I was born and listened to my neighbor's older sister talk about her family of origin.

"Dinner's ready."

When Hao Mei brought out a plate of braised fish, she immediately noticed Xu Zhiyu's flushed cheeks and the two small red handprints on them.

She quickly put down the fish and stepped forward to cup Xu Zhiyu's face in her hands.

"Oh dear, what happened! How did your face turn into this mess?"

Xu Zhiyu tried her best to hold back her tears.

Although her younger brother comforted her, her cheek still hurt terribly, and she could only force a smile while her voice choked with emotion.

"No...it's okay, Auntie, I'm not in pain, it was just my own carelessness..."

Hao Mei interrupted her directly.

"What do you mean 'nothing'?! This was definitely done by my rascal, he's got a really strong grip!"

"Honestly, if you're being pinched, just yell out, or even cry, so Auntie knows!"

"Oh dear, look what you've done to this little face..."

Xu Zhiyu was momentarily stunned as she listened to Hao Mei's rambling.

"Auntie, can I...cry?"

"What do you mean by 'it's okay to cry'? Isn't it normal for children to cry?"

"But……"

Hao Mei seemed to have noticed something, concealing the heartache in her eyes, and looked into Xu Zhiyu's eyes as she spoke.

"Fish, here with Auntie, you can cry if you want to, don't hold it in."

"Auntie won't scold you or hit you. You can do whatever you want."

"You have the right to be willful."

Xu Zhiyu didn't really understand.

But as she listened to Hao Mei's gentle voice and saw her pained eyes, she couldn't suppress the soreness in her throat any longer.

The tears that had been welling up in her eyes finally fell, and she opened her mouth wide and cried without restraint.

"Waaaaah..."

The voice was very loud, as if she wanted to cry out all the grievances she had suffered since birth.

Hao Mei hugged her and sighed silently.

What on earth has this child been through?

These rich people don't know how to cherish such a cute and well-behaved child. They should give her all the money they have.

Although now, that family is probably even poorer than her.

You heard Xu Zhiyu's tearful lament about her family.

[Task complete.]

Jiang Ye, who was standing to the side, was stunned for a moment, then immediately gave his mother a thumbs up!

That was the perfect assist!

"What's wrong? What's wrong?!"

The bedroom door opened, and Jiang Cheng, wearing only a vest and shorts, rushed out in a panic.

Seeing his wife and Xu Zhiyu hugging each other, their crying and expressions looked like a tragic family drama.

Hao Mei glared at him.

"This is none of your business. Just serve all the rice."

"Three bowls."

Jiang Cheng scratched his head, puzzled.

But she did as Hao Mei said anyway.

Soon, the two adults and one child sat at the somewhat narrow square table. Xu Zhiyu, hiccuping from crying, was being fed by Hao Mei.

"Is the food Auntie makes delicious?"

"Yay...burp...delicious."

Jiang Cheng saw that Xu Zhiyu's eyes, nose, and mouth were all red, making her look pitiful, so he also put a piece of fish on her plate.

"The meat in this part of the fish is good; it has no bones."

Xu Zhiyu felt a surge of warmth in her heart. After crying so hard just now, she felt more relaxed than ever before.

"Thank you... hiccup... Uncle."

Jiang Ye, meanwhile, held his milk bottle up with both hands and feet and drank it gurglingly.

[Reward: +10 to Appearance.]

The host's appearance will gradually increase over time.

Jiang Ye happily rolled over and continued drinking his milk.

In his past life, he had a harmonious family and loving parents, so he had a good personality, was optimistic and positive, and had quite a good reputation. Although his IQ wasn't particularly high, his EQ was definitely on point, and he could usually get along well with women.

This is why he was able to succeed as a real estate agent.

Logically speaking, with his personality, he shouldn't have too much trouble finding a girlfriend.

The problem is that her looks and figure aren't up to par.

Looks are given to you by your parents. Unless you get plastic surgery, you'll still be average-looking no matter what.

So, after repeatedly losing dating opportunities in college because of his looks, he completely gave up and abandoned any efforts to maintain his physique.

