Shocking! A three-year-old brings his aloof mother to their door.

Tongtong had never seen anything like this before. Seeing her grandmother's "sad" appearance, her innocent eyes immediately filled with panic and helplessness.

She spun around in a panic, unconsciously biting her thumbnail. She looked at her grandmother, then at her father, her face full of confusion: "But...but Tongtong wants Daddy to hold her..."

Jiang Shuya continued her accusation: "Tongtong is biased!"

"Is Tongtong being biased?" The little guy pointed to his nose with his chubby little finger in shock, as if he had heard something unbelievable, and his little head was completely spinning.

Jiang Shuya, seeing that things were going well, chuckled and stopped teasing her: "Alright, alright, Grandma was just kidding! Our Tongtong is the fairest! Come on, let's go eat!"

Tongtong was confused by her grandmother's erratic thinking. Before she could recover from the accusation of "favoritism," her attention was drawn to "eating": "Huh? Why is it time to eat again?"

Looking at his daughter's innocent and adorable little face, Mo Ye couldn't help but smile. He walked over, picked her up, and gently placed her in her special high chair.

Dinner officially began.

The rectangular dining table had Tongtong's high chair placed next to Moye.

Jiang Shuya sat down on the other side of Mo Ye very naturally.

He Wanqing paused for a moment when she saw the "three-person camp" that had suddenly formed opposite her, and then silently sat down opposite them.

The atmosphere at the dining table was warm and inviting.

Jiang Shuya kept putting food on Mo Ye and Tong Tong's plates.

"Xiao Mo, try this lobster. Auntie picked it out; it's very fresh!"

"Tongtong, come on, have a piece of fish. Eating fish makes you smarter!"

"Xiao Mo, this steak is so flavorful!"

"Tongtong, you need to eat vegetables too, you can't just eat meat."

While thanking her, Mo Ye naturally peeled shrimp and removed fish bones for Tongtong, and occasionally served food to Jiang Shuya: "Auntie, please eat too."

Tongtong happily swung her little legs, saying "Thank you, Grandma" one moment and "Daddy, I want that too" the next, keeping herself very busy.

Sitting across from her, He Wanqing watched the three generations of the family enjoying each other's company and passing food to one another, while her own bowl remained empty.

Holding the chopsticks, she was momentarily at a loss, and a subtle feeling of being excluded inexplicably arose in her heart.

Am I really superfluous?

The thought had barely crossed her mind when a pair of chopsticks picked up a piece of peeled, translucent lobster meat and placed it into her bowl.

He Wanqing raised her head.

Mo Ye withdrew his hand, his gaze briefly meeting hers, his expression natural and as if he had just done something perfectly ordinary. Then he turned his head back to listen to Jiang Shuya speak, casually wiping the sauce from the corner of Tongtong's mouth.

He Wanqing looked at the lobster meat in her bowl, then at the man's gentle profile and her daughter's happy smile under the lamplight across the table. The slight unease in her heart quietly dissipated.

Outside the window, night has fallen, and countless lights are twinkling in the sky.

Inside the window, the food was warm, and soft laughter filled the air.

Perhaps this is what I've always imagined.

The warm light of dinner streamed across the exquisite porcelain plates, and the aroma of food mingled with cozy conversation.

He Wanqing sat opposite Mo Ye, but her gaze kept falling on him.

The piece of lobster meat he had picked up lay quietly in her bowl, like a pebble dropped into a still lake, rippling not only with warmth but also with that familiar yet annoying, subtle itch.

It was as if countless invisible threads were emerging from the depths of her skin, the other end firmly tied to Mo Ye, drawing her in and yearning for closer contact.

Reason told her that the occasion was inappropriate—her mother was present, and her daughter was beside her.

But the body's instincts are silently clamoring, and that desire for a specific object, stemming from "skin hunger," becomes particularly clear and unbearable after food and clothing are satisfied.

Her gaze subtly shifted downwards, landing beneath the dining table.

Mo Ye was wearing casual loungewear, her legs were long and straight.

A bold and somewhat absurd idea took shape in her mind.

As if guided by some unseen force, He Wanqing gently stretched out her leg under the table, tentatively rubbing her toes against Mo Ye's leg through his trousers.

Mo Ye, who was picking fish bones out of Tongtong, paused.

He felt the subtle, warm touch, and looked up in surprise at He Wanqing across from him.

She was sipping her soup with an elegant posture, her face calm and expressionless, as if the "troublesome" foot under the table had nothing to do with her.

But her slightly trembling eyelashes betrayed a hint of barely perceptible tension.

A hint of confusion flashed across Mo Ye's eyes, and an invisible question mark seemed to appear in his mind: What does this mean? Was it an accidental bump? Or...?

He Wanqing caught a glimpse of his momentary daze out of the corner of her eye, and the mischievous tension in her heart suddenly melted away, almost making her burst out laughing.

Even this man, who seems to be able to handle everything with ease, has moments when he's completely baffled.

Sitting in the main seat, Jiang Shuya could clearly see the silent, tense undercurrent between her daughter and son-in-law.

She peeled the shrimp slowly and deliberately, marveling at it to herself, a knowing smile playing on her lips.

Youth is wonderful, with its subtle, hesitant, and tentative romantic undertones.

However… she looked at her daughter, who clearly longed for it but pretended to be reserved and only dared to do small things under the table, and secretly shook her head:

Is this really my child? Back then, when I took a liking to that stubborn old man He Yanzhou, I just... cough cough! Those days are best left unsaid, but I definitely didn't dawdle like that!

Jiang Shuya mentally gave her daughter a "failing" grade for her support and decided to give her a push herself.

Under the table, after a brief moment of surprise, Mo Ye, as if possessed, did not move his leg. Instead, he used his calf to gently clamp He Wanqing's unruly ankle.

"!" He Wanqing's breath hitched almost imperceptibly.

She had expected him to avoid her or look at her with suspicion, but she never expected such a response that was almost "captured".

The warmth and undeniable strength of his leg emanated from my ankle. That strange, comforting feeling that could instantly soothe my restless heart was like a gentle, warm current that quickly spread through my limbs and bones along our skin.

The little voice inside sighed contentedly: "Yes—that's the feeling..."

Having received the "soothing" her body craved, He Wanqing appeared even more composed and continued to dine elegantly, though a faint blush crept up her ears.

Tongtong, focused on finishing the tomahawk steak on her plate, was completely unaware of all this.

The little guy was diligently cutting the delicious beef with his little fork, his cheeks bulging, his eyes only on the food, completely immersed in his "great rice project".

As Jiang Shuya lovingly wiped the sauce from her granddaughter's mouth with a tissue, she glanced at the young couple across the table who were "secretly exchanging pleasantries," her doting smile growing wider...