Chapter 79: As Long As You Want To, We Will Definitely Meet Again!

Gu Yunci's chest tightened sharply. He looked at her, his voice dropping very soft, "Yes. As long as you want to, we will definitely meet again."

Xin Xin's almond eyes lit up. Her short little arms grabbed his finger and shook it. "Uncle, you're not allowed to lie to me."

The man's Adam's apple bobbed. He held her fingers, his fingertips burning hot. "Uncle won't lie to you, never will lie to you!"

Xin Xin held on to him, reluctant to let go. "Give me your phone number, okay? I'll call you."

Just then, Auntie Li's voice came from not far away. "Xin Xin, it's time to go!"

Xin Xin reluctantly let go, looking back with every few steps. "Goodbye, Uncle! Remember me!"

Gu Yunci nodded.

After walking a few steps, Auntie Li reminded Xin Xin, "Don't talk to strangers. Mommy told you that before."

Xin Xin nodded obediently, but in her heart she thought—the handsome uncle isn't a stranger at all!

Gu Yunci felt a sense of loss. He stood there, watching Xin Xin turn around several times to sneak peeks at him, but he was just a stranger who couldn't even give her a sense of security.

Xin Xin disappeared at the end of the street, and he still didn't move.

Until a phone call came in.

It was from his cousin Gu Wanying.

"Yunci, I finally got through to you! Let me tell you something important—your brother-in-law and I are going on our honeymoon, for a month. Song Yilin has no one to look after him, and after thinking it over, he's closest to you."

"Please do me a favor and watch him, just for one month. I'll treat you to a meal when we get back!"

Gu Yunci instinctively declined. "I can't handle your little terror. Better find someone else!"

"I've already dropped him off at Qian Shui Wan."

When Gu Yunci heard this, his head swelled.

Song Yilin was three and a half, so mischievous he couldn't sit still for a moment. Last year, after staying with him for a month, he had played two rabbits and two dogs to death.

Every day the house was turned upside down by him like a village raided by bandits. His fastidiousness was severe; he couldn't accept messiness.

"No way. I'm sending him back right now."

Gu Wanying said, "We're already on the plane. Where do you plan to send him?"

Gu Yunci's steps faltered.

"He said himself that he's closest to his uncle and asked to go to your place. Oh, and we gave our keys to Auntie Zhang too—Qingluju. Because of Song Yilin's schooling, we moved there from the riverfront villa half a year ago. If you feel the daily commute from Qian Shui Wan is too far, you can go stay there…"

Whatever was said after that, Gu Yunci didn't hear at all.

His mind was full of those three characters: Qing—lu—ju.

Thinking of Qingluju, he thought of Meng Shutang again.

After experiencing so many things, he finally realized how outrageously wrong he had been.

From her youth, she had lived amid ruins.

His father, shortly after her mother became pregnant, had an affair with her mother's sworn sister and best friend.

Then, he brought that woman and child into the home, personally destroying her family.

Her mother was bedridden for fourteen years.

Fourteen years—she should have been spirited and radiant as a flower, yet she guarded a shattered home and endured it all.

And what about him?

After giving her three brief years of stability, he suddenly pushed her away and stood on the opposing side.

He was the most blind, most foolish, most bastard of men.

"The kindergarten he attends is the Montessori Bilingual Kindergarten next to Qingluju?"

Gu Wanying said, "Yes."

"Fine, I'll watch him for this month."

Seeing that Gu Yunci had refused no matter what just moments ago, now suddenly relenting, she said, "Didn't you just say you didn't agree? How did you suddenly come around?"

Gu Yunci said, "Don't worry about it. Go enjoy your honeymoon with your husband!"

When Gu Yunci returned home, Song Yilin was already playing in the living room.

The spacious living room, normally kept spotless and meticulously orderly, was now littered with countless unidentifiable toys scattered everywhere, without a single place to set foot.

Instantly, the air pressure around Gu Yunci sank.

