The elders were cracking jokes with each other, while the younger generation chatted privately about their own affairs.

An Lan turned to Zhang Yuxi. "Yuxi, want to get together with the old gang?" she asked. "They wanted me to bring you along for a meal. No agenda, just to catch up."

Zhang Yuxi thought for a moment. "I think I'll pass. You go ahead."

"Alright," An Lan replied. "If you're not going, I won't either. I'll just make up an excuse."

After dinner, An Lan's family of three departed.

Zhao Lizhen was feeding the babies some fruit as she spoke to Zhang Fuyong. "That An Lan has really matured and become more composed."

"Remember how she used to come over?" she continued. "She was always so boisterous, like a little monkey."

Zhang Fuyong wiped the fourth-born's mouth. "Kids will be kids, but they all grow up eventually."

Meanwhile, Lin Feng and Zhang Yuxi were in the kitchen doing the dishes. In reality, Zhang Yuxi mostly watched as Lin Feng did all the work.

"Now that we're in Modu, I'm the host. I'll take you and the babies out for some fun tomorrow," Lin Feng said as he scrubbed the kitchen countertop. "But before that, you should go with An Lan to catch up with your friends."

Zhang Yuxi leaned against the wall. "I don't really feel like it. You know I'm not good at socializing."

Lin Feng dried his hands and hung up his apron. "I'm not worried with An Lan there," he said, addressing her concern. "Go out and have some fun. It's good to keep in touch with old friends."

Lin Feng was encouraging her to be more social. Despite interacting with so many people at school every day, Zhang Yuxi hadn't had any real friends to talk to since Tang Xiufen and Han Wen had left.

Zhang Yuxi mulled it over. "Okay, I might as well since I'm back."

She then called An Lan. If they say no, then I don't have to go.

"Great!" An Lan's voice came through the phone. "If you feel uncomfortable at all, just tell me, and I'll get us out of there. When it comes to things like this, I don't bow to anyone, with a few exceptions."

"Let's set it for tomorrow afternoon. As for the place, I'll chat with Zhou Yi and see if there are any new, fun spots."

…

「The next day.」

After lunch, Zhao Lizhen received a call. The dance troupe had a major offer for a New Year's event and needed her to come in to discuss the details. Zhang Fuyong also had matters to attend to, so Lin Feng stayed home to look after the kids.

Suddenly, Zhang Yuxi didn't feel like going anymore.

"Go on," Lin Feng urged. "I'm perfectly capable of looking after the babies myself!"

Zhang Yuxi hesitated. "How about this? There's a park not far from my get-together. You and the babies can play there. When I'm done, I'll come and find you."

Lin Feng considered it. "Alright!"

The family had four cars, one of which was Zhang Yuxi's. Lin Feng and Zhang Yuxi took the two that were equipped with child safety seats. After dropping them off at the park, Zhang Yuxi drove away.

The park was large and crowded. Lin Feng planned to stroll around with the babies. He held the second-born in one arm and the third-born in the other. As for the eldest and the fourth-born, who turned into little huskies the moment they stepped outside, he barely had to do a thing. He just had to follow behind them, reminding them to watch their step and not to run too far.

The joys of childhood are something adults can hardly imagine.

Suddenly, the eldest and youngest called out to him, their faces lit up as if they had discovered treasure.

Lin Feng walked over. "What's up?"

The fourth-born pointed at a black plastic bag. "Dad, look! What's this?"

Lin Feng approached and saw a nondescript black plastic bag. It didn't look like much, but inside were four neat bundles of cash, probably forty thousand yuan in total. Besides the bundles, there were also folded bills of various denominations. The smallest denomination was fifty cents, all neatly bound with rubber bands.

Lin Feng checked a few bills. They were all real.

In addition to the money, there was a hospital payment receipt dated just yesterday at noon.

He guessed this was money for medical treatment. Looking at the bundle with all the different denominations, he realized it might even be life-or-death money.

The fourth-born asked happily, "Daddy, that's so much money! Can we buy toys?"

The second-born nodded eagerly. "We can buy lots of Barbie dolls!"

The eldest chimed in, "And Ultraman and Transformers!"

The third-born, ever the stoic one, didn't place much importance on material things. "But this isn't our money," she said sensibly. "We have to return things we find that don't belong to us."

The fourth-born looked completely baffled. "Why do we have to return it?" It was as if she was thinking, 'I found this with my own skills, why should I have to give it back?'

The second-born blinked. Maybe they lost it by accident...

The eldest fell silent.

Lin Feng took out the hospital receipt and showed it to the quadruplets. "Look, this is from a hospital. It means someone is sick and needs this money. If they need it, that means it's very important to them. Why would they just throw something so important away? They must have dropped it by accident for some reason. If you lost all this money for medical care, wouldn't you be worried?"

Their understanding of sickness and hospitals was still vague, but Lin Feng's serious expression conveyed the gravity of the situation.

"This is someone else's very important money. We can't keep it for ourselves," he explained gently. "If you want toys or snacks, you can always tell Daddy. Daddy will buy them for you, understand?"

The babies nodded.

"So what do we do now?" the fourth-born asked.

Lin Feng thought for a moment. "Let's wait here for a while. Maybe the owner will come back for it."

On a bench, Lin Feng held the black plastic bag while the quadruplets played with their toy cars nearby, racing them to see whose could go the farthest. They were having a blast.

Half an hour passed, but no one came. The babies were getting hungry from all the playing, so Lin Feng took out a bento box from his backpack and fed them some small wontons.

Another half hour went by, and still no one appeared. Maybe the owner doesn't even realize they left the money here.

After some consideration, Lin Feng stood up. "Come on, let's try something else."

He used an app on his phone to find a nearby police station, just a five-hundred-meter walk away. Using a walking rope to keep everyone together, Lin Feng led the quadruplets to the station. The babies' eyes widened as they saw the police officers, and they stayed obediently by their father's side.

An officer approached them. "How can I help you?"

Lin Feng handed him the black plastic bag. "My children found this. We waited at the spot for an hour, but no one came back for it. We figured we'd bring it to the station in case the owner filed a report."

The officer opened the bag and saw the contents. He estimated there was over forty thousand yuan in cash, along with a hospital receipt for a substantial amount. He also noticed that one bundle of money seemed to be a collection of various small bills.

The officer noticed the second-born burrowing into Lin Feng's embrace and the third-born hiding behind his leg, clearly a bit scared. He immediately broke into a smile, his stern expression softening.

"Come this way, we'll need to take a statement," he said, gently coaxing the children. "Don't be scared, little ones. I'm a police officer, not a bad guy! I might look serious, but I'm one of the good guys."

Lin Feng comforted his second and third children. "That's right. Police officers are here to catch bad guys. Bad guys run away when they see them. They'll protect us!"

Hearing this, the second and third-born were indeed not as frightened as before.

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