qing narrowed her eyes, quickly composed herself, and resumed the elegant, dignified, and wealthy socialite image she had projected when she first entered the house.

This person's face changes incredibly quickly.
Lin Xiyu witnessed his expression, which was comparable to the face-changing act in Sichuan opera, and her feelings were extremely complicated.

At this moment, she genuinely felt some sympathy for her.

She may hate her husband who doesn't love her and the mistress who constantly annoys her, but she has to pretend to be indifferent and deal with them.

She couldn't endure such a life on her own, yet she had to suffer for a lifetime for the sake of so-called inheritance rights.

-

"We're on the same side today."

Li Qing, unaware of what she was thinking, glanced at Zhu Luoxuan, a hint of sarcasm playing on her lips: "Women with ulterior motives have all come to my house. Now you can understand how I feel, right?"

I'm not like you.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Xiyu retorted with a single sentence: "You might swallow your pride for the sake of inheritance, but I won't. No matter what kind of man he is, if he betrays me or gets involved with other women, I will leave without hesitation and never have anything to do with him again in my life."

Li Qing: "."

-

What are you two talking about over there?

The two talked privately for a while, and Wu Meng became a little impatient. She stood up from her seat and called out to them across several tables.

"We've come all this way, we can't just leave without whispering to each other."

Qu Peng's wife, Qiao Lin, chimed in with a smile, "Let's all chat together. Whatever gossip we have, we sisters can listen and have a good laugh." "Coming, coming!"

Everyone in the courtyard was drawn by Wu Meng's shout and craned their necks to look in the direction where the two were talking.

Lin Xiyu smiled helplessly, took the opportunity to end the conversation, and walked over to the sink with the washed fruit in her hands.

Li Qing followed her back to the table.

"Why does it take so long to wash fruit?"

Wu Meng kept glancing at the two of them with a gossipy look in her eyes: "What are you talking about? You seem to be having a great time?"

"Eat some grapes."

Lin Xiyu picked up a grape from the fruit plate and popped it into her mouth: "You're such a busybody. Everyone in the yard combined can't out-shout you."

"hey-hey."

Wu Meng chewed on a grape and tried to salvage the situation: "I was just trying to remind you, you're the mother of four babies, the star of the banquet. What kind of behavior is it to leave a whole table of people behind and go off to chat on the side?"

"Just tell me straight, I want to hear the gossip."

Lin Xiyu stuffed another grape into her mouth and teased her with a smile, "Your ears aren't long enough, so don't talk about other people."

"Hahaha."

Qiao Lin was amused and slapped her thigh, laughing heartily.

"It's been a while since I've seen her, and Qiao Lin is still as generous as ever."

Li Qing seized the opportunity to interject: "You and Qu Peng have been married for over two years now, right? Do you have any plans? When are you going to have a baby so we can share in the joy?"

"It's unlikely in the next two years."

Qiao Lin stopped smiling and showed a hint of helplessness: "You all understand the nature of my job. If something really happens, let alone having a baby, I have to tough it out even when I'm sick. I can't easily take leave. Pregnancy and childbirth are just a luxury for me. I'll work hard for a few more years and when I get older, I'll transfer to another place and leave the criminal police team."

"Too."

Li Qing smiled and chimed in, "It's really not easy being a criminal investigator."

"lets change a topic."

Qiao Lin didn't want to steer the conversation toward herself, so before she could finish speaking, she decisively changed the subject: "Let's talk about something else. It's quite lively today. There are quite a few unfamiliar faces here, several of whom I've never seen before."

Are you talking about Xiaoyi's girlfriend?

Wu Meng's gossipy eyes lit up instantly, and she quickly caught up with the conversation: "This is the first time I've seen this either. This guy is really lucky to have found such a beautiful girlfriend."

Li Qing's expression changed slightly. She lifted her eyelids and glanced at Lin Xiyu.

Lin Xiyu remained calm and composed, picked up another grape, peeled off the skin, and leisurely put it into her mouth, chewing it with relish.

"Yes, that's her I'm talking about."

