Lu Wanqing looked at Zhongli Feiyu, then lowered her eyes to Xiao Yi.
She found Xiao Yi staring at the vegetables in the garden with bright, curious eyes. Amused, she crouched down and asked, "Xiao Yi, this is celery."
Little Zhongli Yi nodded heavily, "Mm!"
He had eaten it before, but he had never seen celery growing in a garden like this. It felt quite magical.
"Does Xiao Yi want to eat celery?" Lu Wanqing asked.
Little Zhongli Yi thought for a moment, a little lost.
Lu Wanqing looked at the child and smiled, "Let's pull up some celery. We can make a cold salad later, which will be a dish on its own, and quite delicious."
"What is cold salad?" Little Zhongli Yi asked curiously.
Lu Wanqing smiled and explained, "Cold salad is a way of preparing food that makes it very tasty. Mommy will make it for Xiao Yi to try tonight, okay?"
"Okay," Xiao Yi agreed.
Lu Wanqing smiled and, with the little one, hand-in-hand, taught the child how to pull vegetables.
Xiao Yi had never pulled vegetables like this before. It was a simple vegetable, but as he pulled it up with his mother, the moment the celery roots came out of the soil, the little fellow couldn't help himself. A radiant smile lit up his face, and he chuckled.
"Mommy, I pulled it out!" Xiao Yi laughed happily.
"Mm," Lu Wanqing nodded with a smile.
"Let's pull up two more," Lu Wanqing said with a smile.
"Okay!" Little Zhongli Yi nodded.
Zhongli Feiyu couldn't help but crouch down too. He pulled up a stalk beside them. It was a simple process, but when he turned and saw Lu Wanqing and Xiao Yi, mother and son, smiling with shining eyes, he felt that everything seemed a little different.
Zhongli Feiyu couldn't resist and pulled up another stalk.
As Lu Wanqing guided Xiao Yi to continue pulling vegetables, a hand suddenly reached out from beside them, holding two stalks of celery.
Lu Wanqing looked up at Zhongli Feiyu, utterly bewildered.
They only needed to pull up two more. She was planning to let Xiao Yi pull a couple more, but why was Zhongli Feiyu snatching the child's opportunity?!
"Two stalks, pulled," Zhongli Feiyu said calmly, his expression unchanged.
Little Zhongli Yi: "???"
Little Zhongli Yi looked at the two stalks of celery, then up at his father, completely disbelieving.
Mommy was supposed to let him pull celery with her, so why did Daddy pull up the two stalks?
"It's okay, one more is fine too!" Lu Wanqing realized and quickly said.
She casually handed the celery stalk that Xiao Yi had just pulled to Zhongli Feiyu and said, "If you have nothing else to do, you can hold these vegetables for us."
Zhongli Feiyu: "???"
After a brief moment of愣, Zhongli Feiyu quickly recovered and took the celery from Lu Wanqing's hand.
Lu Wanqing led Xiao Yi to pull up another stalk. A brilliant smile reappeared on the little palm-sized face.
Lu Wanqing saw a smudge of dirt on the child's face and amusingly raised her hand to wipe it clean.
Xiao Yi stood there, watching his mother wipe his face, his eyes shining even brighter.
Zhongli Feiyu also watched this scene, feeling an inexpressible sense of warmth in his heart. This was something he had never experienced in his twenty-eight years. Perhaps this was... the warmth of home?
Born into a military family, he, like Xiao Yi, had started training from a young age. His mother had passed away very early, and he had grown up with his father. Therefore, he had never felt such a warm scene before.
In the military camp, every time they went into battle, they would shout slogans, telling everyone the meaning of war, that they had to protect their homeland!
But what was home?
Before, when Zhongli Feiyu returned home, it felt no different from being at military headquarters.
But now, Zhongli Feiyu felt a distinct difference. Was this what a woman brought? It turned out that a home with a woman in it was different.
As Zhongli Feiyu thought about it, he suddenly recalled Mu Sijie's previous change. Mu Sijie had only brought Lu Wanqing home for a short period, and then he changed his mind. At the time, he didn't understand, but now, looking back, he felt he understood everything.
If it were him...
Zhongli Feiyu thought, and a thought suddenly emerged in his mind. It wasn't just Mu Sijie and Lu Wanqing who had conceived a child together through genetic cultivation; he and Lu Wanqing had also conceived a child together using each other's genes.
For a child, a biological mother was irreplaceable. So, if Lu Wanqing could marry him and truly stay in his home, to be Xiao Yi's mother, wouldn't that be the best for Xiao Yi?
Some things were like seeds, suddenly appearing, buried in the heart, then slowly germinating, and finally growing into a tiny seedling of hope.
Celery was just the beginning. Lu Wanqing then took the little one to the farm to catch chickens and to the orchard to pick fruit. It was merely "grocery shopping," but they had a lot of fun.
By the time they had bought all the groceries they needed, it was getting late. Lu Wanqing, Xiao Yi, and Zhongli Feiyu logged off the interstellar network together.
Although interstellar express delivery was fast, it wasn't instantaneous. After logging off the interstellar network, they should rest for a while.
It was the kind of rest where they didn't do anything else, just free time to do whatever they wanted.
Lu Wanqing had nothing else to do, so she took out her design blueprints and started drawing in her room.
Little Zhongli Yi saw his mother drawing and came over with his own "tablet" to draw with her.
Zhongli Feiyu glanced from the doorway. Seeing Lu Wanqing drawing again, he tacitly did not enter, his gaze softening considerably.
Zhongli Feiyu quickly turned and left, returning to the first floor.
Marshal Zhongli had already returned and was sitting in the living room downstairs.
Zhongli Feiyu saw his father, paused, then walked over and respectfully greeted him, "Father!"
Marshal Zhongli nodded, "Mm."
After a brief response, the atmosphere in the living room returned to the sternness of the military, cold and oppressive.
Zhongli Feiyu felt inexplicably uncomfortable. He vaguely felt that home shouldn't be like this; home should be warmer.
But facing such a father, Zhongli Feiyu didn't know what to say. He didn't even know what he *could* say. He had been accustomed to such a father since he was a child, perhaps...
It was because his mother died early that his home had become like this?
Zhongli Feiyu couldn't help but wonder, if his mother were still alive, perhaps the family wouldn't be like this?
He thought of the natural warmth when Lu Wanqing was with Xiao Yi. That was the feeling of home, gentle, comforting, and secure.
At this moment, he wanted to keep Lu Wanqing even more. As long as he married Lu Wanqing, she would truly be the mistress of this home. She would stay in this home forever like an ordinary mother, as his wife, as Xiao Yi's mother, accompanying them. Their home would be complete, just like on the interstellar network just now, warm and gentle.
"Zhongli Feiyu, you've been spacing out a lot lately," Zhongli Xing's voice suddenly sounded in the living room.