Three little rascals spotted Liu Qingsong and immediately began clapping happily, their delight no less than when they saw Xiao Song. Had he seen them, he couldn't have escaped a fit of jealousy.

"Meow meow," Ruoruo, pointing at Cheng Huailiang with her chubby little arm, scratched at Xiao Er beside her with her other hand.

Xiao Er shifted his attention from Liu Qingsong upon seeing Cheng Huailiang, and burst into excited giggling, saying, "Meow meow."

"Ha!" Liu Qingsong lifted Ruoruo into his arms, trying to use simple language, he asked, "What 'meow meow'?"

With her hand patting her pudgy face, Ruoruo furrowed her brows and pondered deeply, then clarified, "Big meow meow."

Wan Lu covered her mouth and laughed, "Just now in the garden, I saw two cats and I told the little master and the young mistress that they were cats."

Ruoruo probably said that because she saw Cheng Huailiang's full beard.

"Haha!" Cheng Huailiang burst out laughing, unable to resist reaching to tease Ruoruo, "This little mistress is really interesting!"

A thunderous laugh startled the three children, causing Ruoruo to react in fright and cling to Liu Qingsong's neck, sobbing, while the two boys looked up at Cheng Huailiang, bewildered. Xiao Er pouted and buried his head into Xiao Da's chubby leg, bursting into loud cries.

Xiao Da's eyes also reddened, looking as though a storm was brewing.

The two nurses hurried forward to soothe them.

Before Ran Yan could speak, Liu Qingsong complained, "Look what you did, you scared the children."

Cheng Huailiang, embarrassed, scratched his head, not knowing what to do next.

"The children haven't seen strangers since their full-month celebration, they are a little shy, it's alright," Ran Yan said as she took Ruoruo and gently patted her back to comfort her.

The children were used to seeing only Xiao Song and Liu Qingsong regularly; occasionally Ran Yunsheng would visit, but because of the social differences and his busy business, his visits weren't frequent enough to count. These three were all quite mild-mannered, so the children weren't accustomed to Cheng Huailiang's lion-roar like commotion.

"No more crying, Ruoruo, uncle will beat him up for you," Liu Qingsong lifted his leg to kick.

Cheng Huailiang, caught off guard, yelped in pain as he was kicked, which promptly stopped the children's crying. Their eyes, large and tearful, blinked as they turned to see what was happening.

Seeing it was effective, Liu Qingsong chased after Cheng Huailiang again. With the children no longer crying, Cheng Huailiang didn't resist but kept dodging, crying out, "Qingsong, you're just supposed to pretend, why are you so rough! The kids can't understand!"

"I'm as weak as a chicken; you're the martial artist, surely you can take it! Focus on your cries, make them realistic!" Liu Qingsong insisted.

The two boys watched as the "big cat" was chased around, giggling away. Xiao Er, who had been crying the hardest just moments ago, was now the happiest, laughing until his eyes squinted into narrow slits, revealing only a few little teeth.

Seeing her brothers happy, Ruoruo also began to feel delighted.

Fearing he might hurt Ruoruo, Liu Qingsong placed her down on the mat and continued to play the chasing game with the "big cat."

Xiao Song hurried back for lunch and just passed the Inner Gate when he saw the scene, his face a picture of astonishment.

Because Ran Yan and the nurses were seated by the mat, hidden from his view by lotuses, all Xiao Song could see was Liu Qingsong enthusiastically chasing Cheng Huailiang, who was intermittently shouting, "Come chase me, come chase me."

Liu Qingsong declared, "I'm going to flatten this big cat."

The scene was somewhat misleading.

Xiao Song walked quickly over the arched bridge. Seeing each child playing on the mat, he finally understood what was going on and coughed, "Both of you, stop running."

"Jiulang, you're back!" Liu Qingsong stopped, panting heavily.

Cheng Huailiang wiped the sweat off his brow and walked over to Xiao Song, "Jiulang, how did the case go? Is Dejian okay?"

"Ye ye," Ruoruo called out in her milky voice.

Xiao Song paused, then he was overcome with joy. "Ye ye" must mean Daddy! It was the first time his daughter had called him! Although he had taught her many times before, she had seemed only able to say simple, repetitive words, and certainly not "Daddy, Mommy." Ruoruo had actually said "Ye ye."

"Good girl, say it again," Xiao Song lifted her and coaxed, "Call Daddy."

"Ye ye," Ruoruo saw Xiao Song was happy and cracked a smile.

The two boys also clapped and joined in, "Ye ye, ye ye."

Xiao Song was so delighted he didn't know what to do but kissed each one, "My children are truly clever!"

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