Chapter 245: Chapter 245: Joyous

Xie An’an didn’t want to let go, holding on for a moment longer and nuzzling her little head against Nan Zhi.

This only made Nan Yi more jealous. He coughed twice before calling out in a low voice,

"Mama."

The hand Nan Zhi was using to gently pat Xie An’an’s back froze in midair.

Seeing this, Xie Yu stepped in at the perfect moment.

"An’an, come over here. We need to go see the village chief."

Nan Zhi glanced up, giving Xie Yu a reassuring look.

Xie Yu gave a slight nod to show he didn’t mind, then called for An’an again.

A reluctant Xie An’an finally moved, shuffling back to her father’s side and obediently taking his hand.

"We’re leaving now, Auntie Zhizhi. Bye-bye!"

Xie An’an waved, her fair little face full of reluctance. She was as obedient and adorable as a little porcelain doll.

Nan Zhi found her incredibly cute, but with Nan Yi there, she couldn’t let it show.

She did her best to wave back calmly.

"Okay. See you next time, An’an."

She also nodded a goodbye to Xie Yu.

After Xie Yu and Xie An’an, father and daughter, had left, Nan Yi, who had been holding back for some time, finally let out a loud "Hmph!"

Nan Zhi turned around and called out gently,

"Come on, Yiyi. Time to come inside and take a bath."

Nan Yi looked up, his little face etched with grievance.

"Why didn’t you hug me, Mama?"

"Hm?"

Nan Zhi glanced at Nan Yi, covered head to toe in mud, and she visibly hesitated.

Nan Yi’s head drooped dejectedly.

’I knew it...’

How could Nan Zhi bear to see him so upset?

Although she couldn’t quite make out his expression under the layer of mud on his face, she sighed and gently pulled him into an embrace.

"Of course not. Mama loves you more than anyone."

Nan Yi was clearly taken aback.

Then, a hint of shyness crept over him.

"But I’m really dirty."

A wry smile touched Nan Zhi’s lips.

"Weren’t you the one who wanted me to hug you?"

Unable to explain his complex and contradictory feelings, Nan Yi opted to just widen his eyes and feign innocence.

At a loss with him, and thinking ’Well, my hands are dirty now anyway,’ Nan Zhi gently nudged Nan Yi into the courtyard.

As she moved, something in her peripheral vision shifted.

"Hm?"

Nan Zhi stopped in her tracks. ’The cameraman has been behind us this whole time?’

"Didn’t you just... run off with Fu Chao and the others?"

"That was my colleague," the innocent cameraman explained.

Nan Zhi was silent for two seconds.

"...My apologies."

Nan Yi’s eyes widened in astonishment, realizing his whole spoiled act had been caught on camera.

He quickly dashed into the courtyard to escape the camera’s view.

Unfortunately for him, the audience saw this entire sequence of events as well:

[Hahaha, we saw that, Yiyi!]

[Yiyi is the sweetest little thing, he’s so cute when he’s all needy! Can the government please assign me a kid like this!]

[An’an is super cute too, and she’s so attached to Nan Zhi. You know... hehehe.]

[The connections between people are truly a mysterious thing.]

[Keep the cute pouting coming, baby! I love watching it. It helps me forget all the drama going on with the other group.]

[Ugh, don’t bring it up! I’d almost forgotten, and now you’ve reminded me!]

[The other group finished their lesson. The kids were running around for almost two hours and all they got to eat were a few bites of fish. Just unbelievable.]

[The ’princess’ is out there taking credit again. Word is she’s the one who fully sponsored the study-abroad slot, so now the whole internet is praising her for being ’so beautiful and kind.’ Heh heh heh.]

[This is Sister Zhi and Yiyi’s happy corner. Can we please not bring up all that toxic stuff? It ruins the vibe for everyone, and it gives trolls ammunition to use against us!]

