At eight o'clock in the evening, Lin Feng drove the two beautiful women home.

As soon as they entered, An Lan put their things on the table and then led Zhang Yuxi to the balcony.

Zhang Yuxi was puzzled. "What are you doing? I need to go feed the babies."

"Let Lin Feng feed the babies. You have something else to do."

"What is it?"

"Call Auntie!"

Zhang Yuxi froze for a moment, having almost forgotten about it.

"Call her now. I'll watch you!" An Lan stood by, staring intently at Zhang Yuxi.

Zhang Yuxi took out her phone and began to hesitate.

Seeing this, An Lan snatched the phone, dialed a number, and made the call.

The call connected quickly, and An Lan felt a thrill of triumph. I've finally completed the task Auntie gave me.

"Hello, who is this?" an excited voice came from the other end.

Hearing it, An Lan thought to herself, Auntie really knows how to act!

The voice made Zhang Yuxi panic, and she didn't know what to say.

"Auntie, it's An Lan," An Lan said into the phone.

"Lan Lan, did you get a new phone?"

"No, this is my friend's phone. Guess who?"

"Who is it?"

"Your daughter, Yu Xi!"

"Yu Xi?"

With their back-and-forth, they quickly drew Zhang Yuxi into the conversation.

Zhao Lizhen fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Yu Xi, is that you? How… how have you been?"

Zhang Yuxi took a deep breath and summoned her courage. "Mom, I'm doing very well."

That one word, "Mom," made both mother and daughter's eyes well up.

Standing by, An Lan added, "Auntie, you don't need to worry. Sister Yu Xi is doing really well now!"

With that, An Lan handed the phone to Zhang Yuxi. "You talk to Auntie. I'll go check on the kitchen."

After An Lan left, Zhang Yuxi looked at the phone and asked, "Mom, how are you and Dad? Is he still angry with me?"

"I'm fine, but your father isn't doing so well. He coughs a lot."

"That incident hit him pretty hard."

"But what parent can stay truly angry at their child?"

"Your father was angry because you went so far away without telling us a word!"

"You've been coddled since you were little. How could your father and I not worry about you being all alone out there?"

Listening to her mother's long speech, Zhang Yuxi couldn't hold back her tears.

"Mom, I'm really doing well now, truly!"

"The babies' father… I've found him."

Hearing this, Zhao Lizhen's eyes widened. "You found him? Where is he from? What does his family do? Where is he working now?"

Suddenly, a middle-aged man's voice came from the other end of the line.

"Lizhen, who are you talking to?"

Hearing this voice, Zhang Yuxi quickly said, "Mom, I have to hang up now. I'll call you another day."

"Alright, I'll call you tomorrow then!"

After hanging up, Zhao Lizhen looked up with a dark expression, staring at the man before her.

He was Zhang Yuxi's father, Zhang Fuyong.

"What are you staring at me for?" Zhang Fuyong asked, puzzled.

"It's all your fault! If you hadn't suddenly butted in, Yu Xi wouldn't have hung up on me!" Zhao Lizhen said resentfully.

"You… you were talking to Yu Xi?" Zhang Fuyong looked surprised. "How is she doing?"

"You're asking me? How should I know?" Zhao Lizhen snorted coldly and turned her head away.

Zhang Fuyong was left standing there, dumbfounded.

The more Zhao Lizhen thought about it, the angrier she became. "We could have all sat down and talked this out properly," she continued scolding, "but you just had to insist on disowning her."

"It's been almost two years, and we have no idea how she's doing…"

"If I hadn't gone to find An Lan and begged her to go to Yangcheng to talk to Yu Xi and get her to contact me, we'd probably go to our coffins without ever seeing her again!"

Zhang Fuyong lowered his head and muttered, "How could that be… I'm her dad. She'd come looking for us sooner or later."

Hearing this, Zhao Lizhen almost laughed with rage.

"Do you even know your own daughter's personality?"