I don't know how Xu Zhiyu recognized me when I weighed 200 pounds back then.

Is the destructive power of the "white moonlight" really that great?

As he was reminiscing about the past, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

Who is it?

Jiang Cheng put down his chopsticks and got up to open the door.

The moment the door opened, a figure rushed in.

"Is my daughter here with you?!"

Cheng Jinglan rushed into the living room and her eyes immediately locked onto Xu Zhiyu.

Xu Zhiyu's face immediately turned pale.

He quickly jumped off the stool.

"Mom...Mom..."

Cheng Jinglan's face turned ugly, and she stepped forward to grab Xu Zhiyu's hand.

"Who told you to come here?! Didn't I tell you not to associate with these low-class people who look shady?! Why are you so disobedient?!"

Jiang Cheng was immediately displeased.

"Hey! What do you mean?! You barged into my house and started calling us low-class people? Don't leave, explain yourself!"

He stood in front of Cheng Jinglan, tall and imposing, which made her involuntarily shrink back a bit.

But then she straightened up again; the pride she had developed from being pampered for so long wouldn't allow her to back down at this moment.

She pointed at Xu Zhiyu, who stood ramrod straight. Even at night, her makeup was exquisite, and her cheongsam accentuated her elegant temperament, making her stand out in Jiang Ye's old and cramped house.

Even now, in the midst of this predicament, she seems to be trying her best to maintain the demeanor of a former noblewoman.

However, the lack of matching jewelry in her cheongsam significantly diminished her elegant and sophisticated aura.

"Then let me ask you, what do you want with my daughter? I could hear her crying from next door. What did you do to her?"

Upon hearing this, Hao Mei and Jiang Cheng were momentarily speechless.

After all, Xu Zhiyu did cry, and she was bullied by their son.

Moreover, Cheng Jinglan's current state was quite intimidating, and her aura made them all hesitate to approach.

"Mother……"

At this moment, Xu Zhiyu timidly stepped forward, took Cheng Jinglan's hand, and looked up at her.

"Aunt Hao is a good person, Uncle Jiang is a good person too. They...they speak very gently, and they even gave me food..."

Cheng Jinglan frowned slightly.

"Does your family lack even a bite to eat? Why would you run here begging for food?"

"How did I raise you?! Stay away from people like them!"

"And who did this to your face?"

Xu Zhiyu covered her face and lowered her head without saying a word.

At this moment, Hao Mei spoke up: "My son did this to Xiaoyu's face, and I apologize for that."

Where is your son?

Hao Mei pointed to the crib next to her.

Cheng Jinglan turned her head and looked at Jiang Ye, who was still slurping up milk powder, and remained silent.

Jiang Ye, seeing her looking over, simply rolled his eyes at her.

Cheng Jinglan: "???"

She pointed at Jiang Ye, her voice trembling slightly, "He...your son, didn't he just roll his eyes at me?"

Moreover, she could clearly see a series of fan-shaped emotions in those eyes, including three parts disdain and seven parts contempt.

Is this something a baby could express?!

Upon hearing Cheng Jinglan's words, Jiang Cheng frowned immediately: "Auntie, are you having menopause and your eyesight is failing you? My son is only three months old."

Cheng Jinglan's attention was drawn to Jiang Chengcai's use of the word "auntie".

An older woman?!

She gave birth to Xu Zhiyu a little late; after all, which dancer doesn't have children later in life?

But even if it's late, she's only thirty years old now, how can she be considered an "auntie"?!

Cheng Jinglan was almost red-faced with anger at Jiang Chengcai, that blond-haired guy.

But her self-control told her that she couldn't argue like a shrew here.

Especially if the other person is a spirited young man, arguing with him would be an insult to oneself and a loss of self-worth.

Cheng Jinglan took a deep breath.

Well, she couldn't argue with a baby.

Perhaps she was mistaken about what she just saw.

She pulled Xu Zhiyu aside.

"Alright, Little Fish, let's go."

Hao Mei and Jiang Cheng did not stop them.

She's someone else's daughter, after all. Why are they stopping her?