“Old Tang, Old Tang?”

Liu Fen called out twice before Tang Hongen snapped back to reality.

Some women’s frightfulness isn’t in their appearance, but in how the men who once lived with them feel only negative emotions when thinking of them.

No, he wasn’t alone anymore.

His current family was very happy.

“I’ll see her then. But it’s very late now, and meeting her alone might not look good. Ah Fen, would you come with me?”

Liu Fen hesitated.

If she went along, Ji Ya would probably become even more hysterical, thinking she was there to provoke her, right?

Liu Fen had no experience handling such situations.

Tang Hongen teased her, “What, you don’t dare to face her? Don’t worry, if she throws a tantrum, I’ll protect you. Of course, Ah Fen, you need to protect me too.”

Old Tang had a skill that others couldn’t imitate!

He always spoke with such earnestness.

Even when saying sweet nothings, he was completely serious.

This kind of earnest display of affection was somehow even more cringe-worthy than saccharine sweetness!

How could he be so thick-skinned in front of the children? Liu Fen could hardly stay in the room. Not daring to look at her daughter Xiaolan and future son-in-law Zhou Cheng’s expressions, Liu Fen stood up with a red face:

“Alright, I’ll go downstairs with you.”

Tang Hongen asked her to put on another layer, “It’s raining and windy outside, wear more to avoid catching a cold.”

“Then you should wear a scarf too!”

As the two went downstairs showing mutual care, Xia Xiaolan collapsed on the sofa:

“At times like this, I feel like we’re invisible!”

Zhou Cheng smiled, embracing her and kissing the corner of her mouth, “You should be the happiest that Aunt Liu and Uncle Tang get along so well. However, I really should learn from Uncle Tang about how to be a good husband. I admire him.”

He admired Tang Hongen’s breadth of mind and dedication. Some say second marriages are just partnerships, and neither party invests as much as in their first marriage. That the passion and impulse were extinguished in previous marriages… Zhou Cheng didn’t think so. If you subjectively want to make a life together work, there shouldn’t be so many defenses and resistance.

Like Old Tang and Liu Fen’s relationship – before marriage, it was always Old Tang being forceful.

Forceful in his confession, chasing her to Yunan countryside for New Year.

Without Old Tang’s persistence, they definitely wouldn’t have ended up together. In others’ eyes, they were completely mismatched.

Yet once married, where was Old Tang’s forcefulness?

Xia Xiaolan giggled, “What else do you need to learn from Uncle Tang? When we first met, you were even more forceful than him. My ‘dark history’ didn’t scare you away. I thought then that you were audacious!”

Besides her face, Xia Xiaolan really couldn’t understand what Zhou Cheng saw in her back then.

Of course, she was also attracted to Zhou Cheng’s face and their persistent nature.

Xia Xiaolan felt their romance started with mutual physical attraction, but until now… that initial attraction seemed non-existent, Zhou Cheng was practically a paragon of virtue.

…

The forceful Comrade Old Tang walked downstairs shoulder to shoulder with Liu Fen.

It was indeed cold downstairs. He held Liu Fen’s hand as they walked toward the entrance – after all, no one would see them this late at night.

Only when they reached the entrance did Liu Fen become embarrassed and laboriously withdraw her hand.

“Mayor Tang, this lady—”

“It’s fine, Old Huang, could you lend us the security office for a while to receive this friend?”

The security guard found it strange – if she was a friend, why wouldn’t Mayor Tang invite her up to his home?

Who receives friends in a security office?

But since Mayor Tang’s wife had come along, though the guard couldn’t understand the relationship, he tactfully vacated the security office.

Ji Ya smiled mockingly. They were watching her so closely, rushing downstairs as soon as they knew she’d arrived.

Even after being the mayor’s wife for so long, she couldn’t shed that village woman’s pettiness!

Only insecure women would be so vigilant about their husbands meeting ex-wives. Right at the residential complex entrance, did she think she could strip naked and seduce Tang Hongen?

“Aren’t you coming in?”

Only when Tang Hongen asked did Ji Ya enter the security office.

The fine rain had dampened her hair, making strands stick to her face, giving her a particularly disheveled appearance.

Of course, Ji Ya’s back was always straight.

Wet hair and smeared makeup only added a different kind of charm to her.

“You don’t need to be so careful—”

“Ji Ya, I asked Ah Fen to come. Honestly, whether you mind or want to see Ah Fen, I don’t care. It’s very late now, and I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to meet you alone at night. It’s for my good, and yours too.”

Without making things clear, Ji Ya would always be presumptuous. Tang Hongen knew Ji Ya’s personality too well.

Now he only needed to make sure his Ah Fen felt secure, without caring about Ji Ya’s thoughts.

If Ji Ya wanted security and attentive care, she shouldn’t be seeking validation from him… That should come from her current husband, George.

Ji Ya felt like she’d been stabbed.

With her previous temperament, she would have grabbed the cup from the table and thrown the water in Tang Hongen’s face.

She wanted to do that now too!

But thinking of Elegance about to be taken away, Ji Ya suppressed this impulse:

“Let her stay then, it doesn’t matter. She should hear this too, it concerns her as well.”

Concerns Ah Fen?

Tang Hongen was confused too.

Ji Ya took out a handkerchief from her bag and wiped the rainwater from her face.

She was being deliberately slow, and Tang Hongen had no patience. In this awful weather, at this hour, he should be lying in bed with Ah Fen, not watching Ji Ya play mysteriously!

“If you don’t have anything—”

Ji Ya lowered her hand, “Have some patience, what I have to say is important—Tang Hongen, how would you feel if I gave our son back to you?”

At their age, it wouldn’t be easy to have another child.

Besides, it wouldn’t comply with policy anyway.

He was raising someone else’s daughter with such joy, yet wouldn’t care about his son?

Ji Ya refused to believe that Tang Hongen could truly not care about Ji Jiangyuan, not want Ji Jiangyuan!

Men always valued their own bloodline, who wouldn’t want a son? Not a burden, but their own flesh and blood.

Tang Hongen frowned: “What do you mean?”

Ji Ya smiled slightly, “We were husband and wife after all, how could you not understand my meaning? Tang Hongen, I’m saying I’ll give our son back to you, let Jiangyuan take back your surname, and from now on you can take care of him. I’ll return custody to you, give him back to you!”

Ji Ya was completely confident Tang Hongen would be moved.

Isn’t this what Tang Hongen had always wanted to achieve?

Tang Hongen completely understood now.

“You want to use Jiangyuan as a bargaining chip, exchange him to get my help in overcoming this bank loan crisis. If I understand correctly, that’s what you mean, right!”

Liu Fen looked at Ji Ya in astonishment.

A child’s surname, who raises them – could these be traded like business deals?

She nervously looked at Tang Hongen—Old Tang seemed about to explode with anger, what should she do?