"She's been stubborn since she was a child. You think she'd come looking for you after you disowned her?"

Getting an earful, Zhang Fuyong hastily defended himself, "I was just blinded by anger back then. That's why I said something like that."

"Just tell me, what's going on with Yu Xi right now?"

At this, Zhao Lizhen grew even more irritated.

"Why are you asking me? How would I know?"

"I was just about to get into the details with her when you interrupted!"

"You want to know? Call her back yourself!" Zhao Lizhen finished, throwing the phone at him.

Zhang Fuyong caught the phone and looked at his wife meekly. "You're closer to our daughter. You should call her back."

"I'll call tomorrow. They're having dinner right now!" Zhao Lizhen said irritably.

Not giving up, Zhang Fuyong pressed, "Then call after they finish."

Zhao Lizhen shot him a look. "Fine, fine, I'll call! I'll do it before we go to sleep, alright?"

Hearing this, Zhang Fuyong finally smiled.

The corners of Zhao Lizhen's mouth turned up as well. "When I call later, you'd better not make a sound, understand?"

"Then remember to put it on speaker!" he reminded her.

「Half an hour later.」

The three of them finished their meal.

Zhang Yuxi took out a textbook, ready to tutor Lin Feng. An Lan, meanwhile, was in the nursery, playing with the babies.

Zhang Yuxi silenced her phone, set it aside, and said to Lin Feng, "Let's begin!"

Just then, Zhao Lizhen called.

Zhang Fuyong muttered under his breath, "Put it on speaker!"

Zhao Lizhen shot him a glare, signaling him to shut up.

*"Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later…"*

Zhao Lizhen's brow furrowed, and she dialed again.

This time, there was also no answer.

Zhao Lizhen flared up instantly, turning to glare fiercely at Zhang Fuyong. "It's all your fault! See? Now our daughter is ignoring me!"

With a wronged expression, Zhang Fuyong whispered, "How can you blame me for that? How was I supposed to know you were on the phone with our daughter?"

Zhao Lizhen ignored him and started to think.

That's right! I'll call An Lan!

An Lan was amusing the babies when Zhao Lizhen's call suddenly came through.

"Hello, Auntie."

"Yu Xi and Lin Feng are busy right now. They're not angry with you!"

With her sharp ears, Zhao Lizhen heard the sound of a child in the background and asked in pleasant surprise, "Is that my grandchild?"

An Lan chuckled mischievously. She didn't plan on telling Zhao Lizhen the whole story. Otherwise, where would the surprise be?

So, she replied ambiguously, "Yes, Auntie, but I can't send you a video."

"You can try to guess whether your grandchild is a boy or a girl. But I bet you can't guess correctly!" As she spoke, a crafty smile appeared on her face.

Hearing the gurgling and cooing of the babies over the phone, Zhao Lizhen quickly turned up the volume so Zhang Fuyong could listen too.

The couple listened, their expressions absolutely thrilled, wishing they could fly over that very instant to see their grandchild.

"Auntie, I have to go. The babies need to sleep now."

After she hung up, Zhao Lizhen turned to Zhang Fuyong, her voice full of excitement.

"An Lan told me our grandchild is adorable!"

"By my count, the baby must be about six months old by now, right?"

"Once Yu Xi isn't angry anymore, we'll fly over and see the baby for ourselves."

"And while we're there, we can see just what kind of man the baby's father is."

Zhang Fuyong was still grinning foolishly. At her last words, however, his expression suddenly darkened.

"The baby's father?"

Zhao Lizhen paused. "Right, didn't I tell you? She found the baby's father."

Zhang Fuyong quickly asked, "Did you ask Yu Xi what he does? How old is he? Where does he work?"

Zhao Lizhen shot him an annoyed look. "I did ask, and Yu Xi was just about to tell me! But then *you* interrupted!"

Hearing this, Zhang Fuyong was left speechless.

This damned hurdle… Why can't we just move past it!

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