Chapter 2 Reunion

  Some people are born to be debt collectors for others, just like Fei Yangyang is the debt collector for You Qian. When Fei Chai first brought Fei Yangyang home, You Qian was pregnant with a big belly, carrying little Fei Xiao Mi inside.

  To be honest, Yu Qian is a kind-hearted woman who sympathizes with Fei Yangyang's situation and even temporarily taking care of her for a while wouldn't be a problem. However, the issue arises when Fei Chai proposes to adopt Fei Yangyang. This makes Yu Qian furious. Originally, she hasn't even given birth to her own child yet, but suddenly there's this big girl who appears out of nowhere, it's hard for anyone to accept.

  You Qian was pregnant at the time, and it was a woman's most glorious and dominant moment in her life. Plus, Fei Chai was usually very gentle, so she thought that as long as she spoke up, Fei Chai would give up on adopting Fei Yangyang. But unexpectedly, Fei Chai seemed to have been possessed by some evil spirit, and he stubbornly insisted on adopting Fei Yangyang.

  You Qian saw that the hard attack was not successful, so she changed to a clever approach. Because Fei Chai is a person who values rules and regulations in his life. You Qian decided to take advantage of this, and found a classmate who is a lawyer to consult about the laws regarding adoption. As a result, she discovered that Fei Chai does not meet the legal conditions for adopting Fei Yang. Overjoyed, she took the law and went to find Fei Chai, but he didn't even look at it, only saying: "As long as we treat her like our own daughter, love her and care for her, that's all that matters. Laws are meant to restrain those with ulterior motives."

  You Qian couldn't hold back anymore and burst out on the spot: "So I'm the one with ulterior motives?" It seems that reason and whatnot can't be communicated, so You Qian had to resort to her traditional tactics of crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang herself. She was pregnant, after all, so almost all public opinion was in her favor. Whenever someone came to persuade Fei Chai, the first sentence would always be: "Actually, Yang Yang is really pitiful... but..." The rest of the words would all be about how Fei Chai was wrong.

  In this desperate situation, Fei Chai couldn't find a way to save both and was about to surrender, but then something happened that changed everything - Fei Yangyang had run away and gone missing.

  When Fei Chai brought Fei Yangyang back, he didn't know how old she was, only that she looked like a **-year-old girl or maybe older. At this age, especially for girls, they already understand many things. So when she saw the chaos at home because of her own mischief, she felt secretly guilty. One midnight, without saying goodbye, she left with only the five yuan breakfast money Fei Chai had given her the day before. With no relatives in Nanquan City and little money on her, she planned to sneak onto a train back to her hometown Fengcheng, but was of course caught by Fei Chai.

  When Fei Chai found Fei Yangyang, he didn't go back home but instead took him to the wilderness survey team. Yu Qian was frightened because people like Fei Chai are good-natured, but once they get stubborn, they can do anything, even betraying the whole world, and will insist on their own ideas and methods. So she had no choice but to swallow her pride and follow him with a big belly all the way to the wilderness survey team, suffering a lot along the way, until she saw Fei Chai and couldn't stop crying.

  The result afterwards was, of course, a happy ending for all. With Yu Qian's words, Fei Yangyang became her and Fei Chai's adopted daughter, although they didn't go through the legal procedures. But as Fei Chai said, laws are actually used to restrain those with ulterior motives.

  However, to be honest, Yu Qian was not willing to accept this matter, so the relationship between her and Fei Yangyang was more like that of two unfamiliar neighbors rather than mother and daughter. Although she had never neglected Fei Yangyang in terms of food, clothing, and shelter, it was impossible for her to truly like her from the heart. Fortunately, Fei Yangyang was very sensible, and as she grew older, she took on almost all the household chores whenever she was at home. Thanks to this, Yu Qian had the opportunity to dress up and go out to have fun every weekend. However, in their daily lives, the two of them hardly spoke - Yu Qian didn't want to talk to Fei Yangyang, and Fei Yangyang had a language disorder, plus she would hide in her room reading books whenever she was free, so as long as Yu Qian didn't intentionally pay attention to her existence, Fei Yangyang was like an invisible person.

  But now this transparent person is standing alive beside her husband, affectionately holding his arm. Yu Qian's heart suddenly cooled down by half, and a sense of loss climbed up from the back of her feet to the back of her head.

  Fei Yangyang noticed Yu Qian's unhappiness and hid behind Fei Chai. Fei Chai, on the other hand, was in high spirits. He smiled and opened his arms wide, embracing Yu Qian and saying: "Wife, I'm back! This time I won't leave again!"

  Yu Qian twisted her shoulder, trying to shake off his arm, but the movement was somewhat involuntary and half-hearted. She could only say: "Oh my, what are you doing? We're an old couple already, and the child is still here." With this tone, she couldn't help but laugh instead of getting angry.

  Three people entered the house. Fei Chai saw the red wine and candles on the dining table, and smiled as he hugged You Qian: "Wife, you're really great."

  "You're a fart! If you were any good, you wouldn't have gone half a year without coming back even once!"

  Fei Chai said: "It's all because of work. I'm not leaving this time, am I? I guarantee that I will make up for the years I owe you and your family."

  "It's nothing special." Yu Qian said so, but in her heart, it was still beautiful. Of course, if she changed "niang er tiao" to "niang er duo", she would be even happier. However, some things, once they happen, can't be changed easily.

