Sweetie, sleep with me tonight.

After being startled by He Zhuo, Jiang Youxi was very careful when she went to feed Xiao Du again. She would sneak in to cook dog food after He Zhuo left.

Because Jiang Youxi deliberately avoided them, the two hadn't met for a week.

When An Xiaoyu found out that Jiang Youxi had taken 500,000 yuan from He Zhuo, she was so jealous that she practically overwhelmed Jiang Youxi, and she roared at her, "Jiang Youxi, what do you mean? You'd rather accept money from some random guy than accept money from me?!"

"Is my money ugly, or am I not hardworking enough to make you unworthy to touch it?!"

An Xiaoyu felt that her dignity as a woman had been severely damaged.

"He's not a wild man."

"You're still defending him? Jiang Youxi, have you been bewitched by He Zhuo? It's only been a few days, and you're already completely infatuated with him?!"

Jiang Youxi covered her ears with both hands to defend against An Xiaoyu's attack on them.

When she was tired of scolding him, Jiang Youxi quietly put down her hand and smiled ingratiatingly: "What I mean is, he is Jiang Xu's father, not some random man."

An Xiaoyu said "Oh," and added, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"You rattled off a whole bunch of things, and I couldn't get a word in edgewise."

"So this money is for child support?"

Jiang Youxi gave a thumbs up: "As expected of the Queen of the An family, you're so smart!"

An Xiaoyu slapped her hand away: "Stop flattering me. You really don't plan to tell him the truth?"

"I said so."

"When?"

Jiang Youxi said truthfully, "But he didn't believe it."

"Why don't you believe me?" An Xiaoyu pulled Jiang Xu over, pointing at his face. "Look at this kid's face, how much he looks like him?! Anyone with eyes can see they're father and son!"

"No." Jiang Youxi waved her index finger. "There's another reason why they look alike."

"What's going on?"

He said Jiang Xu was his father's illegitimate son.

"..."

-

With the 500,000 yuan given by He Zhuo, Jiang Youxi's financial burden has been greatly reduced. Now, apart from cooking dog food for Xiaodu and working part-time at Hengda Pharmacy, she has quit all other part-time jobs.

With less to do to make a living, Jiang Youxi had more free time and began to focus on her studies.

In the blink of an eye, another week has passed.

After a rain this morning, the weather became even colder, with a cold front blowing in, carrying frost in the air, making people shiver.

After breakfast, Jiang Youxi decided to take Jiang Xu to visit the school.

"Currently, Chuanyu No.1 High School has the best teaching resources in the entire Jianghai City. I have already called the principal, and he asked you to go to the school today to take their exam. If you pass, you can finish high school at this school and take the college entrance examination just like them."

Jiang Xu objected, "Mom, I haven't had enough time to reunite with you yet. Can you let me spend a few more days with you?"

"No way!" Jiang Youxi tapped his head. "You're only fifteen. You should be in school studying hard. What are you doing hanging around with me all day?"

Knowing that this kid definitely hated studying, Jiang Youxi chose to act first and ask questions later. The school was already arranged, and he had to go whether he wanted to or not!

"But I want to spend some quality time with the three of us!" Jiang Xu immediately brought up He Zhuo. "Besides, today is Dad's birthday, we should at least celebrate it with him, right?"

"There's no room for negotiation."

Seeing Jiang Youxi's resolute attitude, Jiang Xu stopped insisting.

Jiang Youxi got up to pack her things, then suddenly remembered something: "You said today is He Zhuo's birthday?"

"Yeah, you didn't know?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

She was already thankful that he wasn't chasing her, yet she still went up to him and asked what his birthday was.

Isn't she courting death?

Jiang Xu propped his elbows on the table and asked curiously, "Mom, today is Dad's birthday. What gift are you planning to buy him?"

There's nothing there.

"Oh? Mom, you're so heartless."

"..."

Jiang Xu persisted, "Are we really not going to say anything?"

"What does that mean? Does it mean he killed me to silence me?"

"Mom, how could you think like that!"

"How could I think that way?" Jiang Youxi seized the opportunity to complain, "You have no idea how cautious I've been these past few days. Serving you is like walking on thin ice!"

"But Dad gave us 500,000!"

"That's the child support he gave you!"

Jiang Xu looked her over and said with certainty, "Mom, I think your prejudice against Dad is getting deeper and deeper."

Jiang Youxi looked at him: "So how much do you know about He Zhuo?"

"Me?" The boy patted his chest confidently. "Then I definitely understand him thoroughly, even better than Dad understands himself!"

"Okay, I have a question for you."

"What is it?"

"Did your dad really kill someone?"

"Dad killed someone?!"

Jiang Youxi looked pained: "Could you please keep your voice down?"

You've pierced my ears.

"Impossible! Dad is so innocent and kind, how could he possibly kill someone? This must be a rumor!"

Jiang Youxi looked at the single-minded boy in front of her, feeling a mix of emotions.

She and He Zhuo weren't stupid, so how could they have given birth to someone with limited brain cells?

"He admitted it himself."

"..."

"You really don't know?"

"have no idea."

Jiang Youxi choked: "Didn't you say you knew him very well? You don't even know this?"

"Yeah, but that only applies to things that happened after I was born!" Jiang Xu pouted. "Dad rarely talks to me about his past, so I basically know nothing about what happened during this period."

Why?

He said it would affect my upbringing.

"..."

How dark and bloody must something be for talking about it to affect the mental and physical health of teenagers?

"Mom, seeing is believing. Maybe there's something more to this than meets the eye. So it's best if we stay neutral." He added, "Anyway, I think Dad is a good person."

"..."

Jiang Xu had been insisting that she go to celebrate He Zhuo's birthday with him, but given their current relationship, it wasn't enough for her to risk her life to go and celebrate with that big shot.

Therefore, Jiang Youxi rejected Jiang Xu's request again, and the plan remained unchanged: after breakfast, she would take him to Chuanyu No. 1 Middle School.

-

As He Zhuo walked out of the Hurricane Racing Club, Xie Zhao called.

"Brother Zhuo, are you off work? I've organized a party at the Lingying Club, hurry up and come over, the brothers are planning to celebrate for you tonight!"

"What are we celebrating?"

"Holy crap, don't tell me you forgot it's your birthday today."

"I forgot."

"..."

Listen to that! Listen to that indifferent tone.

Anyone who didn't know better would think it was someone else's birthday today!

"Anyway, are you coming or not?"

"Go now."

"Okay, we'll wait for you, hurry up!"

Xie Zhao hung up the phone with a smile.

He Zhuo put away his phone and was about to get into the car when a familiar voice came from behind him—

"A-Zhuo."