Chapter 4: Uncle, have I seen you somewhere before?

The three of them stood outside, their little mouths "babbling" without rest.

It wasn't that Guanyin didn't hear them chatting, but she just smiled and shook her head, not interfering.

"Godmother."

"Hmm?" Tang An answered naturally now; yes, it only took her two days to accept this title, and she wasn't losing anything anyway.

"If you heard someone scolding you for having no father to discipline you, would you be sad?"

Tang An thought for a moment. "I secretly heard my mom and grandma chatting; back then, my dad wasn't good to my mom, and he even cursed loudly at the door of the delivery room, almost causing my mom to have a difficult labor."

"If it's that kind of father, I'd rather not have one."

Chenxiang asked again: "Then, do other kids bully you and say mean things? I'll help you beat them back."

Tang An thought for a moment. "There are, but..."

Once, when Tang An was playing in the residential complex, someone called her a fatherless bastard.

As soon as the words were out, they inexplicably bit their own tongues, biting them until their mouths were full of blood.

From then on, they could never speak again.

When those parents came to find trouble, the two big brothers upstairs and Nezha appeared in time.

Not only did they scold the people until they were ashamed, but they also made them pay mental damages before leaving.

Later, this matter spread in the complex, and no other kids dared to scold her.

Of course, no one dared to play with her either.

But it didn't matter; having a friend like Nezha was enough. Anyway, whatever she wanted to play or whatever she wanted, Nezha would satisfy her various unreasonable little requests like a magic trick.

"It's okay, Godmother, I'll protect you from now on, no one will dare to bully you again." Chenxiang patted his biceps.

Tang An felt Chenxiang's goodwill was inexplicable yet warm. It seemed she would have another friend from now on.

"Hey, do you know what it feels like to have a dad?"

This matter touched Tang An's cognitive blind spot; she really didn't know what it felt like to have a father's discipline and love.

The key was that Nezha didn't have a father either, so she could only ask Chenxiang.

Chenxiang scratched the back of his neck; this question...

"I don't have a dad, and I have to thank you for that."

"Huh?"

Nezha also replied, "Me too."

"Huh?"

Tang An had a forehead full of question marks and exclamation points. No, they don't have dads, how could it have anything to do with her?

How could she be the one to thank? She wasn't even born then!

"Then I don't have a dad, do I have to thank myself too?"

Chenxiang and Nezha looked at each other and nodded. "Yes."

If Nezha told Tang An that she had once killed her own biological father with her own hands, wouldn't she explode?

"Wait, wait, let me sort this out." Tang An's CPU burned out; she couldn't sort it out after a long time.

Forget it, don't sort it out, just leave it like this.

"In other words, the three of us little bitter gourds got together, and we couldn't even make up one complete dad?"

"Yes." Nezha and Chenxiang nodded silently again.

"Heh... very humorous, quite dark." Tang An laughed dryly; it really was, if they weren't bitter gourds, they wouldn't have gathered together.

"Then do you live with your mom? Where is your home?"

"No, I'm staying at my uncle's place."

Chenxiang thought for a moment and gave Yang Jian's address.

Anyway, Yang Jian had been in heaven organizing official business for the past few days; a day in heaven is a year on earth, so he wouldn't be down for a few years.

"Jinxiu Garden."

"Huh?"

"Building 18."

"Hmm?"

"506."

"Holy crap?"

Tang An listened to Chenxiang finish, acting like a straight man. "The big brother upstairs is your uncle?"

"Yeah, yeah." Chenxiang was also very happy to be able to hang out with Tang An.

Tang An pinched her chin, seriously sorting out the relationship.

"The one upstairs, I call big brother, you call uncle. And then you call me godmother? And then your uncle calls me master?"

"Tsk... so messy."

"Godmother, your circle's seniority has always been quite messy."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Forget it, that's not important." Tang An didn't want to think about those things anymore, nor did she want to think about why this little brat Chenxiang who suddenly popped up always said inexplicable things.

She'd rather think about what good food her mom would make tonight, and what flavor of ice cream she could eat.

Evening, on the way home.

The two kids played happily, only Nezha had a schoolbag on his front and a schoolbag on his back.

He acted like a little adult, reminding them to watch out for cars and not play on the road.

"Ah."

Tang An was busy fooling around with Chenxiang and didn't pay attention behind her, bumping into someone.

"Sorry, uncle." Tang An apologized immediately.

But when she looked up carefully, the uncle she bumped into was looking at her with undisguised love.

Tang An looked at that gaze, and inexplicably felt her nose go sour.

When she touched her face, she realized she was crying without knowing when.

"Uncle, have I seen you somewhere before?"

Li Shimin half-squatted down, lifting his hand to wipe the tears from Tang An's fair little face.

"Uncle's surname is Li, my name is Li Shimin."

Tang An turned to look at Nezha, feeling a bit helpless. And her heart felt sour and uncomfortable.

She didn't know what was wrong with her; she just felt very close to the uncle in front of her, as if she had known him for a very, very long time.

Nezha came to Tang An's side, signaling her not to be afraid.

"Do you like this uncle?"

Tang An nodded, her big eyes red, like a little rabbit's eyes, making people's hearts ache.

"Then, do you want him to be your dad?"

"Huh?" Tang An thought for a moment. "Then my mom would beat me to death."

She picked up an uncle on the road to be her dad—how magical does that sound?

What's more, her mom already had a boyfriend, a doctor uncle, who was also quite good.

Li Shimin was amused by Tang An; sure enough, she was still that quirky little girl.

"Then are you willing to spend one lollipop to let me be your daddy?"

"Don't worry, daddy won't disturb your life, just want to come and see you occasionally."

"This..." Tang An wanted to say that this wasn't good.

But the words reached her lips, and she just couldn't refuse. It was as if she had been looking forward to this day for who knows how long, and it had finally come true.

"Just, one lollipop?"

"Yes, just one lollipop."

Tang An dug into her schoolbag for candy, but the lollipops were gone, leaving only fruit candy.

"Orange-flavored fruit candy, is that okay?" She pouted, looking pitiful, as if afraid the uncle in front of her would refuse.

"Okay." Li Shimin took the candy from Tang An's hand, unwrapped the paper, and put the candy into his mouth.

"Then from now on, our An'er is someone with a daddy. If anyone says you have no father to discipline you, you can tell daddy, and daddy will go support An'er."

Tang An's eyes turned even redder, and she couldn't hold it back, crying out with a "Wah~".

But it wasn't a sad cry, it was because she, Tang An, would never be a child without a father's love again.

As for how to explain it to her mom when she got back...

Forget it, better to hug her new daddy and cry for a while first.

"Hey, dad, how did you know I was being talked about?"

Li Shimin pressed Tang An's head, letting her lean on his shoulder and continue crying. "What do you want to eat tonight?"

"I want to eat the 'Reciting Menu' dish."

"Huh?" ===== CHAPTER 5 =====