  Fei Yangyang was very considerate, when Fei Chai and You Qian were talking, she quietly pulled all of Fei Chai's luggage into the master bedroom. Then, after taking a look at the dinner table, she went into the kitchen. It turned out that You Qian wasn't good at cooking and only knew how to make a few Western-style cold dishes, which didn't have much flavor. Today, although she had put in a lot of effort, it was still just a repeat of the same old thing, and because of the cold weather, the cold dishes had actually become frozen solid. Fei Chai had been traveling outdoors for years and his stomach wasn't very good, so when he got home, he always needed something hot to eat or drink to feel better. Fei Yangyang had been doing household chores since she was young and had developed some skills as a homemaker. Moreover, she didn't need to be romantic with Fei Chai, so when it came to food and drink, she was even more practical and frugal.

  Fei Yangyang took the dishes made by You Qian, picked those that were heated but not enough to destroy the original flavor and style, and steamed them in a steamer. One by one, they were brought up, and Fei Chai poured red wine for You Qian again, saying: "Wife, you've worked hard all these years, from now on I'll be working at the municipal bureau, you don't have to take care of household chores anymore, just enjoy your life."

  You Qian listened with relish, raised her wine glass and clinked it lightly with Fei Chai's, just about to take a sip when Fei Chai suddenly put down his cup and said: "Why didn't Yang Yang come to eat?" As he spoke, he shouted towards the kitchen: "Yang Yang, come out and eat!" While speaking, he stood up and smiled at You Qian before heading into the kitchen.

  She went into the kitchen, but saw that Fei Yangyang didn't owe her anything. She had made a dish and was just about to eat when she saw Fei Chai, and only smiled. Fei Chai frowned and pretended to be angry, saying: "Why didn't you come out to eat?"

  Fei Yangyang looked at him, blinking a few times. Fei Chai laughed and said: "I'm old friends with your mom, where's the romance? Besides, we're family." As he spoke, he reached out from behind her neck and pinched it, pulling her out. Yu Qian saw this and said: "Yangyang, what are you hiding in the kitchen for? Your dad doesn't know and will think I always bully you like this."

  "That's impossible!" Fei Chai said with a big smile. "Our family is very harmonious, and my wife is not that cruel stepmother!" He opened the refrigerator, took out a bottle of drink, found a cup and poured one for Fei Yangyang as well. Only then did he raise his glass again and say: "Today is just a rehearsal, tomorrow when we pick up Xiaomi, it will be a real family reunion, let's have a toast!"

  This suggestion was naturally unobjectionable, so Fei Chai and You Qian drank red wine, Fei Yangyang drank a beverage, and the three of them clinked glasses before starting to eat. During dinner, Fei Chai told some strange stories about his experiences in the wilderness, which was also a tradition for the Fei family. Whenever he reached the funny part, You Qian would cover her mouth with her hand and giggle. Fei Yangyang also smiled, but kept his head down without making a sound.

  After dinner, the whole family helped to clear the table and took the dishes to the kitchen. However, when it was time to wash the dishes, Yangyang pushed both of them out and took care of all the cleaning work by himself. As a result, Feichai and Youqian went to sit on the sofa, turned on the TV and watched some boring dramas. When Yangyang finished cleaning up and came out, he saw that Youqian was already leaning against Feichai. She smiled and was about to go back to her room when she heard Feichai say: "Yangyang, come watch TV with us for a bit, it's been a long time since we've all sat together as a family."

  Yang Yang thought for a moment, then sat down at the other end of Fei Chai. The three of them watched an episode and a half of TV series together. Yu Qian said to Fei Chai, "You must be tired today, Yang Yang has to go to school early tomorrow, let's rest early tonight."

  Fei Chai looked at You Qian again, and a pair of big eyes almost spat out fire. What couldn't be seen was what it meant? So he smiled and stood up to stretch his waist and said: "Yes, I'm really a bit sleepy." Then the two of them bid Yang Yang goodnight and returned to their rooms respectively.

  There's a saying that goes, "A small separation is better than a new marriage." Sleeping in the bedroom can be more tiring than watching TV in the living room, but it's also more enjoyable. After a good night's sleep, I woke up to find that it was already almost 10 o'clock on the second day. It took some effort for Fei Chai to get dressed and out of bed, as Yu Qian's arms and legs were wrapped around him like an octopus, making every move a struggle. This wasn't her fault, though - Fei Chai had been working outdoors for years, and his only regular vacation was the one month he got each year to visit his family. In their seven years of marriage, they had only spent a little over a year together, so it was understandable that Yu Qian would take advantage of this opportunity to be affectionate with her husband.

  Fei Chai got out of bed and came out of the bedroom, saw that breakfast was laid out on the dining table, walked over to take a look, and on the table there was also a white paper with a cartoon drawn on it. The cartoon depicted two doors, one of which was the bedroom door, from which many "hearts" were flying out of the gap between the doors. The other door was the front door, half-closed with only a heel visible, obviously Yang Yang's own foot, indicating that she had gone out. In the middle was the dining table, on which the breakfast was still steaming hot.

  Fei Chai looked at the comic book, couldn't help but chuckle, then casually folded the drawing and stuffed it into his pants pocket. He tried the breakfast with his hand, which had already gone cold. So while washing up, he reheated the breakfast, then shouted towards the bedroom: "Qianqian, get up and eat!"

  "But from the bedroom came Yu Qian's lazy voice: 'Husband, I'm too lazy to move, can you bring it in for me~~'"