[Screenshots of the comments have already been posted to Weibo. A bunch of people are calling us salty and are starting to attack Sister Zhi because of it... So can some of our fellow fans please chill and stop giving her a bad name, okay?]

...

When Nan Zhi and Nan Yi went inside, the cameraman didn’t follow them, remaining outside the door instead.

Nan Zhi led Nan Yi by the hand into the bedroom.

It was her first time in Fu Chao’s room. She glanced around the unfamiliar space before locating the wardrobe.

She was borrowing a change of clothes from Qing Xi for Nan Yi.

This was something she and Fu Chao had arranged beforehand.

Fortunately, Qing Xi had brought plenty of clothes. They were a bit loose on Nan Yi, but it was better than nothing.

While Nan Yi was in the shower, Nan Zhi felt it wasn’t right to linger in Fu Chao’s bedroom for too long and decided to step out.

But as she turned to leave, she accidentally bumped into the desk.

"Sss—"

Wincing from the pain in her lower back, Nan Zhi looked down.

She remembered that when her gaze had swept across the room earlier, she thought she’d seen something jade-like sitting there...

And it was jade.

It was a small seal carved from jade. Though slightly smaller than a standard seal, it was exquisitely carved. The qilin statuette on top was particularly lifelike; despite being no bigger than a pinky nail, even its fur was rendered in minute detail.

It looked like the sort of exquisite little gift an elder would give to someone of a younger generation.

It had been sitting upright on the desk, but she had just knocked it over.

Nan Zhi frowned, worried she might have chipped it, and picked it up to inspect it carefully.

Fortunately, the seal was completely unscathed.

But a single word on the bottom, "Lezhi," caught Nan Zhi’s eye.

She recalled that the word came from a phrase in the Classic of Poetry: "the joyous gentleman."

Yet for some reason, it looked incredibly familiar.

It felt like a memory was stirring, on the verge of breaking through to the surface...

"Sorry, so sorry!"

Accompanied by the sound of frantic footsteps, Fu Chao burst into the room, hauling two little mud-caked children, one in each hand.

He was sweating profusely from running and looked at Nan Zhi apologetically.

"Is Yiyi already taking a bath? Did you find the clothes?"

Nan Zhi nodded subconsciously.

Fu Chao sighed in relief. "That’s good."

He then put Qing Xi and Qi Zhang down, loudly telling them to stand still.

The two little mud-monkeys didn’t dare to make any more mischief and stood there obediently.

Fu Chao breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he notice Nan Zhi standing by the desk, looking at something.

Fu Chao started, "What are you..."

Nan Zhi blinked slowly, snapping out of her daze.

"Oh, I’m sorry. I just knocked over your seal. Thankfully, it’s not damaged."

Fu Chao let out the breath he had been holding.

He waved his hand in a magnanimous gesture that clearly pained him.

"It’s nothing!"

How could Nan Zhi fail to notice his fleeting emotional shift?

"I’m sorry. That seal must be very important to you."

Fu Chao rubbed his nose and admitted honestly,

"Yeah. My grandfather gave it to me when I was born. It has my childhood nickname carved on it, but I haven’t used that name in a long, long time."

"Lezhi?"

The name sounded increasingly familiar to Nan Zhi.

Fu Chao waved his hands frantically.

"Don’t say it! Don’t say it! You’re making my toes curl from cringe!"

Nan Zhi placed the seal back on the desk and explained casually,

"I just thought it sounded..."

"Mama! I’m all clean!"

Nan Yi’s loud voice interrupted Nan Zhi once again.

Nan Zhi passed the clothes she had found into the bathroom, the thought she’d been about to express completely forgotten.

Fu Chao didn’t think much of it either, simply directing the two filthy little mud-monkeys to follow Nan Yi into the bathroom.

The bedroom was filled with chaotic noise.

Prompted by the close call, Fu Chao also became worried the seal might get damaged if left out on the desk, so he quickly put it away.

After that, no one gave the matter another thought.

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