CHAPTER 117: CHAPTER 117: XIAO LI, INFLUENCED BY THOSE AROUND HER

As soon as He Jie commented, someone replied to it even before Xiao Li had the chance to.

The person who replied was Qin Tan, trying to prevent He Jie from coming back.

Upon seeing the comment, Xiao Li told Mother Qin, "Mom, sister-in-law just said she wants to come back for dinner...

But I’m not sure if she can, because big brother asked her not to come back..."

Mother Qin was so angry upon hearing this that she slammed her chopsticks on the table. "That brat! Is my hotpot that bad?

Does he really need to be that afraid?

If he’s got the guts, he can just never come back for the rest of his life."

As Mother Qin spoke, she carried over Little Stone, who had been brought out from the children’s room by Auntie to eat, "Little Stone, why don’t you stay at grandma’s place tonight and not go home with daddy, okay?"

Little Stone and Mianmian had been playing in the children’s room earlier.

Little Stone nodded, "Okay..."

Ever since those two kids had been spending their days at Mother Qin’s, she had a children’s room designed for them, filled with toys, even a slide.

Compared to going back home, Little Stone preferred staying here.

Listening to Mother Qin, Xiao Li suddenly realized that she had unintentionally set up her big brother.

Uh...

She didn’t mean to, she...

Alright!

Actually, she was influenced by being close to Uncle, inadvertently causing trouble.

After coaxing Little Stone, Mother Qin looked at Xiao Li, "Xiao Li, make a call and ask your sister-in-law if she’s coming back. If she is, we’ll wait for her a bit."

Xiao Li quickly picked up her phone and called He Jie, and once she got confirmation from He Jie, they waited a while...

About ten minutes later, He Jie arrived, and the family immediately started eating.

Not long into the meal, Qin Tan showed up, and as soon as Mother Qin saw him, she became furious, "What are you doing here?"

Qin Tan was unaware that the comment he left for He Jie had been discovered by Mother Qin, and was a bit stunned by her outburst.

"Mom, I came to eat hotpot! You haven’t made it in years, and it’s rare for you to make it now, I have to come back and taste it!" Qin Tan explained.

In truth, he came back to gauge Mother Qin’s mood; if she was really excited about making hotpot, he’d have to reconsider whether to bring Little Stone over tomorrow.

Poor Qin Tan had no idea his son had already been spirited away by Mother Qin.

Mother Qin didn’t need to look at Qin Tan twice to know his true intention, and she chose to ignore him, urging everyone to start eating...

Father Qin and others hadn’t tasted Mother Qin’s hotpot in years, and everyone was enjoying it. As for Xiao Li and He Jie, they had never tried it before, and found the taste pleasing...

Mother Qin, seeing everyone enjoying the food, became exuberant, and Qin Tan, realizing the situation wasn’t right, was about to make an excuse about being busy in the afternoon to sneak out.

But He Jie said she had nothing to do this afternoon and planned to stay a bit at Mother Qin’s.

Now that Qin Tan had already spoken, he couldn’t not leave...

In the end...

Everyone but Qin Tan stayed, and when Qin Tan came to pick up He Jie and their son later in the afternoon, He Jie had already gone back.

When Qin Tan heard that He Jie had gone back, he didn’t go to Mother Qin’s, but headed home directly, only to find his son wasn’t there...

"Xiao Jie, where is Little Stone?"

He Jie was sitting on the sofa sipping freshly made juice; ever since she became pregnant, she particularly enjoyed juices, just like before when pregnant with Little Stone.

Without looking up, she replied to Qin Tan, "Your mom wants Little Stone to stay there for a few days and I agreed with her.

Oh, and I agreed to go back for hotpot at your mom’s place after work tomorrow evening."

Upon hearing this, Qin Tan’s briefcase fell to the floor with a thud.

What on earth?

What did he just hear?

His son being whisked away was bad enough, but now his wife was going back tomorrow to continue eating hotpot...

Why does he feel like he’s being overwhelmed as he was during his youthful days by hotpot?

Qin Tan disregarded the briefcase and promptly walked over to the sofa, "Wife, you’re going to mom’s for hotpot again tomorrow?"

He Jie nodded, "Yes, the hotpot your mom makes is pretty good, I initially thought you didn’t want me to go back because it wasn’t tasty...

Unexpectedly, mom’s hotpot base is really nice, and the sauce she prepares is really good, sour in just the right way. You never mentioned your mom could make hotpot, and I’ve never had it before..."

Qin Tan chuckled, "Yeah... mom can make hotpot, but we shouldn’t always ask her to do it!

She didn’t mention making it before, so I didn’t want to trouble her. Besides, we have Auntie cooking at home!

Wife, now that you’re pregnant, isn’t eating too much hotpot bad for you? It could cause inner heat..."

He Jie gave him a sideways look, "No way! What’s wrong with eating hotpot?

Besides, it’s homemade, there shouldn’t be any problems!"

Qin Tan felt a bit disheartened after hearing this, then saw He Jie sipping her juice; it reminded him of how people say that taste preferences vary during pregnancy for boys and girls.

But this time, He Jie’s pregnancy tastes were the same as before—still fond of juice, loving sour food...

Realizing this, Qin Tan felt slightly pained...

"Xiao Jie, can you drink less juice?"

He Jie immediately understood Qin Tan’s meaning and, without lifting her head, replied, "This pregnancy’s gender was determined long ago.

It won’t change just because of what I like to drink or eat, so why bother?"

Qin Tan sighed, "I just want to stay in my dream a little longer and hope less despair."

Hearing this, He Jie shot a glare at him, "What? If this really is another son, how heartbroken would you be?

If you really didn’t want a son, why did you go all out trying for a second child with me?"

Initially, He Jie hadn’t planned to have a second child so soon, believing she’d wait until Little Stone started kindergarten before preparing for another.

But Qin Tan secretly manipulated things, advancing her plans for a second child, and now he dared to mope here...

Realizing He Jie was upset, Qin Tan quickly sat beside her and soothed, "No, no... I was just joking. You see how well I treat Little Stone..."

Son! It’s not that Daddy doesn’t want to help you get a little sister, but Daddy’s powerless!

He Jie glanced at him, knowing his thoughts, but couldn’t be bothered to say anything further.

Meanwhile, Qin Xiao was lying on the ground acting as a horse for Mianmian to ride, his usual neatly dressed suit and shirt replaced with home casual wear.

His hair had become a mess due to being used as reins by Mianmian.

Xiao Li sat on the sofa holding a cup of water, watching the father-daughter duo play until Mianmian got tired, then went over to pick her up...

"Uncle, you’re spoiling Mianmian so much now, if we have a second child later, you’ll be unable to spoil both at once. The kids would say you’re biased."