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Chapter 268: Chapter 268: Who Is He?
The following morning, after breakfast, the young couple prepared to go to the mall to buy gifts. Just as they stepped out of their house, they ran into Liu Qing, who was preparing to go downstairs with her child.
"You’re going out too?" Before Tong Yao could reply, she added, "Dr. Si, could you please help carry my child downstairs? My back has been hurting for the past few days, and he insists on being carried."
Being neighbors in the same housing complex, helping to carry a child was no big deal. Si Chen took over the child with one hand and started walking down the stairs, occasionally glancing back at Tong Yao. Liu Qing followed closely behind him laughing, "It’s so easy for men to carry children."
Tong Yao rolled her eyes. It seemed like they were a family of three, and she was the odd one out.
Sure enough, several women with children downstairs saw Si Chen carrying the child with Liu Qing trailing behind him and couldn’t help but tease Liu Qing with a smirk on their faces, "At first glance, you guys look like a family of three."
"Don’t joke around, if Tong Yao hears this, she’ll be jealous." as soon as Liu Qing finished speaking, Si Chen put the child down and walked towards the gate hand in hand with Tong Yao, without saying a word to Liu Qing the whole time. This left Liu Qing feeling slightly embarrassed.
One of the women covered her mouth and laughed, "Look at how sweet they are, walking hand in hand. Which couple in our complex does that when they go out? Even when my husband and I were dating, we weren’t that affectionate. These young couples are different from our times."
Whether intentional or not, she spoke loud enough for Tong Yao, who hadn’t walked very far, to hear everything. Tong Yao paused, turned around and said, "The times are changing. Looking at the new world with old perspectives won’t work. We’re affectionate because we have a good relationship."
After saying this, she turned around and left.
The woman was caught off guard by Tong Yao’s sharp reply. By the time she regained her senses, the young couple had already disappeared out of sight.
Seeing the woman lose face, Liu Qing, who had just recovered from her embarrassment, felt much better.
Speaking of which, with Tong Yao’s attitude, it was only a matter of time before she offended someone in the complex. Her husband wasn’t particularly capable either, so it was unclear where she got the nerve to confront others.
*
Tong Yao, after putting the lady in her place, was in high spirits. She enjoyed the instant retribution. Some people tend to regret their silence in such situations, she was different. Unless she wasn’t present at the moment, she would definitely retort.
She thought, why should she always let others have their way? They were all living their life for the first time.
She glanced at Si Chen out of the corner of her eye. Who didn’t have a husband who doted on her?
With the New Year approaching, the mall was crowded with young couples shopping for supplies. Tong Yao and Si Chen’s presence became quite the spectacle, with many people whispering speculations about whether they were celebrities. This amused Tong Yao.
Tong Yaohui didn’t smoke, but he did have a liking for a little alcohol. The couple planned to buy him a couple of good bottles of wine. Tong Yao didn’t know much about alcohol, so while Si Chen was making a selection, she was watching an old man make candy sculptures at the entrance. The traditional candy sculpturing skill was quite fascinating.
She’d never seen this on the streets of the 21st century before, so she found it incredibly interesting. She was so engrossed that she didn’t notice a child running quickly towards her.
"Mom, I want a candy sculpture."
"Slow down."
The next second, a force hit Tong Yao’s back, accidentally causing her to bump into the corner of the candy man’s table. Pain surged through her ribs, making Tong Yao gasp for breath. She let out a groan and bent over.
"Yaoyao." Si Chen rushed over to stabilize the shaky Tong Yao. "Where did you get hurt?"
Looking into Si Chen’s concerned eyes, Tong Yao took a moment to shake her head, "I’m fine, I just bumped my waist against the corner of the table."
But she thought to herself: how could I be fine? The impact was so harsh it almost made her curse.
Si Chen wasn’t convinced. He pressed against the area where she got hit a few times to make sure she hadn’t injured any bones, and his face relaxed a bit.
"I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?" The child’s mother rushed over, dragging her reckless child, her face full of apology.
The child who bumped into Tong Yao was probably about eight or nine years old. He knew he had made a mistake and was so frightened that he stood quietly with his expression scrunched up, on the verge of tears.
Seeing that the woman was quite polite and seemed reasonable, along with the fact that the child definitely didn’t do it on purpose, Tong Yao decided not to make a fuss about it. She shook her head and said, "It’s okay, just be careful next time."
The woman apologized again, "I’m really sorry, let me take you to the hospital!" She had seen Tong Yao hit the corner of the table, it must have hurt a lot.
"No need." Tong Yao spoke up quickly, "My husband is a doctor. He just checked me, it’s not a bone injury."
Hearing this, the woman let out a sigh of relief. She immediately pulled her son over to apologize to Tong Yao. The little boy was obedient and immediately bowed to Tong Yao, "Pretty sister, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I’ll be more careful next time and won’t run so fast."
Seeing the little boy being so adorable, Tong Yao pinched his chubby cheeks," Remember your promise! Little men have to keep their word and can’t be rash."
"Yes." the little boy nodded vigorously.
Seeing that their issues were resolved, the candy man couldn’t help but grumble, "You guys just ruined two of my candy sculptures. Who’s going to pay for them?"
"I will, I will. I’m really sorry, it’s all my son’s fault for being careless."
The woman quickly took out money from her pocket and apologized to the man. Tong Yao didn’t go to pay the money. After all, it was the woman’s child who had caused the trouble. Although their attitudes weren’t bad, they still had to pay for the consequences they had caused.
Remembering that they had something urgent to attend to, Tong Yao turned to Si Chen and asked, "Did you find the wine?"
"Yes." Si Chen supported Tong Yao back to the store. They had planned to pay just now, but Tong Yao was suddenly hit, so they hadn’t.
After Si Chen paid for the wine and the couple was about to leave, a man in a suit walked towards them. With him was the woman and child from earlier. He held out a cigarette to Si Chen, apologizing, "I’m the child’s father, I’m really sorry about what happened."
Out of instinct, Tong Yao stole a couple of glances at the man. He was handsome, with a beard, and wore glasses that indicated he was short-sighted. Dressed like a successful man, he was quite a match for the woman next to him.
She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but Tong Yao felt Si Chen tense up when he saw the man, with the aura around him changing in an unusual way. He didn’t make any physical gestures and responded in a cold voice.
"I don’t smoke."
The man retracted his hand awkwardly, thinking Si Chen was still angry and was about to apologize again. But when he saw Si Chen’s face, his expression froze for a moment, then he asked -
"Have we met before, you look familiar, where are you from?"