Even though Meng Shutang had been gone for four years, his near-pathological fastidiousness and obsessive tidiness had long been gradually loosening.

But in this moment, he still felt an almost physiological discomfort at the word "chaos."

"Song Yilin." The man stood at the entryway and called out toward the door.

Song Yilin popped his head out from behind the sofa, holding a bag of snacks, fruit stains on the corners of his lips. "Uncle, you're back."

With that, his small body hoisted itself over the sofa armrest to this side, agile as a little monkey. In an instant, Gu Yunci lost his temper again.

He turned to look at Auntie Zhang coming out of the kitchen. "Auntie Zhang, if you can't keep up with the cleaning on your own, hire someone else to help."

Auntie Zhang smiled cheerfully. "No need, Eldest Young Master. Children are all like this—once you tidy up, they mess it up again in no time."

"I'll clean up after the Little Young Master goes to sleep."

Having cared for Gu Yunci for many years, she naturally knew his temperament. Looking at his handsome face where the frost had not fully faded, she said, "Don't look at how messy the living room is and how much stuff is on the floor—it's quick to clean up."

Gu Yunci said nothing. Looking at the mess all over the floor, he subconsciously thought of Xin Xin—if she were here, she would be quiet and would never make the house this chaotic.

At this thought, he suddenly wondered—what did Xin Xin like?

Did she like watching cartoons, or did she like playing with ancient beads like Meng Shutang, or did she like sitting quietly and drawing like her mother?

Probably drawing—after all, when they met just now, she was carrying a drawing board.

As the thought settled, the corners of his lips softened almost imperceptibly. "Alright, we'll do it your way."

Gu Yunci went to the second-floor study. Because he had set rules for Song Yilin before—his activity areas were outdoors and the first-floor living room—he didn't come up to the second floor all afternoon.

Even when he did come over, he was well-behaved. He ate two oranges and even brought the peels downstairs to the trash can.

At dinner that evening, Gu Yunci asked Song Yilin about his school situation for the coming month.

"What time do you start class in the morning at your kindergarten, and what time do you get out in the afternoon?

You didn't go to school this afternoon — you took the day off, right?"

Aunt Zhang was very good at making children's meals; she had learned last year when Song Yilin came over.

Song Yilin had played all afternoon and was starving; he ate with great relish.

"How would I remember all that? Ask your cousin."

Gu Yunci paid him no further attention.

He thought to himself that if he ever had a son in the future, he'd be driven half to death with anger too.

A brat like this really wasn't as endearing as a daughter.

Xin Xin was so adorable — even though he had only seen her three times, every time she sweetly called him Uncle.

He finished eating and was about to get up when Song Yilin suddenly looked up. "Uncle, Teacher Xing said a new little girl is joining our class next Monday — don't be late."

That was the only thing he remembered; he had forgotten everything else.

Gu Yunci gave him a faint glance, then got up and left.

As soon as Meng Shutang got home from work, Aunt Li told her about taking Xin Xin to the kindergarten to get accustomed that afternoon.

"Miss Meng, this afternoon I took Xin Xin to Montessori Bilingual Kindergarten just as you said. When we arrived, the children had just woken up.

Xin Xin ate fruit with them, played games for a while, then had dinner, and class was over."

Meng Shutang said, "Dinner? The kindergarten eats that early?"

Aunt Li nodded. "Dismissal is at four; dinner is at three. After eating, the teachers help the children get dressed and line up at the entrance to wait for their families to pick them up."

Meng Shutang changed her shoes, took off her coat, and hung it in the cabinet. "How was Xin Xin — did she adjust?"

Aunt Li nodded. "Xin Xin adjusted very well. She made two little friends and even pestered them to let her go to their homes to play."

Xin Xin had a very outgoing personality, so hearing Aunt Li say this didn't surprise Meng Shutang at all.

"How many children are in the class?"

"Including Xin Xin, sixteen children in total. Teacher Xing said one little boy took the afternoon off and didn't come in."