RMM -Chapter 324 A Precarious Family Standing

After Su Ruo and the others arrived, Xi Yuechen parked the car at the gate, got out, opened the door on Su Ruo’s side, and took Xi Zi into his arms.

After getting out of the car, Su Ruo picked up the two bags she had brought and went into the house together with Xi Yuechen.

Everyone had been waiting anxiously for them, but no one expected them to show up so suddenly.

So when the door opened and they walked in, the old man in the living room and Xi Jian’an both froze for a moment. It wasn’t until Xi Yuechen and Su Ruo spoke to greet them that they snapped back to their senses. The old man’s face immediately split into a broad smile, and he answered cheerfully.

Even Xi Jian’an smiled slightly and asked, “You’re back?”

At that moment, a figure came running out from the kitchen. Before the person even reached Su Ruo, the voice had already sounded.

“Sis!”

As soon as the word fell, the person stopped firmly in front of Su Ruo, his face full of excitement.

“Show-off,” Su Ruo scolded with a laugh.

“Hehe, brother-in-law,” Su Heng didn’t mind being scolded at all. Grinning, he turned to Xi Yuechen to greet him.

“Ruoruo, you’ve finally arrived!”

Just as Su Ruo and the others were about to head into the living room, two more people rushed out of the kitchen. Turning to look, they saw the two empress dowagers of the family. Both were wearing aprons now, their faces beaming with joy, clearly very happy. Shen Liang was even holding a spatula in her hand.

Su Ruo was helpless. Wasn’t this a bit too much fanfare? She really couldn’t live up to it…

“Mom, Mom,” Su Ruo greeted them one by one.

Xi Yuechen followed her lead and called out twice as well. After Shen Liang and Zhang Huaqing responded, they immediately went to look at Xi Zi in Xi Yuechen’s arms, their eyes almost popping out.

“Quick, let me see my precious Xi Zi. I’ve missed him to death.”

The old man had already stood up long ago, waiting for Xi Yuechen to bring Xi Zi over. At this moment, he didn’t even bother greeting his own grandson—his entire heart was focused on Xi Zi.

Xi Yuechen answered and handed Xi Zi into the old man’s already outstretched arms.

Once Xi Zi was in the old man’s embrace, the others standing nearby didn’t dare to fight over him. Shen Liang and Zhang Huaqing wanted to see their grandson too, but it wouldn’t be appropriate to crowd in, so they stood in place, craning their necks to peek. The sight was indescribably funny.

Su Ruo couldn’t help but secretly purse her lips and smile.

But Su Heng had no such restraint. He plopped down beside the old man, eyes wide, staring at Xi Zi without blinking.

Unfortunately… Xi Zi was being very uncooperative at the moment.

He hadn’t woken up yet.

But after not seeing their precious darling for such a long time, the elders had been missing him like crazy. At this point, who cared whether he was asleep or awake? As long as they could see him, it was enough.

Even Xi Jian’an couldn’t help himself. He shuffled over to his father’s side and leaned in to look at his grandson’s sleeping face.

“He seems to have grown,” the old man said after studying Xi Zi for a while, smiling.

“Yes, he can even call people now,” Su Ruo added from the side, her tone full of pride.

“Really? That’s wonderful!” Shen Liang exclaimed.

The others were also delighted. After all, the last time Xi Zi grew teeth, this group had been so excited they didn’t know what to do with themselves. Now that he could call people, how could they possibly stay calm?

“Can he call me great-grandpa?” the old man turned to look at Su Ruo, sounding a bit anxious.

Just imagining Xi Zi calling him “Great-Grandpa” in that soft, sweet little voice was enough to melt his heart.

“Uh… he can, but it’s not very smooth yet…” Su Ruo gave a dry laugh.

Before coming, she had been teaching Xi Zi to call people nonstop, wanting to give everyone a surprise. Xi Zi had pretty good comprehension and learning ability, and under Su Ruo’s endless chanting, he quickly learned to say things like grandpa, grandma, uncle, maternal uncle, aunt, and so on. But “great-grandpa” wasn’t very smooth—he would always pause after the “great” before finishing with “grandpa.” After repeated teaching, it had improved quite a bit, but it was still not very fluent.

“He can already call me? Hahaha, that’s great! Truly worthy of being my great-grandson!” The old man didn’t care in the slightest how well he said it. Just hearing that Xi Zi could call him that made him grin from ear to ear.

Su Ruo raised her eyebrows, amused. It seemed she had worried too much. Judging by how Grandpa looked—as if he wished he could stuff Xi Zi into his mouth—how could he possibly nitpick over how well the child pronounced it?

“Can he call me grandpa?” Xi Jian’an suddenly blurted out this rather odd question.

Su Ruo felt a wave of black lines form over her head. If he could call great-grandpa, how could he not call grandpa?

“Yes, he can. He can also call grandma and uncle,” Su Ruo nodded as she answered.

Then, seeing Shen Liang, Zhang Huaqing, and Su Heng all looking at her expectantly, she very considerately answered their unasked questions as well.

“My nephew is so smart! Uncle will take you out to play this afternoon and buy you lots of nice things!” Su Heng laughed heartily, looking extremely pleased, as if Xi Zi had already called him “uncle.”

Su Ruo really couldn’t bear to shatter his beautiful dream. Take Xi Zi out to play? What kind of pipe dream was that—whether he’d even get a turn to hold Xi Zi was questionable.

After Xi Zi arrived, the two grandmothers naturally lost all interest in going back to the kitchen to cook. Fortunately, most of the work was already done, and the rest could be left to the servants.