Qiao Lin, unaware of the details, glanced at the next table and commented objectively, "That girl has a good temperament; she seems quite cultured, unlike some people."

Not satisfied with what he had said, he glanced disdainfully at his own table, at the "mistress" sitting right next to Wang Fan.

Xue Fangyu's lips twitched, but out of respect for Wang Fan, she couldn't lash out and could only swallow her anger.

"It's too early to say that."

Seeing her humiliation, Li Qing's eyes flashed with a hint of mockery, and she continued Qiao Lin's words: "You can know a person's face but not their heart. Judging by appearances alone is too superficial. Who knows what kind of heart is hidden behind the painted beauty skin?"

There was a moment of silence at the next table.

Lin Xiyu's family members were all sitting at that table, which was close to hers, so they had obviously heard what she said.

Zhu Luoxuan lowered her eyes, making it impossible to see her expression. On the surface, she looked as if she had suffered a great injustice.

Are you questioning my judgment?

Qiao Lin glanced at Li Qing in surprise, wondering what was wrong with her on her big day, speaking ill of someone else's girlfriend to her face: "I'm a criminal police officer, I'm very good at judging people, I can tell a good person from a bad one at a glance."

"I certainly wouldn't dare question your judgment."

Li Qing made a veiled attack: "However, there are some things you don't have as much experience as I do. I can tell whether someone is a beautiful woman hiding evil intentions without even needing a magic mirror."

"Are you saying this to me?"

Xue Fangyu couldn't take it anymore and was about to explode when she saw Wang Fan frown and cough impatiently.

She was startled and quickly shut her mouth.

Zou Yan is a prime example; she embarrassed herself at the Gu family's children's birthday party and was kicked out on the spot.

Since then, she has been raising her child alone in the United States and has never received any pity from Wang Fan again.

"What I said unintentionally may have been taken to heart. If you think I was subtly criticizing you, then so be it."

Li Qing watched this scene with great pleasure, her mood instantly becoming incredibly wonderful.

She looks like a vixen, what good is she? She's just a pretty face who depends on men.

He didn't dare utter a single word in front of outsiders.

Unlike her, she says whatever she wants, and even if she makes Wang Fan furious, he wouldn't dare to turn against her on the spot.

-

Wang Fan seemed to have seen through her thoughts, and he lifted his eyelids to give her a cool look.

What are you looking at? Am I wrong?
Li Qing glared back without hesitation.

The couple stared at each other for a few seconds before looking away with mutual disdain.

"Li Qing, I'm truly impressed by you."

Qiao Lin thoroughly enjoyed the show and couldn't help but tease, "You two really bring a comedic touch to our lives every time you come here."

"As long as it makes everyone happy."

Li Qing was in a good mood and didn't care about her teasing at all; on the contrary, she was quite pleased with herself.

"madness."

Wang Fan glared at her again, clearly annoyed.

"Oh my!"

In front of the mistress, Li Qing had to stand up for herself, so she retorted sharply, "It's rare for President Wang to show me such deference; I'm truly flattered."

"Pfft."

Wu Meng couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Wang Fan was furious and once again looked away, not wanting to pay any more attention to her.

Li Qing didn't care about his reaction at all, raised her eyebrows triumphantly, and looked at the mistress provocatively.

In this way, the dignity of the chairman's wife is upheld.

Xue Fangyu lowered her eyelids slightly, avoiding her sharp edge.

"Jiarui, didn't you bring gifts for the little brothers and sisters?"

Li Qing became even more smug and deliberately pushed her son forward to show off the superiority of a wealthy socialite: "The banquet is about to begin, why don't you hurry up and bring it out so your younger siblings can see if they like it?"

"Luckily, Mom reminded me, I almost forgot..."

Wang Jiarui had been silently watching his parents' battle of wits, pretending to be invisible, until this moment when he finally spoke up, standing up from his chair as if he were very annoyed.

The 13-year-old boy was handsome with delicate features and a slender figure. His speech and mannerisms exuded a strong scholarly air, making him instantly likable.