TNIBFT -Chapter 65 Love is Mutual Care

Ye Tian crouched down, gently holding his daughter and Xiao Jiang by the arms. “So, it’s not that you dislike me, but that you don’t want to cause me trouble?”

Xiao Jiang nodded.

Ye Shuangxue said, “I haven’t hit Shi Hao for several days, and I haven’t been disobedient either. I’ve been attending school properly every day, and I’m writing my characters carefully too.”

Ye Shuangxue lowered her head, sniffling. “If I become a good child, you won’t leave, right? But then you changed again…” The little girl rubbed her eyes and cried in grievance. Why did this have to happen to her? She felt so miserable.

Ye Tian froze.

So the children were carrying such a heavy psychological burden?

Why were they afraid he would leave?

Just because he had been kind to them for a few days, bought the cheapest cotton-padded clothes, and gave them the cheapest meat buns? Ye Tian couldn’t even recall what he had done for the children. He never expected that they would be afraid he might leave.

Just because the original Ye Tian used to beat them daily, abuse them, and now, when he didn’t hit them and treated them kindly, they clung to him as if to a lifeline, desperately trying to please him?

“How could I ever leave?”

Ye Tian felt a lump in his throat. He hugged the two children close, one on each side, and whispered, “You are my own children. My blood runs through you. You’re so good—why would I leave? I won’t leave!”

After he said this, Ye Shuangxue and Xiao Jiang hugged Ye Tian’s head and cried loudly.

Ye Yunting stood beside them. “That day, I saw you packing your things to go to Widow Zhang’s house.”

“Yes.”

Ye Tian admitted it. He hadn’t realized the children thought he was going to leave because of that, which was why they had been acting so strangely these past few days.

“Don’t misunderstand. Widow Zhang and I… nothing happened,” Ye Tian realized and quickly explained, his face turning red.

Explaining this to his own children was indeed awkward.

Ye Yunting said, “I know.”

“You locked Shen Jie in Widow Zhang’s house. I was the one who opened the lock outside, and I was the one who informed the village chief.”

Ye Tian: …

He stared at his eldest son, feeling shocked.

A five-year-old went out in the middle of the night to do something like this?

And the most incredible part was the plan was flawless. Even as an adult, Ye Tian wouldn’t have executed it so meticulously. He had to admire his eldest son’s ability—some people were born to be protagonists. Truly a hero in chaotic times.

“After coming home, you didn’t say anything, but I knew you had changed. Being with us would only hold you back. We…” Ye Yunting lowered his head, frowning slightly.

Ye Tian already understood what he wanted to say without hearing the rest.

“All right, let’s not dwell on the past.”

Ye Tian wiped the tears from his daughter’s face, smiling warmly. “We’re not cooking today. Dad bought roast duck—we’ll have roast duck.”

“Really?”

Ye Shuangxue’s eyes lit up.

Returning to her old cheerful self, Ye Tian continued, “What children think isn’t what adults think. If you weren’t by my side, my life in this world would be meaningless.”

Ye Yunting was stunned.

He hadn’t expected Ye Tian to say this. In Ye Tian’s heart, were the three siblings more important than his own life?

The book-crossing mission was to change the three great villains.

If the children’s endings were the same as before, what would be the purpose of his mission?

And what would his own ending be?

“Also, if you think you’re a big trouble, does that mean I would think I’m a big trouble and try to distance myself from you too?”

“Love is mutual care. It means never leaving each other.”

Ye Tian spoke.

The three children nodded in unison. Only then was Ye Tian satisfied. He stood up to get a large bowl, took out the roast duck wrapped in kraft paper from his coat, and tore it open. The rich aroma of roasted meat filled the air, and the three little ones gathered around him, their faces full of anticipation.

These past few days, they had been keeping up appearances for the children, not daring to eat a single bite.

They were dying of hunger.

“This is yours,” Ye Tian said, tearing off a duck leg and handing it to Xiao Jiang.

“And this is for my daughter.” He handed another duck leg to Ye Shuangxue. Ye Yunting’s big eyes sparkled. At five years old, he had little resistance when it came to food. Seeing Ye Tian give duck legs to his younger siblings…

Ye Yunting stared at the duck wing. Ye Tian plucked off the duck’s tail and handed it to him: “This is for the eldest, always coming up with mischievous ideas. Consider this a punishment.”

Ye Yunting: …

Xiao Jiang and Ye Shuangxue giggled at their brother.

Ye Yunting knew he was wrong and didn’t argue. He lowered his head to pick up the duck tail, ready to eat it, but Ye Tian snatched it away and threw it into the fire. In an instant, it sizzled and released a smoky aroma of roasting meat, making Ye Tian’s mouth water.

When will I get an entire barbecue restaurant like this?

Ye Tian placed a pair of duck wings into Ye Yunting’s bowl: “Eat more. Only by eating well will you grow strong. You’re the eldest, the one I trust the most.”

Ye Yunting felt a lump in his throat and stayed silent.

Seeing Ye Tian enjoying the duck meat with relish, Ye Yunting unexpectedly placed a duck wing into Ye Tian’s bowl.

He didn’t say a word.

Ye Tian happily picked it up and took a big bite: “Delicious!”

“This is the best duck wing I’ve ever eaten. So good!”

“Delicious!”

Xiao Jiang echoed Ye Tian, and the four of them laughed together, feeling completely content.

…

Inside the City Lord’s Mansion.

Shen Jie was awakened again with cold water. Shivering all over, his face pale, he opened his heavy eyelids and looked around.

The mansion gleamed with gold and jade.

The garden was bursting with flowers.

The maids flitted about gracefully and elegantly. Everything here was what he had dreamed of—this was the City Lord’s Mansion, the center of power he had longed to enter.

He had imagined countless times the moment he would be recognized by City Lord Xiao Haoyang.

After years of separation, Xiao Haoyang would surely feel guilty. For Shen Jie’s talents, he would cherish him like a treasure, defy all opposition, and make him the next City Lord. Then, with a beautiful wife and concubines, embraced on both sides, he would reach the peak of life.

“Not dead yet!”

Seeing him awake, someone immediately stepped forward and stomped on Shen Jie’s face.

Here, in the hands of these servants, he was like a stray dog on the roadside. He refused to accept it!

A noble by birth, he should have been in the spotlight like Xiao Tianyi and Xiao Xun’er, living life on his own terms. Yet now he was trampled by lower-class people with no ability to resist. This was fate’s injustice.

“Yo, feeling rebellious?”

Seeing Shen Jie clench his fists, face twisted with rage, the one stomping on him looked down arrogantly and stomped again on Shen Jie’s face.

Cursing: “In the entire Sifang City, there isn’t a one who can’t die if asked by second young master. He’s indestructible!”

“You dare resist too?”

“Blame yourself for being born in the wrong family, ending up as a lowly person.”

The insults and scolding ignited a fiery hatred in Shen Jie’s eyes. If given the chance, he would kill all these people—and Xiao Tianyi too. One day, he would drag him down and make him suffer eternally.

“Is he dead?”

A pleasant female voice rang out. The foot pressing on Shen Jie immediately lifted, and the woman respectfully addressed those around her: “The Second Young Master didn’t give orders. We didn’t dare kill him. Does the Second Young Master have other instructions?”

“The Second Young Master wants to see him.”

After saying this, the woman turned and walked away. Shen Jie, still lying on the ground, could only see a flash of her brightly colored skirt.

Then he was dragged to an even more luxurious courtyard.

“What is your relationship with Tao Ling’er?”