Chapter 970: Kinship Without Blood Ties

Zhu Qingxiang was full of wariness, having misunderstood him.

Fearing the other party would think it expensive, he added, "This price isn't considered high; prices are rising sharply now, fish, meat, rice, and eggs are all expensive..."

"It's not that I think it's expensive. Fine, I'll give you five thousand a month," Zhu Qingxiang agreed.

"No need..."

He had originally thought three thousand was quite a lot, so now that the other party offered five thousand, Gu Zhihao instinctively refused.

"You don't need to pay that much, three thousand is enough."

"This is for this month's living expenses."

Five thousand yuan was slapped onto the table; he tried to push it back several times but couldn't, so he finally accepted it: "Rest assured, I won't take your money for nothing. Starting today, I'll clean your room too."

He did what he said; he cleared away the bowls and chopsticks, went out, and turned right back around with his toolbox.

The roof was leaking a little.

Every time it rained heavily, it would rain lightly inside the room.

That was how the musty smell in the room came about.

"Clang, clatter."

Gu Zhihao was busy on the roof, and the room was full of dust.

He shouted from the roof: "Brother, don't just sit obediently in the room, it's all dust. The weather is great outside today, come out and soak up some sun."

Zhu Qingxiang did not want to soak up the sun.

Having spent his life from childhood to adulthood hiding here and there, he only felt a sense of security in an enclosed space.

But the room was indeed too dusty to stay in; with no other choice, he had to walk outside.

The sunlight was a bit dazzling.

He squinted his eyes out of habit, but the sun shining on his body felt warm and very comfortable.

"Handsome, come play with us, hahahaha..."

In the courtyard next door.

Shi Yuke was playing hide-and-seek with the two children. This kind of game is only fun when there are many people and it's lively, but her husband was always busy and had no time to accompany them.

A handsome man came out next door, so she called out to him.

Zhu Qingxiang shook his head: "I don't know how."

He really didn't know how.

From the time he could remember, every day was filled with endless homework and various skills that needed to be learned.

Playing games was not allowed; no games of any kind were permitted.

"I'll teach you, it's very easy. Come over, come play together..."

Shi Yuke invited him enthusiastically, and the two children also kept waving: "Big brother, come play with us."

"Big brother, let's play hide-and-seek."

It was hard to refuse such kindness.

He walked over: "I really don't know how."

Shi Yuke: "It's easy, I'll teach you."

She covered her eyes with a headscarf: "I'll catch you, you run, you can't let me catch you. If you get caught, you lose. You aren't allowed to leave this courtyard, okay?"

"Okay."

The game began.

It was so much fun.

Every time Shi Yuke was about to catch the children, he would carry them away, keeping a distance.

Escaping was his specialty; let alone in the courtyard, even in a smaller space, it would be impossible for Shi Yuke to catch him.

For the first time, Zhu Qingxiang discovered that a game of running away could be so fun. The few of them were very happy, and the courtyard was filled with a harmonious scene.

Gu Zhihao was on the roof, reminding them while he worked: "A bit to the left, you ran to the right. Oh, don't go forward anymore, you'll hit the wall if you go forward."

With the reminders, it was as if Shi Yuke had an extra pair of eyes. She rushed left and right, yet every time she was in danger, she avoided it. In the end, she actually cornered Zhu Qingxiang and caught him!

"Hahahaha, caught you."

"Now it's your turn to catch us."

Shi Yuke took off the headscarf covering her eyes and handed it to Zhu Qingxiang, then suddenly said: "I'm Shi Yuke, my husband is Gu Zhihao, what's your name?"

Zhu Qingxiang: "My name is Xiaotian."

"Xiaotian, it's your turn to catch us."

Gu Zhihao finished fixing the roof and came back to cook.

Soon, four dishes and one soup were placed on the table: braised pork ribs, sweet and sour fish, deep-fried meatballs, stir-fried vegetables, and a beef brisket and tomato soup.

"Eat more, your body just recovered, you need to eat something good to replenish your energy," he said, putting food in Xiaotian's bowl.

"Eat more."

Shi Yuke also put food in his bowl.

The two children followed suit; although they couldn't use their chopsticks very well yet, they stood on their chairs and put food in his bowl: "Brother, eat more."

"Grow tall."

"Brother is already very tall, grow chubby."

Children speak without restraint; it was very cute.

An inexplicable emotion flowed in Zhu Qingxiang's heart—warm, an indescribable feeling. It was a sensation he had never experienced before; he had never known that eating could be like this.

At the dining table, everyone picked food for each other, there were no such rigid rules, they spoke freely, and there was laughter and joy.

"Delicious, Dad's cooking is truly delicious."

"Husband, serve the rice."

"Dad, I want some too."

"Dad, I want some rice too."

Gu Zhihao chuckled as he served rice to his wife and children one by one, complaining, "You all eat so much, be careful you don't turn into Xiaozhu."

In his memory, there had never been a time like this.

His father basically never ate at the same table as them, and on the rare occasions they did, they had to follow rules, meticulous and strict.

Bowls and chopsticks could not clink to make noise, one was not allowed to smack their lips while eating, and no rice grains could be left behind... and saying "begging for food" instead of "serving rice" like just now was a major taboo, absolutely not allowed.

But this family was not like that.

Their living conditions were humble, but their happiness index was very high.

Everyone's face was brimming with a happy smile, and for the first time, he began to reflect on whether the education he had received from childhood to adulthood was right or wrong.

After finishing a bowl of rice, Zhu Qingxiang was just about to say, "I'm done eating."

His rice bowl was taken away, and in an instant, it was filled to the brim again.

"I'm done eating."

Gu Zhihao said, "A big young man can be full from just one bowl of rice? Don't be polite, eat more; you've already paid, so you're eating your own food, definitely don't be shy."

Xiaotian:...

He really wasn't being shy.

Eating until seven-tenths full was a habit and a rule, but today he was stuffed.

He had never eaten until he was this stuffed, nor had he ever felt this satisfied and cheerful.

So it was true that eating until full puts one in a good mood; such a thing really did exist.

After a few days.

Xiaotian and the Gu Family got along like one family.

He had smiled more in these few days than he had from childhood to adulthood.

The words he had spoken in these few days were almost equal to the words he usually spoke in a year.

The two children liked him, liked him immensely.

Every day they pestered him to tell them stories and play with them.

But the atmosphere on the other side was not so harmonious.

Ji Yingjie was becoming increasingly irritable, complaining that Nianyin's subordinates were useless, as it had already been several days and they still hadn't found a trace of that brat.

Nianyin felt guilty: "Mother, please don't be angry, I will leave the hospital right now and go look for them myself."

"Look for what?"

She irritably pressed Nianyin back onto the hospital bed, not letting her move: "It's already been several days without finding anyone; the person has long since run off without a trace. Maybe by now they've already run abroad. You go look? Where are you going to look?"

"I trusted you too much back then, which is why I handed such an important task as finding someone to you. If you ask me, I should have sent people from the Ji Family to look; they would definitely be better than those useless trash under you."

As Mother complained, Nianyin could only timidly agree, not daring to talk back.

But Shi Youxuan could not stand it anymore.

She retorted: "You haven't spent less effort and money searching in the past either, so when did you ever find anyone? You always have a mouth to talk about others, but no mouth to talk about yourself."

Ji Yingjie:...

"How come you're everywhere?"