Soon, the sumptuous dishes were all laid out on the table.

The old man looked at Xi Zi sleeping quietly in his arms and couldn’t bear to put him down. But he couldn’t skip the meal either, so he handed Xi Zi to Su Ruo and asked her to carry him upstairs to sleep.

Zhang Huaqing and Shen Liang really didn’t want to eat and wanted to follow Xi Zi upstairs, but since Su Ruo and Xi Yuechen had just arrived, it didn’t seem appropriate for them to skip this meal. So they reluctantly sat down in the dining room.

Everyone ate quite happily, especially Su Ruo. She hadn’t tasted the food cooked by the two “empress dowagers” in a long time. That familiar flavor moved her to the verge of tears. She thought to herself that gains always come with losses—once she followed the army, she wouldn’t be able to eat such delicious food often anymore. The loss actually felt pretty big. Sob.

After quickly finishing her meal, Su Ruo hurried upstairs. Her son must be awake by now, and probably hungry too. She needed to feed him.

Sure enough, Xi Zi was now awake, his bright, clear eyes looking around. His little face even looked quite serious.

“Son, don’t recognize your room anymore?” Su Ruo picked up Xi Zi, smiling as she tapped his nose. “You lived in this house for many months, you know.”

Who knew whether Xi Zi understood her or not. In any case, seeing that his mom had finally appeared, he relaxed. He reached out his little hands to tug at Su Ruo’s clothes, his mouth drooping, his expression pitiful beyond measure.

“Oh dear, what’s wrong with my baby? Look at that wrinkled little face—it’s like a bun. So ugly,” Su Ruo teased, amused by her son’s expression.

She leaned in and kissed him several times, even leaving saliva marks on his face.

Once Xi Zi was brought back downstairs, Su Ruo naturally became unnecessary. Especially since Xi Zi was awake—everyone was still thinking about getting him to call them grandpa and grandma.

“Xi Zi, call great-grandpa,” Su Ruo coaxed.

Xi Zi had eaten and drunk his fill and was in a pretty good mood. He probably also had some impression of the old man, so he cooperated especially well. Opening his little mouth, he slowly called out:

“Great—grandpa.”

Everyone had been waiting for Xi Zi to say it, all holding their breath and staring at him. So his little voice sounded quite clear.

“Yes!” the old man answered even louder, bursting with joy.

Everyone else laughed along too, their hearts practically melting from Xi Zi’s tiny voice. Then they got excited, all competing to get him to call them.

Su Ruo was squeezed off to the side, watching helplessly as her son was “surrounded,” not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

She glanced at Xi Yuechen beside her and saw him also looking at Xi Zi, who was encircled by the crowd. His expression was warm and gentle. Su Ruo’s heart warmed as well, as if a ray of sunlight had shot straight into it.

The entire afternoon at Zhengjia Courtyard was lively and bustling. Xi Jian’an went to work, while the remaining people refused to let go of Xi Zi, holding him, teasing him, and urging him to call them. Despite being tossed around like this, Xi Zi didn’t seem impatient at all and cooperated very well.

Seeing how happy they all were, Su Ruo kept smiling too. Since she was back, she thought she should go see He Wen and Duan Wei. Otherwise, if they found out she’d come back without contacting them, she’d surely be scolded to death.

In any case, she felt completely at ease leaving Xi Zi here. With the two empress dowagers presiding, what was there to worry about? Xi Zi would definitely be taken care of even more comfortably than when he was with her.

“Chief,” Su Ruo called softly to Xi Yuechen.

Hearing her voice, Xi Yuechen withdrew his gaze from Xi Zi and looked at Su Ruo, asking silently what was wrong.

“I’m going to see He Wen and the others. Do you want to come with me?”

Su Ruo thought that ditching the chief to go have fun on her own didn’t seem quite right. Besides, there wasn’t much for him to do at home anyway, and Xi Zi wouldn’t be his turn to hold. Might as well go out for a bit.

Xi Yuechen shook his head. “No need. You go ahead. I’ll go see Gu Jiawei.”

Gu Jiawei?

Su Ruo thought of the gentle-smiling man she’d run into at the hotel last time. She wondered if he had told the chief about that incident…

Forget it, forget it. Why dwell on it? Since the chief hadn’t mentioned anything to her, she wouldn’t bring it up either. Let it pass completely.

“Alright then. I’ll call you when I’m done,” Su Ruo agreed readily.

After all, He Wen and the others absolutely didn’t want the chief to show up. After all this time, their attitude toward him was still… respectful yet distant.

Since the chief was going to see Gu Jiawei, they could only go their separate ways.

“Mm,” Xi Yuechen nodded.

Su Ruo didn’t ask about Gu Jiawei’s background, and Xi Yuechen had never explained it either. But even without thinking hard, she could tell his status was definitely not low. The way Feng Weijia had treated him last time was very subtle—respectful, yet cautious. How many people were there who could make Feng Weijia wary?

So this Gu Jiawei’s status couldn’t be lower than the chief’s, and his abilities were probably quite impressive too. The admiration on Feng Weijia’s face hadn’t been an act.

Whatever. That Gu Jiawei had a warm smile and seemed like a decent person. If the chief wanted to be close to him, then so be it. Having one more friend wasn’t a bad thing.

Thus, after the two of them arranged their afternoon plans and informed the family, who knew—they didn’t even spare them a glance, casually waving their hands. Go, go.

Su Ruo was speechless.

This family standing was really precarious. In an instant, she and the chief had become dispensable presences…

Times really do change, don’t they?